Sun - New Illustration

Thinking of the sun on this cold spring day.

See more of my illustration work at: brianraszka.com

New Year's Illustration

Recent illustration for City Pages which is a weekly out of Minneapolis.
Idea was that the year of the Tiger(2010) was replacing/relieving the year of the Oxen(2009)-i.e., pulling the Oxen in a rickshaw while the Oxen enjoys a libation.
Fun project. Hope to work more with the good folks over at City Pages.

Ripped From The Headlines - Baaah, Belch

Researchers in Australia are working to breed sheep that belch less. Methane from sheep's burps contribute a sizeble portion of Australia's greenhouse gas omissions.
Can't make this stuff up.

Crest - Today's Art/Illustration

I always wanted to have a family crest. Not being of Scottish Gentry, I had to take matters into my own hands.

Today's Art/Illustration - Divided We Fall

Just sayin'.

Good Day - Illustration

 

Experimenting with patterns and textures.

New Illustration - Joie De Vivre

The Joy of Living

Smokin - Created on my iPhone!

One of the first images that I created using the iPhone app.; Brushes.
This could be very addicting. It was a bit awkward at first using the application but I got used to the interface after a while. What did become apparent was that it forced me to go back to old ways of making art. There are only 4 layers and the back and forth required to change brush sizes and transparency levels made me simplify things. All to the good, I think.
I say only 4 layers but can you believe we can create art on our phones!
This type of work just may spill over into my paintings.

Mantra

Thought for the day

Recent Illustration - Pennsylvania Gazette

Here is an illustration that I recently completed for the Pennsylvania Gazette. The story is about a man leading the charge to keep and attract people to Philadelphia.

Yet Another Bird Illustration

Yet another bird piece. This time I'm experimenting with a new medium; Gouache. And, a positive message. I don't know about you but I'm getting sick of all the bad news. This is my attack on bad news. Enjoy.
5"x7" Gouache on panel.

Sea Life Is Strange - digital collage illustration

Saw the series Planet Earth by the BBC. Great series. Inspired a lot of character art.

The Art of The Tote Bag

Here is a recent project that I have been itching to post. My client asked me to wait until they gave out the bags to staff before I began posting it.
I created the art for a tote bag for Texas Christian University. The good folks at TCU wanted to give out a tote bag to staff and wanted to have some cool art on it. They wanted to depict life on the TCU campus so what you see are some landmarks from the TCU campus. The lizard is actually a Horned Frog and is the TCU mascot. Purple is the school color.
I worked closely with my client to determine what icons should be in the art. Many sketches were created.
The art is on both sides of the bag. It was a fun project and I hope to do more of this kind of product illustration in the future.

New Illustration Completed

Just finished up this illustration project. It was for a magazine in Canada. Article was about a new energy distribution system. Instead of a main power plant that distributes power to all the homes and businesses in a city, they are working on a system where power and hot water are delivered to a sub-station then distributed to homes and businesses in a small area.



Here are my sketches leading up to the final art. Final art is executed in ink then scanned and layered and colored in Photoshop. I used to work, years ago, in traditional media which was fun but with Photoshop changes and moving things around are so much easier.
I start out with word associations then quickly move on to imagery. I work quickly. Usually the ideas come quickly so I have to catch them.

Here are the sketches that I sent to my client. As you can see, I leave them somewhat rough but put in some tone to give them some oomph. The client choose "E".
I likened the energy distribution system to the human body's circulatory system but instead of one heart I created a body with many hearts or sub-hearts like the system from the story.

Here is the final illustration. It went through a few different versions. I had different versions with variations in the background texture and overall colors. A fun project. Can't wait to see it in print.