Founding Father Caricatures, Pt. 1

This week I've been enjoying the audiobook to David McCullough's 1776 and I've been in the caricaturing mood. Here's a pair, one of the famous 1st president and the other of author Thomas Paine (the second being less of a caricature and more of a mashup, admittedly). I gave both a touch of color in Photoshop as well.

Washington Ref.

Paine Ref. Pain Ref.

I'm not at all experienced with caricaturing, but it's something I want to focus on practicing this year.

Toy Story 3 and Red Dead Redemption

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of watching the new movie Toy Story 3 in 3D. I have to say that it was one of the most solidly entertaining movies I've ever seen. It's really something to be almost frozen in a state of joy for such a long time, with each new scene bringing with it new laughs, smiles, and love for the characters I've grown to know more with each sequel. I'm not sure what more I can say without spoiling the movie other than it needs to be seen, and seeing it in 3D made it even more enjoyable.

I have a bit of personal history with the Toy Story trilogy. Not in any direct way like working on it in some capacity, but more from the vantage point of a person directly inspired by it. Specifically, Toy Story 2 was the movie that caused me to drop out of college to enroll in animation school. There was no denying its charm and ingenuity as I watched a night showing in my college town's local mall theater, and I vividly remember walking back to the bus stop with a new determination to become a part of the undeniable magic that was 3D animation. My college was a lot of fun and I loved the school tremendously, but it was clear where I wanted to go now, and the better way to get there was through an animation-focused school. Less than three years later, I finally found myself animating for a living.

All this is what made make this piece on the LA Times' website a funny read. It compares Toy Story 3 with my recently-released video game Red Dead Redemption, with its author Ben Fritz wondering which could be seen as the "signature success" of 2010. Until I read that article, I hadn't realized how closely-timed the release of my game was to the finale of Pixar's flagship trilogy. Both have enjoyed tremendous success so far, and it goes without saying how amazing it feels to be a part of something that is received so well. While I can't answer Fritz's question, it is interesting to think that after such a long period of time (has it been eleven years??) the sequel to the animated movie that influenced me the most in my life ended up appearing like an echo within a month of my latest and best project. It has all made for a memorable summer.

Comics I Like: Todd Barry

Todd Barry is my wife's favorite comic, and is one of my favorite comics as well. In addition to seeing him open for Louis CK at the Spreckles Theater a few years ago, my wife and I both saw him at the Casbah (underneath the San Diego airport's flight path) a few years ago, and he did a great set that kept us in stitches. Being die-hard fans, my wife and I called out "joke requests" once he was done with his regular set, and he was kind enough to honor them all. I felt a little self-conscious doing this, but we met up with him after the set, and he sounded more glad that he had such big fans rather than annoyed at us, and he posed for a picture. When I went to New York for a motion capture shoot for Rockstar in 2007, I popped into Raffifi's (before it went out of business) in Manhattan, and Todd was one of the comics I recognized there. I introduced myself and shook his hand--he was very nice. He can be a very subtle comic whose facial expression often hovers around what I interpret as "are you really that stupid?" Hopefully this reproduction captured this thought. Judge for yourself:

The work in progress, pre-computer. I only used an 8B pencil on this one, as I did the Louis CK and Myq Kaplan pieces. The soft lead makes it easy to move around the page and not have to stress as much about making an effort for the lines to show up.

Comics I Like: Louis CK and Myq Kaplan

Did a couple sketches and brought them into Photoshop to paint. For some reason I like the look of keeping the sketch in there on Multiply with a slightly lighter opacity. The downside is the somewhat muddy/gritty look that appears where there is a lot of shading.

Louis CK. His new show "Louie" premiered this week on FX and it reminded me of how much his sense of comedy rules. I saw him absolutely destroy at San Diego's Spreckles Theater a few years ago. Even though someone backed into my car in the parking lot right before the show, his act made me forget about it. A lot of his act revolves around his physical appearance sliding out of control, so I chose the scene in his doctor's office to reproduce:

Myq Kaplan. He's my choice to win this year's "Last Comic Standing." I'd never heard of him before a couple weeks ago, but his material really hits home for me. Maybe because I also don't eat meat? I dunno. Hopefully I'll be able to see him live soon. (Update: this piece now seen on Myq's site!)

 

I love doing portraits, I love comedians, and I need more drawing and digital painting practice, so expect a bunch more comedian pieces in the near future.

John Singer Sargent study

Another reproduction. Sketched this out today from a Sargent painting:

Then colored the scan in Photoshop:

Link to the Sargent painting of a Spanish dancer.

I put the sketch layer on Multiply, so it kept all the original lines of the sketch, which doesn't look so great on the arm areas. The whole thing could use another hour to really be brought together, but it's time for bed.

Jury Duty sketching

Thankfully they didn't need me in court. Color done in Photoshop because I need to practice that too.

Summertime Sketching

About to get back into drawing again. Did a 2D piece recently that in no way used a computer, and it was a bit freaky. There's so much out there that inspires, but I don't want to get too wrapped up in appreciating when there's lots more creating to be done. Here are some recent entries from the sketchbook that I colored a bit in Photoshop:

Big Cat Diaries! Because my TV is closer to me than the Zoo or the Wild Animal Park at the ends of town.

Michael Mann and Will Smith's Ali. "The Champ is Here!"

Abandoned idea for a recent Red Dead Redemption piece. For those who know the game, the idea for this was to make a drawing of the night Jack was conceived. Dutch would be glaring at John and Abigail, who share a moment as she fills his glass. Bill Williamson and Javier Escuela are joking around to the side, in their own little stupor. I think the best layout is the one penned out in the bottom left. I liked the concept for this a lot, so maybe I'll come back to it.

Hearts and Minds, from the Bodies exhibit in San Diego last year:

Pedestrians during a Chinese New Year celebration, 1997. Camcorder in the man's hands.:

Self-Portrait from last week, looking busted. 

Normally I look a little more like this (pic via The 8-Bit Cubist):

Looks like the cover of a DJ duo's album...

Red Dead Redemption nod from Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead

Whoa!

It's great to see so many blog posts, tweets, texts, Facebook status updates, etc. out there about people enjoying RDR. I recently finished the single player campaign, and now I need to keep chipping away until I get 100% of the achievements in it.

I've made no secret of my Radiohead fandom, and I've seen Body Song multiple times and thoroughly enjoyed Greenwood's soundtrack for it. That post of his reminds me: I need to do the final pass on my latest Thom Yorke portrait.

Kubrick, step by step

I was asked to do a picture of Stanley Kubrick by my friend Paul for his next online film review. Doing portraits of my favorite film directors is a passion of mine, and I have already drawn Kubrick's face before. After drawing it out, I brought it into the computer for a little digital coloring. Here's the phases, from raw drawing, to coloring the "flats" to the final colored portrait:

What I enjoyed the most about this one was trying to make it my own drawing, and not a copy of an existing photo.

RDR swag from GameStop

What a haul! When RDR released, I was able to get all the remaining promo materials from a GameStop in town. 6 promo posters, two stands, a fake box, and a big poster at the bottom. The poster with the cover art (rightmost of the top three in the first pic) is now covered with the signatures of my teammates. The stand on the floor in the second pic has our original April 27th release date. I'm not sure what I'll do with them all, but I'll definitely frame the team poster when I get the chance.

Red Dead Redemption Launch Video

Here it is. The final new video for RDR2 before it's released on Tuesday--and it's the best one yet. I know I say that each time a new video comes out, but it's because the marketing team does such a great job of raising the bear each time. If you're an NBA fan, you've been seeing our commercials all this week.


To pre-order, visit the Red Dead Redemption website and pick the place that has the best deal for you (Amazon is a good choice).

R.O. Blechman Letter

Earlier this year I received a dedicated copy of R.O. Blechman's Dear James: Letters to a Young Illustrator via an uncle of mine that is his neighbor in New York. I wrote him a thank you letter after reading it and found in my mail today an unexpected and enjoyable response from him. R.O. Blechman's book is an inspirational read, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys drawing, especially those who would like to get into an illustration career.

To see R.O. Blechman's website, click here.

Ta Daa!

Now on DeviantArt

I want to plug in to a community of artists to see more work that's out there and to get feedback on my pieces, so I'm now on DeviantArt.com:


http://joshmlange.deviantart.com/


Right now I plan for that page to have my crossposted work without the Red Dead promotional posts, so if you're on DeviantArt, let me know and I'll 'watch' your page. I'll continue posting in this blog as normal.
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Red Dead Redemption has less than a week to release. Have you preordered your copy already? If you go through Amazon or WalMart, you'll get a discount card (Amazon's is $20). Definitely the best deals out there.

New Red Dead Redemption Video: "Revolution"

Your character John Marston spends many days in the harsh and politically-turbulent area of Mexico. This latest promo video shows some of what you will encounter South of the border:

Red Dead Redemption in the LA Times

The LA Times came to our San Diego studio to see what we've been up to:

Red Dead Redemption Brings the Western to Video Games
Cowboys and six-shooters may have become forgotten on the big screen, but Rockstar Games hopes to bring the western to a new frontier: the video game. Red Dead Redemption is set in the Old West in 1908.

In other Red Dead news, the News for Gamers website has a thread where you can read all the other online articles and blog posts related to Red Dead Redemption.

Red Dead Redemption: New Multiplayer Video

It's finally here: the sneak peek video of Red Dead's multiplayer competitive modes. Prepare to dodge gatling guns, cannons, snipers, and horseback riders to get the most gold:

Latest RDR2 Hype/News

It's tough to balance how much reposted Red Dead Redemption news I should put on this blog, so here's a few of the more important bits that have come out in the last week or so:

-Fox has announced it will air a thirty minute Red Dead Redemption special on Saturday May 15th at midnight. It will be animated, so I have no idea what that will look like but I'm excited to find out.

-For the Nascar fans out there, Red Dead Redemption is advertised on racer Joey Logano's GameStop #20 car, which will be seen during the O'Reilly 300 Nationwide Race. Click the link to see a great photo of it in action.

-In upcoming movie news, Red Dead Redemption will be screening advertisements before three of the spring's biggest movies, Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, and Nightmare on Elm Street. I know the kind of people that will see those movies, and they will definitely be gamers, so I can't wait to see my game in a movie theater (for a limited time). So cool!

-The next multiplayer promo video will be released tomorrow. The last one, about Multiplayer Free Mode, was released the other week.

-Red Dead fever is spreading...

-Lastly, there was a great write-up of a fan's experience playing RDR2 at an official Rockstar hands-on demo event (Scroll down to Day 2 Part 2), which was played in a special spot in Brooklyn filled with authentic set pieces, as well as a piano player and servers dressed in period attire. I wish I had seen it myself.

It's great to see news about the game spreading. Keep sharing links about it and don't forget to pre-order the game for the Xbox 360 or PS3 if you haven't already!

Pieces for Paul

I first met my friend Paul Booth back in Vancouver when I was going to film school. He attended the Vancouver Film School for the live-action film making program and I was attending the same school, but was taking the 3D Animation course. We've been good friends since then, and he currently writes an Online Movie Review for his paper in Hawaii. This week's article is on The Dark Knight, so I made a photo manipulation piece of his regular picture in the article. I used Photoshop to paint over his features to tie it into the Joker/Heath Ledger theme:

(note the green/purple necklace)

He's also produced a movie called Empty Streets that features American blues musician Charlie Musselwhite on its soundtrack. I did the illustration of him for the liner notes:

Charlie Musselwhite, 2010, 9" x 10"

 It was hand drawn, then touched up a bit in Photoshop.

The Tao of Calvin

This piece is for my friend Tone, who has a sketchbook full of Calvin and Hobbes drawings that people have done for him. I had all the books of Calvin and Hobbes growing up and it remains my #1 comic by far. I've been on the relaxing kick this week, so I wanted to show Calvin unwinding in the woods that are always seen in the comic. To me, it's a much more believable scene than him praying to a cross or choosing sides in the Chevy vs. Ford debate.

It started out as a drawing (2B pencil), then I scanned it and painted/refined it in Photoshop. Took about 3 hours, minus the time it took me to make a veggie burger sandwich.

Self-Portrait

I've never worked with Adobe Illustrator before, so I decided to spend some time with it to make a self-portrait. I used the pencil tool the most, and it took me a couple days to find out how to expand the art board to get the full image to save correctly (there are so many things I take for granted when using Photoshop that I had to relearn with Illustrator). The Japanese symbol stands for "balance"--according to the internet, anyway. Now that my part of the animation on Red Dead Redemption is complete, I'm now on a month-long vacation, so it felt like the right character to use.