Keith Allen Designs

2011-10-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

I'M ONLY 1-YEAR LATE!...haha, I finally finished the paintings going into my daughters bedroom. They make a better '1-year birthday present anyway'. I hope she likes them! Its been a long time since I painted in Acrylics so it took me a little while to get my groove back.

2011-10-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been to StrangeKidsClub yet....what are you waiting for? Quit what you're doing and check them out! I was honored to have been asked to design a paper monster mask for their 2nd annual 'Strange kid comix magazine'. Go to the site and pick one up! Just in time for Halloween!

2011-10-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Sketch Slackers is coming to a bit of an end...well, more like a hiatus. Hopefully I'll be relaunching the site at the beginning of next year. As a thank-you for all the hard work the 'slackers' did over the history of the site I made a quick paper toy for them all. Feel free to cut him out and display proudly!

2011-10-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

About time I start posting to my blog again!

Here's a logo I did for a publishing company-

Here are the roughs that got us to the finished logo:

2011-09-24T05:41:00.001-07:00

One of my Pop-up cards is now available at Target in the Halloween greeting card section. Go pick one up! (I did the popup mechanics, not the artwork on this one)

2011-08-02T09:28:00.001-07:00

It's SketchSlacker time again, and last months theme was Zombie Superheroes. I chose to do Superman and created another paper toy. I'm a little addicted to creating them...they're a lot of fun. I think its because with each piece it gives me the opportunity to build the sculpture, Illustrate the graphics and photograph the end result. It's a lot of fun.

Here is my process:

1. Create the Die lines and color palette in Adobe Illustrator.

Mock it up and make sure it works.

2. Create the vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator.

3. Render the Graphics and add textures in Adobe Photoshop.

4. Mock it up and photograph it!

2011-06-28T05:26:00.001-07:00

This is my post for SketchSlackers this month. Junes theme was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I geeked out a little because growing up I had every Ninja Turtle action figure known to man. When I was looking for inspiration on the internet the Turtle Van popped up on an image search. I forgot all about this amazing mode of transportation and thought, "Only the Ninja Turtles can pull off riding around town in a mini van....I must make this out of paper!"

I have another funny idea for a Tshirt and may try and submit that in a couple weeks as well...if time permits.

2011-06-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

The SketchSlackers theme for May was Star Wars. May 4th was actually national Star Wars day... so there is a fun fact for you, so mark it on your calendar. I watched the original movies growing up and have always enjoyed them, but I can't say that I've ever been a super huge fan or anything. I really like Empire Strikes Back but I am definitely not a fan of any of the new movies. Sorry Jar Jar. I decided to do a vector Illustration of my favorite characters Han Solo and Chewey. It would have been fun to get Yoda in there as well, but I was already running behind on this one. Check out the blog to see more Star Wars submissions!

2011-06-01T17:11:00.001-07:00

I work in the Licensing department at American Greetings making social expression product for some really great partners. Sesame Street happens to be one of those great partners and they invited us all down last month for a two day meeting in NYC. We were lucky enough to see a live taping of the show featuring the great Frank Oz bringing Grover to life. (unfortunately we couldn't take photos during the shows production )

Here I am on set...its a surreal feeling actually being there. I kept waiting for us all to break down in song.
Good ol' Mr. Hoopers store....

Bert and Ernie...my personal favorite!

Thanks so much to everyone at Sesame Street! I'm lucky to work with such a great group of people doing great work for kids!

2011-04-10T04:43:00.000-07:00

My latest post to the Sketch Slackers. The theme for March was the Muppets...but I really wanted to do a Bert and Ernie paper toy. So, I figured they would be close enough being a Jim Henson creation and all.

I had a lot of fun with these. I really tried to make the paper die reflect Ernie being as free and fun as possible and having bert uptight and annoyed. These are so much fun....look forward to me doing a lot more!

2011-02-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Aaahhhhh! Attack of the B-movie posters!

This months theme on Sketch Slackers was B-movie posters. I decided to do a photo illustration with my inspiration being my beautiful baby girl, Maggie who never sleeps...ever. Thank you to my lovely wife Kristen for taking the photos, I think they worked great.

2011-01-29T10:41:00.001-08:00

This months Sketch Slackers theme was the TRON movies. I am 'that guy' who has never seen either of the films. So I tried to do something a little more experimental. I created a dimensional TRON logo using only one sheet of paper by cutting, scoring and folding it over on itself. I found reference of someone doing this technique online and loved it.

I created a digital pattern in Illustrator and printed on the paper both sides. That way the TRON logo would really pop off the background.

2011-01-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

I realized I never posted Optimus Prime when I was going through some of my old files. This was a fun project to match the Bumblebee paper toy I created a while back.

2011-01-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a glance at something in the works right now. Its a very slow going projet...I'm working on five paintings to decorate my daughter's room. Drawings are all transferred to their canvas', I just need to find some 'free time' to start painting.

The original plan was that they'd all be done before she was born...haha, that was three months ago.

2011-01-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

Decembers Sketch Slackers theme was The Grinch. I was running a little behind so I did a quick sketch of what the Grinch's mugshot might look like. The Who's decided to prosecute after the whole 'stealing Christmas thing'.

My inspiration: The infamous Nick Nolte mugshot

2010-11-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

Here is my contribution this month to Sketch Slackers. This months theme was Batman & Captain America (it was a split vote). I made some adjustments to their costumes...color obviously. It was a fun one to work on.

2010-10-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

My contribution this week to Sketch Slackers

Last months theme was The Goonies and I did this cut paper piece of chunk. I had some help from a genius paper sculptor, Seth Larson, who did our wedding cake topper. The guy is a maniac with paper and I couldn't have done it without him.

Check out sketch slackers to see some other cool Goonies art!

2010-10-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

This is the first installment of our comic book, its a collaborative comic brought to you buy the awesome peeps from sketch slackers! I was fortunate enough to do the first page. Check out Fuel Your Illustration every week to catch the latest installment!

2010-08-27T05:27:00.001-07:00

This was my submission this month to sketchslackers. This months theme was Street Fighter and I created Dhalsim.

I cheated a bit this month and used an existing paper die that I created for Avatar: The Last Airbender. It worked out well because I could stretch Dhalsim's arm like in the video game. I just flipped the die and changed some folds and cuts.

Here he is first cut out.

2010-08-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

Muttley's final show poster! Its a sad day.

I did a quick illustration of all of us. And of course George's fish is in there.

2010-07-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

My first post to SKETCH SLACKERS!

Its a monthly sketch blog for any artist that would like to join. We pick a theme at the beginning of every month.

This months Theme was Iron Man. I was running behind, and had to bust it out early this week. I did a quick sketch and colored in Photoshop. Tried to keep him on the cartoony side.

2010-06-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

I messed around with 'tilt shift' photography tutorial the other day. Its pretty cool, it makes your photos look like a small model.

Here's the original

2010-05-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

Muttley poster

2010-02-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a logo update I worked on for a friend, Jim Groman.

I will have more blog updates in the next coming weeks, its been a bit crazy lately.

2010-01-11T09:27:00.000-08:00

The next sketch-o-rama theme was mortal kombat. I really had a good time making the Aang paper toy, so I decided to make a scorpion and sub-zero battling paper toys. This one was really fun, I'm going to try and make a new paper toy every month.

I made the ninja masks removable.

2009-12-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

A quick poster for my band Muttley's upcoming show this weekend. Come to the show and get a free tshirt!

2009-11-25T10:14:00.001-08:00

Avatar: The Last PaperBender

I decided to do a paper sculpture of Aang for the latest sketch-o-rama theme--- The Last Airbender movie coming out this summer based on the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar. A few months back I created two paper sculptures of BumbleBee and Optimus Prime from Transformers and had a lot of fun building them. I thought I'd give it another go.

Unlike my last attempts, Aang is all one piece of paper, so there is no attachments after he is cut out. I'll probably do a few more of these down the road since they're so much fun.

2009-11-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

New t-shrit design for my band Muttley. We're having a show on Dec. 5 and all who come to show their support get a free tshirt. Gotta give love to our peeps.

2009-10-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

My latest sketch-o-rama post. The theme was Where the Wild Things Are in honor of the new movie coming out. I still haven't seen it yet, but it looks incredible! I really love the half costume, half CGI monsters. They really seem to come to life.

I kind of slacked on this sketch a bit though, didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked. Oh well, I'll have to make it on the next post.

2009-10-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

This is my latest Sketch-o-rama sketh. The theme was C.H.U.D., from the classic horror movie. I decided to have CHUD looking for 'food' in its own backyard. mmmm....turtle soup! I plan on making more artwork and posting quite regularly. Been a bit busy with the wedding, but I'm ready to get right back at it!

2009-09-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

The Madballs 2010 calendar I worked on with other very talented artists is in stores now! Pick yours up!!!

Calendars.com

Ebay

Barnes & Noble

2009-08-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a logo I did for Brix Wine Bar.

2009-08-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

A paper toy of Bumblebee I created at American Greetings for a Hasbro project.

2009-08-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

The GI Joe 2010 calendar I did for American Greetings Dateworks is out in the market. Go buy one! Secret Decoder included!!!...you know you want one.

Calendars.com

Barnes & Noble

2009-08-05T06:08:00.000-07:00

This is a quick poster I made last night for my band Muttley's upcoming show on Aug. 29. Our lead singer made some quick flyers with a scene from Planet of the Apes and I thought I'd keep the ape/monkey theme going.

Lately I haven't had to much time to do any drawing or designing outside of work because of all the wedding projects going on...Only one more month to go! I should have a lot more to post at the end of September once the Wedding is over. Our honeymoon is in Spain, so I'm sure that'll spark a lot of creativity!

2009-07-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

After many hours hunched over a cutting board with burned and glued fingers, our wedding invites are finally done!

I was debating putting this up. The design was adapted from an existing design my fiance' found in a magazine, and I redrew the art and made some of my own in the same style. We picked our own color scheme and added the textured paper, ribbon, 'dinner and dancing' card and some other little tweaks. Of course I'd never do this if I wasn't my own wedding, but we just loved the design :)

2009-07-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

My friend Bill and I stopped in this week to shoparooni to check out the Vinyl show 'Straight from the crate'. The show looks really good. This was the second time I stopped in and already there are a lot of pieces missing. Its a pay and go show, so you can swipe the pieces right from the wall if you're going to buy.

2009-06-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

Heres a sketch of the band Matt & Kim. I first heard them on the new bacardi commercial.

Day Light

Yea-yea

I thought that the band dynamic was really cool, and I tried my best to capture their energy. They rock pretty hard for a duo without any guitars!

2009-06-22T04:45:00.001-07:00

Here are some vinyl records I painted up for an upcoming art show put on Keith Corcoran.

STRAIGHT FROM THE CRATE

I originally had the idea of building a large cassette tape out of old records and record covers, but with limited time and size restrictions...I went with painting a cassette tape on a record.

2009-06-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

I've been giving up my Saturdays to take an Adobe Flash class, to freshen up and to begin to build my portfolio site. I was itching to do a quick animation in Flash since its been so long and thought AstroBoy would be fun, seeing that the movie is right around the corner....

...So, here it is in all its glory. 18 seconds of awesomenesss....wow- all that work for 18 dumb seconds??? Glad I'm not an animator

See it on YouTube!

2009-06-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Transformers 2 Stickers and Trading cards

10 sticker sets and with individual trading cards I developed for work at American Greetings

2009-06-09T04:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the pieces and parts for a flash animation Im working on. On saturdays Im taking a Flash class to get refreshed so I can set my website up in Flash. Seeing all the cool animation stuff you can do, I couldn't help myself and start an AstroBoy animation in light of the new movie coming to theaters soon. I should have the animation up in a few days hopefully....stay tuned!

2009-06-03T06:06:00.001-07:00

the REAL Montauk Monster!!!
Heres my piece for this weeks Sketch-o-rama blog.
Sketch-o-rama
Painted in photoshop from my rough sketch.

2009-06-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

A few Tshirt-logo concepts for a local Italian restaurant.

2009-05-31T12:28:00.001-07:00

An art piece I did for Kristens Birthday. Its on some old record sleeves we picked up in Amish Country. Turned out ok, but the paper was extremely old and didn't take very well to anything.

2009-05-07T05:29:00.001-07:00

Star Trek TNG- "the early years"
A sketch for Sketch-o-rama this week. I thought the next generation gang could possibly be in school while cap'n kirk and spock are just getting started on the enterprise. I did this in Illustrator- Im trying to get faster at vectoring...CS4 makes life a lot easier.

2009-04-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

'San Juan', my final for the new Skate Deck show. For the most part I'm happy with how it turned out.

I inked the city sketch using India Ink

The background pattern was applied with spray paint after the stencil was cut.

Cutting a stencil for a background pattern. I took a photo of this pattern when we were in San Juan. It was a really cool tile floor in one of the old buildings. Thought I'd be able to use it for something someday.

I decided to rework the illustration on my board from the 'All hands on Decks' art show. I wanted to keep the wood showing through this time. Heres the sanded board all ready to be painted up.

2009-04-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

Heres my submission to Sketch-o-rama (http://sketch-o-rama.blogspot.com/). The theme this week was the Terminator since the new movie will be coming out soon.

I inked my sketch in photoshop CS4, the rotate view tool helped so much! Saved me so much time.

My original concept sketch.

2009-04-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted lately...but I have been busy- I swear!
I've been working on a concept for a childrens book and wedding stuff (invites and all that fun stuff).
But its been my webpage that has been taking up most of my time...check it out so far. Still have a long way to go, but think I have a decent portfolio picked out. Hoping to have it up in the next few months.

2009-01-22T05:58:00.001-08:00

Some photos of the All Hands on Decks show. The show looks great, there are so many talented artists involved.

2009-01-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

My finished skate deck for the 'ALL HANDS ON DECK' show at AG. http://allhandsondecks.blogspot.com
If I had more time I would have liked to add some color. I may take this concept and rework it in the future.

2009-01-05T05:57:00.000-08:00

My sketch for my skate deck for the 'All Hands On Decks' art show.
http://allhandsondecks.blogspot.com/
The subject is San Juan, Puerto Rico...where I spent Christmas and New Years last year. The houses are so colorful, I've been wanting to do some kind of art piece of San Juan for some time now.

2008-12-30T08:33:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted in a while...but just to prove that I haven't been lazy, here's some Christmas gifts I was working on.

wii family portrait

A little retouching of Kristens photos. They look great framed.

Promotional Postcards for my moms small business. I had to print these twice because I did them in such a hurry for Christmas, I made the worst Graphic Design mistake...not doing a spell check.

Homemade ornaments Kristen and I made from ocean rocks and shells

2008-09-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

For further proof that I'm a nerd...My Transformers cornhole boards. It only took me a little over a month to construct and paint these bad boys, with some help from my lovely fiance'. A word to the wise...just buy them pre-constructed.

2008-07-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Cut paper designs I made for my new nephew to be!!

Here is my planning for the cut paper pieces. Sketched and finished in Illustrator.

2008-06-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Madballs Invasion Show!!!!
This show was at the American Greetings gallery space and features a ton of very talented artists from American Greetings Properties group and more!

I'm very proud to have had a part in this.

Check out a slide show of the Invasion on the Madballs official blog:
http://madballscentral.blogspot.com/

2008-05-09T08:30:00.001-07:00

My fiinished Madball. Turned out ok...would have liked to spend a little more time on it. The calendar is going to be sick!!!

2008-05-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Freelance I've been working on went through a facelift to try and make the website older...

2008-04-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

My sketch for the Madballs American Greetings custom art calendar I've been working on. The artists on board with this project are amazing...going to be something truly awesome.

Anyway- will be painting soon...look for updates.

2008-02-26T13:47:00.000-08:00

My submission this month for Sketch-0-rama. Its a privilege to be included on this blog along side such great talent.

2008-02-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

Poster for my band Muttley's upcoming show.

2008-02-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

A freelance project for Madison Avenue Direct. Vector characters done in freehand.
I've gotten a good start on building my webpage and I have some works started for the show, should be sharing that stuff soon.

2008-02-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

I inked and colored a sketch I had done a while back. Heman vs. Skeletor--- a classic battle!
I've been compiling my work to get my website up very very soon...so look forward to that, and I have some pieces started for my upcoming art show- I'll share some of that stuff as I get them final.

2008-01-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

New drawing of STORM SHADOW, for http://raw.channelfrederator.com/group/throwbackthursdays
Feels good to post again!

2008-01-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

A paiting of Puerto Rico I did for my girlfriend Kristen's parents for Christmas.

2007-12-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

Family portrait for Christmas.

2007-11-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

Border created for Secret Forest characters for Australian childrens company and website. The sides are repeatable to extend the website border.

2007-10-30T11:57:00.001-07:00

2007-10-29T05:19:00.001-07:00

Haven't posted in a while....this is a freelance I was working on for an Australian company. Its been a while since I vectored any art, so it was a good to get the practice.

2007-10-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

A new logo design for AnswerSphere.
I have been drawing a lot more and I'll post some new sketches soon.

2007-08-12T07:52:00.001-07:00

A sticker/logo for a friend.

2007-07-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

Our new Tshirts!
My soccer and kickball team named has changed from the Cuddle Monkeys to the new and improved Phallic Dragons. Long story short....On our ski trip we there were a ton of these sculpted dragons with their tails between their legs, looking a little suggestive and scattered around the house. Amy stole one and now its our mascot.

2007-06-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

This was for the Guitar Mania project that goes around Cleveland for the United Way. My team, the licensing department, created a Sesame Street themed Guitar. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun and Im really happy with the result. The amps work and play the Sesame Street theme song, Sunny Days. The guitar is displayed in front of the American Greetings store inside Tower City, Downtown Cleveland.

My badass team of rockstars.

2007-05-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

My sketch-o-rama contribution.

2007-04-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

My flyer for my bands second show at the Jigsaw on May 27th.

2007-04-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

This is for the Sketch-o-rama that the Illustrators at work started. Its a redesign of the Thing from Fantastic 4. I was going to do the Human Torch with the Thing, but ran out of time.

Im psyched, my band Muttley is having our first show this week. Well, its my first show with the band. For the show I made some pins. We have a song about Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years...so it made sense to have her on there. Look forward to me posting our show poster for next months JigSaw show.

2007-03-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

Gotta get back on the horse.

2007-01-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

After drawing Transformers last week, I wanted to draw some other toys from my childhood. This is a sketch of Heman vs. Skeletor.

2007-01-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

I needed to see what good ol' OP looked like colored so I worked at it until my New Years hangover went away.

2006-12-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

The holidays made things kind of crazy, so I haven't updated in a while and I don't have anything for the comic book yet. At work I've been working on product for the new live action Transformers movie....which is going to be awesome! So I did my own concept sketch of Optimus Prime. Its no where near how awesome he is going to look like in the movie, but I based my sketch more off the old toy. Im going to color it for next week.

2006-12-03T19:03:00.000-08:00

This ones just for fun- its an inside joke with my soccer team the Cuddle Monkeys.
I've decided to start a comic book- I hope to have a lot of concept sketches for next week.

2006-11-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

At work we had been talking about Madballs and how young boys love to play with gross stuff. That inspired me to try and come up with a mix of cute/gross characters.

2006-11-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

2006-11-12T09:17:00.000-08:00

I've had some things going on and I havent had a chance to update in a while. But- I'll be updating a lot more frequently now.

2006-10-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Oh snap, its the Foot!

2006-09-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot to share this week, but Im still drawing. Here is something from the sketchbook. Caught the new jet li movie this weekend and it inspired me to draw more martial art-ninja drawings. So i'll probably be doing that for a little bit.

2006-09-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it has begun. I'm jumping back into drawing and oh man is it ever painful...but fun none the less.

I did a quick sketch of a ninja. Why? Well, because ninjas are sweet. And when I say 'quick sketch' I mean about an hour and a half...there are a lot of mistakes, cleaning up and erasing messed up lines. Im looking to improve my line quality a heck of a lot. I threw the sketch into photoshop to add quick color and shadows.

Super Grumpy Bear!

2006-09-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

Sweet. My first post!

This was a fun charity project put together by the AGP group at American Greetings. http://grumpyfreakshow.blogspot.com/It was a lot of fun turning the Vinyl grumpy bear into Super Grumpy "Weapon XOXO." The show will be Sept. 11-29th at the American Greetings Gallery.