Vampyroteuthis Infernalis Jr. III

IF: Forward

2012-01-31T01:15:00.000-08:00

I don't know what to say about this other then its a panda and its awesome!!! I did this for illustration friday the prompt was "forward".

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

I guess its about that time again, to look at my failures of the past year and plan out my failures for the upcoming year. Ahh just kidding, I think I actually did pretty good last year. Lets see, I wanted to lose weight, read more, hang out with Ann more, blog more and make more art.

While technically I didn't lose any weight, I did hit the gym way more last year then I had been, so while my pants don't fit any better, I do feel quite a bit healthier. I'm going to mark this resolution as a win! Go me! I think to do the losing weight thing I'm going to have to eat less..... Screw that!

Next Resolution, Read more. Ok this one was an epic failure!! I think I read less last year then ever before. I'm pretty sure that when I do decide to pick up a book again, I'm going to be reading at a 4th grade level.

Hang out with Ann more. I don't know about this one. I didn't have quite the crazy hours at work like I did in previous years but she was really busy with school so the only time I really saw her was when we were both in the studio working at home. Not really quality hanging out. I'm going to have to call this resolution a draw.

Blog more. With this one I have data to prove how awesome I am! Three years ago I only posted 5 times. Two years ago I posted 6 times, but last year I posted a grand total of 19 times! That's like 1.5 times a month!!!! Winner!!!! Ok so 19 times isn't a huge amount but it was way more, so yeah, WIN!

Last but definitely not least create more art. This was my most successful resolution by far. I probably made more actual finished pieces last year then any year before, and that includes all my time at CalArts. My work is getting better and better all the time and I look forward to see whats to come!

So 3.5 out of 5 resolutions isn't bad! That would be a passing grade in school!! I rule!

Now its time to look towards the future.....

For next year I decided not to do a bunch of little resolution and just focus on one bigger one. I figure that way it would cut down on the length of these annual posts and save you guys from having to read so much.

My resolution for next year is to be more proactive. I've been a go with the flow kind of guy pretty much my entire life, and while I have been extremely fortunate and have had many amazing opportunities just fall into my lap, I feel I'm missing out on one very important fundamental aspect of the human experience, and that is the feeling of utter disappointment you get when you really want something and try to achieve it with your entire heart and then fall short over and over again. So yeah, that is what I will be focusing on this year, obtaining a feeling of utter disappointment.

i drew a little picture to illustrate this:

go me!

IF: Grounded

2012-01-08T22:32:00.001-08:00

Here is a kiwi I worked on for illustration friday. The prompt was "Grounded".

FAREWELL 2011!

2012-01-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

IF: Silence

2011-11-17T02:27:00.000-08:00

Watched a few episodes of American Horror Story tonight while working on this piece for Illustration Friday.

Achilles Tang

2011-11-08T01:22:00.000-08:00

More Fish! I just realize I completely forgot the pectoral fin on the butterflyfish I did yesterday. Oops!

IF: Striped

2011-11-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some fish I worked on for Illustration Friday. I had a lot of fun and I think I will try and do some more.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-10-31T01:31:00.000-07:00

IF: Scary

2011-10-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th has always been one of my favorite horror series. Here is a quick doodle I did for Illustration Friday.

Little Book of Monsters: Slugosaurus

2011-10-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yikes!!

Little Book of Monsters: Screech

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Another Monster!

Daily Drawings.......again.

2011-10-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm trying to do daily drawings again. It sucks racking up a crap load of debt and barely using my new "skills". So use them I shall! I started another blog to post them at so I don't clutter up this one with a bunch of doodles that probably shouldn't even see the light of day. click here to go there now.

Little Book of Monsters: Teddy Snare

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Monsters could be anywhere! Watch out!!

Lets go to sleep and never wake up!

2011-10-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

TWO DAYS IN A ROW!

Here's a quick little picture I did for Illustration Friday.

Rejoice despite the fact this world will tear you to shreds

2011-10-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap a Post!!! You must be shaking with glee right now! I know I would be if I were in your shoes.

This past weekend Ann and I showed at APE up in San Francisco! It was amazing! I had a great time, met a lot of amazing people and actually sold some of my work!

This is what our booth looked like. Magical?! I know, right!

These are the two zines I was selling.

Here are a couple illustrations from inside them.

Can't wait till next year!

Here we come to a turning of the season

2011-06-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

So yeah, I haven't been doing quite as well as I had hoped in the updating blog department, but I've been really busy with work and life and stuff and things..... Anyway enough excuses, I will try to do better in the future.

Ann and I have been wanting to do some collaborations for a while now so this weekend we finally started. Here are a couple stop motion tests we did. It was a lot of fun working with her and trying to figure out how to do everything.

Have no fear music is on the way, these were just tests.

I've studied my flaws in your reflection and put them to rights with savage correction

2011-03-14T02:16:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple sketches I did today on my quest to start making art by hand again.

And with bees in her breath and the rest of her ringing they'll sting through her chest with a force hard and beating

2011-02-27T23:30:00.000-08:00

Here is my contribution to Illustration Friday. The prompt was swarm.

I thought I would post the initial sketch I did of the bee as I think I like it better then the finished product. Why is it that always happens?

So raise a glass to turnings of the season and watch it as it arcs towards the sun

2011-02-23T00:28:00.000-08:00

The computer beckoned.. but hey I like the results. One day I'll make real art again.

And I will sleep out in the glade just by the giant tree just to be closer when my spirit's pulled away

2011-02-20T16:21:00.000-08:00

Holy crap I made a picture without a computer for a change! I don't know what came over me.

And how do we maintain our buoyancy in this salty lake of shit and tears and murder and disease?

2011-02-16T01:29:00.000-08:00

On empty rings around your heart the world just screams and falls apart

2011-01-23T00:52:00.000-08:00

I finally found some time to do an Illustration Friday and this is my second post this week! I'm kicking some ass!

Mark my words, I might be something someday

2011-01-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

Ryan's 2011 New Year's Resolutions:

The Illustrated Edition

Ok, so yeah, I'm like a few weeks late in posting this, but hey, you should be happy I'm posting at all with my track record. So stop your complaining and enjoy!

Might do something I'd be proud of someday.

2010-05-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

My 4th year film is done and out there on the interweb! this one was mostly done using flash and then composited in after effects.

Might write something I might want to say to you someday

2010-02-28T02:46:00.000-08:00

Two pictures in one month!!! I'm on fire!

Might paint something I might want to hang here someday

2010-02-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

Woot! Hey look a pretty picture!

Nobody works and nobody plays and all of there dreams have melted away

2010-01-30T02:33:00.000-08:00

Hey look another post! I'm on fire!! And this one includes some artwork.... well sort of.
I redesigned this blog and added a picture for the header finally. Look it's just right up there and isn't it pretty. I'm going to have to call this one a big win for me and there is nothing you can do about it.

Ok so that makes 3 posts for 2010, see you in a year or so.

Trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop

2010-01-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

You know what I just realized? I don't post very much. Just thought I would let you know, that I know. You may now resume your regularly scheduled day. Thank you for the time and sorry for any inconvenience.

Arithmetic arithmetock, turn the hands back on the clock

2010-01-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Hi there! I bet you thought you saw the last of me back in June? Well you were wrong, dead wrong! I'm back with a vengeance baby, so expect to see a whole lot more of me around these parts in the near future. I shall no longer deny the world and all its beautiful inhabitants of the glory that is me! BLAM!

Now you waste all your days in the dark in the corner, without light without grace where you wait for your slaughter

2009-06-01T02:03:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full gear! woohoo! I think I have almost fully recovered from year three, and to tell you the truth, I don't know if I can make it through another one. I'm getting a little too old for this schooling stuff. Weird!? I know right.

Anyway, towards the end of the year I put together a portfolio of some of my better work, and while I didn't get the throngs of employers throwing themselves at my feet begging me to come work for them as I was certain would happen, I figure I would post it on here anyway and put it to some good use. Without further ado...

You haven't looked at me that way in years, you dreamed me up and left me here

2009-05-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

I'm done with my film woo hoo!! and here it is...

More to come very soon.

And at night she spoke to him of things heard only in hell

2009-02-11T01:19:00.000-08:00

Two posts in less then a week from each other. I'm amazed!

So today in life drawing I thought I would give the old computer and tablet a try. It was a bit of a chore to get used to at first but towards the end of the day I was loosening up and getting some decent drawings. Here are a few of the better ones.

He's a WHAT? He's a WHAT? He's a newspaper man

2009-02-09T01:46:00.000-08:00

Film making time is here again. Weeeeeeee!!!

My film this year is based on a story Ann told me about her childhood that I fell in love with. Unfortunately to make it as short as possible I stripped away any charm the original story had. Hey, What, I want to sleep some this semester, OK?!?!

Here is a turn around of my character design for young Ann, who here has been renamed Camilla to protect the innocent.

And we'll tak a right guid willie-waught for auld lang syne

2009-01-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years everybody!! Weee!!! Yay!!! Wooo!!! Well I guess it's time to look back at the things I wanted to accomplish last year and focus on the things I'm going to tackle next year.

If I remember correctly last year I wanted to keep things simple and only take on a couple resolutions so I would be sure to accomplish them. Lets see how I did....

2008 Resolution #1: Read more.... Uhhhh do comic books count? I'm guessing no. I think I read an email or two, but I'm sure those probably don't count either. As far as books go, the last Harry Potter came out 2 years ago, and teenage vampire romance doesn't really do it for me, so what, is it my fault the world just isn't producing anything worth reading at the moment??? I think not!

Okay, Okay so that resolution didn't really work out, but surely I succeeded at the next one!

2008 Resolution #2: Get in better shape....... hmmmm well since my computer rests more comfortably on my gut then in my lap I think I'm going to have to call this one a failure too.

Crap, okay, well last year was a bust but who really likes to look back anyway? On to bigger better things! A new list of resolutions to fail at! YAY!!

2009 Resolution #1: Read more! This shouldn't be too hard I love to read. I do it all the time! Yeah!

2009 Resolution #2: Get in better shape! Not that I need it, I'm totally a pillar of health, totally!

2009 Resolution #3: Draw more! I'm going to be pretty unhappy if I get out of art school and I am still not confident in my drawing abilities!

2009 Resolution #4: Get better organized! I'm nearly 29, I should probably have some sort of system in place by now on how to keep track of all the things I need to do, when my families/friends birthdays are, when to shower, brush my teeth, take out the trash... but I don't

2009 Resolution #5: Post here a little more frequently. I think I owe it to all my fans out there.

I think 5 is enough for this year. I mean I can only fail at so many things before I start to take it personally.

Okay, now that all that nonsense is out of the way I actually have some art to show. I know, I know I'm pretty surprised myself.

I did this in my painting class last semester and I quite like it. It was done in oil on canvas board and I think its 18" x 24"

Now Presenting Sir Oliver Snugglemuffin Danger!!!!

2008-12-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

To distract you from the fact that I don't have any new art to show, here is a picture of a puppy!!!

Yay puppies!!!

This is Oliver, mine and Ann's new puppy! He is 4 months old and likes sniffing stuff, licking stuff, chewing stuff, chasing stuff, and harassing Lucy. He hates leashes, wearing clothing, bedtime, veterinarians, and eating his own food. He is looking forward to meeting you all.

Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor disturbance

2008-08-10T03:06:00.000-07:00

While you anxiously wait with fanatical longing for a life changing glimpse at my almost finished site and the reinstatement of my widely popular daily drawings, I thought I would give you a little treat. Here is a really short film I did at the end of my first year at Calarts after my main film was done. Hope you enjoy!

If the video doesn't work for some reason or you want to view a high quality version of this master piece you can go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II67uA0CoXw

Glorious sunset of my heart was fading. Soon the super karate monkey death car would park in my space

2008-08-08T00:18:00.001-07:00

So I haven't been doing my daily drawings, as we all expected would happen. It's for a good reason though, I have been working pretty steadily on my site. The very site I have been trying to get up and running for the past few years now. Hopefully in the next week or so I will get it uploaded for all to see. Hooray!

It looks like a terradactyl out of a gay Jurassic Park

2008-07-21T22:18:00.001-07:00

It's last weeks installment of daily drawings!! Wooo!!! Well... most of them anyway. Okay, so I'm a couple days behind, but come on, we both knew this would happen eventually. I'll catch up. Promise.

Seemingly there is no reason for these extraordinary intergalactical upsets

2008-07-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

Here's the rest of this weeks installment of daily drawings. I didn't skip a single day! Hey, even I'm impressed.

To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars

2008-07-07T18:06:00.001-07:00

Ann and I got back last night from our trip up to San Francisco to visit my brand new baby niece. She's pretty damn adorable, as tiny versions of big things tend to be. Not quite as fun as her older brother yet, but I'm sure after she learns how to hold up her own head she'll get there in no time. While up in the bay area we visited with family, sat in traffic, frolicked around the city, sat in traffic, ate massive amounts of food, visited a pirate supply store, and... sat in traffic. So yeah it was a blast.

On the way back to LA we stopped by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and it was pretty much amazing. My favorite part was the jellyfish living art exhibit. It's kind of crazy how diverse the life on this planet is! After the aquarium we slowly headed home as we sat in massive amounts of traffic. Wooo California!

(Photographs by Ann)

While in San Francisco I got a tiny sketch book that I'm going to try to do a finished drawing in each day. I figure it's little and I should be able to do a quick Illustration in under an hour or so. In the past I have been notorious for starting a billion things but never finishing anything (just ask Ann). So I'm hoping this will be a good way for me to learn how to finish things. Let's see how long this lasts. Anyway here are my first two.

An ocean’s garbled vomit on the shore, Los Angeles, I'm yours

2008-06-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

First I would like to say that my little niece was born in the wee hours of Sunday morning and I can't wait to meet her next weekend! yay!

Okay, So I finished my film like 10 weeks ago and I'm just uploading it now. What?

I have mixed emotions about it as per usual. One day I will make a film that I am completely proud of. I swear. Unfortunately that day has not yet come. Maybe I just have to let it sit a little longer so I'm not just noticing all the flaws. Anyway, here you go, please enjoy.

So the video quality here is kind of crappy, and if that bothers you like it bothers me, you can click on the video or the link below, and go to youtube where just below the video on the right side there is a link that says "watch in high quality". If you click that the video will load again looking much more crisp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSCFGCDzUhc

I'm on the run, I'm prison bound, the hand of fate is heavy now

2008-06-28T22:53:00.001-07:00

Ann and I went and saw Wall-E on Friday and it was pretty fantastic. It wasn't my favorite Pixar film to date, but it was very much worth the watch. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves watching portly people guzzle down tub after tub of liquefied grub as much as I do. Other then that not much has happened since Thursday. I just thought I would post something to distract the angry mob from the fact that I still haven't uploaded my film. It's coming! It's coming! I looked at it last night and don't think it will take very much tweaking to finish and get it up here.

I went though my sketch book right now and found a bunch of hands that I liked. Most of them are portraits of my left hand, one of them is Ann's, and the rest of them just fluttered out of my head and landed on the page. Okay, so yeah, pretty boring stuff, but this is what I'm drawing right now and you people wanted me to post more often, so this is what you get!

(click on images to enlarge)

P.S. Don't worry La Duena, the look for this is only temporary until I come up with my own.

We finally got a piece of the pie

2008-06-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, Ok, Ok I get the picture Missywah, this thing isn't updated enough. Duly noted! I will look into it and fire whoever is responsible. Hopefully the next person I put in charge will be a little more on top of things.

So I guess everyone's next question is "Where's the damn film already!?!" Geez you people are harsh today! The film isn't ready yet. I'm going to look at where I am today and hopefully realize it will only take like 20 minutes to finish and then get it up and done with. From what I'm told Tanya is going to be holding my soon-to-be newborn niece hostage until she gets to see it. So I have some pretty hefty motivation to get it done.

Ok next question. Yes you sir in the blue fisherman's hat. What have I been doing with my summer? Good question. Since finishing up the semester at Calarts I have happily been spending much more time with Ann, doing a little work for Chris on the side to pay my bills, but mainly I have been trying to really focus and work on my art skills. I've mostly been studying anatomy so far, but I hope to also examine some of the old masters works and hopefully learn quite a bit that I can apply to my own art. I started off strong in the beginning of the summer but after a week or so my productivity started to decrease as my movie watching started to increase (ironman rules, indiana not so much), but I think I'm starting to turn around again and will finish off the summer strong. So hopefully I will have a few things to put up here in the not to distant future. On that note I went to the zoo today wanting to sketch the elephant there but s/he wasn't being very cooperative, so I moved on and drew some of the other animals instead. Most of what I did was less then impressive but I was able to draw a rhino that I was happy about.

(click on image to enlarge)