"Candy Coated Clowns"

This illustration was created in both Illustrator and Photoshop. I have as very strong fascination with clowns and all other characters related to them which includes mimes, harlequins, jesters and so forth. Many people find this to be unusual since clowns are a source of fear for most, but even if clowns are depicted in a sinister fashion, I am interested in that depiction and characterization of clowns as well.

I didn’t really have a plan when I first began this illustration, although I wanted to experiment with images of mimes which turn into looking more like clowns. Mimes typically have the eye paint designs featured in this piece in some way. They also usually have darkly painted lips.

These clowns are in lavender and pink hues with lots of shine which gives them a candy-coated appearance, hence the name of this image which is Candy Coated Clowns.

Stay tuned for more painted-faced and masked character illustrations, which might include an illustrated character card set.

“Sukra”

Sukra is possibly another character in the Pink Laughter Kingdom world concept.

She enjoys eating a lot of bitter and sour treats that make her cry and frown in a very intense expression. The treats are often very sickly sweet smelling which are deceiving to the noses of visitors to her domain. Sukra enjoys singing catchy but dramatic and tragic songs about misfortune, neglect, remorse and the like. Her melodies are sing-song, puckish, dark cabaret and vaudeville in style.

She was created in Illustrator and taken into Photoshop for further enhancement.

"Panash"

I have many alter egos that are based off of various sides to my personality and moods that I often fall into. Panash [PA-nosh] is a character that I created several years ago. He has a suicide king complex and he is also one of the characters to my Pink Laughter Kingdom word concept which I will be developing into fantasy-adventure a book series over time.

I created him in several modes. Sometimes he appears in a red rather than blue clown suit with knives as hands and amid a background of fireworks and brilliant light displays. His hair is wild, chaotic and has a life of its own. He often ties up his hair with balls of light orbs in the colors lime-green, purple and sky blue but sometimes he lets all of his hair down and they appear more like abstract snakes or dreadlocks shooting out in various directions in a reactive manner.

I started a company with some friends and former schoolmates about a couple of years ago. The entry, where I talk more about this, can be seen here on my post about the 3rd Eye Cinema website design.

He was created in Illustrator and Photoshop CS2.

"Cake Wonderland"

I am always full of ideas...especially concepts for products, services and businesses. What I love as much as design is the idea of taking an idea from concept stage all the way to prototype stage. Concepts for me need to come out of theory at some point and I am thrilled when I can do this with any of my ideas.

This illustration was inspired by my fondness for pastries, desserts and especially pastry shops and bakeries. I've dreamed of opening up my own shop in the future when money and time allows for this. I'd sell petits fours, cakes, cupcakes, tarts, creme-based confectioneries and much more.

It would be a place of delight and pleasure. Along with my intrigue for ideation, I enjoy the idea of branding. Branding goes hand in hand with conceptualization. An idea becomes an actual identity; a product or service which enhances one's lifestyle.

Cake Wonderland was one of these ideas. I plan to develop it further someday...to create a full blueprint for the business plan.

I find that having mascots or character icons is very effective for promoting a brand. Character depictions become the emboodiment of a business. I chose the character Airo from my Pink Laughter Kingdom world concept. He is one of the characters in this story world.

He is known as the elusive pastry chef. He head, always topped with a tasty cake on a platter, which acts also as a permanent hat, becomes iconographc for the cake shop, Cake Wonderland.

This piece was created in Illustrator and Photoshop.

"Pink Laughter Kingdom"

Pink Laughter Kingdom is a world concept that I came up with about 5 or so years ago. I created a personal philosophy called Pink Laughter and decided to flesh it out into something design-oriented. It's essentially a fantasy world centered on a strong philosophy. Here is the philosophy:

Pink Laughter is: a visceral expression and entity of joy, creativity, fantasy, imagination, "surreality", childlike curiosity, wonder, elation, zanism and innovation. This is a state of being, a state of mind and an emotion. The magic and state of pink laughter can be invoked at any time. It satisfies deeply the inner spirit while reflecting it outward, filling up an otherwise emotional bottomless pit and creating an erupting volcano of hyper magic, iridescent moods and wild, arcane, joyful, cacophonous, perpetual echoes of laughter.

Whatever you gravitated towards or found fascinating as a child has to be tapped into again. It goes back to the core, the central plan and mother epiphany. The state of Pink Laughter makes this possible through invocation. It soothes the savage beast within and brings out the Alice (from Alice in Wonderland) in all of us.

The Pink Laughter philosophy permeates into the way I live life, create art and think. It's a magical realm that welcomes all.

I'd love to expand this world concept through a series of stories and character developments. I was initially attracted to developing the Pink Laughter Kingdom world concept not only because self-philosophy but also due to my fascination with languages and micronations...

I remember spending lots of time, when younger, trying to development my own language. I came up with the idea right before high school and I took action of coming up with a language once I had taken my first French class. I realized that creating a language was going to be quite a large feat and that it would take much of my time.

I always carried around this small but thick notebook. In it, I'd write lots of poetry, create drawings and jot down various phrases, words, ideas and fantasy make-believe names. I decided to use this notebook for developing the mechanics of my language. I named the language Jeoydo, which stands for I We Us. I based it off the English language and some Latin language grammar rules (for example, manner of conjugating verbs). I spent about 3 years taking the language into various stages of development, but shortly after I attended college, I found myself less involved in a lot of my creative pursuits and passions. This was truly when I lost focus in a deep and authentic sense...

However, this early involvement left a legacy of ideas, which as I mentioned before, was picked up on years later.

What came out of these ideas were some design pieces: The Road to Pink Laughter Kingdom (which displays the PLK Flag), Pink Laughter Kingdom Currency, Pink Laughter Kingdom Map and various character illustrations.

These illustrations were mainly created in Illustrator 10/CS2 and some were taken into Photoshop for digital painting enhancement.

I'd like to revamp some of these illustration ideas as well as expand other ones that have yet to be created or completed. And of course, I have plans to create a series of stories based on this world.