Krampus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus

I still might try to make a scary version as well...

Vampire Portrait

Screwing around in Photoshop... the text should roughly translate to "I have been lurking."

Stephanie and I have started watching True Blood; it's better than Twilight, but I still don't quite understand this obsession with sexy vampires. I'd much rather see them play up the "ageless parasite" angle, but I suppose sex sells better than biological curiosities. Ho hum. I always was a bit of a sexless nerd.

Speaking of which, some of their scenarios remind me of old X-Files at times. This is a good thing. (I'm looking at you, poisonous minotaur.)

Hurakan, step by step

I recently jumped into one of the challenges over at ArtOrder.blogspot.com. The objective was to design a character starting with silhouette, go to detail, then color, and ultimately work up to a book cover, using a provided template. The specifics and requirements of the challenge are here: http://artorder.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-challenge.html

The character being addressed is the Mayan god of wind, storm, and fire: Hurakan.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huracan

And off we go!

1. Character Silhouettes

2. Character Thumbnails

3. B&W Character Detail, Book Cover Thumbnails

4. Character Color Rough, B&W Book Cover Detail

5. Final Character, Book Cover Color Rough

6. Final Book Cover + Art

And here's a clean version without the template and required formatting...

Apologies to Mr. Sendak... Pt. 2

I worked up that Max sketch from before; here he is... I tried to make him half cute/half scary; not sure how well that comes across.

I really need to get a better monitor at home; things look good from here, but they'll sometimes be rather garish on a different screen. I guess that'll always be a peril of digital work. If anyone has any suggestions though, I'm game.

I have heard talk of Cintiqs becoming a new industry standard for concept work, but I'm still not sold on having one at home yet. Hopefully Wacom (or someone) will release an updated version within a year or so; that I could probably go for.



*UPDATE!*
Cory Godbey, from Terrible Yellow Eyes, added this piece to his blog. Thanks for the honor!

Dragon Rider

Yeah, that guy would probably be pretty chilly up there. But, as everyone knows, that's how you have to play it to find the best dragons.


I've been looking at a lot of Kekai Kotaki recently...

There's an upcoming small works show at LITM that I was thinking to submit this to, in the form of a little giclee print.

Apologies to Mr. Sendak...

My stab at a couple of Where the Wild Things Are redesigns... Carol/Moishe as an armored knight and Max as a crazed wolfboy squire of sorts.

I caught the movie over the weekend and thought it was pretty good, though it was rather sad and probably not great for little kids. This didn't dissuade several parents from keeping their screaming babies inside the theater throughout. Gr...

Anyway. It had some fantastic visuals; it's worth checking out.


Also! I was inspired by the amazing artists here: http://www.terribleyelloweyes.com/

Self Portrait, Sept. 2009

Self portrait done this afternoon- graphite in front of bathroom mirror. I'm not sure why I tend to hold my head like that... maybe it's mild scoliosis, maybe I just sleep weird. *shrug*

Figure dump

Portrait from GCA;
sketches from 58 Gallery
and Spring Studio.

These were fun, but I feel I should focus on doing more finished work sometimes.

Manticore

5"x7", oil & acrylic on panel.

Little piece for a group show at LITM in Jersey City. The theme was "blue"; this is what I came up with. It's fun to work on something light and open-ended like this.

The opening is from 7-10pm tomorrow, August 4th; the show should be up until the end of the month. Check it out if you're in the area!

http://www.litm.com/art.html

Big Sur

Watercolor sketch from Big Sur, CA.

As a side note, I fed a crow part of a scone, and he hung out with me while I painted.

JULIA

Another portrait study from GCA, desperately in need of a coat of varnish. Threw some digital silliness on top for the hell of it.

Scribbles, pt.4

more old-school randomness...

Sunday sketch, pt. 2

le jardin

Sunday sketch

Assuredly, dear madame, we hear naught but the wind.

Crap Weather

crap weather.