Nate's Sketchbook

Pharmacy School Randomness

2011-06-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to prove that I'm not as lazy as I feel. In school I did some art related projects, mainly for fun and to try and incorporate my left and right brain. I decided to share even if it doesn't mean anything to you.

This first one is a picture I did in class to clarify a concept in class that was rather abstract. I afterwards sent it to the professor and he liked it so much he forwarded it out to the whole class. Very fun to be recognized by all of your peers and thanked for your efforts. (The picture depicts how the body produces insulin, an important natural component to buffering how much sugar is in your blood. Bad if it goes out of balance.)

This second picture is one I did for the MBA program I am in. I have about 20 students along with me that are in both pharmacy and business programs and we wanted to make a shirt for the MBA program. Recently when winter finally ended we realized there was a basketball court out in the parking lot and started playing so we wanted to make a shirt for fun. Bob, a kid in my class watched me draw this in class for 6 hours during a very dry lecture. Thanks Bob for pushing me to get it done. We had about 20 shirts sent to the printer for screen printing and they turned out really good. Overall I'm proud of my first job doing screen printing. (By the way, the logo comes from a spin on the old school game NBA Jam on the Sega Genesis to which I made it apply to my school, which will shortly change its name to Roseman University...hence the RU Ready.)

Final Viking Illustration

2011-06-24T23:02:00.000-07:00

Story idea I had from a while ago and finally did my final version of the picture. Can't say I'm thrilled about the piece but I got it done and it doesn't make my eyes pop out so I can live with saying that I learned something from the piece and now I'm ready to move on. The story centers around a boy that builds a time machine to set the story straight on the history of mankind or at least to clarify some details.

Picture Book Marathon - Wrap-up

2011-03-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone that checked these posts/stories out thank you, especially to those who commented. I hope you enjoyed looking over my shoulder at the ideas I had during the month. I wanted to throw out the towel into your side of the court; please leave me some feedback. Let me know which of the 26 stories I posted is your favorite(s)? Nominate one or two...I dare you. If you could it would be great, and once again, thank you.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 26 !!!

2011-02-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

I made it; I made it! Whew! Not my best story today but that's okay because I'm a finisher! Thank you to everyone who supported me on the way this month. (Ha, funny to say that as I watch the Oscar awards show.)

Day 26) The new king of Africa

Beginning) Long has the lion been king of Africa but one day when he gets sick and wants a day off he holds a series of contests to see who should replace him for the day.

Middle) No one is chosen as each contest ends up with a different champion; on top of that all the animals fight over which is the most capable or worthy of the responsibility. The lion chooses instead to go with the most humble animal but when they go to challenge the lion’s decision he shows them his teeth.

End) The animal is a good fit and becomes the permanent replacement as the king’s stand-in for whenever the lion needs a day off.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 25

2011-02-26T20:12:00.000-08:00

Second to last entry for the marathon and I'm feeling the burn. This challenge has been so hard for me but such a great exercise. I hope I've made something of worth, obviously needing more polishing but there might be a gem hiding amung all the entries. Thank you for following these and sharing your thoughts. (Scott, that's been so nice of you to give your time and opinions. Very inspiring to help me keep running.)

Day 25) Butterflies and Fairies

Beginning) Little girl has a very active imagination, her dad has the exact opposite but is very passionate about his work, a biologist that studies and collects bugs. He gets a big break and has a lead into collecting the final type of butterfly that would make his butterfly collection complete, making him famous and it requires traveling to Ireland to catch it. Girl when she realizes where he’s going realizes she could be like her dad, collect a fairy and become famous, she pleads to go. His very persuasive wife makes sure she goes with him.

Middle) They spend many hours searching for the very rare butterfly and along the way the little girl makes friends with some extraordinary creatures from stories she’s read but in real life. They are both hot on the trail and they discover in the end they were looking for the same thing but when they find it they both realize they don’t want to kill it.

End) They both go home with no more evidence than a picture but the picture ends up being the greatest prize they could have ever have won as it is a symbol of them working together, right and left halves of the brain and communicating and understanding one another.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 24

2011-02-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay I missed a day and finally had to use one. I had a final this morning at 8 am and was up studying until 2 in the morning the night before so...I got behind. Luckily I saved my two rest days till the end of the month (I still have one more). Here's the next installment:

Day 24) Little girl loses her freckles

Beginning) Little girl is so proud of her cute speckly freckles, grandpa says they’re her beauty marks. On her way home from school she loses them (which she decides must have happened with a big sneeze and she can’t find them).

Middle) Frantically she searches with her older sister along the way to school but she can’t find them anywhere. She has to find them as grandpa will be coming over that night for family game night and he will notice that they’re gone. She gives up on looking for them but when she gets home she has a brilliant idea, she’ll add some on with her markers.

End) Grandpa arrives and when he looks at her says something doesn’t look right, pulls out a clean hanky and wipes her face off. She starts to cry and explain what happened and how she can’t find them anywhere. They were there the whole time is his answer. They just needed a good shine.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 23

2011-02-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a reworked story I had over a year ago but couldn't figure out how to move forward.

Day 23) Monster in my ballet class

Beginning) Girl monster is in school learning how to scare human kids. She is kind of scared of human kids and one day in class they have to get over their fears and try to scare a kid. When she goes into the room she sees ballet stuff all around the human girl’s room, they don’t seem so scary anymore but interesting but she has to go back to school.

Middle) In class they talk about how scary humans are and how careful they should be. She tries to tell the teacher/class that they aren’t so scary, they do beautiful things like dancing and she demonstrates. They laugh and the teacher sends her to the principal’s office. On her way she sees that the transfer room is open and empty (the room where you get into the human world). She goes back to the human girl’s room and waits to follow her to school/dance. Dance is so fun and with her disguise on they assume she’s a new student and she gets to try dancing and it’s hard but fun.

End) When she gets back she gets in big trouble for going back to the human world without teacher supervision. She wants to go back to learn more but for the time being contents on dancing in her room and imagining she’s performing for the big recital. (Possibly she keeps going back to prepare for the recital with the performance being the culmination/climax of the story.)

Picture Book Marathon - Day 22

2011-02-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

I liked the idea from the marathon headquarters blog, redoing one of your previous entries with a new character, plot, or whatever. See if you can figure out which one I'm revisiting.

Day 22) Day at the zoo

Beginning) School fieldtrip to the zoo is the day to remember, especially for a little girl that loves animals.

Middle) One by one the kids wish they knew what it was like to be animals in the zoo and actually switch places with them. They kids act funny like animals and the animals are acting funny like kids. One by one they decide it’s much better to be a kid/animal and start switching back but they switch back into the wrong bodies.

End) The teacher has to put everything right again by figuring out which one is which. They are more patient with her afterwards and better students.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 21

2011-02-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

Almost had to use one of my rest days today but managed to squeak by with a silly story.

Day 21) Big person shoes

Beginning) Child loves wearing mom and dads’ shoes and imagining what they would be while wearing different kinds of shoes.

Middle) With each different kind of shoe they could try living in the shoes of different professionals.

End) They end up tripping up over the large shoes and decide it would be best to build a shoe boat and rescue animals from floods.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 20

2011-02-20T22:26:00.000-08:00

Day 20) Vikings on my soccer team

Beginning) Boy likes two things more than anything, science and soccer and the later he’s not too good at. He’s sick of being on losing teams every year and wants to the team captain.

Middle) He builds a time machine to go back and assemble the greatest soccer team ever which consists of Vikings, pirates, ninjas, etc.

End) The soccer thing doesn’t work out but decides that the science is what makes him unique and starts a time travel agency for tourists.

(Technically this isn't an original story since I had the idea over a year ago but I haven't been pleased with the general storyline of the original so I tried something totally different this time and I have say I'm much more pleased with this story idea.)

Picture Book Marathon - Days 18-19

2011-02-19T23:02:00.000-08:00

Day 18) Sandwich

Beginning) Boy is sick of having the same school lunch every day.

Middle) Boy learns about what different kinds of animals would put in their sandwiches.

End) He decides peanut butter and jelly isn’t so bad.

Day 19) Bird amnesia

Beginning) Very prideful bird falls off branch onto head by a freak accident.

Middle) Other animals try to have a little fun with him after they learn he has amnesia. They try to convince him that he’s other kinds of animals in the jungle.

End) He finally awakes from his amnesia and spends some time weekly being other animals for fun because he liked it so much.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 17

2011-02-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

Whew! It's getting hard. I'm huffing and puffing but here's what I've got for today, late but I got it done.

Day 17) Making a cake with mommy

Beginning) Mission: to make a cake. Girl and her mommy want to make a cake for their new neighbors to welcome them.

Middle) Both get in each other’s way. Everything that can go wrong does, culminating with the explosion of the cake all over the kitchen.

End) They try again and working together they make a wonderful cake and deliver it to the neighbors.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 16

2011-02-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Today's story centers around a girl that wants to be a princess with all her heart so she can make a difference. She tries everything she can to be one including: singing to birds and animals, cleaning up the floors, hanging her hair out the window, and even kissing a frog. Nothing works or at least she feels like nothing works, she's still herself. Her mother comforts her and tells her to stop trying to be a princess and help others instead. The little girl doesn't know what to try but her mother tells her to start by helping dad smile when he gets home as he's had a bad week at work.

Picture Book Marathon - Days 13-15

2011-02-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here's the most recent installments of the Picture Book Marathon I've been participating in. Whew! It's hard to keep up but so far I haven't missed a day. Thanks for checking them out.

Day 13) Cookies! Two brothers are elated when they learn that they are going to the grocery store. They try all they can to get a box/bag of their favorite cookies during the trip but to no avail, mother doesn't even go down the isle! All seems lost but maybe they can convince her last second as she moves to the checkout counter. Will they find luck?

Day 14) A T-Rex becomes fed up with his diet and starts an omnivorous diet, against the wishes of his doctor, family and friends. He feels better on the diet but his friends never give him a break. Deciding to end all the contention he challenges his friend(s) to a race. Will his new diet end up helping him win the race?

Day 15) Story centers around a young mountain goat that is old enough now to travel accross a mountain with the help of their mother. They meet all kinds of trials along the way but they slowly learn to trust mother's knowledge and experience. But what will happen when they meet a bear face-to-face?

Picture Book Marathon - Days 10-12

2011-02-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

I got behind on posting these as I had a final Friday morning; yuck but I'm all done with that class. Here's the stories I've done for the last 3 days. Enjoy.

Day 10) Where’s the lights?

Beginning) On a night when everything seemed normal the power goes out in a thunder storm. Everyone is devastated with all they can’t do now.

Middle) No TV, no video games, no light, no music, no microwave, no fun. The parents are out of ideas, the kids are mutinous. The littlest girl pipes up and offers that they make the dining room into a fancy, candle-lit restaurant.

End) It ends up being a memory they’ll always remember.

Day 11) No More Shoes

Beginning) Girl is sick of wearing shoes everywhere, she wants to be foot loose and fancy free. She decides she’s done with shoes and hides them, now she’s free to go through the day without them.

Middle) It’s fun at first but eventually the fun disappears.

End) She and mom decide shoes aren’t so bad.

Day 12) Yodeling Love Song

Beginning) Boy has a crush on a beautiful little girl in his village in the Bavarian Alps. All the boys are trying to get her attention with various things like: chocolates, sausage, and pastries. Boy talks to other boys and they laugh at him, he won’t catch her eye. He is an apprentice for a clockmaker. He makes her something small but that makes a beautiful short song, it doesn’t work. He goes to talk to clock master and he tells him that he should just sing to her, he has a beautiful singing voice (everyone in town knows it). He doesn’t need to give her something physical, just something from the heart.

Middle) He decides that he will sing to her from outside her house that evening but decides to practice a little outside the village. He gathers some wild flowers for her and tests them out for smells, which causes him to sneeze a lot and makes his voice hoarse. He has to run back and drink some water to sooth his throat.

End) He shows up to serenade her but as he walks up he can see the other boys are lined up to try the same idea. They are okay singers and offer her treats but each time she just smiles and walks back inside. He musters up his courage and makes his way into the opening. They see him and realize that he will show them up as he’s the best singer in the village, they slink back away. He gets her attention and begins to sing but the flowers have caused his voice to become hoarser than he realized initially. His voice comes out as a yodel and everyone pauses in shock, she seems to be thinking what to think about it. The boys break the silence with laughter. (She throws one of the rolls (that the bakery boy threw up to her window) at the boy nearest her window that’s laughing.) The boys leave as they see she loves his yodeling song and she tells him to keep going. (He’s trying to climb up the side of the house at the final closing of the scene after the credits, gets stuck by his suspenders somewhere. He gives her the flowers and she sneezes.) They become good friends.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 9

2011-02-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

One day a boy's school class takes a field trip to the aquarium. He is fascinated by the life of the fish, no homework, no studying, no math. He wishes he could live the life of a fish but as he leans forward to look up close to the glass he switches places with the fish. It's a fun adventure, so much to see. Eventually he learns life is not all its cracked up to be as a fish, being a boy isn't so bad. He is able to go back. Story could center around his teacher that causes the magic and wants him to work harder in school.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 8

2011-02-08T22:41:00.000-08:00

Day 8) Boy or girl is camping with their family in the woods and is scared of what might be around them in the forest

Beginning) Family goes on a big family campout. Girl is so excited to show how big she is to her parents and sibling(s).

Middle) Every little thing or sound starts to scare her but no one else hears it and she wants so bad to be big and brave.

End) She ends up turning on her flashlight and reading a book to herself and anyone/thing else that wants to listen, scary things or whatever else. The forest animals end up listening to her storytelling.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 7

2011-02-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

Day 7) There’s Monkeys in the Kitchen!

Beginning) One day the chef of the zoo was sick and couldn’t come in to make the meals for all the animals. The monkeys decide they are going to help prepare the meals that day to give him a day off.

Middle) They get all the meals mixed up and everything is going crazy.

End) He shows up a few hours later and decides to make the monkeys part of his kitchen crew and gives them jobs to do.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 6

2011-02-06T15:49:00.000-08:00

Girl gets ready for church

(Book for very young readers) Centers around a girl that's getting ready for church on a rainy or snowy day. She needs to find everything she needs to get going including her: hat, coat, boots, umbrella, flower (for her hair), scarf, and smile. She finds them one by one and off she goes.

I know this one is real simple but it's what my little girl is obsessed with right now. She loves getting all dressed up. This book wouldn't have many words at all.

Picture Book Marathon - Day 5

2011-02-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

Adventures of Michael the Dog

Story centers around a dog and his human kids. He decides one day when the gate is open that he's going to go on a few adventures he has been contemplating for awhile. The children look for him for some time with their parents but eventually turn to waiting at home for Michael to return. Parents say he will come home when he gets hungry. He does some fun things in the meantime: museum, park, fire department, swimming, a marathon, spacewalking, etc. He comes home when he's hungry and the kids are so excited to have him back but nobody but Michael will ever know the adventures that he had on his grand day out.

Picture Book Marathon 2011 - Day 4

2011-02-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Eww...I waited until the end of the day on this one. That was close but I got it done by 10 PM. That works.

Day 4) Granny Olsen goes to the Olympics

Story centers around an older woman in a retirement center, reminiscing of her adventures during the good old days. Her joints are growing more sore everyday and her bones more brittle and the doctors start to tell her to take more vitamins and exercise. "That's what I need!" She starts training to do something exciting and difficult; she wants to compete in the next Winter Olympics. Much work goes into training and as she competes for a position she has a fall which crushes all her dreams in an instant.

She finds the courage in herself to smile and accept the cards life has played her and makes the most out of it. I'll save the ending for later if you like this story at all. I've had a general idea of it for over a year now but haven't been able to figure out the logistics until today when I was debating the story to write today.

Picture Book Marathon 2011 - Day 3

2011-02-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

My story for today centers around a group of different species of birds that begin to fight in the jungle of Southern America over which bird is "top bird". Their fighting gets out of control but luckily a wise old monkey saves them from their boastful ignorance before they get out of hand.

Picture Book Marathon 2011 - Days 1 & 2

2011-02-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

Here's what I've been writing for the picture book marathon, fun idea getting everything together in this fun challenge. (As rough as these stories are, I claim them. Please do not go make millions developing them...well okay, don't go making 2 quarters and a pack of bubble gum off of them. But do feel free to laugh at the story or me; but don't laugh at me in the comments below.) Please do leave a comment.

Day 1) The Peanut Butter Princess: Doggie Party Planner

Beginning) Before going to her friend’s party, she talks to her mom about parties and how the dog’s birthday is next week. Goes to a party, sees how her friend’s mom is in charge of the party. Decides she wants to be a party planner and decides somehow it would be for dogs.

Middle) Throws a party and everything doesn’t go according to the plan. She feels like it was a failure.

End) It wasn’t a failure afterall in hindsight, she missed out on how much the dogs had at the party being dogs. Her mother (probably her mother) helps her to figure that out.

Day 2) Big Box of Crayons

Beginning) Boy is fascinated by colors; he gets the ultimate gift a box of 64 crayons. He makes the connection that a lot of the colors he has match the colors in the world around him so he decides to start coloring on the things of the world with the same colors, just to be mischievous.

Middle) No one notices at first but after a while it becomes obvious when his younger brother begins tagging along in his shadow, coloring behind him with different colors.

End) He gets mad at his brother but his mom stops him, instead of punishing him she makes him clean up and learn a new thing to do with colors, make different kinds of camouflage with his interest and talent in coloring things to look exactly the same.

Obviously they need work but that's what the rest of the year is for; as for now I'll just keep writing one a day and hope for the best. I've switched back and forth between posting these and hiding them to myself but I've decided that hopefully they do some good out there in the open.

Character Design: The Tooth Fairy

2010-09-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my most recent pieces. I worked on it late Saturday night for quite some time. It's for a book I'm writing for Ainsley, my daughter, that's all about the tooth fairy's beginnings. It's been a fun project and currently I'm writting the seventh chapter. Writing during pharmacy school is very tricky but it has been fun to try to get creative projects done, even if it's for a short time every once-in-a-while.

Despicable Me

2010-08-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Just saw Despicable Me in theaters the other night and loved some elements to the show. I loved the relationship that develops between Gru and the three girls. The minions were hilarious. The story was fun, cheering for a compelling villain. Great show, not at the top of my list but a great show. I had to do a quick drawing of a great scene, the part where he has to read the girls a bedtime story. Fun to sketch out.

Nate

Olympic Dream

2010-02-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

This was my submission for a contest on dreamshoebox.blogspot.com. It's a boy that has the dream to be an Olympian, specifically a long jumper. His classmates gather to watch him do his first run down the playground slide.

Snow-covered Capital

2010-02-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is the picture I ended up turning in for the "Day without people" assignment, kind of bending the assignment a little and making up a ficticious place from a novel I'm working on writing. This is the capital city after becoming abandoned by its inhabitants and being ingulfed by snow. The central tower comes from the new one they just finished building in Saudi Arabia. I enjoyed working on this one more.

Day Without People

2010-02-12T07:29:00.000-08:00

For my illustration class we had an assignment to imagine what a certain place would look like if it was abandoned by humans. I debated for a while and then decided to bury somewhere recognizable, Las Vegas, by sand dunes. I ended up abandoning further development of the concept.

Painting 3600 Class

2009-10-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

This semester has me working overtime between classes and work but I'm finding a little time to work on talents. Most of that is attributed to the fact that I am in Painting 3600 to get some more upper division hours needed for my major. I am really enjoying the class and the different kinds of struggles it gives me. These paintings were part of the first assignment we got in class, five related paintings. I decided to use the assignment to explore different short film, feature length, and other story ideas...my own concept art for the stories in my head. I got good feedback from my teacher and class. I was thrilled and excited to find that I didn't have to be exactly like all the other Art Major kids in my class.

Necessary Improvements

2009-09-02T22:22:00.001-07:00

I had to make some minor adjustments to the piece and I had a little more time to do it I think. Check out this video too. It's with the enhanced historical slide-really making Taylor's work shine. (By the way, Taylor is my cousin in law I guess would be the title. He is applying to study animation at BYU.) If you're wondering the context of this short clip...it's a contest and the entry needed to be 30 sec. long and showcase the freedom of speech. This was our approach. http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/394023/The-Price-of-Freedom/ Please check this out as it will help our chances for winning the contest, the prize is doing a 6 min. clip that will be aired on the History Channel.

Rush to Submit

2009-09-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

After some hours of work, here's the storyreel that was submitted on a History Channel contest featured on Aniboom.com. Please check it out at http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/393864/The-Price-of-Freedom/ This piece was done with Taylor Thompson, a team project. He took over the portion of the historical flashback. If you can vote on it please do, any comments you can leave here on my blog. Thanks to everyone, family and friends for your support.

The Price of Freedom Rough Draft

2009-08-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

After a lot of struggle figuring out the timing, here's the rough draft version of "The Price of Freedom", an entry in an online animation contest. I'm working on this project with Aubrey's cousin Taylor. He is working on the hardest part; the part that I just left as a picture of Washington. I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out. Please let me know if you see something I didn't consider.

Delaying Tom's Time

2009-08-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, a couple of realizations have sidetracked my attention on Tom's Time for the summer. Originally my plan was to complete the piece this summer for submission this fall into a film festival. It looks like my plan was a little too hopeful. I realized here that it's hard to get your drawings to match up really well without my art desk back at home. So with a heavy heart I put Tom's on the sidelines for now, promising myself I'd give him his Time when we get home. I've put my attention to some other projects for the time being.

The first one is a contest I discovered on Aniboom.com featuring the History Channel. They are looking for a 30 second story reel on the theme of freedom of speech. I got my cousin Taylor Thompson (on Aubrey's side) to help me with the project. We're working on an exciting piece that features a boy learning about the price of freedom. It has to be done by September 2nd so we're rushing through the works but I'm enjoying the project. Luckily 30 seconds isn't killer and its giving me a fun way to work with Taylor. I'm excited for him to be at BYU, working on getting into their animation program.

The other project I'm working on is in collaboration with Aubrey. We're working on a story this summer. I don't know exactly where this story is going as far as product. I'm not too concerned with that at this point though. Maybe we'll make it into an adventure novel or a screenplay, who knows at this point. We've been working hard on it and it's starting to come together. I may include ideas or story line if there's ever interest expressed.

Week of projects

2009-06-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Projects I'm working on right now include several different types of mediums. I'm working on an acrylic painting of space exploration, an animation called Tom's Time (with it's rough draft Story Reel shown on my last blog), a sculpture of Tom for visual reference, and Aubrey has asked me to show her how to paint in watercolors.

We are going next week to Hawaii for work, remodeling a home specifically. I am very excited to go to Hawaii for my first time and plan on bringing watercolors to paint the beautiful scenery I'm expecting. I've found myself inspired lately by all that is around me. We live in a beautiful world, the great Creator must have an eye for art.

Tom's Time Story Reel

2009-06-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

After a period of working and waiting, finally Tom's Time does arrive for his voyage to heaven to be with his wife again. Tom shares a special relationship with his cows and they have a hard time saying goodbye. This story reel is the rough draft for the short that features Tom's Time to travel to heaven. (4:50 min in length)