I got my Act 4 roughs approved faster than usual. The last of the act was changed, which makes for a much better ending. I got to draw it all from scratch and it was fun. I hope I have more of that sort of thing on my next assignment.
Now all I have to do is have the board cleaned up by the end of the day or perhaps tomorrow morning and I’m done.
ART
Okay, so I finally got the final painting for my wife’s cover done. I thought I’d show you the process since I had the time to scan it all in as I did it.
First thing I did was draw the picture:
I made sure to take my time and to work our some of the planes and rhythms in this stage so I knew it was as good a foundation as I could make for myself. I left all the areas I was going to blacken in with no detail so I get a good impression of what the finished product would look like.
Next, I went in and added the black:
This was fun and I probably could have left it this way without going into it any further. But I did.
I added all the dark and light greys next:
This took a bit of time.
Finally, I added color:
I scanned in the painting and imported it into Photoshop. I then put some red underneath the painting, added some glows to the eyes, added color to the fire and put some alchemical symbols for a tertiary read of the painting. Done
What do I think of the final painting? I’m okay with it but I’m not really proud of it. I see it’s flaws and it didn’t quite come up to the level of my ambition. BUT I’m done, and I’m not going to mess with it.
So, now all I have to do is put the painting into a cover with the title and all for the Kindle and iTunes and I can get back to my “Illustrated Film”.
VIDEO
Marcelo Vignali is one of my favorite artists. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also a really nice guy (I should know since I’ve met him and even had lunch with him). The video below is a great one hour interview with him by Bobby Chiu. I watched it quite a few times since I discovered it, a few years ago and it doesn’t get old. Give it a try:
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Wow, have I been tired. I really should rest more during the weekends. I started on a new episode this week but my energy level has been dragging. I feel so behind. I’ve got a lot to do and my director wants me to be done by today.
I really need to start going to sleep earlier.
ART
I finished up the thumbnail, for my painting. It turned out okay:
I wasn’t happy with the fire so I did it again:
I’m finally ready to start on the finished painting after all this time. I’m tired of working on this piece. I hope in all goes well so I can be done. I’m itching to get back to my cartoon again.
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I managed to finish Act 1 on Monday morning. I’ve been working on Act 2, pretty much for the rest of this week. It wasn’t as heavy a rewrite as act one and I’ll be done by the end of the day today. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing on Friday though. I hope I can relax a bit.
FAMILY
Sept. 11th was my wife Alesha’s birthday. So while everyone else in the U.S. is remembering the World Trade Center tragedy, my family is celebrating my wife’s birth.
I GUESS everyone loves Alesha. MAN, we had tons of people come by and to say happy birthday. We knew that some of our family and friends would be coming by. It was going to be nice to have a few people over. Thinking the whole time that it would be maybe two or three people, but no, it was my in-laws and my parents and Alesha’s best friends. Our house got crowded REAL fast. We didn’t expect it.
It was very nice though. Especially since, Alesha can’t really be out of the house while she recovers from her C-section. She was very glad to have the company. She told me she had a good birthday.
Not only that, but many of her family members and friends got to meet baby Luke for the first time.
I was very happy to see that Alesha is so well loved.
VIDEOS
I saw these animated cartoons late last week. They are animated audio recordings of people who are recalling friends and family who died on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. It’s so moving. Very powerful stuff to watch. I though I’d share:
I’ve returned to the small rough of the cover I’m working on. Now that I’ve practiced a bit and have a few painting under my belt, I thought it was time to give the cover another shot.
First, I needed to make sure I could paint fire. I took one of the reference pictures I took of a red towel I lit on fire in my back yard, and painted it:
I was mostly concerned with the fire itself and didn’t really try to make the towel look like the towel. I think I got what I needed out of the painting.
Next I transferred my small rough pencils to the type of paper I’m going to use to paint on and I began the painting:
This is the very first pass. I simply put in all the blacks. The next step will be to add in all the dark grays, then the light grays. Once I’m done, I’ll study what I liked and didn’t like about the process. See what I could the better. IF it doesn’t work out, I’ll do yet ANOTHER rough. On the other hand, if I’m happy with it, I’ll finally get started on the final painting.
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Started working on episode 9 this week. I’ve only got four days to work on my sections due to the holiday on Monday. Started this week off under the gun. I’ve been assigned Act 1 and Act 2. The first Act has a pretty heavy rewrites. It’s going to be a tough couple of weeks. Especially since I’m still trying to recover from my very busy weekend.
More on that below.
FAMILY
The kids welcomed their newest little brother, Luke Raphael, this weekend.
This delivery has been the best one we’ve had. Everything went better than expected (as far as health goes). Alesha is doing great but she’s still recovering.
Thursday we asked my parents to help with the kids while we went to the hospital, ten minutes away, for Alesha’s planned C-section at 7:30am. We were instructed to show up at 5:30am, which we did. She had been having contractions since the morning before. The plan was for Alesha to have the baby while I supported her. Then once it was done, I was to go and take care of the kids while my mom went to work, late. I would then drop off Elizabeth at school, and stay with the boys for the rest of the afternoon. Wait for Elizabeth to get out of school, pick her up and take care of the kids the rest of the day. Alesha was suppose to rest at the hospital.
Things went according to plan but not in the way we wanted them to. The C-section started almost an hour late. That started messing things up right away.
They took Alesha in and then ten to fifteen minutes later, I was let in. I took out my iPod Touch because, it and my phone, where the only cameras I had. While I had the iPod Touch out, I played a game of Farkle and rubbed Alesha’s head. Alesha and I were asked a few times if we wanted to have the sheet put down to see what was happening. The answer was, “no” from both of us. It wasn’t too long before we heard the baby cry. I got up, put the iPod on camera mode and shot video and photos. I then shot photos on my phone and sent them to my parents.
They showed Alesha the baby. I held him and then they carted him off to the nursery while Alesha got stitched up. I watched as they examined and warmed up baby Luke and admired him. Soon I became aware of everything else I need to do though.
The clock was ticking and I realized it was almost time for me to take Elizabeth to school. It took a while for the doctor to sew Alesha back up. This meant I couldn’t see her and to give her back her phone and make sure she was okay. Also, I didn’t want my mom to be too late to work. I was very conflicted. Fifteen minutes later, Alesha was in the recovery room and I checked up on her. She was doing good. I gave her her phone and told her I was going to need to go. She gave me a groggy okay and I was off to my car. Meanwhile Tweets and Facebook messages came pouring in. I had sent a Facebook update and Tweeted what was going on while I had been waiting. I had no time to reply, too much to do.
Getting home I thanked my parents and they where off to drop my mom off at her school. Meanwhile, I packed the kids into the car and drove Elizabeth to school. we got there ten minutes late. But it was okay because it was recess. We went back home and I was able to catch a small breather. I put Ambrose down for his nap and called Alesha. I told her I would come by sometime in the morning but in the end I didn’t because I wanted Ambrose to rest a bit more. Meanwhile, Dante played video games and ate apples. I did chores.
Ambrose woke up, we all had lunch and then we went to pick up Elizabeth at school. I thought that it would be nice for us all to go visit Alesha at the hospital. Turns out, it wasn’t such a good idea. We showed up and visited Alesha but the kids where too hyper and crazy. We stayed maybe five to ten minutes and I had to take the kids out of there. I took them home and didn’t see Alesha again till 6pm the next day.
I spent Friday doing all the house chores that needed doing, feeding the kids and taking Elizabeth to school and back. We also went to the store to find paper bags so Elizabeth could finish her paper bag puppet. I spoke to Alesha on the phone and she told me she hadn’t rested. Her milk hadn’t been coming out fast enough and the baby was very upset about not getting enough to eat. She kept him during the night and she had slept very little. The nurses would come in every time she would fall asleep to check up on her and she was signing birth certificates and things while being all doped up. She felt very lonely and I really couldn’t do much about it. My parents went to go see her in the afternoon though, for which I was grateful. The interesting thing was that when the doctor showed up to see her, he had told her that she was doing very well and if she wanted, she might be able to go home Saturday. In the evening when I saw her, she told me this. I stayed with her till 8pm, and then came home, talked to my parents, who where taking care of the kids again. This time at their house. The kids were asleep when I got there. I took them home with me.
Saturday we all got up early, eat and off we went to Monica’s house (Dante’s Godmother), an hour and fifteen minutes away, so they could spent the day and the night with her and her son. Although, I would keep Ambrose with me. About, four hours later, I was back at home with Ambrose, and I fixing him lunch. I also got the house ready for the baby. I was just about to put Ambrose down for his nap (he was very tired) when Alesha told me that she was pretty much getting dismissed. Off Ambrose and I went to pick up Alesha, only to end up waiting for two hours. Ambrose was a handful. Still, just about when I was ready to take Ambrose home, Alesha got dismissed from the hospital and all of us went home. Ambrose was really happy to have a baby sitting next to him in the car.
We spent the rest of the day getting used to having the baby in the house and finding ways to make Alesha as comfortable as possible. Alesha’s parents came soon after we got home and my parents showed up soon after that. I put Ambrose to bed. After everyone left Alesha and I watched an episode of DOCTOR WHO on Netflix. Then we went to bed and slept as good as any parent could with a newborn.
On Sunday, after I cooked breakfast for everyone. I went to Church after putting Ambrose down for his nap. When I came back, I woke Ambrose up and went to pick up the other kids at 1pm. They had a birthday party to go to at 4pm. An hour and fifteen minutes later, Ambrose and I got to the house only to discover that Monica and the kids hadn’t come home from the Fair they were at. They were stuck in a long line waiting for a shuttle to take them to their car. An hour and a half later, they came and we all drove the hour and thirty minutes to the birthday party.
I was really tired at this point. After a few hours of trying to keep an eye on all three kids, who split up and went in three different directions, I finally recruited my parents, who also were at the party, to keep an eye on the eldest two while I took care of Ambrose. We stayed at the party past Ambrose’s bedtime and when I realized this, we said our goodbyes and went home. The kids met their new baby brother once again, but this time in the house. They greeted their mommy happily. I put the kids to bed after giving them a quick bath (they were filthy), and finally got a little bit of rest. My feet were killing me.
Monday (Labor day) we spent the day resting. Well, I tried to anyway. I was doing chores all day though. Laundry, dishes, breakfast, lunch, dinner. I played with the kids. Helped Alesha with the things she needed and took care of the kids when they need taking care of. Carolina, Eduardo (Elizabeth’s Godparents) and the family came over to visit the baby and stayed for about an hour. It was nice to see them. Soon after, I put the kids to bed and was time to rest for me again. I went to bed early that day.
It was a busy busy weekend.
VIDEO/ART
Because I’ve been into painting these last few months, I thought this video of Herman Mejia painting Willem Dafoe’s Portrait in watercolor. Amazing:
I worked Sunday for four hour this weekend. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I worked twelve hour days. Why? Because I’m not coming into work on Thursday and Friday. I’ll tell you why in a moment.
Since I worked so much early in the week, I managed to get all my work done for the episode I was working on by the end of Tuesday. This left me open to work on yet another episode. Seems there where some new rewrites for episode 500. A few more scenes where added and the director of the show wanted me to take a crack at them. The section seemed simple but it was deceptively hard. I did the most amount of work I could get done in the twelve hours I had. Tough Wednesday.
FAMILY
Why am I not coming into to work today (Thursday, Sep 1st.)? Well, I hadn’t really announced it on this blog. I least I don’t think I have, BUT, my wife Alesha has been pregnant all this time and she’s having the baby today (scheduled C-section).
Today will be the birthday of my son Luke Raphael Escobar! I’m so excited!
ART
I’ve continued to practice my painting these last few days. I’ve made a conscious decision to try to paint slightly more difficult subjects. Subjects whose lighting is a bit more tricky to paint. I was trying to build up to painting a pretty girl.
My first attempt was a painting of Bruce Lee. I picked it because it didn’t really have really black shadows. I was mostly dark grey and light grey tones. I find these types of values much more difficult to control. This is what I ended up with:
Yeah, what’s up with the crazy chin?! Bruce Lee FAIL.
Well, here’s what went wrong: When I was doing the under drawing, I thought that perhaps I’d caricature the drawing, but I didn’t completely commit to the idea and I ended up with a really disproportionate drawing. I didn’t really realize it until it was too late. Serves me right for rushing the preliminary steps.
Unhappy with the result, I tried it again, this time trying to just do a straight drawing with not exaggeration. Once I had that done I thought I’d experiment with the painting approach. Since the reference was mostly dark grey, I thought perhaps I should start by putting the dark grey down first and put the black in after:
I quickly abandoned the painting. I found I couldn’t put in the detail needed in the dark areas because I’d painted over my line drawing with grey. It actually was not very helpful to work this way (that, and the eyes where a bit too far apart).
I went at it again a third time. This time, I tried to get the likeness right and I approached the painting as I had been taught to do. This was the result:
Much better. I could live with it.
Next I tried drawing G.K. Chesterton. Mostly because I really like the guy. The photo I used had a lot of dark grey tones in the face so it was very challenging:
It came out okay but there’s something about it I’m not very happy with. Maybe because I didn’t get the likeness quite right, I don’t know. It’s one of those pieces where my ambition for the painting and what I eventually painted don’t quite match.
The moment of truth arrived. I was going to draw a pretty girl’s face. I looked online for a head shot of a pretty girl that had lighting I thought I could work with. I found one of Keira Knightley I thought would be good and proceeded to paint it:
…and had an EPIC FAIL.
I knew going in that the best approach for painting a pretty girl is, “less is more”. The reference I was using had a lot of light grey tone in it. I had the painting at a certain degree of finish and I though I’d try maybe putting in a little light grey tone. Unfortunately it was a tad too dark and there’s no “undo” button on a practical painting. I tried to “save” the painting by making the dark grey areas darker to make the light grey look lighter. It only made things worse.
Well, having learned from my mistakes I tried it again. This time I took the “less is more” approach:
It turned out okay but somehow I thought it didn’t look finished. I still wanted to add some value to light areas so it didn’t look so washed out. But I didn’t want to screw it up. I scanned the painting so I could at least have a copy of what it looked like before I added the light grey and then went ahead and applied the light grey:
I don’t really think it looks any better. I think it looks worse. Too many brushstrokes. It makes her look old.
Still, I’m learning. I’ll need to practice this some more. I don’t have the hang of this painting thing yet but I’m getting there. Next time I’m going to pre-plan the rhythms on the face a bit better. That way, the strokes I put down better define the planes and aren’t so muddy.
Perhaps, next week, I’ll start working on the roughs for the cover for my wife’s book again.
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