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. I wanted to show how to start with simple silhouettes and develop them through “playing around” with photographs, creating happy accidents in a very quick work flow. I also wanted to illustrate how to simplify a complex design into something much more cartoony for a 2D style show. The biggest challenge of teaching at a University is every student has different artistic goals, I try to accommodate them all. Sometimes when designing you get stuck or revert back to doing things the same way over and over again. It’s nice to have different techniques or approaches when struggling with designing something new.
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
Pattern Design
I have been designing patterns and uploading them to Society6 . It’s been a lot fun and new creative outlet for me. I’ve also uploaded some illustrations for prints and other things. Here are a few design I’ve made so far. More to come! Here’s a link to the wrapping paper i’ve been making. Link to Society6 wrapping paper!
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.
Experimenting
I have been wanting to try some new things. I’ve been taking pictures from Pexels.com and manipulating them. Pexels is a public domain images resource.
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
I wanted a place to put memories, sketches, and thoughts. Here is a huge batch of pictures I recently found on a hard drive from college. I went back to college in 2010. I attended Cabrillo College in Aptos California for two years and transferred to San Jose State University in 2012. SJSU’s Animation and Illustration program is five years start to finish. I graduated in 2017. There will be more of these to come.
