Day 59

Hey! If you liked Audrey Hepburn in tattoos, why wouldn't you like Marilyn Monroe all tatted up also? The guys at The Breakfast Club just released another T-shirt today. There are only 25 in existence so if you want one, get it now.

Day 58

This a pretty cool T-shirt currently available at The Breakfast Club ( http://www.tbclub.co.uk/ ).
Very clever concepts.

Day 57

Cool print currently available by Max Grundy.

Day 56: Confession Time

Ok everyone, its confession time. I am feeling a bit defeated. I’ve been working on this T-shirt thing every day for 55 days, and it’s starting to wear on me. I’m not saying I’m defeated. However, I do think I need a small break. That being said, I think I am going to spend some time brainstorming in private for the next week. I will still post every day, but it will be mostly images or artists who inspire me. Thank you for bearing with me, and look for the big product line announcement coming shortly.

In the mean time, check out this new shirt by Johnny Cupcakes.

Day 55: Sorry Folks

Sick Day...

Day 54: Artist Highlight

This Friday’s Artist Highlight is someone I discovered only a few weeks ago. His name is Dave Young, but his alter ego is Edward Teabelly. He declares himself as “a jolly old English soul, full of excitement, crazy ideas and stories to tell.” Dave is the brain child behind a T-shirt brand dedicated to the English tradition of drinking tea. It might sound stuffy and boring, but his designs are actually pretty cool. He has a simplistic style that is hard to look away from.

The reason he inspires me in my own venture is because I would like to do with soda what he is doing with Tea. (Yes that was a top secret product line hint). If you get a chance, head over to his website and take a look. In the mean time here are a few images.

Day 53: Sorry Folks

Sick Day...

Day 52: Way Back Wednesday

It’s Way Back Wednesday again, kind of. I’m going back but not way back. I want to go back to Saturday when I had shown you guys a drawing I was working involving 3 barrels. Last night’s post got me thinking about my personal design process and how I keep drawing off my skill sets (no pun intended). I am an AutoCAD technician by trade and I have spent the last 10 years learning the ins and outs of that program. So when it comes to drawing anything, my natural tendency is to go straight to the AutoCAD program. This recent T-shirt venture of mine is no exception. In fact everything you have seen so far (hand drawings excluded) has been done entirely in AutoCAD.

Now back to the barrels. As I mentioned last night, sometimes I have a hard time getting my perspectives just right in my drawings, and I don’t have the patience to do over and over again. I have come accustomed to using the 3D capabilities in AutoCAD to help me solve this problem. The 3 barrels are a great example of that. I drew one barrel as a 3D object and copied it 2 times to create 3. The process took me less than an hour. I then positioned them together and was able to rotate my view of the barrels until I found just the right angel. I then converted the objects to 2D line work and shazzaam. I had the desired drawing I was looking for. The following video gives a great example of how I was able to “rotate” the barrels to get that angle.

Day 51: AutoCAD

One of the disadvantages I am currently experiencing is the lack of appropriate illustration programs. In fact, I have been doing all my art work for this venture in AutoCAD. For those of you who do not know, AutoCAD is a drafting program used for generating blue prints. Obviously not ideal for any serious graphic work. However, one advantage I do have is the ability to create 3D objects. Sometimes it's hard to capture the right perspective with just straight drawing. That's when AutoCAD comes into play. I can draw something up in 3D real quick and then skew it to create my desired perspective. The following picture is an example of that.

Over the next day or two you will see how this becomes a standard drawing.

Day 50: More Ideas

I got back on the idea I was exploring Saturday. I took it a little further. I have 5 more ideas to explore before I can reveal the top secret product line.

Day 49: Sketching

Had a brainstorm and played around with a sketch today.

Day 48

Started one more idea for my top secret Product Line.

Day 47: Artist Highlight

Today’s Artist Highlight is someone I just discovered last night. I typically highlight someone I have been following for a while, but this will be the exception. I was searching online last night for some images when I stumbled upon this artist who goes by the name Nils. He is located in Germany and is an artist for hire. His work is bold, fun, and a little dark.

Outside of his work, what really struck me was the notion of hiring an artist to do work. It got me thinking about my own work, T-shirts, and my future product line. When I dream of where this venture of mine can I see all kinds of big things happening, including artist collaboration. That being said, I am starting to make a mental list of who I would like to work with one day, and this guy is definitely one of them.

Check out his work here: http://www.nvasion.net/

Day 46: Roller Derby Manchester

I received an email from Roller Derby Manchester today. They haven't decided on a design yet, but I think I am in the running. This is the email I received...

"This one’s pretty exciting, I really like it. Passing it on to the appropriate committees, they'll most likely contact you with a decision directly."

So here's hoping. In the meantime, doing some more work on my "Top Secret" product line.

Day 45: Way Back Wednesday

This is something I found in one of my sketch books. I remember doing it, but not sure when.

Day 44: I heart my wife

Sorry folks. No drawing tonight. I'm hanging out with my Valentine.

Day 43

Things are heating up. I am getting close to releasing the name of the product line I want to create this year. This one is a  pretty big hint.

Day 42

I messed around with this new design a little bit. I wasn't 100% sold on the stars and bubbles underneath, so I decided to try some pin striping. Not sure which one I like better. Thoughts?

Day 41: Shazaam

Now I'm getting excited. I knew that working on the EOD design would get the juices flowing for the "Top Secret" product brand I'm planning.

I only have the basic line work for now, but it won't take long to pull the rest of it together.

Day 40: Artist Highlight

A few Friday’s ago, I did an artist highlight on one of my favorite artists Max Grundy. Well today I want to highlight a product that I am very excited about over at The Arbor Collective. These guys make some sweet Snowboards and Skateboards. The one I am most excited about is the Wasteland Snowboard featuring artwork by Max Grundy. If anyone needs some early birthday gift ideas, I would be very interested in this.

These guys did an outstanding job representing Max. They used wood inlays to recreate the artwork on the snowboard. The result is breathtaking. If you cruise around the website enough you will also notice Max’s art work showing up on skate boards For example, take a look at the Fleetwood.

This is why I am so inspired by Max Grundy and his work. It would be very cool to one day have my product line S*** B*** show up on a snowboard.

Day 39: Switching Gears

I really love where the EOD design is going. However, I'm starting to get a little burnt on it, and I don't want you guys to get bored. So tonight I start brain storming. If I am going to release a T-shirt brand this year, I need to get going. I've got lots of ideas tossing around in my head. These ideas include release dates, styles, themes, limited editions, creative packaging and so on. Here is what I have come up with on my first night of sketching ideas. I'm still not ready to give away the brand name, but I'm certain some of you are starting to figure it out.

Day 38: Back to the Vault

It's Way Back Wednesday again. This is another one of those color pencil pieces I did back in my wheel chair days. Enjoy.

Day 37: Sorry Folks

Sick Day....

Day 36: EOD

This shading is going slow. Just about have the right half done. Hopefully I can finish up the other side tomorrow.

Day 35: EOD

Did a little more work on the color today. Take a look at the shading in the upper left around the clouds and bolts. Any thoughts?

Day 34: EOD

A little more work on the EOD. Playing around with some different line weights and shading techniques.

Day 33: Product Highlight

Today I chose to review a T-shirt company called Wrench Clothing. It’s actually a branch of West Coast Customs, a custom car builder located in California (you may have seen their show on T.V.). The T-shirts they produce through Wrench Clothing are really cool. They are obviously hot rod themed but they have a style that justifiably compliments the west coast feel of their parent company. The use of color, flowing designs and almost fantasy type imagery are all things I tend to gravitate to in my own designs.

In addition to cool shirts, Wrench Clothing also has a kick’n hot rod they use to promote their clothing line. Hmmmm….I might have to steal that idea one day.

Day 32: EOD coming together

Laid out the text for the EOD design tonight. May need to be worked a little more. I am also trying a new color for the bomb. You will also notice some shading on the banner. I think feel like it's coming together, but I would love some constructive criticism from others.

Day 31: Back to the Vault

I'm reaching into the vault once again. This one of a few T-shirts I have actually designed. We did this last year for the middle school youth group my wife and I work with. The name of the youth group is G4.