Recently in Chris Leavens Category

Here's a monster I created for Studioaiko's awesome monster party. I dropped in a background for kicks.

Vector art, Adobe Illustrator CS4

And soon the smoke beast began to expand like a balloon, scaring every ounce of bejesus out of the house-hungry cyclops. (Illustration Friday, topic: balloon)

I actually finished this illustration about a week and a half ago, but I'm posting it now to correspond with the publish date of a tutorial I was hired to write for the website Vectortuts. If you're really interested in vector illustration and you're looking to learn a bit more about my process, check it out. I will warn you, however, that it's a members-only tutorial and you'll have to pay to play.

Here's the link, in case you missed it: vectortuts.com/articles/news/new-vectortuts-plus-tut-create-whimsical-artwork-entirely-in-adobe-illustrator/

Vector Illustration, Adobe Illustrator CS4

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

I'm of the opinion that working for a boss is not a good thing. (Illustration Friday, topic: opinion)

I've decided to draw people again. I guess they're sort of people. Another illustration is on the way really soon.

Vector art, Adobe Illustrator CS4

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

If folks keep losing their lunches, the whole town will be vacant. (Illustration Friday, topic: vacant)

I don't normally draw people, so I decided to go for it this week. I think they turned out OK.

Apologies if I've been quiet recently. My wife and I have found a house and we've been busily tackling the required bureaucracy. In other news, I'm pleased to report that there's a little Leavens on the way. That's right -- Adriana's pregnant. Come May, a baby Unloosenite will be among us.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

Vector art, Adobe Illustrator CS4

Here's my take on Halloween. After the beasts have feasted, repairs will be necessary. (Illustration Friday, topic: repair)

I get a little sick of all of the gore and blood associated with Halloween. Otherworldly monsters who eat your plants are scary, too, right?

Also, if you're looking for other Halloween-related stuff, Unloosen-style, check out the fiction section. Craig J. Clark and Joe Blevins have been offering up great, twisted horror stories all month and they'll each be delivering two more just in time for this Friday. This is seriously good stuff, not to be missed.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

Vector art, Adobe Illustrator CS4

I meant to post this last week, but my wife and I are trying to buy a house, so I've been a bit busy. Better late than never, right? (Illustration Friday, topic: late)

This is my 2008 Christmas card design. I'll be printing off 250 of these. If anyone's interested, I'll be offering them for sale in packs of five and ten. The cards are standard, 5 inch by 7 inch size and they're professionally printed on thick, glossy card stock.

5 cards will cost US $11, shipping included for US and Canadian residents. 10 cards will be US $20, shipping included for US and Canadian residents. Sorry, I'll have to charge extra for people in other countries. Just post a comment if you're interested and I'll email ordering info. I'll probably be posting some PayPal links/buttons within the next week.

Also, in case you missed it, I was interviewed recently by the awesome vector illustration website Vectips. CHECK IT OUT! Also, big thanks to Bella Sinclair for mentioning me in her list of seven artists on the web she admires. She's quite an artist herself.

Vector Illustration, Adobe Illustrator CS3 and CS4

A tall beast packed with all types of power. (Illustration Friday, topic: packed)

I'm pretty happy with this one.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

An Internet/illustration friend I met through Flickr, Goobeetsa, is collecting artist trading cards depicting scenes from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," so I decided to take a crack at it. This is chapter 5 of the story.

Quite an odd clique the characters in this story make, eh? (Illustration Friday, topic: clique)

Vector Art, Adobe Illustrator CS3

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

The inside of his mouth was like an island, storms and all. (Illustration Friday, topic: island)

Vector Art, Adobe Illustrator.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

Just removing some of the clutter that builds up in my mind (Illustration Friday, topic: clutter). This one's probably best viewed in its larger form (click this one for that one).

This one took me a while. I'm VERY tired now.

100% vectors.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

Some try to keep memories alive while others seek rest. (Illustration Friday, topic: memories)

If the dark tones in this one blend to much together, please let me know. My LCD, although very good, sometimes shows more separation in darker tones than CRTs and prints.

Speaking of memories, while working on this I was listening to a great new album called "Sahara Swing" by Karl Hector and the Malcouns. It's basically a bunch of Germans playing Afrobeat (think Krautrock meets Fela Kuti). Made me think of one of my favorite bands, Can. So I listened to Can's "Soon Over Babaluma." It was good.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

**NOTE** I'm in the midst of a major behind-the-scenes site overhaul, so if your comments don't show up right away, don't worry, they still made it through.

My parents were in town, so my normal routine was interrupted, hence the delay. (Illustration Friday, topic: routine)

Acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

So many things to detach, so little time. (Illustration Friday, topic: detach)

The textures in this one almost brought my computer to its knees. Also, if you're ever wondering which Mouse on Mars CD is best to rock while working, I'd suggest Glam.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

Sailing through the air to meet some "friends." (Illustration Friday, topic: sail)

Feeling better about this painting than the last one.

Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 30"

I intended to draw a moose and poof, it turned into this (Illustration Friday, topic: poof!).

In all honesty this is the best I've felt about anything I've done in weeks. It's also one of the most complicated vector pieces I've done in a while. If anyone's interested, here's a breakdown of the process.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

Having grown tired of canned fruit, the King decided to sup upon something fresher (Illustration Friday, topic: canned).

For those who are keeping score, this is the 500th Unloosen post. Thanks for sticking around.

Acrylic on canvas.

One fish monster is never enough. (Illustration Friday, topic: enough)

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

In PA, Adriana and I visited DHL, who decided to dress conservatively for the occassion:

Adriana partook in the good Doctor's Drank (thanks, Ed) sipping ritual, effectively "slowing his roll:"

We watched and laughed as dr. SATAN, who lives a few houses down from DHL, mowed his lawn. Lunchbox of Blood showed us their instruments of terror, talked about playing them, and then fed us hamburgers. It was good.

For my 25th birthday, I received a female mannequin torso. It was a group effort and the culprits included Wargo, Kendall, and Jack. This was back in the glory days when both Wargo and Kendall were still existing in LA. Seven years have past and I finally feel like I've done the mannequin some justice. Here she is (click on the little photos for the big ones):

Admittedly, my painting skills are a little rusty and it shows in my technique. There's more painting stuff planned for the near future, so a remedy called practice may cure my ills.

Acrylics on mannequin.

DHL and some other east-central PA guys have started a pop group called Lunchbox of Blood. They sound a lot like Air Supply, only louder, noisier, and drunker. After an 84-groupie escapade, DHL asked me to come up with some artwork, something that would depict the "smooth, dentist-office calm that is L.O.B." (his words, not mine). Minus the text elements, this be where I'm at:

I don't know if it's AM radio enough for them.

Siamese monster squirrels contemplate the power of the all-knowing acorn. (please help me come up with a punchline for this one -- Illustration Friday, topic: punchline)

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

On Thursday, Adriana and I set off for a relaxing vacation in bucolic east-central Pennsylvania. If you're going to be in the area or you are in the area, let me know and we will collude, drink beverages, and make fun of mustaches. DHL, I expect a basement concert and I'll be bringing prototypes of your logo. Sorry, no truck burritos.

In the forgotten days of monster birds, offspring were sprung from head trees. (Illustration Friday, topic: forgotten)

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

I'm actually pretty psyched about this one.

Nor do I usually draw baby noses. (Illustration Friday, topic: baby)

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

When your home is overrun by orange and yellow vines and vegetative cyclopes, it's time to worry. (Illustration Friday, topic: worry)

I put a little extra work into this one, hope it shows. Now the tired is setting in heavily.

On an Adobe Illustrator-related tech note, I've found the root of my computer's slowness when confronted with complex images. It's all tied to the thumbnail previews in the layers pallet. After each new item is drawn, it's redrawn in the layers pallet. If I hide the layers pallet momentarily while working on complex images, the slowness disappears. This is a minor nuisance for me because I like to keep the layers pallet exposed all the time -- I use lots of layers (I like my files to be somewhat organized). But I guess if it helps me to put off dropping 2.5 Gs on a new computer, I'll deal with it for now.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

The large-footed bird strode along happily in his new extra-wide loafers he picked up at the factory outlet store in Camarillo. (Illustration Friday, topic: wide)

I'm super busy this week, so I figured I'd just throw together a VERY quick ink & paper drawing this time around. It's too bad, because I'm in the planning stages for a piece that would've fit this topic perfectly.

So what's keeping me so busy? Tonight, I'm taking part in a group art show in downtown LA, so I've been prepping for the show for the last couple weeks, putting together promo materials, carting prints to the show location, and updating my portfolio site, which isn't quite done, but it's definitely informative enough and functional.

Two sky arms develop the land, ironing away the mountains and electrically binding buildings to the flattened earth. (Illustration Friday, topic: electricity)

I'm really not sure about this one. I had to finish it on my 12" iBook G4 because Adriana and I went out of town this weekend. The colors on the iBook are really hard to gauge. Creating something like this on a computer of this caliber is a brand of masochism I'm not eager to soon repeat. I'll probably go back in and fix it when I'm on my home computer.

The seemingly endless parade of oblivious birds chomping his brethren had planted enough seeds of resent, anger, and hatred to animate the building. (Illustration Friday, topic: seed)

I've been invited to display some of my work at a group show here in Los Angeles on May 17, so I've been busy preparing (hence the lateness of this post). If you live out here, or you're going to be in the area and want to check out the show, feel free to email me for more details: chris[type at symbol]unloosen.com

And yes, as one might imagine, I was really, really tempted (in a heavy sort of way) to use this topic as an excuse to draw multiple Neils from The Young Ones, but I found restraint.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

This is what a close-up view of the wrinkles on my brain looks like (Illustration Friday, topic: wrinkles).

OK, I admit it, this has almost nothing to do with wrinkles, but this is what I was working on.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

The peaceful mountain instinctually regressed to a more primitive state when it literally blew its top. Oh, and that's lava, not blood. (Illustration Friday, theme: primitive)

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com

Yet again, the mountain failed to read the label on the eggs he was eating. Sickness and a multitude of pink, large-footed birds followed in the wake of his gluttony. (Illustration Friday, theme: fail)

I wasn't sure I'd be able to tackle this project as my wife had an unforeseen medical emergency which put her in the hospital overnight earlier this week. Luckily, she's OK.

Prints: chrisleavens.imagekind.com/Monsters

One of the many reasons to save water is because you never know when the rare, but dangerous saguaro tortoise will stop by to slurp up your reservoir or swimming pool. (Illustration Friday, theme: save)

I spent a little more time on this than usual, adding in a lot of texture details. Near the end, the computer became almost unworkable because of all the vectors and feathered paths (not like means anything to most people, but oh well).

Enjoy, or not if that suits you. Purchase a print of this for your favorite uncle by clicking here.

So he decided to pay homage to his town-stomping ancestors by hanging a picture in an appropriate location. (Illustration Friday -- theme: homage)

For the past few weeks, I've started drawings that coincidentally fit the IF weekly theme. Strange.

Prints available via Imagekind, if anyone feels inclined to add this to their wall or office/cubicle space.

Adriana and I are in New Mexico for the week. Today in Albuquerque, we saw this:

An entire telephone pole covered in womens' shoes. This is how one "rolls" in the ABQ, which was once described to me as a giant Kingman. If you've been to Kingman, AZ, you realize that isn't exactly a compliment. Luckily for New Mexico's biggest, it's not really an accurate description. But I digress. The home this pole o' pumps sat next to was a hodge-podge of makeshift metal sculptures, cacti, and old crap. We found it after I took a wrong turn. Hooray for wrong turns.

Don't you hate it when trees split your local office buildings in two? Don't you hate it when giant birds come to roost in your previously-respectable centers of business and commerce? And how about when said birds chomp your car? These are my pet peeves. (Illustration Friday -- theme: pet peeves)

You will probably best served viewing the larger image, which can be acquired by clicking this image:

Enjoy (or not, if you please)! Available, along with other drawings smithed by me, at my Imagekind store.

Just a quick one off:

After I finished the last whale (Heavy), I had an idea for a totally different whale. I didn't want to spend a whole pile of time on it, so I kept it pretty simple.

Heavy the Whale has fallen ill. Illustration Friday; theme="heavy."

I started this one before I saw the theme of the week, but I think it fits. Giant flying whale=heavy. A city feeling the hapless wrath of his influenza=heavy.

Created in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

Heavy the Whale is available for purchase via my Imagekind store.

Another Illustration Friday submission (the theme is garden) and a new illustration:

I've decided to commit myself to one illustration a week indefinitely. I've uploaded this one to my Imagekind store, so it's available for purchase if anyone's interested.

Three faces will be found if the observer is diligent:

All trickery done in camera, no Photoshopping.

Merry Christmas:

This is the artwork that ended up on my Christmas card this year. Enjoy Christmas and kick all of those politically-correct "happy holidays" dweebs in the shins for me.

I work in a complex with many unused rooms. During a recent expansion project, an old bathroom was cracked open and this was found inside:

The bathroom had been converted into a mini sanctuary for Scientology-types to duck into in times of chaos and/or crisis (or so we believe). I didn't get a chance to delve into the dusty tome laid out on the desk, but a like-minded friend snagged it before any of the mildly-insane true believers around these parts were able to. View a less dramatic, more expansive shot of the room (with bonus portrait of L. Ron) by clicking here.

Back story: Adriana and I were in Sonoma, CA for part of our honeymoon. A frequent conversational theme of our wedding was taco trucks and the delicious food they spawn, so when we read about a special Jesus taco truck in and around Sonoma, we decided to track it down. I can confirm its existence because I spotted it on the move while I was driving, but sadly, there's no photographic proof. As a sort of consolation prize, however, I'm posting a photo of Jesus truck's market and spiritual rival, the taco truck belonging to the pagan wizard gang known as "Los Magos." Note the artist's depiction of the wizard magically infusing his foodstuffs with indigestion.

Dedicated to the good Dr. Lunch.

*Trigger technically pulled by Adriana.

Well, this is it, the very last illustration for IAD 2007:

My stab at Halloween. I wanted to go for a different, sadder kind of scary. As with a few others this month, I really wish I had more time to smooth out the wrinkles, but the message I want to convey is there.

Medium: AI CS3

This was a quick one, but I packed it with a little extra absurdity:

One more to go.

Medium: AI CS3

This is an idea I've had stored in my brain for a long time. I was originally going to paint it, but it seemed to lend itself to IAD:

Medium: AI CS3

Medium: AI CS3

IAD nearly ended tonight as I was drawing this one:

Popping this one out was a psychological and creative struggle. The project is beginning to push me to the limit, mostly because of sleep deprivation.

Medium: AI CS3

My head feels like scrambled eggs. The 26th installment of Illustration a Day follows the colon:

Medium: AI CS3

I guess technically, it's stealing tree, because a bit of duplication was employed. More than likely, I'll revisit this one after the month breaks -- I'd love to give it a little more time and attention.

143 points to the first person who notices the very thinly-veiled homage to an eminent surrealist.

Medium: AI CS3

A quick one, a bit darker and simpler than usual:

Medium: AI CS3

Near, far. Near, far. I guess I like the whole "wide-angle" dynamic.