New Hire at Belmont, Inc.

Been a while since I've posted anything, but I just finished up this portrait tonight of the most recent hire at Belmont, Inc. and I wanted to share.

Congratulations on your new gig, Lara. I don't know you, but it was a pleasure drawing you.

Pete and His Lady

Portrait for a friend to give to his girlfriend. Goatee omitted by request since she "hates it". Hand drawn from photograph.

Letter "k" type study

If I was forced to battle to the death, and had to chose a single cast iron, 2,592 pt. character from the English alphabet as my weapon, I would choose the letter "k". Grab hold of that ascender and wield like Braveheart.

Thanks to Ryan Portnoy and Seth Nickerson for ganging up on me about this one. Without you guys I'd still be stuck on Caps Lock... Yes that was cheesy, but totally appropriate.

Lil' Andrew, Sis and Dad

Portrait for a friend to give as a Father's Day Present

Letter "J" character study

It's been a little while since my last letter post, so it's good to be back in action with the infamous name lead, the letter "J".

I only want to point out one thing about this character, and it's that with the exception of maaayyybe "U" (when tailed) and "Z", it's the only uppercase character that appears to face left. Mama J says to baby j - "Honey, I don't care what the rest of those kids say to you, just keep on looking the other way. It's what you were born to do." Baby j grows up strong and confident. I wanna pause and give a big shout out to mama Js everywhere. With your help, we can really start to turn things around, and not just on ransom letters either.

Thanks for stopping by. Comment if you feel inclined to do so. "C" is next, but after that I'll need more requests. Don't make me choose on my own people!!

Letter "A" - 1st and 3rd

Another week, another letter. Absolutely loving this project.

"A" is in the spotlight this time around, making it's debut as the first vowel featured in this ongoing study. The thing I really appreciate about this particular letter is it's natural balance. Two pillars relying on each other for support with a horizontal brace for added stability. It's basic structure is an image of strength and one of solid foundation. It also happens to be the first initial of my wonderful wife, Abigail :)

Thanks to Andrew Cohen for participating in my call for requests. I'm still planning on honoring your subsequent "J" and "C" requests as well.

As always, your comments are welcomed and appreciated.

2G

I had so much fun with my letter "R" design study, that I've decided to swing for the fence and explore the entire alphabet. A call for requests was returned first by Gena Romano of Top Shelf Design, kindly asking that I proceed with the letter "G".

"G" is a fun letter to play with because of it's combination of circular and angular geometry. It's foundation can be created simply by placing a square thingy in the bottom right corner of a round thingy, and voila.

But wait, there's more...

The "G" can quickly transform from a rigid shape, to an organic, blossoming seed of consonant goodness, literally. Hold up a bean or seed on it's side so that the little belly button is facing right. Now imagine it sprouted, what do you see? A "G" has grown before your very eyes.

One final observation of this letter I must mention is the various ways it can be composed. Visualize these three scenarios, if you will:

Note: All three involve a horse and a race track from a byrd's eye view.

1. The horse starts off, runs around the track, just as it approaches the finish line, it says "I'm done runnin" and cuts over into the middle of the field to eat some grass. That's a "G"

2. This scenario includes the addition of a final jump that spans the width of the track and beyond, and is set up as they approach the finish line. The horse gets tired, says "I'm done jumpin" and stops just short of the obstacle and pees. That's a "G" too.

3. In the third and final scenario, there's two horses. They're neck and neck coming around the turn, approaching the finish line, but they suddenly stop short. Deciding they had better things to do than run around in circles, they hoof bump, say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. One heads to the infield for a nap the other turns around and walks straight down and out of the arena. A "G" is formed.

I probably won't write quite so much about every letter in the future, but I just felt like sharing some of my observations on this one. Letter forms have life and can be found in almost anything. What do you see?

Please feel free to comment if you feel inclined. All are welcomed and appreciated.

Enjoy.

Letter "R" design study

Hand-drawn type has always held a special place in my heart. I consider it one of, if not, the most powerful of all the tools we have for visual communication. Even with as long as written languages have been in existence, the art of typography continues to evolve. Type design will continue to be revisited, analyzed and improved upon for as long as people are still reading.

Recently a friend of mine, Samantha Warren commented on Twitter regarding her fascination and obsession with the uppercase "R". I decided it would be a fun little exercise to single out that one character and explore some of my own variations. I went ahead and vectorized a small portion of my sketches to see what they'd look like polished up.

Portraits for Jacqui Allan

I recently had the opportunity to draw a few 8"x10" portraits for a good friend of mine from the Brittish Council. She wanted to give visiting members of her family something special for Christmas. It was an honor to work to provide her with these unique gifts. Thanks again Jacqui!