The blog of Guillermo

Queen of Negligence

2012-01-21T21:24:00.001-08:00

Sulk

2011-08-21T23:01:00.001-07:00

Kitty's Cookies

2011-07-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Logo for a friend

His first decree

2011-06-26T22:44:00.001-07:00

2

2011-05-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

"—Mi frente es pálida, mis trenzas de oro,

puedo brindarte dichas sin fin.

Yo de ternura guardo un tesoro.

¿A mí me llamas?

—No, no es a ti."

"...for their sake..."

2011-04-24T03:15:00.000-07:00

Lupus

2011-04-09T01:16:00.000-07:00

Beast

2011-03-12T01:59:00.000-08:00

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter—bitter," he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

Stephen Crane

XI

2011-02-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

1 Kings 11:5,7

2011-02-19T03:21:00.000-08:00

King of Mediocrity

2011-02-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

"A Savior has been born to you...

2010-12-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

...He is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11)

Time to go

2010-12-05T01:55:00.000-08:00

Clowns

2010-09-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

Roach

2010-09-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

Osos

2010-09-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

Third act

2010-09-12T00:42:00.000-07:00

Network Rabbit

2010-09-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

Patience

2010-08-27T15:37:00.001-07:00

The depths

2010-08-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

Shy

2010-08-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

U-turn

2010-08-08T19:46:00.001-07:00

Your highnesses

2010-08-08T01:05:00.001-07:00

Polar

2010-06-05T02:41:00.001-07:00

Ilya Repin

2010-03-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

New favorite painter. Wow.

Psalm 104: 25-26

2010-02-27T22:27:00.001-08:00

"Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.

There go the ships,
and LEVIATHAN, which you formed to play in it."

New Year, New Everything

2010-01-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Mbo'i Tu'i

2009-09-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Half-parrot, half-snake: a monster from Guarani mythology.

Inspiration

2009-09-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

I love this stuff!

Creature Box
Matthieu Forichon
Project Waldo
Patch of Orange
Adam Ford
Christian Ward

More artwork coming soon.

Proverbs 30

2009-08-23T17:52:00.001-07:00

"There are three things that are too amazing for me,
four that I do not understand:
the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a maiden"

Destino!!!!

2009-07-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

Thank you Evan! Finally a full version of this masterpiece can be seen online:

Rock Star

2009-06-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

For Elisha and Katie

For my brother

2009-05-04T23:24:00.001-07:00

Sacrificial Bull

2009-04-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Cambodia trip - part 3

2009-03-06T07:22:00.001-08:00

Cambodia trip - part 3 from Guillermo Careaga on Vimeo.

Cambodia trip - part 2

2009-03-02T08:19:00.002-08:00

Cambodia trip - Part 2 from Guillermo Careaga on Vimeo.

Cambodia trip-part 1

2009-03-01T15:08:00.001-08:00

Cambodia trip - Part 1 from Guillermo Careaga on Vimeo.

We're back

2009-02-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

What an incredible experience.

Cambodia Slideshow from Guillermo Careaga on Vimeo.

Cambodia

2009-01-25T22:27:00.000-08:00

My sister and I will be flying to Cambodia this Saturday, to work with Resource Development International (RDI), a non-governmental organization that aims to help the people of this country through a variety of projects. These range from laboratory tests, to teaching in schools, to building wells and water filters, to creating short films aimed at educating children.

In certain regions of Cambodia, naturally-occurring Arsenic poisons the water in the wells and streams that people drink from. This poisoned water causes them to develop illnesses like arsenicosis, which results in death. 74 % of all deaths in Cambodia comes from water-borne diseases.

One of the many projects that RDI is currently undertaking is a TV studio, in which they produce documentaries, cartoons and short films to educate the population, particularly children. I will be working with the studio, teaching a 2-week long Film-making workshop which will cover the basics of storytelling, layout, character design and animation. My sister will be involved in building projects.
Needless to say, I am shaking with excitement, fear, apprehension, delight, uncertainty, joy, nervousness and every other intense emotion that comes with a trip of this magnitude.

Stay tuned for updates!

One of my favorites

2009-01-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

A Bear for Punishment
Uploaded by klangley

Paraguay video

2009-01-17T10:42:00.001-08:00

Before Christmas, I got this little camera to take home with me. I flew to Paraguay for the holidays, shot some shaky footage of all the places I visited, and put this video together. Every time I go back there, I realize how much unexplored beauty this country has.

Glimpses of Paraguay from Guillermo Careaga on Vimeo.

Make sure HD is on, and make it full-screen if you want!

Two highways

2008-12-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

The rainbow

2008-12-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

On my way to work

Rarr!!

2008-11-24T22:38:00.000-08:00

Piggy

2008-11-07T13:18:00.001-08:00

Roman Soldier

2008-11-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

Esther

2008-10-29T09:10:00.001-07:00

This one is for Kev and Robyn

2008-09-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

But they don't know that yet.

Re-Drawn

2008-09-22T22:01:00.001-07:00

I recently joined this blog. It's good times and full of super talented people!

Arlequins

2008-08-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Old drawings, but I forgot to mention that I had put them all together like this and made Christmas cards last year.
I'm working on another gift-painting, which should be ready soon.

Mark Behm's book...

2008-08-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

...is now available for sale! It is excellent.

Birthday presents...

2008-08-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

...that gave me much joy last week.

Drawing by Matt Kummer:

Sculpture by Chris Bancroft:

Cats

2008-06-23T08:31:00.001-07:00

I love this stuff

2008-06-05T21:37:00.001-07:00

I love the doggy at the end

Another beautiful weekend

2008-04-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

Almaden Lake Park in San Jose

Lindamar Beach in Pacifica

Chipa

2008-04-26T17:16:00.001-07:00

I had an urgent desire to eat chipa last Sunday, and so I pulled out a recipe from the internet and decided to make it. Given the fact that I didn't have the same ingredients as I would back in Paraguay, and that this was my first time making them, they came out really good!

Behold, the ingredients:Before they were put in the oven:And after:
I picked the first one, trembling with excitement:Next time, I need to find a type of cheese with stronger flavor and finer cornmeal (I accidentally bought the medium ground one). Otherwise, it was excellent.

Ignacio!

2008-04-01T16:29:00.001-07:00

Except for some minor tweaks here and there, I think I'm done with it.

Red sky

2008-03-27T08:23:00.001-07:00

For Ignacio -WIP

2008-03-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

Annie

2008-03-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

Annie saw this drawing and wanted a copy of it, because it reminded her of her many travels. "Why don't I just make you one with you in it?" I suggested. Bad idea. It took me more than a year to finally sit down and do it, but "better late than never", right?

Finished!

2008-02-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

I've got to give props to Zazzle for the quality of their prints. After finishing Victoria's poster, I sent it to them and got it back a few days later, impressed with how closely they matched the saturation and brightness of the digital painting. And the paper texture is great too.
Excited with this result, I started making another painting; this time for the yet-to-be-born Ignacio.
In other news, I watched Braveheart for the first time last night. It's easily one of the best movies I've ever seen and it left me with an intense urge to purchase a sword.

"The strange glory of ordinary things"

2008-02-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

"But Jenkin seemed to be able to enjoy everything; even ugliness. I learned from him that we should attempt a total surrender to whatever atmosphere was offering itself at the moment; in a squalid town to seek out those very places where its squalor rose to grimness and almost grandeur, on a dismal day to find the most dismal and dripping wood, on a windy day to seek out the windiest ridge. There was no Betjemannic irony about it; only a serious, yet gleeful, determination to rub one's nose in the very quiddity of each thing, to rejoice in its being (so magnificently) what it was."

C.S Lewis in 'Surprised by Joy'.

Victoria's 1st birthday...

2008-01-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

...was last week. I will finish this (work-in-progress) painting and send it to her!

Augustine

2007-12-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

I'm flying home tomorrow!

Beatriz

2007-12-17T13:11:00.001-08:00

One more to go.

Constantine

2007-12-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

Isabel

2007-11-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

Benedict

2007-10-23T09:07:00.001-07:00

Sunday adventure

2007-10-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the wilderness on Sunday. I heard a noise ahead of me and behold! Bambi and his friends!

I've been having strange and wonderful dreams lately

2007-09-20T22:03:00.001-07:00

Jungle Book

2007-08-23T20:36:00.001-07:00

You could write 1000 blog entries about these clips analizing all the thought process behind the beautiful animation, breaking down the details and nuances, but tonight I just want to watch it and enjoy it.

DESTINO!!!

2007-08-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

On youtube!

I'd buy this on DVD the second it comes out.

This is (supposed to be) Mark

2007-08-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

It's his birthday today

Chores

2007-08-04T15:57:00.001-07:00

These are (supposed to be) my roommates and I. After I drew these, I pasted them on a cardboard circle that serves as a dial. You can spin this dial to determine who's cleaning the bathrooms or the shared areas. We have yet to spin it...but that's good because we tend to keep everything clean nonetheless.

The wonders of non-verbal communication

2007-07-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I walked into Target and the alarm thing went off for no reason. The following exchange took place without the utterance of a single word:

"I didn't steal anything. I just got in. Leave me alone. I just came to buy batteries"
"Move along. It happens all the time. That thing is broken. I hate my job"

"That's right, I'm innocent. And to prove it, I'm going to walk away confidently."

National Crisis

2007-07-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

For the past two days, I've been looking for self-rising flour at several stores. No one carries it anymore. I talked to managers, asked the cashiers, inquired with the shoppers only to find that no-one knows what's going on. Have they stopped making it? Did it become illegal? Is someone buying them all? I shiver at the thought that I'll never find it anymore, and I will have to tell my children tales of this wonderful ingredient which made baking so much easier.

Once

2007-06-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

I don't mind movies that make you think, but I really like movies that make you feel. "Once" is one of them -an Irish musical (of sorts) that I watched over the weekend. It has fantastic songs and a love story that is simple and honest. It's unfortunate that it has a limited release but if it's playing near your area, you've got it check it out.

In other news, I'm in the middle of moving to Mountain View. God willing, if I finish the move this Saturday, I'll start posting more regularly again.

Happy Birthday Paraguay!

2007-05-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

This day, 196 years ago, we declared independence from Spain and became a sovereign country. Despite the state in which Paraguay is right now, I love it. I love its people, its culture, its traditions, its history. Viva Paraguay!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguay

9 minutes of Ratatouille

2007-05-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

This movie is going to be fantastic

http://home.disney.go.com/movies/

!!

2007-04-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

!

2007-04-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

Shrek the Third on American Idol

2007-04-20T00:38:00.001-07:00

Picture time

2007-04-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Some pictures I snapped with my crappy cell phone:

Two weeks ago these bees decided to build a new hive on a low branch in my apartment complex. There were so many of them. Later that day a guy came and chopped off the entire branch.

Sunsets after work:

Today I needed to feel small so I went to the mountains and ran around. It was a beautiful day.

Finished Chancho and Agnes

2007-04-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

Chancho

2007-03-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is a logo design for my sister, who started selling pigs. Last week she described to me in gruesome detail the process by which they are killed, before they are cut and packaged to be sold. The poor chanchitos!

Panda!

2007-03-16T00:41:00.001-07:00

More animales

2007-03-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

Lola

2007-03-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

Two gems

2007-03-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

There was a lot of great stuff at Wondercon this past weekend, but there were two books that made me think, "I cannot leave this place without them".
Numero uno: Stephen Silver's "The Art of Silver". Very excellent drawings in a wide variety of styles.
Numero dos: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in comic book form, adapted by David Chauvel and drawn by Enrique Fernandez. The artwork is so beautiful. I love the design of the Cowardly Lion. And it's only $10 at amazon. Go buy it!

It came from outer space

2007-03-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend I saw Amazing Grace and I was thoroughly impressed at how good it was. I can't remember the last time that I felt so emotionally connected to the characters in a movie. It's thought-provoking, funny, tragic and uplifting at the same time. Go watch it if you get a chance.

I've been receiving some "commissions" lately

2007-03-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

This one I finished last night for my friend Phil. It is a drawing full of symbolism and hidden meanings...and those two sticks on the left are shovels, by the way.

This drawing I did for my sister and her boyfriend. It doesn't really look like them at all, and she let me know this. In my defense I can say that I only had one night to work on it. The colored version came out bad, so here's the line drawing.
And this is how I imagined her reaction was when she saw a drawing of herself:
Regardless of what the end result may be, I find myself enjoying drawing 100 times more than I did at school. I'm not sure why.

Jungle time

2007-02-19T22:49:00.000-08:00

I've been asked to draw some ideas for a friend's sister's baby' s nursery, the theme of which will be 'jungle'. Here are some initial sketches:

For some reason I started craving tango music last week. I bought entire albums by geniuses Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Gardel and Anibal Troilo and I've been listening to them on my way to work. Such vigor and mystery found in their work.

Still alive!

2007-02-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

Flying home tomorrow morning

2006-12-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

I should probably be packing right now...but check out these links first! (Most, if not all of them, I got from Mark)

Excellent, excellent character designs/digital paintings:
Ryan Wood
Todd Harris

Stunningly beautiful paintings and drawings:
Nathan Fowkes

Very useful summary of art basics: light, color, value, perspective, etc:
Niklas Jansson

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while

2006-12-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

I've been a little busy

The Sky

2006-11-21T23:19:00.000-08:00

I'm getting into the bad habit of taking pictures while driving. I swerve the car from left to right on the freeway while reaching back to fetch my camera, but in all honesty, I can't help it. After coming back from a hiking trip on Saturday, this is what the sky looked like on my way home.

Sometimes you have to stop whatever it is you're doing and look at the sky for a minute or two. It is amazing.

I'm flying to LA tomorrow to get a new passport. God willing, it will go smoothly. And then, Thanksgiving with Ringling friends and many hours of four-player tennis action on the Wii. I predict some good times coming up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chicago

2006-11-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

After reading Keith Lango's comments about good staging examples found in the Iron Giant, I wondered, "Is there a live action film that really stands out in this respect?"

I'm sure there are plenty, but the first movie that came to mind was Chicago. It is such a good movie for many reasons, but the shot composition and use of staging principles to guide the audience's view across the screen is particularly remarkable. It really follows the golden rule of showing one piece of information per shot. Some examples:

There's a lot going on in this shot but our eye goes to the brightest part of the image:

The audience's head become abstract shapes that serve as foreground elements, adding depth to this shot:

The dark, massive figure on the right opposes the light, smaller figure on the left, creating balance:

The warm light on Catherine Zeta-Jones makes her stand out. The cool blue light makes everything else recede. Also, she is framed by the figures in the foreground:

Again, our eyes go straight to the brightest element. The verticality of the pole is balanced by the horizontal rectangle implied by the audience:

I don't know what rule this image exemplifies, but I like it:

Our focus doesn't always have to be on one thing. This shot is more about the pattern created by the black silhouettes inside the red rectangles, than the individuals:

Again, the emphasis on this shot is the collective, not the individual:
Some very nice silhouettes:

Foreground elements framing the main character:
Use of warm and cool colors to stress the evolving conflict between these two characters:

Warm colors stand out over cool colors:

The use of these principles is pretty obvious in a movie like Chicago. After all, most of the action takes place on a stage which facilitates the use of dramatic lightning and staging. But there are plenty of other movies that take place in several other locations where the composition is also superb. Welle's Citizen Kane, Leone's "Once upon a time in the West" and the Coen brother's "The man who wasn't there" are fine examples.

Another

2006-10-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

It was Meng's birthday last Wednesday

2006-10-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

We went to Napa Valley yesterday, and I can't get over how beautiful the bay area is. I could stare at the mountains forever.

Destino and Lorenzo

2006-10-16T23:54:00.000-07:00

About two years ago Disney Feature Animation went to Ringling to give a presentation. I don't think they were hiring at the time, and that may be the reason why not that many people went to see them. I was helping out with the AV equipment in the Lecture Hall.

The presentation went on as usual: they described where the company was at, showed some pictures of the studio in Burbank and briefly talked about the future and the CG movies they had in production (the Mickey Christmas Special and Meet the Robinsons). Then, out of nowhere, they announced that they were going to show two previously unreleased shorts that have rarely been seen outside animation festivals: Destino and Lorenzo. They were both absolutely fantastic.

You can read about Destino (a collaboration between Disney and Salvador Dali) here and Lorenzo, here.

That was the first and last time I saw them. I've been wanting to get a copy of both shorts so badly, but I don't even know if Disney plans to release them.

I found this clip of Destino on youtube: