New Site!

Hey everyone!  So I wanted to announce that I have a new website:)  I will posting all of my stuff over there from here on out, and will slowly be leaving blogger:(

It's been a fun time doing my blog here, and I appreciate everyone that has followed me and taken the time to view my posts and work.  I'll have a new blog that will be attached to the site, that way I can still share my sketches and all of the random thoughts bouncing around in my dome.  I'll see you at the new addy!

www.jdelagarza.com

Ctrl Paint

So I've been trying to brush up on my foundation art skills and found this great site with a bunch of awesome tutorials that you can both buy and check out for free.  Check it out at Ctrl Paint, it's a great how to site on improving your skills as an artist.

Here is a vase I painted as part of his video series...

Gouache Portrait

Here is a recent portrait commission I did for an anniversary gift for some good friends.  The painting is of their kids.

Here is the black and white sketch I did to start off...

and here is the final gouache painting at 18 x 24 inches

Thunder in your Heart

So I've been watching a Rocky marathon the past few days and I was inspired to paint a fighter character.  It was a lot of fun jumping back into painting, this will be the first to come of some painting exercises:)

I played the video below a ton while I was painting, it's cheesy, but awesome!  It's a cool compilation of the Rocky movies synced with John Farnham's "Thunder in your Heart".  He did all those awesome classic 80s songs on the movie Rad back in the day:)

Always lead from your heart and strength within, in any endeavor, find the thunder!

Sketchbook

Here are some drawrings from my sketchbook that I thought I would post:)  I've been trying to play around and draw different stuff than I'm used to...

The Wisdom of Long John Silver

I watched Treasure Planet the other day while drawing, I forgot how inspiring some of the scenes are:)  This one is one of my favorites...

Happy Halloween!

Hey everyone, just wanted to share some of the stuff I've been working on at work.  Summertime Entertainment, the company I work for, is putting out an animated feature around the middle of next year called Legends of Oz Dorothy's Return.  Currently, they released an online virtual world to introduce the film, check it out here!  In the game you can explore the world of Oz through your own custom avatar and go on adventures with Toto by your side.  Anyway, long story short, I got to do some designs for halloween items/costumes for the virtual world and wanted to share them.  I started out with some rough sketches and then passed those to my coworkers and talented friends Jason Bueno and Michelle Pecoraro, who then created some slick 3D models for me to paint and texture.  Check 'em out below:)  As always thanks for takin' a look, I appreciate it!

Here are a few 3D Halloween masks you can choose for your avatar in the game:)

Godric

I'm not a big fan of True Blood, but I came across an episode that I thought was really cool.
The story in this episode is about a vampire named Godric who started out as the most violent and savage of vampires, but after living for an eternity, found enlightenment.  Kind of reminded me of the samurai warrior Musashi who had a similar true life story.  I thought this scene was really powerful...

Proko

Hey!  I just wanted to talk about some great figure drawing videos that are coming in the near future for anyone out there who is interested in learning how to draw the figure.

I'll definitely be watching these videos, the artist creating them is awesome and has a very clear and direct teaching style.  Check out his many free videos at proko.com.  If you are interested in an extended version of his upcoming figure drawing videos, go to proko.com/figure.  There is a fee, but I'm guessing it will be well worth the money based on the amount of material he will be covering.  Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch you later.

P.S.  Check out the preview video below...

The Boy and the Broken Machine

So I'm happy to be able to show an album cover that I was able to work on a few months ago for the talented musician Joe Brooks.  My brother Matt plays the drums in his band (another talented cat), and told me Joe was looking for an animated style for his new album cover.  After hearing what he had in mind I was eager to work on it, and am excited to show all of you how the final art came to be.  Down below I posted my journey in creating the final artwork.

Click on the images if you would like to see a larger version.  I also posted a few songs from the album below, give them a listen:) Oh... one more thing, you can buy the cd on Joe's website here.

Thanks for checkin' it out!

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