Blue Heron Studios

Volcanoes and Lava and Paint oh my!

2012-01-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

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.

Star Guardians

2011-08-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

So I've been on the freelance path for a few months now and it hasn't been dull:) Lots of different types of projects and I'm grateful to be working.

As of recent, I was able to join an awesome team doing visual development for a new virtual world online game. It's called Star Guardians, and it's coming out in early 2012. The project has been a lot of fun so far and the crew on it is SOLID! Here are a few pieces of concept art and character designs I've worked on for the game...

Please check out our Facebook page, as well as the site at www.starguardians.com for more concept art and info on the game! The site will be launching soon!

Victor

2011-05-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

A while back I started a Mr. Freeze piece and I finally finished it:) I posted the roughs and the inks below to show a bit of my process as well as the final version.

Roughs and Inks...

After I scanned in the inks I wasn't liking the composition, so I decided to move things around a bit in photoshop.

For those of you who don't know the story of Freeze, here's a vid with some backstory to him...

Fringe

2011-04-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

So recently I was able to get a gig working for an amazing studio called Zoic. I did some freelance work for them doing some backgrounds for an animated episode of Fringe called 'Lysergic Acid Diethylamide'. In the episode Peter and Walter go into Olivia's mind to rescue her from her own psyche. While they are in there, everything appears in a graphic novel type of state (which just kicks ass). It was a really fun episode that just came out a few weeks back. The talent that was working on the show was insane and it was amazing to be working with such great artists.

I was able to contribute two backgrounds and they both were in the show, which is a first for me seeing it on tv:) I posted the art below...

As far as process, I usually start out with a black and white sketch to get the concept and focus on value, then I go to color. This piece was a compilation of drawing and painting in photoshop as well as photography... so basically a matte painting.

For this shot I had to come up with an intersection in Jacksonville, Florida. So I started off with pulling some google map shots in Jacksonville to get the feel of the shops and such. Then I focused on doing straight on views of each street followed by illustrating the shot in perspective.

Here is the actual episode, check it out! First shot is 23:00 min in, and the second is 28:40 min in.

You Draw It!

2011-03-26T04:13:00.001-07:00

A while back I did some storyboards for the new Udraw Commercial that just came out. If you look at the boards vs the actual commercial it's completely different, which tends to happen as revisions are made. We did get to draw on the tablet for the drawings you see in the commercial as well.

I gotta say though... using that tablet was like trying to draw a fine line with a giant 50 foot crayon that shakes when you press it to the paper, ha.

Ciao Bella

2011-02-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some random sketches from my sketchbook with a few textures in Photoshop...

Dunbar

2011-02-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

This is a sketch I did a while back after watching one of my favorite movies Dances with Wolves. The likeness of Cosner isn't really there, but I tried to more capture the character of John Dunbar before his transformation to Dances with Wolves.

Here's an awesome clip of the film...

Joe Fantastic

2010-11-12T00:13:00.001-08:00

So recently I did a poster for the musician my brother Matt is jammin' with, or I should say drummin' with:)

I thought for this poster I would show my process a bit in how I approach a finished comic illustration. I always start out with some looser thumbnails to get a sense of composition and when I do this I always try to just focus on shapes and how they will read rather than proportions or details. I went with two different sketches to try different options...

I decided to go with the second rough and took it to the penciling stage. I'll do all my sketching and thumbnails in photoshop and then when I have something I like... I print it out on an 11 x 17 piece of paper within a 10 x 15 inch border and lightbox(trace and detail) it onto Strathmore illustration board. Once I'm done penciling, I begin inking it with a Pentel Brush Pen, and Micron pens for the little details. I don't seem to have the patience in dipping a traditional brush in ink, I favor the brush pen because it's so convenient, I highly recommend it. After I ink it, I mess with it in photoshop and clean up edges I might have messed up on and adjust proportions or details that aren't working. You can kind of see the differences from the pencils to the inks proportion wise with the figures...

After that I jump into color. I personally always start coloring by doing the whole piece in grayscale. It allows me to focus on values and making the piece read rather than getting overwhelmed with the palette. After it's finished in grayscale, I adjust those values into colors using gradient maps and the hue/saturation settings until I'm satisfied with a nice finish. The cool thing is, there are many different ways to color something in photoshop. This process happens to work for me the best because I can focus on one thing at a time. Then of course at the end I add the Logos and all that stuff to the finished piece. I wanted it to look old school, so I added the 10 cent addition to it like the 50's Action Comics back in the day. So, if you read this far hopefully I didn't put you to sleep and that it was helpful:) Thanks for checkin' it out and stay tuned for more stuff soon!

Kal El

2010-10-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

So, I heard today that it's official that there is going to be a Superman reboot, which is awesome! Chris Nolan and David Goyer will be writing, I'm sure you know the work that team has put out... nothing big, just a little film called Batman Begins:) Anyway, Zach Snyder will be directing, I can't wait to see what he does with it.

Anyway, in inspiration of the good news, I posted below the teaser that came out for the Superman Returns film a while back. Even though the film wasn't that great, this teaser blew me away when I saw it. Brando's voice seals the deal, he's such a great Jor-El.

MX Toyota Boards

2010-09-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

Some roughs I'm working on for my bro...

Awakening

2010-08-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

No drawing today, just a quick scene I wanted to post. I love this scene in the film Hook. There are so many spiritual layers to this film, this being one of the main parts of the story that taps into that. Watching it always reminds me to always remember your true self that lies within, that can be forgotten by attachment to the illusions of the world around us. Spielberg really did a fantastic job with this.

Demon's Forge

2010-06-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here's another sketch I did for work of a monster, for an existing character of a game that was just released called Demon's Forge. Some crazy Bull Monster Dude... something you see everyday walking down the street, you know?

Beware The Kraken!

2010-06-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is a digital painting I did in photoshop for work a while back. My friend Edward did the layouts, then I took the sketch and finished the painting with photos, textures, and digital paint... messy cleanup:D Good fun.

The Last Airbender

2010-05-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

Felt like drawing some Avatar Fight Sequence boards for practice...

Avatar Exhibit

2010-05-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some concept sketches I recently did for an event this past April. The event was held on Earth Day in Washtington DC, where they had an Avatar exhibit decorated like Pandora for the DVD release of the film. In addition, the event was held to inform and inspire people to be conscious of their own carbon footprints, and go green (or blue in this case) so we can transform the earth back into Pandora.

Noble

2010-01-17T03:53:00.000-08:00

First off, I know I haven't posted anything in like 100 years, last year was a crazy busy year full of turns and twists... it was school of hard knocks for sure:) I'm excited for 2010 and really feel like it's been off to a great creative start. Hope all is well with everyone in their start to the new year as well!

So, this is a side project I'm working on with a buddy of mine from work. I've always loved the pulp genre as well as the 1920s in general. The fashion, the music, the film noir look, it's all beautiful stuff. So, that's the setting of this story... it will be a slow process, but here are some character designs I've been sketching.

This scene from Road to Perdition is beautiful as it really depicts the feel of Chicago in the early 1930s, this movie will be great reference for the comic...

Here's another vid of an animated piece from the animatrix I love that has the steampunk/film noir feel... it's called "A Detective Story"

Selina Kyle

2009-04-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick sketch of Catwoman I drew the other day. She's so fun to draw, Darwyn Cooke really did a bang up job redesigning her costume. For the inks, I used a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pen, which is great for inking in your sketchbook. Then I went over it with copic markers, which also rock for those who haven't tried them out. So on another note, I'm dedicating this sketch to Michelle Pfeiffer, the hottest Catwoman out there.

Kal vs Hulk

2009-04-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a few roughs I'm doing for a cover of Superman and Hulk battling it out...

I started to work on the second rough as a finished piece. Below is my process from the pencils to the finished colors. Man, it wouldn't feel nice being hit in the face by a truck ... just a thought ... Kal can take it though. (Please excuse the geek moment)

Miyagi

2009-02-21T01:17:00.000-08:00

I watched the original Karate Kid the other day, and I have to say it's still after all of these years one of my favorite movies. The acting is fantastic, the story is awesome and the philosophy and spiritual undertone to the movie is beautiful.

One of my favorite characters ever is Mr. Miyagi, of course he's just a plain bad ass that could crack any Cobra Kai in half, but he's also a healer which I especially think is awesome. He has such a great presence and there are many scenes within the movie in unison with the japanese flute that are very moving. I posted a couple of my favorite scenes below throughout all of the movies. These drawings are dedicated to Pat Morita for doing such a wonderful job in bringing a hero and mentor to life on screen. Arigato gozaimasu Mr. Morita.

Howlett

2009-01-27T20:40:00.001-08:00

Sketch to Painting

Closeup

Man, it's been a long while since I've posted anything. I took way too much time away from creating, but I'm back and will be posting some of my new work in the weeks to come.

Here is a wolverine painting I did for my buddy's birthday recently. I started with a sketch which started out on the realistic side, but became a little more graphic and cartoony as I began painting. I painted this in Gouache on Bristol Board and had a really good time with it. One of my fellow painter friends gave me a wealth of info on color mixing recently. To slowly inch back into painting, I'm just starting with a few colors on my palette.... including White, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Pthalo Blue, and Alizarin Crimson. I did the following painting above with just these three colors, the nice thing is that it forces you to mix all of your other colors as well as creates color harmony in your painting. Color Theory is a bitch for me personally, if anyone else shares this same pain, keep reading... If you'd like a little guidance in the area check out the website of Felipe Echevarria, he's a hell of an artist and a teacher. You can find his website at this link... Felipe Echevarria; for info on his teachings in mixing color click here and scroll down till you see "On Mixing Color", there are three lessons there. Anyhoo, hope everyone is well, until next time...

Lake Mendota

2008-11-24T21:25:00.001-08:00

This was a painting I did a couple of years back that I thought I would post. It was a wedding gift for my very cool cousin. It's of Lake Mendota which is located on the University of Madison, Wisconsin campus. The campus is beautiful and so is the lake, where students chill and walk by on there way to classes. I started out with a loose sketch, and then painted it in Gouache on Illustration Board.

Watercolor Giclee Prints for Sale

2008-09-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hello all, hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to let anyone who is interested know that I am selling prints of a few of my paintings. I posted pics with sizes and prices below. Each piece is a signed Giclee Watercolor Print with a 1" border. They are high resolution prints on 100% Fine Art Watercolor Acid Free Rag paper with Archival Inks, so they won't fade over time.

Keep in mind that if the sizes below are too big/small and you would like alternate sizes to purchase, just shoot me an email and I'll give you specific pricing for the size you're looking for.

So, first off, to give you all some backstory to the paintings below, they are from an unpublished illustrated story called A Life in a Day that I wrote with a great friend of mine, Graeme Winder. Not only did Graeme co-write the story with me, but he composed a fantastic score to the paintings, you rock Jedi G!! Check out his awesome website here.

It is the story of a father and his son in the Guangxi region of Southern China. The journey starts on a quiet morning and follows the father and son through their daily lifestyle. We see their world through the eyes of a Great Blue Heron who observes in curiosity. Each watercolor signifies a different present moment in their day. From morning meditation and Tai Chi, to harvesting the rice, to a great rainstorm, to playing music and fishing underneath the stars.... Thanks for checking them out!!

A Curious Visitor
Watercolor Giclee Print
"9.25 x 22.5" - $50.00

Morning Meditation
Watercolor Giclee Print
"9.25 x 11.5" - $35.00

Ehru at Sunset
Watercolor Giclee Print
"9.25 x 11.5" - $35.00

Floating on Stars
Watercolor Giclee Print
"9.25 x 22.5" - $50.00

Goodnight my Friend
Watercolor Giclee Print
"9.25 x 22.5" - $50.00

The final painting below is a commission I did of the Colosseum, for anyone who is a big Italy fan:)

The Power of One
Watercolor Giclee Print
"14.5 x 20" - $55.00

If you got this far, thanks I appreciate it everyone!! There will be more paintings from Italy on the way!!

Anime Influence

2008-06-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt at drawing in anime, I referred to Miyazaki's style because I think he blends the perfect elements of realism and anime together. I'm not a big fan of the huge eyes and small mouth so I tried to meet somewhere in the middle. Below is a sketch of an elvish warrior and his trusted hawk guide as well as an evil spider monkey to the right. Both spiders and fast evil monkeys freak me out, so I thought a pretty freaky monster would be a combination of the two. An evil spider monkey that hangs in trees waiting to latch onto it's victim and feed.... AHHHHHH!

I had a lot of fun doing this one, I wanted a looser look to the coloring, so I did a quick study of a forest village where the warrior might live...

Spidey and The Rocketeer

2008-06-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a Spidey pinup I tried to do as fast as I could, starting with the pencils to inking to finishing it up in photoshop. I ended up cropping it in closer on Pete in the end. I kept it in black and white for time reasons.

I also had to draw one of my most favorite characters, The Rocketeer! The movie kicks ass too:)

The Dark Knight and Mr. Freeze

2008-04-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

Brush pen sketch of Batman

Here are some head shots and character designs for Victor Fries or as we all know him Mr. Freeze

This is a head sculpt I did of Mr. Freeze for reference. It's about two inches in size and is made from Super Sculpey Firm with a galvanized steel wire armature. I learned of doing this by reading a great blog of one of my favorite comic book artists Paolo Rivera. I highly recommend visiting his blog for a wealth of info on illustration and sculpting methods and materials. Sculpting a character is of great use in that I am able to pose and light the head any way I need when drawing.

Here's Mr. Freeze in his final suit, on this drawing I started out with a marker sketch and then colored it in photoshop.

Australia Comic

2008-02-11T00:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the character designs and pages from the finished Australia comic I recently finished penciling. The colors and letters were done by another talented illustrator who I haven't met, and I don't know his/her name. Check them out below...

2007-07-22T21:54:00.001-07:00

Hero and Villain Character Studies

Character Sketches

2007-04-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

Giordano Dee

St. Death

Azazel and Rei

2007-03-17T01:08:00.000-07:00

The Fallen Angel and Souless Vampire

Movie Pinups

2007-02-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some character pinups from a couple of my favorite actors and actresses, Richard Harris, Christian Bale, Emmy Rossum, and Robert Redford.

Character Sculptures

2006-12-15T22:47:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some of the things I've been doing at work, starting from the initial concept drawings to the finished sculptures for a few different characters and mascots. I also included some of the finished characters completed by the entire costume team at work. So, without further delay, here they are...

Bat Lash Pinup

2006-06-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

ROGUE LAWMAN

2006-01-31T01:02:00.000-08:00

The following pages and character designs are based on the novel ROGUE LAWMAN by the great writer Peter Brandvold, see the links section to visit his site. The pages below were penciled by Jeremy de la Garza and inked by comic book veteran Jon Holdredge.

Page One

Page Two

Page Three

Page Four
(Pencils were scanned in the making)

Page Five

This is the cover in progress, you can see the sketch to the left and I have started to build up the painting to the right in gouache.

Here is the finished cover.

US Marshal Gideon Hawk

2006-01-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hawk is the hero of the story. He's a man of principle, until "Three Fingers" Ned Meade throws him a curve that challenges everything Hawk stands for.

Linda and Jubal Hawk

2006-01-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

Linda is the wife of Gideon Hawk and Jubal is their son.

Ned Meade's Gang

2006-01-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

Johnny "Beaver Face" Pyle is the goofy and scrawny one of the gang.

Crazy Chuck is as crazy as he is stupid. He's a scrapper and loves to gunfight.

Lucius Running Bear is a half Apache Indian, half Mexican. Lucius is the hot tempered one of Ned's Gang and enjoys a good fight.