Artwork

It's Not That Kind of Serial

02 02, 13

We were recently exchanging email with a friend who wasn’t entirely certain of the spelling of “serial,” as in “cyberserial.” She spelled it “cybercereal.” Because Drake and I only have one brain between the two of us after so many years together, we both instantly had the same mental image. But it took Drake’s skill to render it thusly.

Cereal Box v1

Now With Pocket Watches!

We’re thinking of printing greeting cards, but we’re also considering it for the next round of Drake & McTrowell t-shirts.

Entry characterizations: Authored by Morse, Artwork

Comic Con Art 2012

28 11, 12

It’s hard to thoroughly categorize all the awesomeness that is Comic Con, but one of our personal favorites is the opportunity to meet new artists and commission D&McT illustrations. We’ll do a full blown Comic Con bloop later (soon, really), but today I just want to share our two newest commissions.

To see the commissions, click here.

Entry characterizations: Authored by Morse, Artwork

Profiles in a Postulated Past

04 06, 12

Last summer, a business trip took us to Orlando and we decided to go a few days early to spend some time at DisneyWorld. Jonathan Lord Ashleigh, I mean Ashok, has been a huge fan his entire life and has been many times, so he arranged everything. He even booked dinner for the two of us at the very posh Victoria and Albert’s. Super romantic!

On the day we did Epcot, we discovered a silhouette artist in “France.” You may have noticed that silhouettes are making a comeback. I had always thought they sat you between a light and a blank wall, and used the shadow to create the outline. It turns out they have you sit in profile and cut out your silhouette free hand by just looking at you. What’s even more amazing is that we weren’t dressed as D&McT. We showed Bruno, the artist, a couple of pictures from our web page (love the iPhone) and he added all the costume details from that.

Bruno’s Handiwork

I especially love that he made my nose and chin a lot cuter than they really are.

The silhouettes are now featured in our little steampunk gallery at home, beautifully displayed using our victorian spring clips to hold them up.

Entry characterizations: Authored by Morse, Artwork

King of Indie Animation

15 05, 12

Surely you know that we mean Bill Plympton! We’ve been fans of his work for decades, so we seized the opportunity to see his panel at ComicCon last summer. (There will be a bloop devoted to the rest of ComicCon 2011 later.) All joking aside, he’s very animated in person and has lots of interesting stories to tell. He was there showing “Guard Dog Global Jam,” a remake of his Oscar-nominated short “Guard Dog,” but redrawn, shot for shot, by dozens of other animators using their own styles. It’s brilliant! See it if you get the chance.

But, I digress. He was also plugging his new book, Independently Animated: Bill Plympton. The deal was that if you went to his booth and bought a copy, he would sketch a quick cartoon of your choosing inside the front cover. Previous bloops have highlighted some of the drawings we’ve commissioned of D&McT. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have one by Bill Plympton, plus we got the awesome book too! I think we look a bit like the grandparents in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Plympton Sketch
D&McT ala Bill Plympton

Entry characterizations: Authored by Morse, Artwork

Golden Gears

18 04, 12

Just about the time Drake said, “We shouldn’t let this thing take over our lives,” we strolled into our favorite jeweler’s, Charles Koll, and Drake asked one of the jewelry designers, David Armstrong, to make us a couple of lapel pins with our logo. Thinking such a design task would take quite a bit of time, we left and went on our merry way. David Armstrong is a jewelry design geek…and a steampunk fan. He called a week later, “Oo, oo, oo, you guys have to come in and see the design.” We were thinking it would just be a sketch or maybe the CAD.

Simple Dissolve

Okay, he had the CAD. But he also had the wax parts fabricated from their 3D printer. (Seriously, these guys are amazing designers!) Including, wait for it, the actual gears. The center of the gear with our faces is stabilized by the pin on the back. The outside of the gear turns…which turns three, tiny, gold gears in the back which counter rotate the bezel on the front holding the diamond!

Jewelry Wax Molds

And here are the results!

D+McT jewelry

Mine, on the left, also has a fold-down bail so I can wear it on a chain. And then I had to have matching earrings. Too. Cute! I just have to remember to wear them in the correct ears so we’re not backwards.

Many thanks to Charles Koll Jewelers and their incredible designers.

Entry characterizations: Authored by Morse, Artwork

Steampunk Cufflinks

11 04, 12

DandMcT Cufflinks1

To read further about these aged Drake & McTrowell cufflinks, click here.

Entry characterizations: Authored by Drake, Authored by Morse, Artwork

D&McT Artwork: Jake Rieman

11 10, 11

Another artist that we visited at the Baltimore Comic Con this year (August 20, 2011) was Jake Rieman. Katherine loved his line work and use of color, so she commissioned a Drake & McTrowell piece. He took a very different approach, setting the pair of adventurers in a very steampunk 1850’s London.

D&McT Art Jake Rieman 2011

We love the motion, and the way he captured the retro-futuristic aesthetic of steampunk in the transportation. Chief Inspector Erasmus Drake looks particularly natty with his red vest and tie. Looking at how good I look in gloves, I might have to get a pair for myself.

Entry characterizations: Authored by Drake, Artwork

D&McT Artwork: Mike Maihack

01 10, 11

While Katherine and I were at the Baltimore Comic Con this year (August 20, 2011), we skirted around the crowded vendors hawking box after box of monthly comics, and headed straight for the artists’ alley. We had the chance to chat with a few of our ink & paint heros. Katherine spent some time with artist Mike Maihack, who is known for his beautiful watercolor work. Katherine commissioned a Drake & McTrowell illustration from him, and this is what he created. Check it out!

steampunkin-D+McT

Incredible, huh?!? We keep catching ourselves staring at it and just saying, “Wow!” over and over.

Mike posted it online yesterday (September 30, 2011) at both his blog and at DeviantART.com. He also mentioned our cyberserial and included a link to DrakeAndMcTrowell.com. Well, Mike’s art draws quite a crowd, and with the click-through of the visitors from those two sites, we quadrupled the number of visitors to our site!

Oops. I just caught myself staring at it again. Wow! Just love the motion and how spot-on he got the shape and color of our outfits. Not to mention the steampunk background. Just amazing.

Entry characterizations: Authored by Drake, Artwork

D&McT Artwork: Brandon Dayton

28 09, 11

While attending the Alternative Press Expo (APE) back in October of 2010, which is held in beautiful San Francisco, CA, Katherine had the honor of commissioning a Drake & McTrowell sketch from Brandon Dayton (a wonderful artist, check out his art blog and 6 tips to get better at drawing).

She had some reference pictures, but actually ended up describing the characters more than anything. Brandon did a great job with the image, which we are proudly displaying in our Steampunk gallery.

D&McT Art Brandon Dayton 2010

The interesting part of the story is that Katherine fell in love with the idea of having the four button gloves that Brandon illustrated. Then she found a pair of red ones!