The Art of Elsa Garagarza

Sailor Pinup Workshop

2009-08-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

This was from a while ago....I should have posted them before. I tend to draw big, so sometimes feet get cut off on small sketchbooks like the one I had this day (damit!). The fishnets were fun to wrap around. Pinup themes at the drawing club never disappoint.

70's 'Shaft' Workshop

2009-08-03T01:45:00.001-07:00

This Drawing Club workshop was themed after 70's Blaxploitation films. Bob always has theme related music playing during the workshop, and this playlist was awesome. Funky basses are totally up my alley. Michael, our model, rocked that stage.

French Maid Workshop

2009-07-18T01:47:00.001-07:00

(Mischevious) French Maid Workshop at the Drawing Club (dot com). From a while back, but I decided I should post them before the newer drawings....it was a fun drawing session...top are five, down to ten & then 15 minute poses.

Water Tribe

2009-07-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

A Katara pinup for my friend Johane Matte's online comic Water Tribe on Deviant Art. This is fan-fiction and her amazing version of Zhao's life after being dragged away by the Sea Spirits on the Northern Water Tribe invasion at the end of Avatar Season 1. Check it out: it's awesome art and a page turner! Be sure to start from file 1...

Drawing Workshop-Poison Ivy

2009-02-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

Drawing Workshop this Thursday at the Drawing Club. Theme was Poison Ivy. 5 to 20 minute poses. Posted from quick poses to longer poses, in that order....last pose really needed a background to be explained, specially from the angle I was sitting. Glad it was a longer pose. I was tempted to continue the bottom two drawings at home, but then I remembered that is the best way to ruin nice workshop drawings sometimes :) So I just added a quick dark contour on the figures and left 'em alone.

drawing workshop-martial arts themed

2009-02-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

Drawing Workshop from january 22 '09 at The Drawing Club. Michael Wood modeled as "the Kung Fu Master", a lot of fun to draw...I kept drawing his boots when I should have made up the ninja socks in the drawings below. 5 to 15 minute poses, posted in that order. Just when the hand is nice and warmed up...the workshop's over!!!

Oh yeah, and this was a drawing workshop, not a martial arts class. Don't comment on the kung fu 'cuz I don't practice martial arts or follow m.a. forums. Thaaank youuuu ! Love , Elsa

Anime News Network interview

2009-02-03T01:12:00.000-08:00

Anime News Network interviewed me last week and I shared my experiences in art, illustration and animation with Evan Miller, who expressed my thoughts much better than I could ever have :) Thanks, Evan, for an amazing article. I am usually super shy when talking about myself in venues like these, which dramatically decreases coolness, hehe. But none of that here.

And being an anime website, I decided to draw a pinup in homage of the first graphic novel I got my hands on back in Monterrey way back when: Yukito Kishiro's cyberpunk story "Battle Angel Alita". This was definitely a big influence in my drawing for years, and it still is. I also collected "Aqua Knight" which I found dear because of the Spanish names included. And of course for the great art and the water themes. I should do a pinup of Ruliya too, with the Orcas.

This drawing was sketched in blue col-erase, but then I "inked" it digitally in the cintiq....I think Im falling in love with it....specially the History button.....It was supposed to be a black & white illustration, like from the graphic novel, but I ended slapping quick colors on it... and I'm glad I did.

Avatar Comic in Nick Magazine

2009-02-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

Hey, check out the latest issue of Nickelodeon Comics Club, a special comics edition of Nick Magazine. It has a 4 page Avatar comic called "Don't Blow It" that I had the opportunity to illustrate. A hilarious short story written by Alison Wilgus that was a pleasure to draw, and was beautifully colored by Wes Dzioba. Here is a teaser published on the nick magazine live journal page.

And keep posted because there are more stories to come...for more teasers of upcoming installments check the link above, and go to "more preview art".

And, again, thanks for the magazines Dave!!!

North Air Temple

2008-08-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Avatar Season 1, episode 17. The Northern Air Temple on the cusp of a mountain. The script called this setting "The Air Above", so we went with a super wideshot overlooking the panorama. I colored it for my portfolio this year. If you look closely, you can read the note that says "windmills" on the side pointing to a helix....It looks cute (if you can call my handwriting cute).

Teeeechnically, I toned it first, then colorised it & added textures & painted highlights. I wouldnt start a painting like that from scratch, but I had little time....This is in the back of some of my presentation cards :) the other half have the mountain view of the castle from the first posting in this blog.

Avatar finale - Mysterious island forest

2008-08-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Avatar finale! Season 3 Episode 19... Fantastic finale, fantastic sequences, fantastic music!! The mysterious island top where Aang meditates before his final battle. First is the line drawing in separate layers, as designed for the board shot.

Then the I montaged the images AND toned for my portfolio since there was too much info on the foliage with the images combined ( I had to break the planes) . I pretty much based it on the morning lighting from the episode sequence where Aang reaches the top. I think I gave it a little more haze in my value version... I like chilly, hazy forests, kinda dreamy I think (since I grew up in a desert). Makes you think magical little creatures are going to come out & talk to you..

Avatar Press Art

2008-08-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

This one was press art for season one. I just did the line drawing and toned it for myself this year (I dont think the values or the light source match the end product, which I didn't color). Appa & the kids stand in the foreground for those who remember this piece ( hence the big open space right in front). It's a little rougher than my other cleanups, so you can see some perspective lines here & there. I left 'em ... I like 'em...

Avatar Season 3 - Beach Episode

2008-08-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Season 3 Episode 5....the beach episode. Based on thai architecture. The funny story here is that before this episode started I was in Mike & Bryan's office on my weekly design meeting with Bryan going over designs for an episode. Mike was out of the office but his laptop was on his desk. It was turned off but the screen was up, and from my point of view I could see a very thin layer of dust because the light hit it at an angle (the kind of dust you never see from a straight on angle). The thing is that the keyboard had made impressions on the dust that created "window patterns" in my appreciation. So I sketched that and saved it for later... Couple of episodes later, the Beach appears...and with that and a little bit of thai flavor & Bryan's volcanic mountain reference from iceland, these were the results. The house outline & the row of windows on the first drawing were drawn from what I thought I saw on the keyboard.

So the main house for Lo & Li (Azula's advisors) ended up being super tiny and these exterior sketches became the standard residences in firenation beachtown (as you can see in the episode). But the interior concepts you see here were in real scale to the house. Idea was that it was tiny & overdecorated with all kinds of trinkets and patterns.

Ruins - Early Fire Civilization - Avatar

2008-08-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Avatar Season 3 Episode 13. Creator Bryan Konietzko wanted the ruins of the Ancient Fire Civilization to be inspired by Mesopotamia, Ur & stepped pyramids (Ziggurats). The city was designed to step down gradually as we move away from the main temple at the center. This was fun because all of us had input here, and I like coordinating efforts to create a brainchild.

Venice

2008-08-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

Shots created from Venice reference, cuz these particular settings don't exist. Also, these layouts were personal work from a while back too ( art school). The top one has remained a rough layout. I enjoy the marker roughness with col-erase & marker values. If I clean it up it'll lose its particular energy, shmaybe later....Recognize the bridge at the bottom drawing?

Episode 308 - The Puppetmaster

2008-08-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

Avatar Season 3 Episode 8. Concepts and finished pieces from the mysterious village by the mountain. The top were my concepts for the show. The middle drawing was developed from Lauren Montgomery's shot from her board sequence.

The kitchen at the bottom is developed from the bottom lil' rough from the concepts at the top (from meeee). I added value to the kitchen based on a morning scene from the show for my portfolio... too many BW drawings were leaving me blind. Plus its fun, fun, fun :)....as long as it ends up looking decent, though..

Avatar Season 3 - Mine town

2008-08-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

These are my concept sketch & finished piece for the Mining town for Episode 7 Season 3

Avatar Season 2

2008-08-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

Avatar season two Background Layouts. The Bison Hall was developed from Director Giancarlo Volpe's sketch from his board sequence. The the Ba Sing Se Tea Shop's developed from Dean Kelly's sketches from his sequence. I added value to the Bison Hall later for my portfolio based on the end colored BG from the episode (since the columns were designed to create long shadows). There were too many line drawings altogether in my portfolio so I had to break 'em up since too much white paper will blind you ("bliiinded by the liight" like Manfred Mann says)

Mountain City - Tonals

2008-08-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

My industrial Mountain City...this ones are still a tonal. They were "colored" with various blue pencils, but mainly col-erase, for easy smudging & lift-out that took forever. The upshot is an apartment complex in a residential ara. People lived stacked up in this town. The Warehouse interior was my favorite....I might add extra views and add real people, not just pinheaded little phantoms. Time to unearth those drawings

Mountain City - Palace View

2008-08-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

One of my earliest layouts from some years back. It is a set of tonal drawings about a vertical industrial city in a mountain range with a palace at the top. Its just a premise with some ideas for characters here & there...I might revisit it & make an outline, so the look may change a bit now that I have new inspirations & Im all grown up now ;)

I colored this one earlier this year...I should revisit them all...