Plant a seed, grow a tree, build a dream.

Here is a drawing I did with my COPIC marker at midnight last night while watching the end of Thunderheart.  It grew across two pages.

Favicon

I drew this favicon today for my website: Brianbatista.com. 

What's a favicon? It's a favorites item icon,.

 ~the little thing in your web browser next to the url address.

It also shows up in a bookmarks list next to the name. 

Upon a bit longer inspection I figured out how to better fit longer ears into the design, use more squares, and some more color. I like it better now, it's more me.

TWOSDAY (on Monday)

I know it's Monday, I should have waited until tomorrow to put up this link. I put it on facebook and have been getting a lot of positive response, so why not here.....

Here is one of my first animations. All hand drawn on paper. The frames are colored blue/pink on every second frame to give it a blinking purple look. I couldn't decide on blue or pink so I went with both!
The thing was waist height by the time I was complete. It taught me a ton about animation. Looking back now, I'm not too happy with the movement but it was a learning experience, that got me to where I am today.  The frame rate is not correct online but you get the idea.

SOUL SODA CONCEPT DESIGNS

I decided to further my concept from a few drawings before (Soul Soda). I woke up this morning at 6am, 'cause on of my best friend sent me text me from the airport on his way to Cabo. I took the opportunity to polish up a proposal that was due today and make a few drawings. I feel plain good about the day an hope you enjoy these drawings.  Made with my COPIc marker and Prismacolor markers.

I love the idea of two openings for my vampires fangs.

Here is my vamp enjoying his Soul Soda.

A quick background sketch. Very moody. A bad mood;)

SNACK TIME STORYBOARDS!

I had an AFA grant that I decided to write this week-end. It went better than expected! This is my lucky 13th try, no successes. My fingers will be crossed for the next few months.  This project allowed me to
catch up on my daily drawing practice by producing a number of storyboards for my application. I spent a whole day drawing the inking and shading with my grey scale Prismacolor pens.

Here are some hot air balloons. instead of baskets they carry whales into the air.

Later this bunny in a biplane drops bombs onto the landscape.

These tasty dancing snacks are enticing the movie monsters appetite in the front row.

But when fire breaks out, they get frantic. The red carpet turns out to be a tongue, oh no.

And wash them snacks down with some bubbly soda that melts your skin.

Popcorn anyone?

Leaping tiger

Even though I was sick all week I made art!  Here is another design I made for the Year of the Tiger shirt design. It is painted in acrylic on canvas and measures 18" X 24". If you look back through my sketches you will see where this one derives.

Here is the initial reply I got in regards to the picture:

I love your tiger. I wish I could HUG you!!!!!! Thank You soooo much for pushing through this while being sick!   So far everyone is enchanted by the great focused energy and warmth of your design! We have a meeting this evening and I am positive this is a go! 

Just in time! Have a cup of ginger tea and feel the love I am sending your way!!!! I know this tiger will serve as your familiar all year long! 

Gung Hey Fat Choy! Happy Year of the Tiger! 

I hope you feeling fine and  showered in sweetness this Family Day/ Valentines weekend!!!

Color me cowboy boots

I was really ill this week-end. I didn't get a lot of drawing or reading done. I watched a lot of movies and slept. That's about it, I didn't even eat.  Anyhow, having very little energy to put forth much effort  I drew my snakeskin cowboy boot that was at the doorway about 5 ft away.

I like how it turned out, but I might like it better if you color it;)

Right in the tinker!

Done while viewing Peter Pan with HB, Copic and prismacolor pens.

My new saying.............

Magic Grip Jar Opener

I found this yesterday by my scanner at work and couldn't help but think it was the coolest packaging ever, not only is it bright pink but it has a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. I flopped it on the scanner for you to enjoy.

Loosens Jars and Bottles, Protects Table Tops, Removes Clothing Lint, Grips Hand Tools and saves Hands Carrying Heavy Things and works as a mini-mouse pad.

Sugar Pot

I want a little sugar
in my bowl
I want a little sweetness
down in my soul


I bought this chrome covered little sugar bowl at Value Village one day. Last night I decided to sketch it out with an HB pencil in the dark while watching the Crow.

Who put the sugar in the sugar bowl?

It was me, and I put some pieces of vanilla in it to make it taste yummy.

Soul Soda

Why haven't I though of this before??????

It's perfect, canned souls for your enjoyment.  
They make you feel like someone else, if just for a moment.

They make you burp. 

They make you pee. 

And afterwards you'll feel like me.

They make you pee. 

They make you burp. 

A new soul sucked with every slurp.

I'm going to further develop this idea into an animation.

---------------------------------------------------

Doodles during my adult 2D animation class. I used a bunch of dollar store markers and whatever I could find in the supply cabinet at work.

Hot dog

It took me considerably less time cooking up this Hot dog inspired drawing. Same technique as before, same materials. I am working on storyboards and an grant application for a food fight inspired animation called "Snack time". I am beginning with more concept drawings. Some of the other characters can be found on my website Brianbatista.com under gallery/drawings/2009 sketchbook.

Roll the dice.

Hot Potato

I started with a very rough HB sketch in the style of Tex Avery. I outlined it quickly with my Copic marker followed by some line work with a pilot Hi-tecpoint V5 grip. I borrowed a red fineliner for a few small details and filled the remainder of the picture in with a bunch of colorful staples brand highlighters.  And all in under 1/2 hr;) Now that is a fun reason to draw!

That would be the face you'd make if you just saw the french fry cutter and hot deep frying oil!

Mr. COUCH POTATO CHIP

Did these sketches on the week-end while soaking up documentary films, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Whip It.  Here is a warm up  page form my sketchbook. Still working on the tigers....

Then I did this little character for storyboards I am creating. His name is Mr. Potato Chip.

And yes Ladies, he's single!  Willing to serenade, bring flowers and strut his stuff in a tux. Maybe that is why he is still single, and a bit fattening. No better way to spend a week-end on the couch;)

Speaking of ladies, I like how these doll like lassies have turned out so far. From a sketch to inked, they need a little work. I found the feet very difficult to pull off due to the weird angle they are facing. They look naked but I imagined them in tight outfits like in Kill Bill, superhero/luge style.

Week-end Warrior

I had a great week-end. It was snowing heavily outside.  I had a job to do and a big collection of movies to watch. It began first with this sketch based on an image a friend took in Thailand and posted on facebook(crack).

Two little monkeys sitting in a tree.......

followed by a joyous little pony and a Coast Salish inspired hare.

Meow Meow King Friday

Sumatran Tiger done in HB pencil from a photo I spotted on google.I think it looks a little like my tiger drawing is hacking or sneezing up my signature. I drew after having way too much coffee in Inglewood.  Meanwhile, I was watching the Notorious B.I.G. and eating tomato soup and grilled cheese. Now that's talent!

"Meow, meow King Friday"

Cave woman and tiger

Caution: Cave woman. She'll will bash in your head boys!

These are drawings I inked with the new Copic marker and Prismacolor premier pens. Instead of watching movies I tend to draw while they are on. I like media being on sometimes when I'm doodling, glancing up now and again when something perks my interest. Otherwise it goes in one ear and probably out the other. when I draw I get in the zone. It's a good feeling.

Here is a cave girl based on something I saw the other day. I like the shadow over her eyes. I was thinking about giving her some color, maybe avatar blue;)

Oh yeah, another quote said while drawing. My couch surfer was applying for cheap rent for low income artists.
I replied "It's not that I'm low income.... It's just that I'm high debt". Somewhat true.

The next day I drew this GOOFY looking tiger holding a purple carrot. I treated myself to 5 new Prismacolor premier pens after having a fairly bad day at work. Sometimes a little shopping for art supplies improves EVERYTHING!
The green is called Avocado, and hopefully it doesn't brown.

Wabbits and tigers, oh my.

Well, I had a meeting in regards to designing a t-shirt for the Taoist Tai Chi Society and it's a go. I am very excited and have a strong idea in development. I am doing it as a painting on canvas to be photographed rather than doing it with illustrator. More fine art -less graphic design.

While watching some docs last night I did this sketch. Done with my Copic marker and some prismacolour pens in very low light.

 I took some food out of the oven and let it rest. About 20 min later I naturally exclaimed "rested and ready, hot and sexy!" I don't know where it came from or why I hadn't said it before. It's my new motto;)

Here is a hare (my nickname is Bunny after all) in the moon pounding the elixir of immortality under a cassia tree. Cassia is what we often buy but in the grocery store labeled cinnamon.  In many asian cultures it is not a man in the moon that they see but a rabbit.

Japanese Folk Monster

This is my interpretation from a website image I found. I wanted to use my new Japanese pen. I must have channelled something from Japan!

The Kuro-kamikiri (”black hair cutter”) is a large, black-haired creature that sneaks up on women in the street at night and surreptitiously cuts off their hair. Anatomical features include a brain wired for stealth and trickery, razor-sharp claws, a long, coiling tongue covered in tiny hair-grabbing spines, and a sac for storing sleeping powder used to knock out victims. The digestive system includes an organ that produces a hair-dissolving fluid, as well as an organ with finger-like projections that thump the sides of the intestines to aid digestion.  The original came from a book titled Yōkai Daizukai, an illustrated guide to yōkai by manga artist Shigeru Mizuki.

Here it is with a bit of color!

Contortionist - Visha loo

This sketch was done first in HB, inked over with Faber-Castell and filled in with a sharpie (the downside of sharpie =bleeds through). The legs intentionally go right off the right side of the page. I was planning on drawing the legs on the backside of the paper, but the inks bled through the paper.  I am excited about the new pen I bought yesterday: COPIC marker Black 100, made in japan, with two tips, chiseled and brush tip and it can be refilled!

TO SEE THE REAL DEAL GO TO:

vishaloo.com

The Finish line

The Big Race

So here is my preliminary inked drawing. I used my Faber-Castell 4 PITT pen set, primarily using the M (medium) sized pen for the thic outline of the characters and the S (small) size for the background elements.

It has been scanned into Adobe Photoshop on an Epson scanner @ 300dpi (as have all drawings that have gone before in this blog). In this case, I increased the brightness and contrast to get rid of the majority of the eraser marks and paper texture.  I had to fill in various lines and erase all the small speckles left from the scanning process with the eraser tool zoomed in.

The image above gives you an idea what I'm left with. It took about an hour to erase all the little details and use the magic wand to delete the whites. The checker represents the background layer, which is void. The next step is to create some font on the sign on another layer and to give this piece some digital colour.

I separate the layers in order to have more control later, in case I had to change up some of the design or colours. I also wanted to isolate the characters in the event that I wanted to move them around. All I did was use the magic wand and paint bucket. I blasted through the inking in no time.

Here is the finished coloured version. There is an added shadow layer at 60% opacity with a gaussian blur. The great thing is I have all these files and layers I can alter with a click of my mouse.

Anyone want a 1920's style Disney colouring book?

Hare what I'm saying?

Here is a start to a drawing of the 'big race'- Tortise vs. Hare.

Have I mentioned how much I love mechanical HB pencils?

Tiger

Chinese New Year is quickly approaching. Feb. 14, year of the METAL TIGER!

I posted a bunch of my sketches on facebook and got some great comments.
Most notably......

 

Brian We are lookng for an artist to do the Year of the Tiger T Shirt! Think about it! 

The opportunity to design a T-shirt for the Taoist Tai Chi Society, might I be interested?
 Hell yeah, I am!!!! 


To warm up today I did these quick sketches with a 6B pencil.

I need more details on design parameters first, we are going to meet next week for lunch, I'm excited! I have an idea that incorporates the year of the metal tiger. Since t-shirts tend to be silk screened and tend to be only one colour I am thinking of designing it very graphically to either have the stripes or the other fur a void (ie black or whatever colour the T-shirt is). I think it would look very sharp. As a secondary idea I'd like to make the tiger look like chrome, to represent the metal year.

I will post more as it develops. Keep an eye out.

The old mill

I whipped up this rough sketch in HB pencil after lunch. I don't know if it's the pastoral scene I love or just decrepit old wind mills. I wish I had begun with a neutral round rather than adding it later, next time.

Anyhow it's been a busy hectic day but this piece really shows my inner calm,

in 50 years..........

without any upkeep;)

I can't wait until the paper yellows with age.

'Tis the season to be drawing

I picked up some Black PRISMACOLOUR pencil crayons and brought out the old stash of colors from way back when. I really like how soft and tactile the Prismacolour pencil crayon works, I can see why creature creators prefer them, very friendly, just keep a sharp point or they will break a lot.

While watching the James Bond marathon I sketched a couple of things.  This X-masy Neemoy looking elf guy is a definite holiday favorite.

For the new year, I was asked if I could to draw an octopus. At first I went for high realism but then a friend said funnier, when that wasn't enough I added the buck teeth, top hat and dry martini (shaken, not stirred).

This is a reference drawing for japanimation style flame cycles. There is astroboy.

IGUANADONATHON

I saw this picture of an iguana and wanted to draw it. The first step was to laid it out in HB pencil. I used my trusty Bic 0.5 mechanical pencil available at most dollar stores! This iguana is about 5 head units long, I used the head as the unit of all the relationships of scale. It was not gridded but drawn freehand using the same technique used to create my starter self-portrait.

The next step is inking. I didn't refer too much to the original photocopy by this point but generalized the tonality with my inking. I used a new Uni-ball Vision Needle. I found the ink a little runny with this tooth of paper, so I had to move quickly and not let the tip sit too long or the paper would soak up excess ink.

 Here I use small dots and cross hatching to create the line work. I also thickened the outline to give it more PuNcH!!!

I still have to add the shadow. However here is a scanned version with the whites, nice and sparkling white, with my website address.

LOST and FOUND

This is the first sketch I did on page one of my new sketchbook.  At first it seemed really inspired by where the wild things are although, I didn't look at any reference material. I had seen the movie a few days prior to getting the sketchbook. The sun and moon were drawn while watching a Koko the clown cartoon, I really like how the Fleischer brothers stylized their characters back in the pre-sound sync era of animation.

Hopefully if this sketchbook ever gets lost it will be returned;)

Let it SNOW. snowy owl.

First I sketched this in HB, followed by inking. I really liked the squashed/squat shape an how this makes him appear more surly. I filled it in with prismacolour warm grey and colored in the eyes and tail with some random pencil crayons.  I hope you like it, a HOOT HOOT goes out to my lovely Owl fried, it brings me JOY;)

Cobra Commander

For my next drawing I decided to draw a Mustang Cobra decal and added the ribbon coming out of his mouth to also add a forked tongue element. I really like how it turned out with the shaded scales and the flash tattoo like graphic style.