and congrats!

Yeah, I like the illustrations (and Matt, I agree about how sometimes faster=better. Sadly, I’m such a procrastinator and impatient that nearly all my art is fast regardless.

But I would have liked to clean these up just a bit and refine them. There are some swirls onthe background that were masked off the edge of the original piece that are now on the actual art that make me cringe. And the shadows on the kids are all over the place.

Still, I’m happy with the look and more importantly that the client took a chance and went for a neat design over safe photoshop work. That is VERY rare in this biz!

Also, for anyone who wants to see that Mario figure card Jeff referenced:

http://toyotter.com/geyerweb/print/mario_figure.jpg

It was also a design by committee (my original didn’t have the Mario icons in the silver Gameboy sidebar, and it wasn’t so busy) but it still turned out much nicer than most QSR toys do.

And it was only $1! Take that, Hasbro Hulk figures!

J.

And what do you know, I will be shopping for pool supplies this weekend

But, more importantly, I think you might be missing the point about your own contributions. Sure the pool art only took 25 minutes, and like you said: you viewed ‘em as a rough sketch.

I think more importantly, though, is the WAY you did them. You didn’t HAVE the luxury of time. You had a limited bit of time to produce them, and you threw caution to the wind. You drew them just to draw them, and without someone directing you or allowing yourself the opportunity to overthink them, you simply ‘did it.’ The art came to life simply by coming from within you.

That’s really the best approach to art in the first place. Sure, we can get some better concepts or approaches if we keep developing them, but often times it’s the random, spontaneous stuff that’s also the most effective. That’s why the artwork of a 3 year old is often times so much better than the artwork of a 13 year old. They don’t overthink it or worry themselves as to whether it’s good or bad, they simply do it for the sake of doing it.

And I think that’s the perfect example of what you’ve got here with the pool art. It’s simply fun art, and they’re an absolute joy! On top of that, they’re even more bold and focused than your Wolverine piece. That’s still a fun, well-thought out piece, but you can see the hesitation in it, whereas the pool art you simply nailed it. You put pen to paper and “did it”, pure and simple.

And, for me… THAT is the sign of a true artist.

Speaking of, you sent me some stuff recently to look at for another project you had in mind. I kept forgetting to respond, but without going into details let me say that you’re a freaking GENIUS. I love the concept, and, yet again, you are a huge inspiration to me. Go for it!

Sorry for the long ramble, but I think you may have just inspired me to commit to my own blog now. About time I contribute something, right?

Great stuff, Mister Otter. But then, I never expected anything less!

Matt
aka Iron-Cow

Not sure how many people used it or cared, but I fought hard to get that little flap put into the back so you don’t have to destroy the card to get the figure. I also fought for a peghook, even though it wouldn’t be on pegs.