It's Gotta be the Shoes

They're changing Wonder Woman's Costume? Are you kidding me?

From this

To this

Okay. Okay. So it's not all bad. But what's with the shoes? honestly. They look like they were made especially for people who don't know how to draw feet well. I mean look at those things. They have to be the clunkiest looking wedges i've ever seen. I'd comment about the early 90's jean jacket and body suit, but I don't have the energy for such a rant.

Yeah... somehow I don't think this costume change is gonna last.

INKT4

Testing the pen with some sloppy caligraphy

INKT3

Drawing on the subway.

Illustration Friday: Satellite

After last weeks time killer Paisley Illustrations, I sort of let this one slide a bit...

The Flies. I read this play in college. It's Sartre's version of Electra Story (girl who tries to kill her mother). When Electra and Orestes enter the town of their mother, the place is filled with mourning townspeople covered in flies. The swarms of flies are used to represent guilt and shame remaining from wrongs left unresolved. That image of flies hovering around the townspeople seems to be etched in my mind.

Does this work for describing the word Satellite? I hope so. Thanks for the challenge, Illustration Friday.

INKT2

Throwing out another page of my INKT book

Illustration Friday: Paisley

"Paisley" turns out to be a fairly difficult word to illustrate. Especially if you want to add a narrative to the drawing. And if you add on another challenge – using a Greek Myth theme– it becomes are even more tough. A few things came to mind, but the one that seemed to fit the best was the Apple of the Hesperides. I hope that the paisley helps to make it look a bit more... magical. but i'm not quite sure i pulled this one off as well as i would've liked. But heck, the reason for doing Illustration Friday is really more about experimentation than beautiful drawings, right?

What defines Creativity?

I feel like I've had this conversation many times before. A bunch of us artists will be sitting at a bar or a party or a conference or something, questioning the finer aspects of art (What exactly is art? What is creativity? What's the difference between being inspired by a work and stealing it?) when the outcast of the group will say, "Why are we wasting our time talking about this stuff? Do you thing plumbers and steal workers sit around talking about the essence of plumbing?" Then, hopefully the rest of the group will ignore the comment and continue to dissect the finer points of the creative spirit.

That being said, It looks like these builders figured out a way of embodying my thoughts about Creativity: Do the best you can do with what you got.

You Know How People Are, You Tell 'em Something, They Start Talking

Guess what I just watched tonight?
God Bless the Brooklyn Public Library. They have the craziest selection of movies at their local branches.  The BPL is my own public Netflix.

The girl in this movie, Linda, is amazing.  She steals the movie away from Sam Shepard and Richard Gere.  If I could find a stripped down version of the film that's comprised solely of her voice overs, I would watch that thing everyday.

POGO X DISNEY

Pogo is some dude from Perth, Australia.  He like to dismantle Disney movies and turn them into groove-tech. I first started following his stuff when he mishmashed Alice in Wonderland into a few really good songs.  He does an amazing job of cutting up english into rhythms of nonsense. Here's his latest cut-up: Toy Story

Illustration Friday: Ripple

Keeping with the theme, here's another Illustration Friday submission referencing a Greek Myth from Ovid.  This one is the story of Narcissus.  He stared into his reflection, captivated by his own visage. Lacking any other desire than to gaze at his own beauty, he refused to leave the side of the pond for days and weeks. Poor guy, withered away to nothing.

  Kind of reminds you of a modern day VideoGame Player who dies at their desk while playing Marathon stints of WOW, doesn't it.

The Word for this week's Challenge is: RIPPLE

Background info about the host of the World Cup

The Glorious "World Class City" of the future has a few problems.  Check out this amazing interview with the mayor.  Don't worry, it's pretty short.  and Hillarious.

Illustration Friday:Trail

Did you ever hear about what happened when Apollo let his bastard son drive the Chariot of the Sun across the skies?  Trouble.  That's what happened.  A trail of Destruction.  

  I have always liked Greek myth, especially Ovid's Metamorphoses.  For years I've been saying that I should draw some of the stories, I just never have.  Illustration Friday seemed like it would be the perfect chance to do so....when it fits....

  I decided on a looser coloring approach.  Most of the coloring comes from the initial sketch.  Then I went in later, after I'd finished the line drawing, and cleaned up some of the colors.

Hope you like it.

Dr. Octagon!

Continuing in my talent for drawing Octopi, here's the latest addition to the Portfolio.
This graphic was surprisingly fast to make. I was really impressed with how it turned out. It's always nice when the client likes your first sketch. They only wanted me to add some stuff to the bottom, which turned out to be an excellent suggestion. Thanks a lot, People of Exact Science.

i just got a box of these shirts in the mail the other day. The Printing was amazing. Really awesome work.

My Clients Rock!

  I was listening to an Illustration related Podcast the other day (what else am I supposed to do while I'm drawing) and I someone was complaining quite vehemently about their clients.  That's when I realized my good fortune.

  So I'd just like to say: My Clients Rock! They're the Best! Christian, Rob, Matt, Brad, Andrew, Sheree, and all of the rest of you who don't like to be named.  Keep being Awesome.

Thanks for allowing me to draw for a living.

INKT1

A few months ago I received a Black Sketchbook from a friend of mine. Now, I think I have about 20 or 30 sketchbooks already, and almost all of them are about 40% full. No matter how small they are, somehow I can never get to the last page of any of them. What's the deal with that?????
So, when I got this new one, I decided that I would make a mission out of finishing it at soon as possible. I wasn't going to concern myself with how well every sketch was done, just so long as the book was finished. On top of that, I added another rule. I would use the same pen for the whole book. My pen of choice: a Pentel Brush Pen. -i would like to them, but i can't find them online.

anyways..... without further ado, Here's the meager beginning page of the sketchbook. Look for better pages coming soon.

Illustration Friday:Slither

I can't say that it's the best work I've ever done.... but It's something. I've been thinking a lot about coloring and mood lately. So this time I chose to do some intentionally ugly colors. (I never get the chance on paying gigs) My idea for SLITHER was to try to capture that gross feeling of something wiggling around next to you, sort of like that Fear factor show.
Anyways. Here's my little Illustration Friday Experiment. I can't wait for next week.

Covered Blog

Super Adventure Comic, originally uploaded by Stephen Halker.

A while ago, I became really fascinated with Octopi. I started drawing them after Matt Tapia at Fu Manchu asked me to do an Octopus and Carp design for him. Now I've done quite a few. They are really fun! Anyways.... I wanted to keep on with the trend, so i did this drawing for CoveredBlog. Its a more intense version of Super Adventure Comic #43. You can find the original cover here. I love Covered blog. it's one of my favorite blogs. Some of the entries are sooooo far removed from the original cover it BLOWS YOUR MIND! I can't wait to do another one. thanks a lot Covered.

Drummer wanted for Weddings and Bar Mitzvahs

I had to post this video before Rob beat me to the Punch. I can't say I'm the biggest ZZ top fan, but I could watch this band play their covers for hours.