San Bruno Mountain Fire

View from my apartment, South San Francisco, CA. (8:50 pm)

(click on photos for larger image)

mini thor

pencil - derwent graphic 4b

cyber cowboy

pencils - Derwent Graphic 2b,4b 6b and Faber-Castell Aquarelle
Westworld's Revenge

alternative fuel vehicle

pen: pilot P-500 extra fine and markers: prismacolors cool greys
An alternative fuel vehicle for the San Francisco gas consumers suffering $3.50+ a gallon.

captain starkist

pencils - Derwent Graphic 2b,4b 6b and Faber-Castell Aquarelle
illustrationfriday.com

feeling bearish

graphite pencil - derwent graphic - 6b, 4b, 2b
Feeling Bearish
Following Wall Street today can be as stressful as following the news coming out of Washington DC. With the talk of a "housing bubble" bursting at the seams, the thought of a correction to an inflated market sounds enticing. To a hesitant bear living in the Bay Area California, I have witnessed the exponential rise of fake equity the last five years. I feel a bit of resolve having been sitting on the sidelines watching this slow moving train wreck just now starting to unfold.

I also feel sorry for those families who got duped and swindled into signing those creative loans. I hope they find some kind of resolve. As for the speculators and flippers, shame on them for trying to make a quick buck. The greedy are going to get their comeuppance, just you wait and see.

bear bull study sketch


initial bear study sketch

figure studies

charcoal

pencils - sanguine and white on seashell flecked paper

charcoal

saving the suit

digital - corel painter and adobe photoshop
Topic: Suit - illustrationfriday.com

Running late for his job interview, Mr. Slowski took the expressway through underground utility pipes. While saving his suit from water, a fellow commuter decided to hitch a ride.

gaining a higher perspective

pen: pilot P-500 and markers: prismacolors cool greys

Epic Battle concept - original post: March 2006

Almost two months of crazy work deadlines and recouping by traveling to the East Coast to visit family and friends, is to me, time well spent.

After attending my college roommate's wedding in Jersey, chowing down on cheese steaks in South Philly with a grade school buddy, and tending to some family health issues in Virginia, my sketchbook is now tapping me on the shoulder.

My pencils haven't seen much action lately, although the wheels in my head have been constantly spinning with ideas. Now to bring them to fruition.

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