Thursday, July 29, 2010

Martian Chronicles: The Beginning/Cobwebs



Every project has to start somewhere. This is where this one begins. I re-read The Martian Chronicles and I didn't really take notes. I just let the images come and let the stories wash over me. I was surprised to find how bleak and sad the stories were. I don't know what my mind did to the old memories I had from reading it years and years ago, but it felt different this time (still awesome!!) Perhaps I am different since the story remains the constant here...

After letting it stew for a bit, I did this quick little sketch on a whim. I wanted to see if I could remember what the Martians were like without going to the source material. I remember words like "gold coin eyes" and that the Martians were thin. I wanted the character to have a curious but strong demeanor. I think I had the second story in mind when I did this drawing, the Martian anticipating the first rocket's arrival.

Going back to the story, there are some things I need to revisit, and the drawing itself leaves something to be desired. Still, it's a start! The first story is called "Rocket Summer." I'll post more on that soon along with other exploratory drawings of Martians, rockets, etc.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Rift: Planes of Telara at Comic Con




Trion partnered with Wildstorm Comics to make a #0 issue comic to present at Comic-Con for Rift. It's weird to see my designs drawn by someone else, but cool at the same time! In the back of the comic there are some lore pages and a bestiary that happen to contain some designs I did. One of them is this Defiant guard.

You can see a peek of the comic here, or if you were at the con, maybe you picked one up for free?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

For Friends


This is a quick little watercolor study I did for a painting I'm working on for some friends. It's "based on" a combination of waterfalls and imagination, but mostly Multnomah falls near Portland, OR. Martian Chronicles stuff will be up soon!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Inception



This is how it's done. Bravo to Mr. Nolan & Co. I have rare moments in the theater where a movie does what Inception did to me. I may have to revisit/rethink some things...

See it!

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Mars Fever


The Seasons project is officially on hold. I have my idea, I'm ready to go, just. not. excited. The thing about personal work is that it's done late in the night or in spare moments, so if it becomes a chore that tends to show up in the work. I want to do the project, but as readers of this blog have probably figured out,  I often mash ideas into one another or just let them sit and get dusty. Sometime I miss them, sometimes not. I have wanted to do something with seasons for years. I also wanted to do something with 1984 for years, and that just popped up one day, so who can tell?

I can say that I'm pretty fired up about another idea I have wanted to do for years: do one illustration per story for every story in Ray Bradbury's masterful The Martian Chronicles. It will probably take a while, especially since I'm going to do it in strictly traditional media (watercolor and acrylic). No timetables, but that will be my focus for a while.

While I'm getting all nostalgic about my 90's childhood impressions of 1950's impressions of Mars, here are some tunes that have inspired my art recently:

Against Me! - White Crosses (Album)
Brandon Flowers - Crossfire (Single)
MGMT - Congratulations (Album)
Van Halen - Van Halen (Album)
The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards (Album)
The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs/Month of May 12" Single

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Final Thought Police (Maybe)



I think I'm done for now. At the very least, time to put in on a shelf and let it marinate.