Matt's Sketch Pad

Electrocute

2012-02-21T12:57:00.001-06:00

This is my first attempt using a new software called SumoPaint. Great potential for this program and I look forward to what else I can create with it.

----------------------------------
Artist Notes - Done in Sumo Paint. It is a free App for the Chrome Browser. It is found in the Chrome Marketplace. There is a downloadable offline version available for purchase.

The Accuser

2012-02-21T12:54:00.000-06:00

This is a color version of an illustration I'm doing for an international study tool. The accuser stands pointing at our sin, but Christ stands in and defends, in fact, pardoning us from our sins.

Presidents Day 2012

2012-02-20T22:12:00.000-06:00

In honor of Presidents' Day 2012, I'm posting a couple illustrations I did for Angie's preschool class to color tomorrow. The versions I did for her are in Black and White, but I colored them for the blog. Below are two great presidents, President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln.

------------------------------------------
Artist Notes - Both illustrations done in CorelDraw X5 on a Windows 7 Dell Laptop.

Ichthus - Fish Symbol

2012-01-25T23:49:00.000-06:00

Here's a promo that I did for our church here in Tulsa. It is for a five week study in Luke. I actually preached one of the sermons in the series and it can be found at Highland Park Christian Church's website at http://hp4christ.org/#/media/sermons. You can launch the sermon player and find my sermon on January 22, 2012.

Artist Notes - I created the fish and background on my Android Tablet using Sketchbook Mobile Pro. Then I exported it as a PSD file which I opened on my computer in CorelDraw X5. I added the text in CorelDraw.

Face Sketch

2012-01-11T19:39:00.000-06:00

This was a quick sketch I did on my Xoom Tablet.

November 2011 Turkey

2011-11-21T22:42:00.001-06:00

Gobble gobble gobble. Here's another Thanksgiving themed November sketch.

Artist Notes - Done in Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom.

Character Design of Moses for Children's Curriculum

2011-11-11T18:08:00.001-06:00

Here's a character design for Moses at various stages of his life that I did for an International Children's Curriculum I am working on.

Artist Notes - Done with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lbs, 100 brightness)

More Curriculum Coloring Pages

2011-11-02T22:09:00.000-05:00

Here's more coloring pages that I have done for an upcoming curriculum package. These are from the life of Abraham. The first one is God telling Abraham the promise of descendants. The second is the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah. The third one is Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael away.

Birds of a Feather

2011-11-02T22:05:00.000-05:00

Birds I sketched.

November 2011 - Day 02 - Samoset

2011-11-02T21:04:00.000-05:00

Day 02 - Samoset.

Artist Notes - Done completely in CorelDraw X5 on a Windows 7 Dell Laptop.

Curriculum Coloring Pages

2011-11-02T15:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a few coloring pages that I have created for an upcoming curriculum project. The first one is of Cain and Abel. The following two are for Noah, his family, the animals and the Ark.

November 2011 - Day 01 - Hello Pilgrim

2011-11-01T18:30:00.000-05:00

Day 01 - Hello Pilgrim.

So, after over double the traffic on my Sketch blog for October, I thought I might continue doing some daily drawings/sketches. Let's see how long this thing goes. Here's the first a simple pilgrim's hat and gun in a flat illustration style.

Artist Notes - Done completely in CorelDraw X5 on my Windows 7 Dell Laptop.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 31 - Jack O

2011-10-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

Day 31 - Jack O.

Here's the pumpkin I carved tonight. Happy Halloween! This year's Monster Madness has come to an end. But that's not all, as Frosty says...I'll come back again some day. Wait.....Frosty? Christmas? Hmmm..... To be continued....

Artist Notes - Carved the pumpkin. Took a picture of it with my Motorola Xoom. Used Sketchbook Mobile Pro to erase everything else that was in the picture. Exported it to DropBox. On my Dell Windows 7 Laptop, I used CorelDraw X5 to fit it to the size I wanted. Added a background and signature. Then topped it off with the words "Happy Halloween" using the font "Dock".

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 30 - Vampire Bat

2011-10-30T23:53:00.000-05:00

Day 30 - Vampire Bat.

It's the penultimate day for monsters in the month of October. I will be closing out this year's October Monster Madness tomorrow. I've been uploading these to my Sketchblog and Facebook. Not sure what the stats on Facebook, but on my blog I've had a considerable increase in foot traffic. On my Sketchblog, the previous four months have had an average of about 500 pageviews per month. This month there has been almost 1,300 visits! Thanks for coming by and checking the sketches out.

Artist Notes - This one was done completely in CorelDraw X5 on my Windows 7 Dell Laptop.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 29 - Frankenstein's Monster

2011-10-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

Day 29 - Frankenstein's Monster.
After a grueling process of science and madness Dr. Frankenstein raises his monstrous creation during a lightning storm. Does his feat of organized chaos work?

Artist Notes - Pencil sketch with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28 lb, 100 brightness). Captured on my Motorola Xoom in sepia mode. Then uploaded on Dropbox for access.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 28 - House Ghost

2011-10-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

Day 28 - House Ghost.

And the house guest that you can't get rid of, the House Ghost!

Artist Notes - This one was a mix of mediums. First the background of the room/house was done in CorelDraw X5 on a Dell Laptop running Windows 7, as well as the picture frame. In Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom I created the man in the portrait and the man in the top hat. The portrait was merely exported as a png and imported into CorelDraw. The man in the top hat was exported as a psd file, which retains the transparency around the edges, then imported into CorelDraw X5. I inserted the man in the portrait into the frame then placed the man in the top hat in front of the scene and made him transparent. I converted it to a bmp and used the image adjustment lab to lower the saturation and made the temperature warmer. This gave the image more of an aged look. And then I exported the whole piece as a png.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 27 - Werewolf

2011-10-27T11:09:00.000-05:00

Day 27 - Werewolf.

This is an image that I thought of yesterday and last night hammered it out fairly quickly. The thought of a werewolf howling in silhouette in front of a full moon was appealing.

Artist Notes - Sketched using Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom tablet. The nice thing about Sketchbook Mobile Pro is that you can create things in layers and then if desired merge those layers together. I originally had the werewolf higher but since it was on a different layer than the moon or night sky, I was able to lower him (and the hilltop) to a point that I thought was more visually pleasing.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 26 - Jack Painting

2011-10-26T19:12:00.001-05:00

Day 26 - Jack the Pumpkin Head painting.

Here's a painting I've been planning on all month and finally got around to doing it. It's a painting of Jack from my book Jack the Pumpkin Head. It's available on Amazon, iTunes and the Barnes & Noble Nookstore.

Artist Notes - This a painting on a black canvas using acrylics.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 25 - Monster Within

2011-10-25T22:59:00.000-05:00

Day 25 - Monster Within.

He sits a docile innocent kitty. What lurks underneath? Behind his large doe eyes and his adorable smile? Could it be a monster within this little one?

Artist Notes - Pencil sketch done with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lbs, 100 brightness). Captured in mono on my Motorola Xoom. Uploaded to Dropbox.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 24 - The Mummy

2011-10-24T22:00:00.000-05:00

Day 24 - The Mummy.

This is one mummy you won't run crying to when you stub your toe!

Artist Notes - Sketched with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lb, 100 brightness). Captured with a monotone filter on my Motorola Xoom tablet. Uploaded to Dropbox and cropped in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 23 - Big Bad Wolf

2011-10-23T22:29:00.000-05:00

Day 23 - Big Bad Wolf.

Off of the old song, "Lil' Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs comes the Big Bad Wolf. "I'm gonna keep my sheep suit on, til I'm sure that you've been shown, that I can be trusted, walking with you alone." That ol' wolf has been menacing Red and the Three Little Pigs for far too long!

Artist Notes - Done in Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom tablet.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 22 - Alien

2011-10-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

Day 22 - Alien.

Here's a quick alien reminiscent of one of the alien races from Star Trek.

Artist Notes - Done in Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 21 - Slither

2011-10-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

Day 21 - Slither.

Here's an eel that you wouldn't want to come across, no matter how colorful it is.

Artist Notes - Sketched completely on my Motorola Xoom in Sketchbook Mobile Pro.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 20 - Abominable Snowman

2011-10-20T18:30:00.000-05:00

Day 20 - Abominable Snowman.

Here's another of my favorite legendary monsters. The Yeti, Arctic Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman. Here's a link to learn more - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeti.

Artist Notes - Pencil sketch done with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lb, 100 brightness). Camera captured onto my Motorola Xoom and uploaded to Dropbox. Then I used Windows Live Photo Gallery for some light editing (crop here, brightening there).

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 19 - Slimey

2011-10-19T23:25:00.001-05:00

Day 19 - Slimey. I just started sketching and this little squirmy guy came out.

Artist Notes - Sketched with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lb, 100 brightness). I used Windows Live Photo Gallery to do some light editing.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 18 - Dragon

2011-10-18T23:00:00.000-05:00

Day 18 - Dragon.

Here's a little dragon that came to my mind yesterday. Sometimes I forget the original image in my mind. So to attempt to retain the image, I took out some paper and sketched a quick image closing my eyes and drawing some of him, so I could remember the first image in my head.

Artist Notes - Original sketch on paper with a 2B Derwent Graphic Pencil. Then captured it onto my Motorola Xoom and used Sketchbook Mobile Pro to trace the image and color it.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 17 - Cyclopsme

2011-10-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

Day 17 - Cyclopsme.

This is a pic of me as a cyclops.

Artist Notes - Done in CorelDraw X5 and Photopaint X5 on a Windows 7 Dell laptop.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 16 - Jekyll and Hyde

2011-10-16T22:00:00.000-05:00

Day 16 - Jekyll and Hyde. As soon as Hyde drinks his cursed potion, he sees his future in the mirror and immediately regrets his impulsion.

Artist Notes - Done completely in CorelDraw X5 on a Windows 7 Dell Laptop.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 15 - Skeleton

2011-10-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

Day 15 - Skeleton. What monster round up would be complete without some kind of skeletal frightful imagery? So, here he is scaring some poor guy out of his wits!

Artist Notes - This sketch was done completely in Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Android Honeycomb enabled Motorola Xoom. I did a quick sketch of the guy and the skeleton on one layer then traced them in other layers. At the end I deleted the layer with the quick sketch. Also, important tip is to save a bunch! I usually save each sketch as a copy several times during my progress. Then uploaded to dropbox for cloud access.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 14 - Big Foot

2011-10-14T14:34:00.001-05:00

Day 14 - Big Foot. He's one of my favorite monsters, which makes it even more peculiar that I hadn't done one yet.

Artist Notes - Created using Sketchbook Mobile Pro on a Android Honeycomb enabled Motorola Xoom tablet.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 13 - Hook Man

2011-10-13T21:00:00.000-05:00

Day 13 is the Urban Legend Hook Man. Everyone's heard the story of the escaped lunatic convict that had a hook for a hand and the couples he would stalk that were out of gas on the side of a lonely highway. Here's the Hook Man himself. Maybe Scooby and the gang could catch him.

Artist Notes - Pencil sketch done with a 2B Graphic Derwent pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lb, 100 brightness).

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 12 - Lizardo

2011-10-12T18:36:00.001-05:00

Monster 12. Okay, here is a "flat" image of a lizard-like monster named Lizardo.

Artist Notes - Done completely in CorelDraw X5 on a Windows 7 Dell Laptop.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 11 - Gremlin

2011-10-11T23:33:00.002-05:00

Growing up there were two kinds of Gremlins (besides the model of car, that is). There was a one you didn't feed after midnight in the movies and there was the one that was immortalized in cartoons. That gremlin came from WW2 airplane mechanics. If something weird went wrong with a plane, they blamed it on invisible creatures called Gremlins. Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of the original creators of the cartoon Gremlin. In fact, there were discussions with Disney into making the cartoon gremlins into a feature film during the early years of Disney Animated Movies. Alas, this is one of the shelved Disney projects.

Here is a photorealistic version of what a gremlin might look like if they were real. Don't look at this before going to bed!

Artist Notes - I used a photo I found off the internet for the face and added a nose, fangs and bottom jaw of a bear. I used CorelDraw X5 and Corel PhotoPaint X5 to combine the photo elements and add color.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 10 - Cyclops

2011-10-10T21:27:00.001-05:00

Monster 10 is a Cyclops.

Artist Notes - I started this with a BW pencil sketch. Then I captured it onto my Motorola Xoom. Then I used Sketchbook Mobile Pro to trace it and color it.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 09 - OU Players

2011-10-09T00:39:00.000-05:00

Monster #9 is an OU football player, because to a Texas player they are monsters! This is in honor of OU's 55-17 win over Texas yesterday in football, simultaneously making my day and moving the Sooners one step closer to the National Championship.

---------------------------------------------------
Artist Notes - This sketch was done with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper. Then captured onto my Android Honeycomb powered Motorola Xoom tablet. Then uploaded to Dropbox.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 08 - Who's the Dummy?

2011-10-08T23:29:00.001-05:00

Here's Monster #8, a simple ventriloquist dummy. I actually like them, but I know many people that find them creepy. This is for you. In either case, if you walked down the hall and something about two and a half feet tall was peering around the corner at you, then you'd probably pass out. Especially if you thought you were the only one in the house.

"Where's Bobby?"

-------------------------------------------------------
Artist Notes - This was sketched with a 2B Graphic Derwent pencil onto Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lb, 100 brightness). Then captured onto my Android Honeycomb powered Motorola Xoom tablet and uploaded to dropbox.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 07 - Mermaid/Siren

2011-10-07T17:01:00.000-05:00

Monster #07 the Mermaid/Siren. From the depths of the oceans, seaman feared this creature most than any other. The beautiful dreaded siren with a call to men that could not be rejected. Here is my interpretation of one.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Artist Notes - Sketched with a 2B Derwent Graphic Pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper (28lb, 100 brightness). Then colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. After that, scanned onto my Dell Windows 7 laptop and prepped for upload in CorelDraw X5. I also added the fangs and claws in CorelDraw. Below is a list of the Prismacolors I used:

Mermaid:
Metallic Gold
Rose
Black
Peach
Light Peach
Goldenrod
Light Aqua
Dark Brown

Mermaid's Tail:
Metallic Gold
Light Aqua
True Blue
Chartreuse

Water:
Ultramarine
Light Aqua
True Blue
White

Sky:
Light Cerulean Blue
True Blue

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 06 - Son of Frankenstein

2011-10-06T19:32:00.001-05:00

Didn't know what this one was going to be at the beginning. I kind of threw him together. Come to think of it, Dr. Frankenstein probably didn't know what his "creature" was going to be either! So here he is in all his gory detail, the Son of Frankenstein, otherwise known as Francis.

Artist Notes - This monster was created completely in CorelDraw X5 on a Windows 7 Dell Laptop.

October Monster Madness - Day 05 - Snakes Alive

2011-10-05T22:47:00.001-05:00

This is the entry for day five. I call it Snakes Alive. I wonder what's in that belly of his? Click it to see the full size.

Artist Notes - Pencil Sketch on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper with a 2B Derwent Graphic pencil from England.

Jonathan Project logos

2011-10-05T14:05:00.000-05:00

For a few weeks I have been working on a logo for Jonathan Project, which is a missions initiative for training people in the least reached areas of the world. Here are a few of the logos variations.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 04 - Old Drac

2011-10-04T20:44:00.005-05:00

And day four brings an aging classic monster, Dracula.

Artist notes - This was a pencil sketch then captured onto my Xoom tablet and inked and colored in Sketchbook Mobile Pro.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 03 - Hairy

2011-10-03T19:34:00.003-05:00

Here's the monster for day three.

Artist notes - done completely on my Xoom tablet with Sketchbook Mobile Pro.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 02 - Snooglesnort

2011-10-02T23:18:00.003-05:00

Today's monster addition is something I call a Snooglesnort.

Artist Notes - Completely done on my Motorola Xoom android powered tablet. I used Sketchbook Mobile Pro and exported it as a PNG.

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 01 - Jack the Pumpkinhead

2011-10-01T18:31:00.001-05:00

I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but in 2008 I took on a personal challenge that for the month of October I would draw a different monster sketch every day and upload it. I've decided to do that again this year. Last time I used mainly one method, which was sketch it, scan it, covert it in CorelDraw, color it and finish it. This year, I hope to utilize a variety of methods - tablet sketch, black and white pencil sketch, CorelDraw, painted, maybe clay - we'll see what I end up with.

To kick things off, here is my first one for October. He's the main character of a children's book I wrote and illustrated called Jack the Pumpkinhead and you can get it at www.lulu.com/mcrosser.

Artist Notes - Done as a pencil sketch in a Dentist Office waiting room - maybe a dentist could be one of my monsters, hmm. Then I scanned it onto my Xoom tablet and traced it and colored it in Sketchbook Mobile Pro.

A Study of New Orleans

2011-09-07T17:50:00.000-05:00

I read recently, where Disney artists like Glen Keane, draw hundreds of drawings before they land on the character or design they want. I'm preparing some layout designs for an article on mission work in New Orleans and here are some of what I intend to be dozens, if not hundreds, of drawings in prep for that.

It's a simple figure blowing Jazz on a trumpet done in different styles.

The first one is the original pencil sketch --

The next one is just a simple silhouette --

Taking the silhouette to the next level, I placed it on a blue background --

Then I took the original sketch and imported onto my Xoom tablet where I colorized it using Sketchbook Mobile Pro --

------------------------------------------------------------
Artist Notes - Original sketch done with Derwent Graphic 2B pencil on Hammermill Color Copy Digital paper that is 28lb weight and 100 brightness. The silhouettes were done in CorelDraw X5 on a Windows 7 laptop. The colorized version was done on a Honeycomb enabled Motorola Xoom tablet.

Unleashed for the Unreached Manual Artwork

2011-09-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

These are some illustrations I did for the book compilation and rebranding I have done recently. I created this little guy and I ended up being really happy with his simple design.

Artist Notes - Done completely in CorelDraw X5 on a Windows 7 Dell Inspiron.

A Boy and His Shadow

2011-09-01T20:36:00.000-05:00

What does a boy do when he is dressed like a pirate and shadows are boucing around the room? He lets his imagination run away with him of course! Here's a quick sketch I did this evening from an idea that popped into my head while working today. I couldn't wait to finish working so I could sketch this out. I was going to ink it, but the pencil starting looking real good and I haven't really sketched something like this in awhile. So here it is. What do you think?

Artist notes - Sketch done on Hammermill Paper Color Copy Digital, 100 brightness/28 lb with a Kimberly 2B pencil.

October Monster Madness 2011?

2011-08-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

So back in 2008, I did a series of illustrations throughout October called, October Monster Madness. It was part fun, part challenge. It can be hard drawing different types of monsters, coloring them and doing it every day! It takes discipline. I'm thinking of doing it again. We'll see. Here's a link to the 2008 series, http://mattsketchpad.blogspot.com/search/label/October%20Monster%20Madness%202008. And here is one of my favorite new monsters I've drawn.

Practice Drawing Women 2

2011-08-16T01:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some more sketches of women, as I practice drawing the fairer sex for the new international children's curriculum. These are two I did tonight.

Space the Final Frontier

2011-08-12T01:20:00.001-05:00

I was inspired after receiving a new book of drawings. It has a very gritty feel on top of space and mixed with ducks! Here are a couple drawings I did after leafing through this new book.The first one was inspired by the first car I bought, my 1986 Pontiac Firebird.

Deep Dreaming

2011-08-10T15:16:00.001-05:00

Often I don't remember my dreams, but when I do they are crazy! The other night, I had been drawing right before I went to bed and I guess it carried over into my dreams. In my dreams, I drew a spider character who was a ninja! I awoke and told myself I had to remember it. Later that day I drew the following characters, one from my dreams and the other based on them.

Practice Drawing Women

2011-07-29T15:16:00.001-05:00

Since there are many women featured in the curriculum I am currently illustrating, I thought it would be a good idea to practice drawing women. For some reason, women are one of the more difficult subjects that I find to draw. So practice is always good.

In one of the recent illustrations I had to draw a woman crying. If you want to depress your day, type "woman crying" into a google image search. I did that so I could practice drawing a few of them. Sheesh, how sad.

Here is the final drawing I did of Hagar being sent away while crying.

Tough Questions Sermon Series Posters

2011-07-29T13:50:00.001-05:00

I just finished some posters for a new sermon series at our church called "Tough Questions". The sermon team wanted to have some inspiritional phrases or challenging questions hanging around the auditorium. Here are four of them.

Drawing Curriculum Illustrations

2011-07-27T10:10:00.006-05:00

Here is some work I am doing for an international curriculum. I normally use my drawing desk, but sometimes I like to mix it up.

Father Abraham Had Many Faces....Huh?

2011-07-25T17:26:00.000-05:00

Spoofing the old Children's Church song, Father Abraham in my title, I am referencing one of the latest character designs I have done for an international children's curriculum. For three separate illustrations I have to draw Abraham. The twist is that each illustration is at a different stage in ol' Abe's life. So, not only did I have to do a character design for Abraham, but I had to do it at three different ages. Here you can see the pencil sketch of Abraham when he was an adult, older adult and an elderly man.

Artist Notes - sketch done with a Kimberly Graphite Drawing pencil 2B on Hammermill 28lb 100 brightness Color Copy Digital paper.

Inspired by Rango

2011-07-22T10:19:00.000-05:00

So, I finally got around to watching the animated western movie called Rango. Rango is populated with possums, squirrels, rabbits, etc. The main character is a lizard! So, while hanging around the hospital with my brother I drew a western snake.

Artist notes - This sketch was done in Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom tablet running Android Honeycomb 3.2. I used a stylus and my finger, but mainly the stylus.

Captain America Inspiration

2011-07-20T15:28:00.000-05:00

This weekend the new Captain America movie comes out. I find inspiration for creating art from toys, comics and animation. One of my favorite comic book heroes is Captain America. Wearing red, white and blue also displays his intense patriotism, which I also admire, like a true soldier. So far, the previews for the movie have been amazing and I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Here's a photo of some of the Cap toys on my shelf.

Happy Fourth of July Firecracker sketch

2011-07-03T01:44:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the Fourth of July, I made this firecracker getting ready to go off. Since, I love the Fourth so much, I think I may do some more sketches.

Artist Notes - done in Sketchbook Mobile Pro on an Android powered Motorola Xoom with version 3.1 of Honeycomb.

Little Girl Outside sketch

2011-07-03T01:39:00.000-05:00

Here's a tablet sketch I did over several days recently. Using Sketchbook Mobile Pro I made everything in layers. For this sketch I discovered that you could merge layers in this really cool app for the Xoom Android Tablet. So now, I can go in and export out just the wall for instance and use it somewhere else, since I made it a different layer. I am hoping to do more ministry projects with it as I learn more. I used it for several illustrations that I did for the Jump VBS curriculum I developed.

Coloring Pages for New Curriculum

2011-06-21T16:21:00.000-05:00

Here's the first couple finished coloring pages for a new curriculum that I am contributing toward. Can you spot the difference in versions one and two of Lesson One's coloring page?

Artist Notes - First hand sketched with 2B Kimberly pencils, then overlaid on my light table for inking. For the inking I used Faber Castell pitt artist pen Medium. Afterward, I scanned the inked sketch into the computer where I imported it into CorelDraw for tracing and final clean-up. Then I exported them as PNG files to be used in the new curriculum.

Coloring Page Sketchwork for New Curriculum

2011-06-21T16:14:00.000-05:00

Here's a serpent for the garden of Eden that I thought turned out pretty good. This is for some coloring sheets I am making for a new curriculum I am contributing toward.

Artist Notes - This was a handdrawn sketch using Kimberly 2B pencils and Hammermill Color Copy Digital Paper 28lb 100 brightness.

Healthy Lungs

2011-06-21T16:09:00.000-05:00

These are your lungs are clean air.

Artist Notes - Created using Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom Tablet running Android Honeycomb 3.1.

Quackers the Duck

2011-06-21T16:06:00.000-05:00

This duck doesn't go for logic, he's Quackers!

Artist Notes - This was created using Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom Tablet running Android Honeycomb 3.1.

Roger Roys and His Trusty Steed Pistol

2011-06-21T16:02:00.000-05:00

Here's a new character I created called Roger Roys. He's a singin, yodelin, grass chewin, son of the ol West. And don't forget his trusty steed, Pistol!

Artist Notes - Created using Sketchbook Mobile Pro on my Motorola Xoom Tablet running Android Honeycomb 3.1.

The First Print of My New Curriculum Arrived

2011-06-07T16:16:00.000-05:00

Today via fedex two copies of my new 154 page Jump VBS curriculum in print arrived. You can check my other post with more photos by clicking the following link. http://crosserslife.blogspot.com/2011/06/first-print-of-my-new-curriculum.html

Duck in Cave - Sketchbook Mobile Pro

2011-06-02T01:25:00.000-05:00

I think that this illustration is the best attempt at doing something with my tablet that looks closest to my naturally preferential artstyle. It gives me great excitement about what I will be able to do with it in the future. I have some drawing assignments coming up and I am tempted to to go solely on the tablet.

I think one of the things that I like about drawing on the tablet is that it is so forgiving. I mean it looks like ink, but if I draw a mistake and I can simply undo it and try again. And I can easily color and shade my drawings. There are some drawbacks and differences to drawing digitally, but I think I am ok with most of the trade-offs.

Swirling Color - Sketchbook Mobile Pro

2011-06-02T01:15:00.000-05:00

Another in my quest to see what I can do with my tablet. I have already used art that I have produced on it in ministry and hope to see even more pieces made with it. Below is a very abstract color swirl. Something you might see on the wall at an arthouse maybe.

Blue Bird in Tree - Sketchbook Mobile Pro

2011-06-02T01:11:00.000-05:00

This is a sketch I did on my tablet about three weeks ago and I finally got around to coloring it. For both the sketch and coloring I used Sketchbook Mobile Pro. I think I was thinking of twitter a little when it comes to the blue coloring.

Lightning Bug

2011-06-01T00:33:00.001-05:00

This evening we saw a lightning bug in our backyard. It was the first of this year. I think that is the true sign of beginning if summer. Here's a sketch I did of it after I had the inspiration from seeing it.

Jump VBS Museum Art

2011-05-31T23:35:00.001-05:00

Here's some art that I made for one of the VBS stories that is the new Jump VBS that I designed. The story was written by my cousin, Ivy Bradford. The story is about a Museum of Missions and the artifacts all have a story. Check them out below.

Hitler Sketch

2011-05-31T23:14:00.000-05:00

Watched the movie The King's Speech and saw some images of Hitler yelling at his troops. I started thinking about the Disney proproganda cartoons in the forties and I thought I would give it a shot.

JUMP VBS - Opening Session Backgrounds

2011-05-21T16:42:00.000-05:00

For Dr. Y and his Science Team, I have written five daily skits to use in the opening sessions of JUMP VBS. In the curriculum material I am including the following illustrated examples of backgrounds to create. These would need to be large and on stage behind the actors.

JUMP VBS Illustrations

2011-05-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

I'm on the final end of putting together the JUMP VBS curriculum. Here's a few illustrations that are going in the book.

Art notes: I didn't use any pencils on these. I just drew them straight away with an ink pen. Specifically, I used a combination of the following three pens:
Faber-Castell - PITT artist pen - Medium
Uni-Ball - EYE - waterproof/fadeproof - Micro
Bic - Mark It permanent marker - Fine point

Piehole Pizzeria - Sketch Book Pro

2011-05-19T00:31:00.000-05:00

While I was waiting for my order at a great little restaurant in Tulsa, called Piehole Pizzeria, I sketched a pizza design. I did this on my Xoom Tablet using Sketch Book Pro.

Turtle - Sketch Book Pro

2011-05-19T00:27:00.000-05:00

Here's a turtle I made on my Xoom Tablet with Sketch Book Pro.

Little Monster

2011-05-16T01:09:00.001-05:00

Here's a quick sketch I did using Sketchbook pro.

Rascally Raccoon Spotted at Night

2011-05-01T21:43:00.000-05:00

So, since moving into my new office things have gone really well. There is really just one downside. That is, there is a previous occupant. He likes to clown around in the attic space above my desk, scratching himself and crawling around. I've been told by several people now that this occupant is a raccoon.

We've been trying to figure out how he gets in here and I think tonight we have a strong lead. My wife brought me dinner tonight and when she got in the car to head home she spotted Rascally Raccoon on the roof! He was walking along the roof and last she saw made his way over by the chimney. The chimney downstairs is blocked off, but somewhere there must be a way into the attic (nice chimney leakage). Anyway, here is a sketch I did of him on my Motorola Xoom Tablet. I have been wanting to do more with it to figure out the various art uses. This was done in Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile.

Painting - Orange

2011-05-01T18:46:00.001-05:00

Here's a painting I did. It is twelve inches by twelve inches on canvas. I guess I just felt like painting something bright that day. We might hang it in the room that my office is in. The room will be used for other functions, but I think it will fit with the decor.

Art notes - I used an Artist Loft 12X12 medium heavy duty canvas. The brushes I used were 12 round. And the paint I used was acrylic - colors were orange and deep yellow.

My New Office

2011-05-01T18:40:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos I took of my new office space at HPCC. This is where I can work on all the various creative projects that I do for Team Expansion missionaries.

The Creative Writing Process

2011-04-30T18:39:00.000-05:00

So, because I have been doing so much writing lately, I haven't hany images/graphics to post. I did paint a twelve by twelve abstract painting a few days ago that I plan on posting a pic of. I also got moved into my new office space. That is a really cool thing to share, but I haven't had time to do a bunch of extraneous stuff right now.

The reason I have been so swamped is that I am sprinting toward the finish line of JUMP VBS, the mission centric VBS curriculum that I have been developing for Team Expansion. The VBS centers around five stories, which are really monologues. They are the focus of each day's VBS material. I had three other writers that were helping me with these, which is great because they are over six thousand words each. I am doing two of them, so just the stories alone are twelve to thirteen thousand words. Then there is all the other aspects of writing the curriculum; skits, lesson material, etc.

What I have found is that the creative process is different for writing than doing general art. It's difficult to write if you are listening to music with words for example. You either find yourself following the words to the songs, or unknowingly you start typing the lyrics into the middle of your work.

So, I've been trying to find some good instrumental music to have on in the background. I have some good Jazz, or soundtracks that have worked well. Also, made some Pandora stations based on Taio Cruz on Piano and Helen Jane Long (Thanks for those Lane).

I'm starting to wonder if the creative process is really that different though. I remember reading from several sources that Milt Kahl, one of Disney's Nine Old Men (creators of the original classic animated features), wanted complete silence when he was doing animation. The times when I have tried complete silence have been good, whether for drawing or writing.

The problem comes with the fact that in my new office there is a raccoon or something in the attic. When I don't have music on, and its quiet, he gets brave. He really likes the attic spot over my desk. So, I hear him scratching himself or walking around. Hopefully, those traps work soon.

Okay, I'm heading back to Word where I can keep creatively writing. Music or raccoon scratching....it's gotta get down.

Xoom Tablet Sketch

2011-04-17T23:19:00.000-05:00

So, I have a Motorola Xoom tablet and I have been toying with the art features and how it can add to my art ministry. Time will see exactly how I use it, but in the meantime here is my first sketc h with it using a program called Sketchbook Mobile Pro.

JUMP VBS character - Science Kids Team

2011-02-28T15:45:00.001-06:00

(from left to right) Dr. Y, Mattie, Spike and Nick

Here's Dr. Y with his smart team of science kids. They help Doctor Youngenstein do all kinds of research and tests. All three love learning about God and the cool things He created!

JUMP VBS character - Doctor Y

2011-02-28T15:42:00.000-06:00

Here's one of the characters from the new Team Expansion JUMP VBS curriculum that I have been developing. His name is Doctor Youngenstein or Dr. Y for short. He heads up a small science team of kid helpers finding answers to perplexing questions. He loves God and loves science. Dr. Y believes that science supports the existence of God. And he's old and can't see very well.

JUMP VBS character - Cosmo the Globe.

2011-02-28T15:38:00.001-06:00

Here's the main character from the new Team Expansion JUMP VBS curriculum that I have been developing. His name is Cosmo the Globe. He's passionate and loves showing kids where God is working all over the world!

JUMP VBS packet

2011-02-28T15:27:00.000-06:00

I've finally finished a ten page packet for churches interested in Team Expansion's new VBS curriculum. I've mentioned it before, it is called JUMP and contains some new cartoon characters that I created. My next few posts will contain images of them.

As you check them out, remember they are for a great new VBS curriculum that gets kids excited about missions. And best of all....it's FREE! Your missions offering would go toward Team Expansion, but the only other cost to you would be copies of materials to handout, decorations for story rooms, snacks, and other logistical stuff like any VBS would have.

If you are interested in using the new Team Expansion JUMP VBS curriculum, let me know and I can get you and your church a ten page sample packet.

Sketches From My Moleskin While Traveling

2010-11-24T02:22:00.001-06:00

Here are a few scans from my moleskin sketchpad. I use it for writing, drawing, collecting ideas, sermon notes, planning and numerous other things. I have filled three moleskins already and now I am on my fourth. All but the last picture I drew during our trip to Italy. Some inspired by things we saw, others direct from my imagination. The last image (friendly scarecrow) was the initial concept for our church's Fall Fun Fest sign artwork. I hope you enjoy and look forward to your comments!

Fall Fun Fest Scarecrow

2010-10-31T22:57:00.000-05:00

For our annual Fall Fun Fest offered by our church as a community outreach, I was part of the signage team that designed signs for directing traffic. I made a scarecrow to put on each sign. Here he is.

Magazine Artwork - Emerald Hills

2010-09-21T15:49:00.000-05:00

Here's an illustrated version of Emerald Hills in Louisville, Kentucky where our headquarters are located for Team Expansion. I made this using CorelDraw X5 for possible use in our organization's magazing coming out this autumn called, Tell.

Piggyback Curriculum - Exodus Kid's Series - Egyptian Dog

2010-09-10T19:03:00.000-05:00

Here is another design from our Exodus Kid's series that we're working on. I had fun with this one! I had the reference photo in one of my books on the Egyptian life called, The Hidden Life Of Ancient Egypt.

Magazine Artwork - Revolution

2010-09-10T13:10:00.000-05:00

Here's some initial graphics for an article in the magazine for Team Expansion that I mentioned in my previous post. This article is about needing a revolution in worldwide missions by the church. Not sure what the final product will look like, but these are my initial attempts.

Magazine Artwork - Expulsion

2010-09-10T11:58:00.000-05:00

I have been working on a few possible magazine article illustrations for one Team Expansion publications. It's called the TELL and will be out before the National Missionary Convention. Here's a couple versions of the first article I worked on, with a larger version of the more final look. The article will go on two pages and the text will be in the black space. The title will go in the arm/hand silhouette.

The article is of somber content. It is about the reality of missionaries when "kicked out" or expelled from a country. What is the church's responsibility when they return to the states? How do we care for them? How do we minister to them?

I actually used inspiration from an unlikely source. During WWII, the major cartoon studios in America made their own propaganda films. This included Disney in a short called, "Education for Death - The Making of the Nazi". I had seen them before and remembered the use of the silhouette and thought it fitting. Above you can see a snapshot from the aforementioned short. You can find it on Youtube, if you really want to see it.

Rainy, Warm and Drowsy

2010-09-09T00:51:00.000-05:00

This is a illustration I did as a result of a challenge from a friend. His challenge was "rainy, warm and drowsy" in reference to today's weather in Tulsa. The rain is obviously from the cloud, yet implicitly coming from the cloud's tears. The warm comes from the music that is playing which is prompting the tears. The drowsy is the sleepy melody that is playing as the rain drip drops on the ground.

Art notes: made in CorelDraw X5. I designed the cloud from scratch and used a reference photo to create the violin. The background is a photo I took of a cloudy day in Ancona, Italy from our old balcony.

Student Ministry Logo

2010-08-19T16:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a new logo I made in my free time for a friend who is a Student Minister. I took the word Reinvent (which he came up with) and used two different fonts for. The front four letters are one font, and the back four letters are another. That makes the word itself show the idea of reinventing or transforming.

Piggyback Curriculum - Exodus Kid's Series - Egyptian Woman

2010-08-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

Here is another pic in the initial creative process of creating the new Exodus curriculum. This is a try at a generic egyptian woman. I didn't want the egyptian princess that we might first think of (ie Cleopatra, etc...), but went for a more normal average egyptian in her surroundings. To do this, I have to do much study, biblical and historical. Questions, I have to ask include: What kind of dress did they wear? What color fabrics did they have? Was there a rich, poor and middle class or just rich and poor? How did having the Jews as slaves impact the economic stature of the egyptians? What materials did they make their pots out of? Lamps out of oil, candles or what exactly?

Some might think that I just throw a drawing together, but I put much more into it than that. What do you think of this and the other concept art?

Piggyback Curriculum - Exodus Kid's Series - Egyptian Man

2010-08-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

Here's another image from the new Exodus Curriculum series that I am working on. I was very happy with how this egyptian man turned out. I will be working on several "characters" that will be throughout the Exodus series, such as Moses (baby to old man), Aaron (young to old), Pharaoh, generic Israetite man and woman, as well as generic Egyptian man and woman.

Piggyback Curriculum - Exodus Kid's Series

2010-08-04T17:17:00.000-05:00

So, I just posted a picture of a camel that I made for the latest kids' curriculum that I am working on, Exodus. It is going to be the first curriculum under the umbrella of Piggyback Curriculum. I chose the name Piggyback Curriculum for several reasons. First, we want this curriculum to "piggyback" onto whatever Team Expansion missionaries, churches and parents are already doing in teaching their kids. Second, the idea of giving someone a piggyback ride, would be us giving a lift or boost to those same people and groups. It's the idea of helping each other, help each other. Does that make sense? Well, here is a potential cover for the Exodus Curriculum pack which will include, weekly lessons (that will be made available to translate into any language that our missionaries are using), worksheets, color sheets, activities and some videos.

Camel Work for Exodus Curriculum

2010-08-04T17:06:00.002-05:00

Here's my first camel for the new curriculum series I'm working on.

Here's the reference photo that I used in making the camel.

Working on a new curriculum package for Team Expansion missionaries to use. This will be a study of the book of Exodus. Here is the first images from the new study. As usual, I used CorelDraw, now on version 15. Not sure how many weeks the study will include. That is one of the details that I have to hammer out. As a general rule, I do at least one per chapter, and then add in additional weeks when a chapter is packed. Probably for instance, each of the plagues will get their own study, even if there are multiple in a chapter. Our church has been studying Exodus and it has given me many ideas to think about that could be used in a kids' curriculum.

Caricature for Newsletter - Doug Lucas

2010-07-21T02:27:00.001-05:00

As we send out monthly newsletters, we include a note from the president of Team Expansion, Doug Lucas. He shares from a big picture perspective about missions as a whole within our organization. Since I had just reformated our entire newsletter design, I thought it only fitting that I "reformat" the image that I used for Doug's note. See the original pic and the new stylized caricature to fit in with the rest of our newsletter design.

You can see the whole newsletter design and read it too if you want at http://bit.ly/crossersnews201007. We hope you enjoy it!

Girl Sock Monkey

2010-07-07T18:30:00.000-05:00

So, here's another attempt at a sock monkey. This time I went more modern with bright girly colors. I made this one for my niece Taylor.

Matt's Sketch Pad

Electrocute

The Accuser

Presidents Day 2012

Ichthus - Fish Symbol

Face Sketch

November 2011 Turkey

Character Design of Moses for Children's Curriculum

More Curriculum Coloring Pages

Birds of a Feather

November 2011 - Day 02 - Samoset

Curriculum Coloring Pages

November 2011 - Day 01 - Hello Pilgrim

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 31 - Jack O

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 30 - Vampire Bat

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 29 - Frankenstein's Monster

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 28 - House Ghost

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 27 - Werewolf

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 26 - Jack Painting

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 25 - Monster Within

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 24 - The Mummy

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 23 - Big Bad Wolf

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 22 - Alien

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 21 - Slither

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 20 - Abominable Snowman

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 19 - Slimey

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 18 - Dragon

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 17 - Cyclopsme

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 16 - Jekyll and Hyde

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 15 - Skeleton

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 14 - Big Foot

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 13 - Hook Man

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 12 - Lizardo

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 11 - Gremlin

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 10 - Cyclops

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 09 - OU Players

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 08 - Who's the Dummy?

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 07 - Mermaid/Siren

More NOLA Article Art

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 06 - Son of Frankenstein

October Monster Madness - Day 05 - Snakes Alive

Jonathan Project logos

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 04 - Old Drac

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 03 - Hairy

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 02 - Snooglesnort

October Monster Madness 2011 - Day 01 - Jack the Pumpkinhead

A Study of New Orleans

Unleashed for the Unreached Manual Artwork

A Boy and His Shadow

October Monster Madness 2011?

Practice Drawing Women 2

Space the Final Frontier

Deep Dreaming

Practice Drawing Women

Tough Questions Sermon Series Posters

Drawing Curriculum Illustrations

Father Abraham Had Many Faces....Huh?

Inspired by Rango

Captain America Inspiration

Happy Fourth of July Firecracker sketch

Little Girl Outside sketch

Coloring Pages for New Curriculum

Coloring Page Sketchwork for New Curriculum

Healthy Lungs

Quackers the Duck

Roger Roys and His Trusty Steed Pistol

The First Print of My New Curriculum Arrived

Duck in Cave - Sketchbook Mobile Pro

Swirling Color - Sketchbook Mobile Pro

Blue Bird in Tree - Sketchbook Mobile Pro

Lightning Bug

Jump VBS Museum Art

Hitler Sketch

JUMP VBS - Opening Session Backgrounds

JUMP VBS Illustrations

Piehole Pizzeria - Sketch Book Pro

Turtle - Sketch Book Pro

Little Monster

Rascally Raccoon Spotted at Night

Painting - Orange