New Years Gifts

These illustrations are gifts for three of my friends for the holidays: Dave, Anca, and Joji. Each person got to request the theme. The first is "kid Goku", the second is a "breakfast wonderland", and the third is "anything from Laputa". I hope they like them, it was a lot of fun to paint each one and try different things. Cheers~ to the last post of 2008!

Our Tradition

This is based off the Batman episode, "Holiday Knights". Every New Years, the Tavern, two cups of coffee... Batman and Gordon. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years folks. I hope to color this one. Cheers!

Jam: Spidey dad

My second sketch wednesday with DA pals. Sorry, I didn't have an action pose this time, just a father and his daughter! Where is MJ? She had to go do something, so Peter's gotta take care of things at home for a moment... oh, and he just got back from stopping a bank robbery. Yep!

and by the way... just in case I don't get to say it in time:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years everyone!

bonus mix

my friend had this cool brush pen he found on the streets of japan... all he had to do was clean and refill it. I tried it out with my "Moth" characters. There are some digital fixes here, since I didn't have my reference sketches with me when I first drew them and I want to make this more like how I intended.

I like Vaitea there... I surprised myself in how I didn't fill her hair all black but instead just drew those lines.



Dec 11th, 2008 - Villainy Mix: PEYTONHARLEY


Bonus mix~ always wanted to draw this one so finally got to do it.

Usually one arm props the dummy up while the other is controlling it from inside, but for this picture I liked the balance both arms crossing created. JOKERFACE must be in "idle" mode... for now...

I really feel there are a lot of connections to make in this mix.

Hope you guys like it!

Jam: Scarlet Spidey

This was done for a sketch wednesday jam over on deviantart, run by angel-t. This month the theme is spiderman. It is my first time included into that and it was fun. I mixed things up by drawing Ben Reilly for my submission. Hope you like it! Once again, practicing my inking.

collaboration: cliff and joseph

This was a blast to make, especially since it's a collaboration with my friend Dio (Daniel Irizzari Oquendo)!

Cliff (left) is my character, and Joseph (right) is Dio's. I sketched up Cliff and the basic layout, then Dio drew his character complete with inks and shadows, and finally I added my own inking to Cliff and colored the piece.

I think the combination is a success! Look how cool they look! As to where they are and what they're waiting for... I'm not too certain except that they must be on a secret mission.

Dio- cheers to our first collab!

Cliff and cat

Took a sketch I liked and practiced doing some digital ink work with it. It's a start. I'm pretty happy with it, and it reminds me that one day I will actually publish this comic... and a surreal feeling falls over me. I hope you guys like it.

What is this story anyways? One day you'll see.

Below is the original sketch.

Thanksgivin'

While it was crunch time last week at work I managed to do some fun coloring of some older sketches I had from September. The idea in the third picture was to make Nightcrawler look older with grey hair and a beard. Hope it works!


Oct 29th, 2008 - and let's go back in time even further with more sketches.






Though it's not time yet, back on DA I wanted to thank people for their awesome support. I couldn't thank everyone so I went the way of first come first serve for five free sketches. They could request any superhero, and I'd try my hand at it. It's also a good transition into eventually doing some commissions!

Here's the description for that creepy Batman one:

"Now this isn't to be unfair or anything, but I just had to ink this one. She asked me to draw the 1966's tv show Batman. I did a few sketches of his normal Adam West body shape with some goofy poses and expressions, but in the end I just wanted to draw a buff Batman with the 1966 look... and smiling... plus some love handles!

The Batman symbol was totally small and in the middle like that on the show, that's not a mistake- but the hands I drew are horrendous. As for the not shaded cape, it's a compositional thing... I like the balance the picture has with just a few black areas.

p.s.-The black was colored with washable crayola marker..."

It was really fun drawing these, and the recipients liked them!

VILLAINY MIX

This is an idea I came up with in August, which takes two Batman villains story and design and combines them into one single character. It was a lot of fun to create and got a great response from artists on Deviant Art... that really made me happy! Maybe one day I can officially create a story like this... working in DC... and Marvel... and my own comics... and become a big hit! uhm, in my dreams so far- haha!









Here are the names of each villain:
POISONCAT
TWOCLAY
MADCROW
BANECROCODILE
FREEZEPENGUIN
JOKERNIGMA

If you're interested in the little bios or comments I wrote for them, please go to my deviant art gallery!
DA Gallery

You know... in keeping a blog, it feels a little redundant posting on DA and on here, but I'll still try posting some sketch work here in the future... development stuff like I did with thesis. I want to continue doing that with Moth, but I'll need to continue working on Moth in the first place... it's been on hold with all the latest artwork I've been doing that's just so much fun and none of the stress. Moth is fun, but man, doing a single page is so daunting and draining, haven't gotten able to work on it in a flow yet. At work, it's crunch time... but just a little longer- I can make it though!!! Then, maybe I'll have time to focus on Moth. :)

-and to anyone who actually reads this thing, thanks for the support on the last entry on the Nicktoons voting!

Fun fun

Kiga is ready to save something important in the distant space. I had a lot of fun creating this one!

In other news- I think I can finally announce my website officially. It has enough content for now. Please check it out! Lemme know what ya think.

My website!

I already put this up on my news page, but I'll also mention it here:

My thesis "Henshin" has been selected as one of the finalists for the 2008 Nicktoons Network Animation Festival!

"Henshin" is scheduled to be showcased on air and online Oct. 18th at 11pm (ET)*(*subject to change). Viewers can go online and vote for that days short, and the short with the most votes will be this years Viewer’s Choice winner! So if you like mine, please vote for me when the time comes! THANKS!

Go here for Nicktoons site

sketches go!

This is a new character of mine, based on an old one I also named "Kiga". This one is themed more with space and the future. He looks just about the right age, later on I ended up drawing him older- but I kinda wish to stay in these proportions.

In his hand is a trusy runegun!


Kiga has a gooey plasma gauntlet that works as a shield most of the time, but right now he's charging it up for an offensive attack. HOMING LASERS! Just kidding, but it's something like that.

By the way, I wanted him to have a sort of silly haircut. It's like an old-school prince.


The blade is ready for action!... and so are his pretty hair beads.

This time I wrapped the jacket around the waist.

There is the plasma arm in creature form, and then when it's wrapping on his arm. Once it's settled, it's shaped in a three finger style- like ninja turtles.


I think that's more of a yo yo... but let's pretend it's an ancient top that you need to pull a cord to get it going fast on the ground. Besides entertainment, he also uses it to fight!


random doodle page to warm up.

I was thinking the dad cut his son's hair like his own hair, but on the other hand...
what if the son had cut his hair like that playing with scissors, and so the dad cut his hair like that too to try and make his son feel better?


left: A sharpshooter! Despite what the line work may suggest, she's wearing jeans and a white shirt, not some vinyl thing.

right: Scary switchblade gran... "Melinda". Moth and Vaitea have to talk to her at one point, it's very unnerving.


some fellows and a gal in the Moth world style. Since I want to make sure even the background people are interesting, there really is no end to who can be included! Well, as long as the focus doesn't detract too much from the main characters of course.

bats

Sept 5th, 2008 - Couldn't sleep without finishing this one. Besides conveying the change I made to his hair style, I wanted to practice more with detailed shading inside a cartoon body. I think I didn't do too well in keeping a consistent style for the body- eh heh heh... but I'm happy with the shading and coloring results.

I hope you like this Robin!... does it work?

p.s.- I did think about the fingerless gloves... but I left them that way in the end. Forgive me, I have no excuse for it!






August 14th, 2008 - been slumped so I sketched- and it looks like someone else is trying his hand at some art too! Just a photo of my current small sketchbook and some art tools... plus a super awesome comic! You should be able to make out which one it is. :)

Alfred looks stunned... what is Bats painting?!

HENSHIN

This is my 2008 3d animation short film, "Henshin", for those of you who never saw it. My school has posted all the best of Computer Art 2008 senior thesis on Youtube. I hope you enjoy it! I just had to post this here as a nice finish to the Henshin related works that started this blog.

In other news, the "Moth" comic is slowly progressing in the rough draft phase. I completed chapter 2 yesterday- onward to chapter 3! Each chapter is about 22-24 pages like a standard single issue. Thanks to Dave, Yann, and Kenny for the positive feedback on it.

moth trio shot

After seeing some kick ass artwork I just had to try my hand at a painterly group shot. I started with Herschel and the rest of the image grew from there, with Vaitea and Moth going on top. This one took 4 hours, and was a lot of fun to create.

sunset time

I just had to get this image down after seeing it one day in the city. I took various artistic liberties, but it reminds me enough of the feeling I had looking at the shadows casting off the Empire State building into peach clouds, the sun setting behind it. I didn't capture the awesomeness of that view in its wholeness- but I tried in the little time this took. I hope you can get a glimpse at what I saw, and felt.

hey there Herschel

1) standing full-body portrait.

I decided to make his lab coat a lab jacket... ??? (just cut off the sleeves and lower half) Does that defeat the purpose of a lab coat? Ah... well...

he is a quirky guy to begin with.

2) This is a concept portrait of Moth's boss, Herschel, the lepidopterist and bar owner. As he is a scientist, I stayed along the tradition of making him older and have some kind of facial hair (let's people get him more easily, with the lab coat especially, and the appearance implies experience), but I wanted to add some fun twist with having bright red hair rather than gray, and a mohawk-ish cut (it droops a bit to one side). I hope its neat!

Herschel is a quiet and kind person with a warm smile (although the mustache hides it a lot). He's kind of weird in that when you talk to him, he'll seem distracted and will tend to look past you at other things even though he is listening and responding clearly. Ironically, when he does meet eyes with people, he will gaze intently... making them feel awkward.

p.s.- he has a small bump on his forehead... just a benign skin imperfection. People tend to look at it. He doesn't care though.

the moth bar

Early in the morning, Cliff wipes off the dust on a mug.

He probably keeps the cleanest down-town bar in the city. It looks kind of classy at this hour, but at night it's just like any other bar with the darkness, the loudness, and the neon and colored lights. Cliff doesn't own the place, but the owner highly prizes him as one of the best bartenders he's got.

The boss is a lepidopterist (biologist specializing in moths and butterflies) which is where the bar name comes from.

spiral bound pad

These are some of the first sketches during the development of Moth and Vaitea. Moth hasn't changed around much although his facial features waver too much for my liking between drawings (not counting different expressions which call for variation). Vaitea was a tough one for me because I really liked the first sketch I ever made of her (not shown here). I tried to replicate that look in later drawings without having a reference but it didn't look right... usually I'm pretty good with remembering my characters' designs but she eluded me. I finally pulled that first sketch out and made a good enough copy of it in my sketch book... the full body drawing of her next to the heads is that sketch. The heads there are me experimenting with different looks.

I want to stay true to the idea that Vaitea doesn't have a stereo-typical comic-book female body... but she is still pretty. I have to try hard to keep her proportions together in every pose... its tough because its so easy to draw the generic and proportional female when sketching quickly. She has larger hips and legs, but they are short not long and thin. She doesn't have a large chest. She has to have just the right head size- otherwise she'll look like a kid. I'm still getting a feel for her eyes and nose, on how large or small to make them.


Hope you guys liked the drawings. I feel pretty good about their designs but their "souls" need to develop!

MOTH

This is Moth, the lead character of some amorphous story I'm slowly creating. His real name is Cliff. He constantly carries around a notepad, a pencil, and a pen. He was a bartender but now he's wrapped up in other things... like adventures and stuff.

I believe it's really important to get a personal project going even though my job may encompass most of my weekday hours. Even though I may get less sleep each night... I think it's that important. I talked to an awesome co-worker today, Mike, who has been in the comic industry for years and has also worked in 2d animation, and other graphic design work. He confirmed today my feelings on this so that's really encouraging... my feelings that I really need to just get my work out on the web, a project- I gotta tell my own story. It's amazing how fast business can move through the net, but first I have to create the art for my business which is a slow process. My dear friend Christine has been a big inspiration on this already, as she has made her way creating her own projects, seeing them through to completion. I am truly in the infant stages of my own first story I'm planning to put entirely online, but I will do it! Here on this blog as well as on my deviantart, I'll gradually build it up. Please wish me the best.


In other news, for those of you who are thinking, "We never saw your thesis- where is it?!"

I have a website now! It's very... very... VERY simple and just starting off but you may view my thesis there in the "story" section. Check it out- lemme know what you think!

REDCHIMPANZEE.com <--my website

I finished putting together a 2d character design portfolio so I'm pretty happy about that, and now on to all the other things I have to do... oh boy. The Earthworm Jim I drew was for one of my instructors who has been super kind and supportive of me. I still think its not much in showing my thanks but I hope he likes it! The other two are just cropped from larger pages with more characters for my portfolio.

I would like to say that Gurihiru is still inspiring and influencing me so much. I don't know where I would be without their great artworks. So, these works were inspired by them as well as others... I have been using blue and red color pencils because of Sasaki, the pencil and ink artist. I know traditional animators have been doing that for a long time, but it's new for me and I love it. Thank you Gurihiru~!

NY Comic Con

OK- so my super late NY comic con report! Time to sound geeky. It was super awesome!!! I enjoyed it a lot and want to go again next year. I definitely got worn out by the second day but everything I did on the first made it more than worth it to me. I got to see a number of artists I admire, for instance I got to meet "Cheeks" in person and even get a Robin head sketch! He is a really friendly guy, it helped me feel less nervous meeting one of my big art-role models, haha.

I also could've gotten an autograph from Jim Lee but I wanted to try getting a sketch and the time I saw him it was autographs only... so I tried for the next day but didn't see him again. :( I even brought my Hush book to sign- ah man!

I bought two artbooks and many cool comic books; some I knew of and others I am new to like "Atomic Robo"! With all the stuff I have to do I haven't gotten to read them yet (for shame!) but I know they will all be great. I want to sit back and enjoy them once all my work is done.

The creators of Avatar were there too! I saw special concept art, preview trailers, and clips of the upcoming episodes, it was crazy... fangirls were screaming there heads off. I now have an Avatar poster on my wall signed by Bryan and Mike!

Next time I would like to have more energy to do more things, like spend more time in the artist alley~ and to get more autographs I missed! I look forward to next year.