Monday, October 25, 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Cool Texture













My sister has been instructing me in the ways of cool textures as of late, and how to incorporate them into digital painting. As usually happens with anything she introduces me to, I was instantly hooked.

We walked the dogs today, and as usual they had to stop every few yards to investigate an interesting smell. I'm sure it got pretty annoying to Sarah when, in addition, I had to stop every few yards to take a picture of an interesting texture. But, we found some cool stuff, the kind you might normally pass by. This was the side of a decrepit mailbox we found

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Donnie




















Hi folks, here's a quick doodle from this afternoon. I was rather pleased with how it turned out, even though it's not my character

Monday, August 2, 2010

Breakfast Zombies: How do your eggs like YOU?


Goofy drawing prompt from this morning lol. Its fun when your sister is an artist too so you can do stuff like this over breakfast :)



Top: This guy was hardcore. He had a spiderweb tattoo on the back of his head, and a jolly roger beneath that. Not to mention an assortment of other tattoos and piercings. But he was actually a pretty nice guy.
He may make it into a story . . .

Bottom: Ironically Enough, I encountered this guy at the "Maverick" Gas Station. He had the coolest hat- a really interesting shape. I don't know that I quite caught it. He kind of reminds me of Kraven the Hunter from Spiderman.
















Theses last two guys are characters from that comic I was talking about before. I'm still working out story kinks, but I'll keep posting concepts. The one on the left is a younger version of Jonathan Sykes, and the one on the right is the main character, a Detroit Gangster tentatively named "Shoes".

Doodle Doodle



















Just a quick doodly self portrait lol

Friday, July 23, 2010

Hey, new post!
























Hi folks, or folk, as the case may be, considering the likelihood that my '"fan base" has likely dwindled since I haven't posted since the Pleistocene. Whichever the case may be, I'm back, and hope to post a little more regularly from now on. Good gracious, was that a resolution?

In any case, I have recently begun work on a couple of comic books, one based on a story from the Book of Mormon, and the other related to my other great passion, the martial arts. Above is a sketch of one of the characters from the latter story, a fellow by the name of Jonathan Sykes. I don't know how much I want to reveal at this point about the story, but I just thought I'd post something to dispel rumors that I was in cryogenic stasis. Enjoy!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Delusions of Grandeur



















This is a logo I designed for my new independent film/art "studio", which is pretty much on Youtube at the moment, hence the post title "delusions of grandeur" lol. It's only a dream and a logo at the moment, but we'll see where it goes.

A little under a year ago I returned from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Spokane, Washington. For those of you who may not be familiar, a mission is an opportunity for 19-year-old LDS (Latter-Day Saint) young men to spend 2 years serving other people full time. It was the defining experience of my life. As you might expect, we taught people the gospel, but we also had the opportunity to serve in other ways. From shoveling snow off roofs and butchering deer in the country to working on sprinkler systems and cleaning up the aftermath of gang violence in the city, it was a full-time service experience. Through each of these experiences I grew closer in my relationship to the Savior.

At the beginning of my service, when I was a "greenie" (slang for new missionary), I was given a word of advice by David R. Clark, my mission president. He told me never to lose my "Greenie Fire". New "green" missionaries enter the field with a zest for life, a love of the people, and a passion for the work. Though inexperienced, they serve and bear their message powerfully from the heart. However, unfortunately there tends to be a metamorphosis over the course of a few short months. As much fun as it is to serve, not everyone appreciates it. A new missionary encounters rejection after doorstep rejection, and begins to doubt whether he/she is accomplishing anything. People swore at us, slammed doors in our faces, threw things at us, threatened to sic dogs on us, and once even put a rock through our car window. Under pressure, the "Greeny Fire" can soon begin to burn out. It's so easy to become jaded and lose that passion, that love, that will to serve. But that is what prayer is for, and that is why Jesus Christ is there. I was not a perfect missionary, but I set it as my goal never to lose that desire to serve, the "fire". Though flickering at times, with Heavenly Father's support, that flame managed to burn for the full course of that two years. I made mistakes, but I repented every day and did the best I could muster to love and serve every day. While some missionaries might take it as an insult, I took it as a compliment when even in my last months in the mission field new acquaintances would ask me if I was "Green".

Then came the last day. As a joke, the Day family, who I stayed with in my last area, served me a "greenie breakfast", complete with green waffles and juice (For those of you who are not up on Mormon culture, the greenie meal is a joking informal tradition normally reserved for new missionaries). It was done in jest, but it got me thinking about the advice from my mission president- "Don't lose that greenie fire". That night, I made a commitment to myself and concieved of the idea for what I hope will one day become a real production company, sketching a rough version of the logo on a piece of looseleaf. I determined never to lose that "greenie fire", to continue applying the lessons of the mission in my daily life. My goal is to create films and media that will fulfill the same purpose that I had knocking on doors as a missionary- to "Invite others to come unto Christ", and hopefully ignite in others that same fire for doing good President Clark taught us about.