All My Friends Are Dead

... at least all my 65 million year old ones.

Ever since I can remember, I've always loved dinosaurs. There's just something amazing about these great creatures that once ruled our world; creatures we still know so little about. You can tell a child there are no monsters hiding in their closets and under beds, but you'd be lying if you said that they never existed. And that's what's so amazing:

Dinosaurs were REAL.

I mean, think about it: creatures as tall as a five story building, eight inch long teeth and a ferocious appetite, faster and stronger than most present day land animals! The world was a very different and wild place.

I spent last saturday in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, sketching and studying bone structure for a solid five hours. Several people would come up and compliment or ask me about my work. I met a lot of people from all over the globe, and it was awesome to share my love of dinosaurs and art with them publicly.

The memories of my first visit to the museum when I was about six years old are still quite vivid. I couldn't quite read an entire book yet, but I could say "Pachycephalosaurus" without blinking an eye. Like every kid, I was absoluetly blown away by the size of these monsters I had only previously seen in illustrations.

Before my family and I left the museum that day I remember stopping at the gift shop. I was allowed to get one item, but somehow I ended up walking out with three things: a Carnegie Collection Allosaurus and Stegosaurus toy; and a giant, landscape-print Dinosaur Encylopedia. What attracted me to the book were the illustrations from the amazing paleoartists Gregory S. Paul, Doug Henderson, Eleanor M. Kish, and Brian Fraczak. I owe a lot to that book for giving me the inspiration to draw dinosaurs. To this day, Allosaurus and Stegosaurus are still my most favorite dinosaurs, and I still own the now tattered and coverless encylopedia.

Check back soon, more dinosaur sketches on the way!

Surfin'

Took a few moleskin sketches and made them awesome.











Climbin' bonus!

Wall Art

Last weekend I got together with a few friends to pay tribute to the first caveman who ever drew on a wall. The Emmitt Christian Gallery in the Rockafeller Arts Center at SUNY Fredonia is reserved for students to display their own work(s) for one week as a mini gallery.












We decided we would each paint something that best defined our styles and artistic character. As you might have already guessed, I drew a giant robot, Tyrannosaurus, and lots of action!
















It took 24 hours for me to finish the painting, but it was well worth the time! The transparencies and projectors helped out a lot with the sketchbook to wall transition.
















Featured in the gallery were myself, Mike Hernandez, Lindsay Holmes, Fred Duchow, and Jason Rappold. You can check out everyone's awesome progress and final work in the video below...

I ♥ Robot

I love drawing robots just as much as dinosaurs. I especially love creating mechanical marvels with an organic edge. There is something so musically visceral about these guys you can almost hear the clanks, whirs, and whistles as you draw.









I guess I have much to thank for my love of these bucket o' bolts. Doug Chiang comes to mind, especially his remarkable work on ROBOTA. His trademark of placing technology within exotic, organic environments was really inspirational to me. I highly recommend you check out his old site here.

When I was younger I was also a huge fan of the early Lego BIONICLE line. The story gripped me becuase of this combination of robot warriors living on an organic, tribal island. I started out with the "bones" and worked my way up from there. I want to try some more stuff with these guys in the future-- maybe a more sketchy, conceptual look in my own unique style.



















I also tried my hand at a style very similar to the amazing duo that is Creature Box. These guys add so much energy to their work, resulting in the most awesome, comical, and original characters yet. You can check out Dave Guertin and Greg Baldwin's work here.

Old Is New Again

So I went digging through all my old sketches an doodles and came across a couple of winners. I thought, "You know, if these had some touchup work they could look really awesome!" So I made a few copies and grabbed my Prismacolor markers. Here are the first two-- more on the way soon!

More Charcoal Drawings

Some more charcoal drawings. The first one is a copy of a photograph taken by Neil Armstrong of his colleague Buzz Aldrin during the 1969 US Moon Landing. I really impressed myself with this one!

Charcoal Animal Studies

Here are some animal studies I did in Drawing I. There were tons of beautifully preserved creatures, and I think I picked the best four: a baby alligator, blowfish, scorpion claws, and a magnificent blue butterfly.

Hands, Feet, and Chest

Some charcoal sketches of my hands, feet, and totally ripped abs (haha, I wish).