Mike Luzzi Sketch Blog

New Blog Location!

2011-06-14T14:44:00.000-04:00

My New Blog

Hey guys,

Blogger has been very good to me for all these years, but I've decided to give Tumblr a shot. It seems to have some nicer features and I like that I can update from my iPhone through an app. I will keep this blog live for a while, maybe forever, but for now I am going to make new posts to luzzi.tumblr.com. I wanted to thank all you guys for the positive feedback and comments and I hope you can follow me over to my new blog as I really appreciate your support.

Thanks,
Mike

doodle punk

2011-04-21T16:19:00.000-04:00

Just a doodle I did at work between drawings

detective cartoon pitch

2011-03-24T18:50:00.000-04:00

Concept

2011-02-16T12:42:00.000-05:00

Family Designs

2011-01-18T11:43:00.000-05:00

Some designs I did for work...

iPad Sketch

2010-12-25T23:49:00.001-05:00

Playing around with my new iPad and my even newer Griffin stylus in Art Studio

Monster

2010-10-27T20:04:00.000-04:00

Was sketching around on the subway last night and came up with this guy. Drew him up again in PS today during some free time.

Final Westie Terrier

2010-09-27T18:06:00.001-04:00

Here is the final design for the rough I posted a while ago.

A Few Good Dogs... and Cats

2010-09-17T13:01:00.000-04:00

The campaign I am working on at my job has been calling for a lot of dogs in the spots lately, and a few cats. here's a sampling of the dogs and cats I have designed for this campaign.

Frogs

2010-04-27T23:43:00.000-04:00

Why I hate the wind...

2010-03-30T21:10:00.007-04:00

This is literally what it was like walking home today... I did this in my tiny sketchbook and really wanted to clean this one up because this happens every time it rains in the city. I feel like I have to use my umbrella as a wind/ rain shield and just block the insane sideways rain as i walk home. It's always like this, always blowing full force the opposite way I am going! Either that or I am moving so fast it seems that way. Hmmmm...

blob animation

2010-03-24T19:11:00.001-04:00

guns

2010-03-24T02:29:00.005-04:00

Oz

2010-03-15T19:00:00.003-04:00

This version of Oz is inspired by his return in "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz" which I recently read. I intend to do a lot more studies on him, so stay posted... I added a few more I did on the train on my way home... Also, here is a sketch of "the Shaggy Man"

Link

2010-02-11T19:03:00.001-05:00

Out of the archives...

2010-02-11T00:35:00.002-05:00

I dug these up from my college thesis film... Thought I'd post a real oldie...

Photoshop Pirate

2010-01-26T19:26:00.000-05:00

Messing around with some SWEET brushes in Photoshop...

Santa 09

2009-12-05T18:22:00.000-05:00

monster

2009-11-02T18:12:00.003-05:00

gorilla

2009-10-20T22:26:00.000-04:00

doodle

2009-10-19T19:13:00.001-04:00

Squeezed this doodle in just before sketchbook pro crashed on me

Rough Tom

2009-05-03T19:53:00.002-04:00

I posted this guy a while ago. Honestly, I kind of hate the way he came out. I really like the rough a lot better but he lost something in the color treatment I did. Maybe I will redo it in a new style or pallette. Here is the rough anyway.

Sparrow

2009-04-21T17:14:00.000-04:00

New Moon Sculpture

2009-04-15T23:44:00.004-04:00

Here is a sculpture I made for the New Moon show at My Plastic Heart. The opening was this last friday and the pieces are still on display if you can make it down there.

This was really my first serious attempt at sculpture and I have to say I had a pretty fun time making it. I really liked being able to make a character in a 3 dimensional medium. I fully plan on sculpting more in the near future and I already am sketching out my next piece.

The show was themed around the Chinese zodiac and we each had to choose a year. I chose the year of the pig and I had an idea to make him kind of a serious little guy but then also to make him a piggy bank with a chinese coin in his slot (you can't see it from this angle, but it's there.) Here are some rough sketches I made for him early on.

Vinny Revisited

2009-04-13T00:53:00.003-04:00

As I was in and out of sleep mashing the snooze on my alarm clock I was thinking about some visual ideas for an old character of mine. I got up (eventually) and grabbed a notepad and sketched them out. Here's what I've got.

Honestly, I have been thinking about revisiting some of the characters I used to draw in my youth as a bit of a personal excercise. So there may be more to come.

kids for BG

2009-03-26T16:42:00.007-04:00

a few more...

2009-03-25T17:09:00.005-04:00

British Gas Characters

2009-03-25T15:20:00.004-04:00

Here are some designs I did for a British Gas commercial.

Space Bat

2009-03-19T16:22:00.003-04:00

For those of you who don't know, a small bat hitched a ride to space on the side of the recent shuttle we sent up there...

Haircut

2009-03-06T08:54:00.001-05:00

click on mage for a closer view...

Mermaid variation

2009-03-04T11:09:00.003-05:00

Mermaids and Pirates

2009-03-04T00:58:00.004-05:00

Nick's Mug

2009-01-31T11:32:00.000-05:00

I made this caricature of my cousin Nick for his 30th Birthday.

Winter Coat Sketch 1

2008-12-31T02:07:00.002-05:00

Just a doodle I did of a guy in a winter coat...

The Happy Couple

2008-04-30T17:49:00.002-04:00

I did this little drawing for my future wife and my save the date cards. Thought I'd share it here.

McDreamy

2008-04-12T13:16:00.003-04:00

So Nintendo announced finally that they will be releasing Wii Ware titles this spring and this may mean that my long wait for a Dr. Mario sequel on the Wii will come to an end. Is there a doctor in the house? Soon there will be.

A Different Sawyer

2008-02-27T00:10:00.003-05:00

Been reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and I thought I'd do a quick one of Tom. I made this in Flash. I might do some more...

Winter Cleaning...

2007-12-01T23:33:00.000-05:00

So I have been trying to figure out why I have almost 800 GB of hard drive space eaten up (It is ridiculous) Anyway, lots of duplicate files. But while I was cleaning I came across some backgrounds I did for my old job. I remember, this was my first one I had to do. I had fun with it, on a few pages of animation bond taped together. Ha! Enjoy...

Freelancin'

2007-12-01T00:42:00.001-05:00

I am working on some freelance character animation and I was unhappy with the way it was going. So I scrapped the keys that took me hours to do and just drew out some new more gestural ones. Anyway, this is one I really liked. I loosened up and finally had some fun with it.

When I get a drawing like this it gets me excited to work through an animation.

(by the way, I left onion skin on so that is what you see in the bg)

PIGEONS!!!

2007-10-09T03:00:00.000-04:00

I was sketching some ideas out in my Moleskine this evening and I stumbled back on idea I had a while ago for a simple short about a do-gooder pigeon. I scanned the sketches and cleaned them up a bit in Sketchbook. I got the idea when I heard that the US Coast Guard actually uses pigeons to locate people lost at sea. Amazing what these birds can do, when you see them in the city you just think of them as a nuisance.

Iconic!

2007-09-27T14:37:00.000-04:00

Since the loss of Joe Camel, the smoking community at large needed a new icon. I am just trying to fill that void. I threw this together real quick in flash (as you can tell)

It's the truth, it's actual...

2007-09-07T17:37:00.000-04:00

Did this in sketchbook for a family trip to Disneyworld. I know it is corny but I had fun doing it.

A Look Back...

2007-07-31T15:41:00.000-04:00

I took a look back at some of the concept art that we drew while developing the characters for Disney's Little Einsteins and I found one of the character sketches I drew that was to become June. It was a printout, and the file is long gone, so I redrew it quickly to post up here. Anyway, some people have their own theories about June and I thought that this would be an interesting sketch to show. If she tested well with the kiddies this could have been the June we all know and love today.

A Matter of Practicality...

2007-07-18T17:14:00.000-04:00

So some of my colleagues and I veered onto the topic of measuring things not with rulers but with pineapples. Now, the real point of contention was whether we should remove the tops to measure or not. I made this little comic to illustrate why you should always remove the tops of your pineapples before using them to measure anything.

Jello-Bot Character Sketches

2007-07-16T17:54:00.001-04:00

Just some doodles of a character I came up with today. I would like to make some color treatments and try animating a sample of how I'd like this character to move. He is supposed to have a robot bottom and kind of a Jello mold top half to him... Hopefully more to come!

Neander-Baaah

2007-05-17T11:53:00.000-04:00

Here is a sketch I did for another Blog I contribute to. I did this in Sketchbook Pro. Pretty happy with it overall, tried to work in some different design elements. Anyway, enjoy!

Big Baah, Mountain Man!

2007-05-11T14:48:00.000-04:00

Here is a doodle I did a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

Arriverderci Venice!

2007-05-11T12:49:00.000-04:00

Here is a pic of the piece I made for the Skate Deck show this coming Monday. I was trying to have a kid being pulled home from a Carnivale festival in Venice. The buildings are in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. I Spraypainted the blue and the magenta behind the confetti and the rest I painted by hand with Cel Vinyl.

More Board Sketches

2007-05-02T01:32:00.000-04:00

I forgot how much nicer it is to sketch around on paper than on a cintiq. Especially when it comes to conceptual work. I still am not so comfortable in the computer that I can work my ideas out there. Here are a few more parts to my skate deck I am trying to do.

Tidbit

2007-04-22T20:17:00.000-04:00

I am attempting to make a piece for an art show featuring Skateboard Decks painted by various artists to the theme of Carnival. I don't want to show my whole idea just yet, but here is a small piece of it (in a very early rough idea phase). I will keep updating my progress. I hope to start painting this weekend (hopefully)

Nano Kong

2007-04-17T17:59:00.000-04:00

I was messing around the other day and drew this little sketch. I know I haven't posted in an extremely long time, but I promise that more posts are on the way. In the meantime enjoy "Nano Kong."

Little Sketch

2006-12-27T23:45:00.000-05:00

So I was doodling around in sketchbook and I came up with this. I kinda have come to dislike my avatar so I made this for that purpose. 2 minute doodle.

Last Coloring Book Page (phew!)

2006-12-22T18:06:00.000-05:00

I have to give a big thanks to Kano for his help. I was having trouble getting through the last few pages on this freelance job, but with a little advice from Kano, I got it done. Thanks man!

One Quick Santa

2006-12-11T22:45:00.000-05:00

I took a break and sketched out some quick santas in sketchbook. Here's my favorite. I decided to "ink" and color it, and I wound up doing just black white and red. Oh well, you know what they say about imitation, Kano.

Haunted Mansion Re-Post

2006-12-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

So I just got back from a trip to Disney World. Here is a skecth I did of the Haunted Mansion, I may fiddle with it in sketchbook if I have time, maybe add some color. I had to re-post this due to spam.

Happy HoWiiDays!

2006-12-09T14:07:00.000-05:00

I am kind of Wii crazy this year and I have wanted to make my own Holiday cards for the last few years now, but never did. Here is my fist one ever! Anyway, I went through a few versions where I had elves lined up on the sides with black eyes and fat lips saying something like, "Watch out for Santa's tennis swing!" or something like that, but ultimately I didn't think the joke read and I didn't think that injured elves were very festive so I stripped them out and stuck with just the Santa. The final Caption on the card read "Santa may be a Wii bit late this year..." Enjoy your holidays!

Lame-O

2006-11-10T02:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I have been very lame not to post anything lately. I have been very busy with freelance, but I shoudl still have found some time to post. Here is a quick little self portrait i freehanded in Sketchbook. I have basically only used the pencil tool in sketchbook up until now. I would like to try to experiment a bit more with the other tools. Anyway, here you go! I will post more soon.

Maya Bug

2006-08-22T02:12:00.000-04:00

Maya Movie Link

So I know I have not posted in a while. I have been sketching, just nothing good enough to show. Here is something I did in Maya a while ago in a class I took. First time I ever used it. I would like to learn how to model better and then really play around with the app. I was considering doing the Jamacian Sheep short in 3D... we will see....

Old Drawings

2006-07-24T23:43:00.001-04:00

Ok, this is cheating because these are not new drawings, but here are a few. One is of a Jamacian Sheep for a short I am working on. Another is just a doodle of a pillbug I did in Sketchbook one night.

Louweegeee!

2006-07-05T01:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I was playing New Super Mario Bros. on my DS and I thought I would try to do some Luigi sketches in different styles. Here's my favorite one.

New Blog

2006-07-05T01:26:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I starting a sketch blog. The idea is to get me drawing more on my personal time. I will try to add new posts as often as I can. I'm hoping for once a week but we will see.