Blake's Stuff

Jimmer Fredette

2011-03-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Sketch I did a few days ago. Go to my Facebook art page for another variation.

Halloween 2010 - Cowardly Lion

2010-11-01T03:15:00.000-07:00

This year's costume. Purchased the wig here LINK.

I haven't been updating the blog as much as I should. If you want to be updated on my artwork more often, you should follow my Facebook illustration page: LINK

Healthy Fast Food?

2010-08-20T00:35:00.001-07:00

Latest work for ESPN the Magazine. August 9 issue. New feature illustration and rerun of my portraits along the bottom of the page.

Howard Barben

2010-07-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

My grandpa, Howard Barben (1912-2008). 2010 BYU President's Award recipient.

Advice Squad - ESPN

2010-06-06T14:13:00.001-07:00

Portraits and spot illustration for ESPN the magazine.

Jock High

2010-06-05T15:00:00.001-07:00

Some small illustrations for ESPN the magazine for an article titled "Jock High." I'll upload a scan of the page when I get it.

Facebook Fan Sketches #1

2010-05-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

Some of my semi-daily Facebook Fan/Friend sketches. Around 20 minutes each.

4 year old Blake

2010-04-05T06:47:00.001-07:00

Me at age 4.

Mike & Mike

2010-04-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, the hosts of "Mike & Mike in the Morning" for ESPN the Magazine. Also used on their website .

Appears in the April 5th issue, out now.

Christoph Waltz sketch

2010-03-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

A sketch of the actor Christoph Waltz. I thought I get this up here before the awards were handed out. The character he played is one of the most interesting I've ever seen, and his performance was one of the best I've seen. I was originally going to have him holding "the shoe", if you've seen Inglorious Basterds then you know what I'm talking about. I may still do a version with the shoe.
I guess if he doesn't win the best supporting actor award, this may look silly. But, it's pretty much guaranteed that he'll come away with it.

Dennis Prager

2010-03-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

Radio talk show host Dennis Prager. He's been my biggest post-college intellectual influence. He covers a lot of different subjects on his show. I don't agree with everything, but he's always intellectually stimulating. Here are some of his youtube videos :Prager University .

Peyton Manning

2010-02-03T17:44:00.001-08:00

A post for the upcoming game. The best quarterback I've seen play. I'm guessing when he's done he'll go down as the best ever, since he's likely to break most of the records. Maybe I'll try to get a Drew Brees image done before the game...we'll see.

Karch Kiraly

2010-01-25T10:41:00.001-08:00

Volleyball great Karch Kiraly. For those who don't know volleyball, he's basically the Michael Jordan of the sport. He was an All-American all four years of college. Won 3 national championships. 2 Gold medals for indoor volleyball and 1 gold in beach volleyball.

Luce Brothers album

2010-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

I illustrated the cover for the newly released Luce Brothers album. Have a look: lucebros.com

Phantom Menace Review

2009-12-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

The first of a seven part review of everything that was wrong with Star Wars: Phantom Menace. Brilliant! I can't believe I camped out for it back in the day. Although I would like to add that Lucas made the Jedi seem completely incompetent and powerless in the three movies. There is some foul language, be warned.

Van Gogh Costume

2009-11-01T20:02:00.001-08:00

Jacket picked up from second hand store then painted with acrylics. Face done with normal face paint. If I lost some weight it might be more convincing.

Don Draper

2009-10-05T03:17:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch of Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the TV series "Mad Men". One of the few shows worth watching on TV these days.
Pencil sketch with Photoshop color overlays.

Parker Loosli

2009-10-01T02:34:00.000-07:00

A quick little painting and flier for my nephew. He has an abnormally thick head of hair for a kid his age. It sometimes looks unnatural, hence the flier.

I have a thing for old advertisements. This composition was taken from this chewing tobacco sign. Parker is a vocal opponent to the use of chewing tobacco, so it's a bit ironic.

'09 Light Drawings

2009-07-04T22:46:00.001-07:00

They're fighting (if you can't tell)

Composite of a couple images.

I cheated a little bit on the animation. Deleting and copying a couple frames.

Billy Mays Maize Maze

2009-06-30T10:52:00.001-07:00

Mock up for a business idea I won't be able to capitalize on.

Siblings

2009-06-11T18:26:00.001-07:00

A rough painting of all of my siblings. Oldest to youngest - Kelly, Tyler, Peter, Summer, Blake.

Christopher Hitchens

2009-05-25T10:49:00.001-07:00

Author and intellectual Christopher Hitchens. He's a very prickly customer, but his debates are some of the most interesting. Watch as he makes Mos Def look like an ignorant fool.
There's plenty more of him on youtube, but be warned if you are sensitive.

This piece is painted similar to the way that I painted the Rachel McAdams image. A bit simplified with a "smoother" appearance.

Ferris Bueller color

2009-05-25T02:15:00.001-07:00

Rough color application.

Bueller?...Bueller?...Frye?...Frye?

2009-05-19T02:06:00.000-07:00

Ferris and Cameron sketches. Sloan is tricky, still working on that one.

Sydney '09 Redux

2009-04-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

My niece Sydney. I was never satisfied with the original (bottom) so I took some time to rework it.

Kennedy

2009-03-27T01:45:00.001-07:00

Another niece, Kennedy. She turns 4 today, but these are based on her at 3. She has enough personality for two kids, so she gets two portraits. I did the ballet one first then painted the other one using the existing face.

Hannah

2009-03-10T20:06:00.001-07:00

My niece Hannah. 3 years old.

Individual Tenenbaums

2009-03-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the individual characters from my “The Royal Tenenbaums” illustration. The characters that were to go in the picture frames are less finished since they would be shrunk down. The Owen Wilson is from a drawing I did of him when I was in high school, that’s why it looks different from the others.

The Browns

2009-01-01T19:17:00.001-08:00

Private commission for a Christmas Present.

Self Portraits Over the Years

2008-12-06T04:38:00.000-08:00

The age is noted below each image.

Tua, Cody, Seth

2008-11-30T23:13:00.000-08:00

Tua
Cody
Seth

Quick sketches of my friends. I'm playing around with the idea of offering to create custom online avatars...along these lines.

Thriller Redux

2008-10-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

(Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult.)
Blake's Thrill'r
When I was a kid I loved Michael Jackson's music videos. I would watch "Thriller" and "The Making of Thriller" all the time. When I was a child no artist touched me the way Michael Jackson did....wait, what?!

I would reenact Thriller randomly. Because of this my brother Kelly decided to shoot this super-8 film of me. He also did the makeup.

NEW LEYENDECKER BOOKS!

2008-10-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah! The second coming of J.C.. That's right, J.C. Leyendecker. I just received the first book about him that has been published in over 30 years. It's pretty comprehensive, but there's another book about him coming out in a few weeks. To find out about those, follow these links.

Book 1
Book 2

If you don't know who he is, he was the preeminent illustrator of the first half of the 20th century. Norman Rockwell idolized him, and it shows in his work. At that time (the Golden Age of Illustration) a single magazine cover would earn you the equivalent of a down-payment for a house. Needless to say, the guy was quite wealthy.

This Andre 3000 illustration of mine is an homage to Leyendecker:

BYU game panorama

2008-09-20T23:36:00.001-07:00

BYU vs. Wyoming. Great seats.

"But Blake, why aren't you posting artwork?"

Fine! I'll start painting again. Get off my back!

July 4th light drawings

2008-07-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

This has become a yearly tradition for my brother and I. He has some a good digital slr camera that we take long exposures with. We started out with sparklers, but then moved to a flashlight covered with a couple layers of tissue paper. The flashlight makes much more crisp and fluid lines. Anyway the pictures have my Brothers Kelly, Peter and their kids.

Rachel McAdams

2008-07-13T14:06:00.001-07:00

The latest in my series of my celebrity crushes. I'm attempting to work faster and more simple in my rendering.

Evangeline Lilly

2008-07-04T20:22:00.001-07:00

Evangeline Lilly as Kate from "Lost". I started this a few years ago (when Lost was good) and finally got around to finishing it.

Jesse Jackson

2008-04-30T00:55:00.001-07:00

Started this a year or two ago and finally got around to finishing it. I think the best effect of an Obama presidency would be that Jackson and Sharpton would have a harder time making money off of convincing people that race is the most important issue in America.

Parent's Birthday

2008-04-28T04:12:00.001-07:00

Here's a couple illustrations of my parents that was their 60th birthday present from me. My dad grew up in a small town in Idaho on the other side of the Tetons from Jackson Hole. His father got a harness made for his Irish setter that would pull my dad around on a sled in the winter.
My mother traveled across the US as a kid in Frankenstein-like cars that my grandpa built. He basically created the first motor home.

Communication Arts

2008-04-05T07:03:00.001-07:00

I just found out that my "No Country for Old Men" piece has been accepted into the Communication Arts Illustration Annual. I will be in stores this July.

Iron Man and the Fantastic 4 chick with unrealistic blue contact lenses

2008-03-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Robert Downey Jr. I don't know anything about the character 'Iron Man', but I'm very excited for the movie.
Jessica Alba. As you can tell from the post title, I really hate when they have brown eyed people wearing blue contact lenses in movies. It never looks good - Her in Fantastic 4, Orlando Bloom in LOTR, Ziyi Zhang in Memoirs of a Geisha. I think it's because the pupil doesn't change size.

No Country for Old Men

2008-03-06T15:40:00.001-08:00

For an email promo. Photoshop and a bit of Painter.

Self Portrait '08

2008-02-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

Self portrait for the new year.

Kate Beckinsale

2007-12-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sketches

2007-12-01T01:16:00.001-08:00

Elizabeth Hurley, a longtime crush of mine. And...

Eva Mendez

Jim Painting

2007-10-29T03:16:00.000-07:00

My painting of Jim from "The Office". I may put in a little more work on it, but for the most part it's done. Photoshop.

Girl Demo

2007-09-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

The final stage of 4 demos for facial expressions book.

Book Demo

2007-09-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

Panel for a book on drawing facial expressions. Done through 8fish.

Amy Winehouse Sketch

2007-09-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Great voice. Check out her album.

Commerical Background

2007-07-16T12:00:00.001-07:00

One of the backgrounds for an upcoming Maverik commercial.

Rolling Stone - Germany

2007-06-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

My Rufus Wainwright Illustration is in the June issue of Rolling Stone Germany. Pick yours up today. SCHNELL! SCHNELL!!!

Maverik Commercial Fountain Drinks

2007-05-31T01:26:00.000-07:00

Another commercial. Again, I painted the backgrounds for this one. A little bit of cleanup animation too.

LINK

Maverik Commercial

2007-05-27T03:14:00.000-07:00

I work for a production studio called 8fish. This is a commercial we finished a while ago. I painted the backgrounds and did some of the cleanup animation and coloring. I will post more of the commercials as they are finished.

LINK

Self Caricature Sketch

2007-05-25T02:11:00.001-07:00

Quick pencil sketch. Not very much exaggeration.

Carlos Boozer

2007-05-16T00:38:00.000-07:00

GO JAZZ!!!! It's nice to see the ~~thugs~~ Warriors get beat.

Jim Halpert

2007-04-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

Another sketch in my "The Office" series.

Maria Menounos

2007-03-27T02:03:00.000-07:00

Sketch of Maria Menounos. I've been needing to draw more women. Mostly because I haven't drawn many, but also because I'm lonely. Photoshop. 3 or 4 hours.

*image modified 5/12/07

Book cover

2007-03-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is the cover of the new book that I illustrated.

Here's the info Link

Purchase it here

new Brad Pitt

2007-03-10T01:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, another Brad Pitt drawing. I think this one is much better. My other one is several years old. I've been sketching more lately. I'll be posting more in the next week.

Santa Barbara Independent

2007-01-31T15:31:00.000-08:00

Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren for the Santa Barbara Independent.

Starting the blog

2007-01-30T00:40:00.000-08:00

They have blogs on the internet now? Well, I guess since everyone else has one...