midcentury

The Galleon Room

| rhinegraf

Remember your neighborhood in the nineties? All the crusty old local establishments that seemed like holdovers from the seventies — which at the time, weren’t so long ago? Here’s one that never existed, but definitely could have, a divey midcentury motel brand straight from the rundown side of your childhood hometown There’s something gloriously bold and arbitrary about hotel themes from those days. Remember the clown motel in Nevada? Why not have a Francis Drake themed motel in . . . Bakersfield? And have it have its own signature bar that aims to be a local hotspot, but serves incredibly cheap and nasty cocktails? Behold, your destination awaits.

City View

Image | | rhinegraf

Cityscapes have been a long standing gap in my range of skills, partially because they take a lot more planning and references then just a quick character sketch. Perspective and scale has to be applied, windows have to align, and foreground, middle-ground, background, and all that good stuff has to be accounted for. Although it definitely taxed my patience at times, I feel my efforts paid off handsomely in this case, with the line-based, monotone style successfully evoking the midcentury look that I was going for. Next time around I’ll be adding higher contrast to the colored shadows, more detail, and maybe even some human figures. To be continued . . .

Pattern No. 1

| rhinegraf
Every since trying it in school, I’ve been meaning to give patterns another shot again. This one’s inspired vaguely by peacock feathers, combined with a midcentury color palette.