Sketch a Day Theme: FolkTale

La Loba from mexican and Native American folktales.

Just uploaded this over at the group blog SketchaDay, some talented folks are starting to post so be sure to check it out!

Hellboy

John Carter of Mars: Tars Tarkas revisited

SO the other night I could not sleep... and without really thinking about it I picked up my sketch book and started drawing. I just let my pencil wander and lo and behold Tars Tarkas began to appear all angry and yelling and carrying on. Once I was done drawing him he settled down and I went back to sleep and slept like a baby... A few days later this bit of news re-appeared on Jim Hill Media, weird huh? I can't wait to see what Pixar/Disney dose with this franchise and if by any odd coincidence they happen to need any additional design work done I AM available for freelance...ahem..well let me know what you guys think...cheers!

Helmet study

Monstruous Feos

S'more sketchy fun.

Sketch Download

Hey everyone, these sketches have been backing up so I think its a good time to post em. I've been taking some time away from vector programs and experimenting with new techniques, mediums and subject matter.

I've also been posting (semi daily) over at sketch a day, a blog I started up with my good friends Chad King and Laura Zimmermann. Hope you guys enjoy it and feel free to leave some feedback.


JL

PS: Check don' t think I've forgotten my peeps over at Sketch-o-rama
check it out and keep an eye out for more.

Head Gear

Quickie sketch.

IT LIVES!!!

Yikes, It feels like a life time since my last post even though it really hasn't been that long, It's just that 2008 has decided to start off with a bang!



As of this month January I am an employee of 2k Boston, the game studio responsible for a little game called Bioshock. I'm currently working as a storyboard artist here and I'm friggin thrilled to be working with such a talented crew.

So between saying good bye to my friends in OHIO, moving, and starting a new job I've been a tad busy. But never fear here are a few sketches to feed the blog beast for a bit.

For those of you who have stuck with this blog I want to say THANK YOU!!! Your feedback and comments are a constant inspiration and motivation, I'll be posting pics of the new work diggs soon. So till next time let me get back to work...

Girls and Guns

quickie Sketech-o-Rama post

Monkey Business: How Magazine

Hey everyone! Make sure you check out the latest issue of the Graphic Design magazine HOW, partly because it's got a great section on typography but MOSTLY because i'm in it! I was asked to do this ice cream label for Publix supermarkets earlier this year and it got chosen as one of 51 award winning in house designs of the year! It's a great honor and I have to thank Warren Dossey over at Publix for having the guts to try something different.




Death by Monkey!

I've got some crazy news to report soon so keep an eye out and keep checking in!

Grendel: Redux

I'd been meaning to get back to messing with custom brushes in photoshop for a long time, after seeing Beowulf in 3-D last week ( great 3d effects, so so movie, not sold on full mocap movies yet but can see the potential) i whipped up this take on grendel as an experiment. It was so much fun creating textures and in PS, i highly recomend it. Still haven't been able to figure out how to customize brushes in Painter, if anyone knows any good tutorials please send a link my way!

Under Control

Here are some sketches based on a dream I had last week...

Joan D

Quickie sketch-O-rama post.The subject: Joann of Arc. This piece was an experiment in Photoshop and i'm pleased with the results, just trying out a bunch of wild techniques. hope you dig.

Character Design Blog Interview

Hey everyone, make sure to check out the awesome Character Design Blog where you'll find an interview with yours truly, it's an awesome blog and an honor to be mentioned among such great artists! Check it out!

Click here for a direct link to my interview.

Ahab

Hey everyone! Here is the final design I did for Captain Ahab or an upcoming Moby Dick themed edition of sketch-o-rama. My take on Ahab was to show him as a withered, ghostly, deranged gentleman.

I'm experimenting with leaving my sketchy line drawings visible in areas to retain some of the energy of the original sketch. I've been definitely influenced by the drawings of Alberto Giacometti. I think there is an energy to his line work that could easily lend itself to animation design. More to come, stay tuned.

Robot-chika

Hey everyone,

Here's an image i did as an excuse to work in Painter again. If you read this blog at all you might have noticed i have a soft spot for all things robotic and female, perhaps it was premature exposure to Sorayama at a young age?

Shanna, The She Devil!

Our latest Sketch-o-rama theme is hot chick, i decided i'd do a Shanna, the She Devil here's a bit more about her:

"Shanna the She-Devil is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Originally created as a derivative of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle (who was herself a female derivative of Tarzan), she later became the partner and wife of Ka-Zar, Marvel's own derivative of Tarzan. Created by Carole Seuling, Steve Gerber and George Tuska, she made her first appearance in Shanna the She-Devil #1 (Dec. 1972)."

Cthulhu Crunch!

Here is my entry for the Cereal Killers book, here is a brief description:

"Kreepsville Industries presents Cereal Killers. A spooky, kooky coffin table cartoon art book featuring terrorfying takes on some of your favorite breakfast cereal's".

This project has a crazy amount of talented folks involved, i'm in great company! Special thanks To Dr. Von Kreep for letting me be a part of this book. Make sure to check out more spooky cereal goodness here.



Quick little mini mock up of the box:

Random Sketches

Some Captain Ahab studies for a future sketch-o-rama post...


What can i say i've been reading World War Hulk, and so should you!

Platform!

Here it is finally my Platform International Animation Festival Post! I got the opportunity to go thanks to American Greetings, I was able to go on a "Creative Recharge Grant" (thanks AGP!!!)

It was an amazingly informative and inspirational few days in Portland, Oregon, i met a slew of animators and film makers. I was blown away by the amount of talent and the level of quality of the films shown, and came back inspired and (appropriately enough ) creatively re-charged . Here are a few pics of my trip, i'll make the full album available on flickr soon also make sure to check out some of the other coverage of the festival at the following links:

Official Platform Site
Article about the festival on Animation World Network
Ward Jenkins Platform Flickr photoset




The Portland Center for the Arts



Some Platform Shwag: Note the Cartoon Network frisbee, a personal favorite :)


Portland is a beautiful city, tons of parks and very pedestrian/biker friendly.




Sweet drawing by Artist Illustrator James Jarvis, one of the guest speakers and designer of the awards trophy.

Special 35mm screening of Disney's "Snow White", hosted by famed animation historian John Canemaker, with special guest Marge Champion, the model for Snow White's movements and gestures.

Closing Night Party.

Smoosh live!!!
Me and Don Hertzfeld, animator creator of many short animated films, including the Academy-Award nominated cult favorite "Rejected". Don's latest film "Everything Will Be Ok" was one of the best films i saw at the festival, and won Best in Category at Platform, highly reccomended.
Thats it! Special thanks must go out to Ward Jenkins for allowing me to hang out with him and for poitning out who everyone was, also thanks to Amid Amidi for being cool and encouraging on my first animation festival experience!