New Print: World Series GAME 6!

Just in time for baseball's opening day, here's a new 3-color screenprint hot off the press (UPDATE: all 3 editions have sold out!). It commemorates last season's thrilling penultimate game, Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, which saw the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Texas Rangers in a see-sawing nail-biting 11-inning affair.

My initial idea for the print was to use as a centerpiece the game's dramatic Win Expectancy Chart, which maps statistically the game's ups and downs (and a given fan's emotional state) at any given point.

Other things I wanted to include were a view of Busch Stadium, some funny vignettes of key moments throughout the game, assorted li'l fun facts, and a huge in-your-face title. For a long time, you'll be able to say "GAME 6" and a Cardinals' fan will KNOW.

I was looking at lots of old fruit advertising for inspiration:

And here's an early digital mock-up:

And sketched directly from my DVR recording (which I refuse to erase), here are some sketches of the funny vignettes, part highlight part in-joke, alternately sad and triumphant:

Ink tests:

A tightened-up digital mock-up:

And all my ink drawings I would have to squeeze in to this thing:

And final digitally separated art:

Time to coat, burn & print. A peek at my exposure station:

And a close-up of the final printed piece. I think I managed to squeeze everything in except my wife and I having heart attacks in the bleachers.

"Game 6: The Greatest Game of All Time!" 3-color screenprint on Canson Edition paper, 28" x 22", edition of 150.
JULY 27, 2012 UPDATE:
I'm officially sold out of the 3rd (and likely final) printing. Thanks to everyone who ordered and had nice things to say about the print, let's hope that we have more memorable games this season to memorialize.
Thanks again for the interest, everyone! Let's Go You Redbirds!

Sneak Peek

The Dance of Days

Did you get one of these 2012 Woot! Calendars? They're pretty fun (and not just because I did all the drawings), filled with Woot! in-jokes, caricatures, and exciting sales figures. It took a lot for me to switch from my annual cute bichon frise calendar, but this did it (see above). I won't give away all 12 renderings but here were my sketches:






Those probably don't make much sense without the character descriptions, and these zoom-in snapshots of my final vector drawings will make even less sense:












For more cool illustrator/calendar action, check out my buddy DB talk about his awesome homemade calendar/sketchbooks here. Have a fun-filled and productive 2012, everyone!

Facetime with Leon Beyond

Leon Beyond has been getting involved in trivia-related events in his community. For example: the recent CHILI/TRIVIA ("Chilivia") Cook-off in McKarney Co. and the HOME/GARDEN show in downtown St. Louis. Click through to see the full extent of Leon's involvement.

Some field notes:

Valentine Scenes from Mythology

I drew these 4 Bitter Valentines for my pals at woot! Thanks to Matthew for the hilarious concepts. Be sure to click through for hi-resolution downloadable .pdf versions of these, as well as their adorable sweet counterparts.  Here were the doodles and sketches:

XOXO

Also, see: Leon Beyond's tips 'n' tricks for Valentine's Day.

COMING SOON

Be on the lookout: my new book from Drawn & Quarterly, called BIRDSEYE BRISTOE. A bit more info here and here.