Autumn Moon Entertainment

It's been a while since I've let a whole week pass between blog posts, but I've got good reason this time besides laziness. I very recently started a new job as an in-house illustrator for a game company called Autumn Moon Entertainment.

I'm still new, so I can write from mostly a fan's point of view on just how beautiful our current project looks. It has this wonderful blend of Classic Disney Animation meets N.C. Wyeth meets Tim Burton. So you can imagine how fun it is for me to be involved in it! A Vampyre Story is due out in just a couple more months. Here are a few teaser images that AME has released on their website (obviously, not by me).

So yeah, I can't claim any credit on these, nor can I show what I've been working on until quite some time from now.... But hopefully you can get an idea of what kinds of things I'm doing these days. Which is mostly in-game 2D backgrounds, design, and eventually some props and characters. Oh, as well as waking up several hours earlier than I used to and driving forty-five minutes to work versus my old commute of one flight of stairs. But once I get adjusted to that last part, I'm sure you'll be seeing more updates!

Dave's Roof

I stopped by my younger brother's place on Potrero Hill in the City today to hang out for a while. We had a small storyboarding project to work on, but he was a little out of it, so I climbed out his window to sketch while he recovered inside. It was too windy to take on the panoramic skyline, bay views, or neighborhood houses that his rooftop offers. Instead, I stuck to a view of his rooftop, which allowed me to snuggle up against a wall and shield myself from the wind.

Nothing too exciting, but it was a lovely afternoon well spent nevertheless.

Petaluma Alleyway

I had an appointment in Petaluma this morning, about forty-five minutes north of where I live. The weather's been gorgeous the past couple weeks, and the town of Petaluma itself is full of historic and ideal places to set up and sketch.... something I rarely take advantage of, as I usually pass right through to reach Dillon Beach further west. Today, however, I found myself wandering the town after my appointment. Yet despite all its scenic offerings, I settled into a remote alleyway to unwind and reflect on what already felt like a full day.

Unfortunately, unwinding and reflecting can really conflict with focusing and painting. As a journal entry, I think the messy chaos in this sketch says a lot about what was going through my head at the time, but as a lighting and cityscape study, it's pretty god-awful! Ah well. Hopefully, I'll find more opportunities to explore Petaluma further, with slightly better results.

After the Bone Room

On Saturday, my wife invited me to tag along on a field trip she put together for the kids she teaches at preschool. The kids have been fascinated with bones the past few months, so Alex arranged a visit to the Bone Room in Berkeley. It's basically a natural history store squeezed into the dimensions of a boutique shop. You can buy replica dinosaur skulls, any number of authentic skeletons of interesting little creatures, or large bird feathers for the more faint at heart.

I wanted to sketch the kids in the store, but in such tight quarters with no place to safely place my coffee, I decided to wait until we had lunch in the neighboring park.

Constantly running children are pretty challenging to draw, but it's still fun to try!