MEGAPIRANHA DISCOVERED (Megapiranha Paranensis) 4X bigger than modern day piranhas/lived 8-10 million years ago/a link between today's flesh-eating piranhas and their vegetarian cousins, pacu. Digital
Here is some of the development & production work I did on UP (2005-2008).
Every show is a major collaboration requiring the talents of many. The artists who helped define the look of UP included: Bryn Imagire (Shading Art Director) Daniel Lopez Munoz, Albert Lozano (Character Designers) Greg Dykstra (Character Design Sculptor) Don Shank, Nat McLaughlin, Noah Klocek, Daniel Arriaga (Environmental Designers) and Paul Conrad (Graphic Designer).
ELLIE'S MURAL
After finding they cannot have children, Carl & Ellie make Paradise Falls their life goal.
Gouache
CARL & ELLIE
One of the goals for the Prologue was to evoke the feeling of childhood and innocence, with story & design.
Gouache
Gouache
Digital
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Explorations of old age and loneliness. The idea was to keep Carl isolated within the frame and suggest loss with composition & light. The film deals a lot with loss and letting go of the past.
Digital
gouache/digital
CARL IN COLOR
Character Design: Daniel Lopez Munoz
Design Sculpt: Greg Dykstra
I painted and photographed this sculpt to see what Carl might look like in different lighting. Bryn Imagire (Shading Art Director) painted other sculpts exploring healthier complexions. She also made models of the house, plants, and rocks, to impart a tactile quality to the digital work.
cast urethane/acrylic
CLOUD TOWERS
Digital
On UP I made some animated tests using After Effects as a way to take static images further. Using music and sound also helped the tone of a scene or idea.
Digital
Exploring the way light might change in a room as the house travels through the clouds.
Music by Nelson Riddle
Digital
Music by Maurice Ravel
gouache/digital
Digital
DESKTOP DIORAMA
I made these figures then photographed them on my desktop. The smallest figure is the size of a grape. It was a way of arranging and finding interesting compositions in 3D. EFX were added in Photoshop.
Digital
Figures: balsa wood/wire/acrylic
TEPUI STUDIES
Digital
The weather can change within minutes on top of a Tepui, from eerily foggy to sunny and back. This is a moment in the film, when Carl sees Paradise Falls (Angel Falls in real life) for the very first time.
Music by John Williams
Digital
TEPUI RESEARCH TRIP
I had the opportunity of visiting Venezuela with some of the other crew members. Tepuis are large, flat-top mountains that rise out of the jungle basin. They are so tall that certain species of plant and animal only exist at the top, a mile above the jungle floor.
Nat McLaughlin (Environment Artist) left and Ronnie Del Carmen (Head of Story) right. This gives a sense of the topography on Roraima, the highest of all the Tepuis.
TEPUI MAP
This map was made after we returned from Venezuela and charts the course of the main characters and obstacles they encounter. Muntz's hangar lies at the middle of a crossroads, between the bird's nesting grounds and Paradise Falls, an important path Carl must take.
Gouache
TEPUI & JUNGLE STUDIES
After returning from the trip, we were inspired to illustrate what we saw. A challenge in CG is conveying how something feels, over how it looks in reality. Research trips can sometimes be a plus and a minus: the plus in that visiting a place surpasses what you gain from photos alone, the minus in being a slave to the reality.
Imagination and feeling should dictate everything...
gouache/digital
STYLING STUDIES
These were done for our 'looks' test to get a sense of where we were headed stylistically (stylized to more naturalistic).
Digital
We wanted to use light theatrically, as a way to selectively indicate detail.
Digital
Another study in selective detail. The idea was that depth of field could simplify the jungle, allowing backgrounds to go softer and more impressionistic, so the eye could focus on the foreground.
Digital
After coming back from Venezuela I arranged pictures to music, to capture how the place felt. It can only be taken so far with a single image. With a sequence you can convey more meaning. After looking at the photos with music the sunrise seemed like a natural climax. The color reel contains a few finished shots.
Music by James Newton Howard
digital/gouache
CHARLES MUNTZ
Muntz was originally based on Howard Hughes, the aviation pioneer who became a recluse in his later years. In an earlier version of the story Muntz was obsessed with the Snipe eggs, which could reverse old age like the fountain of youth.
Gouache
MUNTZ & HIS DOGS
When a story is in early development..anything goes.
Colored Pencil
DIORAMA STUDIES
These thumbnails were done in preparation for our CG 'looks' test. The goal was to solidify our treatment of organic environments as well as make a setting in which the characters could interact.
Digital
DIORAMA FRAMES
This CG test was the resulting work of many departments and taught us a great deal. I brought these frames into Photoshop and added some atmosphere and efx, which the Lighting Department used to tweak the final shots.
Film renders/Photoshop pass
COLOR SCRIPT ACT I
The first pass color script for ACT I. Others were also done for ACTS II & III. These are very simple, but help give a sense of the film's tone, which is taken further with lighting keys.
Digital
FINAL COLOR SCRIPT
This was my last assignment on UP. I tried providing more lighting information than the abstract scripts, which are more for tone. Other artists also contributed greatly to the lighting design of the film and the Lighting Team led by Jean-Claude Kalache did a super job.
This work is a continuation of an earlier posting, ANCIENT MODERN, which is all part of The Ancient Book of Sex & Science. This is my second collaboration with Scott Morse, Don Shank and Nate Wragg and is shaping up to be a very inspiring book and show. There is no Sex here to speak of, but plenty of Science-Fantasy.
Back to Mars 9" X 15" Gouache
The First Expedition 10" X 15" Gouache
Martian Lunar Spires 10" X 15" Gouache
Martian Still Life with Chalice and Memory Stone 10" X 15" Gouache
Martian Still Life with Light Shard 10" X 15" Gouache
Studies for Sculpture : Future Warrior Digital
Quartz Crystal with LED lighting Martian Concert Hall Digital
A GEEGAR COLLABORATION for a book based on A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 : Dream Warriors. The characters have powers in their own dreams. But, most aren't strong enough to defeat Freddy Krueger. Quotes are from the movie.
PETE GRAHAM: Drawings LOU ROMANO: Color PAUL MAES: Neck-guts design
An animated short film based on the poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1849) of the same title.
COLOR STORY REEL (2:25)
Performed by Basil Rathbone Music by Igor Stravinsky
"Annabel Lee" from The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection by Edgar Allan Poe, performed by Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price (p) & (C) 2000 HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Used by Permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
"Orpheus - Ballet in Three Scenes/Scene I: Orpheus" Performed by Esa-Pekka Salonen and The Philharmonia Orchestra Courtesy of SONY BMG MASTERWORKS by arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
"Orpheus - Ballet in Three Scenes/Scene II: Dance of the Furies" Performed by Esa-Pekka Salonen and The Philharmonia Orchestra Courtesy of SONY BMG MASTERWORKS by arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
This piece was part of a group project with Scott Morse, Don Shank and Nate Wragg. We each did a monochrome, sci-fi inspired painting from which prints will be made and sold at Comicon. Next year we'll release more sci-fi work in The Ancient Book of Sex & Science, a companion book to Myth & War.
These were done for fun. I started with the mermaid, which was based on an acrylic painting my friend Rob Gibbs and I were jamming on July 4th. I was trying to recall what we had painted the next day with this digital study. Then, I started drawing and painting the other ideas, stream of conscious.
These were done for a group project with Scott Morse, Don Shank and Nate Wragg. Each of us agreed to do 4 paintings using the theme of 3. In this case, 4 illustrations of 3 organic things. We're planning on putting all of them together in a book.
This was my submission for the Totoro Forest Project. The proceeds from the art show and catalogue will go towards saving the Japanese forest that inspired Hayao Miyazaki's film, My Neighbor Totoro. totoroforestproject.org
If I was a kid, I'd want my totoro to be a giant bat that could fly me around. I love bats, they are the only mammals that can fly. Flying squirrels don't count, they glide. But they're cool too.
I found these the other day. The Tony the Tiger drawing was taken to final paint (previous post). I did these for my friend Nate Pacheco, who was pitching 50th anniversary ads for Tony and Toucan Sam.
Some artwork for a future book and show: THE ANCIENT BOOK OF SEX & SCIENCE. I'm doing some small 3D pieces and paintings, the idea being that these (below) could be art or relics from an ancient Martian civilization.
Alexander (Sandro) Girard (1907-1993) was a designer of textiles, graphics, furniture and exhibitions. He also had a passion for collecting textiles and folk art from around the world. In 1963 he designed and made these wooden dolls to decorate his home. They have been reproduced by the Vitra Design Museum based on his originals.
I purchased some LED lights and played around with lighting and photographing a few of the dolls. The resulting colors were achieved in camera using different combinations of the multi-colored lights. The tallest doll of the three is only about 10 inches.
This artwork was done for an upcoming group show based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The show will exhibit at the Gallery Met in conjunction with The Metropolitan Opera's production of Hansel und Gretel (1893) by Engelbert Humperdinck.
IM WALDE (IN THE WOOD) 11 3/4" X 23" acrylic/gouache
DEM HAUSCHEN (THE HOUSE) 16 1/2" X 20" acrylic/gouache
I worked on The Powerpuff Girls from 1999-2000. I didn't work in-house during that time but would come into the studio as much as possible to run these thumbnails past Don Shank, who was the Art Director. Once he and the directors approved them I would do more finished keys based on the layouts, which would then be sent over-seas. It was a lot of fun.
As a result of The Ancient Book of Myth & War (see below) the art editor of The New Yorker magazine (Francoise Mouly) invited Scott Morse, Don Shank, Nate Wragg and I to submit ideas for covers. We were given a list of holidays and a lot of freedom to come up with concepts. After submitting thumbnails and receiving notes I was asked to do a final illustration, which was approved for print. The whole process took 3-4 weeks.
A music major at Northwestern University (Josh Moshier) saw my blog and asked if I would illustrate the CD cover of his debut album. The group liked #3 which I worked up into a final painting. Good Luck, Josh.
I was asked to participate in this art jam with a young boy named Cohen. His Dad sent me his watercolors in the mail then I added to them and mailed them back. I hope you like them, Cohen.
This is my piece for SKETCHTRAVEL a sketchbook that is being passed from one artist to another across the world. When completed it will be exhibited at a gallery in France then sold at a charity auction.
These drawings were done one right after another without any plan in mind. Then they were scanned and painted digitally in the order in which they were drawn. The goal for me was to get ideas out of my head, on to paper and into color as fluidly and as quickly as possible.
PLAYGROUND VIKING DRAGON BABY DINOSAUR FUTURE HOME NIGHT WITCH SPECIAL EDS CIRCUS ELEPHANT THE FALLEN MAN & MONSTERS FISH TANK CONCERT SODA JERK DRUNK RED EAGLE FIGHT WARLORD ENGLISH RACE CAR SWISS RACE CAR AMERICAN RACE CAR FRENCH RACE CAR COMEDY WHITE BABY IRON HORSE & SNAKE GERMAN BANDIT STONE HORSE FALLEN CREATURE HORSE HEAD DINOSAUR ROCK All 8 1/2" X 11" ink/digital
(L to R) Don Shank, Lou Romano, Scott Morse, Nate Wragg
Thank you ALL for coming to the opening and for your support. An extra special thanks to NUCLEUS for hosting a great show. Visit their WEBSITE for photos and updates (see link).
A dvd cover I made for my copy of Clash of the Titans using the art of Alice & Martin Provensen and Steele Savage. Ray Harryhausen signed it for me...but said that the cover was "terrible".
Digital
Digital
