Meeting In The Reeds

....this is something I've been playing with on and off for a while now whenever I had free time or simply needed a break. It started when I was just doodling a fox in Painter and somehow transformed into this.

Mongatu Lizard

Concepts from Tak...

Some Old, Some New....

.....all from the zoo...

Bug-eyed Tapir

Found this while rummaging through some stuff-something I did probably over a year ago during a break at work.

Scruffy

Evolution of a Mammoth

This is Mitchell the Mammoth from an episode of Catscratch entitled "A Wooly Adventure". He was one of the first major incidental characters I got to work on for the show back in 2005 and he went through many stages of development.
Below is a typical page of roughs--quick stuff just trying out shapes and ideas and generally making a mess. I like to use post-it notes for this stage-this page is actually layered in post-its, there are several on top of each other as I kept varying the drawing beneath each one:More early concepts:After all the feedback, notes and revisions from the director, storyboard artists, etc. this is what he finally ended up looking like: I was rather nervous to do the turnarounds on this guy at the time since it was one of the first I'd ever done and he seemed complicated but after doing them over several times I felt more confident in myself (once you can turn a mammoth you can turn anything :)

Myrna

....this is based on an old doodle I did a long time ago that I redid in Illustrator for practice.

Spring Cleaning

....a silly illustration I did for the last SCBWI contest

Choo Choo

I got to ride on this over the weekend, it was fun! During a stop I tried to do a few quick sketches.... it's a bit outside my comfort zone so they're kinda messy....Here's a photo of the real thing:My dad helped restore this 1927 steam locomotive during most of my childhood, it almost feels like a family member, so it was really neat to finally take a ride on her down the Southern California coast : )

Tatercat!

Something Fishy...

Happy Gator

I've been having fun playing with Illustrator recently, mostly just trying to remember how it works since I don't use it too often and it's good to try something different once in a while.
Nothing fancy here, just a happy little gator....

Creature Concept

Another old concept from Tak: I really enjoyed designing this one even though it ended up never being used in the show. I did the painting outside of work, just cuz it was fun.

Fuzzy Family

While hiking in the hills recently I stumbled upon this little family-out in the daylight(generally possums are nocturnal).....
Yeah, I know most people think possums are ugly critters but I have a bit of a soft spot for them and actually think they're kinda cute...even though they used to eat the pet chickens I had growing up....

Not Quite Over The Moon

"I didn't think this through," thought the cow....


90% gouache(the real stuff) with a dash of pastel+10% digital=just practicing

Website Updated....Finally

Well, I stayed up all day and all night(haven't done that in awhile) but I got determined to finally give my website a new look....the html made me dizzy and I made alot of mistakes but I'm glad I finally sat down and tried to figure it out. There's still some things to update, particularly the character design and sketchbook sections so expect new images there soon...but first I need to rest my eyes a bit...

Not much......

Don't seem to have much blogging energy lately....here's another unused Tak concept from way back when (one of the first things I did actually). I guess there's a hint of Jeera in this though that's not who this was supposed to be...

Horses....

....hmmmm.......I got frustrated so I drew some unicorns...

Early Concept

This is an early concept of Keeko I did for "Tak & the Power of Juju". I figure it's been long enough that I can start sharing some of this work that might never see the light of day otherwise. The characters for the show went through alot of revisions and changes during preliminary development. Some designs were approved and developed further and some didn't make the cut like this one. It was alot of work but also alot of fun exploring different ideas and concepts and trying to discover who these characters were-I always enjoy the exploration stage... I wasn't required to do the painting( I just did that for fun and for practice I guess).
BTW, if anyone is interested, Cal State Fullerton is having an Alumni Exhibition at the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana right now that features work by alumni working in the entertainment industry. There's some designs I did for Tak on display. More info can be found here.

Buckaroo Joe