Dik's Gorilla Toss

Conan Sketches

2011-12-22T18:42:00.001-08:00

I love the fantasy genre... and after seeing all of Becky Cloonan's Conan sketches over the past month, and watching the Hobbit trailer 100 times today (literally), I decided to draw some Conan. I could have drawn dwarves, but maybe that is next...

So, I did these sketches-- I like Conan as the gnarled, beat up, older Conan.

This first image I drew I was just "drawing to draw", and wasn't thinking enough. Half way through the sketch I thought "He looks too pretty, and it needs to be more of an upshot, and he needed to be thicker." He needs more "old man" strength. I colored it for practice, and to try to "toughen him up." So in the end, my least favorite drawing is actually the most finished piece.

So I drew this sketch. Upshot, thicker, gnarled. I like it.

Then after doing a couple head shots, I decided I should think of this more like an illustration. I usually don't sketch in this manner, but I need to. I might go back and clean this up... maybe. This piece shows my process... I usually sketch in a red tinted color, I prefer it to blue or grey. I can then draw/ink on top in black more easily.

Guest Artist - The Tale of the Brother's Three

2011-06-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hi.

I filled in as the guest artist this week on my friend, Josh Hauke's, webcomic strip, "The Tale of the Brother's Three". I scrapped my original idea hours before it was due, and I wish I had a little more time to refine this idea, make it really sing, but I am still happy with it.. it's always good to be forced to draw! Check it out!

Richard Pose - The Tale of the Brother's Three

Space Lady Warm Up

2011-05-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Did another warm up drawing this morning. I didn't have a set idea when I started, but I liked the sketch and took it to finish. This thing had so many iterations, it was cool to keep pushing it and pushing it, in both design and color, trying to make it better. I haven't felt this good while creating a piece of art for a long while, this felt like fun rather than a chore.

Captain America warm up sketch, again.

2011-05-11T00:53:00.001-07:00

Just another warm up sketch of Captain America. Then I cleaned him up and threw some quick color on there. Pretty simple stuff, but I like it enough to post.

Another Namor

2011-03-29T10:52:00.001-07:00

I did another Namor last night (or this morning) as a warm up. I tried to push him up in the frame so it would be a little more dynamic. I also wanted to play with spotting some blacks which I normally don't do, also tried to keep it loose.. I think I will do more Namors, and next time I will for sure have full feet, not just a heel and a wing.

Namor the Sub-Mariner

2011-03-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Thought: I wonder if the Sub-Mariner drank torpedo juice the way submariners used to in the early 1900's? (What is torpedo juice? Look it up)(That was a free "Rich History" for you all).

Decided to draw a Namor for a warm up today. I am not an exciting sketch guy. What I mean is, when I have to draw a storyboard/comic, I can come up with good poses/shots... when I am sketching/illustrating, I draw characters standing there, doing nothing. Oh well, I will have to work on that. That said, I really just wanted to draw Namor standing there to try drawing a character with a lean/longer body than I am used to drawing. Next time I will draw an exciting pose that shows his ankles so I can draw those awesome little wings. Imperious Rex!

Thor

2011-03-04T05:27:00.000-08:00

I rarely draw fan art (well, I never post it), but I spent some time drawing old school Thor tonight.I have always loved Thor, but I can't stand the new Thor with armor on his arms and legs, give me spandex Thor any day of the week! As always... I will try to post more often... I figure if I write that every time, at some point it will come true.

EDIT- After doing that first Thor, I couldn't help but do another with a bit more forward motion.

Tita

2010-12-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks, not an art post... just wanted to post my thoughts somewhere.

Just learned that my Tita (my Great-Aunt), died today. I didn't know a kinder soul, more full of life, love, and laughter than she had, always soft spoken, which is a trait not seen in most of my family, a trait that I love. Some of my strongest memories of her were when she would walk around a supermarket, she would go straight to the cookies/sweets, pick up a box (I always remember Nilla wafers), open it, and start munching while she shopped... or she might grab a single Butterscotch, eat it, and hide the wrapper behind a box in the market, the rest of the visit, she would walked around with a smile, drinking in the world around her.

I also remember how she knew little to no English, but would frequent Asian food markets and get along fine with people who she had no common culture or language with, no one else in my family did this (heck, I only ate Asian food once in my life before I went to college)

I remember she also used to make the BEST Cuban tamales. She took the time to use real corn husk (instead of foil), etc etc.

Edit-- Here is something my sister wrote "I remember being driven around in her little Honda. And finding out that she had been dying her hair for years, covering that lovely, salty hair - funny little secret. I want to make that delicious jello/leche condensada dessert that she'd make - so great."

And a memory from my cousin Suzy-- "I remember that jello dessert- yum. She used to give us a fresh little box of crayons every time we went to her house to visit. Sweet lady."

Anyhow... here is one of the only recent pictures I have with her (and my Grandmother)

Rogue and Warrior Lady

2010-05-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

I was sitting here with a desire to draw a warrior lady, so I did... then I felt like drawing some quick studies of Rogue from the X-Men, so again, I did (I like the old costume, but I didn't do any research, so I know it's not right, but it's right enough). Added some color to those sketches so they would feel more complete in some way... enjoy.

Sketchbook Pages 8

2010-05-21T15:42:00.001-07:00

More sketchbook pages.

I did these while sitting at Portos in Burbank two weeks ago. The little kid with the Finding Nemo backpack/leash... oh man, where were that kid's parents?! It was just him and his 10-12 year old brother (holding onto the leash). The kid had chocolate all over his face, was screaming at the top of his lungs (Such famous lines as "I WANT!" and "SODA!!!!"), and lunging at the people in line. He looked crazed!!!

I hate these calls...

2010-05-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

I am not the most confident artist right now, well, I finally get past my own doubts and start to draw, literally 5 minutes in, I get one of those "pick up your portfolio" calls, and I stop drawing and start doubting myself again. They could have given me an hour of feeling good about myself couldn't they? No, I suppose not.

I wasn't going to pick up the phone when I saw the number, I know that number is from the studio... but the optimist in me thought "Maybe they are calling to give me a storyboard test? Maybe?"... that'll teach me! Should've let it go to voicemail and kept on drawing in ignorant bliss. It's now been three hours, and I still can't draw, so I scanned in some sketchbook pages.

Note: While writing this, my mom calls "Hi, I just want to see how you are doing. Have you heard anything from any studios?" I said "Yeah, nothing good, I have to go pick up my portfolio cause they have no work for me." She says "Oh... ok, well, I just wanted to know how you were doing, bye." Haha... that's not wanting to know how I am! That is just calling to see if I have a job yet... very different.

Below is some art that makes me feel good. I drew these pages mostly while watching "Ken Burns National Parks" documentary (nnd some House MD). Man, that doc makes me want to uproot and leave on a tour of the US. I remember a college professor once asking us what we wanted to do with our lives, and he said to think of it this way "If you had 100$ or 200$ million, you didn't have to worry about money, what would you do with yourself?" Many people answered "I would make an independent movie" or "I would draw a comic and publish it" or something along those lines... I now know, I would not draw comics or anything like that, I would just pick up all my gear and tour the world, see the most beautiful things there are to see. I am sure I would keep drawing, but I wouldn't draw with the stress of having to perform.

More Superheroes

2010-05-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

Looks like I am on a Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine kick...

It started out last night when I discovered some videos online of John Buscema and John Romita Sr drawing and inking (links below)... WOW! Buscema inking with a brush absolutely blew me away. Right then and there, I decided I wanted to practice my old school brush work... but to do that, I needed a drawing, a realistic style drawing, not cartoony, so I did this drawing of Wolverine (straight onto Bristol board) tonight while watching some tv.

Well, I was too tired to ink it tonight, but I decided to go on my ustream channel and do a little online fast sketch (check my twitter stream to see when I am going to be drawing live). I started out with a quick and dirty Iron Man.. then did a delightful Captain America (I just wanted to spot those blacks on his head, I love how the old Marvel artists used to spot blacks around the "A" so it would pop.) And then I decided to take a fast practice run at the Wolverine inks, just as practice for when I ink the real thing tomorrow, then I threw color on it too (since I was already there, might as well.) All in all, a good hour of drawing tonight.

Just as a note (mainly to myself), Not only do I want to start working on my inking technique, but I am also going to make a concentrated effort in creating "illustrations" rather than just character pin ups. I started with the Wolverine piece, tries to build in a story and bit of BG elements.

Here are the links to the videos I mentioned above:
John Buscema draw Cap, inks with a brush
John Romita Sr draws Spidey, inks with markers

Super Hero clean up

2010-05-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to work on finishing/cleaning up more of my art, so I decided to clean up the Captain America I drew a couple weeks ago, and then draw Wolverine. Wolverine (along with Captain America and the Thing) is a character I have never drawn properly (probably because I like them so much). I grew up with Wolvie's Brown/Yellow costume, so that's the one I went with here. I actually like both these drawings (at least today I do), and I forced myself to add some BG elements rather than just stop at the character.

I definitely have a long long way to go with my art, but I was happy to draw these and bring them closer to a polish than my sketchbook art.

Sketchbook Pages 7

2010-04-29T00:30:00.001-07:00

Man, time flies when you don't post!!! Yikes, two weeks already? Unacceptable. I need to scan all the pages I have drawn over the past month.

In the meantime, accept my apology with these 3 pages.

I did these character studies earlier in the year for an unfinished comic project (my unfinished Flight 7 story, I had to stop working on it to find full time work, which I still haven't found). I was trying to find the right look for the alien antagonist... I don't know if this happens to you guys, but I know who this character is, I have an image in my head of what this guy looks like, but when pencil hits paper, I can't remember what he looks like, he is like a shadow in the corner of my eye, every time I turn to look, he moves away. Really angering. I still haven't been satisfied with any of the designs I have done. I must keep searching for him, he is important.

Captain America Sketch

2010-04-12T01:19:00.000-07:00

After drawing Iron Man the last day or two, I decided to try my hand at another character I have never been able to draw well, Captain America.
It's obviously just a sketch (with some quick color), you can see all the under-drawing. If I have time, I might go back and clean this up/ink it, but for now, this will have to do. I am pretty happy with this Cap, it didn't go straight into the trash which is always a good sign.

Iron Dude

2010-04-09T00:26:00.001-07:00

I really like trying to draw Iron Man; and, I always liked Iron Man's antenna, so I added that in there.

I have been wanting to post more "finished" pieces up here, but I rarely do finished work, I usually just sketch. But this Iron Man was a chance for me to color something, I really wanted to see that good old Red and Gold side by side, couldn't leave it black and white.

Sketchbook Pages 6

2010-04-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

A bit of a miss match of sketchbook pages, but they must be posted!

This first page was drawn while watching "Oklahoma" and Dr Who.

This next drawing was the only decent drawing from a recent LA Zoo trip. I made sure to only draw 4 legged/hooved animals this time (my favorite animal is the Gorilla, but that's almost like drawing people, I need to expand my repertoire). I present a Gerenuk in repose.

And this last page is just because I really really wanted to draw the Iron Man helmet and armor. I was trying to remember what the armor looked like (I prefer the version from the early/mid ninties when I was beginning to collect comics). Funny how many details I remembered, and how many I forgot.

Sketchbook Pages 5

2010-03-26T04:30:00.001-07:00

More Sketchbook pages.

These first two pages were done while I was at a "The Living Sisters" show at the Getty Museum. It was a great venue, nice and clean, comfortable seats, super small and intimate... and free! I had a great time listening to their music and absorbing the ambiance. I was already a fan of Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond) and Inara George (The Bird and and the Bee), and now I am also a fan of Eleni Mandell. Anyhow, sketches, I did these drawings in very dim light, I started trying to do detail drawings, then gave up and tried doing super simple drawings.

And then here are a couple more sketchbook pages while watching Dr Who. Some Tom Baker, 4th Doctor, Dr Who. And on the last page, a couple drawings while watching House MD.

Sketchbook Pages 4

2010-03-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some more sketchbook pages from the past 2 weeks. All of these are while I was watching Dr Who. These first two are whole pages with no additions or subtractions.

These next two were cobbled together because there were drawings on there I can't show yet. Some character designs for a comic project I am working on. So I deleted those drawings and filled the gaps.

Life Drawings from Dr Sketchy's marathon - pt 2

2010-03-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

Here are the other pages of my Life Drawings from the Dr Sketchy Marathon.

Life Drawings from Dr Sketchy's marathon - pt 1

2010-03-12T16:30:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year, I took part in a Dr Sketchy's 26 hour life drawing marathon, and yes, I stayed the whole time except for 15 minutes to sleep in my truck, and an hour to have breakfast in a diner (I took that break during an hour pose that I wasn't interested in drawing from anyhow).

What a great experience, it really renewed my love for drawing, it helped that they had some great models... I do wish they did more 1 or 2 minute poses (allows the models to be more dynamic), but it was all good anyway.

I finally scanned in my drawings, I thought I would have more drawings after 26 hours of drawing, but I only filled 3/4 of a newsprint pad. This is a selection of the drawings I liked best.

Actually, this is half the pages, I will post the second half later, maybe Monday.

Sketchbook Pages 3 - Beisbol

2010-03-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

Since I posted about baseball yesterday, here a couple sketchbook pages I drew last week to reacquaint myself with the, Francisco Sanchez, the lead of my "Beisbol" comic stories (printed in Flight Comics vol 2 and 5).

It was fun drawing Francisco again after not touching him for probably the better part of a year. I have finally started trying to work out a solid story for a planned graphic novel starring Francisco. Planned for when? No clue, but I know I wont draw it unless I am happy with the story, I know where I want it to start and end, but the middle is a mess right now.

I know these pages aren't terribly impressive, but I need to remember how to draw his face! (Sorry Francisco, it's been too long)

Anyhow, I can't wait to keep exploring this world. Actually, Here is one of my favorite pages from "Beisbol" part 1 (I rewrote the text in better handwriting than the original printed story), it is a montage page talking about real life Cuban Baseball legends from the early 1900s, Adolfo Luque, Martin Dihigo, and Cristobal Torriente. One of the things I hope to do with telling the fictional story of Francisco Sanchez is to highlight the real life characters of forgotten players from Cuba, the Negro Leagues, the Major Leagues, the Nippon Leage, and other countries from around the world. I really love the history of baseball.

Torii Hunter and the impostor statement

2010-03-11T00:53:00.001-08:00

Man oh man... there has been some outcry today in the baseball world about Los Angeles Angels center fielder, Torii Hunter's, choice of words in an interview about trying to get black American kids (or African-American children, if you prefer) interested in playing baseball. I am going to try to be clear and concise and not all over the place, but I make no promises...

Here are the two sentences that incensed people.

"'People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they're African American," Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter says. "They're not us. They're impostors.'"

"It's like, 'Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?'"

Here is the full original article from USA Today about getting African American children back into the sport, and the challenges of that goal... You can see the context that these statements were pulled from.
USA Today Article

And here is Torii Hunter's non-sorry apology for his choice of words...
Torii Hunter's blog

I read quite a few comments on Torii's blog, ESPN, and other news outlets, and some people's logic really seemed off to me (of course, that is personal opinion I suppose). I feel the need to address those using my own experience and logic.

Many people were angry that it sounded like Torii was bashing Hispanics by calling them "impostors", but those who know how Torii speaks, knows that there is hardly a more loving, passionate man in baseball. He shoots from the hip, he has fun, and the media and fans love him for his colorful use of language. The "impostor" comment was not said with malice towards anyone, it was his playful way of letting his friend know that there IS a difference between a black man from the Dominican and a black man from Arkansas, he was saying "They aren't black Americans, they aren't the same as me, please don't think that." Yeah, he could have said exactly that, but that's not Torii's style, he is more colorful/playful than that; and, this is an interview, not a speech, he was retelling a story he experienced, so he used the same language he used with his friend.

Here is a story that I feel flavors why I side with Torii on this one... I lived for many years, in high school people/friends would always call me Mexican or group me in with other Hispanics (anyone who spoke Spanish was a Mexican to them) I would tell them "I am not Mexican, I am Spanish and Cuban" and they would say "Same thing". It is irritating when people don't respect your roots and I am sure it is just as irritating to Torii when white people (or anyone) say "You guys all look the same to me, there is no difference." What? Really? A black kid from Cuba is no different than a black kid from the US? Now THAT is an ignorant/racist comment. So Torii's "impostor" comment may sound like a knock to Latin Americans, but it's more a knock to everyone who just looks at skin color and can't/wont differentiate between cultures.

As for Torii saying they sign Hispanic players for "a bag of potato chips"? Again, this isn't saying that Hispanic players are worth a bag of chips, he is saying that for the most part, the MLB can sign Hispanic kids (at a VERY young age sometimes 9-10 years old) for next to nothing and put them into an academy (where they are schooled, fed, given room...all these things might be more than their families can provide). If an American kid was asked by a major league team to move to an academy when he is 10 years old, you know there will be an agent and significant money would have to change hands, and it wouldn't be "a bag of chips" because things are done differently in the US... Those other countries don't play by our rules of child labor and the such, if they did, those academies would be out of business, and it would probably be a bad thing since those academies are a boarding school for many of these kids, giving them a better chance at life. Of course, I don't know any of these things for sure, it is just information I gleaned from articles, and from watching documentaries and films like "Sugar"

Yes, yes, a few very talented Cuban exiles sign large contracts, not a bag of chips at all, but that is a minority (and they are usually older with plenty of experience), the truth is the majority of these kids are paid very little to dedicate themselves to the baseball academies for many years (this is the equivalent of a minor minor league). Again, Torii could have said "You can get a Dominican guy for much less than a black kid with an agent" but that isn't Torii's style of speech.

So Torii made a statement so he could clarify what he meant by the "impostor" statement he made in the interview, and he said this...
"What I meant was they're not black players; they're Latin American players. There is a difference culturally."

Holy smokes, people jumped down his throat again... his implying that a black Dominican is not "black"... Ugh... people are so stuck on the semantics and the details of Torii's words. People started jumping down his throat saying that he is ignorant and that all blacks in the New World came from the same place... yes, totally right, but that's not what Torii's talking about. He slipped up "again" and most probably meant "black Americans" are not the same as black Hispanics.

People on the forums were saying that black is black, white is white... that color was more important than culture... I think those people are way way off base.

I don't agree that skin color is more important than nation of birth (or tribe or family). I think there is a difference between people from different cultures/nations, even if skin color is the same. It is funny that people keep calling out Torii for being ignorant, when Torii's "impostor" comment was a story related about the naive ignorance of one friend thinking that all dudes on his team with black skin are the same. The truth is that the plight of the African-American, (or the American black man), is very different than the plight of other black skinned people around the world, they do not share a common modern history (last 200 years), yes they share a mother land, but that distant history has been lost to them for a long long time. It seemed to me that the civil rights movement of the 60's was there so that we could move away from that separation, so that the black man living in America could finally be accepted by his adopted home (yes he was forced here, but it is his home now) and be a full fledged black American citizen. Making a comment that "black is black, black Americans and black Dominicans are the same because they all came from Africa" is like saying that Mexicans and El Salvadorians are the same because they both came from "olive skinned" Spaniards. THAT is ignorance.

Again, I think most of this outrage is because people are focusing on the details, they are more interested in the drama of controversy rather than supporting a good cause and a good human being... People are losing track of the tone/emotion of Torii's mission, he is not out to start a war between nations, he simply wants black American kids to take up baseball and he doesn't think it's right for people to naively say "There are tons of dark skinned people on the field, they're black like you, so we don't need anymore."

I support Torii. I think it is very big of him to humble himself to his fans on his blog.

A number of people on his blog posted a Bible quote, and I think it is appropriate when people are calling Torii "ignorant" (even after he admitted there was a misunderstanding) with his naive/innocent choice of words... it is from Matthew 7:3-5

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Sketchbook Pages 2

2010-03-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

Hey hey! More sketchbook pages! Hurray!

Again, this stuff was drawn while watching tv and movies. As you can see, I was really focused on hair and fashion on these pages. I have really been concentrating on drawing more hair lately, it's such a bundled mess to me.

The first page has drawings from Dr Who (the second Doctor) and some webisode of a show on IGN guest starring Felicia Day.

The second page has drawings from Frost/Nixon and from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Sketchbook Pages

2010-03-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

I want to start posting more often, and that means posting sketchbook pages because I rarely take anything to finish, I usually spend most of my time studying faces, hands, clothing, etc etc... When I post pages, I will try to post the whole page with no subtractions, I wont hide my bad drawings just to show the good ones. I feel this is important.

The first page is of Gorillas at the LA Zoo. They are hands down my favorite animal, and the LA Zoo has a great new Gorilla enclosure. This page is the first page of gorillas I drew when I was there, and you can tell from all my side notes, that I had to reacquaint myself with these creatures.

This second page is a page I did while watching Dr Who. Excuse me, while DEVOURING Dr Who. I would watch 2-5 episodes a day and draw the entire time. I will probably be posting plenty of Who drawings. This is a page from Series 4 with companion Donna Noble.

Il Brutto

2010-03-01T02:44:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been drawing a lot while watching TV shows and movies. I just re-watched "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" the other night, what an amazing movie! I always forget how great it is. The shot compositions, the music, and I love the actors, but especially Eli Wallach, I couldn't stop drawing Tuco. He has such a great face, great expressive eyes! Here is a shot from the film.

"There are two kinds of people in the world, my friend: Those with a rope around the neck, and the people who have the job of doing the cutting." -Blondie

Baseball, Steroids, and My Hero

2010-01-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Growing up, Tim Salmon was my baseball hero...

Everyone who knows me, knows that I love the sport of baseball. Baseball is art to me, it is beautiful, it flows, it represents life. Recently, with all the steroids and home runs, I feel the sport has been more like a wrecking ball; it's all about mashing and power rather than speed and gracefulness. I really love that the sport is now starting to go back to speed and defense, but I think things like guaranteed contracts and pitch limits are still hurting the sport (but that is another conversation).

Today, Mark McGwire admitted to taking steroids throughout his career. I don't think this comes as a surprise to anyone. I am not angry at McGwire, I am relieved that he is now able to free himself of this burden. I think this, non-anger, comes in part because he never lied about it (in congress), he did refuse to answer questions, but he never lied. I think this humanizes McGwire, he felt guilty, and didn't want to talk about it, but he wouldn't lie about it like so many other players did.

It seemed that every athlete used steroids, everyone from the late 1980's to the mid 2000's is vulnerable to allegations that they took steroids. That is unfair, but it is the truth... this is also the time that I became a huge baseball fan, unfair to me, but it's the truth.

My good friends from high school know that Tim Salmon was my favorite player. When the 1993 season started, I chose Salmon to be my favorite, while my sister chose JT Snow as our favorites. Snow started the season strong (until Roger Clemens threw behind his head, and Snow started failing at the plate), but Salmon was slow and steady, and he eventually won the Rookie of the Year Award!! Through the years, every article I read about him made me love him even more. Like the time he accepted less money (by 3-4 million a year) to stay with the Angels, or the article where it said he would sit in the clubhouse before games and rather than play cards or goof around, he'd be reading books to his children.

My good friend Lil Mike (whose favorite player was Mark McGwire) has asked me "What would you do if you found out Tim Salmon used steroids?" I always said "I wouldn't doubt if he did, I guess everyone did it for one reason or another, but I have to hope that he didn't or that he used substances that were legal at the time." This leads to today...

While listening to MLB.com's coverage of this McGwire story, former MLB pitcher, Al Leiter came on and mentioned players who went to the players union to try to get MLB to have steroid testing... and he repeatedly mentioned Tim Salmon as being a strong proponent to have testing, that Tim Salmon was very outspoken in trying to clean up the sport.

Wow.

Hearing this almost brought a tear to my eye, literally, I started choking up. This is the power baseball has on me, the power it had in shaping me as a man... Today, the little boy in me feels a great weight being lifted off. My hero was clean, and he was trying to clean up the sport I loved. Wow. Now, looking back on Salmon's career, I feel a bit of bitterness towards all those steroid users. Salmon never made the All Star game, and while he was an above average player in every way, there were many other (roided) players that diminish his numbers.

I found this quote by Salmon (in an 2009 LA Times article by Ben Bloch), it makes me sad, but this is probably the story of many players:

"For me, as I broke down and my play became less at the level that I expected, I always was thinking it was because I was getting older and things like that," Salmon said Friday at Angel Stadium. "I'm facing guys that I used to be able to hit and all of a sudden I can't hit them anymore and I'm going, 'What?'

"I always took that personally, like, man, I'm losing it. Now I can look back and say, 'OK, maybe it wasn't so much me.' . . . Maybe I can look back on that and say, 'It wasn't because of my talent, because I was doing all the right things.' "

Tim, you were not only talented, but you were a great role model. Thanks for being you, you helped me become the man I am, and you didn't even know it.

Merry Christmas. ho ho ho

2009-12-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone. This is a quick Christmas color sketch. See ya all on the flip side.

2nd Annual "Hey You Guys" Charity Art Auction

2009-12-03T00:15:00.000-08:00

The Second Annual "Hey You Guys" Charity art auction is underway, and boy oh boy do we have some AMAZING artists donating artwork to the cause! The auction is taking place right now through December 13 2009, you can bid online at:

2nd Annual "Hey You Guys" Charity Website

All proceeds go towards Donorschoose.org, an organization that helps classrooms buy supplies they need. We are concentrating on classrooms that need art supplies. So please come by and bid on some art, or come to the "Ghostbusters" movie screening on Dec 5th! We will have the art as well as a raffle and other goodies! Word has it someone is bringing a new looking Ecto-1 (it is a Dodge Magnum called the Ecto-2k)

So I finished my contribution today (a couple days late). I decided to draw Johnny from Karate Kid, but it's Johnny in his skeleton costume. I swear, that was one of the more terrifying images I saw when I was a kid... a group of skeleton men using karate to kick the crap out of kid. Ohhh, chills.

I decided to do the drawing on Scratch Board. I hadn't used this stuff since Junior High, but I wanted to do a negative drawing, only showing the white of the skeleton costume, so this medium was the perfect match; it would be much better than ink because inking a whole page in black would have just warped the paper.

I included the pencil drawing I did. I then transferred that drawing using Saral paper, and skritch-scratch, I went to work with a scratch board tool. Hope you like it, I was very happy with the results. I like the drawing enough, I might do some inking on it, just to have my own finished copy.

Baseball Post 3

2009-10-30T18:21:00.001-07:00

So today, I am going to post a couple videos dealing with some of the best scenes in baseball films coupled with arguing with Umpires.

The first clip is from "A League of Their Own", one of the best baseball films ever made. It is in my top five for sure, and on some days it is in my top 3. Here is the most famous scene... "There's no crying in baseball". Man, Tom Hanks's facial expressions get me every time. This scene ends with Hanks arguing with the ump...

The next scene comes from "Bull Durham". Costner hit his peak with "Bull Durham" and "Field of Dreams", what happened to this guy? (Actually, I like the 'Postman' too) Anyways, this scene is all about arguing with the umpire and how to get kicked out of a ballgame. I noticed a trend from the "A League of Their Own" scene and this one... see if you find a pattern in the words NOT to use with an ump...

And the final scene is gut busting comedy from the original "Naked Gun"... man, some days I wish umpires would be like this. Please notice they are using Randy Newman's "I Love LA" in this clip, two posts from now, I will revisit this fact.

Baseball Post 2

2009-10-29T00:30:00.000-07:00

So my second baseball related post will be videos of my favorite scenes/quotes in the classic baseball comedy "Major League"... you will notice most of the comedy I like in this film is driven by direct statements with a cuss word inserted, great formula!

First up is Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) showing up to Spring Training, I love the delivery of that line. The sad thing is they cut Lou Brown (James Gammon) saying "Ha ha... this is my kind of team!" I love that scruffy voice of his.

Next up is a Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes) video. Again, classic Lou Brown delivery on a line.

And last but not least, Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) with Jobu, and the famous "You saying Jesus can't hit a curveball!?" line, by Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross)

Baseball Post 1

2009-10-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Over the next day or two, in honor of the playoffs, I will be posting some of my favorite scenes from baseball movies... let's start with a primer on the game of baseball, this is for all those people out there who don't understand the sport...

Last art from the T&P Art show.

2009-10-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

These are the last bits from the T&P Fine Art Gallery show I did a while ago. I did a couple Captain America's cause I love Cap, and I have never drawn a good Cap... I like both of these, the close up is inspired by Kirby, the other one is Kirby with a bit of Romita inspiration.

And then I did a couple pieces inspired by movies... not much to say except they were fun to draw and ink.

Some more Artwork

2009-09-24T17:09:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple other pieces of art I did for the T&P Fine Art Gallery show this past month.

Jack Johnson- The first black heavy weight boxing champion in the world.

Thomas Jefferson- Sitting in his cabinet at Monticello, reading a couple books, thinking about things.

Theodore Roosevelt- Good ol Teddy reaching for his trusty Big Stick! He is ready to face off vs the Critic! Now, we all know the Critic is worthless, he sits back and criticizes the Man in the Arena, the man who actually is out there doing the work. This idea was based on a famous speech he once gave. The Man in the Arena

This piece was done in a Kirby style. I just wanted to do artwork that simulated comic panels, and Kirby was the king at comics! Here, I pay him tribute.

Upcoming Art Show @ T and P Fine Art Gallery in Philly

2009-09-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hi, I have been busy working on pieces for an art show opening at the T and P Fine Art Gallery in Philly on Friday, September 4th. If you are in that area, you should check it out and buy something... if you aren't in that area, you can still buy something from them, or ask me to draw you something for money. That would rock.

www.tandpfineart.com

I just drew whatever came to mind that day, whatever struck my fancy... so of course, presidents, comic heroes, and movie characters...

Here is a piece from the show. I will show the others in the coming days, so expect a couple posts.

Tiny Nazgul

2009-08-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a quicky.

A friend posted about the moon looking like Sauron's eye. I then thought the bats in the sky would look like tiny Nazgul... I had to draw it.

Enjoy.

Fat man in suit

2009-07-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night. Boy oh boy, I loved the guy who played Horace Slughorn. Well, for a warm up today I wanted to draw Slughorn, but I didn't want to research the character, so I did drew a generic fat man in a suit. Maybe I will take some time and draw a Slughorn later, have him holding a little vial of love potion.

Old storyboards: Metalocalypse

2009-07-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

I was just cleaning up some old boards, looking through some of the work I have done in the past... and I came across one of my favorite boards.

This was done for Metalocalypse, season 2, episode 14 (I think)... the CFO gets replaced by some other "cooler" guy. And at the end, the CFO agrees to party with the guys...

Well, CFO has a little too much to drink and...

I think they cut this gag from the episode, I don't know, I never saw the final episode. That was a fun episode to board, there was a sword fighting sequence in there.

TV boards are challenging cause I was always thinking "How can I reuse BG's (backgrounds) as to not piss off my art director, and how can I make this easy for the animators so they can spend most of their time on the money shots..." Lots of planning goes into making a very simple looking show. I think the planning part of it was my favorite.

I always would have a chuckle boarding on this show, not because I thought the show was funny, but because I loved drawing the characters with overly animated and goofy expressions (not the style of the show, but since it was done in flash, nothing had to be on model), and I loved listening to Indie Folk music while boarding a show that dealt with Death Metal. This is as subversive as I get.

I may post some more golden nuggets as I find them. Going through old work is like treasure hunting.

Theodore Roosevelt and his Big Stick

2009-07-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that I am a Theodore Roosevelt fan. Someday I will do a blog of Theodore Roosevelt fun facts!

Anyhow, I started doing pieces for an upcoming art show, and I decided that I would start with a good ol' Teedie (Fun fact#1: He didn't like the name Teddy... he was known to his family as Teedie)

This is an 11" x 16" ink and watercolor piece. I need to do like 10 more pieces for the show, I really want to do a 2' x 3' piece or something bigger... but I don't know, that is a lot of paint to move around. I think all my pieces will be a combination American Presidents and Philadelphia baseball players (The art show is in Philly), but plans may change...

I apologize for the crummy scan, I just can't get a good scan of watercolors. I promise the original is nicer.

Heads

2009-06-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

All my friends know I love drawing heads... So here is a warm up page I did this morning. You can see some influences of things I have been watching lately; mainly,the Ken Burns docs on Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain.

My muse... Sam the Olympic Eagle

2009-05-14T15:47:00.001-07:00

When someone asks "When did you know you wanted to be an artist?" I know the exact moment...

I was a student at Halldale Elementary school in Torrance, CA...My kindergarten class was tasked to do a painting of "Sam the Olympic Eagle" in honor of the 1984 Los Angeles olympics. As you can see here. I pretty much rocked it.

For those of you that don't remember Sam the Olympic Eagle, here he is. Heck, this is even the image they gave us to copy!! You can see how close I got.

Well, the teacher must have seen a bit of talent in my painting because she submitted it to a contest of some sort, and I was the only kindergartner amongst a bunch of six graders. It was scary, I was a shy kid, but a group of Asian sixth graders took me under their wing for the night, and made me feel like I belonged. (Maybe this is why I have always been comfortable being the only white dude in large groups of Asians?)

It's funny because I don't remember the creation of the painting UNTIL my teacher told me it was good. After that, my memory is crisp, the painting was unfinished, I hadn't painted the eyes; and, I DO remember the fear I had of messing it up after someone told me it was good so far (maybe this is why I don't like showing my work in progress?) So I needed to paint the eyes, and two girls in class said they wanted to help, I was shy and also interested in girls (yes, 5 years old seems young to be interested in girls, but I was interested in having a girlfriend even at that age, ohhh Heather McGinnis how I loved you...), so I just sat there as two girls fought over who could paint eyes better. One of them painted the left eye real nice, she delicately put the white gleam on there... when she was going to put the gleam in the other eye, the second girl said "I can do the eyes good too"; my scalped tingled (My scalp tingles when people are touching my property, it's like my spidey sense) and my stomach lurched and she shoved a finger full of white paint and smeared it around... she had ruined my painting. (Since that time, I don't like people doing any of my work, I will do all the work myself thank you very much, and I know I can do it better than anyone else!)

Star Trek revival

2009-05-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

I have come to the realization recently that in retrospect, I was the coolest kid in high school... Let me explain...

In high school I was pretty much a "geek" or a "nerd"; I mean, I loved Angels baseball to a fault (not really a fault, but some may have seen it as such), I loved Star Trek, and I played D&D. Along with wearing jean shorts, these things made me a bit of a nerd. I was never an outcast, no no, I had friends in every social group, but I preferred playing chess at lunch rather than chasing tail (ok, that's a lie, I would have preferred to chase tail, but I was too shy to do that)

No one thought I was cool, heck, my own friends have told me recently that they would even make fun of me behind my back; BUT, now all these old high school acquaintances that I am being re-acquainted to have come out of the woodworks as Angels fans(or other teams like the Red Sux), and they want to talk to me about baseball, and mention how they are HUGE fans, blah blah blah... where were you when I was listening to Angels games on my hand held radio in 6th period Economics class?

Ok, so baseball was not cool, but now it is. Check.

And with the new Star Trek movie, everyone is saying "Oh man, Star Trek is gonna be soooo cool!!!" Ahem... "Gonna" be cool? It never stopped being cool. I was dressed like a chubby Jean-Luc Picard for my last Halloween, 7th grade year. So, Star Trek used to not be cool, and now it is? Double check.

And now all this talk is getting me thinking of old ST:TNG episodes (That's Star Trek: The Next Generation to all you lay people). I always loved the costumes, so I just wanted to do a quick sketch of Picard in that grey uni with the red jacket. I know it's stiff and all, but I really just wanted to draw the costume... and I was tired of seeing those Alpacas...

Also, here is my favorite music from ST:TNG... this piece made me go out and buy a recorder a couple months ago, just to learn to play it. Enjoy.

Alpaca the size of Hamster... challenged.

2009-01-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

I mentioned to a friend, Marion Vitus, that science should stop the shenanigans and start breeding alpacas to the size of hamsters...

She then challenged me to draw the alpacas... hamster sized, but with the same amount of wool so she and other knitters wouldn't be gypped. These are Marion's mini-alpacas

Here are my mini-alpacas...

Sunset in Culver City

2009-01-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

No, I did not make a New Years Resolution to post more often... but here I am.

I am embarrassed to post this, since I haven't done any plein- aire painting in years, and this was done for myself, just like most everything I draw is for myself, but here is a quick painting I did when I came home after an afternoon walk. I saw the most beautiful sunset ever; this painting can't hold a candle to what I saw, but I had to try to capture even a small piece of that feeling.

BTW, I promise to try to post more often.

The Those Guys/Donorschose Charity Auction is NOW!

2008-11-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

So The Those Guys are holding a charity art auction, and guess what? IT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! You can bid on some beautiful art and help children at the same time. So go here now and bid on some stuff...

The Those Guys art auction

And on this coming Saturday, Nov 15th at the Rialto theater in South Padadena, CA we are hosting a screening of "The Goonies", its a free movie with a small donation at the door! And check it out, if you donate at the door, you get a raffle ticket, and you can win some sweet prizes... like maybe some autographed items!!!!

Oh yeah, so the charity we are working to help is Donorschoose.org, they provide materials to needing classrooms. In this case, we are concentrating on classroom in Southern California that need art supplies. We are trying to help the next generation of artists! We need your help, and they all need our help! So if you can't make it to the movie, and don't want to bid on the art, please give any small amount you can.

DonorsChose.org, TTG's donors page

To all my friends, please help us spread the word. We need everyone's help to make this charity drive a success! Think of the children! and the art!

Superman circa 1952

2008-11-09T00:06:00.000-08:00

So for The Those Guys charity art auction I decided to draw Superman, black and white, the way I used to watch it when I was a kid (on reruns)... the theme of the auction was movies that influence you when you were a kid, well, I didn't watch movies when I was a kid, I watched tv, and it was stuff like Superman, Batman, I Love Lucy, Fall Guy and Days of Our Lives...

This shot of Superman in front of the American flag is the most iconic image I remember from my childhood love of superheroes on tv.

Oh, and remember, the auction start Nov 10th! Come check out all the cool art, Monday, at The Those Guys Charity Site

Goonies Charity Screening! And Art Auction!!!

2008-10-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, November 15th "The Those Guys" are hosting a charity screening of the beloved classic movie "The Goonies." The night will include a raffle and an 80's movie themed art auction. All benefits will go to "Donors Choose" a charity that gives art supplies to needing classrooms around the country.

Here are links to more information:

The Those Guys Charity Event Blog

Donors Chose Charity

Doors open at 6pm, movie starts at 7pm.

The Charity Art Auction starts online, November 10th at ttgcharity.com, and will finish on the night of the event so if you have to have one of the pieces be sure to make it out to the screening so you can outbid your competition. Also, we're also going to have some special Goonies related prizes in the raffle. So we hope you all can make it out, do it for the kids!

Benjamin Franklin ready to hit it!

2008-10-21T17:20:00.001-07:00

Hi friends.

I just finished this Ben Franklin piece for T&P Fine Art gallery in Philadelphia. Show opens Fri, Nov 7th. Be there or be square!!

T & P Fine Art

So check out the piece. Thanks.

My first gig as a full-time freelancer.

2008-10-01T02:01:00.001-07:00

Hey peeps. Here is a commercial I recently story boarded. My first real freelance gig!!! The job had to be done in under a week (multiple revisions), colored and shaded boards, I busted ass. All done in Cintiq of course, best purchase I could have made as an artist! Oh, and the boards were done for Liquid Theory.

Here is a page from the boards, and then the commercial in full technicolor.

EDIT: I forgot I had the whole board sequence online, check it out if you want.

Q Da Kid Storyboard sequence

Besibol here I come!

2008-08-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

So as of late last month, I am now a full time freelance artist. And while I will be looking for freelance gigs, my main gig will be working on getting this published...

I want to do a graphic novel of my Flight 2 & 5 stories, "Beisbol". My goal is to have a series of short stories that stand alone, but when put into a single book, they will play off each other, and there will be history and continuity. I have many stories to tell with Francisco Sanchez, and I need to start putting those on paper.

Also, thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my most recent story, "Beisbol 2", (or even personally told me how much you liked it). It means a lot to me, and it gives me strength to know that a Beisbol graphic novel will do well. I hope to continue with more strong stories in the future, I owe it to Francisco to tell the best stories I can.

I always love when people tell me "I don't like baseball at all... but man, your story makes me almost want to play." That rocks!

JOHN RAMBO!

2008-01-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

The new Rambo is one of the most exciting, and well contructed action films of the last 100 years!!! GO WATCH IT!!!

Seriously, this movie is the most fun/excitment I have had in the theater in a long time... the body count is ridiculous, but it feels more real than some of the other Rambo films... totally worth it! LOVE IT!

My buddy Mike Roush, married!!!??

2007-08-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Another one bites the dust...

Congrats to Mike and Mari, they are wonderful people, and I am glad I could be part of the ceremony.

Mari happy about something Mike said... maybe "I Do"

The boys of the wedding, Groomsmen and Ushers

The Those Guys 2007 Comic Con Tshirt

2007-07-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

So con is on its way, and The Those Guys wouldnt miss it!

Our booth is #1035, come by and say hi.

Maybe buy one of our new Tshirts, they will be snazzy! I had the honor of designing this year's shirt... Here is a mock up

And a close up!

Back from Kauai... alive.

2007-05-22T17:45:00.001-07:00

So I am back from a week in Kauai. I went there to attend the wedding of my buddy Ryan Hernandez... it was a great little wedding. It was awesome watching Ryan and Vanessa look into each other's eyes as they exchanged vows; and, yes I got choked up, I am a sap, and I dont care who knows it.

While I was there waiting for the wedding, I hiked the amazing 11 mile Kalalau Trail with my buddy Mike. The first night, we camped at the 2 mile marker, Hanakapai Beach. We were ready to wrestle this hike into submission...

The next morning, I thought I was a giant in this wonderland, me and my 50 pound backpack...

But this hike is MURDER... sooo strenuous. It was constantly up and down, never flat, always too steep... We hiked 2 miles one day (it got dark), and 20 over the next 2 days. NOT EASY!!! Here I am near the end of our death march, next to the most beautiful sign I had seen in over 6 hours and more than 12 liters of water consumed...

90% of the trail is less than 2 feet wide, and at times the trail is just part of the gravel slope, straight into the ocean, 1000 feet down, if you slip. Not cool. We each had a few close calls falling or tripping, and we each had one serious fall with our legs dangling over a precipice (Hiking stick, I love you, you saved my life this weekend). But here we are... alive to tell of the beauty of the Na Pali Coast... it was a great experience, even if we had to see nudist hippies at the Kalalau Beach... eek. Though I suffered serious exhaustion and some dehydration (I drank 13 liters of water the last day alone and it still wasnt enough), walking those 22 miles was very rewarding...

Now, back to drawing...

Teddy vs Teddy

2007-05-07T02:41:00.000-07:00

Just a piece I did for the Power in Numbers show at Nucleus. Its been a LOOOOONG time since I have done anything in traditional media. Inking felt great, I love it so much more than digital "ink" or clean up.

This show should be pretty cool. Tons of artists exhibiting... My friends Israel Sanchez, Justin Ridge, Matt Spangler and Martin Hsu will all have pieces there too... so check it out, and maybe buy something, the money goes to the Breast Cancer fund!

Storyboarding on Metalocalypse

2007-04-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I dont post much art, I dont get to draw much really... but that should all change now that I started boarding on Metalocalypse!! (The drawing part, not the posting part *wink*) Yee Haw!! After spending all last season doing layout on the show (not bad mind you, I learned alot) But now I get to help shape the look of the show a little more, and that is pretty exciting!!

Today I had my first board pitch, it went well... Co-Creator Brendon Small seemed to like almost everything The director Jon Schnepp and I did... so, rock on, feather in cap placed... now I need to do some revisions and keep on truckin'!

This show is gruesome at times, I will enjoy drawing these things as cartoony as I can... haha... thats my form of rebellion.

Ok ok, and I will try to post more drawings too... sheesh.

Amazing Screw On Head DVD! Check me out!

2007-02-10T01:21:00.000-08:00

Hey! Check it out! I am on the special features of a dvd! Kinda cool, I wish I would have had better things to say other than "Mike Mignola is cool"... but they didnt give me much time to prep.

The studio I work at, Titmouse Inc, directed and boarded the show... I was a huge fan of the comic, and I kept bugging my boss to let me work on it in any capacity... At first he only let me be the in-house "Mignola expert". He would ask things like "Does this look like something Mignola would do?" and I would answer... I was the one to help approve the image above, used for posters and the dvd cover (I know its a small task, but I am pretty proud that they gave me a small role on the show)... then later they let me do some drawings for the intro... Persistance pays off, sometimes. I got on the dvd featurette, but not in the show credits... oh well.

Tony Almeida!!! YEAH!

2007-02-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

I took this quiz hoping to be either President Palmer or Tony Almeida... I win!

Which "24" character are you?
Tony Almeida You are Tony Almeida!!!! Behind every batman is a robin, you are Jack's 2nd hand man.. You can lead CTU, you can be field OP's, You are a lover and a fighter.
Take The Quiz Now!	Quizzes by myYearbook.com

And here is Battlestar too! Apollo is a'ight. Chief Tyrol wasn't on the list, so I couldnt be too bummed.

What Battlestar Gallactica Character Are You?
Apollo You're really a versatile person. Capable of leading, obeying, fighting, protecting and if the situation calls, running really damn fast. Nevertheless, you get the job done, whatever it is. You are strong when you need to be, and when others need you to be, so it always looks like your bringing your game face.
Take The Quiz Now!	Quizzes by myYearbook.com

GIMLI

2006-10-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

My roomie Mike Roush was watching LOTR this week, I couldnt NOT get sucked in... so here was a quick Gimli

Battlestar Galactica

2006-10-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in 6 months, I figured its time to update...

I started catching up on Battlestar Galactica this summer,... season 3 just started up and the premiere was AMAZING!!! Here is a super quicky of Admiral Adama...

The Z's are Upon Us...

2006-04-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick concept for a story I want to have ready for comic-con, called "The Z's"... I want the boy to be younger; so, that already needs to change, but I just wanted to start thinking about him... I actually think this age boy would work better in another unnamed fantasy story I am developing, I will hopefully start that one up later this year...

The Those Guys has a Blog?!

2006-03-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

Hey friends... most of you know me and my best friends are the members of The Those Guys... well, now we have a group Blog!!! We will be posting about cool group going on's, and where we'll be's...So come by and check out some art by Israel Sanchez, Justin Ridge, Matt Spangler, Josh Pruett, Mike Roush, and Mike Williams...

Check it!!
THE THOSE GUYS BLOG

2006-01-31T19:02:00.000-08:00

Sitting at work.. kinda bored... coming to the end of the day... so I decided to do another quick drawing/painting kinda thing... I ultimately got bored with it, but like it enough to post... 2 posts in one week, thats a good sign of the times right?

Merry Christmas

2005-12-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas...

I need to find some time to scan in sketches...2 weeks between posts is too much...

Late night sketching...

2005-12-06T23:53:00.001-08:00

I did these late last night, couldn't sleep, so I tried to draw the energy out of me... get it!! "draw" the energy out!! I crack me up...I fell asleep soon after sketching these...

Big man in baby blue...

2005-12-04T23:16:00.000-08:00

I dont know what I was going for here, but I like it!

Work took my Christmas/Holiday vacation away from me this past week, they need me to help finish a project, bummer for me...BUT I will get that week of vacation later, so with that free time, I decided that I want to take a trip to the east coast, go see some museums. I definitely want to hit up the NC Wyeth museum, maybe the Frazetta museum, then go to Boston and see some Rockwell and Singer Sargent stuff...Art trips ROCK!

Explosive update...

2005-12-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

Yes...I am a weak blogger, I check everyone else's daily, but always neglect my own... well, here is a super fast fun sketch just to keep the hand moving,... drawing is fun, and so is playing with dynamite!!!

Sketchies

2005-11-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

I have nothing new to say, I just wanted to post some sketches I just did, ...nothing special, nothing great, just some quick stuff to keep the hand flowing and my brain mowing (I dont know what that means, but it rhymed... Well, I am leaving work for tonight, I need to get home and watch Lost, hopefuly I will post more often...

Angels....WHY!!!

2005-10-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

So, the Angels just lost to the White Sox...how do I feel? Kinda relieved that the season is over, it was really dominating my life for the last 3 months, but mostly I am angry at the Angels for not hitting a lick!!! DAMN IT! Oh well, now I can look forward to next season!...anyways, here is a quick sketch to describe how I have been feeling lately while watching the games (at least after the games are over, cause during the games, I am usually yelling and jumping up and down)...Thanks to Clio for yelling at me to post, I apologize its not better, but look at me! I cant draw any better when I feel like this!!!

ANGELS BEAT THE YANKEES!!!!

2005-10-11T00:43:00.000-07:00

THANK GOODNESS!!! This 5 game series between the Halos and the Brox Bombers had me pulling my teeth out! I think I lost 2 full months off the end of my life watching this series... Now we need to try to beat the Chicago WhiteSox, but the Angels are weary, their starting pitching staff is decimated at the moment, they need a day off, but they will not get one, So GO HALOS! Run on adrenaline, and show the South Side boys what the West Coast can do!!!

I will have to do a baseball related drawing and post it, I am on a high right now...phew!

Hector Spector Reviewed?!

2005-09-18T01:57:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that Hector Spector, a comic that Josh Pruett and I did last year was reviewed recently by TheFourthRail.com, its a positive review, Thank you Randy at FourthRail...it astonishes me every time one of these reviews pop up, it makes me want to start drawing immediately, it just makes me feel good that someone likes something I drew, I totally get pumped up!... oh, and I noticed my good friend Matt Spangler's book was reviewed as well! VERY COOL! Check it out also, The Travels of Gulliver

Fourth Rail review here!

So after reading the review, I was inspired to draw the little sketch you see above, he is Chris from Hector Spector...and if any of you are wondering the status of either book Josh and I did, here is an update. Josh and I are working on Smoke RIGHT NOW! and then Hector Spector will be worked on sometime next year, I wish we could write and draw faster, but we can't, and part of our problem/coolness is that we are rewriting both stories completely, hopefully for the better...

Drawing and interview...EXCITING!

2005-09-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick drawing, with some color added..

Also, I wanted to lead you all to a great interview with some of the Flight anthology artists...

Check Interview Here...SilverBulletComics.Com

Oh what is this? Little ol' me is on there!!?...Hehe, check out my interview, I dont know if its interesting to anyone at all, but it was fun and exciting none-the-less, I dont get to do these very often. And if my interview sucks, I am sure one of the others will interest you... Ok, back to work..

We suck...

2005-08-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

We lost pretty badly to a team that wasnt very good...oh well, thats he way the cookie crumbles...we did get a prize for making to the finals though, but the prize was a freaking sweat shirt!!! A sweat shirt?! In California?! These idiots at the park need to give out short sleeved t-shirts next time, I now have 3 long sleeved prizes from softball leagues and I never wear any of them, it never gets cold enough around here...

Anyways, here is another koji quick drawing...

The only sketches I have scanned in right now...

2005-08-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry I dont have anything better to show....

The first sketches are random people I saw, mainly this homeless dude sitting at the bus stop on Santa Monica and Vine....

The second sketches aretwo tiny preliminary designs for characters in my next comic, Koji and the Dragon, created by Mark A Smith, drawn by ME!...

Anyways, on to important stuff....The Men's slowpitch softball team I play on is trying to win the summer 2005 Championship, we have to play 3 straight days, and can not lose two games or we are eliminated. We lost the first one we played on Wednesday, then won the second one (by winnning the second one, we eliminated a team). Today, we played again (vs the team that beat us Wednesday), we won and eliminated them. I think we beat them like 28-17 or something, it was a pretty good bashing...which is good, cause they were trash talkers!

So far in this series I am crushing the ball every time up, I am 6 for 9 with a triple, 2 doubles, and 3 singles (one of my doubles shoulda been a homerun, but it squeezed under a park fence and it was ruled a ground-rule double, lame, I bet Vladdy Guerrero doesnt have to deal with that!) They have me batting last (12th), but with those numbers, I am trying to state my case to bat higher in the order!!!

Tomorrow we play for the Championship! We have to beat that team twice and we can't lose or else we are eliminated and they are champs...WE NEED TO WIN! I want a Championship T-shirt dang it!!!

Joining the Club!

2005-08-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to join all my friends that have a blog, like Eren and Justin....i want to be part of the club...