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Here are my unedited sketchbook pages for the weekend of 5/12/17 – 5/14/17 (about 7 hours of sketching). Let me know what you’d like to see more of!
Author: Spencer
Early Worms
Out of the daily doodles and random lines, sometimes something really inspiring and simple appears and becomes a continuing theme in your work. These little worm-like creatures became an obsession sometime in 2015. I did over 40 acrylic paintings of many sizes as well as doodled them wherever I could. Eventually I coined the name Early Worms.
I think it’s pretty cool that even something entirely imagined can adhere to a sort of logic of imagery and physics.
I started doing acrylic paintings for the Early Worms and ended up doing tons of variations on the theme. Check out a few of them below, including a 3.5 ft by 4 ft worm.
I like to think each drawing is actual size, which inspires me to do a huge painting or sculpture someday. Hey, it could happen! I already have so many that I’m trying to get rid of them.
If you’re interested in purchasing either acrylic paintings or prints, Early Worm original acrylic paintings are available on Etsy HERE and prints are available on Society6 HERE. I’ve also got some more exciting Early Worm projects coming up! Stay tuned.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
Sketchbooks (Old stuff)
In 2007 I began keeping a regular sketchbook. Before now they’ve pretty much been boxed up and in a closet, so I decided to share some of this stuff. 🙂
The first few sketchbooks were classic Moleskin Medium black notebooks, but that got expensive so I resorted to Piccadilly Medium black which are almost identical and $5.99 instead of $19.99. In general it takes about one to three months to fill up a book. At the time I wasn’t really considering a career in art, having just moved to Los Angeles to work in the Film/TV business, so a lot of the notebooks were full of random ideas and daily planning, in addition to the sketches.
Here are some of the sketch books from the very start (circa 2007):
I found writing in the notebooks to be sort of cathartic, especially with the stress of being new to Los Angeles, living on my own for the first time and having zero money.
It’s a lot of fun to go back through the books and remind myself of all the wild times. It can be good to get some perspective on how far I’ve come artistically and personally. Every once in a while I’ll find something that surprises me. “I can’t believe I was drawing cool stuff like that back then, why haven’t I been drawing more of that!?” Lol.
The two biggest reasons to keep the sketchbooks (aka: notebooks, journals, or just usually just ‘books’) for me are:
1) Practice, practice, practice! It became habit to pull out the book, which I had with me where ever I went, and doodle, sketch, write or plan things. Now it’s second nature to go to the book in any idle moments (hopefully instead of the cell phone), and all that idle time and sketching adds up!
2) The books hold tons of ideas from throughout the years. When I go back and look through them there are seeds to so many great concepts (at least I think so). There are so many ideas that would have been lost to the years that I can continue building on.
I will share more on these sketchbooks sometime! Tell me what you think in the comments. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thanks!
Sketchbooks 001
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I’m going to share a little bit more of my sketchbooks than the limited amount that makes the Instagram. I will put up some of these pages every once in a while.
This set here is only a few pages from one weekend of coffeeshop sketching (about 6 hours). I want to share the pages without altering them to give people a realistic look at all the unfinished work and studies. Enjoy!
OC Children’s Book Festival 2016
Our book “Could You Hug A Cactus?” was at the Orange Country Children’s Book Festival 2016! The booth was complete with the 10 foot tall huggable cactus and desert heat (90 degrees!). Phillip Van Wagoner and I had a blast, and some good friends visited as well.
It is always really special to meet families and kids who are interested in the book. It’s good for the soul to talk to kids and to hear what they have to say about the book, and things in general! I always feel overwhelmed at the end of the day thinking back on all the amazing people I got to meet.
Also, the author Phillip Van Wagoner and myself both got to try out our Presenter-chops at the Storyteller stage and Illustrator stage, respectively (both were a team effort). What a day!
It was a great opportunity to meet industry professionals, authors and Illustrators, book shop owners and folks working on all sorts of different projects.
People at book fairs really seem to respond to the quality of the book, which for Phil and I is a testament to our attention to detail throughout the process. We really tried to make something special with “Could You Hug A Cactus?” and love hearing people’s feedback.
If you’re reading this blog and haven’t had a chance to check out the book, please check out our book on Amazon and look through a few pages and see what you think. Leave a comment and let me know!
SpencerSmithArt.com Debut!
Hello! Thank you for visiting SpencerSmithArt.com!
Please take a look around. Check out my current Portfolio and past video work like Randy’s Notebook and the infamous Jazz Sockumentary.
If you or anyone you know is looking for character design, illustration, storyboarding or commissioned art pieces, you can contact me at spencersmith.go@gmail.com.
I want to hear from YOU! The main purpose of this site is to open up the doors of my creative process and get you involved. Leave a comment, let me know what you like and what you want to see more of.
I will be adding weekly blog entries with insights into my current projects (art, comics, concepts, and writing), so stay tuned!
Thank you!
– Spencer Smith
Randy’s Notebook Ep.5 – Smells Like Chunk’s Spirit
Chunks is missing, so Randy sets out to save his canine friend from Multitron in the Forest of Destruction.
Watch Randy’s Notebook Ep.1 and read more about Randy’s Notebook.
This series was produced by Dave Cain and Myself. Credits for this episode: Dave Cain…Director/Camera. Edited by Colin Rich. Art and Randy Voiceover by Spencer Smith.
Randy’s Notebook Ep.4 – Iron Mer-Maiden
Randy travels to an underwater world when he visits the local pool, and ends up saving the Water King and his kingdom.
Watch Randy’s Notebook Ep.1 and read more about Randy’s Notebook.
This series was produced by Dave Cain and Myself. Credits for this episode: Dave Cain…Director/Editor/Camera. Written by Phillip VanWagoner. Art and Randy Voiceover by Spencer Smith. Additional hands by Mike Azzopardi.
Randy’s Notebook Ep.3 – Hallway to Hell
Randy discovers that his teacher Mrs. Flinkey is even MORE monstrous and evil than she appears.
Watch Randy’s Notebook Ep.1 and read more about Randy’s Notebook.
This series was produced by Dave Cain and Myself. Credits for this episode: Dave Cain…Director/Editor/Camera. Written by Mike Azzopardi. Art and Randy Voiceover by Spencer Smith. Additional Voice Talent by Laura Moran and Dave Cain.
Randy’s Notebook Ep.2 – Clown with the Sickness
Randy and Travis visit the circus with Randy’s Mom’s boyfriend Frank only to uncover an evil clown conspiracy.
Watch Randy’s Notebook Ep.1 and read more about Randy’s Notebook.
This series was produced by Dave Cain and Myself. Credits for this episode: Dave Cain…Director/Editor/Camera. Written by Phillip VanWagoner. Art and voiceover by Spencer Smith.