End of the semester hibernation and Hellboy

I'm back from my post semester relaxation with a little sketch I did of Hellboy. There's a little school pride and illustration pride in this one since Mike Mignola graduated from the same college I have a degree from and in the same major no less. Which is more than a little awesome. Also awesome were the classes I took from some animation and story giants, this last semester. Between learning from them and working on two portfolios that I sent in for internships, this semester has sapped me of a lot of energy. So I took last week off and refilled the well.

Some projects have already started lining up for this summer. Much of which I will be able to show you right away, but some of which I probably won't get to show you, at least not for a little while. The next 3-4 months is already looking fruitful in the art department, so stay tuned.

SPRING ART FAIR AT CCA

Time for another Spring Fair. Once again I will be there manning a table, and once again everyone should swing by and say hello. It'll be nice to see some familiar faces. The event will be located at 5212 Broadway, at the intersection of Broadway and College Avenue. this saturday (April 23rd) I'll have my usual paintings and prints including my tattoo and scooter lady pinups. Hope to see you there.

-James

SKETCHCRAWL 31 : DOLORES PARK

I was having an off day last Saturday during SketchCrawl, but I'm pleased with how this particular sketch came out. Just goes to show if you can manage to muscle through the drawings that aren't working out, eventually your hand will start to flow back into the ones that do. I love going to SketchCrawl and being surrounded by the most supportive and inspirational people. I hope I can get to know some of them better in the future. I've always looked for an art community in the Bay Area and SketchCrawl has been the first time that I've actually felt as if I'm a part of one.

WORLD WIDE SKETCHCRAWL 31: ARTISTS HELP JAPAN

As an artist I tend to feel pretty helpless when major issues/catastrophes happen on my blue planet, but for the first time I'm deciding to put myself out there and see if I can make some sort of difference. I know I'm not famous, and my artwork isn't sought after, however this is a good cause and any little bit helps.

The creator of SketchCrawl, Enrico Casarosa, has decided to make the 31st annual crawl a benefit to help Japan. He's asking that each artist raise at least $100 for the cause. This blogpost serves two purposes. The first is to raise money for the event, the second is to make any other artists that may see it aware of the sketchcrawl and invite them to come out and raise money as well. Not only is this a great cause, but you'll also be around a supportive community of well meaning, incredible artists for a full day.

So here's what you can do if you want to help my sponsorship for Japan. First off, you can donate money here GIVE2ASIA or you can write me a check or send me money by Saturday, which I will then give to Enrico at the end of SketchCrawl. One more thing, if you give a donation of $15 or more I will give you a print of your choosing, and I will even go further to say that if you donate $25 or more I will do a sketch for you. However, if you donate $50 or more, I will happily produce a personal color commission of your choosing. Those of you that know me should know that I never offer up private commissions, and I probably won't again for a long time after this event.

This is a great opportunity to show the support and love of the world around you. I really hope to see a lot of artists out and about next saturday, making an impact, and giving hope. Thanks for taking the time to read this to the end and thanks in advance for any donations you give Japan.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN BE A PART OF THIS EVENT

-James

MY ART DEPARTMENT BLOG IS NOW FULLY OPERATIONAL

My hard work has paid off in the form of two blogs. One still needs to be fully created, but I've assembled the first of the two today. There are things I'd like to add and tweak here and there, but these two new portfolio blogs will start off basic and easy to view, much like a flatwork portfolio should be. This first one is for the art department. The next one, which will be up by the end of the week will be my story department blog. Thanks to all who have supported me in any way possible over this last year. I've gone through a lot to get to this point and the following year will be just as tough. Cross your finger for me on internships, and finally enjoy the new portfolio. JCT Art Department

A BACKGROUND IN ANIMATION

I thought it might be fun to share some of the backgrounds I've been adding to my animations. I've placed the characters in there so you can have a bit of the story to go with the original backgrounds. Even with all the portfolio work I've been amassing I've been trying hard to put a good effort into my classes as well. The combined efforts have resulted in lack of sleep, a drain in my energy, and a sweet body of work. These are two of the backgrounds from my current animation tutorial class. Having a setting as fun and appealing as the story in the animation is very important to me, and even though I have to rush these so I can get to the animation, I've still been trying to take care in making them fit with the story and in some cases even give hints as to what happened before the moment that happens in the animation. My teacher has been really helpful in guiding me to think about and perfect that stuff as well. In fact both of these have been changed from the original to better fit with the animation, and one of them has five versions that change throughout the animation to help the story progress. Anyway, enough talk. Enjoy!

JUST BEAT IT

I'm just throwing these on here for today. I'm feeling the heat of deadlines so I'm not able to write much at the moment. Check the end of the last post for a description of this assignment. Enjoy!