Pin-ups, Prints and Phone Cases

So I bought an awesome strathmore sketchbook that is hardcover with cream colored pages, I'm gonna fill it up with nothing but sexy pin-ups and then give it to a friend of mine as a present. I intend on scanning every page in and publishing it as a sketchbook that will be available to the public as well. Below is a couple of pics taken from my phone of the first few pages. Also if any of you out there are interest in purchasing my work in the form of prints or phone cases for IPads and Samsung Galaxy phones, head on over to my store at the InPrint website. I wanna thank all of the artist that voted me in to the store, I really appreciate it :) Below is a few screen grabs of the prints and phone cases that are available so far. I will be adding more as I get them resized and uploaded. All Prints are gallery-quality giclée art print on 100% cotton rag archival paper, printed with archival inks. You can order at this link here. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

Z-brush Idea Generating

I been having fun generating a bunch of silhouettes in z-brush using the techniques of the talented Cesar Dacol Jr. of Phoenix Atelier. I purchased a stream of the workshop from The Stan Winston school website, you can check it out here. This technique involves generating a bunch of silhouettes very quickly and altering each slightly using z-brush's layers. You end up getting a bunch of variations of your design pretty much for free. Lots of "happy accidents" occur this way. Here is an example of a page of thumbnails that I put together very quickly using this process. You kind of just free your mind from worrying about anatomy or anything technical while you put together shapes by pushing and pulling the digital clay around. I could have then decided to sculpt one of the thumbnails, but in this case, I just carried them over into photoshop for refining and painting. Below is an example of what I did with one of the many shapes I came up with. thanks for stopping by, enjoy!!!!

Scapegoat

This creature design came about by choosing random words and then trying to make something out of it. The words that were generated were Ram, Bull, Buck, Banyan Tree, Ember, Hot Coals, and Fog / Vapor. kind of challenging, but a great way to come up with topics to draw and paint. Once I had my words , I thought up a quick story / subject matter to give me more to go on. I knew I wanted to do a creature design, so I went with the first thing that popped into my mind, which was an image of a Devil or Demon messing around with the burning bush of the Moses story from the book Of Exodus in The Bible. It looks like he may not be able to get free anytime soon. Below is the creature concept followed by the sketch and the initial value block in. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!!

Steampunk Beast

I call this one Woman's Best Friend. Although the woman and her pet do not resemble my wife, I drew inspiration for this piece after I got my wife a baby Pitbull for our anniversary last year. I thought to do something more steampunk / fantasy inspired as well. I would imagine that big boy has no problem getting around that rough terrain. He sort of reminds me of the guardian / protector dog in the alien movie I Am Four :) Thanks for stopping by, enjoy!!!!

Philip Seymour Hoffman

From Wikipedia: Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor and director. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote, was nominated three times for Best Supporting Actor and also received three Tony Award nominations for his work in theater. Hoffman began his acting career in 1991, and the following year he began to appear in films. He gained recognition for his supporting work in a series of notable films, including Scent of a Woman (1992), Twister (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Big Lebowski (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Almost Famous (2000), Red Dragon (2002), 25th Hour (2002), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and Cold Mountain (2003). In 2005, Hoffman played the title role in Capote, for which he won multiple acting awards. His three other Academy Award nominations came for his supporting work in Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Doubt (2008) and The Master (2012). Other critically acclaimed films in his later years included Owning Mahowny (2003), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), The Savages (2007), Synecdoche, New York (2008), Moneyball (2011) and The Ides of March (2011). In 2010, Hoffman made his feature film directorial debut with Jack Goes Boating. Hoffman was an accomplished theater actor and director. He joined the LAByrinth Theater Company in 1995, and directed and performed in numerous stage productions. His performances in three Broadway plays led to three Tony Award nominations: two for Best Leading Actor, in True West (2000) and Death of a Salesman (2012), and one for Best Featured Actor in Long Day's Journey into Night (2003). In their front-page obituary following his sudden death at age 46, The New York Times referred to Hoffman as "perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation". May he rest in peace. Below is my caricature of the actor, followed by a screen grab of a work in progress shot next to the pic I used as reference. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

Bruce Lee

A caricature of The man, The legend, kung-Fu master Bruce Lee. What more can i say about this amazing person that left us at way too early of an age. Here are some of my favorite bruce Lee quotes followed by my painting. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!! Obey the principles without being bound by them. To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is. Using no way as a way, having no limitation as limitation. You just wait. I'm going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world. Showing off is the fool's idea of glory. A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough. I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done. Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.