Joseph Lee's Doodles

Harry Potter

2011-12-14T08:38:00.000-08:00

Can't believe we're going to the end of the year already. Ever get the feeling that time speeds up exponentially with age? Sigh... At the end of the year at the studio, we have our winter charity art auction, with the proceeds going to the Children's Hospital. It's a great cause and creatively fun to do, so I try to muster in some extra time to join. A print of the piece is being donated to the show. The auction ends today, but unfortunately I'm still lying in bed trying the calm the fever that's killing me right now. Hopefully I'll get to see all the contributor's pieces tommorrow. Size: 14"x18" Medium: Acrylics

Frankenstein black and white

2011-11-11T18:35:00.001-08:00

Here is the black and white version of the Frank piece. I apologize for the resolution of the last few posts as they are bigger than the scanner and I've been taking digital photos of them. I don't know if it's what I remember from the classic films, but the black and white does it better for me on retrospect. Medium: Acrylic on illustration board

Frankenstein

2011-11-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

Frankenstein still remains as one of my favorite stories from childhood. Medium: Acrylics Size: 14"x18" on illustration board

Darth Maul

2011-11-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

I'd love to do a large poster for this guy. Really was the coolest thing in the movie. Thanks for checking out the piece!

Size: ~10"x15" Medium: Acrylics on illustration board

Iron Man Painting

2011-11-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a commission piece I did a while ago of ol' tin head. Thanks for checking out the piece guys! Medium: Acrylics Size: 14"x18" on Crescent Illustration board

Captain America

2011-10-07T08:15:00.001-07:00

Here's the colored version to the line art piece. I ended up recoloring a different version of it for the gallery show cause I wanted the color of Cap to be much more saturated, something out of a comic book page. This piece was more subdued in chroma, more like an old photo or something like that. Thanks for lookin'! Size: 11"x17"

Captain America line art

2011-10-06T11:27:00.001-07:00

Hi guys! We are having a gallery show in the studio, and I chose to render one of my fav superheroes. Not the most original of compositions, but it sure was super fun to do! I'll be posting the tonal version soon! Thanks for looking! Size: 11"x17" Medium: Pen and ink

Caesar

2011-08-24T10:16:00.001-07:00

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes has got to be one of the best science fiction movies I've seen in a long time. And Andy Serkis' brilliant performance as Caesar, in my opinion deserves a nomination for an Academy Award for best actor. Just unbelievable. Thanks for checking out the image! Medium: Pen and inks with a dab of acrylics. Size: 10"x 15" on Crescent illustration board.

Captain America sketch

2011-07-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

The kids were asleep a little earlier last night, so it gave me a chance to ink the pencil to this piece I started working on last week. I'm so pumped about this movie! I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but one of these days I'll have to sneak out of the house for a few hours. Thanks for checking it out guys!

(Medium: Pen and Ink on illustration board)

Captain America

2011-07-17T19:02:00.001-07:00

I've been waiting for the big screen debut of Cap for so many years. There've been a lot of Marvel characters making their big screen debut, and most have been terrific, but I'm most excited about this one. Had a chance this weekend to do a sketch and with the movie on my mind I had to delve into Cap's world for a bit. And with San Diego comic con in the horizon, it's gonna be a pretty cool week! Thanks for checking out the blog!

Medium: Inks and Acrylics Size: 8"x 10" approx. on crescent illustration board.

Luke's Journey

2011-06-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

It was bound to happen. Got that feeling for another run at the Star Wars universe. Saw Episode IV last weekend on Spike tv and got inspired to do a piece. Damn that's a great movie! Never gets old. Ever. I've been doing illustrations in the morning, and I find it actually helps me get mentally ready for the day ahead. So I worked on this one last week. I find the studio in my room lights much better in the morning with natural light, so I tend to want to work on pieces earlier in the day. Plus I'm not in that tired mode after a long day of work and having to do ink illustrations after ain't cool. I sprayed some fixative on the piece this morning and it goes into my done pile. Thanks for checking out the piece guys! (Medium: Inks and acrylics. Size: ~11"x 17" on Crescent illustration board.)

Death: Prelim

2011-06-07T08:28:00.001-07:00

A while ago, I was comissioned to work on a Death painting for a super cool collector up in New Zealand. Thanks Matt for getting me a chance to work on it! Death is one of my favorite characters in the Sandman universe, and it was a real treat for me to do a rendition of it. Here is part of the whole scan of the rough pencils that served as a prelim to the painting. I don't feel like I did the character justice, and will definately have to take another stab at it in the future.

Beginning the Dark Knight Painting

2011-05-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day bloggers! It's been nice getting a couple of days off to look out at the sun and realize that there is a world out there to look at besides a Cintiq screen. I don't have anything new to show you yet, but thought I'd dig through my ol' bin o' trash and put it on the scanner. There's been a lot of starts on personal projects, and most are never finished. This is one of them. This is part of a Dark Knight poster that I wanted to create for my own, but never got to finish. I really loved the dynamics of the characters in this film. The beautifully chilling rendition of the Joker by the late Heath Ledger is nothing short of perfection. I'm totally amped to see the trilogy piece next summer. Thanks always for coming by and checking the site out!

Sketchbook: Nightcrawler

2011-05-19T13:38:00.001-07:00

I do drawings in a sketchbook or any paper I have at the moment and doodle stuff while waiting for my daughter to finish class on Saturdays. It's kinda fun rekindling the days of sitting in the back of my own classes years ago, doing the same thing. Lots of graphite moving around. Sigh. Those were the days.

Wolverine Study

2011-05-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention that I'm a Wolverine fanatic? Hugh Jackman's rendition of the character has really done the character justice and I've been satisfied so far. The last film was ok, and enough cool stuff for me to look forward to gettin' in the theatre line for the next one!

So here's another painted study focusing specifically on the color spots, with really no underdrawing except a few lines for composition. It really is mostly me trying something different, with really no goal except to take a brush and put some paint strokes down. Not really artistic, I know, but it helps me go to sleep at nights. ;) It's really rough in a lot of spots, but that's what a study is I suppose. Besides, I kinda like the textural look to the brushstrokes anyway. The face is all funky lookin', and more of me putting my own knowledge of anatomy that might have gotten in the way of it this time. Sigh. Maybe I'll give it a another go and really take an artistic stance of whether to let my own knowledge take a hold of it or to purely go on my direct, perceptual interpretation. I gotta stop being so wishy washy! Thanks for taking a look! Size: 20" x 16" approx. Medium: Acrylics.

Hellboy Study

2011-04-30T13:03:00.001-07:00

Hello bloggers! In the last few months, I've really been fascinated with more direct and traditional painting techniques and have beeen doing mostly studies at nights coming home from work. With really only an hour or two left to spare, I'd quickly get setup in the studio and go at it. It's really quite liberating just doing something creatively and technically different from the stuff you're used to doing during the day, so it's been really theraputic for me. There hasn't been much time for posting as you guys have noticed from the lack of posts since Dec of last year. In order to keep this site alive, I've decided to put up some of these studies. It's more direct in the application of paint than what I'm used to doing so it's been really fun jumping out of my comfort zone. A few lines suggesting composition and size initially and then it's just a pure application of color, value and edges, and refining as I go. I found it frustrating not having any solid underdrawing to work with, because you're constantly juggling with keeping solid form and structure on top of everything else. But this method also has been really relaxing to me, only thinking about color spots and nothing else but the pure application of wet paint. This one was painted on a masonite board that was left over from a larger piece used to ship some artwork and thought it could at least be used for something instead of letting it go to waste. I did a couple of these and I'll post more soon. Size: 20" x 10" approx. Medium: Acrylics

Morgan Spurlock

2010-12-15T22:53:00.000-08:00

I was recently commissioned by Joni Rubin, publicist extraordinaire in providing a painting of one her friends, Morgan Spurlock, as a surprise gift. She had seen the Cleveland "Blade" painting I had done that was in Mike Henry's office, and wanted me do a piece similar in that style. And she also thought of keeping the whole "Blade" theme for Morgan as well. I've been a big fan of Mr. Spurlock since his documentary film, "Super Size Me", and was totally excited to work on the painting. Initially this piece was to be monochromatic and in watercolors similar in style to the Cleveland piece, but when I started to do the initial pencils to the piece, I just felt it needed strong colors to really sell Morgan's spirit and energy, so I decided to try something different as far as technique and medium choice. (Size of the piece: Approx. 15" x 20" on illustration board. Medium: Acrylics)

Wolverine Sketchbook

2010-10-03T00:36:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while I get a chance to do something in a sketchook. I don't normally do sketches in a book and have tended toward doing them on just any paper I can find, but I've had this empty book sitting around my shelf for a while, and decided to begin filling it with something. In the past, I've always started my sketchbook doing some sort of a painting in the inside of the book cover, and thought to go at it again. This was something I've been doodling in and out of this week and there you have it. Page one of 300 pages, done.

Family Guy: Partial Terms of Endearment

2010-09-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

It's been over 2 years since I worked on this episode, and it's really cool to see the episode finally come out in DVD. It was originally pulled from being aired due to it's controversial nature, and I really wasn't sure when the episode would finally be shown. The DVD also includes Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show which is a pretty hilarious live action special they had on TV last year. There's a lot of bonus stuff including the animatic, that has some deleted scenes that are hilarious. The DVD is out today, so if you get a chance, snatch a copy of this puppy and check it out!

Civil War Comp

2010-09-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

With things in full swing here in the studio, there hasn't been that much left as far as time during the day except to storyboard like crazy for my next episode of Family Guy. It's always fun to delve into the zany world of the Griffin's, but I do wish for more of a regular schedule(which should happen in a few weeks) where I can actually go home on time, and spend some extra hours at night doing some creative stuff. This color comp was for a commission piece I was working on, but I've since left this idea for what I think is a cooler idea for the same collector. I'll post the piece as soon as the painting is done. Oh, and I think the season premiere of Family Guy is coming on Sunday, so check it out! It's a really fun one! And I'll post more detail in a few days about the Family Guy DVD release next week which I directed, but never was allowed to be aired on television. Have a great week bloggers!

Lone Wolf

2010-08-19T17:51:00.001-07:00

Been finally able to catch up on some reading materials that I've purchased over the years and I chanced upon this book I've had for awhile, "Lone Wolf 2100". It's written by the talented Mike Kennedy and illustrated by Francisco Ruiz Velasco, and I got inspired immediately to do a piece for the character, and here is the result. Thanks for checking out the piece bloggers!

Frank

2010-08-02T01:25:00.001-07:00

During some minutes to spare at my parents house this weekend, I'd sit by the dining table and doodle. Felt good doing something mindless, made me think about the days I'd do that all the time when I used to live there. I never really finished the sketch (as always) but it was cool to get some time do something like that during a hectic family weekend. See you guys on the next post!

Hank McCoy sketch

2010-07-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

With only a couple of more days before taking my much needed break from the show, there still are a lot of things still to wrap up. It's like that marathon where you're on the final stretch, seems so close, yet still so far? Here's another sketch that began at the office, and I threw a color or two to make it look kind of finished but it isn't sort of look. ;0 I'll have to post more finished pieces up soon, this'll have to do. Thanks always for coming by to check out the site!

Old Man Logan

2010-07-23T00:17:00.001-07:00

Words can't describe how amped I am about the Comic Con this week in San Diego. I know, it's crowded as hell and it's become more of a movie thing than comics, but it still brings great nostalgia of being totally excited to see the Image gang at the time. Sigh...that was crazy and fun. Anyways, I digress...I did this sketch having just read the Old Man Logan miniseries which was tremendously fun. Hopefully with a break coming for me soon, I'll be able to catch up on more great reads. Have a great week gang!

Judge

2010-07-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

The movie didn't do this character justice, but I think Judge Dredd is one of the coolest, and it would be really cool to see the character done right. I don't know what prompted me to get into Judge mode, but I did this sketch late Friday before headin' out for the Fourth of July weekend and there you have it. Hope you bloggers have an awesome week and see you in the next post!

Tiger sketch

2010-06-22T10:43:00.001-07:00

Hey gang! I've usually opted for other topics, but for some reason the animal subjects have been of interest to me lately. Just screwed around on a piece of typing paper yesterday at work and there you have it. Thanks for checking out the site!

George the Gorilla

2010-06-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hey gang! Today I didn't get to do any caricatures, but instead opted to do an animal drawing, something I don't do often. If you've perused the stuff I've been doing, it's mostly buff lookin' dudes with capes and spandex. My daughter was a little under the weather yesterday and to help her keep her mind off her pain, I started tellin' her a story about this great adventure of a gorilla named George. This seemed to help her and I just kept rollin' along with the story. Came in the office today thinkin' about what to draw during lunch(my normal activity the last couple of weeks) and there you have it. Thanks for checkin' out the image!

Artie Johann

2010-06-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Did this drawing yesterday of Artie Johann. He asked for a sketch a while back and I finally got around to doing it. Thanks for allowing me to mess with your face man! As much as the gang are gettin' a kick out of seeing themselves on paper, I'm getting as much pleasure just doin' something different creatively in the studio and that's just keeps the energy goin' artistically, know what I mean? Enough ramblin' gotta get back to work... Thanks for checkin' out the site guys!

Sean

2010-06-09T10:44:00.001-07:00

A drawing of a really cool dude in our crew, Sean Perry. He came by last week asking for a sketch and he got this in return. Sorry for messin' with your face man! I just realized for those who don't know these people, it would be nice to show the real picture of the people for comparison. Hmm...I'll have to figure something out.

Charles

2010-06-08T17:55:00.001-07:00

Thanks always folks for checking out the site! One of the things I've been having fun with at the office during breaks is doing caricatures of some of the really cool people working here. It keeps me creative, forces me to flex muscles I'm not comfortable with, but most importatly, it keeps me drawing. Having never done any caricatures, it was kinda cool just jumping into unfamiliar territory. I'd do a drawing of a person, usually upon their request and give it to them, sort of as a "sorry we messed around with your face" kinda gift. This post isn't in no particular order, but I'll start putting up some of the drawings I have up on my office wall. Figure it's better than not posting anything at all right?

Wolverine

2010-05-10T08:52:00.002-07:00

Worked on this piece during the weekend (and no this wasn't the Mother's day gift. ;)) during some minutes to spare. But really I should be working on a painting which I've been avoiding, mainly I think because there's hasn't been a solid block of time available to do it yet. Hopefully soon. I've always loved this costume design on Logan I guess mainly because that's the costume I remember when I first read comics with Wolverine in it. I wasn't super crazy about the recent theatrical release of this guy, but I thought good enough to hopefully see a really cool one soon. Thanks for checkin' out the image!

Spidey

2010-04-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hi bloggers! Things are hectic as always at the studio, and with 2 kids waitin' at home after work....sigh...you know what I mean, you parents out there. During any minutes of time to spare at home, I have been working on numerous roughs and preliminaries for paintings to come, but don't really have anything finished that I can put up...yet. Here is one of the numerous studies I've done for one of the painting projects that I feel comfortable showing. Been really getting into this character design. I didn't really get the new Civil War costume that Spidey had on, but once I got to catching up on the epic saga, I really understood the costume as a symbol as well as it's purpose. It's a really cool storyline for those of you that haven't read it. A great read. I'll see you on the next post!

Witch

2010-03-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers! Thanks always for continuing to check out the site. Things are super crazy(as usual) in the office and I really haven't had a chance to draw anything new, much less a complete finished piece. I had this stuck up above my office desk for a few weeks. During breaks, I'd do quick sketches like these to just keep the energy going. Not much to say about the piece, except I was trying to draw a girl, covered her up with some sort of Witchblade-esque scales and there you have it. Yeah, really creative. I know.

Macross

2010-02-20T13:21:00.001-08:00

My little brother and I in the 80's used to watch this show Robotech on TV, around 3:30, right after the Gumby show. It was the coolest show ever featuring super cool robots and amazing battle sequences. So when given a chance to give a gift to my little brother for this Christmas, I remembered the good times we had with this show and thought that a little painting done for him as a gift could be pretty cool. I'm not sure of the authenticity to this one being the early Max Sterling model, and I could be wrong, but that plane next to the skull fighter was one of the coolest ever. If only there was a live action version of it in theatres, now that would be amazing, seeing all these 80's shows coming to life in the big screen. Until the next post bloggers!

Jean

2010-02-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day y'all! We've got a couple of parties in the works at the house, one for a family at lunch and another at night, so I'm mad rushing to assemble and prepare stuff for the festivities. I think it's like the Chinese new year as well, so it's a like a big weekend for many reasons. Pretty cool. And it really helps that we've got a president's day holiday tommorrow to get some cushion time before headin' back to work. Know what I mean? Well, here's another sketch I did at work during a break. I started the piece by just going at it with like a 40% grey marker to get the gesture and some landmarks down and finished it off with some pens. Kind of spontaneous and chaotic, but defianately a fun one to do. Hope you guys have a great weekend and I'll see you on the next post!

White Queen

2010-02-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

Works been hectic today. Just a lot of meetings and work on top of that. I managed to find some time to get something scanned and put in to keep the love alive in the blogging world. Not much to say about the piece but just another one of those sketches I did during breaks. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do more finished pieces, but it'll have to do for now. And thanks guys for continuing to check the site out and leaving such cool comments. And I want to give a special shout out to my wife for putting up with me sittin' in the room painting while the kids were goin' crazy yesterday. Thanks honey.

Jimi

2010-02-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

Thanks guys for checking out the site. I haven't been so regular with the postings, but I'm gonna try to be more frequent so check by often! Finished a long day of work and got a chance to scan this piece I did at the end of the day. Wanna thank my peeps Jason Weitzner for helping me out with the scan. My Assistant director came in a few days ago with a really cool shirt with Jimi Hendrix and I remember how cool the image of him looked. Just kinda poured that energy I felt from seeing the image and I drew this. I kinda like the rough look to the piece, kind of has that raw kinetic energy you feel hearing his music. What do you guys think? Until the next post bloggers!

Quick Sketch: Witchblade

2010-02-02T15:13:00.001-08:00

So here's another one of those sketches that I've been doing between breaks at work. I was doing some caricatures of some office people(which I'll post soon), but I've been interested recently in delving into the female anatomy again, just to keep that part of my wee little brain active. I would do the head, the body and so on, a few minutes here and there whenever time is available. A lot of the details got lost unfortunately because the scanner here could only high contrast the marker rendering. A lot of the textural details got completely turned to black. But I think it's clear enough to see what it was. It was fun to just let loose on some inks and markers. Until the next post bloggers!

Warm up: Wolverine

2010-01-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

The mornings are crazy rough. I mean, the kids are crying for one reason or another, one's gotta be ready for school, while the wife and I have our own things to deal with. Sounds pretty normal you say? Yeah, but it's really tough trying to squeeze in any creativity in the middle of that. I really don' t know how some of you guys do it out there. They should write a book on this subject. Sometimes, like doing some excercises in the morning(which I should be doing like running says the wife) I often doodle out some sketches, with no purpose or reason and see where it goes. I think this started with a gesture of some line I thought looked like wild hair, and it became this guy. The important thing is to realize, for me, at the end of this is that number one, the drawing sucks. The work looks like some kid drew it in the back of class in junior high(no offense kids), composition and anatomy looks all over the place. But number two, it also means there are a lot of things to improve and learn, and that gets me excited. Totally pumped. (I'm forgetting to write about the hour or so of walking around depressed as if the world just ended) And that's how I begin my day with a joyful grin on my face to work. Thanks for helping me out Logan. Sorry for the mindless ramblings guys and I'll have something more coherent to talk about next week!

Dark Knight

2009-11-28T12:41:00.001-08:00

Hello Bloggers! It's been awhile since my last post and I guess the only thing I can say about that is I've been absolutely swamped with work and life. Sides' starting up a new season of Family Guy, I've been blessed, but pressured at the same time into getting my work done as quickly as ever with the coming of a new child in the Lee family. I'm absolutely excited nursing my child at home the last few weeks and enjoying the bonding time with the family. In between feedings, I've managed to, with bleary eyes, sketch away a few things by the table, just to keep some creativity going. It's not much, but something to keep the bloggin love alive till the next post. And I want to give a special thanks to Joe Vaux and Andi Klein for the sweet supportive calls that I haven't been able to return, unfortunately, and the studio for all their support. Hope you all are doing fantastically with the holiday weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Guy "JOB"

2009-10-01T18:40:00.001-07:00

Hello bloggers! I know I haven't posted anything in awhile since getting back into work mode. It's not a great excuse I know, but things have been absolutely hectic in the studio. I do aim to get back into sketching stuff outside of work again, but there's only so many hours in a day. I see some amazing creative individuals out there that can work and go home and pump out amazing work and I envy those people no doubt. This was a piece that I contributed to the seasonal Family Guy art gallery held here in the studio. The theme was "Masters in Fine Art". I chose Alphonse Mucha's "JOB" and put my "Family Guy" spin to it. The medium to this piece was with Acrylics and ink. I had a fun time working on it and the event was absolutely a blast. It's a really cool thing to kind of cross that boundary at work and do something a bit more "artsy". It's an awesome event that I look forward to every time they have one. Until the next post bloggers! Have a great week!

Wolverine in Vegas

2009-08-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hey gang! Hope you guys are having a terrific creative week out there. Been relaxing in Las Vegas the last two days, getting a little bit of extra r&r relaxing in the pool and hitting the slots before heading back to work next week. Our family stayed at the Luxor hotel, and had a really great time there. Came in to the hotel room last night absolutely broke from the slots, penniless and depressed, thinking to myself why I was so incapabale of making any good moves in the bonuses that could have given me instead of 75, like 2000. Sigh. So depressed was I, that I grabbed a little notepad by the bed and with a hotel pen started doodling, just to stop thinking about the money I lost. If you notice on the upper left hand corner, there is a 9 to 7 written on it with some scribbles. That's my wife writing some info down while talking with the front desk. But all in all it was a heck of a lot of fun up there and feel refreshed mentally to get back into work mode again. See ya all in the next post!

Luke Skywalker: Tonals

2009-08-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a scan of the preliminary pencil sketch of the painting I posted below. I used some ink washes for some dark shadows but it was mostly me hunched over the dining table, for a long time noodling pencil hatchings one after another. There were some hatching effects that got lost in the scan around the sun but it was good enough for the purpose of just having it as reference for the next stage of coloring it. I know, it's pretty wasteful cause a lot of this stuff just gets covered up. I guess I push this stage a bit farther for no reason except to just see as close as possible how it would look at the end. Not a really smart painter's mentality unfortunately. Sigh. I originally intended on this piece being a big poster piece with some extra images to support the composition, but it all came down to time. I only had a few hours and that's as far as I could go without being kicked out of the house. ;) Now that I've got the Star Wars bug out of me, I wonder what I should delve into next... Have a great week bloggers!

Action Comics #1

2009-07-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

Morning Bloggers! Came back from a crazy weekend at the San Diego Comic con with the family. It was good to meet some friends and artists, and occasional celebrities like Jon Favreau in front of the uber cool Iron Man suits talking about the next movie, all in one giant room! Awesome. I'm not sure the wife really dug it though, and it's understandable. With the claustraphobia from millions of people packed into a tiny square footage, and nothing but comics and superheroes bombarding you whereever you go, you'd have to be really into that or you won't be having a good time. She was a good sport in just following me around the convention, just doing my geeky thing. Next year, I might have to book a hotel room for her to stay in while I attend. Gotta put that on my list. So this piece was a painting I did for our quarterly Family Guy art show with a theme, "Greatest Moments in History". And the only thing that stuck out in my mind was Action Comics #1.

Logan 3: What I'll be feeling like on that freeway tonight...

2009-07-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not guys, as much of a fan as I am of Logan(as you can tell by the number of posts recently), I have not seen the new movie yet. Not because of the reviews, but because I simply haven't had the time. And when there is time, I've been inclined to watch a movie with my wife and daughter, and I don't think Wolverine is on the top of their list. Sigh. Someday. I'm totally amped about the 4th of July weekend as everyone of you guys I'm sure are, but I'm not lookin' forward to that drive on the freeway tonight on the way home. My wife was kind of enough to let me borrow her IPod which is holdin' a ton of cool little podcasts, so hopefully I can retain some kind of sanity during my 2 hour drive back.(I'm guesstimatin'). And there goes my last attempt of the week into the world of toonboom storyboard pro sketchin' for postin'. Thanks bloggers for checkin' out the site as always and have a safe and a kick ass holiday weekend!

Brass

2009-07-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

Do you guys remember this character back in the day? I don't really remember the story, but I do remember this cool looking design. I have no idea why I was thinking of the guy today, but I decided to use the toonboom program again to do a sketch and here is the product. No where near the coolness of the real book(if you guys get a chance take a look at the intricate artwork from that book. Simply amazing), but it was fun just doodling away, kind of that satisfaction of sketching in the back of class, oblivious to what the teacher was saying, but so tuned in at the same time. Know what I mean? Take care guys!

Adam Strange

2009-06-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Toonboom has been a really cool software that's been great for drawing storyboards, but recently, I've just been doodling whenever time allows at the office, trying to sketch my own stuff, things that I would normally do in my sketchbook you know? It looks a bit clunky and the rendering is choppy since I'm using non-textured brushes, which means that it's like drawing with a sharpie. There are textured brushes that look more like pencils, but it just seems to slow the whole program down with the file size, so I've been avoiding it. As far as subject, Adam Strange. What more is there to say except that this character just ROCKS! Hope to do more of a finished piece with this guy in the future. Two posts in one week? Who would have thought! Take care guys!

Spaceman

2009-06-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Things have been normalizing a bit at the office, meaning the deadlines aren't by the minute as it was the last few weeks, so life has been good. I had a few minutes alone with my nifty cool toonboom program on my cintiq, so I doodled this one with a few minutes to spare before a meeting. Wacky looking, but it was fun doing something stylistically different with the program than the normal daily duties. And don't ask me what he's holding onto there. I have no clue. Hope you bloggers are having an awesome week! Until the next post!

Deadman

2009-06-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

Finally a chance to post! Hope all of you have been well. I'm always trying to aim toward posting a bit more cosistantly, but with the hefty workload at the office and coming home exhausted and with only an hour or 2 before bedtime to spare, I've been opting lately toward spending it with the wife and daughter reading and watching movies. Yesterday though, I had a chance one late night do some doodling and I grabbed this warped out cardboard backing for one of my daughters' drawing pad. The character Deadman has always fascinated me cause, honestly I really don't know what the whole thing about him is. All I know is that the dude looked so freakin' cool I always kept him as a character in mind to draw someday. It wasn't easy, I'll tell ya, trying to draw with the cardboard flexing one way and the other, and the texture of the paper...let's put it this way, don't know if I'll go through that path again. But it was fun. Slapped some crude crayon finish over the pens and there you have it. Hopefully I'll get to do a more finished piece for the guy when chance allows. Peace!

Weapon X

2009-05-05T08:35:00.001-07:00

Morning bloggers! Thanks to those of you that have come by the site and left the uber nice comments! Things were slowly returning to regular mode at work, but then through some scheduling changes the deadline pressure is on again. Came home last night and was thinking about the Wolverine movie that came out this weekend I so desperately want to see, and sat down and began a sketch of a Weapon X image. Before I knew it, I started to ink the piece and dabbled a little color here an there. A bit crude, but it was fun drawing Logan again. Thanks guys for checking out the site and have a great week!

Captain America

2009-04-10T16:04:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter bloggers! It's really nice sitting at home and finally getting a little breather for a couple of days. Got a chance to be alone for a few hours, so I immediately jumped into my drawing table and decided to finally do something original to post rather than posting something I did 20 years ago. ;) You constantly hear in the news the challenges our country is facing and immediately I felt creatively drawn to paint ol' Cap. I feel that if we as a country have "Captain America" in our hearts we can get through it stronger than ever. This one was painted on Bristol, with pen, acrylics and watercolours. Have a great week guys!

Wasted stage...

2009-03-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Morning bloggers! Things are just absolutely hectic in life, working at the office, juggling overlapping shows and retaining some kind of family life in the process. You guys ever feel that sensation of never having enough time for any one thing? Sigh. Gonna have to make this post quick, cause I gotta run out with my daughter to the park who's been ever so patient with her dad sitting in front of a monitor doing apparently nothing. ;)

So this piece is a tonal pass I did for the Iron Man painting this year. I know a lot of comic artists do a much quicker pass at this process during their penciling process to nail down the placement of blacks in their composition. For me, it also dictates the saturation level of the final painting. I guess with photoshop, you can do this all in one pass, but I'm still old school about my own personal work and I want to keep it that way for now. Compositionally, it's a derivative of the Family Guy piece you saw earlier, so it's nothing that different than what you've seen. I'd like to do more Iron Man pieces in the future, maybe a Stewie Iron Man or a Peter Iron Man? Ha! Could be kinda funny. What do you guys think?

Process 2: The Tonals

2009-03-14T09:45:00.001-07:00

Man the week went by fast! Lots of people are revisiting the site and leaving cool comments so thanks a lot bloggers! So here I am again on Sat morning thinking about what I should post...hmmm....well since the topic of the last two have been about "the process", I guess I'll just continue in that direction for now. The most important element to me in a painting is value. And executing a very clearly thought out tonal plan for a painting really frees me up in finishing a painting. The values have already placed some sort of a "parameter", so to speak, of what the color should be. That was a mouthful. I wonder if that made sense. Well, color is composed of a couple of qualites as you guys know already, hue, value, and intensity. When you get value kind of worked out, and with the type of painting I do, to a certain extent intensity, you're well on your way to getting some color that people won't hate and gag over. So this is a scan of the pencil tonals I did for the Star Wars painting I did a while back. I scanned it and printed it to have alongside the painting so I have an idea of the value scheme I wanted for the piece always in mind. And yeah, this tonal work is lying under the painting so it's gone. Like I said, not very efficient and not very professional. Pretty silly uh? For the artists out there, what are your "priorities" to a preliminary painting? Do you have a set procedure? Anyways, have a fantastic weekend folks and have an uber cool week!

C.R.A.P Print: The Inspiration

2009-03-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hey guys and gals! Thanks for checking out the site and leaving the super cool comments! Nice to know that people are still coming by and checking out the stuff, so I'll try my best in posting new stuff.(Or at least post something. ;)) I finally received my copies of the Family Guy C.R.A.P art piece I contributed to last year. Chris Jackson up at ACME did a wonderful job in producing these prints. So my hats off to the guys up there for doing this. So my theme for the last two posts have been about process. So what the heck does this have to do with it you ask? Well, this piece got me interested again in creating "robotic" elements to my paintings, something that I've been delving in and out of the last few years. And having to draw hundreds of pages of X-Wings and AT-AT walkers the last few years has kept me in that "technical" mindset, at least subconsciously. A lot of my compositions, I'm noticing, has that feel of "mechanism" to them. Didn't really notice that until now....hmm... kinda wierd. Anyways, I was commissioned to do a piece for Iron Man particularly because of this piece. And a big thanks to my pal Jason Weitzner for showcasing a lot of my work out there, so thank you sir! So on retrospect, all those weekends sit bent over the dining table working on this thing was a cool thing. Sigh. Hard to believe it was already over a year ago. I guess time flies when you're drawin'. Have a great week bloggers!

Family Guy C.R.A.P

2008-10-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hey guys and gals! There's a gallery coming up next week at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Hollywood featuring Family Guy interpretive works by various artists, including some artists who work on the show, including myself. If you can't make it to this one, check for info on the gallery as the gallery will then move to New York and other galleries around the world in the next coming months. I'll definately be at the gallery premiere next week, so for those of you who get a chance to make it come on by and say hi! Would love to meet my fellow bloggin friends out there!

The Dark Knight

2008-09-02T22:20:00.001-07:00

One of the most exciting things about art for me is the use and experimentation of medium and techniques. Often I would put myself into a compositional or technical "problem" to see what I could do to solve them. Hope you guys enjoy the piece and arent' too dissappointed in the dark knight's rendition. Oh, and incidentally, I have a gallery set up at ComicArtFans.com showcasing a lot of the work shown here at the blog, but also up to the minute newer pieces. You can click on my link and it should take you there. Come by and check it out if you guys get the chance! Have a great week guys!

It's Fraggin' Time!

2008-05-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you guys for the really cool comments! There are a lot of new bloggers that have stopped by, and I promise to visit your sites! It's really cool to see this whole network of amazing artists out there workin' you know? Pretty sweet. Finished this colored piece last night, in the middle of the dining room, alone, the whole family asleep. (Not a creature was stirring....you get the idea.) It's a pretty introverted process, this whole drawing thing. But I guess most people consider me quite introverted, so I guess it works out. ;) Drawing taps me into my childhood experiences, I guess, closer than anything. It brings me back to memories of me sitting there as a kid in the middle of a dining table coming up with dreams. It's a pretty cool feeling. Anyways, enough of the babbling. Gotta get to work. Here's to more drawings guys! Cheers!

Deathlok

2008-04-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

With a couple of hours left of Sunday, I decided regardless of the events that precede my life, to sit down on that kitchen table and draw something. Not much came about my wee little brain of mine, and then I remembered Deathlok. It's a Marvel comics character not really in the spotlight now, but back in the day I remembered the character being pretty cool. Do any of you guys remember him? Anyways, it doesn't really do Marvel's character justice, but it sure was fun drawing it!

Portrait

2008-04-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

As most of you bloggers know that frequent the site, my interests outside of my professional work primarily seem to revolve around action/fantasy genres, so it's not very often that I get that urge to draw something else. This one is a portrait of my lovely wife, and for the record she says that it doesn't look like her. Sigh. Back to the drawing board.

Wrench

2008-04-13T23:54:00.001-07:00

Thanks guys for all the great comments! I feel fully recovered from the virus that plagued me for over two weeks. Just in time too, as life tends to work that way, that I feel better on the week I begin working again. Sigh. You think there's some connection between stress and increased immunity? I haven't really had much drawing time outside of work, but hopefully there'll be more opportunities. Here's a quick sketch of some dude that I don't know personally.

The Hand of Doom

2008-03-27T21:00:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, I'm still under the weather, but not as bad as the last couple of days. I don't know, it just feels like these cold/flu viruses get worse every year. Anyways, felt pretty good in the afternoon, so I sat next to the kitchen table where I could get some real sunlight for a change, and did a sketch. Needless to say, I'm back immobilized, getting ready to watch an episode of Lost. Why do I continue to watch a show that never gives any answers you might ask? I have absolutely no idea. Here's to another cup of NyQuil! Cheers.

Samurai

2008-03-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Want to thank all you guys that are consistently checking out the blog! It really is helping me be motivated enough to keep doing something to post. At the same time, I've been searching the blog world and finding really amazing and talented artists out there. I'll be consistently putting up links so you guys could check them out too.

Finally had a few hours at the end of the day to sit on a kitchen table and draw something. To be honest, nothing was coming out that looked remotely interesting and in the end I gave up. Out of desperation, I started tightening up the drawing so that something could be posted. Even threw in some grey tones so it might help. It's clunky, but at least I had a chance to do something creative.

Who's That Girl?

2008-03-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Can't believe a week is already on it's way out! Yikes! I guess that's a good thing, but really haven't had much time to just sit down and draw you know? Sigh. I guess that's a part of life. Things happen and you just got to roll with it. Got more errands to run today and I'm hoping there's some time left of the day to do a piece I've wanted to do all week. We'll see. Meanwhile, here's a sketch to keep the creative fuel going. Later guys!

Expression Study

2008-03-19T09:57:00.001-07:00

The family and I are planning on heading out today, to enjoy the beautiful weather outside. One of the things I've learned having a family is to know that you've got to make time for your family besides your art, and that familly always comes first, so that makes art number two on the list. Strangely enough, I think the life experiences that you gain from having a family only helps to richen your creativity in your art. But it's something that I've been juggling with the last couple of years. Any of you artists out there feel this way? Speaking of feeling, this tonal sketch does not represent my own mood I'm in today, but I'm sure we've all felt like him one time or another. Have a great day guys!

Cardboard Sketch

2008-03-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

I'm not the most prepared person as far as keeping your sketchbook and pencil handy, so often I find myself in situations where I've got to improvise. I was in my in-law's store just talking and waiting around, and I decided to do some sketching. They didn't have any paper, so I just tore off a piece of cardboard from a box, grabbed the nearest pen I could find, and sketched away. It's not the prettiest drawing, but it sure was fun.

Hulk

2008-03-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Man! You'd think getting a little time off from work would give you hours of free time to just draw and post stuff, but this has definately not been the case for the last couple of days. Obligations and errands. That's pretty much my life's story the last week. Anyways, here's a quick sketch of our lovable green buddy from the Marvel universe. Wasn't too fond of the first movie but really amped about the sequel coming out. I hope the sequel fares better.

Warrior

2008-03-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

I want to start off by saying that no, I did not draw this one in the luxuries of my own bathroom. (For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, please read the last post.) I drew this sketch in the office today, in between conversations with my director. Drawing conceptual sketches like these is a fun process, just lightly sketching scribble lines until an idea forms in my head. Nail down the final lines and you've got something hopefully people would be interested in looking at. Or not.

Alice

2008-02-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's fun drawing during the late hours of the evening, especially on a holiday weekend, not worrying about waking up on time, so you just draw. Picked up some different types of papers today at a nearby art supply store and the one I tried using that you see here was difficult to work with. It's a piece with a lot of struggles, but here you have it, with all the blemishes.

P.S. And yes, Resident Evil is a guilty pleasure movie of mine. Alice kicks ass!

John McClane

2008-02-14T08:32:00.001-08:00

I think if you asked a bunch of people which action film ranks in their top 10, they would name Die Hard as one of them. The group of guys in our studio certainly do, and quote the movie almost everyday during our normal conversations. I didn't get a chance to see the first 2 movies in theatres, but the last two I did. All sequels have been enjoyable, but the first was definately the purest of all adrenaline rushes.

This post is dedicated to Dominic Bianchi, a good friend and studiomate, who is taking a brief break before coming back to direct more amazing episodes on Family Guy. His birthday is tommorrow too, so I wish him a Happy Birthday. I think he turns 15. ;) So young and so talented.

Welcome to the party, pal!

Beach Boy

2008-01-30T08:48:00.000-08:00

Thank guys for all the cool comments. This image was a quick sketch done during a trip to Laguna Beach. Painting is something that I don't normally do during the day and it is frightening and creatively exhilerating at the same time. I wish I could do more of the them in the future.

Sigh...my meaningless doodles

2008-01-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! A few friends from our studio have been posting their works besides the stuff you do for bread and butter. It seems to provide a creative outlet, a way to showcase things other than what they normally do.

I've usually always kept sketches and stuff away from public eye, preferring to keep them in the closet(literally) or in the trash, but seeing a bunch of other fools from our studio doing it....well.....what the heck. Hopefully you guys and gals won't laugh. Here's my first post. Let me know what you guys think!