Mermaids in Holiday Cups

New Things are Happening

Over the past two months I have been working rather tirelessly on a ton of new stuff. As of now the plan is to revamp my entire blog sometime during the month of December, thats when I'll have crazy amounts of free time and I'll probably get back to a place where I see the light of day every now and again. What does that mean for the two people that actually look at my blog you ask? It means NEW TOYS! In other words, a ton of new artwork and character designs from my work on The Pixar Detective, and a collaboration with my friend Joel Coleman who happens to be an amazing photographer. I know I'm excited, and I hope you are too!

Frozen Color Study

Today in one of my art classes, we were given a bunch of quotes to pick from and two hours to convey a convincing concept. I took this time to do some frozen color studies. I did however use color picking (the eyedropper tool) because time was very limited. I learned so much, and I plan on doing a lot more of these in the future.. without color picking of course.

A Small Life Update Accompanied By Rogue

So, a lot of crazy things have been happening in the past couple months. I'm busier than ever and although I'm super excited to share everything I've been working on with you guys, I just can't yet. In other news, I'm officially making my first trip out to California in october. I'm more excited for this trip than I am for food, and I can't wait to meet up with some amazing talented people, and explore what I hope to be my future home. 

Lately, I've been using an iPad to do some sketching and explore some new media. Rogue is one of my favorite Marvel characters so I included some early stages of the process. Enjoy.

Elsa: Batman's Worst Nightmare

We all know Elsa, the cold and distant, yet misunderstood queen of Arendelle. Her emotion driven ice powers show her potential to be a killer villain, and as "Elsa Freeze" I bet she could give Batman a run for his money.

Little Red Riding Hood

I replaced the basket with a sword

Mermaids in Cups

Almost four months ago, I did a "just for fun" digital painting of a mermaid in a Starbucks cup. Today, almost a million people have downloaded pictures of my work, because of my association with Jon Negroni and the Pixar Detective. I owe so much to my wonderful, supportive friends who thought this little mermaid was worth sharing. Its because of you guys that and the right people saw my doodle.

Ive since then decided to continue the series and give it the oh so appropriate title: "Mermaids in Cups"

Oceanic White Tip Sharks

The oceanic white tip is one of the most perfect animals alive.

Anatomy Studies

Some quick life-drawing and muscle studies.

Watercolor Photoshop Brushes

Today I am experimenting with the watercolor brushes in photoshop and I love them! 

Beauty and the Beast Hair Study

Recently did a hair study on Belle From Beauty and the Beast. However, you'll notice I modernized it some and added my own quality of scruff.

four days until the pixar detective

The release of Chapter 1 is only a few days away! This project has challenged me in so many ways, I can't wait to share it with everyone!

The Pixar Detective

So beyond excited to announce that I'm starting a new project with Jon Negroni, creator of The Pixar Theory!

Octopus Tea

Another sea critter in a cup I started this past week. Something I've been stressing over lately is composition as a whole. I'm so caught up with questions like "do the shadows make sense?" and "Am I'm mixing warm and cool colors correctly?" that I forget about whats really important to show in my work. I recently read a conversation between two of my favorite animators, Glen Keane and Ollie Johnson. When Glen was showing Ollie some of his work in Tangled, he pointed out how far technologically they had come in aspects like the reflective fabric in Rapunzel's dress and the subtlety of her freckles, Ollie replied with this statement "Oh, Glen, what I was wondering is; What is she thinking?" this statement basically slapped me in the face. I can have the greatest sense of color and light reflections in the world, but if I can't correctly get across what my character is thinking, then I have failed.

Starbucks Siren WIP

I love Starbucks and I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds the delicious coffee and cozy atmosphere endearing. As a former graphic design student I've always admired their use of type and logos, but as embarrassing as it is for me to admit it, I only recently had the realization that the Starbucks logo is a siren. That in my opinion, was extremely clever of Starbucks, because if you know anything about sirens you know they appear appealing on the outside, until you're within their grasp.. then you can't escape. Coincidentally Starbucks has done this very same thing to me, and now I can't go a day without coffee.

You should also know that I still consider this piece a WIP (work in progress) but I feel like it would be really cool to release the final piece in a "mermaids in cups" series.

Felix the Dragon

Felix is a character I designed and developed for my sculpting class. In designing this little dragon, I got most of my inspiration from foxes. It was particularly challenging to get him to look like he had the potential to be sleek and graceful, but in his adolescence move more clumsily, like the qualities of a puppy. 

Tobi the Horn Shark

I really love aquariums and all aquatic creatures, but sharks are my favorite by far. Tobi the harmless horn shark likes to keep to himself in the shadowy ocean depths, so don't be fooled by his vicious appearance.