Moving Along

Well Everybody, its been nice being here but I'm moving on.  I'm going to try my hand at doing my blog on my own website.  so for my further adventures, go to benjhutch.com

 

Adios!

Mt. Bodacious is coming

First Try at Character Animation

So this year I decided to sign up for Skillshare.  If you don't know what Skillshare is it is an online learning platform for artists, designers, makers, and entrepreneurs. I had to join because both Aaron Draplin and Yuko Shimizu had classes on there and I had to take them. Yesterday, I decided to flex my After Effects chops and create a walking animation for Frazier Davidson's class.  I've been working in after effects for about 10 years but never really tried pursuing animation animation with it.  The class was great.  I decided to use my Cintiq and draw the boys from Darjeeling Limited and started with Francis played by Owen Wilson.  I will hopefully soon finish doing the other brothers to finish the piece.  I hope you enjoy!

Hey Ricky or How I Came to Paint Rick Moranis

So I just finished a big #finealt (trying to come up with a name for what I do, trying) thrift store painting featuring a giant Rick Moranis head.  How did I get here? Do I have a love for Rick Moranis? Why would someone do this to a perfectly good painting?  While I can't always mind map an art project, I have a pretty good idea where this one came from.
It starts with #meetingnotes.  Meeting notes is an ongoing project of mine that organically started as I had to go to meetings at my day job  Many of these meetings didn't pertain much to me, so I started drawing to a) pass the time and b) work on my drawing skills.  When I started, I made mostly doodles.  Over time I began working on more complicated and intricate sketches of people (mostly celebrities that I admired).  I would post these on my instagram on Fridays to the she-grin of friends and fans.

Ben Strong

Last week I was asked to help design a t-shirt logo for a baby named Ben who has been having some heart problems since he was born.  After a few design ideas, everyone agreed on this.

 

Now there is a website where you can buy one of these shirts linked here.  They've way surpassed their original goal, but every little bit helps pay for this little guys extensive medical bills.  I'm proud to have been able to work on this project.  Also, it was pretty cool to see one of my designs on a cookie.

Dear Lincoln secret project

Occasionally, I have a trick or two up my sleeve.  This project was conceived by my sister in law, Molly, for her friend's band Dear Lincoln.  The female singer in the band, Lyndsey, was celebrating her 9 years of being cancer free this weekend and Molly wanted a special present for her.  She gave me a few parameters and I got to work.  She wanted
A) Something with a mounted deer head look
B) The said deer needed to be wearing "hipster" glasses (or as I like to think of them, the Shone Davis special.  Miss ya, Pal).
C) It needed to have a pencil behind its ear.

And here was the result.

Fugazi Poster

This mornings music mix consisted of Radiohead, Daft Punk, OFF!, The Hives, Jay-Z, and Fugazi.  It got my brain percolating.  I wanted to make a poster. First I found some images, drew them up in ink.

I threw them into photoshop, and with a little Wacom magic, whala!  It's fun making posters for bands who don't need them.

Graphics for my number one client, my wife

Besides my day job, my paintings, my aspirations for illustrations, I have been working for my wife, Emily, for a few years now.  She is a teacher and blogger and a TPTer.  For those that don't know, TPT, or Teachers Pay Teachers, is a site dedicated to teachers looking for resources they can use in their classrooms.  For the past year and a half, she has worked hard to produce and sell educational products for first grade teachers and she's been really successful! For my part, I've tried to help by creating art for her products.  I've done everything from

inked drawings

to banners

 

to logos

to digital illustrations

to painted illustrations.

It is fun and rewarding to be able to help her. I don't mention this work much but I think its worth sharing. 

Ben

How I emerged from December

Whew.  December man.  Jam packed with highs, lows, drama, sales, purchases, presents, and most definitely changes.

As with most holiday seasons, December should include Thanksgiving since it gets automatically sucked into everything that ends by New Years Eve.  Our November ended with the sad Passing of Nana.  Though she wasn't my own grandma, I had spent more time with Nana than any other grandparental figure in my life.  I knew her for 18 years and I lived next door to her for 8.  We were lucky to spend time with her before her sudden passing.  I know I'll miss her this spring as I work out in my backyard and she won't be there watching me from her room in her pepto bismol pink robe.  We miss you Nana!

Since everyone was in town for the funeral, the aunts and cousins and everyone got to come visit me at the Art Walk at Essex Studios!  The support was great and the show was so fun to be at.  I had space on a wall for my work and a bench behind me that I could sit and watch passers by like a fly on a wall.  When people got it, they usually laughed. I will try and come back in the spring.

Next on the list, big purchases.  I got a Wacom Cintiq.  If you don't know what that is, its a giant drawing monitor.  A little bit of history.  I bought myself a Cintiq last Christmas but the huge price tag made Em a little paniced so I returned it and got a Intuos tablet.  It was pretty sweet, took a little time to get the hand eye coordination down, but I made a few things on it and was happy to have the tool at the ready. Fast forward to fall 2014.  My boss at UC goes to a convention and sees someone working on a Cintiq and thinks that I should have one.  I proceed not to fight him and recieve said Cintiq a few weeks later.  Once I got my hands on it I was hooked.  Fork in the road made.  I had read for years that once you go Cintiq, you don't go back.  And its true.  I put the wheels in motion to purchase my own for home to commit world domination or create some bitchin' work on the side.

New Work Station for Domination

Speaking of work, Christmas Beers!  Once again I worked with my buddy Ryan to make a few home brews for my bros (and these are real bro's not bro bros).  This year we made two different kinds and I was able to come up with the design for the labels (which is my favorite part).  And yes, that is a Slayer font.

Get ready, 2015, I've got some killer work to get done!  And you, reader, come along with me.  It makes the journey easier with companions at your side.

Ben