Brooklyn, NYC

'Brooklyn, NYC' | Daily Drawing #302

More lettering fun with the Apple Pencil/iPad Pro setup. I did a quick sketch of the lettering with a Tombow Dual Brush Pen on paper, then shot a photo of it. I imported the photo into Procreate and did a trace and clean up. Procreate can export layered PSD files, so I sent the file to my Google Drive and pulled into Photoshop on my MacBook Pro, where the final composite with the bridge photograph was made.

Tools:
Apple iPad Pro
Apple Pencil
Procreate for iPad
Tombow Dual Brush Pen

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If You Don't Start, You Will Fail

'If You Don't Start, You Will Fail" | Daily Drawing #301

It’s simple - if the car never leaves the garage, you have zero chance of winning the race.   
Fear and perfectionism stop us from doing the things we want. If you stay frozen in your safe little place, most likely that’s where you’ll be in a year from now. You’re better off trying and falling on your stupid face than just sitting there in a sad pile of wishes. What’s the worst that can happen? You’re back where you started (which is exactly where you are now). But, what if that one thing you keep wishing for...what if even half of it came to pass? You’d be further along and better off than you are right now.

What’s holding YOU back?

Prints and more available at Society6.

Tools:
I used a Tombow Dual Brush Pen for the rough lettering, then scanned the lettering and vector traced in Illustrator.

Tombow Dual Brush Pen
Adobe Illustrator

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Nice Day for a Run

'Nice Day for a Run' | Daily Drawing #300

This is the first stab at an illustration with the Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro, using the Procreate app. I’ve used Procreate in the past, but with mixed success due to the poor choices of styluses available at the time. The Apple Pencil really changes the game. Palm rejection was the main problem for drawing on a tablet, and they’ve solved it. The Pencil itself is sleek, has a nice weight and feels natural in the hand (that’s what she said). I was up and running within 10 minutes out of the box and was able to bang together this quick drawing. 

My complaints so far are minimal: The Pencil itself is a beautiful, almost delicate object - and is perfectly round and rolls right off the desk. A piece of masking tape at the top, like a little flag, solved this problem. Storage is also an issue – there’s no way to clip this to the iPad or the keyboard, and the Pen itself is about 6 ¾” tall, so you can't exactly slide it into your shirt pocket. I’m sure we’ll see third-party solutions soon enough and these concerns aren’t deal breakers.

I’m really impressed so far with the Pencil/iPad Pro and look forward to seeing what I can create.

Tools:
Apple iPad Pro
Apple Pencil
Procreate for iPad

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Try

'Try' | Daily Drawing #299
A quick sketch and a vector. 
(Yes, nerds, I know the quote "Do or do not. There is no try" - but I like the word isolated on its own.)

Tools: Pencil, paper, iPhone 6s Plus, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

Prints and more available at Society 6.
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Procrastinate Soon

'Procrastinate Soon' | Daily Drawing #298
I let this one go until the last minute...

Tools: Zig Wink of Luna Brush Pen, a metallic ink brush marker, which came as part of my monthly Art Snacks shipment.

Cooper Black Sabbath

'Cooper Black Sabbath' | Daily Drawing #297

A hand-drawn typography pun merging the worst typeface with the best band of the 70's.

It was one of those things that were hilarious when it popped into my head, but I'm so tired right now I have no clue.

Start Fresh

'Start Fresh' | Daily Drawing #296

New year, new possibilities, new page on the sketchbook and journal.
The holidays were amazing, but it's great to get back at it (even though today thoroughly kicked my ass from every possible angle).

Tools: Tombow Dual Brush Pen

Wednesday: Day of the Nervous Turkeys

'Wednesday: Day of the Nervous Turkeys' | Daily Drawing #294

Pray for Paris

'Pray for Paris' | Daily Drawing #293

Chase What Excites You

'Chase What Excites You' | Daily Drawing #291

(Unless what excites you is crack, or your boss's daughter. Then no, don't do that.)

Tools: Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pen, Photo via Unsplash

You Can't Have High Standards With Poor Choices

'You Can't Have High Standards With Poor Choices' | Daily Drawing # 291

Tools: Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pen 

An Awkward Morning Beats a Boring Night

'An Awkward Morning Beats a Boring Night' | Daily Drawing #290

Tools: Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pen 

Never Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story

'Never Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story' | Daily Drawing #289
An excellent quote from Mark Twain.

Tools: Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pen 

Hamburger Helper

'Hamburger Helper' | Daily Drawing #288

Day 5, the final day of the 'Meat Week' series.
So many questions came to mind as I drew this:

• What's with the monkey's outfit?
• Why doesn't the monkey just eat the damned burger?
• And why is there no tomato on that sandwich?

Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason to what winds up on the paper. It is what it is.

This series was fun to do. I really didn't plan these out in advance and I can't spend a great deal of time illustrating them. I'd usually start in the morning playing with words and phrases until something would click. If I was lucky, an idea would stick and I'd at least get the concept and the lettering sketched out before starting my day. Then I'd come back to it at night and do the ink and and color, usually posting at around 10pm. I like working with constraints, like a theme (and time), but I starting sweating it out by Wednesday, because I didn't want to post a dud and I certainly wasn't going to bail out on the theme.

I'm working on some ideas for future series, in the meantime I'll be back to posting my usual random themed daily drawings. 

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Tools: Kuretake Bimoji Felt Tip Brush Pen, Wacom Intuos Tablet

Prints and more at Society6.
 

High Steaks!

'High Steaks!' | Daily Drawing #287
(They're so basted...)

Day 4 of the 'Meat Week' series.

Tools: Kuretake Bimoji Felt Tip Brush Pen, Wacom Intuos Tablet

Prints and more at Society6.
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Fear the Wurst

'Fear the Wurst' | Daily Drawing #286
Day 3 of the 'Meat Week' series.

Tools: Kuretake Bimoji Felt Tip Brush Pen, Wacom Intuos Tablet

Prints and more at Society6.
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Hide the Salami

'Hide the Salami' | Daily Drawing #285
Day 2 of the 'Meat Week' series.

Tools: Kuretake Bimoji Felt Tip Brush Pen, Wacom Intuos Tablet

Prints and more at Society6.
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Reality Is For People Who Can't Handle Drugs

'Reality is for people who can't handle drugs.' ~ Laurence J. Peter
Daily Drawing #282

Tools: Kuretake Bimoji Felt Tip Brush Pen

Prints and more available at Society 6.

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Long Live NYC Pizza Rat

'Long Live Pizza Rat' | Daily Drawing #282
The internet was buzzing this week with a video taken in a NYC subway station of a rat carrying a slice of pizza down the stairs.
Let's all hail his 'can-do' spirit and determination.
If you can make it here, Mr. Rat, you can make it anywhere.

TOOLS: Kuretake Bimoji Felt Tip Brush Pen

Buy a print of this design at Society6.

Do What the Others Won't Do

'Do What the Others Won't Do' | Daily Drawing #281
This one started this morning as a quick warmup sketch, but I liked where it was going.
Tools: Kuretake Bimoji Felt Tip Brush Pen (outlines), Sakura Pigma Brush Marker (fills). 

Prints and more at Society6.