I get nervous on San Pablo Avenue

We had an adventure helping some Russian's get to the bus station...by adventure I mean near-death experience. They were trying to travel on foot through Oakland's San Pablo Avenue around 11PM. If you've ever been to Oakland, you know not to go down that street past a certain hour. It's a shady area. So when they asked for help my awesome roommates came to the rescue. We walked down that street for about an hour that night, suitcase in hand, until we finally reached the station. It turned out pointless because the bus was overbooked. One of my roommates ended up hooking up with a Russian and came to find out she had a boyfriend. The funniest line she ever said was, "MY BOYFRIEND WILL KILL US BOTH!" That was my inspiration for this page.






One of my summer sketch books











We went out to San Francisco one weekend. Fishermen were pullin' in sharks from this dock! We went down to Rainforest Cafe, Fisherman's Wharf, and a few sushi places. It was a blast watching people out there.










Sketches from my Plein Air class: Utah Lake following the Provo River East.














My mom made a trip out to New York for my little sister's senior graduation extravaganza; it happened to be during the SOI show and they got to see my work in the gallery!!!






Dreamgiver Update:

In the beginning of the summer I put together a fundraiser to help cover costs on Dreamgiver. I just wanted to thank everyone for your support and help! It was a huge success! Rick Price for helping get the Hidden Oaks Clubhouse for free! Joe Creswell, Jack Hattori, Nick Beckstead, Mckay Farley, Cory Reimschussel, and Adam Christensen for their time, demonstrations, and personalities! My whole family for all their support. Anikah for helping prepare the show and supporting me all the way through the end.































This is my AMAZING story/layout team on the film: James Bourne, Anikah, and Gina Chu. We went on a story retreat up in Midway, UT at James' condo. It was absolutely gorgeous out there. Everyone was ready in this picture but me...I was looking at these Box Elder Beetles crawling over the deck (my bad).

The Girl of My Dreams!

On September 1st, 2009 I married the girl of my dreams for time and all eternity!

When I first met Anikah it didn't take long to realize she was different. We met by chance when a mutual friend invited us to Lake Powell. The first thing I noticed was how kind she treated others. She always sees the best in everyone (even in me when I'm grumpy and trying to meet a deadline). She genuinely cares for those around her. Anikah never fails to compliment people. She somehow brings out the good wherever she goes and with whoever she's with. She excels at everything she does and learns extremely quick. The first time we went wake boarding she popped right up. Since then, she's never needed anything but someone to throw her the line. Her smile is powerful. She has deep eyes that forgive and look past fault. She is positive and motivating. She's also an amazing cook!

Some things you may not know about Anikah: She likes to hide behind things and scare me when I'm walking around the apartment deep in thought. She likes peanut butter and jelly maybe even more than I do. Anikah loves dogs and somehow has this weird power that attracts animals. We'll be hiking and suddenly there are squirrels and birds running/flying right behind us, coming to her for food (I'm just waiting for the bigger animals...). She even laughs at me when I'm not funny...which is most of the time :). Anikah is studying elementary education. She's going to be a 3rd grade school teacher. How lucky will her students be!!!

I am so grateful for her constant patience and understanding on this wild ride we decided to take together. I LOVE YOU

Our pictures were done by Travis J Photography! We were lucky to work with Travis Richardson himself for the day we shot. He is extremely talented and a pleasure to work with. I'd highly recommend him to anyone for all occasions. Not only is he a passionate artist, he's also a great man. He nailed the subtle look and feel we envisioned for our invitations. Check out his work!

I'd especially like to thank Mark Holmes and Cody Dingus for their graphic design insights and making the unique invitation designs possible!

This is a painting I did for the gift registry cards included in the invitations.

Some Work from Izzy

Some of my design work from IZZY.  I'm hoping to have the rest up soon (like in a week or so, I hope) The basis of the story is a rhino obsessed girl doing all she can to free a captive rhinoceros.  It gets better...there's all kinds of wacky things like African bunny herds, mustache infested zookeepers, and giant hamster wheels (made for a rhino)!  A lot of this work is just playing around with some ideas and directions we started with (thus the variety of styles and approaches), while some designs are final and appear so in the film.  Also, check out the other designs and killer style of my friend Anthony Holden.  Anthony has come up with some spectacular ideas and hilarious animation tests for the film (definitely worth checking out!!)

An initial Mary Blair Direction

Limited Palette English Paper feel
Zoo and African Trees 
Izzy's idea of Africa (Just before the bunny stampede)

Another African scene where we see how Izzy envisions Africa
Early Rhino Cage idea 
Doodles from my sketchbook
Zookeeper's Utility Vehicle

Dreamgiver Update

Dreamgiver is looking beautiful!!!!  There's a ton of work that's been done in the last few months.  There are some amazing people working on the project, check out their work:  Adam Christensen (Producer), Jaetaek Hwang (Modeling/texturing), Levi Harrison (Modeling/rigging),  Cory Reimschussel (FX),  McKay Farley (FX), Dan Lyman (FX), Chris Rydalch (Cloth Simulation), Nick Beckstead (Character Animation), Rachel Bennett (Character Animation), Alan Bradshaw (Lighting), Stacey Bethers (Lighting).

This is some of the conceptual work I've been working on.  Characters, value story boards, environment designs and early concept.  I will try to finish up and post some other work soon.  

Society of Illustrators Student Competition

I just found out, Boy's Dream and Mountain are two of four Brigham Young University entries accepted into this year's Society of illustrators Student Exhibition.  I'm humbled and honored to be a part of the show.  The work produced this year is nothing short of inspiring.  

The show opens on Wednesday, May 6th at the Society's gallery in New York and runs through June 6th.  

Congratulations to my immensely talented friend Houston Trueblood who also has two entries in the show  (His 2nd year in a row!!! Spectacular!)   

I owe a big thanks to the amazing teachers here at BYU.  Especially to Robert Barrett and Sam Neilson for their instruction.  If you haven't seen it already, Robert Barrett has a new book:  Life Drawing-How To Portray The Figure With Accuracy and Expression.  He dedicated the book to students.  The explanations on solid/appealing life drawing principles are elaborately demonstrated and can cross over into any discipline.  I highly recommend it to anyone!