Flower Lady Revisted

As part of a birthday gift to my mom, I revisited a character I created a year ago that she really liked and colored it. There's still a bit I'd like to change on it, but for now I'm happy with the progress.

Here's where you can see the original black and white version: http://dodadoodles.blogspot.com/2013/09/design-lab-paintings.html

Update + Mystery Skulls: Ghost Video

Hey y'all!

I don't usually post videos on this blog. But when I do, it's when I think it's something that's just super awesome. This is too cool to pass up.


Watch it. Repeat it. Love it!

And I promise to update again soon--thesis is hectic, but it's a blaaaaast. Ciao for now!

Dick Tracy Doodle

Tiny doodle of Dick Tracy (inspired by a Cup'O'Doodle scribble).

Tiny Update (Secret Project)

Teeny-tiny update to prove this blog isn't dead. My thesis film-work is in full swing, so I've been pretty busy most of the time. But, I'm working on a secret, personal project right now--here's a digital, ink drawing from it.

Still working out the flesh and bones on it--I might post more in the future. But for now, I can't reveal too much. :P

Society6 + Land of the Dead

Hey Everyone!

I am pleased to announce that I now have a Soceity6 page where you can buy some of my art! :D I'll be posting up more paintings in the future, but for now I have Tiger Unicorn, The Demon of Cat Mountain, Rainbow Tree, and a painting I made exclusively for creating my shop. It's called Land of the Dead--check it out in the store! Here's a preview of it:

Hopefully it's not what you're expecting... ;)

Tiger Unicorn

After seeing Georden's awesome piece of a striped unicorn (seen here), I felt the urge to suddenly draw it's opposite, I guess? So yeah, tiger unicorn...aww yeaaaah.

Text Version

No Text

Still somewhat a work in progress, so critiques and comments are always welcome. Also, I'm thinking of opening a Soceity6 page soon--I'll let you know when I do. :)

Ciao for now!

The Demon of Cat Mountain

Edit: After receiving some advice/ crit. from my friends, Syd and Alan, I made some adjustments to the painting. There's still quite a bit I could keep going with/ work on, but I'll need to put it on pause to start another painting. This has been super fun though...I might look into doing it in color at some point. :P

You can find Syd's website here: http://www.sydweiler.com/

And Alan's site is here: http://alanimation.tumblr.com/

Howdy-hey, everyone! I wanted to take the chance to update on what I've been working on. While I was chomping away at thesis, I found myself compelled to create a strange doodle of a dragon coming out of the rocks (spurred by music from Panic! At the Disco). I decided to keep going to try and test my value/rendering skills. I thought it would be a good warm-up before tackling a future painting I have in mind.

There's no real story to it (since it was supposed to be just a simple exercise). But if you must know, it's about a little kitty-cat samurai who must vanquish the demon plaguing his lord's mountainside (in exchange for slaying the beast, he gets his tail back). I created the cat after being inspired by Usagi Yojimbo, and John Nevarez's cat doodles.

When I get home, I'll scan my cat doodles (or I might just paint another pic. him...who knows). Also, feel free to comment and crit.--I always appreciate the help! :)

Ciao for now!

Summer Update/ CGMA Stuff

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while since I've updated--April and May were the busiest months for me. I finished up my junior year, went to Disney World to celebrate my 21st birthday, and moved to New York City for an internship at Frederator Studios (currently working in their books dept. doing cool/fun design stuff).

I've also been taking two CGMA classes, and modeling for my thesis film. And while I can't share some stuff from my film, I'd be happy to share stuff from my classes. I'm currently taking Storyboarding for Animation (with Ian Abando), and The Art of Color and Light (with Tyson Murphy). Both are really great instructors, and I've learned a lot from the classes. Below is some of my work from the classes:

Ciao for now!

Throwback! (Drama Painting from Last Semester).

Hey Y'all!

As usual, pretty busy with pre-production on my thesis film--it turns out that the idea I wanted to do was chosen to be my film for the next year. I AM SO EXCITED TO SHOW YOU GUYS, IT WILL HOPEFULLY BE KICK-ASS AND COOL...just need to make it now (haha)!

But until then, here's my drama painting from last year (I wanted to post it before it disappeared, lost in many-a portfolio/hard-drive). I went back and touched it up a bit--still a few things I wish I could tweak. But in the end, I think it turned out pretty cool.

The concept for the painting: "The Crow Killer, an extraordinary beast of white fur and clawed feet, steps outside his natural hunting grounds and kills crows in front of the Crow King's Shrine. Now he must survive the onslaught of the murder...and the spirit of the Crow King himself."

Original Painting (Dec. 2013)

Latest/ "Final" Painting (Mar. 2014)

Portrait of The Sea Witch

Hey Guys!

I haven't updated in quite a bit (I've been too busy with pre-pro for my thesis, that I've unfortunately neglected this blog). But, now that Spring Break is here, I'd thought I'd at least post something fun!

Here's a painting I did as a part of a 24-hour challenge we had at our school. Aaron Blaise--an incredible artist, and former Disney animator/director--came to visit again this year to demo/show his art. As part of his visit, there was a 24-hour art challenge (where the winner would have their work displayed at Ringling's Madeby Gallery, plus the possibility of winning some other cool prizes)!

Below is the painting I sent off--I didn't get to everything I wanted, but I managed with the time given. And then the one after it is the one I continued working on after the deadline. Special thanks to my friend, Courtney, who gave me some tips/guidance. She's super cool! ;)

Sketches + Update

I haven't posted in quite some time--I've been really busy this semester. I'm in the midst of pre-production towards my thesis film, so most of my time has been devoted to that. However, about two weeks ago, I decided to go to the Sarasota Jungle Gardens to see the sunlight and do some animal drawing. It was fun, and definitely a morale booster--sometimes, it's easy for me to get caught up in work (which I think is the case for most people). So it's nice taking breaks to just go observe nature/wildlife.

Here are some of the drawings I sketched:

(Note: There was a cockatiel that mimicked the sound of a cat perfectly--that's the reason for the meow, haha!).

Also, here are just some random sketches taken from my sketchbook about a week ago.

Thomas Scholes (pronounced "skulls", not "shoals", I think?) also came to visit Ringling and perform digital painting demos live! It was really cool meeting him--I really admired his work as a freshman, so who would've thought I'd get to meet him two years later. He's incredibly witty, and really good at presenting. Unfortunately, I couldn't see what he looked like during his first demo (I wasn't wearing my contacts), so his hair's wrong on the first sketch page. Oh well...

Tom and Andrew Theo also presented a demo together at Ringling's Digital Painting Sketch Club, which was pretty cool!

Tom talking about what clients ask for...

And to finish this post, here's some horse sketches I did for pre-production research. 

Thank you, and ciao for now!

The Last Samurai Composition/ Beats Study

Hey Everyone!

Before the winter break ends (and I have to go back to school), I did a small, scene study from the movie, "The Last Samurai". It was fun going back to this movie--it was a movie that's haunted me for a while, mainly because of the war scenes.

This scene is where Tom Cruise--er, I mean, Algren, is attempting to make his last stand before the head samurai realizes Algren is the "White Tiger", the symbol he had seen in his vision earlier in the movie.

This scene was interesting to analyze. I never realized how much the director/cinematographer utilized the environment (trees, ferns, plants) to create frames within frames. It was also cool to realize how quick the cuts were--they reminded me of the same timing like when a tiger attacks/swipes its paws. Lastly, triangular compositions dominated the scene, as well as circles. To me, they helped establish the main subject of the shot, as well as the hierarchy of who was in the frame. This is especially noticeable in the scenes with the head samurai--when the focus is not on Algren, the head samurai dominates every shot he's in.

And here's the shots blown up (if you'd like to flip through the boards instead). I tried to get the main story image of each shot, so things like camera movement/push-ins are not shown in these boards. The main importance of the exercise was to study the composition/importance of each shot.

Also, after about half-way through this study, I went on the hunt for new storyboard brushes I could use. That's when I stumbled across J.P. Vine's brush set--if you're like me and you're looking for something a little more natural in terms of "story brushes", I'd give his set a whirl. They're fantastic!!!

http://jpvine.com/2012/07/09/free-photoshop-storyboarding-brushes/

Ciao for now!