More Goils

Just a quick sketch (as are most of my posts, really) but I wanted to keep posting, putting something up here, in case there's anyone watching.

The first drawing was a study for a commission that I had gotten , it has a nice sultry feel to it, in some ways more than the finished work.

Constructing Homer

So - I'm back to freelance work - and lo and behold a toy industry exec I know asks me "Can you draw Simpson's characters?"

I immediately said "YES" - hoping it was for a job and not for a birthday cake or something. Turns out that a licensee of the Simpson's wanted some concept art for new products and packaging because they were applying to expand their license from the UK and Europe to North America. "YES" I repeated, "I can draw Simpson's characters." We went over the requirements and I went home absolutely thrilled.

In the car on the way home I realized that, despite being a big Simpson's fan with the prerequisite ability to quote from any number of episodes, I have never EVER drawn a Simpson's character. Not a single one. Not a sketch, not a doodle - nothing.

So - I spent about a half hour after getting home digging out some reference and drawing up a Homer, resolving to do it until I could feel secure that I could pull it off.

It took me 6 drawings, all of which I post here. I was pretty pleased and convinced I could deliver.

And then the next day the word came down that they did NOT get the license extension they were seeking - and that was the end of that.

Dammit.

The process of drawing a decent Homer was pretty cool though. Proving to yourself you can do something - even a small thing - that you haven't done before. I thought I did a pretty good job right off the bat. The 1st sketch was clearly off - the proportions of the eyes and mouth, their placements - but the other three faces came out pretty darn good. The 1st full Homer I did I was completely pleased with so I just cleaned it up. (Obviously, had the job gone through, I would have cleaned it up a bit further and inked it so it had the density of line to match the animation - and colors, of course.) The licensee was very pleased also, so I guess that's something...

Ok - I haven't been posting regularly - but I have a ton of drawings to scan...

Well, you know that nice job with all the nice people? Yeah, I got canned from it. And NOT because (apparently) they didn't like my performance (in fact, they have hired me twice since for freelance work) - they canned me because I wouldn't sign this ridiculous non-compete agreement. And it IS ridiculous. I had it looked over by an employment attorney - a good friend of the family - and he told me I would be "an idiot to sign it." And if that wasn't enough emphasis he told me that if I DID sign it, despite his long friendship with my family, he'd ask me to select another attorney for employment matters - THAT is how evil that non-compete was.

I worked for over a decade creating a few museum exhibit projects and such - and I have ownership in them - and the technologies and business processes I created for b oth situations - none of which were in competition to this company (which produces trade show exhibits) and yet the president DEMANDED that I divest myself of any interest I have in my work on 10 years. I refused - and they gave me ONE DAY's notice. One day, for a guy with a family. Nice, huh?

I don't really blame anyone there but the president. It's a shame, because they really could use the creative ability I represent. Doubly a shame because I never got to put my full effort into it because they had me dogged the entire time with discussions and legal wranglings regarding the situation such that I felt I was never 100% on the job - because of this sword dangling over me the whole time.

ANyway... more art soon. Real soon. The first image is an older one - a quick sketch of one of the main characters in a story I've been writing since I was in college (I might have SKETCHED that back in college) and an ad mockup I did for a health food store back in the day.