Character Sheet Redesign (Sorry this title is desperately lacking in the cleverness department!)

After realizing there was no way I could animate Prudence the way I had drawn her in the previous model sheet, I decided a revamp of her character was in order. ...Also, a revamp of the story. Working on the storyboards. I finally have my inspiration back! Apollo is finally smiling down on me!

What might you ask gave me this inspiration? Well, part of it was sheer willpower to force something out - like striking a wet match, it's fairly improbable, but hardly impossible. So I started the character yesterday at Bittersweet Cafe on Fillmore St and then tonight after looking through some amazing sketches and rough animation on this fantasmic blog that posts artwork by the brilliant Glen Keane: http://theartofglenkeane.blogspot.com/2006/05/pocahontas.html

I finally got the true inspiration to draw all this. More to come.

Color Palettes, Hooray!

So the way this works: The story will start out in very colors 75% desaturated. It's supposed to give the feel of more sad, depressed, and aged story. It's not until the glowing light from the merman's tritan appears that the colors begin to brighten up. The bottom one is if I decide to use any normal lighting at all.

Here's my first color studies of different palettes.

Story Reel Revisions

Well, I've already decided bits and pieces that I don't like about this new cut, but I decided to put it up anyways, just to keep track of the changes, and maybe any other suggestions people might have.

I'll leave you to it then.

Storyreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel!! *GASP*

For the past two weeks I've been pounding out storyboard thumbs. I want to finish a short film by this summer. I know that seems ambitious, but holy cow, I can work when I want to. I realized that last night when it was suddenly 1am and I hadn't looked at the clock since 10pm. Much like tonight actually... except it's now 2am. I'm just waiting for my quicktime file to finish rendering out in after effects. This is a rough-run through, and there are things I haven't drawn very well through, like the beginning - you will actually see the man and woman's face who are in silhouette, and Prudence (that's the girl) won't start walking immediately; she will be looking in at them and then start walking away obviously distrought. Maybe even wipe a tear away as she turns. Also, the shot where she is looking back at the ship (which is drawn terribly!) you'll see the shadows and silhouettes of all the people inside dancing around. Also, the man in the locket picture is the man you see at the beginning with the woman.

Anyways, it just beeped at me so I'm going to check it out and upload it!

p.s. - there's sound too!

Ooh! Being sort of productive!

I have no witty comments for today.

Boo, I suck.

Sketchy sketch.

Something I realized that I hadn't done in a while was post actual sketches instead of final pieces. So here's a couple sketches from a sketchbook that I now realized is NOT good for scanning. Consider this my lesson learned.

What does one do when one is sick?

...color apparently! Hooray for color! Coloring is pretty much my favorite part of doing an illustration. Perhaps it's just the kid in me hoping to be able to prove that I can color within the lines!

Back to being bored and sick now.

America's Outlaw Crush

I actually started this over a week ago after I finished watching 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'. The film is a spectacle of the best kind, and I highly recommend seeing it if you love history, cinematography, hot men, and a fascinating take on the the life of Jesse James.

p.s. - Fun fact (I wrote "fun 'cat'" the first time round, I need sleep!): The film was mostly shot in Alberta, Canada, near Edmonton, a place I've been lucky enough to visit more than a few times. It's twice as gorgeous as Missouri, so I can see why they filmed there instead!

p.p.s. - I forgot to mention that I updated my website! Not really anything except I centered everything and made the background black... so yeah... hopefully updating it soon with more artwork and a real update! www.ceydran.com

p.p.p.s. - I did these illustrations tonight too but I don't have enough time to color them, so here's the line drawings! Colored versions tomorrow hopefully!



p.p.p.p.s. - Wondercon was awesome (except the creepy lady who ruined my chance of having a real conversation with Wendy Pini!! *shakes fist*). I finally got my Claire Wendling book and I must say I'm overwhelmed with joy. My life is now complete. Well okay, it's like, I got one box checked off... I still have to invent bee-mittens.

p.p.p.p.p.s. - sorry for all the postscripts!

Little... Green Riding Hood? Olive? Guacamole?

Again with the sleep thing. I'll do it soon enough! Just let me post this and then I'll go, I swear.

Oh, and, one thing before that; Slumdog Millionaire won best picture? Really? I don't know, this last year sucked for film that weren't of the comic book genre. I'm hoping that with the way the shitty economy is going, we'll get better quality independent films this year. Yay economic crisis!

And the lights went out in San Francisco...

Yes, I could not make myself sleep while I had this illustration to do. And it was coming up on 5am (what was I thinking still being awake?!) and right when I was putting the finishing touches on the colors... the power goes out. Yes, at during the rainy rain storm outside, the power cut to my computer and I'm retarded because I know I should have a surge-protector but I have been too cheap to buy one.

In any case, I now put off going to work on time to finish the illustration for reals.

Partially inspired by: 'Just Like Honey', The Jesus and Mary Chain.

the inspiration fairy visits me at midnight

i couldn't even think of going to sleep till i finished this. maybe now my creativity will be appeased.

i heart winter.

Where have I been?

Sorry it's been weeks since my last update. Health things and work has sort of consumed my life lately, but I do have a slew of magnificent sticky note drawings to quench your artful thirst.

Yeah. This is what I draw when I'm too lazy to do sketchbook drawings.

It's amazing what you can get out of a 2.5x2.5in sketch.

more goblin chic-ness

Yay I got in an art show! New Art 08 at the Hotel des Arts. It's next Wednesday. I'll post the time of the event when I find out ASAP.

**FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SHOW!

HOTEL DES ARTS
447 Bush St (Between Kearny and Grant)
Show opens at 5:30PM

Hope to see you there!



I like giving each painting its own post, so I have more new ones than just this but yeah, whateva, hold yer horses, you'll get the rest soon enough.

"As Gob as my witness, I'll never go hungry again!"

'Scar-let O'Scare-a'

Okay, maybe not.

I've sort of abandoned my "making models into goblins" dogma - now it's just mostly inspiration from a model and then I make a totally different painting. Seriously, if you saw the reference for this you'd think I posted the wrong photo - you can't even see the girl's hands in the photo. I think I got the reference for her shoulders and the bow... yup that's about it. Anyways, ramble ramble ramble - enough rambling. Goodnight.

Goblin Chic Part IV

I know these two don't look hardly anything alike but I really didn't like the colors on the model for being the colors of my goblin. And I just spelled half of the words in that sentence wrong before correcting them, so I need to go to sleep. It's late. I think I'm turning into a goblin myself. Maybe that means I have a chance with David Bowie.

Okay - okay enough ridiculousness. Goodnight.

Goblin Chic Part III

My scanner is so crappy - I can never get the colors to look the same, they always look washed out... boo. Oh well. I really liked the color scheme of this one's hair and hat. However a black coat would have been just too lame. I think a good rule of thumb is to avoid solid black areas at all cost in non-graphic pieces of art. It's just a hole for the viewers eye and sucks all the attention out of the rest of the piece.

Ernimahoo... I need to go buy more of these boards, they're the key to my ugly obsession.

Gentlemen prefer blondes.

Erm... well, usually anyway...

Goblin Chic

For the longest time I never really knew how to apply my love of beauty and grotesqueness to my art in the same attempt. I've finally done it. Beauty is extremely dull. The perfection and lack of imperfections takes all the life and interest out of a painting. And so, I've come to start my project of turning high fashion models into hideous goblins, and I'm quite excited at the prospect of more pieces, but it's 1:30 in the morning and... well, maybe I have time for one more.

-original reference-

The Horned Goddess

So I've started doing paintings on rad these watercolor boards that I only found out about last week. Since I'm a complete moron when it comes to acrylics and oils, I haven't been able to really just do a watercolor painting and be done without worrying about the paper wrinkling and framing it and all that bullshit, so I'm really excited about this mini project!

This is the first one I've done, and honestly, it turned out really well after I'd all but completely given up on it. I think that once you start to worry less about the perfection it ends up working out much better. Now if I could only think of something for the next painting... I haven't been feeling so well lately so my inspiration sort of only comes in short spurts. I think I'll peruse my Brian Froud art book for Labyrinth. Be ready for lots of gross creepy goblins or something soon!

I need a haircut.

Yeah. This is a self-portrait. I just put Photoshop on my computer today so I was excited to try it out. However, uninspired and so what's easiest when you're uninspired? Draw yourself! Woo!

Lady Sings the Blues

I can't even begin to say how much I adore her.

So I drew a picture instead.






"There's snowflakes in the sky, and geese are flying high, but it's April in my heart again..."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you Billie.

In-Progress/Scary Street

Yep. Just threw a quick background on an unfinished character clean-up. Partly because I'm lazy but mostly because I don't know Corel Painter that well and my Photoshop 7 wouldn't install on my computer... so... damnit. I need CS... *sigh*... Oh well.

Working re-design for Persephone for The Lamp Post at Fillmore and Pine.

WHOO!

First sketch with my new tablet!!!!!!!!!!

It's nothing special, but I"m excited. So, yeehaw.

Little Woman.

It's almost a month late - but I did the inked illustration on the plane flight to Spokane on her birthday last month. I can't believe you're 21 already. Way to make me feel old!! <3

Pin-up!

So yeah, I did this really fun pin-up illustration for my buddy Matt's comic (well he's the artist) - Wonderdog, Inc. It'll be debuting at Comic-Con this summer so if you're going... you should pick one up! And I'll love you forever! Or at least until one of us gets too clingy and then the little differences in opinions lead to huge fights where we're screaming at each other in the middle of a restaurant about how 'someone' forgot to ask for ketchup and we end up breaking up right then and there and so one of us throws the other's belongings out the fourth story window of our lovely apartment and the other has to move back home to Wisconsin to live with their parents. I'll love you until then.

XO

Glasses Chic

Sometimes I wish I could wear glasses... but not really. I look terrible in glasses.

Sure bert/Sherbet.

For the longest time I thought it was pro-nounced "sher-bert". I've come to realize that I wasn't the only one. Anyways these colors remind me of the rainbow-flavored kind (is rainbow a flavor?). And so do these hot days.

I don't know if I like the real gradient or the blocky gradient better. Hmmm...

Prettier than I intended it to be.

Bohemia.

I dunno about the colors :-/

Plaid.

I [heart] plaid.

Pin Stripes!

Yeaaaah. I think I should make some prints, of these, what do you think??

hello again. it's been a while.

nothing special. but something.

props! (please?)

Yay! Viz dev props for my Holy Grail artwork. Wheeeeeeee!

et voila!

c'est finis! click to see it all big 'n stuff!

Holy Grail!

Yay! Finished exactly half of the character designs for Monty Python inspired characters! Gonna do a props page too! Whoo! The other three will be done by tonight!

Rollin'