Tough Guy Mole

Moles are essentially furry sausages. Making them look tough is a challenge, but that's what our client wanted.

Season's Greetings

A cute elf pinup.

New Buffalo Coasters

Just in- new coasters for New Buffalo Brewing.

History

From a recent project- portraits of some of the people who shaped Buffalo's history.

Queen City Poster, Part Two

Reworked after the director gently suggested that the portrait should actually resemble the star of the film, Vivica Fox.

Rombot

Done in a post-election daze.

Stanley the Albertosaurus

Another goofy critter, this one for the Buffalo Museum of Science.

Coaster Flip Design

Ridiculously simple, instantly addictive, coaster flipping has been a popular pastime in European pubs for years- now it's coming to North America via CoasterFlip.com. Gather some friends, break open a pack of coasters and I can all but guarantee that a raucous good time will ensue.

Where is the Pup?

Organizing the kids' bookshelves during the Conventions resulted in this...

Little Kid, Big Sword

A lunchtime sketch...

Guitar Building

Confession: I may well be the world's slowest guitar builder. The latest project- a Telecaster-profiled hollowbody, has been on the workbench for- well, for a long time. In hopes of nudging myself to speed up the so-far-glacial pace, I'm going public with some in-progress photos.

I start with two slabs of poplar, glued and bar-clamped together.

 Next, I use a router and an MDF template to rough out the body shape...

And then cut out cavities in the body. As you can see, I've adopted a benign neglect policy when it comes to dust collection.

 Now I glue together two 1/4" pieces of maple for the face of the guitar body.

Using every clamp I own, I glue the face to the body.

I never cared for those skewed f-holes on the Fender Thinline Telecasters. I copied the classic f-hole from my National archtop and cut it out of the body using files, drills, sandpaper and X-acto knives.

I use a template to rout out the neck pocket in the body, along with cavities for the electronics.

Next step: adding binding to the body and carving a neck- stay tuned!

Peter DeSeve

Time to catch up on some new additions to the Inkwell Studios library, including this one: "A Sketchy Past- The Art of Peter DeSeve," from Akileos Books. DeSeve has been creating brilliant editorial illustration for years, including New Yorker covers, children's books and theatre posters. More recently, he's been doing concept and character art for animated features. Those creatures from "Ice Age" are his, although I maintain there's more life and personality- more animation-  in DeSeve's loose pencil and watercolor sketches than in the CGI versions on the screen. We saw some of his work on display at the Society of Illustrators in New York. Sublime.

WNYBAC BookFest

Another great event in Buffalo- last Saturday's BookFest at the Western New York Book Arts Center. Inside, there were hands-on demonstrations and workshops- printing, calligraphy, bookbinding- and outside, steamroller printing: images were carved out of four-foot square slabs of mdf, inked, laid in the street, covered in linen and pressed using an honest-to-god steamroller. For more info, check out http://wnybookarts.org/

A Midsummer Night's Draw

A few snapshots from last night's drawing rally at Babeville- "A Midsummer Night's Draw." Artists had 45 minutes to sketch, paint, cut, spray and stencil, under the watchful gaze of curious onlookers and an unforgiving clock. Drawings were then auctioned off to benefit Hallwalls. All artists donated their time and art. A great event!

Irish Classical Theatre Company

It's that time of year again- working on posters for the Irish Classical Theatre Company's 2012-2013 season.

Feed the Hungry Bee

Just for fun...

Plates

A lunchtime sketch.

Full Bleed

A faux paperback cover featuring our fictional alter-ego: Nick Willoughby, freelance illustrator/private eye.

Glennbrook Homes

A recent logo project for the good folks at Glennbrook Homes in Bethesda, Maryland.

District 12

A recent "self-initiated" poster, inspired by The Hunger Games.

Dave Stevens

Thinking of Dave Stevens, who passed away on this day in 2008. A great draftsman, great inker, great painter, and by all accounts, an all-around great guy.

Bubble Girl

Girl With Bubbles.

Jumbo Shrimp

From the "Unchosen" files- a concept for Federal Meat Markets that didn't pass the audition.

Promo

Our homage to the not-quite-loveable robotic sidekick on a local children's TV show, Rocketship 7.

Captain America

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is entitled to its opinion, I suppose, but it says here that the best picture of 2011 was "Captain America."

Callista

Portrait of Callista Gingrich

Figure Study

Michael Doret

Very proud of this new addition to the studio wall: a 3-color silkscreen print by that brilliant designer/fontographer Michael Doret. You can see Michael's work at michaeldoret.com, and you can buy his fonts at michaeldoret.com/AlphabetSoup/soup.html.

Yet Another Cute Pinup

Just for fun...

UB Today

An editorial spot for UB Today- "You Know You're a UB Alumnus When..." you remember your Michelin Man parka and the gale force winds inside the Amherst Campus Spine.