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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Almost 7:00 and yes I am still working. Tonight I am missing my Mosaics class to work on portraits. Starting to freak out a little about the holidays ahead. I keep trying to complete all of my pending commissions so I can work on the website and do a new postcard mailer. So may things to do all the time. Tomorrow night I get to speak with Kathy Weller for Friday's dog artist interview. I am very excited about that.
Ok, back to work. Wiley & Mya, your next.
A list of digital illustration and design links you should visit:
Design @ Digg.com - Digg's design directory
Colourlovers' Blog - Inspirational color articles on trends, color palettes, patterns, etc.
The Blog section @ Digital Arts - Reviews, Tutorials and Articles on Digital Design
Computer Arts Magazine - A design magazine.
Vector Tuts - A great website with a big variety vector tutorials.
How about Orange ? - Tutorials, Free downloads and useful resources.
Design M - Articles & Resources for designers.
Net Mag - The design section of Net Magazine.
Etstetica - A Graphic Design Forum.
Deviant Art - Where Art meets application.
"Sarasam, Texas Longhorn"
Working hard to get Sarasam the Longhorn proofed this week. The original photo was great at showing the full-body, however I had to get a wee bit creative when it came to finding or rather painting in the facial details.James Paick's portfolio. Lots of fantastic work there. 
Keywords: gnomon school of digital Arts production design 1 class teacher concept artist James Paick digital technical environmental concept ship art designer
Head Sillhouettes of Jack Nicholson, Ray Charles and Jimi Hendrix.
By vectorstuff.
1 AI : 4 MB
Download
Some nice figures by djmokeyboy.
1 AI : 1,3 MB
Not for commercial use.
Download
Monday, September 29, 2008
Art Paw was thrilled to be chosen earlier this year to work with Pet Smart Charities' program " Just A Buck Change Their Luck". We will be creating original artwork that will go on a variety of products for this terrific fundraiser that supports local animal welfare agencies. The funds raised are used by thousands of their agency partners to support spay/neuter, adoption, retention, and education programs in local communities.
You can read more about this project on their site.
We can't wait to get started on the artwork for Desmond & Maggie!
A collection of winter sports illustrations by amikal. The pack includes shilhouette shapes of a snowboarder, hokey player and a skier.
The artwork is saved in EPS file format, you can use any vector compatible program to modify the file...
Download
"Riley"(see all 6 proofs)
If you are waiting on a proof or an update please hang tight. I am working very hard to get several approved orders out the door, and proof several new clients by Weds.
If you have been waiting to place your order now is the time. I will be posting my holiday schedule later this week. I think I will not only have an early cut-off date this year, I will also be coming up with a magic number of portraits I can realistically do per month and once I reach that number of commissions, all new client orders will go on a waiting list with no promise of a guarantee holiday delivery.
Ville Ericcson's portfolio.
Keywords: digital concept spaceship render art illustration by from ville ericsson artist from sweden
Finally, I've uploaded the latest verision of my website, which uses the JavaScript tools mentioned in my first post on the subject (Website update - 23 May). These image viewer tools present my portfolio images in a nice, professional slideshow.
- Shadowbox - http://mjijackson.com/shadowbox/
- SimpleViewer - http://www.airtightinteractive.com/photos/
The coat of arms from the mexican flag. The coat of arms is derived from an Aztec legend that their gods told them to build a city where they spot an eagle and a serpent, which is now Mexico City.
1 AI : 400 KB
Rights unknown.
Download
1965 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 350. Beautiful work by Favio from Almeria/Spain.
Gracias, amigo.
1 AI, EPS : 200 KB
All rights by Favio.
Homepage->
Download
Set of mixed icons.
1 AI : 300 KB
Rights unknown.
Download
Some strange people with gasmasks.
1 AI : 300 KB
Rights unknown.
Download
Sunday, September 28, 2008
So what is with the "warning" in that post title? I have to share a scary incident that happened this morning. We packed up the Scotties in the car for our weekly Sunday romp at the lake and we were stopped at a traffic light. I was admiring a charming Boston Terrier that was in the suburban, one car ahead of us and to the left. He was playfully hanging out the window and barking at some folks in a convertible. I did not even really notice his doggy buddy in the backseat with him until their car starting rolling and then the medium sized cow dog sitting behind the driver rolled out of her window seat and on to the ground in the middle of the intersection! The light had just changed so fortunately there was nobody driving at any real speed. Dan jumped out of our car and into the road to help this little pup, who's human had driven a few yards before realizing that she was one passenger lighter. We were lucky to be at the right place at the right time to help. The little girl doggy that had landed on the pavement was too stunned to run, and seemed very grateful for the road side assistance. With cars piling up around us, Dan walked this little puppy back to her car and to her Mom's embrace. What Drama!
The point of the story ... this pup had probably ridden in that car a hundred times and never lost her balance before. It just takes one unlucky slip of footing to be within inches of disaster. Be very careful when you allow your pups to feel the wind in their faces on short drives. Everyone has their own set of safety rules when it comes to car rides with dogs. I am not perfect and so please do not think this is a lecture. We do not seat belt our pups, and I even let Big Tommy ride on my lap when we go to the lake ... something that could kill us both if the airbag ever deployed. We do make them ride in the back seat on long trips. I also do not let them hang out the window unless they are on my lap with my firm grip around their collar. Dan uses the baby locks on the car windows because Ajax has on occasion leaned on them in the back seat and rolled them down.
So what are your rules when it comes to car rides and dogs?
Cool vintage dogs in cars above found over at Flickr ... you can click through to visit the photo streams of these terrific Flickr members. They all seem to belong to actual family members, and are very nice image posts.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
A brief outline of the new features in our favorite vector editing software Adobe Illustrator CS4.
Multiple Art Boards
Transparency in gradients
Gradients exposed
Blob brush tool
RIA and Flash CS4 support
Enhanced GUI...
Separation preview feature
Panel-based editing
Smoother, more polished workflow
Improved direct editing experience
More details about those features, here and a comprehensive review here.
Friday, September 26, 2008
I would like for all of the weekly headers to be animated. It would be great to collaborate with other artists and make some high quality/definition animated Flash loops for the top there... Sort of an animated magazine cover. That would be a ton of work and a full time gig for sure... Maybe one day!?
In the meantime, here is a selection of concept spaceship artwork from the conceptships.org forum.
Nate temple's project cosmos project.
robokat
J6Studios
Alan R Jones
From postrodent
By Zach Wolfe
The best of conceptships.org conceptships weekly header #29 September 26th - October 3rd, 2008
Keywords: a selection of concept spaceship art from the members of the conceptships.org website forum boards posts threads links urls
Birds of a Feather Mosaic Together:
Today I want to share a recent video about a project that my mosaic teacher Katrina Doran, has just completed for the State Fair of Texas. She and her army of mosaic artists have been feverishly working against the clock to get these garden sculptures installed by opening day, which is today! Katrina designed and created 9 flamingo bird forms. She enlisted 6 other artists to mosaic 6 of the bird forms while she knocked out 3 herself. Each artist came up with their own way of approaching their birds and the variety is so fun. Katrina chose the basic color palette and most of the tile that was to be used. Each artist was allowed to add new tile elements to the mix, and so of course the application and design work on each bird was unique. I am so impressed with their work, and I know you guys will love this video. Oh, and before you ask, nope I was not one of the artists involved ... thank goodness, something this big would have killed me. I am so impressed with the discipline these gals must have had in order to reach their deadline with such first rate work. Great Job Ladies!
Some nice japanese manga-style type. Really don't know what it means.
1 AI : 1,2 MB
By djmonkeyboy.
Download
A must have. The world famous "Rolling Stones tongue".
1 AI : 200 KB
By vectorstuff.
Download
Note: to use you to decompress the file with WinRar or StuffIt (MacOS)
Thursday, September 25, 2008
"Adobe released details Monday about Creative Suite 4, its first update to more than a dozen design and editing tools since Adobe CS3 some 17 months ago.
The costs of the applications, set to reach consumers in October, haven't changed since CS3, but remain hefty. Should longtime users upgrade?" Read Full review
See more of Bjorn's work at borkurart.
Keywords: concept spaceship art from by lead artist illustrator at ccp whitewolf iceland Bjorn Borkur Eriksson
A beautiful simple tree with roots.
1 AI : 1,8 MB
By unknown.
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Samuel L. Jackson in "Pulp Fiction". Really cool szene ... plus the logo.
1 AI : 1,6 MB
By vectorstuff.
Download
A collection of some really mixed icons. Some day you'll need one of'em.
1 AI : 1,2 MB
By Zuma and vectorstuff.
Download
The famous Michael "Air" Jordan emblem and a brushed portrait of his Airness.
1 AI : 1,3 MB
By vectorstuff.
Download
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Hooray! I just spoke with Peach's Mom and she is ecstatic over her proofing set and is having a tough time choosing. The lesson I take away is that it pays to let your clients be a part of the process. The artwork and style might be mine, but the animals are theirs so you have to strive to create something that works with their vision and will honor their memory.
