The Birds

The Birds, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1963. Created using gouache on hot-press paper, 11” x 14”. This is an assignment for my masters degree program University of Hartford Illustration MFA. We were prompted to create a Critereon Collection cover for a movie of our choice, using the style and medium of an illustrator from the Illustration in Context series (Illustration History) class we took. I chose the illustrator Edward McKnight Kauffer. Kauffer is best known for his London Underground posters, which he created between 1915 and 1940. I love the simplicity of his graphic shapes, color choices, and composition. I find myself being drawn more to bold modernist design influenced by cubism and futurism, like the works of Kauffer and his peers. I chose the film The Birds because I love Hitchcock, and it continues with my theme of California and Bay Area illustrations. The Birds not only mentions Santa Cruz, CA, where I live, but it takes us through San Francisco all the way to Bodega Bay. Hitchcock himself lived in Scotts Valley, which is located in Santa Cruz County. It was really fun and challenging to work traditionally again. I hope to make more pieces like this in the future. 

Del Mar Theater

Del Mar Theater, Santa Cruz, CA. I dream about owning a movie theater. I love everything about the theaters from the 1930s with their Art Deco stylings. The Del Mar theater is one of the last movie palaces in our area. I hope this beauty stays around forever. I had a hard time choosing a film made in Santa Cruz for the marquee, but for me, The Lost Boys always comes to mind first. Maybe I’ll make variants with other titles on the marquee. What’s your favorite movie palace or film made in Santa Cruz?

Del Mar Theater Santa Cruz California

Creative Journal 81

I am happy to announce that several of my pieces were accepted into Creative Journal 81 this quarter. My illustration of Henry Cowell State Park was selected as a winning piece, along with a few runner-up entries. Congratulations to my friends Mike Call, Dale Stephanos, and Ella Geida for having their work accepted as well!

https://cqjournal.com/gallery/81/81

Gesture Drawing

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.

Experimental Illustration

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.

Figure Drawings.

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.

Figure drawings

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

Photo texturing sketch demo for my senior students at SJSU.

Old Sketchbook

Sketchbook drawing I found while rummaging through old files.

Old figure drawing finds

I’m teaching figure drawing this semester and I went on a deep dive to find some drawings I did back in college. I actually like these, I’m sure back then I thought they were terrible.

Jackson

A friend of ours dog passed away. I did a portrait of him for her. He was a really good boy.

Learning Blender

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

Andy the cat.

I painted my friend Shelby’s cat, Andy, for her birthday and her new place.

Dogs

I do commissions for peoples pets occasionally. Here are some dogs.

Cats!

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.

Tattooing

Most people don’t know this about me, but I use to be a tattoo artist from 2003-2010. It was a great experience and showed me that you can make a living as an artist.

Barron Storey

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.

Reverie art show 2017

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.

Playing with Shapes

Having fun with shapes in my free time.

College Art Photo dump

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.