Vectored this up minutes before the 2014 Super Bowl kickoff for a restaurant chain’s social media feed that didn’t go ahead… a case of marketing not talking to account managers not talking to marketing not talking to managers et al…
Slinky Kitty | A "What Was I Thinking?" Desk Drawer Project
Fact: animals adapt.
That was the inspiration for “Floyd”, the cat that swallowed a slinky toy — general character development that went from artboard to being placed into the desk drawer for years.
At the time, my goal was to branch out into self-authored illustration/story books. Or, by some miracle, get hired as a go-to illustrator for a top-tier publishing house (or any tier).
A lacked time, money, motivation, and a myriad of reasons benched the whole thing.
Beware The Birthday Banshee!
Originally penned in 2011, the Birthday Banshee creeps up to its victim on the night before his/her birthday, lights the Four Candles of the Birthdayocalypse atop of a clumsily-made baked slab, and eerily stares at said victim… and stares… and stares… and stares some more until he/she wakes up to an extraordinarily exhausted bloodshot (almost comatose) banshee at the foot of the bed - by that time, the long-extinguished candles would’ve burnt off the banshee’s birthday hat and created a new layer of candle wax over the baked slab. Happy Birthday.
Häppy Fremdschämen | Another Mrs. Berry Birthday Doodle
Ahh, it’s that time of year I draw up a special German-themed birthday doodle for my favorite mom (of my fan/friend in New Jersey)(#adoptedmominnutley), continuing on with the in-joke previously mentioned here.
This time, the painfully German traditionalistic eccentricities of this one are coupled with the whole Covid-19 brouhaha we’re all in together at this time.
I ran out of those nifty slip-on PPE things you put on my feet… so I had to make do with discarded Wonder Bread bags.
Give A Hoot - Read A E-Learning Book (ugh! awful title)
Here’s some stuff I did several years ago for a E-Learning app thingy, aimed at young wippersnappers and scholastic dingdongs.
Focus.
Inspire.
Teach.
Connect.
Encourage.
Podium (female option).
Podium (male version).
The below B/W illos were a later extension of the same job. The crucial difference between the above and the below were:
I got paid for the colored illos;
I didn’t get paid for the B/W illos (i.e. I invoiced, but never received a check).
DVD Extras!
Here are selected preliminary roughs/sketches. These drafts are what clients usually sees to better understand the illustrator’s interpretation of their assigned brief (which, in most cases, is as rough as the illo roughs!). It’s raw! THAT’S what I like about ‘em.
Occupied French Vanilla, Oreos and Citrus Surprises | Another Mrs. Berry Birthday Doodle
Once a year, I take up a pencil and draw up something speeshülly Germanian for the mother of my fan/friend in Nutley, NJ. To understand WHY I do this, it’s briefly explained it here.
Originally doodled May 18, 2013.
Happy Dreikäsehoch! | Another Mrs. Berry Birthday Doodle
Every May, going back to 2010, I cobble together a German-themed birthday illo for the mother of my fan/friend in New Jersey. Nope, they’re not German — but, they did take me to a German-themed restaurant in Hoboken for Mrs. Berry’s birthday get-together in 2009.
And that’s the (in)joke. Ahh, I guess you had to be there.
If you were wondering, “Happy Dreikäsehoch” translates to Three Cheese High.
Cheese has nothing to do with anything with relation to the person, the day, or the theme… I just needed a long, complicated, funny-sounding German-ish word (“Dreikäsehoch”) and this one fit the bill.
That’s supposed to be me (Bort) on the left. The sentient purple plush critter on the right is "Trunko”, an Ugly Dolls character I picked up at FAO Schwarz with Mrs. Berry in 2011… but I digress…
At left: this is the illustration without the “Happy Dreikäsehoch” titles. Yes, that’s THREE cheese slabs stacked in the background (re:translation).