and so...

Sneak Peek

2011-07-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

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Finally getting around to finishing this sketch out! In the meantime, here is a sneak peek of what I've done so far.

ESPN Sports Bar and Grill

2011-07-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

I've been away for a bit, but I can finally share what I've been busy working on for the past year! Green Shoe Animation has worked with Playdom to create a new game: ESPN Sports Bar and Grill.

You are the proprietor a bar and must keep your customers happy by keeping their appetites and thirsts sated, displaying real live sport games (featuring live updates), and decorating your bar with sports paraphenalia. You can predict the outcomes of games, listen to ESPN radio, and more!

I don't yet have permission to share any of my specific designs or animations that I contributed to the game, so in the meantime, please join me on facebook and play the game! (And don't forget to add me as your neighbor, of course!)

Company Christmas Card

2010-12-23T18:10:00.000-08:00

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Eric Egerton

2010-09-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

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I was looking through an old sketchbook, and I found this quick painting of my freshman roommate, Eric. I don't get the chance to do portraits like this much any more, so it was refreshing to find this.

More Soon.

2010-07-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

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Not done. More soon.

Alligator Bag

2010-06-08T09:52:00.001-07:00

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She found that beautiful bag tucked away in the corner of her favorite pawnshop, its price tag dancing in a twisted dangle and then falling still as a cranky oscillating fan rotated its head from side to side. She turned the tag so that the price was facing her and smiled at her find. It was a good price--a steal in fact. That is pride you see in her face. Yes, folded into the blistered wrinkles of her weary scute is the pride of a woman who now has something precious, an heirloom of sorts, which she may, at some point later on when her eyes no longer break the surface of water because she prefers instead to stretch along the lazy length of a sun-warmed rock, pass on to her child.

3 Character Designs

2010-06-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

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Three early character designs for an animated project I'm working on with Aaron Hawkins. I cannot discuss the project in much detail, but the overall design ultimately took on a different, more simplified look, inspired in some part on the stylized designs that came out of the UPA in the 1950s. And while we're on the subject, Amid Amidi's beautiful book Cartoon Modern collects much of the work from this era--it is a beautiful book and I highly recommend it!

Little Black Dress

2010-05-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

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Prismacolors

2010-05-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

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Another drawing from the sketchbook...Gotta love the vibrancy of prismacolors.

Feeding the Beast

2010-04-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

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I've never been as diligent as I should be about blogging, but I apologize for my recent delinquency. I have been kept busy by work, among other things.

I do not often do abstract pieces--and had not, until recently, done them since RISD--but there is something satisfying about abandoning oneself to application of paint and composition. I did this piece for my parents.

Not sure what the response will be by those generous few who follow my blog. Not even sure what my own feeling is about this work sometimes. But I haven't blogged in far too long. It is time to feed the beast.

Something old, something new...

2009-12-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

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I realize I've already posted the lady on the right, but she now has a companion sketch on the facing page of my sketchbook. Also, I darkened the linework on her--the previous scan was a bit light. Both of these characters are bound to appear here in a final, polished form soon.

Such passion!

2009-10-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

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Yet again, a drawing excerpted from my sketchbook. It's not the best sketch I've ever done (those hands feel a little lazy)--but he's just so passionate and so happy, it's hard not to like him.

A little something for everyone...

2009-10-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

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Another page from the ol' sketchbook. I don't know how I feel about the lady yet, but the geometric face of the waiter (or is he a maître d'?) makes me happy, makes me feel like I'm onto something.

Quick Sketch

2009-10-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

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Things have been busy. I recently finished a spot for Sesame Street and have moved on to doing some work on another PBS show. I have been trying to find time to complete several of my character designs. I also have been frequenting the library, checking out their huge photography books in search of inspiration for characters and ideas.

The above is something quick I did in my sketchbook last night while the film "Lenny" played in the background.

From the Sketchbook

2009-09-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

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Jazz

2009-07-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

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Something recent from my sketchbook. I really love the loose gestural quality I get when using a China Marker. Very interesting and almost abstract forms emerge when I draw that way, and I love building on those forms.

Mirror

2009-06-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

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This is something else from my sketchbook that I like. (While it doesn't play with abstraction or graphic forms in the same way as some of my other recent work) it is indicative of my recent incorporation of and experimentation with pattern.

Professor

2009-06-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

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Just wanted to post what I'm currently working on. Here's a sketch and a rough color version. I want the whole thing to have the sepia tone of an antique globe--still working on it though. Feedback welcome.

Musician

2009-06-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

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I like this guy--I plan on using him in a larger piece, though I haven't yet decided whether to do it digitally or in traditional media. Perhaps a combination of the two.

From my sketchbook

2009-06-04T00:53:00.000-07:00

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A sketchbook is always full of notes, scribbles, and often drawings that you wouldn't want to reveal to the world. But I have a few things in my sketchbook that I feel confident about, and so the next few posts will be glimpses into my sketchbook. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Some old squidbillies drawings...

2009-04-20T10:44:00.001-07:00

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So I was going through some drawings I did--and I realized I never posted these on my blog.

One late night last year, when I was living in Atlanta and working on "Squidbillies", I was playing around with Alias Sketchbook Pro. I wanted to draw something, but that particular evening, I wasn't feeling particularly inspired. So I turned to the show I had worked on for 2+ years for inspiration...besides, I figured it would be fun to see these characters (some of whom have such strange designs) fleshed out in a more realistic manner.

It is actually because of these drawings that Jim Fortier, one of the creators of "Squidbillies", asked me to create this drawing of Early Cuyler for the show.

New Reel

2009-04-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

Reel-Lars Edwards from Lars Edwards on Vimeo.

Here's a new reel featuring some of my work. Not all the cuts work perfectly, but I will continue to tweak it and update it.

Debonair Racoon

2009-04-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

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I've been playing with pattern a lot lately--exploring how it can be used as a device for abstraction and composition. In this piece I even tilted the perspective of the floor a little bit in an attempt to make it one more patterned element.

Seduction sketch

2009-04-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

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So suave, so debonair...one day, it's going to catch up to him. But not today.

In Progress

2009-03-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

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Quick, rough sketch. Still working on it. Just wanted to check in.

Fashion!

2009-03-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

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"Be A Nose!" has been featured on youtube's front page and by drawn, cartoonbrew, cold hard flash, usatoday's blog, Boards Magazine, Heeb Magazine, The Pitchfork, Blast Magazine, Boards Magazine and Mcsweeney's, just to name a few. It's exciting to get work out there and have it be seen by such a wide audience!

I have begun a small series of designs featuring women in winter clothing. I am going to try integrating graphic and detailed textural elements, as a way of emphasizing certain pieces of clothing. Fashion illustration of a sort. One piece, still in progress, is shown above.

Be A Nose!

2009-02-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

Art Spiegelman's Be A Nose! is about to hit bookshelves and to announce its release McSweeney's Quarterly asked me to put together a trailer. And, after much hard work, it has arrived, making its debut on the internet!

(To view this at its best, click play. Then click the arrow at the bottom right of the You Tube video, and select HD. Next, be sure to start the video over at the beginning, and pause it while it loads--You Tube's HD tends to skip and stutter a little if you don't do those two things.)

I would be remiss if I did not offer a huge thanks to Aaron Hawkins, Jason Shwartz, Hanna Bliss, and Brian Ellis, the four brilliant animators who helped out on this project. I would still be roughing the animation out...or storyboarding...if not for your efforts.

I posted a tiny version of all the boards in an earlier post, but intentionally made them a little hard to see (I really just posted them to prove that, though I hadn't blogged in awhile, I was working) as the project was not yet complete. Now that it is, I thought I would post one of my favorite sections from the Be A Nose trailer.

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McSweeney's

2009-01-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

This is a tiny preview of some storyboards I did for a book trailer for Mcsweeney's Quarterly Concern, a wonderful literary quarterly that also publishes novels, short stories, art books, and other odds and ends.

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Three Generously Portioned People

2008-11-18T22:36:00.000-08:00

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Two options.

2008-10-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

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Early Cuyler Design

2008-07-29T00:04:00.000-07:00

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I apologize for not blogging recently. Unfortunately, I had some technical problems with photoshop which prohibited me from both doing more work and resizing things for the web. I have resolved any technical issues, and so finally I am able to post this drawing I did for the show "Squidbillies".

I had been doing very realistic drawings of "Squidbillies" characters in my spare time just for fun--it was a way to continue drawing and designing even when I wasn't feeling particularly inspired.

We were struggling with the concept of creating a caricature of Early on a dune buggy, and Jim Fortier, one of the show's creators and writers, who had seen some of my more realistic renditions, suggested that I try doing one for the show, the idea being that if a caricature is typically a simplified version of reality, then it might make sense for a caricature of a cartoon, which is already simplified, to be the opposite. It can be seen in episode 32, entitled "Tuscaloosa Dumpling".

dating

2008-05-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

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Just something I've been playing with--I'll probably do more with it later. These two fine specimens are not just friends. They are dating.

Another eighty years...

2008-04-10T19:27:00.001-07:00

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Two Elderly Ladies

2008-04-05T14:32:00.001-07:00

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A design I've been doing some variations of.

New Project

2008-03-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

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These are some quick thumbnails and initial character design for a simple short I've been developing (when I get a free moment!) recently.

Ugly Monster, Beautiful Hair

2008-03-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

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2008-02-10T15:20:00.001-08:00

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In 1925, the first issue of "The New Yorker" ran with a character named Eustace Tilley on its cover. Sometime after Françoise Mouly became cover editor, "The New Yorker" began to commission various artists to do their renditions of Eustace Tilley. For almost two decades artists have been drawing Eustace Tilley in one form another, sometimes recognizable, sometimes vulgar, sometimes a commentary on New York socialites (as the first Tilley was), sometimes an ironic stab at Tilley himself.
Last month, "The New Yorker" held a contest for their anniversary issue. Artists (and anyone else who wanted to participate) were invited to submit their own versions of Tilley to the magazine. The winners would be displayed on the website during the week coinciding with the release of the anniversary issue. Above is my submission to the contest. I found out about it the night before the contest was due and stayed up most of the night to complete it (there's a lot of detail in that hair!). I did not win--however you can hear Françoise Mouly's succinct and fascinating conversation about Eustace Tilley and how the winners were chosen here, and you can see the winning submissions here.

Cowboys in color...

2007-10-22T23:02:00.001-07:00

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Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I have been drawing, just not posting. So I'll try to put some of my latest things up in the coming days. For now, enjoy this slightly modified cowboy drawing. The drawing has been tweaked slightly and I've done a version with color. Enjoy.

Woodsman

2007-09-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

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something sweet to cleanse the palate

2007-09-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

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cowboy

2007-08-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

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2007-08-17T01:43:00.000-07:00

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quick sketch

2007-08-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

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2007-07-02T17:11:00.001-07:00

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A flash sketch for an illustration contest--I'll post the final illustration (a pencil drawing) soon.

*UPDATE* Go here for the finished piece.

Elderly Woman

2007-04-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

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2007-01-31T09:54:00.000-08:00

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2007-01-31T09:16:00.001-08:00

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Monster 4

2006-01-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Monster 3

2005-12-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

Monster 2

2005-12-16T14:31:00.001-08:00

Monster 1

2005-12-14T09:21:00.000-08:00