late nite pen doodles

pretty much what it says on the tin.

once i settle into my studio space i'll have more supplies in my arsenal besides a tablet and a few pens/pencils.

can't wait to get messy with paint.

roommates

for reporter. tried to stay lighthearted 'n' cartoonay.

Summer

So this was a quick one I did to make some people smile.

Went to a few great concerts this summer and these lovely people were among my companions.

Jojo, her brother Jason (who has me in a headlock) and the ever exuberant Paola. And you can see my friend David freaking out because his gf got kicked in the face by a crowdsurfer too.

Ah, summer.

On to fall!!!!!

Nightmare landscape

So I get migraines 2, 3 times a week anymore. Got one today. Took a new medicine for it (prescribed) and... had hallucinations, screamed at nothing, was terrified of the floor, among other things.

Horrible as it was, some of the hallucinations were totally crazy.

And this was one of them. I said, in delirium, "I GOTTA PAINT THAT" and i went to sketch it down but discovered my arms weighed 300 pounds each and I couldn't move. Well, I'll certainly never do drugs. I'd do more tonight but I still feel rather dodgy.

1 hour so far.

Suggestions/help VERY welcome.

Jeep!

I come from a town near Toledo, Ohio, which happens to be the home of the Jeep.

Saw this scruffy smiley on the back of an SUV tonight and went... Hm. Wonder what the human version would look like.

So... I used chris pine for reference (obviously.) and had a fun little 2 hour paint study.

Broke out some new photoshop brushes. Up till now I've only ever used the round brush. So... I'm gonna keep experimenting!!!

Glimmer of hope start

I watched "there will be blood" for the first time yesterday with a friend who loves cinematography and symbolism as much if not more than me. and was inspired by the ever so sexy daniel day lewis.

I have a friend moving across the country to a place he's never been. He's all gloomy. Well, he shouldn't be. It's gonna be alright.

Lots of us are moving onto our next stage or a new year.

Or all this is sappy b.s. and i just really like moustaches.

I'll get back to work on the fiery voodoo lady in a bit, I just needed something a little less... intense for a couple days.

just started this.

thank yew, j.g. and j.g. both these guys have made me feel like this sweeper guy in their own ways... there's blue sky (there will be when i colour it i swear!) and all's gonna be well.

Zombie lady gets backround. Needs work. nh

Aaand it's 2:30 something a.m. and I'm finally getting around to painting some more.

yeahh yeahh, there's my demon horse silhouetted in there. Yep.

Lot more work to do.

Suggestions, help, etc. would be great. Landscapes are most definitely NOT my strong point.

I tried to bring a bit of the fiery colours into her complexion (it was very neutral/putty like before) without making her TOO alive looking... Eh, I'll probably just throw in more blood and gore.

Amazing artist alert

A filmmaker this time. Matthew Brown.

http://vimeo.com/matthewbrown

I've only watched a couple of his videos so far but I needed to tell someone about them so far.

He captures feelings of trips with a video camera... memories... in ways I've only ever been able to remember.

He did a couple "postcard" type videos, one of Japan, one of Spain. The first two countries I went to besides canada/us were Spain & Japan and these two videos really echo my memories of these places.

Spain was a country full of light and dark. Religion and torture. I was there during Semana Sancta and was in Toledo during easter. It was... a phenomenal experience. I also experienced my first run in with hate in this country. One, I was American (around the time of 9/11). Two, I was in a very Catholic country and I looked very Jewish at the time, according to the locals (they let me know it very loudly, calling me things such as "jew pig whore" at the entrance to cathedrals. sometimes it sucks being able to understand other languages. almost didn't let me in at one place in sevilla). It was... well, a phenomenal experience. This guy's work brought it all back.

Japan... totally different feel. I was with my family there, visiting my sister in Hiroshima and my dad in Tokyo. Tokyo felt frenetic. Every neighborhood is wildly different. we were there in winter, and in the midst of this insanely busy city, with karaoke and crazy awesome food, we were in the middle of this one park and it was... silent.

Completely, utterly silent.

Just snow falling.

Black silhouettes of people with umbrellas. Women in beautiful white coats, with glossy black hair. Colorful youth.

Then Hiroshima, a great city. Really liked that place. My sister and I spoke Spanish and my parents spoke French at the Peace Center, for obvious reasons. You don't want to be American there.

In that video there's deer. I'm not sure where he was, could be a lot of places, but it reminded me of Miyajima. Lots of adorable deer there, Itsukushima Shrine, a torii gate...

I've rambled enough. Go look. Maybe it'll move you like it moved me.

Check out "Right Before World War Three" http://vimeo.com/11538086

Is it sad to admit it made me sob?

I guess stuff moves me easily :)

she's clothed. still workin'

Any suggestions for a background? i'm awful at this.

I was also considering having some skin ripped off for muscle/gross stuff to show through, like my demon horses.

still gonna fix her arm, mess with her hair/horns more, fix the clothes/skin, and add more blood/tearstains.

I wanna do this one right.

ella muerta

my next one. I was at a bookstore today, pouring though art magazines and architecture magazines. I found this photo series of people made up like (i think in haiti) zombies. And this one photo really hit me. So I'm painting her, and changing stuff so the only thing I"m really copying is the face and idea. We'll see. shell probs become a voodoo priestess.

Came across a great quote in a book I bought today (the architecture of happiness)

"It is in dialogue with pain that many beautiful things acquire their value"

-alain de botton

and that quote explains a lot of why i do art. and why a lot of artists are insane.

also, staring at stars is a great thing to do.

EDIT: i had a breakthru with the blue guy i painted. and i've updated this post 3 times now. because I. Can't. Stop. Painting. I"m so excited i could pee!!!!!

EDIT EDIT: now with more blood.

el hombre- espera por ella.

done? maybe? Not too keen on the background.

oh well. i had fun. good face study. first photoshop piece i've done that i really wanted to keep working on.

my ref picture was of a guy wearing a mask staring out a window. found it off deviantart. if anyone wants the link, i can provide.

el hombre still in progress

He's comin' along.

i'm pretty happy with it so far :)

Sketchbook Project

Hi guys! My friend Bridget Brennan sent me this awesome link: http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject?utm_source=abduzeedo&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=abduzeedo

You fill out a sketchbook (they send you a moleskine- i hope it's got thicker paper but it might not) and it goes on tour in a sort of art show. It's $25 to participate, but I see it as a great opportunity.

You never know when some art director might pick up your sketchbook and go..." Hrrm. I like this kid's style. Hrrm. Think I'll hire 'em. Hrrm." (in my world, all art directors chew on cigars and go "hrmph" a lot).

I'm doin' it. You should too!

el hombre wip

what i'm doin' now.

this is bout an hour in.

but i'm tired, and going to bed.

yay photoshop!

i love sun flowers. fer dinnah.

got bored. had photoshop. this happened.

bout an hour.

gambler in progress

I'm at the ugly stage right now. :(

any suggestions are welcome.

acrylic. moleskine.

song is "the gambler" by kenny rogers. Good song, look it up.

Rollie

Rollie Fingers... originally for the San Diego Padres... A pitcher. He'd wax that moustache and then pitch the ball... the wax would mess up the ball and screw up the batter.

Personally, all that aside, I just couldn't resist that ridiculous stache.

bout an hour. photoshop. i should go to bed.

Broncosaurus.

I think it's done. Acylic, pen/ink, watercolour...

sigh. if only...

Fallen

Quick one before bed. Shouldn't have added the blue. :( Oh well.

Acrylic. Oh noes, she's nakkid.

SPORTS

Got back from Cali last night.

Today I... cleaned the house (scrubbed floors, etc.), baked a carrot cake from scratch (homemade frosting is awesome), ran 3 miles, and copied down a ton of recipes my cousins in tennessee sent my mum.

And I ate at a sports bar and they had old footage running... so i went home and looked up a bunch of heroes of yesterday... Tonight I did a quick 10 minute warmup of Steve Prefontaine (minute mile and first guy to endorse Nike) and then took an hour and painted a somewhat recognizeable "Gentleman" Joe Namath, #12 quarterback for the NY Jets back in the day.

Will do more. it's 3:30 a.m. and I am super super jittery.

I hven't touched my tablet in nearly a month.