polar freeze

digital - adobe illustrator

virginia tech mourns

vector illustration - adobe illustrator

As a Virginia Tech alumnus (1997), I offer my condolences to those that are most affected by this tragedy; current students, family and friends of the injured and deceased. As the flurry of media swarms on this story (I have been contacted personally by local Bay Area California media) I truly hope there will be a resolve towards peace and understanding in this world. This violence needs to stop.

this ole man loves trane

traditional - gouache on canvas - 8" x 8" - value study

There is nothing like a little John Coltrane to celebrate 34 years on this earth.

The jazz recordings of the mid 50's to early 60's are my favorite. It's funny how a simple ballad can transport me to another world, hypnotizing me to a state of utter bliss.

While most of my peers love the modern music coming from their satellite transmitters and cell phones, I feel like a relic who would rather dust off a classic LP and absorb the crackling of the needle into vinyl grooves.

My birthday playlist:

• In A Sentimental Mood / Duke Ellington & John Coltrane


• My Little Brown Book / Duke Ellington & John Coltrane


• The Feeling Of Jazz / Duke Ellington & John Coltrane


• Blues To Bechet / Coltrane Plays The Blues


• Nancy (With The Laughing Face) / The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane


• Mr. Syms / Coltrane Plays The Blues


• My Favorite Things / My Favorite Things


• Everytime We Say Goodbye / My Favorite Things


• Blue in Green / Kind of Blue


• My One And Only Love / The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane


• When I Fall In Love / Steamin' With The Miles Davis Quintet


• Blue Train / Blue Train


• I'm Old Fashioned / Blue Train


• Soul Eyes / The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane


• Lush Life / he Gentle Side Of John Coltrane


• Dear Lord / The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane


• Take Five / Cool: Dave Brubeck


• Flamenco Sketches / Kind of Blue

I encourage you to come along with me and dive into these recordings. You will not regret it.

tribal

pencil - derwent graphic 4b; digital color - photoshop

alien - sprout finale

graphite - Faber-Castell Grip 2001 2b / Aquarelle
finale

alien - sprout part 3

graphite - Faber-Castell Grip 2001 2b / Aquarelle
part 3 - the surprise turns to disbelief...

alien - sprout part 2

graphite - Faber-Castell Grip 2001 2b / Aquarelle
part 2 - the distraction turns to surprise...

alien - sprout

graphite - Derwent Graphic 4b
The alien is a bit distracted by the sprouting flower.

a smurfy red demon

digital painting - Corel Painter

This is one of the coolest Smurf figures I found at a local toy shop, the
Sausalito Ferry Company Gift Store.

Not to be outdone, the other week I found a Frankenstein Smurf at Kar'ikter in San Francisco.

I'm a real sucker for interesting toy figures.

Joust - 80s

graphite - Faber Castell Grip 2001 1=2b / Derwent Graphic 6b

Joust was one of my favorite arcade games when I was a kid in the 1980s. Before the Atari 2600, Intellivision, Coleco Vision, and Nintendo, I loved going to this arcade in Springfield Mall called Time Out.

I did the above sketch on the plane while flying back to California from my hometown in Virginia. I think it was the memory of home that inspired this.

I did the one below on my way home from work today. Sketched with the same pencil set, but colored digitally in PS CS2.

mask - an epee dream

pen in sketchbook - pilot p-500 extra fine

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is Mask.

The other night, I had this dream of a masked man with an epee. Today, I continued the dream during my morning break at work...then sketched him while taking the train home.


pen in sketchbook - pilot p-500 extra fine

Dreams are a wonderful thing.

mighty present

digital painting - corel painter

This weeks' Illustration Friday topic is "MIGHT".

Here are some additional rambling sketches for the topic, done with a Berol Verithin Sky Blue 740.5 blue pencil I found deep in my pencil case:

Invention - Da Vinci Fish Flier

digital painting - Corel Painter

Back in March of 2006, I came up with some concepts for a weekly sketch group topic Evolution. The original idea I had was how fish would eventually evolve into flying creatures. I believe Da Vinci had postulated the same theory, but no one took him seriously. Since the topic this week for the Illustration Friday is INVENTION, I decided to take one of my original sketches and paint it.


If you are curious, you can see my other Flying Fish concept sketches here.

Pre-Thanksgiving Shopping Angst

Me with a bit of angst going from store to store -
blue bic pen on Banana Republic Credit Card Application

To prepare for the upcoming crazy holiday shopping madness, Rosa and I stopped in the mall to pick up some early gifts.

I left my sketchbook in the car, but was able to snag a bic pen and this lovely little marketing booklet, which I "borrowed" from the counter for signing credit card receipts.

I wanted to capture what I saw throughout the day... with some thought bubbles on their clothing:

thanksgiving - juicy

This time of year, one should be careful what they advertise.



digital illustration - Corel Painter

This is my second Illustration Friday submission. TOPIC = Thanksgiving

rubber ducky

digital painting - corel painter.




concept pen sketch on blue steno pad.



Now that work has slowed down a bit and my freelance gigs are all completed, I had some time to play more with Painter.

I based this sketch of a duck with rubbers and a rain coat from wooden sculptures I saw in an store window two weeks ago. They were of a mama duck and her chicks all dressed in rain coats and hats with tiny foot rubbers. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.

ghost - illustration friday

My first submission to the Illustration Friday site.

Sketched with Derwent graphite 4b, Prismacolor greys and thin lines with my friend, Mr. Pilot P-500.

I've been struggling with coloring the Mariachi sketch in Painter. I'll chip away at it more this weekend :).

mariachi - base layer

I wanna try coloring this in Painter. Wish me luck!

assassin revisited - in color

This is my first attempt at coloring with Corel Painter. I wanted to take this application for a spin, figure out the dense interface and play around with the pens and brushes. I've always wanted to try it, but I never had a wacom. Now that I dove in and picked up the Intuos 3, I have no more excuses :)

See the original pen sketch here.

taiwan and philippines - photo gallery

While updating my computer, I found some old photos deep in the hard drive from 2003. I was sent to Asia to take some pics. I had a blast.

Read more about it here.
See the photo galleries here.

More sketches and animation to come :)

assassin

Been a while... what the heck causes a BIOS error anyway? haha...
I'm thinking about trying to color this one. hmmm.

my most recent sketch: 09-02-2006

larger 900px detail

my most recent sketch: 09-01-2006

my most recent sketch: 08-26-2006