The First Addition of the New Genre is Complete!

Here it is, the first of the next series of drawings that I will be adding to my collection....

Click on the image to enlarge.  The resolution is set at 1920 x 1200.  This is how I have my monitors oriented at work, so thats why they are all set to portrait this way.  Feel free to save it and print it out if you want.  You can also check me out on Pinterest, I spend more time there than I do anywhere else.  Also, check out my portfolio page at the link to the right to see more of my work!

As always, Enjoy!

K

A New Genre for the New Year

Well, I have been drawing Star Wars stuff for all these years.  I'm a little tired of it.  So I'm moving on to my other obsession.....  The Mass Effect Universe!  Below is my first attempt at doing such.

This is still a work in progress, but you get the gist of what is happening.  Say hello to Berserker Squad.  They are sporting the all new Medusa armor, capable of point defense protection with omni shields that generate based on threat assessment.  The technology was stolen and re-engineered from the Reapers.  The helmet tentacles constantly survey their surroundings in real time 360 degree panorama, generating the threat assessments, target acquisition, and targeting heads-up display.  Other features include the omni-rapier, which is a 1 meter long omni blade geared towards slicing and ripping opponents apart.  

These guys take it another step beyond N7 and Spectre!

Have a Nice Day

Just a little harmless fun playing with some new features in Manga Studio 5.  This program has some great texture brushes, special effects brushes, and of course the pens and pencils are top notch!  This program, along with my laptop, has replaced my old fashioned paper bound sketchbook.  As always, the rendering and other effects were prepared in Photoshop.  However; the rendering capabilities of Manga Studio 5 have come along way and I did play with that a little bit.

K

New Fan Art from My Own Little Corner of the Star Wars Universe

Check out the Shop's Illustrations page (located to the right) to see some of my latest design work!

Or just click here!

Its Been A While!

Well, its been one hell of a busy summer!  Thank God its over.....  Work has been killer and we have put out a ton of product for Joe Taxpayer so far this year.  Hopefully things will begin to settle down at the District and we can move into planting season with a yawn.

On a personal level, my boy has gotten even bigger, smarter, and funnier!  He has developed his own little personality, which, thank God, appears to be ass opposite from mine.... Ha ha!  I purchased a Vespa!  It is nice to hop on that thing and just go.  I don't think about anything.  All cares and worries are left behind me.  Best thing that I ever did!

The wife and I are working on another child.  Got to squeeze one more in before the big "40."  Don't know who's gonna pay for this one, but I guess it won't really matter anyway with Obama care coming to a town near us soon...  Ha ha!  Just kidding...  Can't wait to hold another little one in my arms and wrap em up like a burrito. 

Enough of this personal nonsense!  Down to business!  Got some new posts coming soon from travels this past summer.  We have already updated the portfolio with some new graphics and designs.  Find em at the link on the right side of your screen.  We did away with the "Band of the Week."  Didn't make much sense to have a Band of the Week when it gets changed out about twice a year.  Ha ha !

Enjoy the new graphics and stay tuned for photos from the beach and Minneapolis!

K

This is the new Scoot!  Lovin it!

Vespa GTV 300 IE

Great Pics at My Morning Cereal!

Follow the link below or click here to visit My Morning Cereal for some new pics of the family!

http://mymorningcereal.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

K

The Japanese sure know what they are doing!!

Stumbled across these images from an online magazine that I get through an email subscription.  The Japanese garden style has always been one of my absolute favorites!  The environments that the Japanese people have created for themselves over the centuries and mellinnia are some of the most beautiful, natural spaces on Earth.  One can truly find their center in a true Japanese garden, along with peace and calm.  There is nothing like it!

Enjoy the images...

K

Recreation Planners Conference - NARRP!

I am not overly thrilled about going to the NARRP convention this week.  I am not a recreational planner, at least not as my primary trade, or interest for that matter.  No, I was volunteered to go to this convention in order to aid one of my fellow co-workers, who happens to be our resident Outdoor Recreation Planner, make a presentation.  I had my fill of getting up in front of an audience when I worked at the Planning Department in Vicksburg.  So, needless to say, I am not looking forward to this.  But, to make the presentation a little more bearable, for both me and the audience, we did put together a pretty damn good slide show with lots of images, and concepts, from some of the projects that we are working on at my place of employment.  Here are a few of the images that I prepared.

Bienvenue Overlook and Pier

The first set of images are taken from a concept for the Bienvenue Triangle area which is just north of the Lower Ninth Ward.  This now flooded and open water area was once home to a thriving marsh and swamp.  Very little, if any,  of that habitat still stands so the main goal of the project is to rebuild and recreate the native habitat that once thrived here.  The pier and overlook system are designed to get the community involved with the marsh and swamp restoration process.  All of the images were prepared from a three-dimensional virtual model of the design.

Shell Beach

The next set of images are taken from concept virtual modeling created for a large pier and picnic area at Shell Beach.  Shell Beach is located near the Gulf of Mexico side of the recently closed Mississippi River to the Gulf Outlet (MRGO).  It is a small fishing community.  This pier system is the perfect way to get members of this community involved with the restoration process!  The design was well received and accepted by members of the parish.  I hope we can build this thing one day. 



Great designs!  And for a good cause!  Can't beat that....

Enjoy...

K

A New Sith Lord

I call him simply "Battle."  At 7 feet and 3 inches tall he is giant, and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield of the "Old Republic."  His talents lie in brute force and aggressive styles of combat that overwhelm his opponents from the moment their blades become entangled.  His force abilities are focused on forseeing the future, anticipating the moves of his opponents and other defensive measures while he relies on his skill with blade and other weapons to bring his opponents to their knees...

Anyway, here's the latest creation from The Workshop!  Here we have the initial rough sketch and concept of what he will look like.  Typically the sketch is refined to higher quality, with multiple layers, but the initial blue sketch layer was used for the purposes of this display.

The following image shows how the black ink begins to take shape and the character becomes more and more refined. A different kind of weapon was invisioned for this guy.  He will wield the typical lightsaber, but his primary weapon will be a morning star.  Oh but this won't be just any kind of morning star, no siree bob!  Instead of the spikes that would typically surround the weighted ball at the striking end of the weapon, this one will have about a dozen or so "mini" light sabers protruding out of the striking end!  Pretty badass huh? 

Eventually the line work will be completed and the shading process will begin, but that won't be for another month or so, so stay tuned!

Star Wars - Return of the Funnies..

Found this image on the internet yesterday and got a big kick out of it...  Enjoy...

K

Lady Lex

Greetings fellow shopsters!  A new page has been set up for the Corpus Christi Experience.  Photos are in the process of being loaded and more will be added later..  Lady Lex is ready to view, along with all of her assorted aircraft..  Click the link to the right or click here to visit the site. 

Enjoy...

Malach Has Arrived....

"The ox became sorrow, the lion; darkness, and the eagle; terror...  Death came swiftly for those who would oppose Satan and his ultimate abominations; the Juggernauts.  One juggernaut in particular known as Malach the Destroyer was Satan's chief lieutenant.  Eons ago he was once known as the Messenger of Death.  In the Almighty's court, Malach was tasked with bringing the souls of the departed into the light.  But; on one fateful day he chose to turn away from the Almighty's light.  He fell from grace with eleven of his brothers, chief among them Satan.  As they fell deeper and deeper into the dark abyss, they became grotesque and disfigured.  They cut and maimed themselves first, then they learned to cut and maim others, until the legion of Satan was a thousand times a thousand fold and growing.   And this is how it was for many a millennium; the battle between light and dark raged..... 

Until the day when Malach the Destroyer longed to feel the glory of God's eternal light upon his face once again.  The juggernaut fought and clawed his way out of the circles of hell facing legion after legion of demons, betrayers, hexters and his fallen brothers.  He battled and bled black until he erupted onto the surface of the living world.  The Almighty saw him there, broken, beaten and bruised and took pity on him.  The Almighty sent Uriel, the "Bringer of Light and Wayfinder of Destiny," to meet Malach.  With Uriel's touch, and the power of God, Malach's wounds were healed.  The Almighty, all forgiving God, offered peace, light and forgiveness to Malach.  But, these things would not be given freely as God would have done for mankind.  No, for Malach they would have to be earned.  Malach would have to redeem himself in the eyes of both his brothers and his Creator.  Malach willingly and enthusiastically accepted God's terms.  Malach would become "The Redeemer."  His new task, redeeming those who have fallen from God's grace and fighting the corruption of Satan, wiping it from the face of the Earth, one good deed at a time.  For each good deed done the juggernaut would earn a golden feather, until the day when he would be complete again, spread his wings, and fly to the heavens from whence he fell so many eons ago.

And so, with the God's light, and weapons forged from indestructible obsidian, Malach wages war on the minions of Satan, saving as many souls as he can, and possibly gaining one himself....

I know what your thinking....  You read this little story and you think "This guy is nuts!"  Well, that may be true, but it's okay...  Nutty people come up with the best ideas..  i.e. Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Michelangelo, and especially Leonardo Di Vinci, just to name a few..  So "HA!"  Take that...

Anyway, This is my final entry for the Superhero design competition that is being hosted by Smithmicro, maker of one of the finest drawing software packages that I have had the pleasure to play with.  Wish me luck world!

The Corpus Christi Experience... 2012

I just returned from a great business trip to Corpus Christi, Texas.  Sadly, I was unimpressed with the town itself.  It seemed to me that the town was really economically depressed and run down.  I don't know, it could have been that it was just the "off season."  Corpus is a big spring break town so maybe things liven up then!

Anyway, the town did have some great attributes that I really did enjoy and others that I wish I would have had more time to enjoy.  The Texas State Aquarium was fantastic as was the U.S.S. Lexington aircraft carrier exhibit.  There were also a few gift shops, great restaurants, and a boardwalk that spanned the length of the beaches on the north side of town where we were staying.  The beaches themselves were freshly dredged and re-created and the water was clear with a nice blue-green tint.

I have attached photos of some of the attractions that I visited for your viewing pleasure.....

Fun time at the Texas State Aquarium.  They had a great dolphin show!  Three dolphins made up the cast of characters along with two trainers.  The dolphins could actually bounce and dribble balls like they were playing basketball.

Scenes from Corpus Christi Beach.  There were great wild flowers growing right out of the sand.  The beaches were clean and the sand felt great between my toes, albeit a tad cold though...

More pics to come later...

New Year.... New Works... New Possibilities....

Well, its a whole new year.  A chance to do things over, to renew the spirit.....  and most importantly....  to DRAW weird and freaky new things! 

So, late in 2011 I revived some drawings from a few years back and began "renewing" them.  I began with a creature that I like to call Malach.  His name comes from the ancient Hebrew and means simply "messenger" or, another translation that I found, "my messenger."  Other cultures and languages have featured a very similar word, with a similar context, pronunciation and spelling, going back thousands upon thousands of years.  But the Hebrew version fit my character best.  I actually found an interesting character mentioned in the Hebrew Bible who's name was "Malach HaMavet" which translates as "The Angel of Death."  Pretty freaky huh?  Well, freaky is what we do best here in the shop!

But that is not even the freakiest part.  Another piece of mythology that I was able to pick up, while doing some research on fallen angels, was the concept of the "Tetramorph."  I know, I know, this sounds mind bending!  But, I assure you its not!  Catholics probably heard about this growing up in catholic schools.  The Tetramorph is an angelic being with four faces or heads.  The courageous and proud lion (always located on the right), the strength and honor of the ox (always located on the left), and the wisdom and vision of the eagle.  In many of the depictions, these three characters always surround the face or head of Christ (Christ is the center of all things).  These creatures are also highly featured in St. John's Revelations and Ezekiel's nightmarish visions of the Apocalypse as God's messengers of doom...... 

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10.

Malach is one of the bad guys from my Liddieville Story.  There are many others.  He is one of many in an army of fallen angels lead by none other than Satan himself!  But I have given away too much!  So I will say no more on that subject.  Hopefully, as I develop some characters and rework some of the story, I will be able to make it unfold in its proper context on this website....

In the mean time, I plan on showing some of my sketches and drawings as they progress through production.  Malach is the first of many to come...

Malch in Pen and Pencils, still under construction....

A quick rendering to see how things are working visually...

The latest version as of 02/2012.  Still have a little more work to do on him, but he's getting there..

The latest version as of 02/24/2012.  Getting him ready for a super hero design competition!

HERE HE IS!!!  FINALLY FINISHED!  This fella will be my entry into a design contest for super hero comics sponsored by one of the software packages that I used to draw him.  Further posts to come!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL... AND TO ALL, A GOOD NIGHT.... AND A GOOD NEW YEAR!

I am truly sad...  Here I sit wishing that I was at home with my wife and boy.  Two days have now passed since Christmas day, and what a Christmas it was this year!  My boy, all of eighteen months old, summed it up very nicely, in one word...  "WOW!"  That is what he said when he woke up Christmas morning and we went to check out the tree and see what Santa Claus (a.k.a. Ho Ho, in the McCaffrey household) had brought him.  That was a pivotal moment in my life, made simply by my little boy uttering that one little word...  "WOW!"  Wow indeed is all I can say.  I will let the pictures do the talking from here on out.  All I can say is, what a day! 

Please visit the Link located to the right, or click here to visit our Christmas Page....

A Face You Can Fall in Love with...

Now this is the face of an angel...  Kudos to Kim for coming up with the poetic wording...

Halloween Fun During Christmas???!!!

I know what your thinking.... Halloween pictures in the middle of December??!!  Well, sadly, I'm just getting around to posting these....  and the video below...  I hate that I missed his Halloween this year...  The boy looks like he had a ball!



Updates to the Site!

This week I have really been trying to get back on this blog and add some new stuff.  Today I loaded up a new link to Planet Photoshop.  This site offers Photoshop tutorials that are free and require minimum bandwidth to run.  Basically this guy, Corey Barker, runs you through a series of "how to's" on creating neat special effects, text, 3-D applications, lighting..... YOU NAME IT!  The tutorials are simple screen capture recordings of him actually running through the artwork on his computer.  I also like how he makes the lessons user friendly for Mac or PC users.  This guy is the guru of Photoshop as far as I am concerned and I have learned a lot.  Check out the link at the bottom of the site or go here.  www.planetphotoshop.com

If you look closely, you will also notice that i loaded up some new links to some of my favorite bands and their Youtube Channels.  Ironically, I owe the artwork for the banners to some of Corey's lessons on Planet Photoshop.  By pulling images and logos off of the web, I was able to piece together the concepts that are shown on the site, manipulate them, add some fancy text and effects and..... well scroll down and you will see the results.  Oh, and check out the bands while your down that way...

A Father and Son kinda Weekend!

I had the best weekend with my boy!  It was our first father and son weekend alone, just the two of us.  We sure did miss Mommy, but we had a blast.  And I think that Mommy had a blast during her weekend off.  Noah was a good boy too.  He minded me very well for the most part, even when he was a sleepy boy.  He is such a good boy.  Kim and I are so lucky.... No, not lucky so much as "blessed."  This boy is a blessing.  I never thought that I could love or feel this way about another human being.  It is an amazing feeling to walk in his room at night to make sure he is tucked in and just watch him.  (I wish I could sleep that well, without a care in the world except my next ba ba, my next poo, or who is going to change that poo.. Ha Ha!)  I think my favorite part of the day is in the morning, when you first hear him rustling around in his room, and then, all of a sudden you hear, "Ma............ma! Ma........ma!  MA...MA!" Slowly progressing quicker and louder.  Then, sometimes you will hear, "Day.....day!  Day...day!  DAY..DAY!" in the same progression.  I just love that!  Its the best way to start the day.  Christmas is coming soon, and this boy, as far as I'm concerned, is a good boy and is gonna be tops on Santa's list!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL... BLESS YOUR FAMILIES... BLESS YOUR CHILDREN.... BLESS YOU..

My Favorite Family Pics...

My Purty (wife to all of you who don't know who or what that is) is my bestfriend.  She makes me happy beyond belief.  She has given me the most wonderful son and I adore them both.  We have a blast together.  When my boy is up it is time to play, play, play, and play some more!  The whole family gets in on the action, even old Pokie, our happy and loving dog.  Anyway, I wanted to share some of my favorite pics and tell my family that I love them very much...

So many pictures....  So little time... Wish I could put em all on here...