Monster sketches

Monster design - all photoshop.  Woo!

Actual art update!

So I'm working on a creature design for a competition.  Any critiques/suggestions by Sunday afternoon would be super helpful.  Weeeee!

I guess the concept of what I'm going for might be helpful.  So the idea is that it's this giant beast (~300 ft. or so) and it's the embodiment of all life in a sort of "embrace-the-entire-cycle-especially-death" type of life.  I wanted to represent as many of the different kingdoms as possible - thus the amphibians, animal, plant, and fungus parts.

Just so you know where I plan to go with this - finish the spiky "teeth" parts on all the flytrap heads, maybe more leaves and smaller vines whipping about, the glowing pods on all the mushrooms, and maybe cooling down the background and warming up the beast as a whole?

What do you think?

12/17/10

Winter wasteland - quick sketch concept art for The Locust Feeders

11/06/10

A quick sketch of a concept for a new t-shirt.

10/04/10

City of Cantos XXI.  Name that reference if you can!  Concept art for "The Locust Feeders," a graphic novel collab!

We even have a tumblr for the project!  Hells yeah!

10/03/10

Piece for the graphic novel collab.  Hands up!

9/22/10

Concept art for a dystopian collaboration I'm working on.  I'm actually really stoked at how this came out.  Yay!

09/15/10

"The Secret of Frog Lake" - Photoshop.

8/30/10

some character sketches for an upcoming project

6/24/10

So I had to work late, then I went out with co-workers to check out "Exit Through the Gift Shop."  Fun times.  Thus, I really only had time to do a quick value study.  I usually don't do these, but I thought the composition was off, and wanted to see if value would fix it.  It didn't, so I changed the location of the rope bridge, and added some trees to help frame the piece.  I think this works a bit better, as even though I intentionally had the bridge leading away from the demon in the original sketch (I wanted to make it look as if the demon had even more of a lead on the hero), it ended up leading your eye out of the composition.

I think this works a lot better now, and will proceed to start painting. 

Art dump

Eater of the Dead's Secret Lair for Midnight Carriage
Haunting Shark Fisherman for Midnight Carriage
Underground Kraken Insect for Midnight Carriage
City lines Menu design for Minted.com's menu contest.

Tiki Menu design for Minted.com's menu contest.


So I figured I'd do some art on this art blog. Some stuff I've been working on digitally. In a few weeks I should also have some prints made, and some interesting watercolor exercises. Maybe some figure paintings as well.

My portfolio

So I finally made a carbonmade portfolio. I put up some new stuff that I don't think I posted here, but if you want something more organized that deals directly with my art (and less of the politics, rants, etc.) here you go.

Also there, I just added three new pieces to the illustration section which I've been working on for a few weeks now (some of the original sketches, etc. were done..I finally revisited them!). Hope you enjoy.

Return from Seattle

So we're back from Seattle. Over the course of the trip, E and I both got colds, which are lame, but we gained craploads of information. I managed to bug Jason Chan about classes at Academy to take, the art directors from Wizards of the Coast on how to go about priming my portfolio to get a chance to paint Magic:tG cards, and learned buckets full of information on the industry, concept art, and techniques on digital painting.

Overall, it was too much to process while I was there, and I'm just beginning to process it now. Also, my fingers are cold so my typing is getting really slow.

Anyway, I'm working on a 6 month artistic plan of goals to accomplish. I'll post that and some new sketches I'm working on later this week.

Freakshow, 4 Horse(wo)men

The last two assignments for my digital art class were on the theme "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and "Freakshow." These are my two pieces. Additionally, there are 2 sketches I did with green micron pen (and some red!) in my Anatomy class.


So with this first one, I decided to reinterpret the horse(wo)man War as a Nun...the opposite of what you would expect from a walking riot that leaves countries in the middle of a civil war just by walking through it. Although she does turn into an uber-scary badass version when she has to personally get her hands dirty, but I haven't drawn that form yet :P
So this is my freakshow piece...I don't know exactly what he is, but that's his toilet underneath him, if you couldn't figure it out. It still kinda grosses me out when I look at this illustration. Forgot to add his pubes and his "happy" trail...guess I try those out on him.She's not too bad, hands might be a bit small though...
This dude's head is so large even he's pondering it. Well, it could be I messed up on my proportions elsewhere (the hands? someone tell me). Oh well. 2nd semester after all (although I won't be able to use that excuse for long).
It's 5:29am and it's time to sleep. Guess who's in finals?

Swamped yet still blogging

So the reason I haven't been posting is that I have been completely and utterly swamped with homework. It wouldn't be too bad, but the fact that they've been working me 3 days a week has been making it pretty rough.

So due on Monday are a nude female turn-around, a clothed female turn-around, a reference board, and 2 master copies. And I work Fri-Sunday. Craptastic. It wouldn't have been so bad had I gotten Thursday off, but due to Thanksgiving and the usual not getting anything done, I'm pretty screwed. And that's why I'm procrastinating and blogging. Anyway, if you don't know what a turn-around is (and I don't even know if that's a technical industry term), see what kept me awake last Sunday night:
That was the clothed version based on all the reference on samurai I gathered. The fucking armor took forever, but I think I averaged about 1.5 hours per figure. Ug.

The traveling journal project based on the theme of Unrequited Love has started and about 5-8 books should be circulating thus far. If you are interested, email me at "rick (at) skagawa (dot) com" and I'll send you a book to get started in your area. So far, I think we've penetrated NY, SF, and Stockton, so especially if you aren't in any of these areas let me know.

Also, once I get my shit together, I'm starting on another personal art project for the next year. It's tentatively called "52 Pickup" based on the "game" 52 card pickup (where an entire deck is thrown onto the ground and you pick them up -_-. Anyway, every week, I'll be redesigning a playing card. It'll be a way to force myself into doing something creative for something outside of school and work, and it'll be a great way to try out new styles, subject matter, mediums, and more. Plus, it'll be a cool thing to base a gallery show on. Hopefully.

Oh yeah, and I finished (sorta) a battle scene between the heroine (the floating book wizard lady) and the villain (the creepy child-eating chimney sweeping smoke demon). It was supposed to be in B&W, and it still needs some work to clarify what's going on, but alas, here it is.

Anyway, back to work, as I have to get to bed as I have work tomorrow, as well as 2 master copies I haven't even started on yet. Oh yeah, and finishing these turn-arounds. Blegh.

Woohoo Seattle!

So the plane tickets and hotel accommodations are booked, and we are good to go for Seattle 2008!

Now I'm working on the Unrequited Love Project (which has, admittedly, got off to a slow start), a community art project where little chapbooks are passed about, and people contribute art and stories and such. Today I'll be making more of the books and trying to get them out into the community so I can hurry up (hopefully) get some back. If you are interested in hearing more, or want to help out, email me at rick (at) skagawa . com.

I worked on this giant mushroom idea for a creature concept project. I decided to name it the Red-Masked Reaper due to it's appearance and it's deadliness. It's scientific name, I decided, was Amanita Rex, as in King of the Amanitas, the mushroom genus which includes two of the deadliest mushrooms (in real life); the Death Cap and the Destroying Angel. The back-story is that the hyphae (the "root" part of the mushroom) grows above the soil, and secretes a sort of sticky mucus that traps animals. The hyphae are pressure sensitive and then send a chemical message to the gills to produce it's spores, which also contain an organic acid. The trapped, unfortunate creature is then peppered with spores that burst on contact, dissolving the creature's flesh for absorption by the hyphae. The spores also are a reproductive delivery vessel, and new hyphae start growing on the remaining flesh of the prey. The prey is lured to the Reaper by hallucinogenic pheromones it secretes from it's stalk. As it is obviously a death trap, the mushroom tries to get you to freak out and basically stumble into it's gooey maw of death. And that's the kind of story you get from someone who took an entire class on mushrooms and slime molds and algae. Ha!

Seattle Workshop

Huzzah! So Eve and I just (as in 14 hours ago) bought our tickets to the ConceptArt.org REVELATIONS workshop in Seattle. We're heading out in January to the rainy, cold coastal city to watch, learn, and make art with some of the most fantastic artists out there. Like, seriously big names, people. Crazy.

In other news, we're both at home doing homework instead of doing crazy Halloween things. I put on zombie makeup this morning and it ended up looking pretty decent. Anyway, on to the art.

This is a photo collage I did for my digital illustration class. Fun stuff, composited of a bunch of photos I took in Australia and Europe.

Classes and stuff

So I finally met with my advisor and I signed up for classes next Spring. If you're interested, I'll be taking:

Illustration 232 - Illustration 1 - Sec. 1 - M: 12-6:20
Illustration 222 - Heads and Hands 1 - Sec. 5 - Th: 8:30-2:50
Illustration 310 - History of American Illustrators - Online
Fine Art 110 - Still Life Painting 1 - Tu: 8:30-2:50

This way you can come take a class with me, or know how to avoid me. But you should especially come take the Ill 310 class with me...because, you know, it's online, and I'll see you like, uh, never. Yeah, lame joke that probably didn't even read as a joke. Did I ever tell you my clown joke, btw?

Anyway, so I have to meet with the Illustration Chair, Chuck Pyle (not the Country singer, or so he says) to change my major over to Illustration. Not a big deal, but I should probably do it as I've taken only 1 Graphic Design class, and I'm already signed up for Illustration stuff.

Anyhoo, Eve and I have big plans for January, but I don't want to say too much lest I jinx us.

Anyway, so here's my villain design for my Digital Illustration class. Anyone have any tips on how to paint pinstripe pants? He's supposed to be some sort of creepy chimney sweep, like a dark character from a demented Mary Poppins. He eats children, and he gets into their rooms by turning into ashy smoke and creeping through the chimneys. I suppose he'll be having a (hopefully) epic battle soon with the peasant wizard, her floating books, and maybe some summoned pets of hers.

This school can be so fucking stupid sometimes..

And by this school, I mean Academy of Art University in SF, and by fucking stupid I mean it's bureaucracy is really fucking stupid.

The thing I really like about our school are the classes and the instructors. The instructors are generally super supportive, yet still push you to not suck. I really liked the fact that you don't need a portfolio to get into the BFA program, and they foster a lot of people who didn't necessarily think of art as a first choice. They also foster people who would probably not succeed in a traditional university setting.

However, this tends to make the administrative policies stifling for me. They won't let me sign up for classes online because I'm on the payment plan, and thus I need to see my advisor. Which is stupid, because I already know which classes I need to take. Although I can see why most kids might need an advisor, I've been figuring out my own class schedule for the past 5 years, I think I know what I'm doing.

Sigh.

And I can't pre-pay and just have my advisor sign a form, because to pay you need to have registered for classes, and to register for classes, you need your advisor's signature first. Thus, all the other steps I need to take are all held up because I have to wait for a time slot to just tell my advisor exactly which classes and sections I want so then she can sign my stupid form. Seriously, this is silly. And it should be noted that once I register, I can completely change ALL of my classes online. What's even the point of having to meet an advisor if I can completely change my schedule? Advisors should be there to advise, not to be a mandatory hurdle I have to pass to sign up for my classes.

Additionally, I heard that the advisors are generally there to put kids into classes with the less-famous teachers in the less popular time slots in order to justify having each teacher on board. Everyone wants to take Henry Yan's Figure Drawing class (I did), so his classes fill up first if they don't regulate and put kids in other instructor's classes. It must be noted, however, that even though Henry is an amazing artist, I feel like I've been getting more out of Ruben Deanda's figure drawing workshop. In terms of art, Ruben is also pretty frickin' amazing, but Henry is still definitely superb. But, you only really hear about Henry Yan, and I think if you're more of a beginner, Ruben probably is the better teacher. But I digress. mandatory advisor meetings = poo!

Anyway, so here's a work-in-progress that I did for my digital illustration class. It was done with pencil, then scanned and colored in photoshop.