Quick Sketch

We play softball on Monday nights against a variety of businesses.  Each one has a unique name that hints at what they do - ours is the Splats.

Last Monday we played against a team called, "the Force."  Turns out they were Market Force Talent - but for a little while we were hoping they were Star Wars related.  Guess the Star Wars people are too busy making money to bother playing softball...

Originally he was going to be raising an x-wing, but then I just made him floaty so I could stop drawing.

Square Koala

Sometimes you feel like a koala.  Bear in mind this was created completely in Adobe Illustrator.

It's a new character we're welcoming to the Squaremania world! 

Squaremania: Panda has an Epiphany

Here's the final illustration:

I think it turned out quite alright!

Squaremania: Happy Panda

I printed out the rough drawing and revised it with a red pencil:

After scanning it back into the computer I completed the revisions in Adobe Illustrator and then transferred the lines into Photoshop to color.  So far I'm done with the Panda, and now I have to work on the background:

Squaremania: Pig color

I'm doing a series of illustration of each of the different Squaremania characters.  This is the little girl pig.  This is still considered a color rough because I did the whole thing in adobe illustrator.  I still need to finalize what the color combination will be and then color it (for real) in Photoshop.

Squaremania Roughs

I'm working out some of the characters - and in the process I want to spotlight them with their own illustration that spotlights their particular trait or something significant about them.  Here are two characters - a female panda and a little gal piggy.

Squaremania: Rough drawing

This is a rough drawing I worked up in Adobe Photoshop.

Squaremania: Panda Family

We're working on a project and this illustration is one of the first to come out of it.  It's an alternate version of a previous Panda Family piece where you only saw the backs of the parents...Anyway - i wanted to change it around so you could see the entire family.

I did all the lines in Adobe Illustrator, and colored it in Photoshop.

Squaremania: Peeking

I did a similar drawing previously...but This one is the panda as a baby that I'm developing for another illustration - I cropped the picture at the lower part of his eyes so that way it looked like he was peeking over something.

It was drawn by hand and then cleaned up and colored in Adobe Illustrator.

I thought of this as part of creating mock up pieces for licensing artwork.  A company slogan or logo could go below the panda...and how could those cute little eyes do anything but influence someone to purchase whatever the panda endorsed!  That's the idea anyway...

Squaremania: Panda on a square hill

This is the latest illustration for Squaremania.  I wanted a triumphant panda standing on a square hill.  I working on getting the whole world feeling like it belongs together by trying to incorporate a square motif.

I thought it'd be nice to add a couple of the other characters, so I went back in and quickly drew them on their own hills.

What a square adoption

I was working on this illustration way back in February when my computer fell apart on me and I was left without Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.  I had to wait until the computer came back from the shop and I could see whether or not any of my files were salvageable.

The computer decided it wasn't on it's last leg, and I upgraded to CS5...and then I forgot about this illustration.  I'm currently updating my website (www.isaacmarzioli.com) and I discovered it again while going through my files.  I didn't have a background on it, and while i originally was going to have them in front of a supermarket, I went with a more whimsical background.  I almost drew eyes in on the hills, but everyone is doing that these days, so I refrained.

I did the illustration to commemorate our adopting two little kittens from Forgotten Animals of LA.  They're a fantastic organization that goes in and rescues strays and finds homes for needy animals.  And what's nice is that they have huge hearts and really care about what they do.  They even take in sick animals that the owners have given up on and get them treated.

Our two cats are the ones in front - they're twins. 

iF: Duet

This is a quick sketch of a little duet:

The panda is singing his little heart out...

Squaremania: Sad Panda

I did this in photoshop using a wacom tablet.  Just as I finished I wondered why I just used the cintiq as a screen instead of drawing on it...

Squaremania - Tea and Pandas

If you're going to have some tea....feel free to stir in some panda.  It's probably not sanitary, but it sure tastes terrible.  But disregard the taste, because you're drinkin' high priced panda tea.  Only winners drink panda tea.

Nothing tastes better than endangered animals!  Also, if this actually were to happen, I'd suggest green tea, it just seems like the right direction...

Squaremania: Kittens for Adoption

This is a piece I've been working on for the last couple of weeks...I did the drawing about a month ago, and used this three day president's day weekend to finally finish it.

This last month my wife and I adopted two kittens from Forgotten Animals of Los Angeles.  They're a terrific agency that rescues strays and finds loving families for them.  What's nice about FALA is that they take the time to find good people to match to the animals.

Since then I've added kittens to my cast of characters for Squaremania.  I wanted to do an illustration of these kittens and this is what I came up with:

 

The two kittens in the front, the twins, are based on the ones we adopted.  They also had two brothers (the grey kitten and the orange kitten in the back of the box) who were adopted just today.

I do the cleanup in Adobe illustrator.   Then I paste it into photoshop (keeping the vector lines in tact) and when the painting is done I go back to illustrator to 'self color' the lines.

And these are the combined color layers in Adobe Photoshop.  There will end up being one more layer when I add the background into it...so far it's just the characters (and they're floating on a blank whiteness...):

Squaremania: Lil Sweaty Panda

I did a version of this where the panda is just jumping into a game of hopscotch...but then the topic of Illustration friday, this week, was sweater...so I just had to make a revision so I could post it:

I changed the hopscotch squares into a sidewalk and extended it across the length of the hill and added a headband and wristbands to show how dedicated the panda is to exercise.  He doesn't wear clothes, but he wants to keep the sweat contained as much as possible - and judging by the looks of it, he's quite the sweater and the gear is not doing a good enough job.

Squaremania - lil' Panda's big jump

I've been too busy at Nickelodeon with work and at home with the brand new kittens that I haven't been able to draw as much as I would want.   I struggled to free up some free time, but was able to draw this and finish it in the last couple of days. 

I started with this rough drawing in Adobe Photoshop (drawn very rough with a wacom tablet):

Then I cleaned it up in Adobe Illustrator:

And this is the final color (adobe photoshop):

Squaremania: Green Lantern

It's Green Lantern...squared!  Evil Doers turn into fraidy clucking chickens at the sight of  Lil' square Green Lantern.

I did this illustration based on the Hal Jordan Green Lantern (at least his costume from the comics...I don't think Hal Jordan was ever this shape).  I was going to give him a six pack but Ryan Reynolds proved (by sporting them in the Green Lantern movie trailer) that it looked rather silly.

And anyway - Green Lantern was never about the muscles, but rather flying around, being an intergalactic superhero and fighting all things yellow.

Squaremania - Stinky Tea

This is the color version.

If you find a skunk as you're stirring your tea, I'd consider getting a new cup...

squaremania - Stinkin' tea...

So far I've finished the drawing of the skunk in a tea cup:

 and I'm currently working on the color...