Character Designs and Modeling

Here are are some of the characters I've designed and taken through the 3D process. These are excerpts from my current portfolio.

More Digital Paintings

Here are a few more digital paintings. These are fairly old, all of them are from this past fall or earlier. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do any painting this summer becasue I've been so busy with thesis and other things. Maybe I can squeeze one in before school starts. In the mean time I hope you enjoy these oldies.

This is a poster I made as a final project for a diversity class at
Ringling. One of the benefits of taking liberal arts classes at a
fine arts school like Ringling is how easy it it to substitute a
quick art project for a five or ten page final paper.

I was so excited when all the promotions began for the new
Indy movie I had to grab one of the stills and paint this guy.
It's actually a full body pose but since I didn't finish it I
cropped the lower half out. And by the way, except for the
Tarzan scene, I liked the movie.

This one is probably the oldest of the three. It's also unfinished.
Since she's a faerie I intended to add wings, one of which was
supposed to be broken, hence the despair. I do intend on
finishing this one some day. I used photo reference for this painting.

This one I did for Jodie. It's her World of Warcraft character.
I've never played WOW before but I do know that this is a
Nightelf, and apparently her name is Guen. And yes, this is
one of few paintings that I've actually finished.

Another game related painting, except this one was done
as part of a seasonal mask design contest for Guild Wars
(another game that Jodie plays). This design got second place
so unfortunately it didn't make it into the game, but it did
supply Jodie with some cool Guild Wars merchandise.

Cinema Memoir #46

Joe Versus the Volcano (March 9th, 1990)

This movie absolutely SUCKS for a 10 year old! At least is did for me. All I remember is going to see it with my brother and being totally bored all the way up until the volcano part at the end - and even then I was so confused that the climax was still a let down.

I saw parts of this movie recently and, although it was slightly more interesting through an adult point of view, I still found myself reaching for the remote after about ten minuets.

Maybe I'll give it another chance once I reach my own midlife crisis - but I'm predicting sitting through it again will make me want to jump into a volcano as well.

Cinema Memoir #45

Back to the Future Part II (November 22nd, 1989)

Next to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, this was probably the most anticipated sequel of the 1980's - at least for me it was - and it was well worth the wait.

Back to the Future was probably the first movie to ever have a "To Be Continued" at the end - but it wasn't until many years later that I realized the "To Be Continued" wasn't in the original ending.

Another thing that stuck with me was the fact that they included a trailer for part 3 with actual footage at the end of the movie. I don't think that had ever been done either and I haven't seen it done since.

I was nine and I totally bought in to the whole hover board thing. It seemed plausible and I wanted one so badly - let's face it, I still do. And according to the movie I only have six more years before I can have one - or perhaps a flying car, or shoes with power laces, or maybe some totally rad spandex future clothes - ah, the future.

Cinema Memoir #44

All Dog's Go To Heaven (November 17th, 1989)

I don't remember a whole lot about this movie except that I left the theater feeling kinda depressed - I haven't seen it since.

I never was into animated movies as a kid. I didn't see very many animated movies in the theater and I would much rather have seen a live action version - an interesting observation considering I'm currently an animation student.

Cinema Memoir #43

Look Who's Talking (October 13th, 1989)

Certainly not the BEST movie ever made, but fairly entertaining. I remember really liking it. I think it's still got some re-watch value.

If I remember correctly this movie did pretty well in the box office. And, like with any successful movie from the 80's, they tried to capitalize on it by turning into a franchise. There were two sequels to follow and they both pretty much sucked. I didn't see either of them in the theater.

Sit Stand Animation

The objective for this assignment was to demonstrate how a character might express thought and emotion through body language and gesture - we were also expected to successfully animate the mechanics of weight shift through the action of sitting and standing.

In addition to figuring out the acting and mechanical elements of these animation we're also responsible for designing, modeling, texturing, rigging and lighting of the characters and set.

CONGRATULATIONS 2009 RINGLING GRADS

May 8th was Graduation day at Ringling College of Art and Design and many of my close friends from the computer animation department walked. This post is dedicated to them for all the hard work they've done over the last 4 years.

Here are some links to a few of this years thesis films. And for any recruiters out there - Please give them jobs!

Anchored - Lindsey Olivares
Bake and Release - Alejandra Quintas
Cat's Meow - Jorge Garcia
Deng Long Yuheng Chiang
The Dog and the Butcher - Johnathan Holt
EDIFICE - Patrick Haskew & Michael Molinari (Team Bonesaw!)
The Enlightened Monk - Emily Tse
Frank -n- Brains - Mike Hollander
Gretel and Hanzel - Gianna Ruggiero
Heavenly Appeals - Dave Lisbe
Hit and Run - Alex Marino and Greg Peltz
Love Line - Drew Walton
Nuri - Kendra Vander Vliet
On the Level - Mike Rutter
Oxygen - Chris Hendryx
Sacrelicious - Anthony Tso
Space Station - Alex Galuzin
Squeek in the Night - Jae Park
This Side Up - Liron Topaz

Good luck class of 2009! Lot's of love - I will miss each and every one of you, and I'll see you soon!

And a little something special for any Maya users out there, courtesy of the class of 2009.
The Maya Gremlin

Primitive Theater

This was my 2nd 3D animation - it's hard to believe it's been 3 years since I did this. For this assignment we were to tell a simple narrative story using a character made from primitive geometry. It has sound so pump up the volume.

Our goal was to include as many of the principles of animation as possible and to explore emotional change in our character.

Cinema Memoir #42

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (July 28th, 1989)

And as soon as I finish praising my mom for her outstanding parental skills we arrive at this gem of a movie - one that, yes my mom took me to see - but only because I begged her though, I'm sure.

It was fun to watch. It was pretty scary and funny. And it was worth sitting through to see Jason's face at the end. Glenn will certainly appreciate this image.

Cinema Memoir #41

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (June 23rd, 1989)

I remember seeing the trailers for this movie quite a while before it actually came out, and I wanted to see it more than anything in the world - which is why I pitched a holy fit when I discovered that my Mom and Brother had seen it before me.

My poor mom felt so terrible that she took me out of town (because it wasn't playing back home) and sat through the entire movie again, just to make her youngest son happy. So I dedicate this post to my mom (God love her) for going out of her way to make her children happy.

Oh, and the movie was totally worth it!

Cinema Memoir #40

Batman (June 23rd, 1989)

1989 was a pretty awesome year for movies, and Batman was probably the biggest movie of that year - I remember it vividly. No one had ever seen a movie like this. It was dark and funny, and full of action.

Seeing this movie in the theater was a really great experience. I remember the theater was packed because it was opening night, and there were actually people sitting in the isles and standing along the walls. I had never seen that before.

I never read comics as a kid, so to me Batman was Adam West from the 60's movie and TV show. This movie opened up new doors in my imagination and afforded me a fresh outlook on visual storytelling. Also, it was freaking cool!

Cinema Memoir #39

Ghostbusters II (June 16th, 1989)

Not the best sequel, but it didn't matter because I was nine and was a huge fan of both the original movie and the cartoon. The only negative part of my experience was being really disappointed that slimer's design had changed. He looked so terrible!

This was the first time I noticed the huge marketing machine behind a movie. I believe Taco Bell handled a large chunk of the marketing.

The release of this movie also prompted me and several of my friends to take on the role of honorary Ghostbusters. Our objective was to rid the neighborhood haunted house of its spectral occupants. We figured a vacuum would suffice as a proton pack, but when we went in to the vacant house the only ghosts we came across where the ones we brought in there with us - talk about being afraid of our own reflections.

Ahhh - to be nine again.

Digital Painting

Here are a few more digital paintings. These two were Christmas gifts for family members in 2007. Both were done using Corel Painter X and a Wacom tablet.

This digital painting is of the nativity scene. I used
reference from the film The Nativity Story.

For this digital painting of John Wayne I wanted
to pay tribute to Drew Struzan's awesome style.
He's one of my all time favorite painters.
Check out the link to his page in my links section.

3D Ball Bounce

This is my first rendered 3D animation. Our assignment was to create a scenario involving a ball with personality who interacts with another, inanimate ball.

This assignment was a good opportunity to explore the principals of animation, and was a good introduction to the 3D animation process.

Cinema Memoir #38

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (May 24th, 1989)

The epitome of total awesomeness! The first ad I saw for this movie was not a standard trailer about the movie, but rather a trailer about the making of the movie. What better way to strengthen my interest in filmmaking? Plus Harrison Ford stapled his fedora to his head, come on!

I do remember getting really nervous at the beginning of the movie when I saw some strange man (not Harrison Ford) wearing the fedora and leather jacket. I thought maybe they had recast Indy or something, but it didn't take me long to figure out what was going on.

Also, I remember the moment when Sean Connery stepped into the frame for the first time in the movie and the audience applauded. That was the first time I ever witnessed an audience react to a movie like that.

Watching this movie in the theater is one of my favorite cinematic memories of all time, and Indiana Jones remains my favorite character of the silver screen.

Cinema Memoir #37

Pet Sematary (April 21st, 1989)

One of the most memorable movies I ever saw in the theater - partly because it's fairly well made, but mostly because it was absolutely terrifying. The walking dead people didn't phase me in the least bit, but the scene where Gage got hit by the semi truck scarred me for life.

My mom took both me and my brother to see this movie in 1989. I was 9 years old - 4th grade, mind you. In retrospect she's convinced herself that she was a terrible mother and totally regrets having taken us, but I reassured her that she was a great mother and was, in fact, dealing with 2 manipulative masterminds at the time.

My big brother - 4 years the elder - was a big Stephen King fan as a kid, which inherently made me a big Stephen King fan, as I had to imitate everything he ever did. Being the youngest has many benefits - I always got to do big kid stuff.

So when it came to watching a Stephen King movie in the theater he and I combined our efforts and succeed, and I've got the scars to prove it. Not the "I'll never watch another horror movie again" kinda scar - but more like a Jaws "Let's drink to our legs" kinda scar.

Digital Painting

I figured I'd post some of my more recent artwork. These are some of my first digital paintings. All of these were created using Corel Painter and a Wacom tablet.

This is an unfinished digital portrait that I started
about 2 years ago. I doubt I will ever finish it.

This digital landscape was an exercise I did while
experimenting with Corel's brush library.

This was another Corel warm up exercise. Just some clouds.

Cinema Memoir #36

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (March 10th, 1989)

Apparently I kicked off 1989 with this masterpiece. This was when it became very clear to me that never again was I going to see another 'quality' Police Academy movie like the one's I grew up watching.

Did I really just write that?

Yes! Police Academy, as stupid as the series might have been, was an important part of my childhood - This movie, however, was not.

Cinema Memoir #35

Cocoon: The Return (November 23rd, 1988)

It's funny that I wanted to see Cocoon: The Return in the theater, considering that, at the time, I hadn't even seen the first Cocoon. What can I say, I liked movies about aliens.

This movie wasn't too bad. It's didn't live up to the first Cocoon, but it seemed to deliver pretty well as family flick.