Snowplow mania!

Had an internet customer I had done work before ask for several different snowplows to use. So I drew them up and vectored them. It was fun doing the different styles.

Gregg and Mike

These two guys run a signshop and wanted their truck drawn with them in it. So I did just that. They were very pleased. This was provided to them in vector format.

Holiday Vector art

Here is some Holiday vector art we have been working on here at the shop/studio.

Political Humor

I was commissioned to do this for a customer and provide in a digital format for printing and framing. He said he was going to present it to the Governor (KY) as a gift. Fun to do...

King Parging Logo

Just finished this logo yesterday for a client, and they were very pleased. Parging is a method of applying mortar to brick or block walls. Sort of like stucco, but its a different mixture.

Holiday Art

We are now working on a Holiday Vectorart Collection. This one will have all the holidays covered, from New Years to Christmas. Heres a few samples of the art coming on this one.

Hot Rods Collection

Finally released a new collection of vector art, available at www.thetoonfactory.com
Its called "Hot Rods" and has 50 of the coolest cars and trucks you have very seen, in full color vector art.

Can be used on tees, signs, etc.

Jeremy

This is a customer I have worked with before. Jeremy runs his own signshop. This is how he gets around.

The Wormburner...

Love drawing these cars and trucks. This one is inspired by the style of the great Rat Fink artist, Ed Big Daddy Roth.

GTO before and after

Heres the sketch of a 67 GTO and the finished art, after inking and vectoring. Love old cars...

Van

Did this for a good friend of mine who has a van just like this, flames and all. Course, his is real and not cartoony, but I like this one better, lol.

Soccer Bull

Did this for a customer in Alabama. Started off with a mean looking bull, but finally came around to this fella. I think hes cool....:)

Pecan Cow

Did this for a customer who runs a signshop and needed the artwork for a logo he had designed. All vector art done in illustrator.

New website design

Im not that great of a web designer, and actually it takes me awhile to get up the gumption to fool with mine. Ive renamed my site from the Toon Factory, to John Deaton Perfessional Cartoonist. And, Ive redesigned it quite a bit. Check it out and look at my samples. Still adding some stuff in the coming days.
www.thetoonfactory.com

Running Bear...

I really have no idea what this was being used for. Just did what the client asked. But I think its pretty cool...

Speedy Rabbit

Did this cartoon illustration for a logo designer needing artwork of a "Speedy Rabbit". Its being used for a  gas station/mini mart type business.

Tractor pull Transformer

I recently did artwork of a truck as a transformer for a signshop whose client uses his truck in tractor pulls. He used the artwork on the back bed of the truck, along with lettering he designed. After installing the digital prints, he sent me a pic. I think it looks really cool...

Dodge Dakota

Just recently purchased a 2006 Dodge Dakota club cab for my main wheels, and I always like to use what vehicle I drive as part of my logo and such, so here it is.

Old Man on his Rocker...

The latest project Ive been working on. I get all kinds of requests for cartoon art for different projects. This time it was an old fella wearing overalls, sitting in a rocking chair. Never dull when you are a cartoonist...:)

Hot Rod Hearse

Yep, thats a hearse alright. Ive did a couple like this before for a customer, and he wanted another. Heck, if its a car or truck, Ill draw it, hot rod style that is...:) sketched with a pencil, then vectored and colored in illustrator.

Name change...

Ive changed the name of my blog to johndeatontoons, as I am dropping the Toon Factory name, as I have found out there are alot of Toon Factorys out there. Ill try and notify my subscribers and thank you for subscribing... John...

Truck Pull Transformer

Customer has a Truck used in truck pulls he wants drawn as a transformer with a chain over his back pulling on...whatever I guess,lol. This one was a little harder than most jobs. The truck he uses is an old style pickup cab with a big flatbed. They were really pleased with the sketch, so I knew they would like the finished art. This was hard but fun, and Im happy with the outcome...

Poke Sallet T Design

This is the design for the Poke Sallet Festival here in Harlan, Ky for 2011. I do the design for this every year. This year, they wanted the local magistrates and Judge Exec riding a pickup truck.

Simple little tow truck...

A simple cartoon drawing of a tow truck did for a client...

Recolored...

Recolored the 55 gasser from a previous post more to my liking...

Pretzel ball...

Client wanted a pretzel batting for a t shirt design for a softball tournament. This is pretty much the first time I have drawn a cartoon pretzel....playing ball even. I like it though.  Now every time I eat a pretzel, Ill think of this toon...lol

Cousins cartoon...

My cousin Scott likes to race dragsters. He wanted a cartoon of himself with a spray gun, as he also a auto painter part time. Didnt really look at pics to do this. Ive lived around Scott all my life, and he is hard to forget, lol. He plans on putting this on his dragster. Had fun with this one, as I do all of em...

Drag Bash Logo

This is an every year event in London Ky. Ive done the t-shirt designs for the last three years for this.

This year, they wanted something a little less cartoony and a specific car. I usually dont like to stray too far from my usual style, but I made an exception and thought it turned out pretty good. I still think it would have been cooler to distort this thing wildly and make it a cartooned up hot rod, but the customer was pleased, so thats cool too.

Chevy S10 Drag Truck

Finished this today for a webclient for  a tshirt design. Pretty cool looking ride. I bet this thing can haul....:) Pencil sketched first, then vectored and colored in illustrator.

Lawn tractor

I keep trying to draw things that I think I might need for projects. Maybe for signs, or T-shirt designs, or business cards, anything. I didn't have but one lawn tractor on hand that I drew a couple years ago, so I went to doing another one. This time I added a driver. That there is Cleotis. He has been driving lawn tractors all his life, and has cut grass from here to five miles down the road. Looks like he enjoys his job, doesn't he.

Panda Bear...

 I needed a Panda Bear for something I was working on, so I drew one up. Worked perfectly! Actually dont think I have ever drew a Panda Bear before. Something new every day!

Sketch and finish...

This will give you an idea of what a finished drawing looks like before its done and vice versa.

The rough sketch is on the left ready to take into illustrator and digitize with the drawing tools. Sometimes I go ahead and ink with a pen, then scan and open in illustrator and use the trace feature, then do the cleanup. But more and more, I have been taking the drawing into illy and using the pen tool to draw over the sketch. The lines are super clean and tight, and when you are doing vector, the cleaner and tighter you can get is best. I think Ill hop into my little truck and drive on down the road now....

Shortbus

I actually did this drawing sometime back, but took it back into illustrator and did some adjusting and color changes, and moved a few things around. This is what we call a shortbus, used primarily for preschools and such. Always loved the shape of them and decided one day to draw one and hot rod it up a little. Sort of a go to school cool thing...:)

Gunslinging Cowboy...

This is one from the sketchbook that I decided to go ahead and do a finish on. An old moustached 25 gallon hat, gunslinging cowboy. Ready to jerk that hot iron, or spit tabaccy juice in your eye. I can just imagine him saying, "Pardner, you're a lookin' at me like you want trouble. I think maybe you ought to think twice about that."

 Or maybe he's not saying anything. Just lookin' right mean... Happy Trails!

Hello and Welcome!

Now that Ive posted a couple things, and got used to this blogging thing a little, I thought I might post a little more about me and what I do. For the last 30 years, I have been a cartoonist/signmaker/designer. I started out pursuing cartooning full time, and trying to get a strip syndicated ( more on that later). I also submitted single panel gag cartoons to magazines with some success. I was published in Boys Life, The Saturday Evening Post, The National Enquirer, Globe, Soldiers, and even in an English textbook in Germany. I also was a semi regular contributor to CARtoons magazine in california back in the eighties, until it folded in 91. That really spurned my love of drawing cars, which took some time to get to where I am comfortable drawing them now. Ill basically try to draw anything in a cartoon fashion, cars, trucks, equipment, planes, people, animals, and I also do caricatures of either people or cars or animals. I intend to post much of what I do here on a regular basis so people can see what I do and hire me to do work for them and pay me money.:) Im more than glad to give an estimate on any type of cartoon work and can provide any type computer file such as vector, png,cdr,psd,jpg,gif,pdf, etc.
Im a happy guy with an hb pencil and sketchpad and I love to draw. Come by and visit every now and then and see some of my stuff...

Heres piggy! This was done for a client who has a barbeque restaurant and wanted a pig for their their signs, etc. They wanted a specific look to their character, and also wanted a refection of their business building in the sunglasses. That was something different, especially working in vector format, but Im really pleased with the way it turned out, and was was the client. Now Im hungry....

GATOR Plumber

I created this Gator character for a client that liked the Gator idea for another business they had, but wanted something different than what they had been using. They also wanted the machine that was used in their business. I start with a pencil sketch which is okayed by the client, then into illustrator for digitizing and supplying vector files so they can be used in any type of print work. This one was fun.