Bao

Tower

2012-01-30T02:04:00.000-08:00

Trying some stuff. Keeping it simple.

Portraits

2012-01-18T02:35:00.000-08:00

A few portrait commissions.

The raven coat

2012-01-11T01:33:00.001-08:00

Digging deep to find some more old pieces. They just keep getting pushed down the to do piles, but here's one, more than 3 years later. Shit, I need to do some cleaning up.

Kaleidoscope

2012-01-08T21:47:00.001-08:00

Done for the cover and tutorial for ImagineFX 79. Also included is a video of how it came to be. Check it out :]

Yellow

2012-01-01T18:34:00.001-08:00

Really old piece that was almost forgotten about.

Pink Fire

2011-12-08T21:58:00.001-08:00

Update, with a face, of course.

Un(able to)finish

2011-11-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of paintings that slowly went nowhere. Clearing out old stuff.

Zooombiessssss

2011-11-02T14:07:00.001-07:00

I love zombies!!

Devi

2011-06-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

Random-ish sketch of a creature. Having a little dry spell, which makes no sense as I'm in beautiful Pokhara, Nepal. It's amazing here. Will have to work through it I guess, too easy to relax and do nothing here. I'll probably take on some more commissions soon. Just getting it out there:]

Later.

Bloop

2011-05-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Sketch

Random

2011-02-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

Wax

2011-02-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

Check my watercolor sketches on my group blog

Sash

2011-01-10T09:49:00.001-08:00

Its time for an update I think. Just a small sketch showing someone how I paint.

I'm still traveling, having the time of my life. Hope you all are too this year.

Gothic

2010-11-13T00:52:00.001-08:00

Old sketch.

Closer to Ed

2010-10-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

A close up of Ed

Happy Halloween

Adelina process

2010-10-21T16:53:00.001-07:00

Promised someone this and totally slacked. Here it is, thought I'd do an animation this time.

Lady in Red

2010-10-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Oldie sketch, sorry no new stuff, lots of stuff to catch up on.

Acrylic process

2010-09-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

It tends to happen that when I'm active in one place, another gets neglected. Sorry for the slow updates. This is my process for an Acrylic painting. This particular one is of 'Wild Rose'.

The short version of my process is that I start with a sketch and then tighten it up. The painting is done in very thinned down layers, very much like water color, but the paint stays put when I add another layer. In this, I used color pencil to saturate the purples and reds.

Fire

2010-09-10T16:15:00.001-07:00

From a project with some friends. Not sure where it's going.

Commission

2010-08-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I'm currently taking on some digital commissions. It start around 100USD and go from there. This time around I'm open for all sorts of portraits among other formats. Please email for inquiries.
An example of what you might get.

Bark

2010-08-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

Textures from cgtexture.com

Tomorrow, I'm moving on to Bath for a few days and then to Exeter I think. Going to see more of the countryside and paint, hopefully.

Pearl Extras

2010-07-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks guys!

Youmacon

2010-07-26T14:10:00.001-07:00

Something that was going to be something, but ended up being nothing.

Also, currently in London. Any Londoners want to meet up? Sketch?

From Berlin

2010-07-09T01:36:00.001-07:00

Thanks guys for the comments. I'm currently in Berlin. Next stop is Prague and Gimmelwald...

Confetti

2010-07-05T17:20:00.001-07:00

This is one of those images that seem to appear in my mind and I have to materialize it. It's definitely something I'm going to explore further.

Photoshop(I'm mostly using this right now)

Madonnas

2010-07-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

The second image is a variation of the first. Photoshop.

Bones

2010-06-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the great responses. I started on my trip and is now in New York, so I might not be able to update as often as I had intended, but I'll do my best.
Here are some bones. Both are from photos.

Drips

2010-06-21T01:00:00.001-07:00

Experimenting.

Lemonade

2010-06-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

An old sketch. There will be many more.
Also, I'll be in New York city starting next Tuesday, so yeah, if you feel like nerding out on artsy stuff with a total stranger, hit me up :D

Karlee

2010-06-15T00:00:00.001-07:00

Easing my way into posting again. This was done as a 1 hour demo. Texture from photo.

New girl

2009-08-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

Her name is Darla.
Been pretty absent around here, can't help it...
Photoshop+tablet

Painting Ely

2009-06-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

So here's the video...5hrs squeezed into 10 mins.

The Others

2009-06-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Unused ideas for the cover. I'll be finishing these off one by one. You can see some of them are farther along than the others

Plume steps

2009-06-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

So, I received my copy yesterday and have been giddy ever since. It was cool to see them post the other concepts for the cover as well as the steps. I thought I would add some more steps and larger images for you all to enjoy. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. This way, I can be more specific in my explanations.

ImagineFX Cover

2009-06-06T23:49:00.000-07:00

This was done as the cover to issue 45 of ImagineFX. It was a great privilege to work on with Paul and Claire over there, great people and an amazing mag.

It is out right now, so go check it out Issue45

Hope you all like it:D

Nest

2009-05-26T21:17:00.001-07:00

Moving into Acrylics. Surprisingly controllable in thin layers. Was a blast to do.

6.5in x 9in
India ink, Acrylics, and white gesso

Dresses

2009-05-17T16:57:00.001-07:00

Quick dress designs while playing with a brush.

Lips

2009-05-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Just found this again. I did this years ago, during the time when I still wanted to be an animator. Of course, that didn't pan out, but I wish it did...sigh...
It was based on some paintings I saw at that time, but I can't recall the artists right now.

Dahlia 3

2009-04-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is where Dahlia has become. The first was a continuation to the previous one, until I got carried away and overloaded the entire thing. The second is my attempt to remedy the situation. Now, I don't know what to think, so I'm asking you guys. Which/what do you think I should do?

Dudes

2009-04-17T20:47:00.001-07:00

I've been studying the male feature, and here are a couple of sketches. The orange one is just an alternate version that I like. I did the last one after perusing several Sargent books. I used some of his paintings as references whenever I was stuck. I learned a lot from that man.

Wicked Little Things

2009-04-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

Some close-ups of this. Made for a workshop in issue 42 of ImagineFX magazine.

Dahlia 2

2009-03-22T03:18:00.000-07:00

Still going... Working on finalizing the face and still experimenting with the rest of the design.

Dahlia 1

2009-03-20T17:28:00.001-07:00

The start of something

Feona

2009-03-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

These are close-ups for this

Old kiriban

2009-03-12T21:57:00.001-07:00

Some sketches as prizes for a little thing I did on DeviantArt.
Around 1 hr each, Photoshop.

Elusive Buggy

2009-03-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

Something I could never finish, she kept changing, but not into what I wanted. It's very frustrating...
She's an oldie...lots of time spent on her, but I guess it's time to let go.

At least she spawned something cool.

It's been a blur

2009-02-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

Scarlet and Daisy

2009-02-04T17:24:00.001-08:00

Experimented with Watercolor and Oils on Rives BFK paper. It was a fun process, I just have to expand on it.

Around 6x6 in each.

Sketches

2009-01-29T23:58:00.001-08:00

Selected pages from my sketchbook. Random thoughts and ideas.

Pencil, white conte, and ballpoint pen.

Cup Tape Dish

2009-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Been out of commission for awhile, getting back to things slowly.

This one was from life, a while ago.

Photoshop.

Quicky

2009-01-18T02:43:00.000-08:00

Warm ups

2009-01-05T19:52:00.001-08:00

Some more digital practice. The first was from life and the second was made up.

I'm working on doing some small still lives in oils and putting them up on Ebay. I'll write more about it later, but just letting the word out now ;]

Photoshop+Painter

Speaker

2008-12-29T00:16:00.001-08:00

Oils aren't convenient at the moment, so Photoshop will have to do.

Idea

2008-12-26T01:55:00.001-08:00

Dark Blood

2008-12-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Close up of an image I just finished, with a movie poster theme just for kicks. I'll post the finished piece tomorrow, so stay tuned :]

Photoshop+Painter+Wacom tablet.

Here's the full image

Vista

2008-12-14T17:57:00.001-08:00

Dealing with atmospheric perpective with simple shapes. Done in Painter

Several sketcheroos

2008-12-10T21:55:00.000-08:00

and a photo?
Why not.

I shouldn't...

2008-10-17T01:43:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind, but I couldn't help myself. A little tease.
Lots of catching up to do still.

A little escape

2008-10-08T00:45:00.001-07:00

graphite, colored pencil, pastel

Twice as large as original

Memories

2008-09-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Practice/warmup
Photoshop

Dollface

2008-09-23T00:54:00.001-07:00

An oldie, but trying to keep active here.
Photoshop+Painter

Dance Dance

2008-09-12T01:37:00.000-07:00

Photoshop+Painter

Explorer

2008-09-09T21:55:00.001-07:00

Exploring new things.

Photoshop

Tuft

2008-08-28T22:11:00.001-07:00

Experimenting with stained Reeves BFK paper, charcoal, graphite, white conte, gouache, and gesso.
Actual size. Fake frame

Eva

2008-08-16T00:39:00.001-07:00

Kinda new, kinda old
Photoshop+Painter

Mr. Light

2008-08-03T22:35:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the long absence...Photoshop.

I shall be back!

Scarlet Field

2008-07-16T00:15:00.000-07:00

Warm up

Smear

2008-07-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

Quick warm up today.

Scarlet

2008-07-07T01:51:00.001-07:00

It's officially a series.
We'll see how long this will last....

Electric

2008-07-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Over processed fun warm up.

Spotted Plain

2008-07-05T01:05:00.001-07:00

Been looking at Zhaoming Wu's work, thought I'd give it a shot. Some made-up place.
So I went out and got chewed up by bugs today, and oh yeah, painted a landscape. A friend lend me her painting box. It's not quite a Pochade Box, but it definitely made things more convenient. I'm planning to build one myself, it should be pretty cool.
After not painting for about 3 months, it was really satisfying to finally pick up a brush again. I'll post the painting once I get a good picture.
I'm going back out again tomorrow.

Lost

2008-07-02T00:59:00.000-07:00

Top Hat

2008-06-30T02:09:00.000-07:00

Today's practice.
Photoshop.

Release

2008-06-29T00:36:00.001-07:00

I've been sketching a lot of sprites lately, and this was an idea the just popped up.
Done with Photoshop, concrete texture from CGTexture.com

With bells on

2008-06-23T02:39:00.000-07:00

Working two jobs is really sucking up my time. This is a little something I started. Oh, so many WIPs.

Loosen up

2008-06-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

Been in a slump, and also busy, so I'm trying to loosen up with these. both done with Photoshop.

Hot

2008-05-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Found this old piece in a folder. This might have been the tipping point for me in terms of saturation. It was a good practice of hot an cold though. These days I'm trying to get more naturalistic colors.

Gangsta

2008-05-25T03:37:00.000-07:00

Gold things

2008-05-17T02:35:00.000-07:00

I really need to get back to oils. I've been researching Prochade Boxes, pretty pricey, the good ones anyway.
Here are a couple of pieces lying around. An old oil piece 9x12, and a character piece, some sort of court fashion thing.

Feathers in her hair

2008-05-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

Not much to post at the moment, so here is an old WIP, taking a stab at really dark skin tones.
I'm done with raven, but I'll wait a little bit before posting that.

The raven

2008-05-03T04:32:00.001-07:00

Yet another one

Monochrome

2008-05-02T03:23:00.000-07:00

Cloaked

2008-04-29T23:44:00.001-07:00

Random sketch of the night.
mmmh...steamy...

Roadside

2008-04-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

Thumbnail of an old idea finally seeing the light of day, or rather a flashlight.

The dance

2008-04-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

Found a direction and put in a little bit more time today. Channeling Brian Froud...

and a close-up

Start

2008-04-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here's the start of something...I tend to start a lot of things and take forever to finish, hopefully this won't be the case here. I still don't know what I'm doing yet, so that might be a problem though.

In the land of the red earth

2008-04-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

you'll find the red Buddha. I didn't quite capture the mood I had wanted, so I will have to further this idea.

Warning! Likeness not guaranteed.

2008-04-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

Life drawing from Monday night. I wasn't able to made it last week, so I was glad I was there this week. We had a great model, very lean and so I was able to observe muscle in action. This was the 3rd male model I've ever drawn and I have to say, it was a nice break from the female form.

I notice while doing the longer sessions, I relied more on shorter, angular strokes rather than fluid lines. I don't know if it's because I'm drawing a lean male form or if I'm just working differently. I was a bit anxious to do some long lines, but it just didn't work out. I mostly used the side of the charcoal stick to indicate the lines, rather than drawing them.

I'm kind of disappointed with the one holding the stick; I got a bit lost there.

Through the woods

2008-04-21T20:47:00.000-07:00

Working on my environments. An obvious theme.

OC Portrait

2008-04-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is the file to one of the first sketches at the beginning of my blog. It was done in OpenCanvas, but I decided to record it so that you wouldn't have to download the right program to see it. It's kind of choppy, sorry about that.

Aarrg

2008-04-19T01:14:00.001-07:00

Ooh-la-la

2008-04-18T02:19:00.001-07:00

Colored a couple of pencil sketches the other day:]

Snooty Alice

2008-04-16T21:48:00.001-07:00

Another version, I'm trying to get comfortable with pencil again. Ironic, since not so long ago I was trying to get comfortable drawing with the tablet, and now that I am I'm trying to go back. The frustrating endless cycle continues...

Pencil, colored with Photoshop.

Alice

2008-04-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Just for fun, not much designing really. A couple of versions. Done with photoshop.

Even more life

2008-04-12T18:04:00.001-07:00

What can I say, I haven't been do much to show, so on with more life drawings from the nights before. I've been learning a lot by doing these, very glad I decided to go to these sessions. I would highly recommend it to everyone. You can't beat having a living, moving person in front of you to work from.

Tangerine

2008-04-10T22:40:00.001-07:00

9x12in
Oil on canvas.

This piece was done about a month ago for a show. I'm still waiting for the weather to get better to do some plein air, but it doesn't look like it for awhile. Usually, it's summery by now in Iowa, but it's been raining for two days straight. Whatever happened to global warming?

Sargent and Cecilia

2008-04-09T23:51:00.001-07:00

Quick studies of John Singer Sargent and Cecilia Beaux's paintings. I was at the Chicago Art Institute museum a couple of months ago and stayed around these two for some time.
I also caught the exhibitions on Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. It was overwhelming how many paintings there were, especially Homer's, I liked his watercolors the most. I wasn't very familiar with his work, so that was an awesome introduction. Too bad taking pictures wasn't allowed.

More life

2008-04-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

From Monday night. I had forgotten my eraser that night, and although I don't use it often, I was still pretty nervous all night. I will have to do it more often.
The last two were 4 minutes each, and the line drawing was 1.
Charcoal.

In Oils

2008-04-07T00:48:00.000-07:00

This one was done using on of the digital sketches as reference. Shown in actual size.
Oil on masonite

From Demo

2008-04-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

I did a digital painting demo last night at the gallery where I show work. I had a great time just painting and answering the odd questions then and again. It got a bit repetitive, as I had expected, but it was great to see so many happy faces when they find out they can do this with photoshop. I also found out was I more comfortable painting in public than I realized.
A lot of portraits, of course. The last one was from life and the rest were from my imaginings.