Robert Downey Caricature

Here's a caricature drawing of actor Robert Downey Jr. A video showing the process (sprinkled with some inspiration) can be found below...


"As iron sharpens iron,
   so one person sharpens another." -Proverbs 27:17

Eric (ET) Thomas Caricature

Just finished a caricature drawing of Eric Thomas. If you don't know who he is you are missing one dynamic, motivational speaker.


Check out the full tutorial and finished caricature at my new blog.

First Video!

First video shoot for you all. Comments encouraged!

I'm Growing In!

Here's a quick post about the growth I've gone through in the past years. I've always loved caricatures and remember my first ever caricature drawn of myself. It was then I became infatuated with the art and wanted to give that same feeling to as many people as possible. While surfing through FB photos of friends I came across a picture I had drawn approximately 10 years ago. I don't remember drawing the picture, but I definitely recognize my "younger" style of drawing. So I decided to draw him again and compare. Below you will see my good friend Bobby Brown III.

As you can see there is a world of difference (and growth) between the two drawings above. Though I have not drawn consistently through the last 10 years I have never given up on myself. No matter how long I left the pencil down, it seems like after a while it would start calling me to draw again. I am so glad I never gave up because the picture above alone is worth the process. The thing is the picture above doesn't fully represent my total growth. I have also acquired the skill of digital painting. Using a Wacom Tablet and Photoshop I have been taught how to paint digitally which gives my drawings a lot more life and dimension. This is illustrated below:

Above is just a quick value study to give the drawing depth. One day I look forward to finishing this painting in full color. Until then, I hope this post has been inspirational proof enough to show you what a continual, intentional effort at becoming better can yield. If I could sum this post up into a few encouraging words they would be "Do anything but stop". The day you stop trying is the day you stop growing. So keep going and keep growing!

"A worker's appetite works for him,
For his hunger urges him on. " -Proverbs 16:26

Artspiration - 3 Reasons You NEED To Start NOW

Have you ever had a great idea or a burning desire to do something that you knew in your heart would be successful? I bet the answer is Yes. Think about when the idea or desire became “real” and think about how long it took you to act on it. For regular folks, unfortunately, the timeline is infinity. Meaning they had good intentions but never followed through. They let the idea live a full life in their head but never gave it a dwelling place in the physical world. It seemed so real, so easy to do until it was necessary for the idea to breath the same air you do.

The truth is ACTION is the bridge between the mental and physical realm. Those who lack action are no better than those who remain ridden for the day. They are walking dreamers, or better yet walking zombies. They don’t look like it, but they are dying more and more everyday due to their inability to execute on their thoughts or desires. They start going through life in the same, boring patterns and habits without much thought or yearning for anything outside of their norm. To them I say “Get busy living, or get busy dying”!

Action is so simple but yet so hard for some. It requires us to test our thoughts and to face the reality of our ideas may not be as good as we thought. On the other hand action may prove our ideas where actually great ideas and catapult us into more action which maybe you weren’t prepared for. Nevertheless, action is still required if we have any intention on ever acquiring that in which we dream about. In my experience both personal and professional I have found 3 keys to help:

1. NOW is the only known time. Life can change so quickly and unexpectedly that NOW is the only time we know with certainty. Finances, jobs, schedules, and more all change with time. More importantly YOUR MIND CHANGES! It’s better to act while it’s fresh on your mind than relying on you to remember later.
2. Procrastination is a habit. Just as you can establish good habits over time, the same goes for bad habits. The worse part about bad habits is they effect every area of your life. So if you procrastinate on your ideas, you will definitely procrastinate in other areas of your life as well. Remember “how you do anything is how you do everything”.
3. Life is too short. This one cannot be anymore self explanatory. You simply don’t have time to waste just “thinking” about what you want to do, or wish you could do. It’s arrogant at best to walk through life as though you will always have time later. In addition, how dare you continue to put your hopes and dreams on hold with the intent to “do it later”. Dreams are meant to be lived NOW not placed on hold for the future.

I hope this list helps you to start acting on your ideas and desires NOW. One of my personal pet peeves are people who are so on fire with ideas, but bear absolutely no fruit from them. They have it all figured out mentally, but have nothing to show for it physically. I encourage you all to not just be mere sayers, but doers of what you believe and desire.

As always comments are welcome as well as any additional tips that can help us act on our ideas quickly and effectively.

New Posts Coming Today!!!

My apologies for treating this blog like a step child. I have been extremely busy with some new ventures lately and have barely had any time to pick up a pencil (or pen). If you've been following my FB page you've seen some of my more recent work. If not I will post some of my more interesting caricatures here tonight. I would like to say THANK YOU for all the support I've received from everyone thus far. From emails, to business opportunities, to Google Reader subscribers, etd. I appreciate each and every one of you. I have something coming up in the near future to show this appreciation and as always guess the price....FREE! If you can wait I WILL deliver. Until tonight my friends..

***UPDATE***

As promised here are a couple more recent caricatures I drew on facebook. Those of you who are fans of my fb page know that I recently hit the 50 mark with faces drawn. So I decided to start adding a little more to the drawings for my next 50. Below you will see this addition. Enjoy...

" ⁶ Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
they will be remembered forever.
⁷ They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. " -Psalms 112:6-7

Michael Vick

Caricature drawing of one the greatest football players of all time. Not just cause of his God-given talent but for the way he has overcome what would have taken the average athlete out. Not only did he overcome but exceeded ALL expectations and had an incredible year! I wish Mike Vick nothing but the best in the future and hope he eventually wins that good Super Bowl ring. My prayer is that he continue to stay humble and focused on God as he rebuilds his character, image, and faith.

On a personal note, it is amazing at the backlash he received for his acts towards animals. Not that he wasn't wrong, but I can name numerous HUMAN injustices that have not got half the negative publicity these animals got. I guess depending on who the offender is a animal's life can be viewed higher than a human. Wow. Also, it bothers me when people make the comment "I don't know if he's changed yet", or "I haven't forgiven him fully for what he's done". Quick answer....WHO CARES?!! Forgiveness is not yours to withhold. For all the secret mess people have stored in their closets no one is in any place to not forgive anybody. Only difference is his was exposed to the world while yours remains hidden. But guess what, God will still forgive you just as he has forgiven Vick. At the end of the day, that's all that matters. Keep ya head up Vick!

"Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.”
Wait for the Lord to handle the matter." -Proverbs 20:22

Baron Davis

My boy's back!!! Here is a caricature drawing of one of the best point guards in the game (when healthy). He's been playing amazing lately and I hope he can remain healthy for the remainder of this season and career. With Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon by his side I'm actually pulling for the Clippers to make the playoffs. Maybe they can do what Oklahoma did last year.

"The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich,
and he adds no sorrow with it." -Proverbs 10:22

Denzel Washington How-to

Figured I'd show a bit of insight on how I achieve my finished drawings. My process has changed over time but I think I've finally set in on something that works for me. So here we go....



First is a pencil sketch of the subject (in this case Denzel Washington of course). I use a 2H lead pencil for this stage. My paper of preference is regular 8.5x11 printer paper. Sketching with most of my shoulder and NOT my wrist. This helps me identify the shapes of his face. Also I move all over the place. I don't focus on one portion of his face until I have established an overall likeness. After a likeness is established I do a bit of shading with the pencil to give it some form.


This is the final pencils stage. As you can see I have added shading (and cross hatching) to establish different planes of the face and give it some volume. In the past I have been guilty of just cross hatching for the sake of it. Just for the "sketch" look. As I've grown as an artist I've realized the futility of such efforts. For this stage I use two different mechanical pencils. A .9mm HB lead for the overall line work and shading, and a .5mm HB lead for the details and tight areas.
This stage is usually where I stop if I'm posting to my FB page. What I have done here is scanned the final pencils drawing, isolated the line work in Photoshop, and gave a color tone to the pencil work. This is a bit more appealing to look at than regular grayscale sketches. Although sometimes I do prefer the original white and gray look.


This final stage is a quick addition of highlights is helpful to set up the drawing for painting. I'm not sure when, but I do plan on doing a digital painting of this one. These highlights are added in Photoshop on a separate layer using the default round brush with the flow and opacity dropped down a bit. Also I'm using a graphics tablet for all my digital painting work. Would be nearly impossible to do this kind of work without one.

Well that's all for now. Hope this was helpful to. Happy New Year!

"1 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11