I Seek

I recently came across the Dark Knight Rises Trilogy Trailer and was blown away by the way it was seamlessly edited to encompass all three of Nolan's films.  So much so that I wanted to do a Batman sketch...

Michael

I can't believe Michael Clarke Duncan passed away yesterday, I thought I had misread it or something.  What a great actor... anytime I would see a film with him in it, the credibility of that movie would boost up.  He even made crappy movies better... like Daredevil for example:)

For me, I will always remember him as John Coffey the Gentle Giant.  Rest in peace my friend.


 

Joe Kubert

I was very sad to hear that Joe Kubert passed away.  He was one of the greatest storytellers and teachers to the comic book industry.  One of my favorite stories he drew was called Tex, it's a great western graphic novel.  Check it out if you like westerns, it's awesome.

See you in the next life Joe, thank you for all of your wonderful stories and art, wish I could have met you.

Click here for more info on his life




Here is some of his work from Tex...

Ujio

So, I just finished watching The Last Samurai, it's been a while since I last saw it.

The following clip below is hands down one of my all time favorite scenes in any movie.  I feel like it's not just a typical awesome martial arts fight for a couple of reasons...

The character Nathan Algren is a tormented man, who chooses to escape from his past by climbing inside of a whiskey bottle throughout the story.  This particular part takes place after he has lived in the samurai village for a short time, going through withdrawals and slowly evolving as a character.  Ujio beating the living hell out of him in a rainstorm... it's cool as hell of course, haha.  However,  I feel like it symbolizes not just the strong will of Algren, but a cleansing of his past and an awakening from his hypnosis of suffering.  It's like he is being beaten back into presence by Ujio.  That's how I view this scene anyway, I always get inspired watching it.

Here are a few sketches below I drew of Ujio.  I started with a color sketch of him and then started a black and white of the scene with him and Algren...

Here is the clip from the film...

 

Star Raiders

So, here are a few character sketches from a couple of years back. I used to work at an ad agency that specialized in covers for games, this particular project was a pitch for the game Star Raiders that came out in 2011. Anyway, these were a few sketches I drew, using and referring to preexisting character designs by other artists that the game developer sent us. They were fun to draw:)

State Farm

This was a state farm commercial for the spanish channel I drew storyboards for last year. It was an experience... to start off, I got lost driving up to a director's house in the hills of Hollywood. When I arrived, I was intimidated because it was my first real onsite gig where I had to draw right then and there in front of the director. After I got over my nerves, I found my game and it went great. Anyway, the boards and the commercial are posted below, take a look!

Beginnings

Hey all, I've been working on a story for a long time and it's slowly but surely coming into form. As of now, I'm learning the process of writing and fleshing out the story. I wanted to share one of many rough sketches to come of the conceptual work I've been doing for it. To illustrate this particular scene... The story starts off long ago in China, where a Wind God is traveling far from his home along the East winds. Far away in the distance, the wind God hears a man playing the Ehru(Chinese Violin) on an old boat. Enchanted by such a foreign sound, he curiously ventures over and begins to listen to him play. Day after day, he returns to hear the master musician. One particular afternoon, he decides to bring his flute and begins to play in unison with him. The man stops in surprise as the Wind God appears to him, "May I join you friend?" he asks. Bewildered by his presence, the man nods delightedly. So the story begins...

Here is some music with the Ehru I found online by Deuter, it goes well with the scene

Tron

Hey all, So, if you know me I'm sure you've heard me mention how much I dig the movie Tron. This movie gave me serious chills the first time I saw it, and still does. I've been working on a comic of my own about a character battling the ego within, and this movie has really given me a lot of great ideas on how to approach such a story. I'll post sketches soon, but for now here's one of my fav scenes of the movie...

The Wisdom of Splinter

No drawing today, just wanted to post a favorite clip of mine from the original TMNT movie.

The scene I posted below made such an impact on me the first time I saw it so many years ago and still does to this day. Powerful stuff, even though you have a rat talking to a turtle, still knocks the wind out of you.

Stand by Me

"Boy, you don't know nothing! Mighty Mouse is a cartoon. Superman's a real guy. There's no way a cartoon could beat up a real guy"

- Teddy Duchamp

A little more tradition...

So I've been craving just pencil to paper and brush to canvas as of late... so I did a couple of gouche portraits of my favorite characters. I painted them traditionally and then touched them up in photoshop. More to come!

Volcanoes and Lava and Paint oh my!

Here is a quick video on a recent environment I worked on for the new online game Star Guardians coming out later this year. The music is off the upcoming Soundtrack for the game, done by the talented musicians Kit Bateman and Todd Brown.