Outersketcher-The Artwork of David Church

2011-06-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

My second entry for the Deities themed book from the guys at Tiki Machine is based on a Hindu goddess named Budhi Pallien. She's one of the earlier, elder gods. It's said that she liked to roam the jungles and forests of Northern India in the form of a tigress. Aaaand... it's said that she still does so today.

Well, that got me to thinking. How would a 10,000 (or so) year old tiger-goddess respond to our world today? What would she think of us? How would she interact with us? If at all.
And, how would we react to her?

I did some rough sketches of how she might look...

...meh... although I did like the simple stripe treatment.

And then decided that she HAD to be bigger than life. She's a freaken goddess. And I wanted to place her in plain site, yet be unseen by those all around her who can't be bothered to see the world around them.

This piece will be a simple one. A rough pencil drawing with water color washes on cold-press illustration board.

2011-06-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

Been working with the guys over at The Tiki Machine on their new book.
The theme for this one is on "Deities". Kinda cool.

There will be two of my illustrations in the book. I wanted to do something from the native American peoples (specifically the Navajo) as the subject matter for the first illustration. Black Yei is my current favorite. Basically, he's the guy that's in charge of the stars and constellations, and he's the one who invented fire. The story goes that he used to keep the constellation of the Seven Sisters tied around his left ankle. However, whenever he danced, that star cluster would fly up from his kicking feet and smack him on the left brow. This happened so frequently, that he finally just had the Seven Sisters constellation mounted to his brow permanently.

I like the gentle humour found in many of the stories about the Navajo deities.

Can't show the final piece, but I can show you a rough sketch. This one will be digitally painted. I want to have the flame glowing with warm, yellows and oranges, while the stars glow with blue light. If I can pull it off, I also want the eye holes of his mask and the Seven Sisters star cluster to glow with the same star light. He IS a god after all.

2010-12-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick, pencil sketch of another paper model design. It's an... a... er... Idunno. A steampunk vehicle thingy. Designed for exploration of rugged terrain. Lightly armed with a turret-mount machine-gun for protection. Lot's of rivets, gears and rust.

Will put this design in-line behind the other paper model projects I need to finish first. Must... finish... the... Kolywopter...

Monster Mythos

2010-11-23T17:06:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine in the animation industry recently announce the release of an artbook. Something he'd dedicated a lot of time to bring to fruition. Monster Mythos, a collection of artwork based on theme. I love these types of artist collaborations. It gives us all a chance to see the impressive diversity of the creative human mind.

In his own words..
"Monster Mythos is an art book of legendary beasts, fiends and mystical creatures pulled from folklore all over the world. These spirited tales have been beautifully re-imagined and brought to life by a collective of artists from the animation and illustrative fields. Their hope is to bring the same inspiration and wonder to those who might not have heard of these beasts, as these legends have to generations before."

Dig it man.

Check it out at tikimachine. I'll be picking up my own copy soon.

Two-Headed Chicken Paper Model

2010-11-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

This has been a fun project. I began this a couple of years ago when I first discovered the art of paper craft. I had wanted to create a model of my own design that anyone could download, print out, and then build for themselves.

Something that reflected my own style as an artist.

The two-headed chicken is about simplicity of form and color. The design deliberately relies on simple shapes and solid colors.

I think my favorite part are those big-ol feet...

and the curled, pink tongue.

I dig'em man.

This model is available as a FREE download from my website.

2010-10-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know who originated the "Cows Analogy to Political Idealism"... but I've improved on it a bit. Hope it makes you laugh. Irregardless to what "ism" you may belong.

REPUBLICAN: You have two cows.
You mortgage your house to the hilt, borrow money to buy a bull and hire your neighbors to help you take care of the growing heard. Some of your neighbors in turn do the same and they also hire even more neighbors to care for their own growing herds as well.

DEMOCRAT: You have six cows. Your neighbor has four cows and a poor neighbor has only two cows.
You feel guilty for having six cows, so you get Ted Kennedy who has 10,000 cows to raise taxes to make your greedy neighbor with four cows give one cow to the poor neighbor. Now both neighbors have three cows each and everybody is equal. Of course, YOU still have six cows. But you can live with the guilt because Barbara Striesand sings to you and Michael Moor makes movies about the evil and greedy Republicans.

LIBERTARIAN: You have two cows.
You borrow money (without government interference) in order to buy a bull (without any government interference). But because there is no law against drug use (see without government interference) you can’t find any neighbors who aren't stoned out of their minds to help you take care of the heard.

SOCIALIST: You have two cows.
The government takes both cows. The government mismanages the care of the cows. One cow dies.
The surviving cow yields only half the milk, so milk is scarce and expensive. In desperation the government shoots the other cow for food and taxes the evil and greedy Republicans to avoid starvation.

LIBERAL or "Progressive": You inherit your grandfathers cattle ranch with hundreds of cows.
Your family sells the cattle ranch and becomes very rich by investing in cattle markets. You go to a fancy college and learn all about socialism and join in the protest against the evil cattle ranchers. You protest against people who eat cows because cows are people too. You protest against the cattle ranchers because they give drugs to the cows and you believe drugs are only for people. You protest because cow farts are causing methane gas which contributes to global warming. You protest because the cattle ranches are making a profit. You protest because cows are destroying the habitat of the yellow-bellied titsy-fly. You protest because America has the most cows. You protest by throwing cow blood on people who wear leather products. You protest against the use of the term "milkmaid" because it’s gender-specific. You protest because men are touching a cows naughty bits when they milk them. You become a trial lawyer so that you can sue the evil and corrupt farmers because milk and cheese products are making all the poor children fat and it is obviously the farmer’s fault. You use your family’s money to get into politics so that you can FORCE people to give you control of all the cows. You mismanage the cows and they all die (see socialism) and since there are no more republicans to tax and steal cows from, the people starve and become desperate. For the good of the republic you have to shoot a lot of the people to maintain order (see communism). You institute reform by forcing the people back to the farm where they can raise cows. But you’re ok because you still have the money your grandfather made on the family cattle ranch.

ENVIRONMENTALIST: You weep for the cows.
You paint cow spots all over your body and dance naked in the streets of New York to protest "bovine abuse". You join militant protest groups and stage midnight raids to free the oppressed cows from their slavery to mankind. You make up fake studies with false statistics and pay Al Gore to make a movie about them. You fence off vast tracks of land to keep everyone out for the good of the world community. And no one but the cows are allowed access to the land... Well... except for yourself, Al Gore and Robert Redford of course.
You pass laws prohibiting the use, sale and possession of cows or dairy products for the good of the world community. Of course, those of your neighbors who were formerly employed in the care, production, processing, transportation, maintenance, inspection, and sales of cows and dairy products are now jobless, homeless and starving along with their families. But that's okay, because there are TOO MANY PEOPLE on this earth anyway and it's ABOUT TIME we reached a SUSTAINABLE POPULATION for the GOOD OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY! Besides, you need the extra room for your own four cows.

COMMUNIST: You have two cows.
The government seizes both cows, shoots you, and sells your cows to the Americans for the good of the people.
The government makes lots of money, buys lots of tanks and has big parades for the good of the people.
Your family dies of starvation and the UN condemns America for selling you the tanks.

DICTATOR: You don’t need cows.
Because you torture and kill your neighbors to force them to give you the milk from their cows. If your neighbors don’t produce enough milk, you torture and kill their families. If they complain, you torture and kill their families.
If you time it just right, you can escape with your millions before the Americans come. The Americans clean up your mess and give free cows to everyone. You then publicly blame your bad behavior on racist and oppressive American Imperialism. Time magazine makes you person of the year for your courageous stand against the Imperialist Americans. Sean Penn places an ad in the New York Times demanding that you be returned to your rightful place as "benevolent dictator" over your neighbors.

character development

2010-07-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a rendition of the characters for a childrens book. This character set is already changing... I need to modernize the support characters a bit to match the current eddy and flow of the times today.

Aand here's a look at one of the spreads.... The "butterfly spread".
I like the little house in the background.

the statue

2010-05-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun project. What you see in the pics is my own representation of what the 4-toed statue from the TV series "Lost" looks like.

After lots of research watching several episodes of the series..(I'd never watched the show previously)... I drew up some 3-way sketches of the statue and sculpted a 13" tall version using super sculpy.

Once the original sculpture was completed, I used it to make an rtv silicon master-mold.

The project required 10, hand-painted statues and numbered statues that the client plans to present as awards to the finalists of a video contest they've been hosting.

I think they turned out really nice. In fact, the client was pleased enough with the results that they ended requesting another set of 8 statues cast in ebony black.

Working on it now...

I'll post more images in a bit...

The dangers of working late into the night

2010-03-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

A few days agoe I'd been working late into the night... or rather, early into the wee morning hours of the day to come. As I was driving home, I stopped at a 7-11 for somethingorother. (I've long ago discovered that sleep deprivation consumes enormous amounts of my body's energy reserves. And thus, I find myself craving protein at around 2-3 AM or my body will shut down completely.)

Agreed, that 7-11 isn't the best choice for a nutritious pick-me-up... but hey, it 2 AM after all. Anyway, I know I wasn't thinking clearly. And so I won't bother to attempt to defend my snack choices.

There was a pleasant fellow of Indian or Pakistani descent manning the clerk station that night. And he obviously felt that someone HAD to say SOMETHING to the poor fool who brought the hideous combination of a package of stale crab sushi and a bottle of Nestlie Quick chocolate milk to his counter top.

"Ahhh... are you sure you want to do this?" He implored with obvious concern."

I stared bleary-eyed at the sushi and chocolate milk... then staggered off to a nearby snack display.

"There! That should do it!" I declared. Triumphantly placing a package of spicy pork rinds next to the other items.

Obviously concerned for my sanity as well as my health... the clerk shook his head and rang up my purchases.

As I said before... I was tired.

And NOT thinking clearly.

progress... of sorts..

2010-02-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

I sold one of my paintings today to a private collector. However YOU can still download a paper model of that painting from the papercraft section of my website. I must say that I am profoundly grateful to live in a capitalist pig-dog country where any man or woman can make a buck from their own engenuity and talent.

yeah yeah yeah...

2009-12-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

Heather and I've been spending the last half-year or so looking to buy our first house... a soul consuming task to say the least. Now, suddenly, we find ourselves in the position of being able to choose between two different houses who's lenders have accepted our offers. Sure, we've recovered from the shock of having a lender actually accept our offer... but now what? New territory.

In the midst of all that this year I'd received a commission to sculpt an iconic statue from a popular TV series. Cool man. Was fun to do. I'll post photos once I'm sure that it's legally ok to do so.

Paper craft

2009-07-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

In between searching for a new home for my family, sculpting new rubber parts for the vintage motorcycles I restore, and my responsibilities at work... I've been focused on some of my paper craft designs. I've had to train myself to use some simple 3-D design software to be able to adequately produce project designs that will unfold into usable flat parts. You can see some of the designs I'm currently obsessed with. The design that is closest to completi0n is the "Kolywopter". A cross between steampunk and science fiction design. The majority of the model has been flattened into parts and even assembled as an actual model in real life. I still need to complete the engine nacelle, and the wings...

I'll post pictures of the Kolywopter later. But for now, here are the exploration sub and the eel powered lantern vehicle as designed in SketchUP. Ready for flattening into parts sheets.

Been thinking 'bout steampunk subs again...

2009-04-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yep, mechanical things moving under deep water. After making a few more idle sketches here and there... I decided to plunge in and start building the model in Google SketchUp. I'll post that later. But for now, here's the latest little fishie-sub sketch.

StoryBoard Artwork

2009-01-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

I was just recently working on some storyboards for a series of 15 second commercials. Now, obviously I can't show you the storyboards since the project is live. But here's a sample of one of the panels.

The panels were drawn quick and fast. I had to complete five storyboards (four to five panels each) within two days. Mostly black and white with some coloring to hi-light desired areas. It works out to ohhhh... about 30 minutes or so per panel.

After about 30 minutes... you have to go with whatever you've got and hope that you can come back to redo it later if you have time.

Stressful.. but fun in a panicked sort of way.

Notice how I artfully slipped a plug for my website into the focal area of the panel?

...smoooth...

10 minute sketch

2009-01-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

I've been watching my 2 year-old daughter move about the house clutching a stockpiled bunch of plastic horses to her chest. She hordes them with jealous passion. It got so ridiculous to see all those horsie-legs poking out every which way that I had to take a few minutes and sketch the impression down.

Merry Christmas and all that

2008-12-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

An interesting holiday season for me this year. I've been so busy with family and such that I haven't pressed any lead to paper or gripped a mouse or stylus at all. The demands of family can really impede on ones own narcissism. I did, however get an idea for a childrens book about flying sheep. Will do some drawings for that this week.

Heather and I didn't have much money for presents this year but we managed to make things work out alright for Christmas morning. The highlight of the season for my oldest boy Jesse, however, was the discovery of a Lego crane set under some brightly-colored wrapping paper and bows. He's only 7, so the construction process was long and arduous. But I had fun helping him get the model built. He's been playing with it and yes... even sleeping with the thing day and night since Christmas.

Here's the "thankyouverymuch" video he sent to his grandparents. The other little monster you see in the video is his 2-year-old sister "Emmy".

Biomechanical robot project

2008-11-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

This was a fun project. It was a concept that required two characters... a robot and a man. The robot represents the sophisticated systems and process of the clients specialized field and the fellow represents the clients service capabilities in that same field. They idea is that the systems robot half of the team is so advanced and powerful, that it can seem a daunting task to control. Like driving a souped up hot rod with a monster engine. Hence, the human "service" half of the team. This is the guy that helps us use the immense capabilities of the systems robot correctly.

Using the above mentioned description as a basis, I knew I needed to stay away from cute, simple, and diminutive. This robot needed to be smart, sophisticated, a little wild, and of course, it had to be _cool. I felt that it was important to keep the gender of the robot as neutral as possible. No curvaceously sexy, or overtly masculine body shapes.

What I ended up doing was creating a mechanical skeletal framework draped in luminescent wiring that was than all covered over with smokey, translucent plastic pieces. Suggesting the impression of a business suit. Pure white hands and solid bio-luminescent eyes help keep the robot just a bit unsettling. Which is precisely what we want. Finally, finish that off with a crown of fiber optic hair with glowing tips, and I think we've got an advanced, yet "hip" android.

I've included some of the robot concept sketches I went through that led to the final, approved sketch.

Another challenge about this particular project was that the client planned to make HUGE, high-rez prints of the robot, so the working file was rendered at one half of the actual size of a normal, full-sized human being.

The Photoshop file was monstrous. Approximately 1.5 gigs If I remember right. My 24" screen imac, running OS 10.5, handled the workload just fine though. The illustration was painted entirely in Photoshop 10 using a Wacom tablet.

pages from my sketchbook

2008-11-14T16:20:00.001-08:00

Some sketches taken from my current sketchbook. I 'm posting them as they are. Meaning that I'm leaving in the smudges, the failed doodles and whatever notes I happen to have scribbled here and there. These are a small window into how I think and work out my ideas.

speaking of whales

2008-11-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

Here's another whale.... a steam punk version if you will. I admit that I do like to add rivets to my subjects. This little sketch does a good job demonstrating the solid, "heaviness" of the whale.

I think this is a pretty good candidate for a paper model design. Unfortunately, it takes me so long to actually produce the paper models I design that I get bored and lose interest before I can complete them. So my solution has been to work on several different designs at a time. For instance, right now I am working on a space habitat, a flying machine, an electric eel powered transport vehicle, and a two-headed chicken. I'll focus on one design for a week or so... then I'll switch to another for another week... and so on. All of these paper models are moving along well, but none of them are finished yet. Eventually, they'll be completed and I'll finally be able to update my paper models page on my website! Woohoo!

Sketches of Baby stuff

2008-10-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

A couple that my wife and I have known for years are due to have a baby any time now.... And I got to thinking of those first few months whereas my wife (Heather) and I struggled to understand how to properly use all of that baby paraphernalia that seemed so important to keep the little grub alive and happy. At the time, I was attending the Art Center in Pasadena and found that one of my requirements was to fill a sketchbook spread with drawings of items that followed the same theme. As a result, I present to you this old sketch... dredged up from the depths of my school years.

"But still good... yeah... still good."- As Stitch once said.

P.S. If you're wondering who "Stitch" is, you probably don't have kids, and most likely have never been forced to watch the same Disney flick seventeen times in one week, and therefore probably wouldn't enjoy this little sketch anyway.

Current Project

2008-10-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

The whale and the boy are but a small part of a larger Illustration WIP (work in progress) for a children's book. I like the whale... and I decided to post him against the grey background to show how I often work. Painting over a nuetruel grey helps me to keep track of the values and chroma as I work. Pity that much of this whale will be covered by other artwork in the final piece. Aahh... such a shame...

steampunk fishies

2008-09-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Some drawings of steampunk submarines. Eventually, these will become designed paper model kits that I'll post on my website.

...and I step forth...

2008-09-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am. I'll be posting my sketches and my WIP paintings here. I'll also be documenting my progress on any other projects that capture my mind as well, irregardless of the media.