Melissa McCarthy and More

In April, I took an amazing gesture drawing class taught by the incomparable Glenn Harmon at DreamWorks. Glenn covered a ton of ground each week, giving us specific tips and tricks...and then immediately had us put those lessons into action with quick gestures drawings of a live model. Below are a couple of my lightning round sketches.

We were also given a sketchbook, which we were supposed to fill up each week with as many gesture drawings as possible. The first week, I was on a big Melissa McCarthy kick (when am I not?) because she was on a massive press tour for her movie The Boss. I basically DVR-ed every single talk show appearance that she made that week, then paused them a bunch to do quick gestures of her. It also doubled as research for my character Lilinoe...which Melissa McCarthy is a blatant inspiration for.

A lot of the sketchbook pages are of Melissa making her entrances, walking over to greet James Corden, Ellen DeGeneres, etc. BUT THEN she did the most epic Lip Sync Battle with Jimmy Fallon of all time! That was the most fun to gesture for sure! She killed it doing DMX...and then slayed "Colors of the Wind" with an industrial fan that nearly blew her backwards. Awe-inspiring!

Do yourself a favor and watch the Lip Sync Battle below...if you haven't already! Pocahontas would be proud!

        

Post Modern Muses make YouTube debut!

The Post Modern Muses have made their fabulous debut on YouTube! Watch the video above!

Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears join forces to help inspire me to stop procrastinating and start drawing! The video is an animatic of a sequence that I storyboarded a while back (you can click through the panels here: Part 1 and Part 2).

I worked with the extraordinary Editor, Daniel Ortiz, to cut this animatic together. Editing the sequence together with voices, sound and music was such a blast! It also helped shine a light on B panels that we needed to add and how the overall pace was working. I'm so elated that I got to collaborate with Daniel on the edit, he really made the sequence come to life!

    

Mele Kalikimaka!

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! (I'm pretty sure that means "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" in Hawaiian...hopefully)

Here's Lilinoe spreading holiday cheer...in her own special way.

 

Miss Scarlet

Here are some gesture drawings that I've done over the past few months. The models always deliver some really dynamic poses...not to mention some awesome old-timey costumes.

The first set is a model who dressed up like a sexy sailor circa the 1930s-ish. The class ran out of black sharpies by the time that I got there, so I used red ones instead. I like the results, it adds a boldness that was a fun surprise.

I couldn't see her right foot in this one (it was behind the box that she was sitting on), but I like to think it looks like she's dipping it into a pool...contemplating a lost love.

These were done with the tried-and-true black sharpies. There's a femme fatale quality to her looks, which just so happens to be one of my favorite subjects to draw. Channeling Barbara Stanwyck big time.

Making herself a little more comfortable.

Looking for her lipstick...or a pistol?

And then to change things up - a dude! This guy was doing a 1920s wrestler thing, complete with handlebar mustache. I approve!

Finally, I posted my storyboard sequence entitled Vulture Counter-Culture a while back. Before I started boarding, I did some sketches of the Andean Condor and King Vulture at the L.A. Zoo for research. Below is a video that I took of the Andean Condor as he expanded his massive 10 ft. wingspan!

The Photoshop Bikini

Thought I'd post some of my recent gesture and figure drawings. But before I do...a word about the Photoshop Bikini. A subject of great controversy (in my head).  I realized that I had never posted nude figure drawings before, and at first I really didn't think anything of it. Then I was like, wait, can you post nudity on Blogger, even if it's drawings? I checked their policy, and they basically said: no... no you can't, unless you concede it's porn and let them put an age restriction on it. So, I'm pretty sure I'm just being crazily paranoid (per usual), but I threw on a charcoal brush bikini in Photoshop JUST to be crazy. Does anyone really even care if there are nude drawings on blogs? I hardly ever see anyone post them. If anyone really wants to see the original nude figure drawings, I guess just ask me and I'll email them to you...ok, now that makes them actually sound like porn.

ANYWAYZ, here are the non-nude gesture drawings. First of some sassy 1920s ladies...boy do I hate cigarettes, but god damn do I think cigarette holders are sexy.

Warrior ladies straight out of a Frank Frazetta book cover.

And now...PHOTOSHOP BIKINI

It's not you, it's me...because I'm 50ft tall

Here are some storyboards that I just finished. They're based on an older version of the DreamWorks movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens," where Susan, who recently became 50 ft tall after a freak meteorite accident, finally reunites with her fiance Derek. In the final movie, Derek is an A-hole and (spoiler alert) turns our poor heroine down. But in this earlier version, Derek is an absolute sweetheart. I liked the challenge of creating a conflict between two very nice people who both mean well. The key was drawing from my knowledge of the roller coaster ride that is dating. There are times when it's like walking on clouds, while other times it's like walking in a minefield...one moment it seems meant to be, and the next thing you know it's over. But, no matter what happens, you learn...and it will work when it's supposed to. You'll need to click through to find out if Susan and Derek can make it work. (PS: click here to see some revisions that I did a few months later from this post that I think made this sequence stronger. Storyboarding is re-boarding, am I right?)