Illustration

Bad Taste, Good Eats
| April 2009 +

This started out as a silly project inspired by my enemies and allies in the food pyramid, so to speak; however, it ended up reawakening my interest in cartooning which has waned a bit in recent years as I grew more involved with design. I found this illustration to be a fun combination of both.
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Hangover Hell Series
| June 2008 +

In this set of drawings I wanted the explore some of the stereotypes and realities of the party lifestyle galmorized in our culture within quirky imagery. I let my imagination run a little wild here; at its heart, this series was more an exercise in creativity, not taking art too seriously and having fun with it.
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I Don't Feel Sick
| May 2008 +

Before this painting, I took a long time off from doing larger pieces and stuck primarily to sketches and pencil drawings. During that time, I developed a new cast of characters, so to speak, and became interested in exploring new themes. Combining that with a few new Photoshop tricks I'd picked up along the way, I came up with this.
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The Music or The Misery
| October 2007 +

After graduation, I found myself a lot busier than during school and didn't have the large chunks of free time I used to to dedicate to digital painting. Out of a desire to stay creative, I picked up colored pencils and did a smaller illustration.
I had never worked with colored pencils before (aside from grade school art projects) so it was a learning experience.
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Your Coffin Or Mine
| February 2007 +

With this painting, and after the results of my previous one, I wanted to do one that was heavily rendered but without any black outlines at all. I liked the results a lot, I think it gives the whole thing a softer look; ultimately this project widened my scope but also lead me to appreciate the bold outlines in my other paintings as well.
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Konstantine
| December 2006 +

I wanted to attempt a style that was slightly different than my other paintings here, so I dropped the heavy, almost three-dimensional-looking shading and mimicked cut paper digitally. Additionally, I moved farther away from "realism" and approached the landscape with a more expressionistic eye.
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Matches
| September 2006 +

After No Point In Breathing, I wanted to tackle another diptych. I was also interested in attempting portaiture in my cartoon style, basing it all off a photograph of my girlfriend. Characters, and particularly faces, have always been my favorite thing to draw, if that wasn't totally obvious already.
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My Sweetest Downfall
| August 2006 +

Not necessarily the most uplifting of pieces, but I think the themes of insecurity, loss, and regret are some that many people can relate to. Like all my current illustration work, it began as a pencil sketch with the majority of the work done on the computer.
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Live Through This
| July 2006 +

This one was inspired by damp summer nights, my favorite member of the insect family, fireflies, and the beautiful Stars song, "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead". It started with an initial sketch but all the work you see was done on my computer.
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No Point In Breathing
| June 2006 +

I went the ambitious route with this one, choosing to do two paintings and then combining them afterwards to make one larger work. Some of the effect is lost on screen, ideally they look best framed one under the other. Aside from an initial sketch, this was done entirely digitally.
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Aaron Hatch

Designer and Illustrator, www.ahatchdesign.com