Happy Holi-Dakes!

Here's the newest cover illustration I did for Happy Holi-Dakes 2014, as well as my design for a new EP from my brother James and me. You can find both of them, musically, at jamesdake.bandcamp.com. Thanks!

 

(Click on the covers to turn up the volume, and dance!)

Meditater-Totter

A state of being: Zen

A state in the USA: North Dakota

A state of matter: Plasma

 (Click the image to light your fire.)

4,000 Year Old Practical Joke

(Click on the image to get that new car smell.)

Super Bowling

For fun, I offered a chance to win a postcard related to the Superbowl. But as a consolation prize for everyone who entered, I created another digital postcard of sorts. Each person was provided a link to a hi-res version for their 'records.' It includes the first-ever fully realized seabronco, a rare creature only spotted in the depths of the deepest, darkest, most magical ocean.

(Click the image to tame the beast.)

Method, Man

I don't do this often, but I thought it would be fun to show some of my work (like 5th grade long division). So here's the process for the latest Happy Holi-Dakes album cover. Summarized and simplified of course. You can download the album for free here: http://jamesdake.bandcamp.com/album/happy-holi-dakes-2013.

 

(Click the image to feel the jingle.)

 

Note: All work done with Wacom Bamboo Capture in Manga Studio 5. GIF made with GIMP.
(1) Rough sketch in black.
(2) Copy sketch layer and change it to blue; increase opacity.
(3) Draw final black line drawing.
(4) Flat color on new layer beneath line drawing, with movement lines on another layer. (6 layers total at this point, with white background layer.)
(5) Background created in two layers: the first with two brushes to create texture, followed by a diagonal gradient from left to right. I changed the colors around until I settled on the pink salmon color.
(6) Time to add glow! The star glows on its own layer with a trail of flashes creating more movement.
(7) Based on the light source of the star, I added highlights and shadows on a new layer, using mostly yellow and purple respectively. This adds much needed depth to the image as you can see in the animated GIF. I repeated this step in the animation to better show the difference.
(8) Added text. (In total, there were 11 layers counting white background.)

Happy Holi-Dakes!

Dearly Beloved

I forgot to post this sooner. This weekend was my brother's wedding, and a while back I created their invitations (minus any text which was added by a calligrapher). It was very much a collaborative process with them giving me a lot of initial magic. I ended up drawing and designing entirely on the computer, making it a lot easier to change colors, hues, saturation, etc. If you think you might like me to design your invites for a special day, feel free to drop me a line. Here is the final design:

 

 Cover

Inside

(Click the image to feel the love.)

Change (Of Scenery)

The following is a wordless comic representing a recent trip north, and possibly a more permanent change of scenery. But, as usual, nothing is certain. I enjoyed creating the palette for each stage, though. And this blog definitely needed a splash of color. Am I right?

(Click on the image to smell that coffee.)

Introducing: Artie the Android

(Click the image for full-blown artificial color.)