Villikon Chronicles Proclivity Web Comic

Hi all, The web comic Villikon Chronicles Proclivity the prelude to the movie Villikon Chronicles GENESIS OF EVIL is out on the web now, so go check it out!!

http://www.pulpfantasy.org/#

Please support this production by visiting Pulp Fantasy every month until June and catch more on the ever evolving world of The Villikron Chronicles. I'll have more up in a few!

'VILLIKON CHRONICLES: PROCLIVITY' Mini-Graphic Series

Thanks Bryan!! I got involved with VILLIKON CHRONICLES: PROCLIVITY, by chance trying to help out and hopefully be part of something BIG and sure enough I did! I really am enjoying drawing up the comic book Prequel to the movie and hopefully have more work from Bryan down the line. So far it's been a thrilling experience. I'll keep all of you posted. More Vids and art coming soon. In the meantime check out www.myspace.com/villikonchronicles
for more info and sneak peeks of this awesome flick coming next year!

Woa it's been a sec!

Jeeez, well if there is still anyone out there reading this blog, I'm still alive, just BUSY as a Mo'Fo' hence why I am posting like a year later, lol. As many of you know I have a day job as an Art Director and I also Freelance for a living. Not only that but I'm a full time Daddy and Husband, so yea I have little time next to no time to post. Fortunately I've found a light at the end of this here tunnel and I can update this here Blog before I go back to being a hermit! Here are a few samples of some work that has kept me busy most of the summer...

This here was a campaign for the good folks at MHOA. I enjoy coming up with ideas that I can see through to it's final creation, this here was one of those projects. It was a lot of work but it payed off, maybe you might of seen these up a local McD or you happen to attend one of these events, regardless it was fun and I hope to do it again next year. Anyone have a lowrider they can sell me?

Here's another poster that got to see the light of day. It's for a back to school promotion. 

This one is for the Newberry Library exibit of very old children books. I was hoping to create a poster for them but it didn't happen... sigh!

Here's a small intro animation I created for a presentation we did for the Shedd Aquarium.

Here's another Intro i did for the Chicago Historical Museum. No sound or resized pics but you'll get the jist!

I'll post a few TV spots I created along with the fine folks at MasCommunications!

MOB RULE 2 @ WizardWorld Chicago!!!!!

Jeeeez! this piece looks amazing!! It was created by Dan"The Man" Dougherty. It serves the purpose of promoting our second annual meet at WizardCon here in Chicago. This venture has been spearheaded by our very own Master Of Minds aka M.O.M who also goes by his secret code name: Rafael Nieves. It's one of the few events that we get to come together and it's grown since last year so who knows how big it'll get next year!? Come and be part of this grassroots event, phenomenon, EXTRAveganza!!!

Stormrider - Clash of Evils

WOA NELLY! I love this series I got introduced to the world of Wind and Cloud about 10 years ago. The movie Stormriders was and still is a favorite of mine. Come to find out a sequel is being made Stormwarriors in 09, Awesome! Today I found out an animation based as a sequel to the '98 movie is in production to be released this year (I hope!) here's a trailer to that anime by asiaanimation.net

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyPVXpdLSCA&NR=1

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a total geek for this, seriously! The animation looks amazing and very close to the comic. Now I collected as many issues as I could but since I lack the Chinese reading portion that is needed to understand these comics i don't really know who and what some of the stories are about. I try to follow them as much as possible and I tell you the truth they blow me away. Well from the little Manhua I read I have to say this is truly a joyous event and I am really looking forward to seeing these characters come to life in a animated format. Here's a link to the homesite,

http://www.asiaanimation.net/en/movie_storm_a.html

Catch you all later!

My Greatest Creations and my Stunning Sidekick!!

I thought I'd share a blast from my past! these were taken about few years ago of my daughter Bijan MaiLei and of my son Aiden Cruz, I still get a kick out of their imagination and laughter, you'll see why! Hope you get a kick out of them as well. I have to capture my wife Jackie on film one day! She's hard to get on camera, but I vow to get her on this here blog soon enough. She's the main reason why I'm still sane and the greatest LOVE of my life! One day honey ONE DAY! 'Til then here's a couple of pics of this Stunning Vixen along with two of my greatest creations, Bijan and Aiden, I love you both more than you'll ever know! Enjoy.

Dragon Princess 2.0

Hi again! As many of you know the Wizard Con Chicago will be here in just a short time, June 26th - 29th! So I am preparing a few pieces that I will be selling and showcasing in the upcoming Con. This is one of them, The Dragon Princess. I'm hoping that the prints will be a big hit, One of my favorite pin up artists is Jim Silke, and like him I tried to bring the sexiness and fun into my pin ups. Don't know if i did a good job? you be the judge. I'm still in process mode as far as compiling my ideas for other projects so please PLEASE! write in and let me know if you like this piece, otherwise I'm just calling this whole thing off and becoming a librarian! Gracias all!

What I've been up to these past months!

Here's a few things I've been busy creating at home and work. I've been busy preparing for the June Wizard Con here in Chicago. The first piece here is Kalypso the Greek Goddess from the Homer tale. She'll be one of the prints that I'll be selling at the con.

Next it's a pin up I did for a buddy Ash Jackson, of Eve: Vampire Diva for his pin up book he will be selling at the Philly Con later this month, May 30th thru June 1st to be exact.


Next I did this cover (I gotta color it too so this is the before shot) for my friend LaMorris Richmond up at BLAM comics. He's going to be putting out a graphic novel and I'll be providing the cover, logo and some older pin ups I did for JBD. The novel will feature art by the Great Seitu Haydon of "Tales of The Heart" fame.


Here's some poster art I did for McD that will be gracing the Orange lines this summer. If any of you ride the "L" and take the orange line, look up and you'll notice these posters on the roof of each rail car. Let me know if you see any of them on your way to or from work!


Lastly here are some more pieces I've worked on. 'Til next time true believers.

Thanks Ollie, for making illusions come to life!!

Yesterday a "Great" passed, Ollie Johnston went on to join the rest of the 9 in animation lore. He along with eight others were the original animators that brought us classics such as "Snow White", "Fantasia", "Cinderella", "Lady and the Tramp", "Alice in Wonderland", and "Sleeping Beauty". Although he was a pioneer in animation he was best known for his long friendship with Frank Thomas who passed four years ago. They have a magnificent book titled The Illusion of Life, a must have for any artist. He was also "animated" in a few animated films, 2 by Brad Bird, "The Iron Giant" and "The Incredibles". He was a kid at heart and at 95 was still enjoying life. Hope we in the art profession remember those who came before us and learn about the great accomplishments they have given to our craft. Thanks Ollie, you'll be missed!


Frank and Ollie in "The Incredibles"


Ollie in "Iron Giant"

Some more, old and new sketches

The title says it all, Oh the scanner is working again now so expect more posts in the future! I've been good so far, or at least a whole lot better then last year!

Some old sketches and some new ones!

Here's a few sketches from my not so distant past, some of these are just a few years old and some a couple of weeks. Stuff i do in my spare time at work, LOL! Well hit me up my scanner at work is going caca so i might have to get a new one, I hope you enjoy these. You know there's so many projects I have not finished especially with my dear friend Raf Nieves I feel ashamed. Hope this will inspire some of you to continue on with current projects, don't let up, I learned from my mistakes so don't let it happen to you. Well, keep on keeping on and let me know your thoughts!

Woa I forgot I had this!

Back in December I did a couple of pieces for a very talented director, Bryan Kinnaird for his movie The Vilkron Chronicles. I had one of the pieces up before but I never posted this piece. It's of Mystere and it's a non action pose. I just wanted to create her looking hot and ready for action. The character in the movie is played by Cara Fawn, great fit for Mystere and it seems the cast is full of great actors from all over. I'm exited about the project, and even though it's a small contribution I'm proud to be part of it. Well as always let me know your thoughts and I hope to putting some more pieces in the not so distant future!

Messing around with 3D again

Hiya all again! I started playing around with 3D again it's been a sec but I still know how to get around the interface. Now I did this as a part of a pitch for the Chicago Fire, a soccer team here in Chicago, that Hernandez & Garcia has been working on, so far it looks promising. This took me a day to create and a day to render, I'm rusty so give me a break. Regardless it was fun and I really liked playing around with 3D again, it's been too long. I'm actually doing a few projects in 3d and I'll be posting a few as they get approved to be shown. For now let me know what you think of my 2 second end animation that I came up with.

Dave Stevens, Thank you!

On a sadder note another ICON has passed, One which I held in high regard and got a chance to meet in person and who I admired. Dave Stevens passed from a long battle with cancer. Read about it here http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35965


I really loved this man's work and even now I like catching The Rocketeer movie, cheesy as it might of been, it still rocked, no pun intended. Thanks Dave for everything!

Mainasha's Tweening Art, Diamond in the rough!

There's a great site that I have not talked about and that, apart from me being ashamed of myself for not mentioning it sooner, I'm also part of as far as contributor of content. The main Gal in charge of putting together such kick@$$ content is Mainasha, an accomplished animator and talented all around femme fatale! http://tweeningart.blogspot.com/ is the site and it's also below in my links under Tweening Art. Not only is it filled with inside info on animation and the animation industry but it's a chance to see her work. Well I promised to be posting more so I will on both sites! Go check her out!

Justice League The New Frontier animation

I have to say with all the talk about the Justice League Live Action movie in my opinion The New Frontier should be considered as the benchmark for its live action counterpart. Either that or begin the movie as a sequel to this one. If you have not seen The New Frontier animation yet, You really should pick it up. i got the 2 disc version and loved it even came with 3 episodes of Justice League Unlimited for under $20, not a bad deal. Seeing I've been trying to post in here more often about my mindless ravings I figured why not give props to some of these great pieces of geek delight. Thanks Ken for reccomending this Vid! and sorry Akey for not jumping at the chance to get this series when it first came out! For those of you who haven't seen it here's the trailer.

I can't wait!

Now when I saw this Vid I got pretty exited. Not only is this overdue, I think they should do this treatment for all American Superheroes, DC and Marvel alike. I think this type of artistic collaboration is very much needed in the existing Comic Book genre of today. Let's hope this is a seed for future projects, Excelsior!!

Doodlin' @ lunchtime!

See told ya I'd be posting a bit more consistently! Well so far so good as far as using time wisely I've adapted a habit of sketching here at work when I have some down time. I found a great resource for just brushing up on your sketching (as well as your anatomy skills). It's found here, http://www.characterdesigns.com/index.php?sitepage=tutorials It features some beautiful renderings that will help as far as reference and just letting loose. I love to sketch in Pen, don't ask me why but it helps me develop a sense of urgency as far as getting the proportions right from the get go. Everyone has their own little method this is my little quirk. Here's a few samples I came up with. Check it out, Kevin Chen I believe is his name, really has alot of samples to sketch from.

Hi Dee Ho!

Hey, Happy New Year! ok now that the festivities are over, oh wait and have a safe Valentines day! ok I'm done ok so you might be wondering what in God's name I've been up to well, A LOT OF WORK and not only that but I've been up and about looking for a place to move to. I love Chicago I've called it home for most of my adult life. Sadly opportunities here for what I'm looking for have pretty much dried up. Me and the family have set our sights on a warmer climate somewhere were the temperature wont drop below zero, actually below 40 :) Where is such a place you ask? Well we've narrowed it down to Austin Texas. Seems like a 360 turn but luckily I've done my research and it seems like a great place to live in, let alone work from. I happened upon this state oddly enough applying for a job there, just to see how far I'd get. I don't think I got the job but it opened up a world of possibilities for me. So I've been doing my homework and looked around to see where I could fit in, so far it's looking pretty good, we'll see. Anyhoo besides all that I've also been busy creating collateral material or plainly put some art for our clients here in H&G. I've also been hard at work putting together thumbnails and final penciled pieces for my little en devour - RIMANAKUY YAWAR the blood covenant.
Well enough chatter for now here's some of the stuff I've been working on.




Well hope to hear from you soon I have more, but that'll be when I start putting the pages together. Stay tuned!

slackjaw lazy good fer nuthin' swine!

Yea that's me sorry I've been BUSY and with this crappy weather it hasn't helped things any. I'll be posting tonite some of my new stuff I've been working on, So go easy on me, 08 I feel will be a better posting year for me!