California Trees

One thing that I have found to be particularly inspiring  in california is the vegetation. I am constantly surrounded by trees that are full of gnarled twisted shapes and bizarre formations, the likes of which I have never seen before. As opposed to vegetation on the the east coast, where the roots of plants are always hidden, it seems there is little definition between gnarly roots and the fantastic trunks of some of these trees..and that is the inspiration for this drawing. Enjoy!

Evening Delivery...and a few words on creativity

Heres a fun little sketch I completed this evening..it was inspired by a photo I saw on Instagram of an old car.

As I mentioned previously, I have recently relocated across the country. In addition to needing a change of pace and some new surroundings, the move has also enabled me to clear my artistic palette and start again from scratch. I find that in this modern age of technology we spend so much time browsing the internet...tumblr..Instagram...blogger etc, we are constantly absorbing a massive amount of visual material subconsciously. Part of my relocation has also been electing to completely abstain from viewing blogs and websites of fellow artists. Not because I am not interested in what other people are doing, but because I need to remember who I am as an artist. I started to feel like I was putting too much of what I saw from everyone else into my own work and I was losing what makes me original. So it has been about 6 months since I've looked at any art material online other than my own and I finally feel like I am at a point where the work that I am creating is truly my own. I am currently working to revamp my entire body of work, and will hopefully have lots to share as I continue to hit the reset button. I'd encourage everyone to do the same thing once in a while, it feels great. :)

More to come soon!

Workshop Sketch

Hello blog world! I hope some of you still check my blog, I have been away from the blog world for a very long time but rest assured I am returning! As some of you may know, over the last few months I have been carrying out some very exciting changes. I am now living in the Bay area in California, and am also currently working on redesigning an entire new website and body of work. Stay tuned for more artwork, studio shots, and some very exciting news! Im also now posting work on tumblr and twitter, please follow @isaacorloff !

Cup O' Doodle Collaboration

Final render by me

Original Sketch by Ian Abando :----> go to his link!

The shape the sketch was based off of

Step by step digital paint

Cup O' Doodle Submission

For any of you that haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend heading over to the Cup O Doodle blog, it is a great place where artists come together to get inspiration from scribbly lines! Here is my latest piece for the blog, I hope you like it! Click here to visit Cup O' Doodle

Digital Painting Step by Step

Here is a step by step breakdown of my process for one of my recent pieces. Sometimes I like to let the mood define the piece, there are other times when I start with a much tighter sketch, but I like this way of working and it has its own place in my work flow. If you I get a good response from this post I will make an effort to keep track of more works as they come to life, so let me know what you think!

                                                        A reposting of the final

And here is a sketch that I haven't posted on here yet! Thanks for stopping by!

Character Doodles

Been a little while since I've doodled some characters. Hopefully some more tomorrow!

CTN Wrap Up

CTN Wrap and Animation Collaborative

 Last weekend was the infamous CTN animation expo. I was lucky enough to meet so many new artists, and reconnect with some great talent from all over the world. I counted at least 8 different countries represented at CTN this year which is for sure a new record. Theres too many for me to name here but I have added at least a dozen or so new links to my links section, please be sure to check them out if you are looking for some inspiration! CTN is an outstanding source of inspiration and networking, but if you are lookin' for a good ol' fashion schoolin' then you are in luck, the new Animation Collaborative is a great resource and it is taught by all working professionals from PIXAR. Check out their website for more info ASAP. Click here to find out more info

 Chris Oatley Paperwings Podcast 

 The podcast I was interviewed on was finally released! Here is the link for the podcast, please give it a listen especially if you are an up and coming artist in any field of illustration. I was lucky enough to be accompanied by the wonderful Betsy Bauer, Elsa Chang, Sarah Marino, Natalie Hall, and Jessie Greenberg on the pod cast, and everyone had some great insight on ways to approach starting a career in animation.

Click Here to listen to the Podcast


Twitter
 
 And just in case I wasn't clobbering you over the head with enough social media, I am now on Twitter. Please follow me @IsaacOrloff. Feel free to ask me questions or anything you like about the podcast and I will respond as quick as I can! And Last but not least...

 CITYVILLE 2 

 As some of you may know, I have been working at the video game company ZYNGA for nearly 2 years now. Most of the work I have done has been kept under wraps, but recently our game was released into the wild! Here are a few screenshots courtesy of the World Wide Web. I contributed mostly to the look and feel of the game and handling nearly all of the concepts for the buildings in the game. I know social games aren't everyone's cup o' tea..but hopefully some of you out there will check it out. Stay tuned for some more exciting news in the very near future.

CTN is around the corner!

What if stray dogs were all alien spies? This is one my prints that will be available this coming weekend at CTN Expo! I will be exhibiting next to the wonderful Tuna Bora and Elsa Chang at table T47! Please come by for a visit and check out my work, I will also have sketch cards and books! Just look for the big banner of my blue truck.

Podcast Interview with Chris Oatley Some other exciting news, this week I will be featured on a podcast which some of you may be familiar with. Chris Oatley of "chrisoatley.com" interviewed myself and several other up and coming industry professionals about our experience breaking into the industry of animation and and tips we may have for those of you who are trying to do the same! When it comes out i will post the link here, or better yet you can subscribe @ www.chrisoatley.com, he has plenty of advice to go around and I highly recommend his site for anyone looking for tips on their portfolio. Annnnnd in case you haven't seen the previous posts about it, please "like" my facebook artist page! www.facebook.com/isaacorloffartist

My desk is starting to feel like...

Spending a lot of time sitting at this...

But I wish I was sitting in this....