This post has images.

Some random tidbits from recent times! 

1. Cael - private commission

2. Self-initiated quickie for a brief - "god randomizer". Tumblr, what can I say.

3. Initial idea for my piece for the Tarot, Mystics and the Occult exhibition.

 

Generally speaking

So my Florence + The Machine vinyl cover really did get picked for the Secret 7" show! It was supposed to be a secret, but this happened in April and apparently my cover was sold right away during the weekend, because it wasn't available for the eBay auction afterwards.

Oh, charity.

In more recent news, I attended Kapow! Comic Con last weekend and it was great. I had the chance to meet Will Dennis from DC / Vertigo for a portfolio review, and I'm still not sure how that happened because there were four companies there, and I got picked precisely by the one I like the most. Insane.

To get myself psyched up in the days leading up to the convention, I sketched some super heroes. Because I am that nerdy. This is one of my favourites.

I am currently working on other things, but those will come later.

Katniss

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. Day 11 of Daily Draw February 2012. 

My first digital sketch in a long time and one I'm particularly fond of.

Daily Draw February 2012

Day 24 - Feral Children II

Daily Draw February is an event that happened for the second time this year, courtesy of the Satellite Soda forums. There's not much to it: you draw something new daily, and post it daily. 

I only heard about it at the last minute and decided to participate - and no one was more surprised than me that I actually managed to keep it up and didn't miss any day! It feels really good as an accomplishment considering my (non-drawing related) work schedule lately. I'm glad it's over so I don't have worry about scanning and posting every single day, but I'll definitely do it again in years to come.

My thread can be seen here. Some days were good, some days were crap, but they are all there.

Day 16. We have pretty big iMacs at work.

Florence & the Machine - The Ghost

Oh boy! It's been a while. I really should get back on the horse on this whole being a professional thing. My bad.

I have actually been pretty productive since the last update, but I've been posting everything to my other channels (Deviantart and particularly Tumblr).

Let's start this off with this Florence & the Machine illustration I did for a competition over at TalentHouse.

The Ghost (2012)

It was for a vinyl cover - pretty exciting stuff.

More to come!

Beasts

This illustration was done for a Secret Santa exchange at tumblr, for etherelle. She likes the video game Shadow of the Colossus and so do I, so it was win-win.

In other news, my work have been popping up in the nicest places, such as the Juxtapoz and notcot and places where I can't even understand the language. So thanks to whoever it is that's tipping people off - I swear I'm not paying anyone.

I have some more stuff to post but I'm not sure if I can/should, so for now enjoy your colossus. Happy holidays, everyone!

FFIX - Alexandria under attack

Alexandria under attack

An entry for Tantalus Review Magazine, a Final Fantasy IX zine being put together by Zac Gorman. Might or might not get picked, but I had a lot of fun doing something for one of my favourite videogames.

onedotzero_cascade 2011

So last week was very intense - I was one of 40 graduates selected to participate in the onedotzero_cascade workshop. I had the chance to meet an amazing group of very talented people, create a project with them and (as if this wasn't enough), we had lots of talks and workshops by the likes of Mother Agency, kin Design, The Guardian Digital team and many others. And later on, we're actually presenting said project during the onedotzero_adventures in motion festival, at the BFI.

That should be fun.

Make sure you also check out the awesome talent that was part of this years group. Crazy stuff. I felt tiny.

Photo by Alex Nevill.

A self-portrait

A self-portrait - 2011

Anyone who doesn't know me now has an idealized depiction to imagine me by! It's also soft and pink.

160 Characters

Earlier this year, I had a project in school which consisted in creating 160 characters - 16 of each one of 10 different concepts.

The Messenger ; The Lover ; The Authority ; The Carer ; The Creator ; The Destroyer; The Seller ; The Sportsperson ; The Entertainer ; The Traveler.

I made each of of these into a little book, the ones you see pictured above. I'm posting one everyday on my Tumblr, for anyone interested (along with more art and lots of interesting stuff by better people) - but here's a taste nonetheless.

J.C. and the waves

A few months old, but I like it a lot. Helen Brooks' character J.C. - I took into account the character's back story to come up with all the elements, and for some reason it reminds me of European comic covers. I'm okay with that.

And because I also quite like the sketch (done on a train), here you go!

Not now, but soon

It's been pretty quiet around here, but for good reason - final project deadline is looming. I am, surprisingly, not very far behind (I might even finish it days before the deadline - preposterous!), but there's still work to be done.

I'm also planning on revamping the look of this website soon - this wasn't meant to be definitive either way. I think I can do better. Well, maybe not better, but different, at least. Yes, different.

I shall unleash myself all over the internet after this whole thing is done, but for now, have a little teaser of some of new stuff.

A Handful of Wonders

One of the projects I developed for school this year was a National Geographic-inspired article. However, the places that I chose to depict might have something else to it... Below are the five locations and bit from the article which accompanied them. Click the thumbnails for bigger versions, please.

The Whale Cemetery

This is the first actual record of a whale cemetery being found, and there are probably several other grottoes which serve the same function, scattered in banks and islands accross this area of the Indian Ocean. This concept, the idea that there might be these sacred places where animals go to die, was not unheard of, but it had been thought to be merely the stuff of legends.

The red whale is, in itself, quite a vision, as one of the most elusive species of whales, as it has an immense lung capacity and seldom comes up for air. It was thought to be native to the Atlantic Ocean, but it is now known that, when it reaches a certain age, it separates from its group, swimming towards the southwest Indian Ocean - as it enters its increasingly warm waters, its brown skin becomes lighter and closer to red.

As it approaches its final destination, the whale stops eating, grows weaker and eventually its deteriorated epidermis starts decomposing, leaving behind a trail of floating red skin. Despite this, it never stops swimming, which has earned this species the nickname of “zombie whale“.

The Edenbird Hive

Native to the archipelago, these hummingbirds (named edenbirds due to their long white tails and fragile appearance) are quite unique: they are not just considered one the the most aggressive species of bird (even if technically harmless to humans, due to their size), they are also the only known species of hummingbird with a hive-like mind, living in communities of several hundreds of individuals. They usually build their nests to surround a circular area, creating a dome that provides a safer space for the colony.

During hatching season, females usually stay in the highest nests. Males stay outside and close the nests with clay and leaves almost completely, leaving only a tiny opening through which they bring food to the females. These become particularly aggressive, buzzing loudly, much like bees, to wear off predators, and sometimes even going for the eyes.

The Giant Hourglasses of Abuya

At certain times during the year, in the southern region of the Abuya desert, it is possible to witness one of the most unique shows nature has to offer - a field of sand whirlpools. Throughout the years, several different species of desert vines have grown and taken over the canyons, forming natural pergulas that cover the whole labyrinth of passageways. Their roots are extremely long and resistant, extending to find water in the dry desert.

This is a particularly windy desert, though, and over time, sand has covered the vines, in such a way that one who is unaware of this phenomena would not be able to tell there is anything more than sandy desert up ahead. However, during Spring time, one specific type of vine, the Fissurae azulis, blooms blue flowers that emerge through the sand. As Spring progresses into Summer, the vines grow weaker and start opening under the weight of the sand, making it fall into the canyon below.

 The Guatemalan Stone People

Covering an area of about 14 square kilometers, statues - human figures - are stationed along the ocean floor and provide shelter to fish, algae and coral, among other underwater organisms. Throughout the years, they have deteriorated and been heavily modified by the swirling ocean water, but the semblance of humanity still present in their faces is nothing short of remarkable.

They have become a tourist attraction in recent years, but very recently the government has had to intervene and restrict human presence in the area - the heavy daily ammount of tourist groups and divers, particularly during the Summer months, was starting to stress coral reef and affecting the local wildlife. 

 

 

 The Glowing Lakes of Cape York

After the 2006 bushfires in Victoria, Australia, which burnt for almost seventy days, and the heavy rain that followed in the Winter, a vast ammount of burnt ash, rich in chemicals, was dumped into the lakes in the Cape York region. Concerns were raised regarding public health and, as predicted, in the following Summer, algae started to grow heavily in the lakes, making the water look green and murky.

However, in 2008, as the Summer ended, a new species started to prosper by feeding on the Synechococcus - the Noctiluca scintillans. During the day, these algae look red, murky and unremarkable, building up amidst the green algae it feeds on.

But during the night, the Noctiluca scintillans glow bright blue and turn the lakes into a sea of stars. This phenomena is called bioluminiscence - the same kind of phenomena that makes fireflies produce light, albeit through different mechanisms. The species was well known and it had been been present in australian lakes before, but never as remarkably as it appeared now. 

And for the final reveal - click here. 

Colours!

Everyone likes colours. Ocasionally, time permitting, I like to colour other people's lines. It's fun and fresh and the proccess of digital painting is, for me at least, less likely to become frustrating than drawing, as much as I love doing it (unless my laptop starts acting up, which is a different matter altogether).

Lines by Rodin Esquejo. Chase from Marvel's Runaways. There's something CSI: Miami going on here - I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Lines by Fang Natalie Dai. Yukari Takeba from Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3. Two more characters can be seen on my deviantArt. I think this one was the very first drawing of hers I ever coloured. I still love it.

Lines by Joana Rolo. An orgy of original characters, with names as eloquent as Badoink and Cuckaroo, about to deliver some royal ass kicking. The big bad boss back there might be called Deadline. Oh art students, always so witty.

True Self

 

 

 Some of the illustrations for a school project entitled "True Self". After asking several people to reply anonymously to a questionnaire I prepared (in which I asked some questions about themselves), I selected some of the things they said and created illustrations based on them. The rumours are true - everyone is interesting, if you know what to ask.

Sunday Morning Empire

Portugal is where I come from, yes, but the way I see it, that's secondary. Where I really come from is from a warm, loving home, where Saturday mornings lasted forever, tracing Dragon Ball characters on the window was the most fun thing in the world and hours were spent copying Pocahontas stills from the TV, after pausing the VCR at just the right moment. Every one of these countless little things was essential to create the person I am today. 

Mina, the Summoner

Birthday present for a dear friend, as well as a remake from an older, hideous illustration.

Don't try to please the dragon

Nico and Karolina from Marvel's Runaways.