Number 140 of 150

October 12, 2023October 5, 2023Leave a comment

This is a cartoon illustration of a park ranger giving a presentation about a red-tailed hawk. This image is part of a subset of illustrations within the larger project depicting people with recognizable professions. The project was commissioned by Learning A-Z to be used in a Build-A-Book application for children. As always, the image was created digitally in Adobe Photoshop using my cintiq tablet.

This one was fun to draw because I used a photo reference from my own personal photos. This hawk is based on the one that came by years ago and perched on my back fence for several hours. It was a very good model and let me get very close to get some nice shots. So, drawing this brought to mind a memory of a really special afternoon for me.

This final image was also way different than the original specs. Originally, this was supposed to be a woman park ranger with a park map she was pointing to. But that pose was fairly unworkable if we wanted to both see the content of the map and have the woman viewed from the front, looking at the viewer at eye-level. Which they did. Also, holding an unfolded paper map usually requires two hands, then a third would be needed to point. Additionally, the specs for this section were too heavy on women, and we already had a Middle Eastern woman with a prosthetic leg previously in the project. That was why it was decided to switch this one to a man.

It was my suggestion to change the pose to the park ranger doing a nature presentation with an animal, which the client liked. I suggested several animals, but I was really hoping they’d go for the hawk. Which they did.

Park Ranger with Red-Tailed Hawk

Number 74 of 150

May 19, 2023April 28, 2023Leave a comment

This style of prosthetic leg and foot always seemed really interesting to me. I’m glad I got to draw one.

An older woman of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander heritage is working as a referee. She is blowing on a whistle while pointing to the side. She is wearing a referee's uniform and has an athletic-style prosthetic leg below the knee.

Number 72 of 150

May 15, 2023April 28, 2023Leave a comment

Moving onto the adults, here we have a Muslim woman with a prosthetic leg.

A cartoon illustration of a Muslim woman with a prosthetic leg. She's standing with one hand up as if gesturing as she speaks and the other hand is holding a basket of apples. She is wearing a hijab, long sleeved striped blouse, a below-the-knee skirt, leggings on her intact leg, and crocs on both her natural and artificial foot.

Number 65 of 150

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023Leave a comment

A skateboarder with a prosthetic arm. One of those 3D printed ones in the fun colors. The client chose the colors.

I particularly like how the kid’s t-shirt print came out. This was changed in the final phase with the client instructing me to create a geometric print for their shirt.

The long hair was included both to help show a little more movement and to make the character’s gender a little more ambiguous.

A cartoon illustration of a child riding a skateboard. The child is gender ambiguous and has a prosthetic arm. They are wearing a helmet, t-shirt, loose jeans, and sneakers. They have medium-length, brown hair

Final Image – Giant Robot Invasion!

May 6, 2018January 13, 20242 Comments

And here is the final version of the piece I’ve been working on! So much excitement going on here. You’ve got the rockets blasting off behind, probably an emergency evacuation. Are the searchlights searching for her, specifically? You have the abandoned motorcycle, maybe it was hers and it ran out of gas or something? That would explain the goggles. Looks like she must have met with an accident on her right side at some point in the past because she’s got a prosthetic arm and leg. They must be good tech, though, since they don’t seem to be slowing her down any. Notice the blue light on her arm? That’s a power indicator. She still has a full charge. It’ll turn orange, then red as it runs dead. At which point she becomes a lefty. I’m not sure what the earpiece is. Maybe just communications equipment, maybe a hearing aid of some sort? It is on her injured side. What’s in her bag do you think? Tools for maintaining her prosthetics? Or the plans to the enemy’s base that she has to deliver into rebel hands? It doesn’t look like she has any offensive weapons. Just that energy shield, but I think it’s underpowered to stop that robot hand. Maybe it will buy her a crucial second to slip out of its grip, though!

Giant Hand
Here’s an Easter egg. You can’t tell at the resolution above, but this is in the background. The search light washes it out, but you can see that she’s not the only one running.

And here’s a behind-the-scenes from way back when I first started this piece. This little mannequin helped me work out her pose.
model

This piece was a personal project, not one meant for any particular client. I wanted to add a detailed sci-fi piece in my portfolio, one with a lot of action. So, that’s the reason for it. I’ll get it up on the portfolio in a couple of days here. [Edit: It’s up now.]

I had not really intended it to be as involved as it ended up, but the concept demanded certain elements and complex lighting. Luckily, since I had no real deadline, I was free to take as long as I liked. It was fun and I really like how it turned out.