Updated Site

Well I finally got a chance to update my personal site. It's not 100% perfect but I managed to revamp it. I now have svg's as well as some HTML5. I still need some tweaking but I will go through and do a bit of it throughout the month when I have more time. I did it a bit different, not going so dark this time around. 

Free time

I know I am really bad about posting updates on a frequent basis but here is another one. I went to Chicago and painted in the figurative illustration workshop featuring a trapeze artist. http://figurativeillustrationworkshop.blogspot.com/ 

I am playing a bit of Dragon Age Inquisition now but I am still working on my book and soon to have my website redone as well.

 

Blogging in General

It's been a couple of months since my last blog post, to be honest I never know what to write. I spend most of the time during the day as a teacher working on trying to improve my students, but my nights are usually filled with projects that I want to work on to further myself as an artist. I always feel like I am doing busy work and never really feel like I get anything substantial done. Thus I feel like I have nothing to share. Sigh.

But that being said I look at what I have done in the past couple of months and it is filled with work, but not my work. I have been developing a course for one school and about two weeks ago they decide they want me to do the media for it. So now I am working on building all the media for the course.  I am also doing the media for another school doing a series of Illustrator videos for course content. So it has little time for me to actually work on "How to Draw book" But I wanted to show this illustration I did for the book which gives a step by step process on how I completed it as well as the issues that I had with it. 

 Pirate

Time off

It's been a while since I posted anything useful mainly because I have been busy with a side project and have been traveling the country to get the kids. So I figured I had a few minutes and some time for an update while I am waiting for my students uploads to... well upload. 

So what have I done in the last couple of months. Well I finally graduated from Academy Art University with MFA in conceptual art. Even though I still don't have the degree because they have been taking their time to get it to me. It's been like 3 months wait. Sigh. 

I did a couple of YouTube videos over the last couple of months. Not many mainly because I have been swamped with working on other stuff. 

But you can see them here

   

That said I have been working on a side project which I am turning into a drawing book. I am sick of seeing how to draw and how to paint books that do everything in 3 steps. So I started writing a book about the mistakes we make and how to fix them in drawing and illustration. I hope to get a publishing company to help me out or else I will self publish. I also am going to have my wife do the layout of the book, since that is what she does :)

Cold Days Illustration

This is an illustration that I am doing off the Dresden book "Cold Days"by Jim Butcher. I am taking an excerpt from the book and creating an illustration for it. This is my process of the illustration about painting .

You can look at the drawing playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLweGUGLadxC3GR97kU2cFp1cEvEE1HhSH

The context of the illustration is from the very end of chapter 52,

"The serpent of Winter cold plunged into her chest, shattering her veil as it struck, and my apprentice's expression was twisted in startled horror. She didn't even have time to flinch. It struck, and she fell back against the side of the cottage, her legs buckling as if the muscles in them had forgotten how to move." -Cold Days by Jim Butcher

Even though there are a ton of the characters gathered in the book I narrowed it down to about three for the sake of sanity.

Reference Used:

Self (Richard Blumenstein) personal photo

Wife (Rebecca Justiniano ) personal Photo

Cracked Ground 02 from WingsOFAHero http://wingsofahero.deviantart.com/

http://wingsofahero.deviantart.com/art/Cracked-Ground-02-125418464

 Stonington Harbor Light http://twogirlstakenewengland.com/2013/05/

Scary Tree from http://www.deviantart.com/art/Scary-Tree-82953260

Time of the Dark K-4 from Mjranum-stock http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Time-of-the-Dark-K-4-125909173

Danielle 2 Poses in Blue Jeans by Fantasy Stock http://fantasystock.deviantart.com/art/Danielle-2-Poses-in-Blue-Jeans-28738342

Powerful light by gsdark-stock http://gsdark-stock.deviantart.com/art/Powerful-light-104613756

Raylan Givens from http://www.virginmedia.com/tvradio/cult-tv/trivia/justified-raylan-givens.php?ssid=10

Alejandro Corzo from http://fashionablymale.net/2014/04/16/model-and-actor-alejandro-corzo-will-perform-in-star-trek/