The Grand Finale (Final Portfolio)

Here it is, the moment all of you have been waiting for I am sure. My final portfolio. It is all work that has been on my blog before, but these are what I feel are my 4 best pieces after Midterm Portfolio. I think it turned it pretty good honestly, but we will leave that for Rusty to decide.

First up is my Number 9 project. The concept is that its the 9th hole at Pebble Beach with a sand bunker made to look like a "9". I really like how this one turned out thanks to the colors in it. This one took me awhile because I really was just getting used to this style. I think everything turned out great except the bushes up front are slightly wonky to me sometimes and I am still unsure about some parts of the water, but still I really like the end result. This did get not approved by Rusty. Actually I didn't use anything that Rusty approved in my final portfolio, but I think Rusty is a results guy so hopefully that won't matter to him. There was 12 hours budgeted for this one, I would say After everything, start to print, it took me about 9 hours. See what I did there?...9 hours. But Seriously I think thats about what it took. So under budget, just not as much as normal.

Then there is my book cover for The Great Gatsby. This picture is at the 6.25" x 9.25" for the actual dust cover, but it was printed at 5" x 5" and 3" x 3" also. I really liked this one because this is the only one I actually got looser with after my midterm portfolio. A nice old time dapper lady for the book cover was appropriate I thought, but done in a darker duotone way. The budget on this was 16 hours, after everything was said and done I spent around 6 hours on this project, so way under budget. I usually tend to do that though. Not approved by Rusty, but like I said I didn't use anything that Rusty approved in my final portfolio. So lets hope that doesn't bite me later.

This piece is for the World Record assignment. This guy has one the most flexible face contest the most, yes apparently there contests for that, and this guy is the best at it. I like the oil painting look that this one has. I have always liked oil paintings so I am glad I can do a decent job of recreating it. The forehead and cheeks I think I did really well, but the eyebrows and goatee I worry about sometimes. I still think it turned out good though. Again no approval, but again I don't think Rusty will mind. Again under budget, 16 hours budgeted and I did it in 8. Saving companies all kinds of money. 

Last but not least is my Society of Illustrators piece. This one is my favorite all semester, hands down. I think I liked my inspiration so much for this one that I tried even harder. Just an illustration of a nice cigar and glass of scotch, nothing more. I spent a real long time on this one. I would say 10 or 11 hours with 16 budgeted. So I definitely spent the longest on this piece. When I went into it I had a plan of adding some cool watercolor background, but I finished it and thought and nice reflection would just be classier. Not approved by Rusty of course, but I approve this one. I think that counts for something.

3 Image Gouache

Here is the 3 Image Gouache. I started it forever ago, actually just a few weeks but still. I planned out what I was going to do and everything. I started with the beer first, which I really liked. I also like working with gouache. Then I did the shirt which was alright. Then I did the face and I blew it so then I got mad and just finished it. So it is done, here you go Rusty. I added a cheesy Instagram picture of me working on it because why not. I like painting beer though and I like Workaholics which is what the guy from so there is that.

Life and Death

So here is my life and death illustration. The deal was to make 2 illustrations, each 15" x 10". They were supposed to portray the life and death of something. So I choose the life and death of a restoration, I thought that was a clever idea. I choose to do a classic ferrari, who doesn't love classic ferraris. But I started with the death one and I really liked how it turned out, I tried to go looser with this one. Then I did the life one and I just could not get it to turn out. I think with the death one the rusted colors and dirt worked really well with the technique I choose. With the life one though the car was already in pristine and clean condition, so trying the looser technique took away its shine. It looks like a boring photo now. I am really happy with the death one though, and if it wasn't for the life one I would of used it in my portfolio. This one took about 7 hours I would say. 

Book Cover

Here is a book cover for The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I did a nice dapper lady for it. I have been going crazy with the color lately so I tried to make a more duotone looking one. I also tried to get a little more loose in some areas, since I have been so tight on all my other illustrations so far. I think it turned out though. I really do like where it starts to get loose more towards the bottom. This one went fairly well without too many major hiccups which was nice. But here it is.

Society of Illustrators

Finally got this one done. This one took a long time, a real long time, like 7 or 8 hours. Not sure, I should of timed it. But I am really happy how this turned out, I think its my favorite illustration that I have done so far. Would it not make you want to smoke a cigar and drink scotch? But yea I just like this one, we will see if Rusty will. I honestly could of spent longer on it if I had the time. This is also digital, I don't understand how Rusty does not like digital. I do insane detail that I would never be able to do without it.  Here it is though.

World Record

Here is my world record illustration attempt. This is an illustration of the world's most flexible face, if you can't tell. I really like this one too, with digital I can go into so much more detail than I could with watercolor. It looks a lot more detailed when it is scaled down like this too. I am really not sure if Rusty is going to like these really tight illustrations, but I tried to talk to him Friday afternoon, but it was Friday so he left early. I don't blame him. So we will take the risk and show them all to him Monday. It is like Vis Comm II all over again.

Number 9

Here is my Number 9 Illustration. The concept is the 9th hole at Pebble Beach with one of the sand bunkers made too look like a "9", clever I know. But I am all over this smudging style right now, I just can't get enough. This one took awhile compared to my other one, at least 4 hours just on the final art without the comp included. I really like how it turned out over all. I don't understand how Rusty hates digital illustration.