Eric's Illustration Blog...

No Skulls this time....

2011-08-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

I'm no gear head, but I've always wanted to do some car based designs. I finally got to do so this summer, a T-shirt design for the "Cache Valley Cruise-In", a big car show in Utah. The Beach Boys played there this year, which explains the surfin theme. The car itself is a 1936 3 door coupe, brush inked and colored in photoshop. By the way, this is the second ink design I've done since school ended. The other was a design for slash that I'll post later (it's up on the website if you want to take a look).

Notes from the Minister of Propaganda

2011-08-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy year. Breaking the ice online and posting again has been tough, none the less: Here are the Three shirts I've done for Slayer in the past year. A big step up from the first I think.

It's been 2 years of brutal confrontational artwork and a serious desire to draw beautiful and funny things has taken hold. There's a few pieces in the pot right now. I'm convincing myself it's not portfolio work. By calling it personal work I'm hoping to chase off the twin demons of perfectionism and procrastination. In addition I've been going to Sketch night at the Society of Illustrators (note: this is me finally taking advantage of living on Manhattan). There's live drawing, (good) live music, and an open bar. (note: like many good things in NYC, the Society closes down in August)

Anyway here is my year with Slayer. Apocalypse (top one, and my personal favorite) and Altar of Sacrafice (2nd down) are on sale in Europe through the EMP catalog. Invasion is on tour with the band (3rd one). Don't worry, my desire to draw the pretty and humerous doesn't mean I'm softening up. It makes total sense that my first major break was depicting Blood and Guts. I just want my portfolio to make me eligible for work as something other than Satan's Minister of Propaganda.

SLAYER!

2010-12-03T06:27:00.001-08:00

A shout of triumph echoed dramatically through the NYC streets when I learned that Hot Topic had selected my Slayer illustration for nationwide distribution. If you don't get to the mall all that often you can always check it out on their website. There's also a Rush tee that they picked up, but I couldn't find it on their site.

Now it's hard to imagine showing this piece to Bill Maughan, or my in-laws for that matter, but to me this is a big freakin deal!

Memory lane and a personal favorite from the Clinton Era...

2010-11-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Back in 1997 I had the day job and a couple of minor illustration gigs. There was, and still is, a magazine called lollipop that I used to illustrate articles for. Every month I'd make pictures for 2 columns, one was about horror movies, the other about booze.

You can guess which column the Minotaur drinking Malt Liquor is from. For some reason I still love this piece and it sits framed on a shelf in my living room. It's everything cool and everything infuriating about a drawing style that dominated my work for over a decade. Yes the cloud of spirits escaping from the bottle is too busy to make sense, the hatching has no real plan to it, and the anatomy is funky as hell even if it is stylized. Believe it or not Bryce Cook one advised me to throw it away! None the less, great love for it remains, and now share it with You!

Limited Edition Motorhead Poster!!!

2010-10-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Motorhead piece I did back in January has been made into an 11x17 poster! It's available at their web store:
Check it out!
Come on Manar you know you want one!

In Progress... NuLich

2010-10-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

The funny thing is, a year ago I'd consider this finished.
I have a fistful of unfinished pieces and roughs chosen to
bring to a finish as work proceeds on other stuff. Please
give your opinions and advice. I want this one to fulfill all
of it's potential and the old Chestnut St. studios crowd is
about as far removed as they can be in the continental US.

So I have to air my issues on the web, where process is recorded
for posterity. It's not very romantic, kind of kills the magic and
mystery, but it's what we have.

I have a grown up website now!

2010-10-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

It was a long time coming, but the "under construction"
label can finally be removed from my website.

www.ericjohnsonillustration.com

It's not just about presentation, there's also some stuff
that I've never posted on my blog. This includes bandmerch
and two unfinished pieces I've never shared before.
Please check it out and come back often!

After long delay - DD image number 4

2010-08-08T11:37:00.001-07:00

Some dark ritual!
With horror based images I like to depict the moment you walk
into a place and realize you shouldn't be there. There's a split second
between figuring out what you're seeing and the second the monster
sees you!

Number Three....Enter The Unknown

2010-06-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

DevilDriver Tee number three...
This one is my personal favorite.
It's not among the Eurotourtees,
but will probably be used in the States...

It was explained to me that DevilDriver
refers to a bell used in Sicilian Witchcraft
to ward off evil spirits during rituals....

Gary

2010-06-24T14:09:00.001-07:00

DevilDriver Tee#2 Gary...
The art director said
"I'm thinking about someting like a goat
mixed with a bear, holding a knife!"

Play along with me for a second here....

2010-06-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Let's say you're in Vienna tomorrow and you get the desire to hear
some Live METAL! Go to the Szene Wein and you can see DevilDriver.

Last month I did five shirts for these guys, all original paintings,
four of those shirts are being sold on their current European tour.
In August they'll be on the main stage at Ozzfest.

Four of those shirts are on sale with the tour in Europe now.
Now that the tour has started I can share them.
Not all at once of course, I'm gonna milk it.
Here's piece #1.

"Exorcism"

Website down!!!

2010-05-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

So my website is out of order for the moment!
It needed upgrading anyway and definitely a domain name change.
A proper update will take some time, but I'll have something simple
up asap and will post any updates to here for now.

On another subject: I've come to realize the Art Director I've been
working with is right, I'm almost phobic about using color. I love a
restricted palette, but this has gotten absurd. Look at that Minotaur
piece, the Lich, the Talhoffer Deathknights and you'll see a distinct lack
of Chroma.

A change is already coming. It's happening in work I've been producing
for the past few weeks. As soon as it can be posted it will be! For some reason I've been able to take a step forward that just wouldn't occur while working on personal stuff. For me, complete artistic freedom is overrated. Creativity is alot like gasoline, properly contained and concentrated it's explosive, but a puddle of it left on the ground will evaporate in moments. Properly harnessed and given a structure to operate in, it can take you thousands of miles.

That's all for now.

Witchlady of the Spice Planet

2010-04-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Something new...

A quick iconographic piece inspired by Sergio Toppi, and the
David Lynch interpretation of Frank Herbert's classic tome.

Buffalo Minotaur!

2010-04-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

Portfolio building is a constant process...
Gotta love them Minotaurs!

Original Painting for Motorhead.... part 2

2010-04-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

This painting was also produced for Motorhead as a T-shirt design.
The band itself approved the image, which is a huge deal to me!

Too bad both didn't get picked up,
but I love this one and am proud to finally show it off!

Original Painting for Motorhead.... part 1.

2010-04-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

First post in four months! I'm sorry for that. I've been busy designing shirts and other merchandising pieces for bands like Iron Maiden, Them Crooked Vultures, Sebastian Bach, and others, including Motorhead. This is one of two pieces of original art I produced for the band.

This was the piece that didn't get used:

Happy New Year Lich!

2010-01-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

Liches are undead wizards! Unholy bastards that sacrifice their corporeal bodies for untold power! I've been working on a few lately, this is the first to be displayed:

Quicksketch.... Talhoffer Deathnights.

2009-12-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

I've been working on Liches and various undead warriors. Talhoffer's fighting manual was an inspiration for this piece. Even Deathknight's have to practice their chops!

Season's Priorities...

2009-12-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

First of all I'm not dead or anything and I haven't given up on posting. December was an incredibly busy month and some promises, like writing about IlluXcon, have had to fall by the wayside.

So I ask you: Is it better to write post after post about the incredible volume of original artwork, name drop the Dozens of Illustrators and Art Directors I got to meet, or yap about the demos and talks that peppered the convention; Or should one shut up and use the event as a jumping off point for the next body of work?

It's one of those situations where you have to define your priorities. I've prioritized working over discussing work and things are going extremely well. I'll brag a bit about the Music stuff when I confirm what's okay to brag about and post. Right now it's mostly design work, and I've been doing it full time lately. The new pieces are all fantasy oriented monsters, much like the work done in preparation for IlluXcon, which went over very well there.

More to come...

The Past in Prosthetics...

2009-11-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

An illustration for Massdevice for an article about the history, and future of prosthetic arms. They're an online journal for medical technology under development in New England. I'm afraid some of their readers are going to link onto my website and be completely horrified. They wanted a DaVinci-esque flair and we're both happy with the results.

Yes, I realize I haven't posted regarding IlluXcon yet! Indeed it was amazing and I did have a blast. I'll be posting pictures and a little article about what went down soon.... Very soon!

Off to Illuxcon!!!

2009-11-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

Wish me luck! I'm printing up the directions and heading out to Altoona, PA for Illuxcon (an illustration convention). I'm running solo on this mission and hope to make some new contacts, see some amazing work, and pick up some exciting new pro-tips. If any Academy people are there please keep an eye out for me!

Here's some updated versions of those pieces prepared for the event! Of course they can also be seen on My Website, but I want to show off the changes....

My website is live! The kitchen is still open...

2009-11-09T19:13:00.001-08:00

Yes I have a very primitive website up. It ain't pretty YET, but it's the closest thing to an Eric museum that's out there right now! So, just to be clear: The blog is the kitchen and the website is the showroom floor. If you like seeing the nasty bits transform into tasty tasty sausage please visit often! If you prefer a more refined presentation, you might want to stick to the website!

www.ericjohnsonillustration.com

Not a very snappy URL but it's easy to remember.

ChronX redux and Batmonster...

2009-11-03T17:18:00.001-08:00

Wanted to do a relatively simple monster piece....

Here's a W.I.P. of Elder Petition as the monochromatic phase is shaping up!
Both of these are still majorly in progress but want to finish in the next
few days.

Storytime, and portfolio building continued...

2009-10-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

ChronX was my first Illustration client and I produced dozens of pieces for them between 1996 and 2001. It was a Collectible Card Game set in a Dystopian future where the remnants of today's governments fought for the World's remaining resources. The Monastery was a scientific/religious organization that horded information and technology. They were a fun combination of medieval and bio-mechanical imagery. This is a piece called "Elder Petition," it was made a decade ago!

Busy eh! Well now you know why I went back to school!
Anyhow, some of those cards had great ideas, so I'm tapping into those old concepts to produce contemporary reworkings. This is an early draft of the new and improved Elder Petition...

It's not complete by any means, but it is ready to share and get some feedback!

Work in Progress.... Portfolio Building!

2009-10-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

First draft of a little action piece! As always
opinions and suggestions are very welcome!
More to come...

Modifications... 731B in progress

2009-10-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the piece with some modifications. The rifles may get repainted, but combining design elements with traditional illustration is very appealing right now. This is a very new style and a new way of working for me but it feels good. Experimentation is a lot easier outside of school.

Opinions are still very much welcome and this is not necessarily the final version. Many thanks to Mark and Jason for their help! It was tremendously effective and would love to make a habit of using this blog to help the process as much as possible.

Yet more blood n guts....a special case!

2009-10-12T15:58:00.001-07:00

Originally commissioned as another Slayer design, this project was pre-empted by an amazing opportunity to produce work for another project. Honestly, it's one hell of alot better than the first Unit 731 piece, so bringing it to a portfolio level finish is a priority. This is an "in progress" post so share how it's turning out and to solicit opinions about where to go from here...

I want input on this one! Any and all advice is welcome. Originally there were swords coming out the top of the head, but I'm kind of leaning towards this design for now. The neck parts might have tubes running out of them and I was considering turning the Banner shapes into IV bottles filled with some unholy toxins. Of course a part of me just wants to stop here with the schematic look still intact. At this point, this old boy's just for me and my portfolio, so lets pretend we're still in school and have an old school classroom critique...

(Digital color over pencil drawing by the way)

More blood n guts....

2009-10-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

Unit 731 is the second of two T-Shirt designs I created for the one and only Slayer in August. Neither piece was accepted for their current batch of shirts but the two pieces opened the door for music merchandising as a possible career path. The last two months have been very exciting, but it also means I'm working on things I can't post for or even discuss for quite some time....

This is a somewhat modified version of the original piece.
If you don't know about Unit 731 look it up at your own risk!

A zombified version just for kicks....

Quicksketch 09-22-09

2009-09-22T19:16:00.001-07:00

More quick fun...

Quicksketch 09-21-2009

2009-09-21T18:10:00.001-07:00

Keepin' nice and busy these days! Here's a taste!
Brush markers and whiteout pens have become my
favorite sketching tools!

A touch of Evil...

2009-09-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

Oil/Digital mix produced as a possible Slayer T-Shirt.
The piece was not accepted by the band but it's the
beginning of an exciting new trend for me. Recently
I've been doing a lot of work along these lines.

9-15-09

2009-09-15T23:00:00.001-07:00

Another Kzin.... More of an Ortho.
Quick, took about an hour...

Update - Drawing a Day challenge...

2009-09-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for the last month for the best of all possible reasons.
It's funny how doing well for yourself and maintaining an active web
presence isn't so easy. In a pinch life always wins.

My friends Tyler and Bryce have started posting a drawing a day on
their blogs. I was really excited to see what they were doing and
it got me itchy to try out the challenge. Here's my first entry, a
Kzin firing his big ass lazer canon. 100% Digital.

Special thanks to pen pressure opacity jitter
and the Illustration crew of Alameda for all their help!

Skudge Preview, Pencils in Progress...

2009-07-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here's some of my recent pencils. I'm working in a couple of directions at once. The 30's gangster stuff came first. It was the first planned chapter of "Skudge". There are several two inked versions of this piece, I'll post em both. A radical redesign of the character and story has taken place and this page should be considered an "outtake".

The Berserker was one of the original Skudge story lines when scripting began. It was on the deep back burner until this weekend when it exploded into a twenty-page storyline. My excitement for this story is part style based and part story based. Inks are in progress and I'll post the final as soon as possible.

Another quick sketch, a tribute to Ryan Sook and Wednesday comics!

2009-07-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Comics is amazing! The newspaper format weekly adventure comics that DC is putting out for the next few months really got my blood goin! Between this and Dark Horse's resurrection of Creepy I'm hoping and praying that Comic Anthologies come back into style! Brush pens are my new weapon of choice, and reading Ryan Sook's version of Kamandi inspired me to whip them out! It isn't quite fan art and it isn't quite a copy, but it's a very exciting little sketch and I wanted share it!

A bright idea!

2009-07-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Skudge is happening even as I type. "Skudge" is the Webcomic I've been working on. It's a very public experiment, part open brainstorming session, drawing exercise, portfolio builder and style experiment. Originally conceived as "daily comic strip" format with no connection between separate issues. It started transforming almost the second scripting began. The idea is to create a catch all project that will keep me drawing every day, in that respect it's been a tremendous success!

Will Skudge become a weekly feature, or will it become the foundation for several large scale projects? Keep checking in, I'll happily share episodes, progress, and process as the work piles up!

Update, Sketches and a Serious Reccomendation!

2009-07-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

I've been busy lately, haven't posted in a while! Since mid June I've been teaching "Art Experience" classes at the Academy of Art, retooling my drawing style, and working on a larger personal project. I'll post my Webcomic here until I can give it a permanent home. Prieviews and first posts are forthcoming and I'm really excited to get to share it with everyone!

On Saturday July 18th I attended the "Metamorphica" event at the Bus Stop Gallery in San Francisco with my buddy Will. Jason Felix, a supremely accomplished concept artist, gave a talk and the best digital painting demo I've ever witnessed! After his talk and demo there was a sketching session with crazy ass costumed models outfitted by Bad Unkl Sista. They did 5 and 20 minute poses for a few hours. It was great, I'd recommend their events to anyone living in the Bay area that want's to sketch some crazy imaginative shit in a comfortable relaxed setting!

Of course, I hadn't heard of any of these people until I found a flier in the Academy's illustration building. I'd heard of Jason a little from Spectrum, but I didn't quite know what to expect! What I got was a heapin' helpin' of brain food, a great demo, and some genuinely excellent advice from an artist that had previously barely showed up on my mental radar! They even had snacks! It was well worth the price of admission!

Here are some quick sketches from the show!

Rip Wharton....

2009-06-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

This is Rip Wharton III, a character from a project I'm working on!

the orcs of summer '09...

2009-06-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is sort of a tradition for me, I break in new sketchbooks and fend off early summer laziness by drawing a couple of Orcs. These are quick little sketches, but they do the trick every time. I wanted to make them more expressive, so they don't look as mean as in previous years.

2009-05-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

I'm constructing my website and working hard to exploit the momentum built up in the last few weeks of school. Current work includes more comics and a single image portfolio. More work is on the way, and some older work has been added at the very bottom. My goal is to update and post once a week. More work is already on the way so please visit again to check out my progress. In the mean time my portfolio is on permanent display at:
http://ejportfolio.blogspot.com/

Thesis portfolio 1of 2

2009-05-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

Break between these sections...

Thesis portfolio 2 of 2

2009-05-17T16:24:00.001-07:00

Some older work...

2009-05-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

So here are a few older paintings! Of course I love comics, but I feel the need to make traditional work too. These paintings were from when I was learning how to work with oils. More work like this is on my to do list, including an actual professional portfolio. For now please enjoy these.

A little Harvey Dunn influence,
this was a real eureka moment!

A little viking influence....

Welcome...

2009-05-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog, I'll be posting projects in progress as well as completed work here. For now, it's the closest thing I have to a website. The official site is under construction, but in the mean time please check back as I intend to post lots of new work, at least one piece a week. Current projects include more comics, different comics, a single image painting portfolio, and teaching!

Heres a portrait of me as I was, a sampler from my time at the Academy....

Beauty and the Beast. The beast rejected....

Head study from one of those old
Edward Abbey photos. A great way
to practice...

Yeah this one, it's based on "Whiskey in the Jar."
It's older, like two years. Revisiting this project
is way on the back burner but it's something
I want to come back to...

The mighty Stavros prepares for battle.
Love these frames, the rest of the
3 page story is in cold storage.

My friend Manar. Now this is the
technique and style I want to do
with Oils! Stay tuned for more!