Human Studies: group II

Here are some more Philly creeps I creeped on and creeped out.

I'm pretty satisfied with my progress in spotting the difference between male and female structures. I think the next round is going to focus on the ladies.

–KLK

ADREA, Modern Homemaker

I present to you today, someone very important to me. This is my nearest and dearest, most beloved little girl, Miss Adrea Collins. Frequently regarded as "rather strange," Adrea consistently finds herself in a position where she's unconvinced that she's the strange one. To her, it seems the entire world and the way it functions is absolutely bizarre. So you must forgive her if she fails to process the information she receives in the same fashion as others.

Today, Adrea the home maker receives an email on her pocket computer that provides her with a glimpse of insight into the way other modern home makers accomplish getting rid of excess clutter in their pocket books.

*click to enlarge

–KLK

Philly's Most Awful Employee of the Month, December 2011

And the December winner is... drum roll please...

buhdtddduhdtuhdtuhdtuhdtuhdtuhdt

Madeline the Pastry Mistress!!!

If you're looking for service with a smile, you won't get it from Maddy! Service with a snarl is this little tart's specialty. Have an inquiry about an item? Prepare yourself to experience what parents go through when they try to ask their teenage daughter a question. Don't think for a second she'll admit to not knowing something and refer you to someone who may. Without missing a beat, Madeline will assure you that even the owner himself couldn't answer your question. President Barack Obama may have given the thumbs up about this establishment, but don't count on getting the presidential treatment when our sour sweetheart is at your service. Did you feel like you were a stupid person before you decided to get a pastry? Well you do now! All thanks to Miss December, whose award of this honor kicks off the upcoming year of Philly's Most Awful Employee of the Month!
Keep tuning in, to see all the incredible employees 2012 will surely lead me to encounter and be insulted by.

For now, here's the original drawing:

–KLK

A Day at the Beach

Here's a little afternoon project I did for myself...illustrated a scene from a story.


Craig said to his father, with the same enthusiasm and amplification as always, "Gee Dad! Thith sunrithe is thimply exquithit! I can tell, today ith going to be a good day!"
Lee maintained his hollow smile as he thought to himself, Today I am going to kill myself.
How was he, of all people, supposed to live with the shame of fathering a son, whose ass he would have personally kicked in high school? Captain of the team with a five year winning streak, proud owner of a 12 foot personal display case of trophies, king of every school event, and now, the coach of current litter of Cougars... and this is what his seed produced. Having never made it to the NFL was nothing compared to the depression brought on by every single word out of Jake's mouth. After 16 years of choking back his irritation and forcing his face into an unconvincing smile, Lee Carson had to admit to himself that this was one game he wasn't tough enough to keep playing.
He calmly replied, "Yes it is, son. Yes it is."

excerpt from Ten Terrible Tales of Failed Family Bonding, by Harriet M. Ford

Suffice it to say, the author has been watching select episodes of Daria as a means of creative stimulation and "getting in the fiction writer state of mind."

–KLK

M is for Moon

Here's a little type doodle I did for fun:

My mom recently sent me an email that asked, what does the M stand for?
The M doesn't stand for anything... the coward.

–KLK

Somewhere, beyond Route 23...

Somewhere, in my memory...
My girl, she stands on concrete land,
and watches the sun set on the Schuylkill.

Before my current set up, I used to live with another pretty blonde lady... Miss Andrea. As usual, my rendition fails to do her justice. She's so much better looking in real life, but I still think the illustration is worthwhile.

(Here's the under-drawing:)
Andrea and I lived together for two years, in two crummy situations. (Literally, there were crumbs everywhere.) In either location, we'd always hide in her locked room like little kids, shushing each other and struggling to hold back giggles when we'd hear the front door slam. I remember we'd often escape for walks through the upscale family neighborhoods of Philadelphia, which have the best tree-lined streets with the most exquisite architecture. We'd make our way to the Schuylkill River trail, where we'd watch the sun cast explosions of color as it set over the pollution riddled horizon.
Andrea is one of the most passionate individuals I know when it comes to her career goals and her trade. She slaves endlessly on projects, creating draft after draft until every last detail is perfected. For her dedication and hard earned skills, I admire and look up to her. I love this girl.
<3

–KLK

The Captain and the Queen

I recently did two portraits... one of of my roommate, and one of myself. I used colored pencil for the majority of the work and added additional coloring and adjustments in Photoshop.

I decided to work in colored pencil for these because I really miss the more tactile elements of image making. (I get all stuffy working solely on the computer.) I think I may utilize this method in future work.
I'm the Captain because I'm crazed, married to my ship, and engaged on an endless quest for vengeance against an animal that acted on instinct in one specific instance. She's the Queen because she's beautiful, has fancy jewels, and is endowed with the ability to effortless attain the adoration of subjects who thenceforth strive to worship, serve, and protect her, simply because.


–KLK

Smile for me daddy

This is Shawn.

Shawn works in a cheese processing plant.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Shawn is a conscientious employee who takes great pride in getting the job done while upholding health standards better than his childhood nemesis Phillip, who works at a rival cheese processing plant down the road. He enjoys taking care of his truck and talking to pretty women. His favorite pastime is foosball and his favorite musical artist since the 1999 sixth grade Winter Formal has been Nelly.

–KLK

Happy Halloween from Mutant-Kate and Ashley Olsen

Be careful if you find yourself walking through a park on Halloween at midnight! You might run into the fabled Mutant Olsens. Deformed by a freak microwave accident that resulted in the fusing of two sisters as toddlers, (and their subsequent replacement on the show Full House by robots courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Olsen), the creature roams the earth on Halloween looking for Bob Saget. You may not be Bob Saget, but that doesn't mean you're safe! The Mutant Olsens use their freaky vacant four-eyed stare to psychically paralyze anyone who crosses their path... then the beast feasts with both mouths on their victims' brains! Bwah ha ha ha ha!


–KLK

Oh sugah pie, I'd just die for more men in my life!

And by "life" I clearly mean the bottomless pile of unsorted papers and unfinished drawings. In recent months, I've fallen into the tendency to go with what I know and focus almost exclusively on illustrating the female figure. It's usually easier to draw your own gender. But accomplishing a challenge only requires consistent practice.

So the other day, when I had a little bit of time, I went on out and drew some interesting looking men creatures.
...without their permission. Shhh.

–KLK

Shelly belly!

Sheldon Cooper, B.S., M.S., B.A., Ph.D., Sc.D.

I am a huge fan of the show Big Bang Theory on CBS. Theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons, is my absolute favorite. I adore him for his social awkwardness and the rigid structure he needs to uphold in order to successfully perform his daily routine. His personality flaws are endearing and relatable... to me at least.

After my recent (potential) completion of a commission that has taken me way too long, I decided to do a quick little fun piece for myself. In trying to figure out what the heck to draw, I thought "Well, what are things you like?" and Sheldon Cooper is what came to mind.

–KLK

The Vanessa and Lewis Show

The other night I stayed up late and drew a cartoon of my roommate and her fuzzy little boy...

Just like every superhero needs a sidekick, every 6 foot fashionista needs a little dog. They simply go together, and have since the modern revival of a trend that goes back to Victorian and Elizabethan times, when the most posh upper class ladies were always accompanied by their small dogs. I'd say my roommate is pretty posh. Though I'm not sure I'd consider us upper class, we rent in a fancy shmancy neighborhood, and I do believe my lady looks better than a large percentage of the wealthy wives on our block.

–KLK

Little Girl vs. Giant Leak

HOW WAS WORK TODAY?

One of my jobs is at the front desk of a local business, which is located in a high-rise building that is otherwise closed on Sundays. Our business is the only one there that day. One Sunday, when I was all by myself at work, a leak started in our lobby. Over the course of an hour, another leak sprang up, then another, and another, until there was water pouring from every imaginable crevice. Huge pimples of water began growing beneath the thick layer of latex paint on the walls... right next to my desk, and right above the power strips for the stereo, telephone, credit card machine, computer, and printer. It turned out a pipe three floors up had burst. Some Eastern European guys came in to fix it. I suspect they acquired very excellent plumber skills on Russian spy submarine. Needless to say, it was somewhat of a challenge to tend to the tasks I needed to tackle that day, but I did, and managed to crank a little cartoon out as well.

–KLK

Life with Lewis

THIS IS LEWIS.

Lewis is a mysterious creature disguised as a four pound miniature Pomeranian. This four year old fluff is my roommate Vanessa's side-kick, and the source of that little scritch-scratch-scritch-scratch you might hear rushing across my apartment floor. But when you hear him, I challenge you to try and find him. He's nowhere to be seen. Maybe he's off in one of his hiding places, or perhaps on some The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe-esque adventure.

In the past few months my relationship with this little fur ball has grown deeper, and the more I realize about him, the more I realize there's a whole secret world of thought behind that deceivingly cute, innocent face. Mr. Lewis is more like one of the goblins from Labyrinth than he is like Lassie. Just by being his weird self, Lewis is always inspiring me to draw little cartoons.
Here's a few:

There will be endless more to come, I'm sure.

–KLK

A is for Another self project

I came up with the idea for this letter at work the other day when, after completing everything on my task list, I was left with a 45 minute time block to myself. I took the time to doodle in my sketchbook while perusing the company blog.
Here's the original drawing:



–KLK

Buh-buh-buh-boredom has stricken!

And the result is this lovely little letter.

A fun indulgent little afternoon project to distract myself from the other tasks at hand... I'm sure you can relate. But hey, all is justifiable as long as you're being productive! Right?... right?

–KLK

Poconos Girl

This is a piece I did for myself as a means of climbing out of a little creative spell. I often find it's the things that have no meaning that are most enjoyable, and get your juices going.

My main prerogative, honestly, was to just draw a hot girl and enjoy coloring her face. So I picked the hottest girl I know (/the girl who looks most like me), my number one lady Dawn. I haven't drawn her since high school, when I was a hack, so I figured it's about time I pay some homage.

Prints available. Contact for details.

Here's a close up of the face, as well as the original sketch.

Special thanks to my sister from another mister for unwittingly being my subject, and special thanks in advance for not objecting to this being published on the internet.

–KLK

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles art show!

Ladies and gentlemen, this Friday I'm going to be in my first art show that I'll actually be able to attend... the show is presented by the Autumn Society and should be really exciting.
This is the piece ill be showing:

The first edition print will be available framed at the show. Have no fear though! That's not the only copy. Unframed Prints are available, contact for details.

I encourage everyone who can make it to stop by. Its first Friday, the weather looks promising, and the turtle van will be there. What better way to spend a summer evening?

Gimme dat fish

This is my fish.

His name is William Thurgood Fitzgerald, and he's a Japanese beta fish. He's a little scaley cranky pants. He always makes the puffer face at me. But like my ex-wife, he's just so beautiful when he's mad.

I think I'll grab a 5th Element Bar

The other day my friends and I took a trip to the deli. While reviewing the stock and trying to decide which deliciously unhealthy treats to accompany our sammiches, my friend Anthony said, "You gonna get a 5th Element Bar?" What he was looking at were the Hershey's 5th Avenue bars.

I thought this was too good not to remember forever, so made a quick cartoon.

I'm a dude he's a dude she's a dude cause we're all dudes hey!

Here's a sexy lady for you. A certain type of girl.

Meet a gal and feel as if there's just something about her you can't quite put your finger in? Why yes. This is about what sexy is.

The Heatwave: final artwork

Here's the final artwork for my good friend Abstrakt's upcoming album.

It'll be available for purchase a/o download at the end of the month. I've heard some tracks so far, and it is sounding goood. You're going to want to keep checking back to see when and where you can get your hands or fingers on it.

Flower Power.

My role is an observer of the world at large, taking everything in like a little sponge. This means going out of my way to be in places where I can interact with a lot of people. Everyone is fascinating. The opportunity to interact with them is incredibly exciting.

For the week of the Philadelphia Flower Show, I volunteered for a temp position as a salesgirl at the Convention Center. Most of the days I worked the day-shift. I drew this in my sketchbook on a break.

The fourth frame only happened in my head. In real life I'm a persistently pleasant worker who handles difficult people with a patient smile or a confused apology and manager.

Also, on the horizon is the comic I've been holding off on since highschool. Adrea is coming to life people. Be on the look out, my tentative deadline is Summer 2011 for Book One.

Coming Soon: The Heatwave

I'm working on the cover of my good friend Abstrakt's next cd, The Heatwave. This is the color sketch. I'm really excited to do some spiffy stuff with the space background in the final. The cd is tentatively due to be released this April.

floral O sketch

I drew this in my sketchbook last night when I was just messing around. It came out a lot better looking than I'd expected so I figured I'd post it.

The Perfect Wife

The Perfect Wife: the concept that plagues modern women across the first world. The Ideal Woman is a notion that has been present throughout the history of mankind, or womankind if you prefer (you feminist). The Ideal Woman is an opinion, comprised of the collected and averaged opinions of the masses, on the matter of what a woman should be like. She is a figment, an invention. She is a goddess to men (or so women think) and a nemesis to women (refer to the prior). It evolves throughout time and varies by region. However impermanent the specifics of the standard may be, the one thing that has been consistent is its influence on the culture in which it exists. Once a woman enters domestic bliss and all the joys (chores) that come with it, the Ideal Woman takes on a whole new challenge of becoming The Perfect Wife.

This illustration will be featured with an article in my super-top-not-at-all secret futurezine, and will discuss the pressures and ridiculous expectations that modern women place on themselves to be the whole package. I'm currently extending an invitation to anyone who would like to share their thoughts and opinions on this matter over coffee.

Another one of my more ridiculous ideas.

This past Christmas, I had the idea that I'd like to decorate my hair up like a Christmas tree. I came up with a plan to adhere a styrofoam cone to a head band, then cover it with tracks of hair extensions. I would then clip in some lightweight dollar store ornaments, and a paper star. I even acquired some battery operated multi-colored rice lights, and planned on hollowing out a space on the cone for the 4-AA battery pack.

This was my sketch:

I never got around to doing it, however, due to all the holiday madness. But there is always next year, and hopefully by summer, I'd like to explore some of my costumery ideas.

Dressing up has always been a big part of my life. I've been doing it since I was as young as three, taking every opportunity as a reason to really play. My costumes ranged from Elvira with socks for boobs for a random day in October when I was 5, to one of the observers with a blue rag in a bowl for watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 when I was 7. Maybe it's because I took dance and theater. Maybe it's something that's just in me. I haven't really gotten to enjoy this sort of entertainment recently, save the one time sophomore year of college when my housemates walked in the front door to find me cooking corn in a homemade Indian feather headband. I was very happy this past October that a political rally was held the day before Halloween, which justified my ridiculous enthusiasm as Sweet Sarah P.

Costumery and play is something that's brought me a lot of happiness and laughs with the people around me in my life. I'm hoping that with that in me, I can pursue a side project and potentially make some fun and interesting things. But I don't think I'll ever be a larper.