Remembering Nelson Mandela

"Everyone can rise above their own circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."

 --Nelson Mandela

1918-2013

Peace & Love

'Tis the season....Happy Holidays!!

This should be on a card.

Really, Really Belated Halloween

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I came to the sudden realization that I had never posted any photos from Halloween!!  This year's Halloween was a bit different, in that my girlfriend and I actually got to celebrate it together.  The past few years she had to travel for work, and would normally miss Halloween along with the rest of the holiday season.  So finally, we were able to get into the halloween festivities by carving pumpkins and dressing up together.

This year also, the siblings and I actually had a few close friends join us for the pumpkin carving as well.  This year was also a bit different in that my brother didn't carve a pumpkin.  He had been so indecisive about what he wanted to do that he eventually didn't have enough time.  Oh, well...it was still a success.  All the kids that came to my house were not only impressed with our pumpkins, but also our costumes.  I think what surprised me the most was, there were entire families coming to our house just to admire our pumpkins.

"Well then...'Gidday mate!'"  haha
Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber

Our creations for this year

"Light bulb..."
me dressed as Gru, from Dispicable Me

"Papoy!"
gf dressed as a minion, dressed as a baby...haha

Dispicable Us

The Dawn of the Dixon

The new season of The Walking Dead recently started about a week ago.  Two episodes into the fourth season, and already the story's shaping up to look pretty crazy.  If you haven't seen or watched The Walking Dead, it's definitely a show to watch.  It's one of those shows that will suck you in right away.

Anywhoo, since the new season is upon us, and also because I'm such a huge fan of the show....

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus)

Happy Un-birthday!

Recently, I was asked to do a painting for a friend's birthday. I was told that she wanted something birthday-themed, but wanted it to be displayed all the time. My girlfriend had the clever idea to do an "unbirthday" mad hatter from Alice In Wonderland...and to give it more of a darker theme, I decided to make it a zombie mad hatter.  I ended up whipping out the old acrylics and dusting off the unused paint palette, and actually painted the image onto an 8x10 canvas board.  Even though I only had about a day to get it done, it was a lot of fun...since I haven't painted traditionally in a really long time.  All-in-all, it took about 12 hours to complete.

Initial sketch in my moleskin

drawing onto canvas

detail of the face

finished painting

finished painting w/text

Let Freedom Ring

I recently saw the Google doodle commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March On Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech and I was reminded of this illustration I did in an old sketchbook.  Originally, the illustration was done for King's birthday (January 15) but I thought it was appropriate to share.

Animation Update

I just recently compiled a collection of animations that I've worked on and made sort of a Character demo reel. A lot of it includes stuff that I did while I was in school.  So it actually has some traditional hand-drawn, 2D-paper-flipping animation.  Lately, I've been experimenting more with Maya and 3D animation, and included a few 3D clips into the reel.  There were a lot more clips that I wanted to include, but chose to edit/leave out.  Essentially, they were just unnecessary and made the reel too lengthy overall.  I'm definitely hoping to crank out more animations, so I can eventually add onto it.  But i'm happy with how it turned out.  Enjoy!

Out Of Boredom.

Yesterday, I was stuck at work for the entire day while our computer systems were down. There was very little work for me to actually do. So to help pass the time by, I made use of one of the white dry-erase boards.

This was inspired by a movie poster that I recently saw, for the upcoming Wolverine film.

Doodling at work.

Mobile Speed Paint

Recently, I downloaded the free version of Sketchbook for my android phone.  I've played around with it a few times just to test out the tools and features. I found it to be rather fun and convenient for those days I forget to bring my sketchbook.

So a few nights ago, I was hanging out at my gf's place after we had dinner. That's when I decided to actually try the app, and put it to use. I found it to be a bit difficult to use only because I'm still getting familiar with all the features. Also due to the fact that I'm not used to painting with just my index finger, on such a small scale. I find it hard enough just trying to text without any typos, or weird auto-corrects. But I managed to get something decent out of it. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'm definitely looking forward to doing more!

My apologies for the head-tilting orientation.

Completely Ran-dumb!

About a week ago, I had a somewhat strange encounter that I thought was slightly awkward.  When I arrived to work, I was greeted by a man in the parking lot.  As we were walking in the opposite directions, I initially thought his acknowledgement was just a friendly gesture.  He even complimented the necklace I had on, and asked if he could take a picture of it.  As he was talking about how the necklace was, somewhere along the lines of, "cool and artsy," he suddenly sees my sketchbook and asks if he could "check it out."

the 'artsy' necklace I was wearing at the time

Just as I hand him my sketchbook, he all-of-a-sudden has to leave because the people he was with (family perhaps?) were waiting for him.  As he is anxious to get on his way, he asked, "Do you trust me?!"   He then asked where I was going, as his implication was to take MY sketchbook along with him, then eventually meet with me later to return it.  He noticed my hesitation and later identifies himself as a military sergeant and flashes his driver's license and military ID.  Then as a trade-off, he hands me his digital camera for security purposes.  Basically, since he had my sketchbook, he gave me his camera as sort-of a collateral for when he eventually returns........weird.  Fast forward to later.....

The guy eventually shows up at my work, with my sketchbook.  I saw him from afar and came over to greet him.  As I extend my hand, expecting to shake his, he ends up simply slapping the book into my hand and says, "What did you expect?!"  Then just walks off.  Wtf?!  On top of that, I also notice something added to my sketchbook. Not only on the inside, but also on both the front and back covers!

The cover of my sketchbook is covered with stickers/decals that I've collected and attached myself.  One of which, is a mustache sticker on the front cover.  So when the book was returned to me, I noticed that there was a face drawn on the cover, as part of the mustache!!  Then, I found out that there's also a drawing on the back cover as well.  Later, I discover a page that has been completely covered in.....nonsense/chicken scratch/creative expression/I don't even know what.

Front cover: my mustache sticker with his added face

"Bye-Bye," on the back cover

The hard-to-read page in the middle of my new sketchbook

At this point, I'm totally confused.  Who does something like that?!  I was a little taken back by the whole thing.  I wasn't sure how I should be feeling.  Part of me was thankful for his "artistic" contribution, but another part of me was a bit upset at the disrespect for another person's personal belongings.  It's one thing to borrow a sketchbook just to look at, or gain some insight, or get inspiration...but I felt that it kinda crossed the line when I didn't get it back in its original condition, only to be surprised at what was found.

Before, I was debating whether or not I should remove the page from my sketchbook.  Had I known he would be adding a page to my sketchbook, I would have added more photos to his digital camera.  But  now, although I'm not really fond of looking at it, it merely serves as an interesting conversation starter.

Random Spark of Inspiration....

While taking a break from working on a side project, I was just thinking of doing a speed painting for practice, and suddenly I was struck with inspiration..

I went straight to the sketchbook (a brand new one), but what started out as a sketch, ended up turning into more of a full-on illustration.

Personally, I felt that this piece was appropriate for the month of February.  Earlier this month (Feb 6) was the birthday of Bob Marley.  His music created a legacy that preaches fatih, devotion, and revolution.  So, with Valentine's Day in February, I felt that this fit into the theme of "love."  February also happens to be Black History Month.  As a singer-songwriter, and musician, Marley introduced the world to reggae music and became the first Jamaican artist to reach international success.  He remains as one the most beloved artists to this day.  So here's to Bob Marley and reggae music; here's to the month of February!  One love.

Robert Nesta Marley
Feb. 6, 1945 - May 11, 1981

"Whatchu talkin bout Willis?!"

An illustration inspired by this year's Super Bowl contenders...particularly Ray Lewis, of the Baltimore Ravens, and Patrick Willis, of the San Francisco 49ers.  During the playoffs, before the Ravens even made it into the Super Bowl, I was seeing/hearing a lot about Ray Lewis on the news, sports channels, and even YouTube.  Not only is he an outstanding player, he's even more outstanding as a leader, inspirational speaker and role model.

BUT....as a bay area resident, I grew up watching the Niners.  So with the Super Bowl approaching this weekend, it's SF mania!  Sports fans are already excited with the SF Giants World Series win in 2012.  So with the Niners in the Super Bowl, hopefully, it'll be another Bay Area championship team.  This weekend's game should be very interesting.  GO NINERS!!

Some of the process, starting from the initial concept sketch