Happy Holidays world!

I really haven't made a holiday card before.  Seeing as I'm at the point in my life where I actually know a lot of people, I slapped one together.  Have a splendid holiday everyone!

Stargazing

Cactus

Another dumb TVPaint thingy from a little while ago.  Just trying to get comfortable with the program.  Music is from the Grim Fandango soundtrack.


Cactus from Michael Herrera on Vimeo.

Christine Daaé_02

Some more sketches of Christine.

River Crossing

Here's a little test for a project I'm working on.

Phantom Poster

Decided to make a mock movie poster for Phantom.  I tried to keep it minimal and theatrical.

Christine Daaé_01

Here's a look at some of the work I did for my Visual Development class this semester.  I chose the Phantom of the Opera as my story and had a lot of fun trying to find some fresh and interesting ways of telling the story.  Here is one of my sketches of Christine.

Pen, Marker, Photoshop

Animating in marker!

It's not easy, but it's really fun!
I'll have some "pencil" tests of this guy up soon.

Business Shark

Bumpy Birds

Something from a while back.

His name is Ashley

I thought it would be fun if the big bad wolf had a not so big bad name.

Pen, marker, and photoshop.

Lone Chicken

Squish

Just a little test using TV Paint.  Tried to do it fast while getting to know the program.

Squish from Michael Herrera on Vimeo.

Sudden vacation

Well, not really a vacation, but a wedding.  Kind of a vacation too I guess.
My big brother is getting married in the Virgin Islands.  Wahoo!  Gotta run.
Have a great Thanksgiving!

Little Bad Wolf

Dogs

Some warm-up sketches on the Cintiq at school.  Still getting used to it.

Nose

This guy will be used to make a mold and then cast in latex an painted. I can't wait. I haven't cast any of my sculptures yet. Should be fun trying to paint some realistic skin effects.

I will make one more detail pass on this guy, to add some more skin imperfections, wrinkles, and a few warts.  

Big Bad Wolf

Working on an adaptation of the Three Little Pigs story.
Doesn't he just look like a nice fella?

Shaboom

My friend Tahnee Gehm made a great little film for LACMA's Halloween costume ball.

It's quite delightful.  Great job Tahnee!

Two ships

Just starting to figure out how to use textures in Photoshop.  Had lots of fun splattering ink and paint all over stuff.  The most dominant texture is from the cover of a very old book.  Yippee.

Man of steel in clay

Another sculpting assignment. Had to sculpt from my imagination. I've been reading the original superman comics so I guess that was stuck in my head.

(testing out the new blogger app. Hope this works.)

Corbin

This morning is off to a good start.

True story.  Also, I don't know how to make comics.  Good night.

Gallery Show Portraits

I forgot to post a better image of the artwork I did for the Character Animation Gallery Show, so here it is!

 These are portraits of very important, but lesser known historical figures.  I plan to explore their universe further.  Lots of stories to tell there.  The Tiger fellow is done in Acrylic, and the other two are Gouache. 

The question

Lola

It's crunch time here at school.  I'm working like mad now on my film.  I'll share stuff from that later...maybe after the deadline.
Here's a little spur of the moment drawing I did while doing some research.   I love fashion and color from the 50s.  I based this on some old adverts I found.

Food Group

I picked up these plushy fruits and veggies in the clearance aisle after Christmas.  I thought they could use a little more personality.

Just some acrylic paint and a little time.  As you can see, some of these guys are starting to go bad, but that strawberry, well he's definitely a zombie.  This is my first time delving into the world of zombie produce, and I don't think it'll be the last.
Eat your fruits and veggies people!

Character Animation Gallery Show

Come on down!  Doctor Thadeus Zebulon is exhibiting some of his collection.  Sneak peek below.  See you there.

Sad and Happy

In-class exercise with Lisa Keene.

Sad/Happy - Photoshop

Goodbye free time

Today was my first day of classes this semester.  I'm very pleased with the variety of subjects I get to study.  Along with animation (CG and 2D) I'll have sculpture, visual development, and advanced character design.  All that, and I have to make my film!  It's delightfully scary.
So here's the first project I started for sculpture. This was an unplanned piece.  We were meant to focus on starting off with simple shapes, building rough and making it up as we go.  The piece is about six or seven inches tall I'd say, minus the horns.

 Mahoney showed us some amazing monster and creature sculptures, so I just had to make something monstrous.  I'll finish this up next week, and I may paint it when it dries.  Hopefully I'll get some maquettes for my film characters done soon.
Good luck to all my fellow students.  Make this a fantastic semester! 

Goofy Pirates

I'm officially in love with Autodesk SketchBook.  This is my first time really taking it for a spin, and I am certain that I'm hooked.  I think I might even drop the 30 bucks for the full version.  Oh yeah, it's that good.

Goofy Pirates - Autodesk Sketchbook Express

Pirates were on the brain tonight.  Surprise surprise.