R.J. Peña

Cat Walking and Running Reference

2012-01-24T14:05:00.000-08:00

For the first project in my latest animation class, we have to develop a rig for a quadruped that automatically does the animation for a gait when you slide a controller across the screen. The tricky part, is that the one the animation reaches a certain speed, it has to seamlessly blend into the next gait of that animal's pattern. I'm choosing a Bengal cat for my animal, and now to do some research!

Characterization Portrait - Lynette

2012-01-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

A while back I sold a Characterization Portrait to raise money for a charity fundraiser, and here is the finished product! Good news is I'm getting much faster at these. I believe this one took me right around 3.5 hours to complete. Yay for progress!

Puppy Pebbles

2011-12-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ever since I graduated from high school my parents have begun putting all their care and attention into raising puppies. I mean, my dad was never one for spoiling our pets, but this one here sleeps in their bed with them even though she is now a full grown American bulldog! So for my mom for Christmas, I've decided to do a painting of Pebbles when she was still a little puppy. Though the pup has certainly lost none of her spark or hyperactive overenthusiastic curiosity, she is still as cute as a button and still does this awesome little head tilt thing when she's interested in something. In this pic I was playing the piano and she had never heard it before, and the pose was so perfect I had to take a picture of it. I think she's gonna love the painting and I can't wait to get it printed! (and no, my mom is not on facebook so she won't see this before Christmas :-p)

Below you will also find a few process paintings if you're interested.

2012

2011-12-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

And here is the short that almost killed me! I have to say I've never gone with so little sleep for so long, even when completing my thesis at RIT's School of Film and Animation. For those of you who have talked to me about this project, you know how close it was to not being finished with the last minute technical disasters I've had over the last week before it was due, but thanks to the awesome people in the Viz Lab and a week of sleeping in the lab and only going home to shower, here it is! 4 months of hard work and dedication! Hope you enjoy :)

New Etsy Additions!

2011-11-29T11:16:00.000-08:00

These are two of my more popular pieces and they have been added to my Etsy shop for purchase!

Christmas Cards are now for Sale!!!

2011-11-28T21:35:00.000-08:00

Hello all!! I have opened an Etsy shop with some holiday related items to make exchanges more effiicient. :) I will add more of my work for sale over time and will keep and steady stream of new work as the year goes by. I will most like post on the blog anytime something new goes for sale, so keep checking and you might find something you love! To get to the shop you can click on the Etsy mini widget off to the right side of my blog or just follow this link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RJPena

Happy shopping!

Lacanian Symbol

2011-10-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Lacanian Symbol from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

    This project examines our need to display our lives through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and other blogging type websites. Millions of people every day post mundane statements and status updates with a desire that people will look and comment or "like" what they have written. John Berger talks about an interesting psychological dichotomy within the realm of art history that we can apply to this phenomenon: the psychology of the audiences need to view, as well as be viewed by the object of their desires. According to Berger, traditional European nude paintings played upon the wealthy owners, generally male, desire to be viewed by the woman (viewed in this sense as owned possessions), and also their desire to reveal to the world the wealth of which they own through oil paintings of their material possessions.
    My question is how is this different than people in modern times taking pictures of themselves in various exotic locations and posting them, or taking pictures and tweeting about their latest new purchases or experiences which are often times exaggerated through syntax and superficial excitement or expression? In reality we post post these updates of our daily lives with the eager expectation that these posts will impress, shock, or incite interest within those around us. What's even more curious is our eagerness to look at our 'home feeds' and see what everyone else is commenting on or posting in relation to what we ourselves have posted.
    There is a great sadness in the separation that has been created in technology between what people desire and what they actually receive. What we gain in turn is an odd lack of personal interaction as we respond to our peers through an isolated computer screen in an attempt to feel as if we are an active part of their lives, and they a part of ours in return, regardless of how empty and impersonal we have become towards each other.

For those interested in the formal and technical aspects of this project, I shot it with my iPhone in a mirror image of the medium most of us use to post such updates with FXF by JOBY app for the time lapse and an iPhone stand by Gorilla.

Lacanian mirror

2011-09-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

    Check out this piece of work! Officially my first completed art project for A&M's grad Visualization program. The Lacanian Mirror refers to the works of Lacan, who believes in 3 stages of mental process named the Imaginary. the Symbolic, and the Real. The descriptions of these are completely different than what you think they are. This work represents the imaginary, which Lacan describes adeptly with the example of a baby first realizing that its reflection in the mirror is itself, but not having the mental capacity to realize that its reflection is just an image of itself, and not literally itself. The imaginary exists in the realm of intuition, the unbridled underlying emotions that drive us before we process what they are and what they mean.
    This piece reflects the emotion of a human being viewing itself within a space in the world, much as the baby would. I chose to do this medium because it creates the illusion of a 3D space by a combination of transparent flat 2D cross-sections, and the fact that the image is not understandable from all angles. I hope to create the sensation of realization and mystery as the viewer comes around the piece and ultimately comprehends the image, yet still being deceived by the illusion of 3D reality, much as the infant sees itself in the world but does not understand the separation.
    Hopefully this piece will be accepted into a show sometime soon and you all can see it in action! But for now I hope you enjoy these images :)

White Linen Night in the Heights

2011-08-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

This piece painted by me will be available during the annual White Linen Night exhibition in the Heights on Saturday from 6pm-10pm. The piece is called "Balance" and is painted in oil with some steel accents on a 12"x12" canvas. Our tent will be on "Pink Street" between Oxford and Columbia and is juried by Lori Betz of the Betz gallery. For more info about the event and some good paths for traveling around you can follow this link http://whitelinennightheights.com/map and a portion of the sales will go to benefit Houston Art and Culture, which helps to support and inspire art through scholarship and mentoring. Hope to see ya'll there!

The Sculpture is Almost Complete!

2011-07-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

We have delivered Julio's sculpture and set it in it's location with
the shape of the landscaping roughed in. Tomorrow we will be digging
the trench for the stones and adding sand and liner for the
foundation, and finally adding the river stones to the center and
copper accents on the piece itself. More updates to come before the
week is out!

Random Doodles

2011-07-17T22:28:00.001-07:00

Always a good practice to doodle a few gestures or characters
during the day. Here are a few I did while waiting for Gavin to get
out of a meeting. These sketches aren't by any means literal drawings
of people I saw, but I picked a shape to base my design on and used
the people around me as inspiration for the features and unique
qualities of each sketch. If the people I based them on happened to
look at them, they may see some resemblances to their own reflections,
hopefully with amusement :-p. So even when you are doing gesture
drawing, don't be afraid to caricature the gesture or apply it to a
character you are already familiar with. If you don't get it at the
time of the sketch, you can always take your initial gesture and clean
it up or apply it later. That is, after all, why my drawing teachers
insisted on us keeping journals or gesture drawings. You never know
when a pose will come in handy!

If you aren't in a place where you have a lot of people to draw from,
remember you can always find quick poses at
http://www.posemaniacs.com/ you can set a time limit for each pose and
there are hundreds to draw from. And if you're mobile, they have an
app! Though at the moment it is kind of limited.

Illustration Friday- Gesture

2011-07-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

This week's Illustration Friday topic is gesture. I was thinking about the Percy Jackson series with the child demigods going on their deadly quests, and I got the idea for the topic. A gesture drawing is a quick drawing of a subjects pose, motion, and rhythm, which many times is then translated to other mediums, including sculpture. Although the creature herself is quite terrifying, the living creatures captured by her gaze, though morbid, must have been spectacular to behold from an artists perspective: with perfect gestures of life frozen forever in stone

Lambda Photography Workshop

2011-07-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I participated in a creativity workshop at the Houston Lambda center, and went on a little photography tour of Market Square in downtown Houston. Blistering swampy heat aside, I was able to capture some really cool scenes in some very unlikely places. Mostly I wanted to use this opportunity to try out some abstract photo techniques, especially non-standard aspect ratios and extreme close-ups of contrasting shape and texture. I have always been fascinated by the fact that you can look at something every day but not really notice the depth and beauty of it's lines and textures until someone photographs it. Then all of a sudden it becomes something beautiful and creates not only a new perspective on a space, but becomes a conduit for what the individual sees in his mind's eye. You normally don't think that something as mundane as a manhole cover or a fan can be beautiful until you're laying on the ground at odd angles, getting up close and personal with some rust. And even if you look at a photo and it seems uninteresting, you can do some fantastic things by cropping it in crazy aspect ratios and focusing the image on the sometimes small area of the photograph that is unique..
Above are a few samples of what I came up with, and there are many more where that came from! What I am taking from this experience is that when coming up with a composition, or looking for a way to express your vision with a camera, don't be afraid to tilt it and get so close to your subject the lens is practically resting on it. Then just snap away, even if it means using 20 pictures on one subject. The more compositions and angles you explore, the more you have to examine and play with later. The results will most certainly surprise you!

Metal Sculpture Progress

2011-07-06T15:04:00.001-07:00

Hooray!!!! The most difficult part of our sculpture is finally
complete. Now with the form finished we can begin the final
decorative touches that should tie everything together. We will be
running a grinder over the welds to smooth them before applying some
bright green patina'd copper leaf to them. And finally, to give it
some depth, we will add various sized steel squares, patinad like a
red bronze, to either side for some contrast.

Summer Drawings

2011-07-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Went to Gavin's family's lake house up at Lake Livingston yesterday to
chill and get some relaxation in. One of the things I love most about
summers is the chance to just relax and do some sketching without any
pressure. Lakes and oceans are a common subject for me, since I've
lived by water for most of my life, and my I suppose maybe it's
because I'm a water sign, but I've always been drawn to water. In any
case, it gave me a reason to practice using procreate, this time
trying to get a nice India ink feel.

My super secret delicious Fourth of July cupcakes!!!!

2011-07-02T10:25:00.001-07:00

Every year for the Fourth of July since before I can remember, my mom
has made a flag cake with homemade whipped cream icing and a flag
pattern made out of strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. It has
always been my absolute favorite cake and I eagerly wait for it every
year. This year I'm going to Gavin's lake house and I decided to
change the recipe a bit and make flag cupcakes for a little pre-4th
treat. While I couldn't do the two layers with whipped cream and
chopped strawberries in the middle, I did bake chopped strawberries
into the yellow cake and just alternated the toppings (with plenty of
leftover cream to gorge myself on, might I add). All in all they look
to promise delicious bite sized amazingness, and i hope they love the
as much as I do.

Metal sculpture in progress

2011-06-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Latest update on the progress of Gavin's and my first metal sculpture
commission. We finally found a form that works and are moving right
along on the welding and bending. So excited about the pipe bender
Gavin found that works like a dream. I'd say we are only a few weeks
out on completion of the project.

Manica Depressiva

2011-06-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Sketch of a drag performer, one Miss Manica Deppresiva, at the Houston
Lambda Centers Miss Lambda fundraiser. These events are amazing for
character inspiration and never fail to leave your brain overloaded
with so much sensory information you won't be able to help yourself
but whip out your sketch pad and scribble something down. Once again,
this was drawn in my Procreate app with a pogo stylus. Fantastic
stuff!!

Starburst iPad painting

2011-06-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

So the painting app I use on the iPad 2, procreate, recently had an
update which made it even more the best painting app for the iPad in
my opinion. It now has the ability to utilize "wet" brushes, which
will smear and pick up pigments of color that the brush stroke
crosses, much like Corel paint. They even added new sections to the
brush editing menu that allow you to change the load and amount of
wetness the brush will have. Also, much to my utter joy and
amazement..... You can use blending modes in your layers!!!! (I may
have peed a bit in my pants on this one...shhhh!!!!).
It's limited to multiply, screen, add, lighten, and exclusion at the
moment, but it's a huge step in the right direction :D. All these
improvements plus a fantastic redesign to their GUI and menus and an increase to hd resolution to their already phenomenal resolution make this definitely the number one art app to
have for any iPad user with an interest in art. Now we just need to
figure out some way of convincing Jobs to put in the software for
pressure sensitivity...come on baby!!!

Business Cards!!

2011-05-17T16:37:00.001-07:00

After much deliberation (and obsessive font searching), I finally decided on a business card design! I figure since I'm doing real work for people I need to get on that whole professional bandwagon and get my name associated with a business and whatnot :-p Now off to do some more sculpture building wOot!!!!!

Recent Dream

2011-05-04T23:18:00.001-07:00

I recently had an extremely vivid dream. Unfortunately, like most dreams, much of it faded away when I woke up. There was this one
image that remained, though. I remember walking outside in my
backyard in the early morning. Just after some kind of fierce summer
storm. The entire world was painted blood red with the light of the
rising sun. I caught a glimmer of color across the lake in the sky
and saw a piece of rainbow that was so bright it appeared to be
metallic, and left spots in my vision from where lighted glinted off
of it. I reached out to grab my camera to capture this phenomenon,
and as I was looking through the viewfinder, I centered on this
magnificent tree. Just as that happened the sun came up directly
behind it, backlighting the scene with a magnificent halo. I just
remembered being absolutely stunned by the awesome beauty of these
events coming together so suddenly and so perfectly. So of course, I
had to grab my ipad and sketch it immediately! I wonder what it
means.....?

Cosmic Dust

2011-04-12T18:37:00.001-07:00

I just received my brand new Pogo Sketch stylus for my iPad 2 and
decided to give it a whirl drawing in Procreate. It works beautifully
with the app and allows me to obtain a level of detail I would never
be able to achieve trying to see through my clumsy fingers. I can't
wait to practice with it some more to see how far I can push my art
with the iPad.

Lament

2011-04-06T00:19:00.001-07:00

I was sitting on the couch doodling on my iPad and this is what came
out. Dunno why but my thoughts always turn melancholy late at
night...

A Few Recent Projects

2011-04-05T21:28:00.001-07:00

Icarus

2011-01-28T15:22:00.001-08:00

I have always loved Greek mythology, and there are a few stories that really speak to me. Gavin was telling me about his favorite Greek myth, the story of Icarus, because it related so much to his life, and the symbology of the myth struck a deep chord in me. I feel like it is applicable to so many people in today's world and I just had to draw a concept for it.

He is the son of Daedalus, imprisoned in a tower by King Minos's greed, and who is able to escape by his father's invention of wax wings. Then, overwhelmed by his freedom and ignoring his father's warnings, tries to reach the heavens, causing his wings to melt from getting too close to the sun and plummeting him to his death.

I hope to paint this and a series of 3 or 4 other Greek mythology scenes in oil over the next few months and see what I can do with them. I feel excitement at tackling such a classical theme and trying new things with materials to bring a modern twist to them. Let me know what you think, and if there are any Greek myths that you relate to as well that you feel would be a good addition to the series.

See ya!

Curls

2011-01-26T17:50:00.000-08:00

I have never liked my hair: it's crazy, unmanageable, wavy in some places, curly in others, and downright impossible to style. If you think it looks okay now, well you should see it when I wake up in the morning! I have always been jealous of those who can just get out of the shower, shake their heads, and tackle the world looking like they just walked off the cover of GQ. It simply isn't fair.
For those of you who know me, I currently work as a bartender whose job it is to serve, entertain, and relate to the nightlife of my hometown. It is also an unsaid part of the job description that I'm supposed to be attractive and such, and actually, the better I look the more money I make. And for a guy who is as self-conscious as I am, it can be pretty stressful worrying about how I look. Therefore, I have developed the unfortunate habit of grabbing a straightener and yanking on my hair for like twenty minutes trying to get all those damn waves and curls to behave themselves.
Now, it is true that whenever I have been in a hurry and don't have time to waste with all that business, I just go to work looking like whatever. And actually, what completely boggles my mind, is that people compliment me on my hair and all its disorderly curliness. Most times, I just smile and laugh and call them crazy, but I can't help but think that the repetition of this event may actually prove its validity. And what's even stranger, is the question of why it is so hard for me to accept that my hair might just be as great naturally, or perhaps even better, than when I slave over it trying to get it to be something that it's not. Maybe true beauty is just accepting what things are in their natural state regardless of the flaws you perceive to exist, and learning to embrace what is naturally there? No matter how difficult or painful it may be to do so.

These are just a few things I have been pondering over lately

2010 Demo Reel

2011-01-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

Demo Reel from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Here is new polished demo reel for 2010!!! All work aside from the music is done by me =)

Longhorn Beatles

2010-12-25T08:13:00.001-08:00

Here's a nice project I did for one of my old Half Price Books coworkers :) His dad's two favorite things are the longhorns and the beatles, so he wanted to give him something for Christmas that combined the two. So here it is, and Merry Christmas everyone!

Only a few sets left!

2010-12-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

If anyone is still interested in Christmas cards, I only have 1 set of the Christmas stars left and have sold out of the Fireplace card. Just email me if you'd like a set or two and I'll respond with the payment information. Once again, I'm selling them in sets of 10 for $15 and you can see the images larger here: http://tinyurl.com/35jprfl. Hurry though, because they're going fast!! =)

Christmas Cards!!!!

2010-12-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the Christmas card designs for the year! I'm selling them in packs of 10 for $15. If you would like to buy some, just send me a message at raymond.penajr@gmail.com with your choice and the address you'd like them sent to, and I'll send you the payment info. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Time!

2010-11-10T19:19:00.001-08:00

Here is a new template for some Christmas cards. Let me know if you would like one, and where it should be sent to. I'll be ordering about them pretty soon so let me know fast! Also considering selling packs of ten cards each in case you want more than one...but haven't decided on pricing yet. Also, I might do one or two more card designs before it's said and done with, so I'll keep ya updated!

On another note, I might be working with my cooworker Gavin to actual create this Christmas tree as a sculpture piece out of iron and copper, which should prove to be a fun and exciting project! WoOt!!!!!

Jaded

2010-11-10T19:11:00.000-08:00

This is my personification of the state of being "jaded." To me, this state is a prison created by your own mind. It blinds you to the potential of good in your life and keeps you bound to a wall of cynicism and pessimism. I show this with the figure cloaked in a hood and trapped inside a decaying room, organically designed and lit with low key lighting to bolster the sense of a dank subconscious space.

Photoshop CS5

2010-09-20T17:36:00.001-07:00

So I just got the new Adobe Design Premium CS5 and decided to try out some of the new features in Photoshop. More specifically, the Mixer brush. It's pretty cool how it can simulate real paint: you can adjust the amount of bristles, the thickness, the length, and whether or not the brush is dry or wet. The colors even mix themselves on the canvas as you paint!! I'm really kind of excited to see what I can do with my normal Photoshop texture brushes in combination with the mixer brush. I highly recommend giving it a try =)

Finished Tree Painting

2010-08-02T19:47:00.001-07:00

Here is the final Tree sculpture-painting and some close up of details. Gonna do some thinking to figure out the pricing on this baby. Anyone interested in purchasing it?

Concept for a new painting: "Sapped"

2010-07-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

I got the idea for this painting last night at 5am while eating with some of my co-workers after work. It's based on my emotional reaction to some events that have transpired over the last week and the perpetual drain I continue to feel while out in the night life constantly. I often feel like such an oddball around people these days with my intense emotional consciousness and deep rooted sense of loyalty and integrity. I don't understand how people can be in a relationship with one person yet play around with others and still consider themselves loyal and in love with their significant other. These concepts totally throw me off balance and as whacked out as it sounds I almost feel like I'm socially retarded. And it's not like it's based on one or two experiences...it's as if the entire world has accepted a flippant and flighty lifestyle of shallow lusts and half-ass promises of endearment. Am I alone in feeling this and doomed to be sapped away by the manipulative predators in the world? I sure hope not.

Lost

2010-04-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

Things change. Can't try to live in the past when the world has moved on. So just let it go.

Concept for a tree painting

2010-03-01T12:22:00.001-08:00

Here's a concept for a tree painting I want to do. Since my phoenix painting I really have become interested in texture and using different materials placed on the canvas and painted over with oil. For this one I'm actually thinking of stripping bark off of trees and placing it on the actual trunk and then painting over it for some cool textures. What do you think?

Pain

2009-07-25T17:41:00.001-07:00

Logos?

2009-07-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

I did some logo designs for the game: 1 for the game overall, and two depicting symbols for the two different factions. The tree icon represents the Gaeans, forces of nature, and the one on the right represents Da Vinci's Acolytes, the insane zealots of technology. The designs were highly influenced by another style...maybe too much. I suppose if you can guess it then they probably need to be retouched a bit =P What do you think?

Winter

2009-07-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

"I run off where the drifts get deeper. Sleeping beauty, she trips me with a frown. I hear a voice, 'You must learn to stand up for yourself, because I can't always be around."

"Winter"
-Tori Amos

Quick Concept Sketch?

2009-07-09T11:23:00.001-07:00

Sooo, after researching some examples of concept art, I decided to try my hand at one of those quick color sketches. It's not terrible, and it took me a little over an hour an a half? But it's my first one so it can only get better, right?

Titan on Etsy!!!

2009-07-04T12:26:00.001-07:00

My Titan painting is now for sale on Etsy. go check it out if you'd like =)

The Titans

2009-07-02T15:26:00.001-07:00

Here is the final race for the Forces of Nature for my game concept, Pangaea. The Titans are the brute force of nature, her ultimate sentinels and watchmen. They are incredibly tough to bring down and can hold their own, even against armies or multiple other minions. They draw their strength directly from the earth, and can therefore manipulate it to some extent and draw on its energy to increase its strength and size. Imagine the way the ground would shake when this guy comes pounding your way!!

Do to my accidentally almost deleting all of the creatures I've been working on, I missed a step or two in the following process sequence...but it's mostly there. Enjoy!

IF- Worn

2009-06-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Meh

Another Pass on the Elemental

2009-06-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

So, I decided I was dissatisfied with the final image of the elemental that I posted the other day. Turns out there was a stylistic conflict between the realistic and stylized elements. So I took her back into photoshop and made a smorgasbord of some fire and water images I found on the internet and the original stylized drawings, and came up with this. I feel like the different aspects gel much better than the original, and hopefully I can let this rest and move on to my next project =)

Elementals

2009-06-14T20:04:00.001-07:00

The elemental is the essence of nature, combining the energies of earth, fire, and water. She can control these elements and bend them to her will, capable of hurling fireballs, healing and strengthening herself, causing massive earthquakes, and controlling the weather. These creatures are loners by nature, and with their fiery, unpredictable behaviors it's probably better that way. Though their appearance is rare, they are rumored to surface when a threat worthy of their wrath challenges the natural world.

Here's some process:

The Defiant

2009-06-11T21:11:00.001-07:00

I finished a character portrait of the forest wizard guy from the previous post. The name of his race is the Defiant, and he is the embodiment of the darker side of nature: fear, decay, plague, etc. He is the evil face of the natural forces combating the technological zealots called the Lexia, brought forth from the bowels of the earth in response to the rapid contamination of the world. They are capable of manipulating our darkest instincts, and can spread disease rapidly, as well as hold dominion over the vile creatures that inhabit the earth.

Here is a bit of my process as I painted this portrait:

Quick preliminary sketch

Big shapes of color to establish light and tone

Clean-up the edges and more in depth rendering with texture before adding the overall texture that enhances the mood I want.

Complete!

2009-06-10T10:34:00.001-07:00

Here is the finished painting of my previous post. This may be a bit of a stretch for Illustration Friday, but these two forces are competing for conflicting cravings: one who hungers for natural resources for personal gain, and one who craves to protect those resources.

It always excites me to tackle a project that is different from anything else I've previously done. And, it also turns out that I kind of like the mood and tone of this piece, and will probably explore it further in the future. This doesn't mean that I'm going to be giving up working towards a career in animation, though. Sometimes you just have to face the facts, and right now the fact is there are more jobs available in games than in film, so I'm just adapting my work accordingly =)

New Genre of Working

2009-06-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress concepts

So now that I'm applying for all kinds of jobs, especially in the game area, I realized that I seriously need to come up with some work that's geared more for that type of design. From what I've seen, especially with this next generation of consoles, is that realism is becoming ever more important, and that's something that my portfolio really doesn't have.

What I've decided to do is to come up with a concept for a game, and do a body of work illustrating the characters, props, and concepts dealing with that. I've already begun working on this, and came up with a sort of hybrid RTS and MMO type game, complete with 6 races of characters, and have begun working of the design of 2 of them: a cyborg-type human and a forest spirit. Working in this way is actually not very different than coming up with model sheets for an animated character. Very blue-print like. However, the style of drawing is very alien to my hand and it is taking a while to get used to, but I've discovered I kind of like it. Hopefully, I'll finish the big illustration today nd get to work on some of the other characters.

Ascension

2009-05-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

Ascension from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

A year of my life went into this project =) Here it is finally, with sound, color, compositing, and effects! I screened today around 2:30 and it was very well received with only minor criticisms. Thaks to everyone who came out to support me!! It really made my day =D

4th Color Pass

2009-05-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

Color Pass 4 from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Here's the product of another sleepless week. I've gotten mostly through the bird phase of her life....2 more weeks to go!

RIT GEt Viral Film Contest

2009-04-27T20:58:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! I just entered one of my animations in a RIT film contest on facebook. In order to vote, you have to go here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/posted.php?id=136442345386 and join the facebook group. After that, look for my film, Pablo, and click the "like" button that's right next to the "comment" button. Thank you!

2nd Color Edit

2009-04-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

Ascension Color Pass 2 from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

A few more shots of completed color added to my senior film, "Ascension."

Some more backgrounds!

2009-04-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

Some more backgrounds from my thesis. =)

Backgrounds for Ascension

2009-04-17T10:38:00.001-07:00

I think background and layout work is one of my favorite parts about animation production. The feeling you get when you see your world come to life in color an mood is pretty sweet. These are just a few screen grabs of backgrounds that I've been working on. Let me know what you think!

Some colorrrr

2009-04-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Ascension_ColorPass1 from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Finally getting down to some coloring business. Here are the first four shots. I have more, just didn't have time to composite them all for my thesis advising meeting today. Feels good to see some finished things =)

Now for Sale!

2009-03-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

I've created an account on Etsy, and have posted some of my illustrations on there. So now, if any of you guys get the itch to buy some of my paintings, they are available! There's a link to the shop just off to the right in the sidebar, so click on it and peruse the items! You know you want to...

Illustration Friday: Intricate

2009-03-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

This weeks Illustration Friday topic was intricate. Detailed paintings are not something that I'm used to doing, so for this illustration I tried to vamp up the detail level to make it as intricate as I could. Also, ballet is something I consider to be a very intricate art form, with all of its subtleties in pose and emotion and form. It's very beautiful, and this little girl dreams of becoming a ballerina capable of such things.

Thesis: Rough Cut

2009-02-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ascension from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

I've been working on this project, sort of , since last May. The past 10 weeks have been incredibly intense, getting the hundreds...possible thousands...of drawings done, composited, and then composing the musical score for the film. I'll spend next quarter refining some details and the sound, as well as coloring the 1,956 frames of animation in this film. HAHA! Good times.

And yet a little closer...

2009-01-20T13:02:00.001-08:00

Another Ascension Animatic from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Woooo! Well things are starting to come together a bit. The timing is a bit fast for some things still, and man, am I wishing my set wasn't such an amorphous and flowing world; what I wouldn't give for a simple hold that doesn't require a cycle! The biggest thing missing, however, is the color. Color is so very important to this film and without it I'm afraid the whole point is lost. I'll have to come up with some way of showing that throughout screenings. Now back to in-betweening and coming up with cycling backgrounds!

Murals!

2008-12-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

This is what I was able to get of the mural i painted in Colorado for my aunt. It was extremely difficult to paint this cuz of the small space I had to work in. Their house was built on a hill, so one half of the house went into the side of the hill. Instead of having the 2 bedrooms on the submerged floors be dark without windows, the dug holes down into the hill to the base of the rooms and lined the walls with cement so that at least some sunlight could get in. The downside...now you have windows facing a cement wall 2.5 feet from the window. So they asked me to paint a mountain scene, and, with 2.5 feet of space, acrylics, some very large spunge brushes and a ladder, I was able to paint this 9ft x 8ft mural.

Fire and Rescue!

2008-12-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

A Christmas present for a friend of mine who is a volunteer fireman. Also, my dad was a paid member of the Houston Fire Department in Texas for 20 years and was through most of my childhood. Fireman do much more than help little kitties, of course: they put their lives on the line ever day to help people and are completely legendary in that respect. Keep up the great work guys!

Selections from "Ascension"the book

2008-11-18T14:43:00.000-08:00

Last quarter I was in a book illustration class and decided to use my Animation thesis concept for the story idea. These are a few 2-page spreads from the 34 page book, which hopefully will be all printed out and put together by the end of the winter quarter.

"Ascension" 1st Pass Animatic

2008-08-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Untitled from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Timing out animatics always sort of freaks me out cuz I find it hard to anticipate how much time a still image will take when it moves. So, usually the boards end up blowing by too fast (especially since I'm a bit wary of holding out something too long. In any case, here is the first pass of Ascension.

Adventures of Stardude and the Evil Head

2008-07-07T19:58:00.001-07:00

Way back in the day me and my friend....I think it was 4th grade, came up with these two characters who were eternal adversaries and were always thwarting each others plans. The Stardudes were beings from space trying to protect the stupid humans from having their souls sucked out by the Floating Head and turned into zombies. The Floating Head was a sorcerer whose body was disintegrated by the Stardudes energy, but his head, which was all that was left of him, was reanimated by the lingering effects of his last spell. Now he's sucking the lives out of all he can in order to become more powerful so he can steal the energy of the Stardudes themselves. Around junior high, we thought it would be fun to make a list of each of their different powers. Here they are!

Drawings from a 5th Grade Sketchbook

2008-07-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

So, while looking for an inspirational drawing for a friend of mine, I happened to come upon my 5th grade math spiral amidst my stacks of drawings. This confused me, but when I looked through it I realized why we had kept it: The pages were full of crazy doodles and sketches and, surprisingly, a lot of sequential drawings. Maybe I was always meant to be an animator?? In any case....I think we know why math was never my strongest subject......

More Watercolor of the Lake

2008-06-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy painting water with watercolor, as funny as that sounds. It's so flowing and organic and just feels good to paint. I'm generally stuck with painting whatever it is that's in my backyard, and it's getting a little hard to find subjects. So, I painted this pole that was sticking up by the bulkhead in my backyard. I'm fairly pleased with the way this turned out, though I do need to practice the broader expanses of ripples and water near the top.

Summer Doodleshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif

2008-06-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

I generally use the summer vacation to practice my drawing and art skills. Now that I've taken a few different painting classes and found a nice set of Prismacolor markers laying around my house, I have a few new mediums to explore! So here are my explorations thus far.

Thesis Rough Color Script

2008-06-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

These are the main colors for my thesis as of now. They will be very likely to change as I really get into my project, but they a nice exercise in simple shapes and illustration.

Exploring Oil Paints

2008-05-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here are the paintings from my experiment in oil painting. I took a watercolor elective last quarter but it was very relaxed and didn't really dive into the heavier aspects of painting, so I am considering this course my first heavy duty painting course. These are posted roughly in the order in which they were painted and there is a lot of change as I became more experienced. All the figures were done at varying time lengths during class and the last two are semi-finished long term paintings. I still want to work on them some more when I get back home and have some time to myself. I feel like in my 3rd year of college, I'm really only just beginning to learn about art. All of next year I plan to explore as many mediums as I can possibly squeeze into my schedule, though working on my thesis will certainly prove to be an obstacle. I'm very excited about this! :)

3DG Modeling

2008-04-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

Some work from my 3D Modeling class. All created in Maya with Polygons and Mental Ray.

Firefly

2008-02-27T06:13:00.001-08:00

Firefly from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.
Those of you that know me, know that for the past 24 weeks I have done absolutely nothing but work on this film. Honestly, I don't think I could have spent another day working on it. The last 2.5 weeks, I have seen the sun come up every single day and went on avg 30 hours without sleep at a time. Looking back, I never would have thought it possible for me to make a film like this....but here it is! I hope you like it.

Renders!!!

2008-02-14T00:21:00.000-08:00

A few renders from Firefly. It's due next week!!!! O_o Still animation to polish and lighting to do, but its coming together!!

It Glows!!!

2008-02-04T23:22:00.001-08:00

Here is little Ike's lamp, all textured up and looking pretty. I'm happy with the way it turned out. Its almost time for it to come together!!

Firefly Lyca Reel #2

2008-01-31T21:24:00.000-08:00

Firefly Lyca Reel #2 from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

And even closer.....

3D Lighting: Composite

2008-01-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

A composite of a 3D character in a 2D image. The assignment was to focus on lighting and shadows. Thanks to Dave Suroviec for the character.

Getting close.....

2008-01-15T22:41:00.000-08:00

Firefly: Lyca Reel #1 from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.
4 more weeks to go! The end is in sight....I think. Here is my the first lyca reel of my 20-week 2-quarter project, entitled Firefly.

Underwater

2007-12-22T22:44:00.000-08:00

I painted this for my little cousin for his Christmas present this year. He's nuts about underwater stuff and fish and marine life, so that's what inspired the theme.

Christmas Cards

2007-12-21T09:34:00.001-08:00

Here are some Christmas card/door decorations that I made for my residents before they left for the holidays. I hope the like them.

Advanced Storyboard and Layout

2007-11-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

These are the products of my last formal class with Nancy Beiman: Advanced Storyboard and Layout. I'm very much interested in art direction so I enjoyed this class immensely. It was time consuming and a lot of work, but here are my color sketches, storyboards, leveling assignment complete with proper layering and camera directions, tonal background, 2-field pan arranged in the same manner as the leveling assignment, and colored background with a black and white tonal test.

Alternative Frame by Frame

2007-11-07T20:57:00.001-08:00

This is the final culmination of the work I have done in a pixelation class I took this fall. Our projects ranged anywhere from stop-motion, time lapse, musical synchronization compositing, and even a mix of live action pixelation and 2-D animated elements. All projects were shot with either a PD-170 or my macbook pro and compiled using Framethief.

Disappear from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Altered Time from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Normal Time Lapse from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Music Synch from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

2D in a 3D World from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Greenscreen Project from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Nightmare from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Miss Priss

2007-10-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

A color card assignment for Storyboard and Layout. We found some inspirational artwork and used the colors to illustrate a scene between an elephant and a mouse.

Presents for People

2007-08-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to draw her a picture to put on her wall, so I did. I forgot to bring my scanner home from school, so I used this opportunity to try my hand at a drawing created completely in photoshop. So here it is....I think I'm mostly done with it anyway......

Flyers for our Glass Gallery Opening

2007-07-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Final Glass Project from Barcelona

2007-07-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

For this project, I cut around 24 panes of glass the same dimensions, and drew on them as if I were working on an animation. Also, for the splash and the various parts of the background, I etched in details on different layers so you would get a 3D effect as if the world existed in depth within the glass. The overall effect was very interesting and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Pablo

2007-05-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Pablo from gunslingers19 and Vimeo.Here it is folks. The post you've all been waiting for. Here is the product of about 11 weeks of work. Everything in an animation production process: pre-production, production, post, and sound all in 10 weeks. Ridiculous? I think so, too. Anyway, here it is!

1-Quarter Layouts

2007-05-20T22:21:00.001-07:00

It took me a while, but here are the layouts for my 1-Quarter.

Character Design Work

2007-05-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the culmination of most of everything I've done in Nancy Beiman's character design class. Probably some of the best work I've done here at RIT. I will periodically add more to this post as I find them :-p. This consists of: a character created from 6 random descriptors pulled from an envelope, a caricature of a teacher we had when we were young who we then turned into an animal, our random creature posed in gestures drawn from Charlie Chaplin films, pages from our sketchbooks, tonal drawings made of a faceted head which were then pushed and pulled into caricatures by distorting the different planes of the face, model sheets of one of the characters from our previous assignments, characters created for the rhyme "Tisket-a-Tasket, characters in a style inspired by another artist, and finally a maquette of one of our characters.

Final Pencil Test for Pablo

2007-04-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

1-Quarter Animatic: 3rd Pass on VimeoThis is the final pencil test before I go onto to (a very very very small amount) cleanup and coloring/compositing. The animation will not change much from this stage, aside from a few tweaks in timing and a push on a facial expression or two. There are 2 weeks left to finish......wish me luck!!!

1-Quarter Animatic: 2nd Pass

2007-04-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

Pablo Animatic: 2nd Pass on VimeoHere is the product of my 2nd week of animation for my 1-Quarter project. It's starting to come together and it makes me happy to see it, but there is still a whole lot of work to do. Keep on chuggin'!!!!

Logo Concept

2007-04-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Logo concept I did a while back.

Pablo Animatic: 1st Pass

2007-04-11T22:04:00.001-07:00

Pablo Animatic: 1st Pass on Vimeo
Here's my first animation tests for my 1-Quarter project. There's still time for some timing to be tweaked and such, and don't pay attention to the current sound.

Characters for my 1-Quarter

2007-03-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's time to make another film!!!! I have 10 weeks to complete this project, much like my "Shiny" film from last year. I spent most of spring break coming up with ideas and characters, and I believe I'm going to use these two. Let's see what comes out of this!

Pre-Production Animatic

2007-03-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

"The High Road" Animatic on Vimeo
Back in the fall, I made an animatic for my Pre-Production Class. Finally got it online

Keying Project

2007-02-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

Keying Project from gunslingers19 on Vimeo.

Here's a project involving green screened footage. We used After Effects to composite, which isn't the best in the world for compositing, but I did what I could. The guy is composited into the background.

Drawn Animation: Sequences

2007-02-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

My Drawn Animation Work for the Sequences Class on Vimeo

Oh man, so I survived yet another of Nancy Beiman's classes. There are 3 exercises here, a ball throw, lip sync, and a four-legged creature. That one is rushed because we ran out of time. Oh well.

Apple iPhone GUI's

2007-02-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Apple iPhone GUI's on Vimeo

Apparently, the Apple iPhone is going to have a video conferencing function that Apple has not designed a GUI (Graphic User Interface) for yet. We had to animate how it would work, using both a modern design and an "old-school" design.

Image Adjustments

2007-02-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

Image Adjustments on Vimeo

This is another of my first attempts at something. We were supposed to practice our post production skills and create a completely new look and feel for previously recorded images and footage. Just how a normal cinematographer and special effects editor would in the industry. And, once again, we used After Effects. I know some aren't successful, but for my first try I think I did ok : )

Haunted House

2007-02-05T05:31:00.000-08:00

Haunted House on Vimeo

In this assignment we took at least three different effects from After Effects and made a short, segmented animation showcasing these effects. We couldn't just have a scene with effects thrown in, either, whatever effect we chose had to "add" to the scene.

News Logo

2007-01-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

News Logo on Vimeo

Okay, I admit it....I sorta rushed this one. But its passable. Its supposed to be an intro to a news segment, like what you would see on the Daily Show or Colbert Report.