Moth Girl

What started off as a quick noodling around turned into a painting for the weekend! I was inspired by a moth photo I stumbled onto online and the idea just took off from there.

Moth Girl
Adobe Photoshop cs 5

Here is a process image!

EDIT: Just made some quick changes! Here's the update. 

30 Day Challenge: Day 3

First of three paintings for an upcoming art show. I love gouache despite how temperamental it can be. A lot of things I wish I could go back and fix, but overall, very happy with the result.

"And so she slept in the stars: Moon" - 6" x 9"
Gouache and acrylic on Arches Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

ROSEY

Here we go, something more along the lines of what I see myself doing for the rest of my life - writing and drawing comics!

Luckily, my friend Paul Richards had put together a comic jam where the attendees had to create a three page comic. Definitely was a learning experience, both on how to tackle something I've been wanting to take seriously for quite some time and also the best way to communicate a story with strictly images!

Here are all three pages for your viewing pleasure: 

More to come, that's for sure! Thanks for your time. 

Pirates vs. Ninjas

I had the wonderful opportunity to be in a group show at the Weavver Art Gallery in Fullerton, CA back in July. The theme was "Pirates vs Ninjas" to which I instantly thought of sky pirates. I was stumped for a long time about what the equivalent ninja class would be. Eventually, my research led me to the idea of cloud ninjas.

I focused mainly on the characters during my exploration and brain storming phase, which I always have fun with.

 It was easier with the pirates to express their personalities, as later most of them were influenced by my friends. With the ninjas, on the other had, I played mostly with shape and how the clouds could be used as clothing.

 What originally made me be bias towards sky pirates was the fact that I loved the idea of a boat sailing across the clouds. Later I had a difficult decision on whether or not I wanted to include more of the boat or more of the characters for my final piece.

 The final pieces focused more on the atmosphere of the battle than it did on the characters. I tried to include more of the characters in the ninja piece at least because I could not figure out a vessel for them to travel in. Where as with the pirates, I figure the appropriate sub-vessel for fights was planes (a la Tailspin). I completed these pieces in oil pastel. 

(Note: The yellow shapes in the bottom left of the pirates piece is supposed to be the gunner hiding out in the clouds. A last minute, sloppy detail.)

I've always had an idea to write a story about sky pirates, and participating in this show has kindled that flame of inspiration to pursue it. I will say it's a possibility, but there are other stories I would like to share first before I touch up on this one. It will be easier when I do revisit my sky pirates again to have more characters to play with, instead of just the captain.

Commission: A Little Girl's Fantasy Land

I have done a few murals for the family who commissioned this piece. After the second mural I did for their youngest daughter, the oldest asked me if I could paint her imaginary world. At first, she wanted a mural, but I suggested a painting - to which the mom agreed. Later in the day, I was delivered a drawing from the girl, and felt completely inspired to use the drawing as the foundation of the painting. I was also inspired by the trend of turning toddlers' drawings into art pieces or photography. 

For Avalon: A Little Girl's Fantasy Land

Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20"

Avalon's original drawing

When Being Chased By Lions, Let the Hummingbird Guide You

When Being Chased By Lions, Let the Hummingbird Guide You

Acrylic on canvas board, 9"x12"

Had a dream a while back, where I was being chased by lions in a forest. A black hummingbird, whose red skeleton I could see, guided me to safety. 

I've been working on this concept for a couple of weeks, mainly because there aren't too many hummingbird skeleton references out on the internet. Decided to break out the acrylics for this, and it felt nice to try out some new techniques. 

Also included a horrible photo of the gouache study I did and the sketchbook page exploring the idea: