joseph sapulich

ANATOMY SKETCH—AFTER GEORGE BRIDGMAN

2012-01-20T11:52:00.000-06:00

GOUACHE DEVELOPMENT PAINTING

2012-01-18T20:21:00.005-06:00

PAINTING DETAIL

This is my Gouache painting on illustration board of a motorcycle for Yamaha. The detail almost put me in an early grave but I survived and won several awards for painting. It was featured in magazines, corporate advertising and articles featuring demo shots. Most of my work today has more of a painterly feel leaving brush strokes and softer edges. Special thanks to the Yamaha Motor Corporation.

GEORGE—GOUACHE PAINTING

2012-01-18T10:46:00.002-06:00

My dad posed for this painting when was just starting out in the business. This is a Gouache painting (kinda like tempera paint) on illustration board. So, this really is the first in the American Made series. I remember painting the whole thing pretty much with a 001 watercolor brush. That's when I had patience.

George, having internal bleeding, was rushed to the hospital right before Christmas. It was a rough time but at least I had a gifted week off from work to visit him. All I can say is he's a crusty character. He was always the tough guy at the bar so it was strange to see him laying there with an oxogen line strapped to his nose. I can honestly say that even though he's eighty-four years young he's still rabble rousing with the best of them—just a little slower these days.

Confined to a rehabilitation home, he is filling his days regaling the nurses with amazing exploits of his youth when he worked in a coal mine in Pennsylvania, went to fight Hitler in the big war, and other colorful stories for those not faint of heart—most are true—all entertaining. If you're a judgmental Christian this guy will give you volumes for your files. LOL.

Please pray for Geo as he lives through his latest adventure overcoming his physical condition with daily rehab. Let's believe together that he will have complete healing and restoration and that he will have many more adventures to tell to his grandchildren and wide eyed nurses. Thx.

DETAIL

EAGEL SKETCH

2012-01-12T10:17:00.000-06:00

SMOK'N

2012-01-09T11:04:00.000-06:00

CONCEPT SKETCH—SEMPER FI

2012-01-05T13:55:00.001-06:00

THE ART OF JOSEPH SAPULICH

2011-12-13T10:38:00.008-06:00

My first printed collection of fine art oil paintings is now available. This forty-eight page gallery catalog features selected oils from my American Made: People of the Heartland series. It's geared toward galleries and fine art collectors but I thought I'd make it available to everyone for a limited time. All of the reproductions are printed on high lustre premium paper which is amazing. The printer really did a great job on this.

2011-11-28T15:09:00.000-06:00

Preliminary Sketch On Canvas Board.

Oil Sketch on Canvas Board.

MORNING BLEND

2011-11-08T15:31:00.002-06:00

DOC MARTIN

2011-08-26T09:05:00.002-05:00

Finally done! The painting itself went fast but finding the time to actually sit down and paint is the challenge for me these days. Anyway, the painting is complete because it says what I want it to say and nothing more can add to that statement. Special thanks to my friend Jim Martin who posed for this oil.

OIL PAINTING IN PROGRESS

2011-08-08T09:18:00.001-05:00

Block-in stages; charcoal sketch and over all wash to background and upper face. I'm going to leave the background unfinished and just add the beard and indicate parts of the collar and jacket. These shots were taken under north light with no color correction so the colors may be a bit of depending on your monitor.

PEN SKETCH

2011-07-23T21:23:00.000-05:00

Another doodle from my head. I really like Noodler's Ink.

SKETCH: FOUNTAIN PEN

2011-07-23T21:17:00.000-05:00

Quick sketch with my Namiki Falcon fountain pen.

SKETCH: NAMIKI FALCON

2011-07-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

Testing out the Namiki Falcon fountain pen using Noodler's Ink.

MOTHER THERESA OIL SKETCH

2011-06-15T15:35:00.000-05:00

OIL SKETCH ON PANEL

2011-06-14T17:38:00.001-05:00

MOLESKIN SKETCH

2011-06-10T11:09:00.003-05:00

SKETCHBOOK

2011-04-25T10:16:00.001-05:00

After John Singer Sargent's 1879 painting of Carlos Duran.

POKER FACE

2011-03-30T16:10:00.001-05:00

OIL ON CANVAS

Here is the final painting along with progressive stages leading up to it. Special thanks to my friend, H.J. Smith for posing for me. It was the fasted canvas I painted but it took the longest to finish. Huh? Well, the oil was painted in basically two sessions but there were several months in between those sessions. During that time H.J. moved to Oklahoma, got a great new job, met a wonderful girl and . . . well, let's just say I had to finish the painting before he forgot he even posed for me. Anyway, it was all worth it.

As you can see the canvas drawing wasn't all that on model—actually not very inspiring either. It was just a fast way to position key elements that would be more fully developed as the painting progressed. As for the edges, I love juxtaposing really sharp edges alongside softer edges and love nailing those areas that can be completely lost.

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

ROUGH CANVAS SKETCH

AVATAR FACIAL STUDIES

2010-08-23T14:22:00.034-05:00

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

These are some of my early Navi character studies for the licensed property Avatar directed by James Cameron. The artists and designers working on our team were amazing and I just remember how great everyone was.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I learned about anatomy and figure drawing working with these artists. The film, of course, was extremely successful worldwide along with the ancillary products and promotions that were launched throughout the theatrical run.

Aang

2010-07-08T14:42:00.006-05:00

Two of my character sketches for the Paramount Pictures property The Last Airbender. I enjoyed viewing the animated series for prep work before getting started on the project. The series did a great job blending humor within the underlying serious nature of the story. As you can tell from these sketches, the characters for the film were developed to have a more serious tone to reflect the hard realities of the world around them.

THE LAST AIRBENDER

2010-06-30T10:56:00.010-05:00

These three images show my digital painting for water bending and the background. I used Photoshop CS4 and worked very large using a Wacom tablet. When the painting was sized down it looked photo realistic.

I've been crazy busy, so when I have time I'll post a few of my character sketches of Aang . . .

THE LAST AIRBENDER

2010-06-30T10:48:00.013-05:00

These images are are samples of my digital painting assignments depicting water bending effects and backgrounds for the Paramount Pictures property The Last Airbender. Working on this project was amazing. I got to meet M. Night Shyamalan the day he was flying out to adopt his daughter. My wife and I adopted both our children so I appreciated his excitement and commitment.

What I remember most is walking into our first meeting getting a jolt of all of the creative energy. Being in that room with so many artists and creative thinkers who were dreaming dreams and making them become reality through their art was so inspiring. I left that place feeling excited to be a creative thinker—a person living beyond the box.

PEN SKETCHES

2010-06-30T09:00:00.010-05:00

I thought I'd share a few of my doodles that I did a while back with just about any pen that happened to be laying around. I doodle ideas, thoughts, anatomy studies such as eyes and faces, and sometimes I even doodle artist's paintings to learn as much as I can about their work.

Doodling helps me see and better understand the world around me. Most often we think we see something but we really don't fully comprehend the significance of it all. It never ceases to amaze me how light can wrap around a seemingly insignificant object and yet cloak it with beauty and deep emotional impact.

CHARACTER SKETCH

2010-06-10T16:55:00.006-05:00

PRISMACOLOR PENCIL

Rough character sketch using Prismacolor on vellum. Just getting a basic understanding and feeling for this character and his personal characteristics as I see them.

PENCIL SKETCH

2010-06-10T16:47:00.010-05:00

This pencil is from memory for an oil painting. Most of my conceptual ideation is in rough pencil sketches. Even when I go to the final canvas or digital painting I most often draw everything out to make sure the anatomy is accurate and the layout is working. The sketch posted above shows my usual style and technique for both thought and preliminary canvas layouts. Sketching people, places, ideas and dreams really helps me grow as an artist. I go through several sketchbooks a year and seem to do more now than ever before.

THE PRODIGAL

2010-02-12T21:01:00.029-06:00

THE PRODIGAL

Few knew his name but many remembered his face as he made his way along the back roads of the Smokey Mountains. He slowly walked up to the house where he spent his youth and scanned the land with tired eyes. He saw the old truck was parked in it's usual spot beside the field he once worked. He shook his head and smiled. He thought how the years were hard on that old Ford but then realized they were harder on him.

He stood there for a while and just breathed in the air and took it all in. It seemed like no time had past at all. Even the soil was just as hard and cold as he remembered. He tried to to make a go of it but just . . . his mind flooded with memories of his past—even her. Then, the harsh reality of the cold wind brought his thoughts back to the present where he stood alone. The prodigal had returned home but here was no one there to greet him. So nothing changed. Not the land. Not the home coming. Not even him.

DETAIL OF CANVAS; OIL ON LINEN 30x40"

I started this painting with a charcoal drawing which was the best that I ever did—it was fantastic. Masterful. Never before has a drawing flowed so freely from my fingertips. How amazed and impressed I was until I realized the entire layout had to move two inches to the right. I tried to ignore it but I had to wipe off the sketch and redo it. This second drawing wasn't brilliant but it did the job. Oh well.

After that I fixed the charcoal and then gave it an over all atmospheric wash of color to set the tone of the environment. I blocked in the local colors of the face, hat, sky, coat and car with extremely loose brush strokes. After that, I painted the face since it was the focal point and referenced it against the previous color indications.

In my process, the under drawing (if one is even used) is quickly covered up by layers of paint so every stroke of the brush needs to be drawn. In realistic paintings, it's important to realize that each stroke represents a surface fixed within the three dimensional universe. It must be placed in such a way as to turn the flow of light across the figure while giving a defined shape to that form. To me, that's really the biggest technical difference between painters—the various levels of ability to draw form with the brush.

DESPERADO

2009-09-20T12:36:00.032-05:00

OIL ON LINEN 26 x 30"

I spent a good part of my youth in smoke filled bars located in the South side of Chicago. My father shot pool most of the evening and I remember the faces of the customers coming and going as the hour grew late. To some it was a refuge from the hard realities of the outside world. Marriages gone sour. The daily grind of working tough jobs. The repetition of day to day life making ends meet feeding the family. The beer made some forget their labors and kick back for a while as others fell deeper into depression. I learned a lot about people there.

I most often sat near the pool table and drew on napkins. Lots and lots of napkins. I started sketching the posters on the wall featuring name brand beers with beautiful mountains and waterfalls in the background. They looked like great places to live as the images of far away locations stood out against the dark walls. Sometimes the customers would go outside to have a smoke and lean against the building to talk so I sketched them as well. So many faces and personalities. I learned no matter how a person smiled, talked, or walked, their eyes would reveal their inner soul—the gladness or the sadness.

There was one guy who came in regularly just to get into a fight. His life was on the down turn and the atmosphere around him was dark. He was doing a slow burn and waited for someone—anyone—to start something. He would come by from time to time with the same predictable outcome. I never knew his real name but when he entered the bar everyone knew there would be trouble. That was a long time ago when I was in grade school. I have no idea what happened to him but his lifestyle could only have gone on for so long.

This oil painting depicts the man as I remember him standing outside the tavern by the back door like a desperado. He seemed to own the wall alongside the gangway which led to the alley. He would stand there and wait. Burning. I heard he lost his woman but I don't know how. Fighting was the only way he could feel anything again and it seemed to be what he did best.

DETAIL

I suppose our past shapes us and drives us to succeed or fail depending on how we decide to face the challenges life throws at us. As it turned out, I would use my art to leave that world and live in a house surrounded by nature—wetlands with a beautiful lake teaming with wildlife—just like those posters promised me so many years ago.

I've included shots of this painting in progress. I usually start out with a thumbnail done in a sketchbook and then refine it for emotional impact. Once I find a model, I sketch it out all over again and then project that finished layout onto a large canvas for the final painting. The small sketch then becomes my base for a color key if I feel one is needed. If so, many keys are painted until I find the right color space and lighting scheme. Once the charcoal is sealed with a thin spray of fixative, I apply a color wash over the entire canvas to cover the white ground and work as a unifying color when the canvas shows through the brush strokes.

CHARCOAL DRAWING WITH OIL WASH

PENCIL FROM SKETCHBOOK

Every painting I do is drawn from my life experiences. There is a story woven within the image which, I hope, gives a deeper insight to the character's soul and personality. If I grew up in a different place and time I might be painting daises set against a beautiful sunset but I have to be true to what I know. What I have personally experienced. I think that's why artists get better with age—there is a deeper sense of life to draw from and an understanding that at certain times in our life there is a little bit of a desperado in all of us.

Old Hickory

2009-08-25T14:57:00.020-05:00

OIL ON CANVAS 18 X 24"

Tony Salerno, a dear friend of mine, posed for this oil painting. He has battled several forms of cancer over the years while living an amazingly active life which includes a full time job, working in several ministries, and devoting himself to his adult children—two lovely daughters.

We have served together in prison ministry for years where I have seen his gentle heart touch so many people with love and hope. He's the type of guy who will always be there for you. No matter who you are. No matter where you end up. He'll be there with hat in hand wearing a gentle smile. You might give up on yourself but he won't give up on you.

Within the emotional tones of this painting, there is a visual thread that hints to his past life of living hard. He once told me he has a lot of grace to give to people because he has received so much of it himself. These days, few preach it and less give it, but when you see grace in action there is no greater force on earth. With this said, we are left with a simple statement of a man who has faced life head on and has not only survived but thrived.

CANVAS DETAIL

I chose a warm color palette for this painting with a strong light source and defined shadow pattern. The light moves across the form of the figure creating a sense of movement which helps to frame the focal point of the image. He is posed in a way that speaks of his gentle manor with people. Holding his hat over his heart also added a visual cue to his respectful nature humbled by years of living life. Tony's smile is ever present as it contrasts his rugged features that remind me of old hickory.

Clone Wars

2009-07-17T14:54:00.013-05:00

I really enjoyed working on this project because the content was so creative and the people on the design team were insanely talented. It's been an awesome time for me because I'm just blown away with being able to work with artists who are at the top of their game and yet about as humble as you can get.

Ironman II

2009-07-16T07:51:00.019-05:00

It's been a some time since I've shown anything related to my commercial work which is primarily concentrated on design projects pertaining to film and television. It's prohibitive to show much of what I do because of contractual agreements, but these two sketches for the Marvel property Ironman II are generic enough for publication on my blog.

For most of my visual development work I use Prismacolor pencils and blend with my finger on vellum while plucking out details with a kneaded eraser. I try to keep everything simplified and tied together using light and shadow. Everything is usually roughed out in light pencil (sometimes non-photo blue) with multiple tissue overlays and then gradually built upon developing the final tonal sketch. For this project, due to deadlines, I put in just enough detail to get the point across.

Wolverine

2009-07-15T17:06:00.008-05:00

This sketch was based off a sculpt which was amazing. This was just to get warmed up and then I went on to using the studio model sheets and reference materials for the rest of the project. Anyway, it was a way for me to get started thinking about Wolverine before concentrating on the live action reference materials. I was sketching various blue sky versions experimenting with how far to push the blades, muscle structure comparisons from live action to comic art, and also playing around with the costume detailing. The final ideation sketches are still being developed so this is the only one I can share.

Jackhammer

2009-04-11T23:41:00.022-05:00

OIL PAINT ON CANVAS 24x34"

Jack started out as a boxer and then moved on to ride the highways and byways as a long haul trucker. I don't know how many miles he racked up over the years but I do know he faced life like a champ and won more than he lost. He learned the hard way how to take a punch and get back up again to finish the fight. He's tough as nails but one of the most real and caring people I've ever met.

That's what makes the heartland of America such a special place to me. People like Jack are a joy to find and paint because they are a different kind of breed. Instead of pointing a finger they lend a helping hand. Instead of searching for faults they help you find strengths.

DETAIL

No matter how bad the storm may be or how tough the times seem to get people like Jack don't stay down very long. They refuse to lose. Tough as nails they don't surrender to the odds but hammer right back. Day by day and year by year they work the land, dream their dreams and put food on the table to feed their familes. I don't think I'll ever get tired of painting people like that.

Author Author!

2008-10-11T17:14:00.016-05:00

Didn't think anyone would believe me unless I took a screen shot. That's my handsome mug listed online with all of the amazing authors who are currently signed with Tyndale House Publishers. It's an honor to be listed among them in a rather highly retouched—yet striking pose. It's so good to be taken serious for my inner depth and professional talent instead of my natural stunning looking good looks. Anyway, a shout out to all the guys from the south side of Chicago who took a chance.

PARTIAL CLIP OF THE LONG LIST OF AUTHORS

Clone Wars Rough Sketches

2008-10-02T19:08:00.027-05:00

These are some quick pen sketches I roughed out for a design assignment on the animated series CloneWars. This was a fun project for me to work on because we developed the conceptual ideation studies all the way to finished concept art. Many great designers have been involved in creating the StarWars universe so for me to get a chance to play around with such a rich assortment of characters and concepts was awesome. The artists on the team are amazing. I can't show the final sketches because they are in the production pipeline but these three examples give a gyst of the type of work involved in regard to the rough preliminary stage of posing the characters and working out the initial ideas and details.

Starship Sketch

2008-10-01T15:00:00.005-05:00

This is a digital thumbnail of a starship that eventually morphed into something else. It's really all rough line work using the pen tool in CS3. This sketch is all about form and basic structure of the over all design. Anyway, this is how most of my digital painting start out. Then I just start painting over this layer gradually building up toward a finished color image.

Hellbent

2008-09-22T12:19:00.007-05:00

This digital sketch of a futuristic battle was painted in CS3 to design the over all environment and staging. It's very raw. Everything points to a man on a simple mission—kill anything that moves. His face is covered to hide any trace of humanity as the darkness he has chosen to serve completely engulfs him. He has no detail. No personal significance. I used Ezekiel 38 as inspiration for this image.

AMERICAN MADE

2008-06-02T13:01:00.013-05:00

OIL PAINT ON LINEN CANVAS 24 X 34"

I always look for paintings in the people I see. A moment unaware that reveals a glimpse of the person's inner nature waiting to be captured on canvas. The understanding of light and shadow which flows across flesh and bone is more than the ability to capture a likeness—it gives way to the deeper responsibility of representing the human soul. That's what makes being an artist exciting.

The challenge of this painting was to capture this man's rugged independence and inner strength knowing his unique individuality was forged by the generations who fought for freedom before him. Like them, he is American made. Hard working. Proud. Free.

I'm working with a limited palette of colors inspired by the nationally known artist Anders Zorn. My personal vision is focused on painting high contrast passages of light and dark to convey the emotional connection between the human soul and the American landscape.

OIL DETAIL

Most of my brushes are Langnickle sables but I do use bristle brushes as well when needed. I prefer filberts which give me naturally softer edges from stroke to stroke. Capturing the interplay of edges in my figure work is something I really enjoy. This painting gave me a full spectrum of edges to study ranging all the way from sharp focus to completely lost.

At my demos, artists usually ask me what medium I use to mix into my paints so I'll mention it here which is Winsor & Newton's Liquin. I use other mediums as well but this product has grown on me and I find myself using it for most of my work these days. I use lot's of it in my shadow passages with little to none in the area of light. If you haven't tried it out I encourage you to do so and see how it works with your unique style and technique.

HARD DAYS END

2008-01-07T13:57:00.013-06:00

Hard Days End: Oil On Linen 24 x 34"

The American landscape is filled with people working hard and living strong. In spite of set backs and rough times people fight hard to come back with a resolve as hard as the land they work. In my painting, "Hard Days End," I've depicted a young man ending his day on the ranch. He's working to feed his wife and child while carving out a new life through tough work and personal determination.

He may be down for now but he's coming back stronger than ever before. In spite of his rough times, it's not about the paycheck—it's about doing the work right because his name still means something. Like his father before him he's building a new life on the land he works. His back aches and his hands hurt but each day brings him closer to seeing the reality of his dreams after the hard days end.

To capture the intensity of this man, I kept half his face in shadow while allowing the other half full illumination. He's going through a transition. He's emerging but not yet there. This balance helps give the painting an emotional edge while creating a dramatic focal point.

It is hard to decide what more to discus here because there are so many technical points to cover. For me, it all comes down to the essence of the human soul being caught in an honest moment. Once I do this I know the painting is finished and it's time to start another.

Detail of Oil Painting

STORM CLOUDS

2008-01-01T19:41:00.006-06:00

Storm Clouds/Oil On Linen 26 x 34"

This oil painting launches a new series I'm working on depicting people of the American heartland. I'll be exploring many emotions by depicting character studies of everyday people as they live their lives and dream their dreams throughout our nation's landscape. My main goal is to capture the inner soul of real people and paint a moment in time that encapsulates an emotional beat in their life. Painters like Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper inspired me to embark on this journey of discovery in my own unique way.

This series will cover a wide spectrum of people ranging from happy to sad and from lovely to hard weathered. The common denominator will be the truth in what I see—taken as it comes. In my first painting of this series, "Storm Clouds," I took the opportunity to delve into a man's life at a moment when he is dealing with deep feelings and bitter choices.

We have all been cheated. We have all experienced loss. It is what we do in the aftermath that set's the course of our individual life and those around us. "Storm Clouds" captures this inner struggle as it is set against the backdrop of the American West.

Oil Painting Detail

BATTLE READY; Digital Painting

2007-08-10T09:52:00.006-05:00

Digital painting of a warrior in battle. In CS2, I like using gritty brushes to block everything in and then build up the areas of light with more refined brushes—this keeps me from painting too slick and smooth. Anyway, I suppose my detailing of the eyes are too sharp in terms of capturing a true rendering of nature but I wanted the attention focused in that area—so much emotional impact is expressed in the eyes.

As for the indication of gritting teeth, it's just two brush strokes but I re-painted those two strokes over and over to get just the right look. When you look at John Singer Sargent or Anders Zorn it's not just about rendering an image—it's about putting energy into each and every stroke. I think that's what makes painting fun and hard at the same time. The whole process is deciding what to leave in and what to leave out and making sure that everything that remains is there for a reason.

WARRIOR BEHIND SHIELDS; Digital

2007-08-09T14:53:00.008-05:00

I painted a series of digital paintings to serve as inspirational bluesky development. The over all look and feel of the series was very intense so painting the images allowed me to explore some very interesting emotions. I wish I had more time to make the painting perfect but deadlines are deadlines. I could keep refining it but there are more paintings to do. Anyway, the emotional impact was really exciting to develop. The program I used was Photoshop CS2 with all sorts of custom brushes. I worked it just like an oil painting except I got the added bonus of using command z.

WARRIOR; Digital Painting

2007-08-09T11:35:00.003-05:00

This digital painting was a blast to work on in CS2. Talk about primal therapy. I blocked everything in using a custom brush that was ugly grainy—I mean just plain ugly. I used this to work out the big shapes. Then I started to define forms—basically light and shadow using cross hatching. After that, I blended the hatching with my larger grainy brush. The background was ambigouis so the entire head would be the over all focal point.

The detail close-up shows how free the brush work was—just indications of detail in the right places. This painting is really a study of edges. The frontal face edges (although they vary) are sharper than the backside of the head and helmet. I've been studying Velázquez lately for edge work and shadow patterns. Simply amazing. Anyway, this painting gave me the opportunity to have a lot of fun playing around with the shapes and edges.

Digital Sketch—Game Environment II

2007-06-12T17:43:00.001-05:00

Digital tonal concept sketch for a gaming company depicting a cityscape with forground elements. The emotional beat in this series remains consistant with the nature of the dark world depicted. This idea was painted with no preliminay drawings. My aim was just to capture the raw emotion I felt about the subject and the energy of the man on a mission.

Digital Sketch—Game Environment I

2007-06-11T21:58:00.001-05:00

This is a rough digital sketch I painted of a city environment for a gaming company. I love doing this sort of design work using broad strokes and alternating forms to create movement and drama. All of the artists at the studio are top notch so I was a bit apprehensive at first, but the art took over and it was fun seeing this new world emerge as the strokes of digital paint came together.

Digital Sketch—Game Environment III

2007-06-10T18:00:00.001-05:00

This gaming environment leads us inside a maze of steel beams and catwalks lined with tubular pipes, gas lines and cables. Painted in CS2, this quick sketch conveys the over all emotional dynamic of danger, hidden mysteries and pulsating directional lights. In this case, since it was just an idea sketch, I made it up as I went along feeling my way through the many possible design solutions. I had a lot of fun playing light against dark and exploring the raw emotion of the scene.

Marooned

2007-06-10T10:45:00.001-05:00

My digital painting "Marooned" depicts a space trooper stranded on an alien planet illuminated by the moon behind him. Wreckage of his ship in the background along with distant planets hint to his long journey from home. His mission completed, so it seems, is now behind him as the lone survivor is forced to ponder his fate. The vast expanse of this desert planet is formidable, but nothing compares to facing the dark enemy he has hated for years—himself.

I was inspired by the great artist, Howard Pyle, who painted a pirate stranded on an island. The emotions of isolation and abandonment touched a cord in me and served well to set the tone for this space environment.

Naruto

2007-06-10T10:17:00.001-05:00

I recently worked on product development designs for Naruto which is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. These are the only design sketches I'm allowed to show. It's funny how I finished illustrating a book project that was inspired by manga styling and then I get handed the opportunity to work on such a classic.

Nartuto is an amazingly successful brand and ongoing series. The artists on the project were just as amazing and fun to work with. Anyway, this is my basic film and product development sketching style for ideation and bluesky concepting. Michael Spooner was my artistic mentor in this technique and I still see his influence in my drawings and artistic vision.

The Doppleganger Chronicles

2007-06-10T10:00:00.004-05:00

This is the first book in the ongoing series—The Doppleganger Chronicles by G.P. Taylor. I art directed the first book setting the style template with designers and artists from Markosia Enterprises in London and the USA based Tyndale House Publishers. I included the artist bio page to honor the London based artists Daniel Boultwood and Tony Lee—both amazingly talented and extremely humble guys. You can check out www.dopplegangerchronicles.com to see my video discussing the art direction.

Deadeye

2007-06-09T11:00:00.002-05:00

I really enjoyed painting this character study of a cowboy who's eyes give a hint to the condition of his soul. Years of living in the old west has hardened him and his youth faded away along with his dreams. He's found someone he has been looking for making this is a dangerous moment—payback for something everyone else forgot about. He hasn't forgotten. It's as though it happened yesterday.

I wanted his face to be the primary focal point. The shadow color under his eyes is darkened and void of color to give a clearer vision of his nature and intent. This oil was painted on a double primed linen canvas using a lead primer. Very slick to paint on but easy to wipe off when a mistake is made. I allowed the canvas to show through in spots and had a blast playing around with the brush strokes.

Marvel

2007-06-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

More from Marvel. This was one of several sketches for a the animated television series. The character design incorporated a strong anatomical structure that had it's own look and feel. The hardest part, for me, was roughing the poses out trying several ways to express the action with the strongest sense of movement and form. It taught me a great deal about the line of action and posing the figure the Marvel way. I learned a lot from the artists working on this project. An amazing group.

Forever Friends

2007-06-09T09:48:00.001-05:00

I painted this oil depicting a little girl who found a friend. The story in the painting depicts a lovely girl with the simple surroundings of a bare orphanage. The girl seems a bit out of place standing in the corner. There is comfort, however, in holding a doll that she found along the way. Their special relationship allows the little girl a friend wherever she goes.

The model for the girl was my daughter, Sarah, who my wife and I adopted from South Korea when she was a baby. I remember when Sarah got older she wanted a doll to play with. We went to the store and she finally chose the one she wanted. She smiled and gave it a big hug. At that moment, I saw in her the first hints of being a mother. A mentor. A woman.

It amazes me how many people define themselves by the job they fill or the talents they currently have. To me, being a dad is everything. When it's all said and done Sarah will remember me most—not for my art or design—but for being her dad. Her memories, as well as my son's, define me. Our relationship makes me the man I am. It also grows me into the man I want to be.

THE ADVOCATE

2007-04-04T21:27:00.002-05:00

I painted this painting several years ago for my prison ministry at a maximum security correctional facility which the inmates have nicknamed—the wall. I have spent around twenty years or so making cell house rounds behind the wall using a special state issued security clearance. We started passing out posters and small prints to the prison population in the mid-west and then the posters gradually spread throughout the entire prison system to reach both coasts.

The amazing thing is that this image even went to China through several missionaries who knew the painting would transcend human language and reach right into the heart. In addition to this, Alcoholics Anonymous used The Advocate along with my book for several of their prison courses which just blew me away. I even got a call from a friend of mine who secretly went into drug rehab and had to call me at the end of his class late at night just to tell me how much it touched him.

If you ever worked in Christian publishing markets you know it isn't any different then any other marketplace—people are people wherever you go. I thought this image was special and therefore didn't allow any commercial use of it to keep this experience free from the system. In spite of this, with no backing or system supporting it, this image reached across the country and around the world in a way in which no one profited but those who saw it. Wild.

Over the years I got busy paying bills working as an artist in the film industry and put this painting away for a while. Recently I started to release it on various blogs and on Facebook giving this image to another audience. The people who have it all together and are near perfect in their religious walk look at the painting and see a guy who really needs the Lord. Others who, at one time or another, hit a wall in life which left them broken and bruised but caused them to experience the love of the Lord actually look at the painting in another way—they see themselves. I do too.

Nile Concept & Final Painting

2007-03-06T14:33:00.001-06:00

The first image is a digital concept painting of a location I designed for an animated film. The second image is the finished digital painting I noodled out with various Photoshop brushes. Whoever programed "command z" is a friend to me.

Dr. Ken Taylor_02

2007-03-04T17:38:00.003-06:00

It's exciting that one of my first corporate portraits was of a man I truly admire, Dr. Ken Taylor, founder of Tyndale House Publishers. This was painted from a black and white photo of him when he was in his fifties. One of the most humble and talented man you'd ever meet. The painting hangs in his son's office in their corporate headquarters.

Dr. Ken Taylor/ Oil On Canvas

Oil Paintings .02

2007-02-11T12:47:00.002-06:00

More oils from my first gallery series. I chose painting kids because I love the innocence and honesty they naturally express in their eyes. My next series which includes much larger pieces focuses more on adults so I can explore deeper world weary emotions etched in their facial features.

This series, however, was challenging in the sense of painting a smooth child's face without getting too slick with the brush work. All in all I loved working with the models. When you think about it, oil painting is basically the art of capturing an emotional moment using animal hair attached to a stick to apply paint—no Photoshop "command z" to make mistakes go away.

Anyway, my son, Josh, posed for the painting Chores and the talented film director, Tim Hodge, posed for both Drifter and Hondo which was included here in an earlier post. My apologies to all of the victims—I mean models.

The Runaway

First Shave

Chores

Drifter

Jenny's Prayer

The Lil' Sheriff

The Westerner

The Day By Day Bible .01

2007-02-09T20:11:00.003-06:00

My new book, The Day By Day Bible, gave me the awesome opportunity to illustrate a children's Bible. This is something I wanted to do for years. The design sensibility was much more simplified from my normal style due to the deadlines involved but the emotional impact was maintained by the broad strokes of color. I created over three hundred digital paintings while also designing animated films—it was rough but everything got done on time.

I can't tell you the thrill I feel having played a small part in developing this book and bringing it to market. It will touch so many lives in the process. The recent agreement with Wal-Mart has not only made this project successful in terms of sales but also in terms of outreach to a very diverse and broad market. The book has just been released yet we are already moving forward on the second printing in order to meet market demands—simply amazing.

Special thanks to: Karyn, Luke, Jackie, Julie, Jan, Talinda and Dr. Ken Taylor who taught me the true nature of success.

UPDATE:
We just went into our third printing which is so amazing. I'm really thrilled about the success and outreach of this project. I'm currently art directing and co-illustrating a new series of books which will be launched sometime this year in America and England. I hope it does as well as this.

Abraham

Frogs In Pond

Moses Parting Sea

A Big Fish

Out Of The Grave

Joy Again

The Slave That Ran Away

The Man of Sorrows

2007-02-08T08:07:00.002-06:00

This is my Conté crayon sketch depicting The Man of Sorrows in Isaiah 53. I didn't use a model for this—just let it happen. I love the imagery in this passage of a man most would pass without a second glance. The text is very sad and I did my best to convey this in his eyes. This Conté sketch was recently sold at an auction with the profits directed toward Masterpiece Ministries—which provides a series of workshops for young adults concentrating on painting, writing, dance, theater, film, music and graphic design. Timothy Botts, one of the most incredible calligraphy artists in America heads up the program.

The Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53)

Oil Paintings .01

2007-02-03T18:48:00.001-06:00

After working in film and television with so many great artists, I caught the oil painting bug and finally took a crack at it. I love expressing human emotions and relationships using this medium. The samples here are from my first series in which I focused on the person caught in a moment and used minimal background treatments. My son, Josh, posed for "Bored" wearing his official Indiana Jones fedora. After spending considerable time posing for a commercial painting beforehand he naturally inspired this image as he took a break.

Hondo

Wanted

Grampa's Home Blend

Grampa's Coffee

Bored

A Snoodle's Tale

2007-02-02T14:20:00.001-06:00

This is a digital painting for the animated film, A Snoodle's Tale. It was a blast painting the backgrounds on this film. The saturated colors and fun shapes really made it a joy to design. This was the main location where the characters jumped out of a door on the top of the clock tower and slid down the slide. Alas, the budget hit the film hard and the end result was good but not what was in my mind—the hard reality of commerce over art. All in all, however, a great experience.

Visual Development_01

2007-01-16T13:23:00.001-06:00

This is the last piece I did for this animation studio as a full-time designer. The shop had gone through so much turmoil at this point the emotions were raw. Some were deeply saddened for those who were laid off while others jockeyed for positions under the new management. As for me, I would eventually move on to several Disney projects where I learned more than I could have ever imagined. Couple things I took away from all this—integrity is the worth of a man and dedication to your craft is the best business card. Be true to your art. The road may be rocky at times but everything has a way of working out if you have the faith.

Pie Wars

Visual Development_02

2007-01-10T14:41:00.001-06:00

These concepts are from Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie. This was a very challenging production primarily due to the budget limitations we had to deal with. All in all, however, this production was a time of strong creative energy as I worked with one of my mentors, Michael Spooner. You can see a reflection of him in these images—I'll always be thankful for the time we worked together and the effect it has had on my work ever since. Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki directed this production. Dan Philips managed the studio while Ameake Owens served as producer.

Corporate Portraits_01

2007-01-10T08:36:00.003-06:00

This is a few sketches from a series of commissioned portraits I recently completed for a corporation. It was a great deal of fun capturing the likeness of each person and bringing out the warmth of their personalities—each had their own stories waiting to be told. The final work was framed and displayed in the corporate offices as well as featured on their website as bio images.

One of my favorite sketches is the first one listed here. The inner joy of this man shines through his eyes. He went through a great deal in his life and is a true survivor. The experiences he faced and triumphed over are etched in his face, yet true to his nature, there are no signs of self-sympathy because the valleys he walked through made him who he is today. Most just see him as an extremely successful business man but others look into his eyes and see much more—a father, a husband and a man who breathes deeply every moment life has to offer. It's amazing what a pencil on paper can capture—a life, a moment and even a man's love for life.

Dr. Ken Taylor_01

2007-01-10T08:15:00.004-06:00

This is a sketch of a man who was like Moses to me. I was involved in the CBA market for years and would always have people tell me I would love to meet Dr. Taylor—story upon story built a remarkable reputation. At First, I thought it was too good to be true but when I met him I knew he was the real deal.

I did this portrait a day or two after he passed away and gave it to his family as a gift. They displayed the framed original at his wake—I never saw so many people at a wake before—it was amazing how many souls this man touched and inspired. I realized what true success was that day and it's helped me stay focused through the hills and valleys of this business. Anyway, this portrait is currently on display at Tyndale House Publishers—the company he started in his garage so many years ago.

Jungle Bio-Dome

2007-01-09T13:00:00.003-06:00

I designed this Jungle Bio-Dome location for a film directed by Keith Lango. He is one of those talented guys you just enjoy to work with from start to finish—although I think I gave him a few grey hairs. The top image is the visual development art followed by a quick color concept and rough idea sketches. I would have liked to paint the final background to really get into the color theory but my time ran out so off to another project I went painting Mickey and his friends.