Poor Circulation

A creepy illustration just for this creepy time of year. I could have done more leaves and Autumn-related colors, but there's something I find extremely eerie about how quiet everything gets when it snows.


Those feet can belong to something mortal, or not, either way, she has very poor blood circulation...

Flying

Wow, I have to say I'm pretty darn proud of this one. This is for Illustration Friday! with the theme of the week, 'Flying.' Of course I immediately thought of Icarus who flew too close to the sun, but it was his quote that really got to me: "All limits are self imposed."

My limits are as far as I make them, so I think I went nuts with this one, working for most of the entire day on this as well as yesterday. As a bonus, here's a few work-in-progress images so you can see my process (at least... the process for this particular illustration).

First I start with solid lines, I just refer to them as 'inks.' The flames are there to give me an idea of what style I may do them in, either stylized in the same fashion as the smoke, or something else.
Next comes the background and I place flats on the front elements. The smoke I tinge with a bit of color to remind myself that Hey, I'm putting fire in there somewhere....And then I accidentally shut that red-tinge layer off. BUT. Now we have more background elements such as clouds, the shadows under them etc. I've also started placing a shadow on the man and his broken wings, with slight color tweaks here and there.

Aaaaand here's the final! Textures are brought in, the flames are painted in, embers are a-flyin' and he's most assuredly falling.
Enjoy!

Pop!

Much thanks goes out to Popwhore for mentioning me on his blog! Check it out, there's a slew of great people on there!

Also, a sneak peek at my current illustration, for Illustration Friday!'s topic 'Flying.' Enjoy!

Herbst

Not sure why, but this piece took me far longer than I thought it would have. I might've mentioned this before. My last name, 'Herbst' is actually German for the season of 'Autumn.' It holds a special place in my heart. I had created a piece a few weeks ago to signify the end of summer. This one signifies my Fall illustration for this year, literally titled 'German for Autumn.' It's been years since I did an actual self-portrait, and while I don't actually have pink hair, this is about as close as you'll get to a self-portrait from me.

...Also, I have nothing against apples except for the fact that I'm sadly allergic to them (along with all the other 'stone fruits') but I somehow force myself to eat them once in awhile anyway. Because they're ever-so-delicious.

'Cuz This is THRILLAAAH!

My buddy Omead contacted me with another idea for a t-shirt design. This is basically a tribute to Michael Jackson in general, and his amazing Thriller music video (Also the right time of year with Halloween coming up, no?) There are a bunch of elements that I left off of this particular image, but these are the main components that'll be in the main design. Hope it makes a great shirt!

Flash Attack!

For over a year, I was a flash animator/designer for a web-games company in Brooklyn, NY. I've decided to share a few random animations I had done. Some of the designs were created by the very talented Mike Tarnowski, or the equally awesome Jesse Aclin, who would then hand off their creations to me to be animated.

Here's a character from Nickelodeon's NFL sprint game which had been featured on their site for sometime. The main character had to evade obstacles and make his way to the end of the level with the help of famous NFL stars. Some parts a bit awkward as a character isn't included in this clip, and this is prior to the 'lil guy being programmed. Enjoy!



Here's a shortie. Jesse had designed this adorable crocodile for the iPhone's 'Tick Tack Paddywack' game (a cute tic tac toe app for your iPhone!). This guy could be unlocked when won, and I had him dance as a fun reward.



Another shortie, this kitty was another character you can unlock in 'Tick Tack Paddywack.' He gives you a hearty meow and does a back-flip for ya!

Portfolio!

It's been a REALLY long time since I had to bind anything by hand. I decided to do that cliche illustrator thing and make a portfolio completely hand-bound to mail off to Berlin for Illustrative's portfolio review. A bit of effort was put into this 'lil guy and it's shame I have no time to set something up with an international courier; I won't be getting this portfolio back. Oh well, here's hoping it brings me some luck! Here's the whole thing, the front, a sample interior page, and the back. ...Not sure I got all of the spelling correct on the different languages, but at least I tried!!

Exodus Printed!

Received my copy of Hyphen Magazine today and got to see my illustration 'Exodus' finally alongside the fiction that Ky Phong Tran wrote! Very exciting! I love the layout and the colors!

Illustrophile

HUGE thanks goes out to Charlene Chua for featuring my work on Illustrophile! I am SUPER stoked to do a print trade with her. Seriously. Giddy in my chair! I've been loving her work for the last year and really am happy to have had this opportunity :)

I'm also super grateful for all the love from the d lounge, masayume, this isn't happiness, and many others who have found and enjoyed my work!