The Girl Who has Everything

What? Actual Paper? Real Paint?

I got an awesome set of Watercolor paints for Christmas (thanks in-laws!) which I finally used to paint something. It's been far too long since I've painted with anything other than digital paint and I had a lot of fun. I think this turned out moderately well and I'm excited to try more.

New Year

Hello 2010, year of Greek Mythology! In the first 3 months we'll have 2 new films based greek myths and 1 new video game (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief, the remake of Clash of the Titans, and God of War III). So I've decided to ring in 2010 with a piece of the god of sky and thunder himself.

As for 2009, it was okay I guess. At least it brought us one truly magnificent film (Drag me to Hell) and one spectacular game (Uncharted 2).

Christmas Presents

My wife has been asking me for a while for a few pieces of art and I guessed she ultimately deduced that the only way to get me to do them was to ask for them for Christmas. So above is the portrait of our son, Max, and a personalized bookplate. She seems pleased with them.

Palate Cleanser

As promised, I've done something more appealling to male sensibilities after all the Twilight stuff. I hope you enjoy viewing my sexy, bikini clad, jungle inhabiting, panther riding woman as much as I enjoyed painting it.

For the Ladies part 2: Team Jacob

The females in my family requested this and I wanted another Twilighty piece for the Avalanche blog. I did not paint it of my own volition. I think I'm going to do something tough and testosterone filled next. I need to cleanse my palate.

Kratos

The God of War Collection ships today and I've been playing the God of War 3 demo over and over so I've been in an angry greek mythology kind of mood. I have a hard time pinning down what I like so much about the games. The main character is a horrible person. The fighting system is fun, but not incredible. The narrative is frequently cheesy but always feels appropriate for the subject matter. The rush of pure testosterone laced adrenaline the game provides is nice. I also really appreciate any franchise in any form willing to tell an epic fantasy story without just feebly copying Tolkien.

I also recently had a Final Fantasy 7 marathon. I played Crisis Core, Final Fantasy 7, (watched) Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus, all back to back which was quite an experience.

Currently Playing:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Game of the year! I'm just a few trophies away from platinum (I finished it on Crushing the other day). Phenominal in every way.

Metroid Prime Trilogy - I like the Wii controls and all the games are great so I'm loving this.

Recently Finished:

Batman: Arkham Asylum - So much better than any other Super Hero game I've played. Finally someone got it right. Incredible game.

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus - The great production values and fondness felt for the characters by FFVII fans isn't quite enough to make up for the uninspired gameplay.

That's it for me, pretty dry until my birthday/Christmas next month and I get all the great games that have and are coming out this holiday season. I really want to play through the campaign of Modern Warfare 2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii looks awesome. Anything else good out there?

For the Ladies...

Not a big fan (like I'd admit it if I was), but I think the two main characters have interesting faces. So I painted them. You're welcome.

Halloween Pumpkin '09

This year I entered the Lehi City pumpkin carving contest and won the grand prize, a year membership at the Lehi Legacy Center (which is our city's pool/track/gym place). I also won a game at a Halloween party we went to wherein one eats crackers attached to a sheet of plexiglass while wearing a blindfold with goofy eyes on it. My finest hour. So generally a great Halloween with one exception: Trunk or Treating. I hate, hate, HATE Trunk or Treat. I loathe everything about it, the practice, the name, everything. It is ruining Halloween and slowly destroying society. In the future when civilization has collapsed and we live in a post apocalyptic wasteland and people wonder where it all went wrong, I'll be there to answer, "Trunk or Treat." If you were someone who engaged in this practice over the weekend then you should be ashamed. Classic Trick or Treating forever!

Coffin Character

Quoth the Raven...

"Nevermore."

Death in a Red Dress

I try to keep the spirit of Halloween in my heart the whole year round so it's nice to have the season here again for real.

Sketch Trade with Jordan

There's an explanation here, but I don't want to get into it. Thanks Jordan!

Sketch Trade with Virginia

Another trade with another great artist. Virginia Critchfield gave me one of her trademark pencil sketches of Tonberry (a Final Fantasy monster) and I gave her some creepy wall-eyed dude in brush pen and marker. Thanks Virginia! Good luck in Texas.

Ol' Jack Burton Always Says...

The topic on the Avalanche blog is "Childhood Re-Drawings" where we're taking stuff we loved and would draw as kids and rendering them now with our more developed artistic skills. I was obsessed with the movie Big Trouble in Little China as a child. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would answer "a truck driver who fights monsters," which is how I interpreted the occupation of Jack Burton from the film. So I decided to paint him, my childhood hero.

Details, Details

I don't like to post huge images on here (though I try to make them of admirable size) so I occasionally feel that the painstaking love I put into certain areas of an image get lost. So I thought I'd take an opportunity to post some details of previously posted images which I feel deserve a closer look.

Drag me to Hell!

I finally watched this a few weeks ago. I've wanted to see it since it came out but it released the same weekend as Up and I saw that instead. I'm not sure I made the right choice. This is the best horror movie of the year, possibly the decade. Modern it may be but it had, in part, the tone of a great classic horror film (so I felt compelled to do a fan-art movie poster carrying that mood). Sam Raimi's storytelling style is very conspicuous which is why I think he excells with pulpy subject matter. As a fan of such material he's one of my favorite directors and Drag me to Hell is one of my new favorite movies.

Sketch Trade with Dillon

A bunch of the artists here at Avalanche have been trading art for art and my good friend Dillon and I decided to trade. I got a cool acrylic painted space man and he got a ball-point pen and marker cowboy sketch. Thanks Dillon!

5

It has been far too long since I did one of my video game posts and part of the reason is because of Resident Evil 5. I've played it start to finish about 5 times, at least once on each difficulty, and earned the Platinum Trophy. Yes, I'm awesome. The game is great, though not as good as RE4 (but, really, what is?). The new additions to the series are great (co-op, Sheva), and the old stuff is still entertaining (cheesy-cool storyline, shooting zombies). The horror element has been even further diluted and I, for one, am happy to see them trying new things. The game focuses almost exclusively on combat and Chris (whose phisique I've only slightly exagerrated) and Sheva (the main characters) are super strong zombie killing machines. The new Silent Hill game (called Shattered Memories) puts you in the shoes of the most average of individuals removing combat completely, making monsters something you can only run or hide from. What makes me happy is that two of my favorite Survival-Horror franchises, which started out with similar gameplay, are both going in such different directions.

Currently Playing:

Final Fantasy VII (again) - I just downloaded it from the PSN and copied it to my PSP. I forgot how great this game is! It's reputation is well deserved, one of the best ever.

Patapon - Fun.

Recently Finished:
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - loved it. It was been especially fun to go straight from this into FFVII. I plan on continuing my FFVII marathon by watching my Blu-Ray Advent Children after I'm through with FFVII and even playing the poorly reviewed Dirge of Cerberus after that...Epic.

Ghostbusters: the Game - Better than I expected. Nothing great but a solid experience overall.

Fallout 3 - I didn't finish the game (It's huge!) but it kept me engaged about as long as Oblivion did. I love the environment, the V.A.T.S. system, and the sense of discovery. Ultimately, however, the lack of a compelling narrative and mundane/repititious missions killed my interest.

God of War I and II (again) - Gamers seem to be leaning in preference more and more towards the procedural, sandbox experience (like Fallout 3). I still far prefer a straight, focused game. The God of War games are about as linear as they come but the experience is relentlessly captivating in every way. I can't wait for GOW III.

Killzone 2 - I'm not a big FPS fan, but I got this one mostly to admire the tech on display (and there is A LOT to admire). I ended up really enjoying the game as well.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - I don't know what it is about Dragon Quest games, they're so simple and essentially all the same, but I just can't get enough.

Anything else good out there?

Delila

Portrait of my niece, Delila. I did it for her birthday...and so she would get my brother to let me borrow his PSP during my vacation next week. Thanks Rich! Hope you like it Katie.

Sinister Skalliwag

'Nother pirate.

Creepy Pirate

This is a quick painting of a pirate based on a homeless guy I saw in downtown Salt Lake City.

Miss White prefers Merryfeather

I've been wanting to paint some of Disney's leading ladies in a retro style and thought it might be a fun fit to place them in old magazine ads. Snow White is first since she's my favorite. Hopefully I can find the time to do more.

Pirate Sketches

I won't bore you with the details of my long absence. I will only tell you it involved an ancient curse, a mad scientist, and high speed car chases...or I've just been working crazy overtime at work leaving me no time to draw or paint. Either way, hopefully I can now begin updating regularly again.

Xanax and Allegra, Conquerors of Zyban!

I've always found an amusing similarity in the names in fantasy novels and the names of prescription drugs, thus the title.

The Pig People of Padulang, Utah

Valkyria Chronicles

Yes, it's been a while. I've been busy, give me a break. Anyway, it's 2009! What better way to start a year of blogging than with the most important issue of the previous (or any) year: video games. One of those games (which I got for Christmas - thanks Heather) is called Valkyria Chronicles.

The game takes place in a fictional version of 1930's Europe with situations resembling those in second world war. You play a squad leader for the small country of Gallia, desperately struggling to fend off "the Empire" which is fighting to gain control of their land and it's ample supply of Ragnite (their main source of energy).It's a tactical RPG which you play both from a bird's eye view of the battlefield (selecting which unit to move) and from a third person view (within which you actually move the unit, playing like any 3rd person shooter). It also uses a clever turn-based combat system and a distinctive art style. An ad for the game has already played off another popular war poster featuring Uncle Sam (itself based on an earlier poster from Britain featuring Lord Kitchener).I like this image so much I wanted to do something similar and since one of the characters in the game is named Rosie I thought Rosie the Riveter would be appropriate.

Back to the games of 2008: Game of the year? Metal Gear Solid 4, followed by Valkyria Chronicles and Little Big Planet.

Right now I'm playing:

Valkyria Chronicles - If you can't tell I love this game. A lot.

I've recently finished:

Mirror's Edge - The concept feels fresh and the graphics are phenominal. When it's working it's wonderful, but unfortunately it becomes too frustrating too frequently in the latter part of the game. Still, definitely worth a look.

Gears of War 2 - I played this after hearing people go on and on about it on the gaming blogs and podcasts. Due in part to these lofty expectations I came away from it feeling it was only marginally better than average and certainly nothing special.

Prince of Persia - I ended up really liking this game. It's fun to play and nice to look at. It did feel a little repetitive by the end, but it's a great new direction for one of my favorite franchises.

Dead Space - A competant blend of Bioshock and Resident Evil 4 with a bit of it's own identity mixed in. I hoped the game would be more frightening but enemies are thrown at you so relentlessly that the tension never has a chance to build.

Anyway, what are you playing? What was your favorite game last year?

Is that you Santa Claus?

Merry Christmas!

The Archer

The new Avalanche blog topic is Zodiac and I'm a Sagittarius.

Ana Lucia Cortez

In getting back to my LOST caricatures I'm following up my favorite character (Mr. Eko) with my least favorite. I can't stand her, I cheered when she died.

BOLT!

BOLT the movie opens in theaters today and the video game came out a few days ago. These are a few screenshots from the two areas I worked most on, the cave and the helicopter battle in the Yucatan jungle. I'm quite happy with the finished product so go out and play it!

Halloween '08 Pumpkin

I wasn't going to post this, feeling the season had passed and it was time to move on, but I have nothing else to post right now so here was my pumpkin this year before it met it's eventual demise in our compost heap.

Fun Shall Overcome!

I've had LittleBigPlanet for a few weeks now and it is genuinely wonderful. I've never seen a game with such ineffable charm. Whether it's the inspired art direction or the delightful narration by Stephen Fry or the marvelous soundtrack or it's sweeping accessibility- the game is just impossible not to love. My two year old son watches me play and frequently laughs because the game is adorably captivating. He likes to wave at the Sackboy on the screen (I, of course, always make him wave back). Heather wants a Sackboy or Sackgirl as a pet. When playing it with others, everyone ends up laughing. This game is for everyone and it's just plain fun.

I just finished and published my first created level over the weekend (and I think it compares fairly well to other user-created levels). It's called "Sackboy Jones" by kanyn. Play it, heart it, give me feedback. Thanks!

Right now I'm playing:
LittleBigPlanet - Endlessly fun!

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Better than I expected but not quite the home run it could have been.

I've recently finished:

Silent Hill: Homecoming - This ended up feeling like a montage of the most popular elements of previous Silent Hill games and the movie. Anything new it introduces doesn't fit the unique SH atmosphere. Ultimately it feels like a competent tribute to SH games instead of a real addition to the series. There are a few small additions that I love but they're too small to carry the game beyond the realm of mediocrity. The SH franchise is in real need of a reworking the way RE4 so successfully did with Resident Evil. Until that happens I just can't muster the enthusiasm I once had for this series.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen - This is a must play for fans of old-school J-RPGs. I loved it.

What are you playing?

Happy Halloween!

The Grave Digger

The Evil Lord of Destruction!

I've never loved anything the way I loved He-Man when I was 5-7 years old. This was when I called Saturday - Cartoon Day. My brother and I would get up so early Saturday mornings that we would watch the color code thing until the broadcast would start at about 6 am and be swept away in a blissful haze of terrible animation and toy commercials for 4 hours. Smurfs, Thundarr the Barbarian, Transformers, Thundercats, Voltron, and, of course, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The 80's was a great time to be a kid.

Dracula

"What manner of man is this,

or what manner of creature is it in the semblence of man?"
-Bram Stoker

I love the original Dracula novel, but, as is almost always the case, none of the film adaptations have portrayed the spooky specter the way the book does. Bram Stoker provides the following details:

-Dracula has a full mustache, but is clean shaven everywhere else.
-He is an old man with aquiline features and slightly pointed ears.
-He has bushy eyebrows and a full head of hair but is balding around his temples.
-He has stubby fingers and hairy palms.
-He dresses in black and has a cruel look in his eyes.

This is a far cry from the suave gentleman many picture when they hear the name Dracula. I decided I wanted to paint the famous bloodsucker and stay fairly close to the original description. I found that it's hard to make a mustache scary. Some of my sketches look like a hook-nosed Borat with a mohawk. I was convinced it could be done, however and I eventually ended up with the sketch that turned into this painting. I'm quite pleased with it, and it sorta creeps me out a little.

Homecoming

Within the last month two of my favorite video game franchises have had new releases. Dragon Quest IV hit a few weeks ago and Silent Hill: Homecoming hits retailers today. I figured there's no better way to celebrate than with a painting of everyone's favorite Silent Hill denizen, Pyramid Head! It's also a wonderful way to begin the month of Halloween. Few games can compete with the immersive atmosphere and interactive narrative most Silent Hill games have. I'm always looking forward to going back there.

Silent Hill fans (myself included) are fairly intense when it comes to the foggy town. Many are intelligent and interesting. But among any fanbase can be found the fanboyish whiners lighting up the internet with their self important observations and complaints. Team Silent out of Japan created and developed the first 4 games, the first 3 of which are held in the highest regard. SH4 was a bit of a departure for the series, it was more experimental and openly surreal. It was met with much criticism from the SH fanboys. I enjoyed it but fatigue for the series was becoming evident in Team Silent's work. When speaking of the future of the series the creators wanted to push it even further away from the traditional Silent Hill gameplay and atmosphere. Fans complained. So the next game (SH Origins for the PSP) was handled by another studio and some (myself included) found it to be a competent and worthy addition to the series. Homecoming was also handled by an outside studio and so the fanboys have been outspoken about their disapproval of this from the day it was announced. They all object to the series being handled by someone else, despite the fact that the original studio has all but said they don't want to make any more and if they were to they would be very different from what we've come to expect. Personally I'm happy either way, I like the original games enough that I'm fine with playing variations on the theme or letting the series evolve. I get irritated by those who just want every new SH game to be a remake of SH2 (rightly considered the masterpiece of the series though the first game is my personal favorite). Homecoming could very well be no good, reviews have been all over the map (some rank it as high as 95% and others as low as 60%) but that's beside the point. Making up your mind about a game before you've played it is unfair. Being so exacting in your expectations that you're nearly impossible to please does not make you an intelligent and discerning individual. I know the internet will never be lacking in pretentious people with unfounded opinions, but they still bug me.

Right now I'm playing:

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen - The DS is the perfect home for the DQ games, I'm enjoying every minute of this one.

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 - I've been enjoying this more than the original HL2 or Episode 1 -and I loved those!

I've recently finished:

Killzone - I played this because the sequel looks so cool. Unfortunately it kind of deflated my enthusiasm. It had some cool moments but overall...meh.

Anybody else playing anything good?

Bella

This is a protrait of my neighbor's kid I just finished. I've never really tried a portrait of a child before and in doing so I now realize why they are so rarely done well - they're hard! It took me 3 previous attempts and many long hours to finish something I was happy with. Thankfully, they also like it.

Mr. Eko

Mr. Eko is my favorite character (so far) from LOST. RIP.