Sir Meets World

McScoots...

2009-11-06T08:22:00.001-08:00

I need to clean this up, but here is an sketch of me on my vespa.

Opening Day of the L.A. Phil Harmonic...

2009-11-04T07:27:00.000-08:00

I've once again I've broken radio silence to start posting again. There are all new drawings lined up, and after three weeks of work kicking my butt, I finally feel like I'm capable of posting regularly again. For those that don't know, the show I'm currently working on is Kung-Fu Panda the tv series. It's both really fun and really hard. It's the kind of show that I've always wanted to work on (demanding both crazy action and hilarious comedy), yet I have never really gotten a chance to work on. The whole crew is really amazingly talented, but the demands and the already set standard of the movie has us working really hard every second of the day. Well yippee for me and all, buuuut that not the point of this post....

Ashley once again received season tickets for both her and I to the L.A. Phil Harmonic. We have the same seats as before and they even gave us a parking pass for having our membership renewed--kick ass! Hopefully the demands of this show will keep matriculating into my drawing at home and vice versa making me stronger (this is one of the few times where the demands of a show isn't in direct conflict with my personal demands for improvement, so here's hoping).

Comic Blog Update...

2009-10-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting more serious about posting work on my other blog, Comics of the Sir. I just updated it with the black and white art from the comic pages that I've just finished. Come back to it tomorrow as I will post the full color-with text-version of the pages. Peace out!

I'm Done Inking...

2009-10-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

I'm just finishing up the last two panels that have been holding me up from finishing this short comic story for ShadowGirls. It's been kind of hard to work on cause things have been so busy and hectic, but I've finally finished it and in a week I'll post the full color version along with the black and white pages on the comics blog (along with announcing some exciting news for that blog finally). I have had alot of fun working on these pages and think they turned out pretty good (though you should make your own informed opinion). I haven't done a whole hell of alot of comic work (mostly inking other peoples stuff), so how well these pages turned out is huge for me. Here I have the last panel of the story. Enjoy.

How to Make Your Father-In-Law Happy...

2009-10-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't know that this would be a two part installment when I posted the first one. My father-in-law called me tonight willing to pay for my time to fix an important graphic for a business meeting. It took less than 20 minutes, so I thanked him for respecting my time and wanting to compensate me, but turned down monetary payments in favor of some buffalo jerky, mmmmm.....

Anyway, I can't show you the graphic, but I can share the colors that were in it (insert boo from the peanut gallery here).

Yaaaaaaay!!!!...

2009-10-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Woohoo!! I just got the great news, and had the meeting to confirm, that I'll be again working for Nickelodeon. It's been two years since last time and alot of amazing adventures in and out of the animation field have taken place, but I really missed how well Nick treats its employees. Even above that though, I grew up with the channel (I was apart of its first generation of kids), so it has a special fun fanboy quality to working for them. Anyway, I'll post a drawing tomorrow, tonight I'm just celebrating.

Elephant...

2009-10-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

Amongst my favorite animals (Turtles, Sheep, Rabbits) is the Elephant. Also I received good news yesterday that I hope gets better soon, and I also miss roller skating. So that is my reason behind the drawing.

Ninja Turtle Sketch...

2009-10-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Michaelangelo was my favorite from the mirage studios comic, but I like drawing Donatello--weird how life works that way.

How To Make Your Mother-In-Law Happy...

2009-10-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

Draw her a picture or two. I did these real quick as a favor to my new Mother-in-Law. She had half offered, but I jumped on the chance because I remember what it was like at school seeing awful poster after poster advertising something good for me, but in the end only turning me off to whatever it was being pushed. So hopefully the students don't mind these and the book fair gets plenty of excitement. I personally like the ghost, he's cute. These had to be simple so that they could photocopy really easily. Enjoy.

Addendum: I noticed that this post with these monsters is post #333, woooooo, that's half evil, yet nowhere close, wooooo...

I'm Back!!

2009-10-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished working 2-3 (closer to 3) jobs for the past several months and I'm soooo glad to have everything back down to one. But today to kick off my return from absence are acouple of drawings that I did for a film idea created by my friend Matt Flynn. I know my concepts area have been filled with alot of rough sketches but, I think these two really shine. I had a blast of a time working on them and I would love to do more work like this. Hope you enjoy.

Problems...

2009-09-29T09:41:00.001-07:00

Due to work overload problems beyond our control, there will be no new artwork for a while-despite my best intentions.

Shadow Girls Cover (with text)...

2009-09-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Today the great people over at the Shadow Girls website have put up my cover promoting that the comic will go up the Monday with the first 4 pages and then Wednesday with the second batch of four. I hope you all don't mind checking them out. Well, back to my daily grind so I can finish early and get back to inking those pages before they go up. To check out the site and the cover, go here.

I Need To Start Writing These Things Down....

2009-09-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

While I'm finishing up my three jobs and getting my life back to normality (1 job), something crazy happened. Every so often I come up with theories and I feel dead certain about them, not half baked guesses mind you, honest to goodness 'I know this is right' type stuff. My friend Matt Flynn has always said to write these ideas down and test them at later date to see how correct I would be.

Well, now I'm convinced that I should.

Back when I was working for Nickelodeon and I was getting home from pulling a huuuuge 21 hour shift, I got in bed and just collapsed and the world just dissolved around me. Then my neighbor's fire alarm went off (that apartment had really thin walls), waking me up. I was in such a deep sleep, that to be suddenly awakened, I couldn't remember which way I would be facing when I woke up, where I was, and even scarier... who I was. About a minute later I remembered everything super clearly, then went back to sleep and that was that. Now, I know many of us have had similar situations where you wake up and you can't remember where you are, that's happens to all of us right? Well that event sparked a theory. What if deep sleep loss causes Alzheimer's? What if the disease isn't neurological at first like it has been thought, but actually the neurological damage is brought on by another greater problem that could be linked to depriving the brain of the deeper sleep it needs? I told Ashley this idea and I had meant to do more research on it, but I got sidetracked with 'helping humanity out' by making commercials to buy stuff they may not need, and fart jokes, and etc., etc.... (my animation career everybody)

Anyway, a couple of years later and to make a long story finally short, check out this link base on an interview I heard this morning. The fact that I considered sleep deprivation the source and not only an outset problem is proven here in this part of the article: "Researchers have linked sleep problems and Alzheimer's disease before, he said, but from the perspective of the sleep problems being a symptom of the illness and a result of aging. The idea that sleep deprivation might cause Alzheimer's deserves more attention, Scarmeas said."

This has convinced me to start writing my crackpot theories down and see if I actually have an ability to come up with good ideas on the whole or I'm just spouting so much b.s. that eventually at least one of them has to be right. And should there be proof that the ideas are on the whole actually good, I need to find a way to get them out there.

Anyway, if you read this, you're a better person than me. I wouldn't have read this. This is the ramblings of a crazy person. Pictures will come again soon when I more than a passing moment to write down my stupid theories.

Some Pages Inked....

2009-09-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here's how those comic pages are turning out. My and co-creator of Shadow Girls, Dave Reynolds, is going to color them for the internet release (which will give me time to color them for print). Hope you enjoy.

Another Preview of ShadowGirls...

2009-09-17T15:13:00.003-07:00

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Here's another page in pencil form. Because it was drawn on the computer, the figures are transparent-hope that that doesn't bother you.
(picture has been temporarily removed for now.)

Holy Crap You Awesome People!...

2009-09-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

I hit 50 viewers in a single day again--in less than a month!! That's both huge and awesome, thank you for coming by.

How I Almost Ruined Comedy...

2009-09-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

Actually I ruin good comedy everyday by opening my mouth and thinking I'm telling jokes, but what I'm referring to in particular here is again, the Shadow Girls comic story, 'Aspis'. Because I grew up looking at great comic artists like John Buscema, Dave Cockrum, and Frank Frazetta drawings fantastic characters that still felt realistic in proportions and handling, then getting a healthy dose of Vertigo comics being introduced to me in the mid 90's, you can easily see why when I sit down to draw comics I tend to want to draw more realistic. Now this is made odd by the fact that in many ways the medium actually is really seeming to change more and more to more cartoonish types of styles every day--this observation isn't me acting like an old man trying to bash such a thing, I totally encourage it to help diversity in visual styles past the tradition of just muscle guys in tights. In short, I first started off drawing this short story for the Shadow Girls series in a more realistic manner. I got halfway through and finally stopped letting my ego of wanting to impress people with my meager knowledge of anatomy get in the way and almost stifle the funny moments out of the story. Anyway, long story short, here are a few samples of discarded drawings that I thought you might enjoy seeing. And should by chance, you not enjoy it, well that's totally your right.

Shadow Girls-Aspis Preview...

2009-09-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Shadow Girls is the name of the comic I'm finishing up work for. It was created by David Reynolds and David Rodgriguez (D-Rod). The name of the story I'm working on is 'Aspis'. I'd tell you what it was about, but then you would have no reason to read it. It will be up next week. I'm going to show various drawings and 'behind the scenes' art here while it runs. When it is done with it's run up on the Shadow Girls site I will post the full story on my comics blog. Until then, enjoy the tasty tidbits over the course of this week. First tidbit 'o fun: Page 1 of the story in its pencil format.

(Now heads up. I know that alot of the stuff I do is pretty tame and lighthearted, rarely risque' in material (which is odd cause in person I talk about alot of topics that are controversial--it's the universe balancing itself out, right), Shadow Girls is for a more mature audience. It's not porn or filth, but it's not Care Bears running around hugging each other into happiness. So if you go to check it out, know that I prepared you.)

I drew out my thumbs and scanned them in, but the rest of the process was done straight on my cintiq (same as the cover I posted yesterday). It it fun to release and go back to some of my illustration roots. I miss getting to do more finished work. In animation I'm trying to master drawing fast and create clear strong sketches so much, that I haven't had much time over the past several years to just relax and just enjoy fleshing out a more finished drawing. Combine that with working on alot of projects that want cruder drawn or animated handling, a more finished type of work is just the thing my weary soul needed.

(This following part might seem a bit harsh. I'm combining showing the comic stuff with getting some frustration at my chosen profession off my chest.)

Also, I'm so involved with wanting to impress animation people and move up the totem pole of quality projects, that I think I've become shell shocked as to what will be said by any animation people who see these pages. I made these pages for comics and comics alone, and to entertain the audience and just draw how and what the hell I want. Before starting, it actually took me a while to clear my head and try to use only the good things you are pushed to learn in animation and discard the b.s. that somehow seems to have become thought of as canon. Yet I know I'll get at least a few animation people that want to say a few things. In order of what I expect: that I broke the 180 rule, (or even get this) over exaggerated the pose, or didn't choose the right acting pose. So... for these I have prepared responses all set (in order of listed above): I broke the rule to adhere to the rules of comics in which you have to treat the whole page as 1 illustration and must flow the eye around and not lead the audience to the borders without a way back into the action; if I over exaggerated pose I don't have seconds of time to work with (like with animation), I only have one drawing per idea so I had to make the most of it; and lastly, if you don't like the acting that's fine--but it's your opinion, suck it up and deal with it.

I used to see animation as a really large vast medium of potential, thinking that so many in the field are really free minded and such. Actually I still see it as a medium of vast potential and excitement, but when I went to comicon recently and talked to some of the comic artists there, I finally had to admit just how conservative the animation field is. I mean, geez, if it isn't singing animals, referencing pop culutre, or just repeating the same shots/animation you've seen in classic movies, it's too 'daring' and 'audiences might not be able to follow it'. Yeah, they're soooo right, the audience is composed of brain dead monkeys and should be catered to like they will start drooling should you not just make the same show or movie over and over again. All the while, some live action movie is doing awesome stuff and breaking grounds and creating new shot and story ideas for animation people to rip off 5-10 years down the line. Sorry, for this rant out of nowhere, but I had to get some thoughts that have been weighing me down for quite awhile off my chest and see if anyone else feels the same way. I just get frustrated with how many execs view people as morons that need to be talked down to instead of being talked at. And then when you compound this by some artists who have been beaten down so much by this thinking that they regurgitate the same thoughts about the audience without thought to what they are saying, it really brings me down. It'll pass, but for now there is temporary cynicism.

Comic Cover...

2009-09-13T13:49:00.001-07:00

I'm inking and coloring away, here is the cover to the short story I've been working on an off on. It's san text and logo and stuff, just the illustration.

A Rough Background...

2009-09-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

It's sketchy, but it'll do for today.

Ummmmm....

2009-09-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

While I try desperately to finally sit down and finish these comic pages by then end of the weekend, I hear my neighbors having sex.

Long Lost Life Drawing...

2009-09-08T04:32:00.000-07:00

Chimps...

2009-09-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Chimpanzees from the L.A. Zoo.

Koala...

2009-09-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

Your sketch for today is this koala from the Los Angeles Zoo. More animals coming soon.

Zombie Doodle..

2009-09-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Drawing from a quick lunchbreak.