Nothing new to see here...

Sorry for the lack of posts everyone. I've been super busy at work and raising my son. I manage to squeeze in little things here and there but the meat of my work won't be available for public consumption until 2011(!) when the game I'm working on for Bethesda is released. I'll post anything I can in the meantime...

Speaking of which here's an old sketch for Dead or Alive, the zombie/western book cover I did for William Harms last year. This one will probably never get done but I thought it was a pretty good design for a novel. It would be designed as a wraparound with the binder rings occupying the space where the spine would go.

Moleskine sketchbook - Whistler Master Class of One!

Hey if I can't be at the Illustration Master Class 09, I have to make my own right? Having loads of models doesn't hurt either:) Poolside at our condo and view of mountainside from condo window, plus monsters. One of the girls had found a plastic grocery bag and tore out the bottom to create a plastic halter top:)

Unearthed

Man, it's amazing what you find when unpacking from a move. I ran across this storyboard (from probably 2003) when I was working on an animation idea examining theories in dinosaur behaviour. I got really inspired to do this when I ran into world famous paleontologist Robert Bakker at the Whole Foods in Boulder CO(where I lived at the time). He was sitting there enjoying his food in the common area and sketching in his sketchbook which had all sorts of anatomical drawings of animals long since extinct. We started talking about his book Red Raptor which gives a fictional narrative to these theorized behaviours and I got so excited I went home later and immediatly started working on this storyboard. As sometimes happens these things get put aside for a while and eventually get lost in the shuffle of life, but I still enjoy thinking about this stuff and still like the direction of where I was going with it. Who knows maybe I'll get inspired to work on it some more someday. In the meantime I've got a zillion other things to work on that I'm more interested in now:) These thumbnails are about 1.5 inches across.

Happy Birthday for my sweetie

Yesterday was my beautiful wife's birthday and so naturally I had to paint her a little picture. I guessed one can never go wrong with a roller derby theme and I managed to get our (now) 16mo old son in there to boot! I love you baby! Stay 16 forever!

Humans vs Aliens

These are for an art test at a certain game studio. Studious observers will recognize which one from the shoulder patch:)

Battle for Seattle

Having some fun with lines again. Feelin' a bit rusty but good:)

Yes we did!

I feel great! No I did not draw this:)

Ray-animator

I found some old animation work collecting dust on my hard drive from my Jaleco/VR-1 days. Ahhh so many memories destroyed by beer-Fridays and the gentle musing of the HalfLife crowbar...:)

Music by Brazilian Girls

Opportunites...

This is my world right now. If you hadn't heard, a group of us (myself included) at GPG were laid off a week ago yesterday. Time to get creative. The search for a new home continues...

Here's a peek at my current studio space. Pretty minimal but exactly what I need right now to focus.

I always enjoy seeing other people's workspace. This is mine at the moment. The painting on the left hanging above the table is from my friend over at Bethesda, Adam Adamowicz. The other is a quick oil portrait of 'The Black Frog' from El Coro done at the Massive Black workshop in Seattle last year. A buddy of mine Mike Geiger won it in a raffle but couldn't take it with him on the plane back to CO. I've been keeping it until it dries and I can ship it to him safely. I'll miss you Froggy.

Some goofy-ness for hard times

Some stuff that's been accumulating for a while...:)

New Gallery

My new site is up. Nothing fancy. Just portfolio and CV.
http://raylederer.com

ZOMBIES vs COWBOYS!!!

Hi all, here's a thing I just finished. Zombies vs Cowboys! This is a piece I did for my good friend William Harms. His book will be published late this year or early 2009. You may see another variant cover emerge in October...:) I included a version with temp lettering just to give an indication of layout. I won't be handling that stuff in the end. Anyway thanks or looking -Ray





Also here's a time lapse video of my chaotic process of painting if you're interested:)

IMC Final Project

It's been a while but I've been busy:) Here's the final barring any tweaks...

The illustration is from a design brief for a book called Green by Jay Lake that is due to be published soon by Tor books. Dan Dos Santos has the honor of illustrating the real cover and it's a beauty. I'm fortunate enough to have had some great input from Dan, Scott Fischer, Greg Manchess, Donato, Boris and Julie, and the rest of the IMC alumni of 2008. Thanks all! I could not have progressed as far as I did without your help and encouragement!

Medium: Digital and Oil on Panel

More Illustration Master Class pics

http://picasaweb.google.com/raylgun/IMC_PICS

IMC update #1

Wow! We're not even halfway through and this is turning out to be the most incredible artistic experience of a lifetime. This is what a workshop should be. Small and intimate. Everyone is friendly, absolutely no egos, all of the instructors go way out of their way to help and get close and personal with the work you're doing and invite you to do the same with them working in the same room with everyone else.

Boris friggin' Vallejo walks up behind me today and goes 'Wow! That's great work!' ...and means it! Even with absolute beginners, they're made to feel as if they are part of a community of illustrators and that from now on we are peers. I and everyone else here has gotten hours of personal one on one critique including paint-overs, redrawing, and truly helpful and practical advice. Scott Fischer and Daniel Dos Santos (at the same time!) both chipped away at my drawing today kind of refining it and giving me really good input on how to make it sing.

Donato discusses his Lord of the Rings prelim drawing.


Donatos ref pile.
Studio B on Monday's demo night.

Donato has some fun plus a sneak peak of what I'm working on.


Big big thanks to Donato for going way above and beyond helping me with his transfer process. He was incredibly patient with my fumbling with the brayer knowing that I was about to turn my drawing into so much wet tissue paper had he not jumped in to help. Thanks again man. I will do my best to pass along this technique to others know that I know what to do.

Much more to come soon...

-R