YOU TUBE CHANNEL

I am putting some of my past work up on a You Tube channel. Please check it out, at least one film, PASS IT ON, will leave you feeling better on a rainy day. Check it out!

PASS IT ON (VIDEO)

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!!!

Love is free!

Kinder Space Viking

Parashu- Battle Axe

The Battle Axe that severs all worldly attachments and is most often held by wrathful deities.

Sankha - Conch

Blow on this.

Phurpa - Ritual dagger

Damaru - Drum

I have one of these drums although it is not made with skulls but beautifully turned wood. Thank god for modernity. The truth is the skulls used are more powerful magically if they are virgins who were murdered. I don't think I want that power on my hands. It was drawn with my copic multiliners and colored with prismacolor.

What I really love about this drum is it's purpose:

To summon the Buddhas and inspire them with SUPREME JOY!!!!

AWESOMENESS!

Vajra - Thunderbolt

It was drawn with my copic multiliners and colored with prismacolor.

Ghanja - Bell

This ritual object balances out the Vajra with feminine energy.

It was drawn with my copic multiliners and colored with prismacolor.

Kapala - Skull Cup

It was drawn with my copic multiliners and colored with prismacolor.

Kartika/Damaru

In order to better facilitate understanding of the various implements and meanings of the magical devices in most of my work I have been sketching them out with short descriptors.  Here is the first in a series. 

The Kartika is a weapon symbolic of severing all material and worldly bonds. It is a curved knife that is most often associated with the skinning of hides. The hooked blade for opening up the skin and the scraper for scraping the hide out.   It symbolized wisdom and the method as well as the severing of all conceptualizations.

It was drawn with my copic multiliners and colored with prismacolor.

Dancer and Death

I went to the Glenbow Museum to see the Canadian Nude and Kent Monkman show.  I brought my new sketchbook and saw this beautiful 1938 print by Jean Dallaire. Since you can only sketch with pencil in the museum, I used my trusty mechanical HB to sketch this out.

I was drawn to the dancing skeleton at first then to their expressive body positions.

NEW SKETCHBOOK!!!!

I started my new sketchbook. Out with the old on and onto the new. First things first, I need to put my info in the front cover. In case it gets lost.  This cover was done in copic and prismacolor inspired by one of my new favorite adult swim animation series 'Superjail".

This sketchbook has been hiding in my studio for about a year. I filled one like it a while back.  One thing I  discovered is that the paper of this sketchbook does not take alcohol based markers well, they bled more than usual. It is also not spiral bound so the scanning is more difficult. Oh well, I'm committed and will have to deal with it.

NO rest for the Wicked- a collection of drawings

I haven't had a scanner or internet access but I have been keeping up my practice. Here are a bunch of pictures from my lat sketchbook. It is finally finished off;)

NO rest for the wicked!!!

Here is an inspired East Coast land/seascape that I drew while volunteering at the Emmedia Casino last week-end.  This was drawn in Copic multi-liners and filled in with Prismacolor.

The next day (Sunday April 11) I drew this rose and skull and colored it in with my prismacolor markers.

Then I went to a talk presented by Quickdraw Animation Society by Kar Laing.  He talked for three hours and all of it was super interesting.  While he gave his presentation I did this caricature and later filled in the color at home. The skin tones were Copic as was the line work. The shirt, cravat and background were done with prismacolor.

I then did this pencil drawing with some ideas I've been having for creating a children's book.  

I also drew this 1920's inspire evil magician head. It's only an inch or two tall but I think I may make an awesome stencil.

This is the final drawing in my spiral bound sketchbook that I began working in and as I started this blog.  I decided to use a little magic and draw a dreamy motorbike which I wish I could get on and ride.

If you build it....

I got this RAD little digger toy in a kinder egg. It's the first good Kinder toy I've seen in a long time.n I like that it is simplified, it still took at least an hour to complete.

I messed up fitting the drawing on the page, that's what happens. I really wanted the bucket to be out further and the arm to be way longer. This sketch was completed with Prismacolor. In addition, I have drawn on this page since and added grass.

Mexirabbit

One of my best friends brought me back a gift from his vacation to Cabo San Lucas (Mexico).

Down there there are these popular hand carved collectables painted with tooth picks/sticks.  He brought me back a rabbit, since my name is Bunny and I have quite the collection. What I really like about the one he got me is that it has an exquisite graceful & slender shape.  I drew it here first in HB then V point technical pen followed by shading with my warm grey scale Prismacolor markers.

Tibetan inspired motifs

I was feeling very sleepy when I first started on this sketchbook page.  I decided to forego the initial pencil sketch and jump quickly into the commitment of pen. No erasing.  It can be very intimidating.  I felt the drawings looked boring so I decided to pick up my Prismacolor markers and color these in over a few days.   Prismacolor's black is far darker a black than the Copic pen's.  It;'s all relative once I scan it in or photo copy it but in my sketch book you can see the marks made by hand, every streak........ is natural;)

A severed zombie leg, a lotus blooming, sacraments to wrathful dieties, a conch, a sprouting seed, a singing cock on a turtle inspired by the bremen town musician's and an old taoist tale of creation and a lilac/ lavender skeleton handled sword.

Inner Landscapes

I've been spending my time well lately and drawing daily. I taught a friend how to draw. She made a beautiful wolf drawing, hopefully I can coax her to post it on here someday soon.  I drew this landscape and colored it with my Prismacolor while we hung out at my place after teaching my final animation class of this intake.

I really liked the fall colors and wanted to capture them in my sketchbook.

My room mate say's it's the best thing he's seen me make, yet.
However, I think he's a little biased!  The post card I referenced has been in his bathroom for a decade (at least).

On Good Friday I treated myself to a trip to the Calgary Zoo. It was super busy, I watched a magic show upon entry and enjoyed the magician's linking rings routine. I had my Kaossilator rocking out the beats so I couldn't hear all the cacophony and noisy children.  I visited the new animatronic dinosaur park.  It was pretty cool but better left to a less busy day.  I escaped tot he Great White North exhibit and found a quite secluded place to sketch this Bison/buffalo. A few curious strangers crept up on me and spent more time watching what I was doing than the animals on exhibit.

These guys don't stand as still as you'd think... especially when you start drawing them.


For Easter I cooked up a duck and made stock out of the nicely rendered fat and roasted bones and skin.  It may not sound as yummy as it actually is.  Sticking to my bird theme......
Here is a drawing of a Raven. I outlined it in pencil then decided to use my Copic marker to emphasize the negative space.

I found some sticker paper while tidying up my studio, oh joy!!!

Skull Crown

Here is a line drawing of my belt buckle that I purchased in Las Vegas. all the circles represent the fake diamond bling.  I haven't colored it in yet because I'm thinking of making fun stickers out of it and I need the proof in B/W first.

The next work is a piece I have not finished yet. It is drawn in HB and inked with my trusty COPIC MARKER. The drawing based on a tibetan snow lion.

MAybe I'll just erase it and keep his breath/smoke empty. Maybe I'll draw in objects in it like I did back in elementary school when I was super obsessed with drawing Penny from Pee Wee's Playhouse vomiting. I must have drawn that every day for months changing up the projectiles.

Coast Salish Totem Pole

This Totem Pole was sketched from a 1.5 inch photo I discovered in "Hand built Houses of the Pacific North West". I drew it in a moving vehicle crammed in the back piled high with camping gear.  It was drawn with Copic marker and colored with Prismacolor.  Note: Those two markers could work well together if the Prismacolor didn't cause the Copic marker to bleed and blur. My advice is to stick to one type of alcohol based marker at a time otherwise your line work will get wrecked.

I really like the tear tubes!

Small Anous

I sketched this quickly while watching Gentlemen Bronco's a hilarious movie from the director of Napoleon Dynamite.  I picked up some Sharpies, but noticed I was unhappy with the misrepresentation I feel their caps give their colors. The caps are bright the colors.... not so much!  At least they were on sale.

I used solid blacks and no cross hatching or shading because the character in question is a sci-fi writer. I left the top of his pompous head empty maybe one day aliens will return his brain.

The fruit loop glasses were done with the sharpies and the rest was done with a fine liner and my current favorite COPIC marker. 

 ~Brianous Batistanous~

Who wants this sticker?

I made this hand made sticker, for a contest I'll be launching next week, where I will be sending awesome art to lucky people through the mail....... YES!!! the mail;) If you are interested stay tuned for contest details. You could be the next lucky winner of an original work of art.

Here is a prismacolored mushroom guy sticker for some lucky contestant!

Rocketship takes off

Drawn entirely with my first COPIC marker. It is inspired by a piece from a friend Mariko that I have hanging in my house.

I whipped this off before Stevie and Leigh came to pick me up for the mid-week camping trip we took to Southern Alberta's Writing on Stone. It was a BLAST, like this rocket ship taking off;)

DIETY

I did this sketch while looking at a sculpture I have.  Totally free hand in inks, no erasing. I added some color. It is similar to my current body of painting work, but less textural because it is not done in paint.

Dog eat dog days

Just when you think I'm falling behind.........

I have been drawing everyday but haven't had a chance to scan and post my latest sketches. I have been hard at work on animation which includes hundred of drawings on top of my regular drawing practice.  My student's at the Aboriginal Youth Animation Project, showed their work at the Plaza on Saturday. I've been lacking in sleep the past two weeks. It was quite the haul to get their stuff ready to screen.

Needless to say this work load didn't stop me from picking up my pencil.

Here is a dog I sketched in a pencil I had laying around. I think the charm is with his goggles and the penile like drippy tongue.

Twisted Snake

Much like a Tibetan twisted knot or the devil's triangle I drew this impossibly knotted snake. It was done entirely with COPIC markers from brush to micro 0.05.

MORE TOOLS: COPIC MULTILINERS

Here is an example of how fantastic these new pens work. I am addicted to COPIC!!!

This is from my SP set. Look at the variation possible. Exciting!!!

They may seem expensive at first.
However keep this in mind:

You will never need to buy more pens! 
And aren't they so pretty;)

They are refillable, come in a wide array of colors and sizes, you can replace the nibs, the pen feels good to handle, it has an aluminum body, the inks are alcohol (ethanol) based so you can blend them or rely on their waterproof nature.

Mushroom Man

This blog certainly has me working hard drawing everyday just for you, I just hope the pressure increases as more and more people discover my "Opposite Machine".
Tell your friends that there is a rad drawing of a mushroom man today! I saw a mushroom man photo somewhere and before trashing it relegated it to my sketchbook for all of eternity.

It was sketched quickly to get the major shapes in HB and bravely drawn with my Faber-Castell pens. Once again I have foregone coloring with Prismacolor  markers for the time being. Just in case anybody is interested in purchasing the work on spec and dictating the colors they want. Anybody interested in a mushroom man shirt or CD design for their band?

Bird Brained (part 2)

I spent a little time working on this one, when I had a few free moments. Locked my door to avoid roomie interruptions (though he did need advice on whether or not he cleaned a borrowed paint brush enough).

I began using my Faber-Castell pens and I began to notice was that they were not as fine tipped as I had once thought. I began dreaming of the Copic fine point set I saw for 100 bucks at Inglewood Art Supply. Fully replaceable parts and refillable inks;)
Why is it that $100 for pens all of a sudden sounds like a great investment?
Because it is............. pens are part of my tool kit.

Here is the bird drawing. I wont say it's finished because I'm thinking about adding color, but am not yet brave enough to commit it to paper.

All images on the Opposite Machine Blog © Brian Batista

Bird Brained

It's late. I have people over, I'm still drawing........

Jim challenged me later that night (somewhere around 4 am) to continue drawing into the wee hours.
I was tired and wanted to go to bed because I had to work in the morning.  
However, I am not one to pass up a challenge!!!
He handed me a photocopy with a bird on it as source inspiration. I came up with this, though I need to put a little more cross hatching time into it. You can tell it has some Alice in Wonderland influence in it, must have been the late night movie.

done with my favorite Faber-Castell pens. I am still undecided about a long tale, barely visible in HB pencil below the body. It has the feeling of a coat of arms and the shape on the head adds a regal element.

What pumps through my heart?

Here is a drawing I completed while standing in line waiting for the opening of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I added the drips of blood and the ROYGBIV, color after the screening when everybody came over in the weeeee hours and we had an impromptu drawing party. I used my trusty Faber- Castell's to ink the drawing and Prismacolor markers to color it in.

Art. Color. Blood, sweat and tears.

Please don't steal this image or any other on this site. 
© Brian Batista 2010

The NEW Opposite Machine

I visited a few blogs and decided to draw and color and new title for my blog.
This was done with my Copic Marker for outlining and some Prismacolor markers.

The Opposite Machine: It makes the reverse of whatever you put in it!!

Color markers (Warm and Cool)

My marker of choice is  Prismacolor markers and I have a nice collection developing.

I can say plenty of good things about prismacolor markers, but instead I invite you to discover them for yourself.

The bad thing I can say about Prismacolor markers is that they are very Expen$ive!
I bought my set of warm greys for about $50. Same for the primary and secondary set.
I found them at Micheals craft supply store  for $75. If you have a 40% off coupon it will cost you about $47........ For 12 markers. That's about $4 per marker. They tend to cost about $5-$8 individually anyhow. Once I had my base collection I add to them as I need.

I love color so I keep adding new ones to my collection. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Here is a sampling of the ones I use from the infamous last pages of my sketchbook (the impromptu test palette)

Warm and Cool.

My Art Arsenal. Drawing and Inking. Part 2.

I decided to do a quick example sheet to give you a visual idea of the difference between the the drawing tools in the previous entry.  Here is some of the line work I can achieve with some of my drawing tools.

I added ball point pen at the end to give yet another example of a drawing tool I use.
They are in the general order from the list yesterday. Tomorrow we will delve into Prismacolor Color Markers. Fun, Fun =;)

My Art Arsenal. Drawing and Inking.

I have been getting a ton of questions in regards to what I use to draw.  

I wanted to offer a glimpse into my current collection of drawing tools.
This is just part one, more to follow!

Sometimes I just pick up whatever is around!

Here are the two tins I was given my my good friend and fellow artist Jim Laing. 

He is the lord of cool containers. These Botticelli tins used to be filled with chocolates at Easter. 

Empty, they fit my collection well. My nickname being 'bunny' adds a deeper dimension.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Here are my tools in order from left to right. 

(Note: Not in order or importance)

PRISMACOLOR VERITHIN BLACK 747

It is great for drawing in finer details because it can hold a very sharp point. It is much darker black than any pencil but works the same way. Note: The shape of this pencil is hexagonal (more like a traditional pencil) so it doesn't get mixed up with the softer more pencil crayon like Prismacolor's.

STAEDTLER Mars Lumograph F - 8B

I have an entire set of these pencils. I mainly use the HB for my preliminary drawing but If I am doing a study I tend to go up all the way to 6B for dark shading. The 8B gets more charcoal like and any number below HB favors a graphite look.

PRISMACOLOR Pencil Crayon PC935 (Black)

Illustrators, creature creators and tattoo artists use these like they are going out of style. They are AWESOME for creating depth, texture and mass/shading on good quality papers......even vellum. Affordable and reliable I highly recommend having these on hand. They erase fairly well on sturdy papers. One thing is they have a soft lead so the tips break often. I prefer a sanding block over anything else to get a good point, I have yet to find the ultimate sharpener.

COPIC SKETCH MARKERS 

Here, in cow town, we have Inglewood Art Supply  which just so happens to have a sale on these markers right now!!! (about $7 each). The best part is they are refillable, they also swear they will last at least 3 years. That's bang for your buck on an under $10 pen. It has two ends, a rubbery tip and a chisel tip. I love these markers, they are great for silhouettes but take some practice handling for other inking jobs. You could ruin everything if you are not confident with mark making with this one.

SHARPIE 

The classic standard Permanent Marker, don't leave home without one.  Yup, they bleed, and most paint wont cover mistakes, it will eat right thru but man, I love these things. Also good for tagging bathroom stalls;) I have a collection ranging in sizes, colors and styles. I like the ones with fine and ultra fine tips, especially when they are new and pointy and rich. After a short while they become good for dry brush technique. I cant remember the last time I threw one of these out.

UNIBALL VISION NEEDLE

I got this ultra fine point waterproof/fade proof marker thru work. It is my primary outline marker. They cost around $3. The ink tends to be a little thin so you have to work fast or you'll get too much ink bleed if you are not careful. I really like to use these to thicken outlines rather than a thicker more uniform tip. That way I get a very hand-made feel.

PENTEL STYLO MLJ20

I got this pen at Mona Lisa Art supply for about $10. It has a hard plastic point that never seems to loose it's sharpness. In fact, the ink usually needs to be replaced before there are any signs of wear and tear. Luckily, the refills are inexpensive and come in a variety of colors. A few years back this was my primary pen, now I have green ink in it so it has become less useful.

PRISMACOLOR PREMIER WARM GREYSCALE

I have an entire set of warm greys. I like the warms but may add a cool grey collection in the future. The set was under $50 and has 10 levels of gradation from 10% - 90% + 3 pure blacks and a colorless blender (Acetone pen). There are two ends on each pen a large chisel tip and a fine felt point. I absolutely love these!!!!! Highly recommended. You can see them in previous posts, like my storyboards. I couldn't make them without these!

CHARTPAK MARKER/BLENDER

The final pen is another blender from Chartpak. They are a single chisel tip marker that cost a few dollars less than Prismacolor. They bleed a lot more and stink !!! For the savings per pen they are worth having a few. I think they are considered PANTONE too. But don't quote me on that one.

ERASERS

I use A STADTLER MARS PLASTIC white  most often, Knead Gum when working in graphite and charcoal (not pictured here). I sometimes use the Blue Pentel Clic eraser (Ze22) However it's not great for covering large areas quickly like the mars plastic. I never use the pink school ones unless it is on the back of a pencil. I find they leave smudges. 




SHARPENERS


As for sharpeners, as mentioned before I haven't found a good one yet but I do carry this metal MAPeD one around, I prefer the metal ones....... let's be honest they either go missing or get stolen all the time! Luckily I inherited an old school hand cranked one. Like this one pictured here, but I don't use it on expensive pencils as they tend to eat them up quickly.

MUNSTER Monday

I did a self-portrait in HB pencil today.
He. he. he. Grandpa Munster;)

For those out there who are as big of animations fans as me.......a little known fact: 

The idea of a family of funny monsters was first suggested to Universal Studios in the late 1940s by animator Bob Clampett, who wanted to do a series of cartoons. He never got a reply. 

Boo! Intellectual property?

Speaking of intellectual property........Please don't steal this image or any other on this site. 

© Brian Batista 2010

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;)