Dynamic Heralds - 2015 Edition Designs

Yes, Rekira the Super-Monster is underway!  The storyboards for Episode #1 are already done, and designs are being finalized before I hit the board.

One such update you'll be seeing is the current designs for the Dynamic Heralds, my own Super Sentai-style superhero team.  You’ll notice the body molds are the same here; this is deliberate, just to illustrate the basic design for each member.

There's a slight change in color, but the designs are more streamlined (each bodysuit is black), and very satisfying!  My inspiration is mostly from bobsled suits.  Note that each member wears a different "mask" (goggles) on their caps.  These were done on FireAlpaca, based upon recent sketches I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago.  Dates depicted in the signatures.

Here's the group shot (with mostly Japanese text):

Herald 1 - Captain Vertex (Red)
Raymond Wertz

Herald 2 - Mysti-Girl (Blue)
Verena Freston

Herald 3 - Steel Hammer (Yellow)
Isaiah Vanterpool

Herald 4 - Therma-Gal (Pink)
Theresa Lin

Herald 5 - Aquati-Kid (Turquoise)
Brian Copcutt

More to come!

Je Suis Charlie

This is my first post of 2015.  I hope you've had a Happy New Year!

But things weren't so happy over in France, due to the shooting attacks at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo at the end of the first week of the year.  It was terrible.  We lost some great French cartoonists, and the country was in mourning.  Below is my own tribute.

Prenez soin de vous, mes amis!

Happy New Year! (Last Post of 2014)

Since I'll probably be busy tomorrow, I've decided to get ahead with my last artwork of 2014.  Done completely in Flash.

Have a great one.  :)

Merry Christmas 2014!

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.  :)

Happy 60th Anniversary, Godzilla!

I haven't forgotten.  I'd never forget Godzilla's 60th Anniversary!  I've been planning this drawing all day, and was surprised I did this in short order!  :)

On tablet in FireAlpaca.

Happy (almost belated) Halloween 2014!

I wanted to do this sooner, but so much stuff really put a hex on my Halloween spirit.  Suffice to say, I still managed to have a great Halloween.  :)

Here's a drawing of Lily Merryweather, based on something that happened a few weeks ago; my baby grandniece Jenna and her mother Christina, as they exited my mouse with her mother, were scared of a spider hanging over the door outside!  I decided to use that as inspiration for my Halloween doodle, done late tonight, on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Hope you've all had a great one!

Happy 50th Anniversary, Underdog!

Tomorrow is the big day, and I promised myself I wouldn't miss out on the celebration!  A very big Anniversary celebration to one of my all-time favorite superheroes, Underdog!  Created by the team of W. Watts Biggers, artist Joe Harris, Chester "Chet" Stovers, and Treadwell D. Covington at the Cape Cod, Massachusetts-based Total TeleVision (TTV) Productions in 1963, the cartoon series premiered on NBC 50 years ago tomorrow.

This was done this morning on FireAlpaca.

A GRAVITY FALLS tribute to REKIRA!

Because it's fun!  :)

I started this on August 12, and after a big break (because of Dragon*Con 2014), I finished it tonight (on September 6th)!  Done on tablet in FireAlpaca, here are two characters from Alex Hirsch's Gravity Falls (Disney; 2012) paying tribute to my Japanese sci-fi inspired project, Rekira the Super Monster.  Here are Wendy as Herald 2/Mysti-Girl and Dipper as Dengeking, meeting a surprise character playing Rekira!

A REKIRA Cover Variation!

Imagine if I had published Rekira the Super Monster in Japan in tankobon (trade paperback) form in the late 1960s!  It'd look something like the following illustration, which I started yesterday (July 14) and finished tonight (July 15) on tablet in FireAlpaca.  :)

Batman Vs. the Joker

Did another illustration of my Moonlight Mask/Gekko Kamen-inspired Batman!  Notice a slight change in Batman's design, more to my liking!  I also did my own version of Batman's most popular nemesis, the Joker (inspired after one of Moonlight Mask's own popular adversaries, the jester-like Satan no Tsume/Claw of Satan)!  Did this one this morning on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Godzilla and Toothless

Here's a little something I drew on July 4th (this past Friday); two big reptiles at the Hollywood box-office!  :)

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Godzilla 2014 Pencil Sketch 01

Whilst working on another project lately, I've been able to whip out this hand-drawn pencil sketch of the new Godzilla, finished on May 30, and colored tonight with tablet in Photoshop.

GODZILLA - Now Playing!!!

Technically, Godzilla is already out in theaters, as tonight was an early-bird screening, and among the people seeing it was my big brother Peter!  I'm sure he'll enjoy it, as will I tomorrow afternoon in 3D-IMAX.

Tonight, during the timeframe of an hour to an hour-and-a-half (on tablet in FireAlpaca), I did this quick little doodle of the new Godzilla, in honor of that occasion (and also to calm me down until then)!  My Godzilla-drawing spirit is stronger than ever.  :)

GODZILLA - In Theaters Tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow's the big day!  I'm pretty anxious about it myself.

But I'll bet you forgot who else lives in San Francisco (where a major part of the movie takes place), so I'll let Bessie Higgenbottom get a word in...  ;)

Done tonight/this morning on tablet in FireAlpaca.

One week before GODZILLA hits theaters!

A week from today (May 9), the new Godzilla hits theaters!  As a lifelong Godzilla fan, I am extremely excited.  It's also very surreal to not only see Godzilla finally getting respect in Hollywood, but a whole new generation of fans getting excited over the new movie (even people you wouldn't expect), as well as rediscovering the character's history.  I am very touched.

I wanted to draw the 2014 Godzilla design before the film hits theaters!  Let's just say, getting this version right was difficult.  Don't get me wrong, it's a great design; it's also very busy!  I can always find a way to simplify the design, but hey, this was the first time I drew it, so this is my way of getting acquainted with drawing it!  :)

Done today on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Wushi Rekira!

Done fairly quickly on tablet in FireAlpaca (starting with a rough sketch yesterday), I loved playing around with a Chinese wushi (lion dance) version of Rekira, so I did this little doodle!  I always loved the Chinese lion dancers, which are a lot like giant dogs.  That was one inspiration behind Rekira's design.  (I might have once related that one of Rekira's main design inspirations was an unfinished dog/lion-like dragon drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, which had an oddly Asian feel to it!)

Happy 22nd, Rekira!

22 years ago this Wednesday was when I began work on Rekira the Super-Monster!  Here are two designs I did this year:

This one was earlier this year, back when I was still getting used to FireAlpaca.  It’s a new variant of the Chinese dragon/dog-style design, which I can do better, like the one below...

The dog variant, which I started on Wednesday and finished in FireAlpaca the next day (by which point my skill improved)!  That’s quite a difference.

Note the simplified "Hydrogen Lamp" on the forehead.  (I like how it blends in with Rekira's stripe, like an "X" formation!)  Expect that on all designs now.  :)

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

As a big fan of the original Peabody's Improbable History segment featured on Rocky & Bullwinkle (Gamma/Jay Ward; 1959), I absolutely loved the new movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman (DreamWorks/20th Century Fox; 2014), which I saw on its opening weekend!  Not only did it respect its source material (while updating it to suit today's tastes), but the title characters look and act just like their original counterparts!  This is the film Underdog (Spyglass/Disney; 2007) should've been, and then some.

And so, I was finally inspired to do a drawing of Mr. Peabody & Sherman themselves, using an amalgam of the styles from both the original series and the new movie!  Drawn just now (March 30) on tablet in FireAlpaca.

SNOOPY VS. MECHASNOOPY

After seeing the trailer for the new Peanuts film, I was inspired to draw this, something I always wanted to draw and present!

As some of you know, Snoopy ties with Godzilla as my all-time favorite character, even to the point where I switched them around.  Now, an extension of such a fantasy has finally been realized!  Here's Snoopy Vs. Mechasnoopy!

Done tonight on tablet in FireAlpaca, the titles done in Flash.

In Memory of Ken Utsui (1931-2014)

I heard sad news: Prolific actor Ken Utsui, best known for playing Japan's first celluloid superhero Super-Giant (AKA: Starman) from 1957 to 1959, has died in Aichi, Nagoya of pulmonary emphysema today, aged 82. While he hated the role (due to the costume and its embarrassingly pronounced crotch area), he nonetheless started an endless generation of invincible costumed heroes in Japan, protecting not just their native country, but the peace of the entire world.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Utsui.

Done this morning on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Red Sketch 01

Fire Alpaca is still a lot of fun.  Really enjoying the pencil mode!

Here is a Shane Glines-esque sketch done in red, featuring characters from my project, Rekira.  Done tonight (March 8) on tablet in Fire Alpaca.

Happy Valentine's Day! - 2014

Before the end of last year (December 30), I suggested that the "Dipper and Wendy" fanart I posted would make a great Valentine's Day doodle.  And after a busy day, that's just what I did today (in FireAlpaca).  :)

Here's the original for posterity:

Have a happy one!

Keep Warm! (Alternate Version)

I thought my readers deserved a warmer version of my Lily Merriweather Winter cartoon, so I worked on that today (February 13), on tablet in FireAlpaca.  Let's face it, this is the cozy life everyone wants to have during a cold, Winter day.  :)

Keep warm!

It snowed heavily last night!  Right now, my neighborhood is covered in snow.  Yes, it's been cold here!  This is how Lily Merriweather feels right now!  Nonetheless, we're keeping warm.  Done last night on tablet in FireAlpaca.

Happy 85th Anniversary, Tintin & Popeye!

Done tonight (January 10) on tablet in Photoshop!  I wanted to do this, and almost missed out on doing this (because of a surprise visit from my brother Peter).  For their 85th Anniversary (a week apart), here's Elzie Crisler Segar's Popeye, holding Georges Prosper Remi ("Hergé")'s Tintin (who's trying to keep his balance on Popeye's palm while holding his dog Milou/Snowy).  :)

Happy Birthday, Loren!

Finished on January 7th, just barely in time for midnight, I wanted to do this sooner, as I was caught up with so many things (both frustrating and exciting), but here it is, a birthday drawing for friend/fellow tokusatsu fan Loren "Butch" Portillo!  Hope you had a great one, Loren.  :)

First art of 2014!

Here's my first artwork for 2014!  On tablet in FireAlpaca.  Here's to a great New Year, and 60 more years.  ;)

Last of 2013

Done on tablet in FireAlpaca in a very short time (hence the expressionist background).  Have a great one.

Next-to-last doodles of 2013!

Didn't I promise you more artwork by year's end?  (After these, I'll have one last doodle for tonight, per tradition; last one for the year, first one of the new year.)  All of these were done on tablet in FireAlpaca.

 First up, a Lily Merriweather drawing for the 5th Anniversary of my Grandma's passing (December 28):

Next, a cute illustration of Dipper and Wendy from Gravity Falls (started on the night of the 29th, finished just on the late-night hours of the 30th), just because.  (And this could make a great early Valentine!)

And for all you comic-book superhero fans, these two (both finished tonight) will interest you: First up is my own interpretation of what a Japanese Superman would look like!  I used Ultra Seven as a model (feeling that Seven is the Japanese Superman, as I related many times before).

And, of course, my own interpretation of what a Japanese Batman would look like!  For Batman, I used the character I always thought was the Japanese Batman, Moonlight Mask (Gekko Kamen), which Latinos out there may remember as Capitan Centella!

Next one to come before midnight...  :)

Fire Alpaca Tests

Upon the suggestion of a family friend (after she got her own tablet this past Christmas), I've been very impressed with the free drawing software from Japan, FireAlpaca!  It's a lot of fun to use.  It's a simpler version of Photoshop, but I'm impressed with the selection of brushes, which superbly works like their real-world tools (pen, pencil, watercolor, etc.).  I've done a couple of tests in FireAlpaca on my tablet, and I love them.

First, Lily Merriweather, done December 26:

And Rekira, done on December 27:

More to come by year's end!

GRAVITY FALLS - THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER

Here's one of the first Gravity Falls fanarts I planned on (despite the delay mentioned two posts ago): a mash-up with one of my favorite animated films, Richard Williams' The Thief and the Cobbler!

The pencils were done on November 1st, and inked/colored on tablet in Flash, assembled in Photoshop, and signed in Flash - the result was finished right at the end of November 7th.

The cast of characters depicted above are:

Tack the Cobbler: Dipper Pines
The Thief: Lil' Gideon Gleeful
Princess Yum-Yum: Wendy Corduroy
King Nod: Stan Pines (Grunkle Stan)
Zigzag: Robbie V.
Roofless: Soos
Mad and Holy Witch: Mabel Pines
The Mighty One-Eye: Bill Cipher

More to come!

59 Years of Godzilla

Happy 59th Anniversary to my all-time favorite character, Godzilla.  The most versatile movie monster ever created, in the course of 28 Japanese-produced films by Toho Company, Ltd., he has evolved from a poetic avatar of nuclear destruction to a reluctant antihero, an anthropomorphic superhero, a tragic force of nature, and even a specter of war.  This monster has played many roles through the years, and people either appreciate them all or have a favorite.  And this is what made Godzilla a timeless, enduring character.  It is also hoped that the upcoming film by Legendary Pictures (to be released next year) will capture all of his best qualities.

In tribute, I did this quick illustration on tablet in Photoshop this morning.  Enjoy!

GRAVITY FALLS Fanart

Happy Halloween!

I apologize for being rather disorganized here.  And I'm really frustrated, as I wanted to spend all of October doing the following, but I got sick with the cold for most of the month (still have coughs and partial laryngitis as I write this), and it really cramped up my schedule, so I was very disappointed, because I really wanted to surprise you all.  But I might as well turn up what I have, and rest assured, I would love to do more with this stuff later on.  :)

As some of you are quite aware, I've become a huge fan of the animated series, Alex Hirsch's Gravity Falls, which premiered on the Disney Channel over a year ago.  A really funny, wild, poignant, haunting, and sometimes dark series, with a great set of main characters: 12-year old twins Dipper (the protagonist) and Mabel (his goofy sidekick), who stay with their great uncle Grunkle Stan (the owner of the Mystery Shack, located in the titular town in central Oregon) for Summer vacation, and Stan's young workers Soos (a goofy man-child) and Wendy (a 15-year old girl and Dipper's secret crush).  Dipper & Mabel's stay in Gravity Falls turns out to be not-so-normal, with all sorts of supernatural phenomena permeating the town.  Dipper's guide to the phenomena is a mysterious book he found, labeled "3" on the cover.  There are secret messages hidden throughout the series, written in secret codes (including the Caesarian code; three letters back), and these hidden details have become a popular facet with fans of the show.  With Season 1 having ended (I will not spoil the season finale; it has to be seen to be appreciated), Season 2 (which is now in the works) promises to be more exciting and really ominous!  (Creator Hirsch intends for the entire series to take place over the course of an entire Summer vacation; he aimed for 3 seasons, but production on the series proved to be really difficult and challenging, so as it stands, Hirsch is trimming it down to 2 seasons, and a movie to close the series.  That said, I can hardly wait!  But I have to...)

So I was inspired to do full color fanart of the series, but was sidetracked by my above dilemma (and you'll notice huge time gaps, as a consequence).  I'll get to that soon enough, so I'll post what I did so far: my own personal model sheet exercise/design studies.  By default, I used series director/character designer Joe Pitt's designs/model sheets for reference.  I had little to work with on some designs, so I improvised by using screenshots from the series.

Here's Dipper, done on October 1st:

Mabel, done on October 5th:

This was after my first two weeks with the cold (the first week was the worst).  Wendy (done on October 21th) was a bit tricky at first, so aside from the model sheet I worked with, I looked at various screenshots to get a better grasp of the variations in her design.

The same deal with Grunkle Stan (done on October 25th), whose physique was even trickier than his expressions!

I'll get to doing Soos, eventually.  Otherwise, look for more Gravity Falls stuff from me soon!  I've had a lot of fun learning to draw these characters.

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Some time during my birthday yesterday, I whipped up this little birthday present for talented cartoonist/animator Katie Rice, whose birthday is a day after mine!  For a quick drawing, this was a lot of fun to do.  Done on tablet in Flash.

Here is Bessie Higgenbottom and her pet dog Happy (from The Mighty B!, which Katie storyboarded for in Season 2) and Skadi and her long-suffering slave-pet Diseasoid (from Katie's webcomic Skadi, which she co-created with Luke Cormican) switching places.  Yes, I always got this impression from both character sets!

Hope you have a great one, Katie.  :)

Happy Independence Day! - 2013

Done tonight on tablet in Flash.  Hope you have a happy (and safe) one.  :)

CG Rekira - 2013 Version (Quadrupedal)

I've been working really hard for weeks on this new version.

Some of you are familiar with the CGI Rekira short I did back in 2008 as a capstone project for ITT Technical Institute.  (I briefly talk about it in my introduction post.)

Concurrent to the Rekira comic project, I started work on a new CGI Rekira model a couple of months back, and after trial and error, created one such improved model!

This is the quadruped version.  Done on 3DSMax (and adjusted in ZBrush), just like the old 2008 model.  (Rekira is a quadruped by default, with the unlimited ability to stand upright.)  Whereas the old model had a rig for the jaw and two rigs for each ear, this one now uses facial morph targets for mouth movements (it's really tricky), and just one rig for each ear.  Oh, I did the texture on tablet in Photoshop.  (Yeah, drawing in all that fur is really tiring!)  I'll eventually be doing a biped version to go with this one (I definitely want to keep the head, at least, and maybe the body/tail), as you'll notice that my attempts at putting this model in an upright position turned out rather awkward!  (And rigging certain parts was painfully difficult as it was.)

As you can tell, I will be doing more Rekira CG animated shorts in the future!

Paramount/Famous Studios Spirou (Happy 75th Anniversary!)

I couldn't help but imagine something like this!  Happy 75th Anniversary, Spirou.  :)

This was drawn today in Flash (over an animation project I did for fun), and signed in Photoshop.

Happy 75th Anniversary, Superman & Spirou!

Two of the most famous comic-book characters in the world, born just 3 days apart, and what better way to celebrate than have both appear together!  :)

Here is the first traditional American costumed superhero, Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), carrying with him one of French Belgium's most beloved bande dessinée (French term for comic-book or comic-strip) characters, the adventurous bellboy Spirou (created by Robert "Rob-Vel" Velter)!  The characters debuted on Action Comics #1 (National Allied Publications, now DC Comics; April 18, 1938) and Le Journal de Spirou #1 (Dupuis Publishing; April 21, 1938), respectively.  I started on this on the evening of April 17, finished after midnight (April 18), just in time for Superman's Anniversary.  Done on tablet in Photoshop, and in a slightly higher resolution than what I've worked with lately!

BTW, I apologize if Superman looks disproportionate.  (It's difficult to draw from scratch with my Bamboo tablet!)  LOL!  Still, this is the first time in years that I drew the traditional Superman, and I like how it came out, in spite of the flaws.  (And this is the first time I actually drew Spirou!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, and Happy 40th Anniversary, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON!

As I'm one third Irish (I'm also German and Puerto Rican, BTW), I've always wanted to do a St. Patrick's Day-themed doodle!  But at the same time, 40 years ago today, one of my all-time favorite films was released in Japan: Godzilla Vs. Megalon (Toho; 1973)!  Besides being my personal favorite Godzilla film, it was also the first film I was ever taken to see in theaters.

So why not do a crossover art?  Here's Lily Merriweather, dressed in green, and wearing a 4-leaf clover brooch in place of her regular flower brooch.  She's riding piggyback on Dengeking, as Rekira watches in interest.  This is basically a reenactment of the closing scene of the aforementioned film.  :)

The line at the right, incidentally, says, "Don't cry, we'll try harder, too!"  (My translation of the closing sentence, "Naku na, bokura mo ganbarou!", in "With Godzilla And Jet Jaguar, Punch, Punch, Punch!" - the closing theme song for Godzilla Vs. Megalon, sung by my all-time favorite Japanese singer, Masato Shimon.)

This makes a good companion piece to the one I did last year!