Pony Express

Here’s me in 1860 riding cross country to deliver mail for the Pony express, fighting outlaws and bandits by day and sleeping under the stars by night. I realize the bg is kind of a cop-out/hack (its actually a photo I took when we visited Arches national park in Utah) but it kinda fit the style i was going for.

Below is the actual recruitment poster for the Pony express. I like how honest they are: "must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred” Damn, dude that is no joke. You might die, but if you don’t die you will get 25 dollars a week. Was that even a lot of money back then? I have to believe that anyone that took this job was a stone cold badass. Also, these people had to make it from Misourri to San Fran in 10 days or less on a horse! That’s some serious haul-assery!!

Hair

My hair is like my security blanket and source of power. I'm trying to force myself to work in color and get used to the idea of creating lighting from my head. I think to do this really effectively you must have done enough still life and portrait studies that you are comfortable with color theory and can easily pull from your mind. Definitely out of my comfort zone...Well my new gouache set arrived today, I guess we'll see what I end up making with it! Fun times ahead!

Cat logo

Properly remade the logo to my site hi-res for my business cards. Cat branding, it's the way of the future..

I mean, who doesn't love a slightly wall-eyed striped fat cat with tiny toothpick legs??

A lot of people?

Oh...

Robin

I wanted to do Robin from Batman the Animated Series in a creepy jamie hewlett-ish style. I always had a thing for Robin when I was younger. Now that I'm older I see its because he’s the full package,

-smart

-athletic

-edgy

-obsessed with revenge personality disorder

..wait a minute.. Oh well …

Typical New Yorker

Doing 2 things at once.. Just funny. I finally picked up a w9 marker so now my sketches can get those darkest darks. Hurrah! I realized its my dream to one day have every color of copic marker.. I'm dead serious. Like just casually stroll into Blick and be like, yeah I'll take that whole rack.. KThanksbai...

Bananas

That is all.

Today's Paintover

Today I took an old marker sketch and spiced it up in photoshop, adding some dramatic lighting. Here's a before and after..

I thought the moon was competing with the jack o lantern too much so I scaled it  back quite a bit. Definitely need more animal anatomy, and trees are also a challenge for me.

New Portfolio Site

Friends! I've been busy lately putting together a portfolio site for myself! Come have a look and let me know what you think!

Space Shuttle

I always loved space shuttles, the idea that we could launch ourselves with rockets into outer space always captivated me. I was imagining what it must have been like to be in a space shuttle during launch. I can barely handle taking off in a plane, so I feel like the astronauts are some of the most valiant and brave folks around.

Scylla

Ask any Italian about Scylla and they’ll tell you she’s the terrifying sea monster that inhabits the rock of Scylla in the narrow strait between Italy and Sicily. Across the Channel from Scylla is Charybdi, a demon of the tides who can swallow entire ships in her whirlpool. Here is a passage about Scylla and Charybdis from Homer’s Odyssey , one of my favorite books..

In Homer's Odyssey XII, Odysseus is given advice by Circe to sail closer to Scylla, for Charybdis could drown his whole ship: “Hug Scylla’s crag—sail on past her—top speed! Better by far to lose six men and keep your ship than lose your entire crew.” Odysseus then successfully sails his ship past Scylla and Charybdis, but Scylla manages to catch six of his men, devouring them alive.

"…they writhed
gasping as Scylla swung them up her cliff and there
at her cavern’s mouth she bolted them down raw—
screaming out, flinging their arms toward me,
lost in that mortal struggle.”[7]

When I visited Sicily with my family we actually saw the rock of Scylla. I think its interesting how Greek mythology is part of the local culture there, and that a story that’s over 1000 years old still survives today.

"The road to success is always under construction.."

Probably the weirdest drawing ive ever made. From the SVA drawing workshop. I accidentally gave him disney eyes by making his pupils too large. He looked kind of cute that way though so I left it. I guess I've come a long way since earlier this year when I was totally afraid to draw in pen. Now I try to sketch in pen every day. Still a long way to go.

Full Metal Jacket

PYLE

(strange voice)
Hi, Joker.

JOKER stares at PYLE for a few
seconds.

PYLE has clearly snapped.

      JOKER
Are those ... live rounds?

      PYLE
Seven-six-two millimeter,
full metal jacket.

PYLE smiles grotesquely. 

FULL METAL JACKET! My favorite movie of all time. I really appreciate the eerie lighting on private Pyle’s face in this scene. You can tell he’s totally lost it. I love that Kubrick totally jumps the line in this scene—ON PURPOSE— in order to throw the audience. Brilliant filmmaking!

STANLEY KUBRICK IS MY HERO!