Eugene Randolph Young Visual Development Blog 2011

America, America

2012-01-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

After attending two IMCs and being exposed to so many influential names from the history of American illustration there, it was both informative and inspiring to sit down with this recent publication and pore through such an amazing heritage of technical prowess and stylistic virtuosity. I remember James Gurney and Greg Manchess making repeated mention of some of the names artists mentioned in the book as sources of influence and inspiration. The book also includes a handful of women artists. Naturally the absence of African-American artists and images makes the book less enjoyable as a record of the history of opportunity and access where the profession is concerned. Nonetheless, the author saw fit to include examples of a few artists' interpretations of the African-American experience, including a moving gospel scene by an artist whose name escapes me at the moment. Famous American Illustrators emphasizes the kinds of work artists did, which to be fair, may at times have more to do with the conditions and demands of the time than their own personal interests, politics and attitudes. Thankfully, nothing overtly racist or demeaning appears in the book. One page includes an illustration within the illustration of a ad featuring Rastus, the iconic black chef featured on Cream of Wheat ads and packaging. The image dates back November 1896, and is included on a poster in a scene with two boys playing hooky while evading a stout, switch wielding school teacher. The scene seems to reference Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

The lack of diversity in the people depicted in vast majority of illustrations is part of what would have caused me to avoid it several years ago. For me, it was really hard to disassociate the images from days of de facto discrimination, lynchings and Jim Crow laws. I saw an element of self-aggrandizement and white supremacist beliefs, and a history of misrepresenting the truth about American life. I had similar feelings about one of the latest editions of Spectrum. However, I keep coming back to the fact that illustrators paint what they know and what they are commissioned to paint in order to survive. We are beholden to whatever the market demands.

Prior to my first IMC, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that artists commissioned to illustrate for Magic: The Gathering are encouraged through the game's style guide to include a more diversity in terms of things like costuming, facial features and skin tones in their art. My understanding is that the goal is to add value and interest to the art by avoiding old cliches and stereotypes. However, such images are not used to promote the game itself. Blizzard's highly anticipated Diablo III features a witch doctor class of playable character that is clearly influenced by various African traditions. Their fictional race of humans known as the Umbaru are new to the Diablo universe. Some might remember the black sorcerer in Diablo 1 and the s dark-skinned paladin from Diablo II. Diablo was the first rpg I played that included a female character with a range of abilities as engaging as those of the male characters. In fact, all of the new character classes in Diablo III will have both male and female options. Yet another refreshing and groundbreaking feature in D3 is the design of the female barbarian. She is a strong, hefty woman, but still appealing. The female witch doctor on the other hand has a lot of face paint and is usually shown with a big-assed mask in the concept art and gameplay videos. Which brings to mind my top ten pet peeves about black or African-inspired female characters in mainstream fantasy art:

face paint; This might work for an alternate battle mode, but it's always better to present the character at some point without the face paint.
she only likes white guys; I guess the thinking here is to show openness or to appeal to the target demographic, but I see this so often that I wonder if there might be something else at work here.
face covered with a mask; My own co-creation Guila notwithstanding, wouldn't you rather illustrate a beautiful black woman's face? Wouldn't your audience rather see that than a big-assed mask?
cover her head with an animal skull; Again, it's the old "return to primitivism" thing. If you're consistent with these kinds of treatments with your white characters, cool. Otherwise, think about where these images come from before you include them in your designs. And no more dangling chicken bones, okay? Or at least have them carved or styled into something appealing.
long straight hair; I'll admit that I've been fooled by many a weave in my day, but trust me, naturally straight hair, while it definitely has its appeal, is actually quite rare amongst black women. Chemically straightened hair takes a lot of work, and just doesn't make sense in certain situations. Unless you can find a way to work some new technology or add a hairdresser to the game or story, you might want to consider something natural.
skin lightening; If you can get the color, lighting and textures to work for blue, green and purple skin, fur and everything else, you can do it for dark brown skin. No more excuses.
the white woman with dreads trick; Self-explanatory.
give her a stick; Grace Jones really got shafted in the second Conan movie. Wilt Chamberlain too. How many sword and sorcery flicks from the 80s gave black characters sticks and clubs to fight with?
the spiritual guide; I may have to back off on this one. I liked the Legend of Bagger Vance and the shaman in BSG. I just would rather have her spiritually guide HER OWN PEOPLE for once in the script.
no mechs and tech; Try a little research on black women in fields like engineering and biotech. You might find some inspiration out there.

I doubt that I will ever even be in a position of decision-making on any of this as an artist at any significant level, but hopefully this list will provide food for thought to someone. So much has improved in the entertainment world over the past 30 years, and I keep seeing an increasing number of thoughtful characterizations of black women in a variety of media. Couple that with independent black writers and artists who have taken it upon themselves to create the things we want to see, and things can only get better at all levels of the industry. Big kudos to the artists and writers out there who make an honest effort to change the game. Pat yourselves on the back. You know who you are. But, I digress.

AAU illustration folks and others should definitely take a look at this book, as it connects with so many of the teaching methods and traditions of our department.

"Hey, Nineteen"

2012-01-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

One of the shining highlights of this year's CTNx (Burbank, CA) was seeing so many character sketches compiled into books by industry pros like Alberto Ramos and Nicolás Villarreal. Naturally, ones from the pretty girl genre always get my attention, especially when they push the designs to the absolute extreme while retaining a sense of cuteness and occasional eroticism.

I can't do that. At least not yet.

During his panel discussion, Regis Loisel once perked up and exclaimed with a smile, "Mickey Mouse!" when one of his nude females appeared on the screen during the loop of slides. I think it was a joke about the relationship between bare breasts and the pair of large, circular ears of Disney's famous mouse. Loisel's raven-haired version Tinkerbell (Clochette) is one of my favorites. She is curvy, expressive and full of life when he draws her.

Needless to say, this passion for drawing pretty girls is a common one amongst many artists, both male and female. Maybe we share a need to take that magic home with us in our sketchbooks these fleeting moments of communion with beautiful women through a glance, or a brief moment of blissful hypnosis as we stare and fantasize for as long as decency and politeness permit.

"Push the pose as far as you can until it breaks, and then bring it back" I heard these words at the start of almost every drawing session in Character Design for Animation with Nicolás Villarreál at the Academy of Art University. Good design is at the root of every memorable character, and achieving this is not easy. My own laziness when it comes to habitually studying successful designs is becoming a bit of a liability. I think it comes from a stubbornness that assumes that I will eventually invent my own unique voice by brute force. But why "reinvent the wheel"? Better solutions are out there and I could probably absorb and modify them much faster than create them on my own. The 19 sketches on this post all lack that "push" in terms of shapes and gesture that would really make them come to life and put a smile on my face. But, I'm getting closer. (Blue prismacolor marker, Pilot V7 Extra Fine ballpoint pen, Prismacolor Col-erase blue pencil.)

Getting ahead of myself

2012-01-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

A little over a year ago I was reunited with a friend from junior and high school, artist Michael Sacramento, with whom I shared many a long bus ride home from Berkeley to Richmond. One things we shared was a love of comics and drawing, and Mike was always a few steps ahead of me. We now hold monthly sketching sessions, alternating between various locations in Berkeley and San Francisco. The Rising Tide Sketch Krew was the brainchild of member JJ Jose, whose line drawings address the plight of street kids in places like Manilla in the Philippines. JJ joins us from Stockton, and his commitment and enthusiasm is infectious. We met last Friday night at Au Coquelet on Milvia and University near Berkeley's downtown arts and entertainment center. This is a page of head sketches I managed to further develop during the session using the paltry selection of markers and pens I happened to have on hand that night.

I imagine that any one of these could be developed into a single expression sheet, and possibly even a quick sculpt using Sculpy. Structure and expression continue to be a challenge for me, although a few of these seemed to come to life a bit, especially after giving them a hit of color. I'm using Prismacolor markers from a set that's at least ten years old. Although, I must say that a drying marker is not necessarily a bad thing, and has some advantages over a fresh one.

I should also note that because I am left-handed, I work from right to left and keep the wire binding of my sketch pad to the right whenever possible. I've discovered through the years that the spine or binding of sketchbooks gets in the way of my hand as I draw unless I flip them to the non-traditional side. Sometimes I use a book with the binding at the top of the page in order to free both sides of the sketchbook from obstruction.

Every design comes out of a loose scribble that I then respond to and refine. I have no reference or goals in mind when I do these, other than filling the page, and pushing the variety of head types as much as possible. I'm not sure why, but my favorite, is the yellow-haired girl on the lower right. I think it's the overall shape and bounciness of her head.

I N K T E N S E Sketching

2012-01-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

I've managed to squeeze in a couple more pages of head studies this week. The first was a page of 16 women's heads, which was then followed by a page of 16 boys' heads. Derwent's Inktense water-soluble colored pencils are great for these kinds of exercises. I can layout a relatively simple application of contour and value, and then, using a water brush, I can gently dissolve and manipulate the pigment as if it were watercolor. The slight advantage these pencils have over normal water-soluble pencils is that they have the permanence of a waterproof ink once they dry. This allows me to go back over them to reestablish values and details that might get lost in during the first pass with the water.

I am working in a Strathmore 9" x 12" spiral bound sketch journal, which comes with a thick, sturdy paper reminiscent of Aquabee's Super Deluxe sketch pads. The main difference is the smoothness of the surface in the Strathmore pad. Although both have an irregular, pulpy surface that I find myself fighting against, even with a well-sharpened Inktense pencil. Fortunately, the surface absorbs light applications of water well, and once dry retains enough tooth for applying more dry pencil work. Although, I am finding that applying the material to large areas may result in patchy areas that look like someone took an eraser to them.

I always welcome the ability to combine the control of colored pencils and the transparency and looseness of watercolors. With practice, I hope to be able to use this unique drawing tools with greater speed and confidence.

2012-01-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places to sketch after hours is Au Coquelet on University and Milvia in Berkeley, California. During this session, I gave myself the challenge of inventing 24 women's heads using Prismacolor markers for the grays, and a couple of Fabler-Castell black drawing pens. The process was to start with a grid of very fast and faint gray scribbles to define the shape of the face and head. Sometimes these exercises drive themselves in random and unexpected ways. I may never know if it's possible to do something that is truly random and generated from my own imagination. Influences seem to linger from the day's events, or even an occasional quick glance at a passerby on her way to the rest room.

Head shapes fascinate me, along with how they relate to hairstyles and facial features. Over a year ago I took to one of Barbara Bradley's suggested methods for capturing a likeness from life with a quick sketch, whereby the overall shape or silhouette is captured first, followed by interior shapes and details. Without a living model, I found that just the suggestion of a skull was enough to start the series.

I then proceeded to add darker grays (20%-50%) to further define the structure of the heads and hair. Eye sockets, the shadow cast by the base of the nose, and other important changes in plane and surface landmarks were established at this phase. I also did my best to suggest a light source to further sculpt the sketch and ground it in space. A final pass with a 70% gray marker and my black pens was used to finish each sketch. These will be used as part of yet another series of studies using Painter 11's gouache brush category and a limited color palette.

2011-12-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

Revisiting recent projects from ANM 633 Character Design for Animators is turning out to be not only a lot of fun, but also an opportunity to apply some new tools and techniques learned in ANM 611 Visual Elements of Storytelling. Because it was a summer course, ANM 633 went at a breakneck pace, forcing me to assimilate a lot of valuable information in a very short period of time. I was more than a little unprepared for the class. Yes, I've watched tons of animated shows since childhood, but I never took to time to thoroughly study a given style or genre. Character design reinforces my belief that simple designs are hard. Add turnarounds, action poses, expressions and building maquettes, and suddenly you have the ultimate test of your current skill set.

I've had time this week to revisit some of the more successful character designs, and practice rendering them digitally using an approach learned this semester in ANM 611.

The zoo assignment required us to create a line up that includes a hero and heroine, villain, sidekick, and a hybrid creature pieced together from studies done during a trip to the San Francisco Zoo.

Going to a course like this cold is tricky, mainly because without a preferred style or genre to drive my work, the designs throughout the semester were fairly hit or miss. I will have to practice a lot more if I hope to achieve my long-term goal of being able to consistently create appealing, and well-designed characters for a variety of genres.

I was introduced to this style of rendering towards the end of ANM 611. While I would prefer to paint over a more rendered character, I found that having the freedom to invent volume using only contour lines was a fun challenge. The designs naturally change a bit to fit with a more realistically rendered look. I start by isolating the character silhouette with the Magic Wand, and then capture the selection as an alpha channel. I also use the selection to create a Color Fill Adjustment Layer with a dark, cool color. Then, I set that layer to Multiply, and paint into the layer mask in order to establish the form and cast shadows. I then rough in the flat colors on another layer set to multiply with the selection derived from the silhouette still active. (Keeping the selection active prevents the paint from going outside of the silhouette.)

When I am happy with the overall color and value scheme, I merge all three layers, and then delete the surrounding white from the line art layer. I also add a simple gradient behind the character on a separate layer. From this point forward, I paint with a single layer, gradually painting out the lines, adding texture, detail, etc.

Everything could be pushed even more with these designs, starting with the shapes and line of action. These days I am much more in tune with what kinds of character design stop me in my tracks and take my breath away, and with practice, I hope to further develop my own personal voice for character design.

A Return to Gouache

2011-11-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

A recent Visual Elements of Storytelling assignment has reintroduced me to the joy and craft of painting with gouache. This study was inspired by one of the CTNx staff members who seemed to be everywhere at once. I distinctly remembered her cafe au lait skin tone, petite frame, and movie star looks and wanted to take a stab at a simple caricature. My timidness with photographing people in public forced me to visualize as best I could the jist of her overall appearance, although, this is hardly a likeness.

The first step was to scan the sketch and then to paint a quick color study on a thumbnail of the scan within the same digital canvas. Next, I sampled the main colors and set them up as a vertical column of swatches. The entire image was then printed onto a letter-sized (8.5 in. x 11 in.) sheet of Strathmore 500 Series Aquarius II watercolor paper. This was my first time using the product, which I obtained from a recent demonstration at the Academy of Art Universty.The paper is very lightweight compared to the watercolor paper I usually use, and it's about as thin as 2-ply bristol. In spite of its thinness, the paper remained flat and smooth, even with heavy applications of the gouache.

The final was then rescanned at a high resolution and medium sharpening on an HP 3000 series all-in-one scanner. This resulted in a slightly distracting texture on the image, which I tried to minimize with a blur filter. Over the past few months I've been fascinated be the vibrancy of color I've seen other students and professionals achieve with gouache. The sketch below was also inspired by the memory of a conference attendee, this time in San Jose at Fanime back in June of this year. I couldn't quite tell if she was in costume or just had a unique fashion sense. I think the shirt was originally cotton with a red and blue plaid pattern, but I took a stab at something different, but still thinking in terms of a triadic color scheme.

I intend to continue with these, maybe doing two or three per week. I see so many inspiring personalities out there that sometimes I just want to spend the whole day creating characters based on the people I see around me.

One little painting at a time…

IMC 2011 Wrap Up

2011-07-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'm putting the last bit of polish on this one. I'm still a bit unhappy with certain details, but if this were a real-world piece, I would have to eventually stop working on it. I did the finish over a scan of the painting using Photoshop. I experimented a bit with the a couple of custom bristle brushes. It's been a long time since I've painted digitally, so I'm a bit rusty.

I think this might look good as a small poster. I found a good deal on 12" x 17" cover stock prints with a local printer that I'll have to jump on by Friday of this week.

Many thanks to Ian McCaig, Greg Manchess, Julie Bell, Boris Vallejo, Scott Allie, Dan Dos Santos, Jeff Mack, Scott Fisher, Donato Giancola, and Rebecca Guay for their feedback and encouragement.

2011-07-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

It looks like I'm on track for a Friday completion date. The priest's garb and staff kinda got away from me, but I wanted to take a chance on adding some complexity to those areas. I may go back in and simplify those parts. I'm almost done with the hands and face of the foreground figure. So much of this piece reminds me of Greg Manchess' mention of how getting the shapes right can be more valuable to a piece than the details.

I'm also trying very hard to resist the temptation to having a glowing object giving off blue smoke coming from the priest's left hand, like a beacon. Looking back over the previous stages, there were times when I probably should have stopped, like when the shadow sides of the figures were more abstract.

In spite of it all, having a somewhat solid structure on which to explore these little details and nuances has really made a difference on this piece. I was very lucky to have Ian McCaig, Rebecca Guay, Julie Bell, and Greg Manchess critique my first sketches.

I'm going to work a bit on my IMC 2010 piece, and then spend some time on homework. Lots to do tonight. And it's a warm night. My stay-wet palette, is finally starting to show sights of drying, but not a lot. I just realized that I'm painting in near-white pants without an apron. Might be a good time to change.

More progress…

2011-07-01T06:38:00.001-07:00

I was up early this morning and decided to takeon the dragon's shell and the sky. The blankness of the sky had been bugging me, and I decided to go all out on areas suggesting patches of blue sky peeking through the purple haze. There's a kind of turquoise blue that I've seen in oils and acrylics that until now I've never been able to mix. This time I got pretty close. I worked with a mix of pthalo blue, titanium white, and cadmium lemon yellow. The darker areas have a bit of ultramarine blue. Some of my favorite dragon paintings have amazing, colorful skies. I also tried some warm yellows and oranges on the peaks of some of the ridges on the dragon's underside.

The rocks closest to the figures may need to be reworked a bit. They look like globs of dried poo.
I have a set of basic Golden Open Studio colors that I may experiment with on the remaining details on the skin of the acolytes.

IMC 2010/11 Progress

2011-06-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

With the demands of my summer classes, I'm limited to just a few hours a day to work on these, but I am making progress. The dragon piece has most of the high-flying dragons painted and screened back with glazes of titanium white. I've also worked on the rocks a bit more. The second figure from the left is still bugging me. He feels awkward and a bit off balance. His hands are also a bit chunky.

I'm also resisting the urge to add more dragons to the background behind the figures. The sky behind them feels empty, but I'm going to try to stay true to the original plan. Although, I could easily explore this in Photoshop, along with some brightly colored costumes for the acolytes and their leader.

The "Beauty and the Beast" piece got a bit of refining, mostly in the cast shadows and edges on the figure and the trunk and head of the beast. I also spent some time on the beast's ear. I may end up repainting Michelle's legs completely from the knee down. Something went terribly wrong in that area, and I've lost the sense that she's actually being cradled by the beast's tusks.
Making great progress on this one as well. And a big THANK YOU to Dan Dos Santos for suggesting a stay-wet tray for my acrylics. I've gone about three days without my paints drying out. More on my paints setup next time.

Painting Progress

2011-06-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

I managed to dedicate about four hours to my IMC 2010 and 2011 projects. My new stay-wet painting tray is making a huge difference. That, and the fact that it's a cool day here in the East Bay. My old "Beauty and the Beast" painting has been sitting by my drawing table for over a year now. I hadn't painted in acrylics since last year's IMC. This morning, it felt like a good time to return to the piece after reworking and further developing parts of my dragon painting. I had the idea of adding evidence of wear and tear on the parts of the dragon nearest its exhaust, possibly to suggest the age or health of the monster.

The "Beauty and the Beast" piece just needs many more hours of patience and discipline. I'm approaching with a combination of glazing and opaque applications of paint, slowly finding my way.

IMC Day 4 and 5

2011-06-25T08:19:00.002-07:00

My dragon model didn't hold up to an application of black acrylic paint, but it still proved useful along the way. I decided to start on the sky first in order to get over the initial anxiety of committing paint to the board. I had never worked much with magenta, pthalo blue or Naples yellow, but together they created a nice foundation for the sky. My paint set up was all wrong. I learned late Thursday night from Dan Dos Santos that I should work with the paints in a tray with a bed of moist paper towels. The normal palette that I always use at home was letting the paint dry too quickly. I was also starting to regret choosing not to bring my oils this time.

At this point, I took a chance on painting the shadows with a base of warm colors. I wasn't sure if these colors would end up buried under additional layers of paint, or if I might keep them like this, thus minimizing the amount of detail in the shadows.

I also found later that my camera had grossly exaggerated the head of the foreground figure. Jeff Mack kindly did a few corrections to the figure, and shared with me his cloud painting technique used with acrylics. Jeff used a vigorous scumbling technique with a round brush to simultaneously push and blend the paint. The result is texture similar to that of an orange peel.

With just one more night before the final show, I put every ounce of energy into the figures. I eventually had to accept that the piece would not be finished by the end. The priest's outstretched hand also wasn't reading well, so I painted over it with the sky color. Somehow the design of the dragon itself had also changed along the way. It was missing a shell segment near it's tail. Without it, it does look a bit more sleek and aggressive, but I would like for it to be true to the original concept. One habit I'm trying to break is that of changing things when I get to the painting phase. The temptation to make even minor tweaks is always there, but it's risky to experiment like that with traditional media.

The surface of the dragon was inspired in part by volcanic glass and bones. It looked really good when initially painted with dark, cool blacks, but the blurriness of the composite gave the low-flying dragon a greater sense of scale. Having it more in focus is what I imagined for the scene. The dragons are closer to the size of modern fighter jets, as opposed alien mother ships.

The images above are more or less where I stopped painting at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday night. The night before I had stayed up to about the same time working on a drawing for the faculty gifts organized by Tara Larsen Chang. She was kind enough to entrust me with the task of personalizing the first few pages of the Moleskine included in Boris Vallejo's gift. I found myself reverting back to my love of rendering organic forms in graphite right out of my head. The drawing went surprisingly well. Writing a dedication page was very hard. I was so nervous about misspelling something that I wrote the message in pencil first, then in ink. Then, I realized later that I had forgotten to erase the pencil. Nonetheless, it was huge honor considering how long I've enjoyed and studied Boris' work. I ended up missing the closing ceremonies on Friday at 2:00 p.m. when the gifts were handed out. I had gone back to my room to get something, and ended up taking a 30 minute nap.

Overall, IMC 2011 was yet another challenging and inspiring experience. I'm not sure if I'll go again next year. My short-term goal is to be very busy with projects and preparing for midpoint review at AAU. My long-term goal is to crank out about 10 years of strong professional work. It's time.

IMC Day 3 and 4

2011-06-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

The first of the guest lectures on Monday were fantastic. We saw Peter de Seve, Mo Willems. De Seve has been one of my favorite illustrators for a long time. He gave an inspiring presentation at CCA several years ago, and since then I've been of his work and sense of humor. Willems, on the other hand, was new to me. I had seen one or two of his books on the shelf, but never felt compelled to pick one up. Aside from also having a great sense of humor, he has a mastery of storytelling, and shared a handful of tips and techniques for effectively pacing a story with color, text and composition.

I was able to squeeze in a photoshoot with the help of Mike Maung who sat to the left of me in the first floor studio. He posed as the dragonist priest, and I posed for the acolytes. The lights had already been broken down from the previous night's photoshoot, so we did our best with the interior lights in the auditorium. They had just enough intensity to give me some good shadows and highlights. Unfortunately, my camera was set to shoot at low resolution. The lack of a proper long lens also resulted in some distortions on some of the reference.

The next step was to create a composite of the dragon sketch and the photo reference. At this point, I was debating as to whether or not I should just mount and paint over the digital composite, or spend time drawing it again in graphite, and then fixing and mounting that drawing to my board. I opted for tracing the general contours from the composite on design vellum, and then transferring the lines to my illustration board after its layer of gesso was dry.

Drew Baker was kind enough to make his printer available to us during the week, so I was able to print a sheet of roughly quarter-sized grayscale versions of the composite, and a few sheets of reference images. I had a tough time deciding on a palette for the figures in the foreground. Should it be monochromatic, or should I separate them from the background with color? I met my goal of getting to the painting phase by Wednesday, but still had a few questions about how to proceed.

IMC 2011 Day 2

2011-06-12T22:25:00.001-07:00

I made some good progress today. It's already around 1:30 A.M. and I have a few more minutes of energy to share today's experiences.

This morning started with a short jog to the campus memorial, a few stairs, some calisthenics down by the baseball field. A light breakfast followed and I spend the first few hours further developing my new sketch. The cropping along with the addition of several other dragons in the sky felt like a good decision, so I stuck with it and moved on to a larger value study. Right now, the figures are the biggest challenge. My classmates have been shooting some really gorgeous reference (of some really gorgeous classmates). Details like hands, folds and facial expressions tend to look their best when done with proper reference. Tomorrow will be the day for shooting my photos.

This morning, I also followed through on my decision to at least attempt a paper model, and it was surprisingly successful. The downside was that it reminded me completely by accident that the u-dragon actually looks best when I reverse the head and tail. If I decide to flip it, I'll do the work in Photoshop to avoid driving myself crazy with yet another value study.

The value study also led to some interesting textures, and a few new ideas on what parts of the dragons might be illuminated other than the areas closest to their exhaust organs. I also have a pinch of black Sculpey 3 to help with referencing the surfaces of the dragon's shell. I'm looking forward to getting some much-needed rest.

IMC 2011 Day 1

2011-06-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

It's close to midnight on the first day of crits and lectures, but it feels like I've been here for a few days already. I'm not too happy with not making time to prepare a stronger batch of sketches for today, but it was a busy and hectic week back home.

I have settled on a scene with a uranium dragon (u-dragon) from my Dragonist mythos. It depicts a u-dragon in streaking overhead while congregation of Dragonist clergy and acolytes gather on a craggy cliff. My goal is to complete the drawing by Monday afternoon before starting in on the painting. Thus far, the biggest stumbling block has been in choosing a cropping for the main u-dragon overhead. The scene is fairly effective with the entire dragon in view, although most read it as an alien machine of some kind, mainly because of the overall form and vapor trail from its hind quarters. And yet again, some conflicts and doubts about the piece have already begun to set in in ways that they never did when I worked on personal pieces. Come to think of it, it is a bit too much to digest input from several people, including peers and faculty. But ultimately, it comes down to making a decision about which advice to follow.

Goals:
a strong, memorable composition
a successful group scene from quality reference
a vibrant color palette
an original an inspiring dragon concept

Limits and Challenges:
1. first attempt at a major group scene
2. u-dragon design unresolved
3. dragon form reads better in other sketch

Resolutions to above:
1. Have classmates pose, or build costumes from sheets, towels, etc.
2. Silhouette is strong. should try cut paper model tomorrow, like Gurney.
3. Save it for another painting.

Lastly, I should mention that author Milton Davis (Changa's Safari) was kind enough to pen an amazing draft for a Dragonist short story called "The Signal" My original plan was to take on a critical scene from the story for IMC, but that will have to happen later this year. This collaboration has been very exciting thus far. Milton has a real talent for storytelling, and he has been very helpful in helping me to move this concept to the next level.

This year's lecture on using reference included Greg Manchess, Scott M. Fisher, and Dan Dos Santos. Each had roughly 20 seconds to explain each of their slides (an average of about ten or so) and share their process for using and manipulating reference. We also got a crash course in photographing with lights, and a fun lecture from Ian McCaig mostly focused on drawing and inspiration. After last night's lack of sleep and the general good energy and anxiety, I'm feeling a bit more relaxed tonight.

I'm going to attempt one last sketch before turning in.

IMC 2011

2011-05-19T09:15:00.002-07:00

The Illustration Master Class takes place from June 11-June 18 in Amherst, Massachusetts. This year's master class brings together some of the best science fiction and fantasy illustrators, including Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Ian McCaig(!!!), Dan Dos Santos, Donato Giancola, Scott Fisher, Greg Manchess, and IMC founder, Rebecca Guay.

Enrollment usually opens toward the end of the year, and contninues through early March. Apply early to take advantage of the early-bird discount.

Contact Rebecca Guay for info on available spots at this year's master class at: http://www.illustrationmasterclass.com/registrationpayment.html

http://www.illustrationmasterclass.com/

20 Heads or Faces

2011-01-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those nights where you just want to hammer away at something until it's done? After visiting the 25 Years of Pixar exhibition at the Oakland Musuem of California, I realized how little experience I have with caricatures and cartoons. The exhibition was very large, and took up a sizable portion of the museum. The art included several drawings, sculptures, paintings, and a short film the brought to life several layouts from various films. There was also a bizarre zoetrope with a wedding cake-like arrangement of characters that appeared to move around as the contraption spun under a strobe light.

I learned a few new terms at the show, including "colorscript" which I think is a way of mapping out the colors for an entire film as a large storyboard. Some of the sculptors included. Budd Luckey (Toy Story), Greg Dykstra (Ratatouille, Up) , Kent Molton (The Incredibles). I spent a lot of time staring at Tia Kratter's acrylic paintings from "A Bug's Life" which had some incredibly rich and vibrant color combinations.

A colleague who had also visited the show had mentioned how happy seeing all the work in one place made her feel. I spent close to three hours sketching things, mostly the sculptures, and immersing myself in as many patterns and details I could discover through drawing. Most of the heads and figures were based on a strong silhouette, gesture, or something living, but then simplified down to their essential planes and edges. Eyes and eyelids were particularly interesting. The question of how to translate an artist's sketch into a solid object isn't always as obvious as it may seem. For example, when should a pupil be a hole versus a raised dot? How exactly should a tuft of hair be simplified into a smooth volume? The lighting in the exhibition was just right for exploring these little details.

In other news. I picked up a mini Raffy DIY toy yesterday. Not sure what I want to do with it, but it's a little giraffe with a big head and stubby legs. This might be a good excuse to get a Dremel tool. I look forward to digging through my old scale model kit parts and possibly bringing out the Sculpey again. More to come…

Cobra Telekinetic

2011-01-07T17:27:00.001-08:00

This was fun. I was hanging out with a friend sketching at the Emeryville B & N when I finally wrapped up the pencils on this one, which were done on a sheet of bond scratch paper. I wanted to try out Painter 11's inking tools on a scan of the sketch.

My biggest challenge with Painter continues to be the slowness of the interface. Photoshop has considerably more easily accessed features that enable me to work with more speed and efficiency. Nonetheless, I found the inking tools to be easy to control. I also want to experiment with my 6D pen. I'd like to be able to do the kind of crisp and controlled feathering and fine line detail that I can achieve by hand, or with a brush.
Well, I still have to say the MangaStudio is still #1 for digital inking, but in time, I might get skillful enough to make Painter my second choice.

A Little Diversion

2011-01-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

I remember jotting down a few sketches of a Hello Kitty spoof called "Hella Kitty" The idea was to merge the image of an unabashedly loud, obnoxious and ghetto-fabulous female with that of Sanrio's popular super-cute character. The first sketches are buried in a sketchbook or notebook somewhere, but last month I was in the mood to try a series of pencil sketches for the character. I ended up with nine different designs and costumes, all of which reference a style or attitude often seen on the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area. For those who don't know, "hella" is modified version of the phrase "hell of a" that has its roots in Black youth culture. It's used for emphasis, like "very" or "incredibly". One can also expect to hear its less sacrilegious form, "hecka".

I used the sketch above to create a template layer in Illustrator and started building the illustrations one at a time. Although the series definitely lends itself to the "recycling" of parts, I found myself wanting to try different head and body types for most of them. After completing a few, I started to see where simple reflections could be used to speed up the process and ensure symmetry where desired.
The funny thing is that now I find myself "scouting" for new designs while I'm out and about in Berkeley, San Francisco, Richmond, and Oakland. This started out as biting satire, but now I something that will probably keep me busy and entertain for a long time to come. I also think these would make great wallpapers for mobile devices.

So what do you think? Are you a "Hella Kitty" fan?

IMC Wrap-UP

2010-11-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

I won't be too hard on myself for not completing this series of blog entries months ago while the memories were still fresh in my mind. My goal here is to share a bit on the painting process. Shown above is where I was around the second-to-last day. One problem was that I had mounted prints that were too thin for Donato's process. A heavy ridge also developed along the line I tried to cut around some of the major contours of the illustration in order to better conceal them. I had managed to get some momentum going with my usual acrylics glazing technique. But I had also, somehow, lost my focus on the legs, and found myself having to repaint and adjust them on the fly. Thinking back, part of the conflict may have arisen from Dan Dos Santos' suggestion to "glam her up a bit" by lengthening the legs and torso. I had to really force myself to abandon my goal of staying true to Michelle's actual proportions, which read as youthful, delicate and vulnerable.

Although the painting is still unfinished, I learned a bit more about where exactly in my process I need to increase my focus and momentum. The rendering of the underdrawing in charcoal was probably the most satisfying part of the process, even though it as time consuming. I'll have to see if I can approach the rest of the painting with a similar amount of enthusiasm and success.

APE 2010

2010-10-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

I had a really good time at APE this year in San Francisco, and actually spent some money this time. I thought I had written off cons for good, vowing to stay away unless I'm there to make money and promote my own work. But something drew me back to APE.

The event was considerably larger, with a lot more professional-level work on display. And it was a friendly, diverse crowd, with a broad range of genres and styles represented. Although, I found myself wanting to see more African and African-American artists, or at least more artists who draw and paint black characters. APE is still a very white and Asian event, which makes me appreciate ECBACC and OnyxCon even more. Nonetheless, I did manage to find several inspiring works to add to my collection, including prints and comics. One in particular was by Corey Bass (above). (http://c-tristan.deviantart.com/) He has his own world and mythos in the works, and has a real talent for nuanced and poetic storytelling. His drawing and painting skills are still developing, but I'm already looking forward to what he has on the table next year.

This was also the first time that I actually used the map in the program to bookmark tables with works I wanted to buy. The strategy worked well, although I lost track of a few tables because I started off marking the wrong wing of the Concourse. I also decided to travel light, and cut way down on the cards and leave-behinds. Illustrator Maggie Cheung (above) had a few really nicely drawn and painted prints. I picked up her "Monday" bear, and a vibrant sketch of a building in Hong Kong.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Mike Manomivibul (below) (http://www.mikemanoart.com)/2010/04/finally-moonfleet.html. His surreal ocean-themed illustrations remind me of Lovecraft's Dagon. I especially love how Manomivibul uses light and shadow, and a monochromatic color palette.

It's inspiring to see so many independent creators willing to invest time and energy into their dreams and passions. The best work came from artists who clearly had a phenomenal work ethic and a solid grounding in the fundamentals. But I still wonder what exactly leads one to a sense of belonging at these kinds of events. Some groups look like they're at a family reunion. It must be a matter of showing up regularly at many events and developing a following. Collaboration also seems to be a huge factor both in staying motivated, and having a sizable body of work to show.

Another master of grayscale is Grim Wilkins (below). His graphic novel "Love Story in the Woods" does a lot with few words, and some wonderfully dynamic compositions and marks. (http://grimwilkins.blogspot.com/)

Another to answer the "call" to do an independent comic was actually youth social worker by day. He shared with me that his semi-autobiographical strip was an important outlet. SJSU alum, Justin Orr also had a couple of great sketchbooks for sale. As did Argentinian concept artist Nicolas Villarreal. His book has an inspiring mix of environments and character concepts.

I wish I had the time to list and describe it all, but let's just say that APE 2010 was by far the most memorable comic book convention for me in a very long time. I'm looking forward to next year's.

Drawn to Lee J. Ames

2010-09-12T00:28:00.000-07:00

Back in the early 80s, Oxford Elementary (Berkeley, CA) had a second floor library. In one of the far corners of the library was the art section. It was there that I discovered my Lee J. Ames Draw 50 books, and I have been drawn to the 741s ever since. At a very early age, Lee J. Ames' books offered me the promise of drawing realistic boats, aircraft, even spaceships, as long as I had the patience and discipline to follow the steps.

But I never read the foreward, where he explained exactly how to use the books. It was the pictures that spoke to me. Had I followed his instructions to the letter, I undoubtedly would have gotten considerably more from the books, and developed much faster as a young artist. Out of curiosity, and an unexplainable need to revisit those joyous childhood forays into drawing, I visited the chidlren's section of the main branch of the Berkeley Public Library. I almost missed the book. It was now neighbors with a sizable "How to Draw Manga" collection. But I found a copy of Draw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and Trains. And, I read the foreword. After 30 years, I finally read the foreword!

In the "To the Reader" section, I found the answers to why I rarely ended up with satisfying results after attempting one of his drawings. A successful copy of one of Ames' drawings requried that the first lines be drawn lightly and accurately, even though they are shown with relatively bold lines. He also suggests a series of light erasures with each step as you build up the details and forms, and finishing the drawing with either pen and ink, or a darker lead.

I still felt a twinge of fear and anxiety as a I attempted my first step-by-step copy of an Ames in over two decades. But to my surprise, once I started, and faithfully followed the placement and proportions of his marks, I was able to complete the drawing with relative ease, and a high level of satisfaction. Part of the fun in doing these exercises is that many of them start out as incredibly ambiguous forms. Some may initially reference a hull or a truck body, but others are a little less obvious. So there is an element of discovery, much like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, where the "big picture" slowly reveals itself, along with how the parts relate to the whole.

I worked through a few of the drawings this afternoon during the BART train ride to San Francisco and found myself smiling the whole time. All the while, a nagging voice suggested that I was might be wasting my time and undermining all that I have been trained to believe about how being creative demands that I avoid these regimented kinds of studies. What if one of my colleagues at CCA caught me doing this? Or even worse, what if a student saw? And what, if anything is the value in copying these drawings. Does it even qualify as drawing in the creative sense?

It was during the Chinese calligraphy workshop I took earlier this year that I saw the value of copying great works. Ames' lines are clean and confident, and expertly describe a broad range of forms and materials. In fact, it was his drawings that first explained to me how to construct a convincing cockpit canopy, or a foreshortened aircraft wing and body. I would later incorporate these little morsels of drawing wisdom into my own spacecraft and vehicle designs. And the books promote education beyond drawing. Artists should know the names of various ships, boats, and other vehicles, in addition to begin able to draw them convincingly. By recording such a variety of examples of vehicles and machines from his time in clear drawings, Ames brings me closer to a bygone era, while at the same time challenging me to apply his method today's inventions.

Back to School

2010-08-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

Fall Semester Begins at CCSF
Today ends our first week of instruction at City College of San Francisco. Due to scheduling constraint, I am unfortunately unable to continue with my Japanese studies. Thus far, I have completed one beginning kanji class, one beginning conversaitonal Japanese, and four semesters of the language and grammar classes. I think I made mention in the previous post of my near life-long fascination with Japan's anime and manga drawing styles. I was first introduced to these images in print through Japanese robot model kits. The instruction sheets and other inserts often included stills from animation cells, or other hand-drawn illustrations, often line art. They always had this incredible delicacy, even on complex mech designs, that allowed the color to breath freely within the lines. I've been trying to figure out how much of the drawing style reflects a cultural temperament or possibly even tradition evolved and transformed over time.
In studying the Japanese language, I discovered how useful mechanical pencils were in writing the language, particularly the kanji. Chinese characters, when written clearly with a sharp writing implement, can be difficult to draw at smaller scales, especially ones with many strokes. This is less so with the hiragana and katagana, which share the compact openness seen in Roman letters.

If I could confirm for myself the exact types of drawing tools (pencils, pens, etc.) that were used for animation cels, or the kinds of insert illustrations shown above, and the kinds of reproduction processes that might have been involved, I might be able to start incorporating these kinds of marks into my own work.

Fortunately, I have plenty of examples to study. My Mega Man X Official Complete Works (CAPCOM), for example, has tons of sketches and finished art from the games and animated series. I've only played the game a few times at a friend's house on the Nintendo 8-bit system, but I was really inspired by the vast universe of bizarre character and robot designs featured in the book.
Afroid.com update
In other news, I've started mapping out the core structure and some content for the Afroid site. The Afroid/Power Coil concept is a science fiction story that centers around a strange phenomenon that enables children to control their hair with their thoughts and a strange, new technology.

A Unique Anatomy for Artists Book

2010-08-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

As a kid, I never had the patience to sit and read with full comprehension a book related to the complex subject of accurately and effectively drawing the human form. I'd occasionally flip through them in a bookstore or library, and take it home with the hopes that it will make me a better artist. Back then, my dream of becoming a comic book artist was inextricably linked to the need to develop the uncanny ability to convincingly depict the human form, male or female, from any angle, in motion, violent action, repose, etc. Many of my favorites were geared specifically toward comic books, while others took a more intimidating, almost scientific approach. The question of how best to study from these books has always been an issue for me. I have so many in my library, so how come I still struggle with this stuff?

The diagrammatic approach of measuring heads, and seeing basic forms as spheres, boxes and cylinders only got me so far. It always seemed to come down to a quesiton of memory and understanding the underlying mechanics and structure. This was different from the rigors of drawing the figure from life, which can be understood as a process of measuring and the appropriate application of marks, or the translation and organization of patterns of value.

As an undergrad, I was able to squeeze in two semesters worth of figure drawing. During the years after graduation, I enrolled two figure drawing and one portrait painting workshop through City College of San Franciso's Extended Education program. I have also committed many hours to open life drawing sessions and sketching in public. The problem was that I still could not draw the figure accurately, either from memory, or through observation. I could muddle my way through a loose, gestural drawing, with marks occasionally landing in the right place, but I still felt like something was missing. I worried that my instructors had placed such an emphasis on an expressive approach, that I might never develop the discipline and focus to truly draw what I see. The proportions were always approximate, the marks rushed. Where my drawings excelled in confidence and expressiveness, they failed in terms of sturcture. And when I tried to draw bodies from my imagination, I would usually revert back to old habits because the time in front of the model wasn't helping me to retain much.

It wasn't until I took an ecorché class with Carol Tarzier (also through CCSF Extended Ed.) that things finally started to stick. The class involved building a 1/8 scale armature and modeling the bones and muscles in plasticene. I was especially inspired Carol's ability to draw any bone or muscle group from memory and identify things like origins and insertions. At last, I had found the kind of anatomy for artists instruction that made sense to me. It was a holistic approach, that combined the disciplined rigor of careful measurement and accurate porportions, with a very hands-on and tactile approach to learning.

This afternoon, I came across a unique book entitled Anatomy for Artists: A New Approach to Discovering, Learning, and Remembering the Body by Anthomy Apesos (ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-931-2) at the San Francisco Public Library. Apesos' approach is to also present the body through a "hands-on" model where he gets the reader to engage with the material by using their own body. It's a simple, but highly effective approach to learning how the body works. Personally, I'm not very good at memorizing diagrams and formulas, although, I've learned several useful ones through the years. But I'm finding that when I can include a bit of movement and touch to my learning process, I seem to retain more.

If you're looking an anatomy for artists book that offers some valuable insights and a unique approach to the topic, I strongly suggest giving this book a read.

Digital Painting: Wacom Tablet Intensive @ CCA

2010-08-11T11:26:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday marked the end of another digital drawing and painting workshop. The course involved two six-hour classes held on two consecutive Saturdays. I had a great group of enthusiastic students with backgrounds and interests that included textiles, illustration, industrial design, fine art drawing and painting, graphic design, and comic books/manga. Close to half of them were already owners and users of Wacom tablets, including the new Intuos 4.

What I like most about teaching the class is figuring out how to relate the digital tools to a broad range of mediums and techniques via the Photoshop environment. I also try to emphasize the importance of putting their ideas first, and then shaping the digital tools to specific needs. One student shared with me at the end that the class really helped her to overcome her anxieties about using the computer for her art.

The class is offered through the California College of the Arts Extended Education program.

The next workshop is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 2 & 9, 2010. The fall schedule of classes should be up in a few weeks.

http://www.cca.edu/academics/extended/courses/computers
Digital Drawing & Painting: Wacom Tablet Intensive (OAK 202) $260; 2 sessions

Drawing Circus : Paper Sculpture

2010-08-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

Last night was the our last meeting of the Drawing Circus, a class facilitated by Edward Stanton at the Richmond Art Center (www.therac.org). Our performer wore a simple, loose-fitting dress with long sleeves and an elastic fabric. She performed with an armful of golf clubs, next to a large, gold-trimmed frame. I started with a single sheet of Blueline comic book paper, my two watercolor travel trays, and a pencil.The first marks were mostly lines and small shapes, and faint gradations of primary colors. Careful application of the watercolor started to define long, angular planes on the page that reminded me of my first Gundam model. It was a 1/144 scale Gundam Z, and one of the few kits that I actually tried to paint according to the instructions. Iron Horse on Solano Avenue in Berkeley carried an impressive selection of kits from the Gundam series, and for a while, I was really into them. The Gundam Z has long, elegant lines defining various parts of its armor, as well as a number of sections deliniated with changes in color and plane. The combination of whites, blacks, reds, blues and yellow accents fit well with the tim-honored convention of using bright, primary colors in a triadic color scheme for hero mechs.

I became dissatisfied with the tediousness of the initial drawing process, so I took to folding the paper along some of the lines and zones of color I'd alread drawn or painted. Then, after finding a old pair of blunt-nosed scissors in the studio cabinet, I started cutting into the paper and connecting various sections with slots and tabs. It wasn't long before the forms began to remind me of the details that always made Japanese robot models so compelling as forms, and the many problems that arose as part of the process of assembling something with only line drawings and numerals to guide me.

The final piece was surprisingly stable, and rested on three points on the table. At the end of the drawing session, I used my cell phone to photograph the sculpture from several angles. The cast shadows and form shadows were very interesting. I'd like to turn some of these images into drawings or paintings.

Z-Gundam and Xabungle illustrations by Ken-Ichi Ishibashi ©Bandai

IMC 2010: Values

2010-07-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with charcoal. Vine charcoal is great for gestural studies, especially on a rough substrate, but it's incredily fugitive. All you have to do is breathe on it and it goes away. Compressed charcoal in stick form gives you some of the deepest, velvety blacks, but it too smudges easily, and usually manages to creep under your fingernails where it remains for a day or so. Charcoal pencils, on the other hand, offer by far some of the best control and cleanliness, but the charcoal tends to break easily, leaving behind a craggy wound that forces you to either sharpen or whittle way another inch of material. But when they cooperate, they offer an excellent range of marks.
Fortunately, I had a couple of sheets of Canson Mi Tientes shipped up to Amherst with some of my drawing and painting supplies. I also had plenty of charcoal pencils (Genereal's® 6B, 4B, 2B). My first "value study" (translation: stalling before diving into the painting) was done on newsprint, and pretty saturated with blacks. Dan Dos Santos suggested that I do a much larger rendering in order to gauge what kinds of strokes and marks I might want to use for the final painting. That was the first time anyone related the strokes in the preliminary drawing to the strokes in the final painting, but it made perfect sense.

I love to render intricate details in dry media, especially graphite. Most of my larger acrylic paintings have carefuly rendered graphite underdrawings drawn directly on the gesso. I tend to avoid charcoal becase it's so easy to smudge. But because contrast was such an important part of my concept, I decided to use charcoal in order to get the darkest possible blacks in the shadows.

I ended up making her head too large for her body, but I was happy to erase it and redraw it. Charcoal is very easy to erase and reapply. What surprised me about the final drawing was how it really didn't get as dark in certain areas as I imagined it would. I usually render with a light touch and gradually build up tone with a very sharp tip. Even witha few accents of white charcoal, the range of values I was shooting for just weren't happening. (The values in the first, smaller quick sketch are closer to what I had in mind) Maybe I could make them happen in the final painting through translucent layers of paint. I also noticed how the newly articulated tusks might make or break the final piece. This tends to happen when I get a little careless as I work. Sometimes, my mind wanders a bit, and I start introducing new details as an exeperiment. It could be that I still was not satisfied with the simple tusk concept and wanted to see how far I could push the concept of fully articulated bones without muscles and tendons. So, this is were I was with just a couple of days remaining for the mounting and painting phases.

Next: Painting (Again)

IMC 2010 : Models and Maquettes

2010-07-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

The first time I tried making something with Super Sculpey® many years ago, I was surprisingly comfortable with the material. It was pliable like a firm oil-based clay without the odor and residue. There was no cracking or flaking, and it held a lot of detail. To date, I have finished only two figures and two small creature figurines. At this year's IMC, Sculpey® was included on the materials list for the James Gurney demonstration, but it was another student in our (Michael(?)) studio who really inspired me to attempt a sculpt of my creature in order to really nail its design, and to have something to light and photograph.

The first version was very rough and included small tusks, a trunk, and ears made from thin sheets of the clay. At one point, I experimented with giving the ears tattered edges, a feature that found its way into one of my value studies, but was not used in the final piece. Again, the idea of having the tusks behave like arms cradling the woman came up, which led me to eventually rough out a figure and place it in the tusks.

Scott and Jeremy paid me a visit and really got into helping me to better compose the piece. At one point, Scott sat nestled in the cushioned chair with his legs over one of the arm rests, and Jeremy holding it up with the right amount of tilt to show me what they had in mind. It was a great idea. So the challenge from then on was to find a model.

I think it was during breakfast that I saw Brian Bowes sitting with a young woman who would have been perfect for my piece. Unfortunately, there were no spaces at that table, so I couldn't join them. As much as I wanted to just walk over and ask her to model for me, it just didn't feel right to interrupt their meal with such a strange request. Brian found me later that morning and promised to help me out if he were to run into her again on campus or in the dining commons. And sure enough, Brian came through. He not only found a model for me, but he also brought her into the studio to show her around and immediately introduced us when I walked in. Michelle agreed to pose for me that evening, and turned out to be an excellent model.

About an hour before the shoot I scrambled to get everything ready. I borrowed a bunch of white towels from the dorm and a clean white sheet from my room. The sheet was to cover the chair, and the towels were to be rolled into a makeshift trunk for Michelle to hold on to. During the shoot we tried Scott and Jeremy's pose, as well as a few with the fetal position from the older sketches. Donato had demonstrated how to use the strobes earlier that day, so I also got to try different colors of gel and lighting arrangements. I was worried that I would not be able to use the strobes because my camera didn't have a hot shoe for the transmitter, but to my surprise, my camera (Nikon P60) somehow triggered the strobes when I took photos with the flash turned off. The entire shoot lasted just under an hour, and I had more than enough to work from for the next phase of the illustration. One challenge was choosing the best shots to work from. I had to force myself to pick three favorites and archive the rest. With that done, I was ready to prepare maquette for a quick shoot. Michael gave me some of his sculpting mesh, which was made from an incredibly fine grade of metal, probably aluminum. I used it to refine and stabilize the ears. Without it, I doubt that I would have been able to get a good shape with a thin sheet of Sculpey®.

I guess in any project, there's a critical moment where you have all of the parts in place, but you still freeze up a bit. I had a few unanswered questions about how things should look. Should I use oil or acrylic or both? Should I do one more small, tight rendering or a large one? What about the colors? Then, something unexpected happened. I loaded up my palette with black, white, raw umber, and purple, and tried a loose, full-sized sketch of the scene. It was pretty messy, but Julie Bell suggested that I consider taking a chance and approach the final painting using a similar approach. She reminded me that it's that kind of risk-taking that helps to distinguish a given artist from the countless others out there doing more or less the same thing. Although I ended up reverting back to painting how I like to paint, I kept the loose painted sketch posted near my easel for inspiration.

I learned from this phase of the process that making decisions and committing to them definitely helps to keep the ball rolling. It's okay to have too much in the way of images and ideas for various details, but eventually, you have to cut away the fat move on. It was also great to get requainted with my love of model-making. As a child, I probably build well over 100 plastic model kits ranging from military aircraft to Japanese robots. So visualizing things in the round comes somewhat naturally to me. But I'd never before had access to the kind of lighting setup they had at IMC. It really opened up a range of possibilities for lighting the Michelle and the maquette.

next: Rendering in Charcoal

IMC 2010: Finding a Process

2010-06-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

The IMC proved to be a solid opportunity for me to hone in on my natural painting process, take some risks, and make some discoveries along the way.

I had chosen the "Beauty and the Beast" assignment. My concept was to explore an African-themed rendition that focused on the scene from the original story where she finds the beast dying in his rose garden. I also wanted to challenge myself and emphasize the contrast between an albino beast and a beauty with black skin.

During the plane ride from California, I started exploring how the characters might be depicted in an African setting. The design of the beast went through several iterations inspired by memories of masks, insects, skulls elephants, rhinos, and even a white orchid.

I still have strong memories of the first night of working well into the evening seated on my drawing horse with pages of sketches strewn about. I had decided to develop two thumbnails into tight roughs in pencil. Along the way, one was abandoned when it became clear that I was rapidly losing touch with the root concept, and a shimmering image still burned into my imagination. My reference for the creature was easy to find online, but I was worried about finding a dark-skinned woman to pose for me.

Rebecca Guay was partial to the concept with the characters embracing. So much of my strongest work is lacking in emotion and narrative because it's inspired by pin-up art with a sci-fi/fantasty flavor. Something about the pin-up format has always attracted me, but Rebecca's work consistently has a strong sense of intimacy, particularly when she draws couples. With just a few marks and a strip of tracing paper, she was able to tweak one of my thumbnails just enough to push the composition toward a stronger concept, and potentially a stronger painting.(I managed to spirit away her little sketch as a souvenir before it got tossed.) She was also the one who pointed out my avoidance of hands and feet in my sketches during the first day crit. (Thanks, Rebecca. I'm working on it)

The images above show just how strongly Rebecca's little drawing influenced one of my revised roughs. My painting shifted away from this composition, but I may return to it for another piece at a future date. I realize now that I have a tendency to abandon things that either don't seem to be working, or think I've already gotten all that I'm going to get out of it. Or, I go to the other extreme and spend too much time on a dead end.

James Gurney talked about importance of taking the time to really thoroughly imagine and design the world your characters occupy as well as the characters themselves. My beast character evloved from sketches like the ones below, and the tusks on the elephant-based designs began to speak to me. Should they be braided, or fused into something like a nose ring, or something else?…

IMC 2010

2010-06-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a phenomenal experience at the week-long Illustration Master Class at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. This was my first time, and each day was wroght with the kinds of challenges and inspiration I've been looking for for quite some time. Our instructors included Boris Valljo, Julie Bell, and James Gurney, whose work has inspired and influenced me for many years. In the coming posts, I will do my best to share my experiences, and what I learned along the way.

Meeting James Gurney
By sheer coincidence, I had added Gurney's recent book "Imaginative Reaism"(Andrews Meel Publishing, LLC.) to my library about a month or so before the the workshop. The book thus far has been an excellent read, thorough, and full of good advice on how to improve one's process. (By the way, Imaro fans should note that Jim painted the cover for Imaro II for Daw Books!) Jim's brought along his work table and general setup from home. Later, I'll post shots of the maquette I used during the master class for my "Beauty and the Beast" illustration. Jim shared with us in his presentation how he uses small models to compose everything from creatures to complex architecture before he paints. I had borrowed the first Dinotopia book from library a number of times several years ago, not realizing at the time that the illustrations were done in oil. Jim and his wife Jeanette really made me feel at home in the studio. Really nice folks. I was surprised to learn that Jim also has Bay Area roots. Jim's skills as a thorough researcher, along with his sense of wonder about the world, deeply informs the creative content of his artwork.

Meeting Boris Vallejo
Back in May, one of my sudents gave me a 1978 Boris Vallejo Tarzan calendar as a thank you gift. He wasn't familiar with Boris' work, but had seen samples of my fantasy art and figured I'd appreciate the calendar. My acrylic painting process came directly from Boris' approach detailed in "The Guide to Fantasy Art Techniques" (Paper Tiger) and one his own "how-to" books. I didn't have the nerve to bring it along and ask for an autograph, but I kinda wish I had. During one of the lectures, he actually mentioned how convincing a publisher to let him do the Tarzan calendar was an important point in his career. I was such a fan of his work that I started collecting trading cards with his art.

Meeting Julie Bell
I should also mention Julie Bell. As a 17-year-old freshman at San Jose State University, I remember coming across Heavy Metal in the student bookstore. I bought my first issue, which featured a classic Luis Royo femme fatale on the cover. Heavy Metal had always been on of those on the fence publications that would either be behind the counter next to Playboy and Penthouse, or mixed in with the men's magazines, well out of reach of children. One of the most memorable covers was Julie Bell's "Feast" (1993) which featured two women in a cave feasting on a slain beast with chrome bones. The naturalistic figures and Vallejo-esque textures and details made her work an instant favorite of mine back then. I started to recall how Julie's approach had a slightly different flavor, at times more feminine, but still, consistently bold and appropriate for the industry.
You can probably imagine how surreal it was to be visited by Boris and Julie while working on my interpretation of "Beauty and the Beast". I had spent so many years admiring their work, and imagining what it might be like to actually meet them. They were very supportive and insightful. I regret getting so engrossed in my own work that I missed out on seeing their painting demos on the second floor. I think it was during Greg Manchess' lecture that there was a mention of "art heroes". I've had many throughout my life, but I never imagined having two standing behind me as I struggle with a painting. When I was 17, I routinely painted on my bedroom floor with examples of Boris and Julie's strewn about for inspiration. I even worked in layers, starting with carefully gessoed illustration board. Working with oils was out of the question, I learned to at least think in terms of gradually building up layers of color. One of the last things Julie mentioned to me was that my reference would critical to the success of the piece. I should add that will be true for any works in progress or future works that involve the human form, or anything based on the real world.

"Don't write that down! You already knew that!"

Notes on Day 1

Our first day crit included James Gurney, Greg Manchess, Scott Fischer, and Jeremy Jarvis. The feedback was honest and very helpful. Some of my classmates arrived with highly developed sketches. I was still flailing about trying to design my characters and decide on a composition. When I was reminded of my tendency to avoid hands and feet, Jeremy saw me taking notes and goes "Don't write that down! You already knew that!" Which was true. When I sketch, the long, flowing marks I use always take precedence over the smaller, tighter ones I should be using on my hands and feet. My turn came about halfway through the crit. Feeling a bit unprepared, I posted a column of sketches and one page of thumbnails. Jim commented on my interest in visualizing the world my characters would inhabit. When I explained that I wanted my beauty to be a dark-skinned African woman, he Jeremy jokingly asked "Could you give her Caucasian features to keep from making everyone here uncomfortable?" It was a great line. And to his credit, Jeremy had mentioned early on in the crit the need for all of us to not only get comfortable with painting ourselves and what's familiar, but to also learn to paint people different from ourselves.

I learned through the Master Class that Wizards of the Coast actually does encourage its artists to infuse some diversity into the design of the human characters that appear in Magic the Gathering. I saw evidence of this in the style guide we were provided with for the Magic card assignment. But, these images tend not to be showcased on the website, packaging or other promotional materials for the game, which is odd. I'm sure it has something to do with marketing.

By the time we reached the halfway point, I was back at my easel working on two concepts that showed promise based on the instructor feedback. I must have worked until 2 a.m., eventually abandoning one of the sketches that just wasn't coming together. I chose to stick to a tightly cropped medium close-up of Beauty embracing one of the beast's tentacles. Remembering Harrison Chua's advice to save my energy and not stay up too late, I ended up returning to my room barely able to sleep.

ery
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2010-05-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of months, but I plan to return to painting very soon. On the top of my list are three incomplete works, including the banner for this blog, the Mama Nunusshu piece, and the vampire cyborg below.

I have also entered the planning stages for a short teaser trailer for the Afroid story, the redraw of the second Guila installment (to be sold via IndyPlanet.com) and my first series of t-shirts to promote and fund the Afroid project.

I've also completed a level 1 kanji class at City College of San Francisco with ラスチガン先生。I learned a lot, but I have a long way to go if I ever hope to become functionally literate Japanese. There's a fascinating correlation between writing and drawing rooted in the Chinese characters used for the kanji. For me, a high level of concentration is needed just to get all of the marks to balance in terms of spacing and proportion.

I also had an opportunity to study with artist Aiqin Zhou at the Richmond Art Center. Her Chinese calligraphy course introduced me to the classical art behind the kana and kanji. I feel lucky to have gotten to try my own hand at this rich and beautiful tradition. I'm also painting with my right hand for the first time in my life, which makes me wonder how further practice might rewire my brain after a lifetime of writing, drawing and painting with my left hand.

The good weather here in the East Bay resulted in an explosion in wild flowers growing around town, some in gardens, and others growing wild. The colors are vibrant and inspiring. Even the cherry blossoms bloomed for an especially long period of time this year. The rains also brought a lot of weeds, so I've been spending weekend mornings hacking and pulling with a curious calico looking on.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting back to the art stuff very soon.

Mama Nunuusha

2010-04-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, a sketch inspired by the "Massive Mama Shun'Ngu" concept inpired me to attempt another giant African monster-queen. Mama Nunuusha seems to be evolving into a minion summoned by dabblers in evil magic. The challenge the far has been getting the colors to balance along with the composition, but the skin tones seem like an improvement over previous attempts at depicting brown skin. At some point I'll have to get bold with the shadows, but the soft details in the landscape are working. The desaturated compliments are helping to suggest foliage and rock. I'm not yet sure why this feels so static and flat, though, and whether or not it that problem can be easily fixed along the way.

Manga Studio DX is proving to be an excellent digital tool for future comic book projects. I'm very happy with this investment. The piece above is a recent experiment created from scratch using Manga Studio, a Wacaom Intuos 3, and a 6D Artpen.

More on "Traluka"

2010-03-04T06:44:00.000-08:00

This piece has taken an interesting turn. The hair, for one, is much fuller and life-like. And, I think the added vines might be a fun challenge, although, the greenness and thickness of them isn't quite working yet. I'm just now noticing that the piece has hints of Laura K. Cannon's "Mhiet'e", which is one of my favorites. More to come…

"Triage"

2010-02-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

In anticipation of possibly attending this year's Illustration Master Class in Amherst, Massachusetts, I've started an oil painting inspired sci-fi self-portrait. The concept started out as a simple painting of an aging starship captain, but it has thus far evolved into more of an undersea crisis.

This exercise is forcing me to come to terms with the myriad reasons why I tend to avoid using photographic reference. My long-term goal is to incorporate more photo ref into my work, and to do so with confidence.

[Work in Progress thread at Epilogue.net ]

"Dranal" nears completion

2010-02-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

I think I started "Dranal" around mid-year in 2009, and set it aside. And while I don't remember what specifically inspired the piece, it's interesting to note the popularity of Old Testament-inspired "angels vs. demons" themed works currently on the market, and continued influence of "goth" subculture on fantasy art, games, literature, film, and fashion. The digital paintings of New Zealand artist Rochelle Green are still among of my personal favorites of the genre. Her art resonates with an elegant blend of horror, eroticism and tragic beauty.

So it's fair to say that I have Green, along with several other artists to thank for setting the bar high for this kind of work, which is still very much outside of my confort zone. "Dranal" is a study, and as such, wrought with little imperfections, discoveries and experiments. I am especially enjoying using a looser, more textural technique, and exploring ways of putting more color into shadows in skin tones. I expect to have the finished piece posted in a week or so.

Hat Tossings

2010-02-06T04:42:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like my entries for this year's Spectrum arrived on time via Fed Ex. Surprisingly, I didn't do much painting in 2009. Instead, I worked on fewer pieces over an extended period of time.

I've also started a thread over at CGSociety for their B-Movie challenge. There, I'm developing a movie poster about a monster made of movie posters, tentatively named "Pulpo". These challenges are always a good way for me to reflect on my own process, particularly the things I do first, and the things I tend to avoid until I absolutely have to do them. Right now, the need to build a paper model of the creature is knawing at me. I also expect to need to paint an urban street scene, possibly with people running around. Crowds and buildings seem to be a challenge for me at the moment.

I'm also enjoying my weekly "drawing circus" class meetings with Edward Stanton at the Richmond Art Center. I spent the last class cutting silhouettes from pages torn form an old issue of Art Forum magazine while the model, Lala, posed and danced. The forms I ended up with were for the most part figurative, some grotesque and distorted. Many would make great creature designs. "Drawing" with a sharp pair of scissors is a lot of fun and seems to come naturally.

Traluka: Work in Progress

2010-01-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a piece that has been painted completely from scratch with some occasional rummaging about my many pose and reference files to get a sense of how things probably should be. Naturally, things never turn out accurately when working this way, so I see it as more of a study, or a way to challenge myself.

I still hold my Moon Hammer painting up as my best attempt at painting drapery without reference, but the billowing folds of her skirt still have many pockets of questionable physics. There seems to be a rhythm to it all, and as long as I think carefully about what's going on, good things tend to happen.
At this stage, I'm tempted to incoroprate a few tekky, hex-like forms like the ones that appear in fantasy game art. She's turning out to be something like a cybernetic vampire (did you notice the glowing bite marks on he neck?). The weapon thing is turning into an opportunity to practice painting hardware out of my head. I still have fond memories of the utility belts featured on various characters in the first Star Wars films. Strange facsimiles of some of those props would even end up molded into the bodies of the action figures based on characters from the film. All I had at the time was my imagination, or fuzzy memories of what happened in the films, to determine what was what. So much of it was vague, but nice to look at. Perhaps that's an important key to designing good science fiction illustration.
I also plan to launch into another Afroid crossover piece currently shown in the header of my blog. It's based on a photograph of Shari Joy (RoseOnyxis) posted at DA in 2009. Artists like Donato Giancola and Roberto Ferri have inspired me to go for a more glowing, oil-like look in at least one piece. This will mean breaking away from my deep resistance to relying too much on reference, which might be considered a hinderence of sorts, considering how it often disrupts the process of painting. My version of Bourguereau's Nymphs and Satyrs is a good example of how having to repaint a foot or an arm or a face repeatedly often leads to a lack of cohesion. The final version has lots satisfying parts, but had I worked more on the original composition it might have turned out better. Looking back, I know I was torn between doing a direct translation and making it my own by including several deliberate adjustments to the figures. Nonetheless, it was a great learning process.

2009-12-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

With a few days of vacation time ahead, I've decided to at least test out the idea of a publishing a compilation of my digital sci-fi and fantasy art. I'm still not sure if it will be a portfolio book, or a journal, or a how-to book. Writing and designing it from scratch will be a challenge. Book design is not one of my strengths, and I can already see myself adhering to a conservative and fool-proof approach to layout.

It's fair to say that I've had this project in mind since childhood. I always imagined being asked to do a retrospective after many years of success as an illustrator. So in a way, I'm definitely putting the cart before the horse, and gambling on hunch that says that people around the world have been waiting this since my first posts at Elfwood so many years ago.

Six years of creating, not for a popular game or film, but for myself and others who enjoy viewing and commenting on my work online. The Musewo, Mega Slaves, the Axen, the Grothgith, little Elega and the White Woodsman, Boggermen, Clitoriths, so many ideas and stories, all of which have been received with enthusiasm an support. Although I cannot include all of them in a volume of digital works, I should mention them in the introduction. I've also saved a lot of high to medium in-progress shots for some of my favorite pieces.

The possible sections will be as follows:

A discussion on making the transition from traditional to digital
A section on at least three successful digital repaints
Commentary on my approach to pin-up art and depicting women in fantasy art
Versions of eurayo.com
A section on staying inspired and what I like to call the "California School"

I'm shooting for 150 pages of typing, which means about twenty pages a night over the next week or so.

Hung Up

2009-10-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

The good news is that they've opened the AIGA SF Fall Gala skateboard deck auction to member submissions for a "People's Choice" competition. But, I have less than a week to come up with something.

The Gala is called "Hung Up" so the idea of a little white penis I immediately came to mind. As a complete outsider to skateboarding, I've always seen it as an angry world of arrested development, withered masculinity and self-deprecation. I still remember when skateboarding suddenly made a comeback back in the early 80s. At the time it seemed to be the exclusive domain of wealthy white kids from the hills who had enough access and funds to indulge in books and videos on skating, along with and the boards themselves. I remember the ugly, grating sound of the wheels rolling on concrete, and boards being slammed and scraped and hurled against anything public, and the marks, and the decals, and tagging, and open wounds. And, I remember not understanding it at all. Skateboarding came across as weirdly self-centered, even antisocial at times. A lot of those kids are adults now. Some still skate. Some are phenomenal artists and designers. And I can't complain too much about an outlet that promotes outdoor physical activity. I've seen more than a few parks with play structures gutted in favor of gardens and benches.

So, I've decided to do submit a design, and to avoid any snarky digs at skateboarders or the subculture. I also won't be including any social commentaries on society, politics, class or identity. I've decided to draw or paint something rich and inspired and beautiful.

2009-09-30T13:46:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, I will not be at this year's Artist's Colony at Silicon in San José. I had a great time at last year's Silicon, but I got the impression that my art wasn't quite a fit for the majority of the attendees. So, I'm going to have to diversify my portfolio a bit, and include more traditional themes and images in addition to my my MetaQueen series.

MetaQueens Return to Air Lounge, Oakland

2009-09-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

The world of the mighty MetaQueens return to Air Lounge in Oakland for Bacchanal De Afrique on Sunday, Septermber 20, 2009. I will be there as a vendor with several prints from my MetaQueens series.

BACCHANAL de Afrique!!
September 20th, 2009
Air Lounge 492 9th st. in Oakland
5pm-9pm

APE 09 & TAOLB 2010

2009-09-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

I just received the application for next year's The Art of Living Black, a huge art show held annually at the Richmond Art Center in Richmond, California. With the overwhelmingly positive responses to my work in Sunday's show, I think it would be a good idea to participate in the next TAOLB.

On the other hand, I'm still on the fence about the Alternative Press Expo. I haven't heard from the folks at Ka-Blam and I'm worried that I won't have books before mid-September. APE would be a great place to promote Afroid and Guila, but I need books in hand, or at least to know that they're on the way. APE happens October 17-18.

2009-09-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, August 30, I was a participating artist in the first Art, Brunch, Culture event at Air Lounge in Oakland, California. This was my first ever showing of gicleé prints from my warrior women collection. The image area on the prints ranged from about 11" x 17" to 7" x 10", and each one was presented in a simple, white acid-free mat in poly sleeves. The larger prints were mounted on 18" x 24" mats, and the smaller ones 16" x 20".

I really enjoyed the conversations we had about science fiction and fantasy art, and the pieces in general. I'm including in this post a second version of the Soldier Queen concept. It's still a work in progress, though I've posted a version at Elfwood. I just want to get the face and overall anatomy to work better.

Post-Joe

2009-08-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

After enjoying about 90% Transformers 2, I decided not to allow myself to get pulled into the fanboy ruckus regarding G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. I saw the first handful of teaser shots of the actors in costume at Comic Con International last year in San Diego. Honestly, I was very skeptical about where they might be taking the film. I saw the film on a Friday morning at Hilltop Mall in Richmond. The crowd was mixed and a little low-energy, which was the complete opposite from the Transformers 2 audience I sat with weeks before. The following is an edited version of a post from my DA journal on the topic of the G.I. Joe I knew and loved back in the 80s:

G.I. Joe was always weird. But it was also original and forward thinking in the design of its characters and vehicles. I'm still not sure if it was a team at Hasbro or writer Larry Hama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Hama) at Marvel Comics who had the biggest influence on the toys, but the comic book earned a huge and well-deserved following. The G.I. Joe I knew was born during the post-Vietnam/Ronald Reagan era, so it was a bold move to promote a "real American hero" through a toy line comic book to the children of parents who came of age during the 60s. Films like "Platoon" and "Full Metal Jacket" tended to emphasize the horrors of the war in Vietnam. And no one dared wear an American flag at the Berkeley public schools I attended. Expressions of patriotism were a big no-no. The 80s were also a time of new technology, particularly in the area of military hardware. A fierce arms race with the U.S.S.R. produced an number of mechanical superstars, including the F-14 Tomcat, the Harrier, M1 Abrams, A-10 Warthog, AH-1 Super Cobra, Apache Longbow, and several others. Hasbro always seemed to have one foot in the present, and one firmly planted in the future. When they reintroduced G.I.Joe, they started with the basics: artillery, ground vehicles, jets, and helicopters. But it wasn't long before wild mix of machines hit the shelves. We were treated to a hovercraft, hydrofoils, space shuttle, leaping mechs, flying bubbles, cyborgs and ATVs. The Battle Force 2000 line even featured eight vehicles that combined into a single base. It would seem that Cobra and the Joes were locked in an arms race of their own.

My first Joe toys were a Cobra H.I.S.S tank and Snake Eyes. The attention to detail was what really got me hooked. Prior to that, I had come across issue 17 of the comic book which opens with Hawk with an oozing gunshot wound to the chest and Cobra Commander speeding off in a H.I.S.S. tank. That Christmas my collection grew to include the MOBAT, MMS, a F.A.N.G. gyrocopter, and several figures. A few of the figures didn't have the swivel-arm battle grip yet, a feature that added a swivel joint to the upper arm and allowed the figures to hold rifles and other weapons with two hands. I would sometimes resort to gently biting down on the hands to improve the grip on certain weapons. But as with all plastic toys, there was limit to the amount of abuse their little bodies and the black rubber band that held them together could handle. The same went with everything else. In fact, a lot of really important parts would snap off, like the rotor on the Dragonfly helicopter, or gear-toothed fin on the H.A.L. that held the laser in position. (By the way, http://www.yojoe.com has by far the best online archive of Joe toys from the 80s, a well as documentation of parts that were easily broken or lost.) Another thing that really gave the toys a sense of realism was the set of blueprints and character file cards that came with every toy. It was always cool to know what something was, even if it was just molded into the body of the vehicle. I had been into building military models since the 3rd grade, so my fascination with seeing big machines in miniature developed at an early age. Around the same time, I discovered robot models from Japan, which also included stats and detailed isometrics, cutaways, and perspective drawings of the mechs and other vehicles. The illustrations on both the model kits and the Joe toys were another feature that gave the products an unforgettable "gotta have it" vibe.

G.I. Joe was also a deeply character driven story told through the file cards printed on the figure and vehicle packages, and the comic book. Everyone had a story. I think this is one of the under-appreciated aspects of the G.I. Joe story. They made a genuine effort to depict the Joes as a diverse team that included men and women from many different walks of life. They ranged from graduates from West Point to quirky misfits, but the common thread was expertise. They were each the best at what they did, and often excelled in areas that would seem ironic or out of character. My favorite example was Tripwire, the nervous, clumsy mine detector who only calms down when dealing with explosives. My guess is that the creators wanted to depict soldiers as human, but also awesome. Many were arms and martial arts experts. (My own martial arts studies started the same year I became a fan of G.I. Joe.)

Cobra, on the other hand, being a homegrown terrorist organization, relied on a few tired villain archetypes of the "Boris and Natasha" variety. But interestingly enough, Cobra's secret base of operations at one time was a quiet town called Springfield. Looking back, I wonder if Hama's message may have been that these model, suburban communities were being too good to be true, and that seclusion and homogeneity was on some level "un-American"?

One of the earliest forays into weirdness in the comic book involved Dr. Venom and his mind-altering S.N.A.K.E armor. Both Snake Eyes and the Inuit mercenary Kwinn were used in the armored suits against the Joes in a major battle. Zartan was another strange, shape-shifting character who might have been more at home in an X-Men comic. Tomax and Xamot had a psychic link that enabled one to feel the other's pain (like Cheech and Chong's Corsican Brothers). Characters like the genetically engineered Serpentor, and Globulus from the Cobra-La story from the G.I. Joe movie, really took things into the realm of science-fiction and fantasy. Similarly, Destro's origin story described in the television show features a monstrous creature living at the bottom of an ominous well.

Many of the original action figures, including Snake Eyes, Hawk, Stalker, Grunt, Short Fuse and Breaker shared a basic uniform with subtle variations, different weapons and equipment. Zap and Grand Slam also shared similar padded uniform designs. The uniforms clearly were not from a specific branch of service, but still had an authentic battle fatigue look and feel. Greens, tans, browns, blacks, and jungle camo were the norm. Scarlet was a noteworthy exception. She wore a grey body suit with tan boots, gloves and something that resembled a custom one-piece tan swimsuit. Girl Joes held their own in terms of design and popularity. Cover Girl operated the Wolverine missle tank. The Baroness sported an all black, gorgeously reptilian uniform and a really big rifle. Lady Jay sported an open collar jumpsuit, sporty cloth cap, and a wicked-looking javelin contraption. Future Joes would also deviate considerably from the basic grunt design in favor of expressing the individuality and expertise of character. Similarly, the movie designs have a uniformity, but it will be interesting to see how the Joe designs evolve in future films. The new look blends a slick, high tech armored look with a general purpose MARPAT fatique. The team looks like it belongs in this era, or at least the near future. The Delta-6 accelerator suit is the sort of thing that has been mentioned in technology news as the future of infantry warfare. So featuring it something like that is consistent with the tradition of the G.I. Joe being a few steps ahead.

Cobra was little more than a mindless, faceless horde led by a few key, twisted characters at the helm. They were also the embodiment of evil: totalitarianism, militarism, war profiteering, world domination, biological and chemical warfare, and anything a mad scientist could imagine. Recently, Dreamwave's Transformers/G.I.Joe depicted Cobra as something comparable to the 3rd Reich. And it's an easy comparison to make. The helmet on the basic Cobra trooper looked a lot like that of a WWII German soldier. They also carried Warsaw Pact weapons, such as the Dragunov sniper rifle and the AK-47. Cobra's minions mostly wore masks, which might have been a way to tap into our cultural aversion to losing our individuality, or possibly even our fears of masked terrorists from in news reports from the Middle East at the time.

The cartoon on the other hand was never great, but being a true fan, I tolerated hokey dialog and choppy animation. The thrill of seeing the characters and toys on television was enough to keep me watching. The recent anime-styled G.I. Joe: Resolute raised the bar a bit and showed how good an animated Joe story could be, at least for fans. It will be interesting to see how fans respond to the film and the new toys.

2009-04-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

I just finished another elf painting today, or at least I think it's finished. The background is so complex that I could probably work on it another week and still not be satisfied. My new coloring technique was even more successful on this one, so I plan to stick with this new process for future pieces. I have a bit more to do on Nymphs and Satyr, and I also have another reinterpreted old master painting to finish up.

Time to Paint

2009-04-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to a few days of relaxing and painting. I've mentioned elsewhere that the recent piece "Black Seed" is a nice return to the kind of fairy art I started with at Elfwood several years ago. I also finished "Kaitlin's Run" in which I applied an alternative coloring technique over a monochromatic underpainting.

Tonight I will treat myself to a few hours of figure drawing. Derwent's line of conte-like drawing pencils work well on my recycled kraft paper sketchbook, especially the longer drawings.

2009-03-23T12:56:00.001-07:00

I've been sneaking in a little time to paint. I completed a full-color portrait inspired by an Elftowner's photo. The results were for the most part satisfactory, but my habit of extrapolating from reference, rather than following it accurately led to some distortions and flaws in the piece. So I've set it aside, possibly for good. But several days ago I was inspired to attempt another portrait, only this time one based working more closely with the reference. My only copy of Show Magazne has more than it's share of goregeous models to practice from. I found one in a typical pin-up mag pose, looking over her shoulder with long hair and stunning blue eyes. Some slight adjustments to her features could give her a slight Asian-Pacific Islander look, or at least make her look a bit less like the original model. I used a grayish-green base color for the underpainting, and I've been experimenting with different overlays of color. An older version featured the wreckage of a Foss-ish starship, but now, with the simplified sky, and flight jacket, she still reads as a space girl. Some simple details in the background might add to the narrative.

I got yet another rejection e-mail from the folks at Ballistic, this time for Exposé 7. But the idea of them having to wade through over 6,000 entries from around the world makes me appreciate just having been considered. It also tells me to keep pressing forward and improving in areas like narrative, anatomy, and composition.

2009-02-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

Once again, I've connected with Nate Miller at Dominion Press Comics for another series of digitally colored character sheets. It appears to be family-friendly cyborg concept, and the colors are right in line with my rediscovered fascination with popular Japanese mech designs.

I also may have some good news regarding another piece being featured in a digital art book. An invitation to submit to the book arrived this morning, and a specific piece was requested! It's just the first stage in the process, but it's exciting to have gotten the invite!

S.O.U.L.

2008-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

I'm at it again with yet another digital color project from Nate Miller's up and coming Dominion Press Comics. This piece is a pin-up featuring the main characters from the S.O.U.L. title: Showtime (back) Hakeem (lower right), Honey, (lower left) and Hood (right). Sanford Green crafted the original line art. I love the crisp sponteneity in his work. The vingetting of the overall compostion actually made laying in the base colors easier than usual. I'm shooting for a vibrant anime inspired palette with a painterly feel and also experimenting with a bit of rim lighting.

I'm working in Photoshop CS2 with a single color layer for the line art, plus two adjustment layers with the back ground gradients. I'm also considering adding in a NASA shot of the mood to add just a twinge of realism to the scene.

Onward!

2008-05-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

It's strange how quickly I'm reconnecting with people from school whom I haven't seen in a long time via Facebook.

I sent a box of Christopher Elbow chocolates to a friend who just moved from California to New York. They arrived in a special insulated box. She had to wait a few extra days to get them because FedEx woudln't leave them at her door. The company made arrangements with FedEx to send them to her job, but they ended up at her door anyway and could have gotten stolen. But everything worked out.

I'm working on a redo of the Ash piece that won me my Photoshop Users Award. Kev Ferrara and KingShaj from ConceptArt.org gave me some good pointers and pushed me to try a stronger, more expressive pose. The new version evolved into a kind of firefighter who has just survived being overtaken by a wildfire. I'm calling her a "quickliner" based on the idea of her being able to dig a trench with the speed of a crew of ten or more, using her special shovel.

I would like to spend a couple of days just drawing, inking and coloring anime-style characters for practice. I've accumulated a lot of sketches that would look good finished. I also need to update my website.

2008-04-07T02:08:00.000-07:00

After receiving a link from the Illustration.net group to James Gurney's blog, I realized that I should probably be spending considerably more time maintaining my own. A lot has happened this year. And I expect that a lot is bound to happen before the year is out. It's late, so I will have to make this entry short, but tomorrow I hope to expand on some of the more exciting news and events of 2008 in the Land of Eurayo.

How NOT to draw Comics the Marvel Way

2006-11-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

I remember wanting a copy of "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," as a kid. It was actually first published when I was five years old, and I must have been around nine or ten when I decided that it would be the end all be all of art instuction books. Owning a copy was kind of a rite of passage. It meant that I was ready to take my work to the next level, or so I thought. But in reality, so many of the principles illustrated in the book were well outside of my skill set. I understood what was going on, but I never had the discipline to copy and master things like anatomy and drawing in general. That would have taken a lot of work and I just wanted to get things done as fast as I could an move on to the next thing.

I do remember discovering inking with a brush, and how that added an invaluable layer of understanding when it came to the language of line. Learning to use a brush also taught me that you get what you pay for when it comes to art supplies. I'd watch my synthetic brushes go from a pefect, springy point, to something analogous to the tip of a cotton swab in a couple of months. Sometimes I'd splurge on a sable liner that would develop a part in the hairs that eventually made inking with anything other than a double line impossible.

But I truly wanted to draw and ink the Marvel way. There was an undeniable level of craft in the way the translated the penciller's marks into something solid and reproducable. To this day I remain a huge fan of the work of John Byrne and Steve Epting. Even Larry Stroman, with his sense of design and layout in Alien Legion was an inspiration. It wasn't long before I couldn't imagine inking comic book art without a brush, or even a dipping pen. Markers just don't have the soul of a good brush loaded up with just enough ink to keep from leaving a blob or a fugitive mark. Granted, any permanent pen can be used to simulate the push and pull of bristles in motion, but to me that's faking it.

Before Marvel's tome in paperback I owned Peston Blair's Animation, an oversized book loaded with examples of how to draw a good range of cartoony character. It was huge, and only cost $2.50. But it was full of things I found almost impossible to draw without tracing, which was a no-no. For some reason, copying and tracing were also a kind of cheating, so I avoided both at all costs.

From the eight grade through high school I worked on my own series called The Convoy Battles which was an amalgamation of ideas I'd "borrowed" from countless movies and television shows, and even things I saw in toy stores that looked cool. It was a bit of Battlestar Galactica, some X-men, Battle of the Planets, and Robotech. When I look at the artwork, every phase reminds me of what I was into at the time. My exposure to Japanese mecha marked an important turning point in my own weapon and vehicle designs. Transformabiltiy and variation were two important aspects of Japanese creations that I had to work into my Convoy story.

One vehicle inparticular I developed into a transformable, multi-mode single pilot fighter with around five types. It was the result of me trying to draw a P-38 Lightning from memory. That plane was one of my favorites from the giant A book from our World Book Encyclopedia. The section on airplanes was really nicely illustrated and I loved that plane. I got the design wrong, and ended up with something that I later named the Double Dodger. It had two engines that looked like miniature versions of the shuttle's booster rockets that were joined by a single plane with the cockpit located in the center. I fit two stabilizing fins at the back of the engines and one more behind the cockpit with a laser for use by a tailgunner. I was also into building plastic models and the WWII kits I tried to build gave me a lot of ideas. The engines had cones at the front that were tipped with lasers as well. I also put one more laser in front of the cockpit. You can never have too many lasers.

The Double Dodger had another feature that would make it legendary, in my mind at least. When it fired it's forward laser array, a defensive energy field emerged perpendicular to the blast, making the ship invincible when it was attacking. I was still around 8 and not too adept at drawing things in three dimensions, so I could only visualize this from a top or side view. The Dodger was for adventurers and heroes. For some reason I chose a brown crayon to color the first ones. Brown became the only color for future versions. One was the Backstabber that had a pair of collars behind the nose cones that housed the Convoy's technar missles, and an even more powerful pair of reciprocating laser cannons. There was also The Rebounder, that featured a reversable propulsion/armament system. It was designed for pursuit and attack in tight corridors and canyons.

The Convoy Battles was about a long war between humans and an alliance of aliens: D.A.R.T (The Dominion's Armada of Racial Termination) was the flagship adversary, led by Cyzonians, a humanoid race with honey-brown skin and vertical irises. They were a bit like the Dominion that would appear years later on Star Trek Deep Space 9. B.I.R.D.S, Lithians, Sylfans, Comet Nebulans, and several other races were part of DART, and forced the humans to step up their game in terms of weapon design if they wanted to survive.

Seeing my ideas appear in films was never upsetting. On some level they made me a bit proud of the fact that if I did have a job in Hollywood or Marin, I'd be right up there with the big guys. The Double Dodger was a dead ringer for the droid fighter that appeared in Episode 1. An episode of Babylon 5 featured a vehicle with four prongs that was almost identical to the Spectacular Stinger, right down to the weapon system. I remembe trying to use my rudimentary understanding of electricity and magnitism to figure out a lightning-like engergy weapon that the Stinger would use. It was like a flying, symmetrical claw of four wings with a cockpit in the center. Four beams of engergy would emerge from the tips of the wings ahead of the ship, and then propelled forward by a fifth blast from in front of the cockpit. I'll never forget turning on the television on night and seeing the exact same design used for an alien vessel in Babylon 5. I searched my mind, trying to remember who I'd shown the Stinger to in school, and who might have gotten a dream job at big studio. Who could have stolen my idea???

to be continued...