Category: Uncategorized

Oz Revue Gig Poster

Oz revue gig poster

Scot Lienke with the Washington D.C. area band Oz Revue contracted me to design a set of gig posters. He provided me with their logo, a link to their site and a couple photos of the band in action. I noticed that front man “Oz” had a signature hat he wore in all his performances. I chose to build the bands “image” off the hat and color in the bands logo. I wanted the posters to flow and almost “move” like their music which I sampled on their site. At the last minute we added “Soul, funk, blues & rock” to clarify the style of music. I carried the white lines from the top to the bottom and used them to form the words. Space was required at the bottom for writing in the time, date and location. Also featured at Gigposters.com

Using MacBook’s isight camera for scanning

Here’s a practical tip you can use to “scan” artwork using MacBook’s built in isight camera. The process I use when beginning an illustration is to do a quick pencil sketch,

rough sketch

scan it, place it in Illustrator, set the opacity to 50%, lock it’s layer and “trace” over it.

Illustrator trace

Recently my scanner, printer all-in-one deal, gave up the ghost. It wasn’t exactly high quality but we had a good relationship and I was sad to see it go. Before I had a chance to replace it, I was up against a tight deadline. I grabbed my Moleskine and did a couple of quick sketches. Then I remembered, I had no scanner. How would I get the sketches into Illustrator. I considered snapping a digital photo of it but with multiple cords and unintuitive software my camera is more trouble than it’s worth. It could work in a pinch, but then that tiny little camera staring at me from above my laptop screen caught my eye.

isight camera macbook pro

I launched “Photo Booth” and grinned gleefully as the LED lit and my ugly mug appeared on screen before me like some kind of Jetson’s inspired mirror. I grabbed the Moleskine, held it up to the camera and snapped a perfectly traceable, albeit flipped, image for me to trace.

using isight as a scanner

As you can see, I’ve been using my isight camera in this capacity for awhile. So what do you do if you don’t have a MacBook? Get one, it might be better than a new scanner!

Tribute to Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

Life magazine is doing a special tribute to Audrey Hepburn, “Remembering Audrey 15 years later”. It’s a hefty issue containing many of the photos of her that have appeared between it’s covers over the years. I completed my portrait of Audrey in Adobe Illustrator about three years ago. I thought I’d bring it back to the top in honor of her.

Hello World!

Welcome to my online portfolio. This being my first post I thought I’d give a little more background info than the short blurb to the right. I’m a freelance designer with a passion for illustration. It’s truly where my heart lies. I’ve been drawing since my parents caught me scribbling on the walls of our Florida home. My digital illustrations start out as pencil sketches that I scan in and basically trace over in Adobe Illustrator.
I’ve been a graphic designer for over 11 years starting in the commercial printing industry. I’ve lived and worked as a designer throughout central and north Florida, Tennessee and currently in northern Virginia as a senior designer for a national organization.
Samples of my work, both illustration and design, are available by clicking on “work” above. You can purchase framed or mounted art prints as well as t-shirts by selecting the links to the right under “shop”.
Keep checking back as I will be uploading new art (finished and unfinished) on a regular basis.

Thanks again for stopping by!