February 27, 2011

John McEnroe

Well, I'm finished with the illustration for the Tennis magazine commission. I'm just waiting until tomorrow morning when they get into work to get the final approval. Tonight I have John McEnroe for you. I put a lot of detail work into this one, so be sure and view it at full resolution. I worked for a good while painting the hair. Extremely fine detail on the hair down to the tiny hairs on his ears. I even did a little subtle dental work on him. Hope you like it.


I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 25, 2011

Sneak Peek at Tennis Magazine Job

Working away on the Tennis magazine commission all day today. I'm about 60% complete and I'm beat so I’m headed to bed. Just wanted to post a little teaser. I will deliver this job tomorrow, hopefully early enough to start something else. I have a bunch of requests. Anyhow, here it is. Goodnight!
I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 24, 2011

The "Black" Baron


Tonight I got frustrated with that Tennis magazine job...poor source pics. Anyhow, I decided to finish up "The Black Baron". The sneak peak I posted yesterday. Obviously Obama was the perfect fit. This was a pretty intense manipulation. I did a good bit of research on The Red Baron to try and assemble a uniform that looked authentic. I used a mess of source images on this one. I totally lost count. I literally spliced pieces of leather together to make his coat and there was a lot of texture reproduction. It's about 95% complete. I see several little things that need tweaking but I'll do that later.

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 23, 2011

Project Update and Sneak Peek at a WIP

I was working away on the Tennis magazine commission tonight and really enjoying it. They had a really good concept and awesome high-resolution images of the subjects and everything needed for the job. I was really excited about it and thrilled that I get to work with such good material. Well, that didn't last. What did they do? Yep, they changed their minds and are sending me all new source material. Oh well, that business. The halt in work gave me the opportunity to get back to work on a “secret” project that I've been working on for a few days now. It's a pretty intense image. I'm posting a teaser like Dominique Philbert likes to do to his readers. Actually, I just wanted to let you know I am working and have a bunch of stuff to post in the near future. The 5-piece commission I did for FHM magazine hits news stands next week so watch for it. I will have those 5 images to post once it is out as well as a couple other commissions soon. Well, here's my sneak peek. See if you can tell what it's going to be. There are a couple of clues.
 
 

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 21, 2011

New Facebook Fan Page ~ General Bean


General Bean was my very first post when I kicked this blog off. He is by far my most favorited and commented upon manipulation I've ever done with nearly 200 favorites on my Deviant Art page alone. I'm using him again tonight to announce the launce of my new Facebook Fan Page. This post is also sort of a test to make sure my RSS feed is set up correctly and my blog posts are being sent to my new wall as well as my regular Facebook page. The page is in the beginning stages so there will be lots of images, videos etc. going up in the next couple of days. If you enjoy what I do, stop in and give me a "like". I appreciate everyone's support; not just for this fan page but all along the way. I've made some great friends through this blog, Facebook and other sites I'm a part of. The support and encouragement has been awesome. I never expected to be so well received so quickly. Thanks so much to all!

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 20, 2011

George Clooney


Tonight I finished this manipulation of George Clooney I started a couple of days ago. I had no idea where I was going with this one. I started with a roughly caricatured head. I just started messing around and ended up assembling this background from a bunch of sources including three of my previous manipulations. Oh well, it is what it is.











 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day and be inspired!


February 18, 2011

Hosni Mubarak ~ Job Hunting

I was working on another caricature today when I got a Facebook message from one of my sons suggesting that I do Hosni Mubarak. I really wasn't into what I was doing so I decided to go ahead and give him a go. I stayed up a little late to finish this one. Back to George Clooney tomorrow. Bedtime!

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 16, 2011

Bruce Willis ~ A Movie Spoof

I took yesterday's work in progress post of Bruce Willis and had a little fun with it tonight. I enjoy doing movie spoofs and we needed another Die Hard anyhow right? I've done a lot of movie spoofs for Photoshop contests at FreakingNews.com and they are loads of fun. I believe if I counted right, I used 8 images to make this one, and I added a few tricks of my own. Click it to view full. It's pretty large and has fairly good detail. Hope you like it.





Interview with Bruce Willis:










 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day and be inspired!

February 15, 2011

Bruce Willis WIP


I got busy with other things today and didn't have time to finish a caricature so I decided to post a work in progress for a change. I'm actually combining two images here. Obviously the one above, but also one where he has a smirk on his face so I was experimenting with twisting and warping the face a bit. Not sure what I'm going to do with this or if I'll even finish it but this is what it looks like mid way through.

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Hail to the Thief

Tonight I worked a little late finishing this manipulated caricature of Obama. I started kind of late and this one took a good bit of work. Obama is always fun to caricature so if I can't decide who to caricature, I can always fall back on him. I couldn't come up with a clever name for this so maybe you guys can help. Anything is better than what I have. I've posted the original source image below. Well, it's way past my bedtime. I hope you like it.


Original source image:

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 13, 2011

Feature ~ Hyperreal Paintings by Denis Peterson

Tonight I'm featuring an incredible artist who I'm sure most of you are familiar with, Hyperrealist Painter Denis Peterson. I am including a bio on Denis as well as a sampling of his unreal art. You can also find a link to his web site at the end of the post. Yes these are actually acrylic paintings. Check it out!

Bio
Of Armenian descent, Denis Peterson was one of the first Photorealists to emerge in New York. He is widely acknowledged as the pioneer and primary architect of Hyperrealism, which was founded on the aesthetic principles of Photorealism. Author Graham Thompson wrote, "One demonstration of the way photography became assimilated into the art world is the success of photorealist painting in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is also called super-realism or hyper-realism and painters like Richard Estes, Denis Peterson, Audrey Flack and Chuck Close often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs."

Peterson has often utilized the hyperrealism painting style as a phenomenological vehicle for social change. Figurative images in compressed space and incorporeal landscapes of social decadence are visual commentaries on the aftermath of genocides, diasporas, and cultural divides. "Because of a combination of the theme of the work and his technical abilities, Peterson's paintings have a timeless symbolic meaning rather than the mere appearance of a photograph. While hyper-real in definition, they are also breaking from the structures of photography as being an acceptable simulation of reality and instead, creating a sense of loss from "personalization and interaction."

"Originally, his floor-to-ceiling sized paintings centered around a single figure, with his monochromatic subjects characteristically cropped to appear as enlarged black and white photographs. Later, he developed a diverse number of original painting series, such as multiple phone booths in New York City. Although not a professional photographer, he has relied on his own camera shots to maintain a consistency of composition and subject matter as reliable reference studies. Several years ago, Denis utilized photorealism as a visual medium through which to portray the unthinkable: genocides. As with his controversial painting series on homelessness, his work centered on the indefatigable human spirit rather than on political and economic crucibles. More recently, he has been painting urbanscapes of gargantuan commercial billboards overlooking crowds of people scurrying about below, often unaware of what social messages loom above."
 
This is a picture of Denis Peterson, not a painting:

Incredible right? Be sure and check out his web site at the link below:

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 11, 2011

Owen Wilson

Tonight I did a manipulated caricature of Owen "The Nose" Wilson. I couldn't resist. He has the strangest nose I've ever seen. I wish I had the boldness of a Sebastian Kruger or Russ Cook and just go crazy with that nose but I tend to tone things down a bit. I experimented with some new masking techniques tonight and learned a couple of things...but I can't tell you. :) I've posted the original source image below.


Original source image below:

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 10, 2011

Rapper ~ JAY-Z

Tonight I have a manipulated caricature of Jay-Z for you Rapper fans out there. I had a real nice image to work with so be sure and view full size for the detail. Jay-Z has very distinctive lips so they are exaggerated just a bit. He was fun. I think I'll do him again some time. I’ve posted the original source images I worked with below.


Original source images below:

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 08, 2011

Bill Cosby

Tonight I have a manipulated caricature of Bill Cosby. I've wanted to caricature him but couldn't find any good images. The one I used is definitely not up to my normal standards but it's all I had so this one lacks a little in detail. I've also posted the original source image I worked with below. I'm working on a larger project that I hope to have up later this week.


Original source image:

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 07, 2011

The Art of MICHAEL HUSSAR

Tonight I'm featuring an artist I recently became familiar with. As I've said before I love and appreciate all forms of art and the arts in general. Michael Hussar is an incredible although somewhat controversial artist with some powerful images that really stir emotions. After all, that's what art is suppose to do. For those of you who haven't heard of him, I give you Michael Hussar.
Driven by love, hate, sin, redemption and death, Michael Hussar's oil paintings present the viewer with a contextual maturity that is both confrontational and evocative. Hussar describes his work as "a voyeuristic snapshot of perceived humanity, complete with freaks and fakery; a gothic wonderland illuminating the gray area between truths and lies." Hussar's attachment to his paintings runs deep; each piece is a journal of sorts, allowing him to come face to face with his demons and exorcising them with each new stroke of the brush. Hussar's paintings are in the private collections of Warren Beatty, Francis Ford Coppolla and Leonardo Di Caprio.










 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day and be inspired!

February 06, 2011

Napoleon Dynamite

Tonight I decided to revisit an old caricature. Napoleon Dynamite was the first caricature attempt I made. That was about six months ago. I've learned a little but I have a lot more to learn. I did a little more work on the background on this one. I had to furnish the setting with that 70s putrid pea green color. I also included a couple of his partners from the movie. Oh and I couldn't leave out the tater tots. I wasn't able to get the level of detail I like because the source image wasn't the best. I've posted both images I used below.



Original source images below:

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

February 04, 2011

Snoop Dogg

I finished the FHM commission this morning so I had time to put something together for my blog tonight. I've wanted to do Snoop Dogg for a while so I decided to go ahead with him. He was a lot of fun to caricature. I think I'll do another one soon. I've posted the original source image below for comparison.


Original source image below:














 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day and be inspired!


February 03, 2011

New Caricature Commission from FHM Magazine

I spent the day yesterday doing maintenance work on some site so I didn't get to do a caricature to post for today but I do have some news to share. I have received another caricature commission from FHM Magazine just this morning. It will be smaller than the last one but looks like it will be a lot of fun. I'll keep you posted on the details as I get them. The image below is a link to FHM magazine online.

Click here to visit FHM Online
Wish me luck!

February 01, 2011

Mahendra Singh Dhoni ~ M S Dhoni

Tonight I'm posting a manipulated caricature of Indian Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni or "M S Dhoni". This was a request and The original was done in high resolution for printing purposes. I've also posted the original source image below.

Original source image:

I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!