Pants Weather Press

New Year, New Stuff!

2012-01-27T23:30:00.004-05:00

First post of the new year brings quick pen crowd-watching gestures from cafes and such. It's a challenge to go back to straight pen-work after working so long on the computer.

I'm going to try to keep up regular posting this year! I'd like to get back into some painting and illustration, and definitely more life-drawing.

Frick Collection Studies

2011-12-04T23:41:00.001-05:00

We stopped by the Frick Collection today for a short sketch session. It's a fantastic museum and I'd like to go back soon for further study.

I really liked this woman's expression.

I also tried a few quick compositional thumbnails as an exercise to break down the elements of story and light and shadow. This is something I definitely want to do more of.

ASIFA Pose Drawing Session FALL/WINTER 2011 #1

2011-12-03T23:02:00.000-05:00

After several months hiatus I finally made it back to the gesture drawing class. It's fun to see how easy it is to get rusty at this kind of study even when you spend every day of the week drawing.

These are 1-2 minutes:

3-4 minutes:

Rembrandt Studies

2011-12-03T22:55:00.001-05:00

Over Thanksgiving vacation we checked out a traveling Rembrandt exhibit. We managed to get a few quick studies in before we were told that sketching the paintings wasn't permitted. It was great to see some of these works in person though.

Raleigh Zoo Studies

2011-11-29T23:22:00.001-05:00

We decided to take in the Raleigh Zoo over Thanksgiving. It's been a while since I last tried straight-up brush and pen gestures, but it's always a lot of fun.

Here's a few more I only had time to take pictures of:

More News: Cold Hard Flash

2011-11-22T00:44:00.001-05:00

Today the Sun-Moon Sweet'N Low spot was featured on Cold Hard Flash! Super cool stuff. Check it out and spread the love:

http://coldhardflash.com/2011/11/nathan-love-delivers-tasteful-sweetn-low-spots.html

Thanks Aaron!

Back to the History Museum

2011-11-20T01:00:00.001-05:00

It was another nice Saturday so we stopped by the Natural History Museum again for a little last-minute studying.

Later at dinner my wife and I did a little jam sketch.

Sweet'N Low and Other News

2011-11-16T22:11:00.001-05:00

The two commercial spots for Sweet"N Low that we made last month are now on the air! I was Animation Director and also provided the animatics on these. These were quite a lot of fun to make, a very expressive style. Each spot is 15 seconds and drawn in Flash. The animation crew included my wife AZURE, Pasquale Ricotta, and myself. Produced at Nathan Love, Inc.

Cloud-Rainbow:

Sun-Moon:

The shorts have been starting to generate some press, today they were featured on Motionographer:

http://motionographer.com/2011/11/15/nathan-love-for-sweet-n-low/

And on MediaPost:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/162158/sweetn-low-launches-animated-tv-spots.html

In other news, both my wife and I will be included in Art For Hope, a digital art anthology sponsored by Autodesk and VIZ Media, the proceeds of which go in support of the continuing disaster relief in Japan. It's a really fantastic project that debuts the first week of December. My wife's piece will be featured at the launch premiere in Las Vegas at the Autodesk Creative Studio Event.

http://www.sketchbooknews.com/news/creative-studio-art-exhibit.html

More details on how you can get the Art For Hope anthology coming soon!

Natural History Birds

2011-10-27T23:02:00.001-04:00

My wife and I stopped by the Natural History Museum this afternoon. It was only an hour before closing but we managed to find a place to sit and sketch a bunch of hawks.

2011-10-27T22:58:00.000-04:00

Random stuff from the sketchbook. It's a slow build-up to get back to sketching for myself outside of work this year. Coming up are a couple of commercials that I just finished and a brand new demo-reel!

Storyboarding Doodles

2011-09-16T23:39:00.001-04:00

I watched Double Indemnity and Orson Welles's The Stranger today, both great films. I'm warming up for some new storyboards so I started doodling around in Sketchbook Pro to find striking framing devices. I paid attention to the way both Wilder and Welles built their compositions. The two films are on opposite ends of the film noir visual spectrum. Double Indemnity is high-key, filmed largely in gray washes. The high tones are soft and Wilder often allows his leads' faces to fall into dim shadow. It's a film about moral ambiguity and the cinematography never pushes the audiences' emotion too far one way or the other. The Stranger plays on the extreme edge of light and dark. There is no ambiguity about the personality of Welles's Nazi war criminal, and the low-key lighting leaves almost no room for middle tones. The backgrounds of each film follow suit, Welles's film favors abstract patterns of shadow, while Wilder populates his shots with set dressing.

The top two panels are right out of The Stranger. The bottom ones are just me messing around, searching for interesting scenarios in single shots. I'll be posting more as I continue my warm ups!

On the Subway

2011-08-29T18:08:00.004-04:00

Flipping through some seldom-used sketchbooks I found a whole bunch of studies from when I rode the subway into work in the mornings that I never scanned. The speedboat moose was there too who's to say it wasn't?

Getting Back Into Practice

2011-08-28T13:57:00.002-04:00

Back in July three major productions I was working on for the better part of a year or more came to a close. Afterward we took the month off for a much-needed break in Japan and then over to the west coast. Now that we're back in the city and I've started a new production I've realized that it's been a while since I've sketched purely for fun or study. For the people who actually read this blog I'm sorry that the new updates have been few and far between lately. I have to start giving myself assignments to get back into the right mindset. We'll start with dogs!

New Boards

2011-08-01T23:39:00.000-04:00

Some new boards I've been kicking around for an old project. There's a few more pages in the works! These were done in Sketchbook Pro. I wanted to focus on staying loose and energetic with the drawings.

Japan and iPad

2011-08-01T13:22:00.006-04:00

I got myself an iPad last month and have been playing around with Sketchbook Pro. Using the stylus is an interesting challenge for me. Here's a few sketches from when we were in Japan.

This last one was my first sketch using the iPad back in May.

An All-Times Food!

2011-05-17T01:41:00.001-04:00

It's been a LONG stretch since the last post. This doodle is about 3 months old as well. Work lately has caused a big backlog in my sketch posts. I will try to get back to a more regular posting schedule this summer!

ASIFA Drawing Session WINTER/SPRING 2011 #2

2011-03-04T00:35:00.002-05:00

Tonight's batch! I'm pleased with the 1 minute sketches this round. Click for larger images.

1-3 minutes:

4 minutes:

5 minutes:

From the Sketchbook

2011-02-28T01:10:00.000-05:00

ASIFA Drawing Session WINTER 2011 #1

2011-02-25T00:14:00.001-05:00

Gesture drawing class is back in session!

1-3 minutes:

4 minutes:

5 minutes:

Cottleston Pie

2011-02-22T23:07:00.002-05:00

He's not exactly Sesame Street, but Rowlf's been on my mind since I drew the Counting Count. Rowlf singing "Cottleston Pie" on the Muppet Show is easily one of my very favorite moments on television. Click to make bigger!

ASIFA life drawing started last week!

Skeleton Studies

2011-01-30T01:26:00.001-05:00

Took an impromptu trip to the museum today. We only had a couple of hours this time around but with luck we'll be able to make it back soon.

Movie Faces

2011-01-27T00:18:00.001-05:00

I wonder if tomorrow will be a snow day!

Some doodling while my wife and I watch movies.

Trying to focus on the clothes the characters wear. In the MST3K episode Girl's Town, the main character wears this awesome and strange half dress/overall. Is that a thing people wore, or did they make it up for the movie?

2011-01-25T00:24:00.001-05:00

Looking forward to starting up the animal anatomy studies again this year. A trip to the Natural History Museum is in order!

Ah Ah Ah!

2011-01-23T19:01:00.001-05:00

Approaching nearly a whole year working for Sesame Workshop, and it's been such a great and unexpected experience. As a life-long Henson fan it's been a joy to work with these characters every day, and now as I see everything coming together I'm humbled by the scope of it. It's still a shock to see my work on all the finished projects. Sometimes I forget that I'm actually drawing these guys for a reason and not just because it's so much fun. I'm grateful for the team that

Anyway good ol' Count von Count is one of my favorite characters and he's one that I don't get to work with too much, so share and enjoy! I might try my hand at some more Muppets that don't come my way too often, depending on how much people would like to see them.

GigaCon 2011 was such a great time. The con itself started to grow and I'm excited to see how it progresses. My storyboarding lecture seemed to go over reasonably well despite some initial technical difficulties, and the sketchbooks turned out really nice. The highlight of the con though was getting to meet and hang out with all the fantastic guests. Thanks guys for some of the most fun conversations I've had in a long time.

Sketchbook Vol. 2 will soon be available to purchase on this site! Stay tuned for details!

My posting has slowed down a little in the past few months, but I have a bunch of new posts lined up.

Sandwich War

2011-01-10T01:15:00.004-05:00

Also coming to GigaCon 2011 (click for the GigaCon website).

Watercolor prints available in 12x16" photo matte paper or in letter-sized watercolor paper. This year the con has expanded enormously with some great guest artists coming in from all around the country. Come on down and stop by our table. If for some reason you can't make it, the prints and sketchbooks will soon be available for sale on this here site right here!

Testing, testing

2011-01-10T00:56:00.000-05:00

A new year, a brand new sketchpad to fill up.

From Sketchbook Vol. 2

2011-01-10T00:54:00.000-05:00

Back and ready to go in the new year! Here's a little something that can be found in the new Sketchbook Vol. 2, which debuts this week at GigaCon 2011.

Sketchbook Vol. 2 Coming Soon!

2010-12-22T00:29:00.002-05:00

Coming in 2011! My Sketchbook Vol. 2 featuring sketches from throughout 2010. Vol. 2 kicks the crap out of Vol. 1, and it's more than twice the size, which gives it even more legroom to kick with. 42 pages of doodles and sundry others, including many previously unreleased drawings. There will be a limited printing available for GigaCon 2011 in January, and a larger printing soon after. If you can't pick it up at GigaCon you will soon be able to buy it online, right here even!

Kitty Kitty

2010-12-12T02:47:00.000-05:00

Pre-watercolor pencils.

Pie Time

2010-12-12T02:45:00.000-05:00

This is an older illustration that I decided to clean up and ink. I have no explanation for this scene.

Coming Soon

2010-12-06T00:25:00.001-05:00

Triple post today. Here's the rough pencils for a new painting!

A Sketchy Day

2010-12-05T23:56:00.001-05:00

I'm working overtime to put a brand new 2010 sketchbook together for the printers! Ive got two weeks to finish it. The wife and I have tables at GigaCon 2011 in Washington DC this January. We'll have prints, chat, and shiny shiny new sketchbooks. Azure will also have her line of fine knitware (you want to click on it) on sale which is great because you will leave warmer than you arrived.

More info coming soon!

ASIFA Drawing Session FALL 2010 #6

2010-12-05T22:52:00.001-05:00

Decent session last week, I only stayed for the first half though so I didn't get a chance to try out the brown paper sketchbook this time. These are 1-3 minute poses, still using the side of the pencil. Click the image for a larger version.

Quizibuck

2010-11-22T00:44:00.003-05:00

Bit of a new look for the blog, I've added an Illustration page and a Sketches page that I'm slowly updating. That way you won't need to sift through the back posts so much!

I had a little less of a sketch-heavy weekend than I originally hoped, but I do enjoy this cheerful fella.

An older sketch from my watercolor book that I decided to refine a little.

SANDSTORM

2010-11-18T01:36:00.000-05:00

Watched Joel and the Bots riff on Hercules Against the Moon Men tonight and let the pencil wander where it wanted.

Here's a random pen sketch from earlier this week, hanging out in a cool bakery of muffins and magic.

We may actually have a free day this weekend (crazy!) and I'm looking forward to breaking out the paints. Hope to get some new illustrations done in time for January!

From the Sketchbook 2

2010-11-12T01:10:00.000-05:00

When I'm forming a new idea I let my mind and my pencil wander. Here's a few recent full pages on nonsense from the sketchbook.

ASIFA Drawing Sesson FALL 2010 #4

2010-11-12T00:49:00.000-05:00

Had a good session tonight, so here's a bit larger post than usual. I continued to sketch mostly with the flat of the pencil, trying to stay as loose as possible.

1-2 minutes:

3 minutes:

I started something new this session with a little sketchbook I picked up from Muji. China marker and white charcoal is something I've never really tried outside of foundation studies back in college, but I'm enjoying it so far.

These are 4-5 minutes:

And these are the last two pages of my little watercolor sketchbook. I think I'm starting to get back into the swing of it. I'll be looking for a new one with a little bit better paper. These are 4 minutes each.

There Has Been a Short Delay

2010-11-10T00:21:00.001-05:00

Been a while since the last posting, but it's not for lack of working! Sesame Street has been pretty busy the past few weeks, and our weekends lately have generally been experienced as bright blurry things whizzing past us. I've also been building up a back catalog of sketches in preparation for a new sketchbook I hope to have printed by early next January! I'll be posting a few teasers here and thee in the next couple of months, but there's going to be a lot of stuff I'm keeping exclusive for the book. In the meantime here's stuff from the past two life drawing sketches.

Last week to change things up I tried sketching with just the flat of the pencil. I like how it helped me loosen up and focus on the motion of the figure. There's quite a different feeling between last week's sketches and the ones before. I've also just about finished with the little watercolor sketchbook! I'll be trying something new starting next session.

Poses 1-5 minutes.

ASIFA Drawing Session FALL 2010 #2

2010-10-15T16:43:00.002-04:00

iThe model this week had such good gesture poses it's a shame I wasn't able to capture more of them. 1-5 minute poses.

New Space Bear

2010-10-12T00:28:00.002-04:00

Had a nice, productive Columbus Day his year. Gouache 5"x7". I might make this a print.

Little Scenes

2010-10-05T22:36:00.001-04:00

A guy with a rockin' beard on the subway on the way to the Workshop. Drawn from memory in Flash in between files at work.

Quick brush-pen sketches in a corner cafe. I'm starting to re-train my eyes to look for interesting ways to frame a scene.

ASIFA Drawing Session FALL 2010 #1

2010-10-01T01:08:00.000-04:00

ASIFA model drawing class is back for the season. Tonight was the first session. I'm really happy to get back into practice. These are 1-5 minute gestures. I want to try to really push motion and weight this season.

New Pencils

2010-09-21T00:02:00.000-04:00

Pencils for the new version of the space bear. I just need to figure out how to watercolor it without screwing it up.

From the Sketchbook

2010-09-20T23:58:00.000-04:00

I just finished the old sketchbook and started a new one. Here's a few doodles from the last few pages!

Brooklyn Aquarium

2010-09-19T15:41:00.000-04:00

Broke in my new sketchbook yesterday at the aquarium on Coney Island.

SpaceGlider Studios Tai-Chi Project Boards #2

2010-08-20T22:43:00.000-04:00

Updated:

Shots 20-23 from my wife's new short film.

Here they are in sequence from the animatic:

Double-click the art to see the large-scale versions.

More coming soon!

Fire Island

2010-08-16T01:13:00.001-04:00

We drove out to the beach yesterday with some friends. Beautiful day, but the riptide was amazingly strong. A wave caught my legs and back-flipped me onto my head. I gave Azure a sunhat for some reason. The little travel sketchbook I have isn't really made for watercolor. I think I need to get myself a better one going forward.

More TaiChi boards coming soon!

The Lake at Central Park

2010-08-13T00:43:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday was Azure's birthday so we took a walk out to Central Park and rented a rowboat on the lake. I managed to get this sketched before the wind blew our boat away into the banks on the far side. Then we rowed back and went way uptown for some excellent Indian food.

Work Doodle

2010-08-12T16:49:00.001-04:00

Little sketch in Flash while waiting on various file approvals.

ASIFA Drawing Sesson Summer 2010 #4

2010-08-05T23:52:00.001-04:00

This may or may not be the last model session of the summer season. I'll try to keep posting life drawing each week regardless since we missed so many of the classes this time around. Gotta try to get to the zoo!

I'm going to be compiling in the next week all the various life-drawings posted on the blog into a single "Life Drawing" page up on the main header.

SpaceGlider Studios Tai-Chi Project Boards

2010-08-04T01:47:00.006-04:00

Updated:

Working on boards for a new animation production about Tai-Chi that my wife is currently directing. She's been handling most of the storyboarding work herself but I have a few more shots beside these coming.

We're working fast and loose on the boards for the most part , but since these shots are the first to introduce the character Lily and the technique of Tai_Chi I wanted to make sure that her form was as correct for the animators as I could make it.

Here they are played in sequence from the animatic:

(Click image twice for full viewing)

All boards drawn in Flash. The first and last boards in the sequence are cribbed from my wife's shots for continuity. There's tons more boards from the production over at her blog as well. Check it out!

More coming!

ASIFA Drawing Sesson Summer 2010 #3

2010-07-31T02:14:00.000-04:00

Trying to loosen up in the sketches. It might take a few sessions to get the right kind of feel for it!

ASIFA Drawing Sesson Summer 2010 #2

2010-07-27T00:42:00.000-04:00

Had a great time at Comic-Con this year. Saw old friends, met new ones, chatted with some of my heros, and made some significant progress in the field. Overall it was the most successful convention that I've been to.

Look for a lot of new work here very soon! Storyboards, characters, random sketches and more.

And more ASIFA, naturally.

We haven't really had the time or the energy to go the past three weeks, but this week should see the return of the regular life drawing. I really want to try to loosen up my line and movement in the figure. And I'm determined to figure out these watercolors!

Storyboards -- The Lady Jane Sc. 01

2010-06-29T01:05:00.000-04:00

These I've been meaning to post for a while now. Boards for the first scene of a story I've been working on with my friend Kyle Kershner.

I decided to do them in Sketchbook Pro as an excuse to practice with it. I wanted to keep the drawings pretty loose but the framing solid and atmospheric. Now that I'm a bit more confident with the program I'm looking forward to the next scene. Bring on the action!

ASIFA Drawing Sesson Summer 2010 #1

2010-06-26T20:35:00.001-04:00

Life Drawing class is back in session! I missed the first class, but managed to catch a good hour of the second class before running home to catch the Futurama premiere. I'm trying something a bit different with my construction now.

1-2 minutes each:

2-3 minutes each:

Trying to catch gestures with watercolor is really fun but difficult for me. Here's a few from the Spring classes I never got around to posting. I hope to see a big improvement by the end of the summer.

Hobbes, 1990-2010

2010-06-13T23:23:00.004-04:00

My brother's cat just passed. She's part of a pair, and we've had her and her brother for nearly 20 years. We got them the year we moved to Virginia, and they've been a part of home for so long it's hard to think of her not there anymore. She went to sleep on the porch today and just never woke up. I'll miss you, Hobbes. You were a great kitty.

Joe Weatherly Animal Drawing Workshop, Day 2

2010-06-13T23:01:00.002-04:00

The last day of the workshop spent at the Museum of Natural History. I can't wait to go back for a longer study of the skeletons.

Joe Weatherly Animal Drawing Workshop, Day 1

2010-06-13T00:40:00.005-04:00

Today was the first part of Joe Weatherly's workshop at the Bronx Zoo. It was a great time, super informative and just plain fun to focus on drawing moving animals with a critical eye.

To

Tomorrow is skeletons at the Museum of Natural History!

Free-Form Doodling

2010-06-11T18:32:00.001-04:00

I haven't really done that much drawing for myself the past few months. With the wedding, working two gigs, and foolishly purchasing the time sink that is Red Dead Redemption I haven't given myself the time to just sit and draw (with a real pencil!) for the hell of it. This weekend I'm going to force myself out of the rut. I'll be taking an animal drawing workshop with Joe Weatherly--I only hope it doesn't rain! I've started just free-form doodling to loosen up. I'm not even thinking, just letting the pencil sort make shapes and then following them to their conclusion, or lack thereof. Here's what the pencil decided to make from two of my sketchbook pages last night. What the hell is that little Gumby-type character?

I might post some more loosen-up exercises tonight.

Commercial Work

2010-06-06T19:52:00.002-04:00

New animation! Here is the commercial featuring Dora the Explorer that I directed and animated last month for Nathan Love, Inc. The spot was designed and animated in Flash. Enjoy!

And here is an extended sequence:

Return

2010-06-03T00:06:00.001-04:00

The repeated infrequent posting has got to stop, no more good excuses. The wedding in Japan was amazing, everything went off without a hitch and we just got back into New York. I'm in the middle of editing a crazy amount photos which I'll eventually be posting on my photo blog.

The commercial I directed before the trip is on the air now, so I'll be posting that too once I get everything together. More drawings on the way too!

Stay tuned,

2010-04-25T01:08:00.000-04:00

Little doodle between files at work.

I'm animating again. It's been a while, since I've mainly been doing design work for the past year. It's bound to eat up the majority of my time the next week weeks so I hope to be able to post at least a few sketches before the wedding.

The blog is in the middle of a bit of a redesign. There's now a page bar at the top of the blog where you can no go directly to my current demo reel. I'll be adding new pages as things calm down a bit more.

Scramble Time

2010-04-18T01:27:00.001-04:00

Little break from posting lately, with work and the wedding just a month away I've been sitting on a few things I meant to post weeks ago. There's two weeks of ASIFA drawings I haven't compiled yet and even had to skip last week's session, which is a shame since I heard the model had a shaved head with a map of the world tattooed on her skull.

Bit of a preview of things to come:

Two sequences of new storyboards I meant to finish weeks ago that had to take a backseat for the time being. I hope to have the first sequence at least finished before the wedding. About 45 boards all told, thumbnailed and just waiting for me to get on with it. I'm doing them as a Sketchbook Pro exercise and the goal is to keep them fast and loose but atmospheric.

Boards, ASIFA sessions, doodles and a new fancy blog layout coming in the near future.

ASIFA Drawing Sesson 2010 #5 and #7

2010-03-28T18:29:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the long delay in posting, but I'll be uploading some new storyboards (pirates) this week.

ASIFA session #7:

I had to miss two weeks of pose sessions this month, and it's amazing how rusty you can get in that time. My watercolors for these sessions here are terrible so I'm hiding them from sight to teach them a lesson.

ASIFA #5

Lazy Saturday Evening

2010-02-27T23:50:00.010-05:00

Every once in a while I forget that there's nothing finer than drawing with a bottle of ink and a good brush.

Here's the pencils:

ASIFA Drawing Sesson 2010 #3

2010-02-26T00:27:00.006-05:00

Full pages from today's session as promised:

4-5 minute poses.

1-2 minute poses.

2-3 minute poses.

Snow Piggy

2010-02-25T13:54:00.013-05:00

Large post today, and more coming soon. Been working on storyboards and a whole bunch of design work I can't post, as per usual. So in lieu of that here's a bunch of recent stuff from the sketchbook.

ASIFA Drawing Sesson 2010 #2

2010-02-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Last week's ASIFA session poses. Lately I've been posting only my favorite drawings from each session, which sort of counteracts the whole focus of gesture drawing. Starting now I'm going to be posting more full pages from the sketchbook:

1-2 minutes.

2-4 min.

2D Animation Reel, Winter 2010

2010-02-12T12:16:00.004-05:00

My current demo reel featuring both personal and professional work.

Run Time: 1:38 minutes

Media: 2D Flash animation, pencil, stop-motion, 3D Maya

--Click here for my Demo Reel Breakdown.

Enjoy!

ASIFA Drawing Sesson 2010 #1

2010-02-12T00:56:00.003-05:00

The new ASIFA figure drawing sessions of the season kicked off tonight. I've started trying out some watercoloring during the 5 minute poses. I hope by the time the season ends I'll learn learn a thing or two how to do it.

Another life drawing post. I've got some pirates coming up I swear.

Anatomy Study II

2010-02-07T23:58:00.005-05:00

Lion's front paw in profile. I've been playing around with the human and animal anatomy books I picked up from the library. It's a good lesson in patience, and it's helping me to focus on how little things work in a drawing or concept piece.

I've come to realize that this blog has been pretty life drawing heavy over the past few months, since most of my non-life drawing work of late can't be posted for some time. Coming up, pirates!

Anatomy Study

2010-02-03T00:50:00.004-05:00

Kick-starting a semi-nightly attempt to learn something about large cats.

Uglino and His Sons - Detail

2010-01-30T20:14:00.002-05:00

From our trip to the Met today.

At the Met

2010-01-25T23:06:00.005-05:00

Still trying to decompress from the whole new year's/con adventure, but starting to get back into sketching. We've started a regular weekend trip to sketch at a museum. There were these nifty little terracotta and marble maquettes at the Met I plan to go back and study further.

Japan and Gigacon 2010

2010-01-12T01:18:00.007-05:00

Preliminary rough.

Last weekend was the first annual Gigacon in Washington, DC. Azure and I were very proud to be a part of jump-starting what will hopefully be a new and growing convention. We were able to meet a lot of excellent artists, got to catch up with some good friends, and were hopefully able to help some students with their portfolios.

Thanks to everyone who came out and to everyone who bought a sketchbook. It was a new experience in self-publishing. There are still a few available, so if you missed your chance to pick up a book at the con and would like one shipped to you just drop me an email. We're setting our sights now on New York Comicon, and with luck a couple of higher print-quality brand new content books.

Gigacon came on the tail-end of our first trip to Japan together (and my first time ever!) where we spent New Year's with her parents. It was a blast and I can't wait to go back. I took my Canon and my new prime lens with me, so there are lots of pictures. Please feel free to check them out on my Flickr page, or select photos soon to be uploaded onto my Photography Blog.

Now it's back to work. Still working on concept design, but I will making the attempt to spend at least 30 minutes every day studying or sketching something completely separate from my design, storyboard, or comic work.

Things to study this year:
-Tigers
-Gorillas
-Crocodiles
-Mens' suits and womens' clothes
-Landscapes

Hamster Slapfight

2009-12-07T01:13:00.005-05:00

I don't know what this is or why I drew it, but this made Azure squeak.

Sketchbook Vol. 1

2009-12-06T10:54:00.005-05:00

The sketchbook's been sent to the printers and should arrive in time for the convention. It's a full-color 16-page mini-book. I decided to keep it direct and simple, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. The book has a number of new sketches that haven't been seen on this blog as well as some old favorites of last year and prior.

It's a limited first printing, but if people like it enough I will put in another order. In the meantime it's back to work on Doc Flamingo and a few other things.

A Start

2009-11-30T23:06:00.003-05:00

Rough pencils for the first panel of Doc Flamingo. So much to draw in these first four pages. More to come!

I'm in the middle of hurriedly compiling a sketchbook to send to the printers later this week. My wife and I have been invited to teach and speak at the 3rd Media Art and Animation Forum at the Art Institute of Washington in January. This year they've turned it into a full convention with an artist alley. A lot of great people are on the guest list, so I've got to try and get something good together to show. I'll be posting the cover in the next day or so.

A few from last week's ASIFA session:

ASIFA Drawing Session #12

2009-11-11T00:46:00.004-05:00

Lot of designing to do this week. It's another large amount of work I won't be able to post for a while. Woo!

In the meantime, here's stuff from tonight's ASIFA. From 1-5 minute poses. Click for a large view:

ASIFA Pose Sessions #11

2009-11-04T00:52:00.005-05:00

From tonight's ASIFA session. 1-3 minute poses:

From the sketchbook:

Flash Practice

2009-10-30T01:47:00.001-04:00

Messing around in Flash. I'm not sure who he's boxing yet or why, but I admire his positive attitude.

Thumbs, ASIFA Pose Sessions #10

2009-10-28T01:35:00.016-04:00

Working to get back into a steady drawing groove. I started thumbnailing the first pages of Doc Flamingo. I want each panel to challenge myself with new angles and compositions I don't often get the chance to draw. I'd like to carry this discipline over to my next upcoming storyboard project.

From tonight's ASIFA session:

Gleeborg

2009-10-21T01:05:00.007-04:00

I'm able to break out the brush-pen again with the nice smooth new sketchbook. Some randomness in-between breaks at the ASIFA sessions:

And a few samples from the last two classes. It's taking me longer to get back into the life-drawing groove I had last year, but I'm starting to get more confident.

I've been thumbnailing Doc Flamingo all week. A little photo research left to go and I should be able to start posting page layouts.

Rendering #6

2009-10-18T23:34:00.004-04:00

F-2B pencils. The sixth in the series. I'm almost finished with the AquaBee super deluxe sketchbook. A few more pages left to go. I'm back to a brand new good ol' hardcover square sketchbook fresh for new ASIFA sessions and a whole bunch of storyboard and comic work coming up the next couple of months.

Sketchbook Backlog

2009-10-09T23:47:00.006-04:00

My sketchbook has been filing up with randomness for a while but I haven't been posting much of late. Next week I start a new sketchbook and I begin working in earnest on a comic with Andrew. And as soon as I'm able, start work on my book with Kyle.

A few jam sketches with my wife:

From ASIFA sessions, assorted goings-on, and what-have-yous:

I'm also working on updating my photography blog. There's a lot of new pictures I need to go through. I'd like to get back to regular/semi-regular posting.

A Couple Overdue Sketches

2009-09-22T00:51:00.003-04:00

Comic Strips

2009-08-31T23:09:00.006-04:00

It's been a very busy past couple of weeks, and my posting has been suffering for it. Let's make up some lost time here with a big post.

I just completed a commission of a bunch of physics-themed black-and-white comic strips. It was a quick project and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I had to do a bit of quantum physics research to come up with the material, which was more enjoyable than I thought. It was especially fun coming up with the signatures of me imaginary cartoonists. Some of the jokes had to be a bit cheesy, but I had a lot of fun coming up with them. Azure assisted inks on five of the pen-inked strips. She also did the awesome Chaz Addams tone washes on two of them!

Doodles

2009-07-31T12:12:00.005-04:00

I've been asked to bring some more cartoony, less-realstic work into my portfolio. I've started some free-form doodling to try to loosen up.

Back From SDCC

2009-07-31T12:00:00.003-04:00

Back from the con inspired to get back to work. I'll try write a comprehensive account if I can find the time. I'm excited to be drawing some comic pages again. With luck Andrew and I will have something ready for Emerald City Con. I'm still searching for him, but Doc Flamingo's starting to come together in these sketches.

Joint sketch with Pedro.

I've been missing the ASIFA sessions lately because of work. But I managed to make it to the tail-end of the last session and get some practice with the brush pen.

Animation Demo Reel JULY 2009

2009-07-25T09:10:00.001-04:00

We're in the middle of the Conic-Con and it's been a blast. Here's my most currently edited animation demo reel.
Run Time: 1:38 minutes
Media: 2D Flash animation, pencil, stop-motion, 3D Maya

Rendering #4

2009-07-08T16:14:00.002-04:00

Number Four in the series. Started the new Maya animation today. The focus of this one is camera placement and secondary motion. Updates to follow.

Rendering #3

2009-07-01T16:34:00.003-04:00

I'm enjoying this new sketchbook. Life drawing class starts today. I have much still to learn.

Rendering #2 -- Refined

2009-07-01T16:32:00.002-04:00

I wasn't quite happy with #2 yesterday so I went back and pushed the values more.

Rendering

2009-06-30T15:32:00.003-04:00

--Edit-- See above post for finished #2 piece.

Gots me a new brand new sketchbook. Working from a pose photo book in lieu of this season's life-drawing sessions.

A Finished First Run-Cycle

2009-06-25T16:23:00.002-04:00

The completed Maya run-cycle. I took some great advice from animator Dave Strandquest and tried to put a little more gravity and secondary motion into the run.

Holding Pattern

2009-06-18T12:01:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we packed up and moved into the new place. We won't be getting cable and internet until July 14, when the cable company finally decides to come by and plug the converter box into the wall. In the meantime, updates will be spotty at best, but I'm working on a much more complicated Maya animation, and a few other Flash pieces besides.

I haven't been able to draw much since I left Brooklyn three weeks ago, but I plan to get back into the swing of things this weekend once the mountain of stuff is moved off my drawing table and the area surrounding it.

More posts (hopefully) soon!

Maya: A Second

2009-06-09T23:30:00.004-04:00

Gave a run cycle a try. Here's it from the front:

The side:

And in the round:

The journey continues.

I've been in the process of moving these past couple of weeks so I haven't been able to post any drawings lately. We finish the move next week so once I get my drawing table and scanner back I should have new things to post soon!

Flash Painting

2009-05-28T10:59:00.005-04:00

Experiment with painting and illustration completely in Flash. It was a new process of discovery and adventure. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Maya: A Beginning

2009-05-07T01:16:00.005-04:00

My very first attempt at animating in Maya, or anything 3D at all for that matter. I had a two day crash course and mostly learned the buttons by feel. I ended up treating the program with a very 2D sensibility, by ignoring all the helpful tools and doing things the hard way. I post this with the intent of kicking the shit out of it with a brand new 3D walk in the next week.

ASIFA Pose Sessions #8

2009-05-01T10:38:00.005-04:00

The last few model sessions. This week's was the last one of the season, so I will have to make it to the Met, the Natural History Museum, and the zoo more often now. I'd like to find a model session where I can do a nice long pose study. As it is, these sketches are 1-5 minute poses.