Sweet Bird- Just the Art

by David Finley

The Birds in my Neighborhood

 My wife and I moved to North Carolina a few months ago. One thing I notice as I walk my dog is the sheer volume of birds living in our neighborhood. There are cardinals, mockingbirds, bluejays, and sparrows in my backyard alone. Along our street, there is a large group of robins, and because we're close to the ocean, we get seagulls and pelicans, too.

 The best part of it all is listening to all the different songs they sing.

 This bird painting is made with scanned textures similar to the technique I used to make my piece, Reach. 

 That's it for today. I hope to see you again tomorrow. Thanks for reading, Scofflaws!

-David

Buy this print at my Society 6 shop!

Also available on canvas, t-shirt, laptop skin, and as an iphone case.

The Art of Flowers

Words and Images by David Finley

 At 6'2" tall, and equipped with wrists that most watches are too puny to contain, you could reasonably say that I'm a big guy.

 What's more, I like manly things like craft beer, fire, and sitting on leather chairs watching a foreign martial arts movie when I'm supposed to be washing dishes. Yes, as my chest hair will testify, I am a man, and quite happy with that.

 But, there is a side of me that loves the pure simple beauty of a flower with its delicate petals, intricate color, scent, and foliage. Flowers spray, curve, and fold, opening themselves to drink of the sunlight. They paint our gardens and perfume the wind.

 So, today I give you this piece about the simple and lovely flower. All you men out there, it is okay to enjoy such a delicate thing. Furthermore, I will even go as far as to say that it is manly to appreciate a flower, much in the same way that a man appreciates a woman. Because, without getting too poetic, their beauty is quite similar.

 Now, that I've proven how manly flowers can be, I'm off to watch a movie with zombies, explosions, and ninja fighting robot-pirates.

Thanks for reading, scofflaws!

-David

P.S. You can buy the print above if you'd like by clicking right here.

Abstract part 2

More abstract work.

The Legend of Zelda- Doodles of Link

The Legend of Zelda is one of my favorite all time video game series out there, with my favorite chapters being Wind Waker, and Link to the Past. Here are some doodles done in homage to many hours of adventure and entertainment. Yay Link!

 Thank you Nintendo, for making my childhood a bit more entertaining.

The Bear Who Hated His Job: The Missing Pages Part II

Here's another page from my tale of dissatisfaction. This was supposed to be the splash page where a grizzled man tells two young children in a museum a story about a circus bear.


It took me a while before I was happy with the colors, and I'm still not entirely happy with the bear "painting" on the left. When I redo this story I think I might not use color at all, unless it's very basic.

Thanks for looking. Comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Robots and Cats, Water and Maps Part2: Colors

So our two friends are still adrift at sea, but at least some color has come into their lives.


This picture is a follow up to yesterday's post (which can be seen here). It was colored in Adobe Photoshop by first adding a worn leather texture to the background, and then flatting colors on top of that (which is just a fancy schmancy way to say that I colored in the base colors on the characters and props without adding highlights and shadows), and then I digitally painted them with my wacom tablet.

As I type this, my cat, who also happens to be the muse for the cat in this picture, is walking on my keyboard and purring. So, hopefully I cleaned up all of his creative writing.

An Ode to Crying Buffalos

Oh, how this poor fellow cries and cries. Day and night his tears drop as he wails, and woefully, he slices onion after onion for soups, casseroles, stir fries, and pot roast. He is hooked on vidalia, unapologetically.  And his tears make the rain.

Two Kids

Just a quick one from a comic project I'm working on.

Earl-y

Today's image is my post for this week's Illustration Friday category, "Early". I ran through so many ideas with most of them involving roosters, and even a hot-dog eating contest, but this idea came to me last night. I started playing on the the "Earl" part of the word early and almost named one of these men as the Earl of Sandwich. I think the Earl Grey tea really set the mood, though, and the picture became more playful and whimsical.

Finnigan's Last Resort- Yummy Orange Juice

 

 The First Official Finnigan's Last Resort Strip

Well, here it is... the very first official Finnigan's Last Resort strip. Ultimately, this is an experiment on several levels. This was roughed by hand and tightened up digitally, but I would like to experiment with a completely hand drawn and inked version before I decide on a final look for the stories. I'm excited to experiment with different techniques.

Thanks for looking!

More Harmony Doodles

Here's some more harmony doodles. One of my Last Resort character, Esau, and another of the robot from my previous post. I'll post some non-harmony art here soon, but for now, I'm happy to be publishing a little more than before.

A Robot with a Heart Doodle done in the Harmony Art Program

Today's entry is another Harmony doodle and my first Illustration Friday entry in quite some time. I'm still really enjoying Harmony's unpredictable results.

Thanks for looking!