Masters & Johnson

Here's a new promotional piece I did to send out as a promo. It's actually my first promo since 2012 as I mostly focused on storyboarding in 2013.
The piece is based on Showtime's Masters of Sex, which became one of my favorite shows in the past year. Although getting Michael Sheen's likeness was tough, I'm pleased with how it came out (including the gleaming...device "Ulysses")

I once again went to GotPrint to have the cards printed and am again immensely pleased with the quality. I put my "Better Than Goofy Golf" Close Encounters piece on the back with a little bit of room for a personal message.
These should be hitting AD's mailboxes the beginning of next week!

--CKL--

People Who Died 2013

I was recently approached by the Philadelphia City Paper to once again do their annual People Who Died issue. I had done before it two years ago and had a great time working on it so when the opportunity came up again, I jumped on it.
AD Reseca Peskin came prepared with the idea of framing the portraits in presidential-style duotone stamps with the portrait full-color inside. I found a wealth of reference to draw from with different style frames from various countries and time periods.

Apart from the cover, I wound up with the task of doing seven portraits of the notable Philadelphia residents who passed away this past year.

Politician Happy Fernandez and jazz pianist Jimmy Amadie

Middle school student Laporshia Massey and firefighter Michael Goodwin

Lawyer A. Charles Peruto Sr. and MOVE bombing survivor Michael Ward

1950's television host Sally Starr

You can read about these subjects as well all 23 Philadelphians who died this past year on the City Paper website HERE or even read the entire issue at http://issuu.com/phillycp/docs/issuu_1_9_2014
Thanks again to Reseca and the City Paper for such a great gig!

--CKL--

Singles vs. Baker Boys

Here's a cover I did for Seattle Weekly for a story by Mike Seely (read here) that argues that Steve Kloves' The Fabulous Baker Boys, starring Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer, is the more quintessential Seattle movie than Cameron Crowe's Singles, starring Matt Dillon and Bridget Fonda.
AD Jane Sherman (who is now over at Seattle Met) contacted me with the idea of putting Bridges and Pfeiffer in the iconic pose from the Singles poster, having apparently ousted Dillon and Fonda.

 I sketched out several variations to find the right combination of the two sets of characters.

Thanks again to Jane for such a fun gig!

--CKL--

Wu Tang

I was pretty excited to get an email from Dallas Observer art director Alexander Flores asking me to do some quick drawings of the members of Wu-Tang Clan. The last time that Wu-Tang Clan performed in Dallas, not all of the members showed up, which apparently was and is a consistent problem throughout their tours as members come and go. So with Wu Tang set to perform in Dallas in the next couple of weeks, the Observer wanted some portraits to make a stakes graphic, showing the odds of which members are going to show (even including the late ODB)

Who needs a lightbox?

I had a blast working with Alex, who's incredibly clear in his direction and just a good guy. Plus now, I know who is who in Wu-Tang, which seemed impossible before.

-CKL-

People Who Died 2011

I was recently asked to do some illustrations for the Philadelphia City Paper's annual "People Who Died" issue. I created the cover as well as 7 portraits of Philadelphia-related people who passed away this past year.
In looking at Joel Kimmel's wonderful work for the issue last year, I set out to do something different. I eventually came up with the idea of tattoos and how they're often used to memorialize somebody. I gathered a lot of reference material and went from there.

Philanthropist Ruth Perelman and opera singer Julian Rodescu

Geno's Steaks founder Joey Vento and vintage shop owner Lara Long, also the sister of DJ AM

Philly punk legend Mikey Wild and local scrapper Greg Loper

Boxing legend Joe Frazier

You can read about the subjects here at the Philadelphia City Paper site.
Because of the deadline, I was able to work on the pieces while I was at home with my family in Michigan for the holidays. It was fun to have them around to see how I work on assignments.
Thanks again to art director Reseca Peskin for a fun gig.

-CKL-

Van Alden

Going to be posting some Boardwalk Empire drawings here. Starting things off with Nelson Van Alden, who is played by Michael Shannon.

Breaking Bad

To put it plainly I love Breaking Bad. I began work on this illustration when the fourth season began and then shelved it away as I was adjusting to LA and going out on storyboarding jobs. I recently came back to it, as the fourth season was wrapping up (and pick up speed from a somewhat sluggish beginning) and managed to bang it out pretty quickly.
I really enjoyed working on this piece because I simply love these characters. Every one of them is terribly fascinating, no matter which side they are on, which I think is the sign of a truly great and engrossing TV show.
Having done a piece about Breaking Bad while I was still in school, featuring just Walter White, I wanted to expand the scope this time around and include Walt's cooking partner Jesse, as well as their boss Gus and his enforcer Mike.

Ink linework

Linework, with color adjustments made in Photoshop

Colors

Finished piece

Mike and Gus

Jesse

Walt/Heisenberg

I just sent this file off to GotPrint to be a new mailer. So a bunch of art directors should be receiving it next week.

--CKL--

UPDATE: This piece is now available as a print as well as iPhone/iPod cases and stationery cards at my Society6 store,www.society6.com/cameronklewis

(M)ad Man

I feel like I'm touting AMC's original shows a bit much now that I've done a Breaking Bad piece as well as this new Mad Men piece. Still, the fact is that they are two of the most well-crafted shows on television. In fact, both won at the Emmys last night, with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul winning for their performances on Breaking Bad and Mad Men winning Writing and Dramatic Series.
With season 4 of Mad Men in full swing, I felt like taking a stab at a portrait of the man himself, Don Draper. Throughout the series, Draper has always been steadfast and confident, an enigma at his workplace. However, season 4 has shown the slight cracks in his facade as his family dissolves and his lifestyle catches up to him, something which was especially evident in last night's episode Waldorf Stories.
I wanted to show this version of Draper, alone and at the office after hours because there's no real home to go back to.It turns out Jon Hamm is really tough to draw. It seemed to be about lining up the features just right between the ridiculously good hair and the uber-masculine jawline.
After some struggling, I got what felt like the right fit. In wanting to show the weaker side of Draper, I also decided to show the stubble grown out a bit, his tie loosened, and wrinkles in his shirt. I feel like its really like letting his guard down now that's alone.When it came time to color, I fooled around with different color schemes for a while before settling on a palette that was softer and reminiscent of the 60s. Like my previous Predators piece, I decided to try out a very strong key light on one side of the face. When I was starting this, I took reference photos of myself and also looked at pictures from Scorsese's Shutter Island, because of its super dramatic lighting.I also began experimenting with more gradients and blurs, which is normally something I shy away from in fear that its over-Photoshopped. But I'm very pleased with the way they worked and how the gradients create a sort of film noir slice of light across Draper's face.Overall, this piece ended up being a real success for me in terms of experimentation and trying to capture a likeness.
Now for something completely different, I am working on an image for an album cover with knights and a dragon!

--CKL--

Predators

First off, apologies for the lapse in posting. I recently just moved into a new apartment out here in Brooklyn and have been busy setting everything up along with entertaining guests for a couple of weeks.I also just redesigned my portfolio, as the previous version was over a year old and I didn't feel as though the black background was right for the images. So I did a total overhaul on that.
Finally, I'm getting around to some personal pieces. This first one is based on the new Predators movie, directed by Nimród Antal and produced by Robert Rodriguez. The original Predator from 1987 is one of my favorite action movies of all time and was subsequently ruined by the awful sequel and the ridiculous AVP films. So this new film felt like a return to form. (Watch the trailer)
With this piece, I wanted to focus on the two main characters hunted by the predators, played by Adrien Brody and Alice Braga, because we all know the formula in these films: whole bunch of characters get picked off one by one until the big showdown. With these two characters being military-based, I wanted to take the opportunity to draw the heavy duty guns they carry.Since the illustration is based on a film, I decided to take a cinematic approach to the lighting and color. I recently read Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Catwoman: When In Rome and was amazed by how cinematic every frame was. Tim Sale's work has always emulated a film noir feel, especially when paired with Loeb's gangster-themed stories for Batman. Taking a cue from Sale, I threw a super-strong key light on the left side of the frame, blowing out the linework along Brody's face. To counter this, I made the glow from the predator's targeting lasers create a red glow on the characters.Here is just the colors. I'm tremendously happy with the red reflected in the scope of the sniper rifle. It has a nice pop among all the washed greens and browns surrounding it.I'm very satisfied with the way this turned out. This piece felt very experimental with some new techniques in the lighting and washes in the background. I also had a blast figuring out the pixelated-style camouflage the army uses now for the monstrous gun in the foreground.There will be more pieces on here as well as my site in the coming weeks.
Also, go see Predators for some good ol' bloody violent fun.

--CKL--

Breaking Bad

So basically, Breaking Bad is one of the best shows on TV right now. With it and Mad Men, AMC is getting to be some serious competition with HBO in terms of drama programming. The performances, writing, cinematography of Breaking Bad-all fantastic across the board.
With the sketches, I wanted to really portray Walt's double life and the precarious balance between his role as a crystal meth "manufacturer" and a father and husband. So I chose the smoke to the kind of envelope parts of his life, maybe taking them away from him.I went with the bottom sketch, but decided to make his expression reflect his exasperation about this choice he's made. I also needed to liven up the emptier spaces, so I threw some of the beakers he uses to cook with in the foreground and some small birds, most likely vultures, in the upper left corner. I wanted a nice, sort of creepy color palette that would be reminiscent of the style of the show, heavy on greens and yellows.I kept the darkest line on wall to draw all of the focus to Walt and his kind of amazing face, wrinkled and cracked, but still really expressive. I moved the birds around a bit from the final drawing and added another.I'm very pleased with how it turned out. And if you've never watched Breaking Bad, I highly recommend it.

--CKL--