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.

Some Thumbs

So this summer has been pretty busy for me. Still trying to doodle as much as I can these days. Here are two thumbnail drawings to keep you happy and let you know I'm still alive.













This first one here was actually an idea I had for a comic to be used in the school paper. This first panel (which also had text boxes) took three hours to make. Wasn't sure if I was ready to commit to a weekly project with that much detail involved quite yet-- but we may see some more of this next fall, perhaps.











Still drawing dinos. Here's a thumb I did for a much larger image I'm working on now. If I can get more time, and if it turns out well, I'll post it here later.

Photography

Here are a few samples of my work from photography class last semester. I used a Nikon N90 with a 50mm lens while shooting.
























I also experimented with overlays. In this first image below, I placed a dryer sheet over the photo paper while exposing the image. It gives it a home-made, cracked paper texture. This other image of my little brother was done by simply placing one negative over another.













For our final project we were asked to do a series of images with a common theme and aesthetic. I chose bicycles as my theme, and I focused each image on a single part of the bike, making them more mysterious. The black and white images really bring out the grime and wear against the shine on the metallic parts of the bicycle.

Flight of the Conch

Hey everyone! Well here it is, finally, my latest After Effects animation. You probably remember seeing a short clip a few months back here. This little vid took me almost 100 hours to make and more than half of that time was spent rendering! All of the puppets and backgrounds were designed by me using Photoshop. The crab puppet itself was composed of nearly 30 working pieces. Not sure if my next project will be as elaborate as this one, but be sure to expect more After Effects animations down the road. I'm very happy with the way this turned out and I hope you all enjoy!

The Illustrated Odyssey

Hey everyone! So I've been really busy these past few weeks and here's one of the reasons why: been working on an illustrated series for class. We were asked to create three images from our own imagination on a written work (such as a poem, book, or song). I chose to do my favorite epic poem, Homer's "Odyssey."


















I started with dozens of thumbnails and character sketches. I knew I wanted to have a common theme throughout the series. Since the role of women in The Odyssey is quite apparent, I thought I'd do a series on the women Odysseus encounters on his journey home. This idea changed over the development process and I ended up doing the three most memorable scenes: Odysseus' years with the sea nymph Calypso; the fiasco on Cyclops Island; and Odysseus reuniting with his wife Penelope.



I first sketched each image on cold-press poster board. I scanned these images into the computer and did a few color tests to see what worked best. Then I began painting with watercolors on the poster board sketches. I know this process is not the best. I plan on using a projector or perhaps tracing paper on my next project-- this way I can avoid horrific mistakes that might be irreversible to the original sketch.

After painting I scanned each image into the computer and touched it up using Photoshop. I also added frames I had designed and painted for each image and touched these up as well. And voila!






















Here we see Odysseus after surviving the demise of his ship and crew by the sea. Originally in the text it was Zeus who struck the boat with his lightning. I decided to substitute Zeus for Poseidon, who would later pummel Odysseus before he reached his home. Odysseus is awed by the beauty of Calypso, the seductive sea nymph, whom he will be held hostage by for the next seven years.






















My most favorite part of Homer's poem: Odysseus and his crew escaping the clutches of the cyclops Polyphemus. After the hungry host became drunk, Odysseus gouged out the monster's only eye using a fashioned spear. The crew then escaped Polyphemus' clutches by hiding under his sheep.






















This last image is of Odysseus and his wife Penelope, reunited after so many years apart. The slain bodies of the treacherous suitors turn the floors of Odysseus' home red with blood. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and Odysseus' guardian, reclines in the window shining her blessings upon the couple.

Illustrated Poem Project

For this assignment we were tasked with creating two images from a poem by Richard Brautigan. The guy was slightly ahead of his time, as we are practically in this machine governed world he dreams about. I love computers and I believe that they are a great tool for art. I also believe that we can become too dependent on things to the point we are actually enslaving ourselves unknowingly (films like "Metropolis" and "The Matrix" come to mind). Basically this was my theme with this first image.






















I used primarily watercolors and India Inks, with this illustration. The idea is that we have willingly placed machines at the center of our lives-- making it a global religion. This next image is a little less foreboding. I made this using watercolors and Prismacolor markers on the lighter areas; gouache for the more earthy tones; and ink for the contours. The idea was that computers could become so abundant that they would humorously be classified as a species. Here's what might happen if one of God's creatures encountered one of our own "creatures".

Rotoscope and Text Animation

Here's another rotoscoped animation! This time I got to fool around more with the 3D camera and text animations in After Effects. The music is taken from the jam "Tank!" by The Seatbelts (You might know it as the theme from "Cowboy Bebop"). Hope you all enjoy!



And stay tuned, there will be much much more coming soon! You can check out my old rotoscope video here.

Sketch Book Splash

Thought I'd throw together some small sketches from awhile back into a goofy splash panel. If I can get enough process stuff together on future projects then I will share my thumbnails and sketches in a single image like this one.

More Illustrations

Here are some more illustrations from school. This first color image was made using watercolors, india ink, and prismacolor markers on cold-press poster board. This image was made to express extreme perspective-- I haven't come up with a title for it yet (any ideas would be appreciated!).






















These last two images were both made using ink on hot-press poster board. The one of the giant robot was a similar project to the "Clinophobia" image, where we were given a phrase and asked to create an illustration from it (in this case, "He thundered into the room"). I drew my inspiration from a lot of old monster movie posters.






















This last image is my illustrated version of the Kookaburra song. These monkeys were pretty fun to draw and I love how clean the india ink puts down on the poster board.

After Effects Animation Preview

This is my second time working with After Effects (I did a little text animation in my first rotoscope video). It's an amazing tool and I highly recommend it to all animators. This is a preview of a possibly longer video I will post later this season. Enjoy!

Back to the Dinosaurs

Just got back into drawing dinos again-- boy, I sure did miss these guys! Here's a preview of things to come!

Clinophobia

... is the fear of beds-- especially the ones that frighten even the monsters in your closet! Had a lot of fun on this illustration project for school.