NOIR PRINT PROCESS

At the last minute I decided to make a print for Comic Con. I thought it would be fun to show a little bit of my process. So here it goes...

THUMBNAIL

First I start out with filling as many pages as I can with all kinds of ideas. I keep the drawings small and loose. Concentrating mainly on composition and shapes.

ROUGH SKETCH

After I find something that I think works, I take it and do a larger rough. Still keeping it loose and not getting concerned with detail. I'm just trying to hone in the shapes and perspective while exploring some tone too.

CLEANER ROUGH

Now I'm starting to define the piece more. Tightening up the shapes and getting more concerned with lines rather than tone. Still keeping it loose and full of energy, but refining the shapes and design. Each step is an evolution towards a better image. You lose things that didn't work and define those that do. You can see I didn't like the man's silhouette and I made an adjustment to hopefully improve it.

CLEAN UP SKETCH

Here's where I begin to think about detail and start to tighten things up for the final image. If I make any mistakes, I don't sweat it because I know I can make changes in Photoshop when I begin to do the tone.

FINAL TONE

Then I scan in my sketch and begin to paint in the tone in Photoshop using my Cintiq. This is a huge step and unfortunately I don't really have any 'in progress' versions of this. So you'll just have to do with the final. You'll notice I never stop evolving my piece, even at the very end. Take note on the sign. I wasn't buying the "Noir" sign and I decided to change it to a more appropriate 'hotel' sign instead.

It took me a weekend to put it together and I had a blast with it. Hopefully you dug seeing the different steps!

SKYWALKER AIRSHOW FOOTAGE!

A while back I mentioned that we got an impromptu air show during one of our lunch/soccer breaks. I thought the only way I'd ever capture the moment was in the sketch below. But luckily they've posted some footage on the web too! They've done some fancy editing with clips from other films, but you can tell the Ranch parts.

See I wasn't lying!

TOTORO FOREST AUCTION

I got to attend a great art auction over at Pixar Saturday night. A few of the artists there organized the event to raise money for the Totoro Forest Foundation, which help preserve the forest in Japan that inspired Hayao Miyazaki. There was A LOT of incredible work in the show! I even won a bid! I got a great piece by the talented Jay Shuster!...

I've been a fan of Jay's work ever since I saw his stuff in the Episode 1 and 2 "Art of" books.  I can't wait to hang it up at home. But first it's taking a trip to the Cartoon Art Museum in San Fran for a couple months. I feel like a high roller with a piece of art "on loan" to a museum! 

Thanks to everyone at Pixar for organizing a great event!

JERRY REED MEMORIES

While I was getting ready for work today I heard on the Today Show that Jerry Reed passed away. Whenever someone dies they usually play clips from their most memorable work. To my surprise they didn't play a clip from what I remember him best by...