A R M A N D S E R R A N O

Late Nights...

2012-02-28T00:30:00.001-08:00

©Armand Serrano.

Backyard

2012-02-24T12:28:00.000-08:00

Compared to the epic, fantastic and fictional grand vistas, the simple and ordinary locations become more challenging to design. The battle is taking the ordinary and common and transform them into something fresh and interesting. Its a balance of shapes, composition, amount of stylization, and lighting. In laying out the location shot, its very crucial to do it and solve all the issues in values to establish the foundation for proper lighting and color. Here's an exercise I did and I want to share including the step by step. Both were done using only two preset brushes in PS - a hard brush for the sketch and my favorite no. 19 brush for wash. Enjoy.

Backyard-1

Backyard-2

All images ©Armand Serrano.

Bayer TV Ad

2012-02-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

A beagle made up of fleas! a design I did a while back for a Bayer TV commercial. Goal is how to make this concept not so disgusting... ^_^

All images ©Armand Serrano.

Harmony Procedural Drawing Tool

2012-01-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I was introduced to this procedural drawing tool called Harmony by mrdoob.com. Like any other tools, it was difficult to begin with. No undo button. But once I got used to the behavior, it's fun. Here are some of my early doodles. I even used this tool for some design work at the studio. Enjoy.

All images, ©Armand Serrano.

Disney Visit

2012-01-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

With good friends I used to work with at the Disney Animation Studios during a recent visit before the holidays. So much memories I have with Disney after working on four feature films between 1997-2004. (l-r) Andy Harkness, Ruben Aquino, Bing Deogracias-Serrano, me, James Finch and Jim Finn.

Arthur Christmas 3: The Hangar and Mission Control

2011-12-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

All images©Sony Pictures Animation.

Arthur Christmas 2: The S-1

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

My concept on the S-1 stemmed from the TV show Battleship Yamato which I love when I was a kid. But instead of a flying battleship, S-1's an aircraft carrier. Below was my first stab on the concept.

Then we went for something slicker, streamlined and organic like a race car.

An idea that I had was the huge S-1 is being stirred by a tiny control rudder mounted on an arcade-type ride just to be playful and fun for the elves.

The concept below is when Grand Santa goes back to find his old sleigh and reindeer, he passes by museum type rooms where the old sleighs through generations are kept:

This could be his old sleigh used around late 1800's to 1920's

This was used around 1930's till mistaken for a German bomber eventually shot down during Battle of Britain in 1941 :)

Now this one was used during the Cold War in the 80's. Fun.

More to come...

All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Arthur Christmas 1: Neighborhood/Bedroom

2011-11-29T02:40:00.000-08:00

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Above is a rendered concept design for the neighborhood/cul de sac. To achieve this shot, I "cheated" a bit by building the basic architectural elements in 3D using Google Sketch Up and placed the camera on the composition I wanted. Below is the step by step painting process in Photoshop.

Here are some of the preliminary pencil sketches before building the 3D sketch up model.

THE BEDROOM

The bedroom concept art above is based from the idea that Gwen checks her stocking in the middle of the night only to find out its still empty. Below are the thumbnails for the shot. Somehow, I felt like going symmetrical composition on this one.

More to come...

All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Arthur Christmas Opens Nov. 23, 2011!

2011-11-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

When Sony Pictures Animation partnered with Aardman Animations to work on Arthur Christmas more than three years ago, the studio assigned me to work with director Sarah Smith for a couple of months and had the privilege of working with Scott Caple, George Hull and Francois Audouy to develop the early concept designs for the film. Above is the earliest drawing I did having Santa and his elves in the mission control. I had a concept where elves come in different breeds, short and tall. More to come next week...

By the way, the art of book is out, too:

Click for Amazon Books.

©Sony Pictures Animation

Veterans Day 11-11-11

2011-11-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

A salute to all who served!

©Armand Serrano.

iPad/iPhone Paintings Exhibit Recap

2011-11-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

On top are the iPad paintings I did for exhibit at the iPOP Culture Fest in Hong Kong two weeks ago. The theme was halloween. Then above is the Steve Jobs portrait I used for the press demo as tribute to him. The exhibit floor (below) was so cool. They played the stroke by stroke videos (from Brushes app) on five big LED screens and framed them to look like giant iPhones.

Had to visit HK Disneyland.

Beautiful view of Hong Kong skyline, shot from the Peak.

Then a visit in Metro Manila, Philippines...

All images ©Armand Serrano.

WWI Doodles on iPad

2011-10-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

A special on WWI on History Channel inspired me to doodle on the iPad while watching. Here's the result. I used Brushes app. All images ©Armand Serrano.

iPOP Culture Festival in Hong Kong

2011-10-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'll be at the iPOP Culture Festival in Hong Kong on October 19-23. This fest is part of celebrating last week's opening of the two-level, 15000 sq. ft. all glass, most expensive Apple store in the world located at the IFC shopping mall in HK (complete with Steve Jobs' classic staircase inside). The organizers commissioned me to do 10 iPad paintings which they will exhibit during the festival. I will also do a two-day iPhone/iPad painting demo during the event.

Since it's Halloween season, the theme for the ipaintings they gave me is Hollywood horror classics. I gave my own, fun take on them and here's one of the ten.

They will also show the stroke by stroke quicktime videos of these ipaintings. All artworks are not retouched outside iPhone/iPad and completely done using Brushes and Photoshop Express apps. Will post more after the event.

Artwork ©Armand Serrano.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

2011-10-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

You'll be greatly missed...

Done on iPad using Brushes app.

Power Of Values Recap

2011-09-21T00:52:00.000-07:00

(Top) Taken during the tonal design seminar at LAAFA. (Above) One of the many tonal designs I used at the seminar.

All images ©Armand Serrano.

iPhone Paintings 10: Crew Meetings and Demo

2011-09-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

Twice a week we have crew meetings on the project I'm working on in the stusdio. So every now and then, I'll grab the opportunity to do life drawing on my iPhone inside the dim lit room. Clockwise from top left: Doug Sweetland, Fergal Reilly, Justin Thompson, Lia Abbate, Dave Bleich and Mike Kurinsky.

Here's a couple more with my son and my wife done a couple of days ago. Below is the stroke by stroke video of these two. All paintings were done in Brushes app and video capture in Brushes Viewer. Enjoy.

All images and videos ©Armand Serrano.

iPhone Paintings 9

2011-08-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Done during my son's school meeting last night. The African American lady on the left was so attentive and taking notes. The asian lady in the middle was starting to get tired and bored. The caucasian guy on the right was so restless to keep himself awake. I cant focus and getting bored myself so time to doodle. Done in Brushes app... btw, for the record, I was listening :)

©Armand Serrano.

The Power Of Values Seminar

2011-07-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

I am doing a three hour seminar on tonal design with Photoshop demo titled The Power of Values at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art on August 18th, 7-10 pm. Click here to register.

All images ©Armand Serrano.

Comic-Con 2011 Recap

2011-07-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

A quick iPad painting demo at the Los Angeles Academy Of Figurative Art booth using Brushes app.

Animation peeps (clockwise from top left): Bill Perkins; the one and only Alex Nino; Good man Mark McDonnell; Stephen Silver, myself, my daughter Ella, David Colman, and Nicolas Villareal. Others artists I saw: Robh Ruppel, Stef Kardos, Pascal Campion, Tuna Bora, Chris Deboda, Dzu Nguyen, and my cousin Charlie Deogracias.

Kenya, Greece, and Turkey

2011-07-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Kenya

The Acropolis, Athens

Ancient Ephesus, Selcuk

The Hagia Sofia, Istanbul

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Boat ride on the Bosphorous River that separates Europe and Asia

A few of weeks ago, my wife, oldest daughter and I went on a mission trip with our church team to Kenya for 10 days. The first part was a medical mission in the outskirts of Nairobi. The other half was providing livelihood like sheep, hens, etc. and feeding of almost a thousand people in a camp for those who were displaced by violence in the Great Rift Valley. It was a life-changing experience to see the needs and how these beautiful people cope up. Before going back home, we spent a week-long vacation with a few friends and visited Athens, Ephesus and Istanbul. Here are some of the photos. Enjoy.

Okegawa-do/Underground Castle

2011-06-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

©Armand Serrano.

D-Day

2011-06-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

DDay Anniversary. My own little way of honoring our heroes in the service.

©Armand Serrano.

Krylon TV Ad

2011-06-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

A month ago, I made these layout sketches over a weekend for a friend, Ryan Dunn, who's directing a Krylon Paint TV ad. Its interesting what he built based from these sketches. CLICK HERE or the image below to watch the actual TV spot released Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy.

Proud Daddy Ad: Ella on TV ad

2011-05-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

....

My youngest daughter, Ella, is in the Sears Big Memorial Day Sale ad running on national TV this week. She's the tiny girl in bathing suit. Enjoy the long weekend.

Purr...

2011-05-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

Art Center Portfolio Review

2011-04-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

At the Art Center College of Design South Campus in Pasadena, together with Marcelo Vignali, Kurt Albrecht, Chad Hellmuth and Ken Maruyama (not in photo), reviewing portfolios of the Entertainment Design grads. So humbled and inspired by the caliber of these students' artworks.

Steampunk Marketplace

2011-02-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

My apologies for all the emails I haven't replied to for the past weeks. I was assigned to new feature project just right before Christmas and been extremely busy since then. Please bear with me as I give my best to get through my email backlog :) The two images above were part of my "The Power of Thumbnails" presentation at CTN last November. Though these were unused concept artworks, I have to blur out the main character for copyright purposes. Below is the step by step process from lines to color. Half way, I decided to push the piece and expand the artwork to show more establishing of the location.

I'll be doing a one-day talk with demo titled "The Power of Values - The Essential Bridge to Lines and Color" at the Los Angeles Academy Of Figurative Art this spring. I'll discuss how tonal value carries the weight of the composition and also how to keep the values when doing color in Photoshop. More info on this blog as soon as the date is set.

All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Arthur Christmas Teaser

2010-12-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

The teaser trailer for Arthur Christmas is out. Click on the image above to watch. It's the first collaboration between Sony Pictures Animation and Aardman Production and I worked on the early development of this film. Below is my own "teaser" image, an early concept of the ship you just saw on the trailer. Enjoy.

All images ©Aardman/Sony Pictures Animation.

CTN Animation Expo 2010

2010-11-23T00:37:00.000-08:00

Photos (Clockwise from left): During my talk on "The Power of Thumbnails"; Good ol' Mark McDonnell; Kim Mackey; Dan Daly; Mitch "Skelanimals" Bernal; Joe Gilland and Jay Schuh.

Colleagues with me at the Sony booth: James Williams, Judy Thomason, Mike Kurinsky, Luc Desmarchelier and Ken Maruyama. Other friends and colleagues I saw: Jill Culton, Robh Ruppel, David Colman, Craig Harris, Ed Ghertner, Peter Mohrle, Ronnie Del Carmen, Lee Gramling, Nicolas Villareal, Betsy Bauer, Tuna Bora, Christopher Denise, etc. Overwhelmed by so much talent present in one single event and reviewed close to a hundred portfolios in a couple of days. Very nostalgic weekend for me specially seeing my ex-Disney Feature Animation Florida colleagues. Looking forward to next year.

Again, special thanks to Tina Price and her crew for making this year's animation expo a success. More power to CTN.

Lighthouse: A Visdev Process

2010-10-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of doing a talk on visual development at Hyndol Art Academy. This Lighthouse sample was part of the presentation and thought I'd share it here on the blog. These artworks were done in actual pre-production but eventually never used.

Online research on New England lighthouse structures.

Shapes and Patterns Studies

Thumbnails

Often the simplest shot like this is more challenging since there's not much elements to play with. That's why thumbnail sketch is extremely valuable and most of the foundation is laid out in this stage. On this location, I purposely washed away a chunk of the island to break what could have been a boring shape. On a bigger note, it created a history for the island and paved way to putting the structure on stilts making it more interesting.

Values to Color

This is the shot layout that got a nod for exploration. I had to take the house structure on stilts out. Story revision calls for the character to live on top of the lighthouse. Its imperative to get the values squared away before getting into color.

Shape Revision

Style Exploration

I was asked to try an Edward Hopper style for this.

Since exterior is somehow established and there's enough story information, I started detailing the top of the lighthouse primarily the interior.

Interior

Exterior Revision

Based from a story revision, I had to add more stairs outside. No need to repaint since we can still allude to the painted version for reference.

After a month exploring this location, the whole story was scrapped in the end and this lighthouse never saw the light of day... except in my blog of course. Enjoy.

All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Hyndol Art Academy

2010-09-22T13:43:00.001-07:00

I'll be speaking at the Hyndol Art Academy Workshop in LA on October 2, 2010, Saturday at 2 pm.

Also, I be speaking at the CTN Animation Expo in November. More details coming.

Legionnaire

2010-08-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

A doodle while taking a break. Done in PS.

Jon Schneck Website

2010-08-03T22:28:00.001-07:00

My friend Jon Schneck gave me the privilege of illustrating the splash page for his newly "reskinned" website. The concept is creating a comic book cover absorbing everything about him: All-Star Converse, skinny jeans, red flanel shirt, trucker's hat, favorite guitar, guitar shop, a penguin, skateboard, Nashville, and a passion for Rubiks cube. Just for fun, I did a caricature of his band, Relient K, which I ended up using. Done is PS.

Check his website at www.jonathanschneck.com

All images ©Armand Serrano & Jonathan Scneck.

NASA Chimp

2010-07-16T02:11:00.001-07:00

iPhone Paintings 8

2010-06-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Quick Brushes app painting while bored waiting at the dental office.

@Armand Serrano.

"Lilo"-cized Environment

2010-06-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Location designs I did for my friend Tony Bancroft on a project he worked on a few years ago. The task is to "Lilo"-cize (or add a Lilo & Stitch flavor on) the environment. So I grabbed my good old prismacolor pencil and vellum paper (and a touch of PS of course). There were two different location design styles. The first four illustrates the "real world" where shapes and silhouettes are more rounded and friendly. The last two personify the "fantasy" world where it's sharp, pointed and dangerous. It was fun.

All images ©Armand Serrano.

Inquisitor

2010-05-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Woke up early morning and had the urge to paint. Done in PS.

©Armand Serrano.

RIP Frank Frazetta (1928-2010)

2010-05-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

I would like to make an exception and post a master's illustration in memory of this genius. If there's one artist we greatly admire and keep trying to emulate, it's good old Frank Frazetta. Sad day...

Website Update

2010-04-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

I finally updated my website two years after last one that I could remember! Since I was on it for a couple of late nights, I decided to go for a new look and overhaul the entire site. I embed a simple flash gallery that would make postings not a chore for me to do in the future. Click HERE to have a glimpse and enjoy.

Neanderthals

2010-04-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

Some environmental designs from a prehistoric neanderthal/cro-magnon project I was involved in at the studio three years ago that eventually got cancelled after almost a year in active development. Done in Photoshop. All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

A Sherman

2010-04-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

A quick doodle while waiting for a production meeting. Old tanks has always been a fascination and a favorite subject to draw as a kid. Done in Painter X.
©Armand Serrano.

Alice In Wonderland: Jabberwocky Concept Designs

2010-03-12T14:59:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
A couple of years ago when Sony Imageworks was ramping up work on Disney's Alice In Wonderland, Visual Effects supervisor Ken Ralston invited myself and Marcelo Vignali to do some concept designs on any character of our choice for the film. This was just a one day gig for both of us and here's some of my quick takes on the Jabberwocky.

Something Different: Maryoku Yummy

2010-03-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano and American Greetings.
Dug while organizing my hard drive. Three years ago, my friend Paitoon introduced me to Kelly Grupczynski, the creative director at American Greetings while they're starting on the Maryoku Project. Obviously totally different from what I do everyday. Viewed it as a challenge and did some designs for them to create the world where these cute, tiny creatures live in. Honestly it was a stretch since I'm not used to this cutsie, appealing-to-little girls kind of style. Hey, I learned from these and happy how they turned out. Enjoy.
@Armand Serrano and American Greetings.

Clearing

2010-02-22T14:07:00.001-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
Another unused concept.

Waterfalls Thumbnail

2010-01-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
An unused thumbnail concept for a waterfalls shot I did way back.

Winter Trips Photos

2010-01-11T01:31:00.001-08:00

VALLEY OF FIRE, Nevada

YOSEMITE, California

O Holy Night...

2009-12-24T23:44:00.000-08:00

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of Our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world In sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd And the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Truly He taught us To love one another;
His law is love And His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;
And in His name All oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us Praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.

"Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat at manigong bagong taon!"

A Quick Doodle: Underground

2009-12-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
Done in PS.

Nomad Gallery

2009-12-03T22:19:00.000-08:00

I'll be part of the Nomad Gallery "Snowball Fight" exhibit this Saturday, 5th December 2009, 5-7pm. It will be held at the Los Angeles Meeting and Event Center, 10601 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90232. Tel: 310.597.9670. If you want to purchase prints of my artworks in the exhibit, go to www.themightynomad.com.

Hybrid

2009-12-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
A quick doodle which I would call a hybrid since I painted it using Brushes app on my iPod Touch then up-resed, highlighted and detailed in photoshop. Took me 45 minutes total for the whole process.

iPod Touch/iPhone Paintings 7: Portraits, Etc.

2009-11-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

Trying to bring this neat app into the next level for me by making tiny original portraits. The one above of Napoleon, was my very first attempt and turned out a bit stiff but the lighting works. I was happy with the next two (the lady and the corporal) when strokes were much looser.

These next ones were fun doodles. Over the holidays gave me an opportunity to doodle more on my iPod Touch everywhere I go and lovin' it. Except for putting them all together in Photoshop, all artworks are purely Brushes and no alterations made outside the app. A couple of these portraits will be included in Nomad Gallery exhibit I'm involved in next week. More exhibit details coming next. Enjoy.

All images ©Armand Serrano. All rights reserved.

Happy Thanksgiving To All!

2009-11-26T13:02:00.001-08:00

I thank God for what He has done and is still doing in my life. Today and every single day, I intentionally never take for granted, thank God and be content for the blessings of life, family, friends, health, talent, job, etc...
Have a wonderful thanksgiving to all!
Enjoy your turkey...or chicken...

iPod Touch/iPhone Paintings 6: Brushes App vs. Sketchbook Mobile App

2009-11-16T02:42:00.000-08:00

Man, I can't say how slow Sketckbook Mobile app is! When I just started blocking this one, Sketchbook crashed on me. I had to delete the app and reload from my iTunes for it to work. It was definitely a test of patience. What a relief when I added the ships using Brushes. Everything moved so smoothly...and much much faster. Hopefully Autodesk address these issues when they create an update. Brushes app is still the choice for me. More Brushes App below:

These were couple of doodles of views from our window at the studio.

All images ©Armand Serrano.

iPod Touch/iPhone Painting 5: Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile App

2009-11-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
I started using this new app from Autodesk last week and got hooked since. Would it replace my favorite Brushes app for my Itouch paintings? Not yet. I still like the speed and very intuitive interface of Brushes. Sketchbook Mobile though has opened a whole new array of customizable tools that made me too excited and overlooked the slow responsiveness of the sliders. But after getting used to its interface, the slowness starts to bug me. Guess I need to be patient - for the price of $3, can't complain (Brushes is not bad too for its $5 tag). Anyway both these apps come in very handy when I have an itch to draw or paint anywhere, any time. Can't express more how useful sketching/painting on iTouch for me (still using my good old pointer finger) in thumb-nailing designs at the studio.
Next task: combining Brushes and Sketchbook Mobile apps cocktailed with PS Mobile. Stay tuned.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 3: Designing the Toast Boat, Classroom and School.

2009-10-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

TOAST BOAT

CLASSROOM

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Still more to come...

©All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2: Designing the Roofless Restaurant, Spaghetti Twister, and Eiffel Tower

2009-09-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

THE ROOFLESS

The Roofless was originally named Ralph's Roofless Restaurant (see if you can say that fast). The idea actually originated from the book. Since food falls from the sky, the restaurant sells utensils. I designed the interior with The Standard in LA in mind showcasing different utensils all around the place. The brightly lit tables somehow are paying homage to the legendary layout tables we used back in the days of 2D animation.

Below is my earliest design for the interior which was a quick thumbnail in PS having a bright colorful palette.

THE SPAGHETTI TWISTER

Here's an early concept design of the spaghetti tornado I did wrecking down the sardine cannery. Below are screen grabs of a 3D test with an animated spaghetti twister which I "retouched" to add a new NY skyline layout.

Here are the actual artworks I did based from that test above.

The design of the New York skyline was based from the artist Miroslav Sasek's style (remember the "This Is" childrens' book series) in his which we were alluding to early on in visual development. Same goes with Liberty. I noticed that his artworks has a slight general lean to the right meaning he's left handed. So I did the same. Kinda cool and added personality.

THE EIFFEL TOWER

These are very early concept designs that show the tower covered with pizza as well as the clouds. I designed these clouds with those tube-like formations where food supposedly would fall out from, and tendrils for fear factor. I made these tree studies thinking they might be useful for the same environment using Sasek's sensibilities but in a 3D volumetric form.

Still more to come next week...

All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 1: Designing the Jello Mold and Ice Cream Town

2009-09-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

THE JELLO MOLD EXTERIOR

Designing Jello Mold was a totally fun task since right from the very start I knew it's going to be iconic for the film. The challenge: since we haven't seen a giant jello before, I have to check real kids' jello and observe how light reacts to its texture. The last image above, though, didn't make it to the movie due to story change. In the first version, Flint stuck himself inside the "deflated" rotten jello mold he originally built for Sam. The revised version was inside a garbage can instead which ended up in the film. Below are more jello designs.

THE JELLO MOLD INTERIOR

To cap the fun on the Jello Mold is the interior design. I haven't been inside a jello before. So to imagine what it's like in there is as challenging to me as to both the animators, who had to imagine jello's behavior when it's that big, and sound designers, who had to come up with how jello sounds in that scale.

THE ICE CREAM TOWN

The before and after approved versions of the ice cream sequence. Old houses and buildings around Venice Blvd. in Los Angeles and Culver City came in very handy for me in designing the neighborhood architecture. The ice cream covered version was kinda tricky. The ice cream had to be simple and very recognizable unlike the earlier version where I made them look like giant poop all over the town. Art Director Mike Kurinsky brilliantly added flavors and stripes on the final painted version.

To design the town, I had to come up with a way how to populate the area with the least amount of elements to be built in 3D. So I came up with three different L-shaped "Lego" blocks and interchangeably attached to each one creating different combinations that made up the whole town.

More to come next week...

All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Cast & Crew Screening of "Cloudy..."

2009-09-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

Cast and crew screening at Mann Village Theatre and after party at Sony Pictures back lot for "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs" last Monday. I will post my artworks from the movie starting tomorrow night, Thursday. Movie opens this Friday (watch it in 3D)!
(Top l-r:) Pete Oswald, Armand Serrano, Sylvain DeBoissy and Carey Yost.
(Bottom l-r) Antonio Cannobio, Dominique, Janet DeBoissy, Sylvain DeBoissy, John Butiu, Bing Serrano, Armand Serrano.
Photos courtesy of John Butiu.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs Trailer#2 and Book

2009-07-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

Check out our new trailer HERE. In line with this, here again are some "sneak peak" artworks I did for the film. These are for that Great Wall of China shot you see towards the end of the trailer. The first two were early concepts and last two were production artworks. All done in PS.
All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Also, you can pre-order the Art and Making of Cloudy book which will be out this August. Check it out HERE.

Prehistoric Settlement

2009-06-05T08:44:00.001-07:00

FINAL ART:
©Armand Serrano.
Something I did a while back but was never used.

17th Century Samurai

2009-05-28T02:28:00.000-07:00

©Armand Serrano.
Can't sleep last night. Painted this in Photoshop.

Sony Pictures Animation Website

2009-05-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Sony decided to have a website dedicated to our animation division. I built a rough, mock up, working website how we, artists, would want to see it. The result was way better than what I did, kudos to our talented marketing and interactive group. Excited to share it with you all. Click here.

Another Doodle

2009-05-19T14:32:00.001-07:00

©Armand Serrano.

iPod Touch/iPhone Paintings 4

2009-04-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs Teaser

2009-03-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

The teaser trailer for "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs" is out! Click on the image above to watch. It's been two years since I worked on this movie after Surf's Up and will be released this September. Here's my own little "teaser" on the design of that elementary school that gets covered by giant pancake.

Above is the final approved design I did for that school. Below are my thumbnail explorations.

Design "C" above was the one picked by the directors and below is my quick sketch when it gets covered by the pancake. Last image is the screengrab from the trailer.

Teaser will be out on the big screen in front of Monsters Vs. Aliens. More to come. By the way, my website(www.armandserrano.com) is BACK ONLINE!...thanks to my new webhost, Fatcow.com.

The Shark Bar

2009-03-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

©Sony Pictures Animation.
One of the fun designs I did on a sequence that "almost" made it into the film. It's a bar for the penguin luau. This is the final design. The rough sketch can be seen on the Surf's Up book.

Website Down

2009-03-09T16:24:00.001-07:00

My website, ARMANDSERRANO.COM, is temporarily down due to a transfer of webhosts. Will keep you posted when it's back. But for the meantime, I'll continue posting here in my blog. Thanks.

iPod Touch/iPhone Painting 3

2009-02-25T15:08:00.001-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
Man, this is addicting. I painted this on my ipod Touch over lunch break earlier and so happy with the outcome. This time, I was using Brushes app and my good old pointer finger. For the serious users, I recommend both Colors and Brushes apps.

iPod Touch Finger Painting 2

2009-02-23T02:51:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
Another round of iTouch finger paintings using Colors app. This app is a bit more sophisticated and has more features. Many thanks to Tom Scholes (http://crayonboxofdoom.blogspot.com) for the tips. I am definitely placing an order for a POGO stylus. Coming up next, I'll be using Brushes app.

iPod Touch/iPhone Finger Paintings

2009-02-21T02:00:00.001-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
My daughter loves to use this very primitive finger painting app called Simple Paint on my iTouch. Got curious and gave it a shot. It's very basic but handy. Like that traffic light image on top for example. I stopped on a red light one foggy morning then tried to draw it before it turns green. There goes sketchclub right there.

Open Season 2: Pet Paradise Design

2009-02-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

©All images. Sony Pictures Animation.
A year and a half ago, I helped out on Open Season 2 (available now on DVD) in designing the main location called Pet Paradise. Above is the pet waterslide which is the main attraction for the resort. Below is the basic layout of the whole place.

The interior of the waterslide is a hero location and here are the basic designs and layout.

The resort lobby.

Different facade designs for the entrance. The third one was picked which was inspired by the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland.

The final design for the entrance.

Also, I'd like to welcome the talented Peter Chan, the newest addition to our visdev team here at Sony. Check his blog out on my links list.

Memories: Disney Florida Layout Crew

2009-01-14T11:49:00.001-08:00

Happy new year! Browsing through my old photo files, I found these memorable photos of the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida layout crew. Above was taken at the inauguration of the "brand new" animation building right after Mulan c. 1998. (l-r): Tom Humber, Richard Livingston, Kevin Proctor, Jeff Dickson, Norbert Maier, Armand Serrano, Bill Hodman, Andy Harkness, amd Arden Chan.
This was taken right before were done laying Brother Bear out. It was at the Coronado Resort in Disney World after a layout lunch. (l-r standing): Richard Livingston, Scott Kersavage, Robh Ruppel, Andrew Hickson, Joanne Tsuzanos, Craig Grasso, Bill Hodman, Andy Harkness, Tom Dow, Tom Humber, Billy George. (l-r seated): Mike, Franc Reyes, Jeff Dickson, Brian, George Villaflor, Armand Serrano, and Kevin Proctor (not in photo: Peter Deluca) c. 2002. Great crew...miss them all.

Christmas Begins With Christ

2008-12-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14 written c. 758 BC)

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. " (Micah 5:2 written c. 710 BC)

"A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more." (Jeremiah 31:15 written c. 600 BC)

Here's the Christmas story told with three of over three hundred Old Testaments prophecies regarding the coming of Jesus Christ. The first was completed when Jesus was born from a virign, Mary (Matthew 1:18-25). The second was his birth in a small town of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1). And the third was fulfilled when the Magi didn't report back to Herod the Great where the child was born. Fearing the throne will be taken away from him by the Messiah, Herod ordered the slaughter of all male children two years old and under. By this time, Jesus was taken to Egypt by his earthly parents, Joseph and Mary (a fulfillment of another prophecy). The probability of one being fulfilled in one man is 1 in 10 million. The probability of eight being fulfilled is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. It blows me away that the probability that over three hundred prophecies being fulfilled in one man are incomprehensible. The birth of Jesus Christ is truly the hinge in human history! Fulfilling the old covenant and ushering us to the new, from BC to AD! For two thousand years, no Herod "can put the God man down". Amazing.

May the true meaning of this season be with you all. Merry Christmas and have a wonderful new year!

Paintings are all done in PS.

Beauty & The Beast

2008-11-18T21:31:00.001-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
A different take on Belle and the Beast. We we're at the dental clinic for my daughter yesterday morning and they were showing this favorite film of mine which I haven't seen for a while. Got inspired and thought that it would be refreshing to see a different take on it. Here it is all done in PS.

Dirigible

2008-11-05T02:06:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
Been busy helping out on our Hotel T. project here at Sony that's why I haven't posted for a few weeks. Anyway, here's an image of an airship that for some reason I kept seeing in my mind while driving home yesterday. So late last night, I grabbed my pen and did it in PS.

Pyramid...maybe?

2008-09-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

Equites

2008-09-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

©Armand Serrano.
This is a traditional painting I did back in 2002 for our annual union exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art during my Disney years. Equites were gladiators on horseback. Traditionally, they were the first ones to compete in games, rode a white horse and only fight their own kind. Oil on canvas 18"x24".

Falls

2008-08-26T22:44:00.002-07:00

Lizard Troop Revisited

2008-08-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

©Armand Serrano.
New images for an old personal project. Been revisiting my old story projects and looking into pitching one or two at the studio. I'm also thinking on the possibility of compiling them into a book together with all the artworks. We'll see.

Aqueduct

2008-08-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

©Armand Serrano.
Another sleepless night last night so I decided to doodle in photoshop that turned out to be an aqueduct.

Doodles

2008-07-29T21:38:00.001-07:00

2008-07-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is a bit different than my usual post. I'll be sitting in as drummer for my friend's alternative band HiRise for their show this Saturday (since their drummer is on a business trip...but hey who knows...). Anyway, anyone who's in the Long Beach area and up for some good coffee, live music ( and good hookah if you're into it ), you're invited. Admission is free and all ages are welcome. I'll try to post some videos of the show next week (if they turn out good).

Surf's Up - Designing Big Z Beach

2008-06-13T14:55:00.001-07:00

All Images ©Sony Pictures Animation.
Designing Surf's Up's "North" beach where Big Z lives was one of earliest tasks I had to undertake in the film and evolved through different designs. Here are some of them. Above is the approved sequence illustration for the "feel" on how Cody sees the place for the very first time. Cody character on the foreground was done by Sylvain DeBoissy.

Here's one of my favorite shots in the film. I designed the extreme down shot from Cody's POV on the cliff before he went down to the beach.

Now this one is the earliest aerial shot I did in order to map out the beach based from different story beats. The tall waterfalls on the left was supposed to be a sacred pond where Cody has to do his "karate kid" moment with Big Z and climbs to the top. Also if you notice right on the middle is a bluff where big Z does his beach chanting and be "one" with the waves. On top of a hill are two openings on the ground with smoke coming out which are the lava tube entrances. Towards the right is the main beach where Big Z's house (the huge banyan tree) and boardshack (bent palm) are located. Lastly, at the very tip of the island on the right is a surfboard shaped rock where Big Z is supposed to reveal himself to Cody.

Above are very early design explorations for his beach. Notice Big Z's pad and boardshack on the first two images. The third one are thumbnails to find the right shapes.

These last five images are the final approved design for the beach. Notice the sacred pond is still there. It was taken out later in production. Last two are elevations showing how rocks at the north shore used to form one huge monolith and eroded through the years. Enjoy.

Volcanic Eruption

2008-05-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

©ArmandSerrano.
Always had the urge to draw a volcanic eruption. So late last night, I had the chance and here's it is. All in PS.

Animation Book Look 2008 and Aardman

2008-05-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

I will be at the Animation Book Look 2008 for book signing together with Sony colleagues Marcelo Vignali, Paul Lasaine, Richie Chavez, Ron Lukas, Mike Kurinsky, Chris Buck, and Chris Jenkins on May 17th. For more information, click here.

Last week, I wrapped up a gig with Aardman Studios in their temp studio here in Venice Beach. Sony had me on loan for a whole month and it was quite an experience. I had the pleasure of working with director Sarah Smith and her Aardman team, topnotch visdev talents George Hull and Francois Audouy, and a good old friend from my Disney days, Scott Caple. The last time I saw Scott was eleven years ago when we were working in Mulan. Hopefully next time we meet again will be sooner than that, right Scott? Photo above was taken during our "wrap" lunch. Left to right: myself, George, Peter, Alice, Francois, Sarah and Scott. Btw, I have links to George and Scott's sites here in my blog.

Proud Daddy Ad

2008-04-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you have the Graco Baby catalog, You'll see my daughter Ella's photo on page 48. You can also view the online catalog here just for this month.

Another Sci-Fi Doodle

2008-03-24T21:44:00.001-07:00

Sci-Fi Doodles

2008-03-10T05:55:00.001-07:00

©Armand Serrano
I've been painting in PS a lot at work lately. So while in that mode, I tried to continue painting at home (whenever I find time which was normally either 12 midnight or 5 am!)) and do some more practice pieces. Sci Fi was the chosen theme and here're my doodles from last week. By the way, for the next six weeks, I'll be busy working on a new feature film here at Sony in collaboration with Aardman Animations. Definitely looking forward to this venture and I'll try to continue posting as much as I could during those weeks.

Lilo & Stitch Layouts

2008-02-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

Digging the archives again, I came across my old Lilo & Stitch BG layouts which I'd like to share. Above is a shot of Lilo's house done in prismacolor and velum. Notice the tape mark I used to stretch the bg dates the artwork back to the pre-photoshop era.

Above is one of my favorites. The simpler the shot, the more challenging to make it interesting since there's litttle to play with. I was asked not only to lay this one out but also to design the the book cover. This is the only time this book is going to be seen on the screen so it has to be very clear for a one second shot. I did a couple of designs and this was the one I was happy with. Remember, this was pre-PS days so I have to do do the fonts by hand. Done in graphite on paper and the same goes with the rest of the artworks below.

Again, above are two layouts that were simple but challenging. For those of you into 2D, the front door was a 24 fld vertical pan setup. The 5000 peg mark can still be seen on the left hand border.

This is a layout of a street corner from a deleted scene. The painted bg turned out so nice that the directors decided to include it in the Wynona Judd song montage sequence at the end of the movie.

I never expected this one to be a favorite of mine when I was working on it because of the shot's "simplicity". This layout was painted by the "master", Xiangyuan Jie (Check my link to his site, it's amazing). Click here to see the painted version online.

A couple of my warm up design sketches before production kicked in. All images in this posting are ©Disney.

Big Bear and Third Day Concert

2008-02-22T08:49:00.001-08:00

I took advantage of the President's day weekend and took a couple more days off to take a long overdue vacation. Since I celebrated my birthday two weeks ago, my family decided to spend a couple of days at a cabin up in Big Bear here in California to catch the last snow of the season. It was sunny and beautiful. No celphones and internet but I brought the very essential Xbox 360 and spent until 3:30 am playing Halo 3 and Ghost Recon 2. Photo above was taken from the patio of our cabin facing north overlooking Big Bear Lake.
Then to conclude my "birthday vacation", my wife Bing bought us tickets to one of my favorite Christian rock bands, Third Day at the House of Blues in Sunset Strip, Hollywood. They definitely rocked the house and there were also moments when they turned HOB into a sanctuary of worship. Awesome. For those of you in Florida, they will have a concert at the House of Blues at the Downtown Disney in Lake Buena Vista on February 29. Check thirdday.com for more concert details.
Anyway, it was a good time off...now I'm back to work.

Surf's Up - SURFBOARDS Part 2

2008-01-13T23:45:00.002-08:00

My friend Simon Rodgers (Sim-R) already warned me to post something or else... So here's my second installment on the Surfboard design for Surf's Up which by the way is nominated for Oscar Awards in two weeks for best animated film together with Ratatouille and Persepolis. Again, this is a surfing movie and it's a privilege to be the one to design the surfboards for the entire film.

Tank's approved surfboard above came a long way. Looking at these designs below, using his tatoo patterns and very fancy colored boards were tried. But the simpler "Jaws" motif was decided to be the best route to go.

The Japanese surfer's board was a hoot. I started with the obvious - Japanese WW2 patterns. I thought I hit the homerun till our senior 3d visdev modeler, Takao, said this could be very offensive to our Japanese friends. So I went for the high tech penguin version of a surf board which the directors liked. The characters painted on the board (which ended up on the big screen) means "Hannah Rules" - Hannah is my oldest daughter.

We have an Australian dude named Rory which the board design was based from aboriginal tribal patterns on boomerangs.

Last one on the list was the Brazilian surfer whose board has a shark bite. I love how it ended up on he big screen when art director Ron Lukas added loose shark teeth still embedded on the board.

Surf's Up - SURFBOARDS Part 1

2007-12-17T00:31:00.000-08:00

One of the most exciting tasks I was given in Surf's Up was to design the surfboards (all except for one, the ice board which was designed by my good friend Marcelo Vignali). Here's my first installment showing designs for the Shrine, Geek/Big Z, Cody, Lani, Chicken Joe and the generic competition (Reggie's) boards. All my board designs are completely done digitally in color with suggested textures using photoshop on top of backgrounds painted by Paul Lasaine, Joty Lam and Noelle Triaureau and characters by Sylvain DeBoissy. All images ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Above: What's left of the surfboard from Big Z's "accident" were put together and turned it into a shrine. Below: My concept for the Big Z board that was used in the film was it's a part of him being "one" with the board. So I used the same flower pattern on his body for the design on his board and it worked.

These next concept designs for Big Z's old boards are based from long boards and patterns used in the 30's-40's. Somehow, long boards for me, signifies age, experience and stability which are what Big Z was all about.

Cody's board has to be plain and simple to stand out and since he built it from scratch with Big Z from a log.

For the earlier concept designs, I used the pointed short board for Cody to show his restless personality and speed.

You'll notice that for Lani, I used a pattern from one of Big Z's shrine concept boards above which has the typical Polynesian "Lilo & Stitch" feel. She uses a medium board which for me signifies a combination of both speed and stability.

The first concept I had for Chicken Joe's "cornboard" was an actual sliced corn cobb that he uses as surfboard. Can you see the "hidden" liger underneath paying homage to his previous Napoleon Dynamite character.

Then for the one used in the film, I figured that since Chicken Joe lives in the backwoods, their surfboard design never changed through the years so the shape of his board was patterned from the old longboards with flat tips circa 1920's. Notice the hammer marks and nails sticking out on the deck.

Reggie is a very flashy, flamboyant promoter so the surfboards he issues to surfers have to reflect his personality. That's why they're painted with bright colors (has the plastic feel like Reggie's character) and has his logo (which is his face) on each one (for he's full of himself). Again short board is my choice to show speed and competition.

More surfboards to come and HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL...

An ArtRage Piece

2007-11-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

©Armand Serrano.
A few months ago, I posted my very first ArtRage piece, Well, I havent touched the software since till a couple of nights ago. I was talking to another artist in the studio how tedious and slow Painter software is. Well I got reminded of Artrage and decided to play around with it again. After a couple of hours of enjoyment, I'm so satisfied with the simplicity and ease of use versus the very complex Painter. The textures are working out fine and not to mention that it doesn't lag down even when I'm using a big brush. It has no fancy saturation, color balance, even brightness and contrast controls so it trains me to be sharp in choosing my values and colors. I'll be definitely using it more in combination with Photoshop for the new project I'll be art directing at the studio. It has my endorsement if you guys want to check it out. By the way, did I say it's only $25 bucks! This is the piece I did that night - I'd say 99% Artrage and 1% Photoshop (just for a slight tonal gradation).

More Tonal Sketches for Mulan

2007-11-07T16:51:00.001-08:00

©Disney.
Looking through a box full of my old artworks a.k.a my Disney "archive", I came across these tonal sketches I did way back for Mulan (I'd say at least ten years ago!). These are done in graphite, prismacolor and pantone cool gray markers on standard animation paper.

Canyon Country Fires

2007-10-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

You all have seen on the news the fires here in Southern California. I live in Canyon Country and had a first hand experienceof some of the scary moments during this buckweed incident that started rapidly Sunday afternoon. We were not evacuated but had to stand by just in case. The first five photos were taken from my backyard Sunday night. We're looking at the Whites, Plum and Sand Canyons which are approximately only 3-4 miles away from where I live. Last two were taken yesterday. That's Saugus area near Castaic. Fortunately, it's quiet now on our front but let us all continue to hope and pray for many whose lives and properties are directly affected by this calamity.

Locals Luau/Surf's Up DVD and Blue Ray out!

2007-10-08T23:07:00.001-07:00

©Sony Pictures Animation.
It's here! For those of you who haven't seen Surf's Up yet, here's your chance to do so. The Surf's Up DVD and Blue Ray discs are finally out Tuesday, October 9th. In line with the release, here are a couple of artworks from the movie titled "Locals Luau". The first one is the concept art where the luau is happening inland away from the beach. Notice the "Lady and the Tramp" moment between Cody and Lani. But instead of spaghetti, they're eating a squid of course. The local inhabitants of the island are having a luau mixed with dolphin rodeo and a carnival (sort of like the LA County fair penguin style) on the background. The second one is an overview if it's happening by the beach and more commercialized. Unfortunately, this sequence was on till halfway through production then the directors decided to take it out. Anyway, enjoy the movie.

Norseman Using ArtRage

2007-09-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Convinced by my friend Simon Rodgers, who's I'm sure having a great vacation as we speak in his hometown in Ireland, I finally purchased ArtRage. I'm impressed by the paint textures, the simplicity and ease of use as compared to Painter (and not to mention the price). This was a half an hour quickpaint cocktailed with a slight Photoshop. Great software.

"Murmillo" / Marcos Mateu

2007-09-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

Finally an artwork as promised. Can't sleep one night so I decided to do something. I saw an old sketch I was planning to paint a long time ago. It was inspired by an old 50's epic film titled "Demetrius and the Gladiators" starring Victor Mature. That film was the sequel to the classic "The Robe", the very first film shot in cinemascope with Richard Burton and Jean Simmons. Both are part of the list of films I love to watch when I was a kid (hey, only re-runs on Holy Week, I'm not that old!) and inspired me to work in the industry. Finally after a long wait, I was able to paint it, not in oil (thank goodness no mess!), but in Photoshop in three and a half hours. The painting depicts a Murmillo (with an Ernest Borgnine physique) entering the arena facing the uncertainty of survival. Love this historical subject when I was a kid.
On another note, my very good friend MARCOS MATEU is moving back to Dreamworks. Last Friday was his last day at Sony and honestly, it hasn't sunk in yet that he won't be at the studio when we go back to work on Monday. It's definitely different for me and my friend Marcelo. Marcos is incomparable and I've never met any other artist with such caliber. Definitely I echo how Marcelo described him in his blog - a virtuoso! Marcos gave this Roman drawing to me during our first few days working together in Surf's Up while jokingly talking about how to do production design in a live action movie. What a priceless learning experience for me working with him. All the best my friend.

Another Proud Daddy Ad Again

2007-09-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

If you picked up your newspapers this morning, more likely you came across this Old Navy flyer. It's my youngest daughter on the cover and it's national, too. She's also in Old Navy shops nationwide at the toddler section. Sorry guys, can't help it. I'll definitely post an artwork soon.

A "Proud Daddy" Ad Again

2007-08-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the Old Navy shop in Valencia yesterday and were greeted by my youngest daughter's ad on the toddlers' section for sweaters (she's the curly haired one on the left and right). She did a two-day shoot for this two months ago in Culver City and didn't expect for it to come out in stores till fall. Sorry guys but can't help to post another proud daddy ad. Take care you all.