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.

Sketchy

Page from my sketchbook.
I usually don't post pages from my sketchbook because my sketchbook tends to be just a dumping ground for ideas and not a pretty thing. I go back to my sketchbooks for ideas for finished art pieces. But, this may provide a view into my process...a jumbled mess :)
I'm currently thinking a lot about monsters. Hmmm.

Making art

Preparing for the FRESH PRODUCE show at Anno Domini Gallery in December. Here are a few process shots. Sneek peak.
Things get a little messy.

Utter chaos. Seems to be the way I work.
This is how my pieces start. I make supports out of panels with framing glued to the back so that the piece appears to float on the wall.

Haloween Illustration by Brian Raszka Illustration

Created this illustration for All Hallows Eve. Enjoy.
For the animated version, visit my site: brianraszka.com

Brian Raszka creates illustrations for editorial, advertising and design.
Brian Raszka Illustration

The Electric Cars Are Coming!

I just found Aptera while doing some web research on electric cars after reading about Chrysler's announcement about their electric cars.
Also see Zap! cars.
The Electric Cars Are Coming! Slowly but surely. Even though the basic technology has been around since what, 1832-35.

Yoga Journal Interviewed Me

I was interviewed for this Yoga Journal article a while ago.
It's appearing on their site now.
It's about how to implement changes in your life.
I gave them my 2 cents on how my wife and I have changed our lives based on our concerns for the environment. Here are some of the changes mentioned in the article and some more that we've made over the years: cycling to work and most of our errands, going vegetarian, growing our own vegetables, composting, changing all regular light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs, taking shorter showers-even turning the water off while you soap up, trying to buy food with less packaging, buying items, when needed, with a long life expectancy, giving away unused items on freecycle and buying less in general and other small changes.
Give it a read.

Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles

These 2 illustrations made it into SILA West 46! Yee Haw!
"Birds Know" and "Gotcha" are in the unpublished/personal section of the SILA 46 web site.