Sam Bradleyhttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/Sam Bradley's sketchblogen-US2012-02-12T11:30:49ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.81 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Balancehttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2012/1/1/balance.htmlSam Bradley2012-01-01T23:23:07ZThis piece was created for the "What If..." exhibition at Gallery Nucleus, which wraps up this week. I really enjoy the shows they have, so it was an honor to be asked to contribute. Hopefully some more opportunities like this one arise in the not too distant future.

(watercolor on 140lb. cold press paper)

]]>Kickstarter Rewardshttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2011/5/4/kickstarter-rewards.htmlSam Bradley2011-05-04T16:11:35Z

(watercolor on 140lb. cold press paper)

These paintings were made for people who backed our kickstarter project. The originals of the first two were given to our most generous backers, and the third was available as a print. I wanted to wait until the kickstarter packages had been mailed out to their respective new owners before posting the scans. All of the images were inspired by a sequence in my comic from the newest book, which is painted in a similar style.

]]>Frazetta Studyhttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2011/4/25/frazetta-study.htmlSam Bradley2011-04-26T00:03:22Z

(click to enlarge)

This is a study of Frazetta's cover for Conan the Adventurer. It was painted with photoshop but other than applying a canvas texture at the end there were no shortcuts. I'm not sure how color accurate the image I was referencing was, but I have a feeling this might be a bit more saturated than the original. Inaccuracies aside, I still feel like these sorts of studies are the best way to wrap my head around how someone else works. I always feel like I've learned more from retracing a master's brushstrokes than I do from looking at their art or listening to them explain their process. I highly recommend giving this a try, if you haven't already. Check out my Leyendecker study from a while back too, if you haven't seen it.

]]>Overduehttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2011/3/1/overdue.htmlSam Bradley2011-03-02T02:53:45ZThis is the longest I've let my blog sit without an update in the five years I've been maintaining it. What's been keeping me so busy? The Anthology Project Volume 2!

(click here for more images)

Thankfully I've been working side by (virtual) side with two great friends and collaborators, Joy and Nick. V2 is finally a real book - we've just received our first preview copies. The bulk of the books will be available for folks to see and purchase by May. If you contributed to our Kickstarter you can expect your copy and the rest of your goodies and trinkets around the same time. If you'd like to make a preorder, keep an eye on our website. And, finally, if you'd like to meet some of the artists involved with the book and pick one up in person, c'mon out to MoCCA (NYC), Stumptown (Portland), or TCAF (Toronto). The Anthology Project will be at those shows in the near future. There'll be more conventions throughout the year too - we'll update our website with details as they approach.

Aside from finishing off the book I've also been maintaining a tumblr to explore the process work of the artists involved. You can see step by step examples of their work over at theanthologyproject.tumblr.com. Definitely make sure to check it out. Currently I'm updating it once or twice a week with new content.

I'm also figure drawing on a regular basis and though I stopped posting figures on my blog ages ago, you can see the occasional drawing on my twitter, @abysmalred. It's been an outlet for my less finished work for a while now, so feel free to follow if you're wondering what I'm up to between blog posts.

As well as finishing up production work on V2, I'm also wrapping up the last bits of location design on the fourth season of Total Drama. 2011 is going to be a year full of new jobs and projects - I'm excited to share them!

]]>Death-Dayhttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2010/11/7/death-day.htmlSam Bradley2010-11-07T04:09:25ZI recently had the opportunity to meet Sam Hiti and read his excellent story, Death-Day. It's a solid ongoing piece of work that i'd recommend folks check out. As well as having just released volume one in print, he's also conveniently got the whole thing online for free. Navigate over to his website and have a look. The work speaks for itself.

Here's some art inspired by the story. This first showed up on Fanart Friday (a cleverly devised response to twitter's Follow Friday trend) created by my friend Katie. I'm not sure if I'll be able to contribute every week, but I think it's a great idea so I'll definitely be adding more to Fanart Friday in the coming months.

(Click to enlarge. Red and black ink on 9x12" bristol.)

]]>Plein Air Studieshttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2010/11/3/plein-air-studies.htmlSam Bradley2010-11-04T02:00:34ZI recently spent a few weeks at the Atlantic Center for the Arts studying with Paul Pope. Aside from meeting some really great people and learning a lot, I was able to spend a bit of time painting en plein air. These pieces are four or five inches wide inside a watercolor sketchbook.

Also, thanks so much for all the kickstarter support! We reached our goal with time to spare. It's still ongoing if you're interested in preordering our book or getting an original drawing or painting by one of us. It's a pretty good deal.

]]>Support The Anthology Project Volume 2http://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2010/10/7/support-the-anthology-project-volume-2.htmlSam Bradley2010-10-07T23:30:23Z

Today we launched a Kickstarter account to help us raise funds for the second volume of The Anthology Project. We've arranged it to function as a pre-order system as well as an opportunity for our audience to support the project. Along with being able to reserve a copy of our next book, people who offer support will be eligible to receive a bunch of other cool benefits ranging from a printed thanks in our book to original paintings. Kickstarter is a really great way for a project like ours to get off the ground as well as an excellent opportunity for people to get involved and help out when we need it most. Check out our page on Kickstarter here to have a look at all the different pledge rewards, find out how the whole process works, watch Nick, Joy and myself chat for a bit, and if you're so inclined, support us with a pledge.

In the video we've prepared for Kickstarter there's also a really nice sampling of the art that'll be showing up in Volume 2. One of my pages is in there, so I thought I'd post it here as well to give you guys an early peek of what's to come. This is a nearly finished page, minus dialog, that takes place early in my story.

]]>The Graveyard Bookhttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2010/8/30/the-graveyard-book.htmlSam Bradley2010-08-30T16:22:22ZI made this painting after Meg Hunt kindly extended the invitaion for me to contribute a piece to Picture Book Report. I've been a big fan of the blog since discovering it on Drawn a few months back, so I was really excited about the opportunity to contribute my own piece. Definitely check out Picture Book Report if you haven't already - there's some absolutely beautiful work featured.

The illustration itself was inspired by the second chapter of Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book". My only disappointment is not having the time to do an illustration for every chapter. It's a beautiful book that resonates particularly well with my tastes. One of my main goals with the illustration was to pique someone's curiosity enough that they'd be willing to give the book a try... so, I'd highly recommend you pick it up and give it a read. I can't imagine anyone not enjoying the book.

(Click to enlarge. Original is watercolor on 140lb. cold press paper with digital polish)

]]>Total Drama: World Tourhttp://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2010/7/22/total-drama-world-tour.htmlSam Bradley2010-07-22T20:07:19ZThe last time I posted about Total Drama, I said I'd share some designs. It took over a year, but a few of my drawings have finally had the opportunity to see the light of day. The folks at FreshTV recently started up a Fresh Faces feature on their blog, where they're spotlighting the different people behind the creation of their shows. Along with an interview (which you can read here, if you're curious) they posted a few of my designs from Total Drama: World Tour, which just recently started airing on Teletoon and Cartoon Network. Over the course of the last two years I've developed a real affinity for this sort of design; I'll miss it when it's time to move on to something new.

]]>Panic!http://www.dreamylabs.com/blog/2010/6/24/panic.htmlSam Bradley2010-06-25T03:58:13ZSome exploration for the comic i'm currently working on. I'm sharing this piece because the story has evolved away from this particular scene, so it's not giving much away. To avoid spoiling anything though, I think i'd like to wait until it's pretty much finished before I share more. This project is taking up a fair bit of my free time though, so blog posts might continue to be sparse for a little while longer.

watercolor + digital, 6x12"

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