Dragons!

Today's post is my (late) entry for the Blue Sky Challenge...dragons! Dragons and samurai...two topics I'll never get tired of. Come to think of it, I haven't yet combined the two into one piece. (sigh) Add another one to the ever growing list of ideas in the back of my head. Anywho, here they are!


The first one is more my style, done in marker, to pass the time while I was flying home last Christmas. The second is a collaborative piece I'm doing with my friend Joni Stringfield (check out her blog and site on my links list). I did the drawing now she'll add her characters and paint the piece; can't wait to see the result! (no pressure Joni!)

I do have a few more dragons than this, but I'm not too sure if they're of my highest standard yet, and when it comes to depicting the dragon, I really do want to give a really high level of quality. Yes, another entry to the list of things to draw!

Drawing Can Be Dangerous!!!

So I was coming home from work today on the 1 Train, with my trusty sketchbook to pass the time. Here I was just trying to be a diligent (and covert) artist, and finally it happened.

I was caught, and confronted.

The subject was a skinny, tall guy who caught my attention because of his crazy hat. I just had to get the hat, and I guess he was sharp eyed enough to catch me. The funny thing was the only thing I got from him was his hat and body frame. The clothes and face were from other commuters.
So once he caught me the swearing began. I never knew someone could spew so many threatening words without stopping to breath! He tried to take my book, etc., but in the end, contented himself to continue to hound me verbally. Thankfully, we were only about a minute from my stop when it happened.

Wow, quite a story. But I tell this just to entertain. What I don't want to have happen is my fellow artists stop sketching from life just because of this! Yes, it's a risk, but the rewards worth the risk. Drawing from life is what makes us better artists; like many artists, if I could get away with just drawing from my head, I would. But I know that what I have in my head does not even begin to comprehend what exists in this world. Only by observing the world the way an artist does (ie draw from life) does the artist grow in wisdom and in talent.

If I've still scared you with this story, consider this. We go a drive our cars every day. Why do we drive a car? To get from here to there. What are the risks? Property damage, personal injury, lawsuits, DEATH, etc etc. By comparison, why does an artist sketch? To grow in wisdom and understanding as to the ways of the world through a visual media. What's the risk? A few paranoid individuals get mad. Oh well. Tough on them.

Well, that's my entertaining story of the day!


PS: Yes, I'm thankful I was just caught by the skinny guy with the hat as opposed to the half-ogre I drew on the left page. His coat was just too cool not to get down, but if I was caught...well, let's just say I probably won't be posting anymore. Or drawing. Or painting. Or breathing.

Coward!!!

Ooooh, and you thought you had problems when you got sent to the principal's office!! This piece was an exploration in depicting power and submission. The damiyo I created to be a very large person with superhero type portions. His kabuto (helmet) and horo (cape) makes his presence only greater. I used red (a color of power) for his armor, and blue (a color for peace and submission) for his underling's armor. His face is darkened, but you know it's probably not very pretty! His silhouette cast shadow is the device that makes or breaks this piece. Hope you like it; let me know if you think it works! Also, I hope I kept the final a lot closer to the original thumbnail (for once!!).

By the way, the kuwagata (horns) on the damiyo's helmet is no exaggeration; Japanese armorers had absolutely no concept of restraint. One can only imagine what would happen when this guy walked through a door while wearing this helmet.

Tea or Death

My latest piece based on 'Here There Be Dragons'. It's a lot darker of a scene than I'm used to working with. I hope I've struck a balance between depicting a dark cave and still being instantly readable. Thoughts, anyone?

The composition was inspired by Armand Serrano's Nativity scene. Check it out:
http://armandserrano.blogspot.com/2006/12/o-come-let-us-adore-him.html

Sashimono

My latest painting. I don't think I'll ever get tired of samurai. If you're wondering, 'sashimono' is Japanese for 'banner' as in the banners worn on the back of the ashigaru (foot solider).

Character Design of Sam Jo Siu

No new paintings of mine today, but I do want to direct people's attention to my friend, Samantha Siu's blog, http://samillustration.blogspot.com/. For her January 28, 2007 post, she put up her latest watercolor character design that I believe just has to be seen.



This design for a donkey has to be one of the funniest, simplest yet most effective designs I've seen in a long time. I just couldn't stop chuckling to myself for about 10 minutes straight once I saw it. I think that alone says something about this piece. Sam, I give you credit, this piece is just great! Let's see some more of it huh?

'...a sight such as you have never seen in your lives...'

Another piece from 'Here There Be Dragons'...I feel like I'm Mr. Owen's press agent.

When the Lights Go Down....

A few weeks ago I had a really weird dream, and in it, I was in this city. It seemed to be a mix between San Francisco (where I lived for 4 years) and New York (where I grew up near and am still living now). Next day, I broke out the markers to record what I could remember. Here's the result. Don't ask where the Native American sculpture came from. Only in dreams....

Free the Shadow-Born

Another painting from 'Here There Be Dragons' by James Owen. If you want to know what's going on and what the heck the Shadow-Born are, go read the book.

This one's a first for me, since it was painted completely in Flash. For a web design/animation program, its painting program is remarkable easy and quick to use. I hope to be able to show more soon.

Charge of the 300

Here are two pieces I did based on the book 'Gates of Fire' by Steve Pressfield. It's a historical fiction novel based on the three day stand of 300 Spartans against half a million Persians in 480 BC. Yes, there's also Frank Miller's 300, which is coming out on film in about 2 months. I'm glad I did these before the movie gets released.

I'm sure that most of the public's going to love the movie and Mr. Miller's masterpiece, but I hope some people reading this will decided to try to pick up this novel too. It's a great read in its own right, detailing many more characters besides King Leonidas, including the Spartan Peer Dienekes, Polynikes (lit. 'many victories), a Spartan who lives up to his namesake, Xeones, a Spartan slave and narrator of the book, and many more besides. The novel also gives the reader a better idea of who the Persians are. But enough of that. Stop reading this blog and go to the bookstore and pick it up! Thank me later!!!

I'm Sure We're Safe, R2

My painting for this week's Blue Sky Challenge, Star Wars. Hope you like it!

Life Without a Scanner :-(

Well, I've got some new work, but it's all on paper, and I don't have access to a scanner since I'm still with my family....never knew how dependent I was on technology. Oh well, here's a painting I did a while ago based on 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell.



I'm sure most of you read it if nothing else for high school English class. If not, it's one of those books you'll probably finish in one sitting (it's only about 90 pages). It's probably one of the clearest demonstrations of Communism you'll ever find.

As soon as I get back to San Francisco (and my scanner-it's pretty sad that I miss a machine...most other guys would miss the city life, a pretty girl, etc., but I miss my HP 3-in-1 printer/scanner/fax....yep, sad), I'll put up everything I can. I'm developing quite the laundry list of stuff I want to post, and soon!

Home for the Holidays

Ah, New York during the holidays....it's a mob!!! Is it just me, or does NYC become more crowded during the holidays every year? It's not even New Year's Eve yet!!

Anyway, not much to babble about right now. I'm just home, getting some rest and family time in. I'll be going into the City tommorrow, and I'll bring my sketchbook, but my mom's coming with me, and God forbid she get bored because I have to sit in one place to sketch. I guess it'll have to be quick studies day.

My buddy Rob told me about the Blue Sky Challenge Blog. I gave it a look over, and decided to do their ninja challenge. It's me after all. Anyway, here it is.

It's probably a bit more violent than Blue Sky would intend. I decided that I didn't want to actually draw the ninja, but draw its presence. Ninja (or shinobi) were masters of stealth, espionage, and assassination. If you actually saw the ninja, that ninja probably needs to find another line of work. It's all about killing the target before they even realize they're being hunted.

With that in mind, I created the scene to make the viewer believe that they're are right there, watching one of their men get cut down by shuriken. Pretty scary stuff, watching men fall, and you have no idea where it's coming from. Hope you like it!

First Day off in....Forever!

Well, just finished my final final final FINAL class at the Academy yesterday. I graduated from the Academy a while ago, but came back to take this one particular class. It was definitely worth it, but I never realized how sick I was of academia!!

So today I was invited to come along with a friend to visit the Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio. For those who aren't aware, it's Industrial Light and Magic's home in San Francisco. What a place! It's truly inspiring to see the inside of a real entertainment studio. Tons of original old movie posters that were part of George Lucas's collection adorned the walls, props, vintage camera gear from the original production of movies such as Star Wars (of course), Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters, etc. In fact, here's a pic of me with a familiar face.


Yes, I know how geeky! And just to ram the point home, here's my latest painting!



Those who know me will tell you that if I don't do a drawing or a painting of a dragon at least once a week, I'll probably fall over, turn blue, and go into a coma. Anyway, I was aiming with this painting to really get across to the viewer that the dragon was really trapped the army under it, so I made sure that the wings appear to surround them on both sides while the dragon rips them up with its fire breath.

This was from the book 'Here There Be Dragons' by James Owen. It's a fun read, and I really recommend it to you if you're into Harry Potter or Eregon. It's supposed to be a movie in a couple of years, so I'll probably continue to do work based on it and it'll be interesting to compare what I've envisioned and what the movie will be.

Finally just for the fun of it, I thought I'd post this little ditty I'm doing for my sensei.


The sensei wants his own personal mon (Japanese crest), one of a rampart grizzly bear. Yes, I know grizzly bears don't live in Japan, but in the illustration world, the client is God.

Well, I fly home to NY tomorrow for the holidays. It'll be nice to see snow and freeze half to death again as one should in December. Merry Christmas everyone!

Hello Big Wide World

Okay, I finally did it. I started a blog for my work. I've been an artist my whole life, and recently have decided to focus my efforts on drawing for cinema. I've decided this after taking a course on the subject at my alma mater, the Academy of Art University. The class, called drawing for film, was taught by art director Anthony Christov of Pixar. I found that the thinking involved in filmmaking was such an interesting challenge. It's all about making things readable on the screen and giving your drawings depth beyond just another pretty picture.

So anyway, here's my first painting to be posted.


This was inspired by a Usagi Yojimbo comic (written by Stan Sakai, comic artist extraordinare). It was I believe issue 35, were Usagi recounts how his Lord Mifune seemly came back as a ghost to save Usagi from a demon. The image of the spirit of Lord Mifune, still pierced by arrows, yet still a powerful figure stuck in my mind. I really wanted to do something with it, and this painting is a result. I usually don't work in color, but today I decided I wanted to after I saw some of late Japanese film director's Akira Kurosawa paintings for the film Kagemusha (yes, I'm interested in the saumrai culture okay?).
I usually do a lot of thumbs before commiting to one, but I did only one for this (which would probably be considered a mortal sin for some). I felt I got it right the first time, and with classes, working, moving, the holidays, I've been under considerable time constraints. But anyway, here's the thumb.



The only real change I made was to make the pile of bodies bigger to emphasize that this is a killing ground. Other than that, I tried to stay true to the thumb. I hate to say it, but I feel some parts of the thumb are more successful than the final. For example, the thumb has a better sense of atmosphere and depth than the final. Grrrrr.....I hate it when that happens!