Drifting.

STUFF.....

Anatomy

Lately I've been trying to better my anatomy drawings. I have a few anatomy books my two favorites are Andrew Loomis and Burne Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy. This is a study I did from Hogarth's book.

 I havent been to impressed with how i draw faces, for some reason they seem lifeless. If I want to be someone successful, knowing and studying anatomy is something I must always do. I remember having a drawing book as a kid, it was the kind that starts off with circles/cylinders and eventually you have a complete character. As a kid I thought it was ridiculous to start off with a circle, knowing that the shape consists of so many other curves. I never wanted any other book like that, I thought it was a waste of my time. Then I went to college, and I learned in my anatomy/life drawing class how to go about drawing the figure. And on that first day we were given a demonstration on how to go about setting up the over all form. He drew a circle, then a cylinder and so on, and I instantly felt like a dumbass after the demonstration was done. Sometimes you have to see something done physically in front of your eyes to truely understand the process. After years of denying the circle/cylinder process I had to start learning how to see objects as basic shapes. Its not always easy but its definitely the best lesson that got handed to me. I know my drawings are still very weak, and im just trying to develop my skills as much as I can, and I know with more and more practice there will be no disappointment.

Sketch of the Day

unfinished sketch... the green water color was done in photoshop. The rest is pencil pen and prisma. i still need alot of work on faces, it still looks lifeless to me. I'll get it one day...

the sketch was done from a photograph by Jaime Ibarra. Check his site out, he lives in Austin, maybe one day i'll meet him. http://jaimeibarra.deviantart.com/

The Process

Heres a short video of me starting a digital painting.

Lifes Path

Just something that came to me today... i'll elaborate later.

maybe we all have unique and individual finger prints because the only way God can recognize us is by holding our hands.

T-rex

Its 3am and I'm getting tired. Heres a t-rex sketch i started. it was done in ballpoint pen, then with willow charcoal. Willow Charcoal is very light so it doesnt stay on the paper that well. I got frustrated with it some. Got a little tired with it as you can tell on the jaw haha. Didnt want to scan it and get all the dust on my scanner so i took a pic with my phone... which sux.  And the other pic is just something i did to hurt your eyes, so you will know how mine feel right now.

Disney Animation

I went to half priced books today because I was bored. I didnt have any intentions of getting anything, its just I enjoy looking at all the art books. So I walked in today and found a great book called Disney Animation The Illusion of Life. Its written by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston who were a part of "The Nine Old Men". Disney's Nine Old Men were the core animators at Walt Disney Productions who created some of Disney's most famous works, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs onward to The Rescuers.

I bought the book for $23.00, which is not bad considering its a 1981 first printing. They reprinted it again in 1995 but inverted the title, so it was well worth the money!

The two wrote this book in effort to pass on the techniques developed prior to the passing of Walt Disney to a younger generation of animators. It goes over the 12 basic principles of animation. It has a ton of drawings and model sheets in it. Talks about character develepment, story, sound,  animating expressions and dialouge!! And to top it all of it has a total of 561 pages of AWESOME INFORMATION!!!. So today was a good day, I found a great book.... and now im blogging about it, which means I am a huge nerd! Bottom line is, if your into animation and you see this book anywhere, but it!

Chatroulette Sketch

I got on chatroulette today. But instead of trying to talk to people i just put the camera on my hands drawing. This is the outcome. Just a sketch of batman. Watercolors are alot of fun, but it only looks good if you know what your doing... in this case, i dont!

Santiago Hinojosa Gomez

I was down in Wharton for Easter weekend and stopped by my father’s house on Saturday. For one reason or another I had been thinking of my Grandpa lately and I asked if he could tell me what he knew of my grandfather’s time in the war. I only learned a little more than what I already knew, which is not much.  Maybe my Grandpa didn’t give specifics and if he did I’m sure other relatives will know more, but this is what I got from my father. As far as timelines go, I only know when he was drafted.

 Santiago Hinojosa Gomez was my grandfather’s name. He was drafted into World War II on September 22, 1942 at the age of 23. He was in the Rhineland Campaign, awarded The Purple Heart and The Silver Star. 

Each time I hear the story it starts off freezing cold, snowing and somewhere in Germany.  His company is close to around 300, and he carried a Browning Automatic Rifle (B.A.R.).  

Specifications: Weight 7.25 kg (15.98 lb) (M1918)  Rate of Fire: 300-450 or 500-650 rounds/min

The company was about to enter a clearing on a flat plane. There would be no place for shelter until after that clearing and it’s a risky crossing. Before marching out into the open a Soldier looks through his binoculars and says that he sees Germans on the other side, but the captain of the company says they are mistaken and its fellow American soldiers. The snow was picking up and it was getting hard to see but the soldier still insisted that Germans were ahead. He identified them to be Germans by their hats that they wore, but to no avail the Captain ensured them otherwise and commanded them to march across. They start marching in that direction and then all of a sudden gunfire came towards them.  It was the Germans and now they were being ambushed!

The next part my grandpa says was hazy and like a dream.  He remembers looking for the soldier that accompanied him that carried ammo. The guy was gone, he wasn’t sure if he had been blown up shot or was just in vicinity than what he was. He kept firing until he felt two bullets penetrate his right arm. I don’t know how long this standoff lasted but it got to a point to where my grandpa knew he was going to die. He recalls only wanting to smoke one last cigarette. He pulled out his matches and tried to light it but the pack was soaking wet and it just wouldn’t fire up. With nothing left and no ammo he began to whistle the tune Adios Mariquita Linda. Some German soldiers came up on him overpowered him and he was taken as a prisoner.

(listen to Adios Mariquita Linda
here are the lyrics in English)

Goodbye Mariquita Linda
I'm going because you no longer want
As I love you.
Goodbye chubby sweety
I'm going to distant lands
and never return.
Goodbye life of my life
the cause of my pain
the love of my love
the scent of my flowers
I will leave forever.
Adios Mariquita linda
I'm going with the sad soul
the anguish and pain.
I'm leaving because thy scorn
have ruthlessly hurt forever
my poor heart.
Goodbye my little white house
the cradle of my love
looking at you amid the flowers
and sing my pain
I give you my last goodbye.




He was put in a German concentration camp where he got lice and his arm became infected with gangrene. The Germans saw this and took him to get his arm removed. The operation took place on top of a pool table. Back in camp he became malnourished and endured the camp a total of four months. I’m not sure about how he was rescued, I plan on trying to get more information on the story.  After his whole ordeal was done with he was flown back to the states where his mother was waiting for him. He said she passed right by him and didn’t even recognize him being short of one arm and malnourished. He shouted out to her and she turned to him and he said it’s me Santiago.  Santiago Hinojosa Gomez? “Si mama”

When he went home he had to do something that his mother said he had to do if he came back from the war alive, which was crawl on his hands and knees to the church which was  maybe around 150 yards from their house. He said that was the hardest thing he had to do, still learning how to do things with a missing arm.

I sometimes wonder how a man can go through something like this and have such a huge heart. He never complained not once about life.  He was always smiling, and I never heard him yell or saw him get angry at anyone. This man will always be someone I look up to. He lived to be 88 years old. He showed us the meaning of happiness, courage, and most of all love. He has an incredible story which im working at getting all the details.  There are times I see him in my dreams with both arms, but when it comes to shaking my hand he still uses his left :)

A Frog, Gator, and a Louisiana Lightning Bug

A few weeks ago I rented Disney's The Princess and the Frog. The movie was ok.... for sure it was no Lion King!! The dvd was on my kitchen counter when i decided to do a quick rendering of the characters on the cover while talking with some friends. I ended up drawing on a James Avery catalog that was lying around. I would say it took me around 20 minutes to be satisfied with it and let it be lol. I drew with a pen so there was no erasing, and used marker, some prismas and whiteout.

A late thought.

Here's something i started on last night. I prob. wont finish it that's why i'm posting it.

I am surrounded by trees.
Where the sun will have to change its ways just to find me.
Its true that my heart feels empty…
And my soul seeks something more than this.
I believe simplicity is the only way to find God.
Courage will lead you to the best mistakes in life.
And Loves power is at its best when you are heartbroken.

Day of the Dead

I have this idea of trying to do a day of the dead digital painting that involves crows. I want them to be painted up as if they were skeletons. I imagine them perched on a tombstone of some sorts waiting to carry the souls of the dead. I want them to have a necklace of a glowing heart around their necks, symbolizing the persons soul that they are carrying. In the next few days i need to find some bird anatomy reference. As you can clearly see mine is far from the real construction. The Crow is one of my favorite movies, and i have always loved the idea of a crow carrying the soul of person to the land of the dead. Hopefully I will follow through with this idea.