Pirates are cool

Pirates are just plain fun to paint. I was shooting purposefully for a cool pallet with this guy. It was done 100% in Photoshop. Not for anything in particular.

A Pug

A few months ago I was hired to do some cover art for a story with a pug in it. I did the sketch and sent it in. I was excited to paint a pug just because I think they are so weird looking. But, then they changed the dog in the story to a wiener dog and I never got the chance to paint the pug. So . . . I decided to see try out a new brush I made in Photoshop and couldn't help but paint this guy and his pearly whites.

Nobodies

This is a cover I did for Harpercollins a early last year. It's actually the second book in a sereis by N.E. Bode.

It was a fun job. I really enjoy working with the people there at Harper.

Enjoy!

Study

Here is a quick study. Most of my work is quite saturated with color, but on this I tried to stay more neutral.

The Big House

A few months ago I did this cover for The Big House, a young reader's novel. It was a fun assignment. Below is my sketch I initially sent in.

Brandon Dorman Award

This week's award goes to Trevor Brown. This piece, more than the others has a "finished" quality. Though done in the computer, it is consistent.

Congratulations!

Some Sketches

Just a page from my sketchbook. I felt Like it has been a while since I've posted anything.

Also, This last Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to have lunch with Virgina Duncan and Steve Geck from Greenwillow Books. They were up in Seattle for the ALA conference and invited my wife, son and I to come and meet with them. It was really a treat. I have been working with them on my first 32 page picture book called The Wizard, written by Jack Prelutsky. It will be coming out this fall.

--Brandon

Scott E Franson's Digital Illustration Class

This week in Scott E Franson's Digital Illustration class I have choosen David Theriault's "80's" illustraiton to receive the Brandon Dorman Award. Here it is below.

Not much to tell

Not much to tell here. Just a small sample I whipped up.
I am a little nervous about showing it though. Back in school one of my teachers always told us that the kind of work you get is what you show. So I guess I better plan on getting work with cute little girls in it. Oh, well.

Merry Christmas!

Selfish again

Ok, now I'm back to being selfish and posting one of my own.

Not much to add about this one. It started as a study to see if I could record my painting process, but I still haven't found a way to do it very well, so I just kept working on this here and there. Enjoy!

--Brandon

Scott E Franson

All of my previous posts have been of my own work and I'm feeling like I've been a little too selfish. So, in order to try and redeem myself I wanted to post one of my favorite posters done by the incredible Scott E Franson. He almost exclusively in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Please visit his site at www.ScottEFrandon.com and see all of his amazing work. It is truly inspiring.

--Brandon

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is coming up in a hurry! It will be great this year. My wife and all the ladies in the family are planning a great meal. Myself along with the other guys are looking forward to playing some intense flag football. So, I thought I would post this piece I did for The Friend magazine in the spirit of the holiday.

Thanks!

Today's sketch

Here is a sketch I did today! bye!

Something Simple

This guy is just simple.

TW

Here is a painting that I acctually looked at some reference for. It's based on a B&W photo of Ted Willams. I have a bad habbit of drawing and painting right out of my head and not taking scrap. Anyway, this is not for anything in particular, but just someting simple and fun. Bye!

La La La

More from the Sketchbook!

Study

Here is a Photoshop value study. Umm. . . . . . . . ... ok. That's about it. Thanks!

Brandon

From the Sketchbook

Here is a little something from my sketchbook! Later!

Brandon

Dang it does!

I was playing around one day with Photoshop and came up with this sketch. When I was done I sent it to a friend of mine with the intent of having him draw on it. He didn't want to draw on it, but he pointed out that it looked just like a friend of ours, and I was like, "dang it does!"

Brandon

Blue shawl study

Hello all. Thought I would post another portrait study. This was painted from a photo, and once again done in Photoshop.
In my opinion, I stayed quite neutral compared to most of my illustration work. But I think thats what I like most about this study. Anyway . . take care.

Brandon

Confederate

Here is another study in Photoshop. Most of what I post are studies or personal pieces I work on to try and improve. More finished work is on my site, which by the way is in need of an update.

Brandon

Happy Guy

About a year ago I found this guy and tested my value and oil painting skills. I just think it's cool that he's so happy!

Brandon

Complement

This was an image that just kind of evolved as I went along. It started with the girl's pose and then I just started sketching, and this is what came out.

Brandon

Cookie Break

This was a fun project. Obviously inspired by the Christmas Holiday. You might ask how Santa is supposed to get back up the chimney when there is a fire going? Well . . . I really don't know. I figure that's for Santa to figure out.

Brandon

Some Hair

Here is a simple portrait I've done. I don't know this guy, but I thought he had a cool look to him. I think it would be cool to have hair like this for about a day and then it might get a little old. . . ok maybe two days.

Brandon

The Collector

This was a personal project that stared with doodle in my sketchbook. I love big pointy noses. Maybe it's because my wife tells me I have a big nose and it just comes out subconsciously, . . . .who nose?

Brandon

"Snarky"

I didn't really think about the fact that my last post was of a nice fat cat who probably would like to get his teeth into this little fish.

I painted this for a YA cover. They wanted this guy to look "Snarky". What do you think?

Brandon

My Blue Cat

I wanted to do some experimenting in Photoshop so I went to a folder I had on cats and picked the first one. I thought by making him blue he would be a little more than ordinary, but in the end . . . it's still just a cat.

Brandon

Fablehaven

My first post is an interior for a book I'm working on. It's a very cool story by Brandon Mull. I've done most all my interior work traditionaly, but on this project decided to give it a shot 100% in Photoshop.

Brandon