Johnny Rotten

This is an old one I painted in school about a year and a half ago. I have to say I was quite nervous because I had heard how trying watercolor could be. In the end it was a lot of fun and I was quite satisfied.

Layout for my Caricature Brochure

This was a fun and useful little project. I needed a nice brochure to pass out to potential clients in regards to my caricature work. If you're new to my blog, I do caricatures for parties and events in my spare time for some extra loot. It was done in Adobe InDesign and only took a short while to complete. The brochure is click-able and may be printed or you can email me and I can send you a high resolution PDF version (images are at actual 8.5 x 11 size). I also have a new brochure completed for my Illustration and Graphic Design work which I will post up very soon. Click images to enlarge.

Baboon Yawning

Its been a while since I've left a blog post so I thought I'd dig up an old painting that I'd never posted before. This one was done about a year ago but I'm still very proud of it. I managed to dig up the photo from which I referenced it. It was from an old National Geographic. This piece was a mix of guache, acrylic, and some airbrush tossed in for the background. Enjoy and please leave me feedback for this one. Click images to enlarge.

Last Full Measure of Devotion

Here is a new book cover that I've finished this week titled "Last Full Measure of Devotion". I'm finding that I can now crank out a digital painting in about a day which will come in handy if I can ever get any freelance work of this type. Enjoy! Click image to enlarge

Artist In Residence at Holy Angels

The fine folks at Art With a Heart in Indianapolis have set me up with an artist in residence program that involves several inner city summer programs. This weeks was for Great Spirits summer program at Holy Angels Catholic School where we talked about careers in art.

The kids were great and seemed very interested in how the books were created. There were lots of questions and I was asked for my first autograph (which lead to everyone wanting an autograph) and that was the coolest part of the day.

I always get more out of working with the kids than I think they get out of it. I hope a few might think about art as a possible career someday!

Caricatures at The French Lick Springs Hotel

I was called early saturday afternoon by a friend, who also does caricatures, to fill in for her that evening because she was double booked. I agreed and started to make my way down towards Orange County. I hadn't been to French Lick/West Baden in a few years but I remember it being a beautiful place right out of the turn of last century. It is said that French Lick was a popular weekend getaway for Chicago mobster, Al Capone back in the 1930's. They have recently renovated it and added a new casino. If you get a chance to visit there I would recommend it.

The Caricatures went well and I was in and out of there in two hours. The the place was so nice I kind of wanted to stay longer. Everyone had a great time and I made some nice quick cash (always good for an artist) on a saturday night where I had nothing planned but drawing in front of the TV.

The Dahlia Coven

This was a book cover that I had done last fall for an AH book titled The Dahlia Coven. It was for one of Authorhouse's British authors and even though I was satisfied with it, it was quite an education in frustration. I did learn a lot from this particular assignment though, and the next digital painting I attempted was much easier and more enjoyable because of the trial and error of this one. I started with my photo reference of Petra Nemcova and Maria Sharipova and sketched out my composition. From that, I began painting over the sketch in Photoshop. The original cover has the same fiery background but in red instead of green. The Author chose red for the book cover but I display it here as it was meant to be shown,,, in all its ethereal greenness! Click Images To Enlarge

Jeremy Buck & the Bang

This was a piece done for my friend's band out in California. Jeremy (big hair) and I go back to grade school so I was happy to help him out. I've seen the band play a few times here in Indiana and they put on a high energy show. If you get the chance, check them out at: http://www.jeremybuck.com/

Click images to enlarge.

Farewell Sopranos

It was a long road but the Sopranos have ended. Will there be a movie follow up??? Who knows? I must say I was a little disappointed in the final episode. It should have been at least a two hour finale to tie up some more loose ends. It's the least they could have done for all the viewer's long time loyalty and support but, as they say, forgit a bout' it! Even though, I still got lots of enjoyment from the show and out of respect to the "Bing", I post this homage to a great run.

Breeze

This was a digital painting for a book cover I had completed a few weeks ago. Its for a nifty little vampire yarn entitled "Breeze" by Authorhouse author, Scott C. Johnson. I really enjoyed working on it and any practice I can get doing a digital painting is a plus in my book. Much thanks to Deante Tolliver and Christian Kelly for posing for photo reference. I use Photoshop because its what I have at work and at home but I'm very interested in using Painter just to see its effects. I was told PS is just as good as Painter but I think that it may just be a matter of taste. I'll find out eventually.


In an earlier post I said that I liked to use mutiple layers. It was told to me that using too many layers makes one's work look stiffer and by using fewer layers forces the artist to work "without a net" as it were, ending in a piece with a more traditional, painterly, feel. this is something that I experimented with here. Click on images to enlarge.

Teaching Pt. 2

Earlier I had posted a blog about my experiences helping teach an art class to at-risk kids a few weeks back. When I was asked to come back and teach again I jumped at the opportunity and it was well worth it. We spent the class cartooning Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. I had tracked down some lessons online and used them as a template for the kids. (http://www.malanenewman.com/donald_duck_fullface.html)

The children seemed so happy and excited to be able to apply, immediately, what I was teaching them in class.

After the lesson I drew their caricatures. The ones who I didn't have time to draw, had their pictures taken on my camera and were drawn at home. I've worked with art around kids many times and I've been told that people can really see a reaction out of the children when the drawing starts. I'm glad that I still keep that enjoyment for art and can share it with youngsters too. This especially for kids who may be troubled and don't have much else.

Below was a letter I received this morning from the Director of Art With A Heart:

Dan ,
These (caricatures) are great and I could identify almost all of them with out the actual photographs which means they were very well done. Thank you so much for following through on this. It teaches the children again that people do care and they can count on us to do what we say we are going to do. That is so big for our children at risk. I have printed them out and will have them by the children’s art work at the art exhibit on April 22 from 1-4. If you could stop by we would love to have you as our guest. The children usually feel really good about seeing their art work on exhibit.

Artistically,
Carol Conrad
Executive Director of Art With a Heart, Inc.

The Value of Teaching Pt. 1

A few weeks back, the girlfriend and I volunteered to help with an art class for disenfranchised youth on the east side of Indianapolis. I've had very little experience with teaching but that was fine because we would not be by ourselves. we were two of about six volunteers, not including the instructor, that would work with the children that early Saturday morning.

I was very surprised to see the enthusiasm and vigor that these kids displayed using their pastels and paints, making works that even I, as an adult professional artist, was taken aback by. I've read that children have a wonderfully inherent sense of design and composition till around the age of eight or nine, then a stage of brain development kicks in and "POOF", its gone. Its up to that child to find it, reactivate it and nurture it later down the road. Now I was seeing this first hand.

I left feeling very fulfilled even though I hadn't much time to work with the Children. Seeing the potential and the excitement these kids had, I thought; what could I offer a youngster who had artistic inclination and a real enjoyment for it? Could I teach him/her the tools to choose art as a career? Could I teach them how to be better than me?

This weekend I have been offered another unique opportunity: Teaching the class how to draw cartoons and caricatures by myself. I will post pictures and continue this post in part 2.

The Hillside

I just started this one this morning. I haven't took a crack at digital painting in a while so it was fun getting back up to speed. The key to doing one of these babies is to use layers... lots and lots of layers. Not only do I place my sketches in layers as under drawings, I even put my photo reference in layers as well. I'm no master at digital painting, but one of these days I'll have to post a "how-to" on attempting one of these my way... maybe when I'm all grown up! Click image to enlarge.

Keith Richards

Keith Richards, man what a talent. Its hard to believe they still tour. Keith has a lot of character in his face which makes for fun drawing. I find drawing subjects with distinct features is a lot more fun and actually easier than drawing beautiful, flawless people. Click on the image to enlarge.

Drew Barrymore

This was a great exercise in woman's hair. Female features must be smooth and curvy with no unnecessary lines or wrinkles in the face. Stick to these rules and you will draw beautiful girls. Click image to enlarge.

Clint Eastwood

One of my favorite actors (and no, he never sat for me). I use this one in my portfolio because everyone knows who he is and no photo referal is needed. Click image to enlarge.

Hot Rod

This one was a good time. Butch is the retired father of one of my co-workers. He is a car nut that works on restoring old hot rods. The ones depicted in the caricature are his 66' Nova and his 67' Olds 442. Click the Image to enlarge.

Some Watercolor Fun

This is a recent watercolor piece for a book cover. The book is titled; The 31st Man and was a lot of fun to do. I don't get to paint much at work, let alone do many landscapes, so this one was enjoyable. I got to use my new hand made watercolor book for this piece so now it sits on page one of many more to come. Click the Image to enlarge.

My first art post

Well here it is, my first art post here on Beetleblog. Its for a self published book titled Red Moon. I got the idea for it from looking at some of Craig Phillips (finch!) work. He was recently featured in the new Spectrum 13. Thanks for the inspiration, Craig! The background was digital and the foreground was inked. Trees are great subjects and are one of my favorite things to draw. Click the Image to enlarge.

Welcome to Beet-o-ramma!

Welcome to my little home away from home. I'm not real web savvy and I didn't feel the need to post up a legitimate website so I opted for this. It seemed like the logical alternative.

My name is Dan Alexander (or "Beetle" to my friends or Uncle Beetle to my nephews and niece) and I am a Professional Illustrator. I work for one of those print-on-demand publishing outfits and boy, do I like my job. Being a professional artist is the best! It has its bad days, don't get me wrong, but for the most part, I love getting up in the morning!

I have a BFA in Graphic Design from Indiana State University and two years at Dover, New Jersey's celebrated Joe Kubert School. I love to draw, paint and sculpt.

My main influences are from the good ol' comics (Kirby, Wrightson, BWS, Frazetta, Sienkiewicz, Jones, Kaluta, Buscema, the list goes on...). But these also opened my eyes to the fine artist; Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Klimt, JS Sargent, Remington, JC leyendecker, Bernie Fuchs and others.

My hopes for this little corner of the web are to post my work and receive feedback, to be influenced by others who share my interests in art. Nice meeting you and I will post lots more work soon!