The Soviet Triton M1 Midget Submarine

January 12, 2021 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

This little guy came across my feed last week and I think it’s a great design, with all the right details.

Information on exactly what this was and when it was used is surprisingly sparse on the internet, despite lots of phots and a model kit made of it. I’m sure there’s details on it in a book somewhere. Regardless, I’m not into it for the history as much as I’m in it for the design. I like the squatty nature of it, the side by side seating is unique, and the teardrop shape has a retro flair to it that’s nice.

You know I’m a sucker for cross-sections:

Here it is on a transport of some sort, but I like to think this is the off-road version.

And here’s one of the pilots. Do not mess with these guys.

-Jake

The Rise of Skywalker - A Design Case Study

December 23, 2020 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting, Film and Animation

From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, Film and Animation Division

Say what you will about the film, but the art department at ILM always brings their A game to projects. They just dropped a bunch of new concept art that wasn't in the "Art of" book. It's a nice addendum to the book. When I read the book I noticed it was missing a ton of Exegol stuff that should've made up the back portion of the book. I assume they didn't want it leaked out before the film came out since the book was probably going to print well before the film was released.

Really glad they posted it here, and there's a ton of new art to see. Of special interest for me are some of the new ship designs. Check it out here: LINK

-Jake

Antique Steam and Gas Engine Show 2009

December 07, 2020 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, Photography Desk

I'm really happy this guy brought his camera to the 2009 Antique Steam and Gas Engine show in Vista, California. Fascinating to see these dinosaurs of mechanics on display. I've actually seen a few of these models in person. I visited Boise Idaho once and at the convention center in town there they have 20 or so tractors on display around the parking garage.

I love tractors because there's beauty in their utilitarianism. Their engineering is on display with little attempt to hide it under an aerodynamic fuselage. These things are meant to do a job, and a not very glamorous job at that, and they look the part.

Lots of images here: LINK

Pablo & Jane and The Hot Air Contraption by José Domingo

December 04, 2020 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

From the Office of Book Acquisitions

I bought this book several years ago, and its dense images just captured my imagination. I WANT TO SEE MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS. I love how each page is filled to the brim with interesting things to look at and as I read, I just get lost, wandering around inside his imagination. Well done, Jose!

Found the project page for the book that the illustrator posted on Behance. Worth a look: LINK

Ghibli "What ifs"

June 17, 2020 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

It's not a huge trend, I can honestly only find a handful of them on the internet, but Ghibli "What ifs" might be my favorite genre of fanart.

Basically, you just take a cool IP, any will do, and you reimagine it as if it were a film by Miyazaki.

Here you go:

Ghibli Star Wars by Lap Pun Cheung

lap-pun-cheung-star-wars-darth-ghibli-s-entrance-ca.jpg

Ghibli Dinotopia by DoonDraws

Ghibli Dragonball by ErisDraw3D

Ghibli Legend of Zelda by Matt Vince

And Ghibli Breath of the Wild by Miavern

-Jake

Great White Zeke

June 09, 2020 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

From the Friendship Unit:

My oldest friend, Tim Boyle, has launched a kickstarter for his quirky, fun, and beautiful book about a baby being raised by a great white shark. LINK

Tim is one of the most creative people I know and is also incredibly prolific. He's always creating things. One time he had a few weeks off work, and bought a bunch of lumber and made a life sized allosaurus sculpture in his mom's yard. He's always drawing something or building something and has been a huge inspiration to me my entire life. (We met in kindergarten). On top of it all, he's incredibly kind and generous.

Follow him on IG: LINK

And go back his Kickstarter: LINK

Incredible Giant Skulls

February 21, 2020 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting, The desk of Jake Parker

I'm a fan of Ron Mueck's insanely realistic yet disturbingly large sculptures. I think this installation is especially poignant though. LINK

Been thinking a lot about my art, my work/life balance, and my mortality. Then I stumbled upon a link to this show and it made the mortality part sink in even more. Talking about it with a friend of mine and he texted me these wise words:

"Just do what you love every single day, let the work be your reward, and accept the flow of life and all will fall perfectly in place the way it should."

Wise words.

-Jake

A couple Rey drawings I did when The Force Awakens came out.

Some Super Cool Rey Art

December 23, 2019 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

Saw Rise of Skywalker this weekend and to celebrate the end of this Rey trilogy I thought I’d share some of the best Rey fan art I’ve seen around the web. Check out each of these artists, they all have so much other great work!

-Jake

Limetown Studios

Dawn Carlos

Gop Gap

Jonathan Hamers

Kim Junghun

Kyoung Hwan Kim

Canonfalao Luu

Mironishin Story

Samuel Youn

Wojtek Fus

Baby Yoda Fan Art Round Up

December 06, 2019 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

One thing I love about Star Wars is that wrapped up in the DNA most of its films and TV shows is the inclusion of a “cute” character. They are as essential to making Star Wars what it is as is the hero and the villain. Their purpose is to offset the evil acts of darkness committed by the bad guys, and the relentless pursuit of justice by the good guys. They give us a chance to catch our breath.

Since A New Hope, R2-D2 has carried most of the weight here. He’s the primary cute/fun character in three of the pre-Disney Star Wars films. Yoda, Wicket, and Jar Jar fill in the gaps in other films. The new films have BB-8, Maz Kanata, and now D/0 (BB-8’s side kick?). There’s also Chopper from Rebels, and Bucket from Resistance. In Solo and Rogue One a cute or fun character is noticeably absent, and those films seem grittier than your normal Star Wars fair for that reason.

But none of these characters hold a candle to BABY YODA. The Mandelorian created weapons grade cuteness and distilled it into a baby sized Yoda shaped body. And the internet is eating it up.

The best part of baby Yoda is seeing what great artists do with the character. Here’s over a dozen adorable baby Yoda fan art drawings I thought I’d share with you. Links to the artist’s original Instagram posts. Enjoy!

-Jake

Justin Rodriguez

Threeleaves

Clio Chiang

Chihiro Howe Takogawa

Jiiri

Brianne Drouhard

Birduyen

Savannah Alexandra

Patrick Brown

Anthony Romrell

Steph Lew

Marina

Cory Loftis

MJ Hiblen

Max Grecke

The 10 coolest Boba Fett Fanart on the Internet

November 18, 2019 in Department of Creative Bank Accounting

With the release of The Mandelorian on Disney Plus I’ve been thinking a lot about Boba Fett, the character that started it all. For years he’s been the Star Wars “Man with no name” character and I’ve always thought he was pretty sweet. I’ve drawn him a bunch over the years. You can see my own Star Wars art here: LINK.

But I thought today I’d share some amazing Boba Fett fan art I’ve liked by other artists over the years. Here’s the 10 coolest Boba Fett fan art pieces I’ve come across on the internet with links to the artist’s portfolios who created them: