Another train Sketch: robot lady

The snow is falling in Boston, and my train rides are longer for it. A lot of interesting people to draw, a lot of time in my commute, and a lot of EBM music in my mp3 player, produce humanoid robots in my sketchbook. This one, I magine, would be the cyborg in charge of directing traffic in a dystopian future. Waving her hands, she can conduct the bloodstream of a city like an orchestra. Fun!

I wish I was a robot :D

Sketch: Innsmouth look

I have been very busy, but I always have time for a quick sketch. I spend my time in the train to work reading, and I am currently going back to Lovecraft. These are a few 30 min sketches I did of the famous "Innsmouth look": bulgy eyes, nasty necks, decayed skins, angry and cold glares. I will do more of these in my free time between commissions and work. Stay tuned!

WIP Jaguar Warrior and Moon Goddess

So, besides the ton of things I have to do, I am working in a personal project to continue the series of illustrations based on the Olmec myth of the Jaguar Warrior. These are a few sketches I made to study the characters involved in the next image. More to come, stay tuned!

Third out of 3, for now

Now the last one, the amazing Kaliman. This character is so interesting in so many levels! To many to discuss. I quick rundown of his background: he was found orphan and abandoned by a Prince who was the heir of the goddess Kali. The kid is raised to maximize human physical, mental and spiritual potency, and is by all definitions a "perfect" man. His goal in life is to protect justice, and becomes some sort of world class detective and crime fighter. His powers are of the mind (telekinesis, telepathy, so on...), and he knows martial arts and criminology, and everything else. He is not like a superhero in the sense that he does not fight supernatural monsters or villains, but he is supposed to be a bit above regular humans.

It was a radio show, a comic book and two movies all together. Kaliman's legacy has been forgoten in Mexico and Latin America quite a bit, but he is still very well known over there. Lots of fun to paint him!

3D personal project

In whatever little free time I've had, I've been working on what may become a big 3D project to be used in illustrations and stuff. This is one of the characters, modeled and textured in the old school way: modeled from a little cube, the textures made in Photoshop, just normal maps besides the colors, and rendered with only Ambient Occlusion. It was all made in Blender.

16270 faces.

Now to rig this...

2 out of 3

Still working on the Mexican Heroes commission. 2 out of 3 done. Kaliman is requiring some changes, but should be done soon. Fun times with digital painting.

Mexican Heroes

I have a new commission. Iam llustrating Mexican traditional comic book superheroes in a new and revitalized way. I made 9 simple sketches in about 3 days. 3 of these should become a complete, well defined painting, but this rough images are fun in their own way. Nothing complex, and many issues to resolve in the next stages, but drawing heroes is always a blast!

Sktech: the beggining of a storyboard

So I've been taking classes in Maya and doing some modeling and rigging stuff for myself, and to learn, and to suffer, and whatnot. The thing is coming to a point in which I need to do some storyboard or pre-production or something, and I am starting a little project. I decided to put it here because, although this is just one page out of many, I think it shows the direction I am going for. Plus, why not, right?

Monsters of the Museum

One of my favorite things to do is to visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History to draw some creatures from observation. Recently I have been interested in old school shooters and their mechanical design, and so taking a clue from de G-darius series, I did some sketches for battleships that look like sea monsters. The shapes of these prehistoric creatures is much more capricious that anything I could come up with without reference. It is also interesting to me that since many of these creatures are preserved only as fossils, we don't know how the skin looked, or what colors they had. The rough and dull texture of the rock does not invite for much shading, but it does call for paying attention to the overall shape. Fun times!

Painting from observation

I am constantly drawing and painting monsters and robot girls but, from time to time, I like to do some straight up drawing and painting from observation to stay as sharp as I can. Many of these drawings are to small and irrelevant to post here (maybe?) but last week I devoted some more time to this painting. Yes, it is a cheesy garden sculpture! It was fun to do, nevertheless. 

Some human figure

Some quick human figure digital painting. 

Dr Sketchy

I recently went to a session with Dr. Sketchy, the good Mr. Reusch (teacher at MassArt and artist exceptionale). Him and the beautiful Devilicia pose dressed as zombies, robot girl and space monsters. These are some quick 5 to 15 minute poses. If you want to find out more about Reusch, check http://misterreusch.blogspot.com/

Old One all around

A better quality turn around image. My website is meant to be seen in any computer and thus is small. I hope this image shows in better detail my work with Cthulhu.

Counsel

The Jaguar Warrior of the Olmec civilization seeks for advice. The old king talks using the murmur of the water, which only the warrior can hear. This image is (loosely) based on a prehispanic myth.

This lady is a mechanic (concept)

Some digital concept work. Since I don't get to my blog very often, I have to make multiple posts at the time! 

A quick sketch

Quick gestural sketch I did a while ago :P

The old (and creepy) one

Zbrush Sculpture based on an old design of Cthulhu. I know that it is normally depicted by other artists as a hulking, strong monster, but for me Cthulhu represents a different kind of fear. A big scary monster is a threat to our physical integrity, a challenge to our abilities and wits. What is really scary about the Old Ones is how impossible is for humans, according to Lovecraft,  to prevent the doom they bring. They are older than humanity, more powerful than any hero or weapon. I decided to make Cthulhu too have a decayed, aging body that represents a fear on us perhaps more primal and less avoidable. No matter how powerful we are, we all succumb to time, right?  >:[

Coffee Pot

This was for my degree project. A Coffee Barista from a dystopian future!

Character concepts

Some characters, and sketches behind them. It is nice to be able to show better resolutions on my blog than on my website!

Escape from Mars (concept work)

Some process work for "Escape from Mars". Pencil, markers, and some 3D modeling.

Hamlet

scratch board

Polar bears in New York

Digital painting

Painting Machine

Acrylic and oil paint over canvas board

Escape from Mars

Acrylic paint over Masonite

Donkey

Watercolor

Bugs at the laundromat

Personal work. Acrylic on canvas board.