Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
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all city style: grand slam: fire water
There’s a rad event at Grand Central Station I’ll be participating in this weekend. Lots of great talent from around the world showing. Swing on by if you’re in the area. Thanks to Klim K at Big Shot Toyworks for putting the event together!
The title of my piece is “Fire Water”.
imagining the future at hasbro
The past three months been a fun-filled meet-and-greet process…
Everybody has been very welcoming, and I’m already starting to feel like part of the family.
I’ve recently accepted the position as a “Futurist” in an innovation think-tank group at Hasbro.
The small and diverse group is designed to help inspire future thinking and concept work throughout all Hasbro brands and properties. This will be done by harvesting and synthesizing trends, technologies, and social insights, which will inspire the Future of “Global Play” (2+ years out).
For many of the ideas I plan on penciling and pixeling, this will involve research and ideation in the areas of art, design, history, science, technology, robotics, big data, artificial general intelligence, and human/machine interface. Buckminster Fuller, Carl Sagan, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson have had a large influence on me!
It’s nice to be involved with some of my favorite toys and stories growing up, and I’m honored to shape what they will be for others through imagination and play.
Things seem to have come full circle from my own childhood again.
…or maybe it’s just that I never grew up at all in the first place.
Haha. 2014 is gonna be so rad. I’m ready!
sketchbook character ideas: warriors, kids, sages, and explorers
These are a few raw pages from my sketchbook.
Here’s some thoughts that went into each one.
This character wields a cutting weapon.
I researched swords used by warriors in various cultures.
The Scottish Claymore, French Rapier, and Japanese Tachi were some of my favorites.
Kids from around the world, and other worlds too.
I like to visit Steve McCurry’s website when I need some visual reference for different cultures.
What always gets me is how different shapes for clothing and hair are. It’s really neat.
These are a male character as a young man.
He wields a magic hammer that does magical things.
The upper left-design was influenced by my friend’s head shape, whom the character is based off of.
Here is the same character again, as an old man.
I tried exploring how the use of his magic hammer would evolve over time.
I started imagining how my friend would be as an elderly man, then I laughed to myself and drew.
This girl was based off of the daughter of an acquaintance that played her in real-life.
She wore the same bows in her hair and had the same petticoat when we shot the story in film.
I imagined she would also be capable of fashioning raincoats by weaving giant leaves together.
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sledding on christmas
Here’s a little gift I made for the family this year.
Had a lot of fun looking through old scrapbook pictures and thinking about old times.
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reading time
Whether you’re a kid or a dragon, old man or a mouse, bug or a crawly creature,
…adventures are out there for everyone.
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tank girl on a motorcycle
In her spare time she tinkers with motorcycles.
This one is 5728cc.
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hitomi hanzo and the lotus blade
One day Hitomi was walking back from school near a small river close to her village.
From out of nowhere a river guardian appeared, levitating above the still waters with a lotus spinning above its wispy forehead.
It explained that “half-way” forces were creating fractures between the world of her village and the “half-way” realm. It offered protection and the ability to train her with a blade forged by her great great great great great grandfather, Hattori.
All of a sudden, the lotus resting above the creature’s head energized, shifting position and settling in front of its hands. A powerful wave of light emanated from the chakra inside the guardian’s chest, passing through the lotus and creating a weapon imbued with the nature of the village itself: the lotus blade.
In a calm and relaxed tone, the creature went on to explain:
“The lotus blade assumes many forms, and evolves in ability as those that wield it grow in character. While the hilt remains the same, the blade has the ability to shape shift, with potentially limitless power.”
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the world of adam and luna and storyapp
At Adam & Luna for the past year, we’ve been building StoryApp.
Before we knew what our family, brand, and product would be, we started writing a story and creating a world to help guide us. From that writing grew the characters Adam, Luna, Kiiy (the robot friend who powers StoryApp), and many others.
Here are some drawings I made as visual aides in explaining how our app works as well as showcasing the characters that inspired its functions. There’s still lots of work ahead, but it’s fun to see where the idea is taking everyone.
Page 1: The world of Adam & Luna
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Page 2: Multi-View Storytelling
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Page 3: StoryTree
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balance
Balance can be a tricky thing, sometimes.
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be careful what you think and say
I’ve started journaling in my new sketchbook along with my drawings.
It’s helped me get unfiltered thoughts out that build up during the week.
I start by writing on the right-hand page. Whatever comes to mind.
…then I draw on the left-hand page a day or so later.
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what a father passes on to his children
You’ve put others before yourself.
You’ve supported and encouraged the dreams of those around you.
Most importantly, you’ve taught us to build ramps to help others build their own.
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princess peach of the mushroom kingdom
Thank you Mario!
But our Princess is in another castle.
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It’s been a Mushroom Kingdom, Blade Runner, Joan Jett kind of week.
this way to the treasure!
A boy, a fox, and a compass girl, chase their moonshot dream.
Three brave explorers trek Gunganaap, propelled by heart unseen.
This way to the treasure, my dear close friend, over snowy caps and seas,
through arid dunes and deep dense jungle, to the tips of outgrown trees.
Through the rolling meadows of Hoo-ma-bee, to the cliffs of El-gador,
from the bubbling brooks of Loaf-ama-tazz, to Juwamatanagana-roooooooar.
I want to join in, do you as well, to help out on their quest?
It’s easy to do, the path starts here, and expands to infinity west!
So pack your bags, bury your fears, and embrace the road untraveled.
Adventure sets on meandering paths, and hidden worlds unraveled.
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I was inspired by Shel Silverstein, André Franquin, and Seuss while sketching and writing a little poem this week. Their stories are so darned fun to read!
The idea started from thinking about a time from childhood when I got my hands on a toy spyglass. I can’t even remember from where and whom. What I do remember, however, is running around with the hunk of magnifying glass directly over my eye.
As you can guess, I soon found a wall right in my face. Haha.
Somehow I imagine it would’ve gone better if there was a long hill to run down instead.
One with treasure in the distance …..in a secret cove, far, far away.
mother’s day adoption at JFK airport
Thanks for everything Mom.
Thanks for giving me the love and support I needed yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
I’ll try my best to pass on the same values to others.
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the cowboy
I was listening to a track by The Highwaymen and it made me sketch this dude.
Tough and gritty.
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Digging into software design mechanics this past week had me thinking about the juxtaposition between the frontiers we explore now and the cowboys and cowgirls that have come before us.
Yesterday we explored with horses, compasses, and maps.
Today we explore with spaceships, pixels, and syntax.
Tools change, but the spirit remains the same.
Adventure on.
best friends
Did you ever have a best friend?
Someone you couldn’t get anything done without?
I was thinking alot about “friends” this week at work, and what that means. When I was a kid I used to measure friendship by people that made me feel good. Now I’d rather have friends be honest with me so I can improve at the things I do.
Like Mr. Birdy here. He’s an awesome pet/friend/zord-like thing.
Chirp chirp.
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