Frankenstein ZSketch

Did this in about 80 minutes at Model Night, less the rough hair & stitches which I blocked in a few minutes after the buzzer while we were wrapping up.

Catwoman Sketch

Got here in about an hour and a half in tonight's speed session... so while it still needs work, it's at least attempting some new things.

Wile-E-Coyote quick sculpt

This week's Modelnight sculpting challenge was "Looney Tunes".  Was hoping to take it a little farther (asymmetric pose, some cleaner lines and fur) but had this at the buzzer.

ZBrush sketches

A captain and a tribute to Stimpy, one of my old favorites.  Each of these was done in about 1 1/2 hours for a Monday Model Night challenge at work, so they're lacking refinement but made for great fast-paced exercises. 

Beginning ZBrush

Recently I've been helping to organize a "Model Night" at work where modelers are free to let loose on friendly ~1-hour design challenges while learning some of the newer wave of software out there, like ZBrush, a 3D modeling tool that more closely resembles working with clay than polygons.  After getting over the software's quirks I've really come to enjoy using it; here's an early result for a zombie pirate challenge (with maybe a hint of santa claus):

Quick Work & Life Update

Haven't really posted what I've been up to at work in a while and I've noticed some confusion among my eight readers, so to clarify:

Way back before the Australia trip I was one of the first modelers to come onto Toy Story 3, where I headed up a lot of human rig development, as well as primary ownership of the models Andy and Andy's Mom.

After returning from Australia I tried a new role as Character Rig Lead on Cars 2.  It was fun helping guide the team through doing such amazing work designing & modeling beautiful cars for the film, and I was fortunate enough to have done the primary modeling & development articulation for Francesco Bernoulli myself.

Since then, I've taken a huge trip to Spain & Italy, which was particularly enlightening as an opportunity to be introduced to the incredible sculpting work of Bernini.  At work I did a very brief stint on Brave and I've now settled into an unnamed future project while starting to dig into newer 3D sculpting software like ZBrush.  I've also been starting a new early wake-up sketching/creative hour routine, so I'll surely post some results from both those endeavors here in the coming months.

Hope that helps catch up all of you distant relatives & friends!

Latest iphone drawng on BART

Latest doodling on my iphone during BART commutes. I'm looking to change techniques up soon as I find the painting far more enjoyable than actual line drawing on an iphone.

Brithday Card

Loving my cintiq... here's a birthday card I did for my sis in Sketchbook Pro:

iPhone Drawing: Shredder

Liking the Pogo Stylus a lot... Here's this week's project, a homage to my favorite childhood cartoon villain done in Sketchbook Mobile over several BART commutes.

IPhone Drawings

A robotic nod to a film favorite in Brushes, and my first try at a stylus in Sketchbook Mobile.

Still here...

It's been a while but I'll be getting to this blog thing again every couple of weeks. Got myself a fun new toy from Wacom, on which this was my first drawing (done for my girlfriend on Valentine's Day, in Italian - Thanks Google Translator!)

ipod Finger Painting Doodles

ipod sketching makes BART easier

Loosely based on someone who walked onto the train daydreaming.

More iPod Sketchbook Mobile Drawings

Trickle

Glad to be starting a year where I should be able to pick back up some side projects again. I've moved across the Bay to San Francisco and in the morning BART commute I've started playing with Sketchbook & Brushes on an ipod Touch; above is a sample of some guy on my commute who seemed very much absorbed in his textbook. The format is kinda nice because "finger painting" kinda lends itself to drawing loosely and gesturally. Maybe I'll post more as I continue to play... Anyhow, good to be back!

First attempt at Contemporary Finger Painting

Had a nice, quiet weekend up in the Sierras for Joey's birthday a few weeks back. With the down time in nature and an irresistible urge to scramble back at a computer of some sort, I decided to give the "Brushes" app on my iPod Touch a try on our cabin's back porch... Still getting used to the program, but it's fun to think that things like this can be done entirely on your phone!

Portrait Ecorche Final

Here are some camera phone shots from my sculpt after the last day of class. While I know at least 3 things I'd like to change about the sculpt, I've learned a lot and I'm pretty happy with the in-class result, so this is as far as I'd like to take it. It was a great experience and I hope I can continue to be so productive after work!

Portrait Ecorche Days 6 & 7

This past week we addressed remaining major flaws to our overall shapes and proportions (my ribcage shape got way off before!) and then had a fantastic live model in class for two days of observation. Spent a lot of time revising the portrait side with the model in class. Last day is tomorrow so this is getting pretty close!

Portrait Ecorche Days 4 & 5

Day 5

Had a fairly good day catching up and pulling proportions together as we added facial muscles of the mouth and brows. Blocked out the shoulder areas; I'll try to take a pass at the ribcage and upper humerus/clavicle/acromion process before the next class.



Day 4

Had a bit of a rough day when I learned that the absence of caffeine makes my evenings much less productive. We added muscles of the neck and I started to carve out the back, but in a second lesson, I learned that the reductions needed for the shoulder and back bone-skin depth can easily be underestimated!

Portrait Ecorche with Andrew Cawrse

Just when my dabbling in art on the side from work seemed to be slipping, I've been fortunate enough to have been enrolled in a fantastic anatomy sculpting class taught by the very talented Andrew Cawrse of ILM and Anatomy Tools. With just about half of the character modelers at work enrolled, it's been a shot of energy to learn sculpting and anatomy after work at Andrew's quick pace. Our sculpts are based on a Cirque du Soleil performer, and we'll be doing one half skin, the other half skeleton and overlaying muscle.

Here are some results from the first 3 days!

Day 3


Day 2



Day 1