Quick still life contour line drawing

Did a bunch of my daily illustration tonight but I wanted to do a quick observational sketch. Pulled this picture of a wrench off line and drew it quick before calling it a night.

End of my Digital Darkroom Class

It is the end of the semester and I wanted to share what I did in my Digital Darkroom class. I am by no means a photographer but this class was pretty fun and gave me a chance to learn Adobe Lightroom. I would have been able to get some better pictures if I had a better camera and not such a hectic schedule but these are what I could come up with, with what I have. Hope you enjoy it :-)

Another Repeat Pattern Swatch

I've been pretty busy lately and haven't had much time to do much of anything extra. For awhile now I have really been wanting to make another repeat pattern swatch in illustrator. I didn't know what kinda pattern I'd make though. But while in my tired and delirious state of mind tonight my new child was babbling and making faces at me and an idea for a new repeat pattern came to me. So I decided I would make this design before going to bed. Hope you like it.

A repeat pattern swatch is basically a pattern that repeats seamlessly with itself and can be used as a fill color.  They are really fun to make. Ill probably make a bunch more in the future. 

My first repeat pattern I posted earlier this year.
http://micahrauch.blogspot.com/2011/08/recent-events.html

The new Sketchy Pencil website

So I remade my sketchypencil website. Was pretty excited about getting it up, although it does have some kinks yet to work out such as the email form not working yet. It feels like a big improvement from the old site. Right now I am looking for input on it, critiques, pointers, or just things to bring to my attention. So feel free to stop by and check it out.

It can be found at
www.sketchypencil.com

Current project

So I had this drawing kinda sorta ruffed out on my table for almost the last half a year and the other night I just decided to pick it up again. Was in the mood to just zone out, listen to music and have fun. Before I knew it it was 3 in the morning. Now hopefully it wont sit there for another half a year before I figure out how Im going to finish it. No real title on it just something I was doing for fun.

Sketch Up

I seen some really cool things done with Sketch Up so I've been playing with it a little bit now and again. The main reason that I am interested in it though is for digital painting. You can use it by making rough models and then moving the camera in any angle you want then save it as a image that you can bring into say photoshop where you can paint over top of it. Or just use it as a cool reference for all those hard angles that might be giving me a tough time imagining how they look. heres a building I made

Deviantart Account

So I haven't been getting my artistic groove on to much lately due to a hectic schedule in life ATM but the other day I did put a bunch of my Daily doodles from my other blog up on my Deviantart account and have been getting quite a few people checking them out. So if your interested in checking out my Deviantart account you can find it at

http://ratula.deviantart.com/


Im looking forward to getting this school year over with and hopefully somehow start consolidating some of my time so I can start working on really growing and developing my art skills as well as trying out a few projects that I have been wanting to do for some time now.

 In other news though I did find a new website that is awesome and if your interested in Digital Painting I would highly recommend checking it out. You can find the site here

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/

Also one of the artist that I have been following lately is

Noah Bradley, Very cool landscapes jealous of his mad skills so go check him out to if you have some time. Hes at.

http://www.noahbradley.com/

Till next time...

Laters

Making Thumbnails

Been learning the power of actions and making thumbnails and a thumbnail library. Did these this morning and was pretty pleased with myself. felt like I came up with some good concepts.

Recent Events

Been pretty crazy here lately with my wife and I having our new baby, getting ready for school to start up again, and Guards Drill stuff. So my drawing has kinda taken a little dip at the moment. Not much new other then Ive been playing a little bit with making repeating pattern swatches in Adobe illustrator. This is one is the first one that ive completed so far. Think ill make some more before moving on to something else.

Package design

This last weekend I woke up and just felt like making something but I didn't know what. But then I remembered this simple but fun idea a friend and I were talking about a month ago or so. He makes jewelry and has the Name "Undead Adornments" so i thought it would be really fun to come up with jewelry boxes shaped like coffins.  And this is what I decided on making. After whipping up some blue prints in adobe illustrator I printed some out and assembled a box. after making some notes i made some adjustments and reprinted another template out. This still isnt my final piece that I want to leave it at though... I would like to find some specialty paper that I can make the outside of the boxes shiny black and the inside a fake red felt paper.

Vector Art finsihed

So here is the finished piece that I have been working on lately. I just wanted to make a nice fun vector art piece that I may sell some prints of. Im not sure the price or size yet but im thinking maybe somewhere between 30-40 dollars for a 13 x 17 piece. so we'll see. I want to see what it looks like all printed out first.

Vector Art

Been working on this Vector art piece. Its not done yet but this is what I have so far. I am thinking of possibly making some prints to sell once its done...so we'll see what comes of this.

quick hands study

this is just a little hand gesture study i did tonight while watching tv.

dangers of art and crafts

So the picture I made the other day I figured I would matte it today and try a few things....one of them being cutting the foam board with a wood burner with a heated blade tip....works really well but in the middle of everything I had a brain fart and grabbed the wood burner with my other hand in order to guide the blade more steadily.....I think I smelled it before I felt it....either way wood burners are hot kids so be careful and aware of all the hot pieces while using them.....luckily it was just the end of my finger...my non drawing hand as well.

 

Here is the piece matted. I apologies for the terrible photography job also :-/

afternoon drawing

Just felt like drawing something so I pulled out some slick paper and some markers and this is what I came up with. kinda a crazy steampunk crew of sorts....just wanted to have fun

Another crack at making Stock Clip art for Online sale site

So I haven't been able to do much lately do to the new addition to the family and the search for another job sorry..... Im afraid I still havent made it as an artist either....one day hopefully I will though....What I have been able to do lately though Is one: slowly try to catch up on my daily drawings and Two: retry entering stock art at Istockphoto. Sad to say though I was rejected for a third time....BUT!!! it was not due to art subject but by the cleanliness of its build....so After tweaking even more I am ready to resubmit again.....in 14 days unfortunately....due to the site rules....lol but here is the pieces that I have made for my entry. This is about all Ive been up to lately... Hopefully Ill have more sometime. Still working on getting the funds to buy the software to record me drawing too.

daily drawing progress

So I am behind on my dailies a little due to end of semester stuff and my wife and I just had our first child!! :-) but I do plan on catching up eventually and pushing on with this little challenge to myself.

I had this feeling like I am not getting to far with my art lately. Slowly though I am beginning to realize that this is just where I am at at the moment and the skills that I wish to one day to obtain will eventually come if I keep pushing on and learning everything I can. Never giving up on my goals that I have set for myself. But I must say that I'm often pretty impatient with my skills none the less lol....anyways heres a contact sheet of all the dailies I have done so far....Must say It was kinda surprising to see how far I have come so far.

If you want a closer look you can check out my daily drawing challenge at

http://rauchmicahdailydrawing.wordpress.com/

New Tools

So I picked up two new markers and some paper the other day for this doxy dash in May that I am suppose to do caricatures at. Ive never used these brand of markers before yesterday but I love them now. Think I'm sticking with these. Very smooth and they have a wide range of line width capabilities. I also picked up this Pen drawing paper. Its very smooth and thick, not as thick as bristle board but almost. Took the two out for a spin and couldn't stop till I filled the hole page :-).

 

out with the old in with the new

I finally completed one of my many sketch books lying around...its a little beet up and worn as you can kinda see on the left... on the right is the first drawing of my new sketchbook I started tonight. The first sketch is always the hardest for me idk why....this is what I started with though.....

Overwhelming Journey

Every now and then I get a little overwhelmed when I look at all the artists I like and how creative their ideas are or how they execute their pieces. And yet on the other hand I get very inspired and I want to make more things and get better. I've herd that artist take years to develop their skills and talents and that it should be a fun wonderful learning experience. Today is one of those days though where I made it to the top of a hill and before I could jump with joy at my accomplishment I notice the mountain range ahead of me and sink. Like my dad always said though just gotta keep going one foot in front of the other....

Been slow lately

So I havent had much time to do anything extra lately Ive been working on getting caught up on my daily drawings which if you didnt know about them you should go check them out here

http://rauchmicahdailydrawing.wordpress.com/

Im working on my portfolio class too which by the end I should have my new site up at


http://sketchypencil.com/

Summer is coming up though and Im hoping that Ill be able to start making some things then...

first attempt at homemade screen printing.....

so I uploaded the digital version earlier this semester but the last few days I have been making paper cuts of the different colors so that I could make stencils....so then I "screen printed" it on the paper......this probably wont be the last one....Think I might try different colors...and go the extra mile and make my own paper for the final one that is suppose to go into my portfolio....O ya for the black line I cheated....I threw it through the printer once I had painted the colored layers and had let them dry.... :-)

The Stencils

Finished...well still needs some tweeks before the last one

Flash Banner Advertisement

Here is the Flash Banner I made for our first project in my Flash Class.  Didnt really know the best way to upload it to show it....so I exported it as an Animated GIF You have to click on it to see the animation....



Click picture to see animation....

New Business Cards for My Graphic Design and Illustrations

Finding it hard to come up with the colors I want but I'm becoming fond of these ones. This card will need some tweaks but for the most part this is it. 

winter in eastern montana

My wife and I are visiting family in eastern Montana....If you haven't been there before let me tell you that it is very cold in winter....and its very flat...it has gotten down to -70 degrees at my parents farm with the wind chill in past winters. I decided to get the cam out and take a few 180 degree shots and shop them a little to give you an idea of the beauty and the coldness of eastern Montana's winters.

View from my parents mail box

View on top of Fort Peck Dam looking out over the frozen Lake

View of Fort Peck's Spillway

More books :-)

Went to drill this weekend and got a new sketchbook which can be seen in the center :-) aaannnddd went to Barnes and Nobles and found these awsome books...These two books are all the storys about 1000 pages a piece and only 20$!!! I had a hard time picking too because not only did they have these two but they had Arabian Nights, Alice and Wonder land, Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Sherlock Homes, The Grim Tales, and a handful of other great series. All Hard Back with amazing covers and all only 20 bucks a piece....So if you ever need an idea of what to get me for a present any of these would be awesome. *wink wink* lol

Work Area

I rearranged my work area and took some picks and put them together. I like the layout of the room better now :-) need more shelves for my work space though :-( need more time to read my books to.......lol

(CLICK PICTURE TO SEE A BIGGER VERSION)

Portfolio class

Im taking a digital portfolio class this semester and the first thing we did was a wild card project where we basically just got to pick what we wanted to do and work on it with the intent that it had to be good enough to go in our portfolio. I did this kinda retro Ghostbusters poster. I want to get it screen printed on some thick heavy grained paper but it due next week and the screen printer hasnt gotten back to me yet so Ill probably have to get it printed and then get it screen printed before the end of the semester when we have the portfolio revue.

CS5!!!

I know I havent posted much lately but hopefully Ill start posting some more stuff here. I've been busy with school and everything else. Anyways though I finally got my student edition of Adobe Creative Suite 5 (design premium)   :-) makes me very happy. CS5 has a loooooott of new tools that I've been dieing to have and use. If you ever get the chance to upgrade Id say it worth it.  O and another thing I started another blogg....yes I know what your thinking...."why another blog if you cant keep up with this one half the time" well this other blogg is a daily doodle blog so I am posting a daily draw of a scene or scenario that a friend of mine comes up with. Its been pretty fun and some good things have come out of it so far. Here it is you should go check it out :-)

http://rauchmicahdailydrawing.wordpress.com/

Artist Head Ache

I did this doodle in a sketch book the other day and then decided to redraw it today. I really need to work on my anatomy and what not but I kinda like it none the less. This little cartoon is not meant to make fun of anyone but instead voices a fear of drawing people that luckily I have never had to deal with so far. The fear is that of a person who is unwilling to except themselves thinking they are something they are not and then asking to be drawn only to get mad because you didnt draw what they think they look like. Anyways hope you like it and find it humorous.