Bears in Matrimony

I think I just weed a little in my pants.

Trucker in colour

Chewie sketch

Final WOFE Cover

I'm calling this done for now. On to work on some more pages.

Trucker sketch

My first rejection(s).

So last week I got two calls about different jobs. One of them was for a logo for a car wash business (you can see the sketch I did here), and the other was a much larger job.

My contact for the car wash job was a graphic designer who the client hired and was outsourcing the illustration. She seemed pretty happy with me and wanted to move forward. We were just waiting on confirmation from the client. Apparently he found someone himself, making redundant the money he was paying his graphic designer, but whatever. I wasn't too upset about losing the job. It wasn't really that exciting and the pay wasn't huge. I was actually kinda glad that the first job I'd been rejected on wasn't anything big.

The other job was somewhat more interesting and a lot more higher paid. My contact was a Marketing Director for the client. She had found me via my portfolio on the Illustrator's Australia website, and she'd also checked out the work on my site before she called me. We talked for a bit on the phone about the job and then back and forthed via e-mail. I spent some time giving her a pretty detailed quote and she told me there was another illustrator she was looking at for the job. She'd let me know if I got the job the following week. Long story short, I found out this morning that I didn't get the job. I was pretty bummed out.

I'm all about learning from my mistakes. Thankfully, my contact was kind enough to tell me why I didn't get the job. Here's the e-mail she sent:

Hi Joe, I have decided to give the job to another illustrator, my decision was mainly based on the fact that she had done a lot of children's illustrations that were close to what I need, she also sent me through some visuals, making it easier for me to get an understanding of the style she would apply to the job.

If it doesn't work out I will be in touch with you in the future. Good luck and thank you for your prompt follow up.

So what can I learn from this? I thought that being prompt, clear and concise with my responses was enough to set to me ahead of other illustrators. Clearly this other illustrator went an extra mile by sending through some visuals, something I'd assumed was unnecessary because the client had seen the work on my site.

I've learnt that it's not enough to make the client feel comfortable with me as a worker, they also need to feel comfortable with my work.

I'm going to double my efforts next time, and triple them if I know I'm up against other illustrators.

C'est la freakin' vie, I guess.

This nigger needs a little mustard.

To understand the title of this post, you must read this brilliant blog post by Dan Harmon, screenwriter and co-creator of Channel 101.

It's definitely worth your time.

WOFE cover detail

No birds.

Saw this on Ffffound!

It took me a little while to figure out that the sign was Photoshop'd. Still pretty sweet, though.

Musick

When I'm not listening to podcasts like Get This and SModcast, I've usually got some music playing. So, inspired by a post on John Mayer's blog, here's what my ears have been tasting lately:

Beck - Guerolito
This was the first Beck I'd ever heard, and I instantly loved it. It's totally unique. A wonderful blend of folk-pop with some lo-fi electro mashed up in there. Here's probably my favourite track from the album Girl.

Beck - The Information
After hearing Guerolito, I had to find some more Beck. I found The Information somewhat darker, but still full of pop hooks with some great beats. Totally drivable music. I found it hard to pick just one track from The Information to share, but here's Think I'm In Love.

Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire
How anyone could manage to produce such a unique and honest album after following in the footsteps of John Lennon amazes me. Friendly Fire is full of playful melody and unexpected chord changes, and Sean Lennon delivers his lyrics beautifully. Again, it was incredibly hard to pick just one song to share, 'cause they're all so good, but here's the first single released, Dead Meat.

Jeremy Fisher - Goodbye Blue Monday
A fun album from a Canadian singer-songwriter. Upbeat riffs, lyrics that reveal deeper meaning on subsequent listens and a great Paul Simon-esque sunny feel make this an album that's been on constant rotation for a while now. I sure hope this guy makes it soon. Here's Scar That Never Heals.

Kanye West - Graduation
Just a very solid album from an artist who I'd previously ignored. You've all no doubt heard Stronger by now, so here's Can't Tell Me Nothing.

There's plenty more, but that's enough for now. Enjoy!

Wizardry!

Sketch for a car wash logo.

Should you forward that e-mail?

Via Shoebox.

MOO postcards

So a little while back I came across a free promotion via Drawn. It was one of those "be one of the first xxx and get some freebies" things. I usually never win those things, but thanks to Bloglines, I was notified as soon as the promotion was active, and I got 20 free postcards from MOO with my art on them. BOOYAH. (Are people still saying that?)

I chose these pics very hastily as I wasn't sure if I was in time to get the freebie deal. In hindsight, I may have chosen a little differently, but I'm not too disappointed. After all, shit's FREE.

You even get to put your name on the back!

I'll probably end up paying for some more of these. The quality is much better than I expected. Nice, thick card, with a light waxy finish.

Who wants one?

It's coming...

Should I get a haircut or what?

At the moment the hair atop mine cranium is in that "neither here nor there", not quite long, not quite short stage. There's not much I can do with it aside from shampoo and condition and hope a finch doesn't lay eggs in it.

The hair in question didn't get to this stage by my will. Oh no. Some people seem to think that I'm quote-unquote "growing my hair" (I realise I don't need to say "quote-unquote" when I'm putting actual quote-unquote "quotation marks", but I felt like it. Get off my back, already.) Truth is, I just haven't been bothered to get a damn haircut for some time.

And so now I'm at a crossroads where I can either do nothing and grow it long again like I did a number of months ago, or book an appointment with my hairdresser what looks like Jon Lovitz.

WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH

I wish the modern day "lad" magazines like Ralph and FHM were more like the men's magazines of old:

Also I want these shoes:

Lifestyle

WOFE update

It's getting there. Just gotta add some more debris, some more "aliens" and some tall buildings in the background.

Pop Bunnies

Just a quick doodle that I decided to have some fun with:

WOFE update

Elect Christopher Knight

Thinking about thinking.

Why WOFE is taking so long.

As you, my loyal readers, are no doubt aware of, I've been working on a book pitch for a book called "Watch Out for Earthlings" for a very cool dude in sunny San Fran. It's a love job, which I'm more than happy to be doing without pay, although hopefully it will lead to lucre if and when the book gets picked up.

Anyway, I'm putting a lot of effort into producing quality illustrations for it. I'm hoping to include some in my portfolio (currently under development) to show off to art directors around town.

The previous images I've posted haven't really shown the level of detail I'm working at, so here's an actual-sized (A3 @ 300dpi) detail of the cover image so far:

It loses some of the slickness at this level, but you get to see the dirtiness of the pastels, which I kinda like.

When a piece is intended for print, I normally work at pretty high-res anyway, but this is probably the highest level of detail I've worked at. And even this pales in comparison to some other artists.

WOFE update

Still working on getting the town looking right:

And here are a couple reference images:

WOFE update and Kong posters

Here's the latest on the work-in-progress:

And here are some sweet King Kong posters:

WOFE work in progress

This is probably gonna end up being the most detailed thing I've ever done.

The Business of Death

Here's a sweet little animated video I found via Drawn! on "The Business of Death".

How would you like to spend your death? I'm thinking either made into pencils or shot into space.