FRANK M HANSEN

Santa Takes a Break

2011-12-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

An abstract take on Santa resting after the holiday season.
I may still adjust the colors.

Drawn with Micron pen by hand, scanned and then turned into a vector and colored.

Marker and ink sketches - Fall 2011

2011-11-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry. I know I have been neglecting this Blog for so long so I'm playing a little catch up and posting a bunch of work I did with marker and ink. Some were done with a Micron pen and some with a Pentel pocket brush

pen.

In all the cases I laid down the color first and did all the inking after. Hope you like.

Another Abstract piece

2011-10-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

Some analog and some digital was used to create this one.

The ultimate food fight tech armor (contraption)

2011-10-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for Food-Mageddon? You will be with the all new Food Canon XT T1000. That's two "T"s for "TERRIFIC" x 2.

Turn your next lunch at you elementary into Ele-History by making mincemeat (not included) out of your bullies and life long friends out of everyone else. Now available in 28 convenient credit card installments from your loving parents who only want the best for their children.

Part 1 & 2 of Mystery of History - Beast of Beard-en"

2011-09-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of experimenting going on here as you can probably notice. The style changes a lot from part 1 to part 2.

On this day Cartoon - Sept 5th 1698 in Russia

2011-09-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

Tsar Peter the 1st taxes all beards on me. This is my strange take on that event. This is only part 1 of a 3 part comic. Silly but fun. See all the rest of my comics at Animatic Press.

Mark Antony's last day

2011-08-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here is another comic I did for my comic site Animatic Press.

History behind it:
On August 1^st 30 BC Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius) commits suicide.
After the defeat of naval battle of Actium Antony and Cleopatra’s navy was destroyed, and they were forced to escape to Egypt with 60 ships. Octavian, now with almost absolute power, did not let them rest. In August 30 BC, assisted by Agrippa, he invaded Egypt. With no other refuge to escape to, Antony committed suicide by stabbing himself with his sword in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so. When he found out that Cleopatra was still alive, his friends brought him to Cleopatra’s monument in which she was hiding, and he died in her arms. (However, some sources claim that he did not commit suicide but was killed by an Egyptian priest who was in favor of Octavian.) Cleopatra was allowed to conduct Antony’s burial rites after she had been captured by Octavian (Wikipedia).

I wish I had time to re-watch every episode of HBO’s “Rome” which prominently documents this time in Roman history or the 1963 “Cleopatra” with Liz Taylor and future husband Richard Burton. I do not have any regrets not watching the Hallmark version of “Cleopatra” with Billy Zane although I guess that is not very fair but still makes for cheap jokes.

On this day Cartoon - July 25 1965 (Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival)

2011-07-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here are two single panel cartoons I did for my Animatic Press site.

The first one is based on Bob Dylan's show at Newport Folk Festival in 1965 in which Dylan surprised the audience by going electric at a festival that was purely acoustic and got a mountain of controversy and possible altered his musical career forever.

Dylan’s performance is caught on numerous documentaries and the boos can be heard all through his set which began with his song “Maggie’s Farm” which is why I used that in my cartoon. The reason Dylan did this has been debated but Dylan obviously knew what he was doing and rehearsed the night before after coming up with the idea for doing it. And before this happen Dylan had been strictly acoustic folk singer and a darling of the folk music scene and Newport Folk Festival had even helped further Dylan’s career but all that changed in an instant with just a few amplifiers.

In my cartoon I just wanted to have fun and blow the whole thing way out of proportion and make it completely absurd which I love doing. I had fun drawing the crowd; with each person responding differently to the music. I also exaggerated the guitar playing and amp’s by making the amps enormous an giving Dylan a Eddie Van Halen style guitar. I hope it gives you a laugh.

To find out more about this actual event check out these links:

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2010/07/july-25-1965-dylan-goes-electric-at-the-newport-folk-festival/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dylan_controversy

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dylan-goes-electric-at-the-newport-folk-festival

http://www.elektra60.com/news/5b3787-the-night-dylan-went-electric-newport-folk-festival-1965/

TWO comic book events

2011-04-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

I will be at Brave New World Comics in Santa Clarita on May 7th for Free Comic Book Day. I’ll be there selling books of my work and making sketches for adults and kids. This is a great opportunity because Brave New World Comics is not just an ordinary run of the mill comic book store. They promote comics and their store almost daily with events, class and guest that keep comics vibrant and alive for the Santa Clarita community and beyond. If you don’t believe me, get on their email list and you will see I speak the truth. On top of that they were 2008 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing award winner and owner Atom was named a judge in the 2008 Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards.
Come out if you are in the area and visit, say hello and see a store that will have your re-thinking what a comics books store can look and feel like. They are located at 22722 Lyons Ave., in Santa Clarita, California (about 20 miles from LA). Or follow them on Twitter.

KIDS READ COMICS

This is on June 17^th & 18^th in Chelsea, Michigan at the Chelsea District Library.

This is a great event that was started a few years ago by youth and teen librarian Edith Burney of Chelsea, cartoonist and educator Jerzy Drozd of Ann Arbor, comic shop owner Dan Merritt of Dearborn, and comic book writer Dan Mishkin of East Lansing.

Although this is a long way to go to event like this I think the people behind this and participating are people that believe in showing how comics can be used as a creative story telling device and the advantages it has to the creator and the reader and what the future might bring in this medium. It is also packed with super talent published comic book creators that I look forward to meeting. Check out the list of guest that will be there.

Take care.

Abstract piece I finished recently.

2011-04-19T00:29:00.000-07:00

I did this with watercolor, marker and ink & then combined it in PS. May need to be cropped.

Business men digital ink sketches

2011-04-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

Playing around with a character I was building. Drawn in Manga Studio

Business trips in Vegas

2011-04-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

I drew this as a tribute/joke about business conventions in Vegas

"Imagined Worlds" Art show at Undergrounds

2011-04-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

I was very fortunate to be asked to participate in art show at a really cool coffee shop in Valencia, CA called Undergrounds called "Imagined Worlds"

The art show will is put on by the insanely talented passionate art and culture group called Proxart and the other artist in the show are Disney animator Glen Keane (the most legendary Disney animator still working in animation - Google him, seriously), John Loughlin III, and Tiffany Ford.

Tickets must be purchased for the show but should be filled with lots of cool art caffine and a great crowd. Sorry I did not post about this show sooner as it is taking place this Friday.

New design piece

2011-03-11T00:28:00.000-08:00

New design piece I'm working on.

Animatic Press - New webcomic

2011-02-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

I have been busy creating a weekly webcomic called ANIMATIC PRESS that will update every Monday. I just had my second post yesterday. It has been a great learning experiences so far & is really pushing me to draw better & work on timing and writing humor in pictures. I thought I knew had to do some of this already but I'm finding I still have a lot to learn and try.

The comic above is the 2nd post that went up yesterday.

This comic is not a strip comic with the same characters. It is a comic that changes week to week and tries to find the humor in being a human being, in other words; satire. I have only posted two comics. I have 3 others done a 4th near completion and a lot of ideas I am working on that are already starting to pull the comics in another direction. So I'm figuring this out as I go and posting the process sort of speak. Hopefully this does not cause people to lose interest.

Please check it out if you get a chance.

Thank you.

Decrative food

2011-01-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

I did this for a thank you card for some Friends who took us to the most amazing restaurant this weekend in Hollywood called Providence. I'll probably never eat that good again it was so good.

I created this with acrylic and stencil using Clear Transparent from Contact brand at Home Depot. A lot cheaper than buying the expensive same thing from an art store. I want to do more of this.

digital sketches - faces

2011-01-14T01:14:00.001-08:00

I drew these in Manga Studio on the Cintiq as a warm up and a little procrastination

Some new (& older) sketch work & cartoon

2011-01-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

The 3 pages of sketch work is all new except for the watercolor of the girl's face and the sketch of the guy with the ax.

The cartoon with the bears was a 'guest cartoon' I did for a cartoonist Bearman. He asked that I include the name Bearman some where in the cartoon. I like the layout, coloring and line work and the overall humor is okay but does not have the funny punch I wish it did. Practice, practice, practice as they say. You can check out this cartoon and all of the other guest cartoons at the Bearman website. There are some really hilarious ones there. Take care.

Dick Tracy mash up

2011-01-04T23:09:00.000-08:00

I combined two of my non-digital (marker, paint & ink) pieces in Photoshop and really like the result of the crazy abstract result. Let me know what you think.

TV sketches.

2010-12-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some ink sketches I made while watching TV the other night in a motel with the family. They were a lot of fun to do although they don't make much sense now.

Speed dating

2010-12-03T00:04:00.000-08:00

I wanted to produce a quick energy sketch based on a speed dating comic I wrote. I like the way this turned out but I need to sketch out the rest on paper before I draw it on my Cintiq like I did with this one. I was also trying some coloring techniques.

Illustration Friday - "Sneaky"

2010-11-24T22:50:00.000-08:00

I was going to color this in and put in some more detail to sell the joke but ran out of time. I actually kinda of like the limited color pallet but some details might be missing. Thought this might be a nice way to say "sneaky" & Thanksgiving at the same time. I drew his in Manga Studio although I struggled with it at first and attempted to do in on paper twice but that did not turn out. In the end drawing on the Cintiq in Manga Studio did work out for the most part. Strange but sometimes drawing on the Cintiq just feels limited. Not sure why. Still getting used to it in some ways even after all this time. Have a super, amazing fun Thanksgiving everyone!

CTN X Animation Expo layout

2010-11-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

The number of talented artist and animation companies that are going to be under one roof for this year's CTN-X is amazing. Part of me can not believe I will siting a table among them all. I am super blessed. Please try and come if you can. You can use the following code for 10% discount: HAFRX10.

Animal stickers

2010-11-07T22:10:00.000-08:00

Here are two pro-pet stickers I created today. I must have been inspired by the dog we recently rescued from a shelter who was found wondering the streets in the LA area. My wife, daughter and I have fallen head over heels in love with her. We really lucked out. She is so calm and loving.

I drew these in Manga Studio, then turned them into vectors in AI where I also colored them. I'll be ordering stickers of them later this week.

My Banner for the CTN-X Animation Expo

2010-11-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'm having this printed into a vinyl banner to place behind my table at the CTN-X Animation Expo later in Nov.

Process: I drew this free hand on paper. First in pencil, then with Micron pens. Then cleaned up in PS and brought into Illustrator where it was colored and prepped for printing as a vector image.

Kitty My Litter (work in progress)

2010-10-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a design I'm working on and trying some new techniques. So far kinda a fun, but needs more work.

CTN-X ANIMATION EXPO is coming SOON - get your tickets!!

2010-10-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

I am very happy and excited and a little overwhelmed with the insane talent that be at the 2nd annual CTN-X Animation EXPO this year in November. I was lucky enough to secure a table at this event and will be selling various books of my art which I'm printing as I speak. And I am just a drop in the bucket compared to the amazing talent that will there under one roof.

If have any interest in animation or the art of animation this is the place to be. And if you want to get into animation this event cannot be beat and is the place to be.

The organizers (all animation industry folks) are really putting the talent center stage for the 2nd year in a row, 500 + years world class professional talent will converge for 3-days during “Animation Week” in Burbank Ca. CTN-X takes place at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center with ample discounted parking, conveniently located near the Burbank Airport and Amtrak Station. Early bird pricing and discounted rates are available to students and professional industry organizations. Join me and and make more connections in one weekend thenin a year on facebook at this very different event. Register now as my guest and save 10% on any 1-day or 3-day general pass by using this discount code as my guest HAFRX10.

Register now before they are sold out at http://www.regonline.com/CTNX2010

Here is quote from Don Hahn about last year's Expo:

Don Hahn - Executive Producer Walt Disney Animation

"The Expo was a huge success on every level. I had so many people say how unusual and special it was to have it be about the art and artists. I'd turn one direction and see people in a life drawing class, in another, a sculpting class, or a demonstration by some star of the art world. Hats off to you for making this a huge hit and what I hope will be an annual summit that we can all look forward to."

Acid Owl

2010-10-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

Marker & ink & then combined in PS - Still playing with this technique.

Lion Kenetic

2010-09-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

I did half of this with Prisma marker & Ink and then comp the one side into two in PS. First time I used this technique.

CTN-X Animation Expo sketchbook promo

2010-08-30T23:37:00.000-07:00

Here is the promo I submitted for my 1/2 page I get in the 2010 CTN-X Animation Expo in Burbank in Nov.

This Expo is dedicated to animation only and is the most unique and well put together and best talent and industry attended event/expo of it's kind in animation period. I'm so happy I will have the opportunity to have a table at this 2nd annual event once again. Last year was great and I know a lot of animation folks that missed it last year will be hitting it this year.

DISCOUNT
If you would like to attend you can get a 10% discount by using my promo code: HAFRX10
This will give you a 10% discount on any 1-day or 3-day general pass at CTNX when registering online.
Register

If you like animation, work or want to work in animation this is the event to go to. Check out more information on their website. This event is created by animation folks for animation folks and the whole animation industry.
CTN-X Animation Expo

Figure drawing at Gallery 800

2010-08-29T00:04:00.000-07:00

I went to a figure drawing session at Gallery 800 in North Hollywood co-organized by Gallery Girls and Hollywood Art Director Guild. A fantastic session with great people, food, and amazing models dressed to the theme of Gone With The Wind. Most poses were 20 min. I used Marker & Ink. I had a lot of fun experimenting.

Guitar dude sketch

2010-08-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

Manga Studio is starting to feel or interact more like an organic pen. This sketch has issues but there is a lot of cool things came out of it too.

New Wave 80's is back I tell ya

2010-08-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

I have no clue what drove me to illustrate this except that there was some tools and inking concepts I wanted to experiment with in Manga Studio EX. Maybe I'll do more in this fashion ink style. Hope you like.

Short comic

2010-08-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

I came up with this silly idea one night while I struggled over what to draw a comic about. I penciled it out and decided to redraw it in Manga Studio but keep it very simple & organic looking.

80's & 90's tribute sketches

2010-08-23T00:53:00.000-07:00

Digital sketches done in Manga Studio

New project I'm working on

2010-08-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

This is a digital ink sketch of a project I'm working on.

SCBWI - Day 4 notes

2010-08-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here are my notes from day 4 of the SCBWI summer conference in LA:

DAY 4

I went to a workshop by John Parra. I did not take any notes but I was struck by his talent, kind nature, pragmatic approach to his career in illustration and it was easy to see from his work and personality why he is successful in illustration. See the link below to his website:
http://www.johnparraart.com/

I also went to a workshop by Loren Long where walked us through the creation of his book “Otis” and talk about the children’s book industry as well. Here are some notes I thought were worth sharing:

Get your work in front of the people who have the power to hire you.

Own your manuscript. Be fully invested.

If you are illustrating someone’s else’s words you need to believe in it and love it or at least some part of it that will inspire you and your best work. Doing it just for the money will show in your work. This can be hard for a first time illustrator because you want your foot in the door but this is very important.

Tackle huge task (like illustrating an entire book) one bite at a time.

Try to look for the grand design and mood first; not the details. Set up the emotion first like a movie.

Your relationship with your publisher is a 3 way relationship; you, the AD and the editor.

You can sometimes ask for the Editor to break up a manuscript for you page by page if you feel you need help.

You can start to break up a book by dividing the text into 16 or 17 pages as a start and or let the flow of the book come out as you do your sketches.

Developing the character is more about posture.

Worry about how your pages are going to layout in the final book later after you get your drawings down. The size, portrait/landscape etc can be determined later. Sometimes your sketches will help to determine this.

Some links Loren mention:
William Low’s work:
http://www.williamlow.com/index.html

Willam Low’s YouTube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIqZLwTZ1kI

DAY 3 - SCBWI - Steven Malk's talk

2010-08-12T14:10:00.001-07:00

DAY 3

The Do’s & Don’ts of building your illustration career - Steven Malk Owner of Writers House – An agency representing writers and illustrators of children’s’ books.

Steven lives and breath's children's book publishing and is the 3rd generation in a family that own children's book store. He has a lot of pragmatic advice to give.

Do your homework:

a) What are other illustrators in the field doing

b) Learn what came before you.

c) What made the classics

d) Stay up with what is contemporary and popular (but follow your voice, heart)

e) Understand why something works

DON’T’S

Don’t look for short cuts (You need to make a long term commitment to illustrating for children’s books)

Do think carefully about your portfolio.

Select your pieces carefully.

Every piece should count.

There should be logic to your portfolio. It should make sense.

Think about what you want to viewer to experience and feel when they look at it.

The whole is greater than the parts.

Consider the atmosphere of your portfolio.

Should have character & personality

Your portfolio and the pieces should have strong design and layout sense, perspective, etc.

DON’T

Do not use the same portfolio pieces for multiple fields. Know who your audience is and pick your pieces that make sense and show your unique voice.

Do not ask publishers to make big leap. They are going to be spending a huge amount of money to produce a picture book and they need to feel confident that you can pull off the art work that will bring the story to life with your unique vision in collaboration with the author and the publisher and it will make a profit. And hopefully this first book will be the start of a longer trusted relationship.

You need to show that you can clearly work with the principles of a published children’s book.

Good idea to illustrate from a public domain children’s story to show how you handle sequential storytelling and other art skills required for a publisher to trust in you.

Your Website:

Should be clean, organized, easy to navigate.

Does it represent you. IS it distinctly you or could it be any artist.

Try making your promo post card with sequential art

Attend as many conferences and professional workshops as you can about children’s book publishing.

DON’T DABBLE:

Is this a career or is this something you want to do on the side (dabble) while you work in animation, illustration, greeting cards, etc. Steven was very emphatic about this as he was last year when I heard him speak and he is right. Although he represents artist that do work in other art fields these artist are still committed to children’s book publishing and it is a serious part of their career path 110%.

DO:

Do develop your own point of view.

Have your inspiration and DO mention them in your query letter, but have your own point of view.

Query Letter:

Mention who you like.

Describe your work.

Be Professional

Link to your website

Publisher really DO like writer/illustrator’s these days.

DON’T GIVE UP

A good final “don’t” to remember.

Steven likes Greg Pizzoli’s website:

http://www.gregpizzoli.com/

A wordless book Steve likes is Suzy Lee’s “Wave”

http://www.amazon.com/Wave-Suzy-Lee/dp/081185924X

A very good article about the revolution of e-books and publishing:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/mar/11/publishing-the-revolutionary-future/?pagination=false

Illustration Friday - "Caged" 2

2010-08-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted do more than one take on the subject IF "caged."

SCBWI – DAY 2

2010-08-10T11:39:00.001-07:00

SCBWI – DAY 2
(my notes from some of the workshops and main stage speeches)

Portfolio workshop:
Find out what the rules are and then figure out a fresh new way to break them.

The Shape of our Stories – my notes from a SCBWI speech by Marion Dane Bauer:
All stories are about desire.
Reaching for a climax.
Know what the resolution will feel like.
Stories are about struggle.
Your characters desire needs to be your desire.
It’s nice when a story rises up and comes through you.
The emotional resolution is your truth.
If something is a huge part of you or belief if will come up in your stories again and again.

Pursue Your Passion - my notes from a SCBWI speech by E. B. Lewis
What happens when inspiration dies. E.B. Lewis spoke about a period of over a year when he had no more desire to paint or do any art for himself. There was no more inspiration.
Fine artist take a problem and tries to work it out.
Being an artist means leaving something behind that someone can use.
Artist should fill ourselves to overflow and give it all back.

Graphic Novel – workshop by Nick Eliopulos who is an editor at scholastic:
Would rather work with writer/illustrator. Would make the negotiation and the creation of the published book easier.
Up to 200 pages is fine but they do go higher.
(sorry I did not write down much for this workshop)

Sweat & Magic - my notes from a SCBWI speech by Gail Carson Levine:
No idea is stupid within a list you make. Write them all down.
Some good suspense builders:
1) Time pressure (ticking clock)
2) Distance
3) Thoughts (looming thoughts)
4) Nonstop action
5) Setting
6) Separation from problem (what is the enemy doing while the hero is away)
7) Main character’s flaw (his or her flaw could be a ticking bomb i.e. character goes crazy whenever he is called weak)
8) Secondary character flaw
9) Expectations
10) Isolation
11) Disaster
12) Something is lost and the character must get it back or he thinks he must get it back

Predictability
Why do we re-watch and re-read stories that we already know the outcome to?
Random.
Have a character ask another about their thoughts and throw in a disaster to surprise everyone.

Character development
A good tool is to see how each character would handle the same chore differently, i.e. getting ready for school, packing for a trip, etc.

Revision exercise
Pick out a scene from a book you dislike and re-write it.

What type of stories are you re-telling over and over.

SCBWI - Summer Conference in LA - DAY ONE

2010-08-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

As many do I took notes if I ever attend any art related conference. I went to the SCBWI Sumemr conference in LA that end last week and wanted to share some of my notes from the 2 workshops I went to and just a few words about Loren Long's keynote speech. So here we go:

SCBWI Day 1 - Putting Together your Portfolio for Children's picture book publishing.

This work shop was run by Lauren Rille who is a Senior Designer at Simon & Schuster. Please note that some of her tips are based on her opnion and may not apply to others in her position in the industry. Either way I think there are some excellent tips:

3 things she looks for in a portfolio:

1) Technical ability

2) Composition

3) Narrative quality

Technical Ability:

Draftsmanship

Command of drawing

Age accuracy

Consistency

Hands

Believability

Composition:

Perspective

Fun

Different

Narrative Quality

Charming

Unexpected

Remember that 3 people need to be convinced of your ability to illustrate a book; the Art Director, the Editor and their Boss.

For Lauren Rille it comes down to 1 or 2 pieces that sell you as the illustrator although all of your pieces need to be strong. She needs to feel that she can successfully push 32 pages out of you. Simon & Schuster does some times ask 1^st time illustrators to do spec work BUT if they are not hired to illustrate the book they will pay their artist for their spec work and if the artist is hired to do the book it is considered a wash. They never expect an artist to work for free.

Your Website:

Keep it simple.

Less is more.

Images should load fast

Blogs are good to show the fun side of the artist or process and learn something about the artist as a person.

Contact link on every page of your website is a good idea.

Tireless self promoter

The section with sketches can be fun and revealing but it is most likely only icing on the cake not the main thing that sells you to an AD.

Agents/Reps

Sometimes Art Directors prefer to work with reps because they can make their life easier, but if an AD does not like your rep and this can work against you too. You need to weigh the pros and cons.

Postcards:

Lauren Rille is personally not a huge fan of them (but most other people who spoke at SCBWI did like them).

Freebies are cool.

Something new and unique to you. An artist newspaper for example can be fun or some other tactile visual experience. These type of things can be hard for an AD to toss out because they can see the personal unique touch.

Do NOT do shotgun emails.

Do the research and hit the AD’s that have a history of hiring artist that you like and fit your voice or style.

Your email should have a clickable single image of your work on it that promotes you and make it easy for the AD to click and be taken to your site.

ART TECHNIQUES FROM DAVID DIAZ

David demonstrated a fine art piece that he had started on masonite that was really fun to watch and gave me a lot of ideas of new things I could try in my work that might help give some of my work different look. It was also cool to see him use some things that I already use that I stumbled upon myself.

The piece he work on in the workshop already had a few dry coats of paint on it.

He then drew on it with charcoal, sprayed varnish, painted ink on it (Radiograph ink), painted over that with clear Gesso, let it dry and continued to add more layers. The point of this demo was to show some techniques and the ability to layer your work that folks might not be aware of that will hopefully inspire you in your own work

LOREN LONG

Great inspirational and funny key note speech. The one line he said at the end that I really liked was: “What do you want to give this world.” I love that quote and it is important because that is what we are doing as artist. I think some of us have a tendency to treat our art as a self indulgent thing, but if you are expressing yourself you are giving to the world. And even if the world does not care for your art the feeling or emotion you give out in doing your work is important in itself and in my opinion makes the world a better place to live. The more we are all doing what we were put here to do the more freedom we give others to do the same.

Illustration Friday - "Caged"

2010-08-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

I tried a different illustration style on this one. Not sure it works as a whole, but it is getting there. Drawn in Manga Studio.

Illustration Friday - "Artificial"

2010-08-05T00:47:00.000-07:00

Love can almost feel artificial with all of today's communication gadgets. I drew & colored this in Manga Studio. I tried to keep the lines more natural and had a lot of fun with all of the digital inking. This image is actually the revised illo. The other one had a text phrase that did not make much sense and was most likely incorrect. I think the text background works much better with the idea of the illo.

flying down the stairs

2010-07-30T00:50:00.000-07:00

I did this all digitally in Manga Studio.

Off to school.

2010-07-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

A color comp of a story idea I am working on.

digital sketches

2010-07-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Did these on the Cintiq in Manga Studio while almost falling asleep. Bed time now.

Illustration Friday - "Breakfast"

2010-07-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

My take on the most important meal of the day. This guy just went a little overboard. In all seriousness I actually felt a little sick to my stomach while I was inserting all these fast food logos. It's a little sad these places sell so many breakfast items that are not very good for you although they have gotten better over the years.

Nucleus Gallery show - ICON Labor of Line

2010-07-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

I was very fortunate to be included in this incredible group show going on at Nucleus Gallery as part of the ICON 6 Illustration conference in LA this year. This combines two amazing entities; Nucleus Gallery and ICON. I am very humbled to be in this show with so many other crazy talented artist.

The above image is just a small taste of the incredible work that will be in this group show. Please note that none of them are mine. I only post this image to advertise the event.

iGlove for the iPhone 4

2010-07-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

Another in my cartoon illustrations series on the gadgets that could solve that annoying iPhone 4 antenna issue.

iKenisis

2010-07-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

I'm doing 5 cartoons based on the 'death grip' issues surrounding the new iPhone 4. The text will come later. Later this week.

Dreaming of the iPhone4

2010-07-07T01:06:00.000-07:00

I did this in pen & ink ink with some PS finishing. The glow from a photo I took of the sun breaking through the trees. I try and take a lot of photos of light and texture for later use like this.

BP's attempt at spinning the Gulf disaster

2010-07-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

Drawn & colored in Manga Studio EX. Composited and touched up PS.

Dick Tracy piece for Off The Strip gallery show

2010-06-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

I did this in acrylic & ink and it is about 16x20 in size and took took way to long to complete. For gallery show at WWA Gallery in Culver City called Off The Strip (see previous post).

Summer 2010 of Proxart magazine is out

2010-06-25T14:13:00.000-07:00

I encourage everyone to check out this beautifully designed magazine put out by Proxart. It is a art and culture magazine which I was part of for in their last issue. I am a amazed at the artistic and intelligent design sense in this magazine and it is FREE!! Just browse through it and I think you will be struck at the smart, creative layout of this indy publication. Art work is from the cover and created by Alama Juarez

Off the Strip Gallery Show at WWA in Culver City

2010-06-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in this group show at WWA Gallery in Culver City. The theme of the show is re-thinking the traditonal newspaper strip cartoons that we all know and love. Mine is nearly done and I will post it soon. In the mean time here is a link to the gallery show.

Chalk mural from Pasadena Chalk fest 2010

2010-06-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

Not bad for doing it by myself and learning as I go I suppose. I still have a lot to learn about using chalk and about shading though.

Pasadena Chalk Festival

2010-06-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

PASADENA CHALK FESTIVAL - June 19th & 20th.

I will be contributing in the Pasadena Chalk Festival once more this year but this time all by myself. Not sure if this is such a great idea but there are some things with Chalk that I really want to try out so I am going to brave this alone. Last year I did it with members of the my local SCBWI group and we won best in Cartoon Alley. I doubt I will be as fortunate this year since the 4 people I worked with really made our piece shine and win. But I'm looking forward to spending my Father's Day weekend at this great event. If you are near Pasadena this weekend you should come out. You will be amazed by the talent at this event and the great people too. The picture is from last year's Best in Festival Arlou Somo.

This Day in History - May 31st

2010-05-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

May 31st in History

I sort of combined two different events that took place on May 31st. 1) 1991 Oldest bride - Minnie Munro, 102, weds Dudley Reid, 83, in Australia & 2) 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace a Chance." The 2nd one is based on Rolling Stone cover Annie Leibovitz took of John Lennon & Yoko that was taken many years after 1969. On a very sad note is that the same night Annie took the photo of John & Yoko John was shot & died (Dec. 8, 1980).

Sketches in Manga Studio

2010-05-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

Playing around with shapes and ideas in Manga Studio.

May 24th - In History

2010-05-24T00:53:00.000-07:00

1830 "Mary Had A Little Lamb," is written.

I created the illo in pen and marker with a little water color pen on the girl. I attempted to create this digitally but the energy was just not coming across.

Rough children's book dummy

2010-05-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Here are 4 pic I did in ink & gray marker for a 1st draft of a rough children's book dummy I made. Hope to keep working on this and see it through.

May 17th - In History

2010-05-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

On May 17th 1985 the largest recorded Chinook Salmon was caught in Alaska (97 lb 4oz).

I did this Manga Studio EX. Some of the values did not carry over to PS very well. A common problem I need to figure out a fix for.

Man's best friend

2010-05-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

I did this illo in Manga Studio EX. Based on a story idea. I altered the colors in PS. Not sure which I like better.

May 10th - In History

2010-05-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

May 10th 1908 was the first time Mother's Day was observed.

The idea was to show that people and animals (mice) were celebrating the same holiday. The original illo I posted did not come out very well at all. So I went back in and made massive changes and here is my re-submit.

Here is one other version a bit closer to how it looked in Manga Studio when I did it.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

Drawn and colored in Manga Studio EX. The flowers are a set pattern in Manga Studio. I did not create them. I only painted the set pattern into the design I wanted.

Colored in Manga Studio

2010-05-05T01:06:00.000-07:00

I had written off Manga Studio for coloring, but I colored this card for a friend in Manga Studio and found a lot of cool brushes I had not played with before. I also used the chessy patterns, but they worked for this illo.

Hindu inspired illustration

2010-05-04T12:00:00.001-07:00

I did this in watercolor, marker and ink

May 3rd - In History

2010-05-03T01:06:00.000-07:00

On 3rd May 1997 Garry Kasparov met IBM's Deep Blue chess computer for the second time. The year before he had beaten it. This year, it was a different story!

April 26th in History

2010-04-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

1564 April 26th William Shakespeare was baptized. An obscure history reference but a fun one to make a cartoon for. The sentence the baby Shakespeare speaks is a quote from King Lear. I tired to pick a quote that might say a thing or two about life in general since he was being baptized. The quote "When we are born, we cry, that we are come to this great stage of fools." I also included a very rough sketch I did in ink and a watercolor pen.

Illustration Friday - DETECTIVE

2010-04-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

My original roughs had more zany energy, but it's getting there. Drawn & inked on paper, scanned and painted in Painter (like the brush textures & feel better than PS most times).

Modern Day Expressionism group art show

2010-04-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Had the chance to be another show in Costa Mesa at the ARTery which I have wanted to show at ever since I saw some videos about them. It is located at an extremely cool spot called The Lab. Here is there FB link & their weblink.

The art for the event poster was not done by me, but I REALLY like it and need to meet this artist. The other image is a new piece I contributed to the show as a print. It was done in Acrylic and later manipulated in PS. Not something I usually do, but after this one I might do more.

Painting live at the Roxy

2010-04-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

Here are two shots of me painting live at the Roxy in Hollywood last Saturday night. This was my first live painting event. had a great time and got to meet some other very talented artist. Now I just have to finish this piece. It still needs a lot of work. Thank you to The Hive Gallery and the owner of the Hive Nathan Cartwright for taking the photos and letting me be a part of this very cool event.

Live Painting event this weekend at the Roxy

2010-04-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

I was very fortuante to be included in a very cool live painting event and show at the Roxy in Hollywood this coming Saturday. I must admit I'm a little nervous about it but really looking forward to it. The event is the The Third Eye Gathering and it sounds like it will be a great event. A lot of other artist will be there painting live too and I am humbled to be amoung them.

Birthday card comic

2010-03-31T01:22:00.000-07:00

This is part of a comic I made for a birthday card. Made in Manga Studio and PS.

Proxart Magazine is finally here

2010-03-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

I was very fortunate to meet an incredible group of talented people right in Santa Clarita who are single handedly showing that Santa Clarita has a lot of art and artist right here right now and have produced a magazine to prove it. I urge you to down load a FREE copy of this magazine and I think you will be taken at the stories of everyday artist like yourselves who are expressing themselves in their own voices.

I was also blessed to be asked to do the cover for this first edition which you can see here and was even featured in the magazine. Plus they used an Twitter illustration I did for them as the full page last page as well. Needless to say they featured me a lot which still sort blows my mind & also makes me very thankful.

So please go to the Proxart and download a free copy of the magazine and a get a look at what is possible with a lot of talent and drive.

Illustration Friday - EXPIRED

2010-03-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

"I’m sorry Tony but I checked my account on Relationships.com and it turns out my feelings for you expired last week." My take on the word "Expired" for Illustration Friday. I did this in Manga Studio and tried to keep the energy in the line.

Illustration Friday - SUBTERRANEAN

2010-03-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

This was a piece I created with acrylic, marker & ink for a recent show but I thought it also fit this week's IF subject. The colors were enhanced slightly in PS, but overall this is how the original looks.

Illustration for Reno High School basketball fund raiser

2010-03-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

My brother asked me to create an illustration for his sons HS basketball crab cook off fund raiser. He took this (he is an architect) and incorporated it into the poster. I created this in Manga Studio

Illustration Friday - PERSPECTIVE

2010-03-03T22:35:00.000-08:00

This was an experiment from start to finish. the shape and squares were laid out on the computer than I created stencils from that and painted them one color at a time. Then scanned it back into the computer and manipulated it in the PS.

Alice in Wonderland show at The Hive opens this Saturday

2010-03-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

The piece from my last post will be in the Alice in Wonderland show at The Hive in downtown LA that opens this Saturday. Here is the post card for the show. They get a very good crowd with live music and a bar. very festive art show which I'm really happy to be a part of.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-02-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

My take on this beloved story done in acrylic, ink & marker on cardboard. Another experiment trying some new texture, painting techniques. Design is a little off but Iearning for the next time around.

After Eden - acrylic & ink on canvas

2010-02-24T21:52:00.000-08:00

18x24 piece I did on canvas. Did not come out exactly as I hoped but it was a good learning experiences.

Mail Met Art -2

2010-02-02T00:57:00.000-08:00

My 2nd submission to Mail Me Art (a bit of the edge is cut off in on this scan)
http://mailmeart.com/going-postal/

On this day Jan 31st

2010-01-31T23:15:00.000-08:00

KC from KC & the Sunshine Band & Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols were born on this day.

My quick digital sketch to pay tribute (sort of ) to both of them.

Group show at Cannibal Flower in LA

2010-01-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate to be able to make an original piece for a local gallery in Los Angeles for their upcoming group show see the flyer and info below:

CANNIBAL FLOWER
SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2010
TEN YEARS STRONG!

FIRST HUGE SHOW OF THE NEW YEAR
Featured Artist:
BRIAN ROBERTSON
http://www.myspace.com/brianerobertson

Live Performance
The Color Turning
http://thecolorturning.com/

Resident DJ's -
Mr. NumberOnederful
X-Point
Guest DJ - Jas Shepherd
http://www.myspace.com/forwardmotionkpfk907fm

Live Painting
Michael Pukac
Tiki Jay One

Cannibal Flower New Location
724 S. Spring Street.
Los Angeles, CA 90014
14th Floor
Across the street from The Hive & Temple of Visions
9pm-1am

Admission is $8
$6 entrance with a costume or walking art
First 6 people in costume get in for FREE!!
Come and play our new carnival games and win prizes!!

GROUP SHOW ARTISTS
Michael Pukac, Liz Brizzi, Asylm, Tiki Jay, Craig "Skibs" Barker, Patrick Hammerlein, Brendan Tierney, N.S. David, Nate Seubert, Cate Rangel, Glenn Arthur, Nicole Bruckman, Yuki Miyazaki, Kelly Castillo, Prince Parise, Alex Chiu, Jose Carabes, Em Scott, Shannon Keller, Euth, Delphia, Paul Torres, Laura Diamond, Gosha Levochkin, Douglas Alvarez, Terri Berman, Lynn Marie Greaves, Michele Waterman, Shahid Brown, L. Croskey, Crystal Sylver, Hilary Bond, James Ivey, Lindy Ivey, Leyla Akdogan, Michelle Cohen, Donna Letterese, Timimonster, Kelly Thompson, Dytch 66, Paul Garcia, Ryan Ward, Foof Churro, Gershon Mosley, Jimmy Bell, Brian Nieman, David Cooley, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, Nyoka, David Mesina, George Saavedra, Nathaniel Osollo, Sam Graham, Damen LaPalm, Amy Bernays, Gyorgy Bp Szabo, Jake Davis, Angie Jones, Rhea Adri-De Salvo, Wellington Rawls, Ckay Walker, Kevin T. Williams, Anna Silvey, Paul Jeter, Joe David Torres, Frank Hansen, Eban Lehrer, William Paton, Godfrey Mawema, Kimberley Torres, April Davis, Anjela Piccard, Maria Finna, Jeff Felker, Kelly Berg, Dion Macellari, Lauren Glick, Lisa Nyla Rosso, Heidi Spring, Liane Shih, Art Weeks, Richard Arthur, Anthony Weber, Peter Adamyan, Ben Brough, MEQ, John Culqui, John P. Wales, Candy, Ahh'd Art, Alex Gonzalez, Pinche Michi, Tymer, Sylvia Lizarraga, Chuck U. Farely, Stephen Canthal, Andre Ajibade, Chet Glaze, Santiago Salvador, Yuri Levin, Dave Tucker and more..

WWW.CANNIBALFLOWER.COM

January 25th 1947

2010-01-24T22:04:00.000-08:00

On this day in 1947 the once feared mafia king Al Capone dies of a heart attack at the age of 48. The drawing of Capone looks nothing like him but hopefully the point of the joke still comes across.

Watercolor, Marker & ink Designs

2010-01-21T21:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some abstract designs I have been creating lately.

illustration Friday - WILDERNESS

2010-01-19T22:57:00.000-08:00

The way some people see the wilderness; as encroaching on mankind. I'm not one of those people.

I did this with marker and pen & ink, then adjusted the colors in PS.

January 18th 1778

2010-01-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

January 18th 1778 English navigator Captain James Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands, which he dubbed the Sandwich Islands.

January 11th 1935

2010-01-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

January 11th 1935 Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California. Although this transoceanic flight had been attempted by many others, most notably by the unfortunate participants in the 1927 Dole Air Race which had reversed the route, her trailblazing[87] flight had been mainly routine, with no mechanical breakdowns. In her final hours, she even relaxed and listened to "the broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera from New York.

I decided to finally start creating and posting cartoons on my ‘On this Day Cartoon’ blog but now I’m thinking I might just post them on this blog.

Illustration Friday - RENEWAL

2010-01-06T00:24:00.000-08:00

You will probably need to click on this and enlarge it to see it very well. This did not come out as well as I had hoped. More live & learn.

Marker/ink 1

2010-01-02T00:20:00.000-08:00

A design idea I have been playing with

11x14 Marker & Ink piece

2009-12-30T20:34:00.000-08:00

I think this piece might still need some work. Still experimenting. Also this is a bad photo. My scanner is not big enough to handle 11x14.

Illustration Friday - UNDONE

2009-12-22T01:33:00.000-08:00

Santa pants had become a little undone when he left his belt at the North Pole.

My Mail Me Art submission

2009-12-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

Had to submit to this fun idea in the UK (your art is the actual envelope not what is in it), plus there is a chance to get published. MAIL ME ART.

ETSY online store finally open for business

2009-12-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well i'm about 3 years late on this trend, but I have finally created an ESTY online store to sell prints and original works. Please take a look & let me know what you think. Seriously if you have any comments good or bad please let me know. Thank you everyone.
FRANK M HANSEN'S Etsy store

The "Hey You Guys" charity art acution ends Sunday Dec. 18th

2009-12-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

(Above art work created by Israel Sanchez)

Only a few days left to bid online for some outstanding art by some outstanding artist. I was lucky enough to be able to contribute a piece which can seen on the site. The proceeds for this event go to Donor's Choose.
HEY YOU GUYS CHARITY ART AUCTION.

Self-Portrait I did for the Art Calender cover contest

2009-12-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

Had fun doing this. Hopefully my piece will at least get picked for runner up.

Marker & ink on Laser color paper

2009-12-08T21:23:00.000-08:00

Although I like some this about this illo, somewhere in the process it started going in the wrong direction. But it's all a learning experience just like life so I need to just learn from it and move on.

"Power in Numbers" exhibition at Nucleus Gallery this weekend

2009-12-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

Was asked to contribute two 5x7 pieces for the Nucleus Gallery near Pasadena. It came at the last minute with some help from Israel Sanchez (thank you Israel). If you are in the area you should check it out. It runs from December 12, 2009 - December 28, 2009 and the number of great artist works will blow your mind, plus all purchases of the original pieces goes to the American Red Cross. You can't go wrong.