SEASON'S GREETINGS!

Time availability

I like keeping my blog active, although then again the time available to produce new stuff is limited right now so, here is another piece that's about... a year and a half old? That's how long these two have been going at it! (they will never learn)

Some life drawing

For variety purposes. Those were great sessions with Karl Gnass, and Marcelo and Noelle sketching like there was no tomorrow!

Lunch time line-up

A bit more recent artwork today. These drawings are from my lunch time trips at Sony with the 'Sketchclub' gang, hunting for types and characters who would spark our imaginations up a bit. Sweet memories!

Does a 2003 drawing qualify as 'oldie'?

... Or maybe it doesn't...

The Getty Center

It was beautiful out there today, sunny and hot, although not 'brutal hot'.
The Getty Center really is a fantastic place, not only for much of its contents as an art center, but as a space to wander around, enjoy the views, the architecture and the relaxed pace at what everything happens. Highly, highly (did I say highly?) recommended.

Characters

First of all, thanks to Craig Harris for his great work organizing the show that opened last saturday in 'House of Secrets', and thanks to everyone who showed up and helped make it the fun event that was!
So here are a few pieces I did some time ago for a personal project that so far hasn't turned into reality. Yet. One can never tell :)
I hope everybody is Ok and enjoying the arrival of the fall.

It's Showtime!

Some time ago my friend and artist Craig Harris decided to put together a show and invited us to get on board. I love people with initiative and he is definitely one of them. So the Show eventually became reality, and it's happening next saturday Sept 19th at... 'The House of secrets'! yesss, right in the heart of Burbank. There will be a mixture of original artwork and high quality printouts available. In this first edition the team is composed by Sean 'Cheeks' Galloway, Patrick Mate, Graig Harris, Hans Ranum, Tracy Lee Quinn and myself.
Anyway, if you guys have the chance to drop by and say Hi it'll be a blast!

Out and about the California streets

Two drawings form the last couple of years, sketches taken while out there with my friends.
The street scene done while waiting for some yummy italian meal to be brought to our table on a day out in Palm Springs with Patrick and Nina (Btw, happy Birthday Patrick!), the girl sketch is one of the many we did with the sketchclub guys during the Sony days. Good moments indeed...

Potpourri

More things , works, haunting me from the past... from the adventurous days of the woman that was not Roberta Alvarez.
The funny face is a random sketch, also from a forgotten folder...

And while we are talking about the past...

...Here are some more sketches from past renaissance faires. I keep pulling out from old archives simply because I 'm not having a lot of time to come up with new material lately! (btw, I heard these four fellows were looking at the moon at some point too).

Looking up to the sky in 1969

Last night my mind went back to the summer of 1969.
I was six years old then, and on that afternoon of July 20th we were spending some time at a vacation house, surrounded by a little forest of beautiful mediterranean pines, running and playing around as part of our summer time normal (and cool) routine.
I remember my mother really excited about something and, next thing we know, the four of us are in our Renault 4CV on the way to the main road, barely a few hundred yards away from the entrance gate to the house.

Once there we turn right and drive less than a mile to a very little road restaurant called "Las Cañas", almost empty at that time of the day. The place sure had something we didn't have at home then, a black and white tv. Usually, if we wanted to watch some, my parents would take us to our grandparents home. We didn't need more than that.

So now we are at the restaurant watching tv, and we see these very contrasted, black and white (more black than white I remember) images on the screen. At that moment I am not really aware of the full scope of what's going on, but apparently it's all worth the short road trip.
I quite enjoy the moment and, after an hour or so, we head back to the car and then to the house.

A few minutes later we are in front of the gate again, and my father does the usual 'get off the car, open the gate so we can drive in' routine. It's at that point when my mother steps down on the dirt road, looks up to the clear (by then six p.m.ish*) beautifully lit summer sky, and asks my sister and I to do the same.
The moon is clearly visible, and she says: 'It is really amazing to think that, at this very moment, there are men walking on its surface'.

And we stared up for a long while... now things made more sense to me.

The following days she just went on to buy every newspaper and magazine, both national and foreign, that she could find in town. Newspapers and magazines that to this day I still keep and hold very dearly.

Ten years ago now, in 1999, I was in Washington D.C.
I decided to visit the 'Air and Space Museum' at the Smithsonian and once inside I realized it was the 30th anniversary of that day. There was a big exhibition displaying many things related to the fact, and it was after turning around one of the many corners inside the building when I found myself face to face with the space suits of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins.
I was now in front of the three suits that were 'on the moon' that very moment I was looking up at the sky with my family, back in the summer of 1969, when I was a six year old kid.
And I really felt a big circle was closed.


Since living i the US I have visited as many museums as I have had the opportunity to. Amongst others, museums on the american west, the pioneers, and everything related to that period in the history of this country.
Every time I'm in front of one of these classic, western movie type colt 45 or similar I look at the manufacturing date of the piece and think... less than a hundred years later they were on the moon.



(* The broadcast we saw on tv was not live, as the landing happened during the very early hours of the morning spanish time).

Ye Olde Days

Wow, some time went by since I drew this page. Great days working on an improvised graphic novel with my friends Marcelo Vignali and Armand Serrano.
I certainly still do enjoy the memories! We were coming up with the story as it went, each one of us creating new characters as they were needed. Dinga Man (here with the red bandana) was Marcelo's idea.

Renaissance Faire 2009

It's been another fantastic day out at the Renaissance Faire. We were quite a few in the group moving around a really big area, so we had a lot of getting lost, reunited, lost again... the usual dynamics of a day like this. The types and characters participating were as interesting as last year, another good opportunity to pull out our sharpies, pencils, brushes and do stuff. So here are five pieces, the first group of guys in red was a lot larger but I only had the chance to draw three of them before another group of participants and visitors stood in the way, then, some jousting business offered another chance to have a go at drawing horses from different angles and, last but not least, one member of the dedicated audience that was to all the shows going on.

Rafel Vaquer / Johnny Roqueta

This is an illustration I did about two years ago for an exhibition showing works based on my friend's, Rafel Vaquer, popular comic book character "Johnny Roqueta". Well, since these shows are being held back in Europe unfortunately I have not been able to attend any of them, but for the news I get I can assure these guys are having serious fun getting together back home!
© 'Johnny Roqueta' character, Rafel Vaquer.
© Illustration: Marcos Mateu.

L.A. ZOO (and link update!)

Great place to draw and not only animals, the greenery around is fantastic too, some groups of people and/or individuals are also worth a shot.
Anyway, a great few hours scattered here and there with the inevitable thought of 'some of these animals look really out of place...'. Fantastic opportunity to see them live and in motion otherwise.

Btw I just read at 'Lines and Colors' about the 'Freelancers Union' (see links). -Very- interesting.

Bots!

These are some 'robot sketches' from a few years ago. Sharpies and photoshop, my favorite tools by now, aiming for something not too complicated (we all know how detailed these things can get to be otherwise!)

Two drawings

The guy in the square pattern shirt I drew in Culver City over lunch break while working at Sony, about ...two years ago now? something like that. It was one of these beautiful early spring days in So Cal, perfect for lunch outside!
The other one is a self portrait attempt while in line at the dentist's (a clear art-pain connection).

Fantastic Day

And so we all headed for the Huntington Gardens... chinese new year festival awaiting for us.
Perfect day!, great light, great temperature. Following Craig's suggestion I brought marker and sketchpad. We both stopped right opposite the japanese garden area which we drew from there.

More Chariot Race

Two more workbook sketches for the same sequence.

'The Prince of Egypt' and 'Asterix'

I don't recall ever posting up, neither on my blog nor on my website, any POE work. Not that I have many copies left, but here is one of them. A pencil sketch for the chariot race sequence at the beginning of the movie introducing the two brothers together.
As I didn't use any computer technique back then the color effect was achieved by playing around with the original on the color copy machine. (© Dreamworks)

The Asterix design was for the bad guy's lair, which never made it to the screen.(© M6 - AFilm)

Creepy locations

These are two locations I designed for two different films while in Europe.
The 'bird cage' was part of the Asterix project, although I don't believe it ever made it to the film.
I usually had a few standard viking figures to plug into any design for scale, this was one of the fellows.

Although the roman guys might look like they also come from an Asterix story these are actually from 'The Three Wise Men', produced in Madrid by Animagic Studios and directed by Antonio Navarro.
The location is Herod's palace, therefore the whole thing looks mean... and dark...

CA 92328

From the old days.
(do the 90's qualify as old already?)

Yes it was (...and here is the first for 2009)

Happy New year everybody.
And here are some more Viking environments that come with it. The longship in the middle of a storm belongs to a storyboard piece for the intro of the film, while the mean looking guy on the top deck is purely inspirational, as I was trying to get into the subject.
The layout belongs to the typical scene of a grand dinner with the men of the Village as they decide what evil deed to do next.