It seems like it has been forever in the making, but I have finally launched my latest creative endeavor, Sketch Graphx, a web design studio. And it feels great to finally say that it’s open for business. The process has been an extensive one, but worthwhile all the same. However, I will say that when it comes to working on a personal design project it’s even more difficult to find that point of contention, to say that’s good enough, all the basics are covered, it’s ready to go. But I’m thrilled to say I believe I have reached just that point, and Sketch Graphx is officially as ready as it will ever be!

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This time around another illustration – A Solitary Beach is meant to showcase the use of unified gradients within Illustrator. In this design the gradients on the stones as well as the clouds encompass all instances of these objects as they transition in color from either direction. Also, other standard gradients are used to form the beach, sky and water for this illustration.

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I took this image of the early morning sky the other day and the following composition is the result. Not too much post processing here, as the colors and levels have only been optimized slightly to create some additional contrast and balance. The sky can most assuredly make for an interesting artistic canvas and I feel this is reflected here. The comp is very subtle and light, but offers just enough visual presence.

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I took this image on the way home from work a couple days ago and was inspired to create, so the following is a result of said inspiration. It is a bit abstract, but it was an interesting end result I think. Also, the original image can be viewed on my Flickr photostream if you would like to compare and contrast the two.

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I was in Chicago the other night and on my way in from the western suburbs I snapped an image of the Sears Tower with an elevated platform for the electric train line in the foreground. Once I had a chance to sit down and look at the image I decided I would stylize it a bit and see what I could come up with. The platform was a bit rusty, so I decided to build upon and strengthen that look throughout the composition.

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