Santa’s Helper

Here is a sneak peak of an image that I’m putting together for my pops. He thought I should paint another snow bunny for Xmas and I thought I would oblige him. This is only the character development stage. I will be working on the background and the rest of the image this week.

Ho, Ho, Ho! – S

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Butterfly Dreams

I’ve been sorting through a few of my old sketches for an up and coming personal project and in doing so I’ve come across a few that I want to finish. This is one of those pieces that was pushed to the side. So with a few free hours yesterday I brought the sketch into Illustrator and this is what was churned out.
I hope ya like. – S

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Robo Suave

My pal Tom over at “BetterThanHuman set up a pseudo challenge on his blog to recreate a rough sketch that he and his co-worker, Beckii, came up with called “Robo Suave“.

Since I only had about 2 hours to give to this I quickly came up with a couple of rough sketches and then proceeded on to Adobe Illustrator where I completed the rest of the character. Sorry, no background for this one. Here is my take on it. Hope ya like – S

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Click on image below to see sketch and close-ups.

“Fantasy RePort” – interview

Awhile back I was contacted by Gerasimos Katramados of Etra Publishing. He told me that they where starting a new magazine called “Fantasy RePort” in Greece and would like to interview me for their first publication. He said that the magazine will center around the Fantasy/Science Fiction art world. I felt honored to do the interview and in turn they sent me a copy of the magazine. I wish them the best and hope their magazine does well! – S

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Click image below to see more pics.

Since the magazine was printed in another language I have included the translation. Enjoy!
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• What are some things that inspire your work?
Much of my inspiration comes from comics, graffiti, movies, clouds, shadows, curves, the human form, nature, etc…

• What motivates you towards concept drawing?
I have found endless inspiration and motivation from the other artists in the CG and concept art society. Their work pushes me to better my work and learn new techniques that will take my work to the next level. I also have a few good friends that honestly and harshly critique my work trying to ensure that I continue to grow and increase my potential as an artist.

• What type of designs do you enjoy the most?
Eye catching designs that draw you in immediately with the first glance are always nice. There’s nothing worse than quickly flipping through a magazine at the local book store and not seeing anything that catches your eye right away. It’s always a joy to catch a glimpse of something and then once you turn back to that page you see the most amazing image that sticks with you and makes you want to just sit down and start sketchin’.

• Describe your pencil technique?
Quick pencil sketches for overall design and layout followed by a detailed line drawing of the final look and feel. After the final line sketch is done I scan the image into Photoshop and incorporate the line work into the final color illustration.

• Which oil paints you prefer?
I don’t really use oils but give me a mechanical pencil and a paper tablet to draw on and I’m good.

• What surface do you like to paint on?
Through my art career I’ve painted on everything from canvas and walls to t-shirts and automobiles. However, now I mainly use my computer for everything except the initial concept sketch. Even though the Wacom tablet allows you to sketch directly into the computer I feel that sketching onto paper gives you greater control and detail over the concept linework.

• Which applications and equipment do you use when you paint digitally?
Equipment used:
Apple PowerMac G5 and 23″ Cinema display
Apple 15″ G4 laptop and 23″ Apple HD Cinema display
Wacom Intuos 3 (6″x 8″)

• Software used:
Adobe Creative Suite 3
I live in Photoshop and Illustrator.

• Have you been part of any collaborations?
None as of yet.

• What do you like best about what you do?
There is a certain freedom that comes from drawing. The curves and shapes are up to you. It’s nice to be able to show the world what lies in your imagination.

New Beginnings: New Year’s Eve – Flyer

Here are a couple of designs I came up with for a clients New Year’s Eve Party. First, I developed a type treatment for the headliner and based the rest of the design around that. Enjoy – S

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