Sketchbook!

Here's another little comp from a few pages in a new sketchbook. I'm just having fun and getting inspired by a few artists I'm currently checking out. Hope you enjoy (click to enlarge):

Watercolor Sketching

Last week I had the fortune of helping start design on a new project, and I was using watercolor to create silhouettes. At the end of the day, I had the urge to sketch some animals, just for fun. These are just a couple of them. They were quick, but it really felt great to go at something with no agenda, no reserve, no client, no deadline... just sketching for an hour.

I'll have more sketches in the future, between projects, and I'll share what I can, when I can, what we are working on here at Moonbot. Talk soon!

Critters, UNITE!

We are playing around with sketches and ideas for a local mural that will be born this summer, and it (of course) has spawned into new ideas, new characters, and a fun sketch. This is a collaboration between the studio (moonbot), ideas of Brandon Oldenburg, Bill Joyce, sketched by myself and painted by Adam Volker. This is not the actual mural image, but a part of the brainstorming process that may end up in it somewhere...

I can't wait to see where this goes...

Sketch hour

I've been working hard on an animated short film lately, handling character and prop design, so in between work and life I try to still give myself at least a couple hours a week to just sketch for fun and practice. This is my time to relax, watch television and just let my brain wander... sort of stretching my sketch-muscles.

Here a sketchbook page from one such session a couple weeks ago:

(these are Prismacolor markers and Prismacolor colored pencils on paper)

Sketchbooking

Here are some recent sketches from my sketchy von bookus. I am enjoying the errant line of the pen and how charming it can be on its own. Sometimes small areas are nice in their simplicity:

details:

Sketchbook: cheetah

Drawing from a "BIG CATS" book I picked up at Barnes & Noble. After a couple pages of quick gestures, I finally liked one enough to play around with some sort of finished rendering. This is with Prismacolor pencils (4 colors) and markers (2 colors, only in spots/edges). This took just over an hour while watching Tiger Woods kick ass on TV this past Sunday. It fills a 9"x12" page in my new sketchbook. It started off really line-based and cartoony, but the more I worked it out, the more rendered it became. I guess it was just a good image for me to experiment with.

detail
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Sketchbook: animals

Sketchbook: crocodile

I am nearly obsessed with creatures and life... people, animals, and anything in between or near them. From one of my many animal encyclopedias, I've scribbled a little loose, exaggerated sketch of a fat-necked crocodile. When they gain weight, it looks great, as their body bloats out in the middle and near the head, then this long, clumsy, cartoon-like jaw points out of it. They are threatening animals that look far too comedic for their ominous threat.

Daily Sketchbook

I've decided to post my sketchbook drawings or whatever I'm working on, as frequently as daily. I'm sure I won't keep this schedule perfectly, but I'll try my best.

Here are some new animal sketches. I'm playing with style and weight. Still (always) a long ways to go. And if you like these, then you should clickety-click over to get my new book. It's still warm from the oven.

Sketching again

EDIT: Extended Sketchbook Giveaway offer at the Art Squared Blog!
CLICK!

Sketching is so important. I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing sometimes. But after a few warmup doodles or sketches, it hits me and it feels natural again. Here are a few recent drawings from my sketchbook.

These are just quick observational sketches from photos, just to pass time and keep 'limber.' They are done with Prismacolor markers, fine-liner pens and Faber-Castell PITT brush pens on a simple white sketchbook from Barnes & Noble (good prices on sketchbooks).

Please excuse the lack of posts here, recently. I have been traveling a lot, and it's been quite hectic, however both New York Comic Con and Orlando MegaCon went far better than I had hoped. Thanks to everyone who dropped by, I'll have more photos and stories very soon.

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Get Your Sketchbook!

I decided to give the art away:

Sketch Infectus contains nearly 400 drawings... It's been set at the modest price of $20. It's a hardcover book. I've been told by friends that this value is insane, but that's the point. Now let's break it down in mere terms of art:

The book contains about 390 drawings and costs $20.00 (US). That comes to less than 20¢ ($0.20) per drawing. As silly as that already is, you get advice from the likes of Steve Brodner, Phillip Burke, John Kascht, Steve Silver and dozens of other amazing artists.

BUT I'M NOT DONE (infomercial voice)...

Anyone who pre-orders by February 5th (happens to be a good friend's birthday!) will get an original sketch. And by sketch, I don't mean I'll draw a little 5 second scribble... I mean I'll actually be cutting out the sketches from these and other sketchbooks and giving them to you! You might get something IN the book and you might get something else! Your sketch might have a doodle on the back. Who knows!

But this is reserved ONLY for pre-orders on or before February 5th.

Because of the shipment date of the books, the pre-order will extend to mid-late February, (actual date TBD) however this special is ONLY good until the 5th (books will be shipped late February or early March).

Anyway, go on over and buy 2 or 3 copies (don't forget your friends!), and here are some more low-res previews from my upcoming sketchbook collection, SKETCH INFECTUS:

Go get it!
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Sketch Infectus

Over the last seven years or so, I've been stashing scrap paper with doodles, keeping my sketchbooks hidden under the bed, and scanning artwork and forgetting about it. I decided that 2009 was the year that I dusted it all off and shared it with others. A good friend of mine recently said "...in a sketch you see the hand of the master..." --not that I consider myself a master-- but it is quite true that sketches inspire. The loose, confident secure mindset of trying to teach yourself something, all alone, in a book that you never intended to show off, is powerful and wonderful.

I realized for years that nearly every book I purchased and every inspiration I had, came from the sketches and sketchbooks of other artists. One of my good friends, Stephen Silver, has been a big inspiration and motivator for me over the last few years. How? His sketches. His doodles. His scratchy sketchbooks.

Well, after talking to many peers and inspiring artists, I've captured dozens of quotes and tips and supplied them along side a dense collection of drawings and doodles. This will most likely be the most art-heavy little book you've ever seen, and I think it looks pretty snazzy. You will be able to get it over at Art Squared Books.com, pre-orders coming up next week (with a special incentive for those who order early!).

Here are some previews. I'm really excited about this book, and I hope it continues to inspire someone out there, as much as other artists have (and continue to) inspire me:

* More to come soon...
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Some Birds and more Cars

Just trying to keep healthy and sketch/draw/paint every day. I'm usually fascinated with certain topics and subjects. I think I understand why, but... well, who knows.

Among these topics are BIRDS and CARS (along with faces, people, dogs, and most animals). You'll definitely see those interests (obsessions?) in my sketchbook, coming out next month.

Here are some more cars as well as some bird sketches. They're really not for anything other than keeping my hand limber, my mind working and trying to come up with some creative ideas. I guess it's just the beginning of stuff to come, but who knows. I guess it's just fun to keep drawing, and I'm trying to have fun. These are all completed with Prismacolor products (FineLiner, Markers, Pencils...)

Kung Fu Panda!

I don't know why, but I was unsure of how I felt about this movie, simply based on the trailers and advertisements. I wasn't too excited, but was sure I wanted to see what it was all about, so a friend and myself caught a midnight show last night. All I can say is that this is giving (one of my all-time-favorites) Pixar's Ratatouille a run for its money in animation as well as beautiful colors, textures and surfaces.

Kung Fu Panda is one CG animated film that goes the extra mile with color design and the animation is top-notch. The animators really have outdone themselves. The character traits are very inventive, detailed, human, exaggerated, cartoony and active. The voices are fun and the script is very good.

I could go on and on in detail what I enjoyed and critique it in depth, but I'll keep it to this: Overall I give this film two thumbs up. From a creative standpoint, I couldn't enjoy it much more than I did. It is definitely worth checking out, so go see it this weekend - twice!

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Character Design

I've had the pleasure of doing quite a bit of character design in the last couple years, more heavily in the last few months.

Character design is much like caricature, yet you must define, simplify, exaggerate and focus on all of the subject's scope, rather than just the face or head. It can involve cars, animals, objects or anything that needs definition and style to fit the "world" that you are creating.

At the moment I'm doing character design full-time. I can't share the current projects just yet, but for now I'll show some of the past work I've done, in pieces to show how I approach it. I see it as eye candy for those who like process or rough stages. Much like published sketchbooks, this is fun for me, so I'm hoping others find it enjoyable.

This project (circa '06-'07) involved taking an illustrated children's book (concept copyright: author) and optioning it for a Saturday morning cartoon with a more "hotrod" feel. To my knowledge the project didn't go through but the process built a few relationships that are great and I had a lot of fun. I got to draw DOGS and RACECARS... how can you beat that! Below is a fraction of the drawings and steps in the process:

My friend Brian Haimes did most of the modeling along with the great folks at So! Animation. I was still learning, so my help in the construction of the wireframe models was small, but I enjoyed every bit of it.

This next project is much more recent (January 2008) and was for Bette Midler's Las Vegas show. My task was to design fish characters to interact with Bette's character, under the sea. She is auditioning in a singing contest (an obvious American Idol parody) and they needed three fish judges to be designed to match the personality and likeness of the 3 American Idol judges. This was another dream job that I put as much concept as design into, contributing to what fish were chosen and even character animation traits. This was done with the great team at Atlantic Motion Pictures (AMP), also in New York. This is just a small piece of the work done for that job:

The final animation is displayed on a 120 ft. wide screen that drops on the stage, giving a cinematic "happening in front of the viewer" feel which, through the reviews I've read, is very effective. There was also some great and timely contribution through the producer, director, modeler and animators in this project. They really brought the drawings to life.

I really am enjoying character design as much as I enjoy illustration. It's an impossible lifestyle, as while I do one I miss the other... I guess I feel blessed to be able to go back and forth. I also find that very often one helps me with the other.

When I get permission to discuss the current projects and show the artwork, I will. I can't wait to share this unique and fun project, so check back soon and let me know what you think.

(this topic may also explain the flying pigs on my blog header: another character design project from last year)

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Working on the Road

Well, not really... I hope...

I'm drawing like crazy today, trying to get a few commissions finished for a West Coast city paper. This is a job I've done for two years now, and it's one of my favorites. I get to (yeah, get jealous...) draw caricatures in pencil, down to the collar, of people I've never seen. What a gig! Here's a little preview of one of the drawings:

Speaking of West Coast, I'll be visiting San Francisco for the first time. I leave tomorrow morning (Friday) and come back early Monday morning. I have an event to draw at, but it's a great chance to see a new city. I have some friends and old college classmates that live there, so it will be nice to see "their" city.

This is my last travel trip for the year (I think...), and it will be nice to spend more time in the studio.

Check back in for more paintings, illustrations, both of people and ANIMALS. I'm really inspired by some of my favorite artists and have been focusing more on animal art, animal caricatures, cartooning, design, and other aspects of mammals. I love the idea of "creature" art based on real designs from nature.