Visit back...

As I am in-between little projects, I found the pictures I took while I was back visiting my folks back home. Of course, since my visit wasn't with any major holiday, everyone was at work. So, I took a quick train ride into Chicago to the Art Museum on Michigan Ave. And as luck would have it, most of the American Illustration collection was in storage because of remodeling. I think I maybe cursed in this. But luckily a few pieces were still on display and I got to check them out.

Sadly, I half expected to see Elvis, Marilyn, and Humphrey in this classic...


I had another picture of this one , by Sargent, with me in it; but it didn't turn out too good. Well, I didn't turn out too good...


Strolled down the parks and Michigan Ave...


And found myself here! How about that? What a coincidence! It was one yummy pizza I ate every last crumb. Oooh so full. But, unlike my cheese steak pic, I did not take a pic of my delicious deep dish pizza... why? What would people there think? "Oh, look at the tourist eating his first deep dish!" It was a matter of deep dish pizza principle.


It was a good time back home for a few days before I came out here to Raleigh. I only had a chance to see a few friends, tho I wish I could have seen them all and played a few games of Risk with them. Or, better yet, introduce them to Settlers of Catan! Who would have thought a non-violent game could get as aggressive as Risk? Anyway, it was a good time to see my folks and brother. Its strange how many things didn't change back there; just a bit more empty strip malls, new lights at intersections, and just more overall suburbia... Why I remember youngin' when it was all wheat fields as fer as de eye kin see! No, really. Ah well, I guess you just can't go back unless obligated by the holidays or guilt.

Howdy!

... oh wait. That's Texan. Nevermind! I just wanted to share with everyone the last two images for conceptart.org's weekly challenge, the DEEP. Along with the previous 3, these last two round out my entry. There is a lot of good work and many more people working hard to be better artists. If you have a bit, check it out here. My final presentation is somewhere in the lower half. I thought I was late, but being on the east coast, I guess I was kinda early! Sweet.

So, the last two are good ol' weapons and a remote drone. Somehow I didn't see an underwater society using much bullets. But my tiny knowledge sound and the water, made the idea sound plausible. The drone came from the idea that there are probably still some limit on how deep this fictional society could go. A drone, like the Mars rover, could.

the monthly blog...?

I guess nowadays I've become the monthly blog rather than a often updated one. Sorry folks. Moving on! I'm here in Raleigh and basically as settled in as I can be. I'm in a nice place thats a 5min walk to work and I love that part. While most people are commuting home, I'm in the clubhouse gym or swimming laps in the pool. Work is good and I like the people there. Yeah, its nice out here, but... ITS HOT. Oh SF, I miss your cool weather. I haven't had a chance to really explore too much, but without a car, it is a challenge. I've got my trusty road bike, so its good for now.

Of course, while I am at work I don't get to draw or painting anything thats mine. So, I try to draw in-between unpacking and playing Team Fortress 2 and Crysis. Yes, Call of Duty4 is next. Hey, I just got this computer. I... I digress. Sorry. Um, so I've been participating in conceptart.org's weekly event for sometime. Now, that I have settled in enough that I've been working on this new challenge. Its an across the topic involving "the DEEP", ocean, not space. I really like working on these, some come out alright, some pretty good. I like the practice and the chance to be creative and finish what I like. I've got a few more to round out, but here's what I recently did. A floating lantern, breathing helmet, and a underwater suit. The last one, crab/lobster suit, I took some new tricks and hopefully they turned out ok. More to come... 2? 3? We'll see!

Having fun...

So, as I ready to move and have things setup, I didn't want to get rusty before I start and have some fun. At conceptart.org, I rarely post or participate in their weekly events. These past few weeks I did and had some fun, some I didn't finsh in time, but here are the ones I did.

The first up is idw#68, a timber harvester. Its was put out around Earth Day, so I had to join in! Yar! Have at thee ye overrated trees!


Which was followed up this previous week with a idw#69, a happiness dispenser. My second thought was a 'happy dispenser' using the number 69, but I figure I should keep it G-rated. Going with my first thought was a steampunk aether dispenser. You really don't have to figure out how the physics work in steampunk tech too much, which is always nice. I liked my first sketch and ran with it. Put myself on a short timer and pooped out his lil' piece...

west coast to east coast...

The time for change is upon me everyone! During GDC, I met some good people from Vicious Cycle, and later contacted them about concept artist positions. Last week, I flew out to Raleigh-Durham and interviewed. And just this week, I accepted a position there! Yay! Its going to be a big change, but I'm really looking forward to it! I've never been to Raleigh, but everything I saw there, it looked like a great place to be. I'm going to miss San Francisco, but I'll be back to visit and soak up everything I'm taking for granted here. Speaking of which, I'm gonna have to eat at all my favorite places before I go!

Its no joke!... its an update!

Hey everyone! I've been bad and neglecting my blog, trying hard to keep it up. But getting a few freelance gigs has kept me busy, thanks Ryan! Working on somethings that I can hopefully show soon. Until then, I found time to finish something extra. Some sketches and thumbs for this are under the 'sketchbook' section of my website, but heres the main image!

Busy month!

Well, its been a busy month and it always seems to be for February. Near the end of January, I got news of a few animation studios seeking artist positions that I know I could fill. Exciting no? But! At the same time, the Gamer's Developer Conference coming to town. I joined up with a startup, Three Little Pigs Studios to provide them with environment concepts. And, WonderCon was right after GDC! So, my busy month started and I never stopped working until now!

In the middle of preparations, Carolina got me back for my birthday. Ooohh.. so evil. For her bday, I got her up Sunday early (8am, hey... its the weekend) to a BART station to surprise her with all our friends I could get into a van. I had a longer list, but dam vans only fit so many people. Anyway, it worked and we all had a great day in wine country. I guess it went so well, Carolina had to surprise me too. Ooohh.. so evil. As she took me out south to Santa Cruz boardwalk for the day, we had a great time. Beaches, seafood, rides, and arcade Mario Kart. Cool time. After the long drive back, I got a big surprise at home! When I first walked in, I swore I sniffed a pizza. An odd smell for our place and I saw the door to our bedroom closed. With that info, the thought entered my mind. There are people in the dark waiting to surprise me. Yay! Now mind you, I figured this out like I figure out Bruce Willis was dead in 6th Sense, a second before the wedding rings dropped. Some psychic powers I have eh? Anyway, it was a great time to see to many great friends. Thanks for stopping by everyone!

So, I finished my portfolio in time for GDC and hit the conference the first day open at the job pavilion. All of which turned out really solid leads. Sadly, they were mostly all out of town. And, I mean waaaay out of town. Seattle, Vegas, east coast, Canada, and Iceland. Yes, Iceland, which I think would be really cool. <--- no pun intended It was an good experience, there I was really able to gauge my skill level and I found myself at a good spot. I was surprised at the amount of awkward job seekers as well. So many people dress too casually, had poorly laid out their portfolios, and a bit short on their personal/social skills. But I guess thats why we're into gaming. A social hobby without being truly social? Nevertheless, things are looking brighter.

After GDC that same week, we hit WonderCon and enjoyed ourselves there. We saw the previews for 10,000BC movie. Ah... no. Also, we saw Get Smart preview. Which I was unsold on until I saw Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway there. Both really cool people and funny. From what I saw, they really will do the show justice and make it their own. Oddly enough, there was more attention to Steve Carell than to the beautiful, Anne Hathaway. Only at comic-con eh? We also saw previews for the new Clone Wars... AWESOME! Except, I'm not too into the character style. I think I'll get used to it. And finally we saw Wall*E clips. Oh so cool and pretty, up there with Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, and Incredibles.

And... to finish the month off, I was able to finish send work into the animation studios and finish quite a few sketches for Three Little Pigs. And then I was surprised to get some really cool freelance work for MOLI! Thanks Ryan! Sweet news! Its been a busy month and looking to be steadily that way for a while. Whoo hooo! Oh oh... here are some of the sketches for Three Little Pigs. Enjoy!

New work....

Been working like a busy bee these days. Its been good and I've been enjoying it a lot. Staying focused isn't so hard when its something you really love to do. Here is the work I recently finished up and I have to admit, it was a lot of fun to do!

So, what I did was a overall illustration. The idea was a creature in New York. After doing some research, I decided to do something away from Times Square and Central Park. I originally wanted to make it cutting across the Washington Bridge, but I didn't want to hide half of the creature in water. Thus, a compromise near the pier...

First I needed to figure out a creature. I know I didn't want a dinosaur or anything "Godzilla" like...


So, I decided on a "cthulhu" type beast from HP Lovecraft's work. Sure, its been done before, but there are so many variants to work on and its fun. Next, I worked on some comps...


After a little bit of work, I settled on no2 comp, the upper right one with a little bit of tweaking. I started on the final a couple a of days ago and here is the finish! So, thats it for now folks, more to come!!

Finishing tech

Happy New Year everyone! I hope yours was a good one, mine was... painful. All I can say is thank you to Johnny and Glenn's most generious and kind hospitality, and to Caro's kind and loving nurturing ways. I love you guys.

Here is some new pieces to round off the tech-ish theme I've been working on. A set of environment shots of a underground base. I really liked doing things like this, tech and tech associated enviroments, but, of course, not every project is tech based. So, look for more fantasy based work to come! Meanwhile, enjoy!