Sir Meets World

Some Great Photos...

2012-01-23T00:12:00.000-08:00

I've been starting back up with posting some of my amatuerish photos over at my photo blog (see link on the side or click here). But more importantly is this photographer from Romania that I absolutely love and follow named, Adrian Petrisor. He has some AMAZING photos from Maguri. They are black and white, and in them he manages to do something I really love seeing in photography: turning real life into almost abstract art. You've got to see these pics to know what I'm talking about. He manages to shoot from just the right angle and with just the right exposure to reduce these landscape photos into almost minimalist realism designs--simply brilliant.

Anubis Puppy...

2012-01-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

This is my entry for this week's topic over at the 'Squash n' Sketch' blog. I wanted to color it, but works still in black and white.

Stop SOPA and PIPA...

2012-01-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

I don't mean to outright paste another person's article, but Vlad did a great job in this article--I think it is one of the best articles out there that tackles this topic. See the original article here. (please click on the link at least once and give the writer his due click.) And also check out this Wall Street Journal article.

The SOPA blackout: Wikipedia, Reddit, Mozilla, Google, and many others protest proposed law

By Vlad Savov on January 18, 2012 12:10 am

Two new laws proposed by US legislators, the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, have been attracting a very negative reaction from the web community over the past couple of months, which is today culminating in a day of protests. Aiming to curtail copyright infringement on the web by giving the US government unprecedented new powers, both SOPA and PIPA have been rejected as overreaching and unhelpful laws that cannot coexist with a free and open internet.

The most outspoken protester of the bills today will be Wikipedia, whose English site will be going dark for the full 24 hours on January 18th, starting at midnight ET. It's also joined by Reddit, which will replace its usual "glorious, user-curated chaos" with a message noting its opposition to SOPA and PIPA, accompanied by links to more information about the bills and suggested ways to express your own dissatisfaction with them. Reddit will not be offering its regular service between the hours of 8AM ET and 8PM ET, which is also when Mozilla will be redirecting the Mozilla.org and Mozilla.com English webpages to a similar "action page" inviting users of its software to voice their concern. The Firefox landing page will also be altered to raise awareness. Finally, Google's search homepage is partaking in the protest by blacking out the Google logo, voicing the company's opposition to SOPA, and including a link for more information.

For the full list of websites taking action against SOPA and PIPA today, check out the SOPA Strike website. It includes such luminaries as the EFF, xda-developers, Minecraft.net, TwitPic, and even the Internet Archive. And, if you just can't live without Wikipedia for a full day, we might as well tell you that the mobile version of the site will remain active today, as first uncovered by the guys over at The Wall Street Journal.

Craigslist is participating in today's proceedings by confronting visitors to its US sites with a "Stop PIPA and SOPA" splash page, which can be skipped to access the full site. The best SOPA protest page so far, however, comes from The Oatmeal, which features a poignant animated GIF that breaks the issue down in a humorous and relatable manner.

Sam's Birthday Present...

2012-01-17T17:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a blurry photo of a painting I did for my friend Sam Morgan's birthday. I've known both her and Josh Morgan (her husband and also my friend) since I moved to L.A. They took me under their wing and helped me survive this big city. Anyway, she's very hard to caricature in that she's very hyper-critical of any caricature you do of her. Naturally I had to accept the challenge.

My tactic: Instead of a head on traditional caricature trying to capture an actual likeness her physical features, I tried to capture the likeness in personality.

Now, the Morgan's are both total tech whores (I mean this in a good way--I don't normally go around calling my friends all types of whores unless I mean it in a positive way...well... no, no I don't). They, the Morgans, both also have a very active social life (in and out of the virtual world). Sam also has this BIG laugh that is infectious. And finally, there is a certain look that Josh gives Sam that without words can convey his love and affection. Well, that's what is in the painting. Give a Saturday Evening Post circle around it and, BAM!! Watercolor, add a little colored pencil here and there, and you've got yourself a birthday present (In just 1500 easy steps). I've also included the rough below.

Squash n' Sketch...

2012-01-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a plug for a blog that is run by fellow UCLA-ites. It is called, Squash n' Sketch. It's mission statement:

Squash n Sketch is a collaboration of artists who attended the UCLA MFA Animation Program, past and present, here to keep the creative juices flowing. Most of our contributors are professional animators and artists in Film, TV, and the interwebs.

Below is the image I did for the current topic--Food. I will post my drawings for that blog here, but feel free to check out this blog and its other artists (a talented group of individuals I assure you).

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

Let's ring in the new and out the old--Colonel Sanders style.

This past year has been both a turn for the better in my life, and also one of my busiest. When I set out to start this blog I originally wanted it to be nothing past a site to put some of my artwork on. But, we evolve as people, and the past year (and kind of the year before) I've wanted to expand and evolve what is shared on this blog. Yet, I felt compelled to adhere to a rule that was in my head and not expressed anywhere else. So, I hope the two people that read this, and myself, look forward to an interesting new year. Happy New Year!!

I had a daughter, Amelia. We bonded over some shared opinions on life.

The Small World ride at Disneyland is crack to infants.

Tales of Hot Rod Horror: vol. 2...

2011-06-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

Several years ago my friend, Devon Devereaux, published his own comic title, 'Tales of Hot Rod Horror'. In the last volume I did 3 pages. In this volume I got to do 7 pages. Here is a quick sneak peak of a final page. I learned a lot from doing this. I've improved since the last work, but I still have more to go to get where I'm comfortable telling an issue to issue story.

This is the longest comic story I've told to date. I still need some work to feel more comfortable with this medium of storytelling. Cynically I'm like seven pages?! Seriously, seven pages?! That's my longest story telling in comics?! I need some more practice and material to work from that's longer. That's why hopefully I'll have this current story idea written soon. It'll be a one-shot (about 32 pages or so). After that, one or two more one-shot story ideas till I'm comfortable with that length. Then, wait, wait for the the drum roll and suspense... I'll work on a 3 part installment. Everyone say it with me, 'woooooo...'

Well, hope you like this teaser, see you next week.

Rant #8,957...

2011-06-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today's topic: People's misunderstanding of what a geek or a nerd is. It seems now for the past 15 years or so, whenever a person seems to have knowledge of something past that of what mud knows, or when someone has a passion for something-- and they don't play it off nonchalant to their peers--that person is branded as a 'Nerd', or 'Geek'. Our modern perceptions of this have gotten so misused that we now have the following ad:

This pisses me off!! These people are no more geeks than my left shoe is a giraffe. But I guess it is not the people in the photographs, or the Internet creators fault as to the misuse and misunderstanding of the terms, geek, or nerd. Why, even amongst us true geeks there is a big misunderstanding of what makes a geek a geek, or a nerd a nerd. So today, in my small forgotten corner of the Internet, I will clear up once and for all what it is that makes up a nerd or geek.

Nerd vs. Geek:

Prologue. Both have similar traits. This leads the average person to get caught up easily in the confusion of who is who, and what is what. Let's tackle the similarities first. Both are social outcasts. In the pyramid scheme of popularity, these two are amongst the many bottom feeder groups (next to the scary goth girl atheists, and the kid who hasn't bathed since first grade). In school, these were the kids picked last for sports, and if they had the courage at all to show up for a dance, were the wallflowers. Both groups are known for being somewhat of intellects, socially awkward, making obscure jokes, dressing not the trendiest, and containing one or more people in their ranks that have an usual and loud laugh that can be ridiculed (see Hollywood version of this here).

Definitions. Now a Nerd is the social outcast that comes from academia. He is the math person, the hardcore scientist person, the poetry person, etc., etc. His realm is that of school and book knowledge. He might have a poster of Einstein, Nietzsche, or of the periodical table. He makes jokes that would require advanced knowledge in mathematics to have the ability to solve the joke, and arrive at the humor. Their shirts have sayings from famous dead authors that say things that no one else understands (or even where the hell that saying comes from). The nerd has two sexual organs, his naturally given one that he (or she) longs to use, and then the one that the nerd has developed to give them equal pleasure, their brains.
Here are some classic nerds (both stereotyped and actual):
Sorry for the bottom right image, I couldn't resist (this is an example of geek joke).

Note: If you can name the people that are the real nerds, odds are, you're a nerd.

The Geek on the other hand is also knowledgeable, but not of academia, but rather of culture. His is the realm of media in all its forms (comics, Internet chat boards, video games, the obsession with collecting every recorded version of a song or import of his favorite band). This type of outcast is quite amazing in that he/she feeds off of society's creations, but is never fully a part of the center of what makes it happen. They have encyclopedic knowledge of TV show episodes, but are too awkward for the most part, to take advantage of making new episodes. In a way, they are the modern museumists (to create a new word) and librarians. Their houses can hold relics of their obsessions at levels that would make a museum cringe. Their personal collections of reading material and knowledge house that of small libraries. Here are some examples of geeks (both stereotyped and actual):

The bottom right person is actually known as 'The Angry Video Game Nerd'. This proves my point about the confusion of nerd vs. geek. To give him credit though, 'Video Game Nerd' just rolls off the tongue better.

Now why do so many people use the term geek or nerd so recklessly?

Explanations. First off, the plethora of movies in the 80's and 90's where the geeky or nerdy kids are the sad abused groups, only to turn around and be cool in the end of the story, really laid the foundation. Everyone, and I mean everyone, feels alone or out of the group from time to time. These movies and stories really hit us where we are all tender. But seriously, if you look someone from a popular TV drama where everyone sleeps with everyone (like say a Gray's Anatomy, or a Northshore, or O.C., etc., etc.) you don't get to group yourself with the nerds or outcasts, I think you've focused on other things in your life.

Second, being popular is a pyramid scheme that when you really cut the mustard, is a about nothing more than primal mating rituals. Who has the best genes (in our past this meant the tallest, strongest, most handsome male you could muster, for guys, to put it bluntly, anything that looked covered in sexually enticing spheres and looked so fertile you just want to f**k the brains out of). As a modern society we pride ourselves on having moved past our more animalistic side, but in doing so forget why we do the things we do, only to end up just going back to our animalistic side again. With the setup that popularity is a pyramid that so few get to be on the top of, there is a giant basin of rejects. Many of these people, like myself, have learned and adapted to embrace what made us outcasts. This proved marketable and lucrative for companies. Slowly but surely the things that nerds and geeks used to wear as their heraldry of arms proving to the world that they were on the fringes of society, more and more people are wearing and embracing (thus making, popular). Look at the San Diego Comic Con. In the 70's and early 80's women who looked like this wouldn't have shown up if they paid them a million dollars:
Notice the shirt is a nerd, while the woman is not.

Yet now, women like this are paying to show up:
I can't wait till Supergirl flies.

Lastly, and most importantly, why people get the whole nerd/geek thing confused and misused is that simply we are human beings. Human beings may be more simple to put in a box when we are younger and in school, but as we mature into adulthood we realize that the average human being is actually a complex combination of life experiences, dueling thoughts, and varied likes and dislikes that make them unique and harder to put labels on. Can gorgeously attractive or handsome people like nerdy or geeky stuff? Of course! Hell yeah! Why can't they be allowed?! In fact, to make this country better, it would be nice if it was okay to look up the smart people as heroes and heroines. It would be better for us as an evolving, growing society, if we didn't look down on things like comic books as 'for children' but rather no different than the mythologies and literature of old--they all have the same purpose.

But... (Anger generates and the hulk-rage of James Suhr starts to come out)

If you are going to label people like the ad does, and use a term that is most notably used to group, and cast out, shut-ins have your goddamn pictures reflect that! Blurgg!! (a geek joke) That picture makes me mad! The one guy is holding a surfboard with the haircut he learned to have from a frickin' J. Crew ad. And the woman has not the shame and shyness and uncomfortability with her body that a geeky girl would have with her body. (NOTE: To be clear, I do not oppose women wanting to pose in photographs (seemingly or actually) topless. This is just a clarification that if you are going to use b.s. societal labels, use the appropriate imagery to convey the bullshit idea) If you are going to call yourself a nerd, or geek, you had best learn something about that topic past that of an Access Hollywood level of depth.

Goddammit!! I'm out here... I hoped you enjoyed my rant. I'll start posting on a more frequent, weekly basis. Suhr out!

Sometimes You Get Jobs, Sometimes You Don't...

2010-07-25T21:05:00.001-07:00

I did these preliminary sketches for a job that happen to come at a bad time for me (I was about to go out of town to celebrate my honeymoon), so I wasn't able to get the job. Anyway, hope you don't mind these cute drawings.

Big Freakin' Robots Preview...

2010-07-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

The film takes place on game show, in an arena. Here is the host and what the audience members look like.

On the top of Marv A. I. are supposed to be areas for ads. I decided to sit down and take the time to create logos of fake companies to go in those spots. Also, I have the logo of the game show!

Big Freakin' Robots Preview...

2010-07-22T00:12:00.000-07:00

Here is the main Antagonist himself, The Electroid,

Big Freakin' Robots Preview...

2010-07-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Another one of the antagonists, Gunnery Bill.

Big Freakin' Robots Preview...

2010-07-20T03:03:00.001-07:00

Everyone in the film is in one way or another against our protagonist, but there are three actual, definite, antagonists in the film and this is the first of those three, Smashbot-3000.

Big Freakin' Robots Preview...

2010-07-19T02:16:00.001-07:00

Well, I promised awhile back that I would post some artwork for my own animated short that I'm creeping along with called, 'Big Freakin' Robots'. Well, I'm swamped pulling off two jobs right now, but sometime in August I'll finish all the concept art for this beast of a small epic. Until then, enjoy this first installment of stuff. Enjoy!

Every film must have a protagonist, meet ours.

Creepy Stop-Motion

2010-07-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

I was born a couple of decades after the height of EC Comics (home of 'Tales from the Crypt', 'Creepy', 'Weird Science', and 'Mad--Harvey Kurtzman run before Mad became MAD and became its own publishing company/comic), yet despite my late birth, I was easily able to get ahold of copies or even read other older people's copies of these great comics. I believe them to be one of the largest influences growing up. Well anyway, to make a long story short, I wasn't the only out of date reader out there. Slowly a growing resurgence for copies of these comics over the past several have spawned new super high quality/expensive reproduced volumes... WITH ORIGINAL ADS INCLUDED!! Anyway to make a long silly story short, you can do like me and stop pining over the fact that you missed your chance to join The Creepy Fanclub (go here). On that page you will also see this cool stop-motion piece. I think that it is super sharp and cool (I'm just not a fan of the song at the end--everybody's a critic, right?) See stop-motion better here.

Getting Back On The Horse...

2010-07-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long time since posting and a friend of mine reminded Friday of his goal to do a drawing each day--no matter how small in attempt. The only stipulation I add to that is that it has to be a good drawing--or at least as best as I can do. So here's to getting back into posting hopefully daily again. To kick off this I decided to go back to what I know, and what I know alot is about our dogs. I've drawn Ollie many many times already on this blog, but I thought one more interpretation wouldn't hurt. Enjoy.

Sonogram Pictures Are Like Capturing Bigfoot...

2010-06-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

Holy $@%#!!! I'm going to be a father!! I found out about a month or so back, but we only recently were able to have our first appointment with the OBGYN who will be delivering what we called "Peapod', a.k.a., our kid. Anyway, the sonogram device is constantly sending out a signal and that movement is what really allows the eye to see the three dimensions of the objects you are looking at. Yet a picture is a still image. So, you can see where the lack of knowing what you are looking at comes from when looking at the example above. Anyway, treating this picture like they do on shows in Hollywood, I've digitally enhanced the photo to deliver the image below:
Modern technology is just simply amazing.

Aaaaaand, going back to mentioning the cryptozoological mystery known as Bigfoot, I have used the same enhancement treatment to take this old photo...
(Isn't he/she/it just so cute?)

Wow!!! It's Chris Pine, star of the J.J. Abrams recent classic, 'Star Trek'!!! Who knew this technology was so easy to use? Maybe now with all these modern breakthroughs it won't matter that all these bigfoot sightings just happen to have blurry cameras nearby.

But until a large ape can be proven in North America, you can do like me and read (or purchase) this wonderful and insightful book on our hairy cousins: Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and other Mystery Primates Worldwide

As I Scour the Internet for Cuteness...

2010-06-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know, I love camping, the martial arts and learning how to cripple someone, have shot and enjoy shooting handguns, smoke an annual cigar, used to be vegetarian but gave it up for meat, relish in foul and colorful language, and love war movies...

but this, this is adorable.

Awwww....

I mean, damn you cuteness, you will not take me over again!!....(Awww..)

Flying Pigs...

2010-06-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

I've been jealous of the great topics that a fellow friend and blogger, Stephen Heneveld has had to work with as of late. I saw his latest topic and wanted to make a quick sketch of what popped in my head at first read.

Just to keep anyone and everyone in the loop, I am currently finishing up rotation charts for my film 'Big Freakin Robots'. I should be done with them by tomorrow at the latest. Then I have some other concept drawings to do for the film, then I'll begin a giant posting blitz of all the material I've been working through and having self doubts about. Also, I will get back into the 101 part series, 101 Monsters. Take care till then!

Big Suhr at Big Sur

2010-06-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on sharing what has been going on in my life. Today is the day where I finally share my adventure at the Big Sur Marathon a month or two back. I actually didn't run the marathon portion as I find running past 1 or 2 kind of boring, but I did walk the beautiful 9 mile course they had for us. Hey are sites and jokes from that adventure, enjoy!

This isn't just a cartoon, I do possess the ability to walk fast enough to pass some runners, but this race was alot harder to do (they are a more hard core bunch of people, plus they have the walkers start after the runners).
(Sorry it's not fully done, I have other things that I'm trying to get done right now, but I when I get a fully inked and finished version of this comic I'll post it over on the comics blog.)

Here's Ashley and I at the finish line.

This is a closer look at the award that they gave everyone. I was proud, I worn mine for awhile that day.

Understanding Others Is Important...

2010-05-30T00:31:00.000-07:00

I kind of understand the pride that McDonald's takes in displaying its numbers on every one of its signs. (I still think it's overkill to say 'over a billion served', but what do I know)

101 Monsters #9...

2010-05-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry I got sidetracked on other stuff, but here he is, the man of the hour.. Eyeball. Eyeball?! Eyeball?! Seriously, that's what you named this monster? Couldn't there have been at least a semi-clever spelling like, Eyball, or even I-ball? Eyeball... Anyway, you get a small comic strip for today's monster. This may happen from time (this one was really easy to do), so enjoy. I apologize for not cleaning up the drawings more, but the idea still gets across. Till then, take care.

Croc 'O Pig...

2010-05-13T17:24:00.001-07:00

Don't worry, I don't understand half the shit I make either. (This is actually me finally getting around to quickly color something I meant to long ago--click here and here to see the process in reverse)

Warm-Up Drawing...

2010-05-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm getting started late as my head is all over the world, so I decided to do a warm-up drawing to help focus and accomplish alot today. I drew little Piccolo sleeping the sun. The world is big and Piccolo is small, she just doesn't realize that.

Warm-Up Drawing...

2010-05-08T09:52:00.001-07:00

This week has been all about finishing up helping people on their projects. This is a warm-up drawing getting me ready to do the work. First I started off with a pose that my cat was doing and decided that I really wanted to stylize what was going on in the pose vs. just try to make it look real. Then I was inspired by the movie, The Cat's Eye. It's not a film I particularly like (despite the fact that I really like anthology work), but the last story has something really cool in it, and I let that guide my idea for this quick drawing. Maybe it works, maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and hate that I did that. Either way, enjoy.

Artistic Forgery vs. Homage...

2010-05-06T15:33:00.001-07:00

(Disclaimer: New Artwork will be posted soon. Now on with today's feature!)
I was just introduced today to a great illustrator named, Dean Cornwell. His work is just fantastic! Amazing. (to learn more about him, click here, here, and here.) Now as I was looking through some of his paintings on Google's Image search, I saw a painting in particular that seemed familiar. A painting done by the great Darrell K. Sweet. Check out the two paintings below:

Dean Cornwell's:

Darrell K. Sweet's:

Seem familiar? I thought so too. Now, to be fair as possible, in the book, Beyond Fantasy: The Art of Darrell K. Sweet, pg. 22, Mr. Sweet himself says in an interview about the painting:

"[There] is a magnificant old book (published 1925) with Cornwell paintings of the Holy Land. This painting is a homage, in a sense, to Cornwell's art."

Now this sounds kind of like a good defense for Mr. Sweet, though I remember homages being similar but still having differences to them enough that they become their own work of art. Let's say for example this Indiana Jones homage from the Simpsons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp6FaCh33bg

Or like this poster for National Lampoon's Vacation (below) being an homage to Frazetta's Conan the Barbarian's paintings of the past.

(Notice how that despite alot of similarities, there are differences enough to allow the homage piece to stand on its own.)

What really gets my goat though is when you read just a few sentences down in the afore mentioned interview about the Darrell K. Sweet painting, the artist says:

"I put a different slant on the theme. I made the center of interest here have no color, in this case the white camel."

Hmmmmm... yeah, that really seems different from the focus of the painting by Cornwell. I mean, Cornwell only used the... white... camel... as the focus of the... hell, the only difference is that Mr. Sweet just created a more finished look to the painting, and flipped the composition. The colors are obviously more saturated as well in the newer version, but it is the SAME piece. I'm not trying to defame the incredible work of Darrell K. Sweet's super prolific and wonderful body of work, just if you wanted to copy the work, admit it. This is just like moments on Daily Show where politicians say that they didn't say something, yet there are videos of the politicians contradicting him/herself.

End Rant.

Introducing Piccolo...

2010-04-28T22:48:00.001-07:00

Taking a break from 101 Monsters Challenge, we turn our attention to the smallest member of the Suhr household. We have had this dog for a while, but I never put any drawings up of her. Well here she is in her natural state, sad and pathetic. Actually the drawing is how she was more when we got her, she has come along way since then, and finally feels like she is comfortable with everyone/everything at home. Remember, if you are looking for a good friend, look no further than you local pound (end PSA).

101 Monsters #8...

2010-04-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Matilda!! I noodled around too much on this, but it was fun to do. Enjoy.

Filler...

2010-04-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

When I post, especially now, I like to get more current content up right after or shortly after the event happens. But, there are times when you are just a little behind on things so you need some filler. I have a great story of a trip I took this weekend that I look forward to typing up sometime around midnight or so in the wee hours of night/morning, but for right now, here is an angry chimp.

101 Monsters #7...

2010-04-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Nessie!! I grabbed two very famous pics of what has been reported as the Loch Ness Monster and had some fun drawing this monster. Also, if you wish to enjoy a pretty interesting theory about the Loch Ness Monster, go here.

101 Monsters #6...

2010-04-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Crab. This guy is known as crab. If you look at the original though, he seemed more octopus like, so that's how I handled him. Hopefully I will keep the next group of monsters more fun to enjoy like this one. I mean, I don't think you should sell the farm for this pic, but it does have more 'umph!' than the previous ones. I also am glad to finally have made it to the year 1999 when it comes to the repeated use of old paper for added texture (it's always important to be ahead of the curve). Anyway, this is how I spent my first half of game 3 of the Lakers vs. Thunder. Enjoy!

A Quick Animation Exercise...

2010-04-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

As I enjoy/don't enjoy unemployment right now, I have taken this time to work on my own film for first time in a long long time. Usually (and enjoyably) I tend to get talked (and sometimes zealously offer) helping out on a lot of my friend's projects. I think alot of this has to do not only with their great ability to create ideas that I think are really great, but also it has to do with my own lack of faith in myself the want to stand out of the crowd and be judged. This may be unbelievable for people that know me, as I have had no problem stating my opinions on things, but I have such high standards on what I want to achieve with my films that I couldn't handle having the hurt of investing so much time into a personal project only to have it rejected in reception. I've felt this many times while working professionally, and when a project is personal, it gets just that much more painful if it fails. Yet, I've come to the realization that if I want to bump up my standings in the animation world, I will have to complete a quality film.

So, I toil away drawing and creating my own film (more importantly working through fears of rejection and self-esteem). The film is simply titled Big Freakin' Robots. I think it will be a fun film for audience members, and a great and wonderful challenge to accomplish. I have mentioned ideas for this film before, but I've been slow and half-assed at completing anything that could propel me to the next step toward completion. Well let the record show that I am no more half-assed... I'm a complete ass. Currently I am in the final design stage as I have model sheets and other concepts stuff that will appear here soon. I also have a good third of the film thumbnailed out (I'll finish the thumbs when designs are finalized), and when those are completed I'll post them too... Along with any other stage of the film that I happen to be in. In short and long winded, I'm starting a filmmaking diary.

Today's quick and easy installment is a super quick rough animation of how one of the legs works on one of the robots. I did this more for myself than to show off to anyone who reads this, as I just needed to figure out some stuff before I move any further in designs. The idea here is that the robots get less human-like as robots are introduced. So, the second robot needed a few things designed that work outside of how the human body works. I wanted to try something out with the knee area. Enjoy... or don't... it's your choice.

101 Monsters #5...

2010-04-20T10:36:00.001-07:00

Jarred terrorizes mankind. Below is the original.

101 Monsters #4...

2010-04-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

My friend Matt Flynn has always complimented me and said that my characters or drawings have a certain amount of appeal to them, that they seem to be enjoyable to look at. Well, that thought was my focus in this drawing, but to do the opposite. Could I make something just look gruesome. I think it works. I combined the influence of the great Basil Wolverton with my own lack of skill (thus securing that he will always remain a greater artist than myself).

101 Monsters #3...

2010-04-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Here is number three in the ongoing series, Snorky. I just wanted to play around with the silhouette, so that's almost all that I did. These first 3-4 drawings are pretty straight forward right now, but if you remain patient just one or two more posts, these drawings should get a little more interesting. I went through the book and figured out my ideas/interpretations for the next 20 or so characters (I realized that I needed to do this ahead of time to save on wasted drawing time).

Head Study...

2010-04-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned a few posts earlier, one of the instructional art books that I'm working from is The Fantasy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible. This book has a couple of those introduction chapters where they tell you stuff that you can find in any other book, but for some reason or another, the author feels compelled to tell the information again, but with less detail. Buuuut, once you get past those first few introduction chapters, you start hitting the main meal and start getting great tips/exercises to improve your painting skill. The above painting is what I did for that chapter. Below is the original that I worked off of.
Something I found interesting was how the thought of the placements of reds throughout the body was handled. I know that the body does indeed reveal more reddish colors throughout various parts of the body, but have you noticed how the diagram above has the main areas where reds appear around the cheeks and nose? These are areas where bone is closer to skin than other parts (cause the blood travels closer to the skin as there isn't always that much muscle and other stuff to move through. Now if you take that same observation and continue it throughout the entire body you will notice that this concept of repeats itself throughout the whole body. Remember and think about this as you go painting the figure and you worry about where reds and other more warmer tones that appear throughout the body. Take care.

101 Monsters...

2010-04-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

Here is #2 in the 101 Monsters Challenge that I talked about in the previous post. The gargoyle in the book is cute and non-evil, but I have a hard time drawing gargoyles cute (maybe it's too many hours of Dungeons and Dragons growing up). Anyway, hope you enjoy and below is the original drawing from the book. See you next post!

Monsters 101...

2010-04-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

In order to not get bored by drawing the same thing over and over, I like vary up what I draw while watching tv with my wife Ashley. Like I said before, I draw the pets and try to study their anatomy, and I like to work from my fairly large collection of art instruction books (especially the ones that have little exercises each chapter). The three that I'm circluating through right now are:

1.The Watercolor Wheel Book (great book if you are rusty with watercolors or you just feel you need to practice some more on, but don't have time to create new project ideas to work on. find it here, and here

2.The Fantasy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible (a book based more firmly in the world of cheese and mainstream thinking when it comes to the thinking and handling of fantasy ideas, but i've never considered myself a painter, and this book has great small exercises to help you learn how to handle things such as multiple tones on bodies, painting metal (aged and new), atmosphere, cloth and many more little tips. Not at all for the experienced painter, but a great beginner book and really cool for younger artists. find it here)

and lastly...

3.How to draw 101 Monsters. This book was given to me as a gag gift from my friend Devon Devereaux, but I love to take any book and/or instruction and make it teach me something, so gladly welcomed it. (find it here) This is a kiddie book and the artist/author does a great job breaking down the drawing steps into really easy to follow steps, but I want more from it. So, I decided to do my own interpretations of the monsters. I actually started this a while back when I got my first touch screen device, but since then I have gotten alot more comfortable drawing on my my cintiq and tablet pc, so I want to revisit that idea and goal with new fervor. I will spend only 10 minutes a day, doing one a day for... 101 days (see how that works!) Anyway, the above drawing is the first of that book, Snozz. Below is the book's version. Enjoy both!

Maybe I've Gone Off the Deep End...

2010-04-15T07:57:00.001-07:00

A little humor on the darker side never hurt anyone.

Sitting on the Couch Sketches...

2010-04-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

My wife loves tv. I do too, but I also want to not just spend my time staring at other people's idea and talents all the time without doing something to further my own skills (I have my own dreams dammit!!). I've been using this time lately to improve my observational skills on my pets. So here is what an hour watching the show 'House' yielded.

Earthworm Astronaut...

2010-04-13T07:28:00.000-07:00

Have fun figuring this one out.

I Colored Something...

2010-04-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

I made this for a friend who is going through a rough stretch right now. We were talking and somehow the idea of his dog with wings came up. An image popped into my head and I decided to doodle. Flash forward a couple of weeks and I needed to practice some for some more final illustration work that I've got to do right fast, but I need a test subject to work on. Thankfully the doodle did not put up a fight and let me color it, enjoy!

Despicable Me Trailer...

2010-03-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Last year I got to work for Universal/Illumination Entertainment on a new film coming out in a few months called, 'Despicable Me'. The newest trailer can be found here (click on trailer 4). This trailer contains quite a few shots of mine and my friend Matt Flynn. When the film comes out I'll post some drawings and such. Also, I will start posting alot more soon, especially regarding stuff from my personal film I'm working on. Peace.

Demo Reel 2010

2010-03-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

Posting, What A Novel Idea!...

2009-12-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm finally caught up at work and actually have had a little down time. so here are some mouth doodles. Many of my practice drawings never make it to the blog, cause I delete more than I save--especially lately--but these managed to make it a great escape. Anyway, I started at the bottom with drawing mouths in profile, trying to create variation, then moved on to wanting to show mouths with depth, and emotion, while varying. Fun exercise. Hopefully the next post won't be so far away.

McScoots...

2009-11-06T08:22:00.001-08:00

I need to clean this up, but here is an sketch of me on my vespa.

Opening Day of the L.A. Phil Harmonic...

2009-11-04T07:27:00.000-08:00

I've once again I've broken radio silence to start posting again. There are all new drawings lined up, and after three weeks of work kicking my butt, I finally feel like I'm capable of posting regularly again. For those that don't know, the show I'm currently working on is Kung-Fu Panda the tv series. It's both really fun and really hard. It's the kind of show that I've always wanted to work on (demanding both crazy action and hilarious comedy), yet I have never really gotten a chance to work on. The whole crew is really amazingly talented, but the demands and the already set standard of the movie has us working really hard every second of the day. Well yippee for me and all, buuuut that not the point of this post....

Ashley once again received season tickets for both her and I to the L.A. Phil Harmonic. We have the same seats as before and they even gave us a parking pass for having our membership renewed--kick ass! Hopefully the demands of this show will keep matriculating into my drawing at home and vice versa making me stronger (this is one of the few times where the demands of a show isn't in direct conflict with my personal demands for improvement, so here's hoping).

Comic Blog Update...

2009-10-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting more serious about posting work on my other blog, Comics of the Sir. I just updated it with the black and white art from the comic pages that I've just finished. Come back to it tomorrow as I will post the full color-with text-version of the pages. Peace out!

I'm Done Inking...

2009-10-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

I'm just finishing up the last two panels that have been holding me up from finishing this short comic story for ShadowGirls. It's been kind of hard to work on cause things have been so busy and hectic, but I've finally finished it and in a week I'll post the full color version along with the black and white pages on the comics blog (along with announcing some exciting news for that blog finally). I have had alot of fun working on these pages and think they turned out pretty good (though you should make your own informed opinion). I haven't done a whole hell of alot of comic work (mostly inking other peoples stuff), so how well these pages turned out is huge for me. Here I have the last panel of the story. Enjoy.

How to Make Your Father-In-Law Happy...

2009-10-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't know that this would be a two part installment when I posted the first one. My father-in-law called me tonight willing to pay for my time to fix an important graphic for a business meeting. It took less than 20 minutes, so I thanked him for respecting my time and wanting to compensate me, but turned down monetary payments in favor of some buffalo jerky, mmmmm.....

Anyway, I can't show you the graphic, but I can share the colors that were in it (insert boo from the peanut gallery here).

Yaaaaaaay!!!!...

2009-10-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Woohoo!! I just got the great news, and had the meeting to confirm, that I'll be again working for Nickelodeon. It's been two years since last time and alot of amazing adventures in and out of the animation field have taken place, but I really missed how well Nick treats its employees. Even above that though, I grew up with the channel (I was apart of its first generation of kids), so it has a special fun fanboy quality to working for them. Anyway, I'll post a drawing tomorrow, tonight I'm just celebrating.

Elephant...

2009-10-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

Amongst my favorite animals (Turtles, Sheep, Rabbits) is the Elephant. Also I received good news yesterday that I hope gets better soon, and I also miss roller skating. So that is my reason behind the drawing.

Ninja Turtle Sketch...

2009-10-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Michaelangelo was my favorite from the mirage studios comic, but I like drawing Donatello--weird how life works that way.

How To Make Your Mother-In-Law Happy...

2009-10-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

Draw her a picture or two. I did these real quick as a favor to my new Mother-in-Law. She had half offered, but I jumped on the chance because I remember what it was like at school seeing awful poster after poster advertising something good for me, but in the end only turning me off to whatever it was being pushed. So hopefully the students don't mind these and the book fair gets plenty of excitement. I personally like the ghost, he's cute. These had to be simple so that they could photocopy really easily. Enjoy.

Addendum: I noticed that this post with these monsters is post #333, woooooo, that's half evil, yet nowhere close, wooooo...

I'm Back!!

2009-10-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished working 2-3 (closer to 3) jobs for the past several months and I'm soooo glad to have everything back down to one. But today to kick off my return from absence are acouple of drawings that I did for a film idea created by my friend Matt Flynn. I know my concepts area have been filled with alot of rough sketches but, I think these two really shine. I had a blast of a time working on them and I would love to do more work like this. Hope you enjoy.

Problems...

2009-09-29T09:41:00.001-07:00

Due to work overload problems beyond our control, there will be no new artwork for a while-despite my best intentions.

Shadow Girls Cover (with text)...

2009-09-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Today the great people over at the Shadow Girls website have put up my cover promoting that the comic will go up the Monday with the first 4 pages and then Wednesday with the second batch of four. I hope you all don't mind checking them out. Well, back to my daily grind so I can finish early and get back to inking those pages before they go up. To check out the site and the cover, go here.

I Need To Start Writing These Things Down....

2009-09-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

While I'm finishing up my three jobs and getting my life back to normality (1 job), something crazy happened. Every so often I come up with theories and I feel dead certain about them, not half baked guesses mind you, honest to goodness 'I know this is right' type stuff. My friend Matt Flynn has always said to write these ideas down and test them at later date to see how correct I would be.

Well, now I'm convinced that I should.

Back when I was working for Nickelodeon and I was getting home from pulling a huuuuge 21 hour shift, I got in bed and just collapsed and the world just dissolved around me. Then my neighbor's fire alarm went off (that apartment had really thin walls), waking me up. I was in such a deep sleep, that to be suddenly awakened, I couldn't remember which way I would be facing when I woke up, where I was, and even scarier... who I was. About a minute later I remembered everything super clearly, then went back to sleep and that was that. Now, I know many of us have had similar situations where you wake up and you can't remember where you are, that's happens to all of us right? Well that event sparked a theory. What if deep sleep loss causes Alzheimer's? What if the disease isn't neurological at first like it has been thought, but actually the neurological damage is brought on by another greater problem that could be linked to depriving the brain of the deeper sleep it needs? I told Ashley this idea and I had meant to do more research on it, but I got sidetracked with 'helping humanity out' by making commercials to buy stuff they may not need, and fart jokes, and etc., etc.... (my animation career everybody)

Anyway, a couple of years later and to make a long story finally short, check out this link base on an interview I heard this morning. The fact that I considered sleep deprivation the source and not only an outset problem is proven here in this part of the article: "Researchers have linked sleep problems and Alzheimer's disease before, he said, but from the perspective of the sleep problems being a symptom of the illness and a result of aging. The idea that sleep deprivation might cause Alzheimer's deserves more attention, Scarmeas said."

This has convinced me to start writing my crackpot theories down and see if I actually have an ability to come up with good ideas on the whole or I'm just spouting so much b.s. that eventually at least one of them has to be right. And should there be proof that the ideas are on the whole actually good, I need to find a way to get them out there.

Anyway, if you read this, you're a better person than me. I wouldn't have read this. This is the ramblings of a crazy person. Pictures will come again soon when I more than a passing moment to write down my stupid theories.

Some Pages Inked....

2009-09-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here's how those comic pages are turning out. My and co-creator of Shadow Girls, Dave Reynolds, is going to color them for the internet release (which will give me time to color them for print). Hope you enjoy.

Another Preview of ShadowGirls...

2009-09-17T15:13:00.003-07:00

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Here's another page in pencil form. Because it was drawn on the computer, the figures are transparent-hope that that doesn't bother you.
(picture has been temporarily removed for now.)

Holy Crap You Awesome People!...

2009-09-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

I hit 50 viewers in a single day again--in less than a month!! That's both huge and awesome, thank you for coming by.

How I Almost Ruined Comedy...

2009-09-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

Actually I ruin good comedy everyday by opening my mouth and thinking I'm telling jokes, but what I'm referring to in particular here is again, the Shadow Girls comic story, 'Aspis'. Because I grew up looking at great comic artists like John Buscema, Dave Cockrum, and Frank Frazetta drawings fantastic characters that still felt realistic in proportions and handling, then getting a healthy dose of Vertigo comics being introduced to me in the mid 90's, you can easily see why when I sit down to draw comics I tend to want to draw more realistic. Now this is made odd by the fact that in many ways the medium actually is really seeming to change more and more to more cartoonish types of styles every day--this observation isn't me acting like an old man trying to bash such a thing, I totally encourage it to help diversity in visual styles past the tradition of just muscle guys in tights. In short, I first started off drawing this short story for the Shadow Girls series in a more realistic manner. I got halfway through and finally stopped letting my ego of wanting to impress people with my meager knowledge of anatomy get in the way and almost stifle the funny moments out of the story. Anyway, long story short, here are a few samples of discarded drawings that I thought you might enjoy seeing. And should by chance, you not enjoy it, well that's totally your right.

Shadow Girls-Aspis Preview...

2009-09-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Shadow Girls is the name of the comic I'm finishing up work for. It was created by David Reynolds and David Rodgriguez (D-Rod). The name of the story I'm working on is 'Aspis'. I'd tell you what it was about, but then you would have no reason to read it. It will be up next week. I'm going to show various drawings and 'behind the scenes' art here while it runs. When it is done with it's run up on the Shadow Girls site I will post the full story on my comics blog. Until then, enjoy the tasty tidbits over the course of this week. First tidbit 'o fun: Page 1 of the story in its pencil format.

(Now heads up. I know that alot of the stuff I do is pretty tame and lighthearted, rarely risque' in material (which is odd cause in person I talk about alot of topics that are controversial--it's the universe balancing itself out, right), Shadow Girls is for a more mature audience. It's not porn or filth, but it's not Care Bears running around hugging each other into happiness. So if you go to check it out, know that I prepared you.)

I drew out my thumbs and scanned them in, but the rest of the process was done straight on my cintiq (same as the cover I posted yesterday). It it fun to release and go back to some of my illustration roots. I miss getting to do more finished work. In animation I'm trying to master drawing fast and create clear strong sketches so much, that I haven't had much time over the past several years to just relax and just enjoy fleshing out a more finished drawing. Combine that with working on alot of projects that want cruder drawn or animated handling, a more finished type of work is just the thing my weary soul needed.

(This following part might seem a bit harsh. I'm combining showing the comic stuff with getting some frustration at my chosen profession off my chest.)

Also, I'm so involved with wanting to impress animation people and move up the totem pole of quality projects, that I think I've become shell shocked as to what will be said by any animation people who see these pages. I made these pages for comics and comics alone, and to entertain the audience and just draw how and what the hell I want. Before starting, it actually took me a while to clear my head and try to use only the good things you are pushed to learn in animation and discard the b.s. that somehow seems to have become thought of as canon. Yet I know I'll get at least a few animation people that want to say a few things. In order of what I expect: that I broke the 180 rule, (or even get this) over exaggerated the pose, or didn't choose the right acting pose. So... for these I have prepared responses all set (in order of listed above): I broke the rule to adhere to the rules of comics in which you have to treat the whole page as 1 illustration and must flow the eye around and not lead the audience to the borders without a way back into the action; if I over exaggerated pose I don't have seconds of time to work with (like with animation), I only have one drawing per idea so I had to make the most of it; and lastly, if you don't like the acting that's fine--but it's your opinion, suck it up and deal with it.

I used to see animation as a really large vast medium of potential, thinking that so many in the field are really free minded and such. Actually I still see it as a medium of vast potential and excitement, but when I went to comicon recently and talked to some of the comic artists there, I finally had to admit just how conservative the animation field is. I mean, geez, if it isn't singing animals, referencing pop culutre, or just repeating the same shots/animation you've seen in classic movies, it's too 'daring' and 'audiences might not be able to follow it'. Yeah, they're soooo right, the audience is composed of brain dead monkeys and should be catered to like they will start drooling should you not just make the same show or movie over and over again. All the while, some live action movie is doing awesome stuff and breaking grounds and creating new shot and story ideas for animation people to rip off 5-10 years down the line. Sorry, for this rant out of nowhere, but I had to get some thoughts that have been weighing me down for quite awhile off my chest and see if anyone else feels the same way. I just get frustrated with how many execs view people as morons that need to be talked down to instead of being talked at. And then when you compound this by some artists who have been beaten down so much by this thinking that they regurgitate the same thoughts about the audience without thought to what they are saying, it really brings me down. It'll pass, but for now there is temporary cynicism.

Comic Cover...

2009-09-13T13:49:00.001-07:00

I'm inking and coloring away, here is the cover to the short story I've been working on an off on. It's san text and logo and stuff, just the illustration.

A Rough Background...

2009-09-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

It's sketchy, but it'll do for today.

Ummmmm....

2009-09-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

While I try desperately to finally sit down and finish these comic pages by then end of the weekend, I hear my neighbors having sex.

Long Lost Life Drawing...

2009-09-08T04:32:00.000-07:00

Chimps...

2009-09-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Chimpanzees from the L.A. Zoo.

Koala...

2009-09-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

Your sketch for today is this koala from the Los Angeles Zoo. More animals coming soon.

Zombie Doodle..

2009-09-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Drawing from a quick lunchbreak.

San Diego Drawings...

2009-09-03T00:13:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas my mom (Momma Suhr) came out here to sunny Cali-forn-i-a to visit. She always wanted to go and see the San Diego zoo,so I took her. She loved it and I really didn't expect to do any sketching cause I was there to spend time with me mutha and not there to study, but she had to use one of those 'Rascals' (you know those go-carts for old people). Well, while she would get used to driving that thing, I slipped in a few sketches. They were done on this storyboard sketchbook that I had gotten. It was all fancy and mole skin like, but in the end I didn't like it. I like to draw small, but the pages and panels were just a little too small for my comfort zone, yet the book served its purpose for some time and this is part of its service, enjoy.

An Ogre...

2009-09-02T11:39:00.001-07:00

I've drawn this guy over and over, even have layout and storyboards done for an animation exercise with this guy, but I have yet to just sit down and finish it--#432 on the list of 7,895 things I want to do. Anyway, this drawing is fun, but none too great. Trying to have a blog where you try to post a drawing each day is like being host on a tv variety show: a fun challenge with the possibility for alot of surprises, yet some days will have a better line-up than others. That's how I feel about yesterday and today (but good stuff is right around the corner, so don't be bashful about staying tuned to the upcoming fun). Now, heeeeeeere's Johnny!!!

An Intellectual Problem...

2009-09-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

...Well, not really...

Sites to Look At...

2009-08-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

I have been very lucky to have many great artists be so kind and link my site to theirs. I have always had a great list of artists websites on this blog, but recently I have added a few and/or just want to plug a few that have always been fun to go to:

(Notice, in alphabetical order. this helps to support my growing OCD)
Alareece Di Andrea
Amanda Horan
Angela O' Sullivan
Dave Reynolds
Erica Pinto
Jean Kang
Mike Moloney
Rita Litchwardt
Shane '7' Sowell
Stephen Heneveld

Check 'em out, they won't bite! Leave a comment, give them some support.

Ollie,Part 2...

2009-08-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

Even when getting a new bed he looks kind of sad.

Ollie,Part 1...

2009-08-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

I found two Ollie (our dog) drawings that I hadn't shared yet. Here is the first one.

Last Of The Life Drawings For Now...

2009-08-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

I gathered the last various drawings that I have right now together. Hopefully I'll get around to doing some more soon.
(3 minutes...)

(2 minutes...)

(1 minutes...)

Now the drawings below really aren't that great, but I do think that they illustrate the idea that if you don't like the pose of the model from where you are, don't be afraid to rotate the camera in your mind and just use the figure as just a model sheet. The drawing on the right was the original. Again, neither one is really that great, but I remember how great it was to be reminded of the artistic freedoms we have but forget to use, and hopefully remembering this idea will reinvigorate some excitement in drawing for someone.

You Guys Are Awesome!!

2009-08-27T15:35:00.001-07:00

I checked to see how many people came by yesterday... and I was blown away!! I've only had one other day as high as this and I just want to say a big thank you to all the people that came by, and to also say that I hope you found something that will keep bringing you back.

More Life Drawings...

2009-08-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here are various collections of 2 minute and three minute poses.

(Addendum: I forgot these two were supposed to go up too)

More Life Drawings...

2009-08-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

I have some better drawings coming tomorrow, but today is a page of 1 minute drawings. I've seen Glenn Vilppu do one minutes and they are quite amazing. Needless to say, I've still got alot of work ahead of me on accomplishing the same goal, but still, there are still some nice points to these.

A Dragon...

2009-08-25T17:06:00.001-07:00

This is your drawing for today.

Commercials...

2009-08-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

Taking a quick break from my life drawings, I've decided to post two commercials that I worked on last summer, but never got around to posting. They were both for GM Motors' new line of more fuel efficient, earth friendly cars. The directors were Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby. They are from Canada and so they both flew in for a short period of time and also became instant, instant messenger buddies. They are amazingly funny and great people to work with and I'm glad to have to work them both. Below are the two commercials. The first is a final version of what the commercial turned out to be, and the second I put together from a couple of different files. Looking back on it, I did a really weak job on the first one, but definately made up for it on the second. Enjoy.

I Thought I'd Make a Day of It...

2009-08-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

By the titlte I mean share all the super duper skimped down, but still expressive drawings that I've dug up recently. To tell truths here, I want to post everything at one time, but I have to enforce some kind of patience and restraint upon myself--but I thought I'd keep a theme together on the same day. These the only the drawings I could salvage from my first life drawing session in 2-3 years--the drawings that I've recently posted were from later sessions. They were both drawn in fits of frustration with 'damn everyone' kind of mindset. I like the first drawing the most out of the two. Usually I clean up and get rid of encroaching sketches when needed, but I decided to leave it be (in honor of the 'damn it all to hell' attitude).

More Life Drawings...

2009-08-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

I would've scoffed at these two drawings in the past, but after reading the Walt Stanchfield books, "Drawn To Life", I can actually say that these are two of my strongest drawings yet. Technically, there is alot more work to be done to make the figures more realistic and have more proper anatomical proportions (look at how short the arms are on the first drawing), but when I saw the figure and started drawing, what inspired me I actually drew. I managed to capture the life that I saw in the model and for that these two are my most recent favorites and a great start in the direction I wish to carry out more of my life/observational drawings. Enjoy.

Dusting Off the Life Drawing Skills....

2009-08-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

(3 minute sketches)

Animax (where I'm currently working) is really awesome to offer free life drawing models for employees once every week. The model shows up and gets ready, the various artists are all poised and ready to test their skills. The models are great and just hit wonderful pose after pose. Attitude, balance, and emotion are there from head to toe. Everyone draws. They, the artists, draw in there own styles and really do the model justice, creating portfolio piece after portfolio piece. I see how the principles of animation are carried out in these artist's sketches... then there's me. I don't have a great style. I mean, in this set of four drawings you will see me draw two different ways. Diversity you might say. This may see like an asset, and but the artists that make the big bucks and have all the pretsige draw a certain way--that's why we all love them, they have a flavor/taste that we all turn to for. Yet I troll through all this like a confused weiner dog on fire. I dig through a life drawing like I'm digging a sewage tunnel. Wait, wait, I've got one more (laughing to myself at the digression into stupid analogies)... It's like I'm slug trying to run cross country across the salt flats. Oh god this post got stupid... Well, analogies aside, look at these and learn what not to do.

I've Got Bats on the Brain...

2009-08-21T00:03:00.001-07:00

I have a collection of Zoobooks cause they are pretty good animal reference guides. Well last night I was drawing some bats among other things, and well, they got stuck on my brain. Here is what they inspired while on my lunchbreak today.

Aww, This is Sad...

2009-08-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

Poor Andy.

More Robot Drawings, Gunnery Bill...

2009-08-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Like I said earlier, I have pretty much the designs that I want for almost every character except the character, Gunnery Bill. The premise is about a small janitor robot accidentally starting up a game show. The game show happens to be called 'Big Freakin Robots'. The show is nothing more than a big gladiatorial bash of three enormous robots fighting in a ring seeing who will be the last one standing. now our itty-bitty janitor gets caught up in the game too and, well... you'll have to see the film to know how it all turns out. Anywho, I was thinking about the robot designs (the large robots). To start off with, the first robot would have a more humanesque design--head, two limbs, torso and legs (overall form only slightly abstracted), the second would be more abstracted--lose the legs to a wheeled apparatus, arms there but smaller and not in the same traditional place, with the third robot the most removed from the humanoid design--head and body are fused into one, limb are not needed and movement is by hovering. It's that second robot though that has been the most frustrating to figure out. I want something that feels big and military , fits into the devolution of the human form, while still being fun in shape like the other two giants. I think the drawing above on the far right--the half robot, half monster truck--does the trick. If you have opinions, chime in and enjoy.

Actually....

2009-08-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am branching out into vultures more and more (what can I say, they're fun to draw). I forgot that I drew this yesterday while waiting for a new scene.

Octopi

2009-08-18T09:13:00.001-07:00

There are certain animals that I have a drawing hang-up for. Octopus, alligators/crocodiles, turtles/tortoises, and T-Rex's. I'm trying to branch out, but in the meantime enjoy my addiction.

Watermelon...

2009-08-17T08:48:00.001-07:00

Also for today, you get a watermelon.

Practices...

2009-08-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of months back I realized that my gestures had gotten really stiff, boring and just plain bad to look at. Plus I also have a pretty good library for reference that is full of books of difference artists from the centuries, illustrators, animation productions, graphic novels, various literature and historical reference. I'd been getting these books lately and looking at them proclaiming that books are a renewable resource for the artist's brain, yet I wasn't taking full advantage of them. So below is an example of time that set apart almost each night, for about an hour or so, where I just try to draw from whatever books I happen to grab. In this grouping I had a book on wolves, photos from WW2, Asterix and Uncle Scrooge graphic Novels. I was more interested this night with capturing the gesture than anything else, and I tell you what, this has really helped. Practicing in quick succession between real people and animals to that of masterfully drawn cartoons with nice expressions really helps to fine tune a person quickly (I highly recommend).

Now these this time were mainly for gesture, but you can dissect any part of the skillset of drawing and painting. Looking at photos and comics for compositions, old masters painting to practice painting techniques and brush strokes analyzying color balances (or light and dark balances) or just seeing how other people design stuff and think but drawing just like them. The possibilities are only limited by one's inability to want to improve.

Robot Designs...

2009-08-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm all done scripting out the film of mine and just about to start boarding it, but I need to know what it is I'm boarding. Now since I've had this idea in my head for several years churning, I pretty much have an idea what everyone of the characters involved looked like (save one). Still I like searching for ideas.

(ADDENDUM)
Here are some other doodles and thoughts that have popped up from time to time. Some of these are really bad and embarassing, but to me, this site is more about sharing than just looking good (plus I've never had any practice at looking good, so why try now).

Good Day, and Good Knight...

2009-08-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's an older drawing, but I feel that it is still a fun quick drawing that can be shared.

Faulty Design Doodles...

2009-08-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

I constantly have film ideas floating through my head. I reached a boiling point with myself where I was coming up with a bunch of ideas but not making any of them. So over the past couple of months I've been getting off my butt and walking the walk to support the talky talk. I will share some drawings and ideas from that film in a few days, but for right now I want to share with you what I think is a great idea, but story-wise, I'm just beginning to piece together the plot and stuff. Well anyway, to end my run-on sentences with a billion comas in them,(coma) here are some my doodling around ideas. Enjoy!

Another Dog Park Sketch...

2009-08-13T00:44:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick sketch of the boston terrier known as, Dozer.

Life Comment...

2009-08-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

I got upset at all the distractions, set backs, and place in life that seemed to come at me a while back... so I made a drawing about it.

Dog Park Post-Its...

2009-08-11T00:53:00.000-07:00

I had post-its and I had subjects to draw. This is what incurred.

Rough Comic Page...

2009-08-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a very short, but very fun story for my friend Dave Reynolds comic 'Shadow Girls.' As he describes it, it's 'Gilmore Girls meet H.P. Lovercraft'. As with such a description, the audience is for mature readers (just a heads up if you are of a younger age, or easily offended, or both). It is very fun to get to push myself again with a project out of my recent comfort zone. The comic will be done for showing the end of this month, in the meantime, here is a page before I ink the really messy pencils.

I'm Married!!!

2009-08-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

After two years of engagement, and living both long distance and together, I am finally married. The ceremony was held down in the beautiful Dana Point, CA overlooking a fantaaaastic view of the surrounding bay and ocean. A few members of my family was able to attend, and of us course alot of just amazingly special friends were there. Below is the wedding favor that we gave out. Over the past several years I have made compilation albums of various music for Ashley. If you were alive during cassette tapes, it's no different than making a mixed tape.

I was thinking about how with so many people having digital music players (i.e. iphones, ipods, mp3 players, etc...), younger generations may find this practice antiquated and a little strange. I actually like it that way. Every generation should have their own unique way of sharing music, and also sharing affection for their special person. (Plus I think it will be fun to be a grandfather one day and tell my grand kids, 'Well, that's just what we did back then' while they look at me strange.)

Anyway, here are a few photos and tomorrow, drawings shall start springing forth from this sill almost forgotten site. Ta, ta till then. P.S.--All photos were taken by Chris Diset photography (I highly recommend them if you are getting married in Southern California!!)
A quick drink before the ceremony.
I brought the funk, but Matt brought the noise!
Ashley in her dress
foot wear of bridal and groom's parties
I'm not really into bachelor's cakes as I feel that the wedding cake you get is for both of you, but Ashley was really great and got me a bachelor's cake of one of my many Hawaiin shirts.
I had a small transformer in my pocket for good luck.

For more photos (if you are curious), head over to my photo blog in the next week as I will put up a larger collection there.