An Angel's Halloween

I took this sketch out of my book and added some color in Photoshop. I'm ready to see the costumes tonight. Let's see what the creative moms dreamed up this year.

Who's Walking Who?

Around the Spear household, we are learning to be the pack leader. Some days are better than others. Our new dog-let's just call her a puppy-is still trying to make her mark.

Walking the dog has been a trip because we discovered she is terrified of vehicles. We have also discovered she likes to plant her feet. Cesar Millan may not be happy with us. I need to watch the Dog Whisperer again.

Toddler Trick or Treat

I did this illustration in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
Here is the sketch page I took it from. I was wondering about some unusual Halloween scenes. The boy in the pumpkin costume came to mind because of the infant costumes you see now. I remember my nephew having one. The poor kid looked like a pumpkin had swallowed him. It's fun when the parents are still enjoying the holiday while the child is too young to have a clue what's going on.
I scanned the page then focused on the toddler. I did the finished brush work in Photoshop.

Next, I placed the Photoshop file in Illustrator and finished the color. I could have all been done in Photoshop, but it is so much easier using the color palettes in Illustrator.

Trick or Treat or Trunk N Treat

A few weeks ago, I drew an illustration for a church event. If you live near Anderson, Indiana, and you are looking for a safe place to trick-or-treat, our church will have a Trunk n Treat this Wednesday night. It will be at Madison Park Church of God.

This was one of those few times where I didn't start with a sketch in my book. When I thought of a trunk filled with candy, I wondered what it would look like if one had a giant jack -o- lantern.

I drew the original rough in Photoshop. I use a 8"X 6"Wacom Intuos 3 Tablet. Here was the first rough.I made this layers transparent and polished up the sketch.

Next, I hid the gray, rough layer and opened the finished drawing in Adobe Illustrator. I used Live Trace to convert the Photoshop file into an Illustrator Vector file. Then I used Live Paint to color the illustration.

Napping in the rain

My wife and I are on vacation while our kids man the fort. They'll be so happy when they find out it's raining in Florida today!

I did a quick sketch of my wife while she slept. My intent was to get the quick pose and not to focus on detail. This is pencil and blending stump in my sketchbook.

Illustration Friday: Open

Open wide and say, "Ar-r-r-r-r-r!"

When the word, "Open," was announced, I started thumbing through a previous sketchbook.

Where did this ideal come from? Perhaps it was "Talk Like a Pirate" day. Or maybe Sponge Bob was on while I was brushing my teeth. Who knows. All I know is don't count on a pint-sized pirate for your dental hygiene.

Illustration: I love a parade

Last Friday, there was a Homecoming parade in our town. I spotted these two girls ready for the fun. They had plastic grocery bags to collect any candy thrown from the floats. As the band came into view you could just feel their tension. They wanted the rest of the parade to come by so they could collect their treasure.

I'm guessing they will get all the candy eaten just in time for Halloween.