the reviews are in

Contra Magazine showcased a few of my illustrations this week on their stylish blog brimming with modern, new indy flavor, and a slick sliding slideshow presentation. Check these kids out.

SMITHY thoughtfully reviewed my illustrations this week, as well, on their blog "about thoughts, ideas, songs, and stories, picture and words, that flow through Smith."

And yes, we have the same last name.

"It has a noir-like quality that could’ve come right out of the pulp fiction haydays of the 30’s and 40’s, but it still feels utterly modern." Read more.

Short Pose: Jono

Drawing quickly from life is where the action is.

During 2 minute life studies, the goal is to capture the emotion, movement and gesture of each pose, with an emphasis on expressive mark making and a lot less on anatomical accuracy.

I often exaggerate the pose while describing it's movement; combining value and line to create the graphic vocabulary used to describe the way shapes lunge, stretch, twist and interlock.

Learning to describe the gesture's movement quickly and holistically keep's one's drawing fresh, and provides a solid basis for a more developed drawing. Without a free flowing gestural sketch, longer poses drawn without regard to the whole, tend to look stale and over studied. It is during the short poses these skills are practiced.












Jono modeled for this short pose session at The Life Drawing Workshop, open to the public at Art Institute, San Diego on Wednesday nights. All skill levels are welcomed.

Colored pencil and graphite stick (6B) on 18 x 24" Strathmore 50lb sketch paper.

Life Drawing - Franzi

Franzi - by Graham Smith.

Franzi did a nice pose for the Life Drawing Workshop last Wednesday.

I drew this reclining pose on 18 x 24, Strathmore 100 lb paper, with colored pencils. It took a little less than hour. It takes forever to build values with a small pencil, so I sharpen a whole bunch of them before I start.

Franzi detail - Graham Smith

Virtual CEO's

Matt Mullenweg founded Automattic in 2005 to administer his wildly popular WordPress blogging platform. Read, "How a Virtual Company Communicates" in this months INC. Magazine.

Creative Director, Blake Taylor commissioned these 4 illustrated portraits of Virtual CEO's, for the April issue of INC. Magazine. Working with a seasoned pro like Blake was a pleasure I'd repeat any time.

I illustrate these portraits at about 8 x 10 inches, even though they reproduce much smaller. I draw the entire head, shoulders and neckline, in blue pencil, ink them, then crop them mercilessly. The trick is to make sure the fine lines, and the light blue under drawing, are not too thin, as they may fall apart once printed.

Typically, the photo references are all very different styles and sizes. Art Directors often call me in to provide a consistent look based on these non-matching photos. To maintain consistency in a series of drawings, I standardize the size, use the same pen nib and brush, and try to maintain the same level of detail on each portrait.

Kevin Hale of Wufoo fame on developing a system for tracking performance. Read his interview "How to Manage Your Virtual Employees" by Max Chafkin, in INC. Magazine.

Graham Hill founded TreeHugger in 2003 as a blog about all things green. Read "Why my Company is Virtual" in this month's INC. Magazine.

Mike Sappington, CEO of gloStream, has had to recall virtual workers to the office. Read his advice "When to go Unvirtual" by Max Chafkin, in this months INC. Magazine.