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...