Saturday, December 29, 2012

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Blast from the past: Fashion illustrations

Found these old color studies for some fashion paintings I'd dreamt up. Circa 2004!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Chernomor's Palace


A bit of PreViz for a project I'm working on. The wonderful concept artists I'm working with convinced me to put away my producing duties for the day, and join them creatively. I'm glad I did!

Inspired by the the Swallow's Nest castle in Ukraine.

Friday, October 12, 2012

October 12th


Today is the one-year anniversary of my move to San Francisco from New York City. And while I miss my East Coast friends dearly, the thing I miss the most about living in Manhattan is my stoop. I have three years of memories from that stoop at 262 West 24th Street.

My favorite thing to do was people watch from those four steps in Chelsea. I've had dozens of conversations with friends on that stoop, met some interesting strangers and even a few friends there. I've gotten in fights on those steps, had dinner or desserts there, kissed a few people, even dumped water on a gaggle of loud teenagers who had taken over "my spot." That stoop has seen me madly in love...and also consoled me when my heart was broken. I met my roommate David Studinski there, and waved goodbye to loved ones from the same spot.

From that stoop, I saw the balmy New York summers fade to crimson and orange-tinted falls. I've kicked snow off my boots there, and seen 24th Street explode with the confetti of spring-time blossoms.

New York is a magical city, especially once you've found "your place." A year without it, I've come to realize that stoop was mine.

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Succulent Garden

My mother pointed out that if you place snippets of succulents in water, they'll sprout roots and grow on their own. Here's my succulent windowsill garden.

Saturday, September 08, 2012

Sketch Day: Montery Bay Aquarium

This weekend, some of us Tea Time Animation Club members went down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We watched the otters, sketched, and enjoyed a beautiful day by the Bay.



On our way back up to San Francisco, we stopped at the historic Santa Cruz Boardwalk!



(back row: Shin Yi Huang, Lauren Kvalheim, Michelle Warthan, Brandon Nason, Keaton Tips, Mary Kate Dangoia, Jose Rodrigo Gandionco. front row: Rhonda Callahan, Miranda Middlewood, Frank-Joseph Frelier)

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Cabin! (Part Deux)

SUVUDU costume!

WOW! A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the lovely Shea Standefer, Star Wars artist and fan extraordinaire. Shea saw my Jaina Solo Stealth-X illustration on SUVUDU, and decided to add it to her repertoire of amazing Star Wars Expanded Universe costumes. I can't believe what an incredible job she did, especially considering she began work on the whole thing 10 days before Star Wars Celebration VI!



photos by Robert Gregg Barker.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Sketch Day: Tinsley Island

The Tincher family boat, as docked at Tinsley Island.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

SUVUDU: The Best Star-Pilots in the Galaxy...

One ordinary morning, I woke up to a message on Facebook. The opening line explained, "Maybe you're busy in the real world, but I was wondering if you'd like to do some official illustration work for the Star Wars franchise." Over the next few weeks, I worked with Paul Urquhart (co-author of Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare) to create illustrations for the SUVUDU Star Wars literature blog.

Today, I am proud to announce the illustrations have gone live! Head on over to SUVUDU to read about The Best Star-Pilots in the Galaxy...

I cannot explain how much fun the collaborative project was: digging through comicbooks, novels, and movie production photos to make sure that our character illustrations really felt authentically Star Wars. As two continuity nerds, we took pride in including as many subtle Expanded Universe nods as possible. Astute viewers may notice familiar insignia patches and helmet decals, or specific weapons as depicted in obscure West End Games guidebooks!


Take for example, this helmet. It was inspired by a single comic panel from the Prequel-era comic, The Stark Hyperspace War.


The body armor here is based on the closely related types worn by Dengar, General Veers, snowtroopers, and EU illustrations of Imperial Army troopers.


I actually used images of my father's percheron horses as inspiration for this Bothan, coupled together with a very complete description from Wedge's Gamble


Throughout the New Jedi Order, the Yuuzhan Vong have been described clad in crustacean crab armor, head to toe. But no other illustrations have depicted the helmet - a necessary accessory for a Star Wars pilot!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Sketch Day: Brown Estate

 
This weekend, Zach and I visited the lovely Brown Estate winery in Napa Valley. The President and Director of Operations were happy to let me sketch, and let us wonder the grounds of their incredible property. If you get the chance, you must go visit this beautiful winery, hidden in the hills outside Rutherford.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Sketch Day: Backyard


Roommate reading in the backyard.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Animation: Clever Girl

Here is my final project for Traditional Animation 1. The assignment was to create a 15-20 second animation with consideration to the 12 Principals of Animation. I always have "dinosaurs on the brain" and have been playing Britney Spears on repeat for the last six months. The story just evolved from there.


Nearly 600 drawings later, I'm finally DONE!


Rough story sketches.






Clever Girl - Animation from Frank-Joseph Frelier on Vimeo.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Grange


My lovely roommate commissioned me to create a painting for her design vignette at Grange. Make sure to check out Katherine Tincher's website!

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Sketch Book: Hulk


Guess who is seeing a midnight show?!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Monday, March 05, 2012

Friday, March 02, 2012

Endor


Went on a Marin Adventure!



Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

"I like your stump."


Happy Valentine's Day!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Sketch Day: Character Creation


Character Creation in Comicbook Club.

Sunday, January 15, 2012