Zombie Dinosaur

Happy Holidays

2011-11-23T10:21:00.001-08:00

I'm one of those people who always complain about xmas stuff coming before Thanksgiving has even hit. But I got this done early and wanted to share it with you lovely people. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours from the DeLuca clan.

Metal-Chalk-olypse

2011-11-03T15:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry, this has nothing to do with Metalocalypse but I was having trouble coming up with chalk puns. After seeing how cool the rest of the studio is getting at Titmouse, we decided to start drawing a monsterous chalk mural all over the bricks in our room. It is challenging but fun. Drawing on cracked brick texture with crumbly chalk is probably the most difficult medium I've ever had to work with. But that isn't stopping me from drawing a giant horrible monster. Stay tuned for updates!

Deinonychus Concept

2011-10-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting the ball rolling again on Zombie Dinosaur. After a long period of stagnation on the project I decided to start jamming out some more concepts. Here is one member of the flock of Deinonychus that play a pivotal role in a short story I want to tell in the zombie dinosaur universe. Non zombie version of course! :)

Gears of War

2011-09-23T10:02:00.001-07:00

Here's my entry for DeviantArt's Gears of War 3 contest. I initially had intentions to do a full fledged background for this piece but then the game came out and horde mode is too much fun. I'm weak. But here's hoping the judges deem this to be "Top 100" worthy. Enjoy!

Go Team Venture!!!

2011-09-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

I got the extreme honor of getting to be one of the few people in America to animate on Venture Brothers. I did mostly character cleanup, layout, and assisting but I did animate a few of my own shots. The scene where Hank sniffs Brock's jacket, and the scene where Hank explains how "Shallow Gravy isn't just a band, its best friends, that made a movement" were both animated and cleaned up entirely by yours truly. Big props to Allison Craig, Mike Roush, Jeremy Polgar, Parker Simmons, Keith Yan, and the rest of the phenomenally talented Titmice who made this happen. GO TEAM VENTURE!!!

AvP Work In Progress

2011-08-31T23:05:00.001-07:00

This piece just celebrated its one year birthday! That means that it has been knocking around on my computer in one stage or another for over a year. I don't know what to say about that, other than at least I'm still interested enough in it to keep plugging away at it. I figured I'd share a work in progress with you lovely people. For those who haven't looked over my shoulder to see me slaving away on this, what you see here is maybe 1/5 of the final piece... which makes me wonder if it will ever get done. Here's to another year of crazy details and alien tubes!!!

Shark Week Day 3: Sawshark

2011-08-05T10:53:00.001-07:00

Better late than never. Day 3 shark on Day 5. Catch up time!!!

Shark Week Day 2: Pelagic Thresher Shark

2011-08-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

Long shark is loooooong. Happy shark week!

Shark Week Day 1: Great Hammerhead

2011-08-02T10:08:00.001-07:00

Happy shark week everyone!!! Here's hoping I have more free time to refine the rest of the weeks sharks! JAWSOME!

Zombie T Rex

2011-07-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

It has been too long since a zombie dinosaur has worked its way on here. So without further ado, here is a zombie T Rex that I did as part of a much larger exquisite corpse piece done for the second issue of the Titmouse Mook book.

Its my birthday! Party down!

2011-07-15T14:29:00.001-07:00

Next week is my birthday. I feel like quite the dinosaur since I am saying goodbye to my twenties and hello to 30. Here's to many more years of dinosaurs and being awesome! Cheers!!!

Monster Madness

2011-06-24T09:29:00.001-07:00

So I posted some rather boastful claims on facebook after seeing the Tim Burton show at the LACMA that I "could draw cooler monsters than him". In my haste I forgot that I haven't drawn a single original monster in a long long time. So last weekend I decided to give birth to this monstrosity. And yes I have been reading a lot of Lovecraft stories lately. Hope you like it!

Another Blast From the Past

2011-06-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

So last weekend I went to the LACMA and saw Tim Burton's exhibit there and it got me thinking. He is obviously a very talented guy with some awesome ideas but upon seeing walls and walls of his sketches and ideas for monsters and the weird it made me think about all of my "unrealized projects" as Burton's show so lovingly referred to his doodles. And what better to share with your beautiful people than some of my "unrealized projects". Haha. So without further ado here are some from a 9 year old Ryan. I believe I was into drawing lots and lots of limbs this day.

Spinosaurus Sketch

2011-05-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

Much like the reign of the dinosaurs it has been millions of years since I have done anything. Well, maybe it just seems that way. At any rate, here is a fairly quick spinosaurus sketch that I've had smearing around my sketchbook for a short while. One of these days I'll start posting on a more regular basis.

5 Second Day 2011: Extinction

2011-02-25T16:03:00.001-08:00

Titmouse 5 Second Animation Day Part 4: Extinction from Ryan DeLuca on Vimeo.

Here is my 5 second day animation for the 4th annual Titmouse 5 second Animation Day! If you've been around on this blog you'll recognize the illustration that my short is based off. Big thanks to Chris and Shannon and everyone at Titmouse and super big thanks to my mom for saving all of my old drawings. Who knew they would come back some 20+ years later to entertain you lovely people? Dinosaur love!

Happy New Year?

2011-02-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

Holy moly frijoles. I've been absent for a while. But don't worry, I have a note from my doctor. Some crappy health issues have kinda kept me from doing a whole lot of art on my free time. But we'll save that for another post. Yesterday was 5 second animation day at Titmouse and guess what? I'm doing mine using dinosaurs!!! In true 5 second animation day fashion, I'll be working on it for the entire week. But I can't deny you the treat of seeing one of my characters that I'm animating. Wish me luck. I'll post the finished product on Friday!
-Cheers

Utahraptor roughs

2010-11-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some rough roughs of a Utahraptor attack on a Tenontosaurus. Just a quick doodle in flash because I realize that I haven't drawn a dinosaur in almost a week. Phew... I'll never let THAT happen again!

Double Post

2010-11-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

I swear I have new personal art coming soon. In the mean time please enjoy this horror I did for the Titblog!

Legend tells of an ancient evil, devoid of humanity and forged in death and stench. The Old Ones prophesied that an unholy union between cat and shit would bring forth the biblical apocalyptic plague of smell. One day a cult of filthy homeless and tranny hookers would pray to the mighty Kataklonikus and on sacred hallowed ground on Lexington ave in Hollywood California the reckoning would occur. Offerings of public defecation and used condoms would be placed around the alter to appease Kataklonikus. The day of judgement is upon you.. and that day is NOW!

Titblog Reporting for Duty

2010-10-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Greetings humans! I just started posting over at the Titblog. What the hell is the Titblog you ask? Well, my friends it is the happeningest new blog on the internet featuring some of the most talented artists in the animation biz making drawings. Weekly topics related to goings on at Titmouse with a dash of insanity. This week's topic was "The Secret Life of Tron". And above is my entry. See? Fun. So run... don't walk... to the Titblog.
Titblog
Enjoy!

Juvenile Iguanodon, Baryonyx Pursuit

2010-09-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

This is a rough doodle I have been working on for a while now. I originally started it to submit to Prehistoric Times for their latest issue featuring Iguanodon but deadlines and a hectic work schedule prevented me from hitting the deadline.

I have always wanted to see a juvenile Iguanodon being pursued by an adult Baryonyx. Baryonyx has almost always been portrayed as being entirely a fish eater yet fossil sites have revealed Iguanodon bones in their stomachs. Whether or not this was a result of scavenging behavior or an active hunt has yet to be determined but I liked to imagine a juvenile Iguanodon, separated from the herd would make a tasty meal for an adult Baryonyx.

As it stands the sketch is done. This was drawn entirely in flash.
Eventually I may clean this up further and add color but for now I'm calling it finished.

Sketchdump

2010-08-15T22:42:00.001-07:00

Deformed saber toothed cat

Deformed mammoth monster
Cleaning up my computer and I came across these old sketches I did back in college. These were creature designs I did for a video game pitch project called Dark Winter that I worked on with the awesomely talented Chris Michael, Chris Silva, and Megan Dong. Seeing these makes me want to start doing some more pencil sketches. Most of my recent doodles have been all digital and not very finished. Time will tell what is next for me...

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation

2010-08-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

I had the extreme honor of getting to work on this animated short with my fellow Titmice. It was directed by the phenomenally talented Allison Craig and I think everyone involved did a great job. I was responsible for drawing bgs and inbetweening/cleaning up parts of the fight scene. Notice that I even snuck a dinosaur wrecking the city onto a poster in Lisa's room. But what would you expect from me? ^_^

Shark Week Day 6

2010-08-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Its the basking shark. Looking at reference photos I couldn't help but think of that giant worm thing from Star Wars. Oh well. Shark weeek. Is it over yet?

Not So Great White Shark

2010-08-06T22:15:00.001-07:00

They can't all be GREAT white sharks. Whatever. Shark weeeeeeeeeeeeK.

Shark Week Day 5

2010-08-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

Its a Porbeagle shark. They are super cute, giant eyes and a white spot on their dorsal fin. I couldn't bring myself to do a "hardcore" monster version of one. So ... damn... cute. Must.... get... back... to monsters. SHARK..... WEEK.......!

Shark Week Day 4

2010-08-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

Finally, a shark that is applicable for my style. The frilled shark. At long last I don't have to pretend that I can make decent cartoons and draw something that just looks like a monster. SHARK WEEEEEK!!!

Shark Week Day 3

2010-08-03T18:24:00.001-07:00

Its a zebra shark. It doesn't look like a zebra. This entire sharks life is based on a LIE. Happy Shark Week!

Shark Week Day 2

2010-08-02T17:04:00.001-07:00

Port Jackson Shark. I would have taken longer but I was feeling shellfish. Get IT?! Its because they eat... mollusks.... whatever. SHARK WEEK!

Shark Week 2010

2010-08-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

Spurred on by my good friend Megan Dong's almost fanatic love of sharks I was introduced to Kristen Campbell's shark week "drawing a day Shark Week" challenge. Here is day #1's shark, the sand tiger. I only had about 15 minutes I could spare since I'm working on the weekend. Hopefully I can invest some more time later in the week. Happy Shark Week everyone!!!

Mr. Black from Predators

2010-07-27T22:01:00.001-07:00

Its been a couple of weeks since I started this but with my birthday and comic con past me I have finally found the time to finish this up.
Anyways, predators was a pretty awesome movie. And as anyone who knows me well, knows I am something of a predator fanatic. I have a life size predator and a collection of alien and predator memorabilia that some would call... excessive. haha
But after seeing Predators I was re inspired to tackle these fantastic monsters. I was severely let down after the last two AvP movies which basically ran the alien and predator franchises through the mud, but this new Predators movie gives me hope that they are not dead. Its nothing drastically different, but its a fun ride for anyone who enjoyed the first Predator. I encourage you all to go see it at once. Or twice.
This is the main predator in the film, referred to as the Berzerker, as well as Mr. Black. For those of you who haven't seen it I will attempt to be spoiler free but he is not the same as the predator from the first film. I took pieces from reference and added my own flair to it. I wasn't entirely sold on the new face design so I drew him maintaining some of the "classic" predator charm. Hope you enjoy it, and I hope you check out the movie. Its the best action flick going this summer.

Nothronychus

2010-06-29T21:46:00.001-07:00

This is a Nothronychus illustration that I submitted for an upcoming issue of Prehistoric Times magazine. Check it out if you don't know about it.
A trip to the Arizona Natural History Museum prompted me to abandon my previous therizinosaur piece, and start over with this one. My previous attempt was based off of too much gesture and the proportions were way too wrong. At any rate, I highly recommend checking out the Nothronychus skeletal mount that is in Arizona.
I have a newfound respect for the therizinosaurs after this. They are very mysterious creatures and those claws are truly a sight to behold. I'm guessing that the big pot belly would act like a fermentation chamber for plant material but I also enjoy the idea of them being insect eaters and using those massive claws to dig into termite mounds. It would also be pretty spectacular to see them sparring like in my earlier illustration idea or defending their young against an attacker. Maybe I'll have to do some more illustrations while I'm still jazzed about seeing the skeleton in person. :)

A Sticky Blast From the Past!

2010-06-15T08:24:00.001-07:00

Here is yet another drawing in the series I like to refer to as "Blast From the Past". My childhood drawings that my mother lovingly kept and I trudge through to scan and post. This further illustrates that my love of dinosaurs is no passing fancy and I was always this nerdy. The themes seem to always be the same... dinosaur violence. Volcanoes, tar pits, lightning, you name it. Plus, most of the dinosaurs are eating each other or preparing to eat each other.
It appears that a helpless Stegosaurus has become trapped in the tar pits and is now about to become dinner for a hungry theropod. It would appear that I drew a T Rex judging from the fingers but that is just absurd. Everyone knows that T Rex and Stegosaurus didn't live together. I probably meant to draw an Allosaurus. Man, am I ever embarrassed. I don't know WHAT I was thinking.... oh right. I was 8.
Enjoy!
^_^

p.s. This looks strangely similar to my "Shocking Blast From the Past"
Stegosaurus was never anything but a warm body for other dinosaurs to abuse. I better make things right and do a nice peaceful Stegosaur scene to make things right.

Ancient History: Suchomimus

2010-06-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

A million years ago (in 2006) I got on a real tear about inking things with a crow quill pen on illustration board. It offered a new level of detail and control that I was not used to getting with regular pens or pencils. I created about 5 or 6 pretty large scale illustrations this way, and this is one of them.
Suchomimus has risen to become one of my favorite dinosaurs. Something about the long slender snout is sleek and elegant yet the huge array of teeth is deadly. There is lots of speculation about sucho as well as all spinosaurids as to what their diet consisted of. The teeth suggest a fish hunter but iguanodon bones have been discovered in the stomachs of baryonyx (a close relative of suchomimus). So this leads to the interesting question of whether these spinosaurids were actively hunting down and killing dinosaurs as prey or if they merely scavenged carcasses that had already been killed.
At the time I chose to go with the scavenging theory and had my suchomimus stumble across a nondescript dead dinosaur along the banks of a river. It was fun to do at the time but looking back there are things I would do differently with this illustration. But this is life I suppose and as long as I learn from them, my mistakes won't be so bad.
On a side note I would love to see a mounted suchomimus skeleton to take photographic reference. I know of one in a childrens museum in Indianapolis. Does anyone know of a permanent exhibit that is showcasing one of these fantastic creatures?

Because Dinosaurs Don't Gots No Good Metal To Listens To

2010-05-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here are two dinosaur designs I did for the Dethklok music video for "I Tamper With Evidence at the Murdersite of Odin" that was supposed to be for the 2009 concert. Last minute it got cut from the set list which was a huge bummer for me. But I got to draw dinosaurs that made it into the Metalocalypse universe! Perhaps it will find its way onto the dvd. The black and white drawings were my originals, done in flash. They were then cleaned up by Songgu Kwon and colored by Megan Dong.
I wanted to stay away from the standard dinosaur players of Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, and Brachiosaurus so enter the Ceratosaurus and Kentrosaurus. There were quite a few of them scattered around the video. I think the ceratosaurs were running across the plains in a pack and the kentrosaurs were grazing on some plants. In the video, giant stone monoliths of the Dethklok characters crashed into the earth causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. I'll still keep doing my best to make dinosaurs metal!

Therizinosaurus WIP

2010-05-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick work in progress of a Therizinosaur piece that I'm currently working on. I feel bad for this poor dino. Doesn't get much of the spotlight, he has a pot belly, and he was probably covered in proto feathers. I'll treat him right and finish this illustration so people know he could be awesome too. Stay tuned...

Prehistoric Times Two-Fer

2010-05-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here is the ink version of a Deltadromeus that I got published in issue #80 of Prehistoric Times magazine. Deltadromeus was the featured dinosaur for this issue and an absolute blast to work on. It was inked with a crow quill pen and an inkwell on a 9x12 piece of illustration board. Truly a labor of love to render out all those little scales in ink.

Here is the colored version of my Deltadromeus and consequently the one that people ended up seeing in the magazine. A quick scan and color job in painter and the rest is... prehistory.

This is a pencil illustration that I did of a Nothosaurus for issue #84 of Prehistoric Times magazine. This was done entirely in mechanical pencil on illustration board. I have some pieces in the works to submit so hopefully with the editors cooperation I will have some more prehistoric times posts coming up in the near future. ^_^

TIME

2010-05-03T21:39:00.001-07:00

At long last it is ... time. If any of you have been to my house or talked to me in the past 6 months you have probably seen this piece in one stage or another. This has lived on my drawing board for the better part of a year, moved with me, sat abandoned during my surgery and is finally at a place where I am calling it finished.

This started out as a quick doodle in flash to design a tattoo for myself (full right sleeve). It quickly evolved into an experiment in willpower to finish this. Haha! I transfered my flash cleanup onto a 13/1/2" x 16" piece of animation paper and detailed it entirely with a mechanical pencil. After completing this I realize that it is entirely too detailed to be a tattoo. I would have to redraw it to "dumb" it down for a tattoo artist. But I can't really bring myself to look at it any more right now.

Despite what I just said I am very happy with how this turned out. Many art friends and teachers alike know that I have a big problem with planning things out in my illustrations. I like to start with an eye or a tooth and work my way out from there. This required quite a bit more preparation. Fun fact: EVERY single creature in this illustration is a real creature that existed at one time or another in our past. +50 exp to the first person who can name them all.

It has been a labor of love and I hope it shows. Enjoy!

Tight Roughs:

Original Roughs:

and a detail of everyone's favorite dino:

Exploding Mammoth Monster

2010-04-30T14:34:00.001-07:00

This is an oldie but a personal favorite. This was done as a concept for a video game project I was working on when I was in school. Alien DNA taking over ice age mammals and the like. This was going to be a crazy boss monster. Of course the biggest baddest creature of the time was the mammoth so I had to go big on the amount of gross and mutation. Nothing like force growing bones out the side and exploding while attacking with guts to cause fear in the ice age. I would love to revisit this idea and flesh it out more. It had some real potential.

When Worlds Collide

2010-04-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

...and now for something completely different. I'm not known for drawing sexy ladies. In fact I've embraced the fact that I am known as the monster and dinosaur guy. But that doesn't mean that I can't collaborate with amazing artists who DO enjoy drawing sexy ladies! Last week I had lunch with a fellow CSUF alum Edward J. Chua, and we got to talking about this and that which led to the ever entertaining "trading of the sketchbooks". I locked on to this character he had sketched and asked what was her story and what he planned to do with it. Evidently she is a character he's been drawing for a while but didn't have any immediate plans to clean her up or color her. So I offered my skills to help make that a reality. Here is Edward's original drawing, straight outta the sketch book. Apologies about having to lose the ponytail but if she was a futuristic flight engineer like Edward told me, she would have to worry about getting her head sucked into a turbine all the time.
Here is the finished line work based off of Edward's roughs. Cleaned up entirely in Flash

So here she is, coming soon to a futuristic space port near you!

This is the finished piece for now. Eventually it may be nice to throw down a background or some extra highlights. But one semi late night and its all done. It was a great experiment and I'm very happy with the results. Here's to more awesome collab work to come in the future! Thanks Edward. Always a pleasure.

Time After Time

2010-03-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

So here is my tightened up roughs of my massive Time piece that has consumed me for the past few months. This was "cleaned up" in flash and then transfered onto paper where it has lived for the past few months. Why months you ask? Its because I'm putting in so much detail that it will make you want to slap yo momma. Thats why. More to come soon! RAWR

Time

2010-03-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hot on the heels of my last few posts I'm going to finally start with getting this piece online... in stages. Since I am still working on the finished piece I figure getting started posting it may light the fire under my ass to get this thing finished. I've been putting about an hour or two a night into it getting it all done. Anyways... this started out as a tattoo design that I was planning for myself (full right sleeve) but I gotta finish drawing it first. Either way the final is way too detailed for a tattoo so I'll have to redraw it again if I decide to go the tattoo route. But this was my very first concept art for the piece. It was drawn in about 10 minutes in flash. Its ugly and messy but don't worry, it will get better.

5 Second Day Monster Concepts

2010-03-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

So why not milk the fact that I have some extra drawings lying around? Here are some of the concepts and doodles I went through to end up at the final monster for my groups 5 second animation day project at Titmouse. Who knows, maybe this will spur me into posting some more. Guess you'll just have to check back soon.

5 Second Day Monster

2010-03-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

So after months of inactivity I feel like I want to get back into posting some artwork. Since I had to do something for 5 second day, it forced me to put down God of War 3 and get some actual drawing done. So why not milk it and post some more stuff? Here is the hiding and opened up versions of the monster from my 5 second animation day film. The colors were chosen by the very talented Annette Huckle. Very happy with how this guy came out.

5 Second Animation Day 2010

2010-03-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Titmouse 5 Second Animation Day Part 3: Cave Monster from Ryan DeLuca on Vimeo.

Here is my short for this years annual Titmouse 5 second animation day. I know its a bit of a stretch for me but I had to really buckle down and work on ... sigh... a giant monster. It was a lot of hard work that lasted way into the wee hours of the morn but I am truly happy with how it turned out. Hope you like it.

*note: Best to double click the video and watch it on youtube. Blogger crops it weird when I post it here. (Time to switch to vimeo?)

Zombie Dinosaur: Cryolophosaurus

2009-11-25T16:59:00.000-08:00

Happy day before Thanksgiving everyone. May your Thanksgivings be filled with turkey and zombie dinosaurs. Here is a sketch I did of a zombie cryolophosaur. I think I made up a universe for him where cavemen were fighting him off since there are flaming spears sticking out of his head. Either way he is decomposed and totally angry. Zombie Dinosaur GO!

Checking in with a Dinosaur

2009-10-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't been on in a while. But here is a work in progress for an illustration I started a while back. I did the roughs in flash and then printed it out and worked it up in pencil. Anyways... yeah its a dinosaur. Suchomimus to be precise. Zombified. And wandering through a mangrove swamp after a flood. There is a herd of Styracosaurs who died in the flood and a ton of crocodiles reaping the benefits. There is still a lot of work to do... but I haven't posted anything in a while. Now I have. Enjoy.

Drink Your MILK!!!

2009-08-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

In what will go down in the book of Ryan as one of the coolest work related projects ever I give you the newest version of the Nesquik bunny. I was approached by Antonio (our art director) and told to redesign the nesquik bunny in my style for an Adult Swim audience. I was told to go nuts and I did. Big thank yous go out to Allison Craig for the rough doodle of the little boy and Charles Sites for the inspiring words carved above the bunny. Enjoy!*

(*almost requires a view at full size)

Heartless is back and doing GREAT!

2009-08-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

The FRAY - Heartless from IE HAGY on Vimeo.

People seem to really like it. YAY

How Could You Be So Heartless?

2009-07-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Sorry for my lack of posts as of late. Comic con and all... Oh and this wonderful, funderful video for the Fray and their song "Hearless".

This is what the last page of crazy doodles was for and I'm happy

that I can share it with you all now. Big props go out to Hiro Murai

(director) and Ross Girard (producer) who were two of the coolest

guys to work with. Also big congrats go out to Allison Craig, Dave

Vandervoort, and Dave Gerhard for their awesome animation and

Keith Yan for his late night compositing madness. Also congrats to

Tony Andrade for rocking the layouts with me. This video marks my first gig as production coordinator. I also did character designs

and layouts. Even snuck a few dinosaurs in there. Enjoy!

Doodley Doo

2009-06-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all, sorry for my lack of post as of late. I've been busy working on this. Actually I drew this yesterday while I was at a shoot for a music video. It didn't take as long as it looks like and I probably finished the whole thing in about two hours. Its an exercise in stream of conscious drawing. I ran into some hurdles along the way but kept plugging away until the page was filled. Some of it works but then again its not supposed to make any sense. Enjoy.

20 year old critters

2009-05-21T21:24:00.001-07:00

Today I got the great opportunity to take a look around the Chiodo Brothers studios with my friend and coworker Steve Kellener. It was super inspiring to see so many dinosaurs and creatures that I grew up loving. As a tribute to the Chiodos I want to post this... a drawing from when I was 8 years old featuring their famous toothy furballs, the Critters. I guess when I was 8 I decided that the drawing wasn't clear enough so I had to tape a newspaper cutout to the drawing just to make sure that you knew who was devouring this poorly drawn human. HAHA.

D&D Lizardman

2009-05-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts recently. It was a crazy weekend filled with seeing Big Man Japan in the theater and then Paganfest on Sunday, full of drinking and dancing. I've also recently purchased EA Sports Active for my wii and have been trying to get in shape leaving even less free time to post artwork. I'll make a better attempt at keeping up with posts.

This was an illustration that I did for the "Tribute to Gary Gygax" show that was held at Titmouse Inc. not too long ago. I worked in tandem with my then roommate, Chris Michael to create a lizardman creature that would find itself at home in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. It was my job to illustrate the creature and render out all kinds of details and Chris took it upon himself to do a sculpt based off of our collective designs. While the weapons varied in size and the sculpt had to be completed without all of the detail I think Chris would have wanted, I think the two pieces came out pretty well and it was a great honor to work with such a talented artist.

AVP WIP ... BYOB

2009-05-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

This is a work in progress of an alien and predator piece that I started a few weeks back. Growing up in the 80s I latched on to the movies that were available at the time. I remember watching alien for the first time with my dad and being floored. I remember the first time I saw the predator unmask himself to face off with Aahnold. And it makes me sad that both of these franchises have spiraled into a sea of abysmal story telling and awful ideas so that any time you mention alien or predator it must be as the punchline of some "how to make a shitty movie" joke. I started this piece to take it back to the "glory days" of the franchise.

I wanted to have the original predator and the one from predator 2 alongside the original alien and perhaps the queen or a warrior from aliens, laying waste to all the terrible abominations that have drug the franchise through the mud in recent years. It all started in the 90s with alien 3... and the introduction of the "dog alien" which ruined the series by allowing the alien to take on characteristics of the host it gestated inside of. Then we moved on to alien resurrection with its travesty of a alien queen and quite possibly the worst idea ever... the hybrid alien/human thing that looked like a sad green puppy dog with saggy orangutan boobs. Then we get into the alien vs. predator movies with the first one suffering from poorly designed, burly, linebacker predators and a terrible story set in the modern day antarctic (who cares?) to the second (aliens vs. predators vs. dawson's creek) and the gawd awful "predalien".

So anyways... this is turning into a novel and if you wish to further discuss why the alien and predator movies should have stopped with Predator 2, please contact me and we'll make a night of it. But I started this piece and have since lost interest in it. Partially because I don't want to draw that stupid alien hybrid thing and partially because I don't like the pose I already have the big guy in right now. Even if he is standing knee deep in the dead of the wretches that Fox allowed to hit the silver screen. So yes... Rabble.... Rabble rabble rabble!!! I just want to go back to my dinosaurs.

The Oldest of the Old School

2009-05-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

For Mothers Day I went home to visit the family and my mom had dug out some pieces of gold after hearing that I've been posting some of my early artwork on here. The first drawing here was featured in the Arkansas Democrat, and is the first piece of published artwork I've ever done. I believe I was six years old at the time this drawing was made. The second is a dinosaur drawing I did when I was 4 YEARS OLD! Further proof that dinosaurs are less of a hobby or passing fancy, and more of a lifelong obsession. Some of the species are a bit difficult to identify and the anatomy is a little off but there ya go. Dinosaurs from a 4 year old Ryan. Happy Mothers Day mom! <3

Deformed Saber Toothed Cat

2009-05-08T22:12:00.001-07:00

This was a concept for a creature that I created while taking classes at Cal State Fullerton. I worked on this video game pitch with a group of insanely talented people including Chris Michael, Chris Silva, and Megan Dong. Its still a fantastic idea in my humble opinion, and my continued enthusiasm about it will keep me from divulging too much about it in hopes that we may one day get a chance to make it . In the mean time, I may share some of the monsters that I created for it. And hey, if you really like it, perhaps you'd like to pony up some cash to start this project up. Imagine fighting cool baddies like this in your video games instead of boring nazis or played out zombies. ...Think about it.

Another Shocking Blast From the Past

2009-05-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here is another oldie but goody from my childhood. This one was done when I was nine years old. Even though the stegosaurus is being electrocuted via lightning and falling off a cliff that won't stop a hungry allosaurus from attacking. You've gotta love the spirit and imagination of a young artist.

Early Zombie Dinosaur Image

2009-05-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

This was an early attempt I tried at the zombie dinosaur logo featured in the first post of this blog. Mostly I really wanted to just do lots and lots of details with a crow quill pen and ink. It was a lot of fun inking this piece but looking back on it there are a few things I would change. After hearing Bernie Wrightson speak about his ink work it inspired me to do more pieces like this. Stay tuned for more gory dinosaur mayhem.

Bone Dragon

2009-05-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

So this post is dedicated to my friend Tony. He complained about me not posting any recent art. So this one is for you Tony, a drawing I did back in 2006. But seriously, I love this picture. It could be my favorite thing I've ever drawn. Don't ask me what it is. Its some sort of biomechanical bone dragon. He's a nasty though, and if given the chance he'd eat you and everyone you care about.

Dinosaur Tar Pit Sketch

2009-05-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is a quick sketch I did at work today. A large theropod dinosaur has stumbled across another dinosaur who died in the tar pits. Not too sure if I like the composition. I think I need to work out the pose and add some love to the almost non existent background. Any feedback is welcome. Not sure if I'll take this to finish, it just seemed like a cool idea to me.

Video 2"Fer

2009-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Sorry about not posting yesterday. Free comic book day plus a birthday party and a gallery show kept me from my computer. Anyways, here is a two for the price of one video post. The first is from last years 5 second animation day at Titmouse. We had one day to animate anything we saw fit so naturally... I chose a monster. I was so passionate about the idea that I was able to enlist the help of Anthony Andrade and Richard Pose to make it happen. The second video was this years 5 second animation day project and I was going to fly solo for it. A skeletal dinosaur rising from the tarpits was sure to just scream "RYAN MADE THIS!" To my favor Kyohei Takayama had no ideas that he wanted to do, so he contributed that smoking hot background. Who knows what monstrosity will be unleashed next year?

Sil From "Species" Charges Into Battle

2009-05-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

This is a piece of a larger composition that I did with Edward Chua and Melissa Levengood. The final piece has yet to see the light of day and its been close to two years since any of us have touched it but some of the drawings in it were to badass to not show off. This piece was a collaberation between myself and the insanely talented Melissa Levengood. That is her sketch on the left and my rendered clean version on the right. The greater piece was supposed to be a huge melee massacre featuring all of horrors greatest monsters duking it out to the finish. Here we have Sil, H.R. Giger's creation for the movie "Species". In the greater composition she was going to be "sticking it" to the Bride of Frankenstein. I don't know if the final piece will ever see the light of day. But if you ever see Edward or Melissa feel free to badger them into helping me finish it. I cannot take this journey by myself.

The Most Awesome Thing I've Seen In Almost 20 Years

2009-04-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

I am so fortunate to have a caring mother who saved close to every drawing that I have ever done. I would draw constantly in my childhood, much more than I do now. I had a yellow plastic "little tykes" table that I would sit at for countless hours drawing what I wanted to see as a child. Dinosaurs eating other dinosaurs, sharks eating people, and any horror movie creatures that my parents deemed appropriate for me to see. The above image was created in 1989 when I was eight years old.

This image is what I want to see more of in the world today. The Joe Cool Pterodactyl with what appears to be an infinite number of missile launchers on him. The future T Rex (clearly indicated by future glasses and space suit) in a cannon fight with an Elasmosaurus. And of course the insidious hordes of the Raptor Armada charging into battle with their species war cry, a thought bubble with the word Atack! in it. I love dinosaurs... and I love my mama.

Dilophosaurus Portrait

2009-04-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

This is a quick pencil sketch I did of a dilophosaurus using only a mechanical pencil. Yes he is the same dinosaur as the "spitters" in Jurassic Park but I just can't draw one with the silly rattling frill. I dismissed that version as pure Hollywood mumbo jumbo but later came to find out that it was based on some fact. One of the original dilophosaurus type specimens was discovered with what looked like cartillage around the neck which could have very well supported a neck frill. Also the teeth of dilophosaurus were hollow and sported a groove which scientists believe could have been used to deliver venom to its prey or would be attackers. The whole spitting concept from Jurassic Park was purely speculative but the thought of a venomous dinosaur fills me with glee. Anyways.... here he is. Dilophosaurus.

3rd Post In As Many Days...

2009-04-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to start naming these things what the image actually is. So this is something I did earlier this year and its a tribute to one of my favorite cartoon shows from my childhood... The Inhumanoids. It only lasted thirteen episodes but it stood out in my mind as being so much more. Three giant creatures broke free from their individual prisons deep within the earths core to destroy the world. It was up to some geologist superheroes to stop them but they were largely inconsequential. The real draw was the monsters. This one was named Tendril and he was some sort of plant creature who had the ability to replicate himself if part of his body was severed.

I remember being totally captivated by insane acts of violence in the morning, witnessing one of the protagonists shoot this things arm with a laser, splitting it clean off with a fountain of purple blood gushing out. It was the show I would have made, had I the resources available to my 8 year old self. Anyways... here is Tendril, ruler of the earths mantle. I should have planned this out more as you can tell I had to scrunch him up to fit within the confines of my sketchbook page. Oh well, live and learn. I'll keep that in mind when I tackle the other two Inhumanoids. Enjoy!

2nd post and goin strong!

2009-04-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

I just got back from having a wonderful dinner with the always charming and witty Marshall Vandruff and the amazingly talented and humble Bernie Wrightson. I heard Bernie speak about his Frankenstein work and the fact that he did that entirely on his own with no art director or funding, just because he wanted to... is incredible to say the least. I am supremely invigorated and inspired to go forth and conquer. Artistically speaking, of course. I'd love to share some pen and ink work after tonights festivities but ... man... Bernie does it so much better. Here is an allosaurus instead.

First post

2009-04-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. This is my new blog. Kick up your feet and stay a while. I promise there will be new stuff coming regularly. If you don't like monsters, aliens, or dinosaurs then you are in the wrong place. This blog will serve as an ongoing experiment to see if one human can create enough monsters that they will become real. Until that day... welcome to the Rynoverse.