APATHY

Watercolor painted in 1989.

HOBBITS!!!

It's been announced! If Jackson won't direct how about Cuaron?

METROPOLIS

AICN reports that Metropolis might be remade?
Will they remake it shot for shot including the lost footage?
or will it "improved"?

DANTE Study Two

ADDITIONAL BLOG

I added a new blog that focuses primarily on my Dante project with writer Lovern Kindzierski - I will be taking some of the older Dante related posts and placing them into that blog soon.

DANTE BLOG

DANTE TEST

Here's another test looking for the right approach for Dante's Inferno.
It's on the realistic side of things so I may back off from this style.
I'm still pondering my options at the moment.
This was painted in Photoshop.

Old Pic

Shot of actor Sam Rockwell kicking my ass on our rooftop training session for the film CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND directed by George Clooney.

Sam is one of the finest actors out there and even his short roles like the Batman parody clip is hilarious.

TOO SILVER

I'm testing out various paper stock for quick marker sketches. This image was to see how many layers I can add before the paper's "tooth" starts to fall apart, and how subtle a color will be picked up because the paper surface is somewhat translucent. The original was done in ten minutes and around 3 by 5 inches in scale.

C-3PO SKETCH CARD

C-3PO sketch card is up on ebay, it is the final original sketch card from my returned six that I did for TOPPs.

LIKE A THING OF IRON

INTERVIEW

JUSTIN GABRIE WIZARD INTERVIEW

Justin Gabrie, my editor on the recent WHAT IF... ANNIHILATION comic has an interview on the Wizard Universe website where he gives some back story on how I got involved with the issue.

SURFER STUDY

Rough for a color Silver Surfer illustration.

WHAT IF: ANNIHILATION

I did several pages of "enhanced pencils" for Marvel's WHAT IF: ANNIHILATION comic which goes on sale today. On the right is an isolated shot of Black Bolt and below it is a full page. I also got to design the Inhuman's ship on the bottom panel - what a fun project!



I share the pencilling in the book with talented newcomer Mico Suayan (MOON KNIGHT), with writing by David Hine (SPAWN, SILENT WAR) and colors by Paul Mounts.

David wrote a small description of the Watcher's machine being "kirbyesque" and that Reed Richards should have to adjust his body to the scale of the machine. So I drew Reed stretching and weaving around this complex non-earthling proportioned machine, his fingers straining to reach buttons on oddly shaped keyboards.

So check out the comic this week!

TUROK vs. BUFFY

I am reposting this Turok cover I worked on with my brother about ten years ago (The Turok cover was inspired from writer Fabian Nicieza's idea), because I spotted this BUFFY cover on the stands yesterday and it had some similarities. Quite flattering actually. What do you think?

Click here to read more about the TUROK cover

My one helpful hint in knife design is to make it functional. That extra curve facing out from the hilt would rip the knife wielder's index finger off.

MANY FACES OF BATMAN

The MANY FACES OF BATMAN is a website devoted to collecting the artists who have illustrated the Dark Knight.
I've only illustrated one BATMAN comic (LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT 124) way back, but am always surprised to see samples from that issue get noticed.

LOTR 2006 SKETCH CARDS

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

TIGER WENT TIGER!

Loved that Chris Rock line - this sketch was done from a screencap taken from footage by one of our martial arts students who works with large animals. When I was working on the JOHN CARTER of MARS pre-viz, I wanted to get some footage of big cats moving naturally for some of the creatures that would be involved like those Banths that are perched on the siege machine posted on 10/31/07. So he filmed them at very close range just playing and "going tiger".

T-MEN

Inspired by the classic film noir directed by Anthony Mann.

Barbarian Sketch

Quick color added in Photoshop over Pencil roughs.

CONCEPT GREEN MEN

Another concept sketch with the green men about to lay siege.

DRY BRUSH ROUGHS

Catching up on the blog world...
I like the quality of the Pentel color brush when it gets this drybrush texture.
It's very similar to drawing with the "side" of the pencil.
You can do very quick studies this way - stay focused on the gesture work instead of noodling the paper
to get a tighter image.

COVERAGE

The BEAT posted about the Tars concept art the other day.
You can check it out by clicking the link on the right.

Above are some weapon designs I did for the film.

TARS - CONCEPT ONE

Here are a couple of my armor designs for Tars Tarkas for the 2005 version of the John Carter of Mars film.
It incorporated makeshift protection from found objects and salvaged armor parts. I studied some of the Samurai and other tribal knot tying techniques and included them as a way to latch and bind various parts together with sinew, found textile or a kind of plant fiber.

DRAGON SWORD

Rough sketch for a pen and ink illustration.

TONAL STUDY EVOLUTION

This utilizes an ink drawing and a scan of hand- drawn grey marks. It differs from the previous computer generated tone studies. Several layers and custom brush additions help create an instant impressionistic urban landscape.

IMPERIAL

GUNCHOPPER

More tonal studies incorporating Illustrator gradients, P-shop erasing using custom brushes on multi- layered files.

ANATOMY STUDY

Focused on how the surrounding muscles of the thighs respond to weight, and how that could be interpreted without much rendering involved. For example, if the figure is running, both legs may be slightly bent at certain phases, but one would not be touching the ground (no weight) and the other leg would take the brunt of the stride's impact (weight).

TONE TWO

TONE TEST

Working on some test runs on an image I posted in my old blog. I'm using a tonal process that utilizes Illustrator and P-Shop.
More of these tests as they evolve.

SHADOWS OF THE VULTURE 02

SHADOWS OF THE VULTURE

A breakdown for the credit page of the unpublished Robert E. Howard tale "SHADOWS OF THE VULTURE", that I referred to earlier.

EYES

NOTORIOUS

Caught the film "The Notorious Bettie Page" starring the wonderful Gretchen Mol on cable the other day. Gretchen has a small part in the new version of 3:10 to Yuma.

Anyway, her portrayal of Bettie sparked this quick five minute doodle.
The "large" version is the actual size.

FOLKLORE

This creature is based on a Filipino myth about a female who is beautiful during the day, and then at night she turns into this bat-winged creature whose lower half is separated from her top, her entrails dragging from her core. I don't remember the name of the black and white movie that I saw when I was a child, but in it the good guys placed cloves of garlic on the lower half that the creature left behind. It kept the creature from ever forming whole again. So the lesson here is to always have large quantities of garlic around - especially if you are Filipino!

STUDY

This was a study for a Red Sonya piece that I was trying to get made with writer Roy Thomas for the now defunct Cross Plains Comics publishing company. We wanted to adapt an actual Robert E. Howard story depicting the original character, not the one created for Marvel. I drew up several images for that adaptation and did a significant amount of research on the costuming, structures and weapons of that era. That was probably what I got most out it in the long run. A true appreciation of the extraordinary work of painters like Jean Leon Gerome and other Orientalist artists. The objects owned by Suleyman the Great were also quite exquisite.

I sold the study at the recent HEROES CON in Charlotte, NC this summer, and decided to tweak it a bit in P-Shop, adding nuances of color. The focus of the study was the costuming, she is wearing thigh high boots of that era and the burgonet helm which covered much of her face. With the added loose apparel and weapons Sonya had on, it was easier to understand that she could pass as a male. The pose on the larger figure was to see if a feminine look could be pulled off just by her stance. I ended up scrapping the design of this helm and went with a much larger morion style head piece. I liked the morion's way of casting shadow on the face.

SWEAT BEADS

I missed this review from awhile back:

COMIC BLOC CONAN 39 REVIEW

What sparked this post was that the reviewer noticed this:

"The rest of the artwork is strong in and of itself, but what’s most important are those big moments—intense battles with otherworldly creatures where you can almost see the beads of sweat and blood glistening on our heroes. Kayanan nails those panels and it’s those images that stay with you after you’ve closed the book."

Being a detail nut and using up waaaaayyyy too much of the Cinema Display screen to enlarge a panel than I needed to - as you can surmise from the isolated progression above.
I literally did include the sweat and blood on those pages.
Although I wouldn't recommend that level of obsessiveness to anyone.

SKETCH

Found this unused cover sketch. Actual size.

ANATOMY TIP

From time to time I create these anatomy files for my personal reference.
They are tips or bits of information that I have acquired through the years which may not be included in most anatomy books.
Mostly form placement and the response of muscle structures to movement really fascinate me.

I have a ton of figure books from excellent artists, but these details are often overlooked because there are so much more basic
information that needs to be installed for a budding artist.

Some stuff may be irrelevant for most artists, but I like to draw them up so that I can always refresh my anatomy or even correct structural mistakes that I've made in the past.
They also offer me a great gauge of how much more I need to understand concerning the way the human figure functions.

I try not to get bogged down in anatomy jargon since there's more than enough sources that cover that area much better.

Lmk if this stuff is any value to you guys out there... maybe there's a book in the making here.
I have lots of these files in various stages of completion.

CONAN TPB

From Dark Horse Promos - I'm in GREAT Company:

Conan: The Blood-Stained Crown and Other Stories TPB

Writer: Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Cary Nord, Eric Powell, John Severin, Bruce Timm, Timothy Truman
Cover Artist: Cary Nord
Penciller: Rafael Kayanan
Colorist: Rafael Kayanan, Michelle Madsen, Dave Stewart
Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure


Eisner Award-winning writer Kurt Busiek teams up with some of the best artists and writers in this collection of stand-alone stories from Conan. In "Helm," Busiek and Fabian Nicieza write and EC Comics legend John Severin draws the story of Conan's famous horned helm. Renowned comics and animation artist Bruce Timm lends his styling to the darkly comic "Conan's Favorite Joke." Current Conan writer Timothy Truman takes pencil in hand as the Cimmerian's influence crosses generations in "Seeds of Empire" and "The Blood-Stained Crown." Goon creator Eric Powell draws the poignant story of a young and unsung hero in "Storyteller," Dark Horse's centennial tribute to Conan creator Robert E. Howard. And artist Rafael Kayanan returns to the world of Hyboria with "In the Tower of Tara-Teth," a gritty adventure set during the Cimmerian's years as a mercenary and pirate.

* Collecting issues #18, 26-28, & 39 of the Dark Horse Conan series.

Publication Date: Jan 30, 2008
Format: Full color, 128 pages, TPB, 7" x 10"
Price: $16.95
Age range: 16+
ISBN-10: 1-59307-886-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-59307-886-7

CHEWIE!

Quick announcement before I get to the subject above, there's a short article about my Star Wars sketch card work at LucasFilm's Star Wars website. Check it out!

Kayanan StarWars.com Interview



I posted this image earlier but I wanted to remind everyone that it is now on ebay for two more days.
All proceeds will go to an old friend from my high school art class who is going through some tough times.
She has to have a tumor removed and could use a helping hand.
So another good high school friend who knows all things STAR WARS is helping me with this auction.
She posted it while I was away this week so that we could lend a hand sooner rather than later.
So if you're a fan of my sketch cards - check out the link below!


Thanks!

CHEWIE benefit card on Ebay

WHITE APE

One of many unused concept sketches from my stint on John Carter of Mars.

ROUGH

Color coded rough for a page layout.

INFERNO

BOBA ON THE BAY

My first sketch card for the Star Wars 30th Anniversary is now up on ebay.

BOBA FETT card on Ebay

TEENLAND TWO

Another illustration for the book TEENLAND.

ALREADY DEAD

Used a Wacom Art Pen tool and Corel Painter over a pencil rough.

LIFE ON MARS

Quick color rough. Just threw down some marks which I will tweak in the next stages.

DEMON IN RED

Altered the hue and curves on this image to see what the blue demon would look like in reds.
He still ain't pretty.