Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I have been having a lot of fun with the characters from my "We Wish You a Yeti Xmas"...They have been the subject of many of my sketches as of late.

I've wanted to work on a B&W illustration for a while but didn't have any ideas. This sort of developed from a black background with a moon plopped onto it. I guess the impending death of nature and the first snow the other day prompted this spurt of creativity. Chalk one up for snow!

Hopefully everyone had a great Thanksgiving...I personally feel like I ate and drank just the right amount. I need another 4 days off though as I'm sure all of  you do too.

Have a great week.

-J

A Very Yeti Xmas

So here are the first character roughs that I did. I was planning on doing a holiday animation card for the holidays this year. Most likely animated in FLASH unless I get really ambitious and do it all hand drawn. I want the backgrounds to look really crisp because, as many of you know, awful FLASH backgrounds are playing everyday all over the internet.

Well, today is November 20th, and here I am thinking I am going to finish it before the end of December. Wish me luck!

I'm not sure these are the final characters but it's a start in the right direction. It's a story about a shy little girl who makes a new friend. Betty is loosely based on my very shy niece Meg.
Check back for more updates.
Have a great weekend!

-Joseph

Twinkies and Robots Exhibition

Just wanted to thank everyone who came down Friday night to the MAC650 Gallery. You made the night really successful and of course a lot of fun!

I loved the feedback on my new work. Sorry I couldn't spend more time socializing with you but I had art to promote. Hopefully I will post a video and pics soon for those of you that didn't make it. 

Here's a peek at what you missed. This one is titled "Sailing the Seven Seas of the Magical Wish Granting Flying Twinkie Fish"

Check back soon.

-J

Treehouse

I built a fort!

I did this little project to hone up on my perspective skills. It's a treehouse in 2 point perspective...what's 2 point perspective you ask? well, check out this little video I made of the process. The horizon is the faint red line going across.

I apologize in advance for the faint lines. The drawing was 30 inches across and when it was shrunk down it lost some of it's line integrity.

I didn't get a chance to add the climbing ropes, rope net and dumbwaiter, but it does have a fireman's pole. Come on up, if you know the password!

Take it easy...

J

Click Here to see it.

Tomorrow is Friday...

Here is another background I just did of a window in a bamboo hut. Same retro feel as the last post.
I'm not sure who lives inside this bamboo hut....maybe a family of tree sloths?
Maybe it's on a beach somewhere warm waiting to be inhabited by a lucky individual who dropped out of the ratrace to just be.

J

Babalu Baby! Babalu........!

Just a little retro background painting I did.
There's also a little mood music for you of Big Ricky and Little Ricky. Awesome.

-J

Bouncy Little Friends

Ever wonder what your little friends are up to when you're at work all day?

I had some downtime yesterday and did this little animation. Hope you like it.

-J

Click here:

http://www.monkeyslovebananas.com/bouncy.html

The Saddest Day All Year

You can feel it in the air and Sept. 21st is right around the corner. Fall is almost here.

Get out there and run through the sprinkler one more time, grill a good steak(meat eaters only) or just have a great cocktail...always recommended.

...back to work.

J

"I'll take my chances in the barrel, Leon!"

Deez guys, let's call them Leon and Eugene, are attempting to make a quick getaway...

Just a quick one for today. Gotta get back to work.

Joseph

Fortified with Iron!

Just working on stuff for the upcoming show. The other Joe requested that I do a piece for the back of the promocard. I kind of got away with myself here, but I really like how this came out.

I am thinking I might make prints of this for the show. Hope you like it.

-J

Which one these is not like the other...?

I did this drawing last night while watching the Olympics and flipping channels. It was based on an earlier drawing of the green block character...I picture him having this deep mumbling voice..."rubble, rubble, rubble."

Posts have been, and will continue to be sporadic because of my upcoming show in November. I've got a lot of great inspiration and ideas....I'm pretty psyched up, it's gonna be a fun show.

Squid-tastic!!!

Howdy Landlubbers!

It's been a long time since I posted any adventures....have no fear the squid is here!

How many of you wanted a pet squid when you were a kid???....wait, none of you?

I did this sketch for Diana's as yet un-themed blog. I'm not sure what she's gonna post. Rest assured if it's filled with the interesting things she finds on the web, then it should be worth it's weight in dubloons. All joking aside, she really does find some of the strangest things.

Under Cover of Night...

...these mischievous assasins will be hiding in the shadows.
We went to go see Kung Fu Panda this weekend. I know Ninja monkeys are not Chinese, but I was inspired by the amazing scenery and backgrounds. The story is great too!

Feed them a banana or two. The Ninja Monkeys know no master, so they may spare your life.

Monkeys 2.0

We're almost there...this is the final version(minus a few tweaks) for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks for visiting!

CLICK HERE

Robots Luv Creme Filling

This is like a pre-show announcement/show announcement. My partner in crime Joe Dinunzio and I are organizing another exhibition of six folks this fall.

Joe wants to do another fun theme this time around. Something about robots, twinkies, his mother's brassiere and global warming. I can only image what kind of crazy stuff we will have on the walls. Stay tuned for more details.

I whipped this sketch out this weekend inbetween B-B-Q's, cocktails and coffee. I love it when I have days off with good weather.

Domo arigato!

Mind if we sit down?

Diana was telling me about her surreal lunchtime experience last week. I thought it would be a good subject for a new sketch. Remember not to feed the birds!

Lapin! Lapin!

This is the opening title BG for a short 'Rabbit Seasoning' I want to work on. When I get more done on the storyboards, I will start posting those. It's the story of a mischievous little rabbit who gets too friendly with his forest friends.

What a great week!

Well, it's been a great week, weather-wise anyways....I decided to post another background painting I did. I have been creating some new brushes in Photoshop to get this stipple/watercolor feeling. I saw some backgrounds from Disney's Lilo & Stitch, still have yet to see the movie though. They have this wonderful soft quality to the colors. I don't know if they were hand done or not. Gonna try some more BG's soon, as I have had some downtime lately. Enjoy the sunshine wherever you are.

Rhinopalooza!

Okay, just one more rhino for April.

Don't ask me why she's so sad. She has that great badonk donk.

Trying out something with a limited color palette. Hope you like it.

Spring Fever...

Spring has sprung and everyone is out for a little sun including this little lady.

I had this idea a while ago about a narcissistic female rhino. She's so full of herself. I was working on this opening scene idea where the the camera pans down from the treetops through the trees and down to my little friend here. Maybe I will work on the rest of the pan background but I have so many other ideas and so little time. Oh well...

Hope you're all out processing some Vitamin D.

you'll have to wait an hour young lady...

Remember those days....remember when your mom used to tell you that you couldn't go in the water for an hour after you ate...cramps or some crap like that.

Well that myth has since been debunked. I read some article about it a while back...anyway, I thought it might be a good subject for a new painting.

Happy Humpday!

ooo...ooo..pick me!

Monkey has the answer.

I've had the morning off so far...Ah, the life of freelance. Sometimes it's a waiting game.

Anyway, instead of watching the tele or cleaning the bathroom, I started working on a new flash character. The sketch slowly morphed into this friendly little primate.

Blogworthy?

I don't know...you decide...I was home Friday night watching Animal Planet and there is this new series, Lemur Kingdom. Which reminded me of one of my past favorites, Meerkat Manor. Great show following the lives of some furry African savannah creatures.
So I was just sketching in my boredom yesterday. Before going out, I made this little guy. We'll call him Mr. Meerkat.
Anyhow...I will spend more time next time I post.

It's Spring and it's raining rhinos!

I don't know....just some sketches i've been doing. This week it's a rhino baby.

Bring It On!

No menacing tentacle is too fierce for the chihuahuas.

It's been a really long time since I posted anything. Been really busy. I hope this is a good comeback.

See previous posts for more on the chihuahuas.

A Little Down Time

It's really hot out there and these guys need a break from their day.

I worked on this in Illustrator and brought it into After Effects to use the new Puppet tool. It's this great new effect you can use to animate still images. Hope to do more in the future. It creates this nice smooth feel like "tweening" in Flash.

Spring is almost here!

Click Here to See It.

It's Raining Receipts.

It's been another good year. Thank the art gods!
But alas, with great power comes great responsibility. I have a mountain of receipts to go through.
Wish me luck at tax time!

Fun in the Snow Continues....

Sledding...Yeah!!!!!

Hang on tight!

Up Up and Away....

I've been having fun living vicariously through this little guy.

Some more dress up.

Stuck Inside?

Thought it might be fun to play dress up...alla "Secret Life of Walter Mitty."