Iron Star Hall
I've been cranking out a lot of Illustrator over the past few weeks. This one is of a nice dancing hall in Bertram, Texas called The Iron Star Hall. I got really lucky when I was there and actually got some really good shots of this, a general store, and a classic railroad passenger office all at 'the magic hour'. I really pushed to get this one done fast after an extremely intensive piece that backlogged me for over a month. There's a really nice context of hues here, and the cast shadow on the front is really nice. I had to do some Photoshop adjusting to get the color harmonies more in line on the road, but other than that, there was a few minor tweaks to be done with the shadow lines versus the actual physical lines and thickness there of.
The Frisco
I had been thinking for sometime about doing a piece based on the Frisco, the last of the dying Night Hawks,- A restaurant chain that flourished in Austin for many years, but has been slowly downsizing since the mid-80s. The chain was best known for its Chocolate IceBox pie, a guilty pleasure. When the Frisco was built, it was actually on the edge of town near the highway loop, but by the 70s, Austin had exploded past it and Frisco was now sitting on a valuable piece of land at 2222 and Burnet Road. They did occasional remodelings, and almost went out of business on occasion only to be rescued from the fire at the last second. They moved in the late '00s to their current location further North on Burnet. I snapped a picture of the neon sign a few months before they moved, (with my camera phone of all things,) and knew this was a winner the minute I took it. I later got commissioned to do a piece on an iconic Austin landmark by a family member and knew that I wanted to create this piece.
Little Tokyo Sushi
Been a long time since I updated this blog, but after being pestered on numerous occasions about my work in Illustrator, I've been on a recent tear working on photo realistic landscapes. I've always liked the display of neon signs and appreciated the work it takes to shove that logo out there. I was walking around Little Tokyo a few months back and always remembered this sushi sign. In the background is the sign for one of the best ramen spots in LA, that I liked to go to, Daikokuya, -which I was probably going to this day when I decided to take the snapshot and move on.