I don't connect well

Or rather I don't stay connected well. So here you go, a comic explanation of why some of you haven't heard from me in years: (click to read)



So, sorry y'all. :(

Brush-pen Tests

Some brush-sketches with my new Pentel Color Brush. :D
I love it!

Link to High Resolution Image

Characters from a character-design assignment. I like them, I think I'll continue to use them...

Links to High Resolution images 1 2 3
Gestures from Wednesday night. Yey.

From Death and Life

So I seem to just draw anything these days, anything and everything, even stuff that falls onto my door...step... Hey...HQ Version

This guy, however was not dead. In fact he was VERY MUCH alive, and would not let go of my finger. :( So I drew him! :DHQ Version

Graphite and ColErase (B&W scan, sorry)

I've, seen things...
... so many things that you can't believe.

Past designs, future designs,
cables in the bend.
Second-hand sounds,
future sounds,
synthesizer dialogues.
Incomprehensible software.
Hi Jon, let's break some rules!
Here comes the sun!
We're doing some recordings later,
Same ol' factory you know.
Here's some names for you,
'Polyester landscape,
Nylon Oxygen,
Ashes to Concrete.'
etcetera... etcetera...
etcetera...

Oh, by the way,
It's been a beautiful morning,
what a morning,
It's a great morning,
It's a great morning man.

Intergalactic Radio Station - Vangelis Direct

Illustration Final stuff

I'm done done done done. YAY!
EDIT: Some of you have been complaining of the large files crashing your systems. Wimps. But I like y'all, so I swapped out the images files, but theere are still links to the larger images because I want to make sure that the texture I SLAVED over is visible. Dangit.

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Editorial Illustration: a caricature (sort of) of Vladimir Putin.

Least favorite assignment, but one of my favorite pieces, that texture on the tentacles was REALLY fun to do. And of course during the whole assignment my classmates and I were making really mature jokes about his name. "PU-tin!" Anyone that's heard 'Space Ghost's Musical BBQ' will understand.
"No I don't think so."

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The assignment was to take a traditional visual symbol and then re-use it in a stronger way.
So I chose "halo."

I don't think it worked.

But I like my turquoise sky.

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Editorial Illustration for an article about how sleds are being bought less and less. Sad day!

Technical note: the whole point of this Illustration class was to let us explore the uses of high-viscosity (heavy body) acrylic paint, and see what textures. I'm beginning to understand...


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So Courtney Granner [link] came to visit and he requested that we do an illustration of a tree house for him to rip apart. I mean critique.
It was fun, but I'm not so much into architecture, although I really appreciate it. I like roofs. And floors.

He's the head of the Shrunkenheadman Club. Check it out. Their stuff kicks my arse.


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Editorial Illustration for an article about how the FBI was using mobsters for information and then protecting them in return.
I had to go back and totally re-design this, but I'm glad I did, I like this image WAY more than the first.

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The assignment: illustrate a scene from a book. So I chose the most obscure science fiction novel I could called Out On Blue Six. You know, I don't think it's ever explained what that MEANS. Oh well.
But the point is there's Battle Raccoons, and it's awesome. In this scene they're rescuing a political refugee from flushed pets. In the sewers. And they have swords. They are also described as having cross bows, but I didn't want to deal with that.

I had to mess around with this image a little in Photoshop because the texture was doing wonky things with the scan. I think it worked.

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Editorial Illustration: for an article about trying to plant trees to offset CO2 usage, and how it doesn't work the way people think it does...
Possibly my favorite piece this year so far. I really like trees. REALLY LIKE 'EM.

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Bees rule.
The assignment was to choose an abstract word and then try to illustrate it.
I totally had to re-do this one because my first attempt at 'saturation' SUCKED. So I chose 'energy' and got to paint a bee and life was good.
I'm really sad to hear about the weird and mysterious disappearance of bees. Four years. If bees go the world's got four years. And then we all die.

I'm re-uploading the orange one because I did some re-painting and made some minor changes, plus the scan is better.

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I went to the zoo yesterday and I'm going to the Aquarium today, so I'll try to get those pages scanned before I go home.

Final Character Designs

If you microwave an orange it smells like fruit-loops. No lie.

Anyway.

I finished my final for Todd's Character Design class. I think I could have done much better, but oh well. The assignment was to show three phases of progression in a character (emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually etc.) along the course of a story-line. So I chose a long-time favorite character of mine, Tammie Dona.

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The boring fine print:

The story has magic as an element, and begins in 1887 with the birth of the protagonist Tammie Dona. Through a series of misfortunes that allow her to skip forward in time, Tammie goes from turn of the century seamstress/cobbler to American big-business tycoon.

First phase: 13 years old or so. I wanted to convey a sense of innocence and light-heartedness.

Second phase: late teens. Typical sullen teenager. She has skipped through time about a decade. At this point she is immigrating to the U.S. and has left her family in both space and time.

Third phase: mid twenties, but still has a baby face. She has become a tycoon of some note and wants to spend her life helping others. She does a lot to help the homeless and the abused. She seems happy and confident even though there is still underlying sadness. Most of the story would focus on this phase of her life.

Preliminary Sketches:

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And just for fun here are some random creature designs:

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Latest news: I went Jeeping/off-roading with some friends Thursday morning. Dad never warned me how dangerous it can be. Dangerous in that I will never go back to flat land AGAIN. Sorry, I'm staying out here. Or someplace similar with mountains and rocks and scrub trees. And we almost flipped. It was great. Thank goodness we had a skid plate!
Go read Off Road. Now.

死神 and Mobsters

The last two paintings for class.

Mortal Combat!
(BGM: "Techno-Syndrome #7 I Challenge You to Mortal Combat")

The assignment was to either do a scene from a book or a dream. Obvious choice! Apparently I dream in BRIGHT ORANGE.
Yes, yes, again I'm not even going to pretend that this isn't Bleach. It's not even just 'Bleach inspired.' This... is Bleach. I'm a sad individual. Yes. But this dream was so much FUN you have no idea. But in my defense, I do actually train with the sword and the traditional uniform is what the shihakushō are based off of. (This just adds to my Geek meter huh?)

This one is for an article about the FBI helping certain mobsters in exchange for information.
Acrylic! I finally like it.

And in recent news, I'm reading a comic called: Japan Tengu Party Illustrated. I have to admit, it was the 'Tengu' part closely followed by the 'Illustrated' part that got me. You can read it online here. It's really innovative work. Very loose brush drawings and fun design. A little hard to follow the pictures though, they could be a little more clear in layout. Oh well.

Trilobites

What are they? What are they? Are they real? Are they alive?
I WANT ONE. THEY ARE CUTE.

That is all.

Update:
A few kind souls have pointed out to me that these are GIANT ISOPODS. I love them. I want one. Do you think the land lady would understand?

Portfolio Time and fun

Hi there!

I am holding a piece of the world's longest Ice Cream Sundae, a record now held by Brigham Young University (Provo). Right next to this record is our 7 year long running status as the country's #1 stone cold sober school. Yes, I am proud of this statistic. And of my cat hat with ear muffs.

Been a while no? Well, here are the images from two portfolios I recently submitted. There are some recognizable images and some new faces...

Although the song doesn't really fit, I painted this piece with this line in mind: Winter just isn't my season.




Sorry if the colors are a little wonky on this one... working between different monitors can really mess you up...
This is actually from Illustration 1 (took in 2007) but I still like it. There are problems yes, but it's still fundamentally one of my favourites.

One of the few exceptions where the scan looks better (in my opinion) than the original. I like how the colours are pushed a lot more in this image. The original is quite dull... This is from a book I said I'd help a friend complete... Uh yeah. Then I found out that my life is a lot more busy than I thought. I'm sorry. :(

Oh yeah: http://marnette.canalblog.com/
Check it out.

And from the box of for fun paintings:

Don't let this image fool you, the original is TINY. I think the scan is a little too big actually...
I did this as a possible composition / color palate for a larger piece. Until I changed my mind.

And since I'm not pulling the wool over anyone's eyes, yes this is a Shinigami, a la awesome comic series Bleach. Maybe ... Hinamori? Can't tell from here... But this scene is roughly based on a dream I've had. That stand of trees is a reoccurring image.

And for fun, Miternacht, an amazing and scary song by E Nomine, a freaky cool weird German band.

A re-mix:

Another re-mix:

India! Yay other European Countries that I don't know what they are! Yay Canada!
Wow, OK, last thing I posted was zoo sketches huh. OK OK new stuff:


Battle Raccoons from the book 'Out on Blue 6.'


Some character design from our latest assignment. The theme was "Post-Apocalyptic Animal Heroes!" I chose to go with just the Post-Apocalypse part, and based their personalities and 'look' on animals. They don't really have names yet. All of them are based on citty-dwelling garbage-picking animals.
Can you feel the Gorillaz influence? I was aiming for it...

Ducks! And Botamon.
That's it for now.
:\


I AGREE.
We are all just jumping through hoops.