Sketchbook

	Slime Thrower Sketch for Chickenbrick Studios February 2nd, 2009 I'm spending most of my free time with the guys from Chickenbrick, working on the images for the tower defense game set to be released for the G1 phone. It's been a very neat process and I am glad I could lend a hand in the creation of this game. We ditched the zombie idea and have moved to a set of enemy blobs for now. Currently I am working on the tower design, trying to fit discernable towers into 24 x 24 pixel squares. It's an adventure!
	What is the New Year without a drooling zombie? January 3rd, 2009 On the flight back to Miami from Michigan I got started on the character design for Chickenbrick. I need to come up with a few different 'looks' for the undead hordes in their tower defense game. This was more or less an experimental sketch to get me thinking about what I can do to make the Chickenbrick zombies stand apart from other brain-eating fiends. (Currently playing a lot of Left 4 Dead, which I would consider excellent research for this project as well.)
	Icon: Chickenbrick Studios December 15th, 2008 I am doing some icon brainstorming for a game design studio that specializes in games for mobile phones. This was one of my initial sketches, and although mildly humorous was not what we ended up going with as a final product. The final image can be seen in the Graphic Design section of the site. Second order of business pertains to the animations of the zombies, but that is a huge (and exciting) beast to be tackled another day.
	More Hobbitses December 2nd, 2008 Still reading and sketching for the songbook and very much enjoying it. This was an idea I had for the song the dwarves sing whilst cleaning up the dishes from the impromptu feast that a very befuddled Bilbo prepared. I wanted the kitchen to be a humorous mess of bubbles, dwarves and plates, while Thorin and Gandalf discuss more serious matters by the fire. I plan on painting this in using my new Cintiq, so it should be a fairly quick piece.
	The Hobbit Songbook November 14th, 2008 I am playing around with the idea of designing an illustrated book about the songs from Tolkien's The Hobbit. I like the idea of super-detailed images accompanying each of the songs from the book, with little notes here and there. In preparation, I've started re-reading the book (for the millionth time) this time taking very detailed notes about the environment of each of the songs. This is a quick sketch I did for the first stanza of Bilbo's Last Song, (which is not included in The Hobbit) but was in fact the poem that got me thinking about this project.
	Happy Halloween! October 28th, 2008 My family always carves a pumpkin for those not around during Halloween and this masterpiece was created by my brother as "my" pumpkin. I thought it was pretty impressive. He is also a designer with a pretty sweet portfolio online. Check it out!
	Character Sketch, the OwlMage. September 31st, 2008 I am working on the visualization of the key characters for a soon to be complete fantasy novel called the Owl Mage. The story is a neat blend of Tolkein-esque epic-ness, modern psychology and a few evil snakes. This is one of a few sketches for the main character, Ultha.
	My travel buddy, asleep in Bryant Park, in NYC. September 1st, 2008 This is our 3rd day in NYC, and we are worn out. We've walked to all of our destinations which has been wonderful, but also taken a toll on our poorly cushioned feet. So we found a park, Dan took a nap and I sat and sketched for a few hours. Little did we know, apparently this was the same park that would be used in the very near future for Project Runway. So cool.
	Laundry day, with sketchbook and Elle. May 17th 2008 It's been awhile since I've just sketched to sketch, with most of my being consumed in classes and the move to Florida. Now that I'm settled, I think laundry days spent at the coin laundry down the street is the perfect time for me to catch up. This is the last sketch I did (before the dryer buzzed), from an ad in Elle magazine.
	Chick February 24th, 2008 There was far too much snow to go anywhere tonight, and I had a brand new pack of watercolor pencils.
	Ancient of War: sketches for an ABC book February 18th 2008 For my ABC book (STA 463) I think I am going to work with the characters and lore found in World of Warcraft. I know I would have no troubles whatsoever finding a subject for each letter of the alphabet, and it would be something I would enjoy researching. That's the best part of the game for me anyway; the storyline, the music and personal journey of each of the characters. I think I am going to aim for drawing out each of the subjects for the book, although the timeline of assignment may call for me to do otherwise. We shall see.
	Clavicle Bars January 29th, 2008 Dan's freshly pierced clavicles, in powdered graphite on watercolor paper.
	In the Shadow of St. Stephansplatz July 23rd, 2007 Night trains are not condusive to sleeping, despite the name. Should be changed to "darkened trains that really should require seatbelts", especially for those sleeping on the top bunk. Today was a great day. I spent it alone, sitting and sketching throughout Vienna. Map in hand, I found my way to various intriguing areas, stumbling across more beautiful buildings and views than I could have ever hoped to find.