Sketchbook

Finishing up a few personal things that I'll post soon. In the mean time you can take a look at a few of my sketchbook pages and how obsessive I am with filling the page. Be it with drawings or pointless rambling.

Homo Ferus | Cracked Sky

Hope all is well with everyone. Especially after the hurricane for those on the east coast. Fortunately, I've been busy with a good amount of freelance work lately. Unfortunately, I can't show any of it to you. Yet. All in good time.

In the mean time, here is the new Homo Ferus. And one of many more to come, I might add. Every time I finish one, I think of three more to draw. Trying to concentrate on the essentials of survival, hunger and food for the first two, I now wanted to approach shelter and exposure to the elements.

I've been considering posting some detail shots everyonce and a while. Maybe I'll do it for this one. We'll see.

Linework

It's got to that point where I've begun to describe the series to other people and even with only three pieces finished, this boy is certainly growing as a character for me. While only those three are done, I have his entire story, perhaps even life, planned out.

Thumbs/Sketches

And yet at the same time, I haven't given him a name. To be honest, I'm somewhat against it. I only refer to him as "Boy" or "The Child." Even in the original photoshop files. He's never had a name and frankly, doesn't even know what a name is. Doesn't matter to him so why should it matter to me.

In addition to that, I don't want to give him the personality that comes with the name. Because of my initial argument, there is still something missing in him that would bring him to that point. The point where he's completely human. There's no developed thought present in that head of his. And that reminder is a bit unnerving.

Backpacker | Arachnid Awareness

Here's a recent illustration I did for the September issue of Backpacker Magazine, which just came out a few days ago. In every issue there's a section call Survival, and in that, a Basecamp Survival Quiz. Each month has its own theme and topic.

Sketch

Jackie McCaffrey, the Associate Art Director over at Backpacker, asked me to run with the idea of Spiders. I had a bunch of fun working on this, of course. A big scary spider? What more could I ask for? The sketch was approved so I went to the final. Same process as usual- I do the linework in ink and then color digitally. Big thanks to Jackie and everyone at Backpacker!

Layout

Maxim | Modern Monsters

Another group of illustrations I did- this time for the August Issue of Maxim. With the Modern Monsters Theme, I had to illustrate celebrities/ reality tv show stars as mythological creatures.

Art Direction by Eric Ku.

Click image for larger illustrations or go to:
http://www.johnnydombrowski.com/illustration/maxim--mondern-monsters/

(layout)

I'm not a Terminator, I'm a princess!

http://johnnydombrowski.com/illustration/wired--true-salvation/

Two new illustrations I did for the August issue of Wired that just came out recently. I had to illustrate two directors' viewpoints on where the Terminator franchise will go. One would be an all out epic while the other would combine with the greatest movie of all time, Kindergarten Cop.

Art Direction by Alice Cho!

Sketches

We opted for the second and fifth versions for the two, with adding some palm trees in the background for the epic and bring over some of the background from the other versions for Kindergarten Cop.

Layout

You should be cleaning the diapers. You should be reading stories about bears that go shopping!

The Roaring

http://johnnydombrowski.com/illustration/the-roaring/

A personal piece that started as my Sketches for "The Great." A image of warning between the Great War and Great Depression. After finishing, it didn't seem as menacing as I originally thought it would, so I renamed it for the Roaring Twenties.

Made with Ink and Digital Color/Collage

I chose the Flatiron Building because- beyond being my favorite building in the city- to me, it's the best representation of Old New York City. The Empire State Building wasn't completed until the early 30's so I felt that The Fuller building on Broadway and 5th had a better feeling with just as much or even more character.

I've been busy with a few jobs so I'll be able to post those as soon as they publish. More coming soon.

Homo Ferus | Strength in Numbers

Better quality version: http://www.johnnydombrowski.com/illustration/homo-ferus--strength-in-numbers/

Just finished this tonight. With the amount of feedback I've received for the first Homo Ferus, the urge and pressure was on to continue the series. I've been going through a long dry spell so it feels good to break out of it. Sketch: About 6 1/2 x 9 inches.
One part of my work that I don't tend to show you is all of the tracing paper I go through. While I'm working on a piece, if I have the slightest bit of doubt of how I should draw something, I'll always sketch it out over the drawing. Before having him jump on the back of the elk, I originally drew him running behind- which you can see in the initial sketch. Along with a few drawings to get his hand right, you can see what the original pose looked like.Above: Original pose for the boy around a few wolves. Below: A few variations of his hand with the final version on the bottom.
Coloring it was also a challenge. Unlike the first, I had no idea what time of day I wanted to set it in. With a few ideas in mind, a dense fog quickly became the winner. I'm already working on sketches for another idea. I'm going to step away from Homo Ferus for a bit but he'll be back. Also, I may be working on a short comic soon but I'll keep you posted on that later. All the best.Inked line work: Around 18 x 24 inches.