New set-up at work

I'm excited to have a drafting table at work; brought some drawings from the studio to work on.  Here are a couple close to finish.

Work in Progress

Here's an update on "Heart-Breaker."

Adding color, thinking story, atmosphere and mood. Getting great feedback via Facebook and have applied some of it in this. Thanks everyone!

Going to put it aside for a bit and get to making some art for Xmas gifts. I'll revisit it in January and try to put it to bed. Some things to address: Need to make sure her face is the first "read" in the image hierarchy. I want to use the LED lights to bounce you around the figure, out to the landscape and back ultimately. Some good crit included bouncing the warm, earth-tones into the armor to create more volume and make the rim-light on the figure match the material. I think I'd like to potentially add some other background elements. Need to thumbnail it back out and see. Anyway, enjoy!

Heartbreaker

More fun designing stuff. Does the world need another space marine? I doubt it but what's another going to hurt. Anyway, here she is. . . Heart-Breaker.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Caricatures

Been watching old episodes of Curb and sketching. Here are a finished Larry David and Jeff Greene and a rough sketch of the main cast. I scanned the sketches in, got some reference and painted these in Photoshop. Enjoy.

"Stolen Voices" Process

In a continuing effort to document my process and share it, I give you the process image for Stolen Voices. Enjoy. (To see the image larger, click the image and then click "Show Original" in the bottom left corner. Click the new image to Zoom In)

Kid Ronin

Latest character design with a little bit of a back-story. I feel like this is a first pass; that it could be richer so I'm open to some "costume" possibilities. This and previous designs are all done with a Wacom tablet and stylus in Photoshop. Enjoy.

Bubble-V(inny)

I'm continuing to create characters for fun and practice. I'm working in greyscale but will kick in with some color soon. Enjoy.

Ghost Girl

I'm prepping for Character Design class in the Spring. Here's "Ghost Girl" inspired by some cool movie characters and music. I'm pretty happy so far but I think she needs something . . .

Step by Step

I'm planning a lesson for my students in which they will be required to take a traditional life drawing and build it into a digital painting. They will have to add lighting, color, costume and environment. I needed to test the waters first and am happy with the results. If time permits I'd like to take this to a final stage. We shall see

Stolen Voices

Latest in the "Post Mortem" series . . . "Stolen Voices," mixed media on Mylar 24"x36"

Process: Blind Hubris

I'm trying to get into the habit of recording my process, mainly because I forget how I do things but also to share and learn more about how other artists make their work. While it's not heavy in process, it's here . . . enjoy.

Rapid Viz Painting Demo

Here's another demo I created for my students. I can't take credit for the technique. I learned it on Paul Richard's blog: http://autodestructdigital.blogspot.com

Skin Tone Studies

I'm creating a lecture and have been doing some skin tone demos for my Photoshop class. Here are some that were done so far illustrating the attributes of different skin tones. I thought it important to do studies of artists' work in order to see how they tackled skin tones rather than rely on photography. The artists I chose were J.W. Waterhouse, John Singer Sargent, Wong Kar-wai, Wai Ming and Gilbert Stuart. Feel free to use them if they are helpful. In order are: Mediterranean, African/Middle Eastern, Caucasian and Asian

Lolita

Finally an update. Here's the latest in the Post Mortem series . . .

Lolita, 4'x6' Acrylic on Canvas


Lolita Process
I tried to be diligent about documenting this piece but there are some pretty big jumps. Hope it's interesting nonetheless.

On the wall and on the easel . . . irons in the fire.

Here's more work in progress for the "Post Mortem" series. Through this series I am attempting to communicate the failings common in many of my relationships by creating a visual dialogue between figure and skull.


"Hubris II" mixed media on Mylar 24"x36"


"Hubris" mixed media on Mylar 24"x36"


Details . . .


"Coronation" mixed media on Mylar 36"x24"


"Bacchante" graphite on Arches 24"x36"

Undead King

I started this one a ways back, left it for dead and then resurrected it. Graphite and CS3.

Scout and Goblin

More freelance for the iPhone RPG.

Wizard

Here's an illustration for an unannounced IPhone RPG. It was created in Photoshop and based off a sketch of one of the models I often draw at the DigiPen Life Drawing sessions.



This is the sketch it was based off of.

Monkey on my back

While I was visiting with my folks this past Winter I came across an old painting I did entitled "Monkey on my back." It's essentially an illustration on various types of addictions. It's roughly a 4' x 3' Masonite panel done in charcoal, Conte crayon, colored pencil, ink, gesso, gold paint, collage, acrylic, oil, egg tempera, kitchen sink etc. - a true Mixed Media!!

It was exhibited at an arts festival back east and I overheard two people commenting on it.

The first said, "This isn't art!"

The second person said "This painting looks like how I feel when my wife asks me to mow the lawn!"

I think I like the second comment better!

Wrigley

Here's a drawing I did of my sister and brother-in-law's dog "Wrigley" for an Xmas gift. It's about 18"x24" and I used Sumi Ink, Conte Crayon and Acrylic. Wrigley's an energetic, playful pup so I did the drawing in one sitting and as loose as possible to emulate her personality.

More Work In Progress

Here's a painting tentatively titled "Hallelujah." It's linked to "Blind Hubris," a drawing you can see in an earlier post. The colors are off but I'll be taking a proper photo soon. Enjoy.

New Figure Drawings

I'll be attempting to upload new drawings from the weekly figure drawing session I run at DigiPen. Here's a couple to get the ball rolling. The first is a 5 minute and the next is a 20 minute.

Work in Progress

It's been a while since the last update but I've got a bunch of irons in the fire. The following are pieces in progress for the series "Post Mortem." Enjoy . . . feedback is always appreciated and encouraged :)



"Blind Hubris," graphite on Rives BFK



"Sacrifice," charcoal on vellum



"Sacrifice II," mixed media



"Salome," oil on canvas



"St. Bartholomew 2008," oil on canvas

Sketchbook part 2

Figures - mixed media. Poses ranging from 5 to 25 minutes.

Sketchbook part 1

Faces . . . conte and coffee from 25 to 5 minutes

Studio Tour

Here's a stitched up image of the new studio Eric and I are sharing. The space is much larger than the closet we shared before and even has a slop sink - yay! The studio is located at the OK Hotel. It's the same location as the gallery we co-curate so it inevitably acts as a storage space for the exhibiting artists.

The OK Hotel has a pretty significant cultural history for the role it played in the Seattle "Grunge" Scene. At one point the hotel had a stage, bar and a cafe and it was the first place Nirvana performed "Smells Like Teen Spirit." You can watch the gig on You Tube. Many important grunge bands played the hotel including Pearl Jam. I was informed that they recorded a music video there but I'm not sure of the song. Parts of the movie "Singles" were filmed there as well. I think I'll rent it and see. Whooopeee!