There's a Spider in the Bathroom

Barely coming in under the submission-deadline wire, here is my entry for the Threadless + Spider-Man  design contest. I haven't really been inspired to do anything for Threadless in a while: they've redesigned their site (and it still needs A LOT of ironing out), the submission forms have changed, etc. I'm not sure why those events put me off submitting (and it's not all that: I just haven't come up with any worthwhile tee ideas lately), but I'm going to try to start subbing again.
The focus of the contest was to create a design inspired by Spidey doing battle with his foes. And, since I was fairly certain that 90% of the submissions would be battle-scenes, I tried to go in a smarter direction. For, as any seasoned general will tell you, going into battle without having observed the enemy (their strengths, weaknesses, and motive) is a grave mistake.
I wanted to utilize the prominence of photography in the Spider-Man universe, and a makeshift darkroom set up in the bathroom seemed like a worth starting point. The rest evolved from there. Mind you the inspiration and execution behind this one all took place in a little over a week, so there are certain things I would prefer to perfect or redo if I had more time, but, as I seem to do often, I put it off until the last minute. Still, my Spider-Sense is quite content with the final product.

Final Product:

Close-up of Villians:

Characters © Marvel Comics

Artwork © 2012 Jeremy Owen

~J

Hip Princess

Another Adventure Time fan-art piece: this one is of Bubblegum as a hipster waiting to get into a show (probably for some bands you've probably never heard of...probably). Funnily enough, I spent more time on this piece than I did on the other AT pieces I've done, and it received less of a response on Tumblr. Either I strayed too far from the actual look and feel of the show...or it proves that less really is more (although, if you think about it, those two reasons are essentially one in the same).

There were many different color schemes/lighting effects I tried for this one, and I settled on this look for a particular reason. I went to see Beach House with a good friend recently, and, while waiting outside for the show, in the chill, October weather, there was this warm light cast by the last rays of sun, illuminating us and everything around with a yellowish sheen. It was a beautiful way for the day to end and a wonderful opening for what, truly, was the best show I've been to in my life so far. So, even though the performance of this piece wasn't as awesome as I wanted it to be for the effort I put into it, it does hold that sense of accomplishment at recreating part of an endearing life experience, for whatever it's worth to you folks.

Character © Pendelton Ward

Artwork © 2012 Jeremy Owen

~J

The Boy Who Lived

The Lightning Struck Child. He Who Was Chosen. Harry.

Character © J. K. Rowling

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

~J

Beach Time with Marceline and Bubblegum

An Adventure Time fan-art piece I did during summer.

Feels a bit out of place posting this in the colder months.

I guess we can all reminisce.

Characters © Pendelton Ward

Artwork © 2012 Jeremy Owen

~J

Words Are Futile Devices

And I would say I love you,
but saying it out loud is hard/
So I won't say it at all/
And I won't stay very long/
But you are the life I needed all along/
I think of you as my brother/
Although that sounds dumb/
And words are futile devices/

Lyrics © Sufjan Stevens
Artwork © 2012 Jeremy Owen

Sufjan, follow the path.

~J

Self

There was this day. It wasn't such a great day. I felt pretty morose. I feel that way sometimes. But it wasn't a morose that brought me to my typical, dysfunctional halt. It was a morose that made me want to create. It was a strange feeling. Most often when I'm morose it makes me want to curl up on the carpet and cease. And I'm not saying this piece is particularly well executed. It isn't one of my better efforts, especially given the circumstances. But I'm proud of it. I'm proud of it because I gave that effort, even though the effort was hurried and clunky. I'm proud of it because it represents a strengthening of character, which, in my life, has been slow in its manifestation. And it feels good. It feels good to not have carpet-indent lining the side of my face.
It always feels good to push back.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

~J

Hip Couple

These hip cats came into the store I work at a while back. You can really tell an out-of-towner when the make an appearance. Hardly anyone looks or carries themselves like this where I live. To each their own, I suppose.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Weird WIns

If you haven't already, GO SEE PARANORMAN. It's by far one of the best films of the year. It's spectacular in its craftsmanship, superb in its direction, and has urgent, important themes that give it depth and resonance. I can't wait to see what Laika puts out next.

As an afterthought, there's a quote in the film that also appears in its trailers, a line that, over the past few weeks, I've really taken to heart and tried to make a personal motto: 'There's nothing wrong with being scared...so long as you don't let it change who you are.' It's hit so close to home with me because for the past several months I've really been trying to figure out my life's direction, and I think one thing that really holds me back is my fear of certain things, most often my fear of the unknown future. And it's difficult to overcome, sure, but I'm doing better all the time.

Thanks, Norman.

Artwork © 2012 Jeremy Owen

Weird Wins.

~J

Interpretive Dancing

Haven't updated the blog in a while. I did this one during the Olympics. I thought they might as well make it an official Olympic sport. It's just one more way to showcase extremely talented, disciplined, well-built athletes.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

~J

The Fashionable Scourge of The Seven Psychedelic Seas

Self explanatory.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Vote for it here!

Cheers,

~J

A Simple Song

This one is for the 'Threadless Loves Simple' contest; simple imagery and only 3 colors. I got the 3 colors part down: I just hope the imagery is simple enough to make it though.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen


Vote for it here!

Cheers,

~J

Good Music is Hard to Find

I've had this one backlogged for a while: not because it's particularly special but because I've taken a while to find colors and textures and the right composition. And because work and life are always so unpredictable. Maybe someday I'll have a job that actually entails some sort of consistent art process. I'm throwing around ideas for a book right now (and some other projects as well); ideas, though that's all they may be, are a good starting point. Thanks for bearing with.
In case it needs explaining, the hidden image in this one is the Treble Clef. The use of and old vinyl LP player and the various types of 'obsolete' recording platforms is a metaphor for the fact that much of the truly inspired and interesting music lies in the past OR is left to those that continue to use the 'old methods' to preserve the quality of their craft. This may be a personal observation, but you gotta take what you can get from me these days. As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you like this one.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Vote for it here!

Cheers,

~J

The Moon Gondolier

This piece, as most of mine, came from doodling around. I've been working to refine my style a bit (and play around with it), and this is one of the experiments. I tried to come up with a story for this guy; an unseen man that, every night, gondoliers the moon through the sky. One this particular night, the rower gets to enjoy a fireworks display.

This took a long while (as I'm working 40+ hours at work now (summer's ramping up)), but I'm quite proud of the end result. It made me push myself to play around with shapes and colors and style, and it will definitely be one of many. I hope to post more often (I'm going to buy a Wacom soon and hopefully get a working scanner in the meantime).

Enjoy!

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

A Phrase of Ice and Fire

Finally: an update. This one is for the 'Threadless Loves 4 Words or Less' contest. I wanted to get a sub in for the last 'Words' contest (3 Words or Less), but never got around to it.

This one is a play on the phrase from Game of Thrones: "Winter is Coming". They say it in many of the episodes (so far), so I thought I might create a bit of a spin on it.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Tumblr promotion link here.
Vote for it here!

Cheers,

~J

Science Doth Rule!

This was originally for the 'Threadless Loves Horror III' contest; I had an unfinished sketch of it in my folder that I thought was going nowhere. Then the 'Threadless Loves Weird' contest came up, so I raced to get it done for that. No such luck.
In the end, it's a scene that wanted to be so many things...but ended up being just another regular picture.
It was still a great time making it, though.

Details:

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Top 25 Scores of 2012 Winner #1

Something small I did for the Top 25 Threadless scores. There will be plenty more of these once the top scorers start printing.

Template Work Credit to Jeff Guerrero/Victor Maury

Template Arrangement Credit to Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Produce Puns #7: Royal Gala

Royal Gala: this one started out as 'Golden Delicious' (to fit with the bling), but I figured I'd be missing and opportunity if I didn't use 'royal' in the actual sense of the word. Not my best effort, I know.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Produce Puns #6: Pink Lady

Sorry the posts have been inconsistent. I'll make them up at the end of the month (in order to have posted something for every day of this year). I'm in the process of moving (and have had a fuller, strangely-scheduled workweek), so I'll blame my lack of motivation on those things...for now.

Today's Produce Pun is for Pink Lady apples. You could've guessed that, though.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Optional Backdrop

I may or may not use this as a backdrop for a collaboration tee-design I'm working on. I drew it based on the dimensions and spacing of the linework my collaborator, looking from screen to paper. I'm not sure if they'll line up right, but I'm sure I can make it work.

More to come on this one soon.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Produce Puns #5: Eggplant

Need I say more?

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

I Made a Tumblr

I finally got around to making a tumblr for my Threadless and personal work (plus whatever else you do on tumblr. You can find the link here, and it is also located on the sidebar to the right. I'm going to try to update it as often as I can, but we'll see how that goes...

From Darkness Bursts Inspiration

This one is for the 'Threadless Loves You' contest, a competition that's centered around you (whatever that might entail). This one is a metaphor for the inception of creativity, where it comes from. Often, a person can draw inspiration of creativity from a dark experience or wearing trial, what, at the time, might seem the last place you'd draw from. Many a time in my life have I put on paper what I'm going through, either in word or line, trying to find the reason it's happening or what its purpose will ultimately serve.

I initially went with a very toned down color palette for this one until I realized that this contest was supposed to reflect what I'm like (or, at least, what I enjoy in a tee design). I love designs that push the boundaries aesthetically: vibrant colors that bring an original vision to life.

I'm not sure if I achieved a high level of originality (or what I achieved with this one at all), but it's refreshing to try something different; to push yourself to create something that is outside the norm of what you usually do. Try it; I can tell you that you won't regret it.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

I'll post a link to the scoring page as soon as this goes up.

Cheers,

~J

Produce Puns #4: Cauliflower

Flowers almost always are tied to hippies somehow. I'm fairly sure it's their calling card (besides the even more obvious 'peace-sign'). This one, therefore, was a no-brainer.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Produce Puns #4: Fennel Bulb

Not everyone knows what Venn diagram is. Find out what it is here. I asked some of my family and friends, and they'd either forgotten or hadn't come across it.

It's not a huge deal. I'm the one who needs to remember from the pun anyway.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Produce Puns #3: Turnip

I was trying to think up a pun for Turnip using either the word 'turn' or 'nip'.

They my grandpa was like "What about 'Turn Hips'?"

This is what came of it.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

WIP Logo

This is an unfinished logo for the smoked-meats department of the store I work at. I'll update with another post once I finish it.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

~J

Produce Puns #2: Red Delicious/Jonagold

Red Delicious, as in 'red' = 'read', which results in a smart, bookie-looking character. Jonagold: couldn't find a great pun for that one (I'm saving the 'gold' pun for Golden Delicious), but it kinda sounds like something a minstrel might be called.

Eeh.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Produce Puns #1: Parsnip/Rutabaga

I'm making some cards at work to help me memorize produce UPC codes for work. I've memorized enough to remain somewhat functional while checking customers groceries, but I still don't know a good many of them, and I cause enough problems at work as it is. Be prepared to see MANY of these little doodles in the future.

I'm going to try to come up with as many puns for these as I can. Don't expect too much of me. The pun for this one is supposed to be Par (as in golf) for Parsnip and Root (as in Cheer!) for Rutabaga. I know it's not great, but it's what worked in the hour or so it took me to draw these fellas.

Who knows? Maybe I'll figure out a way to make some 'lettuce' off these drawings. GEDDIT?

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Rotate-o-matic!

Another work sketch. Nothing profound or thought-provoking, but I found it to be very interesting when you turned this 'lovely mountain-forest scene' upside down. What does it look like to you?

Regular:

Reversed version:

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Crossing Over: Beginning Stages

These are the first stages of a collaboration I'm working on with a fellow Threadless-er. It's a rather complicated concept, but it will make sense in time. In the meantime, enjoy watching it unfold piece by piece.

I'm trying to develop a few different styles, and this is one of them.

It's quite fun to switch it up a bit once in a while (in my case for the first time).

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

The Woman

Another sketchbook re-work.

Don't ask me what it means.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Shmowzow!

This is a more realistic version of Finn and Jake from the show Adventure Time, courtesy my sketchbook. I added some splashes of their telltale bright colors just to detract from the seriousness of it all.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

The Hunter of Souls

Another touch-up of a work sketch. All I had planned when I started this was to have a hunter of some kind with a wolf head for a hood and to have the guy standing in a stream. The rest just came about as I worked. Figured I'd throw in a scary-but-campy title just for fun. Ooogly boogly.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Portrait: Gotye

This is a portrait of Australian singer/songwriter Gotye. I was trying to do something 'artistic' with this one at first (since his music is often times unconventional/artsy/fun) but decided against it; it detracted from the actual likeness.

This one (the linework anyway) was done in a very short span of time (about 10 minutes tops) with a fine-tip Sharpie marker (no pencil before). Some of my friends insisted that I try to pursue a bit more caricature-inspired style when I first began to develop my art, but I decided against it. This is a bit of a return to that type of style. I'll probably do more of these over the course of the upcoming year, for this was great practice for staying focused while having no go-backs (as is easy with pencilwork).

Artwork © 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

p.s. Here's a taste of what he sounds like, in case you've never heard his music.

Here, Birdie Birdie Birdie...

Exotic, non-existent bird I drew at work.

That is all.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

The IT Crowd

This is a fan-art piece for the British sitcom, The IT Crowd, which is probably the funniest sitcom I've ever seen. It blows anything (current) from America out of the water: it is quite silly, but it's loads funnier than having to rely on fishing for jokes using stupid/crude/overused subject matter (which is what (most) American comedy has devolved to).

I'll probably post more fan-art pieces in the future. This one was oodles of fun.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

All the Beautiful Things

Quick one today: this is another portrait based off Eels lead singer, Mark Oliver Everett. It's also another rework of a sketchbook drawing (added color, background texture, etc).

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Lyrics used © Mark Oliver Everett

Cheers,

~J

Fear of the Outer Reaches

Posting two today to make up for yesterday.

I've just stumbled upon really messing around with blending modes in Photoshop, and oh man: are they fun! The people who have seen the original of this will likey enjoy seeing the finished product. I'll upload the original later.

This was supposed to be a 'ghost in space' type character, but some of my friends say it reminds them of the Space Kook baddie from Scooby Doo, found here.

Either way, it was super fun to do.

© 2012 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

In Our Hands

This is a retouched work doodle. In the original, it didn't have quite the 'glowy' effect I wanted it to have. This piece can take on the double meaning of 'its our job to make sure the planet doesn't dissolve into chaos (climate change, war, etc)), but it doesn't have to. You can just enjoy it for art.

© 2011 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Playin' the Deep Blues

This was one that I did for 'Threadwars', a community challenge on Threadless where you battle against another artist (in a round with a common theme), design against design. The theme with this one was 'Aquatic'. This was my final round (as I went up against a well known and respected artist on Threadless), but it was all in good fun, and I really did enjoy making this one. All the details may seem like they took a while to pump out, but this went surprisingly fast (faster than usual anyway).

Who knows? I may redo this one in the future (since it was so much fun to do).

© 2011 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J

Peach Fuzz

This is a collab between myself and Threadless personality Jake Friedman. I'm remaking his design, 'Peach Fuzz', which can be seen my clicking here.

My 'remake' of his design should go up for scoring, on Threadless, in a day or two. Be sure to vote for it below!

Artwork © 2012 Jeremy Owen

Concept © 2010 Jake Friedman

Cheers,

~J

Breaking of the Bat

This is something I drew after the first official trailer for 'The Dark Knight Rises' debuted. It's revealed in the trailer that there will be a lot of physicality in the fighting (confirming what director Christopher Nolan had said on the matter) and that, at some point, Bruce Wayne will be brought to the point of being unmasked, a feat only possible if overpowered in a fight.

It's unclear as to whether or not the iconic 'breaking of the Bat' will be featured in the film (Bane breaking Wayne's back over his leg), but it certainly would add more depth to the story.

This art piece signifies the strong symbol of Batman (which, to most criminals, means unrelenting justice) being broken and shown to be mortal after all. There are other fan-art pieces that have drawn on this same idea, but I figured I could put a bit of my own spin on it.

Artwork © 2011 Jeremy Owen

Cheers,

~J