Wide Open Vistas

Moving the blog (again)

2009-02-07T22:20:00.007-05:00

I'm building a whole new portfolio website from scratch and so I'm going to go ahead and start using Wordpress again for my blogging needs. Fortunately WP lets me import all of my blogger posts so I'm not starting over with nothing. The new blog is over at http://idledrawings.com/blog so change your bookmarks and RSS feeds accordingly.

If you're interested, you can see what's finished so far for the new site at http://idledrawings.com/dump/revised .

Geez...

2009-02-06T16:05:00.015-05:00

Some of my video game covers are showing up all around the 'net. The Mirror's Edge one in particular has shown up on 4 Color Rebellion, Kotaku, Geekologie and Giant Bomb. I've also gotten e-mails from some magazines that want to use it. Not bad, considering I've never even played Mirror's Edge...

Saul Bass vs. Video Games

2009-02-04T10:27:00.025-05:00

My Mario Kart illo is starting to spread around the 'net. Kotaku has just posted a handful of pics from the Something Awful photoshop thread, including two of mine.
Here are a few more that I've done.

EDIT: Cool, my Mario Kart cover is up at Geekologie too :)
EDIT 2: Giant Bomb now as well

Videogame Classics

2009-01-30T13:22:00.011-05:00

Over on the Something Awful Forums there's a thread inspired by these fake old-old-old-school video game covers. Here's my contribution.

And yes, I'm going to post my pages today...

Five Pages, 30 Days Challenge - Day 4

2009-01-28T22:25:00.007-05:00

Just some blind contour drawings for today, mostly of my two dogs, Bart and Mona. That thing next to my hand is 'Max-Fish', the fish Jess and I bought but couldn't figure out a good name for. He looks very grumpy, and I think my drawing captured that.

Five Pages, 30 Days Challenge - Day 3

2009-01-27T22:02:00.011-05:00

It was in the 70's today, so I figured "Hey, why not go to the beach!" What I didn't count on was the sea breeze dropping the temperature about 15 degrees. I was freezing my ass off, but I got my five pages. Nothing really pops out at me today (I blame the cold), but what's important is that I got out there and did it. Just 27 days to go!

Five Pages, 30 Days Challenge - Day 2

2009-01-26T16:55:00.000-05:00

Sat at Barnes & Noble today.

Five Pages, 30 Days Challenge - Day 1

2009-01-25T18:48:00.002-05:00

I've submitted an application and portfolio to CalArt's character animation program. I don't know if I'll get in or even how I'll pay for it, but it's where I need to be if I really want to make art for a living.

To that end, I'm giving myself a little challenge: Fill five pages a day with drawings from life for the next 30 days. I've drafted up a few rules:

At Least Five Pages from Direct Observation

A page is an 8.5 x 11 sheet (give or take) filled with drawings from direct observation. What constitutes a full page is sort of up to personal interpretation. If I can't fit anything more without sacrificing quality, I'll consider it full.

All Pages Get Posted

This is, ultimately, a learning experience, and there's just as much value in the mistakes and blemishes as there are in the successful drawings. Besides, sometimes the real gems are the ones we least suspect.

Drawings from films/TV are ok, to a point

Working from direct observation is ideal, but sometimes it's not possible to go where the people are. That said, I won't just pop in a DVD every time it's too cold or rainy to travel.

If I miss a day, feel free to give me shit about it.

On that same note, I'd also appreciate comments in my posts when I do manage five pages. The key to creating or breaking any habit is making your goal public and holding yourself accountable to others.

So there you go. Five pages, 30 days. I managed eight at the mall today. Just 29 more days to go!

New website up + sketches

2008-12-24T09:54:00.001-05:00

Tried another pass at that circus girl I made earlier. Also, a little Wolverine! Yay!

The new website is finally up at http://idledrawings.com . The storyboard section is almost done. I learned Javascript so I could code my own gallery (and I just love learning to program). The storyboard section uses a special jQuery library that will allow you to scroll though each board panel by panel.

The Plateau

2008-12-15T15:15:00.001-05:00

"It's important to plateau - It defines where you are and makes a definite statement so when you move on you can move on without ambiguity and without holding on. You're finished with it. Shift."

- Karl Gnass, "Spirit of the Pose"

I could have grabbed any quote out of this fantastic book, but this one is really hitting home right now. I'm trying new approaches to drawing in an attempt to shock my system out of its current rut...

My Lady Love

2008-12-12T19:47:00.000-05:00

Just a little scribble. I'm in a bit of a rut with my art, so I'm experimenting with different approaches in an attempt to loosen up.

Holiday Card

2008-12-03T19:48:00.000-05:00

It's December and time to load up the holiday albums. Hellooo Charlie Brown Christmas!

Circus Girl

2008-12-02T15:28:00.000-05:00

This is a piece I was working on last week. I'm trying to color it, but nothing's coming to me right now. Probably best to just let it sit for a little while.

Welcome...to Medieeeeval Tiiiiimes!

2008-11-17T13:20:00.005-05:00

Spent the weekend in Sarasota and went to a medieval fair. It's a great chance to draw people in clothing and poses you wouldn't normally see. It's not like you find a lot of people on horse back at Panera...

I've been working on a new website and I hope to have it up and running after Thanksgiving. I'm even learning JavaScript so I can put in my own gallery code on the site. Sure, there are a million pre-made files out there that could do what I want, but I love getting my hands dirty in web development.

More Sketchies:

And so it ends

2008-10-20T09:52:00.004-04:00

Finally done with my storyboarding class. I'll write about it later, but for now, here are two quickie designs I did of characters in my final project.

Rocks

2008-10-03T15:46:00.002-04:00

Been drawing a lot lately, and trying not to get burned out. The best thing is usually just going in a different direction for a while. Nature and architecture are my two biggest weaknesses as an artist, so I'm working to remedy that. Lord knows there's plenty of inspiration out there, like John Nevarez , Paul Felix and Armand Serrano.

At the Grocery Store

2008-09-27T22:36:00.004-04:00

I had to wait around the other day while my tires were being worked on. I didn't think to bring my sketchbook so I ducked in to the nearby grocery store and bought a dollar notepad and a sharpie. There were a lot of little old ladies coming in and out (this is Florida after all) but this one stuck out. She was wearing this oversized jacket and baseball cap, oblivious to how they looked on her. She may not be fashionable, but she was loaded with character.

Cafes

2008-09-25T15:54:00.003-04:00

Must keep drawing...

Texting

2008-09-24T15:28:00.003-04:00

Been busy lately and couldn't get to a scanner. Lots of stuff to post, but for now I'll just show these gestures of Jess texting on her cell. She doesn't like to stay in one position for too long.

I'm in the middle of boarding a chase scene for my class. This is my most ambitious project yet. I decided to thumbnail it all out on post-its so I could get a better feel for what is/isn't working before drawing the final boards. It takes extra time, but it's well worth it.

The only doom that's looming is you loving me to death...

2008-09-18T14:38:00.002-04:00

Captain Hammer. Now I gotta find something else to make fan art for.

Pushing Depth

2008-09-17T21:54:00.004-04:00

I recently discovered there was another book by Mike Mattesi, the guy who made "Drawing Force: The Key to Capturing Life through drawing". This one is about character design and talks a lot about your opinion and feeling of the figure as you draw. One exercise Mike talks about is manipulating and pushing depth by dramatically shifting the size of certain areas on the figure. I've posted a few drawings exploring this idea. It actually felt really liberating to push the shapes that appealed to me most on the figure instead of feeling so constrained by what's really in front of me. I look forward to using this technique more in the future.

Be sure to check out Mike's Book!

Will you lend a caring hand...

2008-09-17T15:09:00.002-04:00

Quick Penny from Dr. Horrible. I've been working all week on my latest storyboard. I'm really happy with it, but it's WAY longer than I meant for it to be...

It's a brand new day...

2008-09-11T22:33:00.003-04:00

I've had the Dr. Horrible soundtrack stuck in my head for, like, a week now. Damn you to hell, Joss Whedon!

Sitting in Starbucks

2008-09-10T20:14:00.002-04:00

Sharpie markers give me a chance to work over a large area quickly without worrying about making my lines clear. Also, if you use them long enough, the fumes let you speak to God (He says hi, btw)

Lots o' Faces

2008-09-09T09:37:00.007-04:00

Been filling the sketchbook, but haven't been near a scanner the past couple days. So, here's a bunch of faces. I was watching Star Trek while I was drawing these ("All Good Things" in case you're wondering) so there are a few attempts at caricature in there.

Here's Link from an obscure video game series. I don't think his name is even in the title. No wonder it never took off...

Finally, some riff-raff from Panera this morning.