This week, I am teaching gesture drawing in my intro drawing class. Below are some demos I did for the students. I am emphasizing the importance of the scribble gesture, encouraging them to focus on drawing the action with loose, energetic marks. The goal is to capture the action rather than just the likeness of the subject. I believe these are 1-minute and 2-minute poses.
I spent a week in the summer in an experimental illustration class with Robert Hunt and Martha Rich during our Illustration MFA summer meet-up at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. They are a fantastic duo, representing two sides of the creative spectrum, yet sharing a significant commonality: the importance of making time to play and allowing yourself room to experiment.
I took this advice to heart. Filling a sketchbook in just four days felt like releasing the brakes. The pages became messy, quick, and alive, and that freedom reminded me why I create art in the first place. I want to keep this practice alive by dedicating a little playtime in the studio each week, no pressure, just curiosity.
Some Sketchbook and figure drawing pages from last year. I’ve been playing around with using markers to do shadow shapes first and then drawing with pen on top.
I am having a really good time teaching Intro to Drawing at SJSU. The best part about it is, I get to draw the figure too! We are talking about grouping shadow shapes this week.
Photo texturing sketch demo for my senior students at SJSU.
A friend of ours dog passed away. I did a portrait of him for her. He was a really good boy.
I've been taking classes over at https://www.patataschool.com/ trying to take my 3D skills to the next level. This was the first time I modeled a 3D character and rigged it for animation. I haven't animated anything since college. It's still hard I really dont have the patience for it. But I learned a ton doing this. I can't wait to start making 3D illustrations. I based this model off of my cat Coco from a 2D drawing created a few years back, for my wife’s Two Cats Craft Studio. I can't wait to make Lily next!
Coco walk
I painted my friend Shelby’s cat, Andy, for her birthday and her new place.
I do commissions for peoples pets occasionally. Here are some dogs.
A few year back my friend Samia Khalaf and I made a cat zine called, If it Fits. It was super fun. Here’s a few of my pieces from it and a few other cat designs of my cats. I am also including some of my rough sketches.
When I was a student I had the opportunity to take a conceptual illustration class with The Legend Barron Storey. Barron is one of the best professors and mentors I know. I will never forget his class and the lessons he gave us.
In 2017 I was burnt out and I wanted to make work that was the complete opposite of what I was working on at the time. I used inktober as my motivation to create a new piece everyday. I used black ink, nibs and brushes. I ended up showing the work at Miss Maes a hair salon in Santa Cruz for a First Night event.
Having fun with shapes in my free time.
A Place for Memories, Sketches, and Thoughts
I wanted a place to put memories, sketches, and thoughts—a digital scrapbook of sorts that captures moments from my creative journey. Recently, I uncovered a huge batch of pictures tucked away on an old hard drive from my college days.
Back in 2010, I returned to school, enrolling at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. I spent two years there before transferring to San Jose State University in 2012. SJSU’s Animation and Illustration program is a comprehensive five-year course, and I graduated in 2017.
These images provide a nostalgic glimpse into my growth as both an artist and a person. It’s a reminder of the long hours, experiments, and milestones that helped shape my skills and visual storytelling. There will be more of these to come, as I continue to sift through archives and share pieces of my creative past.
Stay tuned as I unfold more chapters from this journey.
