Christmas 2011

In the final few minutes of Christmas, I thought I'd share a collage of some of the cards I made for my friends and family(also now that most of these cards are with their rightful owners and no more spoilers). There are about 2 or so cards missing, but regardless, these were a blast to do---I mean, I highly doubt Hallmark has ever had a card that combines both Pokemon and organic chemistry. Or one that features, "Walken in a Winter Wonderland"..... and the very original caroling Santa Shark!


Wishing everyone the very best this holiday season and a very Happy New Year! I'm off to enjoy more of my vacation time in good ol' Oregon. :)

Thanksgiving Travels!

Last week I went home for Thanksgiving---part of my trip involved flying out of LAX. While I waited for my flight to Oregon, I broke out the sketchbook and microns:
Within the first minute of sitting down I spotted this duo---yep, that's a Rubik's cube! He was doing pretty well with the blue rows...never finished before boarding though. She later woke up and attempted the cube too, for about 30 seconds before handing it back to him.

I have this game that I play of, "Guess who else is going to Medford, Oregon." There's a certain type of person that usually fits this mold, and I do my best to figure out who'll be on my flight. It's pretty fun, only on this occasion I was tricked! There was a flight to Portland, Oregon as well and a good chunk of my guesses boarded that flight that left 20 minutes before mine. This fellow was one, I thought he was a Medford local for sure. Horribly stained red shirt and all---he kept circling the terminal while pulling up his pants.
This girl was inhaling a GIANT brownie while intensely staring at me. It was a little unnerving seeing those piercing blue eyes every time I looked up from my page(I wasn't drawing her at the time, I was drawing someone else.)

The rest of the line-up. And that's how I spent my roughly 4 hours at LAX.

Zoo drawings from awhile ago. The jaguar was particularly proud of this giant bone he had received as his breakfast. He kept carrying it around and leaving it at the very front of the cage. Yum!

Based on a recommendation from a supervisor of mine from work, I went to this really great garden spot near my apartment. Next time I'll try to plan for a better time of year, most of the plants were going dormant. But I bet the place is gorgeous when everything is in bloom. Still got to see(and draw really poor representations of) some pretty sights. I haven't drawn plants in years, so it was interesting venturing back into that. Overall, a very relaxing trip.


And here are some exploratory thumbnails for a project I'm slowly working on(by slow, I mean at a glacial pace). It was something I started during my third year at CalArts, and now that I have a nice bit of time on my hands, I'm revisiting it. Still trying to relearn how to draw Quint, and I'm not satisfied with these, but they were fun to draw nonetheless. Anyways, I'll try to post bits and pieces along the way.

People of Glendale!

Just some experiences from the past few weeks from all over the area:

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I had just left my apartment and this lil buggy pulled up next to me at the red-light.
I swear that whole car was the length of my car's hood. And it's even more terrifying to think this merged onto the highway and took off into the night.

Here's how it felt looking at him:
His license plate related to always going 90 mph.....
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He was very intent on not spilling a single drop of his coffee as he made his way to the safety of a sturdy table in the corner of the shop I was drawing at. Nothing was about to distract him.
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Last weekend, I was making my way over to my apartment's on-site laundry facility. This involves crossing the bbq/pool area. As I was heading over, I suddenly looked to my right and this random lady was seated in the bbq area completely alone(no one was in the pool either) and without saying a word, gave me this GIANT, creepy soul-piercing smile:
I was a little hesitant to make another trip to pick-up my stuff. An hour later I took a slightly different route over and instead of seeing that woman I passed by mini-batman:
He was a much welcome relief. And I should say that the woman was gone the next time I passed by the bbq. Creepy!

Severe Zoo Catch-up

Still venturing out to the zoo every weekend or so. Here are some studies from the past several weeks:

Day Three: Longnose Saw Shark

Shark floss...I bet he needs it. A lot.

Day Two: Pelagic Thresher

Fun fact I learned while researching these guys: They use those crazy whip-like tails to stun prey!

SHARKWEEK 01: HAMMER TIME!

My favorite yearly tradition is back! It's SHARK WEEK and so begins a week of shark drawing....started by CalArts' very own shark-wrangler, Kristen Campbell. Loads of fun and I encourage ya'll to join in. Head on over to this here blog for all the artwork your own pair of "dolls' eyes" can possibly feast on.

Today is all about the hammerhead shark:



Stanley the not-so-hammerheaded shark (puffer fish). His older "brother" never did enjoy family portrait time.

I really want to animate Stanley now. Just so delightfully top-heavy. haha

Bonus Hammerheads...drawn while waiting for programs to reboot, or for renders to come back. Anytime is a good time for drawin' sharks!

Last weekend I officially graduated from CalArts. While I was technically done in December, the school's ceremony wasn't until last Friday. It was a really fun weekend and awesome walking with my fellow 2011 Char Anim classmates. Anyways, these are a few bots I drew as thank you cards to my family(Uh, I guess this is a bit of a spoiler...since they're going in the mail tomorrow. The colors look much better in person!)


And then here are a couple of zoo drawings from this past weekend's trip. Baby markhors are adorable...they were flipping out as a zoo keeper cleaned the enclosure using their dreaded archnemesis, Mister Hose. It didn't help that mom and the other Markhors(including big ol' dad) were in a state of emergency too...it only added to the hilarity.

Zoo Catch-up

Some of the drawings from a couple of my recent zoo trips--including a Madagascar tortoise stuffing his face with veggies.

From the depths of the La Brea Tar Pits...

A friend and I visited the La Brea Tar Pits today to draw some of the prehistoric locals. From the fascinating Harlan's Ground Sloth to the weirdly proportioned Short-Faced Bear(6 feet tall when on all fours!) and then the mammoth that no sketchbook or scanner could quite accurately fit.

Girl Scout Sightings

Despite the very chilly temps and rain, the local Girl Scouts were out in force last night while I was out doing some grocery shopping. The girls looked like the younger brother from A Christmas Story(a tick about to pop. Their arms wouldn't really go down too). Anyways, I totally caved and bought a box of thin mints....no cookies were consumed while drawing this up; though I can't vouch for the rest of the day.

P.S. While 30-40 degree weather is certainly cold for SoCal...it's not that bad for THAT many layers of clothing. I saw plenty people in flipflops/shorts back in Oregon when this was considered a "high".

Skeleton Drawings...

Visited the Natural History Museum in LA yesterday and drew some prehistoric beasties:


These guys were in the Age of the Mammals exhibit. As a side note: Mister Smilodon's lower-jaw was very much dislocated....

Zoo!

I've been spending part of my weekend at the zoo, fighting off both crowds and a serious case of rusty drawings.

This also marks my first maiden voyage with my new scanner! Much better then my cellphone...

Modern day zombie attack

Apparently a small percentage of the female population like to randomly come up without asking, and pull my curly hair. It happened all the time when I worked at Target, but this hasn't happened since then. Well, today was the day for a comeback, just running a few mindless errands in Pasadena...when from my left a clerk tried to pull one on me. I caught her before she had a chance and I was able to walk away unscathed. So it's only fair I retaliate with drawing and blog posts!

Essentially these incidents are the equivalent of a zombie attack from my viewpoint. Complete stranger inching towards me, dead behind the eyes, creepy outstretched arms as they try to yank a follicle....just not right! Though it's highly amusing afterwards.

And on a side-note--flip-flop weather arrived today! Woo!

Or-e-gun

Spent some quality time at my favorite drawing spot---the Rogue Valley food court. From picking teeth to eating n' texting, this place has it all. So classy.

Welcome to Glendale!

I just moved from Valencia to Glendale and was delighted to find a "Twilight Zone" of bus stops around the corner from my new apartment. Every time I've passed by, the stop hasn't failed me with providing some red-light entertainment. Only 2 days in and can't wait for what else might appear....
Half a mustache and a very glittery vest underneath a grungy trench coat. Yep.

I had to return some wi-fi equipment to a Time Warner store and this fellow happened to be in line. Very flat head, but strong voice, he knew all the employees who worked behind the counter. Too bad I won't be back, I've moved onto Charter. On an animation side-note: He blinked so slowly...his lower eyelids always settled last.