Jack Interrupts Dinner

So I'm not finished with this, and I'm not totally happy with it either... but what the heck, here it is anyway.

...and some gestures

Experimenting with a brush pen and watercolor.

Jack Props

Grandpa Stan

Stan is my wife's grandfather.  He is 87 years old and I've never met a busier person.  Every minute of his day is filled with useful tasks. Stan has done a lot of good in his life and he basically just refuses to stop.  He supported his family as an architectural render and sign painter so maybe that's one reason why I feel a general kinship with him.  In the time that I have been able to get to know him, I have come to love and respect him very much.

Over the holiday break I found a little time to sketch during our large family gatherings. These studies of Stan are some of my favorites.

Faust and Dolan

Two characters for a story I've been working on.

Happy Halloween

Jack and the Beanstalk Characters

Here is my first color pass on these Jack and the Beanstalk characters for my concept design class. Even though these are not the finished designs, I was happy enough with this pass to post them. The finished ones will be due a little later on in the term.

From the left we have the Giant, his cook, Yanana the harp playing slave, and Jack. Jack is the type of kid who has porridge every morning and still thinks it's "the greatest thing in the whole wide world!" I was also thinking it would be funny if he were initially completely oblivious to the dangers around him.

Brush pen face doodles

My wife was editing some photos for a relative and I decided to keep her company. It was getting late which might explain some of these. The semester is already getting pretty crazy so it was nice to take a brake from all my assignments and relax a bit. Man, I love brush pens.

Selections from my summer sketchbook

At Work

So while studying animation, I also work as a graphic designer here on campus... You know, to pay the bills and stuff... Graphic design is something I enjoy but I am not always free to be creative, and most of my work winds up being pretty ordinary. Once in a while, however, I do get to experiment a little. Here is a poster I put together for the copyright licensing department. It probably won't be used because it is less than conservative.

Quick Sketches

Just trying to capture life quickly as it flies by. I find this is a great way to record mannerisms, gesture and personality. Sometimes I even like what comes out in these quick studies.

The Witch

A friend of mine told me that I don't post often enough. I generally like to do so once every two weeks, but maybe I'll try once or twice a week and see who gets sick of it. This is an old sketch, one of many witch designs I worked on for a personal project. I still like her hair.

Stefan!

Here is a character concept for one of my friend's projects. Stefan is quite possibly the greatest hairdresser in the world.

Creature Exploration

Sketchbook Faces

Here are a couple of pages from my latest sketchbook. I just finished spring term and its nice to sketch more for myself again. A sketchbook can be a really great place to relax.

Gesture Drawings

Lady Magenta

In the first colored sketch I did I colored her skin magenta. Thus the name. Just having some fun.

More Sketchbook Pages

Random Doodle

Random Sketches

Public Bawler

I did this for Joe Olson's drawing class. The topic was "Pretty Awkward." I think loud, hysterical public bawling qualifies. I really wish I would have had time to hint at a crowd of people. In an earlier sketch I had a group of kids sitting on the bench next to her leaning away with one of them offering her a sucker. Another idea was to have her leaning on some total stranger. I might do a redraw over the next few months.

Inspirational Links III

Let me know which ones you like.

Leo Matsuda
Alberto Cerriteno
Andy Bialk
Chris Turnham
Gerald Guerlais
Helen Chen
Julien Bizat
Leighton Hickman
Marceline Danousha
Daniel Lopez Munoz

Gardner

I'm hoping to post some process drawings leading up to this one when I get a little more time.

Ape Redesign Process and Final

This was the midterm for Joe Olson's Drawing for Animation class. There were several requirements, some of which you can find written on one of these images.

My friend Anthony Holden made the comment that the final design looks more like an inflatable beach toy than an urban vinyl toy. I agree with him, and now can see almost nothing else when I look at the design. I'm still happy with the over-all results/process.

Recent Sketchbook Pages

Robot Wizard

Sketchbooks

This is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. When I was younger sketchbooks terrified me! I would buy a hard-bound book simply because I have always thought spiral bound ones look and feel cheap (in all honesty it doesn't matter, it's just a preference). The difficult part about liking a hard-bound sketchbook was that I couldn't tear out the pages when I did a bad drawing. If I did there would be evidence. That fear kept me from doing very much sketching.

Years later I still struggle a little with that fear. I am also happy to say that I'm getting better. None of us will ever be able to do our best and most creative work if we are too afraid to make a bad drawing. So I'm still working to get over it, and not care so much what anyone thinks. It's really quite liberating when I do break free.

Ryan Woodward recommended a book to us last semester called An Illustrated Life. It includes sketchbook pages from different artists and designers, along with their personal thoughts on sketchbooks. I usually read one entry a day. I highly recommend checking it out.

Designer Toy Assignment

Figure Drawings