Steph Dere's Little Black Book

Prairie

2012-01-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

40 min speed paint. Not too much time today so did a quickie...

Little Cafe

2012-01-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

1 hr. speed paint...many more different things to consider and very good practice. (tough one!)

Vulture

2012-01-11T01:23:00.000-08:00

45 min speed paint. Photo ref by Andrew Shek

Seahorse Sketch

2012-01-10T01:07:00.000-08:00

Kauai Sunset

2012-01-08T23:39:00.000-08:00

1 hr. speed paint

Something Out There

2012-01-06T00:50:00.000-08:00

Sketch of pygmy seahorses. They are actually very tiny, tiny sea horses that live in coral. Thought it might be fun to draw up a little scene of these guys....wanted to try to do a speed paint, but too tired today. maybe tomorrow...

Tree Frog

2012-01-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

1 hr. speed paint

Toucan

2012-01-04T00:01:00.001-08:00

1 hr. speed paint

Under the Weather...

2011-12-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

Friends

2011-10-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Aardvark

2011-09-26T23:54:00.001-07:00

No More Batteries

2011-08-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

sketch of the day...

2011-07-27T23:51:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch of the day with ref.

speed #3

2011-05-24T00:32:00.000-07:00

30 minute speed paint.

elephants

2011-05-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

speed paint #2

2011-05-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

Speed Paint, 1 hour. Tired Orang.

Speed paint #1

2011-05-04T01:07:00.001-07:00

Went to BFA gallery show. Amazing work by all the graduating students! Felt inspired to do some speed painting and experiment with some brushes. about 30 min.

Flying Jellies

2011-03-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd try something a little different. I love watching Moon Jellies, so I thought I'd try to paint some. One of them looks like a flying saucer, haha! More jellies to come...

Ghost Town

2011-03-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

Environment test for a game company called Rivet Games. The theme was Ghost Town.

Happy Vday

2011-02-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

Better late than never...

Brian

2010-12-28T14:05:00.001-08:00

Some quick sketches of my cousin while he visited over holiday break.

Art Blocks for Ghana Project

2010-11-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

"Sweet Dreams"

Acrylic, Pen, Gesso

The Picture Book Project Foundation and The Hopkins Foundation present "Art Blocks for Ghana" A Charity Art Auction (Original Works) Created by the Top Artists in the Animation and Illustration Community to help build a Children's Home in Ghana. March 2011. If you would like to see more work from other artists and find out more about the charity, please go to: http://artblocksghana.blogspot.com/

This was my contribution to the project. The theme was 'home', whatever 'home' felt to us. I decided comfort, things I grew up with, and my cat sleeping next to me were very familiar memories of home and still exist for me today. It was actually a little challenging because the wood was so porous, I had some difficulty with the pen bleeding a bit; this was only difficult because my negative space was defined by the plain wood. It was something new I wanted to try and it was a great experiment. Despite the challenges, I think it came very close to what I wanted. I hope it will make someone happy, a very fun project! :)

Some process photos:

home

2010-10-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Just a little speed sketch/painting of a hippo family...and yes they have wings and live in trees.

Fishing

2010-08-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Chameleons

2010-06-22T11:11:00.001-07:00

I have a cousin who is obsessed with chameleons. They're actually really interesting to look at and draw, colors are also really beautiful. They look like the last distant cousins of dinosaurs to me, except super mini. Just some sketches and color comps I'm experimenting with for fun.

2010-05-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Not the best ideas, haha, but just trying to get stuff out. I'm into drawing bears right now...might see different versions.

Stinky Musk Ox

2010-05-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

Pooped this out...just need to get more stuff out there.

Merry Xmas!

2009-12-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

I saw this guy at Oak's Card Club on Christmas Day while waiting to eat at IHOP.

Moby Dick in Sri Lanka

2009-12-18T00:32:00.000-08:00

ok, I'm finally adding some new stuff. sorry for the wait...I know some of you are tired of those damn giraffes...

This is a sequel assignment to Moby Dick where Ahab's heir (I chose a daughter) becomes obsessed in avenging her father's death. Ahab's daughter, Captain Ashoka, has been searching for Moby for years at a time and is about to give up...when she sees something. Little does she know that her crew is about to mutiny against her.
* May have to wait for video to fully buffer before viewing.
** These are moment sequences to a larger plotline.

"The Sighting"

"The Capture"

(what can I say....I tried, haha!)

More Giraffes...

2009-05-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

From the park and Wholefoods...

2009-05-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

Pat-A-Cake

2009-05-19T10:41:00.001-07:00

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake,
baker's man,
bake me a cake as fast
as you can.

Prick it;
Pat it;
Mark it with a 'T',
And put it in the oven for
Tommy and me.

Ashiq

2009-05-19T10:17:00.001-07:00

Quick character design inspired by some Shakespearean swordplay (see below). I wanted to do an animal the entire semester and we finally had an opportunity to do whatever we wanted, so I picked a traveling troubadour Pine Marten. Still have a few things I want to fix for polish, but this is the preliminary.

poor Aidan...

Gary Soto Treehouse Project

2009-05-19T10:09:00.001-07:00

Going to post some stuff I did over this semester since I didn't get a chance to during. I'm pleased I was able to churn out as much as I did with this project in what little time we had, but there are definitely things to be fixed here. and I won't mention my colored version -___- still learning...

Carmennnnn!!!

2009-05-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Our class got to go see the opera, 'Carmen'. Carmen uses a lot of feet and leg action!

30 Second Film - "The Vacation"

2009-03-03T22:48:00.000-08:00

This animation is in 2D - all pencil and paper animation. I probably did close to 800 drawings for this film, and probably a little more than that if I include deleted sequences. It was a lot of work, but a great experience. I tried to use a character that I would have fun animating and I did :) Enjoy!

Wall-E - Ref, Photoshop, 1hr40

2009-01-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

He's so cute, I have to put it up XD Trying to practice lighting and shape.

Bedouins

2009-01-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

Photoshop, Ref, 1Hr.

Been trying my hand at some digital painting over the break. I joined a one painting a day blog and this is one of the pieces I worked on. I was felt nervous about tackling something with so many objects and movement, but I like how it turned out.

Character Designs

2008-11-13T01:22:00.000-08:00

Character designs for my final project for Storyboarding class. Story is an International Falafel Wrap eating contest set in New York and Oba Awi, from Cairo, Egypt, is the reigning champion. But, what will happen when Emmy, from Chinatown, steps in and takes a bite at the contest? We will find out in a few weeks!

Giraffes!

2008-10-24T11:06:00.001-07:00

Finally, something other than storyboards! hehe!

2008-10-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Monster

2008-10-03T01:22:00.000-07:00

The Big One

2008-09-24T15:06:00.001-07:00

The Devil and The Butterfly

2008-09-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Jony! Noo!!

2008-09-09T00:50:00.001-07:00

Another storyboard from class with the first panel started by Jeff. This one is more twisted and bizarre, but I'm happy with my idea.

Pirates!

2008-09-03T22:28:00.001-07:00

My first storyboard assignment in my class with Jeff Biancalana, who did boards for the animated feature, 'Horton Hears A Who'. Jeff supplied the first frame and we had to fill in the rest. Jeff gave some good feedback about my last panel needing to be a little more simplified, will do! But, these are the original drawings for the assignment and it was a lot of fun :) Will post more throughout the semester...

Eureka Garden

2008-08-04T13:10:00.001-07:00

Acrylic painting study of a friend's garden up in Eureka, CA, this past weekend. Before this, I had to scoop out all the slimy dead leaves/weeds in his pond.

Living Room

2008-07-08T17:40:00.001-07:00

marker, pen, & pencil

Trying to work on perspective and quick value studies this summer. Still not quite there, but that's what practice is for ;)

Camels

2008-07-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Oakland Zoo, CA

Just a couple sketches of a recent Oakland Zoo run. I decided to work on camels this time, funny looking animals. I'll try drawing them again the next time I go, see if I can capture them a little better. Just wish they'd put a bench out in the shade...it's HOT!

Coral Reef

2008-04-17T17:22:00.001-07:00

Sabah, Malaysia
In my "Tidepool" class, we gather reference from 30 species to compose and render out our environments for this semester long project. After many thumbnails and value studies, I chose this composition and lighting. This is a pencil rendering of a coral reef set in Sabah, Malaysia. This is just the first portion of our final project! The next step is to paint color comps to figure out how we want to paint our scenes. And then finally, we will paint our environments at full scale in acrylic. 6 more weeks to go! We'll see how the painting process goes...I'm scared of the lighting! It took me many passes to figure out how to depict the dramatic lighting. I'm not sure if it's entirely successful, but I am happy with what I have accomplished so far.

Below are some preliminary thumbnails and value studies towards finalizing this composition:

Final Thumbnail

Siamang Sketches

2008-04-15T20:44:00.001-07:00

Oakland Zoo, CA

Clam & Coral

2008-04-02T17:32:00.001-07:00

Red, Black, and White

2008-03-07T13:01:00.002-08:00

Decorated Egg

2008-02-26T20:25:00.001-08:00

(Acrylic and Gesso)

I mulled over various ideas of how to decorate my egg for this assignment...and finally settled on the idea of an 'egg baby'. The 'egg baby' is kind of a play on words - the egg being the precursor to a baby and the idea that the egg needs to be 'babied'. In this instance, the egg feels like it needs to be handled with extra care because it's wearing a diaper, automatically evoking a more human connection.

This also jogs some rather distant memories of highschool sex ed...

Winter Sketchbook

2008-02-26T19:34:00.001-08:00

A few pages...

Top Left: Corner of Kearny & Columbus, CA
Top Right: Rainy Day
Left: Grandma's Chair
Bottom: SF Ferry Building

My main guy, Nemo (before the fish)

Back to School Year One (2007)

2007-12-15T23:31:00.001-08:00

My goodness, it has been a long year! Long, yet fast. I just survived my first year back in school. I know i said i was going to have stuff posted frequently so people could view my progress as i went through my classes...but, it's me and there's never any time!

This is going to be a huge dump showcasing what i've done and learned thus far. It has been a rollercoaster of a first year, but i'm still standing. Who would think art would take so much focus, energy, and be so technical. But, it is and it's harder than the average person can imagine. I pretty much go to school, do homework, eat when I can, and then sleep. There is no time for tv watching, vegging, or breaks between projects. Each of my classes demands at least 20 hours per week, sometimes 40-50 hours. Anyway, enough blather and on to the work....

Spring 2007- Beginning Drawing

Shoe Drawing

Self-Portraits

Reversals (charcoal with kneaded eraser)

Fall 2007 - Intermediate Drawing (painting)

"A Night in the Joker's Den"
Black and White Rendering
70 hours

Color Rendering
50 hours