Wanting to get back into Illustrator and have a little fun, I came up with this little bit of inspiration to share – simple and straight to the point, I think. And moving forward I’d like to spend some more time creating small works like this just for fun. After all, sometimes less is more.

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Here we have another look at the Chicago skyline captured with an enhanced vibrancy and falling within a soft cloud shaped perimeter. A photo I had on hand was used to establish the general outline for the overall cityscape to which I then continued to add further detail. I have included this reference outline of the city which was used in colorizing and detailing the final work.

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I have mentioned before that I’m a fan of the Revision 3 network and enjoy the programming options offered through this internet television provider. One of my favorite shows on the network is The Totally Rad Show (TRS), a news show for gamers, movie watchers, comic readers, and TV show fans from today’s geek culture. Furthermore, it is a show that I highly recommend if you have not as yet come across it, especially if you have interests in any of the aforementioned topics.

TRS has a close following of fans, some of which like to submit original background art for use on the show that incorporates the shows logo and perhaps is even themed specifically to coincide with a recent movie, game, or other popular topic. I created and submitted the following backgrounds for consideration; however neither made it on the show, so I thought why not share them here – possibly some of my fellow TRS fans may be interested in them.

TRS Urban Light & Shadow Background

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I received a Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet as a gift for Christmas and of course I was very eager to give it a try. This is my first Pen Tablet and so far I have spent just a few hours literally playing around and just getting used to working with the device. It is all very new to me, but I think I am starting to slowly become more acclimated to this more natural input device. I can definitely see this as the right tool for any type of graphic design or artistic creation, but I know I need more time to get over some of the mental barriers that are a result of having used a mouse for so long.

A Winter Scene is my first artistic work utilizing the Bamboo Fun (medium) Tablet with Photoshop. I wanted to start simple and see what I could accomplish with relatively few hours of experience with a tablet. It was fun to actually draw/paint digitally with the device, even though I struggled with it at first. Again, a mind over matter thing for the newbie tablet user that I am. However, I do look forward to spending a lot more time perfecting my pen tablet skills, but for now I think I am off to a decent start.

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Well not really a city of gold per say, yet a period treatment applied to the image resulting in something classic, something more distinctive. Light, shadow, scratches, and film grain all added to bring about this perspective. The setting here is that of beautiful downtown Indianapolis, Indiana looking south from Monument Circle.

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