Crystal

Merp

2010-01-13T11:46:00.000-08:00

Things have been quiet due to A): Spending the holidays with my family back in Tucson, and B): My laptop dying. It's finally back and I'm going to pick it up at the store today--THANKS FOR CALLING ME TO LET IT KNOW IT WAS DONE, GEEK SQUAD (Sarcasm. There was no such call on their part).

Time to jump back into some Chiu-Streams!

Funny Face

2009-11-25T02:02:00.001-08:00

I can think of a million "funny" things, until that's the topic I'm supposed to draw. I didn't want to waste too much time thinking, so my inspiration came from a little stuffed koala perched on my computer desk. I gave him a funny face. We had a little longer to work on this Chiu-Stream entry, and I had fun taking the extra time to play and push things a little further than usual. But for now, eet is bed-time!

Kitty

2009-11-18T15:16:00.001-08:00

Okay, this time it's not my fault that I drew an animal. The topic for today's CHIU-Stream was the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Definitely want to push this one more, but I was pretty happy with the initial drawing.

I'm so ronery...

2009-11-05T22:53:00.001-08:00

Well this was a pleasant surprise.

Thanks to Facebook, I stumbled upon another CHIU-Stream happening this evening and decided to participate. I apparently came in about halfway through the stream, giving me about 30 minutes to execute an image for the theme "loneliness". Aww shucks, that poor little fella. Think we've all been there.

I definitely want to play around more with this image. My goals for next Chiu-Stream should be to A): not use animals and B): not use a blue background.

Fat & Scary

2009-10-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

My entry for this evening's CHIU-Stream. I went into this one going "PanicPanicPANIC" due to a combination of a late log-in and then a comp restart (my tablet decided to go on strike for a bit).

I haven't quite found the painting formula that works for me yet, so I am loving these practice sessions. Some things I definitely need to experiment with are starting grayscale verses color, trying different brushes and settings, layering and what to do with my line art... just gotta look at some more tutorials and play around.

FAT BUNNEH.

Tall & Grumpy

2009-10-08T23:03:00.001-07:00

This was my first drawing for CHIU-Stream, hosted by the amazing Bobby Chiu. One of the newest goals I've set for myself is working on improving speed, so an hour-long assignment like this is great practice.

2009-09-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

This is a character assignment I was given to create the President of a bird-world. More details to come, I just wanted to get him posted right now.

Yeeeaaah!

2009-08-13T00:42:00.000-07:00

For reasons unknown, I was utterly compelled to draw this image after getting out of the shower yesterday. I haven't watched the movie, heard the theme song, or even caught that episode of Family Guy that parodies this scene for quite sometime. Why my brain suddenly produced an image of me riding atop Falcor the Luck Dragon, I simply do not know. Despite having several more pressing projects to work on, this was one of those times where an idea hit and I just had to get it done.

From rough sketch to final painted image, this took me approximately 3 hours. I used an Intuos 4 Wacom tablet and Photoshop.

Please press "Play" on the video below to enhance the above image's viewing experience.

Moleskine drawings

2009-07-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures from the Moleskine sketchbook I attempted to draw in once a day. It was a good run while it lasted. These were all drawn with a basic, Uniball ink pen.

Going Digital

2009-06-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

So instead of a scanner, I splurged on a new Intuos 4 Wacom tablet last month...

The digital medium is something that I'm still very new to, and trying very hard to practice with. We never used these guys in school, so I've been browsing tutorials on various websites and just trying to play around with sketching.

The second newsflash is that I obtained an internship with a Burbank production boutique called Green House Studios. They weren't kidding when they said I would hit the ground running. My first week as an intern I ended up designing new business cards the company needed in time for their grand re-opening party. On top of that, I'm getting to work on character design for a film. Can't wait until I can post some of that stuff.

If I were getting paid at this place, I would be on cloud friggin' nine. I go in early, I stay late, and I work on art and design all day. I also have the pleasure of working with some very talented interns who offer great tips and advice, especially since I'm so new to working digitally.

Above are some practice sketches I worked on last weekend using the Wacom. I used the poor-man's reference of googling chicks in bikinis. I realize that I am becomming too dependent on using references in my work, which is something I'm working to break out of by simply getting back into the habit of practicing the human figure once more.

While in Barnes & Noble this evening, I spent time looking through "The Art of Disney/Pixar's Up" and "Drawn to Life", by Walt Stanchfield. These were great reads, and I'm sad that my current financial status leaves me to treat the bookstore as more of a library for now. I definitely want to pick up these books as soon as possible.

"Drawn to Life", in particular, was a very inspirational read. The four words that made the biggest impact on me were simply "Draw verbs, not nouns." Funny how such a simple statement can make a big difference in the way you think about things. This is something I will now be repeating to myself in my head whenever I sketch.

Sticktoitivness...

2009-04-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

First off, I can't believe that's actually a word.

On April 3rd, I purchased a new little pocket-sized Moleskine to always have on hand (that won't take up so much space in my purse). My goal was to draw something everyday--even if it was just for 2 or 3 minutes--but to at least create something on a blank page. Two weeks later and I've got 14 pages of little drawings to show for it, so I need to give kudos to myself for setting a goal and sticking with it so far. I also need to give myself a Peach Perfection from Jamba Juice. Mmm...

The original inspiration for this goal came from a few people who participated in some kind of "365" project on Flickr (or one of them photo sites), where the goal was to draw something everyday and upload it to a gallery. Sadly I am still missing out in the scanner department, but hopefully I can upload these drawings to my own 365 gallery in due time.

For some reason I decided that all of these sketches have to be in pen. For one, the image will already show up better when I scan it. Secondly, I think it's a great way to forgive yourself for any mistakes you make while drawing. "Oh crap, now that line's there and I can't move it. Oh well, that's what it's going to be!" It makes me stop and think a little more about my line placement and plan what exactly I am going to do. And I'm just over it that much quicker if something doesn't turn out exactly how I want it.. or I get creative in finding ways to fix it.

Sketches

2009-02-27T17:18:00.001-08:00

I really cannot say enough times that the scanner I use does absolutely NO justice to the actual sketches in my book. I can't make any adjustments to the scanner itself, and lots of my sketch-lines are placed so lightly on the page that they just get lost. Oh well. I doctored these three up as well I could for posting.

I found out about a really cool open figure-drawing session that's not too far away from me, but unfortunately it's during bowling night. Granted I don't really bowl, I am there for moral support and Newcastle, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and bring along the sketchbook. Problem is, everyone is looking over my shoulder and making comments. Not my ideal scenario when I'm trying to doodle. Next time I'll meander around inconspicuously while hunting targets.

To make the scanning process easier, I went over this page with a darker pencil, a Palomino brand to be specific. It was a gift from someone whose father worked where they made the things, and how I wish I had tried to mooch a few more. The thing draws like butter across the pages of my Moleskin. It's a beautiful thing

A note on the page above, there wasn't anyone THAT portly at the alley, I think I was just inspired by a bowling ball. Or maybe she chewed some of that whacky gum from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

This bottom page was an attempt to do a charicature of a certain TV person, which I hope will end in a final illustration (10 points if you can manage to guess who it is). I don't feel that charicatures are one of my strong points, which is something I need to remedy and improve upon. Granted I chose someone who doesn't have super-unique-facial-characteristics to emphasize, but the final picture I have painted in my head is funny. I gots ta try.

By attempt #3, I felt like I was finally getting on the right track. I'm really going to keep playing around and do several attempts at a charicature and push until the result is satisfying.

I picked up two new books this week. The first I found at Barnes and Noble, "The Alchemy of Animation", which is a great book breaking down the processes and positions held by people within the animation pipeline. It has sections that go into specific details regarding 3D, 2D, and Stop-Motion.

The second book I ordered and am awaiting anxiously at my mailbox. It's Stephen Silver's newest book entitled "Life". The description on the site describes it as: "a book on the subject of drawing from life; how I caricature the model that is in front of me and create a character design based on the drawings." I'm a big fan of Stephen's work, and this is the exact goal I am trying to achieve with my own artwork. I can't wait until I get this.. also because it's supposed to include his signature and an original sketch. :D

El Chupa

2009-02-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

This is from a project I've been toying around with in my head for some time. The bottom doodle on notepad paper was the original. I'm trying a few turn-arounds in my sketchbook, as well as tweaking the character a bit more. Oh El Chupa, what adventures lie in store for you?

The C-Man

2009-02-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

Just a little late-night doodle. I had fun with this one, but that's a given considering the subject.

Reunited, and it feels so good..

2008-11-05T15:59:00.001-08:00

I was in a panic over the weekend after leaving my sketchbook behind at a cofee shop across the valley. The first time I called to see if anyone had turned it in, I received a very prompt "No.", and that was that. Thankfully, I decided to call the next day and was overjoyed to hear "Is there like a picture of a wooden fence in it? And one page has like a grouchy bear.."

So the lesson learned today is that when your sketchbook comes with a pre-printed "If lost, please return to" page near the cover, do not scoff at it. Needless to say, I profously apologized to my little Moleskin book and promptly wrote in my name and phone number on both covers.

This is the proudest I have been of a sketchbook in quite sometime. The thought of it being gone really disappointed me, so I'm very happy someone did the right thing and turned it in.

Arialla - facial study

2008-10-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

Just a study for a drawing I'm trying to work on. It's going to be of a friend's character, so I wanted to make sure the facial features were specific and identifiable. The hair style will be different, but I liked the one in the reference and went with it temporarily.

This study made me realize that I need to do some more realistic facial drawings and implement shading, as it seems I forgot how to.. uhm.. shade. o.0 Now I need to dig up a good photo reference for some practice.. probably one for fabric, too. Time to relearn some Drawing 101.

Yay for drawing on post-its when my sketchbook is one whole foot away!

Post-it sketch

2008-10-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

Yup, hard at work.

EDIT: I think this chick is supposed to be a mermaid. I just get that vide from her. Don't some people just give you the mermaid vibe? Mebbe I'll draw it..

Laundry Day

2008-10-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie sketch that I went over with in pen. It pretty much sums up my mood every Sunday morning when I am dragged out of bed in order to beat the crowd at the laundromat.

Illustration Friday: Sugary

2008-10-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

It's been one of those days where I'm living in a spacey, daydreamy state just thinking and creating in my brain. I had to sneak away from my desk for a while and take a sketchbook break.

I've been making it a point to check out the Illustration Friday site on a regular basis. While I am a day late on this topic (which has had a page reserved in my sketchbook for a few days), I'm glad I finally managed to crank it out. This little guy makes me think of my nephews and how whenever they got a hold of some sugar, they would definitely manifest into little monsters.. heck, they're still like that.

I hope to ink and color this one. I snuck out on a break from work to crank out the drawing, so there's a little refining I want to do when I have time. It's just a relief to finally have it down on paper, after swimming through my brain for a while.

Meanwhile, I am happy to still be working with the John Kerwin Show. I wish it taped more than once a month, because I really dig working in production and the show itself is a lot of fun. Below is last month's episode, which had actor Max Ryan ("Death Race," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "Kiss of the Dragon"), and musical guest Colby O'Donis.

I also received a promotion to Production Coordinator, which I am really proud of and happy that I get to do more work on the show. The pay's the same, but now I have more responsiblity!
...Hey, wait a second...

Munkehs

2008-09-26T13:34:00.001-07:00

A little doodling while watching the season premiere of The Office (JIM AND PAM. AMG.)

I've had an animation idea swimming through my head for quite sometime, so I am trying to do some work for it. These guys are just some practice for the concept and character design stages. I haven't drawn many monkeys-type-characters, but they're kind of fun.

Ook ook.

P.S., I didn't mean the monkeys are Jim and Pam from The Office. I meant JIM AND PAM. AMG!! as a stand alone exclaimation.

Ook ook.

Scribbles

2008-09-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

This piece was actually a bit of art therapy. In a moment of frustration during a heated IM conversation (no, not cyborz), I grabbed my sketchbook and my Prisma pencils, flipped to an open page, and just scribbled. It was a little reminder that everything I create does not have to be a masterpiece. A sketchbook should be a practice place for ideas, observations and experimentation.

The Prismas felt so smooth and nice gliding on the stretched skin of those little moles, that I did a quick doodle of an apple.

While failing to get all of the colors and shading to display properly from the scanner (which emits as much light as the friggin' sun), I played with the saturation and liked this warm gray version. You can faintly see a few more sketch lines where more color was applied. Still looks better in the book. o.0

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to deal with my super-duper-bright scanner that washes out all of my drawings? The pages I draw on are actually cream-colored, but show up stark white once scanned (the brightness level is actuall brought down in the above scans). There isn't much I can do in the scanner settings, so I have to try to fix everything in Photoshop.

Gracias, amigos and amigas.

Bernini at the Getty

2008-09-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I had the pleasure of visiting the Getty Museum for the first time ever. Sadly, my camera was left in my car, so I will have to go back and take pictures of the amazing Bernini exhibit I viewed before it's gone.

Once I heard about the Bernini exhibit, I immediately called my friend Nick (a former employee of the Getty) and demanded he take me to see it.. and to get us free parking.

The exhibit was amazing. Bernini is my favorite sculptor, and to see his work up close was quite an experience. The majority of the pieces displayed were busts done on commission, as well as several portrait paintings. However, the most surprising treat were a series of sketched portraits done with simply black, white and red chalk. Unbelieveable.

I need to go back and see several of the other exhibits as well, and also wander around the gardens. I won't forget my camera next time.

Sketch dump

2008-09-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

Was unable to access the scanner until today. Behold, the Moleskine insanity:

This is an odd montage of sketches. The arrow-headed-geese-like-things up top are something I made from notes on my legal pad. I somehow made an arrow into a bird and thought it was kind of neat. On the bottom right is a little tree-doodle of the fake tree in the waiting area by my desk. The final, weird, Pokemon/mouse looking thing was a creature put together from the abstract painting directly opposite of me on the wall. I slightly altered the placement of the painting's elements and got that little creature.

Here's a horrible webcam still of the painting I was talking about. If you squint at it for a while and drink a few shots of alcohol, you can kind of see how that little creature came to be. Kay, moving on...

I wanted to try a shot at Illustration Friday, and this week's word is "island". This is just one concept sketch, which again didn't turn out too well because of the lightness of my sketch lines. All those unidentifiable scribbles surrounding the girl are people walking by, going about their routine. I was going for a feel of "isolation" which I got from the "island" concept.. but I think it may have come out as "emo", I don't know. I like the girl anyway because she sort of reflected my mood at the time I drew her. Need a reference picture so I can fix her arms/hands.

This was my first attempt at the "island" theme. It was so generic I think I had to do it simply to get it out of my system. I hated the fact that such a boring sketch had it's own page in my book, so in frustration I drew a set of jaws coming up to swallow the stupid drawing. After a few seconds, I realized the gaping maw quite randomly belonged to a familiar character...

Speaking of stupid (as in stupid funny), I saw this episode of Family Guy last night and can't get the part Peter sings out of my head. Curse you, Seth MacFarlane.

"HehHehHehHehHehHeh, and then another HehHehHehHehHeh..."

I'm somebody!

2008-09-15T16:32:00.001-07:00

Sweet fancy Moses, I'm on IMDB!

IMDB Profile for Crystal Mora

As the link will reveal, this was obtained by working as a Production Assistant for a local/internet talkshow called "The John Kerwin Show". I got to show off my fancy logistical work and mad teleprompting skills during taping. I have a second credit pending from the last shoot, and hopefully will have another episode under my belt in October. Rock, rock on.

Here's a somewhat random sketch page from my Sunday morning at the laundromat. This was a really weird weekend all together with lots of strange people doing strange things. More sketches to come pertaining to my dining experience on Saturday night.

The scanner couldn't pick it up, but all of those words by the Pac-Man game are "AbbaAbbaAbba"... as in the sound Pac-Man makes when he's eating pellets, not the Swedish pop group from the 70's.

Secret sketching

2008-09-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Emily and I had a sketch night, which hopefully will become a weekly event now. We walked down to the little coffee shop by her place and discreetly leered at people while scribbling.

I wanted to try pastels again.. yeah.. rounded pastels not so great for small, detail work. Aw wells.

I really like this pencil sketch, even though the guy couldn't decide if he wanted to put his hand up or down or look straight ahead or turn slightly to the left. Finally my view was obstructed when another patron sat down in the way. People should really be more cooperative when they are secretly being sketched from across the room.

By the way, I hate my scanner.. that or I guess I need to draw much harder. A lot of the details and linework look so much nicer in the book. The sketch lines of the guy's hand by his mouth and stripes on his shirt were pretty much lost. Curse this digital age we live in!

Quick sketch

2008-09-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

This was a quickie I did right when I walked in the door after my commute home. Had to play with the contrast a lot because I drew this with pretty light lead. o.0

This was a little scene I witnessed while sitting at a stoplight. It was just kind of sweet and I wanted to capture the basic scene into my sketchbook for reference, should I choose to do a finished picture in the future.

And no, I'm not a voyeur if it's happening in broad daylight at an intersection. >.<

Is it "Moleskine" 'cause it's made of moles?

2008-09-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

Much to my sadistic disappointment, no. But I will pretend.

Breaking in my new moleskine sketchbook has been way overdue. I don't know what is so damn intimidating about a blank sheet of paper to me these days. This past Saturday, I went downstairs to thaw out in the blistering sun, by the pool. I decided it was time to learn how to draw again.

I need to finish the trees in the background once the temperature cools down, or I can get air conditioning outside.

My friend Emily inspired me with how she is also trying to fit more doodling into her hectic schedule. When I went over to visit, she had several small notebook pages (tattered edges from the binding and all) placed together on her wall. She had done a simple ink landscape of the buildings by her work, pieced together on 5 or 6 seperate pages.. like how people take individual photos of a landscape and piece together their own panoramic puzzle. She had tied them all together with a simple, yet lovely watercolor wash for the sky.

...So this isn't exactly a tryptych or anything (ten points for remembering Art History 101 terminology), but I was inspired to create something.. and I mean -something-, ANYTHING at all remotely artistic. That's sort of a big deal to me, and it shouldn't be. Life continues throwing transitions at me with a new job and new home, but at least these are good things. I am ready to get settled into a new routine while trying to incorporate my creativeness once more.

More doodles to come soon. Thank you to the little moles who helped make my sketchbook possible.

Fix8

2008-08-12T15:16:00.001-07:00

So I got the earthquake job. :D Yesterday I started with a company called Fix8.

Fix8 is a program which allows you to customize and animate yourself via webcam. You can either create a 3D avatar, like so...

Or add on accessories and little flash animation special effects, like so...

What's kind of fun about the avatars is that they sync up with your own movements. When you smile, it smiles. When you talk, it talks. When you move your eyebrows, it moves its eyebrows. There are also options to add vocal effects to alter your voice when you speak.

For right now I am doing some part-time admin work, which includes lots of playing around with the software. Right now I am doing some research to provide feedback concerning the program's interface... which means I look at myself on a webcam and make lots of goofy faces. They have eluded to me helping out more graphically in the future, and seemed pretty excited about my background in animation and graphic design.

While I admit to never being big on the video chat, this program is pretty fun to play around with. They have a lot of cool possibilities for the software on how to expand its use for animation purposes.

Fun stuff!

My first earthquake

2008-07-30T18:52:00.001-07:00

No sir, I don't like it. o.0

I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. For me, it happened in the middle of a job interview on the 10th floor of a building overlooking the 405 Freeway and Galleria mall. Fun times. As my prospective employer and I huddled beneath a doorframe, he remarked that I was handling my first earthquake rather well. My reply was that now he could see I work well under pressure. I hope it at least made me memorable.

That's showbiz, kid

2008-07-21T00:37:00.000-07:00

Work-wise, I have been trying to get my foot in the door of the entertainment industry. Between the writer's strike and the forboding talk of an actor's strike, I really picked a heck of a year to get into "the biz". Still, this is a path I am determined to travel. Since being out here in California, I have developed an interest in production, development, and more of the business side of entertainment. This not only encompasses animation, but feature and television as well.

Getting that first foot in the door has been tricky. So far, I have been working as an intern for a production company in Los Angeles. The project is a documentary on Marvel Comics' Stan Lee, so the subject matter has been really fun for me. In my short time there, I have learned much about the industry, but I'm still trying to find a specific direction in which to move forward. Tomorrow I start a temporary gig as a Production Assistant for a television talk show. There are a lot of PA opportunities around the city which are great for both experience and networking.

In short, I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.. You'd think I'd have it figured out by now.

More apples

2008-01-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

It's pretty slow-going, but it's fun to sort of re-learn what Photoshop does. To be honest, I don't remember doing any realistically shaded images in Photoshop. Oh well, the practice is fun. Fixed the shape of the main apple, as well as correcting the placement.. as well as changing what I thought was a leaf to an apple or lime or whatever it is. Also experimenting with different brushes and textures for the apples and such.

Nothin' like scribblin' to the rousing speeches of Zap Brannigan.

"Speed" painting - Apples

2008-01-07T16:24:00.001-08:00

I haven't picked up the old Wacom in ages, so I decided to start playing around with it again today. I remember some of you blogsters who were doing "speed painting", so I decided to try a hand at it myself.. except that I kind of forgot the "speed" aspect and just sort of did this through an episode of Futurama that was playing in the background.

Just got the blocking done today. It's been ages since I've colored anything in Photoshop, and I haven't really colored a complete picture with a tablet. Figured this would be good practice. More progress will be posted later.

Hope everyone is having a great New Year!

Still kicking

2007-12-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post a little update to say that I'm still alive. Life's been absolutely nutty since the end of October, and I'm feeling spread kind of thin with all the stuff going on.

Right now my efforts are concentrated on applying for jobs more directly related to the animation/entertainment industry. I had an amazing opportunity to visit Cartoon Network and take a tour of their facilities (Craig McCracken's personal collection of Powerpuff Girl paraphanalia was a might impressive). While unfortunately they're not doing any hiring at the moment, they were nice enough to take my resume and look over my portfolio for feedback purposes.

I was fortunate enough to know people face-to-face at Cartoon Network, but getting my foot into other studios where I don't know anyone seems tricky. The Writer's Strike is also still affecting major studios. I have a friend who is out of a job soon because there are simply no new scripts to work on. While the situation is a bit discouraging, I'm continuing to poke around on craigslist and multiple job boards to see what's out there. There are a ton of production places right here in Burbank, now I just have to find 'em.

Job-hunt-wise, I can't wait for all the holiday business to be over with. But fun-wise, I'm so excited that I get to go home for Christmas. This will be my first trip where I get to fly instead of deal with a 16 hour round-trip of driving. And I'll also be spending several days home instead of just over the weekend. That means FIVE DAYS WITH MY RIGBY.. oh yeah, and my family and friends. ^.^

Madison - Colored

2007-09-24T13:34:00.001-07:00

Madi, mama, daddy, and everyone else loved it. Now they're trying to talk me into doing a cartoon or book with Madison. She's so gosh darn spunky and silly, there would be no shortage of stories. It gives me a cute little girl chracter to have on reserve.

I'm on Cartoon Brew!

2007-09-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

I'll take my fifteen seconds of fame anyway I can get 'em.

Disney Exhibit at Forest Lawn

I wrote an e-mail to Jerry Beck of Cartoon Brew about the art exhibit in Glendale. The exhibit itself was so small and in such a strange location, I was hoping it would make the news page so that others would have a chance of hearing about it. Mission accomplished!

Jerry and Amid from Cartoon Brew also attended the Platform Festival in Portland. They gave great talks at the panels, and also wrote some great articles reviewing the festival. Here are a few of those links:

Report from Platform - Day 1

Report from Platform - Day 3

Report from Platform - Day 4

Hertzfeldt Wins at Platform

If you do a search on Cartoon Brew for Platform Festival. plenty of articles and pictures pop up. Still waiting on word from Cartoon Network as to if we have the go ahead for next year or not. I'm hopeful, but the suspense is getting to me.

Madison - sketches

2007-09-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

I just thought it would be nice to post some actual artwork up here. This is Madison, who I was asked to draw a cartoon version of by her mother.

First I did this little sketch, which was compiled from several different reference pictures.

Then I found some pictures from a Monster's Inc. party plate to use as a style reference. Afterall, one of my first thoughts of Madison was that she looked just like Boo from the movie, pigtails and all.

Madi's signatures are her pink flip-flops, sparkly pink sunglasses, and her "Nemo" beanie-baby (who she is -NEVER- without).

I'm going to work out some proportions and fix the angle of the feet.. probably change the eyes a bit to show more of Madi's half-Asian-ness. I'm glad I stuck with something quick and simple so I can get the image done on time. I will start on coloring tonight, though I haven't picked a medium. I really wish I had a copy of Illustrator at home. :(

Miss Rigby

2007-09-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here are her puppy pictures...

Here's a more recent picture. I caught her sniffing the flowers.

I miss my baby girl, but she's doing a great job of filling the empty-nest syndrom for my mom.

Blargh!

2007-09-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Still around, but still battling a severe lack of inspiration. I'm not too worried because this has happened to me once before. When it was over I had suddenly found myself enrolled in an art college. Crazy!

The problem is that I am not a very self-motivated person. I really miss my friends from The Art Center back home that I used to collaborate with. It seems most of the people I'm around these days are not very artistically inclined. They're fun, great people, but none who really understand the way I see things in the world around me.. for example, "that cute little rat movie" by Pixar. Once you know how animation works, you see so much more than a simple "children's" movie.. plot progression, character development, lighting, textures, environments and props.. sigh. I know there's no shortage of people knowledgeable about animation in this town, but it's been tough to pin them down.

My friend Nick and I went to a fantasy art exhibit at Forest Lawn in Glendale (which is a really weird location, because it's a giant cemetary with a museum up at the very top hill). I was surprised to find a lot of works on loan from Walt Disney Animation Studios. There were maquettes from The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, character sketches of Ariel and Beast by Glen Keane (amazing), concept designs for the dwarfs from Snow White (with some GREAT variations of Dopey), as well as character designs, storyboards, cels and backgrounds from the original Fantasia, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio and more. It's running until January, in case anyone has the chance to take a peek.

I've finally been sketching again, but haven't finished anything in color. Right now I'm working on an illustration as a birthday present. Little kids are fun to draw. I'll post that one when it's finished.

So far the only project I've finished out here has been a tattoo design. Man, is it weird to see your artwork displayed on someone's body!

If failure were not an option

2007-04-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

I found this article on yahoo.com and really enjoyed it. This is a problem which I am aware that I have, but I've been making a conscious effort to improve. Now all I have to do is practice.

By the way, my internet will allegedly be available on Friday or Saturday. Only took a month. :p

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A Lack of Perfection = Perfection

I have a good eye for how well something has to be done in order to accomplish what I need to accomplish, and it's one of my favorite traits about myself. The good that comes from a lack of perfection is that I can set a lot of goals for myself because I get them done.

Here are the reasons I can't stand perfectionists:

• Perfectionists procrastinate because they're scared of not being perfect.

• Perfectionists are hypercritical to the point that they can't support people around them.

• Perfectionists can't finish a project because they can always think of a way to improve it.

• Perfectionists are phony, because no one's perfect and they can't handle showing that in themselves.

Four Steps to Imperfection

Here are four things to think about if you're letting perfectionism dictate your life:

1. You get more done if you don't sweat the details.

My disdain for details started when I looked around at all the people who are disappointed with their lives. For the most part, these are people who wish they'd done something that they didn't do for fear of failure. In the worst cases, these people have whole lists of such things. Then I saw a bumper sticker that read, "What would you do if failure were not an option?"

When I went through my own list of what I would do, I decided that if I stopped worrying about failure I'd be able to do a lot more. So I started focusing on just getting stuff done instead of getting it done perfectly. Details fell by the wayside.

I also noticed that once I stopped worrying about doing something perfectly, I didn't have nearly as much reason for procrastination. It's easy to start something if you tell yourself that getting it done 70 percent perfect (as opposed to 100 percent) is OK.

Believe it or not, in most cases 70 percent perfect is fine for what we do. The trick is to balance fearlessness with attention to detail and understand when you need to concentrate on each.

2. You do better work if you aren't worried about perfection.

Here's a story I heard from Alexander Kjerulf, who was talking about David Bayles's book "Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking":

A ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of the work they produced. All those on the right would be graded solely on their works' quality.

His procedure was simple: On the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the quantity group; 50 pound of pots rated an A, 40 pounds a B, and so on. Those being graded on quality, however, needed to produce only one pot -- albeit a perfect one -- to get an A.

At grading time, the works with the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.

It seems that while the quantity group was busily churning out piles of work -- and learning from their mistakes -- the quality group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of clay.

Think about this in your own life, even if you're not using clay. The more you practice, the better you'll get. But you can't practice if you think only of perfection. Practice is about making mistakes; perfection comes from imperfection.

3. Working the longest hours doesn't mean you're doing the best work.

Usually, the hardest worker in an office is a perfectionist. This begs a few questions: Why does this person need to work harder than everyone else? Is she slow? Is she stupid? Is she avoiding her home life?

The people working the hardest are usually stuck on getting all the details perfect, but they've lost sight of one of the most important things -- which is that you look desperate if you work more hours than everyone else. The person working the hardest looks incompetent, either at managing their workload or at managing their family life.

Of course, you don't want to work the least number of hours, either. But you want to fall somewhere in between. People who work very long hours are inefficient and sometimes get so little sleep that they're performing at the level of a drunkard at work. So cut back your hours, and even if you do things with less attention to detail in order to get them done faster, they might actually get done better because you have a better handle on the time in your life.

4. Stop procrastination by stopping perfectionism.

One of the biggest productivity problems is procrastination. And one of the biggest contributors to procrastination is the feeling that we need to do something perfectly.

The key to ending procrastination in your life is to be honest about what you're really doing with your time and energy. Look closely at why you've made the bar so high that you can't even start. Procrastination can only flourish in a situation where perfection is so clearly demanded and so intrinsically impossible that inaction seems preferable to action.

So be honest with yourself about why being perfect is so important to you. Perfectionism doesn't make people happy, and often makes them nutcases.

And remember those clay pots -- they represent all the creativity and excitement you could unleash if you'd let the attention to detail slip a little.

Movin' on u~uup...

2007-04-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

To the east si~iiide. Burbank, that is... Swimmin' pools, animation studios.

This weekend's move to my new digs in Burbank was a complete success. Now commences Operation: Scour Thrift Stores and Yard-Sales for Cheap Furniture. Or, Operation "Stsyscf", as I like to call it. At least buying a bed was taken care of well in advance. I would hate to have to sleep on top of those giant, plastic storage bins, as well as continue to store clothes in them.

Unfortunately, I once again find myself in the situation of having no internet connection--and no computer desk, for that matter (curse whoever bought the last of the models I wanted at Ikea). Hopefully I will be able to post some updates on here soon enough.

My new commute to work takes me past both Walt Disney and Warner Brothers Studios. Perhaps one day that's where the commute will end! Oh, to be starry-eyed and full of dreams in L.A.

Draw, monkey!!

Happy Little Trees

2007-03-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

Just playing with different brushes and tools in Corel. The Impressionist tool is handy for textures.

Studio Session #2

2007-03-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

The drawing studio was packed this Tuesday. It was a lot noisier, and a lot smokier. Finding a good spot to draw from was a bit difficult, and my view was continuously obstructed by a gentleman peering out from an easel (but his renderings were great to watch). This session's theme was the 1920's and, appropriately, the booze and jazz were a flowin'. By the way, trying to draw someone who has downed a few drinks is a fun challenge. They don't stay still quite so long.

My scanner really didn't like this last drawing. I played with the settings for over an hour, got frustrated, and finally just accepted this scan. Blah. Anywho, I plan on taking this sketch into Corel for some correction and coloring.

At the next session, I think I'm going to spend some time doing more simple gestural sketches of the people around me to warm up. The costumed models and props are great, but I'd really like some short, simple poses to get started and find my groove. Maybe the nudity happens after people drink for a bit longer.

Playing Around

2007-03-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

This was one idea I toyed with for this Illustration Friday's theme, which is "hide". The feeling I got from this sketch was more "scared", so I'm still playing with other rough ideas. I guess a person might hide if they're scared, but meh.. For some reason I originally painted this with white on a black canvas, but it looked a little better once I inverted the image.

Revisiting the Basics

2007-03-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

My friend Dan told me about a figure-drawing studio in a somewhat frightening area of LA by Little Tokyo. This past Tuesday evening, we made a spontaneous trip down to the studio for some sketching. While the bum-infested industrial area almost made me cry as we walked to the loft around 10 o'clock at night, once we got inside I was quite amazed.

The studio was very spacious, and the overall environment very warm and friendly. Artists from all walks of life formed a large ring around an expectant model platform. People had brought along every medium imaginable for the session, which included a few laptops and drawing tablets. The studio itself also sported a fully-stocked bar (yay! drinking and drawing!), a billiard table, a small stage with lights and speakers, and an upstairs area that I didn't get a chance to explore.

Yikes. I have definitely devolved since my last figure-drawing session. Since the models were running a little late, I caught the last few minutes of this gentleman who volunteered to sit in. Every week the models have a theme to which they dress accordingly in professional costumes. This session was Greek/Roman themed, and the wait was well worth it.

This was probably my best attempt after the multiple Prisma sketches I made (same goes for the guy above). My first warm-up session after not drawing for months was tough, but also a great motivator for getting my skills back to where they should be.

Since the studio was a bit far and it was past 11pm on a work night, we decided to cut out early and head back across town. The Tuesday session goes from 10pm-2am, and I'm not sure if they have any other sessions scheduled. Hopefully we can make it out to the studio on a weekly basis and Wednesday mornings I'll just start drinking coffee.

That Wacky Wacom

2007-03-04T03:06:00.000-08:00

I've neglected my little Wacom tablet since it was purchased almost a year ago. Unfortunately, my initial approach to this newfangled technology was: "I'm not good at it right away, so forget it." Countless canvases were deleted which bore my unintelligable scribbles and experiments with different media brushes.

...not that this is anything fancy, but it's really my first ever drawing using the tablet. For reasons unknown I just came home, fired up Corel, found a photo reference, and started to draw.

Total execution for this sketch took around 20 minutes. I'm still quite inept when it comes to remembering I can change brush sizes without having to physically change the pen in my hand. Fine-tuning the opacity and pressure settings are also tricky, so I'm still playing with the default pen configuration to find my comfort zone.

The main reason for saving this piece is to use it as a starting comparison for my practice (and hopeful improvement) with digital media. I figure the tablet will be a simple alternative for my present lack of space to use traditional media.