THE PIRATE'S CHEST

Patches

2012-01-28T22:51:00.000-08:00

I think she lives in this city I painted last year.

I wish I could make more time to create art for the public but my time is so very thin these days for things like that. I love working on the Defiance game here at Trion though and I'll most likely be able to share much of that work later on. Speaking of, the talented John Powell is joining my team but I still have openings. If you'd like to join us I'd love to hear from you!

Check some of these out! They're just beautiful! The blog itself is a treasure trove.
http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2012/01/paja-jovanovic-vrsac-1859-vienna-1957.html

Distraction Stage Left

2011-12-10T23:05:00.001-08:00

I hope this post finds you all well.

It's not like you haven't been to this link before: http://broadviewgraphics.blogspot.com/
I love how he's experimenting with a subtly graphic expression. It really does it for me.

A Friend's Gotta Do ...

2011-11-30T21:55:00.001-08:00

These were some sketches I did for a friends low budget movie. The characters are costume designs for the actors that he had worked up in written form. He had envisioned them made from things that would be fairly inexpensive and accessible so they are pretty basic. The scene sketch was a concept for a digital matte shot that another friend was going to create in 3D. So ya, just something I did last year.

I've got to mention it again but I need a top notch, well rounded concept artist for my team at Trion Worlds. I'm looking for someone who can do a realistic look, is good with characters and environments and wants to work on something sci-fi with me and the team.

I'm a sucker for peeps doing this sort of look, and this guy does it perfect: http://saigonradio.blogspot.com/

The Dynamic Duo

2011-09-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

This one's for you Dave and Jason. These two guys reminded me of you two. I'd link to both Dave and Jason but Jason's a ghost on the internet. Dave on the other hand you've probably already seen and loved but in case you haven't here's his blogging home: http://davidsketch.blogspot.com/

Have a fantastic weekend people! See you next post ...

Sketchy Saturday

2011-08-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

Nothing special, just some thoughts on paper. Gotta run, busy day. Why don't you swing on by here for a treat: http://claudioacciari.blogspot.com/

Pirates

2011-04-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Goes with this character. Also, check out Konstantin.

The 6pm

2010-12-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Sigh: http://artofkevinnelson.blogspot.com/

The Prime Minister's Witch

2010-11-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks guys for the comments on the last one.

Fantastic animator this guy. And he's obsessed with the best so you can't go wrong there: http://inspectorcleuzo.blogspot.com/

Some morning maintenance ...

2010-10-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

Check out my coworker Ian's blog if you haven't already. It's pretty dang awesome.

Style test

2010-03-08T15:10:00.001-08:00

Marks on paper

2010-03-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

By the light of the fireflies ...

2010-03-01T23:39:00.001-08:00

I'm not able to test this on another monitor so the dark values might all be crunched together for you. I hope not. It sure is annoying how varied monitors and their settings are. Although, some of my favorite artists can do a dark image that looks good on any monitor. I have this feeling that if your value range and value arrangement are both solid nothing but the worst monitor (and maybe not even then) can destroy it.

2nd encounter ...

2010-02-26T18:02:00.001-08:00

Eerily quiet ...

2010-02-25T23:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks everybody who takes the time to check out my blog. I appreciate it! And I doubly appreciate the comments that are left. On another note, I can't keep up with all the Red Dead news we're putting out now so I'm abandoning putting all the updates here. Just check out the official Red Dead page and check back often. I'm actually looking forward to playing this game proper as a gamer when we finish it all up. It's pretty cool.

Working at it ...

2010-02-23T20:56:00.001-08:00

Workshop post mortem

2010-02-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

The character design workshop went well other than there not being a microphone for me. I guess the people in the back had a really hard time hearing me and it was really distracting having to remember to raise my voice as loud as was needed. It felt like I needed to shout for them to hear me. It would have been easier were I standing in front just lecturing but I was hunched over a computer trying to draw too ... I'll need a mic for the next workshop I do. Other than that though I thought the presentation and demo went well. The turnout was pretty good and I'm appreciative of all the people who came. I hope it was instructional/inspiring for them as that's what I was shooting for. My favorite workshops always hit those two points for me. The format worked pretty well. I lectured on broad character design principles for the first 30 minutes and then spent about 30 minutes demoing random head sketches and talking a bit on the importance of the head/face as the focal point of a character. After that I spent the next hour turning one of those heads into a full character sketch (the girl on my sketch page with her hand on her hip). So that was the first half of the workshop and then we took a short break. After the break I showed some sketches I'd done the night before (those other sketches next to the girl plus the pirate sketch) and took a poll to see if people preferred I paint up the girl I'd just sketched or the pirate. The pirate won so I spent the next hour and a half painting the pirate up to the level you see here. The last half hour I spent on student paint/draw overs. Some of the students had put their own character paintings in a folder and I had time to draw/paint over two of them. I had a great time and hope to do more of these types of things in the future. Thanks again to all of you who came!

They're back ...

2010-02-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

Some rough sketches and concepts ...

Character Design Workshop

2010-02-09T23:09:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a character design workshop in a week and a half on the 20th of this month. It's primarily for students but also open to the public so I'm mentioning it here. It'll be down at the Art Institute of San Diego, Saturday the 20th from 1-5pm and it costs $20 to attend. Basically I'll lecture a bit and demo a bit. Call ahead to the school or swing by (if there's still room).

One Year

2010-02-01T23:54:00.000-08:00

My youngest is turning a year old and I did this of her. A bit different than the one I did of my oldest a few years back. In other news we released another gameplay trailer for Red Dead, this one highlighting the weapons and combat.

Gameplay

2009-12-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a cool gameplay feature on Red Dead you might enjoy. This one's for you Agadoni: Gameplay Trailer HD

Oh Ya ...

2009-12-09T00:59:00.000-08:00

New trailer up for Red Dead Redemption: HD Trailer #2

Sketchbook 01

2009-12-09T00:09:00.000-08:00

Some friends and I went up to Burbank two and a have weeks ago for the CTN Animation Expo and I left feeling like my life had been changed. That sounds a bit heavy and I don't mean like finding Jesus sort of life changing but it was artistically a big bundle of encouragement, inspiration, clarity, awakening ... I really felt at home there. The animation crowd was so happy and light spirited compared to the video game arts crowd I've been immersed in for the last 10 years. I dug it. And the level of artistic skill was through the roof! Anyway, my immediate goal that I started on as soon as I got home was to really learn how to draw. So I've been drawing like there's no tomorrow. I started a sketchbook at the expo and finished it tonight so here's a few of the pages from it. I'll start a new one tomorrow. The milestone I set for myself was six months from the expo. So, I'm going to cram as much study and practice as I can into my head in the next six months and see where I land. I'll set a new goal after that. I'm drawing from photos and life a lot but forcing myself to caricature what I'm seeing, trying to focus on personality and story. I haven't had so much fun at art in over a year!

Syfy

2009-10-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

What's up with the new spelling of the Sci Fi channel? I keep seeing 'syfylys' when I see the logo. Unpleasant. My blog has sat dormant for so long because of a mix of big life changes and work. I did have some time the last few weeks to design out a sci fi character in my bits of spare time. It's definitely out of the mold of the work I do for R*Games and it's nice to shake things up like this as often as I can. Anyway, here's hoping the next update comes sooner than this one did. I don't know about things mellowing out quite yet but eventually they will. Seasons come and seasons go.

The Dutchess

2009-02-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

I was studying some art and stumbled upon the above painting. I liked elements of the painting a lot which inspired me to make the sketch up top. I also watched the movie The Dutchess last night and found it visually just stunning. They always light and shoot those victorian movies like paintings. The movie itself was profoundly sad though.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION

2009-02-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

Announced today. So this is what I've been designing for three and a half years. Lots of fun. I'm excited to be able to share it finally and I'm looking forward to all of you getting a chance to play it later this year. There are a few characters in the screenshots that I designed and art directed including the main player. For more screenshots and info on the game visit this link. Larger screenshots can be found on the official site: RED DEAD REDEMPTION

Sketchbook

2009-02-02T22:58:00.001-08:00

Some pages from my sketchbook.

Page 1-3 comps

2009-01-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

Some compositions for the first three pages of my short (15 pages or so) comic. The colors and title are placeholder. I've got some other sketch book stuff too I'll try to scan in, nothing fancy.

Carnaval stuff ...

2008-10-27T00:32:00.000-07:00

I've worked here and there on developing my short comic but work and life decisions have been keeping me extra busy these last few weeks.

Odd and the Frost Giants

2008-10-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, thank you all for so much feedback. One person asked me how I developed my color sense and that's a funny question to me because color is hard for me and I feel right in the middle of developing it still. A few years back I realized that my color work was very weak because I'd spent all my time drawing and not thinking of color and light so since then I've made it a point to grow. It's as simple and as complicated as that. It's simple in that you just have to want it because if you do you'll start studying art that succeeds where you fail and trying it out yourself, driven forward by your desire to succeed as well. It's complicated in that there is no formula that I know of. I just bumble forward in the dark, grasping firmly to the rocks I feel and discarding the loose handholds, if that analogy makes sense. It feels odd to get complimented on an area I feel so inadequate in. You should look at a friend of mine instead, she has an amazing color sense (shelly wan). Look at legends like Paul Lasaine, study what they do.

Another person asked me how I draw in photoshop and I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that besides, "I just do." Maybe it's that the wacom feels natural to me. I've never had a problem with the disconnect between drawing on the tablet and looking at the monitor but I know a lot of people do. I don't know. Sorry.

Here are some sketches that Harper Collins asked me to do. Fingers crossed :)

The Warden

2008-09-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks guys again for the feedback. I do my work in Photoshop for those interested. I still draw in my paper sketchbook but I rarely post that work up here. Anyway, here's this weeks sketch.

Comic thumbnails

2008-09-19T09:54:00.001-07:00

So here are some thumbnails for my comic, quick sketches to help me define the camera POV. I'm working on how to introduce the readers to the story. You know, what do you see first and how do you see it type of thing. It has text that accompanies it too but I'll share that when the pages are on their way to being finished.

Plugged In

2008-09-12T17:19:00.001-07:00

Sketch for this week. I've been working on my short comic most of the time. Thanks for all the feedback that I get on this blog. I appreciate it.

Tink's betrayal

2008-08-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

River of Tears

2008-08-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

As a young boy I lived far from here at the base of a very large mountain. From the peaks of the mountain a river flowed down into our valley. A saltwater river. The elders said that at the top of the mountain was a tower and in it sat a princess who wept day and night, waiting for her prince to come rescue her. Until that happens her tears will flow down the mountain and through our valley.

Ya Tom, the texture is a bit gimmicky. For those that asked it's just the stupid texturizer filter with some pattern loaded in. I bet there's a way to make it look more natural ...

Urban Jungle

2008-08-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

Another silly warmup sketch because I want to be a good painter someday. Somebody mentioned ArtRage which I'm totally going to purchase but I'm using photoshop right now.

Attack of the robo thingy

2008-08-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

Sketches for the week. Let the weekend begin!

Enchanted: The Story of How We Met

2008-08-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Final

Color Block-In

Value Block-In

So I wrapped this piece up as you can see. Alas, yet again my artwork failed to live up to the hopes I had in the beginning. However, this piece went much smoother and faster and is in my estimation a much better piece technically than my last so I'm excited to have finished it and excited to move on. I'm going to submit this and the last illustration (the kids on the tank) to Spectrum this year and hope they make it in. We'll see. They take submissions around December I think. So anyway, this piece is about and inspired by my wife and the word that best describes how I feel about her: Enchanted. I'm going to tell my children when they're older that this is how their mother and I met and that they come from royal fairy blood. So that's it for finished stand-alone illustrations for a while. I'm moving back to my comic and the occasional sketches so stay posted. Next comic con I'll have a publication with my comic and some sketches and paintings in it thanks to the magic of internet publishing. I'm gonna try a few venues out. Lulu sounds promising. I'll also be selling some prints. Ok, until the next post!

Enchanted progress ...

2008-07-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this enchanted idea on and off for another month, sketching out different things as I search for a good angle on the story. I wanted my composition to be good this time so I took a break and worked on some composition studies as well in my spare time. Guys like Dean Cornwell and Juarez Mercado really help me out and I'll do quick line drawings and then value drawings from their work. The above image is the final drawing I'm working on painting now.

Sketch that finally got me really excited.

Sketch I almost went with.

I played around with the idea of critters being enchanted by her instead of a guy.

Color comp for a previous sketch.

Drawins

2008-06-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

I've been trying out some different brushes and techniques in an attempt to bring value to my sketches. I'd like to start thinking in light and dark before I finish a drawing so that the painting step isn't such a big leap from the sketch. In addition to just fooling around in my sketchbook I started sketching for a new illustration I'm doing called 'Enchanted'. I have a post down below with my first sketch for it. I've just been working out the story and figures at this point. I'd like to plan this one better because the last one I did I feel is held together by shoe-string and bubblegum, if that makes sense.

Sketching away ...

2008-05-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the comments everybody. I had a couple of technical questions so I'll answer them here. I usually sketch in photoshop or on paper and I always paint in photoshop. Today's batch of sketches were drawn in photoshop. The demo I'm doing this saturday will be in photoshop and I'll be sure to post up what I go over. Somebody asked what size I work and that really depends on the piece or sketch. I always set my canvas to 300 dpi and then pick a size that feels appropriate, as small as 2"x3" to as big as 11"x17". About the same sizes I'd create on paper. I don't go bigger because the computers I use don't handle it well and I've found that I can make prints look ok at double that size, and that's plenty big enough for illustration.

Enchanted pool

2008-05-16T09:13:00.001-07:00

So I found out the demo I'm doing at the Art Institute of San Diego filled up rather quickly but it was also only for students of the school. However, if this goes well they've offered to have me do another for the public soon after. I hope this goes well. On another note I'm very excited because I've had some very cool opportunities arise, but I won't speak of those here. Suffice to say I feel rather blessed because I surely haven't done anything to deserve the life my maker's given me. I guarantee you that. But you know what? If God took it all away I'd still be blessed because I'd still have life in Him, and that lasts forever. All this here will eventually turn to dust.

I'm trying to be like one of my bosses with this new post but I failed. He's just too good for me to equal. But that only makes me push harder!

Somebody asked what 'advanced drawing' is in regards to the demo I was asked to do and to tell you the truth I have no idea. I think they spin it as an advanced drawing workshop to sell it as something above and beyond what the students are getting on a daily basis at the school. Helps sell tickets I'm guessing.

2 more ...

2008-05-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Top one is a study of the film Atonement and the bottom is a sword fight by firelight.

Yet again ...

2008-05-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

Another abstract sketch up top and an abstract color/light study from the film Cold Mountain on bottom.

Even more ...

2008-05-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Yes. Even more. Keeping it abstract is helping me focus on color and composition. There's nothing else to get caught up in. I'm finding that I spend more time on the subtleties of color when I do these. I don't have to worry about the drawing, or anything literal for that matter. I take that back. The color I'm trying to achieve is very literal. If you look back a couple of posts at my cartoon guy getting shocked you'll see the palette is fantasy eye candy. Nothing you'd find in nature, where as I'm hoping these palettes bring a literal and tangible sensation to mind. Even amidst the abstraction I can feel the cool morning dew and the sliver of warmth coming up over the horizon.

More abstract landscapes

2008-05-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

Abstract landscapes

2008-05-01T10:13:00.001-07:00

Enchanted

2008-04-29T00:38:00.001-07:00

The Art Institute of San Diego has asked me to host an advanced drawing workshop for it's students and it looks like I'll be doing it May 24th. Don't hold me to that yet. I think it's only open to students but I'm not sure. I know there's a charge for it. I've never done anything like this so I'll make sure to prepare good. It's going to be weird. Hope I draw good that day. I hope it's not like giving a speech in front of class. I hated speech class. I like to teach though, so it should be fine. And like I said, I'll prepare. I've already got a basic game plan. This sketch is related to my next illustration.

ZAP!!!

2008-04-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just a sketch for today. I've got an idea for my next illustration in mind and I've just barely begun sketching. Thanks for all the kind words and helpful critiques on my last illustration!

Fagin's Lot

2008-04-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'm calling it done. My process was less than ideal. I think it could have been more organic and thus faster. I'm estimating this took me five work days from initial sketch to finish. How do I feel about it? It doesn't work like I was hoping. I'm not very happy with my composition. I like the arrangement of elements but the whole shot itself just isn't very interesting to me. I didn't see that in my sketch. Doh! There are elements here and there that work better than the whole to me. What do you think? Time for the next piece ...

Progress 3 ...

2008-03-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

I spent some time last night working on this again. I need to mull over the three options below before I move forward. Not sure how I feel yet ...

Progress 2 ...

2008-03-05T09:14:00.001-08:00

I had some time last night to revisit this piece. Decided to muscle through the problems I was having instead of scrapping all the color/value and trying a different approach. This piece is so far under my expectations right now and I'm frustrated but I have a hope for it. I think through some hard work and feedback from others I'll be able to get it closer to what I'd hoped for. I dig unified color palettes but right now absolutely nothing in the scene has a local color so that's gotta change. I don't know. What do you think? Seriously, tell me what you think.

Progress ...

2008-03-03T09:25:00.001-08:00

Some progress on the illustration. I don't think it's quite working ... might need to rethink what I just did on it.

Away we go ...

2008-02-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

So one of my bosses (an amazing artist by the name of David Hong) and I talked about doing an illustration challenge with each other where we would both create an illustration from the same theme. The theme we decided on was 'Away we go'. Another two or so of our coworkers (Ted Bradshaw and Jason Castagna) and one of my best friends forever from my school days Brian Miller joined up too. So anyway, here's my progress so far:

First step, I listened to some music to get inspiration, just letting the theme run through my head as I listened and viola, an image popped into my head. When I went to draw it later it didn't come out quite like I had originally envisioned. I spent time experimenting and redrawing things, letting the illustration form organically.

The next night I took a look at where it was and now that I had my basic image I tackled composition and continued to work on the characters. When I got this I was pretty pleased with the flow of the image and was ready to flesh out the characters next time I sat down to it.

So in between I ran it by my wife and she looked at it for a sec and then was like, "what if they were kids? Right now it's boring to me." I mulled it over and decided to go with it. As I worked this out the story of Oliver Twist popped into my head and I decided to keep the top guy a grownup and call him Fagin and the kids are his gang of hooligans. I call the piece now 'Fagin's Lot'. Their flag is an homage to Lord of the Flies. While I liked the story it now had I felt that I'd broken the composition with the new figures. Oh well, next time I'd work on that.

So last night I tackled fixing the composition and bringing more character into it. This is where it stands as of now. I've got to tweak the position of things still and redraw the flag. The pig emblem will be back later. I'll keep the blog updated with progress.

Color sketches 2

2008-02-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

Photoshop

Nintendo DS

So after the new year I took some time in Hawaii with my family and generally took a break from drawing/painting for a couple of weeks unless it was work related. Then work got really busy for me and I found myself working extra hours, leaving no time for personal art of any kind. I managed a few more color sketches about a month back and then I picked up a Nintendo DS to use as a color sketchbook. People, that thing is awesome! The color gamut of the screen is a bit limited but it's not bad. I'm just so happy that I can paint wherever I go. I mean, I've sketched for years and because of that learned a lot about form and line and drawing but color and light were always things that I neglected to a large degree. So, while my efforts aren't extraordinary by any means they're very valuable to me because the more times I can fail the closer I get to success. I'm just happy to be able to get that mileage now. Before I had to sit at my computer to work in color or if I were to paint traditionally I'd have to plan for it, carry around the paints, set up, clean up ... so in short it rarely happened. The DS fits into my life a whole lot better. I have this bad habit of using unsophisticated garish palettes. Must ... tame ... color!

Mexican village street

2008-01-03T13:16:00.001-08:00

Another sketch of the little Mexican village where my story opens. Dudes and dudettes, if you ever think, "hmm, he could've done that better ..." or anything along those lines please by all means leave me that bit of criticism. I'll take all the help I can get. Happy new year by the way and a belated merry Christmas for those who celebrate with me!

Color sketches

2008-01-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

Little color doodles from the last couple of days. Think of it as a sketch page of little doodles only in color and digital. And by the way, he was killed in the billiards room with the candelabra ... still working on who did it. Or maybe it was in the lounge with the rope? Shoot ...

Oh, by the way, on doodles like these I'm focusing on the 'broad strokes' as one of my bosses says, ie composition and light/value/color. If anybody checking these out has any suggestions in this department please help me. My broad strokes are clumsy. Pretty please help.

Update

2007-12-02T21:43:00.001-08:00

Glad you guys liked the last two sketches. I'm always trying my hardest to get better both artistically (what I'm saying, the emotive) and technically (the craft). It's so, so very hard I feel to do even one let alone both well. Been working slowly in some of my off time on my story Carnivale de la Sangre. Here are some color sketches where I'm trying to find my way. I went about this story really weird. So it's my own script but I'm still having a hard time visualizing it. For some reason when I write I come at things from a character's emotional perspective, like what is felt and said ... not exactly what is seen. I didn't notice this until I sat down to visualize this project. So anyway, I'm having a hard time solidifying these 'feelings' into actual places to paint but I'm making progress. Some of these images are more successful than others but each has something in it that is a marker for what I want to achieve at the end of this.

Lunch Special

2007-11-22T22:38:00.000-08:00

As in I drew this while at lunch with some coworkers the other day. Not like I want to eat him. Sicko.

Harbinger of Doom

2007-11-21T12:01:00.000-08:00

Ya right, by the time you see her coming your way you missed the harbinger and skipped to the doom. Better run. Evening doodle. I think I was inspired by Mignola. I've always liked his work but never purchased any Hellboys. My boss was like, what?, and let me borrow the one where it goes through Hellboy's origin and his faceoff against Rasputin. Good read, very cinematic. I just got back from lunch with some coworkers/bosses. We did the 'jungle cruise' lunch trek today where instead of taking the sidewalk up the street to the deli we cut behind the business park. This route takes us off the beaten and paved path and requires some crawling through bushes and scampering up and down hills. A friend of mine who used to work here used to do it in high heeled boots. She's very multi talented!

Cyborg Faries

2007-11-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

Or something. I swear I'm working on my comic. I'll have some sketches to show soon. It's a hard process for me so sometimes it's nice to take a 30 min break and just doodle what comes naturally, what's easy for me. It's sort of a release when I'm focusing so intently on solving art and story problems that keep the creative output slow. This is a page I filled up over the last week when I needed breaks.

Quick-o-doodles

2007-11-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

Two quick doodles because I needed a break from working on my comic. Just some skeezy characters maybe up to no good. Well, at least one of them. The color rough you might recognize from a sketch I posted months ago. I shrunk it down to the size you see here and toyed with some color on it.

School time

2007-11-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

I go through these periods where I do lots of studies, whenever I get hung up on something and realize that I'm not going to find the answer somewhere deep inside my brain. It's like giving up and going back to the manual to be enlightened. Maybe 8 months ago or something I did these color studies from somebody else's good photography. I wish I'd been more careful in drawing these out and made some nice forms so that these were a little bit nicer to look at but I was only really concerned with the color and value dynamics when I did these.

About a month ago I did some horse drawings, just after I finished that sketch I posted a while back with the dude and horse outside the old castle. Some of these were studies and some were drawings of my own using what I learned in the studies. The painted up one started as a lineart study that I went back to and painted from memory/imagination. That right there was confirmation that studies like these are well worth my time. When you feel the information sticking and empowering you to create from your imagination it's like flying. It really is.

Self Portrait

2007-11-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I participated in ConceptArt.org's international day of self portraiture. The only rule was that it had to be started and finished yesterday, sort of a snapshot in time. Ten years ago I did a self portrait at the end of high school where I had myself as sort of a synthetic being overgrown with plant life so I decided to visit that theme again. I'll try to dig up that old portrait. It's big so there are only like two places it could be in my house.

My little princess

2007-10-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month since my last post and I have nothing to show except a simple portrait I did of my daughter the other day. My time's been spent helping my brother with a project, family stuff, and watching the news to see if we were going to have to run away from our home as huge scary forest fires ran over it. I live in San Diego and the entire county was almost burned down this last week. Fortunately I live in one of the two oasis' that the fire didn't reach before the winds and humidity changed, enabling firefighters to get this thing under control. Now, as things are returning to normal it's a chore to get my head back into my comic. I'm working on it tonight a bit finally, as soon as I finish this post. With that I think I'll get to work.

Carnivale of Blood

2007-10-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

So like I mentioned a few posts back I got serious about working on my short comic. The script has been finished for just over a year now but the work I did for it back then sucked so bad I ran away like a baby girl. I'm definitely at a better spot this year but it's going to be a rough ride as I push through this. But I'm just being honest. Art isn't easy for me but I sure do love it! Who doesn't like a good challenge? So the short (9 pages) story is titled "Carnaval de la Sangre". I started sketching out my characters and a bit of the world they inhabit two weeks ago. I did pages and pages of sketches for the characters before I got to the look that I'm sharing now. Like pages. Especially the vendor. I struggled bad on him but I'm feeling good about him now. The little girl I didn't do too much work on actually because I'd had this little girl I created as Alice about a year and half ago that I posted way back on my blog that I really needed to use in something. I just loved her but I was never going to do anything with the Alice character. So her design just stemmed from that and was very quick. There is one more character to design but it's not human and will take some work and then there's the world and a few key props and then story design and color comps and so much exciting stuff!! And then the final comic and it will all be done. Most of my fun is in the development of a property so I'll be spending lots of time developing this one before the real comic-y stuff ever gets touched.

Scribbles

2007-09-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

This guy cracks me up: Video, Audio1, Audio2. You'll notice some of the jokes repeated in the different performances but the new jokes in there are worth it ... Ladies.

And by the way Valve, you guys are geniuses. Seriously. Take a look if you haven't already at these new character introductions for their game Team Fortress 2: Engineer Trailer, the rest.

Scenic Route

2007-09-13T23:55:00.001-07:00

It's been longer than usual since my last post because I just haven't had anything to share. The last couple of weeks I've opted to read instead of draw in my spare time and got through the first book in the Otherland series by Tad Williams and the seventh and final Harry Potter book. Otherland was great. It was so fresh to me and really got my imagination going. I'm very excited to finish the other three books in the series, at least I think it's three? The last Harry Potter book was just amazing. I've enjoyed the series but haven't loved it simply because each book follows a very predictable formula. The kids attend school for a year while trying to solve some new mystery but nothing of real consequence happens until the end. Sort of Hardy Boys if you know what I mean. I'm not saying it's a bad formula, just that it bored me, particularly the drudgery of each school year. Now the last book was crazy different. Forget school altogether. It was epic. Everything that happened had so much meaning, such consequence. I don't think I would have felt what I felt though without the other six books. The last book really made me appreciate the rest of the series. It tied everything up so satisfyingly for me. What really struck me was how thought out the last book showed the series to be. Things that I had thought unimportant and disconnected turned out to be key to everything. It really blew me away how attached I had become to the kids. I felt sad when I put the book down, like I was never going to hear from three friends again. Boo hoo. Oh well, such is the way of a good book.

Oh ya, I dug transformers and my favorite parts were towards the end where you really saw the robot's personalities. I wish we could have gotten to see their characters through more of the film, more story from their perspective. Their story was far more interesting than the humans. The humans should have just been along for the ride, the sidekicks. Hopefully a sequel goes the way of T2 and makes the robots the main characters.

Oh ya, I wrote a short story for a short comic (like 9 pages or something) a while back that I'm gonna start working on now. It's going to be a learning process unfortunately so prepare to be unimpressed.

Busy 2 Weeks

2007-08-18T00:32:00.000-07:00

I've been super busy for the last two weeks with family stuff but things are looking like they are about to slow down now. It was a good two weeks though. I did however find some time to sketch amidst the business I'm happy to say. Tomorrow I get to see Transformers finally and I have to say I've been looking forward to this for a long while now. We'll see how it turns out. Comic-con was lots of fun as usual. I grabbed a sweet french/spanish comic and talked with some inspiring artists. Very fun!

A graphic novel? What?

2007-08-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Ya, don't hold your breath. I'm still working on learning some things better before I make it. This was just another sketch.

Old Grizwald

2007-07-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Back on that old ship you had to be good with a blade. Every one of us was. None was better than old Grizwald though. He was quick as lighting that one.

Going to the comic con this thursday! Woohoo!

Sewer Sentry

2007-07-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

This guy demands a toll to pass through these sewers. Hope you can pay because the alternative is not very pleasant. I'm very busy right now but still working hard and I'll have more sketches to show shortly. I can't wait for the comic con next week! New artbooks!!

Excuse me, I have a question ...

2007-07-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Character ...

2007-06-26T17:27:00.001-07:00

I'm always trying to create character ... to really create a person on my paper, someone who is aware of me drawing them, someone with life ...

Motley Crew

2007-06-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

The last three days I just warmed up with a quick character doodle using the previous day's as inspiration for the next.

Autopilot

2007-06-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

A spaceship doodle. Nothing fancy, just keeping the hand moving outside of work. Office Space was on comedy central tonight and it had me cracking up all over again. That movie takes such perfect jabs at 'corporateness' for lack of a better word, or a real word for that matter. Huh, I just googled the word and it looks like it might in fact be a real word. English is a bizarre language. I just ran the spellcheck on blogger though and it flagged it as a fake word. So who's right? I'm guessing blogger and my gut. Google caves in to peer pressure.

Sentry

2007-06-08T13:02:00.001-07:00

I took one of those little sketches I posted below and painted it up. I happened to snap a progress shot just after I finished setting up the painting so the curious can see how something like this evolves when I work without direction.

Ashley Wood Style Swipe

2007-06-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

Just as I finished this drawing in my digital sketchbook I decided to swerve into Ashley Wood styling for the finish. I feel a little uncomfortable showing something as influenced as this sketch so just pretend that Mr. Wood did it, with his left hand and while dead drunk (right hand if he's left handed).

Quick post

2007-05-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Just sneaking in a quick post. Another sketch as I continue my efforts at storytelling.

Movie musings ...

2007-05-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

I saw The Fountain today and really appreciated it. I'm fond of heavy topics like death and the afterlife. I've never been one to be able to ignore the big questions. I've neglected many things but certain things just eat at me until I give them proper attention. I'm very thankful for this tugging. Without it I'm afraid I would be lost. I thought the film did a beautiful job of showing the loss of fighting death particularly when there is still life to tend. I imagine that any man who loves his wife will connect with this film on some level. It was so sad to watch him throw away his last days with her but at the same time I completely understood his fear and what drove him to make the sad choice. I like stories like this that feel almost like a poem, where the rational of the piece eludes you at first leaving you a bit confused but at the same time there's something there totally connecting with your soul. And then, when all said and done you find the pieces have fallen into place. I feel like I participated in a story like this. Anyway, I'd recommend it. The only thing I'd change, and this would be done begrudgingly because it was beautiful, would be to change the concept of his spaceship to something a bit more recognizable. I'm afraid that I wouldn't have gotten that that was a spaceship and thus the far future if I hadn't read that somewhere before watching the film. My wife didn't get it until I told her after the film and I'm not sure how anybody could've perceived it as a spaceship without some help. Maybe we're just not very bright. But I would've done something very subtle to suggest that it was a manmade vessel. Ok, I'm out till next time.

Garage Sale

2007-05-20T12:14:00.001-07:00

I did these two sketches in between groups coming by our garage sale yesterday morning. The turnout was a bit crappy and I ended up donating a good chunk of our old stuff to a charity after the sale. At least things are a bit more organized here now and somebody can use what we didn't have room for. That's all I have time to write though. Things to do, places to go.

Step 2

2007-05-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

I think I mentioned this but I've been systematically studying different aspects of illustration for the last couple of months and recently I've started working on creating a full scene. It's a lot for me to juggle and I keep dropping the balls but as one of my bosses told me "I think you just have to try it". There's no figuring it out until I fail enough times I guess.

Keeping the hand busy

2007-05-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Just keeping the hand busy in the midst of life's business.

Spare Time

2007-04-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a page from my digital sketchbook. Unrelated scenes as I let my creativity and hand wander.

And this is another sketch that I did with the intent of painting a slightly different way than I usually do.

Tarzan

2007-04-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

My boss inspired these Tarzan sketches I did the other night. Not because he swings around the office in a loin cloth (even though he does) but because he's working on a Tarzan illustration in his spare time. I was really drawn to the challenge of drawing a man swinging through the tree tops in both a dynamic way and also a believable way. What do you do with your legs when you swing like that? Some ape videos on youtube were really helpful.

What goes up must come down ...

2007-03-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

Making art is always a thrill and a letdown. It's absolutely thrilling to create. There's nothing quite like it. But being as flawed as I am it is such a letdown. It's never as cool as I imagine it will be. I can never get it absolutely right. What am I to do? Try again I suppose, think a little bit harder and put my hand through the rigors of practice.

Someone asked me on my last post what words of advice I'd have for someone who wanted to do what I do. It feels a bit silly answering such questions at this young point in my life but when I think about it, despite my youth I do have some strong feelings about what an artist can do to better succeed at this craft. You really must learn to draw. To draw right and to draw expressively. Study how to depict accurate forms in perspective in a 2D space. That alone is a huge piece of this puzzle and one that I struggle with daily. Of equal importance is learning how to paint. To compose light and color like a symphony. I had an eye opening experience about 2 years back when I realized that I was shrugging off mistakes in my artwork. I'd see it but brush it aside thinking, "well I'll fix that in the next piece." It hit me one day that that mistake was only going to be repeated unless I fixed it now. Fix everything you can see that's wrong in a piece. You're the only one who can fix it and nothing is stopping you. Even with this attitude you'll still hit brick walls but it's a start. How do you fix something though? You find out how to do it right. Find some reference. Find how another artist solves the problem. Do some studies of that solution then come back and fix it. If you want to get better you are going to have to open your eyes wide to your mistakes. Really look for them. The other thing I can think of is that as a concept artist you are equally an illustrator and designer. Design is just as important as the illustrative execution. I don't know. You shouldn't ask me these questions until I know what I'm talking about. Oh ya, one more thing that I heard from Ian McCaig at the last Gnomon Workshop. You know how we look through tons of reference before we start drawing something we're unfamiliar with? He said that to not only get it in your brain but also in your hand, quickly sketch that reference as you go through it. That way you actually learn and retain it. This has helped me immensely. I repeat, immensely.

Geisha

2007-03-08T23:57:00.000-08:00

Floating geisha ghosts are creepy. I find the biggest challenge with art is my own perfectionism which shines an ugly light on all my artistic shortcomings. But hey, what you can see you can fix so thank God for the ugly light, otherwise I'd sit in the dark lost forever and nothing sounds more like a nightmare than being lost forever. I've been studying a lot lately. Working hard on problem solving the fundamentals of art. I recently acquired Glenn Vilppu's notes on figure drawing from your imagination and he starts off the lecture saying that in his experience most artists struggling with something are deficient in the fundamentals. The problem he states is that many artists fancy themselves as better than they actually are. They move on past these basics and wonder why they struggle. I came across this same realization in my own work only a few months back and reading this reinforced what I had stumbled upon.

The Monkey King

2007-02-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

Another little cross studio challenge with Blue Sky. You can see their awesome entries here, and my fellow rockstar's smokin' entries here. A fun time was again had by all. Watch for a few more entires on both sites since the deadline isn't until friday night.

Something in the closet ...

2007-02-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

This weeks creative challenge theme at work was monsters. I was sick this week and only had time for a page of sketches, all of it unreferenced. I say unreferenced because I didn't use reference and that my friends makes me very happy. One step closer to artistic freedom. I guess that's a quirk of mine.

So I saw Barnyard and loved it. While not an artistic achievement visually it was still a great movie. Heartfelt story, great message, hilarious characters and awesome music. Just a good comedy all around. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves quirky characters, comedy and stories of redemption.

On another note I got DuckTales, Talespin and Gummi Bears DVD collections for my birthday. Those cartoons are just as awesome as when I watched them as a kid!! I can't believe how incredible they are. I read recently that during the late eighties the animation industry was in a slump so feature film quality animators and artists were working on TV cartoons, hence the reason that these cartoons look so good. When I IMDB'd some of my favorite animation artists their credits included the expected Little Mermaid, Aladdin etc but also DuckTales. How awesome is that? They shaped me in so many ways and it is so cool that they won't be lost in my childhood anymore. More than that, now I can raise my kids on the same sweet stuff that inspired the artist I am today. Good times, good times.

Trash day can be a very dangerous day ...

2007-01-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a little star wars sketch because this week Rockstar joined Blue Sky for their weekly themed sketch challenge. A good time was had by all. At least I had a good time.

Pixel Days

2007-01-17T00:08:00.000-08:00

My graphic design background landed me my first job in the game industry. I worked on mobile games creating the HUDs and menu interfaces. It was super fun but it still wasn't fulfilling my passion to draw and paint. This was for the Kingdom Hearts 3D mobile adventure, a rare chance to illustrate back then. It was used as a loading screen before the 'Alice in Wonderland' level. Painted at the size you see for pixel crispness.

These are the HUD and menu interface designs and animations I did for The Incredibles 3D game. The thing about cell phone games is that they have to work on a variety of phones with a variety of screen dimensions so I always had to come up with designs that were scalable. The first image demonstrated how that screen would scale because it was made up of four corner pieces and tileable pieces between the larger graphics. I'd have to show you for it to make sense unless you've done that sort of thing.

This was a design for the main menu of a snowboarding game. I was provided with a temp background image and told to create a menu on top of it. The title was to come later but I left the company before we came back to this game.

Lastly we have a nice baja desert racing game. Initially I was asked to create the HUD and an example of how to go about creating a tileable isometric graphic background (example above). Another team was going to be doing the graphics. When that wasn't working out so well I took over all the graphic responsibilities from the tiled background to the car animations. The top two images show both the entire range of car states I created for the animations as well as the full set of tiles layed out in a possible track shape. If you've never worked on pixel games and haven't had to create a rich world from something like fifty tiles I'd recommend it. It's incredibly challenging and satisfying. Or maybe I'm just funny that way. I wish I were given the opportunity to design and layout the tracks but the designers in Moscow were given that privelige. In the end I got producer credits on the game and learned a whole lot about making a sprite based racing game and managing a team located in Moscow while I sat in an office in southern california. Those were really fun days but like I said earlier, not as fun as now.

Actually I lied. Here's one very last background I did for the village level in Van Helsing. This entire level was limited to seventeen tiles so there wasn't too much to work with. You know, these probably suck and a real pixel artist is probably laughing at them right now but boy were they fun to figure out. For an artist I'm incredibly left brained.

Wisdom's Council

2007-01-17T00:02:00.000-08:00

Something I doodled about two weeks ago. I think I'll paint it later this week if I get some time.

Alice

2007-01-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

A little over a year ago the company I was at was in the process of folding and I ended up needing to find work fast. So, like every artist looking for work I put together a web page. Now, making a web page wasn't a new thing for me. Before I was a concept artist I was a graphic designer for the first two years out of school and in those two years I redesigned my web site five times and each time I spent lots and lots of time designing it. I always saw my web page as something very personal and it took a while to find the design I was happy with. Part of my transition to becoming a full time illustrator/concept artist was having to push the graphic design work out of my life because I just didn't have the time to do both. I knew that if I wanted to get good at drawing I was going to have to really really focus on it. I still have my last designed portfolio site up on my domain but it's been stuck up in the attic (old portfolio). I guess I keep it live as a sort of last testament to that old life. Nobody ever sees it but taking it down just feels sad to me. While sites like this got me more graphic design work there was no end to the illustrators complaining that they wanted bigger images and were sick of fancy sites that were hard to navigate. So, when I found myself in need of work again and needing a new web page that marketed myself as a concept artist I decided to keep it simple this time. Very simple. The idea was to just get my illustrations in front of art directors and show them off as big as I could on the web without being disgusting about it. The only other thing I needed on the site was a way to contact me since every time I sent this site out to an art director it was accompanied by my resume which told them everything they needed to know about me. It came to my attention recently that a small group of people outside of the industry I work in are looking at my work and are confused by what they see, since I offer no explanation on my webpage. So for anybody outside of the entertainment industry or just unfamiliar with this type of work, my portfolio is an odd assortment of concept designs I've done for the video game and film industries. Someone in my position is expected to quickly generate things like character designs, environment designs, creature designs etc. I do a lot of sketching and most of the work I do you would never call 'finished' as far as illustration goes. But that's my job. It's more about the idea, the design, the mood, the color, the light. Once that's there it is finished as far as concept design goes. It's a fun field to work in and suits me perfectly. At least for now. It was the perfect way to marry my desire to illustrate and design. So anyway, that's what you're seeing on my site.

These sketches up top were done about a year ago when I was playing around with an Alice and Wonderland concept in my spare time.

Solitude

2006-12-31T23:54:00.000-08:00

There's an incredible power in solitude. That empty silence. No distractions. Where you can feel the creator breathing slowly in your face, his breath sustaining your fragile existence. These moments are too few or perhaps it's too bad that I'm so easily distracted. Oh but the breath, like sunlight on cool skin where you feel your body suck it up like a dry sponge touched by water.

These little sketches I did got me thinking along those lines tonight as I sit here in stillness after the family has all gone to bed. I'm tired though and I think it's time to join them. See you in slumberland.

The Duke

2006-12-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

The Duke will see you now.

Chosen

2006-12-26T23:55:00.000-08:00

This concept is from one of my stories. It's a story I haven't worked on for a while now. I've been busy with another one, one that is much further along. It's late and I don't know what else to write. I wanted to get up another sketch tonight so I stayed up a little to post this. Midnight is really late for me anymore. That's what happens when you get old I hear. That reminds me, I saw Lady in the Water recently and I have to say I loved it despite expecting to absolutely hate it. That sort of happened with his last movie The Village. While I didn't love it I did like it and was convinced before seeing it that it would be a drudgery of a film. Lady in the Water is my favorite film by Shyamalan. He'd abandoned his Sixth Sense formula finally and told the type of story that I really appreciate, a fantasy with a practical message (that I personally found inspiring). I would agree with many critics that playing the writer in his film wasn't the best choice. All the other characters in the apartment were incredibly unique and quirky but the writer was a bit of a let down when you think of what the character could've been like. Now I don't know him or his intentions but him playing the part felt a bit presumptuous, but that could just be me. In the end though it wasn't a big distraction.

Squiddle

2006-12-21T23:00:00.000-08:00

Since it's so fun to dig up old stuff that I never really shared I think I'll continue, particularly since anything that I'm working on now for Rockstar won't see the light of day for a very very long time. I do keep a sketchbook and occasionally find the time for a painting here and there and I'll be sure to share those as well. This was a dressed up sketch of a property I worked on at Brain Tangent. Even though I rarely do it I always like to put art in motion or to music. I love creating things that feel alive.

Cacti

2006-12-20T23:42:00.000-08:00

This is another old concept, going on 2 years old. The idea was a monster made of cacti parts. I was saving the little thorns for the painting which ended up not being needed. I remember struggling through different head designs. He kept looking too much like various animals and I really wanted him to be more alien, as in foreign. I'm happy with the final head. It feels right to me, but hey, you might hate it.

Nazi Witch

2006-12-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

This is a real rough concept from about a year and a half ago, maybe a little longer. It was for one of the many original properties we were working on at Brain Tangent. I thought that I was going to finish it sometime for myself but a lots happened since then and it's just so old now that I'd rather just keep moving forward. That job was an interesting experience. I really got to try my pencil on a variety of projects and styles. Lots of fun and it really helps you grow. Very different than where I am now, working on the same thing for over a year with longer to go. Both situations taught me such different things. There's something so rewarding about really fleshing out a project, spending lots and lots of time on it. I find it very enjoyable right now.

Christmas 06

2006-12-20T02:02:00.000-08:00

I did this up for Rockstar's Christmas party invites this year. The theme was 'winter wonderland'.

Frog Prince

2006-12-20T01:03:00.000-08:00

A saturday afternoon spent exploring a photoshop canvas and this is what I ended up with.