Mark S Fisher

My Vote

2008-09-28T15:12:09+00:00

Antiques Roadshow is running a special show the day before the election showcasing items related to past presidents that have appeared on the show.

The art is being used as a postcard and online promotion of the show.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/index.html

I had hoped to play off of some of the historical presidential characters associated with the items as well as some antique hand lettering, shown in my sketches but the producers wanted a more current flavor to the art.

Whiz Bang Sketchbook Art

2008-09-27T03:52:46+00:00

Just to let those who want to know that an installment of 8 new drawings to the Whiz Bang Gallery has happened.

http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=641&image_id=10249#this

This will be the final set of drawings in this gallery.

Dino Soup

2008-09-14T03:40:26+00:00

This spring I worked on illustrating a fun little book for Bob's Your Uncle. http://bobsyouruncle.com/

The book is called Dinosaur Soup (and other dubious recipes written by children). Quite a lot of funny ingredients and quirky recipes. My illustrations by comparison are quite tame and are meant to highlight in a subtle way some part of the recipe without taking over the text since it is the recipes themselves that are the humor.

The art is quite different from my usual wacky work but I get a charge out of sometimes just rendering the simplest of things

Martin Yeeles was the designer who along with his wife Michele own and run Bob's Your Uncle a wholesale gift and greeting card company.

New Website

2008-09-10T10:29:52+00:00

I have a new site up and running. marksfisher.com Thanks to my oldest son Wylie wyliefisher.com who is a web designer at The Biltmore Estate www.Biltmore.com down in Zimm's neck of the woods. For the last 4 years I have been attempting to redesign the damn thing but always shot off into tangent designs and looks ultimately ending up with numerous 3/4 done concepts. That's when I called in Wylie and he made it happen in a clean simple way. Thanks Kiddo!

Revisiting the past

2008-08-17T22:13:24+00:00

Working in one style and sticking with it has never been something that I have been able to do. I figure part of it comes from my influence from Push Pin Studio which blew me away by back in the early 70's. So many styles and approaches! They were a group but I was only one guy. Consequently my bag of tricks grew to include a few styles some of which lay dormant a while until they are called for.
I presently find myself working on a couple projects in a style I haven't played with for almost a decade and it is like seeing an old friend after a long absence.

Moon Base

2008-07-23T10:41:35+00:00

I t was 1957 and while everyone else was wasting their time playing war down at the gravel pit I was preparing for other things.

Otto Man

2008-07-17T21:37:51+00:00

Don't miss this one

2008-07-12T13:22:26+00:00

Whiz Bang for free!

2008-06-29T13:06:24+00:00

Another installment of 8 new drawings await you at the Whiz Bang Gallery. I am still outlining found inanimate objects and filling them with a bit of organic life.
Perhaps next I will try outlining some living objects and translate them to mechanical entities.
Any volunteers?

http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=641&image_id=9840#

FEED ME!

2008-06-26T02:45:34+00:00

Bad Dream # 39 1/2

2008-06-18T02:41:58+00:00

Too Much

2008-06-14T02:47:05+00:00

For the Antiques Roadshow T shirt image this season I presented a few ideas, the one they chose was of an old tattered broadside with the cities they will visit.
I completely got into the design of the letter forms and the stylization of the paper so much to the point of loosing the feel of the original sketch.
The client pulled me back a bit and I refocused on the sketch which they really liked for it's simplicity and energy.
I find that when jumping from a sketch to working in a vector program it's too easy to take things a bit too far and finished too fast.

City

2008-06-09T03:34:37+00:00

Hand Lettering

2008-05-29T03:17:29+00:00

Antiques Roadshow has me working on some more projects for this years shows and here are a few experiments in hand lettered type I did for them.

Trash Drawings 2

2008-05-23T20:51:31+00:00

I am continuing to do drawings based on the outlines of collected shards of trash and assembleing them into pictures. I collect lots of pieces of scrap machinery parts and such with the intent to assemble them into objects. Doing these drawings is a new and exciting means of dealing with them. Go over to have a look at the latest ones in my Whiz Bang Gallery.
Enjoy!

http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=641&image_id=9665

Trash Drawings

2008-05-04T02:51:25+00:00

On my walk to work at the mill each morning I find a lot of street trash and interesting things in junk bins. The objects get picked up and saved for sculptures. What I have been doing lately is laying them on my sketch pad and drawing around the objects with my pen.
This eliminates a lot of detail and makes for unusual shapes. I will combine a few objects to arrive at more interesting forms. I then fill in the shapes as I like and computerize them. The Whiz Bang Gallery has 7 of these new images. Go on over and take a peek.

http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=641&image_id=9463.

Shapes

2008-04-27T03:01:40+00:00

I started doing a gigabyte of work for software and hardware companies back in '84 but it wasn't until 14 years later that I started working on the blasted devices. During those years people repeatedly said my style would translate well to being computer generated but I continued with airbrush, gouache, an inking pen and colored pencils. The paint was sputtered out at 16 lbs. pressure to get a grainy textured effect. Back then so many of the articles were very bland and technical but all pretty much pushed the same idea that 'Computers are our friends and will make the future so much better'. Ha Ha.
Often I kept computers out of the image and instead tried to use some abstract imagery and shapes to illustrate the articles.
I cant remember the particular articles messages but here are a few where I played around with some fun shapes.

Mini Comics

2008-04-13T10:59:18+00:00

My first comic book if you can call it that was published back in '72
( Ike Lives) and since then I have occasionally produced others usually as mini photocopied booklets. Most of them were produced in very limited numbers and sent out to some clients, friends, comic collectors or given out at small gallery shows. IT'S ME! was in b&w and billed as an 8 page coloring book of 'Crazy Creatures to Color.'
There is a new gallery of the book.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=658&

Whiz Bang a Roos

2008-03-29T00:47:01+00:00

I have another installment to my sketchbook gallery Whiz Bang.
Wish I had some illustration work to show but all the projects are long range and in development so they can't be shown yet.
So head on over to-
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=641&

Whiz Bang Additions

2008-03-15T14:13:27+00:00

I have finished off another sketchbook so here are a few new images in the Whiz Bang Sketchbook Gallery.
Since leaving the nightwatchman gig I have been getting better quality sleep so that is why the images are more wholesome.
Enjoy!

http://www.drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=641

Somnambulistic Sketchbook

2008-02-03T01:15:40+00:00

For 3 1/2 years I have held 2 jobs at an old mill building that's been converted to office space. I worked 7 days a week, 5 as a maintenance man and 2 on the weekend graveyard shift
( midnight - 8 am) as a security guard. In my spare time I do my illustration work as well as the rehabbing of our old home (1842) with my wife. Yes I am driven or at least crazy, perhaps both. The Somnambulistic Sketchbook drawing are what I have done with my off time while on the late night security gig. I do them with a Sharpie then scan and color them at home.
I recently ended the security position which I hope will lead to a saner life, allowing me more time for the other stuff.
This will be the last installment of them in this series but fear not the sketchbook art will continue under another banner yet to be decided.
Go on and visit them @
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531&

Perot for Prez

2008-01-12T03:06:16+00:00

With all the election hoopala getting underway I was reminded of a couple of pieces I did for Patrick Flynn back in his Progressive days.
It was the election of '96 and Dole, Clinton, Perot and the Green party
were running. I did this cover piece as well as an alternative one.
Both were done as watercolored and airbrushed collages, of manipulated, and photocopied clip and drawn art.
My pick lost but he sure was right about that "Hissing Sound".

STOP THE WARp

2008-01-05T23:22:39+00:00

Urban Redwood Christmas Tree

2007-12-24T21:22:22+00:00

Every year the Wannalancit Mill where I work decorates it's 220 foot smokestack with 32 strands of aircraft cable carrying over 5,000 lights and tops it off with a lighted star. It takes us weeks to test and repair the long cables, one day to bulb them and another to hoist them up to steeplejacks who are on top securing them. They get turned on at the conclusion of downtown Lowell's 'Santa Parade', just after Thanksgiving, and stay up through New Years. We always manage to put it up in the worst weather as well as when we take it down. It is a huge operation and a beautiful one that can be seen far off.
Happy Christmas, Merry Holidays and a great New Year All!

Gyrocosmic Relativators

2007-12-16T05:37:56+00:00

When I was a kid my father introduced me to the Gyrocosmic.
Visit my new gallery to find out more about it.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=623

Gabunga-bleep

2007-11-30T03:59:52+00:00

Before the great meltdown I had a vast clutter of old hard plastic toys I would draw inspiration from, as well as draw. Here are 3 of the pieces done in watercolor and pencil.

Security sketches

2007-11-25T22:31:36+00:00

Once again the spirits of the night have infused the crenulates of my mind blob. Enjoy the outcome of my latest somnambulistic security shift sketches.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531&image_id=8283#this

Antiques Roadshow

2007-11-21T03:00:27+00:00

I recently finished up the poster for Antiques Roadshow's 12th season. The poster plays off the rock posters of the late 60's, with highly stylized type and a flowery Art Nouveau feel. Many of the artifacts of that time have become highly collectible so it seemed a fitting set to work within.
Originally the poster was going to be a takeoff on the summers T-shirt image, where the cities were molded into a funky form of the continental US. That didn't pan out in development and we went with a different look but keeping within the same genera.
My instincts are to push the lettering to the limits or legibility and leave the uninitiated in the dust but the good art direction by Dennis O'Reilly helped make it readable yet still full of psychoidylicism. The poster is 24x36. The block at the bottom is where the list of sponsors will go.

Black Cow 2008 Poster & Calendar

2007-11-09T03:25:06+00:00

This is the second year that I have created a poster/calendar for Black Cow Architects in Boston.The Black Cows are an exceptional group that take their work seriously yet weave their presence with an offbeat sense of humor. Fortunatly for me they have let me have a big role in defining that humor
with my art and writing.
The theme of this years poster is the unsung role that the black cow has played throughout history.
In the art I played around with some different looks to get the feeling of a diverse collection of objects and ephemera, yet trying to keep it all within my visual domaine.
The poster itself is an 11 X 34 accordion fold piece. I am showing some of the visuals with a brief description of each.

Monster Lunch

2007-10-29T00:44:41+00:00

In addition to my security job and the sketching I do there, I work during the week at the same mill as part of the maintenance crew.
During the lunch break I usually draw monsters, madmen and maniacs. Someone had thrown away this great notebook with yellow pages and blue lined grids, most of the pages were blank so I had to fill them. I have created a gallery of a select number, go visit it.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=605&

Alpha et Zeta

2007-10-17T00:39:27+00:00

Here is a little graphic love story I created last year.
Besides working in a different style I tried blending French and English into something I call Frenglish. The whole 15 panel saga is in a new gallery called Alpha et Zeta, a Scientific Love Story"

Zeta.http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=592&

Several Sketchbook Shenanigans

2007-10-02T22:20:16+00:00

It was a fruitful summer of sketching at security. You will find a few more additions to the somnambulistic gallery.

Civil Engineering for Kids

2007-09-21T01:35:46+00:00

Most of the projects I get involved in these days are long range turnaround ones. Anywhere from a month to two. This summer I had one that gave me a month to produce 3 totally illustrated 4 page pamphlets geared to kids in elementary school. Funded by the American Society of Civil Engineers and orchestrated through WGBH Educational Outreach Division.
Each brochure was geared to a different grade group; 3rd - 4th, 5th - 6th, 7th - 8th.
The intent of them is to educate kids about Civil Engineering with the long range hope of interesting them in it as a field of study.
Each had to have a different feel, relate to the specific age group and
work as a series. I did the design, type, illustrating, the whole shabang!
Worked with designers Gaye Korbet and Tyler Kemp-Benedict at the GBH Design Department.

A wonderful year

2007-08-17T15:12:59+00:00

It has been a year since I joined on to Drawger and just wanted to say what a thrill and honor it has been to be connected to such a diverse talented bunch of artists. The art and comments have been a blast of energy for me. I am looking forward to the next years events. Thank you all!

Posted some new sketchbook art in the Somnambulistic Gallery.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Chicago Reader

2007-07-31T03:33:12+00:00

In 1981 I was asked by Bob Roth the managing editor of the Chicago Reader to illustrate a book that they would be serializing in the weekly paper over the next years time.
The name of the book escapes me but it dealt with the social, moral and political life of Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th Century. A time when Industry, the church and politics battled over the lives and souls of the people oftentimes with tragic consequences. Dover had a series of books out at the time with lots of old copyright free engravings which fit the time period so I proposed a series of collages using old engravings.
The project took a little over a year and resulted in around 60 collages.
Go over to my new gallery to see a few of the pieces.

A couple column heads for Exhibitor Magazine

2007-07-25T21:49:07+00:00

Recently I did a few drawings for the Q&A columns in Exhibitor magazine, here are two of them.

It was 40 years ago today

2007-07-18T10:53:29+00:00

WGBH wanted me to do another Tshirt for the Antiques Roadshow Summer Tour.
Staff members who over the summer travel around and put the show together in the various cities get these shirts. The AD Dennis O'Reilly requested a few sketch ideas but only specifically said "Perhaps one sketch could have the names of the cities the show would be visiting making up the shape of the country". I said OK but saw little promise in that one. Foolish me!

The following are the sketches presented.

This one I thought had no promise.
But after looking at it compared to all the others I had to agree that it was the one with the most potential. They liked the feel of reference to the Rock posters of the '60s.
Which was around 40 years ago and makes them and us of those years antiques!

Particle 17

2007-07-06T02:13:38+00:00

Midpoint in the final decade of the last century of the previous millennium I created a brand for a particular illustration style I had been working in for a number of years. I called it Particle 17.
Visit the new gallery to see it.

Sketchbook Mayhem

2007-06-22T19:41:07+00:00

New additions to the night time sketchbook gallery have been added.
It has been a particularly active and productive period due most likely to the distant solar flares and lunar eruptions.

Visit the gallery Somnambulistic Sketches to see them.

http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531&

Space Cowboys

2007-06-08T21:32:03+00:00

I just completed a T- shirt image for a friend who is organizing a reunion of old college friends from 35 years ago this summer.
They went by the name 'Space Cowboys'. Of course along with the deep intellectual pondering of the universal mysteries of life there was a fair amount of drugs and the presence of a strange animal skulled character in one of their apartments .

A simple 3 color silkscreen job that was quite fun to work on. He suggested the backward rider and let me go. We had a back and forth of fine tuning to get the art and lettering just right. He is a designer so it was an intelligent exploration. Long a fan of the 6o's rock posters I am quite happy with the way the lettering works.

I am including my initial sketchbook sketch. Seeing a finished piece next to the original doodle is always a fun comparison.

Gourmet Magazine

2007-05-18T20:39:19+00:00

In the early 90’s I received a call from the AD at Gourmet magazine, Irwin Glusker.
He had seen my portfolio through my NY rep and wanted to talk.
Up front he informed me that he would unlikely have future need of my services but that he did have one article that perhaps was suited for my style. An odd opening but a job is a job and after all it was Gourmet and a renowned designer.
His honesty wasn’t insulting since my portfolio was really suited to business and hi tech magazines.

I sent some sketches, got feedback and did the painting.
Job completed to his and my satisfaction, end of story.

It wasn’t long before a second assignment came along and another and another.
I worked with Irwin over the next few years until his retirement from the magazine.
Most illustrations were for the wine column with occasional dining out and recipe
spots.

The great experience of it all was working with a fine art director who
brought me in a direction I never would have explored on my own.

I am posting one of the early pieces here and a collection of more in a gallery called Gourmet.

Rethinking Schools

2007-05-14T21:21:30+00:00

Here is a piece I just did for Pat Flynn the designer/ ad of the magazine Rethinking Schools. The article was about $, Schools & Justice.
It is a 1/3 page image.
What I tried to show was that a good education in many school districts is out of reach for many children.

Sophomoric Sketchbook Shenanigans

2007-05-04T02:55:46+00:00

Check out my retooled gallery of night watchman noodelings at my gallery called Somnambulistic Sketches.

http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Nocturnal Nonsense Noodeling

2007-04-23T01:37:25+00:00

The nocturnal ether mists continue to invade my pen.
view more in the latest gallery.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Drawgers Meet in Lowell

2007-04-14T21:05:14+00:00

Drawgers Richard A Goldberg and Mark S Fisher got together in Lowell Ma for a Lunch at the Mambo Grill. Rich was in Lowell to borrow Marks collection of Raw magazines.

Smoke & Mirrors

2007-04-11T23:51:34+00:00

I did this job for my good friend Elliott Negin, illustrator, designer, journalist and all around mensch who is now at the Natural Resources Defense Council doing investigations, reporting and PR.
9 years ago while freelancing he edited and designed a book for The Advocacy Institute in DC.
The book was an investigative study of how the Tobacco Industry works. He asked me to illustrate the cover and chapter heads.
At the time I was doing a lot of black and white collages with clip images, textures and hand drawn art to mimic the clip feel.
Here is the cover and 11 chapter heads.

Business in Autos

2007-04-07T22:21:45+00:00

Just completed a job for Pitney Bowes magazine, art directed by Barbara Chilenskas at Touchpoint Media.
The article was about business people that conduct work from their autos using gps navigation systems, cell phones, portable desks, laptop computers and other gadgets. The article also dealt with safety systems such as rear view monitors, tire pressure and road debris warning systems and crash protectors. She saw my photoshoped autos at Illoz and commissioned a full page from me.

Jackpot!

2007-04-04T02:16:43+00:00

WGBH in Boston has a new show as a companion to Antiques Roadshow called Jackpot!. It highlights people who find that the value of one of their antiques is big compared to what they paid for it,
hence the term Jackpot!
Since I did this years poster for AR (see earlier post) they asked me to do the postcard promo art for the new show. The card is 6 x 11 inches.
They wanted to use a slot machine as a symbol for the show. Having never seen one up close I did a little Googeling and found some nifty antique ones.
I have posted some sketches and comps as well as a few of my steps and the finished piece.

I tried making a connection to cash in this one.

Some of my favorite illustrations to do involve hand lettering and this one would prove to be a fun one.

I did 2 presentation sketches in color.

With this idea I tried to get a currency feel.

They chose the currency sketch but liked the slot machine from the other sketch. So I began refining in pencil the lettering and forms.

I then scanned the pencil sketch and construct a line drawing in Illustrator.
The various colors are the different layers.

I then have a wire frame drawing that I then import into Photoshop.
From there I will add color and tone as well as background detail to
mimic the complexity of currency.

At the last minute they inform me that the actual name is Jackpot!
So I had to tweak a bit and add the !.

Somnambulistic Sketches

2007-03-28T21:48:35+00:00

Another weekend or two of sketching on the night job.
And some colorizing of the images are over in a new gallery.
Enjoy.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Deluxe Diner

2007-03-24T14:09:42+00:00

For over 25 years I have done illustration and design work for Don Levy, an
entrepreneur of clothing, toy and novelty stores as well as restaurants and diners
in the Boston area. Designing and Illustrating everything from posters to logos to store interiors and postcards as well as t shirts, clock faces, advertisements and just about anything he can come up with.
Along with his wife he owns and operates a super duper diner in Watertown, MA.
Most recently I created a new placemat for the diner that is chock full of riddles that is also suitable for coloring with crayons supplied at the diner.
Here is the logo I did years ago and the diner and the recent placemat.

Unfortunately the type is too small to read, so improvise.

drawger.com/fisher/placematbg.jpg

ReMark & RePete

2007-03-18T21:39:41+00:00

ReMark & RePete is a visual round robin of black and white
collages, faxed between my friend Peter Thibeault and myself.
Working with copy machines, Xacto knives, glue sticks, old
clip art, magazines and engravings we ping pong’d images
between our two studios for 18 months, finally ending the
screed at 500 pages.
Each image was a response to the previous one recieved via fax.
The only rules were to keep the size consistent and each one
had to include the page number somewhere in the image.

We got into a lot of word play, double-entendre and twisted
images. Sometimes the pictures would evolve into mostly
patterns or textures but soon enough revert to a much
meatier subject matter.
Sometimes a whole day would
be spent feverishly responding back to a constant volley
of faxes, very much like what goes on in some threads
of Speakeasy.
Some of my images are in a new gallery.

Doodle Delerium

2007-03-13T19:08:27+00:00

For as long as night doth exist and destiny binds my regarding it, shall I scribe paper with pen charting its ethereal accounts.

More nightshift doodles over in a new gallery!
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Season of the Witch

2007-03-05T02:44:23+00:00

Great song by an artist that is still touring after 43 years.
I have posted a gallery of some paintings I did a while back
Illustrating the lyrics of Donovan Leitch.

Heavy Metal

2007-02-23T22:08:05+00:00

No not the music but the comic magazine. I used to do comic stories for it in the early 80's in a technique that forever disfigured my thumb.
Stippleism and line rendered with a rapidograph pen.
I have created a gallery of some of the work.

Origins

2007-02-16T22:36:13+00:00

Reading Cathleen's post about her early artistic origins got me thinking about my own. Here is my earliest surviving drawings from around '55 when I was 5. Done in my 'Children's Guide to the Catholic Mass'.
I remember sitting on the kneeler and drawing in it while using the pew seat for a desk. Devils, Death and Reptiles still appear in my art to this day but bowls of fruit seem to have been abandoned.

My epiphany occurred when I asked my dad who drew architectural plans to draw me a person, thinking he would draw something great I could then copy. Well all he drew, to my disappointment was little more than a stick figure! I remember thinking " I can do better than that". Thanks Dad.

Mounds of Midnight Madness Markings

2007-02-04T23:39:23+00:00

I have a new gallery of a few more sketchbook drawings that are in color. Have a look.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

A couple more galleries

2007-01-21T21:05:23+00:00

I have a couple more gallery additions.
Another set of Graveyard shift drawings and a second 'Idiotic Table of Stuff'.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Black Cow

2007-01-13T21:25:20+00:00

This fall I worked with the architecture firm Black Cow in Boston creating a poster / calendar for 2007.
As you can tell from their name they wanted something quirky and fun to reflect their attitude. It also had to endure the test of being viewed for a whole year so I did what I do with a lot of my work and applied the philosophy that 'More is really More". I had some fun playing around with the history of the Black Cow and made some equally inane predictions into the future.
The size is 32" x 10.5" so it's a bit hard to see. I created a jpg download over in Illoz if you want to view it.

Nocturnal Nonsense

2007-01-06T23:20:51+00:00

There is a new gallery of Nocturnal Nightwatch Nonsense.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Antiques Roadshow

2007-01-01T17:11:45+00:00

The poster I did for 11th season promotion of Antiques Roadshow is printed and out so I am posting it as well as some of the sketches preceding it.

It was done for WGBH in Boston who produces the PBS program.
The design team there at GBH are a great bunch to work with.
This project was done under the fine design direction of Dennis O'Reilly. A big part of a designers job on a project like this is to keep the ball rolling on their end - what with all the eyes and hands in the approval pot. This was important since there was a month to do the art which may sound like a lifetime but with my limited schedule it isn't. Since I would not be there to present the sketches and subsequent stages Dennis and I had to be on the same wavelength as far as answers to questions and concerns.
All went quite smoothly.

Roadshow wanted to play up the 6 cities they visited this season.
The poster would be 36"x24" and the art would be used on an
8 1/2"x 6" postcard as well. The only requirement was the band of sponsors that had to appear on both pieces.

A close up.

Some of the sketches

Sketch

Sketch

The chosen sketch

A pencil sketch to work out the forms.
As the art progressed the planet / city orbs became non 3d but more the luggage labels from the first sketch idea.
The auto in the original sketch felt too '30's compared to the feel of the trailer in this drawing which I liked a lot but was more of a '40's-'50's era feel. So I zoomed ahead to a boxier and bulbous style.

The finished piece starts with a line drawing in vector art based on a pencil scan. All additional lettering is worked out on pencil and paper, scanned and imported then drawn in vector.
Then when I have the ' wire frame' drawing where I want it I import it into a raster program. From there it's like a big coloring book only with multiple layers and fills.

Another Chicago Reader Comic

2006-12-22T22:21:16+00:00

A few articles back I posted some art from the Chicago Reader Year End Comics Issue that I have done but one did not upload- well now it is there. Here is one from 2003. Sorry the type is so small, squint real hard.

Bad News

2006-12-22T11:02:15+00:00

For the last 4 years I have contributed to the Chicago Reader's End of Year Comics Section. But alas with my crazy schedule I missed the deadline this year. And as any illustrator knows, missing a deadline does not feel good. On a brighter note I have Drawger and can publish it here. Here is this years 'BAD NEWS' and last years 'THE FUTURE'. Have a good New Year everyone.

Satan at Xmas

2006-12-17T14:21:50+00:00

Back in '84 or '85 I was one of a handful of illustrators asked to contribute a full page Christmas image to Boston Magazine. The concept was open and had to relate to the holiday. Since Satan, God and Santa all live in the same dimension ( Easter Bunny lives elsewhere) I pondered that it must be a lonely time for the devil what with his adversaries getting so much attention and pictured him on vacation in Boston in a lonely hotel room feeling quite low. Sent the art over to the magazine and recieved a call a day or so later saying that they couldn't run it. I understood since people get quite touchy over such issues and I was pushing the sacrilegious envelope anyway. I went to pick the art up a few days later and they couldn't find it " It was stolen" they said. The Devil it was! Probably either got ripped up or hung on someones apartment wall. Decided to redraw it last night in between my nightwatchman rounds to the best of my memory. I am particularly fond of his double heeled spatted shoes ( cloven feet ).

My studio

2006-12-10T22:44:52+00:00

Since 1972 with my first professional studio of a kitchen table I have had 17 different ones (studios not tables). I have had studios from in between that simple table to a 500 sq ft addition with a vaulted ceiling, skyllights, filled with toys and books that was featured in a magazine. Presently I am in the lower end of in between. And through all the changes what seems to really be my one studio is the one in my head. So with that idea I would like to show you my real studio. That is untill the next one.

I use a 1941 Utica Built heavy axle computer. It's an old workhorse but dependable with it's dual torque drive and manual settings. I picked it up at a government surplus auction and had it refitted with the Mac OS.

In the old days I had an assistant robot by the name of Inky but when I got digititus He had to be replaced and I hired Dexter. Dexter had a small non speaking part in the second Star Wars (#5) movie where he was incinerated by Bounty hunter IG88. He is pretty good with Photoshop and is learning Flash.

Jupiter Jak

2006-12-02T20:27:10+00:00

Jupiter Jak Sales Czar to The Solar System. Jak is a humor piece of mine that appeared in a Boston magazine for 10 years. I put up a gallery of some of the art.

Autotron

2006-11-28T04:23:19+00:00

I bought my first computer in '93 after having so many people tell me "my work was just perfect for the computer". Well maybe but the damn thing sat on a desk unused for 6 years untill it was no good to use. For the life of me I just couldn't grasp it. Then in '98 I got introduced to Photoshop and the light went on. I started creating some fun autos. These custom cars were my 'diving in the deep end and learning to swim.' Go over to my new gallery and have a look.

Antique Roadshow

2006-11-27T11:32:55+00:00

My relationship with WGBH in Boston spans almost my whole career and last year I worked on the promotion of their tv show Antiques Roadshow. Being a member of AARP qualifies me for just such a job. I created a 24x36 poster commemorating the 10th anniversary as well as a tshirt. In addition there was a postcard announcing the seasons wrap party. Here is the art Right now I am working on a poster and postcard for the 11th season. and will show it after publication.

More doodles on the edge of consciousness

2006-11-24T23:52:41+00:00

I just added a new gallery of graveyard shift doodles. Got to do some more tonight.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

New gallery

2006-11-18T03:47:09+00:00

I made a gallery of some of my Graveyard Shift drawings. Go on over and have a look.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Doodles at the cusp of consciousness

2006-11-11T22:56:25+00:00

On the weekends I am a security guard at a local mill complex. I work the graveyard shift and am completly alone from midnight to 8 am. I have lots of time to sit and sketch in my sketchbook. Most times while drawing I nod off only to awake to a black blob bleeding from my pen onto the drawing and some odd lines I don't remember making. Here is last nights. Tonight shall bring another.
http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=531

Don Knotts

2006-11-10T23:24:49+00:00

Here is a portrait of Don Knotts as Barney Fife. I did it as part of a larger piece on news events of the year '06 for The Chicago Reader. Mr. Knotts passed away this year I am including the photo reference, my pencil sketch and the finish.

Devil if I know

2006-10-27T17:21:42+00:00

For some reason there is no Speakeasy section on my Drawger page. Has anybody experienced this and what have I done to screw it up? Can it be easily cured or am I banished forever and only able to talk to myself?

Evil Rat Fink

2006-10-09T11:12:46+00:00

Everyone has a bizzaro double lurking out there, even the good natured Rat Fink has one. Here is his evil doppelganger. In '85 Big Daddy asked me to do some drawings of monsters for hisTshirt line, did about 6 or 8 of them. I hope he would approve of this one.

A small Car for Donald Kilpatrick

2006-10-02T00:59:01+00:00

Heres a little number that's a breeze to manuver. Body by Fisher

Idiotic table of junk

2006-09-29T20:14:19+00:00

Just a little bit of nonsense I put together. Perhaps a bit of flash art for some odd tattoo parlor or instruction chart for visiting aliens.

Pluto Platter

2006-09-25T00:10:03+00:00

Here is the cover art to my latest platter.

What am i ?

2006-09-23T23:54:39+00:00

The question is - What am I? Perhaps some of you have the same question. If you look at the body of my work at my web site you will see that I am all over the place as far as style and look. I have never been able to work up a "look, develop it to excellence and continue with it. When you picture an illustrator you visualize a 'LOOK', yet so many projects I get involved in seem to demand a different look. Too many tricks in the bag it seems. I considered myself more of a 'commercial artist' than an illustrator. This has always plagued me and kept me from feeling a 'genuine' member of the trade. Perhaps this is all too much navel gazing. None the less does anyone have any insight into this situation?

Robot Reporter

2006-09-20T03:04:32+00:00

Since we all love robots or at least we should since they are taking over, here is one I did for the Chicago Reader.

A different look

2006-08-31T03:14:41+00:00

For the last million years my style of art has always been for the most part one of controlled, percise, logical lines and shapes. Templates, french curves, airbrush, inking pens, Illustrator and Photoshop. recently I have been scanning my sketchbooks and adding color to my drawings. The loose, spontaneous and cartoon feel to them has intrigued me and am enjoying playing with them. Feels like working in coloring books again. Have a look at some of them.