Extension Mattes

Recently, I got the opportunity to do some extension matte paintings for a drama background done at my church. It's always amazing the things my wife can come up with for me to do to help out people in the church. So, on this endeavor I got to put my very inexperienced matte painting skills to the test.

Matte paintings, in case you don't know, are background paintings done for films or animations. The art of matte paintings is a film making secret that continues to fool audiences into believing that they are seeing far away places or places that don't exist at all. Nowadays most all mattes are done digitally, formally they were hand painted on huge pieces of glass and the live action shots were shot through them. The combination created was the final seamless shot of live action, a few well placed set pieces, and the matte painting.
These two pieces I'm showing here are extension mattes. This is when an original image is extended beyond itself. These were both from Walt Disney's Cinderella.
The images show the process: original plate - full extension - just the painting - full extension

Click on the images to be directed to larger versions.  Thanks for checking these out.
TTYL

Page on Facebook

Well, my page on Facebook is up and running. Click here to view it or click the link on the sidebar. This page will be my website for the interim while my current site gets a redesign. I'm currently in the process of learning Adobe Flash and ActionScript to get the coding and galleries smooth and user friendly. So, check out the page, become a fan (41 so far . . .), and tell your friends.

Thanks for visiting.
Tom

New head. Fall/Winter projects.

Well, I know it's been a while. I've been pretty busy with work and trying to get some projects under way and wrapped up. 'Tis the season for being busy! Currently, I've got a book cover I'm working on, some spot illustrations for it, 1 (probably oil) painting by the end of this month, a diptych (2 panel painting) for November, finish a painting I started a while back for November, a pastel portrait for the beginning of December, and a digital piece for the end of this month. Yikes!
There's nothing like keeping busy to keep you out of trouble, I guess.
I squeezed in a little time between Monday night and yesterday to do another random scribble line drawing. Kinda reminds me of a friend of mine (in a good way). Anyway, I'll leave you with "Deep Thoughts."

TTYL.

Random Heads

This is another page from my sketchbook. I have been working on some more character design work. So here you go.
These were all done from a random scribble line and rendered from there. Clockwise from right: #1 - Tall Head. #2 - Big Jaw. #3 - Horn Face.

Dragon Rider

     This is a series of my process work for the "Delusions of Grandeur" image I recently completed.

The first two pages are mainly idea pages. I was originally going to pursue a more typical "fantasy" type image and began trying to envision the dragon as well as the rider. This was ok but I felt it was very cliche. I wanted to do something slightly more original in the concept or idea of the image. So while doodling for ideas I came up with the idea of an actual knight riding a kiddie ride dragon. I got a few laughs from showing it to my wife and kids, so I was confident this was a good direction to go in.

     I took the image I roughed out on the right side of page 2 and began looking at reference pictures of knights and these types of rides. I did the first drawing on tracing paper (the one shown here is tracing number 3). This was done to solidify the line work so I could paint it easier. I made a copy of this sketch and used a set of gray scale markers to work up a set of values (range of white to black with NO color) that would make the shapes read.

From here, the image was taken into Photoshop where the real fun would take place! The final color version was resolved and some adjustments were made to the drawing to make the pose more natural and the to make the knight more awkwardly perched upon his steed. I knew that because of the complexity of his armor that the background needed to be somewhat simplified comparatively. So I chose a simple storefront location and let him ride.

The final image can be seen here. I hope you enjoyed following along with my process of creating this image. I feel it turned out pretty well and it was nice to get back to the basics of illustration. It has been a while since I've applied this fundamental approach to creating an image. This has been the way I've made most of my images but for whatever reason, recently, I've abandoned it until this image. So, now that I've 'found' it again, I need to hold on to it and apply it.

Thanks again,
TTYL

Sketchbook Journal

This is a page from one of my sketchbooks. I don't usually write "journal" entries but every once in a while I grab my pen and put some thoughts down. Mostly I do this when I'm frustrated and need an outlet, so I don't go completely off the deep end.
Anyway, it's too difficult to read so if you want to please click on the "image" and get a larger, more legible, version. I was thinking of typing it all for here, but I thought it would be more interesting to show the actual page as it was written.
Thanks for following along,
TTYL

The Red Umbrella

While I walking out to my car in the rain, I happened to notice this lady trying to find her car while talking on her cell phone. It struck me as an interesting concept for a painting. I don't know how far I'll actually take this but I did get it as far as an initial color concept in watercolor. This actually turned out much darker than I was anticipating but since I was just playing with a quick concept I tried to follow where the watercolor was taking me. So it became this almost nighttime walk home through a torrential downpour in the city. I'm pretty happy with the result because there are some pretty interesting things going on in the background that I like. The umbrella and the ground also turned out pretty nice.
This was started with a loose graphite sketch just placing the main elements using only the thumbnail [above] as reference. Next, I jumped right in with the initial watercolor washes, trying to establish a simple value structure and letting the colors mix and layer upon each other. Before the background was completely dry, I used the end of my brush and some paper towel to remove some of the pigment from the paper. This helped to establish some texture and color tonal variety to the background as well as set the initial tone for the rain. Once the image was dry I added some ink lines to the main figure to help bring her into the foreground, then I went over the entire piece with colored pencil to draw in the rain and rain drops on the ground. I had to also darken some of the area in the sky and right next to the figure to further increase the depth in the picture. A few more rain lines and quick color washes and I called it done.
I hope you enjoyed the process of completing this sketch.

Wet paper.

I've been messing around with watercolors a lot lately. I've been just trying to experiment with some new styles and get deeper with some different media than I normally use. So, watercolor is a great place to start. Watercolor has been a part of my repertoire of artistic weapons for about 6 years of so. I have done very little "serious" work with it but mainly use it for studies and quick sketches. Though, the pieces I have done with it I thought have turned out pretty good [click here to see one]. So, bring out the water, brushes, and sketchbook and see what happens.
For those that have never used watercolor don't be afraid of it. It's pretty quick and it can do some amazing things, from simple 3 wash images to near photo-realistic results (which takes lots of patience and a very well thought-out image). I'm far from photo real but that has never really been my intent with images. I am an impressionistic realist; which I guess means it should look like a real painting of something with light and color. The following paintings were executed rather quickly over the course of about 2 weeks and I don't know if anything will ever come of them, but they were pretty fun to do.
Thanks for following along. More to come soon.

Please click on the images for a larger version.
[Above] Untitled. Abstract watercolor design.
[Right] Lazy Eye. Character design/study.

En Plein Aire sketchwork

Hi there, finally got to get outside for a while. This was done late in the afternoon as a thunderstorm (really the outskirts/remnants of a tropical storm) was building up. Typical Florida weather behind and to the left of this the sky was clear blue and on the right of this view was a deep, dark, ominous sky. This is an image of one of the marinas near my home. In the background is the Green Bridge which I travel across on a semi-regular basis. I used my 0.4 Pentel Hi-Tec C pen and applied watercolor with a Niji Waterbrush right over the line work. My plan is to use and develop this method by doing more sketches like this in nearby areas. I just got a new sketchbook that I'm pumped about using. It's almost made for studies like these, a heavier weight paper and landscape format! Hooray! Still trying to figure out my essential travel supplies.


On the right, is a study I did a while ago that I found while going through an older sketchbook. This is a cathedral seen from the courtyard of the South Florida Museum. A really cool place, maybe I'll actually go through it one day!
Done with a ball point pen.

Thanks for looking and keep checking back for more.

And now for something completely different

Here is one of my more recent sketchbook pages. Quite a change from previous entries but it's got some interesting things going on. I'm in this weird transitionary phase and working on sketching my way through it. Stay tuned and see how it turns out! This was done with a 0.4 Pentel Hi-Tech C (one of my most favorite pens ever), an ink brush tip pen, and some watercolor washed over that. It's called "3 Stars - H2IK."


The right image is a quick character/creature study created from random sketch lines.

So, here it is. Another week. I'm going to try (don't hold me to this) and post here about once a week. This way I won't try and let a month go by with a single post in it (yikes!). Hopefully, you've enjoyed what you've seen here so far and are eager to see more (you can let me know by leaving a comment and I'll do my best to respond).

This is a sketch done of the Manatee River. Lightly sketched in pencil and direct watercolor painting over that. Once dry it was scanned, copied, and finished with colored inks and colored pencil.

New Sketches

Here are some quick color sketches from my pocket sketchbook. Good excuse for breaking out the colored pencils. It's been a while since I've used them for anything.

The first sketch is some Koi fish. I've always loved these fish for their bright colors and eagerness for attention (and food).

The second is a doodle entitled "Follow Your Heart."

UPdate . . .

Wow! Does time fly by or what? Here I thought I was going to have more than 1 post this month and here it is - post #2 for the month on the last day!!!
Anyway, I've recently completed 2 images for 2 different competitions and here's hoping they place (even if they don't, I've at least got 2 pretty good images from them). So I'll be posting the sketches and finals from these here pretty soon.
Currently working on updating and fleshing out my portfolio. This is one of my blessings and curses as an artist - I'm not exceptionally great at any one thing or "style" yet. I'm pretty good at almost anything I try and I have the ability to roughly mimic most styles. This is not an opportunity to brag or gloat (oh wee, look at me!) but I am just noting some differences between types of artists. Some artists almost exclusively work in one medium (oil, ink, watercolor, etc.) and then in mainly one way, this to me seems very restricting (but of course hundreds of artists have been doing well for hundreds of years doing that very thing). Of course, do what you do and do it well. But, on the other hand there are so many great things that each medium brings to the table that it's fun to mix it up and do something different. Secondly, it's amazing to see the results of what each medium can do in the right hands. Chris Payne, for example, uses almost everything in a single image. It's incredible to watch him work and even more so to see the finished results. [If you're not familiar with him or his work please click on his name to view his site.] So I forge ahead in search of my "style" and preferred method of working. The only way to truly find it is by doing. And doing, and doing. Eventually, I WILL develop a certain look to my work and the next step is finding the ever elusive market for it. But everything in God's time, He has a plan and it will come together in His time. I can do nothing but continue to prepare for whatever lies ahead.
Onward and upward! I am looking forward to doing some more en plein aire landscape paintings and that should help. Also about to start working towards getting my CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) certificate, which should begin this fall. So, I continue to grow and develop my skills as an artist and soon it will all come together.
Keep an eye back here for more sketches coming soon!

Illustration Academy

This is from a post I made to the Illustration Academy blog, just wanted to share it here also:
{you can read the original post and responses here}
I just saw this post so brace yourself, here it goes:

From my experience, there is NOTHING like the Illustration Academy. I went to a good art school for 4 years and I feel I've learned at least as much from the Academy during the brief seven week program as I did during my tenure in college. It pretty much changed my artistic life. I was floored by the amazing talent of not only the instructors but my fellow students as well. The sense of community at the Academy is so real and engaging that, even though it was hard work (and it is VERY hard work) I was very sad when the seven weeks were up. Second, the way the information is broken down and taught has a lasting effect. You'll remember things you learned at the Academy years later, and then it will just click - "Oh that's what Brent was talking about, I get it now!"
I have been very blessed to have been a part of the Academy and haven't been able to completely pull myself away from it. I look forward to it every year and if I could quit my job and be a bigger part of it, I'd do it in a second. Sterling said something during the initial introduction of the Academy to Sarasota that has always stuck with me - "I would come to clean the floors at night, just to be near these guys and the Academy." It is one thing to hear about it, another to read about it, but to experience it is a whole different ballgame.
Sorry to have gone on for so long, but to anyone who might read this and be considering taking the Academy, I would highly recommend this amazing program. It will be one of the greatest investments you'll ever make (especially in yourself).

In closing, go to the Academy if it's even remotely possible. Take advantage of the instructors AND the students. Become a better artist and picture maker. Continue learning and keep making art. Finally, work smart and have fun (that's really what it's all about anyway, right?).

Thanks to all you guys and gals, you really have had a huge impact on my life (especially Brent, John, Sterling, George, Mark, and "Lucky" Jon).

Tom

Been a while . . .

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything but it's been an incredibly busy last couple of weeks. I have been dropping in on the Illustration Academy which is hosted near me and if you've never heard of it you should definitely check them out. Simply put one it's one of the best programs I have ever had the privilege to be a part of (and this is technically my fourth year!). I am also on vacation this week and away from home as well as my scanner. I have been trying some new things and should have quite a bit to post when I return.
It's definitely great to get away and see some new things. I really enjoy traveling and would eventually like to travel more. I feel it would strongly help my work and broaden my artistic horizons; though some artists have a made quite a prolific career from staying relatively close to home. Andrew Wyeth comes immediately to mind and he stayed pretty much in one (regional) spot his whole career and did amazingly well! But each artist is (thankfully) different and I enjoy visiting places and looking at pictures of other places too much to not ever want to visit them. One day . . .
Well, time to get back to the drawing board (or sketchbooks). To my (possibly) 2 loyal readers, I hope you're doing well and thanks for following along.

Abstract Designs

Well, it's been a while but I'm finally getting a chance to post again. My computer has been out of commission for about a week, so I haven't been able to do much. Anyway onward and forward . .

I have been trying to experiment lately with some paintings based completely on abstract design. I am traditionally a realist painter, meaning I paint a tree, it looks like a tree. I do not naturally gravitate towards abstract art, it usually seems too random to me. I realize that it is painting in its truest form, painting pure design with abstract shapes and/or colors and not limiting yourself to a representation of an object or scene but rather expressing an interpretation of the object or scene (or feelings derived from). Technically, all painting is actually abstract design. I do enjoy some abstract art though it is a rare occurrence and given the choice between an abstract piece and a realist piece I will almost always be more moved and inspired by the latter. I can't help it, it's just the way I am.

So, in light of my abstinence of abstract art, I am attempting to broaden my horizons and experiment in an area that is outside of my comfort zone; in hopes that I will find some success here and it will ultimately make me a better painter, artist, and person. I hope you enjoy.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Well, my blog has survived it's first month. Congrats to me! AND today happens to be my youngest son's 3rd birthday!!! I can't believe he's already 3. He'll be driving before we know it.

Here is something I did a couple of years ago. Brought back to mind with the upcoming (and now pushed back) Chronicles of Narnia: The Dawn Treader. I had just finished the book and did these drawings for it. The first would be for a cover and the second is an interior page illustration. I really enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia and especially the Dawn Treader, of course spending a couple of months just reading and rereading the book for the illustrations helped it to stand out. It had a great sense of adventure and I enjoyed seeing some familiar 'faces' again. I hope you enjoy these.

Sketchbook Pages

Here are some of my latest sketches and doodles. Sometimes meetings and phone calls are great times for me to get some mindless sketching done. It's a very difficult thing to just "sit down and sketch" something. Most times that is when the larger than life blank canvas screams back at you. In a sketchbook, pages should be screaming "mess me up, try something new" or something along those lines, but a lot of times my brain says "do something cool" or "just drawing anything," but anything can be very similar to nothing when nothing is consciously stirring around. Sketching while doing something else is wonderful because you get to access a portion of your subconscious thoughts. I've heard it described as daydreaming on paper and that's a great place to be.

Norman Rockwell had a wonderful approach to beginning a painting when he didn't have a firm direction. He would begin by drawing a lamppost somewhere on the page. It was a simple object that he could always draw and it would serve the purpose of 'jump starting' his brain. From this simple sketch, his paper was no longer CLEAN and he then freed himself to experiment in any direction. He would take this lamppost and draw something next to it and that would spark an idea. This would lead to another idea and so on and so forth, until he reached a solution he was happy to develop and paint. Leaving the simple lamppost far in the dust. Thanks Norman Rockwell, you've opened doors and paved paths that I'm sure we'll never quite see the end of.

Scribble Sketches

I was going through one of my old pocket sketchbooks and found this. Thought I'd share as it's very abstract and unlike most of my sketches. Maybe I should do more of these to 'loosen up'.

These are what I see:
A) The Gardner: quietly admires his flutterfly while listening to his headphones in his garden.
B) Sludge Monsters???

What do you see?

New Painting

I was walking around a while back and happened across this house that was kind of run down sitting in front of a pond. I liked the isolation of this lonely house and imagined how it might have been a long time ago, before the neighborhood grew up around it. Composition is not quite there yet but it's close. Colors may also be more subdued in the final.

Fantasy Realm

Graphite sketches.

From my Pocket

These are some recent imaginative sketches from my pocket sketchbook.

Interrupted

Just did this for Sketch Theater.
March '09 - Graphite
"El Chupacabra"

Who's there?

Sketch done for Sketch Theatre contest.
April '08 - Graphite
"Occupied"

Concept Sketches

And now for something completely different.

Marker sketches.

Some miscellaneous ink sketches.

Marina Jacks

"Seven Palms" - 11 x 8.5 - watercolor

"Together Forever" - 11 x 8.5 - gouache


A couple of quick studies I did at Marina Jacks in Sarasota a little while back.

New Sketches

These are some quick paintings I've done from my window.
"Riverbank" - Gouache
"Rooftops" - Gouache

Getting started

Well, this is my first attempt at this, so please bear with me. The purpose of this blog is to document my artistic endeavors and random thoughts. Thanks for checking it out and I hope you follow along and enjoy!
Thanks.