Mole: Color Sketch

"Mole Color Sketch"

Pen and Photoshop

I had fun working on the little color sketch for Badger so I thought I would do one for Mole. I'm putting together a character sheet for him and Ratty and I'm also working out designs for the other two. Another upcoming project is a simple color comp for one of my first Illustrations.

The Wind In The Willows: Exploratory Sketches

"Badger"

Pen and Photoshop

"Toad"

Pen

"Mole & Ratty"
Pen and Marker

"Mole & Ratty Basic Body Shapes"

Pen

Here are some exploratory sketches I've done for The Wind in the Willows. The first two are very early roughs for Badger and Toad. The third pretty much represents the final design for Mole and Ratty. I'm currently working on a gouache painting based on the this sketch.

The final drawing is a size and shape comparison for the two main protagonists. At this stage I was trying to get a feel for the personality/motivations of the characters and how that would best be represented by shape.

Ratty's design evolved through dozens of drawings that filled my sketchbook. One difficulty was trying to pin down his shape so that he looked like a water rat but still maintained a lithe and athletic skuller's shape. I looked at several reference pictures of water rats and built his design from that reference point. I did the same for Mole, although his shape came to me much quicker. Its not too hard to stylize moles since they already look like cartoon characters.

The challenge now will be to portray the rest of the gang with an equal amount of stylization while still retaining their animal qualities. After that, I'll start working on Background and object designs. Ultimately I would like to do a few illustrations. I would also like to attempt some designs in a more traditional storybook pen and ink/watercolor style. Anyway, thanks for looking.

The Wind In The Willows

"Mole"

"Ratty"

My home computer has been out of commission for a while so I haven't been able to update as much as I would like. However, the work still goes on. All of my work for Whip Crack Away is done. We showcased it in the Academy of Art Spring Show and I even won a little "excellent" award for it. Showing it was definitely the cherry on top! We got a ton of positive response from peers and co-workers as well as industry folk who came by to check out our work.

So now that my part on the short is over, I've begun to focus on some personal projects. I revisited some OZ stuff and also started sketches for a couple of other books I love. One is The BFG by Roald Dahl and the other of course is The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

BFG will be a lot of fun since it's not been interpreted much. The only thing I have to go by are Dahl's well drawn character descriptions. Willows is a different story. Its been interpreted so many times both in Illustration and Animation. Rankin Bass even did a version back in the day. My favorite animated version is the stop-motion film made by Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television back in 1983. Personally I think it is the closest to retaining the pastoral and cozy feeling of Grahame's book. Weta is currently working on a "darker" version of the story... I don't have much to say about that, but I'm sure Mole would say, "Hang darker versions!"

Until next time, take care!

Gouache

"Mole"


"Calamity Jane Color Sketch"


"Whaling Days"

Calamity Jane is nearing the end of production although it seems there is no end in sight to the work. Somehow it will all come together. Right now I am working on mouth shapes that are needed for lip synch and some critters and foreground elements. In the few hours that I find to myself, I've been experimenting with opaque paints. I am pretty well versed in Watercolor, but have always been afraid of the opacity of gouache, so I thought it was time to face my fear. Wouldn't you know it? I fell in love with opaque colors. Can't wait to get working more with them on my off time. All the work I am doing now that is not short related will be going into my next book (portfolio) no matter how crappy the sketch, if it shows process then I want it in there. The three pieces above were relatively quick studies, The first piece is one of my iterations for Mole from The Wind In The Willows. I am working several thumbnails in my sketchbook based on this character and I'll definitely update the blog with whatever I come up with. The second one is a general color sketch for the short, the third and final piece is a little tribute to the production crew working on Calamity. An effort that goes by the name of Whaling Days; We are the whalers surmounting all odds no matter how dire... Keep an eye out, there will be a whole lot more work coming soon!

Portfolio 2011

My portfolio is finished! I spent a week gathering all my drawings, and compiling them into a somewhat cohesive and presentable format. Of course I have also sent a few out in to the world which is the last step in the creative process. No use doing any work if you're too scared to show it. Anyway, if you click on the picture above it will take you to a nice little slide show of my entire portfolio. There are a few pieces in there from the stop-motion short I've been working on, speaking of which, I am now pretty much focused only on completing all the work for that project. I had to put off the sculpt for the time being, but as soon as the work is done I will throw myself back in to sculpting. I also have a few ideas I'm working out in my head. Some to do with Guillermo, and others with revisiting older projects. The OZ project is floating around in there somewhere, but also a version of Hansel and Gretel that I had been mulling a few months ago. I'll be posting new work as soon as I finish Calamity Jane, and also the finished stop-motion film... The fruits of our labor! :) Keep watching!

Portfolio: TItle Page

I took a break from sculpting to work on my portfolio last week. I am happy to say I am done compiling it and I'll be taking it to the printers tomorrow. Here is the title/intro page done in Photoshop.

Maquette Sculpt: Nothing Is Precious

Take a shot of whiskey and have at it...

Its better if you do it in one motion like ripping off a band-aid.

Plumbers Epoxy worked into the wire, Now its ready for Magic Sculpt.

This past week I was wracking my brain over the stability of my armature. It's been a while since I built a maquette from scratch so I've had to relearn things as I go along. One of the difficulties I ran into was with the rigidity of the legs. Guillermo has really thin legs and ankles which means the armature also has to be thin, but a thinner armature means less stability and it is near impossible to sculpt on a flimsy armature. The week before last, I stopped by Douglas and Sturgess in SF to purchased some Magic Sculpt. I had never worked with this product before but I heard that it works wonders... Well, it does and it doesn't. Magic Sculpt is definitely rigid when fully cured, but it also needs support (unless your wire armature is already stiff). I was so eager to work with it that I applied it to the legs thinking it would be rigid enough to stiffen the armature underneath but I soon realized my mistake. I applied it too quickly, failing to work it in the nooks and crannies of the wire so when it was fully cured, the armature underneath was still flimsy; much too flimsy to add clay weight on top. This was very distressing since I had already sculpted detail for the socks, but as with anything creative, one must be willing to destroy work in order to set it right. Last night, determined to let go of the precious detail, I stripped the magic sculpt off with a pair of pliers. Just as I thought, the epoxy clay came right off. I had worked it too quickly and had I continued the sculpt, it would have ended up a disaster. I took a few pieces of steel reinforced plumbers epoxy and worked it in to the wire. It set in a few minutes and then I was able to carve and sand away the excess. While its still not as rigid as I would like, once I add the Magic sculpt on top, it should be rigid enough to withstand the weight of the clay without cracking. The rest of the sculpt (aside from the neck, legs and feet) will be done in Super Sculpey. It can definitely be a bummer when things don't work out as planned but I learned from my mistake. Stay tuned for more! :)