Process.

I'm flattered to say that my work was recently featured on the blog Boing Boing, and I've never gotten so much fun email from so many different places in the wake. A lot of people were curious about the process behind the photos, and I thought you all would enjoy seeing some behind the scenes stuff.

The characters I use come a variety of brilliant artists and artisans connected to the growing international art-toy scene. I feel very fortunate to have made so many likeminded and talented friends. More and more, clients are commissioning one-of-a-kind toys for shoots. On a recent project for the July/August issue of Cargo, I got to work with Brannon Wright and Monkey vs. Robot. The photo above left is a height test Brannon made for the arm of the "referee monkey."

In case you didn't know, everything is shot on location in a single exposure, usually with some retouching afterward to polish the details. The sequence above on the left shows the exposures it took to get elements where I wanted for the final shot as it appears on the right. There was a certain amount of serendipity involved to capture the exact 1/60th of a second where everything lined up.

More often than not I work from the cuff - reacting to a location and finding the shot in the moment. To be honest it's my preferred way of working, but when a layout is critical, I'll explore compositions with a client through very rough sketches. The drawing on the left not only shows the super keen drawing ability I share with most 8 year olds, it also shows early ideas in a project discussion for Entertainment Weekly's Look . We ended up choosing another location, but as you can see, the main elements (horizon, sky, and Mr. Optimus Prime) stayed fairly close to the original idea.

SDCC

Well, it is once again time to hit the pop-culture Mecca that is San Diego Comic Con. I'm really excited to be hanging out with 100K fellow geeks and colleagues, especially because of a couple of events. I'm doing signings for my friends Circus Punks on Friday the 15th @ 5pm and Hi Fructose magazine in the Tower Records Pavilion Saturday the 16th @ 2pm. Times are subject to change, so if you want to come, please swing by the booths beforehand to confirm.

Also be sure to come by Munky King's booth for a look at the "Chop Shop." MiQ Willmott invited 66 top international artists to customize cars from Hot Wheels' never-to-be Ledfoots line. I'm honored to have a car included in the show.

Hope you enjoy this behind the scenes peek, and I hope to see you down in San Diego next week!

-Brian

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