throwaway project follow up...

totally forgot i had snapped these:

was going for a busy/artsy type thing, but just couldn't capture it:

throwaway project...

something that just didn't pan out. created this wordmark from felt. used royal and yellow, my grade school colors. was gonna snap a wide picture of it and use it for the banner of this blog... i just couldn't get the effect i was looking for. oh well, on to the next banner idea soon. not 100% happy with the current "blue print" style banner



#40 of the day goes to...

was drinkin' it up with the fam friday night at the Harp & Fiddle, and had a great time. it's always to be expected when you mix my fun family and the H&F!

the Harp & Fiddle is located in one of my FAVORITE areas of Pittsburgh... the Strip District. spent many a weekend afternoon watering down after a stroll & eating binge through the Strip.

and look what is on the wall:

almost positive my family's roots can be traced back to Galway Bay... and my roots can be traced right down to a bar stool here.

hope you all have a safe, fun week!

most of the time, i sketch it out...

here is a sketch i JUST started to work on for my sister-in-law's band "Pimp Fly"... was just about to ramp up the effort... then the band changed names!

check out Kill Room's FB fan page here:

Kill Room

and check out this fly little fly that never got to fly... maybe i'll revisit it sometime. till then, bottoms up little fella!

we've seen this little monkey here. he keeps getting bigger every day. hit a speed bump drawing his arm, and a few other projects popped up. but will get back into this design soon enough.

for the heck of it, here's the Slag Monkees Cycling Club fan page. soon as that logo is finished up, i'll get to designing jerseys/shirts. stay tuned!

this is/was the start of a retro 40s Invaders logo i messed around with for a bit. built off of that, and created something kinda cool. but we'll have to wait on the finished product... future DIY! wanted a "comic book title" feel to the Invaders wordmark. and played off a War of the Worlds feel on the little spaceship-hockey stick legs:

i have a new desk buddy named Laserbeak. Laserbeak, if you remember, is based off of a condor... so i wanted to sketch out a more condor-like metal/machine wing. just messing around really

was gonna AutoCAD it up and make it look pretty mean, but never made it to that step yet. more busy/bored work to do down the line:

by now you can probably tell i usually keep 1 sheet of paper next to my desk to sketch on. i'll doodle all over it. would take a pic, but there's work numbers and what-nots on it that maybe i shouldn't share :-)

last but not least, was sketching an old timey, early cartoony dog the other day while thinking up a logo for something else.

hope you all enjoyed! posting my second guest DIY entry next week, so stay tuned for that!

hope you all have a safe, fun weekend!

Connor's #40

here's one i finished up recently for my cousin Connor... gave him the family discount of $140 ;-)

new edition to the DIY fam...

 from the same talented mind & hands that brought us this:

we later go this:

from Robert Marshall! i can't tell you or explain in the right proper words how awesome these handmade bobbleheads are. just simply amazing, and the perfect item for ANY sports fan! thanks moose!

#40 of the day goes to... a Pirate(s fan) looks at 40!

saw this gentleman at the Jimmy Buffett concert here in Pittsburgh last month (June 21st).

you can tell by the gold-black-gold sleeve ribbing that it's a current 2011 Pirates jersey. replica, no MLB logo on the back collar. and we all know the Buccos retired Murtaugh's #40

here is the song it is referencing. one of my favorite Buffett tunes:

i got a kick out of it!

so whadda ya think???

finished this last week, and delivered it to a person not to be named (his wife would be upset for spending the money) haha. you're REALLY gonna have to talk me into EVER making a #8 again. what a pain in the...

also, nameplate question on the home white!

over?

or under?

nameplate color? letters color?

i say, i don't like the nameplate over the number. just too busy up there. i think if it's below the number, a white nameplate, with black letters outlined in yellow would look sharp!

but ultimately, it's a NNOB (No Name On Back UniWatch term) jersey that looks the best for this option.

so what do you guys think?

lastly, have you been voting for the Invaders of Pittsburgh jersey on the Dayton Gems home page (scroll down to the right of their page for their "beer league" contest). please vote, we have till Aug 1st!

as always, hope you all have a great & safe weekend!

vote early! vote often!!!

"Gems to have a Beer League Night this Upcoming Season"

...was the headline that grabbed my attention!

VOTE FOR THE INVADERS OF PITTSBURGH, PA!

is what i'm asking you...

the Dayton Gems of the CHL are basically saluting the "beer leagues" with this beer league night promotion. if the Invaders jersey wins the month long contest, the Gems will reproduce, and wear our jerseys. they will also give money to the charity of our choice, amongst other cool things! how cool is that?!?! go read all about the contest here, and follow directions on how to vote:

to vote, go to the home page here: Dayton Gems

go to the right side of the page where it asks:

"Which jersey would you like to see the Gems wear for Beer League Night this upcoming season?"

click on the little circle/dot next to "Invaders of Pittsburgh, PA"

UPDATE: looks as if you can vote once or twice per day?

and keep doing it ALL MONTH LONG!

they ended up going with this pic:

but should have maybe went with something like this:

or even this (j/k):

thanks guys, let's make this happen!

New Banner

look at the top of this blog (or the pic below), and ta-da! a new banner! i drew it up yesterday and wanted it to come off as blueprint-ish. hope you like. i may add to it now and again (i'm thinking more "wile e coyote evil genius")

also, starting a painting tonight. will be sure and post the process!

happy birthday Frosty!

a day late on the birthday wishes, but wanted this to be it's own post.

David Frost is a fellow DIYer and the man behind the completely awesome Custom Jersey Guy site! i mean really, go check it out! the guy can make just about ANYTHING into a custom jersey of the highest quality. and i know that first hand!

when it was announced last season, or last year, that Green Bay was going to wear a throwback i loved the style right away:

even though those dirt bags beat my steelers in the... bahhh!

so anyway, i play dek hockey occasionally for a team whose colors are red/white/black. what a great opportunity to ask the services of the Frost-Man!

after only an e-mail, he knew exactly what i wanted and created this:

 front:

back:

"paco" is an old nickname my dad would call me every once in a while for a laugh. and i'm usually against putting my last name on the back of jerseys when i don't really need to. also, i label a lot of things with "paco" as a little shout out to both my mom and my dad:

(look close at the bottom inside seem of the middle jersey. sorry, best pic at the moment)

Frosty also made is own DIY Ryberto's jersey, which i can't tell you just how cool that is:

so, happy birthday, Frosty! hope to share a beer or 2 with you sometime soon...

home field advantage...

Paul Lukas had another REALLY cool article over at Uni Watch today titled "Mining Diamonds in the Sky." it was basically about flying from one point to another and noticing local baseball diamonds "tattooing" our landscape. really cool to see all the different set ups, and the different levels of each field or park.

"Their elemental simplicity and geometric perfection seemed somehow magnified by my high-altitude vantage point"

-Lukas

so i immediately wanted to check out, and share the google map version of the field that i grew up on:

it was only named Memorial Field in my little league and pony league days. still... brings back A LOT of fun memories! shoot, i can almost still see the cinder block my dad used to sit on to watch me play right field...

not for nothing, here is the park that i spent almost every day playing my favorite sport hockey:

can definitely see where mom pulled up and yelled at me for playing too much hockey one particular day and almost missing our evening plans! hee hee

NW, worn down tennis court was all ours. damn, those were fun times!

my limited writing skills did no justice to Paul's wonderful post over at Uni Watch, so go check it out and enjoy!

congrats Bruins!

can't say i'm surprised though ;-)

but actually i can. i made that pick, yet doubted them about 2-3 times during the playoffs. but man, what heart they have on that team!

congrats Bruins... and have a great summer NHL! lol

welcome oneprettything!

big welcome to the readers of oneprettything!!!

glad you can enjoy efra's work too! here is the link/shortcut to his post:

koinobori-by-chamucos-studio

DIYs at work

i'm not a real gun kinda guy, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to pop off on some old wine bottles and expired can goods... what can i say... i'm a guy:

and what could be better than chillin out in your favorite DIYs:



thanks to the BigTomProject for those!

MANNesota trip...

was out of town that past week or so, sorry for the lack of posts. i have a good excuse though:

now, back to the grind...

(more pics to come)

Thanks & Look Out!

first off, i'd like to give an important shout out to my friend Paul Lukas... not only for the VERY awesome Uni Watch, which is a daily read and HUGE source of inspiration for me... but also for coming up with the blog description:

"Artwork, DIY Projects, and Other Ideas from the Mind of Ryan Connelly"

such a great writer he is, probably just cringes at my horrible grammar! :-)

big thanks Paul!!!

secondly, i just received my 1st ever copy of Adobe Illustrator (legit). so i'm hoping all the future logos and projects i work on in AutoCAD (which i love and will NEVER stop using), will come a bit more design oriented and "aesthetically pleasing"

just give me... oh... 8 or so years to figure it out first!

Back to the Drawing Board...

finding it difficult to sketch the monkey's arms, body, hands & neck, i had to print him out and get back to the "nitty gritty" that i love so much about drawing. a Sharpie an a #2!

couple more steps, and this logo will be finished. honestly... about half way through i'd say. stay tuned!

#40 of the day goes to...

my submission to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 40th anniversary patch (a few years ago, of course):

well, you know my favorite number... and well, you know my favorite team... so it all seemed natural that i would submit this patch, and the Pens would... not contact me at all ;-)

still love 'em though!

check it out...

i used a design element found on these beauts: 

(Penguins 25th anniversary patch)

(NHL 75th anniversary patch)

simple enough, i traced out the penguin in AutoCAD:

then drew up the lines taken from the 25th & 75th patches:

finished result:

*pulled the images of the patches from the great website & resource: PittsburghHockey.net

hope you all have a great, safe weekend!

Slag Monkeys CC (shield, city, train, banner-empty, monkey-unfinished)

send you off into the holiday weekend with the latest Slag Monkeys Cycling Club logo

what we have is the bike chain lined shield, pittsburgh skyline, train engine, empty banner, & unfinished monkey. i'm REALLY lovin' how this is all coming together. i love the simple yet busy feel to it. and i'm already thinking of having 20 patches made up when complete!

check it out:

hope you all have a GREAT, safe holiday weekend!!! and for those of you overseas, throw a couple burgers on the grill for your buddies across the pond...