mackaydesign

Pirate Sketches

2011-01-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

Black Prismacolor on 9 x 12 Canson Sketch Bond

John Tucker is among the most gifted of art models. I've drawn him at a number of different classes and workshops and am always delighted to learn he will be the model for that session. He has the uncanny ability to become the character he is posing as whether it be a cowboy, a clown, or in this case a pirate. Every time he holds one of his exaggerated facial expressions I smile inwardly and then scramble to to try and capture his gift before the timer goes off. Thank you, John!

Profile of a Woman

2010-02-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

Acrylic on Illustration board 16" x 20"

Another portrait for Sean's class at DCP.

Cool Shades

2010-02-01T21:39:00.001-08:00

Acrylic on Illustration board 16" x 20"

I'm taking a portraiture class at DCP taught by the great Sean Cheetham. Here's my progress this week.

Steve

2009-12-09T23:00:00.001-08:00

I was approached a few weeks ago to do this caricature of my boss's boss's boss's boss's boss for a company event.

(digital painting using Photoshop)

Mouse Angel (a.k.a. Die Fledermaus)

2009-07-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

My niece and I like to draw together and this time she suggested we each draw a mouse with wings. Here's my drawing done with a ballpoint pen and Pentel brush pen #101 Black.

Little Red and the Wolf

2009-07-30T21:15:00.001-07:00

Just a few ballpoint pen sketches from my Molskine.

New Post, Old Sketches

2009-04-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

When I graduated back in 2007, I was given the fantastic opportunity to work as an undergraduate associate on the Character Art/Boy's Franchise team at Disney Consumer Products. It was a wonderful 7 months and I really treasure the time I spent there with the brilliant artists who continue to amaze and inspire me. Thanks for giving me my start, you guys! Here are some ball-point pen, moleskine sketches I did of some of my fellow DCPeeps during my stay. See if you can guess who they are.

There's Nothing on TV

2009-04-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have our TV shows, but we decided to watch them online after they air and not sign up for cable after we moved. It's such a relief to not have constant TV commercials blaring through the house. Woo hoo, Hulu.com!

Quick study painted in Photoshop CS3.

2nd Munny show - Tomkat

2009-03-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

Here's an image of my latest custom Munny creation.

Valentine's Day Tiger Munny

2009-02-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

Some friends and I were each invited to create a Valentine's themed Munny for a show in Pasadena tonight.

THE NOISE ACADEMY PRESENTS:
SENSES
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7
9PM-2AM
443 E. COLORADO BLVD
PASADENA, CA 91101

Rooted Movement in West Covina will be displaying my friends’ and my Munny throughout March.

UPDATE! Here are pictures from the event: click here

Pop-Up Christmas Card

2009-01-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Click the cropped image to see the final Christmas Card I did at the end of last year.

As a New Year resolution, I hereby promise to post new stuff soon and more often!

Thanksgiving Dinner Maze

2008-11-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

Click the image to see the final art on this Thanksgiving Maze I did.

Werewolf Papercraft

2008-10-29T23:43:00.001-07:00

I designed this trucker werewolf based on a paper craft template conceived of by the great Mario Zavala. To see the trucker wolf's other possible accessories and to perhaps even build him for your workplace this Halloween, click here.

Unsuspecting Suspect Sketches

2008-10-14T00:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a few sketches of unsuspecting artists who think I'm drawing the model, but I'm drawing them drawing the model. I'm so sneaky. I'll try to post again soon with more stuff.

My sk8ology board

2008-08-24T10:21:00.001-07:00

(click here for link to charity auction)

Sk8ology Show

2008-08-04T21:59:00.001-07:00

Shameless self-promotions are shameful...

...except when it's for charity, right?

Hello Blog friends! Some friends and I are going to be in a charity art show on Saturday August 23, 2008. Each artist was given a blank skate deck to paint on.

The show will take place at:

ISM: gallery at the Koos Art Center
540 East Broadway
Long Beach, California 90802

and then it will travel to San Diego in September for the Action Sports Retailer (ASR) Trade Show.

The purpose of the show is to "raise awareness and resources in an effort to support Now That You Know, a non-profit organization that helps to provide ambitious girls from developing countries a secure environment for learning and growth. Proceeds will also contribute to benefiting the youth of our society through the artistic enrichment of our community."

For more information visit: http://www.ismcommunity.org/sk8ology

Hope you can make it!

Here's a glimpse of part of my board.

Malibu Pier

2008-07-28T19:44:00.001-07:00

Gouache on Illustration board 9.25" x 7.75"

I recently went landscape painting with my dad and uncle. This is my attempt. Weird how my dad's painting of the same beach has a crowd of people and mine only has a lone surfer.

Film Noir Kid

2008-07-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

This is a concept painting for a children's book project I was working on recently. It was done in Photoshop.

Meow.

2008-07-21T06:09:00.001-07:00

Just trying to keep myself motivated to post more often. Here's a quick Photoshop sketch.

2nd Son of a 2nd Son

2008-07-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

I've been creating Illustrator work to add to my portfolio recently and thought it would be fun to honor my little creepy-crawly boy who's turning a year old this Sunday. (He's waving to me in the cell phone pic.)

Watching Jen watching AFV while looking @ bills

2008-06-13T06:37:00.000-07:00

My wife and I love to watch America's Funniest Home Videos together after the kids have gone to bed. I must admit that as a skinny tween I watched and loved the show when it first aired in the late 80's, but gave it up in the early 90's as I realized a person could only watch so much footage of unwary fathers getting hit in the crotch by innocent little leaguers. I'm not sure when we started watching the show again, but I'm certain it was after we had our first son. One of the most appealing things about the show to me now is watching my wife literally laugh her self to tears when some tiny, unsuspecting kid gets bounced off a trampoline like a rag doll or tossed off screen by a speeding beach ball. Her all time favorite on-screen misfortune involves an often slightly overweight person who naively stands ashore, strapped into a parasailing harness only to be dragged through the water seconds later like some sports fisherman’s dream catch. I think I enjoy watching her watch the show more than the show itself.

Quick Starts

2008-04-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

These are some digital painting starts that I'm not sure I'm going to finish. Just thought I'd post 'em anyway.

PIN 3 Show

2008-04-13T00:55:00.000-07:00

The opening reception for the Power In Numbers 3 show at Nucleus Gallery in Alhambra was really fun. The show will still be up until April 28th so if you didn't get a chance to come, you should check it out. Thanks to all of you encouraged me along the way and a huge thanks for those who were able to make it out to the show. Thanks for the support! Also congrats to all who participated in the show. There were some uber-fantastic pieces in the show.

The images are cropped in versions of the pieces I did for the show. I cropped them just in case you're going to the show later and you didn't want to have the excitement and anticipation spoiled. If you do want to have your excitement spoiled click here.

Group Show @ Nucleus

2008-04-06T20:16:00.001-07:00

Hello blog viewers and friends! For those of you interested, I'm going to be in Nucleus Gallery's 3rd annual Power in Numbers group show that runs April 12th-28th.

Opening Reception: Saturday April 12, 2008, 7pm – 11pm.

This is a benefit show where 20% of all sales will go to the Make a Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles

For more information visit: http://www.gallerynucleus.com/gallery/exhibition/141

And feel free to pass the info along to anyone else who might be interested. Thanks!

Photoshop Class

2008-03-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

I'm very fortunate to have been invited by Rich Tuzon to attend an intermediate Photoshop painting class that is being taught at work by one of my favorite teachers from school, Bob Kato. Basically Bob adapted his traditional painting technique as a way to paint digitally in Photoshop. This is a 2 hour master copy (caricatured a bit) of a one of Sargent's self portraits that I painted in tonight's class.

Landscape Painting with Dad

2007-12-30T20:46:00.000-08:00

I go painting with my dad quite often. This last weekend we went to Paramount Ranch. If you haven't been there to paint plein air, you're crazy! It has an old ghost town-looking set that was the backdrop for Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and many other western sets from 1927 until present day. Here are my gouache efforts. The smaller two are 1.5" x 2.5" done in my moleskine sketchbook and the larger painting is on about 5" x 7" piece of illustration board. If you want to see my dad's he'll post it soon at his blog: http://sketchpainting.blogspot.com/

Some Sketchbook Sketches

2007-11-20T00:37:00.001-08:00

I'm still alive and here are the sketches to prove it!

Tablet Trouble

2007-10-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Sorry I haven't posted lately. My old intuos-2 tablet broke down just after graduation and I am in the process of earning more money to pay for a new one. I'll get some drawings up soon.

Art Center Graduation Show - Friday, 08-17-2007

2007-08-14T01:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, art blog friends! I am graduating this weekend from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. For all you people around the L.A. Area, this coming Friday on August 17th from 7:00PM until 10:00 PM, is the Art Center Graduation Show. Come check out the show and say "Hi" if you happen to recognize me standing next to the artwork you've seen posted on this blog over the last few years. www.artcenter.edu

Little Red Robin Hood and The Naughty Sheriff of Ham

2007-07-27T02:41:00.000-07:00

I decided to use the animation background I posted earlier to create a fun Robin Hood story using animals in the place of people for my Advanced Sketching for Illustration final painting. Wait, ...Robin Hood...animals in the place of people...that's so original!

Digital Self Portrait

2007-07-26T02:47:00.000-07:00

Another Dang Painting

2007-07-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

Acrylic on Illustration Board

Hot Pink Lady and Cool Blue Girl

2007-07-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

More acrylic paintings on illustration board from Gary Meyer's Advanced Sketching for Illustration class.

Some More Props

2007-07-17T00:45:00.001-07:00

Here are some digitally painted props for my independent study project with Ricardo Delgado.

Animal Prop Studies

2007-07-03T00:10:00.001-07:00

Here are some prop ideas I came up with for the story I made up about animals that go to high school.

More Characters

2007-07-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

These are more character ideas for my Independent Study with Ricardo Delgado. Sketched in pencil and colored in Photoshop.

More Paintings

2007-06-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Acrylic on Illustration Board 15" x 20"

Background Concept for Animation

2007-06-15T00:41:00.000-07:00

I was exploring animation styles and did this quickie Photoshop painting on the fly.

Peacock Feather Hat

2007-06-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

Acrylic on Illustration Board 15" x 20"

Clown Man and Cropped Face Girl

2007-06-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm getting back into traditional painting and I have to say I love it. This is an acrylic painting. I didn't finish working on the clown man's hands, obviously. I probably spent more time than I should have working on his head. I only show the girl's cropped face for the same reason. Hopefully I'll get a full painting in next time.

Evil Warrior

2007-06-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Another character concept for my independent study with Ricardo Delgado.

The Dream of Flying

2007-05-30T23:28:00.001-07:00

This is a color comp for a painting I'm going to do for Gary Meyer's Advanced Sketching for Illustration class. The topic is the dream of flying and the text on the bottom right says, "Look, Daddy! A bird!"

Some New Rough Sketches

2007-05-30T02:07:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working with Ricardo Delgado on an Independent Study project where he is art directing me on a fantasy story he devised where I will create characters, props, environments, and finally a painting of a moment including all the elements together. Lots of new work for my final semester at Art Center! These sketches, including the slightly painted top image, are stylized towards more of an animation look. The unfinished painting at the bottom is more realistic looking in its proportions and design.

On the Steps

2007-05-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

This is a Naked Mole Rat being interviewed on the steps of his high school. This was done last term in Photoshop.

Some Digital Environment Paintings

2007-04-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

The top two environments are from the Searchers project I did and the last is for an arctic story I'm doing.

Goldon Lion-Headed Tamarin Skater

2007-04-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Another from the animal high-schoolerwork I've been posting. Drawn with pencil on Strathmore 500 board and colored in Photoshop.

Gerenuk Girl in Color

2007-03-28T02:09:00.000-07:00

This is the same exploration for the gernuk cheerleader character in my Ark project I already posted but this time it has been digitally painted in Photoshop. The purse is updated.

More Sketches

2007-03-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Sketches from my larger Molskine. The first is an ode to Bobby Chiu. I love when he uses up all the negative space. The second is just a composite of various sketches with some Photoshop.

Searchers Color Script

2007-03-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

This color script corresponds with the first two pages of the graphite value studies for The Searchers. Acrylic on Illustration board.

Randomness Exercise

2007-03-18T01:56:00.000-07:00

In this exercise for my Background Painting class I made a series of abstract acrylic paintings and scanned them into Photoshop and cropped in on a random area. After doing that I digitaly painted a made up scene on top of the scanned image using the basic elements of the composition that existed in the cropped area. The top image is of course the acrylic painting croped and the second image shows 3 color variations on the digital painting.

The Searchers

2007-03-18T00:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't yet seen the movie and am not aloud to until after the project is completed, but basically I read the script for the film The Searchers and broke the 128 page script down into sequences. Each frame is a moment from each sequence drawn with graphite on copy paper. I drew inspiration from Fredrick Remington's romanticized paintings of the old west.

New Layout for Ark Project

2007-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

These are the steps of a high school for my Ark project. Graphite on Vellum. That's it.

Super Quick Digital Study

2007-03-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

A super quick digital portrait study of my son sitting on my bed watching the Disney version of The Wind in the Willows. He calls it "Da Win in da Wih-Woahs".

Gerenuk Girl

2007-03-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

This is an exploration for the gernuk cheerleader character in my Ark project I'm working on. It's by no means a final character design although I will probably paint it digitally soon.

Value Studies in Graphite

2007-02-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

These 2"x3" graphite studies were done on regular copy paper for a current project I'm working on.

Color Comp from DVD still

2007-01-28T02:07:00.000-08:00

Gouache on 5" x 7" Cold Press Illustration Board

After watching this great flick with my wife, I did a color comp of a still frame from Hitchcock's Dial "M" for Murder.

Digital Comp

2007-01-25T01:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a digital color comp I worked up for a sketch I did in graphite and scanned into Photoshop. This is for a project I'm working in Dominick Domingo's Background Painting class.

Gin Walla - The Drawing Club Sketches

2007-01-24T04:51:00.000-08:00

Studies done in ballpoint pen on my 5"x7" Moleskine while attending Bob Kato's Drawing Club. The model was fantastic and Bob staged everything really well.

Armless Red Squirrel

2007-01-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

ballpoint pen and gouache on 5" x 7" Molskine Sketchbook

Gyotaku

2006-12-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

In my Dynamic Sketching class we tried Gyotaku or the art of Japanese fish printing. We simply rolled ink on the dead fish our T.A., Chris Grun, bought from the fish market that morning, and pressed rice paper over the top. I believe it was a halibut, rock cod, red snapper, and I forget what the one on the bottom right is.

More Little Prince Images

2006-12-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

The top image is of the lamplighter, the king, and the drunk from The Little Prince. The next two are pages of character explorations.

The Pilot

2006-12-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

Another Little Prince digital illustration drawn in graphite and painted in Photoshop

More Thumbs

2006-11-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

These are design studies for the businessman's planet in The Little Prince. I thought I'd go for a more interesting shape than a mere sphere and I drew inspiration from asteroids.
The thumbs are done in a graphite technique taught to me by my mentor, Patrick Hanenberger where you lay down graphite powder in a wash and erase out to find shapes. The last image is just of some rough thumbnail studies done with warm copic gray markers in 3 values.

Little Prince Value Thumbs

2006-11-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some Little Prince thumbnail comps I drew with Copic Markers and scanned.

Another Sketch

2006-10-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ballpoint pen on Molskine notebook.

The Little Prince & The Fox

2006-10-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some characters I am redesigning for my own modernized version of Antoine De Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. The boy in the school uniform is the Little Prince and the next image is of the fox he befriends and ends up taming. Both sketched in pencil and scanned into Photoshop for color. More to come!

More Moleskine Sketches

2006-10-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

Just some more ballpoint sketches from my Moleskine books. Any color washes you see are done in water color.

The Witch

2006-09-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

This pencil sketch that was scanned and colored in using Photoshop, depicts a 1940's style witch from the Brother's Grimm fairy tale, Jorinda and Joringle. I modeled the outfit from Mirna Loy's character Nora from "Shadow of the Thin Man."

I'm still around...

2006-09-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

No, the rumors are untrue. I am not dead.

I have just recently moved, started school, and just been dealing with the crazy curveballs life throws you.

I'll post work again soon.

Take care all,

~Craig

Saber-Tooth Flea

2006-08-13T03:12:00.000-07:00

This is the concept I have been working on for Krystina Castella's Toy Design class. The following is the text on the back of the package:

"
Meet the Saber-Tooth Flea!

Paleoentomologists recently unearthed the earliest known relative to the modern day flea: the Smilodon Ctenocephalides or Saber-Tooth Flea™. These wingless insects are generally less than 3.81cm (with teeth 13.97cm). It is supposed that this large parasitical insect spent most of its life entangled within the thick hair of the large wooly creatures that roamed the prehistoric world. Most often the Saber-Tooth Flea™ could be found feasting upon the North American Mammoth for its sustenance. It is believed that their teeth, or palps, doubled as heat-seeking antennae and its primary means of transportation: pole-vaulting. With the discovery of this amazing species, scientists have opened the door for the discovery of countless other previously unknown primitive insects such as the Woolly Poly™ and many, many more. Be one of the first to collect them all!"

I sold 9 of these at the student Toy Design sale for 25$ each and sold the deluxe albino under antique glass with an antique magnifying glass for $100. (My dad bought it. Thanks, Dad!)

Pirate

2006-07-08T01:56:00.000-07:00

Cowboy John

2006-07-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

John is a great model. I went to the Saturday workshop at Art Center and decided to paint in my moleskine sketchbook. I "gouached" it. I like saying "gouache". It's a funny word.

Sketches and Stuff

2006-06-17T01:33:00.000-07:00

I've been posting on Sticky Sketches but I haven't put anything up here for a while so I thought I'd put in some sketches and stuff. The top sketch is a pencil (& digital) study I did of my wife for a painting I'm working on. The middle three are just excerpts from my most recently completed Moleskine sketchbook. The bottom is one of 30 some-odd storyboards I did for a group project in my film class entitled Language and the Moving Image with Joe Sola.

Minnie, Nilan, and a Movie Poster Concept

2006-04-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

Mixed Media on Canvas 9"x12"

Acrylic and Oil on Canvas 9" x 12"

Acrylic and Oil on Canvas 16" x 20"

These are a few paintings I'm working on for my Image and Idea class with Kent Williams. The first two were painted from reference photos I took of my grandparents in costume. The last is a movie poster concept for George Clooney's recent movie Good Night and Good Luck.

Aladdin Spying on the Princess

2006-03-30T00:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a digital painting I did in Photoshop for Richard Keyes Color Theory for Entertainment class. The Siamese cat leering through the window is Aladdin [see previous post] who is unabashedly spying on the princess. It's at this point in the story that Aladdin, at the risk of being discovered and put to death, sneaks a peek and beholds the face of the princess and swears to marry her when he at once is consumed by her beauty. I don't pretend to be completely satisfied with this piece. I just have to keep posting so I won't lose my nerve to do so. As always, suggestions and feedback are more than welcome.

2006-03-17T03:11:00.000-08:00

I'm working on the facial features of the princess from Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp [see Previous Posts] using my Wacom tablet in Photoshop 7. She's modeled after an Abyssinian cat and will be clothed in East Indian attire.

2006-03-09T05:38:00.000-08:00

Here is the final turnaround for the Hero Nerd character in the modernized version of the Brave Little Taylor[see previous posts]. This was drawn in pencil, scanned, and colored in Photoshop.

Giraffe-ar

2006-03-05T03:03:00.000-08:00

This is a character I've created for the Aladdin project [see previous post] I'm doing in my color theory class. This giraffe is the equivalent of Jafar from Disney's animated Aladdin. I used an awesome photo I took of my dad in costume for reference and tried to simulate the exact lighting using my wacom tablet in Photoshop.

The Oval Portrait

2006-03-03T04:26:00.000-08:00

Oil on Acrylic, Strathmore 500 Board [images are cropped]

This Edgar Allen Poe image for the short story, The Oval Portrait, was another of Kent Williams' assignments. Kent had us pick a Poe story or poem and do a vertically formatted book cover of it. I will say that although I spent a lot of time on it, it needs more work and leaves much to be desired. The picture frame needs to be rendered tighter along with numerous other fixes. I included the pencil sketch which has a bit more breath to it.

Orange Dot

2006-03-03T03:40:00.000-08:00

collage, gouache, and ink

This sketch pretty much sums up my feelings and fears regarding the cost of tuition and the law of diminishing returns.

Aladdin Animal Character Studies

2006-03-03T02:57:00.000-08:00

I'm now working on some images for the story of Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp for my Color Theory for Entertainment class with Richard Keyes. As you can see I'm using animals for the characters. Clockwise from the bottom left is the princess, the sultan, and the grand vizier. Obviously the frog is the genie (The little rabbit with his pet elephant is not part of the story.) The baby was one idea I had for the genie when I was still considering using humans. I thought he might have all the characteristics of a 2-year-old including tantrums and possibly refusing to grant wishes until he is threatened with a "time out".

Cheney's got a gun

2006-03-03T02:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not an overly political person. During Daniel Galieote's Inventive Drawing class I was taking notes on facial expressions and I thought the expression I drew happened to look a bit like Vice President Dick Cheney. I added the gouache later. My wife came up with the parody on Aerosmith's 1989 hit Janie's got a gun. You can have it, Weird Al.

California Brent

2006-03-03T02:21:00.000-08:00

This is a caricature of my twin brother, Brent, based on a character he made up when we were younger called "California Brent" and modeled roughly after a photo of him when he was in high school. My favorite part of Brent's story is when California Brent of the treasury department takes on General Qaddafi's underground minions: the zit-o-grodies. Go Brent!

Giant Head and Nerdy Hero Sketches

2006-03-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

ballpoint pen and gouache

Here are some nerdy hero studies [see previous posts about the Brave Little Tailor]. There is also the bearded head of a Giant from the original story.

Proactive Hitman

2006-02-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

Mixed Media and Photoshop 11.25” x 11.25” Strathmore 500 Board

This is an assignment I did in pencil, pen, water color, gouache acrylic and oil for Kent Williams' Image and Idea class. For this assignment we had to either create a spread or a partial spread for a short story in a magazine article he had just illustrated. Of course we didn’t get to see his piece ahead of time and had to interpret the story for ourselves. The story is basically a crime thriller mystery about a proactive hit-man who collects stamps as a hobby (notice the eyes are stamps with cropped 100$ bills in them) and goes out looking for a new client in order to pay the bills. The wrench is the weapon used at the climax of the story.

Princess Turnaround

2006-02-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

Drawn in pencil and colored in Photoshop

Here is a sketchy character turnaround and sheet of expressions for the princess character I designed for my “Inventive Figure” class. I’m doing my assignment as a modern twist on the old fairytale "The Brave Little Tailor". [See the previous post for more information.]

James and the Princess Sketches

2006-02-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

This first sketch is of yes,... you guessed it,... my son James.

The others are a few exploratory sketches I did in my earthbound sketchbook for my Inventive Figure class taught by Daniel Galieote. We get to invent our own characters for either a story of our own or an existing story or movie set in a different time period. For the assignment we are going to create a female, male, and an animal. I'm choosing to retell the old German Fairy tail The Brave Little Tailor. You may recall the Disney version of the story in which Mickey Mouse is the unlikely hero who kills seven flys in one blow and is mistaken for a giant killer. I chose the story because I loved the idea of modernizing it. Instead of a tailor, I'm going to be creating a techie nerd who brags about killing seven monsters while gaming online, but is overheard by some nearby thugs who believe he has killed seven "mobsters". The king has been replaced by a crime boss and the princess is his bratty socialite daughter. These sketches are for the Princess in the story who upon finding out she has married a common tailor, goes to her daddy the king asking for help in getting rid of him.

Howard Hughes

2006-02-01T00:09:00.000-08:00

Mixed Media on Strathmore Illustration Board 20" x 8.5 " [enlarged detail below]

The first image is a piece I did for my Image & Idea class with Kent Williams for an assignment called Metamorphosis. I used phases of Howard Hughes life to illustrate the idea. The second is a sketch I did in my Moleskine during Frank Stockton's drawing workshop. I chose to draw the guy opposite of me instead of focusing on the model.

Old Man and Other Sketches

2006-01-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

Here are more sketches from the newest of my many Moleskines.

Woah.

2006-01-03T02:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a ballpoint pen sketch that I scanned and colored using Photoshop.

Lobsterette and Other Sketches

2005-12-17T00:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some more sketches in my earth-bound sketchbook.

Portrait From Life

2005-12-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

Oil on Canvas 18" x 24" (images are cropped)

This is painting was our final in-class painting assignment for my Contemporary Figure Painting class with Kent Williams. The pose was originally going to be for 3 full 5 hour sessions but was reduced due to my 3rd term review with the Illustration Department chair, the model's time constraints, Thanksgiving, and a special presentation that took place last Thursday in which we were addressed by Art Center's former Illustration Department chair and famed illustrator Baron Storey.

Ender and Other Sketches

2005-11-26T23:55:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd add some new sketches. The two earth-toned sketches are from one of my sketchbooks and the other is a digital image I did on a whim.

Fish Headed Man

2005-11-26T23:02:00.000-08:00

Oil on Canvas 30" x 36" (images are cropped)

This is another 3rd term project I finished for my Contemporary Figure Painting class with Kent Williams. The assignment was to acquire a large fish (in this case a beautiful New Zealand Snapper and incorporate it into a painting as the central focus. We also had to include a figure so I combined the two into a somewhat disturbing creature. I collaged the newspaper to the canvas with matte medium. My father is the sleeveless human model I worked from. I thought I would show you the piece in a 3-part progression to give a sense of how I approached the piece.

[This piece was on display in Art Center's Main Student Gallery.]

Self Portrait with James

2005-10-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

Oil on Canvas 31" x 40"

This is a current 3rd term project I'm working on currently. This is suppose to be a self portrait from reference. I chose to use a year old image of me and my son that my wife took candidly. I'll update the finish after I give it about 4-6 more hours (23 hrs so far 'cause I'm slow!). [I updated the image Feb 1, 2006]

Lady by the Phone

2005-10-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

Oil and Acrylic on Mapel Panel (image is cropped)

[panel 24" x 16" actual image 14" x 18"]

My mom was a great sport to sit for the original reference photographs I took in preparation for this project. I skewed and distorted the original picture in Photoshop and painted according to those changes (i.e. the longer-than-possible neck).

Head Painting

2005-10-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

Oil on Canvas Board 14" x 18"

This painting was completed in about 3.5 hours during David Luce's Head Painting class. The model was great.

The Mousekateer

2005-10-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Oil on Canvas Board 20" x 16"

This is one of the first paintings I did during my 2nd term at Art Center (I'm in my 3rd term now). While shooting reference for this project I had my grandpa wear a mousekateer hat and told him to look depressed.

1st Post

2005-10-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

OK, here's my first post...

...Wow, that was pretty easy.