Merry Christmas 2011

Wishing you all out there in cyber space a very Merry Christmas 2011. Here is a speed paint of a movie still from one of my favorite animated films, Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas. Enjoy

Character Sketches

Using Z-brush 4 to come up with some super fast and dirty creature and character concepts. I may later take these to completion but for now, just messing around with the program on my breaks at work.

Robert DeNiro

Robert De Niro, Jr. (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973 (My Birth Year, Yaaay). In 1974, he played the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, a role that won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

His critically acclaimed, longtime collaboration with Martin Scorsese began with 1973's Mean Streets, and earned De Niro an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) and Cape Fear (1991). In addition, he received nominations for his acting in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978) and Penny Marshall's Awakenings (1990). Also in 1990, his portrayal as Jimmy Conway in Scorsese's Goodfellas earned him a BAFTA nomination.

He has earned four nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: New York, New York (1977), Midnight Run (1988), Analyze This (1999) and Meet the Parents (2000).

De Niro directed A Bronx Tale (1993) and The Good Shepherd (2006). He has received accolades for his esteemed career, including the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.

Along with Al Pacino, I consider DeNiro to be among the best actors in the industry. Here is a caricature of him , followed by a work in progress shot and some pics from some my favorite DeNiro characters.





Deniro as Bounty Hunter Jack Walsh in Midnight Run:



Max Cady in Cape Fear:



Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver:



Real Life Boxing Champ Jake "Raging Bull" Lamota in raging Bull:



And last but not least, The Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part 2:

Living Creatures of Revelation: Lion

This is another one of the living Creatures from The Book of Revelation chapter 4 of The holy bible (New Testament)
This is the cherubims with the appearance of a Lion. You can see the Bull or ox a couple of post back.

Herbie The Love Bug, pixar style

This week's sketch challenge for the Soulinterface Studio blog was to take a famous car from film or TV and draw them in the style of Pixar's Cars. I decided to go with Disney's Herbie since he is also a racing car.
from wikipedia:
Herbie is an anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle, a character that is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1968 feature film The Love Bug. He has a mind of his own and is capable of driving himself, and is a serious contender in auto racing competitions. Throughout most of the franchise, Herbie is distinguished by red, white and blue racing stripes from front to back bumper, a racing-style number "53" on the front trunk lid, doors, and engine lid, and a yellow-on-black '63 California license plate that says, "OFP 857". One exception to this is his introduction in The Love Bug, where he initially appears as a nondescript white vehicle with a gray colored fabric sunroof (a.k.a. "ragtop"), the style of sunroof offered on VW Beetles made through 1963.



The Real Herbie:



A VW Beetle from Pixar's Cars:



and last but not least Cars main man Lightning McQueen "KACHOW!!!:

Da Draogon vs. DA DEMONS

Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; 27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement. He is widely considered by many commentators, critics, media and other martial artists to be the most influential martial artist, and a cultural icon.
He is noted for his roles in five feature-length films: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973), directed by Robert Clouse; and The Game of Death (1978), directed by Robert Clouse.
I did this piece as a tribute to Bruce Lee ,who is a big influence in my life, for his birthday last Sunday, Nov. 27th. I envision this as a concept for a possible video game. Below are a few close-up shots followed by pics of the man himself.

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest guitarist in musical history, and one of the most influential musicians of his era across a range of musical genres. I did this caricature in honor of his birth day. I went with a monochromatic color scheme in purple, in homage to his song titled Purple Haze. He really could make that guitar talk.

The Strip Mall in The sky

Black Friday could be scary in a place like this. I did this for the weekly challenge on the soulinterface studio blog. The challenge was interplanetary advertisement, so the idea was to envision a Nike ad in a far off world. My contribution was inspired by Hayoa Miyazaki and Disney's Treasure Planet. Done in photoshop by painting shapes with custom brushes then using photo collage techniques for texture.

Captain Japan

This was done for a new Weekly Sketch group started by myself and The owner of Soul Interface Studios, Dylan Brough. Dylan hired me to do some freelance work for his company in the past and recently approached me about starting up the group. We'll have different random topics every week, so it should be fun and interesting to see what everyone comes up with, plus it gives us an excuse to keep learning and growing as artist. You can check out the sketch group's blog @ http://soulinterfacestudios.blogspot.com/
And don't forget to stop by The Soul Interface Studios main site:
http://www.soulinterface.com/
This week's topic was to do a remake of Captain America as if he were from another country. Here is my contribution; Captain Japan. I imagine he would use his conical hat like Captain America's shield. The Kanji stands for (from top to bottom) Honesty and Justice, Heroic Courage, Compassion, right action, courtesy, Truthfulness, Honor and Glory, Duty and loyalty. All things the Captain Japan fights for. lol

Living Creatures of Revelation

This is one of the four living creatures (Greek: Zoon, Hebrew:Chayot), or Cheribum that suround the throne of GOD in the book of Revelation. This one is supposed to have the appearance of a calf or bull or ox, but I wanted to give it the ole DARAF twist. I may do a version of the other 3 at some point.

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
And before the throne [there was] a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, [were] four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle.
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
-Revelation 4:8

Pacquiao Vs. Marquez

Having fun exploring the different brushes in Corel Painter 12. I decided to do a caricature of two of the baddest fighters of this generation, Manny "Pac-Man Pacquiao and Juan Manuel "Dynamita (Dynamite)" Marquez. This was the third time these two met in the ring, and as always they went to war leaving fans torn as to who actualy won. Personally I felt Marquez pulled off the win even though Pacquiao got the decision. Here is a caricature of the two warriors followed by a process shot and two pics of the real men.

Concepteez Magazine issue 2

I would like to thank the crew involved in putting this issue together for asking me to display some of my art. I have a double page spread and a few other pieces of art in this issue of Concepteez Magazine. You can download a free issue by clicking on the image below. The first issue is a free dwnload also, there are some great tutorials and inspiring art from artist all over the world, so be sure and check it out.



Concepteez Mag Issue 2 by ~concepteez on deviantART

R.I.P. "Smokin" Joe Frazier

Form wikipedia:
Joseph William "Joe" Frazier (January 12, 1944 – November 7, 2011), also known as Smokin' Joe, was an Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981.

Frazier emerged as the top contender in the late 1960s, defeating opponents that included Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, George Chuvalo, and Jimmy Ellis en route to becoming undisputed heavyweight champion in 1970, and followed up by defeating Muhammad Ali on points in the highly-anticipated "Fight of the Century" in 1971. Two years later Frazier lost his title when he was knocked out by George Foreman. He fought on, beating Joe Bugner, losing a rematch to Ali, and beating Quarry and Ellis again.

Frazier's last world title challenge came in 1975, but he was beaten by Ali in their brutal rubbermatch. He retired in 1976 following a second loss to Foreman. He made a comeback in 1981, fighting just once, before retiring for good. The International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) rates Frazier among the ten greatest heavyweights of all time. He is an inductee of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Frazier's style was often compared to that of Henry Armstrong and occasionally Rocky Marciano. He was dependent on bobbing, weaving, grunting, snorting as he grimaced with all out aggression wearing down his opponents with relentless pressure. His best known punch was a powerful left hook, which accounted for most of his knockouts.

After retiring, Frazier made cameo appearances in several Hollywood movies, and two episodes of The Simpsons. His son Marvis became a boxer — trained by Frazier himself — although was unable to emulate his father's success. Frazier continued to train fighters in his gym in Philadelphia. His later years saw the continuation of his bitter rivalry with Ali, in which the two periodically exchanged insults, interspersed with brief reconciliations.

Frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer in late September 2011 and admitted to hospice care. He died November 7, 2011.
Rest Easy Champ, You'll be missed.
Below is a caricature I did of Mr. Frazier ( I hope I captured his spirit somewhat), along with two shots of him with long time rival "The Greatest" Ali.

R.I.P. Heavy D

Dwight Arrington Myers (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011, better known as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American actor, rapper, record producer, singer and former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz. Here is an homage I did today for this Hip Hop legend.

Caricature demo

Quick caricature demo I did for my artist friend, Ricky Ranson at work today. Not paying attention to proportions, but showing him my techniques. This took about 30-40 minutes in photoshop using nothing but a soft air brush. From here I would fix all the proprtions, tighten things up and maybe texture. It was enough for now to give the artist the basic starting point to working this way.

Wormwood

I asked my wife to help me name this one and she said "falling star". So that inspired my title "Wormwood Descending". In the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation it says: "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon a third of the rivers, and upon the springs of water; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and a third of the waters became Bitter; and many people had died of the waters, because they were made bitter." (Revelation 8:10, 11 - KJB). Some Bible dictionaries and commentaries view the term as a reference to a celestial being. A Dictionary of The Holy Bible states, "the star called Wormwood seems to denote a mighty prince, or power of the air, the instrument, in its fall". Here is my version of this Fallen Star that was more than it appeared to be upon closer inspection, but brings on mass destruction none the less.

This started out as a small thumbnail from a previous post using the shape tool in Photoshop, then later some corel painter, then back into photoshop for final details and textures.

Nosferatu 2011

Here is my version of Nosferatu the Vampire. Nosferatu is a 1922 silent German Expressionist film by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. This was a quick z-brush sculpt that I used as a base to paint over and texture.

Baba Yaga

according to wikipedia: Baba Yaga or Baba Roga known by various other names, is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs. In most Slavic folk tales, she is portrayed as an antagonist; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom, and she has been known on rare occasions to offer guidance to lost souls. According to Propp, she often fulfills the function of donor; that is, her role is in supplying the hero (sometimes unwillingly) with something necessary for the further quest.

Here rather than paint this witch with her traditional chicken legged house, I envision her transforming into a nasty demon with chicken like features. This would happen before she eats the children no doubt. Right on time for a Halloween treat.

More enviro thumbnails

Some more quick ideas for later development.

Enviro Thumbnails

Just a couple of quick Enviro thumbnails before bedtime. Working small and using nothing but the shape and clone stamp tool and very little brushes. This allows me to generate ideas quicklyand with little thought or effort. I can take these to completion at a later date.

Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster (Scottish Gaelic Niseag) or Nessie is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The most frequent speculation is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next. Here is my version of what this beestie might look like. I wanted to do a painting that had a bit of an impressionism look to it, so this was as good an excuse as any. I think the poor fisherman could have used more life and action, but then again he may just be frozen stiff from fear. lol Below is the finished piece, followed by a shot with a Fibonacci Spiral which I used to aid me in guiding the viewers eye through the composition. And lastly a close-up of the main subjects.

Tony Montana-Process Tutorial

Al Pacino is one of my favorite actors, I have been wanting to do a caricature of him for awhile now.  I went with a Scarface because it is one of my favorite roles he has played and I figured with the new enhanced Scarface bluray  that is out now, it would be fun to do.  I have alot of Pacino pen doodles floating around my sketchbooks. Here is one of Tony Montana.



This is a picture of a collector toy my wife got me for my birthday a few years back. I guess I'm kind of a fan:)



And a picture of my subject, Al Pacino in character as Tony Montana, "your never gonna see another bad guy like me, let me tell you."



This a quick breakdown of my process along with the process shots. I did this all in photoshop. First I start with a loose sketch and blocking in tones.



Next I make a new layer and fill it with a medium grey to tone the canvas. I lower the opacity so that my original sketch shows through, and on a new layer I proceed to clean up the sketch adding details to the face and background, all in greyscale.



more of the same, getting the tonal values right and trying to keep all the attention on his face, which I want to be the main focus of the piece.



Now I start to think about color, so I glaze the canvas with a brown and contrasting blue hue.



Here I continue to make adjustments and add colors, separating the character from the scenery. I also continue to refine the drawing along the way, which has still remained pretty loose.





All that is left is the details and finally the textures, and what would a Scarface caricature be without all of the cocaine.





I hope you enjoyed reading my process as much as I enjoyed Painting it and that you may have learned something that will benefit and motivate you in your own creations.