Ronald Searle Auction

Hello folks! It's been a stretch since I've posted anything so apologies to you who have followed this blog hoping it would by my fount-o-art. Instagram is a better place for that at the moment, so if you get an itch you may want to check my gallery out under glenndergarten. I also link to my Instagram account on my sketchagram page.

     Anyway, in the last year I've gotten to know some rather awesome artists (who also just happen to be awesome people) both through Instagram and other venues. One of those awesome artists (and people) is Matt Jones. He's a Story Artist at Pixar who happened upon my work through a mutual friend. Matt was looking to raise funds for a retrospective exhibit of Ronald Searle's work and to my surprise he asked me to contribute a piece for the auction. After thinking about it for like zero seconds I said YES! At first I was gonna do a piece based on Searle's Morbid Anatomies, but, well I got intimidated by the idea of trying to be as witty as Searle was. My friend Willie Real pulled it off expertly though so I am glad I went another route.  I decided to do a few acting studies based on one of my favorite movies, Chinatown.  SO here they are:

Head on over to Searle in America to check out some awesome contributions by some amazing artists.  While you're at it, you should also check out this cool little write up on Cartoon Brew.  I am absolutely honored to be included in this lineup and I hope that my two cents helps make this show a reality.

Gentlemen

 

Here's a recent page out of the sketchbook.

Seen Around Oakland

 

 Hello there!  Here's someone I'm sure I've seen in my neighborhood.

Birds

 

Hello friends! Hope things are well!  I decided to play with some gouache (and other stuff) this weekend.  This is the result.  Maybe I'll do more?

Warm Up Sketch

 Hello! How do you do? Here's a quick warm-up sketch I did on Monday.

Glums Hill

 I painted this sketch up all proper in Phothoshop :)

Groundhog Dwelling

I've been working on some concepts for a friends project.  Here's a quick sketch of an environment.

Moley Character Sketch

A little Photoshop sketch of Moley based on a doodle I did in my sketchbook.  Gearing up for some Illustration work this week, this is where he is so far.

Shootin' Pool

Sketched this guy the other day and I decided to do a color pass on him.

Paper Cut Out Sketch

Moley: Paper cut out, Watercolor.

A Wind in the Willows development sketch.

My Book! And Other News

 

Hello all! This is my book.  Essentially a print version of what I have up on my portfolio site.  I'm looking into having it printed locally for less so stay tuned.  I'll most likely have some availale to buy soon.  

Also, I'll be revamping the blog a bit, breathing some new life to it.  Its kinda dusty, and I have some more personal projects that I'm working on that I'd like to post.

In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram.  I've been posting a lot of rough process work up there.  Thanks for looking.

Back From The Dead...

I've been MIA for a while now, both because of my current job and also because for the last several months I've had the privilege of attending a couple of Character Design Workshops at the Animation Collaborative.  During this time I've gotten to work with two really talented Instructors Dan Holland and Chris Sasaki who combined have worked some 13 years at Pixar as well as other studios.  These workshops have turned out to be a creative goldmine for me.  Most importantly, I've learned let go of some tropes that I'd desperately been hanging on to since I begun my Animation/Illustration schooling.  Below are a few examples of exploratory sketches I've been working on:

 
There definitely will be more to come as I complete my portfolio for this final workshop.  Additionally, you may now check out my most current portfolio.  It's still a work in progress since I'll most likely be incorporating my newest and strongest work in the next months.

Thanks for looking!

Sherlock Holmes: Storyboards in Progress

Here is a small storyboard sketch for The Adventure of the Final Problem.  I'm heading towards doing some environment layouts so I thought it might be good practice to board out this particular scene.  The wide shot above depicts Moriarty arriving at 221b Baker Street to confront Sherlock.  I'll post up more sketches as they come.  On the next pass I hope to work more on the color of each shot to create a sort of rudimentary color script.

Ultimately this is all a practice in design process... So far so good.

Art Night Sketch

In keeping with my promise to myself, here is another character sketch I did at an Art Night gathering last night.  At first I had it in mind to portray Mr. Jabez Wilson from The Red Headed League but he turned out less fatter than I had imagined.  Still, it was a fun drawing to work on.  I may even give him some color.  For now hes still Jabez to me, just imagine him with bright carroty red hair.  I've got a Moriarty in the works!  I'll post him up soon.

Moley: Re-iteration

I did this iteration of Mole a little while ago on a piece of scratch paper... I'm liking the direction.  Its a lot simpler somewhat sloppier and quirkier.  I like to think that the animals from the Willow Glen tailor their own fashions from scrap pieces, therefore their clothes are somewhat ill fitting.

Its Been a While...

Sherlock and the Black Pearl of the Borgias

Well, its been way too long since I last posted, but that's not out of laziness... In October of last year, I got my first job as a concept artist and of course I hit the ground running, doing drawings primarily for work.  Its been a challenge carving out time to work on my own personal projects, but I've managed to get some sketching time in here and there.  I hope to keep up the blog as much as possible by creating little drawing challenges for myself every week.  While the above doodle took a little while to color (primarily because of time limitations) I initially sketched it out in about 20 minutes.  If I can at least get one character drawing in a week, I'll be happy.  Then maybe as I get back into practice in I'll start actually doing some illustrations.  This here is my re-iteration of Sherlock Holmes from "The Six Napoleons."  Maybe I'll do Moriarty next?

Raccoon Dog

Here's a little sample from a project I've been working on.

Abuelita

A little tribute to Grannies everywhere.

The Wind in the Willows: Mr. Toad of Toad Hall

Mr. Toad was kind enough to pose for this little Portrait yesterday.  Immediately upon my asking, he sashayed off to freshen up, emerging blushed and burnished with the heraldic glow of Monarchy.  Here he is in all his glory... Mr. Toad of Toad Hall: Country Squire, avid sportsman, expert motorist, thespian  and wayfaring adventurer!  Do not look him in the eye and please refer to him as 'Your Grace.'

Holmes and Watson

I did these little doodles in my sketchbook after reading a few of the many Holmes stories in a fat one volume edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. I am such a nerd for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writings... Totally hooked! Anyway, if I ever have the chance to illustrate the stories graphic novel style, this is the direction I would take with the character designs.