Back with a BANG!

After 6 months of studio work, purging my room and studio, I can finally bring up to date my blog!
I admit, I tend to neglect this place when I'm under contract simply because of the time restrictions... but when those finish, I deliver!
Going back to catching up some of the past content:
I'm notorious for a few things.
The relevant things for tonight are; I will get seriously ill twice a year. These will be done within intervals of 5-6 months. And when I do, I usually turn to making fan art and indulge in non-employment projects to pass the time [and the symptoms] in peace.
Since I have been suffering a serious sinus infection, and upper respiratory irritation for the last 3 days, guys what I did to pass the time?

I've always wanted to make a layout using the "dry brush" technique. Since I had a sketch of Qui-gon and Obi-wan in my "Tarot" style, I figured I'd take the time and create the "spread" layout I had in my "sketches" folder.
That's a lot of quotations.

One of the concepts I was fancying over the last few years was to be able to see my art in the "Star Wars Insider" magazine. I would also indulge this little fantasy by adding that it would be in "Insiders" because of some 2D short or film I would produce with the SW character of choice.
Well, life has its own agendas, and while I might not have been able to make that short just yet [I always have idea on the back burner... who knows?], I figured I'd indulge myself and create the spread anyways.
Boy, I did say "Indulge" a lot in this post. And yet again, more quotations!
I'm on a feverish role.

Anyways, one of the things I would often imagine is how it "felt" to be in the Jedi temple. You know, those weird sentimental memories one has of specific ways the specific seasons would reflect in one's home? Like, how the sunlight hit a certain room, or the way the twilight would feel in a specific season... I wanted to try and capture those kinds of moments within the Jedi Temple. So when recreating this interior, I wanted to have a layout that was deeply atmospheric.
Drawing upon a lot of the Buddhist temples, and medieval castle interiors, I wanted to have a "fire lit" corridor. Considering that SW is set in a technologically advanced galaxy, I figured that the torches or fire pots would be replaced by in-wall illumination of the same color.
Gives the same feel, but for a galaxy far far away.

Rose Marie Promotional Flyer

Back in April I worked for a local Opera Production Company for their theatrical feature "Rose Marie".
Amongst the art done for the production [like the stage prop totem pole], the promotional flyer was also designed by myself. I decided to approach it in a very different stylized manner to help reflect the more contemporary edge the Opera was set in. :)

Wish Opera

On April 29th, the Opera "Rose Marie" debuted. I had the AMAZING pleasure of working on the production with some insanely talented people... and now that it's over, I wanted to post a visual process of creation; I summarized my carving of the Totem Pole stage prop from start to finish.



Working for the theater is the most stunning experience for me; as I said before, I am an avid traditionalist, and the theater is truly the setting for the classic arts... also demanding a different thought process and approach then most media. This totem pole is a perfect example of that- because I had to construct what would appear to be a pole made of wood, but factually an impossible task to be done in the short period of time I had. Foam was the perfect solution- I could work on every figure independently, and also care to make the cuts in the foam look like wood.

Funny when we attended the actual opera, we were so taken aback we actually forgot to take a picture while watching it unfold... so lucky me that the production staff actually did. :)



That's 10 feet of foam right there folks.

Godric- Meeting the Light

Originally this was a Birthday Portrait for Allan Hyde (Actor who plays Godric), which was drawn out on a Canson board roughly 16" x 20".

I had saved the picture until I was notified that the gift was delivered... I originally posted this on my birthday, earlier this year.

Smirky Wolf

I was doing some animal caricatures a while back, and liked this one in particular.
Certainly not an evil fellow, but I wouldn't trust him in a game of cards. :)

Good Words

One of the short films I have in the works.
“Good Words” is a short film that speaks about many issues in one- from conservation of our environment, as well as diversity of culture.
The audio is actually the opening to “500 Nations”... a documentary produced and release in the light of the “Dances with Wolves” phenomena. While I cannot obtain the rights to the audio, I intended to produce this short anyways… more as an exercise in animation, as well as voicing a personal opinion bout our current state of environmental affairs.

I am still working on this short as we speak- and am working with a friend of mine as well. I'm hoping to complete it within the next few months. :)

Star Wars Tarot- The Fool

For those who thought I had forgotten about this series: I haven’t. :)

This is the latest submission for my “Star Wars tarot” deck project I have been working on.

I think this one was an obvious decision, as I even had some people inquire if Jar Jar would be the candidate for "The Fool". I had already picked him way back in the day, but having people confirm this with their opinions made me sure of my decision even more.

Like the originals “Fool” Card, Jar Jar is aloof and seemingly unaware of the danger that lurks right around the corner- however I substituted the cliff with the war-tank behind him. The green and watery landscape of Naboo help build that contrast to the “foreboding” dark base color the card is illustrated on- and even the sky changes color from a serene blue, to a wild yellow. A card of “innocent ignorance wile inobservance” is the main criteria, and Jar Jar’s bright body color and jolly detached attitude plays the part really well.