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!

 

Lily Merriweather Design/Wardrobe - 2013

I've done more experimenting with Lily Merriweather in the last few weeks, and came up with this "CalArts-style" version (a style chiefly used by Disney and Pixar-trained students), which I have played with on occasion.

And yes, I plan to have Lily in both wardrobes depicted, depending on the weather.  I kept the striped dress I had her in last time, but decided to put her in something more stylish for Fall/Winter wear, so I went with a sort-of 1980s look!  I added glasses to one of the Lilys as a test, to see how she would look with glasses on (something else I played with from time to time).  I did the figure on tablet in Photoshop.  I simply had two sets of clothes/accessories that I could easily toggle, and pasted two types of figures onto this comparison picture.

 

This is very close to what I want for the final design.  As a matter of fact, my earliest drawings of Lily used a style very similar to this!  :)

Mysti-Girl's Valentine!

Yes, you can tell I've been reading the Escher Girls art blog!  I swore I would never have my female characters drawn in such poses... unless it was done as a joke!  So doing it in that manner has crossed my mind.  :)

And I thought that Valentine's Day would be a good choice on which to present this drawing, featuring Verena/Mysti-Girl from Rekira, which I did this morning (February 14 - Valentine's Day) on tablet in Photoshop!

Have a good one!

Ryusei Works Logo - 2013!

At last, here's a still from the updated Ryusei Works "RyuseiScope" logo for 2013!  Animated in Flash, and completed on the 6th.  The background is from a picture I took while I was on vacation in the Outer Banks on New Year's Day of 2012.  It was a sunset, but I so wanted a beautiful picture of a sunrise or sunset for the "sunrise" in my logo.  Expect to see this logo in future videos!

Pen Ward-style Dynamic Heralds - Last Part!

Just made these tonight (January 19th) in a few hours!  The last three of the Pendleton Ward-style Dynamic Heralds, all done on tablet in Flash.  First up:

Isaiah Vanterpool (Herald 3: Steel Hammer)

Theresa Lin (Herald 4: Therma-Gal)

Brian Copcutt (Herald 5: Aquati-Kid)

I enjoyed doing these, and may do more someday!  :)

More Pen Ward-style Dynamic Heralds!

I finished two new Pen Ward-style Dynamic Heralds!  Here's Heralds 1 and 2 (Captain Vertex and Mysti-Girl, respectively).

 

Done tonight on tablet in Flash.  More to follow!

Dynamic Heralds - Pen Ward Style!

I've been very amused and impressed by the cartoon series Adventure Time (Frederator/Cartoon Network; 2010) and the new Bravest Warriors (Cartoon Hangover; 2012), both created by the very talented Pendleton "Pen" Ward, who conceived both as pilots years before!  The shows have such a cute and funny style to them.  So I was eventually inspired to do my own Super Sentai-style superhero team, the Dynamic Heralds (from Rekira) in the same style as that of Ward's, as a kind of "thank you" to him.  :)

I have plans of doing more drawings of the Heralds in this style soon.

This was done on tablet in Flash.

Happy New Year! 2013 (and Anniversary Announcement)

Yep, it all started this coming Christmas 25 years ago, with a Fisher-Price PXL-2000 Camcorder, and a lifelong dream.  :)

So I'm sure to work on some exciting stuff this year, in celebration of this event.  I hope you all have a wonderful year as well!

Just finished a quick art piece for New Year's Eve!  On tablet in Photoshop.  The pic will say the rest.  :)

The Great Conjunction Date!

Just a little something I quickly whipped up on Flash tonight for fun.  I did this in celebration of tomorrow's date!  I was compelled to, as stuff like this has fascinated me for the longest time.  :)

Honeybee Taffy & Candy Canes

I went to see Wreck-It Ralph (Disney; 2012) on November 23, and needless to say, I loved it!  (Ditto the animated short, Paperman, which preceded it.)  It was a 10:25 PM private 3D showing for me, my big brother Peter, Tony, Stephen, and my nephews Angel and Gabriel!  (When we left the theater, it was dim and creepy, as the theater was about to close, and everyone was leaving, but it was a pretty cool contrast to the movie we came out of.)  All four of the main characters (Wreck-It Ralph, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Fix-It Felix, and Sergeant Calhoun) are great, and they all manage to steal their own show (rather than let some marketable character steal the show from the main character).

I thought Vanellope (voiced by comedienne Sarah Silverman) was adorable!  At some point, I strongly contemplated doing a fan art of her meeting The Mighty B!'s Bessie Higgenbottom (voiced by fellow comedienne Amy Poelher).  I could've done this in the style of that Vanity Fair 2008 photoshoot which featured both Silverman and Poehler (with Tina Fey), but featuring them both in Vanellope's Sugar Rush video game was more interesting.  :)

This was done tonight in nearly 4 hours on tablet in Photoshop.  I might do more Wreck-It Ralph fan art at some point!

Japan's Avengers - English Version

Using the same resources as last time, I have just assembled (pun intended) an English-language version of my very popular Japan's Avengers poster (originally in Japanese)!  Done in the style of international posters.  I had to do a lot of last-minute changes to make sure there weren't any typos or such!  I hope you will enjoy this one, too (though the Japanese poster is my favorite).  :)

Happy Thanksgiving! - 2012

Done tonight (November 22, Thanksgiving morning) on tablet in Photoshop.  :)

Honey Halfwitch for the Halloween Season!

To get myself into the Halloween season (after a very busy and very strenuous two months), I did this fanart of one of my favorite characters, Honey Halfwitch!  This very obscure little witch girl was the star of 13 theatrical cartoons produced from 1965 to 1967 by Paramount's Famous Studios.  The first of the cartoons was a Modern Madcap cartoon entitled Poor Little Witch Girl (released in April of 1965), in which the character was known simply as "Halfwitch."  The late Shari Lewis (best known for creating the puppet character Lamb Chop) provided the voice for the character in the first 9 cartoons, which was created by veteran cartoonist/animator Howie Post.  For some reason, the last four episodes saw a very radical (yet short-lived) change in the look of the series to a more minimalist style, and Honey was interestingly voiced by an actual little girl (much like a Peanuts cartoon).  These last few episodes were cute and entertaining enough, but I missed the sweet Howie Post version.  (I always thought it would be funny to imagine what Honey would sound like if voiced by Mae Questel, but I'm glad Shari Lewis did the character, as that scratchy little voice she created really fit the character superbly.)  Honey Halfwitch should have had a comic-book series (much like many of the Harvey characters before her)!  Having been created by Post, she was definitely worthy of one.

Finished tonight in around an hour on tablet in Photoshop.  I drew it while looking at the series' title card for reference.

Here's the lyrics to the theme song, written by Howie Post and composed (and sung!) by Winston Sharples:

Oh, Honey Halfwitch, she's a funny

Kid witch, what a honey

When she flies up on her broom

She zips around with a zoom-zoom-zoom

She's magical and mystical and smart

Oh, Honey Halfwitch, bright and sunny

She's as cute as a bunny

She's half-wizard and half-girl

She waves her wand and you're in a whirl

She's full of tricks and sweet as an apple tart

A half-pint pixie sure to win your heart!

Happy Birthday, Sandra!

Done tonight on tablet in Photoshop, here is a birthday present I made for very talented young cartoonist/animator/friend Sandra D. Rivas, who turns 22 today!  Here, she (in my own rendition of her cartoon self-portrait) rides on Rekira's back with Lily Merriweather in front of her!

Have a great one!

Happy 45th Anniversary, Ultra Seven!

Done tonight on tablet in Photoshop, this is the first new tablet art I've done in a month, after moving to a new Richmond neighborhood!  And it couldn't have been a better occasion, as tonight is the 45th Anniversary of one of my top favorite superheroes, Ultra Seven!  Japan's answer to Superman.  The TV series, Ultra Seven (Tsuburaya; 1967), created by Eiji Tsuburaya (as an unofficial follow-up to his previous hit, Ultraman), premiered on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) on this day in 1967!  And for this occasion, Rekira (giving a piggyback ride to Lily Merriweather) shakes the hand of one of his inspirations.  (Another character I made, Dengeking, is influenced by Seven as well!)

Have a great one!