Category: Art: Photoshop

Bat Sweat

While a lot of schools may have started already, that doesn’t mean summer is over. It’s still pretty hot out there, and that heat can really slow down a superhero. There’s a reason Batman only goes out at night.

 

Spandex and sweat don’t mix well.

 

About that topic of schools starting in August – bleah! School started in my adopted town of Los Angeles back on August 13!!! When I was a kid, I’d still be splashing around in a pool, lake, or lawn sprinkler at that time of year! For me, school always started after Labor Day. (For you folks in other countries, Labor Day is a holiday we have here in the USA in early September.) I’m not sure what the rationale was for starting later, except maybe because most of our schools where I grew up in New Jersey did NOT have air conditioning. Even in early September, it could be toasty, but it would soon cool down as fall encroached upon our summer.

Of course, now I don’t go to school at all. So there!

 

Categories
Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Comic Books Illustrations Random Doodles Sketchbook

Don’t Feed the Bears

In this case, perhaps obeying the signs is the best plan for self-preservation.

 

The bear probably needs a breath mint.

 

I had some doodle time last month and started out drawing this bear with his mouth wide open without a real plan as to what the scene would really be. It began as an exploration of big curvy shapes with the bear, but then his ravenous appetite needed to be justified. So, thinking back to a bear/rabbit piece I did last year (which you can see by CLICKING HERE), why not revisit that idea in a different way this time, too? So, voila. There you go. A big hulking hungry bear, a poor defenseless rabbit, and a sign to bring it all together in one humorous moment.

Categories
Animals Art: Drawings Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations Random Doodles

Shark Week

I hear that this week is Shark Week. We’re gonna need a bigger blog.

 

“I’m not talkin’ about pleasure boatin’ or daily sailin’, I’m talkin’ about workin’ for a livin’, I’m talking about sharkin’!” -Quint
Categories
Animals Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Caricature Cartoons Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Scooby Doo and Guess Who?

A new Scooby Doo show began airing/streaming a few weeks ago on Boomerang – Scooby Doo and Guess Who? It features the Scooby gang with a celebrity guest or two in each episode.

Why am I mentioning this? Because two years ago, I was invited to help design characters for the very first episode they were making! Warner Bros. released a trailer promoting the series, and the green ball of flaming skulls that’s in the trailer was a “character” I designed for the show. Take a look!

 

 

Thought I’d show you my early color concept of the ‘ol screaming skulls, along with my final black and white drawing.

This was my initial color concept with an early version of the skulls.

 

This was my final drawing for the Screaming Skulls design.

 

Scooby, Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy in a still from the show trailer with the Screaming Skulls.

 

Nuthin’ scarier than a big ol’ ball of green skulls.

 

I’m cheering on series producer Chris Bailey & the crew who dutifully worked on the whole season, and hope they have a lot of success with it!

Categories
Animals Art: Animation Art: Inking Art: Photoshop Character Designs

Volleyball T-Shirt

Today there will be a big beach volleyball tournament in Playa del Rey, California called King of the Jungle. I designed the T-shirts for this year’s big event!

One of the organizers of the tournament is a friend of mine, Paul Carrera, who works as an editor in the animation business. He asked me for a black and white design, and let me do whatever I wanted for it.

It was fun just doing a simple action pose of this guy wailing on the volleyball. However, I thought that it might be fun to see this in full color. So, this past week, I decided to add some hue to improve the view!

 

Categories
Art: Inking Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations

Independence Day 2019

Here in the States, today is our Independence Day! In 1776, our country’s founding father’s sent a little ol’ letter off to our landlord, King George III of England, stating that we didn’t want to pay him rent anymore. Back then they “celebrated” with a war. Today, we celebrate with parades, barbecues, and fireworks with friends and family.

 

Uncle Sam knows how to have a good time on the 4th of July.
Categories
Art: Inking Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations Random Doodles Sketchbook

Exploration of Character Design

I’m sharing with you today, some actual animation character design work I created a while back. Thought it might be interesting to give you a little taste of the process.

The assignment in this case was to create a little brother character for an already designed big sister. The only stipulation is that he needed to be wearing a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers, and the script called for him to be mischievous. Hoo boy, what a task it turned out to be! You see before you about 20 or so exploratory sketches, but I did about 60 different versions in all.

 

Just a few of the many options explored for this character.

 

The client just couldn’t decide which way he wanted to go. Every time I presented a few versions, there would be comments and suggestions on how to change it whether it was the weight of the kid, his hair – whatever! Two other designers eventually got involved, too, and they experienced the same indecision from the client. It was certainly frustrating, because we wanted to please the client.

Eventually a design was chosen (one conceived by one of my colleagues), and then I created the turns (that’s the view of the character from all sides), and continued with some personality sketches, mouth charts, etc. I never would have thought a little boy would have been my toughest character design assignment, but it was.

So there you have it – some of the glitz and glamour of being an artist for hire.

Categories
Art: Animation Art: Drawings Art: Photoshop Art: Preliminary Sketches Character Designs Development Art Flat File Archives

Dapper Duck

It’s Father’s Day here in the States today. I created this dapper duck and mouse companion a few months ago, and when it was done, it just made me think of my dad. So, I saved it just to post today.

 

And remember kids, smoking kills. Especially ducks.

 

To all those sons out there, give your dad a warm hug today. If you aren’t huggers, give him a hearty handshake. Tell him you appreciate him. Time together is fleeting – just like this duck will eventually fly away from this mouse.

Categories
Animals Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Character Designs Illustrations