Merry Sunshine

We wanted to wish y'all a Merry Christmas but we'll let The Hoff do all the talking for us, because nothing says Christmas like a German god prancing through the streets of Euro Disney.

Cracking!

Aside from a few Nutcrackers from Josh's childhood (he used to collect them), we have been building our own collection since our first year of marriage, one Nutcracker for every Christmas. The one with the big head on left side is this year's addition.

Stasis Software Logo Design - Josh

A logo I designed for App company Stasis Software.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone!

(Sorry, we don't have a picture of the family to post.)

Super Mario Bros. Theme Park Attraction - by Josh

I've recently started to play around with the 3D software Google Sketchup, trying to find away to incorporate it into illustrations. This is my first test. What I did was create a very basic 3D model in Sketchup. I then took a JPG from a certain angle of the model and painted over it as my bases for an illustration. My goal was to see if I could create a drawing where it would not be blatantly obvious that I used a 3D model.


The drawing is an exterior of a Super Mario Bros. Theme Park Attraction that I made up. I plan to make this a part of a series of drawings where I also explore the interior and the ride itself, which is primarily a motion simulator.


The setting is the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing Service Center. Mario and Luigi have created a plumbing company and they have opened their doors for tours and plumbing recruits. The company guarantee is that they will send a plumber to you not matter what the terrain (land, water, or air). From these headquarters they blast their plumbing vehicles, like cannon balls, from the four large pipes at the top of the building.

5th Wedding Anniversary

As we do traditionally, we made up some SPAM Musubi and enjoyed it with some good IBC Cream Soda, while sitting down in front of warm flickering light from our Anniversary Jackolantern.

Prayer Book Illustrations - Josh

I was commissioned to provide 20 illustrations and a cover piece for an updated publication of The Guild of the Living Rosary of Our Lady and Saint Dominic. I was asked to adapt a particular collection of stain glass windows into simplified illustrations.

Fifteen of the drawings were based on the actual windows (two of which are seen above). The following drawings had to be fabricated to match the same style and look.

I was able to design the cover using this photo.


The book is expected to be published toward the end of the fall. My thanks to Canon David Baumann for providing me this opportunity.

Wardrobe Design - by Josh

For the first time I was commissioned to design wardrobe for a performance that was more in the line of "fashion" then "costumes". The client was performing arts organization, City Opera in LA. These designs were for the orchestra members of a concert performance

Klash!

At the beginning of summer I (Josh) was hired to create a series of illustrations and designs for a curriculum written for summer camp programs. The program, titled KLASH OF THE KINGDOMS, was created by our extremely creative friend Steve Burrows. Everything I drew was under his detailed guidance. When I was a kid I never went through any kind of program that was this well thought out and richly imaginative. The program was initiated at a camp that Steve and his parents own and manage in Nevada. The camp is called Cowboy's Rest.
This is an illustration I made for promotion materials.

Some banner designs.

Every team has a different shield each taken from the Gospels whenever Jesus says, "The Kingdom of God is like ..."

These shields were put on to physical shields, along with being on team T-shirts.

All the shirts included either of these designs.

The program begins with a video telling a story about a mythical land where all these different kingdoms reside.The video was told along with these illuminated style drawings. Kind of like the opening sequences in classic Disney animated films.

These are maps of the mythical land and show the dramatic "before" and "after" change which happens in the story.

The 2nd map was recreated in a full scale painting.

I also created my first drawing of a blue print for a set piece that was built. Below the blue print is my conceptual drawing of how the set would look when painted.

Katie and I went to work at the camp to help with some creative tasks. Katie painted over 50% of the castle wall.

This is how it all turned out. (I did not design this promo pic for the camp, except for the "Klash of the Kingdoms" letters.)

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Shock-A-Con - by Josh

I just got back from Comic Con '09 and had a total geek-fest!
The guys I went with somehow got a room at the new Hilton that is literally next door to the San Diego Convention Center. This year (like every year) Katie and I made a T-Shirt for the occasion:Katie and Sofie stayed home for this year's Con but she was there in spirit through the way I collected autographs. Katie came up with an idea to make a Comic Con Autograph Clock:Clock Wise - Bill Corbett (RiffTrax/MST3K-Crow), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Steve Purcell (Sam & Max), Iain McCaig (Concept Artist-Star Wars), Gis Gimly (Illustrator), Jeff Smith (Bone comic), Bridget Jones (MST3K), Tom Fulp (The Behemoth-Castle Crashers game), Kevin Murphy (RiffTrax/MST3K-Tom Servo), Dan Paladin (Artist-The Behemoth), Doug TenNapel (Earthworm Jim/many graphic novels), Mike Nelson (MST3K-host)

I realize that I never posted about Comic Con last year ('08) but it was also a blast! Not only did Katie and Sofie join me but there was the 20th anniversary for Mystery Science Theater 3000 and I got to be on an actual Comic Con panel for the showing of short film Superpowers! Katie made an outfit for Sofie which we had our "heroes" sign.Clockwise, starting with the sleeve- Trace Beaulieu (Cinematic Titanic/MST3K-Crow/Dr. Forester), Kevin Murphy (see above), Frank Conniff (Cinematic Titanic/MST3K-TV's Frank), Rob Schrab (Scud/Robot Bastard), Bill Corbett (see above), Joel Hodgson (Cinematic Titanic/MST3K-Host), Mike Nelson (see above), Steve Purcell (see above), Dough TenNapel (see above).

An Oh So Sweet Moon Landing

What do get when you mix too much free time, staying up past midnight, watching Space Movies all day, eating nothing but sugar and diet coke?


A true work of art!

Game Night

Aside from posting on this blog, I (Josh) also share another blog called Game Night.Game Night happens every Saturday evening when a few of my friends get together and just have fun playing video games (mostly on the Wii these days). I find it very therapeutic. So for gaming interest and generally interest in all things nerdy please stop by.

A Touch Of Creativity Brings Good TV Back To Life

Katie and I have finally started watching the wonderful series of Pushing Daisies and we really enjoy it.I personally love this show in it's entertaining characters, witty dialog, great plots, and beautiful production design. The cinematography really got my attention and appreciation. It feels like the creators of this series put some evident hard work into every episode. The basic premise of the show focuses around a pie maker named Ned, who has the ability to bring the dead back to life by touching them. However, he can only keep them alive for a minute or another life is taken, a second touch will return the once dead individual back the grave. The dark material is handled in way that is surprisingly light and fun in a fairytale manner.If you're interested, here is the pilot episode:
The rest of the episodes can be watched HERE.