Illustration Friday: Little Things

After all the shopping frenzie, lest we forget the importance of the holiday season. Happy Holidaze Everyone.

Illustration Friday: The Zoo

Here's my contib for this week's IF word: zoo. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend everyone. Thank god I didn't draw any turkeys on the boat!

Illustration Friday: Excess & Wide

Here's a drawing I used last year for an IF post: "Excess". I like it so much, that I want to use it this time for "Wide". This is dedicated to all us big guys with little guys just waiting to bust out. Enjoy and see you all next week.

Illustration Friday: Open

I was excited to hear the opportunity for this first IF gallery show. Here's my submission for this week - "Open Your Heart". Sorry I haven't submitted in a while, I've been oober busy.

Illustration Friday: Emergency

Talking with my good friend Pedro about some really spicy foods made me put this week's IF topic and this image together. Where's that glass of water when you need it? Good thing the phone was nearby. Ha ha. Happy Birthday Pedro!

Illustration Friday: Poem

This week's IF theme "Poem" made me draw this little sketch in my journal. Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Discovery

Here's a quick sketch for this week's IF word "Discovery". I've been really busy these days. I hope you like it.

Illustration Friday: Geeky

Here's a quick sketch for this week's IF theme: Geeky. He's complete with the 'ol pocket protector and tape on the glasses. Now how many of you remember the slide ruler. Huh? That's one apparatus that's a little before my time too (hard to believe). Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Twist

Always a family favorite, how many of you out there have played Hasbro's "Bop-It" Game? It's a toy that you either have to Bop, Twist, or Turn when the contraption instructs you to so. It literally talks to you and gets progressively faster the longer you play without messing up. Not an easy game but addictive. When I heard this week's IF topic "twist", this is the first thing I thought about.

Illustration Friday: Camouflage

I've been having a lot of fun playing with a brand new computer program I just got at the local computer store. I've tried them all and so far this is the best lineart program I've tried. It takes a bit of getting used to, by combining the Wacom tablet with the program, but I can get some really interesting lineart as the end result. It was designed with the comic book artist in mind. Check it out: Manga Studio 3.0 Debut and happy cartooning!

Illustration Friday: Rejection 2

This is the second post for me on this topic. Something I drew for another topic a while back that fits this week's topic just fine. I just couldn't resist. Although, all my drawings are so sad for this topic. Hope you like this one too. Maybe next week will be happier.

Illustration Friday: Rejection

How many people have felt this emotion before? Here's my sketch for this week's IF: Rejection. First sketched in my sketchbook and colored in Photoshop.

Illustration Friday: Suit and Moon

My brother-in-law had a stack of National Geographic Magazines to sort through. I began sketching from them but had no idea when I started . . . that I could use it for two IF topics: "suit" and "moon". What a great new found resource when you're stumped for ideas. Enjoy the week everyone!

Illustration Friday: Paradise

Here's a sketch I drew a few years ago on a back of a postcard that I sent back to my office during a family vacation. I always wondered when I'd be the image again, so I kept a copy. I now use it for my computer screen background to take me back to that other place. Ahhhh. Feel free to put it on yours too. Ahhh, need I say more?

Illustration Friday: Cars

When I heard this week's topic: cars I thought of this image. I drew it in the lobby of a movie theatre as we were waiting to see Spiderman III. It wasn't a bad movie. I enjoyed it, although, as the lights went down, every once in a while, I would open my sketchbook and continue with the light from the screen. The New York City backdrop was inspired by the movie.

Illustration Friday: Signs

My class finals are over and I'm free for the summer. I took two college courses this semester and it kept me really busy. I just completed my last final for the semester last night. Yippee! I can feel the elation of this little doggy at the neighborhood dog park sign. Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Citrus

Citrus everywhere. Here's my submission for this week's IF.

Illustration Friday: Neighbor

I've been really busy these days but never too busy to get something in for this week's IF. Can you imagine sitting between these two guys for a five hour trip? Now that's what I call "neighborly" love!

Illustration Friday: Remember

My daughter took her annual "Star" test last week which inspired me to draw this image. The "Star" test is a state run test which measures the student and her schools' proficiency when compared to other students throughout the nation. My day it was called the "Stanford Achievement Test". I remember the stress that we went through every year and now I see my daughter going through the same. I guess some things never change!

Sketchbook Entry: Sheriff

A little something from my sketchbook.

Reach for the sky bad guy!

Illustration Friday: Polar

Today, my family and I attended the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco's Japantown. Riding the city bus in order to get there (since the parking was horendus), it gave me the opportunity to generate ideas for this week's IF theme: "Polar". I observed one dapper guy carrying a business bag similar to the one pictured above. I drew this drawing while enjoying the sunny skies and spectacular San Francisco weather. It was forcasted to have rained today, but it didn't.

I considered myself fortunate to be living in an area with such a great climate. You see, I never lived in an area where temperatures drop below freezing, let alone snow! I imagined how it would be to be walking to work in the snow. The background is the portion of Japantown that I sketched while waiting for the parade to begin. We all had a memorable time thanks to the great weather!

ArtJumble: Wizard of Oz

I've just joined a new art blog: www.artjumble.blogspot.com and this week had the theme - Wizard of Oz. It was neat to draw all the characters with varying limits of mobility. Doesn't this movie bring back memories?

Illustration Friday: Fortune

Here's my submission for this week's www.Illustrationfriday.com theme: "Fortune". My wife Lucille and daughter Gennie inspired me to draw this whenever I see how well they compliment each other. Show me the love baby! Have a good week everyone.

Sketchbook Entry: Victorian House

A little sketchbook entry to share with everyone.

Illustration Friday: Green

Playing around a bit with my sketchbook with some Photoshop magic. Illustrationfriday's "Green" theme kind of got me thinking of little green spacemen that come and visit you at night. This is what I came up with after a little bit of playing around. It was also inspired by a couple of art magazines that I've been reading through lately.

Illustration Friday: Snap

Snap, Snap, Snap go the crabs!
For this week’s www.IllustrationFriday.com theme of “snap”: this blog entry is dedicated to the popular Filipino folklore character “Juan Tamad”. His name translates in tagalog (the Filipino native language) as “Lazy John”. He was so lazy that on one hot summer day, he instructed a sack of crabs the way to his home instead of carrying them. What did he do when the crabs made their way?... take a nap under the Guava tree, of course. There is another story to that guava tree. He was so lazy that instead of picking the guava fruit from the tree, he sat and waited for them to fall. Now that is lazy! Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: I Spy

This week's theme got me to think of one spy "spying" on another. I wanted to make it look dark and mysterious like a good spy movie.

Sketch Crawl 13: UC Berkeley Campus

It was another great day participating in Sketchcrawl 13. Today, we went around and drew or painted the University of California Campus in Berkeley. It was great fun and super nice weather. To see the results of the day from other artists, click here.

Illustration Friday: Total

This is an illustration I designed for a marketing campaign a couple of years ago. It was one of twenty-six illustrations (one for each letter in the alphabet) that I completed in one weekend. (Whew! Looking back, that was a lot of work.)

Sketchbook Entry: Wolf

After talking to an children's book editor, I've been experimenting with a technique where I become less dependant on my linework. I'm getting kind of tired of the hardline cartoony look of my past work, so I'm going to try using a pencil to replace my ballpoint pen. I think it looks more like a children's book illustration because it softens the illustration. I'll give it a try since it could bring out some nice results.

Sketchbook Entry: Bull

A little sketch that I drew in my sketchbook that I wanted to post before it got drawn on or ruined somehow. It's the first time I used a pencil in a while for the finished lineart.

Illustration Friday: Wired

While traveling a five hour plane ride to Florida: (as usual when I have nothing to do) I pulled out my sketchbook and this time drew the inside of a plane. In order to add a little bit of interest, I added my fourteen y.o. daughter listening to her ipod and tapping to the music on the back of an irate passenger's chair. Of course, this incident would never happen because I've trained her better then that. I hope. :)

Illustration Friday: Hide

Here's an illustration I used for a "Gap" employee newsletter a couple of years back. It was drawn for a campaign to watch out for those mothers with strollers during the holiday season. I thought it would also be good for this week's IF topic "hide". Notice the clothing tag hanging out the sneaky mom's coat. Poor little baby! They both look bundled up with all the extra clothing.

Illustration Friday: Communication

What do you think robots say to each other when people aren't around. Binary of course. Here's an image I drew last year but thought it would be great for this week's "communication". It's an illo that makes me smile everytime I look at it.

Illustration Friday: Gravity 2

Well, folks, here you go. I had some extra time so I drew a second submission for this weeks word Gravity. The letters coming out of the magician's eyes were sort of an afterthought. When I completed the painting, it just looked like it still needed something. My computer malfunctioned while printing another document, so I saved the gobledy- goop and I thought it looked cool so I added it here. It kinda gives it that techno-edgy look. What do you think?

Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Gravity

Here's something I drew for a corporate motivational program last year. Not bad for this week's word Gravity. I drew a pen and ink drawing in my sketchbook, scanned it, then colored it in Photoshop. Looking back and as you can see, my style was very tight back then. Today, with my constant drawing and submitting to IF, I believe my new style has come a long way as my new drawings exhibit more confidence and energy. Thanks Illustration Friday!

Sketchbook Entry: Burgers and Fries

I've been really busy lately, but there's always time for a burger and fries. Here's something I drew in the restuarant while waiting for my food. Yummy!

Illustration Friday: Crash 2

I had some extra time so here's another sketch I drew for this week's IF Crash. I feel kind of sorry for the guy because he's getting ready to fly off his bike, but he'll be okay because as you can see, he's wearing a helmet. Happier drawing next time, I promise. Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Crash

Here's my submission for this week's Illustration Friday: Crash. Can you feel the emotion? Nothing worst then seeing your money going down down down the drain. Yipes!

Illustration Friday: Sprout

Here's one of my submissions for the 2005 KALX t-shirt competition. It's a student run radio station out of Berkeley that plays all kinds of music. The only requirement was to have the radio station's call letters and name in the design. It's a really cool station and cutting edge stuff on it. Groovy stuff. Anyways, I submitted this image for "home grown radio". It didn't win, :(, but I still had fun drawing it, :). It started out from a teeny weeny sketch in my sketchbook, blown up, and traced to what you see here. When I heard IF current word: Sprout, it reminded me of this drawing so here it is. Although . . . (please scroll down for more) . . .


This design did win! They didn't make t-shirts out of this one but they did put this design onto thousands of "adhesive stickers". It was sort of a honorable mention but that's cool. It was stickers for books, cars, furniture, what-ever the owner's heart desired. I guess they thought it was a simple enough design that could be easily recognizable from a distance. I was inspired by a "Radio Junkie" and just drew what came to mind. Yippeee. Notice that at that time time, MP3's weren't invented yet, so the maniac listens to his Walkman. Of course with FM radio so he can listen to KALX. If you've got sime time, check it this real hip station: here's the link. Peace Out!

Illustration Friday: Red 2

Here's the image that I thought of with this week's word "Red". I did a quick sketch in my sketchbook, scanned it, and colored it in PhotoShop. There was so much more in the sketch but his eyes were so powerful. So -- I cropped everything else out using his eyes as the focal point.

Sketchbook: Singer Collage

This is my first attempt at collage art.

I've been listening to Podcasts a lot lately so Claudine Hellmuth has been inspiring me to do a little bit of collage artwork. First you listen to her 20 minute design challenge on her Podcast and later see her artwork that she created during that podcast. Claudine, together with her husband Paul, make the show quite entertaining. Here's the link: http://www.collageartist.com/. Thanks Claudine and Paul.

While shopping at a nearby Kmart, I noticed Crayola makes a new product: the erasable crayon! So, I bought myself a box and found out they are great! The colors lay down like crayons but erase like colored pencils. Try them and you'll truly be amazed! I hope Crayola make lots of money off of this product, because it's been a long time coming.

Illustration Friday: Red

Ahhh! Gimme some of that lovin'. Here's a drawing for this week's www.illustrationfriday.com word: RED. Have a good week everyone.

SFG: Cereal Hero

I little something I just drew for the www.SugarFrostedGoodness.com
challenge. Don't you wish you had a bowl right now?

Illustration Friday: Super Hero

Here's my take on this week's word: Super Hero.
Have a good week everyone!

Illustration Friday: 80s

Ahh, the eighties. What a great decade! Check out the disco dancer complete with the "white man's overbite" and the "business in the front, party in the back" haircut. Long lives disco!!!!!

Sketchbook: Victorian House

Here's another sketch from my Fabriano Artist's Journal. I drew it again onto a dark shaded paper. I accentuated the highlights using a white prismacolor pencil and a bit of White-Out. I find it invigorating to see how my drawing on different colored papers can bring out a new style. I'm sure this style was there all along, I just needed some way to bring it out. If you haven't tried it, go for it. You'll be surprised too.

The final drawing give a spooky looking result. Maybe a couple of ghosts flying out the windows? We'll have to see about that one.

Sketchbook Entry: Robot Sketch

Here's a little sketch that I drew in my sketchbook and manipulated in Photoshop. It was inspired when I played a round of PS2 with my daughter. Notice the PS2 control. It's sort of like Wizard of Oz meets Lost in Space.

Sketchbook: Disney Vacation

A five hour plane ride from California to Florida brought on some extra time to draw how I was feeling at the time. That's me with the mouse ears, balloon, and camera. Destination - Disney World: The happiest Place on Earth!