Joe Lee Blog

merry christmas

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

wishing you a safe and happy holiday!

Character Design

2011-10-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

I havent updated in a while, heres some stuff i worked on recently! also i accidently deleted my blog images, so some of my later work is unfortunately unavailable for now.

Lenox Lounge: Harlem Jazz

2011-07-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

Last weekend I went to see some Jazz in Harlem with my sister Julia, who was visiting NYC. This trio, were amazing to say the least. The drummer in particular was around 60 years old and had played with the greats such as Stan Getz back in the day.

house warming gift

2011-06-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

Haven't updated in ages! This is a piece I worked on for some friends. It was really fun to do and I'm so happy they like it! I got it printed and framed too which was something I've never done before.

125th Harlem metro north train station

2011-04-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

Still experimenting with lighting techniques. Trying to have a balance of light and shadow whilst keeping it relatively flat as a 2D design.

my cubicle

2011-04-04T15:25:00.007-04:00

my desktop. always have a bottle of water, my yoga mat and some paper to draw on.

some books that keep me inspired. 3 trees make a forest, round robin, daniela strijleva's collected sketches, monsters inc art book, moonshine, peck and paw, venice chronicles, etc

behind me i have some print outs and photocopies of artwork for my inspiration wall. some nico marlet stuff from how to train your dragon, pete sohns and tom gately art from nemo and toy story 3, dice color keys from toy story 3, some background paintings from studio ghibli, minkyu's water nymphs.

heres chris sasaki's painting from 'art blocks for ghana' auction that i won! it came in the mail and is hanging proudly in my cube. totally stoked that i won it :D

Brooklyn Flea Markets

2011-03-31T09:00:00.002-04:00

experimenting with some lighting techniques

NY girl

2011-03-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Saw this young lady on the Bus to the westside. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon.

sketch weekly topic: childhood monsters

2011-03-06T22:32:00.004-05:00

my entry for the squeakly blog

now that i look at it, it looks like a sully/stitch ungodly offspring.

Art Blocks for Ghana

2011-02-23T15:27:00.002-05:00

'Long Distance'
Gouche & ink
6x6

Heres my contribution for the Art Blocks for Ghana charity auction. I had fun doing this, I can't say that I paint regularly with gouache, so it was a fun and unfamiliar project! I'll be at the Gallery showing this Saturday, come by if you're in the neighborhood! Or better yet, bid on my piece as the auction is online too ;)

Art Blocks for Ghana site

NY Dude

2011-02-21T22:34:00.003-05:00

NY Girl

2011-02-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

1st late post of this year!

2011-01-31T09:30:00.001-05:00

Its been snowing heaps in NYC lately.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T20:39:00.003-05:00

watercolor/colored pencils

My college animation demo reel

2010-12-02T09:00:00.001-05:00

havent updated in a while, our movie 'Rio' will be wrapping up very soon for the animation dept- so thats my excuse for the lack of posts :). i hadnt looked at my reel for a while, so it was interesting to revisit it with fresh eyes and see what decisions i made back then. anyway ive decided to share it with you guys! enjoy :)

Bobby Pontillas in NY (happy 30th bday!)

2010-11-17T10:33:00.000-05:00

one of my best friends here in NYC, Bobby Pontillas. I drew this for his 30th bday today. Happy B'day Buddy! Check out his amazing blog here

NY dog walker

2010-11-08T09:30:00.001-05:00

this is a sneak preview for a much larger illustration that im doing. theres alot to be done, heaps of bg environment and characters! but its all coming together piece by piece :) thanks for stopping by!

homage to Gustav Klimt

2010-10-27T10:00:00.002-04:00

had fun doing this. the patterning on both subjects i realised while painting this - was that it so interesting and full of variation, organic and flowing. Gustav certainly took his time to build in each flower and texture. whereas i had one night

Gaia

2010-10-24T00:13:00.003-04:00

Bedford Ave subway Williamsburg, Brooklyn

2010-10-03T19:04:00.002-04:00

NY Girl

2010-09-14T00:04:00.001-04:00

Cape Cod

2010-09-05T17:51:00.000-04:00

spending this labor day weekend with friends at cape cod. did a little piece while relaxing at our beach front house :)

influence map

2010-08-29T15:40:00.001-04:00

thought this was a cool idea of mapping your influences into a chart. its great to see what influences people in the decisions they make artistically.

btw if you want to map your own influence chart please go here to download the template

Soho Dude

2010-08-23T22:15:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn girl

2010-08-16T23:17:00.001-04:00

NY guy

2010-07-27T00:20:00.000-04:00

NY Girl

2010-07-25T22:50:00.000-04:00

30 second pose page

2010-07-23T11:45:00.001-04:00

at work me and some of the animators spend 30 minutes in the morning sketching poses of each other for 30 seconds for each pose. i remember trying to capture as much detail as possible when i first started but as some months passed i saw myself simplifying the gesture to create an attitude or a tell a little story in my mind. i enjoy looking back at these because theres a looseness and uninhibited quality to them. the trick ive learnt is to take a mental picture of the pose and then draw what i want to communicate but not what i see. this has helped me draw people in cafes and on the street as im trying to push and pull things that are there but not completely clear for everyone to see.

NY girl

2010-06-28T23:40:00.001-04:00

ahh i havent updated in ages! heres a little sketch for tonight. cheers!

In the mood for love: Maggie Cheung

2010-05-12T00:45:00.000-04:00

from one of my most favourite movies and directors, In the mood for love by Wong Kar Wai

harry potter

2010-03-22T14:43:00.000-04:00

lately i have been reading harry potter, i know pretty late. but ive almost become obsessed with these books. cant put it down, even when its clearly late in the afternoon and still havent bothered to get out of bed or even eat. its been a couple weeks since i got the books and now im on the fifth one: order of the phoenix. i got a little sad, knowing after this one there would only be 2 left..o well. heres a little sketch i did at work of harry.

500 days of summer: the smiths

2010-03-14T19:31:00.000-04:00

wanted to try telling a story even if it was a small one. this one scene in 500 days of summer stuck out to me. its the part where summer says she loves the smiths and tom in turn starts to fall in love with summer.

walking the dog

2010-03-13T10:38:00.000-05:00

NYC Subway

2010-03-01T16:21:00.001-05:00

Traveling on the Subway you sometimes notice interesting people. These two girls i saw waiting for a train in the morning. Rather than trying to draw them right there, i would take a mental picture and try to remember as much detail, mood and shapes that i could. Later when i catch the metro north train, i have time to tie down these memories into little sketches such as these.

monica bellucci

2010-02-25T09:51:00.000-05:00

explorer

2010-02-10T12:10:00.001-05:00

2010-02-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

sunday sketch

2010-01-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

took a different approach with this one, first i blocked in her silhouette and then layered the rest on top. anyway had fun doing this one

2010 first post

2010-01-26T22:45:00.001-05:00

its been a very longtime since my last post. since my last post, life has been a whirlwind of traveling and work! ive since moved from San Francisco, moved to LA for a few months and now im in New York City. im currently at bluesky studios and enjoying it a lot. i partly have to thank my co worker bobby pontillas for sharing such great brushes in pshop and inspiring me to start blogging again. thanks bobby! anyway heres me taking a smoke break, my first new years resolution fail..one day i will quit, just not yet -.,-