Thursday, December 28, 2006

W-O-W!

check this out

Carlos Vermut

I was in Madrid´s comic con Expocomic recently and well, I didn´t too many interesting things, but it was all worth it, since I got to know the work of Carlos Vermut. I had the chance to speak to him briefly and he seem a really nice and humble guy. Heres a pic of his work, but if you can , get his last comicbook "El Banyan Rojo", published by dibukks.

strong design, beautiful coloring, I just want more.

His blog
His site
Dibbuks

a panel from "El Banyan Rojo" by Carlos Vermut

Friday, December 22, 2006

I know know...

Long time without posting...again.

Late night digital doodle. Practicing values, texture & stuff. Should have really tried to follow a METHOD, but... Theres lots of things wrong with it, but I had fun and learned a few things along the way.


Will soon catch up answering e-mails and comments and will show some pics from an artist that blew my mind in this year's Comic Expo in Madrid.


Wish you all enjoy your holidays with your loved ones.



Monday, October 30, 2006

bigger




Long time without updating. Leaving Prague on Friday. Strange to leave after such a long time.
No call from any animation studio yet. I´ll add some new stuff to my showreel and portfolio when I get to Valencia, then I´ll try my luck in Barcelona.
Here are some pics. As I said, this are all just doodles. Should have thought more about what I was doing.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

como churros




Here are a few sketches I did these last to days. This lasso painting method ïs really great. Im using shapes, forms, to define what Im drawing. First, an interesting silouhette, then see how it plays against/with other shapes. Then just fill the minimum necessary blank spaces. Its really fun. And its all actually doodling. Would be interesting to see how this method works whith a clear goal in mind.

Anyway, heres a teaser, I really have to wait a few days to "reevaluate" this sketches. Im doing them so fast that its almost intoxicating, I dont really know if theyre "good".
Heres an insight into the process.
I like this one for some reason. Looks really rough if you look it up close
oh! and Uesugi should also be in the to the list

Saturday, October 14, 2006

And even more


These two days have been a blast. Just couldnt stop drawing. Now I started using a different aproach in PS. Im using the lasso tool to select areas, then I paint them with the brush. I got to be quite fast at it, being able to lay shapes down pretty quickly. I tried not to worry to much about getting the "right proportions or shape" in the begining, which led to nice accidental discoveries.
It also sometimes happens that you just dont know which way to go with a sketch, so also, instead of choosing one "path" , Id copy paste the image and work in different versions at the same time. It was a really refreshing aproach.

Sorry about the huge filesize on the GIFs, I thought it was the only one everyone with any browser could see them.

While I was drawing I started to think about artists that Id been checking up lately or that left some good impression on me. Artists or books that have influenced what I did these last days.



and... in no particular order:
Jim Flora, The Incredibles Book, Lou Romano, Neil Ross, Hans Bacher, Barth, Javier Olivares, Mignola, Ashley Wood, Pictoplasma, Robert Valley, Cheeks, Loius Gonzales, Uwe Heidschoetter, Cartoon Modern, Jamie Hewlett, Jose Luis Agreda, Cheeks, Alberto Mielgo, Chris Sanders, James Robertson, Nick Sung , Stephane Kardos.

process



process



and a few in higher res:














Thursday, October 12, 2006

In Prague





So here I am again. Sorry for the lack of posts. Things have been a bit crazy lately. Spent some time in Madrid with my good friend Pablo, visited some animation studios to leave the reel. And lots of drawing now here in Prague.

After a few days of "I cant draw" frustration, I managed to do a few sketches that I like.

Ok, this I dont even know if its worth posting, but here it goes. Speed paint on PS and Painter.




A few doodles. Pictoplasma inspired.



Ive lately started to experiment with paths on PS. Never before I felt like learning a vector drawing program, but I would give anything for a copy of Illustrator now. Theres something about that total control of the perfect curve, that feels so...good.

So here are a few sketches I did puting a black layer on top of another layer of brushstrokes done in Painter. I then use the lasso tool to define shapes. Brushes also from time to time. Its quite a playful aproach actually. You can get some nice surpises.

I start playing around, sometimes things change drastically, others I just do "variations"



and then... (desktop background size, here)


and...



And this


can turn into this...



and one more


?



these two days were a crewative explosion.
thanks for visiting!

Thursday, September 28, 2006

¡y.....OTRA!

I cant help it, I simply love painter. Its been literally years since I painted for the last time for diferent reasons. This is, by now, the closest I can get to it. And I am enjoying it.

Should be working on the webpage, here I am, painting at 2:52am...

Este va por MR. Mielgo, que me acorde de ti cuando estaba dando las pinceladas planas.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

promotion

I started playing around with the last thing I did and came up with this. I thought that rather than giving dvds away to promote my work, it might be better to print "postcards" with an illustration/sketch with my web address on it and only give DVDs to potential employees.

Im leaving on Sunday, Ill spend a few days in Madrid before I go to Prague. Lucky me , theres an animation festival in Madrid right around the time I was planing to go to Prague. While Im in the capital city Ill also visit some animation studios to leave copies of the DVD I put together.


Only a few things have changed since the first sketch, but I think I pushed things a bit and I find the final version to be the best one. Hope it stands the "morning after I draw it" review...


and pseudo final here. If only I could print the typo with silverink...




Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Painter IX is niiiice(boratstyle)!!!!!

I was somehow reluctant to give it a serious try for many years. Dunno why, I guess I feel to confortable in PS. But wow, this program really is amazing.

I painted this on a laptop. I wish I could someday master the ins and outs of color profiles...

Thursday, September 21, 2006

showreel 0.5






So finally I moved my ass. I got a call from a good friend the other day (ese Luigi) and I got to meet a friend of his with some contacts. I had to put together a showreel in no time. Doesnt seem like it will turn into a job in the short term, but good thing is, it got me to start actually doing something.

This showreel is not final, some edit changes will be done and some shots will be removed. Hopefully Ill be able to do some real animation to put in there. In the DVD Im puting together there will also be some sketches and lifedrawings.

Ill be in Prague next month, but I first have to go to Madrid, so I will leave the DVD at some animation studios. Time to finally get a job. Crossing fingers!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Thursday, August 31, 2006

ooops!

I was thinking that I might have rushed posting the last image, and after speaking with two friends of mine I see so many things going wrong with the picture. Part of getting to see the process, I guess. So update soon.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Siempre Solo

So... Things are slowly moving forward. Heres a rough for a "siempre solo" ad thats going to show up in a small but very nice magazine here in Valencia. The format made me do some changes to the original idea I had. Its quite rough as I said, composition/type are temporary and painting is unfinished. The font has been changed. Going for a caligraphy style now. I like it, let me know what you all think. And be harsh, I want it to be good.

Any tips on poster composition would be wellcome. Well, I guess I can move my lazy ass and try to find it myself in google. Ive never been a designer and its now that Im starting to realize how hard it is to put text and image together. Will start checking out good poster artists see how they do it

thanks to everyone whos been stopping by to comment, you all make it easier.

higher res





Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Diarios de Motocicleta

Its nice to sketch from a DVD, pausing it whenever you want. Its somehow liberating after struggling with moving people. Here are some sketchbook pages I filled in while "pausing" the movie "Diarios de Motocicleta". As usual, I couldnt help myself adding some tones in PS. Bigger sizes here and here.


Clothing brand thing slowly moving forward. I am really enjoying coming up with the whole thing. Icons/flyers/posters coming coon.







Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Monday, August 07, 2006

Moving forward

I've been playing around with one of the drawings. I printed it out and started erasing and drawing. With ink/brush and whith a white out pen. What can I say, its been great to do some traditional media drawing/experimenting. Im really surprised of how rewarding it has been.

I changed the character's head, still have to work on the sweatshirt/torso. These are pictures I took with the digicam after putting the drawing on a sweater. Seeing something vaguely similar to the final product is exciting.



Sunday, August 06, 2006

and... FLICKR TIME!!!

And another small step towards self promotion. Flickr account and two sets of pictures. Now its easier to see all my stuff.


life drawings and illustrations/sketches


If you have the time, please check it out and let me know what you think.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Posters

As promised, here are the roughs.
I was just playing around with some ideas for posters to promote the brand. Have to put more time into it to get to a point were Im satisfied with it. Maybe some of these could be adapted for a T-shirt design. But I really want to think of Posters/Flyers and T-shirts as different mediums, I just cant do the same thing in all of them. I must take advantage of each medium's own singularities.





Friday, August 04, 2006

Sin colear, pero vivo

Yep. After a long time without doing much, Im slowly starting to "recover". Ugh, hate this periods.

The animation gig is allready over = start getting portfolio/showreel together to get me a job. Wish me luck.


Heres a sketch. (bigger size HERE) Poster and template roughs for the T-shirt brand some friends and me are starting together coming soon.

Sorry for the lack of posts, and very happy to have you here again. Keep coming for more!


Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Not yet

First of all, sorry to all of you who have been coming for a few days allready and have seen no update. Im having a few days of crunch time at work. But Im still sketching on my way there. Heres a little something I did just now before I head home to sleep.

Thanks to all of you who have been leaving comment these days.

And oh boy , tomorrow Ill comment on so many blogs! Have been trying to restrain myself since I hadnt even answer comments here.

Well, hold on. Real post when Im done with work!!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Off to Anifest

Its been a long time since last post. I had friends visiting, a deadline, was sick a few days. Well, excuses.
Theres a few things I wanted to post before I left to Anifest. Its going to be great. Films during the day and concert and party in the night. Friends, Becherovka, Salmiaki, Jameson, guitars and animation. Cant wait.
I´ve kept on drawing in the metro, bus etc. Theres something about sketching that I just dont get from anything else. Its relaxing and thrilling at the same time. And that feeling when the wheels are allready turning and you just dont stop finding apealing things to draw. Its so good.
I was just thinking the other day that all this drawing around might have actually made me get better at it. I didnt realize until I rememebred the days when the only thing about drawing people was that they just moved too quickly. It would really anoy me. No one would hold a pose long enough! And all poses were so static. Now I cant stop seeing figures in contraposto, tilted waists, squashes and stretches. Not that Im able to put it on paper all the time, but it just feels good to remember those times. Now Im struggling with other problems, think I will always be.
These are all quick sketches done while commuting . In some I tried to use a broken line, trying to get rid of my tendency of laying it all down with as few lines as possible, which sometimes leads to a very flat drawing. I remember how I told one of my friends once (hola peibol) "Why your using 24 lines when you can just draw one??" We where just 14 or something like that and maybe I just didnt know what I was talking about.
I was wondering wether I should write this or not, but I guess I just will. Theres some sort thing going around in the "blogger community", at least to me, that I really dont like. Its like this thing ..Well, I dont know how to explain. It just looks like your commenting on peoples blogs so they go check your blog out. And of course you really want that to happen but it is not your goal when you post. So its like your expecting something when you praise someone´s work. So I was thinking about not writing this but I will:
I´ve been really impressed/influenced by Nick Sung´s and James Robertson´s artwork lately. They really are the kind of guys that you look up to, learn from and make you want to improve. They have been blowing up my mind post after post. and it just gets better and better.This sound like cheap ass-licking, but its just the way I feel it. Thank you for the inspiration.















Ive been wanting to post for so long, and now that I see these I dont really like them. Next time, itll be better, I promise. Now I have a MOLESKINE :)

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Amsterdam

Its my fourth day in Amsterdam. Im here with Pablo visiting my sister. Having a great time. This city is just great. I should come live here for a few years sometime. Too bad, I havent been able to draw as much as I would have liked.

We went to a few museums (de gratis, gracias ,banana), Rembrandt, Van der Weiden, Van Gogh but I couldnt help it. I had been there before a year ago. I checked my favourite paintings and then I couldnt resist. I was drawing people instead of looking at the paintings! It was like sketching glory that museum!Lots of people, not moving much, interesting body languaje.wow...

Heres some drawings from prague and one from the museum. No scaner here in Amsterdam, so you'll be getting some more digitalcamera/mousecoloring glory.

Lets see if I can make some drawings of these great city's streets today