ericka lugo

2012

2011-12-31T23:02:00.000-04:00

Happy 2012, guys!

All the best in the new year.

Handless Maiden Part 2

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here is the second page of the Handless Maiden story I planned on illustrating a few months ago. I'm not going in order. I'm just illustrating the scenes I find most visually stimulating for the purpose of this exercise. I decided to play with type too for a bit, nothing too fancy. Here's also the preliminary sketch for those who like to see process shots:

There's something I realized about my process while working on this, and that is that the generation of ideas does not end at sketching. Maybe it's because I'm sort of anxious to start working on the final already. There are a lot of ideas that come to mind while I am actually working on the image; in this case, the black feathers and the light coming from the back, which are key elements to the solution of the illustration, I think.

I'm planning on illustrating more pages this month and the next.

Hope you are doing great, peeps.

Stay cool.

O u O

Red

2011-11-21T06:16:00.001-04:00

Trying to incorporate a bit more of design in my pictures.

Arcano

2011-11-15T16:35:00.001-04:00

Here's a piece I did for Week Me Up. It's a project super talented illustrator Julian Totino Tedesco invited me to be a part of. The blog was started by him and two of his very talented friends Juan Manuel Tumburús and Sebastián Giacobino It's updated every Tuesday and features work by all of us, based on a word or theme. This week's theme was "Arcane".

It's really great being a part of a collective of people that love illustrating. I'm really excited about it.

Thanks for passing by!

P.S. I've also updated my collab blog with Jean S&E and VanitasDaily too.

Sketches

2011-11-09T03:07:00.000-04:00

Here are a few sketches I've done these days. Mostly studies or just random stuff.

Sometimes we take practice too seriously

2011-10-10T20:33:00.000-04:00

This started as a practice and then I got a bit carried away.

Something a bit more illustrative and happy, no concepts here. This one was completely done in PS. I'm experimenting with different process approaches. Trying to find something a bit more clean, fast and effective...We'll see where this goes.

Hope you guys are doing great!

Some pages from the sketchbook

2011-09-12T03:29:00.001-04:00

These are some really quick doodles I did on post-its during a power outage we had thanks to Irene:

This is an experiment/weird thing:

Playing with ideas/design a bit:

Exciting things are happening around here...but I'll tell you guys later.

Hope you are all doing fine and thanks for the support, as always :)

2011-09-01T18:01:00.000-04:00

New Fashion Blog

2011-08-11T22:18:00.002-04:00

Hey guys! I started a new blog at tumblr with fashion sketches made by yours truly. I'm not a fashion eminence but I really enjoy it, especially when it's drawn. I've been seeing a few blogs around dedicated to this for a while now and found them so inspiring I decided to do one too. It's also a great incentive to draw everyday. Some of these designs are mine(I'll state so when it happens) and others are inspired in fashion pics (old ones most likely). I'm enjoying doing this as I haven't enjoyed anything in a while. Hope you enjoy it along with me!

Heres the link: http://vanitasdaily.tumblr.com/

Have a good one :)

2011-08-04T16:58:00.000-04:00

Here's the last cover I did for Plan B. I had never worked with this lighting and it was quite the experience. Learned a lot.

As always, a great thing working with Joshua. He's very respectful of the artists craft and judgement. Hope all employers were this good.

You might be asking:

"Hey, Ericka that rabbit is dead. Does he have something against cute-looking rodents? To which I willl reply: "You'll have to read the comic to find out."

OooOOooo! Mysterious!

I know, right?

Go read!

planbwebcomic.com

Have a good one, guys :)

P.S. Remember I'm selling prints.

Now offering prints

2011-08-02T13:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, that is right! I'm finally selling prints of my work. Here you can see a few samples of the format and quality:

They are matte gallery-quality giclée prints on 100% cotton rag archival paper, printed with archival inks. I was pretty impressed the first time I saw them. Colors are just as you see them on screen or incredibly close. If you are interested, here is a link to the SHOP. Also, I still have to upload more pieces to offer, if there's one you particularly want, let me know!

Have a good one, guys!

2011-07-04T13:43:00.004-04:00

Hello there. This is the cover of a Grimm's tale I'm planning on illustrating. It's called "The handless maiden" or "The girl without hands", whichever you prefer. You should read it if you haven't, it's full of what-the-heck-really moments. Though this is not my fav by the G Bros, I think it has pretty interesting imagery and I've hardly seen it illustrated so I thought it was good not having preconceived images in my mind, as one would have with...say, Red Riding Hood. I will be working on this over the course of the year so expect pages popping around occasionally. :)

I have a few commissions ahead of me this month, including our beloved Plan B cover so expect that soon. Hope you guys are doing good.

Anything interesting going on your side of town?

2011-06-24T22:37:00.006-04:00

Little sculpture I did yesterday. Started it at work , finished it at home.
This is probably my 4th or 5th time sculpting and it keeps feeling better and better. I lose track of time.

In other news: New actual illustrative work is on it's way. I've got a few commissions going on this month and also a pretty exciting project I will talk to you guys about later! Keep your eyes opened!

O_O

Starter

2011-05-22T00:35:00.003-04:00

Long time no see. Here is a sketch I did a few weeks ago and to which I decided to quickly apply some color. Man, I felt weird using my tablet again.

In other news: I'm happy. So so very very happy.

Oh, and for those of you who didn't know, Jean and I have a new blog now. There's not much in there yet, but stayed tuned if you wish. We don't know what we'll do with it, but that's just part of the fun.

That's about it. Have a good one, guys.

Sketch time with Miss Ericka

2011-03-07T00:07:00.005-04:00

Here are some random old sketches. If you follow me on twitter you might have already seen most of these.

I do hope to post something finished soon. From having no job at all, I now have two so... please bear with me while I get used to it. It's been a time of change and lots of adjustments but it has been great, I can't complain. Hopefully it will be the start of a bunch of other awesome things to come.

And since it seems I post once a month now: I wish you all a great month.

Thanks for always stopping by. :)

Ghostown

2011-02-02T23:04:00.004-04:00

This was a gift for the ridiculously talented Jean Fhilippe because he blew my mind with all his ideas for this amazing story he is currently working on. I felt so inspired by it all, that I started playing with a picture I had in mind after reading the first few paragraphs of the story. Seriously guys, this man is just too much, when you get to know the details it sounds like some sort of epic thing Miyazaki would have come up with. When he finishes it, I'll try to convince him to get it published. In the meantime, enjoy the fan art.

And be sure to check out his blog soon cause there will be some nice sketches based on the story, plus some other goodies.

Hope the new year is treating you well!

Plan B Chapter 4

2011-01-06T21:23:00.003-04:00

Another image for the web-comic Plan B. Check it out!

Hope you had a great New Year's. I had a blast in mine, lots of laughter, fun and food.

Happy Holidays!!

2010-12-23T02:11:00.001-04:00

"OoOOoooOOOoOoooo!!!"

Hope you have a great Christmas and New Year!

See you in 2011.

The collab between us

2010-11-07T16:36:00.013-04:00

Here it is! Finally.

Here's the list of items you guys asked for:

-Atari 2600 Joystick (this one's not too obvious)

-Fedora hat

-Adonis (looks kinda like a woman but look again!)

-Grand Piano (looks more like a mini grand piano)

-Narwhals

-Whistle

-Banjo

-Japanese mask (s, haha)

-Puffer fish

-Old washing machine (had a hard time figuring how to incorporate this one)

-Rubber duckie

-Peacock

-Pirate

-Stinkbug

-Bubbles (yes, what an obvious place to put them)

-Dragonfly

-Samus armor

-Underwater (later changed to Robot via personal message)

-Cubes of light

-Durians

-Bacon

-Windup bird

It's kind of different from my usual stuff but I just bought my first brush pen and was too excited to try it. Still am. Btw, excuse my perfect pulse...ha...

Coloring was completely inspired by Eduardo Medeiro's comic work. So wonderful. Check it out! Though it is in portuguese...but then again, who needs to understand language to appreciate a good image?

I never paint with flats. It was fun.

Hope you guys have a good week and had fun finding the objects.

Drawing Dreams

2010-10-20T02:27:00.003-04:00

Last month I was asked to share .jpegs of my work with this great non-profit organization in California called Drawing Dreams. This foundation helps provide art supplies to hospitalized children, children's hospitals' Artist-in-Residence and Child Life programs, and other organizations where the need arises. It obviously sounded like a great cause and I had to contribute. A bunch of artist I admire were also included in their gallery so it was a total honor they considered me. Then a few days ago, Derek May -board member of the organization and the one who contacted me in the first place- informed me that my pieces were featured atop of the artists gallery and one of them was also the image of the main artists index page.

Now I have to ask: What did I ever do to deserve that? I simply have no idea, but it was a super surprise and I could not feel more honored and unworthy.

So anyway, go check out their site and if you can, contribute to the wonderful cause.

www.drawingdreams.org

Oh and check out the kids gallery, it is totally mind-blowing!

Plan B Cover

2010-10-19T00:24:00.005-04:00

This is the second commission I complete for the great Mr. Joshua Jenkins. As always, I had a lot of fun working with him because he gives me complete liberty. It's basically: "This is the main idea I want you to portrait, how to, is up to you." and that is heaven for us illustrators. All commissioners should follow his example. Anyway, I sent him some sketches with ideas, he picked one and this happened.

You can find out more about J's super interesting comic "Victor Anomalous" HERE.

Oh, and for those who are like me and love to see close-ups, here is one for you in the original size:

And yes, I owe you guys an illustration. I haven't forgotten. I've been busy with classes, cause, did you hear? I am an art teacher now. Ha! Me. A teacher. Of all the people in the world.

And call me crazy, but for some reason I seriously think I'll learn more from those kids than they will ever learn from me. I'll let you know as soon as the semester is over ;)

Have a good one guys!

And as always, super thanks for the visits and the comments.

Late

2010-10-08T02:31:00.002-04:00

I hope this doesn't happen tomorrow. Though considering the fact that I stayed up coloring this, the chances of it happening seem quite high.

Alarm clock status: READY. Both of them.

Sketchbook

2010-10-07T01:17:00.009-04:00

Some sketchbook pages to celebrate I now have a decent scanner.

And this huge close-up just to show off it's AMAZING scanning skillzzzz: (click it)

Ok so it's nothing extraordinary but it's so much better than the old one. Oh yes.

2010-09-27T20:58:00.005-04:00

2010-09-21T18:22:00.005-04:00

Yep, she wants you to do a fun collab with me. Here's how it's going to work:

You need to mention an object, just ONE and after all the commenting is done I'll make an illustration that includes all those objects. Ta-da! You have until the 23rd, so...

ready? set. go!

_______________

edit:

CLOSED!

...

May God be with me O.O

Pianist

2010-09-11T17:59:00.007-04:00

Third one in the series. I was working on this with oils but then decided to redo it digitally cause I wasn't really feeling that other piece. I'll keep working with traditional media, though. I already covered a few boards with plaster to start experimenting away so we'll see how that goes.

Hope you guys are doing alright! And, as always, thank you for all the feedback!

"Thank you for the souvenir"

2010-08-22T23:00:00.011-04:00

I've known Judith and Holofernes' story since I was a little kid, but only now I felt like doing a piece inspired on it. I guess it came to me after having all this week an image of a man carrying his own head around. Also, I've been flipping through my old Klimt book and that piece he did on this subject was surely inspiring. I could not wait until september to indulge in personal work.

I need to focus on the not personal work now, though.

Oh btw, if it looks obnoxiously saturated, I apologize. I'm having trouble with this computer's color settings. It's supposed to look kinda muted.

Have a good one, guys!

Meanwhile

2010-08-16T20:12:00.004-04:00

Drawn during a power outage today. Sorry for the lack of updates.

More work coming in september!

Thanks for all the support, guys. You are great.

2010-08-07T23:41:00.000-04:00

Have you hugged a tree today?

2010-07-17T08:00:00.007-04:00

I love trees.

This sketch is the more detailed version of a super tiny rough I did a few months ago somewhere in my sketchbook. I saw it again and decided to make it bigger and a bit more detailed. Also I have been inspired to sketch a bit more after being constantly slapped in the face by this guy's amazing sketches. Of course, this is not remotely as good as his work but it did inspire me, so that is what matters.

The next girl with instrument is on it's way. I've been kinda neglecting her lately. Maybe I'll let her rest for a bit and work on some other girl or some other illustration. There are a few ideas floating around my head that need to be put down on paper, so we will see how that goes.

BTW Thank you so much everyone for the support, I REALLY appreciate it.

Take care, guys :)

Tweet tweet

2010-06-25T17:27:00.007-04:00

This is a quick doodle that was meant to be my twitter background. (yes, I joined twitter. GASP!)

I wish I could update more often but freelance is keeping me busy. But who knows, maybe I'll sneak in and work on something personal while no one's looking...*snicker*

Violinist

2010-06-05T23:53:00.001-04:00

Second one in the series.

Beautiful Grim Art Auction

2010-06-04T19:05:00.001-04:00

I am not one of the contributing artists but I'd like to spread the word about this. The auction is held by Mike Daarken Lim to help pay for his girlfriend's cancer treatment. Here's some of the info:

"Earlier this year my girlfriend, Cat, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 25. On November 3rd, 2009, she had a bilateral mastectomy after going through 16 weeks of chemotherapy. As you can imagine it has been hard for her, not only mentally and physically, but financially. In order to help alleviate some of her medical bills Leif and I wanted to throw an art auction. The proceeds that are left over after her medical bills have been paid will go to a breast cancer related charity to be determined by the artists in the coming weeks.

We currently have artists contributing that hail from all regions of the industry: concept artists, animators, photographers, sculptors, fine artists, illustrators, you name it. The theme for the auction is "Beautiful Grim." The interpretation of "Beautiful Grim" has been left up to the artists."

To help support Mike and Cat, check out the auction, spread the word, and maybe even place a bid:

Beautiful Grim Art Auction

Taken from *joy-ang's journal.

Doodledeeloo

2010-06-02T18:07:00.005-04:00

Painting this was sooo nice. Not much thought or complications. No backgrounds, no concepts, no scanning.

Should I do a series of girls with instruments? What do you think?

(This one goes to Jean Fhilippe 'cause he likes basses and if a short-haired girl is playing it even better...or wait, is it the other way around?)

2010-05-31T11:57:00.005-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Pierre Lecretius, my latest commission. This was fun, I had total freedom with it and it was great.

"So, what's the deal with this guy, Ericka?"

Well, I'm glad you asked, imaginary person. See, this guy is a frenchman who has hyperosmia. This gives him an exponentially increased sense of smell. In his youth he bribed his way off the western front of World war 1 and found his way to America. In 1929 he runs a speakeasy in California selling wine. His incredible sense of smell makes him a master wine connoisseur i.e. knowing when the fermentation process is complete, knowing when the grapes are in season, being able to detect the slightest defect in taste, etc. But then some pretty creepy things happen, that I can't say or I will spoil the fun. Find out more at www.victoranomalous.com

That kinda sounded like paid advertising, haha.

Oh and there you can also see the final cover with the title and all the works.

Leirer, peeps.

sneek-peek

2010-05-28T15:35:00.008-04:00

Here's a sneek-peek of a doodle I've been working on and off. I pick it up every now and then between commissions to kinda rest my eyes from looking at the same thing for too long. So that means sessions of...10 minutes? Anyway, expect to see some new illos soon.

Btw, if it looks way too yellowish, you probably have the same horrible monitor I have. I'm working on a new computer temporarily (thank God, because it seriously sucks) and the colors are all messed up.

Hope you guys are all good and fine.

dream

2010-05-01T01:43:00.003-04:00

Finally, a colored one :)

2010-04-26T21:45:00.002-04:00

2010-04-20T19:35:00.006-04:00

More sketches? Geez, woman.

2010-04-19T19:25:00.009-04:00

Look what I found while flipping through my old sketchbook ♫

I forgot all about these. What a lousy mother I've turned out to be.

Sketch

2010-03-14T20:48:00.004-04:00

Here's a very very fun sketch I did today. Might get some color later.

Days

2010-02-24T18:21:00.009-04:00

Long time no see!

Don't you love it when you find a great song you forgot existed and that song inspires you to make something?

Thank you, shuffle. You the man.

Portrait 1

2010-02-14T18:36:00.004-04:00

I've had the thought about making portraits running through my head for a while now. And since you all know I enjoy making really long limbs and figures, Audrey Hepburn seemed like a really nice choice for this thing I'm planning to make a series of.
Pencil sketch painted in OpenCanvas with texures added in Photoshop.

Oh yeah, Happy Valentine's.

2010-02-05T01:03:00.003-04:00

I have been neglecting ink way too much and today I had to ask myself why I was doing it, when I love it so much.

Does it ever happen to you?

Anyway, this felt SO good.

Featured in Lines and Colors

2010-01-15T16:59:00.004-04:00

Today I had the very pleasant surprise of finding my work featured in Charley Parker's Lines and Colors . I've followed his blog for a few years now and it is a great honor that he considered my work to appear in his site. Thank you Charley, and thank you everybody who took interest to come visit this blog. Hope you like what you see.

Later!

Fools

2010-01-06T20:48:00.005-04:00

The idea and line art for this one came last year, but I colored it today so technically, this is my first piece for 2010. You may recall the preview I showed you months ago.

This is also the last piece of my portfolio(so far), which brings me to....JOB HUNTING. ha. Wish me luck.

take care, guys.

Last piece of 2009

2009-12-31T01:43:00.005-04:00

This year has been crazy. I discovered a little bit more about myself, I made huge life changing decisions, met amazing people and overall, I feel different. Pieces are starting to fall into place. Hopefully, next year will be even better.

Above is an illustration inspired (again) by Inara George, 'cause her music is totally awesome. It's a mixture of two of her songs. See if you can guess which, haha.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you guys have a great one.
And thanks for your support!

.

2009-12-15T23:41:00.002-04:00

Little doodle with ink and gouache.
Inara George inspired.

2009-11-29T15:09:00.002-04:00

I need a job.

2009-11-27T21:37:00.003-04:00

Have a sneek-peek of what I'm currently working on.

I'll post the entire piece soon.

Skyscrapers

2009-10-31T02:05:00.004-04:00

This was a fun one to color.

2009-10-17T11:06:00.001-04:00

A quickie just so you know I'm still around. A close up of the new illo I'm cooking :)

Untold story

2009-09-23T01:45:00.004-04:00

We've all got one.

---

Most of the coloring was done in OpenCanvas, tweaked a little bit the colors in PS and added the textures also there.

This one was a particular challenge. First, because, even if it looks kinda lousy, it has scenery. Second, because I had a partial coloring block. I simply had no idea how to color it. So, I closed the file and waited for the next day. Opened it again. Examined the possibilities, decided on an atmosphere, started playing around and there you go.

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. I have to practice more scenery, though!

Anyway, hope you guys like and hope you are all doing fine :)

2009-09-14T02:19:00.007-04:00

An untitled excuse to color. That's what this is.

Hope you are all doing good : )

Vanity Fair

2009-08-16T03:00:00.004-04:00

Everything is vanity.

People today are so caught up in appearances. And when you come to think about it beauty and youthfulness lasts nothing. A tiny speck in the line of time.

What are we cultivating? What will really last? Is it looks? Money? Power? What?

Fall into the rythm

2009-07-28T03:35:00.005-04:00

Fresh from the oven! Is he dancing? Is he falling? What the heck is the deal with this guy? Would we ever know? (xfiles music)

Generation

2009-07-07T00:52:00.010-04:00

Some steps for the latest illustration.
I think the theme is quite obvious.
Inspired by my grandmother's death this past june 26.

She won't let go

2009-06-20T23:15:00.006-04:00

Early step. Final piece.

Photoshop+ Open Canvas + texure

Sitting

2009-06-08T16:45:00.006-04:00

Something that came out of nowhere.

Sobre los que esperamos, lo que esperan y lo que exigen.

2009-04-23T21:47:00.018-04:00

Otra vuelta a la página. Otra manifestación de la mutabilidad humana. El camino que conduce a la tan esperada conclusión se sigue dividiendo el instante en que das un paso. Aun así sigues caminando, con los ojos vendados y, en la mano, sostienes la vara con la que esperas dar una buena sacudida a la piñata aquella, al final del camino, que te contaron de pequeño, estaba llena de las más deliciosas, exquisitas y variadas golosinas.

Los años pasan y parece que nunca llegarás. Así que construyes una casa en el camino y te asientas mientras tanto. Haces la cama, comes tus vegetales y te aseas todos los días. -"Otro día sigo caminando, hoy ya estoy cansado"- te dices a ti mismo. Lentamente te olvidas del camino y las golosinas no parecen tener el significado que tenían ayer. Ya no logras percibir su olor, ni siquiera imaginar el colorido papel en el que están envueltas.

Tus manos ahora son diferentes, tus pies también. Los zapatos ya no te quedan y la vida se hace más rápida. Veinte y cuatro horas ya no parecen ser suficientes y decides planear tu vida paso a paso.

Llega el domingo: tiempo de cortar el césped. Un extraño ruído se escucha a la distancia mientras recoges los restos de aquel tapete verde que adornaba desinteresado los alrededores de tu casa. El ruído se hace más fuerte, es como el zumbido molesto de una mosca en tu oído. Te asomas y, a los lejos, logras ver una agraciada y peculiar figura coronada de delicados destellos ámbar. Es Olivia, una interesante extranjera en busca de aventuras, que montada en su bicicleta se dirige a Unsitlejanok.

Quedas deslumbrado. Oh! Qué hermosa e inteligente es! Cada palabra que sale de su boca es como un soplo de vida; cada una de sus mejillas, una rosa delicadamente salpicada de rocío.

Ahora tu vida es Olivia. Vives con Olivia. Respiras a Olivia.
Olivia lo es todo. La verdad es ella. ¡Es ella! Así que olvidas tu nombre y quién fuiste. Tratas de complacer cada uno de sus deseos; hasta el más míninmo capricho y, por un momento, crees que eres feliz. Hasta que un día Olivia decide irse.

Tu mundo se viene abajo. Tus sueños, tu valor, el amor...

-"Yo voy contigo a ese lugar! Yo te acompaño hasta el fin del mundo, vida!"- Pero a Olivia no parece importarle. Ella sabe que ese sitio no es para ti. Así que sigue su camino y no logras comprender.

Llega el invierno más frío y largo de tu vida. La casa está helada, tu alma congelada. No concilias el sueño y tus noches son una vigilia en espera de algo que desconoces. El césped cubre tus ventanas y, mientras miras al techo lleno de bonitos diseños geométricos tejidos con el más fino hilo, aquel olor regresa, junto con tu nombre y quien eras.

La primavera llegó de golpe y, con suerte, trae consigo una brújula apuntando al norte.

-----

Fin de la metáfora.