New Creations in the Works

Here are some fun, new creations I've been working on. I'm currently cleaning them up and getting them painted in PhotoShop. I'll post the progress soon.

I hope you enjoy them.

Inspire

I recently did some research on a disease I was diagnosed with back in 2001. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about it, just to be aware of what could happen or symptoms to be aware of, in case I ever come out of remission.

This is a pretty cool site, had a lot of information not only of my disease (Sarcoidosis) but also anything and everything folks could be experiencing or going through. There is a community of friends to learn from and bounce ideas off of, etc.

Anyway...check it out if you feel the urge.

Guest Artist - Jordan Henricks

Here is a picture my son, Jordan, drew, using his incredible "reproducing" talents!

Bob's Dragon

A few weeks ago, I was asked if I could draw a dragon that would be used to make a decal for a Camaro. One of my friends, working with me at Cisco, was going to be moving out of state soon and he wanted to see if I could get the dragon done before he left on his trip.

Here is the line drawing and the Photoshop render of the dragon. It was a HUGE file, but everything worked out fine and he had his dragon on the Camaro before he hit the road. Too bad one of his friends backed out of a driveway and scraped one whole side of his car…not 12 hours after having the decals applied.

I’m still waiting for the photo of his Camaro. Hopefully he sends me the good side and the scraped side. I’ll post those images when I get them.

Latest Pet Portrait

Here are a few images of the latest pet portrait I did for my sister and brother-in-law. These are their puggles named Bobby and Eddy. I just added the before photo, so you can see the image I worked from.

Blast From the Past!

I drew this when I was a sophomore in high school. I was home sick for two weeks with some sort of high school virus and had plenty of Mad Magazines to keep me company. ET was on the cover of the one I was reading and I had the urge to draw him.

Animals - Colored Pencils

Between productions at Fox Animation, I had the opportunity to do some drawings and find out what I could do with colored pencils. I love animals of all kinds and decided to try a few. I hope you enjoy them.

Fox Animation Studios - Titan A.E.

At the start of our next feature production, Titan A.E., I was still in the Ink & Paint department as a Paint Checker. Shortly into production, however, I tested for one of the Color Stylist positions that opened in the Color Model department. I was chosen to fill one of the positions and began choosing colors and working with another great crew at Fox.

Above are images from several of the scenes I was fortunate enough to work on.

Fox Animation Studios - Live Action Shoots

Here are some of the shots I was able to obtain from the live actions shoots for Anastasia. Enjoy!

Fox Animation Studios - Anastasia & Bartok the Magnificent

This is a cel I painted while learning how to help out in the Color Model department.

Early in 1995, I found out that Fox was going to be opening an animation studio in Phoenix. I gathered all the artwork I had, put together a portfolio, and shipped it off for review.

Two rejection letters, one life drawing class, and prepartion for teaching in my own classroom at the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf later, I received a phone call from someone at the studio. They were actually informing me that they had a position in Ink & Paint and asking if I was interested in taking the position! Hmmm, let me think about that…YES!

It was the middle of June and I wouldn’t be starting until September, so I finished my life drawing class and waited anxiously. I couldn’t believe it.

September finally arrived, I started working in Ink & Paint, and I was having the best time of my life. Not only was I learning everything I could about Ink & Paint, using Soft Image Toonz, I was asked to help out up in the Color Model department and learned how to paint cels, and I was asked to help out at the live-action shoots as one of the extra live-action reference actors.

In Ink & Paint, I probably touched just about every scene in the movie Anastasia. I painted and also did something we phrased as “manillation” (adding a manilla folder color to rough animation in order for the characters to read better over layout drawings). Later in production, I tested and became a Paint Checker for my department. I worked as both Painter and Paint Checker on Anastasia and then Bartok the Magnificent.

Comic Book Store Mural (1990-91)

Here is my first commission ever! I started collecting comics when I was in college and offered to design and paint a mural for the shop where I bought my books. Some of the images are in progress, some are of the finished work. The whole mural was done on four sheets of plywood, with acrylic paints. All characters and lettering was drawn freehand.

I think I have the original layout on a roll of paper somewhere around my house.

I went back to that store about 10 or so years ago and discovered that it was no longer hanging above the comics. I asked about it and was taken to the back room where the sections were lined up against a back wall and were being used for paintball target practice. Thankfully, they had the decency to use the backs of the panels and the artwork was still “ok”.

Sheesh!!

"Skin" Illustrations

Here are some of the drawings I did and then painted in Photoshop to use in the skins shown below.

Course Window "Skins"

Above you will find a series of skins I designed for e-Learning course windows.

Instructional Design - WHO

I was assigned as an Instructional Designer for several courses developed for the World Health Organization through Cisco and the Cisco Learning Institute. Above are several image from the various courses that were produced by the media team from my designs/storyboards. I was asked to take raw content received from the client and organize it into units, lessons, activities and assessments.

Flash - Illustrations (part 2)

Here is a small sample of some of the people I illustrated for the Cisco courses.