Emma’s Crush

Posted on November 19, 2008 by grzych

If you’ve taken a trip over to my Gallery and strolled through my T-shirt designs, you’ve probably seen some of the shirts I’ve designed for friends and family.  The ones I love doing the most are the ones that I did for my nieces last Christmas. I thought that they’d get a real kick seeing themselves on a shirt, especially when incorporated into some sort of artwork.  My niece Kaitlin was a fan of butterflies, so I made her a Butterfly and my niece Lydia was in love with the “Wizard of OZ” so I put her in the movie. So when I found out that my friend’s daughter Emma had a hugh crush on Zac Efron’s character “Troy” in the “High School Musical” movies, I knew what design I was going to do for her birthday gift.

Above is the final design that I did as well as a photo of said design printed on the shirt.

So you might be asking yourself, “Hey Troy, what elements went into the making of this shirt?”  Good question…let me tell you.

First, I was definitely limited by what photos I could find of Zac Efron as well as by those photos I had of Emma herself. I wanted the photos of Zac to be ones taken specially for “High School Musical” and they also had to be a high enough resolution so that they could be blown up without becoming pixelated or blurry.

After cutting out the items above and working some magic on them, I began to add further elements to flesh out the design. I wanted to emulate a sketchy high school notebook doodle style so I did just that, I doodled some rough elements and scanned them in.  I also used a photo of some red paint strokes I had done when designing my Website header and used it as well in this design.

So after various versions of shifting the elements around from here to there and back…only to move them once again…I was finished. As you can see from the sketches and photo above, not all the elements I started with were used in the final design. Designing is very much at times like sculpting…you add a little, remove a little, add a little more…but in the end you are definitely left with unused scraps you discard.

The most important thing however was when Emma finally opened her gift and saw the shirt for the first time. She grinned from ear to ear and proceeded to hug and kiss the shirt. It was so cute and it made the whole experience of designing the shirt well worth it, her reaction was priceless. I hope she really enjoys the shirt, cause I enjoyed designing it for her.

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The Gift Of Groove

Posted on November 18, 2008 by grzych

This Post is gonna be a little different then my previous ones.

This weekend, Friday & Saturday (Nov. 21 & 22) in New Orleans, many local shops are participating in “GIVE: The Gift Of Groove.” When you shop at any of the participating retailers listed below on those two days, 10% of all the net sales will go towards the Tipitina’s Foundation which supports music in our schools.  I have special interest in this because two of my friend are taking part in this. So please, if you live in the surrounding New Orleans area or just so happen to feel compelled to road trip or take flight and visit the Big Easy this upcoming weekend…please visit some of the participating shops and unload some cash or credit on them. Heck…the holiday season is fast approaching and you can never have enough gifts to stack underneath your tree.  If you can still see the tree, you haven’t bought enough presents yet.

Like I said, two of my friends are participating retailers, so please check them out, help them…and help support music in our schools.

NOLA Couture
(will be located inside EM’s • 246 Metairie Road  •  (504)834-2795)
www.NOLACouture.com
LIFE
(5422 Magazine Street  •  (504)267-0380)
www.life-neworleans.com

Thanks for helping and hope to see you out there.

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Post It Post #6

Posted on November 17, 2008 by grzych

Not every Post It drawing I do is a finished drawing in it’s self…sometimes it’s merely just a concept sketch for another drawing.  Such is the case with the Post It Post today.  I did an “Artzee Fartzee” drawing of my friend Samantha as a Christmas present last year.  She never said it, but I had known for some time that she’d been secretly wishing that I’d “Artzee Fartzeefy” her.  Knowing that she had been harboring this deep seeded desire, I finally went about the process of sketching out a concept.  I’d the best intentions of doing so for some time but like most things with me…I plan on getting around to it…at some point but something or other comes around and then my attentions shift.  Anyway…what was I talking about?

So above is the concept sketch that I doodled out on my trusty yellow Post It, followed by the final 8″x10″ drawing that I did. Not much changed from the concept to final. I tend to work pretty tight. Often you lose the feeling of the initial sketch when you enlarge a sketch merely by eye balling it. If I really like a thumbnail sketch that I’ve done, I tend to scan it, blow it up, and use it for the exact placement. I trace the main figures and elements in a drawing with tracing paper and transfer it to what ever drawing surface that I’m going to be working on. All the details and finished drawing are then done by hand and finished off that way.  The tracing paper is only used to capture the layout that was established in the thumbnail drawing. I had originally intended to color it in color pencil and watercolor but time ran out. I finished the drawing the night before I gave it to her. That tends to be a running theme with me.

For the most part, all of my “Artzee Fartzee” drawing are based of of my family or friends.  In future posts, I’ll show you some more.

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Post It Post #5

Posted on November 14, 2008 by grzych

Some days you just feel a Lil’ Brain Dead…some days more than others, and others…more than some. Especially when the mind numbing repetitiveness of your day seems to inch forward with no end in sight and the project that you’re working on doesn’t look like it’s any closer to completion and you can actually hear the sound of the second hand on the clock getting slower and slower, you sometimes just gotta vent a little…let off a little steam. So what’s a boy to do you might ask? What any young blooded individual with a pencil, a Post It, and the thirsting desire to scribble out his frustrations…

    

You doodle yourself being brutally attacked.  Morbid…yes, therapeutic…DEFINITELY!

This Post It Post just so happens to show two such times when therapy was in session. I don’t remember the particulars of the event surrounding each of the drawings above but based on my scribbles, they definitely weren’t the happiest of times were they.  

“Troy’s Brain” and “Hole In Troy’s Head” really don’t need any explanation other than what’s been stated already, but I will make an observation…it would seem that when ever one is attacked violently to the noggin region…one must drool profusely. At least it would appear that way from the Post It’s in this Post It Post.

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Post It Post #4

Posted on November 11, 2008 by grzych

Good morning Post It fans…we’re here once again for another edition of my Post It Post!

So before we move on, go grab yourself a cup of coffee, a small glass of pulp free OJ, or…a nice tasty life injecting Diet Coke, whatever your breakfast elixir of choice, pick your poison…I’ll wait!

Hmmmm, hmmm, hmmm!

Okay good, you’re back…nice choice.  So sit back, put your feet up, take a hearty gulp of your wake up juice, and prepare yourself for today’s Post It Post.

    

In the first Post It note, “Bug Attack Troy”, I drew Troy being attacked by a radioactive mutated swarm of killer dragonflies.  I think that I was particularly swamped at work that day, so what better way to show that then to illustrate your brain being drained by a grotesque flying insectoid.  Plus I love monster movies, big fan, especially older ones.  There’s something about the monsters being made out of rubber and latex instead of CGI digital bits and bytes.  Not that I don’t like CGI, but only if it’s done right.  However it’s more fun when you know that someone had to actually make that rubber monstrosity and that it possibly now sits somewhere in a warehouse collecting dust rather than on someone’s hard drive as 0’s and 1’s.  

In “iPod Troy,” Troy’s simply just jammin’ to his tunes…most likely a “Duran Duran” track.  And for all those people out there saying, “Duran Duran”?  Don’t dis the Double D’s.  They’re the band so nice they named it twice…seriously.  By the way, I love my iPod…besides things like the Color TV, Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper, DVD Special Features, and Post It notes…it’s probably the single most important invention in recorded human history.  Seriously, it’s that important.  As for the drawing on this one, the nose on Troy is a bit too pointy, especially when compared to the drawing of Troy right next to it. 

So I leave you with this, I guess all yellow Post It’s are not created equal.  I’ve posted several notes to date and it seems like every yellow is a tad shade off…I don’t know what to make of this…is it some sort of conspiracy by the Crayola corporation to overtake the world one color at a time, or simply the fact that it’s possible that not all of these Post It’s are actual Post It’s but rather some generic cheaper offshoot brand? Nah, that can’t be it…my votes with the conspiracy…damn you Mr. Crayon Man…damn you!

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Post It Post #3

Posted on November 10, 2008 by grzych

Okay, so Halloween has come and past yet again, but I have a Post It for you that I just can’t wait a whole year to share with you.  Last Halloween my wife and I went to a Halloween party with a “Dress As Your Favorite Superhero” theme.  My wife went as Mighty Mouse and I…as Underdog…the Canine Caped Crusader.  So as Halloween 2007 was fast approaching, I definitely had my costume on the mind…whether it be morning, noon, night…at home or…go figure…even at work.  Cut to a lonely blank Post It Note just begging for a sketch to be doodled.  And thus, Under Troy was born.  So posted below is that sketch and as a bonus, I’m also posting a photo of me in that actual costume.  Enjoy, but please try not to laugh…remember it was in fact Halloween, and it’s perfectly acceptable for a grown man to dress up like a 6 foot 5 inch cartoon dog…right?

Well…until the next Post It Post…Up, Up, and Away!

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Post It Post #2

Posted on November 7, 2008 by grzych

As promised, I’m back with another Post It Post.

Again, below are two more drawings that I did as boredom took over at the 9 to 5. Of course no one knew that I was sketching these “Artzee Fartzee” tidbits.  How would that look to the boss, doodling when I should be putting the nose to the grind stone and churning out designs for the man. Out of necessity I had to become inventive hiding the Post It’s from view as I put the final touches on them. At the slightest sound of being discovered, I flipped them, folded them, cover them…rolled them up like sushi, swallowed, and regurgitated them at a later date when no one was looking. Okay, I never ate them, but had I, they sure would have been tasty. Actually, my favorite hideaway was underneath my WACOM pad.

    

First there’s “Troy Meets ET,” where Troy…meets…ah, ET…nuff said. I had this ET statue in my office at the time that a friend had given me as a gift. When you pressed a button, it would play the movie’s theme song and then ET would chime in with one of his catch phrases. It was pretty loud, and I couldn’t always understand what the little alien bugger was saying, but it was definitely a pretty cool gift.  

I had wanted to draw a skull in my style for some time, and that’s where “Hamlet Troy” was born from. As for the acting thing, I love Jon Lovitz’s thespian character on SNL, so his attitude was definitely on my mind when I was doodling this one up.

So thus concluded this addition of my Post It Post.  

If there’s anything that you’d specifically like to see doodled as a Post It, feel free to drop me a line and I might include it in a future Post It Post.

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Post It Post #1

Posted on November 5, 2008 by grzych

So…as the title above states, this is just the first of many posts to come with my Post It note “Artzee Fartzee” sketches I’ve done.  I doodle a lot…and I especially like doodling on these yellow little squares, the main reason, there’s less space to draw so I can finish a sketch quicker.  You see the more space I have the more I want to draw to fill up the page.  The Post It note forces me to be confined to a smaller area.  Some of the drawings have stories behind them, some don’t…so where there are stories I’ll fill you in on them, where there are no stories…I’ll merely post the Post It notes for you to look at and enjoy!

So there here we go.

  

Okay so there are no specific stories behind these two drawings except for that I drew them while at work.  Plenty of times I’d be working on pretty large Photoshop files that would take a couple of minutes here and there to transform or save, and so forth.  Or let’s face it, sometimes I was simply bored and by the number of Post It’s I have, I guess I was bored a lot.  So…that’s when I’d pick up pencil, slide over my yellow little friend, and doodle.  Each drawing definitely depicts the mood that I was in at the time they were being drawn.  However, I’ll let you read into it which mood you think each drawing was drawn in.

So until next time, enjoy the two drawings above.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think.

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Happy Halloween

Posted on October 29, 2008 by grzych

‘Tis the season to be HAPPY, HALLO, and WEENIE!

I’m a big fan of Halloween, all-be-it second place to how I feel about the Christmas season, so I didn’t want the day to come and pass without me making a little noise about it.  I figured I could SCARE up something to say and show you good folks.  So with the holiday merely LURKING around the corner, I took out pencil and paper and sketched up a drawing for you.  It’s definitely in homage to the season, or merely because I popped in the DVD of “The Lost Boys” last night and watched it while I drew.  I guess we’ll never truly know, like the chicken and the egg…which one did come first?  Anyway, in the nature of the time honored tradition of Trick or Treating…consider the NEW drawing below my treat to you.  No, it’s not Giant Sized Snickers Bars or candy bowls left unattended, no indeed not, but it is a treat none-the-less.

Here’s another “Artzee Fartzee” drawing I just finished of Troy on the defensive against being stalked by a creature of the night.

I also thru in the “Vampire Attack” drawing I did a couple of weeks ago, thought that they definitely complimented each other, maybe sort of like bookends, or better yet like Chocolate and Peanut Butter…ahhhh, Reese’s.

Well, there you have it Guys and Ghouls.  Enjoy the drawings, enjoy the season, but most importantly…Happy Hunting!

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M*A*S*H 60th Surprise Birthday Party

Posted on October 14, 2008 by grzych

When my Mother-In-Law, Doris, asked me to help with my Father-In-Law’s Surprise 60th Birthday Party…my first thought was, “Oh No, she’s going to ask me to bake a cake!” Not that I really bake, but for a split second, that thought did cross my mind.  When I finally came to my senses, and cleared the frosting from my ears, I realized that she had instead put me in charge of the party invites.  Of course this made more sense, since I’m a Graphic Illustrator and NOT Betty Crocker.  So, with no overall theme for the shindig at that point, my wife Melissa and her sister Rachel quickly started churning their mental wheels to kick up an idea.  With their combined Wikipedia brains, it did not take long.

Their Dad, Norb, is a hugh fan of M*A*S*H and all that the 4077th has to offer…so it was settled that the theme of the party would be just that.

During our evacuation from Hurricane Gustav, Melissa and I were staying with her parents in Missouri.  Since I had my Mac and all of it’s acutriments, I started seeking out some of my Father-In-Law’s Military papers and such and began scanning like crazy just to make sure I had everything that I could possibly need.  I scanned in HIS photos, HIS re-enlistment papers, HIS pencil and paperclips from HIS desk, textures made from crumbled paper from HIS office…and so forth.  Then the work began.

The concept was to incorporate the M*A*S*H theme with a TOP SECRET dossier file.  So the invite would be paperwork inserted into a miniature manila folder and then placed into the envelope for mailing.

Above is the INVITATION: FRONT, BACK, & NOTE CARD (it was inserted in to several of the Invites but not all).

This is the MINIATURE MANILA FOLDER I cut out of a real Manila Folder and printed the 4077th TOP SECRET logo on and put a sticker on the folder tabs with my Father-in-Law’s name.

Above is the ENVELOPE I designed using the same logo as on the Manila Folder.

I also wanted to use the same theme for his BIRTHDAY CARD that my Wife and I gave him.  So I used the same design pieces and concept of placing the card into a Miniature Manila Folder and came up with the card below.

Above is the BIRTHDAY CARD: FRONT, BACK, & ENVELOPE.

Finally, I also made a T-SHIRT design from the elements to give to him.

Above is the FRONT & SLEEVE design of the T-SHIRT.

The whole design theme went over really well, everyone loved it…but most importantly, my Father-In-Law loved it and wore the T-SHIRT with pride.  I’m glad I could contribute to making his 60th Birthday a unforgettable and memorable event.

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NEW and IMPROVED Gallery

Posted on September 24, 2008 by grzych

That’s right, my Gallery is NEW and IMPROVED and even better than ever!  Okay, maybe not “better than ever” but there sure is a lot more artwork than previously posted.  “So what’s NEW” you ask?  Well my Gallery now has a new set titled “Textile Designs” that features a sample of the textile repeats and placement prints that I’ve done over the years while employed at Chiliwear, LLC.  Below are just a couple for you to take a look at, go to the Gallery to see the entire set.

I’ve also added some new images in the Other Illustrations set as well.  These added images are from a line of wallet designs that I created while also employed at Chiliwear, LLC.  Again, below are just a couple for you to take a look at, go to the Gallery to see the entire set.

If you’re a fan of the “Twilight” book series, which my wife and it seems like almost every other woman I know is, then you might like the T-Shirt design that I added in the T-Shirt Designs set.  I designed it for my wife and her friend.  I plan to update it with the image from the last novel “Breaking Dawn.”  I’ll get to it eventually, but until then enjoy the image below.

Enjoy the artwork, hope you like it.  I plan to post on a more regular basis with new artwork and other such cool stuff.

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Still Under Construction…but not for long!

Posted on August 10, 2008 by grzych

I’m getting ready to fully lauch the site as well as daily or weekly blog posts.  I’m planning on including stories about my art, tons of sketches and new artwork, and even break down my design and illustration process, so please come back often and see what’s new at Troy-G.com.

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