(live) Celebrity Warmups

When drawing in theme parks I would often warm up or practice by drawing from photos from magazines. A great way to attract customers is to draw a current celebrity. This also demonstrates an artist's ability to passers-by in a way that is not as aggressive as barking at a crowd or pointing to samples.

Below is one warm up sketch I did back in 2006 at Sea World and above are two Elvis drawings finished for my good friend Kevin, to be displayed at a Graceland caricature stand.

This type of sketch is not always the "best" an artist can do, but it is a special challenge to attempt a complete piece in 10-20 minutes. It also challenges you to make big, bold, fun decisions in a very short amount of time, helping the drawings for paying customers reach a new level of exaggeration, likeness and unique fun. You could loosely equate this to a good stretch before a 3 mile run.

Live Caricatures #2

Here are some more live caricature samples from the same graduation party in November, with Ed Steckley. I've had the pleasure of working next to Ed nearly a dozen times since we both (coincidentally) moved to the same neighborhood in Queens (NYC) nearly two years ago, and he always inspires me in one area or another.

I am fortunate to be currently working on a project that Ed is also involved in. I really enjoy collaborating with talented artists that I respect and admire... and tease.

For many of these sketches I was going for speed and simplicity, and a few were an exercise in fast pencil rendering and form. It was a fun group and they were really relaxed.

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Ron Paul

He's called "Dr. No" for his vote against excess spending. He's called the "Tax Payer's Best Friend" for his solid stance against both raising taxes and the IRS. He's called "The Champion of the Constitution" for his fight to preserve the integrity of the founding fathers of America.

Ron Paul has not dropped out of the race for president and will be attending the Republican National Convention with plenty of support. If you are tired of the usual candidates, this is a man still worth learning from. If nothing else, his book "The Revolution: A Manifesto" is an amazing read with plenty of history and a refreshing take on our founding fathers and the current state of the United States, with a perspective of true 'change' worth pursuing.

I did this small marker sketch back when Dr. Ron Paul still had a chance to initially capture enough delegates for the Republican presidential nomination. Even if you don't agree with his rare (for today's standards) stances, it's easy to see that we need more sincere and consistent politicians like Ron Paul.

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Live Caricatures

I was browsing through my backup hard drive the other day - it's full of files, images, photographs, artwork, etc - and I came across a folder full of live caricatures that I've never shown more than one or two people. Some were from theme parks and some were from gigs.

Live caricature is an amazing form of art and calculation, from an artist/problem solver's perspective. I have said before that I will never lose my enthusiasm and fascination for this form of art, and that still holds true. I'd hate to leave these images unseen, so I've decided to post them here.

In between "real time" posts on this blog, I'll be revisiting what I started - a live caricature blog. I don't intend to keep it exclusively to this topic, but I've been busy with a few big projects that are eating up my time, so until I get back to posting about illustration, character design, fine art, art-book publishing, and digital painting, I'll pepper in some old live caricature.

I'll start by giving you a high school graduation after-party that my friend Ed and I entertained back in November. I gave a crack at using a thick-leaded (clutch) pencil for some of these sketches because it is Ed's fancy.

Ed Steckley is one of the best live caricaturists I've ever seen (you can see him in the mirror on the right side of the first photo). He's also one of the best illustrators and story board artists around. His drawings are always exaggerated, stylized, funny, cute, clean and fast. There is a rare quality to his work and I feel the need to step up both my speed and quality when drawing next to him. Needless to say it's impossible to keep up with him in either category.

(If you like this style of art and haven't done so already, visit RejectsTheBook.com and order yourself a copy. I promise that you will enjoy it.)
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ASIFA East animation festival

Last night my girlfriend and I had the pleasure of attending the ASIFA East animation awards screening with our good friends Brian Haimes and David Cowles. David won two awards for the design on his work with They Might Be Giants. The finish and clean design of David's work stood out above much of the award-winning animations.

Overall it was very fun and an interesting look at the New York independent animation scene, as well as spotting some commercial and advertising work. The event was fairly small and hosted what looked like 200+ individuals. All age ranges were present and all animation approaches were visible (with the exception of 3d animation a la Pixar), from light comedy to dark and sexual.

We had the chance to grab a drink and a bite to eat after the show, where mingling ensued. My friend Brian has worked for Bill Plympton, so he reintroduced us. Bill took a peek at Rejects and reminisced about his caricature days and why he moved to animation. Overall it was a fun night. Be sure to look in to the animation and art groups in your area or your professional field. There is much to be learned from each other.

Ironman & the Raconteurs: the GOOD media

The media is often called "sleazy" or "cheap", but this is referring to the news media. Another use of the term is that which refers to audio and video; music, television and movies. There is a great trend happening in many areas of that sort of media nowadays and we are seeing it peak in many ways. Here are a few examples:

I watched the new movie Ironman the other day, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey, Jr. This movie was funny, interesting, visually stunning, well-timed and exciting at every turn. Even sitting in the second row of the theater and getting a cramped neck didn't at all hinder my enjoyment of this film. This, and many other movies coming out this summer, are great examples of the heights that this media is reaching. Comic book movies are hitting a new level of quality and popularity in the last several years, and I don't see a weak preview yet. Also, with animation hitting a new high in both story and visuals (Horton Hears a Who, wall-e, Ratatouille, Persepolis) I am looking forward to a logging hours and hours in movie theaters this summer.

I have been watching the television shows LOST and 30 Rock and have not been disappointed one bit. LOST has been returning to the once-great show of season one and two and has levels of subtle clues that are difficult to find but rewarding when noticed. 30 Rock is setting a new standard for quick comedy, picking up where Arrested Development left off, yet with it's own brand of slapstick and verbal childishly-clever humor. I look forward to Thursdays quite a bit, and the only thing stopping me from saving that one night for television is the recent return of hilarity to Saturday Night Live. The cast has matured over the last two years and I predict that one day they will each be known as legendary, and as a group: classic. I may have to set aside Saturday Nights at home.

Music has also hit a near and dear rise to my ears, as new music has been available from bands like The Raconteurs, the Black Keys, Radiohead, White Rabbits, Blitzen Trapper, Queens of the Stone Age and many many more great new and established bands, not to mention some classic comebacks for those that share my tastes in rock and roll such as Superdrag and Weezer... this makes me (once again) excited for this summer's releases. Rock shows in New York are accessible and comfortably energetic with amazing headliners weekly, sharing in the raised level of quality in rock and roll and blues inspired music.

Lastly the term media can involve technology and software tools. With ipods, iphones, development of air, electric, water, and hydrogen powered cars, fiber-optics in homes and most importantly (for me) tools like the Wacom Cintiq (see my review) and other advances in technology, we are in an age of convenience that we have never seen before. I am learning to embrace this and get on-board with much of it, and it saves us all time and waste.

I hope this trend continues.

Wild Pete's

Some animation just makes me laugh for no reason, much like "Colin's Bear." THIS ONE is just the same, yet well-executed. It takes a while to figure out what Pete is saying, but it's pretty damn funny:

LCS interview

The most excellent Darren Di Lieto of Little Chimp Society Illustration News Blog recently interviewed me for the website. It's a great hub for seeing illustrators' work and lots of fun art.

Check it out!

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Wacom Cintiq

Heaven.

I've been using a Wacom Cintiq 21UX at work and a 4"x5" Intuos 3 at home. Well, I finally took the plunge and invested in the setup I needed. Just after getting a necessary laptop replacement I'm now the proud owner of a Wacom Cintiq 20WSX.

first piece done with the new toy - 30 minute digital painting

The 20WSX is a slight step down (in size only) to the 21UX. The resolution support seems quite similar. In my opinion there are actually some advantages to the 20" model:

• There are a few more programmable buttons. These buttons even include the preset "display swap" function (much like the new 12" model), allowing me to easily use two monitors with my stylus. I am quickly getting used to this feature. While I enjoy keeping the Cintiq as my ONLY display at work, my new laptop works optimally at a higher resolution than the Wacom display supports, allowing me to run 3D applications and hold more menus on the screen. This is a huge convenience and could only be improved by a higher resolution on the Cintiq- but for now I won't complain.
• The touch-scroll bar is set on the back of the display rather than the front (as on the 21UX). I found myself wanting to use the scroll function, keeping my mouse out of the equation for zooming in photoshop and scrolling on the web, but my hand kept bumping it while drawing on the screen, so I had to disable it. Now I can use it without the worry of zooming in and out while drawing with big curved motions. The only drawback is that when I'm using the programmable buttons on the side I tend to grip the edge of the display, occasionally bumping the scroll with my index finger. The excusable element here is that I am already adjusting my grip habits to get around that.
• The widescreen format (16:10 ratio) allows my Photoshop menus to sit on the single display without crushing my workspace width. I always have adequate height and like keeping my menus close to the worspace while reference images sit even nearer my art. This was always a crunch with a typical 4:3 or similar, but the widescreen gives me the right amount of width to be comfortable.
• $500 less than the 21". yes, $500 towards something else and I feel like I bought the "big boy". To be honest, New York apartments are small even if you get a "big place in Queens" like myself, so to fit my laptop and Cintiq on my desk in my studio or bedroom, I really can't afford the space or weight of the 21". This is perfectly oversized and any larger would create an uncomfortable desk or inadequate room. I also see the future need for the 12" Cintiq for travel, and that would psychologically price it at $500 less for me, should I choose to purchase one.

Overall I am in love. I can see myself getting more into the rabbit hole of the DIGITAL ART world, but if I'm having this much fun I don't really care. I'm sure I'll draw and paint, but when I do digital work now I know that I am at least drawing on the surface that my art is on, rather than staring at my laptop with a postcard sized workspace in my lap. That is a value that is worth the price of this great tool.

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Character Design

I've had the pleasure of doing quite a bit of character design in the last couple years, more heavily in the last few months.

Character design is much like caricature, yet you must define, simplify, exaggerate and focus on all of the subject's scope, rather than just the face or head. It can involve cars, animals, objects or anything that needs definition and style to fit the "world" that you are creating.

At the moment I'm doing character design full-time. I can't share the current projects just yet, but for now I'll show some of the past work I've done, in pieces to show how I approach it. I see it as eye candy for those who like process or rough stages. Much like published sketchbooks, this is fun for me, so I'm hoping others find it enjoyable.

This project (circa '06-'07) involved taking an illustrated children's book (concept copyright: author) and optioning it for a Saturday morning cartoon with a more "hotrod" feel. To my knowledge the project didn't go through but the process built a few relationships that are great and I had a lot of fun. I got to draw DOGS and RACECARS... how can you beat that! Below is a fraction of the drawings and steps in the process:

My friend Brian Haimes did most of the modeling along with the great folks at So! Animation. I was still learning, so my help in the construction of the wireframe models was small, but I enjoyed every bit of it.

This next project is much more recent (January 2008) and was for Bette Midler's Las Vegas show. My task was to design fish characters to interact with Bette's character, under the sea. She is auditioning in a singing contest (an obvious American Idol parody) and they needed three fish judges to be designed to match the personality and likeness of the 3 American Idol judges. This was another dream job that I put as much concept as design into, contributing to what fish were chosen and even character animation traits. This was done with the great team at Atlantic Motion Pictures (AMP), also in New York. This is just a small piece of the work done for that job:

The final animation is displayed on a 120 ft. wide screen that drops on the stage, giving a cinematic "happening in front of the viewer" feel which, through the reviews I've read, is very effective. There was also some great and timely contribution through the producer, director, modeler and animators in this project. They really brought the drawings to life.

I really am enjoying character design as much as I enjoy illustration. It's an impossible lifestyle, as while I do one I miss the other... I guess I feel blessed to be able to go back and forth. I also find that very often one helps me with the other.

When I get permission to discuss the current projects and show the artwork, I will. I can't wait to share this unique and fun project, so check back soon and let me know what you think.

(this topic may also explain the flying pigs on my blog header: another character design project from last year)

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