It's February

I haven't given up blogging, though from my lack of activity you may have assumed so. I've been pretty busy with freelance design work and other things. Lots of planning and behind the scenes sketching going on though. I'll try to be better at bringing the posts.


So here's some stuff that's happening:

I'll be in a group show on May 1st at Gallery 1988 SF. The theme... a secret, but happens to be well-suited to my tastes.

In June I'll be in a two-man show at Lunar Boy Gallery in Astoria with the amazing Matthew Porter.

October will be my solo show at Bluebottle Art Gallery here in Seattle.

Vacationing in Thailand with the missus very soon. Can't wait to shed my winter clothing for some fun in the sun (and 90 degree weather).

Upon my return, I'll jump into production on Welcome to Monstroville, where I'll be doing some digital backgrounds with a slew of mighty talented folks.


Also, Chinese New Year has come and gone. Lots of quality family time spent with the in-laws and delicious food digested. Hope those of you who celebrate it had a good one!

Doodles

Mo' Doodles

I haven't posted any doodles in awhile and they're starting to pile up in my little sketchbook.
















If you made it all the way to the bottom, well done!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know it's a cheesy holiday, but I made this little card for my lady.

Blog Anniversary

It's officially been a year since I started this wee blog on blogger. Over the course of 42 posts, we've shared laughter and tears. All 5 of us. I don't have a painting for you today, because I've been gathering strength for this new year (aka: part busy part lazy). Rest assured, I will have a new one shortly. Instead, here are a couple of doodles from the trusty little sketchbook.

A couple trees I saw while driving. As I drew them, I thought Eyvind Earles's style was perfectly suited to portray their shape. I hadn't looked at his stuff in a long while, but man, it sticks with you. Well, me at least.

This is a strange fellow from my morning bus commute one day. He was truly odd looking, and I made him look stranger (though not much!). I couldn't draw him during the bus ride, because he would've seen me, so I just memorized his face and then drew him later.

It's gonna be an exciting year. Got some things in the pipeline and will share them in due time. Happy New Year all!

Back from Vacation Doodles

Just got back from a 2 week vacation in Hong Kong and Japan. It was a great trip and we got to spend time with some friends and take in the sights. We did a ton of walking and took a ton of pictures (2 gigs worth). I also bought a small load of toys, of course. I had little time to draw, but here are a few morsels.

A snake.

From Hama Rikyu Garden in Tokyo.

This exquisite specimen was seated across from us at dinner at Ichiba Coji in Kyoto. She had the worst posture I've ever seen. She was really thin, but still brought some muffin top, to boot. I'm not exaggerating much in this drawing, btw. She sat texting while her boyfriend read his book the entire dinner, so there was very little in the way of communication. Very strange.

Ryoanji Temple rock garden.

I may post a couple noteworthy photos from the trip soon.

In other sad news, my favorite current cartoon, El Tigre has been cancelled after only 6 months. Full of great action, and comedy and artwork, and with a team of super-talents. Nickelodeon has apparently cancelled the show because it wasn't beating their ratings cow, Spongebob. If they wanted a show that could beat Spongebob's ratings (which El Tigre did early on), they just cancelled the only one that had a real shot at it. It's not surprising the ratings tanked, they kept running the same episode over and over and kept moving the timeslot around without posting it on the site. There were quite a few times I tuned in to see the show only to find F-ing Spongebob in it's place. It seems like they don't know how to HAVE a hit show, because even Spongebob would've been cancelled with that kinda crap treatment. What a pisser. I'm gutted for the people who made the show great, and for the fans.

I think I'll write their programming department.

Quickie doodles

Not a big post today. Just a couple quick doodles.

Saw a tree like this near work. I believe it's a weeping blue atlas cedar. I love how these trees look. So much personality.

I drew this ostrich while my niece watched. After I was finished, I couldn't help but think I've seen something like it before. For the life of me I don't remember where. Maybe my brain playing tricks?

Stay tuned for some more Samurai Jack background screencaps soon. You won't be sorry!

Supes and Shrubs

My buddy Tom had a birthday. He and I are Smallville fans and he likes Superman, so that's what he got. Just a quick doodle.

Supermang

Tom

Unrelated to Tom's birthday I did some more bushes. Three were dabbed on with an old dish towel. The other was done using steps similar to Eyvind Earle's painting steps for Sleeping Beauty, though not as nice, of course.

This post was mainly to buy some time while I work on a bigger personal project... it's still under wraps.

Tree fetish

I guess I have a bit of a tree fetish. I've been taking lots of photos of interesting trees and plants over the last few months. I haven't used the photos yet, but here are some studies of trees from memory.

These are based on a scary tree I saw. Thought it would be fun to add faces. I'm planning to do a painting based on them later.

Marker.

Brush and cel vinyl. Mostly just color studies, but I wasn't happy with these because there's not enough interest in the leaf shapes and patterns. Everything is too even.

Just a tree.

These are all done with paper towel sponging. I overworked and ruined the bushes, but I'm happy with how the trees came out.

Sea sponge. Overworked some areas of these and ruined them.

I'll try some more studies... like sponging with a dish rag and keep practicing until I get the result I'm after.