Skyscrapers

Well, this was a fun one to color. Lotsa green...
Green makes my heart all warm and fuzzy. So. Yeah.


Next Up!:
Portraits.

Cool ones.

I hope.

~

Happy happy Joy joy

Well I just found out that a very professional publishing house in Vietnam stole my "Sitting" piece to make it the cover of the book VỢ CHỒNG (Husband and wife) by Zeruya Shalev. Joy!

See with your own eyes the beautiful filter they applied, the subtle way in which they made my signature disappear, the amazing craft they used to add that piece of cra-- ahem!-- I mean soil, to the lower part of the picture...Oh! Oh! and to top it all off...they flipped it. Beautiful.
Beautiful work I must say.


Congratulations Bach Viet Books on a job well-done.

See it here :D!!

Doesn't it look great?

.

A quickie just so you know I'm still around. A close up of the new illo I'm cooking :)

Untold story

We've all got one.

---

Most of the coloring was done in OpenCanvas, tweaked a little bit the colors in PS and added the textures also there.

This one was a particular challenge. First, because, even if it looks kinda lousy, it has scenery :O!! I know. Scenery in an illo from ericka! omg. Second, because I had a partial coloring block. I simply had no idea how to color it. So, I closed the file and waited for the next day because I was going nuts. Opened it again. Examined the possibilities, decided on an atmosphere, started playing around and there you go.

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. I have to practice more scenery, though!

Also, I'll have you all know I recently bought my first gouache set soooooo...you know what that means. Mwahaha.

Anyway, hope you guys like and hope you are all doing fine :)

An untitled excuse to color. That's what this is.

Hope you are all doing good : )

Here. Have a sneek-peek and know that I'm alive.

Abuelo

He died today at 2:55 AM. So I am re-posting this image I did of him last year to honor him in some kind of way. Not many people have the privilege of having such a great grandfather. And although I said good-bye to him a long time ago (he had alzhimer's and didn't remember any of us) I can't deny his physical departure is a great loss, even if he was not himself anymore. He will be truly truly missed. I have nothing but great memories with him. But I know that he is way better than all of us put together. He is with our Lord, at his side, with his memory fully recovered and just having a blast up there, waiting to welcome us when our time comes.
I love you grandpa.

Al fin eres más alto que yo, ya no estás creciendo como el ñame. Te amo mucho, Ricardito.

Some practice from life.
Hooray for the quotidian.

Vanity Fair

Everything is vanity.

People today are so caught up in appearances. And when you come to think about it beauty and youthfulness lasts nothing. A tiny speck in the line of time.

What are we cultivating? What will really last? Is it looks? Money? Power? What?

Fall into the rythm

Fresh from the oven! Is he dancing? Is he falling? What the heck is the deal with this guy? Would we ever know? (xfiles music)

Generation

Some steps for the latest illustration.
I think the theme is quite obvious.
Inspired by my grandmother's death this past june 26.

She won't let go

Early step. Final piece.



Photoshop+ Open Canvas + texure

Back from VA

Yes, I am back from my friend Cali's wedding and hopefully new art will be coming soon.

PS: Lynchburg is so beautiful.
Oh, and I LOVED the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport. It was so busy and full of interesting people. <3<3

Sitting

Something that came out of nowhere.

So you walk

Part of the illustrations I'm doing for my book/portfolio due tuesday.
I like ink too much now.

Calle San Francisco, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Familiar?
Credit for composition and for posing goes to Alberto Santiago-Torres. thumbsup.

Sobre los que esperamos, lo que esperan y lo que exigen.

Otra vuelta a la página. Otra manifestación de la mutabilidad humana. El camino que conduce a la tan esperada conclusión se sigue dividiendo el instante en que das un paso. Aun así sigues caminando, con los ojos vendados y, en la mano, sostienes la vara con la que esperas dar una buena sacudida a la piñata aquella, al final del camino, que te contaron de pequeño, estaba llena de las más deliciosas, exquisitas y variadas golosinas.

Los años pasan y parece que nunca llegarás. Así que construyes una casa en el camino y te asientas mientras tanto. Haces la cama, comes tus vegetales y te aseas todos los días. -"Otro día sigo caminando, hoy ya estoy cansado"- te dices a ti mismo. Lentamente te olvidas del camino y las golosinas no parecen tener el significado que tenían ayer. Ya no logras percibir su olor, ni siquiera imaginar el colorido papel en el que están envueltas.

Tus manos ahora son diferentes, tus pies también. Los zapatos ya no te quedan y la vida se hace más rápida. Veinte y cuatro horas ya no parecen ser suficientes y decides planear tu vida paso a paso.

Llega el domingo: tiempo de cortar el césped. Un extraño ruído se escucha a la distancia mientras recoges los restos de aquel tapete verde que adornaba desinteresado los alrededores de tu casa. El ruído se hace más fuerte, es como el zumbido molesto de una mosca en tu oído. Te asomas y, a los lejos, logras ver una agraciada y peculiar figura coronada de delicados destellos ámbar. Es Olivia, una interesante extranjera en busca de aventuras, que montada en su bicicleta se dirige a Unsitlejanok.

Quedas deslumbrado. Oh! Qué hermosa e inteligente es! Cada palabra que sale de su boca es como un soplo de vida; cada una de sus mejillas, una rosa delicadamente salpicada de rocío.

Ahora tu vida es Olivia. Vives con Olivia. Respiras a Olivia.
Olivia lo es todo. La verdad es ella. ¡Es ella! Así que olvidas tu nombre y quién fuiste. Tratas de complacer cada uno de sus deseos; hasta el más míninmo capricho y, por un momento, crees que eres feliz. Hasta que un día Olivia decide irse.

Tu mundo se viene abajo. Tus sueños, tu valor, el amor...

-"Yo voy contigo a ese lugar! Yo te acompaño hasta el fin del mundo, vida!"- Pero a Olivia no parece importarle. Ella sabe que ese sitio no es para ti. Así que sigue su camino y no logras comprender.

Llega el invierno más frío y largo de tu vida. La casa está helada, tu alma congelada. No concilias el sueño y tus noches son una vigilia en espera de algo que desconoces. El césped cubre tus ventanas y, mientras miras al techo lleno de bonitos diseños geométricos tejidos con el más fino hilo, aquel olor regresa, junto con tu nombre y quien eras.

La primavera llegó de golpe y, con suerte, trae consigo una brújula apuntando al norte.

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Fin de la metáfora.

Round 2

Remake of this.

Sergio Martinez has a blog <3

I just found Sergio Martinez's blog and I'm so excited! I've been looking for his site since forever and today I finally found it. This man is a genius. Though I think the blog has a very very limited amount of illustrations, considering all the work he has done, it's better than nothing at all. Luckily I have a few books illustrated by him.
Go me.

Sergio Martinez Linework
Sergio Martinez line

!!!!

Texture=Fun