Speedpainting - Rocker Frank

This is Rocker Frank. The Badassery Studios mascot. For the new year we decided to move out studio in a different direction so along with that we had a full website makeover including a new mascot. Check out BadasseryStudios.com. Were gonna be doing some awesome stuff. 

Comic - White Smoke

I've been wanting to share some pages of a comic I worked on for a while, but haven't been able to til now. I do want to talk a little bit about this comic because it's unique and very cool.

Did you ever play that game where someone starts a story, and you go around the room and people add their own part to the story creating a big, fun spontaneous story? Imagine doing that with a comic. That's what Simon Lindenthaler decided to start with his comic White Smoke. He started a story and a few other artists have chimed in over time, including myself.

I first heard about White Smoke from my fellow artist friend, and member of my studio, Robert Barnett. He had done pages 7-10. Soon after, another member of my studio, Anthony Salinas, jumped on and did pages 11-15. And I followed their example doing pages 16-19. My art has improved a lot since I actually did these pages, but they were still a lot of fun to do :).

Simon Lindenthaler's brain is a factory of creativity and I think White Smoke is a brilliant idea. I was glad to participate and hope many others do as well. Check out the rest of his work as well at www.simonwl.com.

Click the White Smoke logo below to read the comic.

Fanart - Hero of Time

I'm hosting a challenge over on my DeviantART. Redesign a Nintendo character so that his design would work in an M Rated PS3 game, while still keeping the character recognizable to fans. I always thought the Nintendo designs were a little too kid friendly. I grew up with Nintendo and I loved the games, but a part of me wishes Nintendo grew up with me. Games got more realistic as far as story and art goes. But Nintendo kept the same games, the graphics never improved and the gameplay was essentially the same. Which is great, don't get me wrong. Fans don't like change. This is why I did this challenge though. I wanted to see what Nintendo characters would look like if they evolved with the times the way Metal Gear Solid did.

I chose Link from The Legend of Zelda because while he is a cool character, he's too fairy-like. I wanted to put him in more of a Skyrim type of world so I based his design around that. A little more practical and real, while still leaving a few elements so you know it's Link. The gameplay and story would be essentially the same, but the look and graphics would be amped up if this were to actually happen. I actually did a lot of research into The Legend of Zelda so I could keep this true to his character and keep the fans happy while still changing his design and taking away his hat.

I'll admit though, in real life you could never change Link's design. Or any other popular character for that matter. This was just for fun. And I did have a lot of fun with it.

Here's an animated step by step process of my Hero of Time painting.

Pinup - Hell Paso

For those who have been following me for about 2 years now know I worked on a comic series called Hell Paso with Ricky Martinez, Arturo Delgado, Dany Morales, and Jaime Portillo. I honestly can't believe that was almost 2 years ago that I started that book.

Anyways, Hell Paso is the reason Badassery Studios was started. So Ricky and I are paying tribute to Hell Paso with some cool art. Here's mine. Ricky's is sick. About 15 hours of work. Ton of details.

"The Story Of Dallas Stoudenmire"
El Paso 1881. Corruption runs rampant, crime and violence is high, and El Pasoans are scared. Who can turn this city around? There is only one man who can, and his name is Dallas Stoudenmire. "Hell Paso" will be tamed!

You've heard of famous Western lawmen such as Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, and Wild Bill Hickok. Now discover the El Paso marshal named Dallas Stoudenmire, the one man who had the courage to tame the most violent city in the Wild West. Read the greatest western time has forgotten, and learn why the city earned its nickname: Hell Paso. Hell Paso: The Story of Dallas Stoudenmire is a six issue limited series based on actual events from El Paso's Wild West history. *Recipient of a prestigious grant from the Wild West History Association (HTTP://WILDWESTHISTORY.ORG).

HELL PASO: THE STORY OF DALLAS STOUDENMIRE TM and ©  Jaime Portillo. All Rights Reserved.. All rights reserved.

Check out the Hell Paso series here

Stuff from 2010 (excuse the suckiness)