I've Never Challenged A Gorilla Before

It occurred to me that I had never drawn a gorilla, so I decided to.
Their brow is so intriguing with those heavy, pensive eyes.
Scanned right out of my sketchbook, done with .30 mm Micron pen.  Enjoy!

Gorilla sketch

Beware the Banshee!

I thought I would post up this creature drawing I did today.
The inspiration for my "banshee" was a horse skull. Japanese style dragons, and imagery from The Secret of Nimh the movie. Done in Micron pen and a little bit of Prismacolor pencils.

creature design : Blacktip Gatordilla

This creature of mine started from a sketch that, lets just say, wasn't very well executed. As lots of sketches start, it was just a quick idea, probably one that woke me up in the middle of the night. The Blacktip Gatordilla evolved from the original sketch after paying attention to certain references including the alligator snapping turtle and a rhinoceros.  He has the stance of a bulldog but does not move awkwardly, he is very powerful and has quite the display when attracting a mate. The quills on his back clap together noisily, he uses his powerful tail to slap the sides of trees while he stamps his paws with his powerful back legs, and grunts and hisses while showing his powerful jaws. What sexy ladydilla wouldn't be impressed? The Blacktip being a large animal still needs to use some of these 'techniques' to ward off the even larger animals that share his habitat, although they often choose to avoid confrontation. When not showing off for a potential mate, Gatordilla spends most of his time fishing and foraging for food; he would most likely not be bothered by smaller animals in his habitat and lives peacefully and symbiotically alongside the many other species in his lush forest habitat.

Gatordilla Concept Sketch

Don't mess with a Terror Bird

Stress. Anxiety. My greatest weaknesses but also my greatest motivators.

Life has been strange lately; being in "Limbo" is exhausting, but I power on and continue to create. After my reapplication to school I've been accepted to the shorter/ more advanced program. Yay, right? Not just yet. My attendance isn't guaranteed...again. Waiting on more student loan applications. You wouldn't think it will be so hard to find help for your education, but it is. I will just continue trying, my mantra lately has been "Never give up."
Never give up. Ever.

One of my latest projects was to draw my interpretation of a Terror Bird. Phorusrhacids, also called Terror Birds, ruled the Americas in the Cenozoic era. What would this creature look like living alongside giant sloths, Trigodon, saber-toothes cats, and wolves? It was a wild time for our two continents as these animals migrated across the land-bridge. Predators had new prey and also new enemies. I can imagine that terror birds were solitary hunters, they did not hunt in packs like canids, and were most likely ambush predators. Of course this is all speculation as humans were not there to witness their habits. I based a lot of the physiology of this animal on the Ostrich because they have similar appearances, BUT the ostrich live in small flocks and do not hunt large prey. This is just the process I go through creating or recreating a creature. I start with research, then ideation, and then the details fall into place. I decided that the terror bird was probably very neutral in color on the front facing side of the animal to enable camouflage during the hunt, while the back of the terror bird might have had some color and markings to attract a mate. I gave the bird bone protrusions on the head; on the front side to improve hearing, and the red eye shaped markings on the back would deter other predators while the bird is preoccupied.  The bird also has a long pronounced stripe down it's back like a sloth to attract its mate. The more prominent the stripes, the better the stock, as it goes in the laws of nature. I could think of other features I would want on this bird, but I will just explain those few. It is important in creature design to justify most modifications with some kind of advantage or necessity to the animal's survival.

Terror Bird rendering - Cody Raiza

Anatomy Studies and Dinosaur Friends

The internet is full of horrible references. That is the first thing to keep in mind when researching online. Seventy percent of the information you find on the internet is false, and most statistics are made up.

I have been working on my portfolio and studying anatomy on my own to strengthen my understanding of the living machine that is our body. Well, I got bored, and started studying dinosaurs, because lets face it, dinosaurs are way cooler than people.

I started my study of Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus finding many similarities in my favorite crocodile, the critically endangered Orinoco. This is also where things got tricky as my references did not line up. The first skulls I worked from were more dinosaurian, and the museum articulated specimen in Japan has a much narrower skull with the eye orbit on top. I was worried this skull was more like Baryonyx that had a very narrow lower jaw, but no sail on its back. You will notice my rendering is not quite accurate, the eye should be on top like a crocodile. I am looking to redo the render on colored paper with colored pencil, but wanted to reveal some of my drawings from my studies.

Remember that the best reference you could ever use is from life. Looking at a person or specimen is the only way to make true observations. Understandably, this is extremely hard when you have a subject that has been extinct for 65 million years! For these, we need to view articulated skeletons that you can find at museums while having a good understanding of muscles and feature placement to render properly. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles has recently opened their new dinosaur hall and I look forward to spending long days drawing there; I hope I can talk to some resident paleontologists as well.

It is important that paleontologists continue to team up with artists to recreate dinosaurs or they will be lost forever. Future generations depend on us to feed their imaginations with big scary believable monsters!

New painting for the Bee Rotica show at The Hive Gallery 8/6/11

The last Art Walk I attended in downtown L.A. was absolute madness! Thousands of people crowded the streets, shoulder to shoulder, headed to art galleries, food trucks, and bars. I had to get the heck out of there, but first I had to swing by The Hive Gallery after being asked to participate in their annual Bee Rotica art show; and what an awesome space! The bee inspired decor mixed with the concoction of cool art made it a buzzing hive of culture and love. 

Their annual Bee Rotica show (yes the inspiration is erotic art and bees) should be a very cool opening and I suggest all attend if you are local to the Los Angeles area. This will be my first group show where the participating artists all adhere to a common theme, so I am interested to see how the rest of the artists interpreted their erotic honey pots filled with sex appeal. For the show, I created a small oil painting that I am quite proud of. Many more oil paintings in the works, but you should make it out to the event to see this piece in the flesh, and I will be there of course, come say "hello!"

"Nectar Baby" oil on canvas

Nectar Baby for Bee Rotica show at The Hive

Bee Rotica show flyer

Like The Hive Gallery on Facebook Here

The Parallel Universe Called "Surrealism"

The work of contemporary surrealist painters like Christian Rex van Minnen, Martin Wittfooth, and Nick Baxter continues to widen the scope of what is perceivable to the common viewer, while all the while fascinating the eye of the most scrutinous. This new age of surrealism is none to be taken lightly, especially in a time when more artwork is born of a digital nature and our minds aren't easily tricked into thinking something is aesthetically pleasing or in the case of CGI, real at all.
It has always been tough for me to classify my work into a category. Sometimes horror with a taste of surrealism, and sometimes the complete opposite; either way, extremely satisfied with not having a niche.
These other artists that I mentioned before have carved their own personal niche as well, and extremely successfully. Their niche, should it be a place, would have platinum bike racks and a giant @!*&ing gold plaque on it that says "take this diamond encrusted elevator to my top floor studio, bitches." You might think I am exaggerating , but I assure you these new surrealist painters are top notch and will shape the future of art in our generation.
I hope that I never lose touch with traditional art as I make my way into the digital world. It would be like selling my soul to that pc guy in those awful commercials...picture it in your head, so shameful.
I obviously use a lot of colored pencil, though it is not the best medium for trying to convey more surreal ideas, but I enjoy working with it and that's all there is to it.
I started this piece below while hanging out with Nick B. and I didn't really know where it was going to go. I had my photo references, but didn't have a vision until shortly after he asked me "well, what else are you going to do with it?." Sometimes your creativity just needs a little push, and sure enough, my brain started swirling.
Fascinated with bioluminescence, decay, and the power and will of life, I came up with this concept. Stay tuned to my blog to see me venture back into the land of oil painting...

Drawing Kat Von D in Wonderland

As I'm walking out the door I check my e-mail to find that I will be filmed for a tv show that day, drawing on camera, no pressure. Oh and I will be drawing with a famous painter....and Ill be drawing Kat Von D, yes THE Kat Von D, lady tattoo artist extraordinaire. Her strength has always been admirable and many of the hardships she's endured have reminded me of my journey. I could probably write a book about my youth and my pilgrimage for success and happiness someday, but for now I just draw to appease my peace of mind.

I was given the wonderful opportunity of attending a workshop at Kat's Wonderland Gallery taught by the very talented painter, Kevin Llewellyn, a master of old world technique harmonized with tragic surrealism. Kat posed on the infamous lacquer black throne with her adorable sphynx cat, Piaf, for about three hours while I worked on one of my first official portraits. Yeah yeah so what I have done plenty of figure drawing, but I have never spent three hours on a bust focusing on likeness and every little fluctuation in curve. You would like your subject to be recognizable, especially one who has their face on the cover of magazines regularly; This ain't no Bono cake from Yes Man, ya know?
A few hours into the drawing session Kevin came over for a quick critique, instructing me not to take certain shadows too literally to soften the face, and focus on skeletal structure pertaining to the planes of the skull. His suggestions simplified my process, allowing my brain imaginary airbrush tools that made my drawing turn out much smoother.

As I've mentioned before when you are drawing, especially with figure models, you zone out to where there is no longer a human at all, but a subject made of lines and gradients, a form that you must grow to understand before it speaks to you on paper. As an artist you have a special gift: You can not only appreciate someone for their beauty, but for their flaws and choose to accentuate those beautiful details that normal people may not see at all.

I was interviewed on camera for the next season of LA Ink on TLC, make sure to tune in when the new season starts to catch coverage of the drawing workshop and possibly see me stutter and not make any sense  at all.

You like that? Who needs Photoshop when you have MS Paint! I'm so pro.

Okay folks, below is my finished product from the workshop. My portrait of the artist, Kat Von D. 5/1/11 ...

The Doctor Is In... Dr.Sketchy That Is!

Live figure drawing can teach you important artistic fundamentals such as perspective, problem-solving, and proportion; but who would have thought it could teach you to have fun!
With Pabst cans in her hair and a pump-action shotgun at her hip, our figure model for the evening wasn't the typical voluptuous nudist that you're used to drawing in art class, but that's exactly the point! Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School is pretty unconventional, what I would call an "underground figure drawing cult," but cult in a good way, like a cult classic horror film, which has probably at one time been a theme for the late-night artists' gathering. Fun is the name of the game at the Anaheim chapter of Dr. Sketchy's which I attended one Sunday evening at Rothick Art Haus. With a charismatic master of ceremonies and even a small wet bar, they were well prepared for Rothick's guests to have a wonderful time. This was no stuffy hibby jibby art function, this was a party! With pink yard flamingos, cute girls, and drawing contests!
Although guns and booze might not be your thing, the native Texan in me felt right at home and I tuned into the house iPod while rocking out some classy figure drawings of our "trailer trash queen." I think this place will now be my home for three hours every other weekend, and if you're at all artistically inclined and live in Orange County, you should do the same.

If you don't live in California, there is hope for you yet. Started in 2005 by Illustrator Molly Crabapple, the life drawing parties have expanded to an international franchise with branches in sixteen different countries including England, Japan, and Australia; they even had a Dr. Sketchy's burlesque drawing event at SXSW this year! With a friendly environment conducive to creativity, Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School is a revolution in art education, and should be enjoyed by all willing to have a good time. You can find a location closest to you here. And you can keep up with Dr. Sketchy's Anaheim here.


I started this drawing at Rothick with the Trailer Park Queen theme and finished it with lots of little details back in the studio. Click the picture for the larger image that shows the lawn gnome holding a condom.

Monsters, Tremors, and Demons, OH MY!

I had attended the very first Monsterpalooza back in 2009, and after easily making my way around the show, I didn't expect to wait in line for over an hour to get into Monsterpalooza 2011. The Fire Marshall threatened to shut the event down while the line wrapped around the side of the Burbank Marriot Convention Center. Ghouls dressed as zombies and swamp monsters were just as frustrated as the humans awaiting entry, but we made the best of the beautiful day and soaked up the sun (vampires excluded, they grabbed shady spots).The annual show features amazing vendors, FX artists, cinema makeup artists, horror movie actors, and even has a museum where you can tour through an all-star lineup of movie creatures and sculptures. An amazing sculptor and painter, Tim Gore had a booth this year adorned by eyeballs and human teeth, while artist Jason Hite showcased his illuminated and intricate sculptures that give me bad dreams of when robots take over the earth and harvest humans for their organs. Oh we all know it won't happen, right? *awkward chuckle*

I would suggest anyone that enjoys creepy artistry and horror flicks to check out Monsterpalooza next year. They're convinced they will have it at the same venue. *cough* let's hope not *cough*

Here's a drawing I finished a few weeks ago that I felt would be perfect in accompanying a few photos I took at Monsterpalooza . He's cuddly, ain't he?

 

A real Graboid!!! YEEHAW!!

Inspiration in the queerest of places.

There is so much I could write in this posting about my journey back West, the things I saw, the emotions that I felt. I made it a point to explore the obscurities that the desert had to offer on the twenty-four hour road trip. One stop we made in our tiny box truck packed with two people and two dogs was quite a curious destination. Just outside of the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, was a stop that promised us petrified wood, and dinosaurs. Did someone say "DINOSAURS?!??!!" If you didn't know... I LOVE dinosaurs. Why? That's a whole 'nother blog post.

When we exited the highway, we climbed a windy dirt road up to an outlook over the freeway. I begin to look around and can't quite manage to take it all in. There are large dinosaurs made of what looks to be a weatherproof version of paper-mâché, large stumps of wood almost everywhere, and gorgeous two foot tall chunks of what looked to be glass. A beautiful array of things littered everywhere next to a run down white building and an enclosure that housed about 60 or more ostriches.

Before we entered the building that promised us unique fossils, I started to notice a detail more bizarre than even the modern day dinosaurs in the pen, mannequins. I know what you're thinking, and yes... I felt like I was about to volunteer myself to partake in the true life version of The Hills Have Eyes.

Why not, right?!?!

We entered the small building, which was once a house, with caution and were greeted by a tall, very polite, very well spoken man in his late thirties/early forties. The space was filled with dinosaur fossils and petrified wood cutaways that had been diamond cut and polished, as he had informed us. He had done all the excavation himself. As I start to think that this man has high-powered cutting tools nearby and a place to conveniently bury our bodies, I realize a certain tone in his voice. Passion. He loved all of these things in this room. He spent so much time doing this, and took so much care with them, and wanted to share them with people by selling them in a place that people didn't frequent, but would stop through and have this memory and be fascinated by the things he cared so much about. This man probably gave up everything he had to do something he loved.

He spoke scientifically and informatively about the objects that were neatly scattered all over the floorboards and wooden shelves. I could see a sparkle in his eye as he talked about the properties of ironwood, and asked us to try to lift the abnormally heavy meteorites that he had found, and when he pointed out the mosasaur teeth and fossilized crocodile skulls. I bought some jewelry and thanked the gentleman for sharing with us. 

I will never forget this, and I will always remind myself to do what I love, and to be passionate about my artwork. You will find inspiration in the strangest of places.

If you are ever traveling down I-40, don't forget to stop here and check out all of the cool stuff. Don't forget to feed the ostriches!

Don't look behind the shower curtain in the bathroom.

Dinosaur legs, they have pads like dogs.

Mannequin-eating dinosaurs

She watches over the place, and rides terradactyls.

Continuity's Relevance to Success

The last few weeks have been indescribable. In what sense of the word, I still don't know.
I've had to make some huge decisions to come out of a rough spot. By huge decisions, I mean moving 1500 miles west from Dallas, back to good ol' Los Angeles within a few days notice. Spontaneous, I am. Prepared? Maybe. Either way, it had to be done. Times like these I realize my dreams are as close as I want them to be, and that anything is possible with the right ambitions and people by your side. I have set out on a new journey in seek of an end that might change as many times as it has in the past...but I'm cool with it. Life is always changing and if you are a stickler for consistency, sorry to break it to you, but you will get no where.

I used to be a control freak of sorts, manic in the sense that I always had to know everything. What would happen at 2:00 pm, what would happen a week from now, what I would wear when I would go to that certain place at that certain time. For the sake of my own sanity, I abandoned that way of life the first time I spontaneously moved to California. Unwillingly it left me, reminders hang around when others make plans for me, but I've learned to "just go with it." Life is more enjoyable that way, and it's the only way I've found progress to take hold.

You might find a way to progress forward as quickly as possible without losing control; but remember to breath, and always stop to appreciate the beauty around you.
There will be a story from my little road trip in my next blog post. In the meantime, here's a drawing I did right before I left Dallas. He represents both life and death, and the grotesque beauty found in both, which is a common archetype in my works.

Death of the American Space Program, but not my imagination.

Listening to NPR this morning, I was so disappointed to hear of the retirement of the US Space Shuttle Discovery. I became slightly angry at the idea that we were "giving up" on space. Though we are learning new information about our universe every day, our space program is just not what it used to be. According to NASA's schedule there are frequent launches (every few months) to the space station to restock and send new technologies, but what about our big giant plans to reach the end of our solar system? The Discovery was responsible for launching the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, WHAMMY! Eleven years ago! The year Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa, the year of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the year the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases, the year the Gulf War began in Kuwait, I was 13 years old. It seem like forever ago doesn't it? It's because it was.

We understand that there is risk involved with space travel, but what NASA doesn't is that we care less about materials they design for NIKE shoes and more about our origination and how we got here. I believe some of those answers might be in space. There most likely is other life in space; in other forms, based on unknown elements. As a child, I would gawk at my father's newspaper article from July 21st, 1969, the front page adorning a picture of a man standing on the moon, which is sitting in a plastic sleeve somewhere buried in the eternal pits of the garage. I hope we haven't lost the wonder, excitement, and awe of space. Even now I have stars in my eyes, and remember a time where I would sleep outside in the country with no light pollution and gaze at the millions of stars above me, my heart would stop every time I saw a 'shooting star.'

I will continue to watch programs on the science channels, and go about my merry ways, but I will never forget to LOOK UP. That's all it takes to spark the imagination, when it's dark, no matter where you, just look up, even for just a few moments. I wish there was more I could do to encourage advances in science, but all i can do is encourage you to encourage others, and hope that we start a trend, hope that we become more aware of our surroundings, and hope that someday the excitement for space travel returns to our society as it was in the earlier years.

When designing new creatures, I keep in mind that things elsewhere might be very different from those familiar to us, they most likely are not in the form of the humanoid figure in the drawing below. I do like to play with known textures and explore them further and how they might relate to other kinds of figures (a good example in my first blog post). This is a drawing done in a short period of time in Prismacolor pencil with no under-drawing. I was experimenting with texture and studying the skin and dynamic camouflage capabilities of the octopus while allowing myself to play freely with color.

Sketching : Full Cooperation Necessary

Why is it so hard to force myself to sketch when it is the single most helpful exercise for my art? If you feel like you have to twist your own arm to sit down and commit time to sketching, you are NOT alone!
I discovered last night I get so lost in sketching that I lose track of time. I am trying my hardest to look at it as a much needed escape, but it is tough to convince myself of this when I end up restricting my sleep to three hours a night and wake up early for the day j.o.b.
I've been thinking of ways to fix this, to work around the agony of the initial commitment to sketch. The best way I've found to do this, is "don't put it off." 
At the first moment of idle time, don't think about it, just grab your ipod, your sketchbook, and GO. Once you get the creative flow going, you will most likely have finished your sketch sesh before you realize that a few hours have gone by and you didn't waste time dragging your feet. Next thing you know, scheduled bedtime! VOILA!


Here is a sketch I was working on last night. I'm calling it 'Warrior' for a concept of a small oil painting I want to experiment with. You'll notice that many of my drawings, sketches especially, do not have a whole lot of line work in them. I have trouble seeing forms in lines, I interpret shadows as shapes and block everything in that way to get proper proportions. Haven't quite figured out why my brain works this way, or if I will or should "correct" this; it seems peculiar to me but it is the way my eyes have always interpreted things. 

Steve Jobs and Spiders

Yesterday, an important announcement came from Apple CEO, Steve Jobs; he is taking another medical leave of absence. His first being in 2009 for a liver transplant (in which stocks plummeted from $300 a share down to $80 a share). Though this might be a great time to buy stock in Apple, it reminds us that even Steve Jobs is human. At our greatest, we might feel like we are super heroes, but life is just way too short. 

I've been sick for a few weeks now, I know what it's like to have been 'kicked down a notch.' I'm lacking focus and creativity, and though the mind is a powerful thing, a toll taken on the body can be wearing. Someone once told me to wear sunscreen, but really, I think Vitamin C is pretty damn important. If you haven't gotten sick yet, then I'll let you share my straw. Here, no really, have some Diet Dr.Pepper, it's delicious!

Speaking of death... here's a new drawing of mine. I might need to come up with a new term for "drawing from life," because believe it or not, that's what this is.

This is a New Year. *complete with zombies*

First and foremost, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I have had plenty of time to think about the makings of this blog as you can see from the timestamp of my last posting. After having several, upon many, revelations I have 'lightbulbed' that this journal will also be a personal blog of sorts.
The internet has become a wonderful place for me to connect and interact with other artists and industry people, and while my perspective of the world is constantly evolving with the influence of these people, I will share new things with you; whether they be personal thoughts or new works of mine.

I forsee 2011 being a big year for us all. As miniscule as I believe the importance of human existence to be relative to our planet, I still selfishly enjoy every passing day. I hope that this year we all make leaps and bounds towards becoming a better people as a whole, and I encourage everyone to try and be a bit more kind and ruthless. Though these may sound to be an oxymoron, they are not. We must appreciate life in all its forms, things and people around us, while being ruthless in our step towards being successful, conscious, and aware.

Now that all of that is out of the way... how about some ZOMBIES!!?!?!!!!

I was recently challenged to compose a self-portrait. I haven't done a self-portrait in a REALLY long time.
Ready for the apocolypse or not, if it is at the hands of humans, youbetcherass there will be a zombie outbreak somewhere. AMC's recent tv show The Walking Dead showcased zombies in a new light, seemingly, as former people. Wives, children, neighbors, people you know, will turn in to zombies if the aren't already.
Full Prismacolor Colored Pencil, this drawing is of myself as a zombie. Friends and foes alike, I hope you remember me this way and not dressed as Old Greg or asleep with my thumb in my mouth. Enjoy!