Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Laci Design


I stayed up way to late last night working on this doodle, so let's hope the whole project pays off!
And here it is finished:

Friday, April 23, 2010

New Website... Again





New website critique images.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Charleston Nostalgia

As most of you know, I've been looking for work for some time now, and even though I've given up all hope of going to back to Kiz Toys, I still find myself daydreaming about that magical summer. Here it is, Friday Night/Saturday Morning, and nearly every Friday night for those 2 months, K.P., Sara, Allen and I would sit around playing euchre and double-deck-bid euchre and drink beer, eat chips and generally be old people. For whatever god-forsaken reason, Allen was usually my partner (never got to be partners with Sara!) and he drove me INSANE. I take my card games VERY seriously and... no... I'm not going to get upset. Anyway, that's why I have that expression on my face. Also glad my hair has grown since then...
In the illustration, some things are off about the actual apartment itself... there was a weird half-tile floor and we had to have a lamp between Allen and K.P. so we could get light on the table, haha. I didn't spend too much time on this piece... there are several more components than I'm used to working on, but I'm trying to push that aspect of my drawing, rather than focusing on one character and forgetting the background. I worked on it off and on, haphazardly all day today... but if I had to guess, I'd say 6 hours total.


Good times, man. Good times.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

On Display

I saw some goldfish the other day and for whatever reason, I wanted to draw a Goldfish Mermaid... The issues I have with traditional mermaids is that: 1. They have no need for noses... and they lack gills. 2. They generally lack guidance/directional fins and 3. They have normal human skin. Even though this is in my cartoony style, you can tell she's a lot less human than traditional mermaids. She also seems to be very proud, living her fishbowl life. Haha, okay, bad joke... Anyway, just thought I'd share it. On to more stuff!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Emerald City Comicon

I was so excited! I've never been to a Comicon before! Well, despite the advertisement and big stars they had attending, the whole thing seemed rather... deflated. I was expecting it to be this HUGE event. I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough business cards and that everyone would be WAY too busy to review my portfolio. I was afraid that it was going to be quadruple the size of Megacon and that I wasn't going to be able to see everything. Well, that was not the case. There were 3 legit companies: Wacom, Microsoft and some... comic adventure something or rather. There were some great artists and decent panels (none of which I was around in time for) and though it wasn't what I expected, I also can't say that I didn't enjoy myself. I met a few people, handed out a few cards, and just got to be my nerdy self.The highlight of the event was getting a guy's number (maybe I'll actually have some friends in Seattle!) and meeting Mr. Leonard Nimoy!!! Okay, since it was a convention, it's not that impressive, but he was everything I expected him to be. I got to shake his hand, which he has a substantial grip (thank goodness, otherwise it would have shattered my vision of him- you know, when people you respect have really whimpy handshakes? bummer) and he was super polite. I mentioned that he must hate doing these conventions, he chuckled, I thanked him and told him that it meant a lot to me since I'm a "new" Star Trek fan, he smiled a bit and then told me to give his regards to Cathy, the aunt I had him sign the picture for. I've never stood in line for an autograph before, but it was worth it. Cathy was ecstatic when I revealed the picture to her, since I texted her earlier that the line was a mile long (she assumed that it wouldn't happen). She's really done a lot for me, so it was the least I could do.
Also, I heard Jhonen Vasquez was there. I used to be like all those other brooding goth teens who wanted to jump his bones, but I'm so over it. Unlike Nimoy & Wil Wheaton, JV was back in a room where you couldn't just see him if you walked by. You had to be paying for an autograph to even see him... so I said "no thanks" and went to Nimoy.
Other than that, I know it's been awhile since I've posted and not a WHOLE lot has been going on. I've been applying for jobs and just getting used to Seattle.
I have been working on some stuff... Nothing is fantastic. I can't seem to keep my concentration... Oh well, only one way to get past that.
I made these cards for my Mom's birthday. She's been asking for personalized note cards for probably 2 years now, and I finally did it. Her birthday was the 14th, so I can post them now.
No, the words aren't in there, but the compilation looked really weird with 4 blank bubbles!

I should have more art coming soon. I've been invited to do a runway fashion show with (literal) trash to promote reusable materials and what not. I'll post some pictures when I get more into that!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Seattle

Sorry, no pictures this time. I thought I'd actually blog about something for the first time since my emo-hood.
For anyone who might read this, you probably already know me, or have my resume and know that I'm in Seattle now! I've only been to Seattle twice before now. Once was when I was knee-high to a grasshopper and the other time was earlier this summer: right before my big Hong Kong trip. I had GREAT weather for that week and fell in love with it here... and with my first days here, the weather has been fantastic! It felt like Seattle was welcoming me, or something like that. In fact, the only bad weather day was yesterday (so far) and that was by far the worst day I've had yet. Everything's just sort of been falling into place since I've been here, so it's been really nice. Sucker Punch has already rejected me hardcore... like, won't even open the door to slam it in my face. That's okay though. I'll keep trying for them and one day they'll give me a shot just to shut me up. It's also kind of good that they said no to me so that I can focus on EVERYTHING else. I want to live and work in Seattle because it has a lot to offer... IF I had been offered a job by someone else before Sucker Punch turned me away, no matter how AWESOME the offered job could be, I would always be wondering "what if" about Sucker Punch... BUT, I don't have to wonder anymore! So ready or not, Riot, Microsoft, Zombie and Creative Circle... I'M COMING FOR YOU!!!
A few other notes I wanted to mention... rather, a comparison of my life one week previous to Seattle and my first week here. My last week in Indy was pretty sweet. The parents were out of town on vacation, I just quit JoAnn's and all of my friends actually made time for me since they wouldn't be seeing me for quite awhile! I kept the strangest sleeping hours (I think one time I slept from like 10 AM to 4 PM... ha) and was eating fish tacos, candy, soda and JUNK. I -was- working on stuff, but mostly I was just partying.
My first week here has been quite the opposite. My aunt IS gone on vacation, so I'm still home alone, but I don't really have any friends yet. I've been working my butt off getting my portfolio ready and all that. But the biggest changes are that I'm actually going to bed around midnight and getting up around 9... consistently. Plus, I'm walking EVERYWHERE. I take a good walk everyday, usually between 2 and 5 miles... which, considering the hills, the getting lost and the running from INSANE traffic, makes it a little more. Also, I go down to the Pike Place Market about every other day and get fresh food. I've cut out pork and beef from my diet again, so I've been eating lots of fresh fruit, chicken and baked-this-morning bread. YUM! My treats have changed too. I'm not diving into candy (thought the red vine licorice stash my aunt has is depleting) but I've really gotten attached to fruit sticks, which are kind of like fruit jerky only puffier... I don't know how they make them... and flavored honey sticks. OH MAN, so good. I've already taken myself to a couple of lunches out and I refuse to go anywhere that I can get anywhere... if that make any sense. No McDonalds, no Subway, no chains. It's been turning out swimmingly and I've been finding some really delicious stuff.
I also want to saysomething about Seattle traffic. I mentioned earlier that I was running from crazy traffic... and pedestrians have SO much right of way it's become dumb. I've seen 2 people get hit already... not bad enough to call an ambulance... like the pedestrian was able to yell and flip them the bird afterwards... but really... you're walking down the MIDDLE of the street, wearing dark clothing at NIGHT and you yell at the driver when you almost get hit. Yeah. I've only tried driving a little bit, but it scares the living daylights out of me! With city driving, no error room nor room to hardly breathe, one way streets on just about ALL the streets, some streets that turn into one way streets halfway down the road, hills, retarded pedestrians, the most INSANE intersections you'll ever see (6 ways, Z shapes, and octopus looking things), and to top it all off, I have no idea where I'm going? ...I think I'm sticking with the bus.
Okay, the LAST thing I need to mention is the people. Most people are SUPER nice. I was SO lost the other day and the guy from Amazon who was just standing next to me at a crosswalk (it was lunch break and there were THOUSANDS of people swarming the streets) looks at me and just asks about me... who I am, where I'm from, if I'm with Amazon, lol. Anyway, he ended up helping me out with the power of his shiny new iphone. It was really nice of him... and I've just been finding a lot of hospitality here... but there are also a lot of homeless and actually crazy people here. Most of them seem harmless... there's a guy right at the end of this block who sleeps outside because there are demons inside and has posters about demons in the telephones all over the yard. He's really nice, but yeah. There's another guy who is on the same street corner every day and asks if you have a single penny on you. Today was my favorite though... this guy didn't seem nuts, but he walked and talked to me about telepathy and connecting more people... he made a lot of valid points, but it was basic psychology 101. He mentioned the people in politcal power don't want us to know about these powers and such and it was all I could do to NOT say, "Buddy, I AM one of those suits and if you don't stop what you're doing RIGHT now, we're going to make you stop." I really like messing with people, but if he was really psychic or whatever, he would have known I was lying, I guess.
All in all though, Seattle's been awesome. I really really like it here and I really hope that I can find work here that will let me stay.
Since Sucker Punch won't look at my stuff, I'm gonna start posting more here... I have to finish up this kid's book I've been working on for too long now, but hopefully some new art will be up soon! Thanks for reading everybody!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

The difference is like night and day.

Ha? Anyone? No. Okay. I've been working on some environment stuff for Sucker Punch and I was feeling pretty good about it, then, ...someone... showed me some wickedly AMAZING stuff, so now I'm freaking out and my stuff's looking worse than it was before. Anyway, this is the only all-digital piece I've managed to pull off. The rest is in pencil production. I may upload them later.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Sly Cooper and his dear friend, Jojo

Okay, so a lot of you probably won't get this one... but if you look 2 posts back, you'll realize that I love Sucker Punch and both Sly and Jojo are Sucker Punch characters (all copyright Sucker Punch, etc.). Sly, is, of course, from Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus and Jojo is from Rocket Robot on Wheels. (By the way... Rocket only has A wheel... dunno.) Rocket is actually a really tough game. I've played all 3 Sly games at least 5 times through, 100% completion, but I have yet to find all those friggin tickets in Rocket and I REFUSE to look it up on the internet. That's not how I roll. (lol...pun... anyone? no?) Anyway, in my scramble to do some great fan art for Sucker Punch before I run out to Seattle in a month, I did this, and I love it, mostly because Sly is ALWAYS calm, composed and has a smug look on his face. Because of that, this was too fun to draw. I want to put in text bubbles, but while I was doodling it, there were several lines that came to mind...

1. "Sly, I am your father!" "No! No! That's impossible! My father was killed by the fiendish five!" "Look in your heart, you know it to be true."
2. "You call yourself a thief?! Try stealing a walrus from an amusement park!" "WTF?!"
3. "Back in my day, we didn't have fancy 'resolution' or HD graphics. We depended on game play alone for a great title!" "THE HORROR! I'm blind just thinking about it!"
4. "I don't understand a word this guy is saying, it's all Zelda grunts! Make it sto-hopppp!"
5. "I could get away from this psychopath if I just had my $%#*%& cane!"
6. "Sucker Punch is going to dump you too now that they have their infamous (lol) Cole MacGrath!" "Whhhyyyyyy?! What did I do to deserve this?!"
#1 is easily my favorite, followed by #6. Just make sure when you read any of those, Sly has a heavy sobbing quiver in his voice. :D Let me know what you think!

Also, to anyone who got any/all of my "jokes"... you're special.



Update: Here's the final version!

Monday, January 18, 2010

More OPS

I'm not the best graphic designer in the world, but I'm "creative director" for some friends' business and am reworking business cards and all that jazz. I have a website in the works and a flash commercial for their big project. Anyway, the Google Docs of their site doesn't like my jpegs, so I thought I'd post here for all to see.
Thoughts, comments, questions, concerns and critiques are all welcome.
(Yes, the 2 are the same, just with different logo's and they're one-sided. The other is a double-sided bit.)

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Holiday Hang-Over

So I'd been sewing up a storm to get everything done for the holidays, and hey! -everything worked out. Of course, now I have several projects for myself that I don't really want to do now, but that's ok, since I've gone back to drawing more.
Anywho, I didn't want to put these up before the recipients got them, so here they are, only a few weeks later. I apologize but these were taken with my new phone and have not been photoshopped... they are fabric after all.Table Runner I made for my Gramma. It's insulated so you can set hot pots right on it and not worry about placing pot holders! woo.

Matching Napkins. Yay.

But wait! ...there's more.

Other side is prettier, in my opinion, and of course, has the matching napkins too.
Mondrion Table Runner for my aunt! She generally entertains more than my gramma so she needed an extra long one! It ended up being 8 feet long.

It's double-sided too!

Yay! Jungle-y.

Quilted Fleece scarves for my colorful twin aunts.

And a rock and roll one for my other aunt. (Yes, I have 4 aunts on one side. Also, I made 2 others, one for a good friend and one for me, but they're not as interesting.)

Also, Dad and I had fun while Mom & Brock were in Florida. He's going to build a house in Tennessee for retirement and so we made a model... This one ended up being HUGE. Both, model wise and actual-size wise, so it's been redone since this (and in foamcore!) but this one is still the sweet one.

Alright, that's enough for me this time! I'm still working on a lot (including hunting down a career and juggling fabric at JoAnn's) so hopefully we'll be seeing more soon! Hope you (whoever may stumble upon this) had a happy holiday and rang in the new decade right!