Fresh Pots!!!!

This piece was a commission in which the statement provided was to be included in the illustration of a coffee pot.  In order to keep the design clean, I created a calligram out of the words to tie (or flow), into the illustration.  The piece first started as a sketch, which was scanned, and then digitally hand traced in Painter, and manipulated in Photoshop.

Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)

This particular illustration was done as part of a collective online gallery show, paying homage to the horror genre.  The project was called YayHMAD (Horror Movie A Day), as currated by Yay! LA Magazine in which several artists from around the world participated in this year, as an ongoing annual project.  Each artist was given the opportunity to select a movie from a list provided, and provide a representation of said film through the medium of their choosing.  It was an amazing, and rewarding project that I was very proud to have participated in.  Below is the excerpt I included with the piece to Yay! LA Magazine when the work was unveiled during the last week of October.

Pan’s Laybrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)
Medium:  Digital (Corel Painter)

I’ve always been a fan of fairytales since early childhood, having been raised on a healthy dose of Disney, and  it wasn’t until adolescence that I was introduced to the workings of the literary masters, The Brothers Grimm.  It was then, that I realized these tales were not for the faint of heart, and many of the morals were missing from their commercialized counterparts.  These tales were never meant for children, and up until Guillermo Del Toro deliver us Pan’s Labyrinth, their representation in modern film had been all but absent.  In true homage to his predecessor, Del Toro delicately paints a picture with his signature style, in which he represents an ongoing display of humanity at its extremes, and ultimately tells a story, in which not all things end happily ever after…or do they?  With this piece I wanted to capture the essence of the film, by portraying Ofelia’s journey into a fantastical world that is ultimately,  both a dream and a reality.

UPDATE 3/26/18:
To purchase this image, please visit my etsy store here:
Pan's Labyrinth

Eckmann Typeface Educational Poster

This poster was used in a classroom setting in order to demonstrate, and illustrate, the infamous Art Nouveau font Eckmann. The poster outlines the history of it's development by fine artist turned graphic artist Otto Eckmann, and also highlights Eckmann's inspirational source.  The poster reflects the art movement popular during the typesets implementation, in addition to its structural design.  The poster was created entirely in Illustrator. 

Gentrification

This book cover design was part of a larger project based on Gentrification, and the influences that affluent individuals have had on urban communities.  The concept was to visually demonstrate the influences through parody, but using a highly recognizable design.  In this case the parody was based on the game of Monopoly, in which board sections were replaced by places or objects that have been influenced by the gentrification process (in this case, rent inflation, and the craft brew phenomenon).  The book itself consists of several additional pages (10 in total), that represent gentrification through different design approaches.

Fork it Over

This particular poster was designed as a commentary on the mass marketing done during the holiday seasons.  Each 'fork' represents (quite literally), it's respective celebratory occasion with the portrayal of a consumable that would be present during each said event.  The forks themselves were illustrated by hand, and then scanned, in order to give the overall design a more 'crafty' or 'pintrest' style.  The piece is done mostly in Illustrator with some adjustments made in Photoshop, and additional elements done in Painter.

Silvanus

IF (Illustration Friday) 7/24/15, the topic was Nature.  It's been a while since I've posted anything, and not from lack of effort.  I've decided to take on more detailed projects, so I have still been keeping tabs on the IF topics (since they are great for stimulating ideas, and new projects), but I wanted to attempt a different direction this year with my work.  I decided to take a break from the more detailed piece I was working on, and simply make it my goal to bring something more 'simple' to completion (completion being the key word here). 
This particular piece I did was based on an sketch I had come across in an old sketchbook while I was looking for a different forgotten project.  The concept was initially for a story I was tinkering with formulating, and was inspired by a character from a 'Forgotten Realms' novel I had read in my youth.
While the image itself can arguable be tied to many myths, faiths, and vast amount of similar portrayals throughout literature and film, it is primarily that of 'Silvanus', an Elder God of Nature, who ironically was adapted from Celtic Mythology (if my research is on point).  In the novel, Silvanus appeared as a stag to one of his acolytes, in response to her prayers to heal a withering forest.  In my portrayal I gave Silvanus ethereal eyes (to convey his divinity), and added the multi-seasonal leaves (to depict his influence over nature).  The image is entirely digital, done in Painter.


UPDATE 3/26/18:
To purchase this image, please visit my etsy store here:
Silvanus

Nostalgia/Fascination

These illustrations were for a recent group show I did at The Comic Book Hideout in Down Town Fullerton.  The show was themed around the works of Marvel, primarily those pertaining to the recent films, and the Inifinity Stones.
For these works I chose 'Guardians of the Galaxy' as my inspiration.  The film was great, and straddled a fine line between being futuristic but also reminiscent of the past.  Since the film itself was propelled not only by story, but also the music, I wanted to capture the spirit as much as possible.  The idea I had early on was pretty simple, and carried all the way through to the finished product (which for me is rare but I had a clear idea with this one).  I wanted to create 'posters' similar to the iTunes series with the silhouettes wearing headphone, and dancing with their iPods in hand.  For my composition though I utilized Star Lord's walkman instead of an iPod or iPhone, and wanted to include a few things that pertained to both characters in their pieces.
For Starlord ('Nostalgia'), originally I wanted to have him flipping the bird, but scrapped that and instead painstakingly recreated his elemental gun in his opposing hand.  In order to fill in the empty space to the right, I did some research to see if Star Lord had an insignia or symbol that I could include (much like the Apple Logo on their iTunes cards or products).  I found a few different symbols, and then referenced the movie for authenticity.   I decided that since Star Lord was from an earlier era (one that he arguably never grew out of), I wanted to distress his poster, and used the color scheme from the soundtrack that was released to tie it all together.
For Gamora ('Fascination'), I had a more difficult time including elements that would identify her character to an onlooker.  I decided that, being an alien (or non-human), and having really no home of her own, I would make her background celestial (which is retro-ish as well I suppose).  I had the walkman attached to her belt instead of holding it, and placed her signature sword in one hand, while the other presses the earphone towards her ear.  For the empty space on Gamora's poster, I couldn't find anything that really worked well to fill it, and being unfamiliar with her character outside of the film made the task even more difficult.  I ultimately decided on doing a graphic depiction of the Orb of Power that she was seeking in the film, and in order to link the pieces together, utilized the same bands from the Star Lord piece on Gamora's, and unified it's color scheme but using the same color as the Orb.  I originally intended on making Gamora's silhouette a gradient of green, but it just didn't look right.  I also was going to distress her poster, but it didn't seem to work as well on her piece as Star Lord's.  The other reason I discarded the idea was because, seeing as she's from space, it really didn't make sense to use that same strategy (as her personality is also different from that of Star Lord's).
Both works are entirely digital, done in Painter with some adjustments made in Photoshop and Illustrator.


UPDATE 3/26/18:
To purchase either image (or both), please visit my etsy store here:
Nostalgia
Fascination