All Men Must Die

The idea for this illustration was conceived when a friend approached me wanting a mural to be done in his house. Originally, we did not have anything in mind but after a lengthy (and fruitful) discussion about the latest (and many) ordeals to fall upon the land of Westeros, our mutual affection for the Game of Thrones tv series lead us to the obvious: DUDE IT CAN BE A GAME OF THRONES MURAL!

I approached this illustration with the composition being my main concern. I wanted things to flow nicely from top to bottom, and after making a quick sketch I came up with the final version of where I wanted the elements to be. I placed them in a zigzag pattern trying to balance it all out and not have one side feel heavier than the other.

Now all that is left is to copy it on the wall...sigh

And after a little photoshop..

Inception

Ideation, the creation of ideas.

Preliminary sketch for a book illustration. Although we went in a different direction I was pleased with the way this came out.

Her Birthday

I didn't really know where this was going when i started, but as the sketch progressed i started getting a better idea of what I wanted. Unlike many watercolors that i do i wanted to keep the pencil lines and shades in order to give the painting a little more depth once I applied the paint.

And most importantly she really liked it.

Goat Head

This is a drawing I neglected for a few weeks due to more important projects...or so I tell myself. The truth is that I did not know how to continue once i had finished the inking stage. I eventually started to add color with watercolors, my preferred medium, and just kind of improvised as i went along. No real concept here, this started off a sketch out of boredom.

An Exercise in Drawing

I regard the illustration classes I took while I was a student as the basis for the passion and knowledge I now have to draw. I have always been drawing but I acquired and learnt a lot during my university years, and that is mainly due to one of the greatest professors an illustration student could have, Daniel Drennan.

One of the first things he taught was that illustration should begin with what we see around us. We must observe and study the elements we choose to draw by looking at every detail they offer. Once having considered all the information given by a piece, the illustrator can then decide what they what to depict with their drawing. Every sketch should begin with a realistic rendering of the chosen item. 

This multi-view study of a bamboo stick was done using pencil.

Mad Science

These are a series of illustrations I did for my final year project while in university. They were part of a fictional world I created that revolved around a scientist and his work.

A Capoeirista's Mark

I will use this post as an opportunity to write about something I love other than Illustration: Capoeira.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, and like any martial art it teaches you to attack and defend yourself.
But the physical abilities you learn by practicing Capoeira are just half of it. Through it you are introduced to a whole culture that is filled with rich traditions characterized by song, dance, colors and joy.
Unlike other martial arts, Capoeira uses music to set the rhythm of the game. Different instruments are used to do so but none are more important than the berimbau, which has become sort of a universal symbol for Capoeira. It is so characteristic of the sport that some who want to declare their passion for Capoeira have used it in tattoo designs as a capoeirista's mark. The tattoos capoeirista's get range from lyrics from part of a song, berimbaus, scenes of 2 people playing...basically anything related to the art. In some cases the capoeirista decides to get a tattoo based on their capoeira name. Now what is a capoeira name you ask? Well one of the traditions in this martial art is getting your capoeira name a few months after you have been practicing, it is a way to identify you by something that stands out in you. This element could be anything from a physical trait, a personality trait or the way you play or fight.
I myself have a name and a tattoo based on my name.

Now to get to this illustration. It was done for a fellow capoeirista that goes by the name Gladiador, which means gladiator in portuguese (hard to guess right?). He basically asked me to draw a torn up gladiator holding a berimbau as if it were his sword.
Just good old fashioned pencil for this one.

R.K.O.D

The Alchemist

This character was drawn up as concept art for a student film. I based the skeleton of the character on a previous sketch I had done as a study of human proportions. Drawing was penciled then inked while color and additional textures were added in photoshop.

Character featured in award winning student film ‘Tajali’ by Shady Abi Shakra.

Down The Rabbit Hole

For this book jacket I penciled the different elements alone. Unibal and rotring isograph pens were used for inking. The sprayed effect was achieved but using ink filled syringes and carefully applying the ink in the desired area. Once scanned and cleaned up all the elements were put together in photoshop.

Skulls, Skulls and More Skulls

I really enjoy drawing skulls..

These three illustration are a variation of just one skull I drew back in 2009. 

Originally a pencil sketch, I scanned it and forgot about it. About a year later I found it in some forgotten file, I was bored so I colored it on photoshop, added some texture and threw in a good old fashioned Mignola crown to finish it off.
About a year after that I entered a RedBull doodling contest and had about one hour to doodle something before the deadline. I sketched something up based on this skull and I actually won first place. 

 

Octo-Doodle

This started off as a classroom doodle during animation class. The initial sketch is about 10 x 7 cm done with a uniball pen. It was scanned and digitally reproduced in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet.

This might have been done when whole hype for the Kraken in the remake of Clash of the Titans and was going around..

Seasons

I based the illustrations for this was a seasonal calendar on the pagan wheel of the year. The 12 months were divided into 4 seasons and each season was done using a different illustration technique : Fall - watercolor, Winter - stenciling, Spring - collograph printing and Summer - acrylic cell block painting

My Amish Penguin Friend

...No real purpose behind this. Drew a penguin and thought he'd look good in a hat.
Reminds me of something out of Courage the cowardly dog.
My sister made this sketch into a cute little sculpy figure.