Drummer Boy

Tonight I'm posting a manipulation I played around with today. I experimented with some of CS5's new features while creating the background. I really didn't intend this to be finished. I was just messing around and used this image to try out some new tricks and it's always fun when I have an opportunity to flatter Obama a bit. People keep asking me if I hate Obama. I ask them if they are kidding. I love Obama. He's my best subject and he's helped my work get exposure on the web. I've been watching some tuts on CS5. It's got some great tools and I want to learn how to use it to its fullest. I don't want to push it too hard until I get my new machine though. Well, that's all for tonight. Goodnight folks!

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"From a Horse & Buggy to a Ferrari"... NOT!

When I was purchasing my new iMac system from Apple, they told me that I would be blown away. In fact they said; "You're not just switching from PC to Mac, You're going from a horse and buggy to a Ferrari". I think that they were mistaken and sent me a lemon instead of an Apple. I have had major problems with this new system. You name it and it has gone wrong. I went through 2 different 2TB external hard drives for back-up, the time machine doesn't work and it runs slower that the $500.00 Dell PC I was using before. Right now, I'm rebooting 3 times a day and it gets to the point after a few hours where it takes 2 minutes to open a new browser tab. It has really been frustrating and I'll be glad when everything is up to par. Apple is in the process of customizing another iMac for me and it will be 1 to 2 weeks before I get it.  So, this is why there has been a lack of posts recently. I've been on the phone with Apple some 30 times in the last week. All of this on top of having to wait 4 months for my Cintiq to come in has made this transition... well, something less than pleasant. But, it will be over soon and I will be up and running with a real iMac so I am really looking forward to the end of this. I played around with a juiced up iMac just like mine at the Apple store yesterday and I found out just how an iMac is suppose to perform. It was insanely fast so I have hope. I will try to get this thing to limp along and get a few caricatures done before the new machine comes in. I've got some great stuff on the way so don't give up on me. Below are two images illustrating a dream gone bad.

My Dream Computer System   

Hard Cold Reality

Don't judge me, this was a quirky. :)

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Rupert Murdoch ~ A Caricature Study

FHM is taking there time about getting me my images to start the job so I did this caricature study of Rupert Murdock since he's been in the news a bit lately. This was strictly a practice piece just trying to hit that balance of exaggeration and realty and going for a real crisp almost crusty skin texture/. He has loads of character so this one was a lot of fun and I pretty much achieved what I was going for. Below is the original source image as well as a really stupid video of Murdock.

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New Commission From FHM Magazine

Evening all. This is just a quick post to let you know what's up and where I'll be in the coming days. I picked up another large commission for FHM Magazine / Bauer Media, UK. It's a 5-piece commission so I'll be working on it for the next few days, maybe a week. The deadline is 10 days. The main story is about a famous rapper. I'll tell you later. I don't know yet who or what I'm doing for the other 4 pieces. This is another great opportunity for me and since I spent all my money converting to Mac, this will pay for caricature lessons from Jason Seiler...Yay!!! I'll keep you up to date on the progress and post what I can when I can. I also have some more really great news right around the corner so stay tuned. The best is definitely yet to come.

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Fresh Tomatoes ~ Rev. Jeremiah Wright

Tonight I'm posting Fresh tomatoes. This is actually from an old manipulation that I was never satisfied with. I originally used George W. Bush as the subject but I just didn't like the caricature. Overall the manipulation had potential so I decided to rework it and chose Reverend Jeremiah Wright. No particular reason and no hidden meaning. He just fit. So there, I can post this one. Below is a very short film but accurately depicts the Rev's personality.

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How do I do it? ~ Check it out!! (Lewis Black WIP)

Well folks, you've been asking me to share how I do it so here's a look into my process. I've converted my PSD file for Lewis Black into an animated gif. This pretty much says it all. This is how I work. This may take a moment to load. It's a pretty big gif. I did it in 256 colors so it would look decent. Hope it helps some of you, and for you experts, because I AM NOT ONE, feel free to point out my faults. LET ME BE CLEAR, I AM NOT A TEACHER! I AM NOT QUALIFIED. This is just the way I do it and I am just starting to learn. I'm not saying it is right. I still strongly recommend you who want to learn caricature, look to the masters. Sebastian Kruger, Jason Seiler, Dominic Philibert, Torren Thomas, Russ Cook to name a few. I myself will be signing up for formal lessons from the best, Jason Seiler. One day, I will be running with the big dogs and then I will teach.

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Lewis Black ~ Outraged! detail

This is a detail of Lewis Black from my previous post. Click the image for a 1 to 1 full res detail from my original PSD.

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Lewis Black II ~ Outraged!

Tonight I'm posting my second manipulated caricature of Lewis Black. I love this image of him. It really shows his personality. It wasn't the best source image but I used a few of CS5's tricks to bring it to life. This is the first work I've done on the new Cintiq and it went great. The color calibration is right on and it was a lot easier and quicker to do this and a lot of fun. This one came out pretty much like I intended it to. The Cintiq helped me to keep it loose and natural looking. This is going to help my work and my learning a bunch. As soon as I get a good feel for it, I'm going to take those lessons from Jason Seiler. Can't wait for that. Below is the original source image as well as a little Lewis Black humor.

Lewis Black on Christmas (It's the only clean one I could find)

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Please visit and support my Facebook Page ~ Like it!

Thanks to all of you who have already supported my blog, my facebook page and all of the other sites I'm involved with. For those of you who didn't know I have a facebook page or maybe haven't visited it yet, check it out! I've customized it with new pages and tabs as well as connecting most of my major social networking sites there. If you enjoy what I do, stop by and "like" it for me. I appreciate the support in advance. You can click the image below to visit my page. Thanks all!!

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Tom Hanks ~ Still waiting on that bus

Tonight I'm posting the finished product from my study of Tom Hanks which was on my previous post. It's kind of a part 2 of "A Parody" with Obama on the bench. The original file is huge. I did it large in case it needs to be printed. The open PSD is 1.41 GB in size but this iMac handled it like a champ. My Cintiq 21" wacom came in towards the end of this manipulation so I didn't use it much on this one. The next caricature will be done on the Cintiq for sure. It's an awesome piece of equipment. I didn't realize it was going to be so big and heavy. I ordered a table mounted adjustable arm for it today. That way I'll be able to lean back and relax in my chair while I work. Well, it's getting late. Here's a clip from Forrest Gump. Goodnight folks!

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Tom Hanks ~ Work in Progress

Tonight I'm posting a work in progress of Tom Hanks. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him yet. This was just practice and for some reason, I'm having a hard time with him. I wasn't sure if I was going to post him, but I decided to let you see it all, good or bad. I've gone back and forth with the direction I've taken the exaggeration and still not pleased. Maybe fresh eyes in the morning will help. I've also posted a promotional video for one of my favorite movie's by Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump.

 

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