I love you, Sun-maid Raisin Girl

Behold! The greatest work of art in the history of time! "Genius" and "Masterpiece" aren't words that I use lightly... but when I came across this Genius Masterpiece from my days in art school, I realized I shouldn't hide this from the world. I should have gone into marketing because i'm pretty sure raisin sales would at least double if Salma Hayek was the Sun-Maid Raisin girl. I'm currently having this painting archived and will be housed in my private collection for limited viewing engagements if you're interested.


And Salma Hayek, if you're reading this... I love you. Please come back to 30 Rock

Kevin Smith show at Gallery 1988!

A few weeks ago I was invited to contribute an illustration for a Kevin Smith show at Gallery 1988. Each artist got to do an illustration based off of the podcast that Kevin Smith does with his friend Scott Mosier. My podcast moment was a conversation about Kevin and Scott wanting to erect a statue to caveman sex...


If you're a Kevin Smith fan, you'll definitely wanna come down and check it out... and if you're a Kevin Smith fan you probably like comic books... and right next door to the gallery is Golden Apple Comics one of the last great comic book stores in southern california.

I admired the glowing stars and tried to play a tune

here's another page from the book i've been illustrating. I was having a little bit of trouble coming up with an idea and composition for this particular layout. I really wanted a chance to play around with the lighting on this one.

07.04.2009

Happy Birthday America!

Dead Space - Kendra

Here's something I never thought i'd ever say... I made one of Maxim's "Hottest Video Game Babes of 2008"!!! Now you might be thinking to yourself "but Joey... you're not a video game babe" and then I'll cry because it's true. But luckily... I can kinda draw, and one of the characters I designed for the Electronic Arts game "Dead Space" was chosen! Kendra Daniels was in good company with Zoey from Left 4 Dead, Sofitia from Soul Calibur, The Lolipop chick from GTAIV, Lara Croft, and my favorite, Chun-Li! See the full list HERE

Here's a short overview of the work that went into creating Kendra. First... I was given a brief description of the character, her traits, role in the game, and a bit about her personality. Then I sat down and cranked out a bunch of ideas in rough sketches. The art director and I would then sift through the pages of sketches, picking out what we liked about certain ideas, shelving the ones that didn't quite work. After a round or two of that process, we had settled on three ideas that felt right for the character

Then once we were happy with a direction for Kendra, i drew out a variety of possible hair styles. I was hoping to go the Ripley route with option I, but in the end, we went with a combination of G and K

Then came the fun part of putting together modeling packets for the character to be modeled in 3D. One is the full model, with the jacket, and then one without. Also, each character had a "gore" pass in case the necromorphs got a little hungry. Texture details were called out for the texture artist to accurately render the different materials on her outfit.



The character of Kendra was brought to life by the lovely actress Tonantzin Carmelo (as well as some very talented riggers and animators). She got a chance to slip into a mocap suit and have her face scanned to become Kendra Daniels! Check out her website, she's awesome!!! Click Here

And here's the final render of Kendra that appears in the game...

The end

"The Blanks" a.k.a. Ted's Band from Scrubs

I had forgotten to post this before the show, but here's another poster i did for an A Cappella group called "The Blanks"

You might recognize them by their alter-ego's "Ted's Band" from the tv show "Scrubs". I love scrubs, i could watch it all day. It's one of those shows where i put in a dvd to watch 1 episode... and next thing i know, it's 6 hours later, and i've carved a nice ass-groove into the couch.

So Ted's Band is actually The Blanks, and they are an a cappella group that go around and do shows at comedy clubs, colleges, etc. Well i had the honor of creating a poster for their first show at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco. I wish i could have gone to the show, but I did get to meet Sam (Ted on scrubs) at the Vans Warped Tour kickoff party at the Key Club on Thursday where TAT was playing.

"Ted Lawson made a huge mistake"

There's something undeniably catchy about the theme song to Small Wonder. It's instantly recognizable, catchy, and beyond cheesy, but everytime it came on the t.v. i couldn't look away. I'm sad to say that in it's own little way, Small Wonder is the partly responsible for my love of robots... Though i have moved on to bigger and better fembots, I'll always have a spot in my heart for my dear Vicki.


I was asked to contribute a piece for the upcoming "Idiot Box" show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. Since i love robots and bad 80's t.v. shows... it was a pretty easy decision of what i was going to paint. This is my first time participating in a gallery show, i had a lot of fun working on it, so come on out for the opening! Besides, when are you ever going to get a chance to meet THE Mr. Belding ever again?

On an island in the sun...

Here's another page from the book i'm illustrating! I'm really having a lot of fun with this project. I got caught up with some other things, and i'm just now getting back on track with it. I completed this image some time ago, and i have a few more ready to go, so i'll probably post those soon.

hip hip

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse - Step 1: have a plan

***** UPDATE *****

I've started a handy "ABC guide to surviving the Zombie Apocalypse" over at A to Zombie! Check it out, it just might save your life.

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Growing up in southern california, I was always taught to be prepared for the inevitable "Big one". However, there's something much worse that we should all be prepared for... and that's zombies. Someday they are going to rise up, and I will be prepared. There are several things one must consider when picking a location to survive the impending zombie apocalypse. Most importantly, it should be in close proximity to either your home or workplace.

The second most important consideration when choosing a location to hide out in is familiarity. I grew up in La Verne, i know it's roads like the back of my hand. i've biked the trails in the foothills to the north, i've driven the shortcuts around town hundreds of times. Choose a location that you are not only familiar with, but that you have such fond memories of, you would do anything to preserve it's existence!

I present "Joey's Zombie Apocalypse Survival Plan". The Location i have chosen is Heritage Park in the small town of La Verne. It's about 45 minutes East of Los Angeles... If zombies were going to strike anywhere, LA and it's surrounding suburbs would be the place. Heritage park is a small historical chunk of land (4 acre's) deep in the suburbs of La Verne. Since most people would be fleeing for the desert to the east, i decided that i would stay close to home. The park is split up into two sections. The physical park itself, and then the Historical Citrus farm is it's conjoined twin. The Farm and the park are separated by a deep wash basin that carries water runoff from the foothills above La Verne out to the ocean. The farmland is also surrounded by a high fence, so the zombies are already going to have a hard time getting in, since zombies can't climb.

There are several structures on the property. The farm house is a two-story home, built probably in the early 1900's. The stairs are easily destructible incase there is a zombie breach and you need to get to high ground. The Barn is a quick walk from the farm house, and towards the back of the property is a guest house which i would use to house those in need, as well as extra storage and supplies that weren't essential.

When the zombie apocalypse comes, life as we know it will cease to exist. Man will have to learn to be self-sufficient. The farm provides the perfect solution with it's rows of citrus trees, it's vegetable garden, the barn, and windmill powered water-pump. I have also mapped out supply locations with their distance proximity to the park. Though i expect these supply points to be picked over by the masses before the great exodus, there's still bound to be some useful things left behind. Should the zombies breach the perimeter, and overtake the land, i have multiple escapes routes that will help ensure my safety.
If Left 4 Dead and World War Z have taught me anything... it's stick together, and plan ahead.

Good Hearts Gone Bad

TAT is awesome! they sound like Green Day and Joan Jett had an awesome baby. I saw them back in October at the house of blues when they opened for Lagwagon, i probably should have left after their set, because they were the best band out of the 4 that played that night. They are hitting the road soon and playing a show at the Glasshouse in Pomona. I got in touch with them to ask if I could do a poster for their upcoming show, and here it is. Check out TAT, you won't regret it!

Have you heard the news that you're dead?

I took a break today from working on my book. I had downloaded the new My Chemical Romance song from "The Watchmen" soundtrack on iTunes and couldn't get enough. It's way stripped down from their last album "The Black Parade", A straightforward punk cover of the dylan song "Desolation Row" and it's awesome! I can't wait for their new album later this year.
I was inspired to create a concert poster for their show i saw last year at the warfield in san francisco. buy a print here :)

i've gotta live on an island to find the juice

I woke up on new years morning with an idea for a children's book. I sat down at my desk to write it down and it just poured out. Since working in the video game industry didn't allow me much time to work on my own art, this has been a refreshing start to the new year.
The past few weeks i have working pretty diligently on the illustrations. Here's the first image i created for the book, it's pages 33 and 34 out of 42 pages. I don't know why i started here, out of all the pages it was the easiest one to design. After finishing this one, i felt that i had the tone and style i wanted, and have used it as a template for the rest of the book. i now have about 75% of the book laid out and i hope to be done with it by the end of february. I'll hopefully post some more updates before i finish! What a great way to start out the new year :)