Happy Holidays!

vampire baseball!

or a food coma is more like it...

Polska

polska . copyright willie real 2009

Polska, which means Poland in Polish, is the name of a little old lady whom lives in a little old town that's a little out of the way. Polska is very determined! She's determined to cook with the freshest most essential ingredients and will accept no substitutes whatsoever. She'll travel to the ends of the earth on her trusty little mo-ped for the freshest food. One summer day she was planning a very special little dinner and that's how far I've gotten in developing this character =]

I love getting into the story and the environment when drawing characters. You can really find your answers when you want to know what to draw...

I hope to have the oppurtunity to make this some day.

-willie

wooden postcards

pen and ink - 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" thin birch wood

here are three postcards i'm doing for a benefit auction that's coming up. they're works in progress... i still want to add some mouths and varnish them up to punch the black ink. i'll post more info about it when its closer to the date. it was very pleasing to tune everything out and use the brush pen again.

-willie

new sketches

Merci

New Header!

You might notice the new header above along with my blog's new name... 'Dibujos, The Art of Willie'. Dibujo's means drawings in spanish and the little delivery truck is bouncing along delivering (or littering) my drawings all over this blog for you to see =]

I've been a busy bee lately and promise to post more as my schedule allows. I'll start off with some figure drawings from the workshop that's held at the studio. Figure drawing is soo good for you...I highly encourage it. Until the next post! -willie

Jelly McGoo

Jelly McGoo - copyright 2009 Willie Real, Betsy Stoner

So I've finally managed to finish a page of the picture book a friend and I are working on. I had posted a test a while ago and decided that desaturating the colors a bit would help showcase the line work I am so fond of. I've also added hand written text, which in my opinion is always the way to go... it allows you to play with certain letters and words and their relation to each other. Any who, our main man, Jelly McGoo, is a jelly fish who isn't to happy with his...jellyness. In his travels deep under the ocean Jelly encounters other fishy's who are dissatisfied with themselves.

Poor Fishies

-willie

sketches

This is only a test...

...If this had been an actual picture book spread it would have hand written text telling a story, a better composition (with the text) and the page layout. Stay tuned for the finished version. I want to push some of the shapes a bit more and figure out the color in photoshop. I also want to finish most of it in pen and ink and find that middle ground of simple graphic shapes with form in there as well. Thanks for all the comments on the previous post!

-willie

Where The Wild Things Are

I was very pleased to contribute to Corey Godbey's wonderful project, Terrible Yellow Eyes. A collection of work in honor of Maurice Sendak's beloved classic, Where The Wild Things Are! Such a cool idea...

My idea was a simple 'what if'...like what if a wild thing was sitting in max's room when he arrived from his trip, eating max's hot dinner? I hope you enjoy!

where the wild things are - tradigital - 11x11

The Suspect

I've had a nice double sided frame sitting on my desk for over a year now and finally decided to do something with it...

'The Suspect' Pen & Ink 4x6

los monstros mariachi

'los monstros mariachi' - 16x20 mixed media

Here's a piece I did for an upcoming show in Santa Monica. A few friends threw out the invite and I couldn't pass up on Monsters. I'll post more info as it comes to me but if you're in the area and want to check out an awesome show, go. I believe the opening is on July the 11th, 7:30pm at the Copro Gallery, 2525 Michigan Avenue, T5 Santa Monica, CA 90404. It looks prettier in person...3 coats of varnish prettier =]

-willie

Digital sketch/painting

I was trying to paint with oils the other night and I learned a few important lessons, one of them being there is no undo. I succumbed to the cintiq and got this...

Hopefully I will get the chance to post an oil someday.....someday.

sketchbook pages uno y dos

boy bat/bat boy

boy bat/bat boy...which ever you prefer - willie

Picture Book Project!

Chesch! (Hello!) I've just returned from my first Polish wedding which was pretty amazing...I've never consumed so much good Vodka and meat in my life. My Polish bro was getting married and I promised him I wouldn't miss it. Before I left for my big trip I managed to squeeze in a piece for a really cool charity called "The Picture Book Project." A designer at work filled me in about it and I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity to contribute to this wonderful Picture Book. Here's a little about who's behind it.

Rachel Tiep-Daniels and Margaret Wuller have spent time volunteering, teaching, and getting to know the children of Ghana and Tijuana. Rachel spent a month working with the Save Widows and Orphans Development Center (SWODC) in Ghana. Margaret volunteered with the Corazon de Vida Foundation, which supports 13 orphanages in Tijuana, Mexico. Both organizations help to provide, educate, and empower women, orphans and destitute children. Your support will feed, cloth, educate and provide a family to children who would otherwise be left to the streets.

So the artist was asked to submit two versions. A black and white version which children will be able to color and have fun with...and a colored version which we (bigger children) had a chance to color and have fun with =]

Thanks Rachel!

b&w line drawing

final

'the argument'

hey folks. long time no see...here's a drawing i did over the weekend that just evolved on it's own. at first i wanted to do a monster with stubby tentacles but it turned into 'the argument' i had with my markers...i kind of like it. maybe i'll follow it up with another drawing called 'making up'? cheers

Hooded Henry

A quick doodle in between larger projects. I present to you Hooded Henry...a boy who's shy and tries to hide what lies atop his head.

wolf = fin

The wolf piece I've been working on here and there is finally finished! Pen & Ink is one of my favorite mediums so I chose to go light on the values...hoping for the line work to come through. I also added a linear effect to the wolf's lollipop to accentuate it's mystery. Maybe it emanates odors that paralyze little piglets nearby? Or maybe it's the wolf's elixir of life? Still working on that part =] Below are some details I enjoyed. I love, love, love hand lettering.

All images are © 2009 by Willie Real unless otherwise specified

The Wolf Who Cried Wolf

Here's a line drawing from a work in progress currently on my plate. A few posts ago I did a sketch test with a wolf that felt creepy so I wanted to elaborate. I'm selectively adding color to it...stay tuned.

and a detail.

the elephant in the room

I can't ignore the elephant in the room and one of the best learning experiences of my life so I'm posting a few things from 'Horton Hears A Who', my first roller coaster ride in the animation industry. With a lot of hard work, immense amounts of luck, and the right timing Blue Sky hired me in 2005 after 5 years at the Academy of Art in San Fran. Some of these drawings were done shortly after and span the length of the production, on paper or in the computer....most of them dabbing in both worlds. For those of you who ask what I do all day...I'm fortunate to try and keep up with the 'super crew' here in Greenwich, CT. Hope you enjoy=]

All images are property of 20th Century Fox & Blue Sky Studios

Here at the studio my title is 'Designer'. I'll work on environments, props, and pretty much anything else besides characters. The image above was one of my first assignments. I was working with pencil, markers and a brush pen. It's the very top of the mountain where Horton jumps for the clover after Vlad flies off with it. The image below was sort of a map of the mountain and various obstacles Horton runs into.

The end of the line for Horton.

'Cracked Desert' was a 'moment' piece where Horton would travel high and low, near and far, through sizzling deserts and all... to remain loyal to the clover and it's Who's. It took me all day to draw every crack but in the end it was very therapeutic and I had myself a homemade texture.

An early concept for a Whoville home (above), and a 'turnaround' (below) for the modeling department to model from.

I have to be honest when I first heard of Blue Sky working on Dr. Seuss I scratched my noggin. How were they going to pull off that wacky Seuss style which was very organic and rubbery...almost jello like? It was hard stuff to emulate on paper alone and there are a lot of 'cheats' in the flat world of books. The pre-vis and modeling wizards at the studio really worked their magic, man! I was blown away when we were called into rounds the first time we reviewed the buildings. It was definitely one of those 'pinching myself' moments.

'Town Hall' took like 48 drawings before I got to the one above =] The Seuss style was very difficult for me to pick up...I probably didn't get a comfortable grasp until 3/4 through the production haha... seriously. Don't underestimate that Seuss guy, he's a genius!

Look mom! I got a character in the movie...
actually...he got cut.
All images are property of 20th Century Fox & Blue Sky Studios. Yup, that goes for you too Momma.

el nino astronauta

'el nino astronauta'

Initially this started as a sketch of a little guy and his mom at the smoothie bar in Grand Central Station. Aside from his joy and anticipation of the sweet smoothie to come, he gazed and wondered why the grown man with the sketchbook was invading his personal smoothie space. I couldn't help admire his big, puffy jacket that reminded me of an astronaut.

A picture of the sketch with a nice glare of the silver paint marker I used for the zipper, patches, and gloves. Wish I could figure out how to get this 'shine' to show up when I scan it.

The Sequential Exhibit (January 7-January 24, 2009)

Hey guys and gals, I forgot to mention that the Sequential Exhibit is up at the Society of Illustrators in NYC. Some of the work I did in the Out of Picture book was selected!!! The work will humbly hang alongside some pretty spiffy art work by some pretty spiffy cats until Jan 24th. If you're in town swing by! The show looks amazing!

saturday's sketchcrawl

'the drinking faucet in grand central'

wolf sketch

to be continued...