Mark 7

Original post on the Miracle Mile Marksmen blog

This week was tough because we decided on the mark literally as she was walking past our group of tables and it was hard to absorb all the details in that short amount of time. I'm not even sure that she had an orange bag with a yellow jacket--it could have been the opposite. I guess I still have a long way to go in training my short term memory.

Detail maybe no one else noticed: the horizontal stripes on her boots.

Mark 6

original post on the Miracle Mile Marksmen blog

This guy was definitely exuding a sense of "please look at me," and I find it funny that he has no idea that six people were observing him to sketch an impression later. Although the color palette of his clothes wasn't more than a few brown tones, he had a lot of details to capture.

Detail maybe no one else caught: the white threads at the end of his scarf & the unbuttoned shirt cuffs.

Jack the Giant Killer trailer is here!

Jack the Giant Killer was the very first movie I worked on with the Third Floor when I moved to L.A. last year, so it has a special place in my heart. The trailer came out great and I'm greatly anticipating the movie when it comes out in IMAX:



Jack the Giant Killer trailer on Quicktime.com

There are only a few shots in the trailer that I personally worked on, but the movie will have many more that I 
worked on during my stint on the project.
0:45/0:46 (Jack on the ground/Isabelle in the house being raised into the sky)
1:09 (Elmont preparing for battle with the troops behind him)



Jack the Giant Killer in the news:
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32705
http://collider.com/jack-the-giant-killer-trailer-poster/131392/

New Sketch Blog: The Miracle Mile Marksmen

Some other Los Angeles animation professionals and I have started a "sketch club" in the Miracle Mile area. We've been picking random people on the street to all draw from memory and posting the results here:

MIRACLE MILE MARKSMEN

Subscribe, comment, and enjoy!

I've been doing mine by sketching the person loosely once I get back from lunch and then fleshing out the illustration on my Cintiq at home in my spare time. It's been a great way to stay sharp and a good outlet for trying out new styles.

Hat tip to Marcelo and the rest of the Sketch Club in Culver City for showing their support.

Empty Streets

Last year I helped out with some of the package design and promotional materials for this short film Empty Streets. The short is about a young war veteran returning with PTSD and has been shown in festivals nationwide. The production blog link is here: www.emptystreetsmovie.blogspot.com

Daily Show has a Red Dead Redemption reference

Saw this video and thought the graphic gag was worth sharing (It comes on at 8:16 and 11:02). Nice to see the references continuing in outlets like this.

New Avengers Movie Trailer

The new Avengers trailer came out this week.



Two shots that I worked on it are in the trailer:

0:56 Damaged flying Quinjet
1:09 Thor reaching out and catching his hammer Mjolnir

"Grandpa" mini-comic

Here it is in full. Feedback is appreciated in the comments section.

©2011 Josh Lange. All rights reserved. All of the characters and events in the story are completely fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead is intended or should be inferred.

"Grandpa" is now at Meltdown Comics!

The first print run..

Tina and I sold my first copies to Meltdown Comics in West Hollywood tonight. They can be found in the indie comics section at the far left side of the store. Pick one up if you're in the Los Angeles area!

My mini-comic is here!

I picked up my copies of "Grandpa" at the printer today:

The first two pages:

Sure, it's a mere eleven pages and printed on copy paper, but I learned a ton in the process and it feels great to call my first comic project complete and have it in my hand. I'll be at Meltdown Comics tomorrow night to put it on their indie shelf with the other self-published mini-comics from their Meltdown University class. All those who read this blog that live in the Los Angeles area are welcome to come by and pick up a signed copy.

For those who can't get their hands on a physical copy, check back to this blog later this week because I will be posting the mini-comic in its entirety very soon.

New "Grandpa" comic is done!

As of an hour ago, my side project, a graphic short story titled "Grandpa," is finally complete. My remaining (and important) step is to print copies for distribution. The comic was 100% digitally created, aside from a handful of character design drawings that won't see the light of day (I started out a little rusty). In addition to printing out copies for friends, family, and the patrons of Meltdown Comics who visit their indie racks, I plan to also post the comic online in its entirety. So please keep your eyes on this site for the upcoming link to my comic. I'm excited to finally share my work, and hope that it gets some positive feedback and interest in my next excursion into self-published comics.

"Jesse Lange" skin for Red Dead Redemption

For some reason I hadn't noticed this before, but this hombre's got quite the awesome last name:

Just saying.

Food for thought

An Open Letter to Andy Serkis


I like the points the author makes. I think Serkis is right in thinking that despite all the CG people that work with his performance after it has been captured aren't as deserving in the credit as the original actor. It is semi-akin to the fact that there is one director credit despite the fact that directors have second units who literally help him or her make the film. It is strange to see how clumsily Serkis explains the process (I wouldn't assign him the motive of intentionally downplaying the work the CG team does, however).

"A Day in the Life" at The Third Floor, in Animation Magazine

I meant to post this when it first came out. You can see me in the bottom left picture at our 10th floor patio (left side, all the way down at the end, wearing red).
http://www.animationmagazine.net/a-day-in-the-life/issue-214-the-third-floor/

Video article on The Third Floor's previs for X-Men: First Class

TheDaily.com has a new video featuring interviews and footage from The Third Floor. You can learn about the previs process as well as see what our shots look like before they're handed off for the final effects work.

300 sketchbook update

Another page of 15 minute sketched heads, colored in Photoshop. Sure, it takes time away from the minicomic, but I have to keep sharp. These are more topical than the ones I've done in the past, which were mostly drawn from pages of the LA Weekly.

Chris Christie (Gov-NJ), Anthony Weiner (Rep-NY), Louis CK

American McGee's "Alice: Madness Returns" show at Gallery 1988

A belated post, but here's a writeup my friend Ben wrote of the art show for American McGee's "Alice: Madness Returns" video game. We attended the opening on Thursday and I was pleased with the artwork. NC Winters and Kevin Tong had some standout pieces, as usual. I got to speak with American and his art director Ken (who I was photographed with on that blog post), who provided some insight on the game's production. American had just started up Red Dead Redemption, so we talked about that a bit as well.

I'm about three pages into my minicomic, and am trying to redouble my efforts to make sure it's finished in the near future. I underestimated how long it would take, and I think making it digitally has been about a wash in terms of time saved compared to making it in 2D. I'm planning to post the first six or so pages here on the blog when they're ready.

300 sketchbook update

So this blog has been static lately, but for those who have been asking for updates, here's the latest 15 minute head sketches from my 300 heads sketchbook. I colored them up a bit in Photoshop. See how many you can recognize from the headlines over the last few months:

Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, Imed Trabelsi

Muammar Gaddafi, Vice Admiral Alex Gortney, Michael Keaton

Melissa Leo, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale

My spare time has been spent on a ten page mini-comic that I'm doing 100% digitally. It should be finished soon (before ComiCon) and I'll make it available as soon as I can.

Now on Etsy...

Visit my Etsy store! (actual items will be available for sale in the near future...)

Articles on The Third Floor's new partnership with Silverdraft

Good reads for those interested in visual effects and the way previsualization is changing the game:

FXGuide: Introducing Silverdraft Mobileviz

Hollywood Reporter: Silverdraft Rolling Out Mobile Digital Studio

Now in Tumblr form...

Add me on Tumblr!

New interview and info about my latest print series at 8-bit Cubist.com

Over the last couple months I made a mini-series of video game-themed prints for the upcoming PAX East convention. Exclusive pictures of the prints and an interview I did about them are now available over at 8-bit Cubist.com, so check them out and let me know what you think!

"Shigeru Miyamoto: 8 Bit Legend" print and WIP shots

I drew several caricatures of Shigeru Miyamoto when I started out his piece, and decided on the one on the left. His world had to be Mario-related, and since Mario Galaxy was skyrocketing in popularity at the time, I decided to depict the Nintendo designer in space. The font for his name was in my head very early on, but at the end it was clear that it needed to be fleshed out in 3D.

The final print (I have one left for sale at my online store):

"Nolan Bushnell: 8 Bit Legend" print and WIP shots

The portrait of Pong designer Nolan Bushnell was always going to be done in a different direction. My initial ideas had him literally part of the game as the floating brick, possibly in 3D. In the end though, it was cooler to go with a "man in the machine" looking back at you. As the other prints became busier and more detailed, I added the Pong arcade cabinet around the border. The point being played for would end up making the score 2/5 (Bushnell's birthdate).

The final print (I have one left for sale at my online store):

WIP shots of the "8 Bit Legends" prints (Alexey Pajitnov)

Now that they're done, I thought it would be fun to show the work in progress files I made for each of my 8 Bit Legends prints. The objective I worked out with Ben at 8BitCubist.com was to show each of them immersed in the worlds of the games they created. To help things stay receptive to changes early on, I made greyscale sketches of each design, and polished from there.

Alexey Pajitnov's concept was clear from the start. I placed the Tetris skyscraper in Moscow, along with some of the other notable buildings in the city. This was definitely a fun way to refine my perspective skills.

The final print (I have one left for sale at my online store):

Red Dead Redemption gets 2010 "Game of the Year" award at GDC

Red Dead Redemption, was given "game of the year" in San Francisco this week at the Game Developer's Choice Awards.

From the article:

"There was no shortage of groundbreaking titles across platforms and genres this year. From big-budget blockbusters like Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2, to indie darlings such as Minecraft and Limbo, 2010 was truly an incredible year for games, and we're delighted to honor them here," said Meggan Scavio, Event Director of the Game Developers Conference.

Congratulations to all my former teammates on that great project who took home awards for Design, Technology and Sound. (Maybe one day animation will be recognized at the GDCAs) For my comprehensive list of awards RDR2 has garnered, visit this blog post.

PAX East Video Game Prints Update: Getting Closer...

As mentioned in earlier posts, I've been developing digital paintings themed after designers of the 8-bit video game era in my spare time. The paintings have been a collaboration with my friend and former Rockstar coworker Ben Johnson at The 8-Bit Cubist for the upcoming PAX East video game convention. Tonight I picked up my mini-proofs from Static Medium. They look great, and I'm very excited to get the final/larger 18" x 24" prints this weekend. 

Mini-proofs of my renditions of game designers Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario Bros./Legend of Zelda, Nolan Bushnell (Pong) and Alexey Pajitnov (Tetris). Taken with an iPhone.

If you like what you're seeing, I'd like to mention that these prints are a VERY limited run. If you would like one or more of them to decorate your walls, email me at joshlange at gmail dot com. Each comes with a certificate of authenticity with background on the print and subject, signed by Ben and myself.

February Art Update

Lots of new things in development this month, including an upcoming mini series of prints that I'm working on with The 8 Bit Cubist. Those who love video games will get a big kick out of them. On top of that, I also signed up for a class on making a mini-comic at Meltdown Comics. I've been developing several story ideas for what feels like ages, so I chose one of the shorter ones for the ten-page comic I'll be creating. My goal is to have it be a level of quality worthy of being on shelves of Los Angeles bookstores and beyond.

As for my ongoing "300 heads" sketchbook, I'm maybe 40% through at this point. Here's a scan of a page I did last week, with a spot of digital color. Strangely, my wife and I watched Love Actually yesterday and it turns out all these actors are in that movie. Weird...

Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant. No more than 15 mins on each head.

Last weekend I also watched the Lemmy documentary about the Motorhead frontman, and drew a cartoon of the subject while it was on. Oddly enough, there's an annoying DJ in Love Actually who wears a Motorhead shirt.:

Mr. Ace of Spades.

And lastly, some silly cartoons done while watching a spot of TV. This is in the second sketchbook I'm filling up, which has one single rule: "nothing based on reference." It's nothing spectacular, but I want to post this as something to compare later on when I'm hopefully much more skilled at drawing from scratch.

NFL 2011 Faces

Here's a selection of Superbowl-themed faces from my "300" sketchbook that I'm filling up these days. I put more time into shading the heads on this page, so I figured I'd throw it on this blog.:

QBs Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

Time for bed.

Gallery 1988 "Multiplayer" Show

Ok, time to jump into 2011 with my first post of the year. Last Saturday I attended Gallery 1988's inaugural show at their new Santa Monica location. "Multiplayer" featured prints of all kinds of (mainly) retro video games, and garnered a large turnout. If you're at all into video game-related artwork and are looking to spiff up your walls with some new posters, check out the artwork on their gallery. My fellow ex-Rockstar Mister Benja over at The 8-Bit Cubist did a write-up over at his blog, featuring a photo of yours truly.

If you're more into videos, Hailey and the Coin-Op.TV guys got some nice coverage of the event as well, featuring interviews of standout artists Kevin Tong and Mike Mitchell:



P.S. I also attended the "Is This Thing On?" comedian artwork show at Gallery 1988's Melrose location, but was too swamped that weekend to post about it. It was awesome. Consider that my writeup. Thanks!