Monster updates

So I have been (as of late) a bit unsuccessful in doing the 30-Day Monster Girl Challenge, but I'm back on the bandwagon.

So far I'm on Day 9 - Demon, and I finally managed to do a piece I'm actually happy with.  Granted, the rest I've been hammering out as really, really, loose sketches, and I actually took a bit of time with this one and am glad I did.

Others that I don't absolutely hate:

Octo-Maid:

Mermaid:

Slime:

I think while I want to keep practicing my more realistic, concept-arty style so I can get better at it, I really do enjoy this looser, more graphic approach as seen in the Demon sketch.  Eh, perhaps if I ever get as fast doing more rendered stuff as I am with the graphic stuff, I'll make the switch over.

In other news, I did another illo for the M+S blog which I'm pretty pleased with:

And I'm working on a new comic idea (titled  "The Siren's Song"), hopefully in time for Zine Fest, as well as some new tie designs (maybe in time for APE), and a new shirt idea or two. Yay!

Happy Halloween!

Happy halloween everyone!  I'll be spending Halloween night sitting in the airport waiting for my 1am flight to Indonesia!  Crazy!

Anyway, enjoy this quick digital paint and I'll see you in a few weeks!

New art, stickers

So I finally updated the painting section on www.rickkitagawa.com to include the Alone in the Dark series (thus far) and added some flavor text.  Cool.

This was a painting I did while hanging out at Artspan.  Acrylic on canvas.  The original concept was that he was going to be some creature that sort of fades up into the sky, but I ended up really wanted to paint the background blue, then went with the complementary contrast color scheme and did orange.  So now, he's just a burning mummy sort of "fading up" into the sky, but only via flames, and less ethereal planeshifting.

Also, I have stickers!  They're 2.75" x 2.75".  You can pick them up (for free) at Big Umbrella Studios, or paypal me $1 (or more if you want) and I'll send you a few.    You can also send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Rick Kitagawa c/o Big Umbrella Studios, Attn: Create or Die,  906.5 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94115.  Cool.

The Witch

Did this painting on the A-frame sign that we use for Big Umbrella in honor of the Witches of Wonder show that opened Friday night and runs through November 11th.  Eve has two great paintings in it, and there is a lot of other cool work too!

Condriano

"Condriano" Acrylic on wood

After a few weeks of being completely swamped with ye old retail job, silkscreen printing, and stuff for the gallery, I finally got a bit of a break to do some work for myself.

I did the initial design in my sketchbook, then used it as reference to bang out this painting in a night.

In other news, I think I'm going to be nutso busy until the end of the year.  I've got a small group show at a shop in the Haight next week or so, we've got the Alternative Press Expo on October 1+2 (stop by Monkey + Seal, booth #532), I'll be live painting on October 8th from 1-4 at Flax, I'm also doing Open Studios at Big Umbrella on Oct 8+9, I'll be live screenprinting at Urban Bazaar on October 16, and I'll be part of a show at Eth-No-Tec on October 29th.

Pretty crazy, but it's a good crazy, so I'm excited for October. Oh yeah, I also quit my job at the retail spot, and tomorrow is my last day!  Time to do the scary dance of doing art for a living 100%.  Nutso!

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?

The Secret of Deadbrook

New piece I painted for the prize for my The Undiscovered: The Secret of Deadbrook show.   It's titled "Dweller of the Deep."  Feel bad for the giant squid and the whale.  Congrats to Molly for solving the secret and winning this piece to take home!!


 If you missed the show, here's a quick shot of the persons involved in the case.

And of course I'm going to have monsters in my show.  Here are the Five Destroyers. 

 

Anyways, a long-over-due "Thank You" to everyone who made it out to the show and even those who didn't who wished us well!  You all rock!!

The Secret of Deadbrook will be up at Oz Gallery, 3224 1/2 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 until June 25.  Please call them to make sure they're open, cuz they keep different hours, and are closed on Mondays.  (415) 970-9747 

Works in progress for my new "Alone in the Dark" series

Creeeeepy.

The Child Snatcher

The Child Snatcher.  Digital.

Thanks everyone who came out to the opening of Bestiarum vocabulum!  The show will still be up until April 10, and you can check it out at Big Umbrella Wed+Thurs from 7-10pm, Fri+Sat from 3-10pm, and Sunday from 12-5pm.

Woooo!  Hope to put up more photos soon.  Plus, we're still selling our limited-edition t-shirts!  Wowza!  More details coming soon!

ART SHOW

Hey everyone, so I teamed up with the ever-charming Grant Gilliland to do a split show! And it's coming up over at Big Umbrella Studios on Friday, March 4th!  We hope to see you there!

Gads, there are going to be so many monsters I might explode.  Hells yes.

"Bestiarum vocabulum: The Book of the Beasts"
Join us for the "Bestiarum vocabulum" Art Opening featuring the work of painters/illustrators Grant Gilliland and Rick Kitagawa.

From the elusive cyclops to the dangerous succubus, from trolls to water spirits, we often think of mythological beasts as simply mythological. Grant Gilliland and Rick Kitagawa beg to differ. Let this pair of monster hunters bring these creatures to life in a series of all new paintings featuring a stable of unearthly beasts and "mythological" creatures from around the world that are just waiting to follow you home.

"Bestiarum vocabulum"
featuring Grant Gilliland and Rick Kitagawa
w/works by the Big Umbrella Studio collective

Friday, March 4, 2011
7-11pm

*Collaborative Grant n' Rick t-shirt design printed live*
*food carts*

12/31/10

Well, I sort of fell off the wagon during the holidays, but I was still making art every day!  Alas, I think I've come to the realization that the art every day is frickin' tough.  As 2010 comes to a close, I'll definitely try to stay active and post new work and such, but I'm not going to kill myself to post every day.

I have some new goals - more finished pieces, finishing up my portfolio and shopping it around, getting the workshops at Big Umbrella going, plus I have a show in March and June to work towards. 

I'm also trying to get more guides up on the Monkey + Seal site (free and paid), and I'm also working on building up the Monkey + Seal website so it's bigger and better. 

Anyway, I've actually sort of settled on a style for my digital illustration work (I never thought anything remotely close would actually happen), and so here are the pieces (some updated a bit from their original postings here) that are currently in consideration for a portfolio.  I'm hoping to get another 10-20 pieces so I can narrow it down to a nice strong 12-15 or so. 

Have a great 2011!

12/07 - 12/13

 Another art dump, since I've been too swamped with Bazaar Bizarre (which went fabulously, I might add) to really post.  Here it goes.

 

This is for a M+S blog post about having realistic expectations. We don't have to finish first to still be a winner.

"The Woodcutter's Remorse"

 Another fuggin' creepster.

 Above 2 sheets are sketches for an upcoming Monkey story.

I did this quick paint for a friend's birthday present.  Strongly based off a really good photo ref.

Pretty much finished "Horror in the Alley" piece.  Might keep tweaking it, but overall, I'm pretty happy. 

11/22/10-12/02/10

Gads, I've been so wrapped up in painting I completely forgot to upload stuff. Guh.  Anyway, here's all the stuff I've been working on the past 10 days.

 This was done for the Monkey + Seal blog.  I am vegan, after all., but Tofurky is pretty damn tasty.

These next few pieces are new paintings I"ll be showing at the Chillin Productions Holiday show and at Big Umbrella's group show on December 9th.

Last but not least, these are digitally inked line drawings for the Monkey + Seal 2010 holiday cards.  I'm working on getting the final card colored and to the press so hopefully we can sell them at the Bazaar Bizarre Holiday Show on the 11th and 12th at Fort Mason.  

The drawings below will be digitally moved around, resized, colored, and etc. all before it goes to press.  Yay!

11/17/10

Work in Progress of a new acrylic painting on canvas.  Not sure if I want to have a pattern on the background, of if I just want it a darker shade of red. 

11/16/10

This was done on a pre-cut wood panel I found at SCRAP.  I'm really into making monsters out of shapes that I didn't come up with myself.  The hat was a bit obvious, but I used the woodgrain as inspiration for the eyes and mouth. 

Acrylic on wooden board.  ~11"x17"

11/15/10

Another new piece.  I'm really digging the dude's weird forehead blisters or whatever they are.  Acrylic on canvas, 11" x 14"

11/14/10

Quick warm-up piece that I really like.  Acrylic on acrylic paper, 9" x 20."

11/13/10

So yes, I technically haven't been posting daily, but I have been making art daily.  When I do traditional work, I feel like there's this big internal block around actually photographing the art and posting it online.  Hopefully after doing some cleaning of the studio it'll be easier.

One of many pieces I'm working on..I think I finally found a style that really feels like me and that I'm happy with.  Acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12.

10/10/10

Finish of my new portfolio piece, titled "Dr. Madness."