The 2009 TL in beziers

This posting is absurdly late, especially considering I don’t work for Honda anymore. In April of 2008 I moved from Honda to a position as an illustrator/designer with Disney’s Interactive Media Group. Honda is a great company and I still miss my co-workers there but Disney beckoned and the chance to create for that company was too good to pass up. This is the last (or nearly the last) vector automotive illustration that I did while at Honda of the then unreleased Acura TL. Personally I like it though I understand its new design irked some of the purists and fans of the previous TL. My car aficionado friends were jealous, however, when they learned I created this piece months before any images were officially released, so the buzz and anticipation for this vehicle was huge in their circles. The website will have to undergo some changes to accommodate the new personal and professional work I’ve done. Stay tuned.

New Degree of Realism with Vectors

I love the styling on the new accord, which is probably why they're selling a ton of these things while other manufacturers flounder. That and it's a Honda. The respect I've developed for this company over the past two and a half years is profound, especially coming from me, a non-car guy. I've also been pleased with the realism I've been able to get from illustrator lately. Let me know what you think.

Vector Detail

Long overdue post of some of the recent work to come out of Honda. Used here as always with permission.

Vector Coworkers

Mwahaahaaa! No one is safe from becoming fodder for the graphics library. Especially the cute intern on the right. Actually I'm most pleased with how the lady on the left turned out. She took me seriously when I described her "motivation" as a ticked off customer phoning in her complaints. She looked so stern and so cross that I had to soften her expression lest she burn holes in the viewer with her withering look. Also, I made her outfit sans reference--hooray for me. Just another post with some of the more lighthearted (less technically intense) stuff that I get to do often enough, and wish I was doing when I'm up to my neck in graphically intense modules about gears, pulleys, and the timing belt. Expect posts on that intricate stuff soon. That and the story book which I've resumed, resolved to finish and self publish if need be.

shameless self promotion

I was tinkering (something I've been doing too little of lately). And came up with a promotional page or splash page by recombining some of the illustrations I've created at work, then shamelessly ripping off the ipod promo graphics (as if apple were the first to use hip sillouettes), a scene from the matrix, and adding a dash of my own branding--swoops and lions. I like the effect overall. Perhaps this'll replace my landing page in the not too distant future. This maintains my track record of posts once a month, my minimum. Heck, if I get some comments now and again I might just start posting weekly in a fit of hubris. If you want to see the original use I made of that figure with the interesting drapery study, check my web portfolio under "technical". The original is a boring composition but the drapery came off nicely. Took a refresher course in the subject from Marshall Vandruff recently--great as always.

vector illustration extravaganza

As many know, I've been working as an illustrator/animator for Honda the past little while and it's given me the chance to throw together stuff like the above. I actually cheated a little bit on this one. It's about 80% my work and 20% autotrace. For the tediously high but completely indistinct parts--indistinct, that is, to automotive ignoramuses like myself. Special thanks to Chris Nielsen whose pen tool art makes him the grandaddy and still undisputed master of this technique.

Remember This One?

For those of you who've been wondering, "what ever happened to the 'progress'"; Here's the deal: the dummy book recieved some favorable attention from Walker House Publishing but needs to be shortened and sharpened. So the story is currently being vetted ruthlessly by trusted critics. I'm not sending it out again until I have their feedback and have made their changes. In the meanwhile the artistic day job at Honda continues to be great. Nothing keeps you sharper than sketching illustrating and designing 40 hours a week minimum. Good, clever co-workers too.
As this is my first post I'll leave it at that. Look for the link to my personal site in the next week or two.
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