It's funny because it's true

Perot for D Magazine

2009-12-23T15:59:00.003-06:00

Here's a very quick little Illo I did about a month ago for D Magazine. The idea is a bit cliche to me, Perot with "Dumbo-like" ears . . . but it is what they wanted, and I agreed to do the job. It helps that the art director is great to work with, and that goes a long way in my book. Life isn't all about me and how I can better serve myself. Sometimes you need to serve others in order to receive joy and sanity in this world? Know what I mean?

I don't know much about the actual story . . . all I know is that Perot has re-located EDS somewhere outside Dallas . . . ?

I didn't have as much time to spend on this piece as I would have liked. If I remember correctly, I was in the middle of two other commissions that were also due that same week. In these situations, I do what I can to simplify yet get the same idea across to the viewer that the a.d. wanted. It is important when I feel rushed that the work still maintains my "look" and "quality". To do this, I spend the most time on keep areas that I know the viewers eyes will look at first, like the eyes and hands . . . after enough time is spent there, I begin to simplify and pull back a bit.

I prefer spending more time on my sketches and planning of a piece, working out the composition and so forth . . . If I had more time, I would have done things a bit different, but for what it is, I had me some fun!

I've heard from the A.D. that the Editor and folks at the mag got a real kick out of it . . . to hear that always feels good. I guess the editor or someone at the mag knows Mr. Ross Perot and had a giclee print made and framed and then delivered to him for his birthday. Would love to see his reaction when seeing the cartoon I painted of him.

Sketch finished . . .

2009-12-20T22:50:00.005-06:00

. . . and now wetting bristles, squinting eyes, mixing colors . . . . painting with ferocity!

Quick sketch . . . .

2009-12-18T15:52:00.002-06:00

A quick sketch and idea for a painting I'm working on . . . . will share more soon . . . I've got loads of new art to share but I have to wait until I have the OK to do so . . . !

Lack of posts?

2009-12-17T13:18:00.004-06:00

. . . sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been really, really busy, painting a lot of paintings, private commissions, paintings for upcoming shows, for magazines and so on. I will be able to share some of what I have been working on very soon.

Also, been going through quite a bit lately, not so great of a holiday season I'm afraid. My Uncle David passed away early Monday morning. He was more like an older brother to me than an Uncle. He always supported my art and made a point to encourage and push me. I don't want to get into too much here, but I am deeply saddened by his passing, he was way too young, and too important to me.

I will never forget . . .

I'm posting my painting of Saddam in honor of David. He loved this painting and went on and on to me about it, it struck a cord within him, and now it has become more important to me. It's no longer "just a painting".

I will miss you David.

ISCA top 10 Most Interesting faces of 2009!

2009-12-16T10:26:00.002-06:00

This year, the International Society of Caricature Artists decided to compile a list of the Top 10 Most Interesting Faces to draw in 2009. This list was created based on submissions from our professional members who make a living drawing caricatures.

Click here for more info and such!

SCHOOLISM = HOLIDAYISM!
Also, my next class at Schoolism is filling up, there's a great holiday deal, a limited time offer that is well worth it!!! Check out
Schoolism.com for more info on the holiday special as well as how to register for my January 8th class!

Taylor Lautner for 5"x7" Power in Numbers show!

2009-12-09T12:55:00.006-06:00

This small little painting was painted for an "online" show put on by Gallery Nucleus. All paintings or drawings must be 5"x7", and the cool thing is that the art if sold, will also be benefiting a cause. Money from my sales for example will be donated to The Red Cross. I painted quite fast, only spending two hours on the entire piece . . . this is fast for me, considering that my watercolor paintings tend to take a long, long time to paint. I'll post more info soon . . . I'm also working on a few other small watercolors and drawings for the show.

Detail.

SO, WHAT'S IN THE MIX SEILER?
Well, funny you should ask. I just finished a cover for Exaggerated Features magazine . . . funny stuff, will be sharing that soon. I'm also working on a few other paintings for upcoming shows. One show in particular that I'm very excited about . . . something having to do with "Alice in Wonderland". I'll be posting more info on this soon.

Also working on a few illustrations for a few different magazines . . . there will be more art to share soon!

SEILER interview with Bobby Chiu!

2009-12-04T17:28:00.003-06:00

Here's my interview with Bobby Chiu on CHIUSTREAM! Congrats to Carlos Rubio, Christian J Meesey, and Shreya Shetty!

Win An Original Drawing by Me!

2009-11-29T10:55:00.006-06:00

Hello Everyone! I wanted to let you know that I am going to do a caricature of you if you win my art challenge on CHIUSTREAM.

Your task is to draw a caricature of Me!

Click here for details! Contest is open right now and closes Wednesday, December 2 at 11:59 pm EST, 9pm PST

Make sure to tune in Thursday night on Bobby Chiu's CHIUSTREAM! I will be interviewed live from my studio, answering questions and talking about my work and much more!

Interview by #3 Magazine

2009-11-28T14:33:00.001-06:00

A small little interview that I did a while back for #3 Magazine in Germany. Short and sweet.

New Moon quick sketches.

2009-11-26T11:48:00.005-06:00

Robert Pattinson from "Twilight's New Moon".

Aweful movie . . . I went to see it with my wife. The only thing good about this movie was the sound tract, some great songs by some great bands. There were a couple scenes in the film that were fun, some cool imagery, but over all, the movie gets a "BIG YUCK" from me.

It's funny, I've gotten some interesting comments about this sketch of Robert Pattinson. I chose to draw him differently than what is typical or what I've been seeing, and so far I haven't seen one good drawing of him. Instead I've seen people draw the "idea" of who or what they "think" he's supposed to look like. It seems like every artist out there draws him the exact same way, as if he's today's version of James Jean . . . if you think that, you couldn't be further from the truth.
Pattinson is a "dork", so draw him like a dork! I don't get the hype at all?

As always I enjoy the comments, but please know that I am content and satisfied with my quick sketch. I captured what I set out to capture, I had fun, and that's good enough for me. It's OK to try different things. Not everything you do as an artist will work, and that's OK. You need to "do" something right? Don't fall into the trap of feeling like you have to draw a certain way or draw certain "things" in order to please others. Draw for yourself, draw what you want.

This is a quick thumbnail sketch of Pattinson . . . very loose, just scratching down an idea.

Taylor Lautner, this kid is on steroids . . .

I'm looking forward to seeing "The Wolfman" with Benicio Deltoro, now that will be a cool film . . .

Society of Illustrators 52 Annual!

2009-11-20T19:01:00.003-06:00

I found out today that two of my paintings made it into the Society of Illustrators 52 Annual show! Frank McCourt and The White Stripes!

In Other News . . .

I'm currently working on an odd illustration for a magazine which I may or may not show?

I'm also painting a cover for Exaggerated Features, the ISCA magazine, where I am brutalizing Glenn Ferguson and Jo Anne, all in love of course . . . hee heee heeee!

I'm working on a step by step demo for a book about digital paintings and artists, and much more.

There will be a book coming out soon on "America's top water media" artists that I somehow was lucky enough to be a part of . . . funny thing is some of the work they want to share in the book was done digitally. They didn't seem to care? I'll post more on that when I have more to share!

Ed Steckley . . . sketch

2009-11-15T00:19:00.004-06:00

Took little over an hour to do this photoshop sketch of friend and artist Ed Steckley. Ed's work is awesome, if you don't know him, check him out here.

Detail. I used a round brush and tried to keep it as loose as I could. To do that, I painted most of it zoomed out and away from the image. If you paint in too close, you can easily get distracted by all the details. This was a study, or warm up for me, for these, I try to experiment a bit.

Drunk on Power!

2009-11-14T08:15:00.002-06:00

This is a painting I did over a year ago now, for The Weekly Standard. The story that I originally painted it for was held back, or cut, lost, kidnapped, sold to The New York Times (not), or perhaps it just couldn't live up to the scary and realistic portrayal of Pelosi and Reid (yeah right)?. . . . so a year and a month or so has passed since I burped this one out . . . and it can finally find rest within the pages of the latest issue of The Weekly Standard. I can only assume the article is about Pelosi and Reid, that or steroids being used in the work place? What a couple!

Like usual, this painting was done in two days or less.

Illustration Now! 3 - TASCHEN

2009-11-13T09:45:00.005-06:00

I'm in the latest ILLUSTRATION NOW! 3 put out by TASCHEN. If interested in ordering, click here.
There are many great illustrations and artists, a great book for inspiration!

My pages . . . .

I nice size book!

Roger Hurtado Oil

2009-11-12T17:01:00.002-06:00

One of the biggest things that frustrates me about painting traditionally, especially with oils, is that I can't seem to ever get an accurate scan or picture . . . the original always looks much better. I just scanned this oil in of Roger Hurtado and tried messing with the levels a bit to get it close, but it's just not quite right? The original has a nice wet "oil" look to it, rich texture and color. Anyways, I suppose there's not much I can do about it right now . . . . . ?

This is a small 8"x10" oil of artist Roger Hurtado, painted last week at the ISCA convention in Ohio. I was going for a look with this portrait that would hopefully make viewers look twice. I wanted the exaggeration to be subtle, almost as if the subject really does look just like this. Hopefully it has that effect?

Jert Palette Knife Extravaganza!

2009-11-11T21:29:00.005-06:00

This is a painting I did last week at the ISCA convention of my pal Jert. Jert is one of the coolest guys I've met. I love this guy, super funny, great artist, good taste in music, and just an all in all good guy! He did a great drawing of me last year, one of the best likenesses of me and by far the funniest! So this year I wanted to do a painting of him . . . it was a bit challenging, because Jert has been drawn by everyone, so it was hard to come up with something new. So I decided to do something I've always wanted to try and that was painting with a palette knife. I blocked the painting in with brushes and then finished it off with a palette knife. It was a fun experiment, and I'd definitely like to experiment with that technique a lot more . . . develop it a bit more.

Thank you for the usage of your face Miguel Aguilar!

2009-11-09T14:57:00.004-06:00

My watercolor painting of Miguel Aguilar won for "Master Caricature of the Year!" Thanks for the usage of your face Miguel! I'll ship the original to you soon! Miguel is not only a wonderful model, but also a nice guy who knows a lot about "The Doors" and he does some cool art as well!

Watercolor on 300 lb hot press.

My wall this year. I would have liked to have finished a few more paintings and drawings, but this year I spent a lot of my time talking with other artists, looking at their work as well as doing a seminar and selling my book and DVD. It was a great convention!

I'm back from ISCA!

2009-11-09T10:21:00.004-06:00

I just got back from ISCA's (International Society of Caricature Artists) 18th annual competition. It was a great week of drawing, painting and hanging out with artists from all over the world. I was honored this year with the "Master Caricature of the Year" award!

I'll share more soon!

30 minute warm up sketch!

2009-10-30T12:36:00.002-05:00

A quick warm up exercise I did this morning before working on commissioned paintings.

Almost finished . . .

2009-10-28T19:28:00.002-05:00

Man, I wish I could just work on this painting and finish it already. But, because i'm in the middle of so many different projects I can only work on it a few hours a week. I'm really enjoying the process, I love painting traditionally, there's nothing like it!

Moleskine sketches #6

2009-10-27T16:54:00.004-05:00

Some more quick sketches from my moleskine sketchbook . . . The man reading the paper was a two minute sketch I did at the airport while I waited to board my plane. I would have spent more time and that was my intention, but he got up and got on his plane. I stayed and sketched on it a bit more on it before I realized he was on my flight . . . and I almost missed my flight! Funny thing, he was sitting right in front of me to my right and I was going to sketch him on the flight from a different angle, but the flight was so bumpy. It was the worst flight I've ever been on, extreme turbulence . . . no fun!

A memory sketch of a guy I saw on the street.

Moleskine sketches #3, 4, & 5

2009-10-24T10:13:00.004-05:00

A lot of random sketches, mostly from life while on the subway (red line or 'L' train), sitting in a cafe, or where ever I may be? I try to take my sketchbook everywhere and sketch whenever and whatever I can. I have several sketchbooks, some are for planning and prepping for final work. This sketchbook is "just for fun". With this sketchbook, the point is to relax, have fun, and draw whatever I want. I sketch with blue pencils, pen and ink, ball point pens, prisma color pens, pencil, acrylic paint . . . whatever I like. It's a place to mess around and just have fun. A place for me to play!

Quick animal sketches, some from reference, others made up. Fun and good practice.

These sketches are all from life with the exception of Riley, my brother and sister in-law's dog . . .

This is what I'm painting right now, at 11:08 in the P.M.

2009-10-21T23:07:00.001-05:00

20 minute digital sketches . . . .

2009-10-20T10:37:00.010-05:00

These are two really quick 20 minute digital sketches of very talented artist,
Damion Dunn.
I've decided to go with the top sketch and take it a bit further. Thanks for your input, it's been fun!

I'm crazy busy right now with a ton of work and haven't had as much time for sketching and drawing for myself. It was nice to do these this morning . . . a nice warm up.

Brian oil work in progress . . . #3

2009-10-16T10:03:00.001-05:00

Getting close to finishing this one up. I've still got some rendering to do, softening edges and all that fun stuff . . . but it is coming along.

I feel I need to mention that the colors in these pictures are not 100% accurate, when the painting is finished, I'll take high quality pics of it.