1000 zombies restart

This is the start of my RESTART on the 1000 zombies project. I wasn't 100% satisfied with how the oils were turning out, and it was stressing me far to much. So I have put them to the side and I will continue on using inks and watercolors ... and for the next while its all about having a damn good time. So here's the start of the restart ... and tomorrow I shall post the final result of this, along with anything else I happen to get done tonight.

Cheers!

playing with the dead

After over a year of drawing zombie portraits nearly every day, and sometimes dozens a day, I've started to play around with my artwork more. Again. I'm still doing portraits because I have the 1000 zombies project going on, and I still enjoy showing you what you, or your friends, look like with undead eyes.
But I'm also playing with them and my art styles a lot more now. Time to learn and experiment and grow. So expect to see some different stuff in the weeks and months and years to come. Here's a small taste.

snowflake of the damned

It's December ... and the cursed tree has gone up and decorations are everywhere.

But since Halloween never truly ends in my house, the snowflakes of the damned are starting to get made. Here's the first of many.

impressionistic zombies

This time of the year always brings out many feelings. Some of frustration and annoyance, other times is sadness. To add more chaos to the mix I'm feeling rather uninspired after that mega project for google. So in an effort to burst through it all I've done some small works in a very loose style.

 This is my startled zombie kitty ...

the Ponderous Zombie

The wandering zombie

and finally ... Tundra Zombie ... because its damn cold here.

MOANa Lisa

It's still Movember and I'm still raising funds for prostate cancer awareness and mens health. You can make a donation here at my Movember page and get a tax receipt  If you do, you can also put in a request for me to zombify and draw some lady ... with a mustache. Mark made a recent donation and requested the Mona Lisa get the treatment ... so here she is ...

BADDA BING BADDA BOOM!

godzilla gone zombie

A friend on G+ and a fan of the 1000 zombies project funded GODZILLA ... and it was my job to turn him in to a zombie. I'm using and learning how to use oil paints for the next 50 zombies and while there have been some success ... lately it feels more like ... um ... not so much success. This is zombie 113 of the project. Gotta keep moving onwards or it all goes to hell. Just like Tokyo attacked by a huge mutated zombie dinosaur.

failure and fear

Last night I tried to paint up zombie #111 of the 1000 zombies art project and failed. So I tried again ... which also resulted in a failure, though not quite as dramatically.

And then I got bummed out.

2 images in a row that totally sucked as far as I was concerned. 2 images of the same guy, the same picture even. The 2nd attempt wasn't as bad and I came back to it a couple times during the remainder of the evening and tweaked it a little, even managed to salvage it come the next morning in to something that I was much more pleased with. But all night long and in to most of today I couldn't stop thinking about that failure and how it made me feel.

So this morning I went back at failure #2 and kept tweaking it and playing with it and, as I said, managed to salvage it and eventually post it.

Then I stopped working and started beating myself up again, falling in to that pit of despair that so many other artists know all to well. I didn't want to even try oils again. I doodled, surfed the web, procrastinated in other ways and overall just avoided painting for the better part of today. After a while, and a nap, I faced my fear, admitted that I don't know shit about using oil paints, and took failure #1 and started rubbing, scrubbing and scratching the hells out of it. Then I picked up my brush and started using the left over oils and just slapped things around. After a few minutes an idea started forming in my head and I took a tooth pick and painted out this image.

So yeah ... I pretty much suck at oil painting, but thats okay. I know I suck ... I know I have a lot to learn and a long journey ahead if I want to paint the images I see in my head. I'm now ready to continue that journey ... unafraid and willing to fail.

 It's just better if I know it and admit it than try to hide from it and not do anything about it.

Movember Mother Teresa Zombie with a Mustache

It's Movember and all month long I'm drawing girls and ladies, fictional, historical or otherwise, as zombies with mustaches. If you want yourself drawn, or a special lady in your life, make a donation of any size to my movember donation page http://mobro.co/idrawzombies and then send me an email to let me know who gets zombified.  

Here's a sorta step by step of my process for creating Zombified and mustachioed Mother Teresa.

As always I start by taping my paper to the board using painters tape.

The I red line main shapes and lines of what Mother Teresa looks like. This is my loose sketching stage.

After the red lines I put down the main colors. As with most of my zombies, its greens and reds. I almost forgot to take a picture at this stage. 

After the main color blocks are in I go and ink it up with black, and also use the red pen to fill in some red details. I also define the shading a little more with paint too.

And then I forgot to take any other step by step pics because I got to involved with it. Mostly its a bit more inking to define and the shapes and vary the line weights, and some highlight paints and more layers for shadows. After the tape comes off you get nice clean edges and a more finished look to the piece.

Any questions leave a comment or send me an email. Cheers!

Movember has begun

And that means ... Movember Girls!! But this year its a little different. This year its Zombified Movember Girls! First one done is my wife Monica, and the kids recognized her right away. The second is the always bright and shiny Ellen Degeneres.

I'm doing zombie mustachioed women for the whole month of Movember and if any ladies out there are interested in getting yourself drawn as a zombie with a mustache, just make a donation here: http://mobro.co/idrawzombies and send me a picture.

Google Canada Zombies

Google Canada has mounted the zombie horde I created for them and now has a permanent place on their walls. One day I hope to visit their offices just to see what it looks like in person. Until then, I have this image.

Huge thanks to Google for the opportunity to zombify so many of their employees, and for making the google+ platform as awesome as it is.

Google Canada goes ZOMBIE

A while back Google Canada commissioned me to turn a massive amount of their staff members in to a legion of the walking dead. Who am I to refuse? I give you ... the Google Canada Horde!!

brother zombie in law

My in-laws came down to visit today, unexpectedly. It's not a bad thing, in fact it was pretty decent overall. My brother in law has co-workers that don't believe he knows me ... seems like a weird thing to doubt but whatever. I decided to draw him quickly as a zombie so he can show his coworkers and rub it in their face. 

If you ever come across this dude in the zombie apocalypse be careful. If he's not yet a zombie, be his friend because he's a MMA fighter and he can kick serious ass. If he is a zombie though  ... aim for the head and don't miss.

dubtona

I made a small logo / event poster for a buddy. The event is called dubtona and you can learn more here.
I'm not very good at this graphic design stuff though, but it was fun.
Pens and watercolor on cardboard in case you were wondering.

leftovers

Really trying to get back to updating this blog daily ... it should be easier than it has been. Here's an image that came about when I threw the left over red acrylic on to a piece of thin cardboard before it dried out and was useless. I touched it up with some pen and watercolor afterwards ... might play with it more but here it is so far.
I think I might start taking progress shots of these images ... help show my process a little. Whatcha think of that idea?

child zombie soldier

I tried to draw this zombified child soldier of the apocalypse in a hangout on air last night and explain my technique ... but my internet connection died and cut it off about 3 minutes in. I didn't notice and kept going talking to myself ... i'll try again sometime ... until then ... here's the final image.

1000 zombies on TV

A couple days ago the fun and friendly people from Global National Winnipeg ventured in to the Zombie Factory for a few hours. After a few hours only the camera man emerged uninfected. They edited out most of the carnage though ...

there's a commercial in the beginning but its not my fault ... 
   

1000 zombies infects the national post

Just over a week ago the 1000 zombies art project was featured in The National Post. In my opinion the full page spread looks awesome. Sadly, the province of Manitoba no longer sells the National Post so I couldn't buy one. Luckily they are sending me a couple issues. It's online too, if you want to read it that way.

my youtube channel

Did you know I have a youtube channel? Check it out, watch some zombies get created ... some tutorials are coming soon. Don't forget to subscribe.

first 50 zombies

Put together a little poster of the first 50 zombies of the 1000 zombie project. If you like it, you can buy a print from my Society6 store. If you want to take part in the project, a minimum donation of $10 gets you in. For that donation you can choose who you want to be zombified, perhaps yourself ... and you get a high res scan to print out or use as an avatar, plus you eventually get a free ebook which contains your zombie along with a story about how it became a zombie in the zombie apocalypse. There's also monthly give aways too.

revamping

It's all about revamping the direction I've been taking things. I seem to be getting a lot more attention lately and I need to start taking things a little more serious. When looking back I find that I've actually accomplished quite a lot with my art, and the 1000 zombies project. Now I have a whole slew of people that are championing me and my art and encouraging me to take things to another level. 

This summer has been quite trying though ... kids home all day, swimming lessons, soccer practice now and all sorts of outings to take advantage of the short summer. Work has suffered and my brain feels much like my studio ... cluttered and disorganized.

That being said ... I still get stuff done and have been learning how to paint with oil paint, and zombies 101-150 are all going to be done in oils. If it goes really well, 151-200 will be as well.

I'm also dusting off some old larger canvases and starting to play around with them. This one is one I had started about 2 years ago and just pulled it out today.

Now the wife is calling me, so before I go I'll leave you with zombies 1-100

cya soon

I have started to play with oil pants, and I must say that I love 'em! Such vibrant colors and blending is amazing. Zombies 101-200 are all going to be oil painted as I learn my way around this fantastic medium.

Have you taken part in the 1000 zombies project yet?

scrapbook of the dead - zombie coloring book

I revamped my earlier zombie coloring book to include more artwork and some rare art, including a few pages from my sketchbooks. It's a cheap download, only 3 bucks and the first in a what will become a series of coloring books. The next one is all about portraits of mostly regular folk found on google+ and some slightly famous people as well.

If you want to download this ebook, check it out here:

http://idrawzombies.com/buy-zombies/

stephen colbert and the zombie nation

The real patient zero and the menace behind the zombie apocalypse is none other than Stephen Colbert. He used the Colbert Nation as a way of gathering his victims under a single banner and then infected them all!

Or something. Like Stephen Colbert gives a rats ass about little zombie artists like me. 

cheers!

painting zombies

The following video was made in a google+ hangout and then later edited and music was added as well. Getting many more zombies funded for the 1000 zombies project ... have you funded yours?

Cheshire zombie cat

Another funded zombie for the 1000 zombies art project. This is the Cheshire Cat as revisioned by me. Still going strong with the painting, getting a little better at it too. If you want to see the creation of this one, check out the video on youtube.

Want to be a part of the zombie horde and get your own zombie portrait ... it's as low as 10 bucks, more info on my main website.

painting doodle

This is my newest favourite piece and it was done just as a painting doodle. Definitely going to do a lot more of these in the coming weeks. Can you spot the zombie? ;)

just for the hell of it

The first one was done just for shits and giggles of some guy that likes making other people zombies too. My non confrontational way of taking out the competition ;)    The close up of the dude below him is someone that has been on my radar for months. He was also a fast and furious doodle drawn while in a hangout on G+

the next 50 has begun

The next 50 zombies for the 1000 zombies art project have begun ... and this time they are being painted with acrylics. No line work ... and the results will be obviously different than the first 50.
Why do acrylics?
To grow as an artist mainly, and add some variety to the project. Whatcha think?

1000 ZOMBIES volume 1

After many sleepless nights and far too many cups of coffee ... the first volume of the 1000 zombies is available for sale. There are over 130 zombie illustrations in this full color 100+ page book, as well as dozens of stories about how many of the people got infected during the zombie apocalypse. Also included are zombie survival tips, zombie mushrooms, zombie cats and a couple of zombie dogs. Beware of Dr. Malakai and his zombie creations, and find out how you can be in one of the upcoming volumes. Get the book here: https://www.createspace.com/3861748

zombie test

I'm testing a new style/technique I want to use for the next 50 zombies ... and while it's not perfect yet, I think I'm off to a decent start. I know in my head what I want it to look like, its just a matter of reaching in and bringing it out. The zombie above was once Paige.

Have you bought my ebook yet?   http://goo.gl/rIowc