Back in Action

Hey friends! It's been a while since I last posted, but I have a great excuse! For some of that time...
     I spent about three weeks (April 22 through May 15) in the U.K.! It was incredible! I went with the Brigham Young University Singers and we sang our way across most of Southern England and a little bit of Wales. If you're interested in reading up on what we did, you can check out the tour blog HERE.
      I will start posting things up more regularly now that I am back and getting back in the swing of things. Meanwhile, here are two paintings from the end of last semester to tide you over. Both are acrylic on masonite board.

The Process.

Alright, so someone asked me to post up a sequence of images outlining my process. I can't imagine why, but here you go:

 First I block out the local colors on my drawing (sorry, can't find my line art, it wasn't great. :P) Then I block in basic areas of light and shadow.

 I didn't really like the composition on the original, the princess was just too small

 Still working on composition, I just wasn't getting the feel I wanted out of the image, so I closed the dragon's eyes and changed the ambient light from blue to red. Also, darkening up the shadows and making the form read.

 Moving into the details. Added texture to the dragon and strings to the lute. At this point I was pretty happy with where the dragon was at, but I was still afraid to touch the girl. People are hard.

 Changed my mind about the red. Did not make me happy and didn't bring out the story the way I would have liked. Purple works better. I also changed the composition a little and gave princess Brat some more space. Also, fire.

You may notice that I don't touch the dragon except for a few touch ups after this. I was pretty pleased with him. I've started adding in the rest of the background of the scene (which I should have done from the beginning) and I tried to start on the girl. Ew.

Bookshelf, Fire, and little to no progress on the girl. I also removed the remaining line art and changed the background from a corner to cavern.

Did I load the same image twice?

Turned the girl into a blue troll. Suck.

Sought professional advice. Added some texture and finally got the girl to look human. Yay!

And the final image. Added some last minute details and texture to make awesome. This is the turning point in the story of Princess Brat and the Dragon where the princess first tries to be civil without the threat of being munched. Is a good job.

Quiet as the Tomb

So, I guess that I've offended all twelve of my previously loyal blog-stalkers. According to my stalker/self-esteem boosting program, no one has been to the lonely drafty hallways of my blog in the past three weeks. Apparently, no one likes the blog makeover. Rest assured, I plan to change it to something more bearable for you all. Until then, here is a graveyard, dark and lonely as my blog.

UPDATE: So, I found out that when I updated my blog's look, I accidentally erased the magic html words that made my Google analytics account read it. :P

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was a kingdom with a princess problem. And when you have a problem like that, it's best to call in a dragon as soon as possible... This is my character design for Sam Nielson's Digital painting class.

My Work is Completed! Sorta.

This is not finished. These things are never finished. Every time I get to a point where I have to stop I notice about a dozen more things that could use another pass. But I've already printed off the version of this that I plan to turn in for my Design class. So there.

The Abyss BLINKED!

Madness, thy name be Arkham Horror. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get off your chair and come back when Cthulu has alleviated you of a little bit of your sanity. This will make more sense after. It's a board game modeled after the horrifying, brain twisting stories of H. P. Lovecraft. And even though it's only a boardgame, there's something cathartic about running around the sleepy little town of Arkham annihilating eldritch monstrosities and hurling yourself headlong through portals leading to a plethora of nightmarish netherworlds in order to save reality itself from a hideous elder god. You know what I mean?

Der Erlkönig

Recently I was listening to some classical music, you know Mozart, Liszt, Gershwin, that sort of thing, and came across Franz Schubert's setting of the Johan Wolfgang von Goethe poem Der Erlkönig. It's a great Baritone art song and I sort of fell in love with the poem. The poem is about a father and son riding home through the woods. The son tells his father that the Erlking (Alder king if you translate it from the German, but could easily be a transliteration from the original Danish legend which would be translated Elf king) is following them and promising him beautiful things if only the child will come away with him. The father dismisses his child's fears as the product of an overactive imagination while the Erlking's promises become more extravagant and his demands more urgent.
This is a draft of the first page I would make for an illustrated book of the story. Or maybe a second page.

Portfolio flavored goodness

Nothing especially witty to say here. I just suck at updating this thing and thought that I would share a few portfolio pieces I've been working on. Regular readers (Hi Mom) will probably recognize the first two paintings from earlier this year. These are the honest to goodness finished projects. The third is new. This is my environment design for Sam Nielson's Digital Painting class. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out.

Adventure!

My little brother Alex just got his mission call! I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. For those of you who aren't Mormon or familiar with our interesting little practices, all of our young men (and any young women who elect to do so) between the ages of 19 and 25 are strongly encouraged to basically donate two years to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ where ever we are sent. My brother was just called to serve for two years in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin mission! It covers the upper part of Wisconsin and most of the upper peninsula of Michigan.
It's a big adventure! I served my own mission in the Philippines, Bacolod mission. So there's really no telling where these missionaries might be sent. And, of course, each little corner of the world has its own special challenges.
I think the most amazing part of the whole thing is that somehow, it works! These are not professional preachers being sent out armed with doctorates and practical experience in public speaking. These are children who love the Lord and want to spread around the love of God. These stuttering, passionate young men and women help people to make changes in their lives that years of counseling cannot make. For all their weaknesses and human foibles, they become instruments in the hand of God to bless his children, and those who truly understand greatness tremble at their passing. This dumb college age kids are exactly what Paul was talking about when he said that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.
I'm pretty passionate about this stuff. Anyway, here is a tribute to the great adventure ahead of all of us in the form of another picture I drew for Joe Olsen's drawing for animation class to the theme of Caravan of Awesome in the Desert.

In Dublin's Fair City!

Alright, it's a lie. This is not Dublin. It's actually downtown Cork, Ireland. This is my messy, sketchy rendition of St. Patrick's in Cork. Not to be confused with the St. Patrick's in any other Irish town with a population greater than two. They ALL have at least one church or cathedral named/renamed for good old St. Pat. I heard more reasons why than I care to list here, but I like them.
This was another assignment for Joe's class. We were asked to emulate the style of one Paul Madonna (no relation to the well known, somewhat creepy pop star) who wrote/illustrated the an ingenious little book entitled All Over Coffee. It's basically just a sketch book of awesome buildings and non-sequitur comments. Very good. I don't know if I would buy it, but it would make a great coffee table book.
I'm not sure how well I emulated his work, but I enjoyed this project.

My Head A'SPLODE!

Yes, I am a lazy slob when it comes to posting things on my blog. But I would have been a total slacker if I had neglected to commemorate today's fun filled occasion! It's the first day of classes at good old BYU.
In honor of this momentous celebration, I give you a piece that I have entitled, White Rabbit: the college student psyche after 15 minutes of the first class of the semester. Pretty classy huh? This is why I try never to dwell too much on how far behind I am with all of my school work, commitments, following up on the parental pressure to date, marry, and give them grandchildren, and other delightful social pressures. I just avoid the gradual descent into madness and throw myself into it headlong. It saves time.
By the way...Day 24: NO TIME!

Faded Glory

The other day I sat down with my friend Aaron and we watched the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring. We still haven't gotten around to watching the second half. Mostly because when the council of Elrond rolled around and Orlando Bloom finally appeared on camera after an entire hour of blissful absence we could no longer take the movie seriously. Kind of tragic really, because I love the Lord of the Rings. I just don't like Mr. Bloom. They should have just left him in the prop closet they found him in and find a real actor. It's not hard you know. They just roam around the streets of major California cities waiting to be found.

Gandalf here is one of my favorite characters and Sir Ian did a great job with him. He is also grey. Which is today's theme. Day 19: Gray.

Yes, I know I'm a couple of days off, but I spent the weekend finishing my sample animation for the portfolio that I need to mail off sometime this week. I have decided that it's just better to go from where I was rather than trying to play catch up for the four days that I missed. More to come!

You Crack Me Up Little Buddy.

This is my special tribute to Sam & Max: Freelance Police, a hilarious Warner Brothers cartoon that didn't get it's due on daytime television. Sam, a big Dog guy in Sam Spade get-up and his partner Max, a hyper-kinetic, psycho, rabbit-thing, are constantly up to their eyeballs in life-threatening, hilarious hijinx and warding off the baddies with their witty banter, Sam's really big gun, and Max's tendency towards violence (It may not be THE answer, but it is AN answer) and possible rabies. The other guy is another character from the show, Hugh Bliss. He's best known for his catch phrase, "Hi! I'm Hugh Bliss!" I can't express to you how funny this is to me. It also fulfills today's theme! Day 18: Rainbow.

What?

Day 17: Blood. I really just couldn't come up with anything I liked for this theme. So I went with the obvious. The Vampire sparkles in the sunlight of course. That's also ketchup. She fainted while feeding him french fries in a romantic setting. He's checking for a pulse and calling for help. You believe me...right?

I Don't See the Resemblance

Today is day 16: Questioning. I question the supposed relationship between cows and dolphins. I can see that the DO share some few characteristics...like...um...breathing? and they both...eat...food...I think...
Yep! obvious relationship.

Further up! Further in!

100 picture challenge day 7: Heaven. This one was tough. I've been reading a lot of C.S. Lewis's works lately culminating in The Great Divorce about a man who has a Dante-esque experience of passing through Hell and taking a few tottering steps toward heaven. Heaven is a journey. If we are willing to endure all hardships and move ever forward, we will find, at the end, that everywhere we had been had been heaven all along.

Bunkey is a Viral Entity

This is Bunkey in his natural habitat; amid wreck and ruin. This was my final project for Joe's class. I LOVED this class. So much, in fact, that this was the second time that I've taken it! Bunkey here is actually a carry over from last semester. Michelle Weaver has an adorable little animal, part rabbit, part monkey; hence, Bunkey. He has become something of a celebrity and it has gone to his head. He's become a jerk, a drunk, a womanizer, an irresponsible gambler, incredibly violent and he swears like a sailor. Unfortunately, he is also still irresistably adorable. He knows it too.

Space Shark!

I just felt the old itch to add something here. More to come next time, I promise. I have one or two more things that just weren't ready to post yet. Sharks are awesome. Space is awesome. Therefore: Space Sharks are super awesome! Feel free to leave comments people. It's the only way I know if you like what you see or if I suck.

Hmmm...another imaginary friend. I seem to have quite a few of these. Maybe if I had real friends I wouldn't need so many imaginary ones... At least they're bigger than my demons. And can give them wedgies. Admittedly, this particular demon isn't especially impressive, but hey,they can't all be nightmares.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I am well aware that Halloween is long past, but shouldn't we try to keep the holiday in our hearts all year round? That's probably some other holiday...oh well.
Honestly, I just didn't have these things in my hot little hands until yesterday. I finished them up a little too late to scan them before turning them in, so I had to wait until Joe decided he had waited long enough to convince us that he had actually deliberated over what sort of grade we each deserved.
I'm really pretty pleased with these pieces though. The graveyard could use some work, but I think that that is pretty indicative of a graveyard, don't you? At least it's full of happy ghosts. Or at least remarkably toothy ghosts. And vaguely angst-y gargoyles...er...gargoyle.
I really like the skull weasel though. The assignment was to redo our toy design (you might remember the angry weasel) to a Halloween theme. I actually like the concept picture for this one even more than the finished product. So I've included that one too. Whee! (The finished one is the one one the bottom by the way.)