Feeling pretty lousy all this month, so made the incredible Hulk here to try and cheer me up. Didn’t work. So I went to the beach instead and got hammered. Didn’t work either, left my sketchbook home and missed on a great opportunity to draw real life. That’s why my art teachers always stressed to carry the damn thing around. Always carry your sketchbook. Always.

Didn’t realize until later that this sketch looked awfully familiar, it reminded me of on of Boris Vallejo’s painting. The one with the muscled guy and the tattoo dragon coming to life and bitting him. This one. ok, on second thought maybe it doesn’t look much like it…..hmmm going over Mr. Vallejo’s site sure gives me some ideas for another painting.

It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. I was finally able to get “The Complete Calvin and Hobbes” collection, this has been my favorite cartoon strip ever. Going over it I was reminiscing on how excited I used to get when we got the sunday paper back home and I would marvel at the simple yet expressive lines of the strip. It was this strip that made me want to draw and get better when I was young. Once the books started coming out I would by them and study Bill Watterson’s watercolor renditions of the characters.
It’s been long since I did anything in ink, let alone watercolors, but decided to emulate this in photoshop and see how well I could do it. I ended up creating about 5 new brushes that mimic ink & pen and watercolor. I think the final result ended up being a bit more overworked than how I would have done it in watercolor. But that’s the thing about going digital it’s always hard to finish something up because you can keep working right over it, and create more than one version.

cool, wish I had checked my internet this morning. I made the front page of the ImagineFX site here’s the picture in case you miss it

ImagineFX Site

Been pretty busy this weekend, that’s what happens when you don’t watch t.v. I’ve been thinking a lot about “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Which by the way is an awesome movie)and the use of fairy tales in the movie. The fact that people in the past used fairy tales to help explain the world around them and how in the movie it helps in illustrate the journey and challenges a girl must make in order to grow up. My favorite part had to been the Pale Man, and what he represented. I think in real life we get to face many just like him that serve to take away pieces of our childhood until were no longer innocent and/or imaginative.

Initially this piece was going to be a lot darker, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted it to have a sorta childlike/bright look to it. In the end I ended up desaturating it and making it a little darker to further enhanced the theme of the piece.

critiques and comments are welcomed

Here’s a little progress of the piece