New Site!!

We just launched the beginning of our official webcomic! head to onmyhonorcomic.com to check it out! Its on a great comic community site called tapastic (they have a suprisingly high standard for art!), where if you want you can sign up for a free account and subscribe to the webcomics you like! You can even choose to get emails every time comics you are subscribed to get updated!
On My Honor gets updated every monday, so don't miss it!

Hey, so I haven't updated this blog in forever, and I don't intend to again anytime soon, so for my comic work just head to the website above, and for all my other art stuff follow me on tumblr or instagram. robertallenburns.tumblr.com. Those are the platforms I stay current on.

Wilderness

old paints

So this first one I did for my final last semester (I know, soooo late)  It's jack from ON MY HONOR, doin' his thing. This second one is an album cover I did for my buddy Chase Chamberlain, and his band Friday, Maybe Saturday, I did Januaryish.

f

ON MY HONOR

Hey hey hey, I've been pretty inactive on here for a while, even though I've been drawing lots and lots. I just thought that I would put a link here to my other blog that me, my writer/badass Tyler Lamb, and my girlfriend/cover artist/ colorist are in charge of. its a blog specifically for our comic (called ON MY HONOR) which I will be updating more and more, so check it out! We just finished the first little teaser thing that has 3 mini stories in it. also 2 of those stories are on the other blog. I may at some point post them to this blog as well, but I'm taking it a step at a time. here's a link!!

http://www.onmyhonorcomic.blogspot.com/

Bad thumbs for illustration4

So this is what my garbage thumbnails usually look like. I know, right?

thingy from last semester

Mamon (the demon of wealth) depicted as a ghetto-ass rapper. This was a fun one

Logo Inspiration and sketches for Illustration 4

SCOUT LAW

Here is a six page trailer thingy for SIX LITTLE PSYCHOS written by Tyler Lamb, drawn by me, and soon to be colored by Langley Osborn. It's pretty much the reason I haven't updated in such a long while.

CUN SHI the great!

NOTE: ALL ARTWORK ON THIS POST BELONGS TO CUN SHI

Cun Shi straight kills it. He is currently attending the Illustration as visual essay program at the School of Visual arts, and has recently won their student spotlight as well as a competition for Playboy. He also does some illustrations for the New York Times. This guy is the embodiment of the idea of Economy of line. Although he presents most of his work in black and white, he uses incredible line variation to create compelling compositions that are both impressively detailed and yet easy to read. He is definitely someone to keep on your radar. I decided to try to get in contact with him for a quick interview and was lucky enough to get a response. What a nice guy! Anyways, here it is:

---How long have you been drawing for?  What got you started?

It wasn’t until I was 21 when I started to take drawing seriously.  Before that, I was a graphic designer working for a small publishing company in Beijing, and the work I did at the time wasn’t very creatively satisfying.  I left my job and along with an artist friend of mine, went backpacking across Southern China.  The trip lasted 3 months and we drew constantly.  That was when I started to consider art as a serious endeavor, after I returned from the trip. 

---What has contributed the most to your skills?  What have you done to meet success so soon?

I did quite a bit of study on old masters and it really helped with my drawing.  It wasn't until late last year that I felt my illustrations were actually strong enough to start pursuing commercial work, and I've been very fortunate to have had clients reach out to me while still in school.

---The line art that I have seen in your sketchbook alone is incredibly impressive.  Would you say that practicing line art alone played a role in your artistic training?

I’ve always been attracted to lines, and a lot of that comes from my early training.  It definitely played a big role when I first started to draw, learning to see form in lines rather than shades. 

---If you had to guess, about how long do you spend drawing each day?

I spend a lot of time drawing before approaching anything else, trying to work out the ideas and what not.  If it’s an 10 hour work day and I have the idea sorted out, I’d probably spend 8 hours of it on drawing alone. 

---What are some of your favorite tools?

At the moment, I really enjoy working with the brush.  It’s a very versatile tool when it comes to line work, and I also really love drawing with the ball point pen. 

---You’ve done some pretty badass ink work for musicians.  Does music play a big role in inspiring what you create?  What else inspires you?

Sometimes music helps me find emotions for specific pieces, other times it’s the silence, listening to the rustle wind and leaves outside my studio.     

---Other hobbies?

I really enjoy reading. Mostly sci-fi genre, or autobiographical novels. 

---You managed to create really compelling images, and are able to convey a great amount of information with such great line economy making your images both complex and easily readable.  What is your progress? (Planning that goes into it?)

For personal work, the first thing I try to work out is the mood of the image, or what type of mood I would like the finished piece to have.  For commercial pieces I take a slightly different approach since the mood is usually set by the article or context of the project.  But in general, I start out by looking at reference photos and reading, basically trying to soak myself with as much information as possible.  Once I feel I have a pretty good grasp on the subject matter, I’d start sketching thumbnails.   

---What have been some of your biggest struggles as an artist?  Things you currently struggle with?

To me, being an artist means being comfortable with silence.  One of the biggest challenge when I first started painting was getting used to being alone in the studio for prolonged periods of time, because when I was a designer, everything was done as a team, and there were lots of discussions back and forth during projects.  When I started painting, I was confined to the solitude of my studio with a blank canvas in my face...and at times that fear of the unknown can be overwhelming.  It took me awhile to learn how to embrace the fear and use it to my advantage.   

---Doubt?  Fear?

Everyday.  It’s always there.

---Any advice for any artists striving for awesomeness? 

Well, hard work definitely goes a long way... but I believe one of the biggest challenge that we face as artists is the strive for uniqueness and individuality.  There’s a lot of pressure for us to come up with a “style” or something that’s instantly recognizable... but I think it’s important to take it slow and let things mature on it’s own.  It’s also very difficult not to be influenced by all the cool stuff out there, but the stuff we like often says a lot about ourselves.  With that said, I believe self knowledge is paramount when it comes to creating something that is truly unique and awesome.  

All this great art and more can be found on his website:
http://cunshiart.com/

Check out his sketchblog while your at it:
http://blog.cunshiart.com/

    

old stuff I forgot to post

Visual Metaphor research for Illy 3

NONE OF THESE IMAGES ARE MINE

I must identify the target / source / ground / tension / what it conveys / and the relationship

---

target-elephant / source-brass / ground-loud / tension-brass in man-made / nature is incredibly artistic / fusion

---

target-windmills / source-butterflies / ground-both rely on air / tension-windmills are man-made / shows how man-made objects work with nature / replacement

---

target-head / source-volcano / ground-both have things going on inside them / tension-person is a living thing / conveys inner turmoil / fusion

---

target-cigarette / source-bandaid / ground-temporary relief / tension-cigarrettes are bad for you and bandaids help you / cigarettes provide only temporary relief / juxtaposition

---

target-brain / source-work and play /  ground-everyday thoughts / tension-where you are compared to where your mind is / its important to use both left and right sides of the brain / juxtaposition

---

target-skull / source-drugs / ground-they manipulate people / tension-how people naturally are compared to how they are manipulated to be / drugs can make us into something we're not / juxtaposition

---

target- health sign / source- repair guy / ground - the "brokenness" of the symbol relates the two / tension - the health care system is supposed to "fix" people / the thing that fixes people is broken / juxtaposition

---

target-ancient carvings / source-pacman / ground - both are "old" / tension-two completely different kinds of old / these relics of technology should be treated better / replacement

---

target- shootout / source- cursor / ground - both can be used as weapons / tension - one is more passive aggressive than the other / people can use computers to inflict harm / replacement

---

target - healthcare bill / source- jeopardy wheel /  ground- both seem random and could have to do with huge amounts money / tension - in actuality the hospital bill is not random / hospital bills are incredibly unreasonable and seem really random / replacement

---

gotta remember to update this thang

comics from the past couple weeks as well as Illustration 3 work. I've been experimenting with a bit of color.

 For these last couple pages, I digitally penciled and inked it traditionally. It's a new process, but I really enjoyed it, so more of that to come.

Ten Great Student Illustrators!

http://drawman.blogspot.com/
http://evanmonteiro.blogspot.com/
http://vmaury.blogspot.com/
http://alexkonstad.blogspot.com/
http://fxevo.blogspot.com/
http://jayrasgorshek.com/Where-the-West-Was-Won
http://blog.cunshiart.com/
http://www.jonathandraws.com/
http://spherenoire.com/
http://brockcooperart.tumblr.com/

Big fat post

I have to rely on my school for internet, so that's why I've been dead for so long... anywayz I'll be getting the interwebz on Thursday assuming that Comcast can be relied upon. (Spoiler: they can't)

comics-7deadlysins

comics-4panel scene-to-scene relation

comics- instructional-how to do a pop-shuvit

Illustration 3 - fill in silhouettes (fire hydrant, house, detergent, owl, shake, monitor, pig, shoe)

 

First doodle with my new 9x12 monoprice tablet! Digital inking rules! I highly recommend this tablet!