Often I get ideas and inspiration with no particular end-use in mind, what people often refer to as "personal projects". Sometimes, however, these little personal projects take a life of their own and find a home. A few years ago, I began creating a collected series of illustrations I titled Delayed. Sleep. Phaze. These books would collect never-before-shared/seen pieces that I would hoard throughout the year and collect into little DIY zine-type books. For the third installment, I moved the book into full-color production to include a wider array of what I do.

This piece began, as most do, as a hand-drawn illustration and then colored in Photoshop. I used a photo of an old artist friend of mine named Christian Amadeus. I am unsure where he was or why he was dressed and face-painted in such a way, but knowing this guy, he was likely on another spiritual journey. Perhaps through Burning Man or something. Either way, the image was wild and it is what initially pulled me to draw this piece.

Halftones are such a wonderful effect I love creating with. I decided to convert the initial piece's ink washes into halftones for a more analog effect. Building bridges between digital and analog is one of my favorite things about creating. With some quick tweaking in Ps, the entire painted piece takes on new life from here.

After scanning and converting to lineart, I then began the color stage, laying down all my flats first. I wanted to keep this palette simple and opted for a slightly modified primary palette, using a flat gold in place of yellow. From the flats stage, I then proceeded into shading and highlights using some gradients and blurs to give the piece a bit more depth. Criss-crossing the lines of flat & depth during creation is a fun exploration for myself. I love being able to bounce back and forth, blurring the lines of realism and pure illustration, flat and three-dimensional.

The final colored piece came out amazing in print. I am hoping to do a second run very soon. Tangible goods are part of the experience of creating using digital means. For myself, my pieces come to life when they jump off the computer screen and into your hands.