A Smidge of Color

Hey Guys,

So here's how the kid roughs from below turned out. I tried a few new color things this go around and figured I'd post 'em up here to see what ya thought. Hope you like how they came out and, as always, thanks for taking the time to stop by. Be blessed!

Triumphal Entry

Heya Gang. Hope everyone's doing well out in good 'ol bloggerland and that all you dads out there had a fantastic father's day yesterday. Being a dad myself, I must say it truly is a wonderful blessing, one that I'm extremely thankful for. What can ya say... being a dad just plain ROCKS!!!

But anyway... this is a rough that I struggled through lately. Definitely out of practice when it comes to drawing/designing is more proportional style. It's crazy, because the rules of good design don't change when you're doing something more along these lines, but for some reason I just have a really tough time incorporating them into the drawings. Hat's off to all you artists that do this all the time. You are the real talents.

Thanks for stopping by guys. Be blessed!

Even More Kiddies

Nothing new, but the pannel specs made these a bit trickier than usual, so I figured I'd post 'em up. Hope you guys like 'em. Be blessed and thanks for stopping by-

Miah

Kiddies....

Hey guys. Hope everybody's doing dandy. So these are just some character roughs that I cranked out the other day. Nothing fantastic or anything, but hopefully they're worth posting up.

On a fun side note, I'm currently working on another project along the same lines as the "Sunburn Serenade" and "Chicken Named Mac" shorts, so if you liked the stuff in those posts stay tuned... there'll be more of that comin' soon.

Thanks to everybody that's kind enough to stop by and leave comments and words of encouragement. They really mean alot. Be blessed guys and thanks for stopping by!

Chicken Named Mac

Bg Style Guide and Character Comp. Model Sheets.... Prop Goodies.... Heya Gang. So here's some development work I did a little while back for a short called "A Chicken Named Mac". Like the stuff for "Sunburn Serenade", that I posted not too long ago, this one was also directed by the super talented Kevin Riley, who has his own studio/production company out in Tampa,Fl. I highly recommend dropping whatever you're doing, and heading straight over here: http://www.kevinrileyanimationandillustration.com/ to check out his amazing talent. Working with him was nothing short of an absolute joy and I will always be thankful for the opprotunity to just cut loose and have a blast "working". Thanks for workin' with me Kevin.... easily one of the most enjoyable experiences of my freelance career hands down. Hope you guys like the development. Be blessed and thanks for stopping by!

Honey Nut Development

(Obviously I was influenced by the fantastic work done on the Bee Movie. There truly was some amazing development done for that film. Those guys are the real masters!)


Hey guys. Hope everyone's been doing well out in good 'ol bloggerland. Things around the studio have been pretty hectic lately, hence the lack of new posts, but I had a second this morning to put up something new, so here goes. A while back I was asked to help out with some development stuff for my good friend Sean Henry at Calabash Animation up in good 'ol Chi-town. They're the guys that produce all the super cool Trix cereal and Lucky Charms spots that we're accustomed to seeing on T.V., so obviously I was honored that they'd give me a chance to help out a bit. I'm not sure wether or not my stuff will get used, but it sure was a ton of fun to do. Sean, thanks so much for letting me work on such a fun project... it truly was a blast to work on. Be blessed guys!

P.s.- thanks to everyone who was kind enough to stop by and leave comments on my last post. I'm sorry for not being able to respond to everyone individually, but please know that I really do appreciate you taking a look at my scribbles and leaving such encouraging words. You guys rock!

Sunburn Serenade

STYLE GUIDES:


KID POSE SHEETS:







SEA CREATURE POSE SHEETS:



THE CAN & PROPS:

Jamaican crab that sang some of the filler of the chorus of the song... Shame he didn't make it past boards... woulda been fun to see.

Heya Gang... hope everyone's well out in good 'ol bloggerland. So towards the end of last year I was fortunate enough to work on a short interstitial called Sunburn Serenade. It's the second in a set of what would become three shorts along the same lines as the old "School House Rocks" ones done back in the day. You know the format, informative song that teaches kids something good about the environment, or their health, etc. It was a ton of fun to work on for alot of different reasons, but alot of the joy was a direct result of great direction.... for once I was just able to cut loose and have fun and I really think it made a huge difference in the kind of work that we produced. Thanks Kevin for letting me enjoy my job to the full man, you rock dude! Hope they turned out okay.

Be blessed guys and thanks for stopping by.

My first drawing of the new year.....

Quick sketch of my 5 mnth old's new year gift to Daddy. I'm not braggin' or anything, but it was a masterpiece. Something so small and cute shouldn't be able to create something so foul. Be blessed guys.

Kiddies

Heya guys. Hope everyone's doin' well out in bloggerland and that everybody's had a fantastic start to the new year. So here's some work roughs from tonight... nothing special or anything, but hopefully it'll give folks who are still kind enough to stop by something to look at. Hope you guys like 'em. Take care, be blessed, and thanks for coming by everybody!

Soccer Post update

Hey guys... hope everbody out in bloggerland is doing fine and dandy. So as promised, here's how the finals from the soccer roughs turned out. Nothing fancy or anything, but I hope you guys like 'em just the same. Take care and thanks for stopping by. Be blessed guys!

The Year of the Ox update

Heya Gang. Hope everyone had a great Christmas! So I just wanted to give anyone who might be interested a heads up... The Year of the Ox, is up and available for purchase. Horray!!! I got my copies a few days back and I'm really happy with how they came out. If you're interested in picking up a book you can head over to amazon and get one from there, or you can go to Immedium's website and pick up a copy there. For any and all who might be interested, thanks very much for your support! Hopefully folks will enjoy the story...(insert fingers crossing here :) Take care, be blessed, and have a very Happy New Year guys!

YOO on Immedium: www.immedium.com/products/yearofox.html

YOO on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Year-Ox-Tales-Chinese-Zodiac/dp/159702015X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230504282&sr=1-1

Blast from the Past

Heya gang. So here's a rough I worked on today. The format the client asked for was kinda akward and it was difficult to find a layout that worked nicely without seeming really wonky. I grew up playing soccer, nearly 22 years worth, before I blew out my knee. Oddly enough it was that injury and a few other things that really helped me decide to focus on art and persue animation. Even though I rarely get to play anymore, I still love the game and this assignment was a chance for me to relive some of that stuff from my soccer days. The title at the bottom and boarder is a nod to the super cool logos that the English Premiership teams have. Long live "Liverpool"! Hope you guys like it.... final soon to follow.


roughs from today(Fri.).....

Recent Illustration Stuff

Heya Guys. Hope all is well with everyone out in Bloggerland! So this is just some recent freelance stuff... nothing special or anything, but I hope ya like it just the same. Be blessed guys!

My Daughter's a Jedi.... who knew?

Yeah so apparently, unbeknownst to my wife and I, my daughter is a Jedi master. Just thought I'd give all you Sith out there a heads up. The force is strong with this one!

Monstroville.....A Ghastly Bunch

FINAL LINEUP




Heya guys! Hope everyone's doing great out there in Bloggerland and that life's been treating ya kind. Things here around the studio have been pretty hectic lately... my new born is my second in command pretty much everyday so my time is split between working and taking care of her, but I can honestly say I wouldn't have it any other way. Alot of parents miss out on this part of their children's "growing up" b/c they have to head out to the office everyday... you see the baby in the morning for a few minutes and then at night for a few.. then the whole thing starts over again and by the time you know it, that new baby isn't so new anymore. Being a dad is super challenging at times, but I'm truly blessed to be doing what I do with my kids by my side!

And on a completely different subject I'm also excited to show you guys a bit of development stuff that I've been doing for my buddy Viktor Von Kreep of Kreepsville Industries http://www.kreepsvilleindustries.com/... you might also know him as the mastermind behind the Cereal Killers coffee table book that should be coming out sometime soon. I can't tell you too much about the project, but you can head over to the production blog to learn a bit more http://monstroville.blogspot.com/. The good doctor asked me to jump on board as art director and lead character designer and I gladly accepted! The project has been a blast to work on so far and I'm super excited to be on board. I'll be posting more development stuff soon... Take care and thanks for stopping by!

El Tigre Paints!

storyboard- Eddie Trigueros
layout/cleanup/paints- me



storyboard- Ricky Garduno
layout/paints- me
cleanup- Stella Lee




storyboard- Fred Gonzales
layout/cleanup/paints- me



storyboard- Sean Szeles
layout/cleanup/paints- me

Hey guys. Sorry for not posting for such a long time... things at work have been, thankfuly, very busy lately and unfortunately that doesn't leave much time for blogging. So for everyone who's kind enough to still stop by this sorry excuse for an art blog even though my lame self never updates it... YOU GUYS ROCK!

So while I was working on El Tigre, I was fortunate enough to try my hand at a number of different jobs on staff... and all of them were an absolute blast!! But towards the end of production I was given the opprotunity to try painting some close ups of props and characters and such. And man, talkin' about a fun job to have... it was an absolute joy!!! I've been wanting to post up some of this stuff for a long while now, but since the show wasn't airing on Nick anymore, I wasn't sure if I could or not. But the other day my son asked to watch some episodes online and wouldn't ya know it, there were the final episodes that never aired! I never did get the chance to see how they came out before production ended, and he and I had a blast watching them together! So I thought, if the episodes are up online, it's probably safe to post some of this stuff, so here's a few pieces from some of the newer episodes that are up on TurboNick.

A huge thanks to Jorge, Sandra, Dave, Gabe, Steve and all the rest of you guys that let me take a crack at this stuff. You were the best crew in the world and working along side you was an absolute honor.

P.S.- Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented on the last post too. I wish I could have responded to you all, but time was conspiring against me. All of your wellwishes with regards to my daughter Lilly were so awesome and very much so appreciated. She's doing fantastic!!! Nearly 2 months old now... man time flies.

Thanks for coming by everyone!

Two New Additions!

Hey Guys. Hope that everyone's doing well and that you all had a great summer. Things here in Alabama have been extremely busy lately (hence the lack of posts), but what are ya gonna do... life gets busy sometimes and we just have to do our best to keep moving in the right direction.

So the first thing I want to share with ya is that my daughter, Lillie Elise, was born on Aug.8th!!! A whopping 8 lbs. 3 ounces and man is she awesome... such a blessing! I can honestly say that even though I've been fortunate enough to do the new daddy thing 3 times previously, there still is nothing like holding this new little person in your arms and knowing that, even though I've done nothing to deserve her, God gave her to me... well to my wife and I and that is truly a wonderful thing. I don't have any fantastic pictures to post here for you guys to look at, but if you head over to my wife's blog you can see some great ones there.
http://www.thealcornfamily.blogspot.com/

The second thing that I wanted to post up is that production on "Year of the Ox", the fourth installment in the "Tales from the Chinese Zodiac" series, has wrapped up and the book is now available for pre-order on Amazon for anyone who's interested.
http://www.amazon.com/Year-Ox-Tales-Chinese-Zodiac/dp/159702015X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219603704&sr=1-4

Despite the challenges that I had during the course of production, this particular story was really fun to work on and although I'm happy to have finished it, I am a little sad that I won't be drawing these guys anymore. Olivia (the baby ox) and Mei (her best friend) were alot of fun to work with and I hope that folks enjoy their story.

So since the cover was up on Amazon, I figured I'd post it along with a few other tid bits from the interior just because I could. Hope you guys like 'em. Take care and thanks for coming by.

3...

There was always that one kid... you know the one. Whenever the teacher asked a question they were quickest to give the answer. Constantly outshining the competition their hand was always well practiced, shooting into the air with the greatest of confidence, an answer at the ready. Musta been nice... I was the kid doodling in the back of the class trying to look busy.

Thanks for stoppin by :)

Something a bit different

Hey guys. So here's something that's a bit different from the stuff I've been posting as of late. Nothing fantastic or anything, but hopefully it turned out okay. Thanks for stoppin by. Later taters

Miah

The Girls

Nothing special, just some interior roughs... One of these days I might actually have some polished stuff to show, but hopefully these'll do for a bit. The challenge now is to keep this same energy in the finals... should be a good challenge. Hope ya like 'em and thanks for comin' by. Later taters!

Da Beach

So my family and I went on "vacation" last week to a great place called Gulf Shores.... the best kept beach seceret in America in my humble opinion. It was really awesome just to get away for a while and spend some time doing family
things. This is just a quick memory sketch of some of the locals. Nothing too special, but I hope ya like it just the same. Later taters.

Year of the Ox update

Hey guys. So "Year of the Ox", the next installment in the "Tales from the Chinese Zodiac" series is in the thick of production and since I have zero time for any kind of personal work, I figured I'd post up some stuff from the process.... the temporary color lineup... which may or may not change during production, and a few of my rough thumbnails from the interior pages. Nothing to spectacular or anything, but something to post up just the same. Hope ya like 'em.

On a side note, I want to appologize to everyone who's stopped by recently and left a comment... I really appreciate all the encouraging words and I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to your posts... I know it sounds cliche to say that I've been super busy, but it's true. So I just want to say thanks so much for coming by. Take care and be blessed everybody!

More Scribbles

Hey Guys. So nothing new here... just more character roughs. Hopefuly I'll have finished color stuff to post up soon, but we'll see. Until then take care, be blessed, and thanks for stopping by!

YOO Lineup

Hey Guys. Hope everyone is doing well out in Bloggerland. So here's the next step in the book development process for me anyway... a rough lineup of all the characters that will potentially be in the book on one page or another. I'm not sure what other illustrators do or don't do, but I find that working out a rough idea for each character gives me a bit more confidence going into the thumbnailing stage. I didn't get around to working out colors for these guys, but hopefully it'll be enough to give me a solid place to jump from.... we'll see I guess. Hope you like 'em okay and as always thanks for stopping by. Later taters.

New Year

Hey Guys. Hope all is well with everyone out in blogger land. It's been a good while since I last posted... life has been crazy busy for the past few months or so. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but it's true. But anywho,now that promotional stuff for "Year of the Rat" is wrapping up, it's time to start development for the next installment in the "Tales from the Chinese Zodiac" series, "The Year of the Ox". The new book is about an ox named Olivia and her best buddy Mei. More developement stuff soon to come! Take care and thanks for stoppin' by! Later taters....

First post of 2008?

Hey Guys. Well it's hard to believe it, but 2007 has apparently come and gone.... CRAZY! I don't know about you, but it sure did seem to fly by. So I'm officially back in Birmingham working from my little studio at the house and it's working out great so far.... being together with my wife and kids again is fantastic! It's amazing how much more I appreciate them now having been gone for a while. But anyway... I'm not sure if any of my Tigre buddies have a chance to stop by this silly blog of mine, but if you do... man I really miss you guys! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

So here's something to get the new year started off. Nothing new to any of you guys that stop by from time to time, but at least it's something. Hope you like 'em okay. Take care everyone and as always, thanks so much to all you folks out there who take the time to stop by. Your comments are always mucho appreciated. Be blessed and have a great new year everyone!

"The Year of the Rat" has arrived!!!!

And early enough to pick up a copy before the first of the year. If you might be interested in picking up a copy of your very own you can visit the links below to check it out for yourself. I'll be posting up some of the interior pages soon to give ya a sneak peak of what's inside, but until then hopefully this will do. As always thanks for stopping by guys. Later taters-

http://www.immedium.com/products/yearofrat.html

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Rat-Tales-Chinese-Zodiac/dp/1597020117/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198860481&sr=1-3

More Freelance

Some finals from the rough in the last post.... nothing too great, but I figured I'd poste 'em anyway.

FREELANCE!!!!

Heya Guys. So here's some recent freelance I've been workin' on. Nothing too special or anything, but I figured I'd post it up for those of you who still find time to stop by this increasingly unactive blog of mine. And on that note, thanks to everyone who does come by and leave an encouraging word... your thoughts and comments are mucho appreciated. Hope ya like this round of stuff. Be blesed guys-

Tigre Cancelled !!?

Just in case you haven't heard yet, El Tigre has officially been cancelled. At the end of the day, the show just wasn't getting the ratings that the network expected, but in our defense it's extremely difficult to establish any kind of following if your show isn't on the air. But what are ya gonna do... I suppose that's just how it goes sometimes. Unfortunately even the best of things must come to an end.

The Evolution of Ralph

Heya Guys. Well it's hard to believe it, but it's nearly that time of year again. The next book in the Chinese Zodiac series entitled "The Year of the Rat" is due to hit book stores sometime in December for the Christmas season, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to put a few small images from it up here for ya to look at. Now at this point I'm not really sure about putting up pages from the interior, but I figured the cover (which I believe is up on Immedium's website), the splash page, and a few spot illustrations wouldn't hurt... so here goes. Hope they turned out okay.


So this is what we settled on for the cover... nothing special, but hopefully it's up to snuff.


The interior splash page... foreshadowing a very minute detail of the story. Nothing fantastic or anything, but I wanted to get at least one image in the book of Ralph eating cheese... you know at his ease doing what all rats would do best.


These were some of the very first comps done of Ralph... at this point the idea was to combine graphic characters with traditional looking chinese brush painted bgs. So that's why these guys are dressed like they are... that idea of dressing the characters was one of few initial concepts that managed to make it's way into the final book. Looking back at these now, they really don't offer much in terms of character exploration... most of the shapes are extremely similar, but at least they got the ball rolling :)


This is the first sketch that I did of Ralph that actually felt good to me... not saying it's great or anything, but it was the first time in the project where I thought "Hmmm... maybe this guy could carry a story..." and the revamp progressed from here....


... to here which is some of the very last character stuff done for the book. Ralph actually changed a bit throught the final rendering of the interior as well, so little discrepencies in treatment surface from page to page... but on the whole this is the fella that the book is all about. Hope ya like him okay.

As always, thanks for stopping by guys! Later taters!

300

Hey Gang. Well I know it's been a really long time since my last post and I'm really sorry. Things have just been super crazy lately... a lot of changes happening at one time. Anywho I do have some exciting news... Today is my first day at Nickelodeon... HOORAYY!!! I was fortunate enough to get a character design position on El Tigre a few months back and needless to say, I'm one big melting pot of emotions at the moment... excited, nervous, gassy... you name it and I'm probably feeling it right about now. I'm truly humbled to be working with such a super talented crew and I can't wait to get started!!! I know it's gonna be a blast!

So while I'm getting a better feel for L.A. I've been staying with my best bud Steve Lambe and his wife Sue. They've been awesome and I can't say how much my family and I appreciate all they're doing for me. Thanks guys!!! Since things have been pretty hot here lately, we decided to stay in and watch a movie the other night and "300" was what we settled on... and man... what a spectacular movie!!! Definitely not one to sit down and watch with the entire family, but it really was a great film.

Anywho this piece was inspired by the movie and the challenge for me was to work thru the entire thing without referencing the film, or anything else... you know base it entirely off what I remembered from the experience. Not sure how successful it is, but it definitely was super fun to cut loose and work on something just because for a change. Hope you guys like it.

El Tigre Bg's

Hey Guys. Well I know it's been a long time since my last post, so if anyone still comes by to see if the spider webs and dust have gotten any thicker, well here's something new for ya. I know a while back I said that I was extremely privilaged to be doing some full time freelancin' for Nickelodeon's El Tigre. Well two weeks ago some of the bg work I've done aired on the show!! It was really exciting to see, so I figured I'd post up some of 'em for you to have a look at. All the design goodness (rough layout, color keys, boards, etc.) was done by Roman Laney and the other super talented members of the bg department in L.A. I just cleaned 'em up. If ya want to see the final bgs, you'll have to catch them on a re-run of the show, but trust me it'll be worth a second look.... the stuff they do with my clean ups is absolutely amazing!!! Thanks for lettimg me be a small part of the team guys.

Hope you guys like 'em.

More kiddies... big surprise huh!?..

Hey Guys. Well here's the usual kid roughs that I'm extremely fortunate to do for Lifeway. Nothing to shout about really, but I figured I'd post 'em up just the same. I'm gonna try a little different rendering techinique this go around and will post up the results soon-ish. If anybody interested swing back by next week to see how they turn out. Thanks to all you guys who still stop by... your support and positive feedback really mean alot. Take care everyone!

ROUGH YOR boards ...

Hey Guys. So things are pretty frantic out my way at the moment and I was really struggling trying to find something to post up to keep the bloggin' fresh. Because time is pretty much non-existent anymore I thought I'd put up the rough boards for the book I'm working on "Year of the Rat". I know they're super rough, but for some reason I've always thought it was neat to see the whole book together... you know see how the pages are flowing to get a feel for how the book will read. At this stage too it's really easy to start picking out things that need to be changed (hence the blue notes you'll see) and making corrections where necessary. I know you can't read the text very well, but I'm not sure that the publisher has that nailed down yet and didn't know if they'd be cool with me putting up the working copy. One way or the other I hope ya find it moderately interesting.

I also wanted to say thanks to the folks who've stopped by and commented on the last few posts. Sorry I haven't been able to respond to your questions individually... just been busy. I'll do my very best to do better with that from here on out. Take care everybody and, as always, thanks for stoppin' by.

Rusty as a blunt nail

Hey Guys. Here's a few roughs from today to keep the 'ol blog updated. Nothing new here really, just kids and teachers doing activities during suday school classes. Working through the characters this go around was a 'lil tougher than usual... been awhile since I've done much character design and I think it shows... but things started feeling a little more natural towards the end, so hopefully there won't be quite as much paper tearing and forhead slapping with the next batch. Hope ya like 'em.

El Tigre is definitely.....SUPER MACHO!!!

Hey Gang. Well I've been waiting until El Tigre premeired to let the cat out of the bag....no pun intended:). For a little over a month I've been working on El Tigre here in my lil' office across the country. I was approached about doing some background work for the show a while back, did a test, and, amazingly enough, was picked up to help out on the show!!! WOOHOO!!!!... Now I'm by no means very good with backgrounds, but working on the show has been an unbelievable experience that I hope continues going for a good while to come. Roman Laney, the art directory on the show, is an AMAZING layout artist and designer and I am super privilaged to be able to work on his bgs. The show itself is chalked full of, in my opinion, some of the best talent in the industry and I'm humbled to be a small part of such an illustrious crew. If you didn't catch the premier of the show this morning, check it out tonight at 6 and 6:30 on Nickelodeon.... I promise you won't be disappointed!

p.s.- This is a quick image of Manny that I did up myself (not so good...tear) ... so for the super appealing character stuff watch the show and check out some of the expressions and poses that the characters hit... my hat's off to my bud-of-buds Steve Lambe, Gabe Swarr, Chris Battle, and the rest of the character guys... your work is truly AWESOME!!! Thanks for showing us how it's done fellas!

Hey... Who you callin' a RAT?!!

So here is what I came up with for the cover comp for the new book. Nothing spectacular by any means, but hopefully it will work until we get through the book itself. At this point the style is still in development and I think it definitley shows in the comp. Hopefully we'll sort those decisions out before rendering ont he book begins....


Well here it is gang, my first attempt at the characters I'll be working with for the next 6-7 months or so. I'm fairly happy with the line up so far, but things tend to change a good bit once you get into production... Rough cover comp soon to follow..... thanks for stopping by guys.

Ahh... Patty we had some good times...

Hey Everybody! It's that time of year again!! The Year of the Pig, the second story in the "Tales from the Chinese Zodiac" series, released for sale this past January.... and to help promote lil Patty's story, I'll be doing some book signings/readings in the Chicagoland area on the weekend of Feb. 18th. The first will be Saturday Feb 17th at the College of DuPage from 12:00-4:00 p.m. and the second will be at The Magic Tree Book Store on Feb 18th from 1:00-2:30ish. To anyone who might be interested in swinging by, I'd love to meet you and if your interested in picking up a copy of YOP, there will be a limited number of copies there to purchase. For anyone who is unable to stop by, doesn't like big bear hugs, or is afraid that my head looks like a giant acorn.... you can pick up a copy of both "The Year of the Pig" and "The Year of the Dog" at amazon.com or feel free to stop by Immedium's website (www.immedium.com) and check out all the cool stuff there as well. So below are a few pages from the book so you can get a feel for it along with a tidbit of develpment for the next book in the series... hope you like 'em. Later taters....






So I don't personaly know any rats named Ralph, but I'm soon to be working with one.... I'm frantically searching for this lil fella and I think I've got him widdled down to one of these three guys..... I'm leaning towards the "Ralph" in the upper right corner, but that's just me... more to come soon.

New Year - Old Blog

Wha... actual pencil drawings... man now that's old school!

Hey Guys. Merry belated Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well it's been forever and a day since I've updated this blog and I apologize to all of you who were kind enough to stop by despite the lack of posts. A while back I decided that this blog would be a way for me to explore things that I liked to do, but because work has been so hectic lately, I haven't had the time or energy to devote to personal projects hence the lack of posts. I know the "I'm tired and I don't have time to do anything new" excuse is lame, but, in this case, it's unfortunately true. So until work things slow down a bit (not any time soon I hope), I'm gonna have to pull back on my " I'm only posting personal work" declaration, and go back to posting work I've done for clients. Hope that's cool with the one or two folks who might still stop by. So to get things kicked off, I thought I'd post some rejected stuff I did for the guys over at GamaGo. These are always a ton of fun to do... but unfortunately not always what they're looking for. Take care everyone, and thanks for stopping by.

Double Dash!

I'm not sure why, but I've always been drawn to Super Mario games. From the first time I played Super Mario Bros.3, to my wife and I's addiction to Mario Tennis, on to Mario Golf and later Super Mario Strikers... the list just goes on and on. I dunno the games are always so much FUN... not too complicated (well obviously if a guy like me can follow along)... and just challenging enough. Well to make a long story short, I picked up Double Dash not too long ago and absolutely loved the game! I play it whenever I get stuck on a piece or just need a second to step away and come back with a fresh eye. If you own a game cube, I highly recommend giving this title a try. It really is a perfect fit for those easliy confused, gaming confounded big kids out there who are too darn stubborn to grow up.... wha... I'm alone on this one.... 'sigh'... okay.. okay... it's the perfect fit for this easily confused, gaming confounded big kid. Anyway, this piece is a result of all the hours of getting my slow butt kicked by Wario, Bowser, Peach, and the rest....Hope it turned out okay.

Parry Otter...

Hey Guys... First of all, thanks so much eveyrone for all your kind words and well wishes regarding our daughter. She is such a wonderful baby, and we really are blessed to have her in our lives. I know there's a bunch of blogs out there and as always, I appreciate you all taking the time to stop by mine and say hey... so again, thankyou so much..

Second... man it's really been a while... having a new baby around the house/studio tends to take up a lot of your time, so I've been busy doing Daddy things mostly and squeezing in work here and there. Anywho.. this is a piece that I did for the great guys over at DrawerGeeks....unfortunately I didn't finish in time to make the big post on their site, but I figured I could still post it here for fun anyway... Hope you like it...

Thanks again for stoppin by everybody!

So Blessed!

Hey Guys. Well I know it's been a while, but things have been kinda busy. I know in my last post I said I was only going to post personal projects from now on, and I figured it doesn't get more personal than this! This past Wed., my wife gave birth to our first daughter, and third child, Emma Riley Alcorn! She was 8lbs 19 1/2 inches long upon deliver and has been an absolute joy for the short time we've had her. Once we get her nights and days all sorted out we'll be in great shape! Until then, Daddy is going to have to get used to the idea of late nights for a while.... but I can honestly say that I couldn't think of another way I'd rather spend them. And better yet she's gonna be my newly appointed studio buddy for a while, so hopefully she'll help me push my work in the right direction...... two heads are always better than one right?!.....I love bein' a dad!

One last work postity

Hey guys. Well I've been thinking about this whole blog thing and I've decided not to post anymore work related stuff... Because I work freelance, sometimes it difficult to stop working on a project... It's so easy to get caught up in all the details and making things just so and before you know it, your putting in 13 hrs on something that realistically should've only taken five. As artists, I think we always want to grow and mature in our craft, pushing the bouneries and getting outside of our comfort zones and sometimes that can be difficult to do when your not calling all the shots. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely fortunate and very blessed to be able to do what I do everyday... but with that being said, I'm going to try and set aside a bit more time to do my own thing and hopefully(if turns out okay) that'll be the stuff that I post here. I'm not promising anything, but it's time to take that step and see where it leads...

So here's one last work post... I'm sure everybody's getting tired of seeing these black and white images, but hopefully we can all see a bit more diversity here in the future. Hope you guys like 'em anyway. Three cheers for continued blessings, pushing bounderies, and artistic growth! Hip hip... horray! Hip hip... horray... hippp... well you get the idea..

Oh so Curious..

Hey Guys. Here's a piece I finished up for my nephew's 1st birthday. He loves Curious George and really liked the movie, so my sista-n-law wanted me to shoot for that style. I really liked the feel of the books, so I thought it would be neat to try and combine the two... In the end, I think it turned out a bit indecisive, but it was still fun to try something a little different... no harsh angles, more rounded shapes, etc... Hope ya it.

Not so Fantastic, but definitely 4

Hey Guys. Well here is my last minute, "man I really need to get my keister in gear!", attempt at the Fantastic 4 for the great fellas over at DrawerGeeks. I've never really done that much super hero stuff, so I apologize to any of you die hard Fantastic 4 fans who look at this line up and say "What the heck happened here?!" Hope they're up to snuff....

The big, the tall, and the milk chocolatey!

Hey Guys. Here's a few rejected concepts that I did for a friend of mine Paul Conrad. The basic idea is that King Kong is chasing the lil M&M's guys through NYC. I'm not sure how much I can say about the project, but lets just say that if your ever in Times Square you might just run across some of Paul's great work and maybe some of my silly doodles... Hope you guys like 'em.

NDA's

Well I finally finished up the last page of YOP yesterday and in celebration of getting my behind in gear and getting the art out the door, I figured I'd post it. Noting special, just the title page, but it's a tiny taste of what the book will look like. Hope ya like it.



Well most of the work that I'm doing now, I can't show because of NDA's... so here's a little tidbit from the children's book (The Year of the Pig)I'm finishing up. I can't show any of the pages yet, but with each new book, I have to design characters for the zodiac images that will appear in the calendar at the end of the book. Because the style of each book is a bit different than the last, these head shots need to be updated to fit within that style. I'll post some of the final page illo.s when the book releases. Hope you guys like 'em.

FREELANCE!

Hey guys. Here is a piece I just finished up for a project I'm currently working thru. Nothin to fancy, just spots really, but I figured I'd post 'em just the same. Hope you guys like 'em.

Character Design Interview

Hey Guys. I just wanted to take a minute to thank Randall Sly for the opprotunity to do an interview for the character design blog. Doing the interview was nothing short of both an honor and a privilege, and I'm truly humbled to be amoungst such an amazing group of artists. If anyone is interested in reading a few pages of my rambling, the inteview is up for your viewing pleasure. If nothing else swing by and check out all the other folks there. If you haven't been already, I promise it'll be more than worth time. Stop by the character design blog here: www.characterdesign.blogspot.com .Thanks again Randall!

Gettin' rusty.

Hey guys. Thanks for all the kind words concerning the sketch. I've been meaning to post the final for a while now, but I've been pretty busy with work. I tried going with now holding lines on this one thinking it would go faster, but man was I wrong. It turned out to be just as difficult trying to make everything work together properly. I'm still not sure it was entirely succesfull, but I figured I'd post it up anyway. Take care everybody and thanks for stopping by.



Hey guys. Here's a recent sketch from some freelance I'm working my way through. For this particular project, my client likes more "realistic" designs, something with a little more dimension, so I had to opt. for a style that's pushed a bit less. And man what a struggle that was, as you can tell by the sketch. I'm definitely a little rusty, but hopefully the final will come out okay. Hope you guys like it.

Something a bit Ghastly

Hey Guys. Here is a piece I finished up recently for a great guy named Norman Cabrera and his awesome band called "The Ghastly Ones", a surf rock/horror group from Van Nuys! These guys are just amazing, but don't take it from me.... check 'em out for yourself here: www.ghastlyones.com. The best news is they have a new album coming out sometime really soon, so make sure to pick up a copy! I know I will. Thanks Norman!

T. P. anybody?

Hey guys. Here's some recent freelance work. I'm cruchin' thru the remainder of the project, so more soon to come.



And the last couple.... (insert sigh of relief)... and now for some shut eye..

Something for my girls

Hey Guys. This is a card I made my wife for mother's day this year, and although the poem isn't the greatest she is truly a blessing in my life. If our daughter is anything like her, I'll truly be the luckiest guy on the face of the earth. My wife seemed to like it, and I hope you guys do too. Happy late mother's day to all you moms out there!

One kid, two kids, three kids, four....

Hey Guys. These are a couple of sketches from a project I'm workin' on at the moment. Finals soon to follow. Hope you like 'em.

Nascarasaurus Rex

Hey guys... So my son is really into dinosaurs.... I mean REALLY into dinosaurs, and for whatever reason NASCAR is another big hit, so I did this during my warmup time for him today... if nothing else he got a big kick out of it, so I figured I'd post it because I could. Hope you guys like it.

One last post for Chi-town!

Hey everybody... So my family and I are finally going to make the move back to Birmingham,Al. tomorrow... it's been a long time in the works, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait... ohhh and my wife and I just found that we are going to have a healthy baby girl in Sept., so we're obviously super excited about that. The boys won't rule the roost anymore! So amoungst all of this stuff I've been trying to stay caught up on assignments... and here is the latest piece I finished, and my last piece for Chicago... one chapter closes and another one begins. Bye bye Chicago and hello B'ham!

Dead Beats!

Hey everybody. Here's a piece I just finished up for the Cereal Killer's coffee table book. Definitely a little different than most of the projects I do, but wow what a ton of fun! A big thanks to Doktor Viktor Von Kreep : http://www.1313midnitekreepshow.com/ for lettin' me take a stab at it.

This particular piece started out a little rougher than most for me. But refining the drawing was a little more fun this time. Here's the first rough... emphasis on rough.. :)

Then I went back, refined the drawing until I was moderately pleased with it and comped the whole shabang in photoshop....

So what was all this melarchy inspired by? Well I looked thru a ton of reference material and came across a bunch of really great art. Only problem was that pretty much everything had been done already.... and right about the time I was ready to throw in the towel, I came across this great piece.... and thought "what fun characters... obscure, but fun just the same. I gotta do something with this."

So I guess that's about it.... If you get a chance, check out a few of the other great pieces that'll be in the book at these great blogs.....
Steve Lambe: www.lambey.blogspot.com
Bob Rissetto: www.bobrissetto.blogspot.com
Paul Watling: www.paulyblogg.blogspot.com
Ridd Sorensen: www.dabeehive.blogspot.com

A lil' "Funny" Business.

Hey Guys.... here's a piece I finished up today for the great guys at Funnypages Productions! I just wanted to say thanks to Tom and Rob for giving me a shot! This project was a ton of fun to work on and I was really fortunate to be able to work with such talented guys. If you haven't seen 'em yet, stop by :www.tombancroft.blogspot.com/ and www.robsquirrely.blogspot.com or www.funnypagesprod.com and check out their work first hand..... I promise you won't be disappointed. Thanks again guys!

The Struggle for Something a Bit Different

Hey Everybody. So here's a piece that's a bit different than most I've posted. Like alot of other artists now-a-days, I tend to gravitate to a more graphic approach to character design. Unfortunately my clients and I dont' always see eye to eye on this, but that's okay.... it happens right? The other thing that made this piece pretty tough was the format.... taller and narrow.... makes composing a bunch of different elements that much more difficult. The red sketches at the bottom were my first rejected attempt at this group of "construction kids" and the second roughs are the ones they settled on. Anyway.... hope you guys like it.

Oompa Loompa Postity Poo

Hey Everybody. Thanks for stopping by and for all the kind words regarding my last post. If this books anything like the last, I'm sure it'll be quite the adventure. :) So here's something new that my good buddy Steve Lambe and I are starting up on a bi-weekly/monthly basis (schedule permitting of course). Basically we're both taking a stab at the same character(s), working up some designs, and seeing what we come up with. This rounds assignment was based off of some really awesome re-designs Steve recently did of Willy Wonka. He mentioned he was going to work up some Oompas, so Willy wouldn't feel so lonely, and suggested I give it a try too. And these guys are what I came up with. I'm not sure what Steve's worked up so far, but I know they're gonna be fantastic as always. Hope you guys like 'em.

By Golly, It can't be the Year of the Pig already!?

Hey Everybody. First let me say thanks so much for all the support and kind words concerning my last post. Freelance is a great thing, but can be really tough at times to. So again thanks to everybody for their kind regards and well wishes.

These couple of pieces are from "The Year of the Pig", the next book in the "Tales from the Chinese Zodiac" series I've been working on. I had to really push to get the comp cover together in 2 days time, so obviously there's more I'd like to explore with it. The other few pieces are the final character line up for the book, and some sketches just because I could. Hope you like 'em.

artist for hire

Hey Everybody. Well, I've finally gone and done it .... I'm officially working freelance full time and my studio is open for business! If anybody has a project that you feel my work might be a good fit for, please email me here at the studio at miah@alcornstudios.com. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you guys in bloggerland. - Miah

Year of the Pet

Hey guys. A while back I posted a sketch for the cover of a local nonprofit magazine called "Chicago Tales". Well the sketch was approved and here is the final color that I submitted. The open space towards the bottom right has been reserved for text. Hope you guys like it.

kids, kids, and more kids

Hey guys. Here some stuff from the current project I'm working on. More posts soon to come. Take care and thanks for stopping by.

It's finally The Year of the Dog

Hey Everybody. A children's book that I recently finished illustrating, released to book stores this week! Some of the pages from the book can be seen a little further back in my blog. The super cool part about this news, is that I have the opprotunity to do a number of book readings/signings in the Chicagoland area on the 28th and 29th of this month, and a few more next month as well. Anyway, these images were done as coloring pages to hand out to the kids that show up for the reading. With a little luck, I won't come back with all of my copies. Hope you guys like 'em.

lots of tails in so little time

Hey guys. Here's a sketch that I submitted for a local magazine called "Chicagoland Tails". The theme for this one is the year of the pet, so I tried to include most of the common ones. The blank space was left for article topics, text and what not. Hopefully they'll like it and I can proceed to color. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

That Little Pirate In All of Us

Hey Guys. Here's some development stuff for a project I'm working. The story's about the search for burried treasure and the journey to get it. I thought it'd be neat to have all the final pieces look like they were inked on old parchment, with limited color, so that's what I was going for above. Hope you like it.

A last post for 2005

Hey guys. Here are some roughs for a project that I'm currently working on for a company called Lifeway. I figured I get one last post in before the new year, so here ya go. Hope you guys like 'em. Happy New Year everyone!

A Whole New Year

Hey Everyone. Here are some concept sketches and character designs for the book I'm workng on at the moment called "The Year of the Pig". It's the follow up to "The Year of the Dog", which I finished up a few months ago (a few pieces from YOD are twards the bottom of my blog if you want to check them out). Hope they're up to par.

the sketches

Some of the early stuff. :)

Merry Christmas!

Hey out there in blogger world. So I promised my wife that I'd make a Christmas card this year to send to our friends and family, my only stipulation being that I didn't want to do a family portrait like years past. She was fine with that, so this is what I came up with. Hope you guys like it. Have a Merry Christmas everybody!

Arrrrrgh! Pirates ahoy!

Hey guys,

Just some development stuff that I'm doin' for myself. The sketches at the bottom are some of the initial thinking process. Loosy goosy, but a decent place to jump from. Well anyway I hope you guys like 'em, and If you don't then you can walk the plank! Yeeeuk! man that was bad. That settles it, I really am that lame.

Veggie Tales color pass

Hey guys. Here is my first pass at color for the Veggie Tales test. I'm running short on time, so this may or may not be final. It all depends on what I have lined up in the next week or so. With some luck, I'll have a bit more time to tweak. Hope ya like it.- Miah

robinhood veggies (2nd pass)

I wasn't too pleased with the first rough pass of the robin hood idea. Just felt a bit stiff to me, so I reworked 'em, and here's what I came up with. I think they're a bit better than the first. Hope ya like 'em.

2 more Big Ideas

Here's the next two installments of the Big Idea test. I'm planning on taking the first image all the way to final, so hopefully that'll be up here in the next few days. Until then, later taters.

Bi-Polar

Hey guys, here are two pieces that I did recently for a feature pitch called "Bi-Polar". The project was really fun to work on, but the timeline was a bit tight... 4 pieces in 6 days or so. One way or the other, it was nice to do something a bit different for a change. Hope you like 'em.

Year of the Dog

Hey Guys. Here are some images from a Children's book that I finished up a few months ago. The project was a bit rushed, but a ton of fun to work on. Hopefully folks will like the story, but we'll have to wait a few more months to find out. Hope you guys like 'em.

some recent freelance

Hey guys. Here is some recent freelance that I finished up for Lifeway Christian Resources. I'm fortunate to work with these guys every two months or so and they've been one of my steadiest clients for quite a while now. The project is always a ton of fun to work on and a great way to keep the creative juices flowin'.