Just finished this Ghia drawing for an upcoming shirt series. This car is owned by my buddy matt. Cool guy, cool car.

-lemorris

So…I was talking to my daughter yesterday and she was telling me that she went to an art review and one of the grad students was a video major and he was showing a piece. Curious I asked “Video??…like my stuff?….” to which my daughter replied “No…your videos make sense, so it’s not art.”

That being the case, enjoy some non-art I was priveledged enough to get to string together from clips the Tucson Bus Mob brought back from their first group trip to the fabled VW Bus event, The Jerome Jamboree (I know someone who loves that word.)

here’s the vid…enjoy.

My friend Todd came to me a little over a week go and told me about how his kids’ youth football team needed to earn some money so they could pay the city for fields and lights. It’s not cheap!

Todd said they wanted to do a car wash. I was happy to make up a flyer for the Titans and today me and a couple friends got to swing by the car wash and get our cars cleaned.

Great job Titans! Good luck on your season. You guys did great!

here’s the vid…enjoy.

I was honored when the Tucson Bus Mob cats said they would go have coffee with me….now they said it at about 9:50 pm and new guy Tristan was hopped up on kiddie drinks and was fully prepared to “ride the goat” when I left so I didn’t think it was gonna happen. The next morning my phone blew up, and I actually got to go hang out with a sliver of the Bus Mob. It was extremely cool.

It has become apparent that Le Buzz roasts their coffee beans with crack cause I am addicted, and once again the coffee was beyond good. There was a sour note worth mentioning though as a guy in a pickup truck suffered a heart attack. We are unsure of his status but wish him well. Somehow the time with friends means just that much more when you witness something like that, so..best wishes to him and thank you for the eye opener.

here’s the vid…enjoy.

I wont run on at the mouth over this, just know I LOVED IT!!!

This little design is for kids shirts, like onesies and what not. Kiddie gear. My good friend Donnie Miller of Miller Graphics in Oklahoma gave me a call and asked me to do this gig. It’s always scary working with the high-end print shops but working with Donnie is like playing hopscotch with a limber octopus on a concrete schoolyard in Bartlesville. (if you know Donnie you’re laughing right now. ) Anyway here we go.

Here’s the rough sketch, and it should be noted that many artists use the word rough and really it’s a tighter sketch they present….NOT ME!!!

Next is the “tighter sketches” and the inkings for the characters. When I was asked to do this I immediately thought about using Painter as I’m trying to learn more and more in that program. The looseness in the line and wheels and what not made it an easy choice for me. I enjoyed the inking so much, I did all 3 in one afternoon. Yes Cameo helped, but it was mostly Painter. Great app.

After the inking I did this composite and got approval from Donnie and his awesome wife Jimmie. Ok ok…yes I have simulated-air-humped them and yes it was a strange thing to do at your first meeting, but hey….if it works….it works…whatcha gonna do?

After the lineart was approved I went ahead and did the render and seps for the shirts. It was a bit challenging working with a limited pallet. As an artist “limited pallet” means 18 spot colors including light light light greenish perriwinkle…however…it means black, white, grey, green, flesh and brown to the printer. (note: He did give me grey and for that I am grayteful. hahahaha….sorry)

This battle is as fierce as Mac vs PC or Ginger vs Mary Ann in the screenprint world. In this instance I happily conceded to Donnie. It was cool to pull it off and take advantage of the shirt color in a vehicle as well.

I want to thank Donnie being a cool client and a much better friend. Tell Jimmie when I see her in LB I’ll have a special jamocha shake for her….she might want to get inside of one of those Aliens robotic hydraulic things like Sigourney Weaver ….I’m just sayin. Thanks man. It was a seriously fun job. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Whoop-whoop!

The second bus in the first EMPI design is a Mango that I selected via a thread on The Samba (a silly place that VW people flock to.) I will often ask for images over there. I could just do a flikr search or google image search and find stuff but it’s more fun to ask people to participate with you. I will do prints of the bus for the owner and send him a link to the development thread that will start for this design tonite.

Finally got a jump on the ELPI work and I get to start with my new friend Henry’s bus. Not only have I seen this bus in person, I personally know the owner and he is one of the nicest cats I have met in this hobby. Great bus, better guy. I’m honored.

Took a break from the workload and ran to an early morning show. Came home and between renders, knocked out a quick vid. It was a fun event. Cool place, good people. I’m glad I went.

Here’s the vid…enjoy

It occurred to me that I am pretty lucky to have as many VW folk near me as I do. This video is for them.

Enjoy.

As part of my 9 to 5 we set up cool little meets at Sonic once in a while. You show up in a vw and we buy your meal.

Here’s what happened last nite.

Enjoy.

Hangin out on Motorburg has benefited me greatly. I have made great friends and been exposed to art on levels I can only hope to achieve.

There is a massive show coming up in Kentucky later on this summer and the cats who run Motorburg are setting up a huge booth.

All the hot shots and big name car art guys will be there. As part of the fun members of Motorburg were asked to take part in a great exercise. Draw the Invader.

The Invader is one of those wild kustoms built way back when and it has a rich show history. I don’t normally do these kind of things but all of the Motorburg work will be displayed at the show together and that togetherness is one of the main reasons I support The Burg so I was happy to give it a shot.

We were asked to maybe make some mods or something. I studied the car but all I could come up with was adding a nice trunk so I could take the Invader to the grocery store and not feel out of place.

Anyway…here’s my take.

As always, rough sketch gets transferred and massaged.

For something different I did all the linework in Painter. I have been trying to learn the program and I really really liked how this went.

Just colored in Photoshop. Multiple layers, multiple fun. I wanted it to be a little loose but controlled. It was a blast.

Here’s where the vehicle landed.

Here’s a link to a slightly bigger one.

I really enjoyed this one.

Thanks for checkin it out.

-Lemorris

I was fortunate enough to secure a great freelance art gig with EMPI. If you don’t know, they are a huge VW parts manufacturer…maybe the hugest. In any case it’s a sweet opportunity and you will see the designs and stuff on the site soon.

As part of the gig I was able to get some new wheels for my car Mistie. 9 years and I have never owned a set of non-stock wheels. A couple buddies loaned me some in the past but these are mine so naturally I made a video, cause…..that’s what I do.

So basically I shot some random footage just so I could make a video using one of the uh-tss (repeat over and over) songs my daughter listens to. Me and my son have some fun washing the car then I cruise to a local car show and hang out with my man Jim Share (Superstar). No real point, just is.

enjoy

Here’s a look at part of the next set for GuntherVW.

I was thrilled to get to do this bus because it is owned by my good friend Cory. he’s a super cool cat and his bus is one of the most recognizable out there.

I won’t get too long winded…it’ll be show and not really tell.

Just know that there are few jobs that I have worked on that I enjoyed as much as this one. I can’t wait to see it on Gunther gear.

enjoy

When the phone rang and I saw it was Big Herb of DHK (VW Club) I wasn’t sure what he wanted. I thought..hmmm…perhaps a meteor has flown over the SoCal area and machines are taking over and Herb wants to warn me about a really angry joker diesel truck.” As it turned out he wanted to hire me to do a t-shirt design for one of SoCals premier Summer VW events.

happy lemorris.com

anyway here’s a few steps of how it all came together.

Big time shout out to Big herb and all the cats in the DHK. It was not only an honor to get to work with you, but it was an enjoyable experience to say the least. I really appreciate the shot my man.

As usual I started with a rough sketch. This one is a couple versions in so I added some elements and stuff to get a feel for the overall design. The event is being held in San Pedro which I only know as the hometown of the late great NBAer Dennis Johnson who I used to want to be when he played for the Supersonics but then he went to the Celtics so I didn’t want to be him as much, but I always liked him. So yeah…in San Pedro at Fremin park.

here’s a tightened up pencil on the car. This split window rag is owned by a cat named PIP in the DBK (vw club) and it’s a high end car. When I saw it was going in this design I got butterfly-ish but got over it once I fell into the lines.

The butterflies came back when I realized the bus in the design was a GFK bus (vw club). Now some of you may not know but both the DBK and the GFK build some of the best vws on the planet. It was an honor to get to do one of each and side by side no less.

I went after the bus first for the render. I did all the linework in Photoshop.

next I added some base tones and worked out a shading method for the wood, and came up with a plan for the rear safari window.

The bus landed here. I got to take a few liberties but the owner was pretty pleased about the results, so was I. It was fun to do.

Same thing for the Bug. Lineart in Photoshop. I bounce between paths and layers to drop it all in. Modifying ellipses to stick the wheels and then drawing bits on sequential layers and merging down once I erase the strays.

Here’s some basic color going in the bug.

The split landed here. The color on this car is so rich. The interior really sets it off. Once again, I had to take some liberties but the owner thought it was cool and I think it came out pretty ok.

Next I’ll drop in the finished design on a few different colored shirts. We ended up putting the lighthouse from Fremin park in the design. I think it’s a great addition to the shirt. Folks at the show that get a shirt will always have that landmark as a reminder.

My favorite part? There’s a hilite happening on the fender beading on the split that just makes me happy. I will remember how I did that and apply it again.

Once again I’d like to thank Big Herb for the shot., and thanks for checkin this out.

-Lemorris

Here’s more from The VW Classic weekend.

This vid covers the Octo bus show and the VW Classic itself.

Easily the best vw shows I’ve been to. Easily the best time with friends I have had.

Here’s the vid…enjoy.

My first trip to the Classic VW weekend in So. Cal and wow. It was a busy busy time, working and playing. It was an incredible event.

One of my hilites was getting to spend a good chunk of time with all the bus folk camping in the Chino Hills at the annual VTO BlackStar campout. Plenty of friends, food and fun. I was welcomed with open arms and truly enjoyed the time (wish it was more) that I got to spend there.

Here’s the vid…enjoy.

The Arizona Bus Club (ABC) is in the process of holding their annual Southern Arizona camp out event. This year they are at Colossal Cave camp grounds, which is at the camp grounds at this umm….colossal cave? down here near Tucson.

I thought it would be cool to get some pancakes and cruise out with a few friends just to say hi…..so…we did…and yeah…..it was.

Here’s the vid…enjoy.

Last week I was able to attend the IIS print show in Long Beach. I met many industry big wigs like (name drop) Bill Hood and (nuther name drop) Scott Fresener, Rich Hoffman and Steve “The Dog Whisperer” Monroe and many many more….wow! It was an honor across the board.

It was great to put faces with the names I’ve known on the screenprint boards for years. The hilite by far was staying in this massive beach house with Jill, John, Joe, Judith, Jimmi and Donnie. New acquaintances became good friends and good friends became even better. It was awesome. I strung together some clips and pics of the house and a snippet of the hilarity. Enjoy! WHOOP-WHOOP!!

Here’s the latest Gunther car. Pretty cool stuff happened on this one. I knew I wanted to do a Fastback so I went to a forum for some Nor Cal guys I barely know and just said “Hey…who has a Fastback they want a drawing of?” Only one guy posted so I said “ok”. What follows is one of the most fun pieces I got to do all year.

This is the step where I actually selected the dudes car. He said his wife drives it so put here in it. She was not aware this was goin on so it was fun in that sense as well.

This step is cool because I decided I was gonna stop fighting myself on the path rendering and try to marry styles a bit. I learn much from folks like Jeremy Duncan (who has seemingly vanished I might add.) so I thought since I had to do the paint scheme, why not render the hilites and shadows using oaths which is sooooooo much cleaner and see how it worked with my toon lines. This step shows what it looks like before the color comes in.

Here you can see how clean the paint scheme edges are…the little things make a huge difference. I was really happy at this point.

The render kinda did itself. I was there but it just kinda happened.

Here is the owner version.

Click Here to see a larger version of the owner version

Click Here to see a larger version of the Gunther version

I want to thank the fellas at the Norcal Group for playing along, and of course al the artists like Jeremy that give me insight and inspiration.

-Lemorris

Well this was a fun one, that’s for sure.

As usual it all starts with a pencil sketch that I refine over and over until I lock it down.

Like I said there is some refining that goes on. Coming up with a plan for all that chrome was a bear but once I got into a flow it really fell into place.

Here’s the start of the linework in Photoshop. Seems kinda silly to redraw what you just drew but I’m kinda silly so I guess that makes it normal.

The drawing kinda took root here. Once I got the blacks in the wheels it felt a lot better to me.

Here was the start of the color. I knew the body color was off here but I just wanted to see it. I was pleased with how it folded into the lines. The drawing really got fun from here.

In this close up you can see I presented my interpretation of Brian Stupski wheels in how they sit in the wells and also in the fact that it was around here that I decided to leave some of the pencil in and see if it added to the character of the piece. I was pretty pleased. I study works by a lot of the hot shots out there and it’s through methods of flattery like this that I learn to see and make my work feel better, so big ups to Mr. Stupski for the insight and inspiration.

So here it all…all done. Like I said…very fun piece and a nice break from VWs for me. It’s my understanding that this is a Christmas gift and the car owner will be reading this page on Christmas day, so…Merry Christmas!…I hope you like it. Thanx for giving me an opportunity to draw it L. Very very cool.

-Lemorris

oh… here’s a link to a larger look

CLICK HERE TO SEE LARGER VERSION

This Nomad rough is finally starting to come along. I have to re-draw it at least one more time but I can see the car in there so I’m ok with it.

This is really turning out to be a fun project and a welcome change of pace.

This is another piece for Gunther VW but this one had a little something special about it. First of all it’s owned by a guy who is a local Tucson cat that has wanted a drawing for years and number 2 the car is very unique in the fact that it has all the trim and stuff “blacked out”…including the Albert Swans but that’s another story.

In any case here’s how the drawing went.

enjoy!

The Seller version

the owner version

-Lemorris

On a pretty dismal Tucson morning we all gathered at the far East end of Speedway to cruise to the far West end of Speedway. As is typical of Tucson the dreary weathered gave way to partly cloudy beautiful warmness and we had chili dogs too.

enjoy

This was a really fun piece, I’m glad I got a chance to work on it. Thanks to Grady for letting me draw his car and big time thanks to Gunther VW for giving me opprtunity.

This is the first in a series of low maintenance, low commitment cruises we’re having here in Tucson. Just small little groups driving straight. Very nice. For this first cruise we went from campbell and Irvington to Campbell and Skyline. No turns…easy peasy chicken lips.

enjoy

Finally back on it. The next set of Gunther cars will be a little different as a couple will be 3/4 rear views. It’s nice to find a place between the lines where you can grow. I’m pleased with what is happening on these.

The first one will be this Thing. It is modeled after the infamous Mike Grady’s car…if you don’t know him it’s because you’re not cool. That’s a fact, sorry. Anyway here we go.

enjoy

This is some work I’m doin for a Carolinas based VW club.  Great guys to work for.  Really fun job.

Well…what can you say?

It was a stone groove my man. 30+ cars and lots of love. For a day all the local clubs put their stickers aside and just hung. This gesture made it possible for many unaffiliated to join in the fun. I cried a little…a tiny chocolate cabbage tear rolled down my cheek.

Since this was about the community I thought a video that focused on the people would be better so I filmed with that in mind and really tried to show how “together” our VW comuunity is.

I found some smooth groves by Throcke at http://www.throcke.com Yeah you can download the lp for free but go to dudes merchandise page at the bottom of his site and cop his stuff. Well worth it…beautiful work for sure.

I = The Love it!!!

anyway…enjoy

So a fella saw the camaro I did recently and wanted a version with his dad in it, but his dad’s car was different, so I modified the file to make it like his dad’s sorta. I didn’t make all structural changes, just kinda smashed the 2 together. Came out ok I think. I learned a lot. Fun gig.

Not really much to say. It’s mostly nearly almost done, it’ll be the last you see of it here so to you, you can call it done.

This I can say was mostly fun. I experienced some pain during the process but I’m not sure you can get better without it.

-Lemorris

really fun car to draw. I know the real car so this one was special. Thanks to Gunther VW for giving me a shot and thanks to DHP New Mexico Jeff for letting me draw his car.

Finally back at it.

This is the next Gunther drawing.

This is the salesman version. His name is ken and he likes the Grateful Dead

Below is the owner version

His name is Culito and he likes Stag beer.

note: I love doing these.

Here’s the first of the next 4 for Gunther VW.

Really a lot of fun to work on. Great client to work with.

here’s the salesman version

here’s the version with the actual bus owner

one of 3…pretty fun car to draw.

fun car to draw

I’m ok with this one

finally got a chance to tweak on it

Not really a whole lot I can say.

It’s a love story. However…if you have a gold mask, and your lady has a gold mask, your kid…

enjoy

For an upcoming gig

Did this for another artist named Josh. He’s tons better than me so getting to do a small part was a semi-big deal to me. Another super hot-shot artist named Larry sent me some reference and lended a hand so eventhough it’s just a sketch it was really cool to rub elbows with the big boys for a sec.

it was fun and well worth it

This is the video from today’s little gtg at Chirco. Always a blast!

Nice meeting all you new cats. We’ll see you all soon.

enjoy

So I totally scored an ex TV station bad daddy tri-pod on wheels for $35 from World Care here in Tucson. I was so pleased, I shot vid of the thing I’ll shoot vid on.

I threw in a look at some raw Bug-Fu: Pistons of Fury footage shot in Duluth just for fun.

enjoy

notch much to say

fun piece

pretty fun

movin on the the reward now yay!!!!

just a quick update

pretty fun, not a lot of detail but it’s not the main car in the design. It was definitely fun though.