Tea Goddess

Wow, it's been quite some time since my last post! Suffice to say this year has been a busy one. This is a piece I've done for Charlene Wang, a good friend of mine who for the past year has also been keeping busy with a great new venture in China that takes the best of the ancient art of fine tea making and social enterprise and brings you a delicious tea that also helps train and employ woman. http://tranquiltuesdays.com In addition to the beautiful teas that Tranquil Tuesdays provides she also supports the amazing local artists of Jingdezhen, the porcelin crafting capitol of China for the past 1000 years, by showcasing their fine tea ware. I had the pleasure of being her very first client as she provided custom tea tins as party favors for my wedding, the graphics of which I guest designed. These are also on her site to check out here: http://tranquiltuesdays.com/files/2010/11/Jon-and-Nanae-Tea-Tins.jpg. Anyway, I'm proud of her and looking forward to seeing her products stateside.

Stark Jet

All Images Copyright Marvel Entertainment, LLC, 2010

We were going to see this thing hit low low orbit and go zero G Virgin Galactic style when Tony had to make a quick trip from Cali to Washington, but for what I'm sure were many reasons it didn't make it in. Anyway, fun stuff! The final interior was designed by Nathanial West.

Hall of Armor

All Images Copyright Marvel Entertainment, LLC, 2010

Good times. This started as an extension of the 3d holo system that Tony uses to design his toys throughout the film. One idea was that in this film you would get to see how the suit was assembled and disassembled through the awesome apple-esque work surface that covers Tony's entire garage. Michael Riva envisioned the suits on display in a clean black room at the back of the garage. Tony would walk in where a rush of air coming up from the grated floor would bring your attention downwards where you would realize that the Hall of Armor goes down another level or so. When activated one of the suits would lower through the floor on a cartridge delivering it to the machinery that disassembles it to be built onto Tony at the other end of the garage. You would see all this happening through the holographic interface covering the floor.

Jon Favreau eventually ended up going with the much simpler version--shown at top--that made it to the film.

Suitcase Suit

Image Copyright Marvel Entertainment, LLC, 2010

My small contribution. So many people took a crack at the function this thing and it came out great in the end. I had my go after an all nighter doing one of many revisions for the Hall of Armor. Ryan Meinerding was the wizard that designed the look of the suit, George Hull the actual suitcase, while my crude mock up for deployment served to guide the fx crew as they figured out how the thing was actually packaged and clasped together.

Stark Home

All Images Copyright Marvel Entertainment, LLC, 2010

Stark Expo

There were many buildings designed of which their placement in the expo was constantly in flux. I kept this image and the one above it clear and ready for an buildings on the site, but the idea of this very large split-domed pavillion got dropped and so they never got filled in.

This is an earlier version of the Stark Expo, which was then called the Roxxon Pavillion. The scale got a little too grand and I had to pull back.

All Images Copyright Marvel Entertainment, LLC, 2010

Lots and lots of buildings. Several artists attacked this large project in preproduction including Mark Goerner, George Hull, Nathanial West, Darren Doctherman and many more in post. They were highly diverse in style as they were representative of many countries and companies...not that you could tell with how fast they zoomed by. Mark Goerner and I did a lot of work for Tony's expo which happens to be a building that still exists from New York's 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows.

Iron Man 2!!!

Image Copyright Marvel Entertainment, LLC, 2010

Director: Jon Favreau

Production Designer: Michael Riva

To late?? Ok, this time it's really been a while. I apologize to anyone that has been checking the blog every so often only to be sorely disappointed by my lackluster updating practices. I won't get into excuses, but will say that there is lots of work I did for the Iron Man 2 movie that I can finally show.

I came onto the film initially to work on buildings for the Stark Expo. There were many slated for what was then to be a retro-futuristic re-imagining of Howard Stark's expo '74. It was a rigorous learning experience working with Production Designer Michael Riva who was ever energetic, inventive, kind and demanding. I definitely had to kick it up a notch to satisfy a loaded pre-production schedule in which a wide range of ideas were on the table; all of which had to be visualized to be a more relevant part of the conversation. There was a prescribed menu of work dictated by the script, but every once in a while there was the fun "what if we did this?" I worked on a wide range of designs for the movie and of course there were some that never made it to the screen as a three hour run time is frowned upon. Some of the designs I was fortunate enough to work on were significant to the story, some were not and didn't make the cut. I enjoyed creating all of them regardless.

Goodbye My Friend

On Norm Schureman

It's been over a week now and some things have run their course with the shock of hearing about Norm's passing. I just wanted to say some words of thanks for a man who always put me on the spot and beckoned me with a hearty smile to meet and surpass my potential. I was lucky enough to have taken two of his classes at Art Center and TA'd for two more. The short time I spent sketching with him were some of the most formative in my life as a designer and an artist. He was a kind and generous adventurer; the kind of guy you wish was your uncle. To my great fortune he treated me like family though I was only one of his many students. This was not only a matter of him taking a liking to me, but it was just the way he treated people. This was evident at the many get togethers he held at the house always populated by students and friends. He was as generous in sharing a beer as he was in sharing his home, his family, or his time. I will always hold a very dear place for Norm and his family in my heart.

Wedding Gift

Ages 9 & Up

Design from the inside out. This isn't the most thorough study of a nonextistant machine, but it was just a start in order to get the juices flowing with a pen again. I'm always enthralled by great mechanical design like what you might have seen in Akira and Ghost in the Shell--and in any number of anime films for that matter. It's been a challenging skill I've wanted to develop for some time so I'll put up more from as it comes.

Mecha: Form & Mechanical Studies

Vehicle Dump

The Return 2.0

A few quick thoughts on some other units based on the fantastic District 9 Mech design done by Greg Broadmore and Weta Digital that could fit into a sequel.