Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Wishing the best to all!

Blue Dreams

This sketch was made on my iPad some time ago, on the 12th of September at 2:19am to be exact. I was trying out the free Sketchbook Pro app but I finished it in Photoshop. The only thing that was tweaked in Photoshop was the change of font for the title of the drawing.

Sassy

This last illustration had been in the works for quite a while. I first drew the sketch about a month ago and it's only until now that I've finished it. If I were to be really critical about this piece, I'd have to point out that the neck is extremely long and that the alignment of the head is pulled too much to the right side of the body. However, since I'm not being too critical, I like the final result.

Originally, the magenta top had no texture and it really jumped against the background. Adding that dirty texture helped ti subdue the effect and I believe there's a better balance overall.

Needless to say, I always have the help of a special person that inspires me to draw these illustrations. Even though it is not a close representation of the actual person, it is based on her.

Spring Festival 2011

Our clocks have been move forward and the tulips have been blooming for a couple of weeks now, so I guess it's safe to say that Spring has finally arrived. This year's end of winter was pretty crazy, we saw snow in Wellington and not only around the tops of the hills, but even at sea level! The last time a thing like this happened was 50 years ago. Really looking forward to warmer and more stable seasons.

As usual, the Wellington Botanical Gardens have a variety of tulips on display to mark the arrival of spring.

Steampunk sketch

It's been a while since the last post and many things have occurred. I'll put a few things up in order to catch up with what's been going on but in the meantime, here's a sketch I just finished today. I originally penciled it in the 16th of September but only colored it until now. Wasn't too sure about the color of the pants but I settled for this brownish grape tone in the end. The other possibility would've been a dark grayish olive green. Hahaha, I guess it would be easier if I told you the Pantone values.

Enjoy!

Midnight sketch

Last night I finally decided to try out the free Sketchbook Pro app on my iPad and I must say I was quite pleased with the way it performs. It takes a bit of practice to control your finger at first, even though this is the first tool we use as kids to paint. Back then we're not too fussy about the turnout of our painting, we're just pleased we can get our fingers grubby AND make something with all that gooey paint.

Since you get no real feedback from the smooth glassy surface of the iPad, and your finger tip can be wider than the brush you select, you sometimes end up guessing where your line is going. To be fair though, this is not a precise application, it's designed to make rough sketches and it works perfectly for that purpose. The free version comes with the option of creating 3 layers and that helps up to certain extent but it does take us back to the days of Photoshop 3 where you would save your file every step of the way because it was lacking this feature. The complete version may have the option of having more layers though, I don't know. You can also control the opacity of each layer and you can order them depending of your needs.

The app also allows you to play with text and gives you several fonts to choose from. The only problem I found, was that when I wanted to place the text at the bottom of the sketch, the keyboard would block this area. I'd have to type the text on the upper part of the sketch and the drag down to the position that I desired. You are not able to hit the return key and get a second line. You must type this one as a separate element and if you want to place it underneath the previous line of text, you'll find once again that the keyboard obstructs the view. As I said before, this app was not intended to be precise so it's forgivable.

Overall, I was really impressed with Sketchbook Pro and as you can see by the date on the sketch, it kept me up until basically 2am. I think it's a great tool to improve your speed painting skills. I highly recommend it!!

Latest victim

One more to the ever growing collection of fallen umbrellas. Windy Wellington Winter scores again.

Painting

Eating Dirt, Sweating Mud

I was approached by a group of Theater students from Victoria University to help them out with the design of a poster and a flyer for a series of plays that they will be performing. The title that encompasses these plays is quite clever for it reflects all of the knowledge that they have been digesting and assimilating over the years and that they now have to reflect in the plays that they are presenting.

Regarding the design, the chosen colors relate to earthy tones which one can associate with dirt and mud. Dirt being dry has a lighter tone than that of mud which becomes darker when mixed with water. The stressed grungy font helps to convey this feeling of hard work. The torn paper are elements that give us the feeling of something that has been put together in a very hands-on kind of way. Nothing is clean and precise which transmits the sense that people have actually been working on this project; blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this showcase.

The best of luck to all of them!

 

Student Symposium 2011

The illustration for this year's Student Symposium organized by the MacDiarmid Institute is finished! It seemed that every time I felt it was completed, I wound find a little detail that needed a bit more of work. There might be a few flaws still but I'm quite satisfied with the end result. If I keep working on this I'm sure that I'll keep finding other things that need to be touched up.

I wonder what next year has in store for me. What will the theme be and how will I be able to incorporate these characters. I think that MESA (The MacDiarmid Emerging Scientists Association) will be in charge of future Symposiums.

Asleep

Another sketch made possible thanks to my ever patient and inspiring model, hahaha. The face needs to be tweaked a bit more so you can count on seeing an updated version of this sketch some time soon. Overall though, the colors, the lighting and the shadows turned out to be quite acceptable. Having a great time making these sketches!

Unexpected: Updated

 

After a few changes to the previous version I think I have found a result that keeps me happy, for now. In the previous version, the lower part of the body got lost due to such dark colors. With the change of color to a burgundy tone, the body actually stands out more and you have a lighter feel to the illustration. It doesn't feel so cramped in a sense.

Regarding the background, I'm still not quite sure which option is the best. I can't decide which one to pick. I might need to come back to this in a few days to get a fresher perspective. These are the other ones I had in mind anyway.

Sleep

Lately I've been having the help of a fantastic model who not only is extremely patient but also pushes me to do these sketches more regularly. I've been spending so much time designing with the computer on a specific project that sometimes it's really refreshing to sketch something just for the fun of it. It doesn't really matter how rough the result is, it's just practice and a way to get back to basics.

Unexpected

This is a rough version of something I'd like to spend more time on. However, the hours I spent on this sketch has been more than you could expect. It actually took me several days to get to this result. I'd advance a lot on some days but on others it felt like I was hardly accomplishing anything. I'm still not sure about the background though, I'll have to play around a bit more and see if this will stay. It seems like the lines in the back are giving the illustration a confined feel to it. I'm looking for a more relaxed atmosphere. Love the textures though!

STORK

 

This is a logo I created a few weeks back for an entity within Stanford University that focuses their research in kids. Unfortunately I can't remember exactly which Department was in charge of this project but it might be the Neonatal and Developmental Medicine within the School of Medicine if I'm not mistaken. In any case, the idea was to develop a logo that fell in line with the Stanford seal. 

The color used isn't the official Cardinal (Pantone 201) but that can be fixed at the time of printing. I'm really impressed that you can easily find the Design Guidelines within the Stanford website. It can be a nightmare trying to find official emblems or logos for presentations, posters, etc within some universities.

Syudent Symposium 2011

W.I.P. Here's the illustration I've been working on these past few weeks, it will be used to identify the Student Symposium that the MacDiarmid Institute organizes each year. On this occasion, the theme of the Symposium focuses on the options that Alumni encounter after focusing on their studies.

The characters depicted here are the same that have been used for the previous Symposiums although there has been an evolution. You can notice that the characters seem more mature, the style of drawing although far from being realistic, is less caricature than previous versions. Elements from the previous years have been used and incorporated in order to have a sense of continuity.

There are a lot of details that still have to worked on before I can consider this illustration as completed, however, I'm really stoked with the result so far. It's quite fun to see how everything begins to fall into place, especially when you only have a rough idea of what you want to accomplish.

Previous Student Symposium illustrations:

The Cutting Edge

$cience

Treasure

Playing around with the Wacom tablet, I was able to create the final look to this sketch which originally was drawn with pencil. One can undoubtedly spend hours and hours in Photoshop applying filters and what not but I find that keeping thisngs simple has a lot more appeal than something too complicated. The trick is finding a balance and not going overboard with technology.

I have a second version of this final image. I'm not sure which one I like the best. Once again though, having a model that can truly inspire you, helps to get those creative juices flowing.

Allegro

Slight modification to a previous entry entitled Reflectere. Even though I was really pleased with the results obtained then, the feeling it portrayed was that of emptiness. This second version has a totally different feeling, needless to say, a feeling of warmth, presence and happiness can be perceived. Not only is this shown through the facial expression but can also be seen through the warmer color pallet that has been used. Also, this looks more like the true nature of the one who has inspired me.

Here's the previous image:

Fantastic smile

There are some people that have the ability to transmit positive energy with just a smile. One feels charged in such a way that it's impossible to not smile back. For those brief seconds, everything else around you vanishes and you feel a certain peace... although sometimes, if you like the girl who's smiling at you, peace is definitely not the right word. It's more like the urge to run towards her... or away from her depending on the situation between you two, hahahahaha.

Firetree

This image came to me after having a conversation with somebody I hold very dear to me. There are a few relationships in which there is so much passion that the intensity can only be compared to fire. If one takes care of the relationship and nurtures it, then it keeps growing, it gets stronger and the fire doesn't consume it. Hmmm.... poetic. ;-)

Hot chocolate

 

Productive day today! Learned a few tricks in photoshop today and this is the result. This image was created from scratch. Really happy with the results although there are a few things that need some tweaking in order to get it just right.

Reflection

Hot Chocolate!

12:33 AM

Further North Trip

Wacky Races?

As I was heading down to cover the AMN5 Conference, I noticed this guy on his scooter waiting for the traffic light ti change. There was something familiar about him although I was sure I had never seen him before. Regardless, I just had to take a picture of him. That mustache is something you don't get to see every day (unless you are growing one yourself). I should have taken a wider shot as well but the lens I had at that moment didn't allow me to do it.

Dick Dastardly is the name that comes to mind. Who is he? He was the villain in that old cartoon called Wacky Races and he used to drive his Mean Machine 00 along with Muttley. On a closer inspection, he may not look exactly the same and riding a scooter is definitely a step-down from the rocket powered car.

Far North

Summer in NZ! It's hard to really celebrate Christmas when the weather is sunny and warm and you have those lazy long days that seem to never end. Everybody just heads down to the beach which generally is only a few minutes away, sets up camp and start firing up the BBQs. Even when the surf isn't just right, you can always take a dip and dry yourself in the sun. Here are just a few pictures from my trip up to the Far North. I tell ya, NZ summer is hard to beat.

Beautiful pink skies at sunset turn into violets and purple. A pod of dolphins were swimming just a few meters off the coast but wasn't able to photograph them. The first time I saw a postcard of New Zealand with pink skies, I thought it had been digitally altered. I thought it was a joke, a very bad one at that... the joke was on me when finally I saw how the colors transformed themselves at dusk, I was in awe.

Lush subtropical forests with pristine rivers and lakes are easy to be found. If only summer holidays could last longer...

 Tatooine? Not quite. No giant sand worms either.  Just the Sand Dunes up by Cape Reinga which is at the very top of the North Island. Dune surfing is quite popular up here even when you might get a mouthful of sand. Gritty!