Dr. Ferretstein, the second wave of character design

Here I have for you the second set of character designs for the Dr. Ferretstein project. 5 more rough sketches of characters whom you shall meet here below. I understand too that the stories about these characters are being written now and as we work together. At a later date I will include links in this blog to any stories that are posted online.

-------

Dr. Ferretstein:

Professor Nikola Ferrestein (a ferret)
Bio: The world renowned inventor of items such as the Dimension-Shifting Autogyro, the Self-Propelled Sidereal Shunt Steam Coach and the Portable Tesseract Carryall is remarkably publicity shy. Little actual fact is known about this genius of our modern world. There are the myths and tall tales that surround him and accounts of his alleged adventures abound from plays and motion pictures to novels and endless ‘exclusive interviews’. He is a Doctor of Xenomorphic Biology and Oscillating Alternative Hyperkinetic Mechanics, but has lower degrees in a variety of disciplines such as Archaeology and Anthropology as well as Architecture and Art Restoration just to name a few.

One of the few facts that is known is that this eccentric recluse has set up shop in the Dallas area. He has his workshop above the store The Gamers Realm, where he supposedly observes the clientele in search of someone worthy of assisting him with his researches.

He has three confirmed associates, but they can shed little light on the rumors that surround him like a fog.

The Heiress:

Rumored to be European royalty, The Heiress has been a fixture around The Professor for years. She handles a great deal of The Professor’s public affairs, including running his latest operation – The Gamers Realm. However, her exact relationship with The Professor is unknown. She is herself an inventor and artist, but is merely a dabbler at this point. She has a university education, but doesn't talk about it even if asked.

She has been involved in a number of incidents associated with The Professor and met The Adventurer during the affair surrounding the Dimension-Shifting Autogyro.

Louis Adams (a raccoon)
Ferretstein's field assistant and head Ferretstein's network of engineers, mechanics, and spies. He is always out in the field either accompanying Ferretstein or doing other research under Ferretstein's orders. He is generally wearing Victorian field khakis and a pith helmet, and tends to have his field pack close by filled with all the essentials for field work.

The Adventurer:

He is a man of action who is rumored to have been covertly employed by a number of the world’s governments to solve particularly troublesome problems. He has led countless expeditions into uncharted territories ranging from the frozen wastelands surrounding the Arctic entrance to Pellucidar to the core of the biomechanical forest of Vulskryer in the South Seas.

As at home in his workshop as he is abroad in the world, The Adventurer often makes use of apparatus of his own design in his undertakings. His Variable Nutating Meson Collimator is his trademark weapon of choice.

It is believed that he encountered The Professor when he was hired to test his Dimension-Shifting Autogyro, leading to one of his more fantastic adventures. The success of that project formed a bond between the two that continues to this day.

Currently, The Adventurer is in semi-retirement assisting The Professor with his latest project and having his less sensitive exploits documented for posterity by The Chronicler.

The Chronicler

An amateur writer and aspiring novelist, he was out in the world gaining ideas for his “great work” when he met up with The Adventurer. He started documenting The Adventurer’s exploits and soon found himself traveling with him. Currently, he continues in that capacity, but has expanded his efforts to include recording some of The Professor’s works for posterity as well as working on an unauthorized biography of the eccentric reclusive genius.

Well, there you have it. Check back in a couple of weeks for the latest on the Dr. Ferretstein project.

Catching up with Dr. Ferretstein

It has been a while since my last post, but in that time I had been working on the Dr. Ferretstein project when I could and overcoming a nasty flu bug. The rough sketches I have shared with you here on this blog were well accepted and I have since created a lot more stuff. But before I share any new rough sketches with you I would like to show you how the finished images turned out for what I have already posted.

Buck Lattimer:




Sir Snuffington:




Farnsworth:





Dr. Honeysweet:






Helene Fischer:





I intend to post again soon with new sketches, so stay tuned!

The Dr. Ferretstein project

Some of you may have already heard that I have been working on a steam punk project of late. It has been going well, and I am ready to share some rough sketches with you. But first I would like to describe the project a little, so here goes.

The folks at The Gamers Realm have kindly asked me to help them with their project they call "Dr. Ferretstein". This involves bringing to life 10 characters in sketch form (3 views of each character), and 3 polished color images. They intend to brand their retail game store with these characters, and I believe use them as inspiration and illustration in stories later on.

So what's the gist of this story line? Basically, it involves animals who speak, wear clothes, and carry themselves as though they are human. Together with their human friends they have adventures and invent all manner of exciting things in a steam punk world.

What's steam punk you ask? Perhaps this will help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

I have had a lot of fun with these sketches so far, and only 5 of the characters have been completed. Please enjoy, and check back later to see the final images I have created for these sketches and later developments in the project.


This is Dr. Thomas Honeysweet, a lemur who is Ferretstein's old college buddy and current rival/nemesis:






This is Sir "Robin" Snuffington, a polar bear who is Dr. Ferretstein's lab assistant:





This is Buck Lattimer, an armadillo who is the pilot of Ferretsteins combat dirigible (and a proud Texan):





This is Miss Helene Fischer, a sugar glider who is a nurse:





This is Farnsworth, a butler who is a blue poison dart frog:

The Prisoner - decoded

In a previous post I suggested a deeper meaning within my painting "The Prisoner ".
I have heard several ideas about what is going on here, some are right some aren't . While I can't know for sure how you will interpret this or any image, I hope that in reading this and reviewing the painting for yourself you may be inspired to look deeper in to works of art ... to tell yourself the story.

What can be seen? Well what can't be seen is another person in the room. He is alone. The work is called "The Prisoner", is this room his prison? Is he reflecting on actually being imprisoned in the past? Is the prison in his mind? Is he a prisoner to an addiction?

We see the man and how he is dressed. He looks like any old fellow we have seen dozens of times down at the local pub. Very clearly he is wearing clothes that are typically American, so he must be American, and he looks to be the right age to have served in either WWII or Korea. A paper at his elbow reads a headline about American Veterans, and this is another clue. Likely it is why he is so pensive. What is he remembering? We can only guess. He stares down into his empty glass that once held what was "hotter than a desert brush fire, colder than a limpet shout", while the liquor bottle points up to another clue about his identity or perhaps what is on his mind. It's the clock with the "Prisoner Of War - Missing In Action" emblem on it. The clock itself sends a dark message about the passage of time, but how deep the meaning may be entirely dependent upon what your relationship is to time and personal loss.

We also see the white walls, and wooden beams behind him. If you look at the texture on the walls, the half circles may begin to look more like wings and the texture like feathers. Notice that there is a white space between them leads up and out of the painting. This is his escape. Is the escape death? I don't know, perhaps. Maybe its not death but symbolic of something abstract that can't be painted in such a realistic scene. Well, hey, at least there is an escape. Right?

I had mentioned earlier that he looks like an average old fella, just down at the local pub for a drink. The lonely figure like so many we have seen, whether its at a pub or a public park. If there is a big "so what" to this painting it is this: that perhaps we should talk to that guy sometime. Hear his story.

Casual conversation may make the all difference for what that "escape" turns out to be.

Fission of Form

Today I wanted to talk about the exhibit I have a piece in called: Fission of Form. It is still showing at Panza Gallery until October 31st.

Here are some dates to remember:

September 5th thru October 31st, 2009

Poetry Reading October 3rd 6-9pm

Alex Patho opening pics: http://www.pathophoto.com/fof/

Kurt Shaw Review: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/museums/s_644709.html

Copy and paste this to see more about the show: http://web.mac.com/panzagallery/Panza_Gallery/FOF.html

So what is it? Kurt Shaw say's it best so I suggest reading his review linked above. But he says in it, "The exhibit started with works created by the Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors, then, members of the Pittsburgh Poets wrote a poem inspired by a particular sculpture. The Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators members randomly chose a poem, and created an illustration without seeing the original sculpture. The sculptures, poems and illustrations are displayed as installed triads."

It's a pretty cool exhibit. I love the poem and the sculpture that are grouped with my painting. I met the sculptor and she seems like a very nice girl. Good sense of humor. I haven't met the poet yet. I will share a JPG here of my image, but if you are in the area you totally should come and check out the show. The Opening night was a lot of fun and I imagine that the Poetry Reading will be too.

Here it is, my image "The Prisoner"

And here is the poem that inspired it:

(you may have to open this attachment in a new window in order to read it)

You may be asking yourself "So why is he a cowboy?". Well, he's not. He is wearing the hat because that style is very American and that helps identify him.

Allow me to explain a philosophy very dear to my heart. I believe that images are to be read, and there are a lot of things to read in this painting. Everything has a meaning to it.

What does the clock say? Is there something I am trying to say with the spacial arrangement and design of the background? Are there any other clues I have left you that tell you what he is thinking about or who he is?

I would like to hear from you.

What do YOU think I am saying in this image? Why?

Order of Nine - the color studies

There are various stages that professional illustrators commonly use to create the right kind of image. These are the ones I use:

1. research and gather reference images

2. thumbnail sketches

3. shoot model(s) for photo reference. (takes the guess work out of form and lighting)

4. final sketch

5. color studies

6. final painting

After it is all done I have the piece professionally photographed and the file color corrected. This way I can be certain that my clients have the best possible digital file, and it's all ready to use.

Sometimes I do little sketch exercises to get me thinking before I begin the thumbnail stage, sometimes not. And, word to new illustrators: ALWAYS get your contracts and business arrangements out of the way before you begin any work.

So here I am, at the color study stage for my cover of the newest Order of Nine album. These are my ideas for the color scheme. When I do color studies I like to take the easy way out and I print out my sketch onto regular paper several times, then I paint over top with gouache paint.

I hope that they like them, and you do too. Do you have a favorite? Let me know.

I will let you know what they say.