All posts tagged Mike’s Work

Covered Comic Series: The Daily Howl

This is the latest comic book cover I have done that was featured yesterday on COVERED.  This one was fun because I got the idea to do my version of a boyhood comic done by John Lennon a while ago, and had fun chipping away at it in my spare time.

There is something intoxicating about having my work side by side with his.   I wish Mark David Chapman had thought of a better way to link himself to John than the way HE did.  Such a shame.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

UPDATE: A great guy named Wim Lockefeer posted a “review” of sorts about this cover.  I have to admit, I have never had anything I have done, properly reviewed before.  It was fun to read.  You can read it here.

Commissioned Portrait Series: Luke

This full color portrait version is of Luke, who’s father Anthon had commissioned a previous portrait of his other son Daniel.  They are meant to be displayed together, so I strove for cohesiveness here.  I am pretty sure that they were meant to be gifts for the boys for Christmas, as were done as canvas wraps.   I think they turned out well.

Thanks again Anthon.

Commissioned Portrait Series: Leo

This cute little guy is named Leo.  He is so genuinely cute I mistook him for a girl at first. I HAD to admit this to his mom when I referred to him as a she.  Good thing she wasn’t offended.  You never know with some people. Anyway, this was the first portrait that was commissioned the previously mentioned promotion we did.

If any one is still interested, we have decided to extend to promotion through to January 15. Just to reiterate, the portrait is $80.00 for a custom portrait of one individual, (or pet)

Email me at mike @ ollibird.com if you are interested.

Ollibird’s Free iPhone Calendar

Today is my THIRTIETH birthday and as a gift to YOU, Mike and I are excited to offer a free 2011 calendar for your iPhone! Check out how cool you can be:

Here’s how it works:

1) Download the zipped file right here: Ollibird 2011 iPhone calendar

2) Get the files onto your iPhone in whatever way you like best (I personally hate syncing my iPhone and just find it easier to email myself the images and save all to my Saved Photos).

3) Each month, set the appropriate image as your wallpaper for your lock screen only (in my opinion, these images won’t work well as the background of your home screen).

That’s it! If you want to know a little bit about how this came together, here it is:

Every year I have a goal to make a calendar, and due to awesome clients who kept me very very busy this fall, I wasn’t able to do a new calendar (of course, I’m not counting the planners that I do for FranklinCovey). But the idea hit me yesterday that I could do a quick calendar for the iPhone! I used Mike’s amazing watercolor animals from our 2009 calendar and paired them with a great new font (Monroe) that my brother gave me for my birthday (some people don’t even understand why I would even WANT fonts for my birthday…) and the rest is yours to enjoy!

If you’re interested in learning how to do stuff like this yourself, by the way, don’t forget that Mike and I offer online classes and textbooks in Illustrator and Photoshop, starting at the beginning level! And they’re all on sale right now for Christmas. Check them out!

Here’s a preview of all 12 images:

Personal Heroes Series

SO we wrapped up Beehive Bazaar’s winter show a few days ago.  It was stressful, but fun. I enjoyed, I admit, to be schmoozing with like-minded people.  I have never seen so many people in one place that dressed like me.  I ended up feeling sheepish and had to ask Alma if I am a poser or not.  I dislike posers, so I try not to dress or act a certain way because I want to align myself with some subcultural group. But I digress…

It was fun and we did well, I think.  We actually had our assistant Bryndee do a inventory for us this time, so that was a big help.

I  was able to squeeze in a few new original pieces again, and they are part of my on going new series, Personal Heroes.  The following portraits are similar in style to the new less expensive portraits I have been doing as a promotion for this month.  These particular ones though, I painted on 8X10 hardboards.  It was a lot of fun doing them.

The only other thing I’d say in regard to this series, is that my personal heroes are deemed worthy (I have this whole criteria) of being a hero of mine, if they were or are:

A. A great person, (Brave, strong, loving, humanitarian, and such)

B: Very excellent at what they do or did. Bonus points for creative types, (most of my heroes are)

C:  Could see myself being friends with them.

If they get 2 out of 3, then they are IN. For example, Steve Jobs, fits well with the exception of I can’t see him wanting to be my friend.

Okay without Further ado , here they are, the first batch


Steve Jobs

Audrey Hepburn

Bill Shakespeare

Jim Henson

Walt Disney

Christmas Portrait Promotion

Today I am very excited to announce a new type of portrait and pricing option, just in time for the holidays.

Those adorable children belong to Allison of Petit Elefant (and if you head over to her blog, she’ll be doing a giveaway for 3 portraits on her blog today). I’ll have limited slots available for the holiday season, so act fast if you are interested in getting a portrait of a loved one (or yourself) this year! As extra incentive, I’m offering 20% off all orders that come in by December 10 at midnight MST. Read below for all of the details.

PRICE: These portraits are priced at $100 per person. So if you want two separate portraits of two different people (or the same person), that would be $200. If you want two people in the same portrait, that would still be $200. And so on! (But remember that if you order before December 10th, you will get it for 20% off.)

WHAT’S INCLUDED: For $100, you get the full resolution file that can be printed at sizes up to 16×20 (but if you would like to go larger, just let me know and I’ll make sure that when I’m doing the portrait, I’m making it large enough for what you would like to print). You also get the rights to your portrait. So you can print as many copies as you like, totally unrestricted. You can use this in any way that you like. It is absolutely yours and you don’t need to ask us any usage permissions.

PRINTS ARE EXTRA: If you would like me to take care of the prints for you so they are mailed to your door, I am happy to do that. You simply let me know what sizes and quantities you would like, and I’ll just charge you the cost of printing and shipping, plus a $15 processing fee to cover my time.

GIFT IDEA? This is a perfect gift idea this holiday season. As shown above, you can order portraits of your children to give to your spouse, your children, your parents, aunts and uncles… the list goes on! Since you are free to print as many as you like, you can cross lots of people off your holiday shopping list with just one gift. This is also a great idea for adults. Do you know someone who uses a photo of themselves on their “about” page of their site or blog? Maybe they’d want something a little bit different from everything else that’s out there. This head shot option makes a great impression.

HOW IT WORKS: To place an order with me, just copy and paste the text below into an email to contact@ollibird.com and make sure you answer all the questions. I’ll get back to you the same day to let you know your estimated time frame and to send you payment info. There are a limited number of slots available before Christmas, so act fast!

Your name:

Subject’s name:

Print yourself, or order prints?

If printing yourself, will you want to print larger than 16×20?

If ordering prints, what sizes and quantities?

3×5

4×5

5×7

8×10

11×14

16×20

20×30

Please include the photo of the subject you would like to be used as reference. This photo should have plenty of detail in the face and be a larger file size (500 KB minimum).

Please also indicate the background color you would like to use for the portrait. Choose any color and I’ll double check with you to make sure that I’m getting the same color you have in mind.

We will not be able to book your order until we have received an answer to each of these items from you.

Upon receipt of your email, I will inform you of my estimated time frame (usually within 2-4 business days), whether I feel that the photo will work for the project, and payment instructions. Before I can begin work on the project, I’ll need a deposit of 50 percent. The balance will be due upon approval of final portrait but before delivery of prints or file.

Happy holidays, and I look forward to working with some of you on portrait projects over the next few weeks. Remember that my regular portrait options are also available, and I’m more than happy to extend the 20 percent discount to those orders before December 10, too!

Will Joanie be jealous of Ollibird?

So, not many know this, but I am about to reveal to you lucky people, why Ollibird is called Ollibird.

When we were trying to think of a name for our company beyond Loveland Miscellany, which really just turned out to be a name for our Etsy store, we tossed around different ideas and to see what stuck.  Alma was pregnant at the time, and  knowing he would be a boy, we had recently chosen the name of our forthcoming bundle of joy, and that name was and is: Oliver.

Soon after Oliver was born, they placed him on Alma’s chest and he just started making the most adorable chirping noises, and he continued doing this to our delight during his entire newborn phase.  So naturally, we started calling him our Ollibird and we both just thought it had a nice ring to it.  So when we recalled  that name, we decided to go with it.

NOW, for those unaware, announcement time, we found out recently that Oliver will have competition for our affection sometime in March of next year!  She will be a girl, and we recently decided that we will name her Joan after one of Alma’s grandmothers.  I was the one gunning for a girl, so I am extra pleased, but Alma is very happy too.

I decided I wouldn’t wait for her to be born to do a drawing of her.  For some reason I drew her at about age 6, don’t ask me why.  I am sure it will be great having a girl.

Wish us luck!

{Mike}

Commissioned Portrait Series: Daniel

This one is of a boy named Daniel, who’s father Anthon, commissioned this portrait from me.  I felt with this one, he had such a cool pose, he needed something bold, but masculine in the background. I went with broad stripes which seemed to fit.  Anthon also told me his favorite color is green, so I made sure to make it prevalent in the portrait.  Anthon has also commisioned me to do a portrait of his other son, which I will start as soon as we get a good image of him.

Thanks again Anthon!

Commissioned Portrait Series: Holland

This is a recent portrait of an adorable little girl that is the daughter of a woman named KC, who found us though Natalie Hill’s blog.  She chose from one of Alma’s patterns that is on her portfolio site and I used that as the background.  The portrait was given to her husband as a birthday gift.  I will be adding her to the gallery soon.

Thanks KC!

Covered Album Cover Series: Plastic Ono Band

Here is one more cover for now that I have finished.  It is, surprise, an “almost Beatles” cover.

I have always liked this album cover of one of John’s classic solo albums.  I modified it compare it the original, here, and decided to give John a beard which in my revisionist memory, I like picturing him with one, and I also made it so they shared a blanket, which I think is what the image needed to try them in together in a sweet romantic way.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

{Mike}