Manatee mom & calf, I had the chance to see them last Christmas while paddle-boarding in the Keys with my girlfriend, what an amazing encounter.
Peace!
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| GoPro footage of our curious friends... |
Showing posts with label speedpainting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speedpainting. Show all posts
Great white love
Sketching for our forthcoming exhibition in L.A, I honestly haven't drawn any animals for a while and it's good to look at references of those beautiful creatures, sketchy speedpainting at my local café.
Peace!
A Big Cat Fascination...and Art :)
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| Young future King |
I have a fascination with big cats. It all started with watching a television program called , Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom. An amazing television show that I blame for starting my passion for wildlife. But the big cats of the world have stuck out, everyone that knows me knows my passion for raptors or birds of prey. Folks sometimes confuse them thinking I'm talking about dinosaurs, like the time I went to an emergency room and told them I was grabbed by a raptor and the talons went thru my hand literally. The looks I got were priceless. Along with the mentions of Jurassic Park out in the hallways by nurses as they peeked in my room, that's another story.
Big cats also have an amazing presence. Their way of life. The amazing regal beauty and design. And that one thing that strikes a deep chord of art and passion. I have never worked with big cats but have several good friends that do and I'm very fortunate. I have two animals that rule my drawing domain. My favorite being the horse and a close second, big cats.
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| Brothers in the world make a great team. |
I went to Africa recently and worked with an amazing wildlife team doing rhino conservation. But while I was there I saw them. Lions. A very dear friend runs a lion park and is an amazing wildlife wrangler. He toured us in his SUV thru his place and saw the pride. He also has a pair of white lions that are separated from the pride. The wildlife there was just absolutely inspiring. The rock formations. The amazing prehistoric bush art just blew my mind. Apparently the wildlife there has been inspiring artist thru history. That actually made me tear up a bit.
I remember one of the times we were done working on a rhino we were gathering vet equipment and tools when I looked in the distance and saw a big gathering of vultures. I stopped and took in the moment. I've seen this countless times on documentaries but never in person. Not in Africa. As I sat there a ranger walk by me and says, "it's the lions." He smiles and walks away. "The lions?"
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| Ball point tiger sketch. Video here |
I grew up in West Texas and my family has a ranch in the Big Bend area where we have cowboyed going back to my great great grandfather. The area is home to one of my favorite big cats. The mountain lion. I have only seen one in my life there. When I was a very young boy of about 8 I was with my father in the mountains deer hunting when we came upon a cave in some rocks. Lion tracks everywhere and a deer foreleg still warm but with no meat left. My dad held me close to him and said, "lets get out of here and let me know if you see the cougar immediately." I was scared and excited at the same time! I remember wanting to take that bone with me because a mountain lion was chewing on it. What a great souvenir. I was already passionate about big cats.
I remember how excited I was when I found out how to record national geographic or pbs documentaries. Now I could slow things down or maybe even pause the picture to draw from! It wasn't the greatest image to draw from but I learned. A lot. I never realized how big of an impact the film team of Dereck and Beverly Joubert would be in my life. Joining the ranks of Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler. Thanks to their films, photographs and their Big Cat Initiative they continue to feed this crazy fascination of all big cats. If you haven't seen their National Geographic work I recommend them highly. Eternal Enemies, Relentless Enemies and The Last Lions to name a few.
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| Butch. Video Here |
As far as wildlife art went one man caught my attention early on. Bob Kuhn. This was all thanks to a magazine called Boys Life that I got as part of being a Cub Scout. He made my imagination go absolutely nuts. His paintings captured such life and adventure. An animal story in one painting. When I finally saw his sketches I was floored. I couldn't get enough of his artwork and I had a heck of a time finding it as a kid. His inspiration still lives with me to this day. I spoke to him once and hoped to meet him at a gallery show in Arizona but he passed away. I did finally see his work recently at his latest traveling exhibit. Every time I'm out flying my hawk in the woods I see what I call a Bob Kuhn moment. And it makes me smile. His love for animals and art shows thru his work. Now with the internet we can all find our favorite artists and even possibly contact them.
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| Tiger Drawing Video Here |
Big cats have helped shape me into loving to draw and paint. Traveling whether to another country or just visiting a zoo or sanctuary is a must. Life is an amazing teacher. With lessons that are both amazing and sometimes hard but it's our passion that keeps us going thru "difficult terrains." Our journeys also lead to new people and amazing friends. Fellow Art Explorer, Terryl Whitlatch and I spend countless hours discussing talons, horse hoof anatomy, sighthounds, camels you name it and we have discussed it. We even have a project we are playing with dealing the animal world.
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| Cheetah Doodle with Neocolors |
We live in a society where we don't get outside enough. I think it's keen for people to step outside. It feeds the human spirit. Whether you are an outdoor enthusiast or not. Life is better outside. Feed your passion, enjoy nature and the beauty it has to offer your soul.
Manny
The making of PLUG
An inside look at the making of my short Plug! Enjoy and thank you for the kind remarks everyone!
David
Art Explorers present PLUG
Its been an amazing experience. One that I am thankful and appreciative of. Thank you everyone for your support and friendship. It means the world to me. Here it is I hope you enjoy! See you on our next "Art Exploration"
David
Sketching
I usually carry a sketchbook with me all the time. If it's not on me it's in my truck. Nowadays smartphones are phenomenal to gather reference and snap pictures one can use for later reference. But to me, sketching on the spot ,whether a particular tree in the Grand Canyon or an elephant in a zoo, there is a huge difference. Sketching trains your eye to observe the important things in a subject. The gestures and shapes that you , as an artist on the spot, will pick out as important "landmarks". Rather than seeing how many whiskers are on a cat or how many buttons are on that jacket we are focusing on an overall feeling. Shapes, silhouette and landmarks that make lines important. Yes details are important but without a strong foundation, they are all useless and irrelevant.
We are going to cover some things that work for us in approaching a sketch. What do we look for? Where do we start? What is my goal?
Q - What do you look for?
Manu - in approaching a subject I will look for its general shape. Back to basic cubes, cylinders, spheres etc. nothing new there, "When you feel you are in trouble, go back to your basics" Rickson Gracie.
That statement is meant for martial arts, but it applies art perfectly. In drawing animals at zoos or parks, I break the animal in three parts. Forequarters, belly and hindquarters. I look for angles and landmarks in the silhouettes. My sketching approaches can vary from using lots of gesture lines to what I call noodling. I remember once hearing animator Glen Keane talk about this type of sketching. Your pencil make lots and lots of lines trying to find that perfect one that will do the job. One important rule is to stay loose. Do not focus on hair, eyelids or minor detail. Learn to observe. This is what sketching is.
David - My view on sketching is based on surfaces. I enjoy working with masses and contrasts. The line to me is a way to organize my thoughts, design and composition on the page, where I come to life is during the contrast part of sketching. Of course, the line will always be the foundation, but strong contrasts allow me to quickly validate or cancel volumes and shapes. As one of my friend, Joe Watmough mentioned before, it is as if you were an alien who just landed on earth, and you are seeing light and shapes for the first time. By detaching yourself from the subject you observe, you can attain a truer view of it.
Ocean blues
So much overtime to deliver our next game Shape Up that I'm starting to look like a zombie, you know where I'd like to be right now? Maybe somewhere that feel like this...
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| container bungalows on tilts... |
KÜHL Ryder Pants Product Review
Outdoors to me is a very important asset in my life. Not only does it help me keep my sanity but I'm also very passionate about exploring, hiking , camping and most of all Falconry! Falconry is the ancient sport of hunting with a trained wild raptor. During the winter months ,almost everyday, I'm out with my redtail hawk traversing the central Texas woods. My hawk always leads the way, I have no control where she flies to and what she chases, so it's literally an adventure every time out. Those of you that have been out with the hawk and I know what I'm talking about. I'm like a Sasquatch tearing thru vines, running thru creeks, jumping and climbing! It's all part of the sport. So I push my equipment pretty hard. Most hunting boots, briar clothes... etc. isn't meant to be used everyday thru a season, so I find out pretty quick what lasts and what doesn't. Last season I put a pair of KÜHL RYDR pants thru a heck of a season and test. They held up great and super comfortable.
The first feature I love is the gussetted crotch that stitched all the way to the knee. Kneeling is super comfortable and not a pain. The material they have used has a little bit of stretch and is tough as well. Every photographer knows the positions one has to get into to get those special shots, these pants allow that! Climbing when I have needed to in the field was not hendered by pants. They have full range of motion when I had to boulder and tough.
The second feature is the anatomical cut and stitched knee. I have to say that's what caught my eye right off the bat. One look at these pants and you realize they are not the straight unnatural look of normal every day jeans. Again squatting to take a picture or kneeling on the ground to tend to my hawk is comfortable and easy. The fit is there naturally with way your body bends. There is no tension on the thighs, no tugging or fighting with trying to get comfortable. The freedom of movement in the pants is awesome! The stitching is doubled throughout the construction of the pants. The pockets are reinforced at the high wear areas as well as the bottom cuffs for durability . There is also a pocket on the right leg which I think is for a cell phone or knife.
The toughness of the RYDER pants have held up in the field no problem. These pants were probably not made for running thru briars or even bouldering but they held up really nice. As with briar terrain thorns will win in the end, so I do wear briar snake chaps if it's necessary, but the times I didn't have my chaps, they held up great. Nothing is indestructible and wear will happen, but these pants have held their own against the elements. I highly recommend them for your next hiking and camping adventure. They're at home in the outdoors
KÜHL has recently released what they claim is their toughest fabric pants called The Law, I cannot wait to get a pair. The winter is past us as I write this entry, so I settled for their Ambush Cargo shorts which I'm happy with as well. I can tell this company is passionate about innovation and with their design. My colleagues and I are all about design and usability. What I love about the company is they will continue to innovate. KÜHL seems to strive for a good product and I'm now a happy customer. I'm heading to Africa in a couple of months to do some volunteer work in the field with wildlife, these KHÜL RYDER pants are coming with me!
Stay safe and make your own path.
MANu
Childhood casse-tete
Hi explorers of all horizons,
It's such a pleasure to start a new project with some old friends that i had to find some free time to post something this WE despite the overtime at Ubisoft during this E3 madness! What a great idea to present some personal works and conversations outside of our usual - more confined - Concept Art realm, so thank you Kristy, Manu and Vyle :-)
I grew up in the beautiful island of Madagascar, living mostly outside, playing with my brother and friends, we were living amazing adventures everywhere, either on land, beach or sea and probably a lot in our heads too. From as far as i can recall, drawing has been a big part of my life, but growing up and becoming a Concept Designer today was just a logical evolution after my childhood "traumas".
I think it all started mainly because of 2 thing; Lego© and spearguns. With the family, we spent all our weekends in Foulpointe, i remember being so intensely impressed by the local Malagasy kids who had homemade wooden spear-guns and were fishing in the reefs nearby. It became an obsession, i needed to make one myself but i never perfectly understood how they designed their trigger mechanisms (about 8 years old an no internet, DIY engineering isn't that easy), after drawing hundreds of triggers and trying different prototypes made out of planks, nails and tire tubes, it ended up being... a big fail! Yes my spearguns never worked well but at least it was fun to try. So here is an homage to these ingenious kids, thanks for sparking the love of problem-solving and design!
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| memories... |
T.
Downwind run
Very happy to start a new project focused on something directed outward. Enough monitor sun tan.
I grew up sailing. Ever since I was around 6 in the 70's, I began sailing on optimists, ramping up to 420's, cruising and racing for years with my dad between Gibraltar and Capri, then, during my rebel years away from my father, windsurfing all over the Mediterranean.
For many years I abandoned that passion which truly was a part of me: to ambition, dreams of recognition and pure excitement. I never thought that not fulfilling that passion would take a toll on me, but it did.
Many years later, my newly married wife and I decided to move to Marina Del Rey in California. As I was having trouble dealing with Father's passing away, my wife and I began long walks around the Marina, which helped me rekindle with my lost love of gliding on the water.
I now again have a true dream, to be back on the water, and find the things that truly filled me with happiness: winds in the sails, dolphins and loved ones as companions, the camaraderie of preparing a hot soup before taking my watch as the sun disappears behind the horizon, and our magnificent galaxy above my head. Long life to Art Explorers! Let the adventure begin.
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