Idle Hands, a funny movie, but a bad situation.

Okay, its been a week. i don't ever want to go this long without posting again, because its purpose is to keep my daughter happy and also grow as an artist. I've been emailing as many professionals that I can, just to get insight ans criticisms, so that I can grow and blossom, rather than stagnate. Not posting for a week doesn't help this process, if fact, it only helps me to grow lazy. So, I have been moderately bus with work, daddy stuff and sketching, not a lot of sketching, but still, some sketching.
Attached are 3 sketches for a group that is local to a great friend and brother of mine, Tom Rebello. The sketches are his and were sent off to him this morning, begging that I be able to use them here. The inks are mine, no copy catting, pirate peoples! The next is the progress I've made on the Oompa Loompa, not much, but some, its still slow going.
And lastly, are two pencil sketches. One of a baby chick I'll be using in an upcoming digital sketches for my little girl of a baby chick, a sheep and a goat, all filling up her pool. The second is of me, done while watching an anthology of the essential Beani and Cecil DVD, which is a cartoon MUST for any and all animation lovers out there!
Enjoy! Critique! Comment! Wipe your feet and don't steal anything!

Whatever Baby wants, Baby gets.

So, a quick, and cute request from my little girl and I get two sketches for my blog today. The first is an illustration that she asked for last night, so I worked on it as she slept in the next room, and VIOLA! Instant blog entry!
The second is the most fearsome Bounty Hunter in the galaxy! It's an old sketch I did a few months ago, that someone has now convinced me to dust off and color into a poster format! (Thanks Red5!)
Well, have at them and as alwys, feel free to critique what you like and don't like, but leave reasons as to which!
Thanks!

Did anyone see Hell's Kitchen last night?

Alright, so the title was a hook to get you to read this post. Truth be told, I am a sucker for that show. Both because my lovely wife is studying to become an Executive Chef (Sultry or Sweet, she hasn't decided yet, but I'm leaning toward the Sultry, if you know what I mean, growl!), and because I'm a sucker for reality show conflict! Although the cast from this season can by no means compare to last season (they're either socially retarded or can't cook worth a stitch), they sure do bring the conflict entrees to the table in heaping helpings!
Anywho, there are a few changes to the blog that are of note. I'm not going to post the Pirate illustration any more, regardless of progress on it. Reason being, is that I'm sworn to a non disclosure agreement with my employer, and although I haven't mentioned them or any of my co workers by name, there's a slight possibility that anything I produce at work could be considered the property of my employer.
And seeing as how I love my job, and I can sometimes play with fire too much, I'm dropping the piece from my blog, I'd rather 'err on the side of caution' than pick up the proverbial unemployment check, which is not a good spot to be in!
Instead, I'll show you a digital version of the sketch that started my blog, the dinosaur beaver! That and the fact that I had spoken with a few professional animators for a while via email and AIM and was just incredibly motivated to start one up!
(A HUGE thanks to Kristen, Steven Silver, and genepool, Gabe Swarr, and DEFINITELY Corbett Vanoni, who has taught me a lot about things I thought thatIi already knew!!)
The second image was a quick pencil sketch that I worked up in Illustrator and then painted in Photoshop, which I'm pretty happy with.

Friday's OOmpa

Okay, so I promised this coworker of mine an Oompa loompa, like I said before because she is so super cool, she and almost everyone else that I work with are, and she's been a bit down lately. I'm going to try and post twice. The inks are a very stylized, VERY VERY sloppy oompa loompa sketch that I plan on digitally painting, which seems to be fast becoming my new choice in the arena of coloring things (Forgive me, Marlo Meekins, my love, but I am still very nervous when it comes to loosening up with a brush!) The second is my progress thus far with my Pirate boss!
Seriously, feel free to comment, I welcome any and all comments, especially professionals who want to tell me how much I suck, but more importantly WHY I suck and what I can do to improve.
Big Luv, as my big brother says!

Primates can be taught! Yesiree! Opposable thumbs rock!

So, I'm working on an Oompa Loompa sketch for one of my co-workers who's as cool as all get out, but is pregnant and has suffered some recent down turn in the luck department. BUT, in the meantime, I'm going to post some progress I'm making on a sketch I've created of my boss, which he hates. But I like it, my blog, my posts. I came up with the idea of illlustrating everyone in my office as children trick or treating for a Halloween theme I thought I'd have to illustrate and design, starting with him. He didn't like my sketches of him, so he shot me out of the sky before I even left the ground.
I poke around alot here and Corbett Vanoni's blog is incredible at tutorials for Illustrator and manipulating brushes, so i messed around with some of the stuff that he was teaching and got to work on immortalizing Mr. Cogswell.
This first sketch is my really quick, really rough pencil that I showed him during a meeting that sparked the illustrating office members idea, which again he did NOT like.
Enjoy.

Daddy's Little Girl

Okay, so the title comes across as masagonistic, almost sexist. Truth be told, its an homage to my little girl. Whenever I get lost for inspiration, those big blue eyes and bright smile, her sarcastic and funny demeanor all let me know that she's going to be okay when she grows up, and that everything I've done in this life wasn't in vain.
Plus, she gives me the coolest things to draw! I know that instructors and professionals tell you to draw from life and to draw what you see, but if you've never had a three year-old ask you to draw a dinosaur beaver on a Sunday afternoon, then you've never had an exercise in true creativity!
I love you booger, and all of this is for you!
Here's a unicorn reading that she asked me to draw last night!