Happy Halloweeeeen

I decided lately I haven't made enough creepy stuff, so for our FV Halloween show I wanted to ramp up the creeps. I also wanted to do a group shot of something... so - Necromancer ghoul squad it is!

Happy Halloween!

-Zoo

Four Elements

I was trying to think of a good gift for my groomsmen... one that would be both, personal and unique for each of them. After some thought, I realized the answer was right in front of me - four dudes - four elements.

So I started brainstorming, figuring out which of my friends fit into each category. My friend Nick is a great professional fighter, and well.. a bit more aggressive - he got created first, Fire.

My friend Ray is a professional ballroom dancer, and it's quite amazing to see him on the dance floor, he flows around effortlessly. No brainer there, Water.

My friend Mike is an intellectual with a love of nature (and coffee) ... you can see a trend here, Earth. 

However, when it came time to create my fourth illustration for my friend Brendan, I couldn't figure it out. The previous three had gone fairly easy, but I couldn't wrap my head around how I could tie in an element with what he did..  or how to illustrate it at all. It wasn't until I heard he was on yet another business trip that it dawned on me, why not make the guy who is constantly flying around the world.... flying. So I strapped some wings on the big guy and called it a day. Air.

Oh - and yea... I got married! They loved the gifts and the wedding was amazing. Check out my WIFE's blog over here. *click*

Cheers!
Keith

VIP club

Here's a fun little illustration I did with the little dudes I made in my previous post. I decided I wanted to build out their world a bit, maybe they're a long way from home without any money - maybe they're just grumpy... Either way, I figured it was a good excuse to draw a scene with multiple characters. I included some detail shots as well.

-Zoo

Screens

I collaborated with my friend Jay (AntiDesigns) to create a new t-shirt graphic. It eventually triggered an idea to do a screen print on wood for our CJ art show. It was a pretty fun process, but I gotta warn you, if you're interested in printing on wood... REMEMBER TO SAND IT DOWN. I don't think either of us realized how much paint rises up when you shlep down a few thin layers. So after some trial and error (and a few beers later), we got it in a good place. Lesson learned: unsanded surface = bad print

Photos courtesy of AntiDesigns

Recap galore Part 3: CJ Show: Freshly Squeezed

We had our third annual Creative Juices Art show a few weeks ago and I wanted to just post a quick retrospective as part of my recapathon I got going on. It was a great turnout, and I recommend anyone in the Boston area to come join us next year if you're in the area. We (FableVision) usually open our doors as a studio every month or so and invite clients, guests and really... well, anyone to come hang out with us for a few hours. These CJ shows are a bit different, where we focus all our attention on the art. Not just "traditional art" per say, but anything anyone is interested in at the studio. It's our chance to show off what we do out of work. Which, in a nutshell, is really the spirit of the Creative Juices.

Here are some photos of my pieces and of the night. Enjoy!

If you'd like to see more photos, feast your eyes on the following links:
The FableVision Facebook page 
Renee's blog
KurillaPhoto
Ellen Crenshaw

Recap galore Part 2: MeCAF

The Maine Comics Art Festival was a few weeks ago where I tabled with my fiance and art buddy Renee Kurilla. It was my second time tabling at a con (first being MICE in October) and I gotta tell you, it's pretty great. Now I'm no "comic artist" per say (although I'm going to change that soon hopefully), so it's a little funny selling primarily prints at these things. Regardless though, it's definitely an experience I recommend for any artist in the industry to do at least once. Whether it's at a comics con or any other creative festival. The sensation really is like a rolling critique. Every person that comes to your booth is different, and sees a different thing at your table. You get a pretty honest read from most people (plus some weirdos thrown in there), so it's refreshing to open your doors and your art and let people see what you have to offer.

MeCAF is specifically great. The turn out for this event is very family oriented, so getting kids to come up to your table and laugh at the stupid drawings you make, is pretty classic. Renee created some pretty cute felt creatures, and seeing them get gobbled up by kids was priceless.

The featured guests this year were Kazu Kibuishi and Kate Beaton. I didn't get a chance to say hi to Kate, but I did however spend lots of time getting to know Kazu. What a great guy, seriously. MeCAF sponsors a little event the night before at the Shipyard Brewery, where we simultaneously shoved pizza in our faces and guzzled beer. So we all got lots of time to chat and share stories.

Super fun stuff, now I just gotta get my ass in gear and make some comics.

Here's a few photos -

Renee and I at our tables

Me workin' away

Busy Renee at her table (and Ellen)

My sister Kim made some super cute crocheted Jellies

Neighbors on the left and buddies Matt and Ellen

Neighbors on the right and ALSO buddies Dan and Bob (which btw, buy your copy of Heeby Jeeby Comix HERE! )

Kazu and I 

For more photos hop on over to Renee's FB page

For more info on MeCAF click here and here.

Next up: Creative Juices Art Show

Recap galore Part 1: PAX East

Hey everyone, things have super crazy busy (which is a good thing!). Over the past two months some real fun stuff happened: [serious mode] wedding planning, PAX East, trip to Mexico, tabling at MeCAF and finally putting on the 3rd annual Creative Juices Art Show.... Needless to say, I haven't had time to update much of anything besides my tweets and Instagram feed.

SO...

I'm gonna do a real quick recap on some real cool things:

PAX East- 

This was the second time I've gone and it was just as cool. Yea it really is just another massive convention with big studios, but it's cool that something like this has come to Boston. It's great for two reasons, a. fantastic buzz for the Boston Games Industry and b. it's literally in my back yard.

This year it was specifically cool because of this:

The INDIE MEGABOOTH!

Since all the AAA studios were gobbling up most of the floor and I'm assuming the Boston Convention center is expensive as hell... this genius idea was formed.

It was like walking around a really cool arcade, only you got to ACTUALLY talk to the devs on the floor. Which wasn't the case for the majority of the other booths, who had their games on a pedestal, locked away behind closed doors. *cough* Assassin's Creed 3 *cough*

Anywho - my big takeaway from this was Capy. I've been a fan of theirs since Critter Crunch and recently Sword and Sworcery. So it was great to chat with them for a while. Even greater was getting to meet Craig (Superbrothers) Adams, and totally nerding out with him about how he animated the deer jumping into a bush in S&S. Oh and I totally scored his John Hancock on this badboy.

The S&S Soundtrack on LP!

Other take aways were: 

The Naughty Dog panel, those dudes are real kick ass.

And lastly: The Irrational panel that my friend Matt scored us front row seats to (it helps to know the animators working on the game hehe). Ken Levine was super inspiring and I left jazzed to make some art for sure.

Yep, I'll be going again next year- if you're in Boston and can make it, I'd say check it out.

NEXT UP: MeCAF

Hellboy

Seems like Fanartica has been gobbling up all my free art time lately. This one was for "character vs. character battle"

After reading Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury - I was set to do my own HB piece. 

Enjoy!

-Zoo

BIRFDAY!

It was my Dad's birthday, so I made him a special WoW card with his character on it. The flame-y skull face was especially fun to make. 

Fable 15

FableVision turned 15! I made this little guy for the event.

Killer Croc vs. Batman

I’ve got your scent, Batman. I’m going to hunt you down. I’m going to rip you apart, eat your bones.

- Fanartica -

So besides keeping busy with a bunch of gallery shows coming up, half the reason this blog has been slipping is because my attention has been turned to *gasp* TUMBLR. My art buds and I have been posting all sorts of fan art goodies. The topic changes every two weeks, so it's a good refresh if I can think of something to draw.

The topics so far have been:

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90's Nickelodeon TV

"Legends of the Hidden Temple"

"The Adventures of Pete and Pete"

"Roundhouse"

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Wes Anderson meets Studio Ghibli

"Steve Zissou explores the diet of his new discovery"

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Classic Novels

"Bram Stoker's Dracula"

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If you want to check out what the others are doing, head on over to FANARTICA! 

The next topic is "Adventure Time" to celebrate the release of Season one on DVD. So this should be a fun two weeks worth of postings.

See ya next time -

Keith

Roose

The word apparently means "praise". This was what the random word generator picked for us this time on Creative Juices. Kinda random.. but it made for a fun scene! I really wanted to put a lot of emotion into that little guy, he's really proud of himself for freeing that tiny weirdo fly. haha

close up 1

close up 2

On another note- if you've found yourself on G+ and looking for people to follow, feel free to add me. I've been finding myself going that route more than twitter lately. Plus there are TONS of industry folk on there. Here is my page --------> click me