Grimoire Boy

The original sketch was done in April, 2011 and previously posted online as a scan from my sketchbook. The original drawing was about 2 by 3 inches in size. It was scanned and cleaned up inside the computer using illustrator 8 and the mouse. Eventually it will be in colour. It is sort of a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft with a steampunk twist.

I plan to make copies and sell them as a limited numbered edition, in a larger size with print on the front stating: "Children should not be allowed to take the grimoire out of the library."

Steampunk Ladies in Colour

Well the Steampunk Lady is finally done. She will be available soon. The first place she will be available is at the Pearl Co. in Hamilton, ON. I hope you like it.
I am also working on the boy with the grimoire, the rough was posted earlier. I hope to have the cleaned up B&W image posted tomorrow.

Steampunk Lady Robot Rough

People have been asking me for a steampunk lady for a long time. Here is the final rough, its going to be done the same way as the steampunk gentleman so they will be a set. Hope to have it completed soon. Haven't decided on the final colours yet. Will have to see what develops.

At the Pearl Co.

A small display of some of my work at the Pearl Co. 16 Stephen Street, Hamilton, On. The Pearl Co. is a multiuse space for performance of music and plays and an art gallery.

Steampunk Tiki Final

This is the final computer image of the Steampunk Tiki figure. I did it all in the same tone because I am thinking it might make a good t-shirt. Hope it brings a smile to your face.

Steampunk Tiki

While we were sitting in the coffee shop and flipping through my sketchbook, Connie saw some of my stone heads and asked "When are you going to do a Steampunk Tiki?"
So the idea stuck and this was the rough I drew after I quit laughing.

Steampunk air corps.

This is a finished illustration, could be used for t-shirt design or the usual prints.

The Royal Steam Corps. Rules The Skies!

Steampunk airship

This is the template of an airship that I did in the illustrator program based on a one of my drawings from the 1980's. Eyeball perspective in the computer using illustrator. Going to use for painting and other images I am working on. You will see one in the next post.

Rough Gent. with 2 eyes

This robot model has 2 eyes, to be more human like in appearance. Progress moves on at the Swerling Robot Factory. Female companions will soon be available.

Another Gentleman

Another Gentleman in the series. this one is without the words, but is also available with the words, like the previous gentlemen in the series. More to come.

Airships

Did some old airships back in '81, decided to update them and turn them into steampunk paintings.

Steam powered airships will rule the sky!

Steampunk Gentleman Final

First in a series, It will be available at the Pearl Co. and at the Supercrawl. More in the series to come but this is the first completed image. One will be available with type to look like an old advertisement and the other will be the plain image inside the frame. The robot image was watercolour/mixed media and scanned into the computer and the frame is computer generated.

Steampunk robot in colour

This is the first one in a series. Tried a little mixed media and watercolour. I think it worked out pretty good. What do you think? It will be available soon. I will be putting a border around the picture and some words making it look like a period advertisement.

Another Steampunk Robot

Another rough for a steampunk robot series. Still deciding which medium to use. Enjoy.
Hope to have them done soon.

Steampunk Gentleman

A new rough for a potential painting or computer piece. Still trying to decide what medium I want to do him in. I may even do both. I am planning on doing a series. I have sketches for another three robots and more to come.

Hamilton Art Market

I will be here every Saturday this summer. Come down and see the variety at the Ferguson Train Station here in Hamilton. Different artists each week.

Steampunk pins

This is my take on steampunk. More images to come. I have designed twelve separate images to be worn as pins. I will be selling these at the Hamilton Art Market formerly Sabawoon on Saturdays at Ferguson and King in Hamilton starting June 25, 11:00 to 4:00 until the end of August. Come on down, I will be there with lots of other artists and craftspersons.

Bubble Headed Robot

Here is the newest robot for the collection.
Done in ye olde illustrator 8, I think I got carried away a bit.
It will be for sale soon from my portable art stand (when you find me) and at the Pearl Co. gallery in Hamilton.

Flying Fox

Flying Fox

http://www.headinthesand.ca/flyingfoxandthehuntergatherers/

Band 's Website

Inspired by the title of the band The Flying Fox and the Hunter GatherersBecame a fan after I heard their music on the website.
Lucky enough to see them live in Hamilton at The Pearl.

Finished Finally.

Rampaging Robot Retro Movie Poster

Prints are now available for sale.
Yay. I finally finished the poster.

Grimoire

Children should not be allowed to take Grimoires out of the library.

Drawing from my old sketchbook that I plan to turn into either a watercolour painting or computer illustration. I haven't decided yet.

Rampaging Robot

Hello Everyone

I haven't posted for a while, been busy with personal stuff. Here is a piece I have been working on for a bit. Have to add the type. It will look like an old time movie poster from the 1950's. Stay tuned for the finished poster.

Supercrawl this Saturday Sept 25 2010

Hello to all my supporters. Weather permitting I will be selling my art on the James St. North Supercrawl. Originals and prints of my work. Come out and support the arts. Check out the website. Music, fun and art OH BOY!

http://www.supercrawl.ca/news/

Illustration Friday -- Breakfast

I didn't have time to do a full illustration this week so I did a rough. The inspiration is from all the old diners along the highways that my dad and I used to drive by on vacation. Memories of traveling breakfasts.

Illustration Friday -- Giant rough

Here is the rough for the Giant Cyclops. I drew it then scanned it, converted it to a computer file and used illustrator to clean up and colour the image. The finished image is below.

Illustration Friday -- Giant

The Hero challenges the giant Cyclops to battle.

Did the sketch while watching tv in the extreme heat. Had to work at night to keep the computer cool. What do you think? Check out the rough on the blog page to see the thought process.

Illustration Friday -- satellite

Got inspiration from the word as soon as I read it. Was looking at some old travel posters and this is what I came up with, sort of a 50's retro/sci-fi done on a very old mac using illustrator 8.

Illustration Friday -- Paisley

Should demons wear paisley?

This was the ultimate question that popped into my head when I saw the word of the week was PAISLEY. Mixed media. Watercolour and borrowed paisley print.

Another slightly twisted piece from the mind of Allen Swerling. Please feel free to tell me what you think. Secretary is still missing but I think she might show up in the next millennium or so.

Illustration Friday -- TRAIL

Tom and Sam trailed their science project into the woods and found it!


This was what popped into my head for the word of the week. It is a watercolour painting. Any comments are appreciated. If I don't say anything back, don't worry, I am checking, but the typist has the century off. Hope you like it.

Call Before You Dig -- In colour

Here it is, all in colour, finally. I put a lot of work in this one. Tried some new things. What do you think? Let me know. I will be selling prints of this one this summer at the Sabawoon art sale. Looking forward to seeing what it prints like. This image is only 100 dpi so the print will be much sharper and more vibrant.

Call Before You Dig!

Originally inspired by Illustration Friday's word of the week SUBTERRANEAN, I finally got to it. Here is the line drawing on the computer in Illustrator. I will colour it in Illustrator as the next step. The rough sketch is further down the page if you wish to see the progression.

Detective -- inspired by illustration Friday

I liked the idea of detective from Illustration Friday but did not have the time to finish the drawing during the time allotted due to other commitments. The illustration is now finished. I combined the ideas of Robots and Detective and Comics to make this imaginary cover for a crime comic. Hope you enjoy.

Illustration Friday -- AHEAD

Billy-Bob will never butt ahead of me in line again. AHEAD

I know its a little twisted but its my kind of humour. Any comments are appreciated. Very busy at this time so if I don't respond don't be offended, just a tad busy.

Poster for Circus Art Show

I am part of another group art show at the Loose Canon Gallery in Hamilton.
I was lucky enough to do the poster for the show and I will have several other pieces for sale there as well. If you are able to come out and see the show, please do. Buying some art would be nice, even nicer if it was mine but that is not a prerequisite for showing up :)

P.S. All the rips, tears and scratches are done in Illustrator 8. It was not ripped or torn in any way and just thought I would let everyone know.

Subterranean

Illustration Friday subject Subterranean. "CALL BEFORE YOU DIG"

Just a rough that I could not finish due to a family emergency. Didn't want to miss the submission but will have to finish at a later date. Check the blog for the finished product later.

Brave is Making Friends

A second drawing I did for Illustration Friday's "Brave". I had lots of inspiration so I had to make two drawings.

Brave

Brave is meeting the neighborhood cat. A submission for Illustration Friday.

Circus Elephant

I took an old drawing out of the 'trunk' ;o)
and updated it for a group circus show in April. I hope to have a nice series of drawings/paintings for the show.

Final Nutcracker

Final nutcracker.
Selling lots of prints. I added the Seasons Greetings to all my friends and fans.

The Nutcracker

A piece I am working on for the holiday. My version of a Nutcracker. Hope to be well enough to work on it this week, I have been under the weather. Stay tuned for further developments.

Wonder Boy

WARNING CONTAINS SOME ADULT CONTENT AND CARTOON NUDITY

I hope this works. I haven't done this before so here goes.
I hope this doesn't offend anyone. An extremely rough piece of animation, just for fun. Any resemblance to any known girl is completely accidental. No audio yet.

Classic Vampire

Another one for the Halloween series. Vampire done in Illustrator 8 on a very old Mac. Spent a lot of time on this one but I like the end result. Hope you do to.

Halloween Monsters

My take on one of the classic monsters from universal, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Last year I did The Werewolf. I am finally getting around to doing the monsters I had planned a while back. Here's hoping inspiration keeps coming and I don't stall out again. I have The Vampire planned next. Who knows what comes after... Care to guess or suggest?

LOUIE

I made this happy little accordion player for a raffle at a fund-raiser. It was an accordion themed evening and I thought the little guy would be appropriate. He's just a small little watercolour, I hope whoever won him enjoys him.

Completed Robot Goddess

If anyone is interested I will be selling prints of it. This is a low rez on the blog. Let me know what you think.

Everybody loves Robots!

Here's another rough for a computer drawing. There will probably be more than one robot because it is supposed to be "Rampaging Robots". I have had requests for more robots. I hope to do some paintings too.

Robot Goddess

This is a rough for an illustration that I am doing in the computer. It will probably change slightly but I am keeping it really close to the sketch, because everybody likes robots.

Jazz

Watercolour for a jazz themed art show at the Pearl Company starting June 20.

new page for portfolo

Some of these images have been used for designs and some haven't but its a new page for my portfolio. I am updating half my portfolio, reworking and editing the designs.