Last year I posted a bunch...

This year? This is all you get. Santa. Go fat man!

Why Snoopy is Awesome

It is that time of year again; time for strange American traditons; time for Christmas music and TV specials to fill the media. What better way to spend 25 minutes this holiday season than by watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" one more time? I know that's what I'm going to be doing.  Seriously. Starting tomorrow, I will have some 432 hours before Christmas, which means I can only watch Charles and the gang 17.28 times! Gosh, I'd better get started early to make it an even 18.

As you can see, Snoopy is awesome. And even more awesome is beating up Charlie Brown in any way possible, because for some reason it is really funny. So, when The Weekly Sketchbook topic this week was "Comic Strip," you can see why I drew this. Because who doesn't enjoy Charlie getting a pie to the back of the head. After all, its an American tradition. 

Rando

I have made a bunch of junk recently for the other blog I'm a part of: The Weekly Sketchbook. If you go over there, these little guys will make so much more sense. But, if you're too lazy and just want to check them out here, they shall remain random. 

If Disney had made Portal...

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, ooh. 

What the...

You, Me, and Tom Kenny

There are times in your life when you get to do some pretty encouraging things. Recently I have had a lot more opportunities for awesome activities, more than I have had before... one such example...

Today, I had the privilege of going with some friends of mine to meet a few of my heroes. Today I met Tom Kenny (voice of Spongebob, Ice King, Mayor of Townsville, etc), Dave Pruiksma (animator of Mrs. Pots, Chip, etc), and David Kuhn (animator of Hades, Meeko, etc).

More than just meeting these guys and getting some real one on one conversation was more than just enjoyable, or even educational, it was encouraging. Not only for the fact that I got to meet professionals in the field, but also the fact that God would place friends in my life with connections to a few of these guys. 

God's plan for my life is encouraging, and the fact that God has given me friends who would invite me and my brother to such an awesome event. 

So encouraging!

11 Years

Remembering those who lost and those who gave their lives that day, eleven years ago.

The Panda, what would we do without 'em?

The Panda, the international symbol for the nation of China, and American's national symbol for Orange Chicken. Ahh, Panda...what would we do without you? And your amazing chicken?

As I have said before, I love Panda Bears. When I had a pass to the San Diego Zoo, these guys were the "must see."  While bears haven't always fallen in my list of favored creatures, my increasing knowledge of their true potential (i.e. ease at ripping human faces off) has definitely moved them a soft place in my heart. Bears, ranging from the Koala to the Grizzly, have this innate sense of awesome no matter where they are from in the world, and the fact that they can tear off a car door or a man's arm at will for a single Cheetoh, adds to the appeal. In fact, the artist that I based this sketch and coloring job after is always talking about how bears eat children. So, what's not to like?

Now, so no other animal can say I'm playing favorites, I say, any animal that can bite through steel bars, stalk  small children, hunt flesh, and sell such outstandingly delicious food as Orange Chicken all done with a smile, can find its way into the adoring recesses of my loving heart. Which reminds me, my favorite animal before the Panda was a wolf.  I wonder why?  He never sold me any chicken...

Pen tool

Hey all, I finished up my time at LANWAN Professional, the company I was doing images for, and they didn't use all of them. So, I decided to show some of the ones I made/was in the process of making here...

Here is the one my supervisor liked. It wasn't my favorite version, but definitely my favorite project to work on.  

Here is an alternate version of the "Lifestyle" image I posted last time.

Ok, I know what you're thinking. Isn't this the same as that lady up in the first picture? Well, you're right. I did this for The Weekly Sketchbook, and posting something once a week and working was making me crazy. So, I just used the lady I had already made and created Ms. Scarlet. If it ain't broke, just change the colors. 

Here is some I did for the company. None of them feel quite finished yet, but whatever.

As you can see I used the same dude so you could sort of follow him through the process.

...Yeah you get the idea...

And here is the amazing Summer Olympics London 2012 image I did up yesterday before the games began! I love the Olympics, watch a bunch of fit people pushing themselves to their very best in order to compete for their country. Me? I support my appetite while feasting on Cheetos and Fishy Crackers doing my very best to hold the couch down. Oh ya, work it. 

For those of you who don't use Photoshop, the Pen Tool is a fabulous and under appreciated piece of programming. I created all of these babies basically solely wielding the pen tool, and as I hope you can see, 'twas totally worth it. 

So, I am too lazy to finish the April Banner...so instead, I have this Olympic pic. Hope you like it, and I also hope you are watching the games! Those Cheetos aren't going to eat themselves ...at least I hope not.  

Been Working...

Hey guys, I haven't posted anything for awhile (like the April Banner), and this is due to that fact that immediately after I finished that lego drawing, I had a mock interview, and then two or three days later had the real interview, and have been working pretty much ever since. My family has also had a lot of people staying over too, including the week I got the job, and we also went on an Epic-Trip-Vent-acular 2! So, I really haven't been home to do cool stuff, or have any fun.  But, I have been making cool stuff at work! I have done a ton of images, even more than I would if I was at home.  Too many to post here, but here are a few I was given the night I was supposed to pack for the trip.

 These are images for different categories of articles we going to have on our new website. Apparently our company Prez. is gonna' write some articles... news to me. 

I made the tech articles one look like Mario. :P

Lifestyle articles... I'm still not sure what this means exactly. 

So, I thought it would be a good idea to show you a little bit of the process of making these puppies. They usually come out way different than they start. As you would imagine, I begin with an idea, and look. For the Career Articles image, I decided to do something simple. Generic-man, or bathroom symbol guy with a suit on. 

Here is the first concept picture. Ok, but not too exciting, or anything special. My boss wanted more... 

This time, a little better, at least its not sexist now. My boss wanted something not so "kids and felt-board looking," and more modern. So, I looked up the show Mad Men, some blogs, fashion sketches, and Erin Esurance.

And voila! A modern day masterpiece. Actually this one is still in the works. My boss wanted faces, however, I like them more without facial features. But, I stuck my signature in there, 'cuz this one has taken a lot out of me.  But has been a lot of fun. 

Well, that's it for now folks. There are plenty more I could post, and probably will in the future, especially since I am dropping my summer class to work on stuff like this. Now, to go and drop it. :P Don't worry April Banner, I haven't forgotten you!

Legos...

...always losing their heads.

The Avengers

I love The Avengers! The movies leading up to the film have been pretty epic, and now, to finally see them all come together is a real treat. When The Weekly Sketchbook's topic was the Avengers, I had so many ideas, but alas had time for one...however, I spent time one three, but this is all you get. I really wanted to do one of Pepper Potts (who in my opinion is the real hero, at least in the case of the Iron Man movie series), and spent a looong time on a drawing. However, I couldn't it get it to look right. The only way I could make her instantly recognizable is if Iron Man was there with her, and I just didn't want to do that. A few photoshop attempts, and several ideas later, I went on to a different female-hero, Natalia Romanova (Black Widow). 

I debated whether to do this one in black-and-white, or with subdued colors. I thought about real black-widow spiders; they are completely black: eyes, legs, whatever else they have, except for one distinguishing, red characteristic. To say the least, I was won over with this idea.

You can see this one plus the other one (not the Pepper Potts one, the photoshop one I didn't talk about) plus everyone else's on The Weekly Sketchbook. 

Vintage

Yesterday I had the privilege of going to the Griffith Observatory in LA, however, I didn't take any pictures of the actual observatory, just the city. I'm not really sure why, but hey, here's another post!

Then I took a pic of this really awesome bush! Oh, and the Hollywood sign is in there too. And speaking of Hollywood...

The Weekly Sketchbook topic this week was Vintage/Retro. I'm not sure if I got a whole lot of retro in there, but I think I did manage to squeeze some vintage. 

I used to and still do love old cartoons. Growing up, my family owned some (and might I add some of the best) Popeye cartoons. The first time I really remember watching Felix the Cat and Betty Boop cartoons was once when I was at a friend's house for a sleepover with my brother. We watched them, while my friend fell asleep. It was a pretty normal sleepover routine at his house. 

I am a little ashamed that I have Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in here, and yet, to date, can't remember ever watching an Oswald cartoon. The story of Oswald is pretty interesting. If you know much about Disney's beginning, this story should be pretty familiar. If you don't, you should really look into it, cuz it has all a good story needs: Great characters, conflict, deception, and the start of the greatest animation company ever to rule the earth (and the naming of the villain from Up). 

This drawing was tons of fun! The concept is pretty close to something I did awhile ago, but never colored. With the success of this one, maybe I'll go back and make it happen. 

Now to go unashame myself and watch some vintage, Paramount, Oswald cartoons...

3D design Alien Project

Hey everyone! I mentioned last time that I submitted an art project to the student art show at my school. Well, guess what, it didn't make it... But it's all fun and games, because I got to see some of the pieces that did get it, and my piece is no where near the quality of those in the show. I took pictures with my phone of the process to make this creature for my 3D design class's Alien Project. I hope you like it more than the judges of the art show...:P

First, each of us in the class made a wire armature of the creature.

Then we had to cover it with aluminum foil and masking tape to make the aliens' bodies.

After that, we covered it with this awesome clay stuff.

Here he is all clayed-up.

And here is the finished product! I didn't care if I took a good pic of him, so I didn't.

I hope you enjoyed the process! By the way, I got the inspiration for my creature by looking at the art of Lindsay Feuer.

Art Dump

This post is a disconnected batch of random sketches. When my friend posts this kind of cooky collaboration, he affectionately calls his title header "Art Dump."

Aside from working on The Weekly Sketchbook, I have mostly been working on a piece in my 3D design class, which I just submitted to the student art show at my school. I'll find out if it gets in on Monday, and if it does I post a picture of it up here. If it doesn't, then I'll burn it.

One more flaming hunk of junk to throw into the Art Dump...

I would buy a bathtub...

...so I could bathe in all of my money! The Weekly Sketchbook topic this week was "What you would buy first after winning the lottery," and I thought, who would be better to model my monetary habits after than Scrooge Mcduck?

Any chance I get at drawing a beloved Disney character, especially one such as Scrooge Mcduck, I take it, though I made his abdomen a little larger than it probably should be. But since he's so rich, he can afford it, right?

Interesting that they would make an old duck, who is the star of Mickey's Christmas Carol, the main character for an epic kids show with race cars, lasers, and air-o-planes (which would be the next three things I would get after the tub). Need some context?

The Time Change

This week of school has been hard. I had a lot of tests and things to turn in, but I finished the character/background project for my friend who makes iphone apps, so that is good. On top of doing all these projects was none other than my worst enemy, the time change. Every year I struggle with this foe, and therefore when The Weekly Sketchbook's topic was Superhero last week, I knew what I needed to draw. And I had a lot of fun with it too. I had a lot of sources to look at from books I have and even using Google images to look at some real comic covers. Working with thick and thin inky line variation is always fun, and something, if you notice, I don't do very often. By far the most interesting comic cover I saw on Google yesterday was this one.

I don't when your Spring Break is, or if you even get one, but mine is this week which means it is time to celebrate! Happy Spring Break everygluggy! whenever it may be!

Cereal Time

This past week for my birthday I had a "BYOC" (Bring Your Own Cereal) party. But invities could not just bring any cereal, each person brought their favorite cereal! And a lot of people cam which was a blast! Thanks so much everyone! I have so much cereal now... I don't know where to start. Anyway, I made some ads to be sure a bunch of people would come and put them up every couple of days. Hope you enjoy them...

Cereal is my passion, and so are the characters. I think I already talked about this a while back. Now its time for dinner (an hour different because of the stupid time change), and I wonder which one I should have...

Creature Confidants...

I can't think of a better day to talk about my favorite characters than today, my birthday...

When it comes to the topic of favorite characters, no greater characters are rejected more than the Creature Confidants. Let me explain what I mean.

Who is the fuzzy, or at least cuddly little friend of the main character that not only provides the comic relief, but is also the object upon which the main character can cast their thoughts, concerns, and hopes? The answer to that is none other than their best friend; their Creature Confidant. All too often have I seen great characters like Flounder, Abu, Pascal, that raccoon and hummingbird and other pets from Pocahontas, and the mice from Cinderella be completely forgotten by people when the topic of favorite characters are thrown out. And, even more often, have I seen these "best friends" be completely thrown out the window once the title character's prince (or princess) has come.

I have not forgotten about you, Creature Confidants, you caring wildlife you!

The Lorax

Last night, or I guess this morning, I had to privilege of watching the midnight showing in Imax 3D of The Lorax! What a great film! I liked it so much I drew this little picture on my homework, and I thought I should scan it in before I give to my professor. I don't want him to be the only one who gets to witness its beauty.

Lovin' Leap Year

Late?? What's the point of having an extra day in February if you don't use it? Eat that, Tradition Police, I did post something for Valentines Day! Eat your heart out! ...Or give it to someone special... ...this Christmas... (Why would anyone still read this blog?)

How To Train Your Human

(Use bacon.)

If you have seen Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon, then you would know that this pic is... nothing like it. However, when The Weekly Sketchbook's topic was Dragon this past week, there was no way I was not going to incorporate something from that movie into the sketch. And what better way to enhance such a reference then to add bacon to it! Everything improves by just adding bacon, I guarantee it.