The End of an Amazing Dance Season

A week ago the dance season came to an end in Las Vegas, Nevada! I had so much fun watching all of my dance students compete and spending quality time with my friends and family.  My Ninja Quest production number took first place their first day at the competition with a score of 299/300.  Wow! They next moved on to the Gala (Showcase) where the best of the best go head to head for overall first place.  Out of 92 teams only 8 from each day make it to the gala night.  Ninja Quest made it and ended up taking 5th place.  I am so proud of all my students/dancers.  Great job to them!

I have also promised to show early concept quick sketches of costume designs I did for Ninja Quest and also another sweet production number called, Tap Band.  I have posted images of my sketches along with photos of myself with some of my amazing dance students backstage at our recital.  It was really inspiring and enlightening to see my concept sketches come to life as actual costumes.  I had a lot of fun this whole dance season teaching at The Dance Studio of Fresno.

Twilight Killer and Recital Week

I recently re-watched all the Blade movies.  I almost forgot how awesome they all are.  Back when vampires were considered crazy killing monsters.  Now they eat cows and sparkle in the sunlight.  Anyways, I tried a new coloring technique I recently learned by watching an awesome tutorial by artist Patrick Brown.  After finishing Blade I wanted to kinda make a scene for him to fit in but ran out of time.  I left it sketchy but hopefully it still reads well.  This week has been a pretty eventful and fun week since our recitals will be going on all week.  Ive been back and forth from the Saroyan Theater.  Last nights show went amazing and was lots of fun.  Tonight Ninja Quest performs!  Come check out the show and buy a t-shirt!  Show starts at 6 pm at the Saroyan.  Hope to see you there!

Bats

I was asked by a friend to draw Batman in my more simplified cartoony style of drawing.  I came out with this version of Batman.  I always was a fan of the blue and grey suit and chunky utility belt.  After looking at this drawing I felt I could of pushed the exaggerations a little more, but every day is a learning process so its ok.  Until next time...

Please Vote for my NINJAS!

www.dancewearsolutions.com/wcde

Hello Everyone!
The link above will take you to a website where you can not only watch my Ninja Quest Production number but also vote for it to win the Regional Dance Off! All the top dance numbers from around the west coast were chosen to compete in this online competition.  All of your votes will greatly be appreciated! Please help us, The Dance Studio of Fresno, become number one in the West Coast Dance Explosion Regional Dance Off!  Thanks for your support!

In other news, the Ninja Quest t-shirts have arrived!  They come in all sizes for men and women.  They are available through contacting myself or at The Dance Studio of Fresno.  They go for $25 a shirt and have already begun to sell quickly at the studio.  All the proceeds go to The Dance Studio of Fresno Booster Club.  Thanks for stopping by and more artwork to come soon.

Z carvings

I decided to stylize Zorro.  I have never really seen any versions of how Zorro would look in cartoon form. So I went for it.  I kept the lines and colors real simple.  I only played with the different tones of grays and blacks on his costume.  I started a full character rotation for Zorro that I might post soon and also have more artwork on the way.  The symbol in the bottom right corner is my new logo.  It is a M and W together.  My initials, Miguel Wilson.

Ninja Quest T-Shirt Prototype

FRONT

BACK

Here is a sneak peak at the t-shirt design I'm currently finalizing for not only dancers but friends and family too.  The front is an image I created to represent all the characters in the number.  The back is authentic Japanese calligraphy and it says, "NINJA QUEST."

I will be taking orders soon and it will be available in various colors and sizes.  I hope all is well with everyone and if your curious about what Ninja Quest is, read the post below.

MIGS

All images are © MIGUEL WILSON 2011

GO NINJA! GO NINJA! GO!

Hello,

I have been away from my blog for a little while because I have been busy not only doing art projects but most of all teaching dance and dancing.  I have been working with a competition dance team at the studio I work for.  The Dance Studio of Fresno.  The production number that myself and co-worker Andiee Hodges spawned the idea for, started at the end of last summer.  We got together and brainstormed a lot of exciting ideas for a huge dance production number.  We had to dream big since we knew we would be working with around 50 advanced dance students.  We came up with the idea of NINJAS.  We didnt know why or how they would be on stage but we knew that they were gonna look cool doing some hip hop moves together as a unit.  The next step was to come up with a story and have a lot of concepts created from stage design to costume design.  Andiee and myself met many times and discussed ideas for stage props and costuming.  I was so happy that I was able to put some art skills to the test.  I hand sketched various ideas for the NINJA costumes.  Andiee would show me images of some of the latest fashions that she thought would look cool incorporated into the costumes.  In the end I designed 3 costumes for our production.  A group of heroes, a group of villains, and a team of ninjas.  (CHECK BACK WITH MY BLOG SOON TO SEE THE EARLY SKETCHES OF THE COSTUME DESIGNS)  After all this was said and done it was exciting to see my actual sketches come to life and see the costumes get made.  That was something I had never experienced before.  Next I had to get all the music that myself and my partner decided to use and create a phenomenal score for our production.  The reason I call it a, "score," and not a "mix," is because the very talented Brian Hines put it all together for me.  He not only mixed the music so incredibly smooth and well but he produced some of his own custom tracks to tie in with the NINJA theme.  Thank you again to Brian Hines, he really is a genius music producer.  Speaking of the music,  one of my best friends is the voice who narrates our production.  The amazingly talented JD Witherspoon.  He really is a man with 1000 voices and he did an amazing job of being epic on the track.  Thanks to you again JD.  Once we figured out our stage design and also had all the choreography down tight we spent as much time as possible with all 47 dancers teaching them not only how to learn the dance moves but also learn how to become a NINJA.  Once the dancers had learned about all they could, my boss, Sue Sampson-Dalena came in to practices and helped us stage the whole number.  After many practices it became time for the show to hit the road.  So far the production has received top awards everywhere it has performed.  More than awards they receive ohhs and ahhs from the crowds and children that watch it which I feel is worth more than any trophy.  Entertainment.  The latest news is that last weekend at the West Coast Dance Explosion in San Francisco it won first place over all.  First place overall for the competition and for the showcase.  Congrats to all the amazing TDS dancers.  The production really comes to life because of them.  They have the magic.  Also thank you to Andiee and Sue for all their hard work along this journey.  I wish I could write even more but I have to leave now.  Duty calls.  Back to the dance studio.  Oh, and I forgot to tell you, we call this production.......

NINJA QUEST

Green Lantern Friends

Here is all of the friends Ive done so far in my Green Lantern project.  That's my close friend Nick Hines in the yellow as Sinestro.  In the comic Sinestro has purple/pinkish skin so I also made Nick's skin that color.  Ill be posting a lot more artwork soon.  I have a lot of costume designs for dance productions that became realities.  Also more sketch book art and also t-shirts designs.  So please check back soon!  Hope all is well!

Green Lanterns

I created myself and friends as characters from the Green Lantern comic universe.  Green Lantern is one of my favorite comic books at the moment.  I have to give it up to my friend Chris Lewis who helped me out a lot with some coloring tips.  Check out my friend Chris' work by clicking his name under my skillful artists section.  Other Lanterns I created on here starting from under mine, from top to bottom, is Chris Lewis, George Gomez, Nick Hines, and Garrett Wilson.  They are all close friends and family. Ill be sure to be back soon and I hope everyone is doing awesome!

Sketch Book Fun

I have been working on many drawings since Christmas and my new years resolution is to draw more than ever before! I usually have friends ask to see my sketch book and ask me to put some of my sketchbook drawings on my blog.  Well, here are a couple drawings I did in my latest sketchbook for fun.  The first is a pencil sketch of the KRAKEN from the new Clash of the Titans movie.  The second is funny drawing I did out of frustration with my phone, (old iphone 3G), never working right or getting reception.  I sometimes feel like I want to fight my iphone! So that is how this sketch came about.  I never really color with color pencils but I went for it on this one.  I will have a lot of artwork posted soon so check back frequently friends! Hope everyone is enjoying the new year.

Head Sketch Practice

I have had the privilege of sitting down and getting to know amazing artist Dennis Lewis.  He is a phenomenal artist and art instructor.  Check his blog out under my skillful artists section. He sent me on my way after our awesome meeting with a mind full of useful tips and tricks of the trade.  He also let me borrow a book that has changed my outlook on drawing the human head.  I learned a lot while in college but feel this book has helped me further my skills.  The book is called, "The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing The Head," by William L. Maughan.  Although I have noticed many mistakes, I have posted some of my early sketches I have worked on while reading this book.  I have also posted the cover of what the book looks like.  Thank you so much to the Amazing Dennis Lewis!  Im excited its Halloween Week and I have a lot in store with dance, drawing, and dressing up!  Until next time....

If Only He Heard the Ice Cream Song

So I saw this crazy youtube video of this absent minded guy that thought it would be cool to dance around in the street while traffic was coming towards him.  Watch the link to see the outcome, then check out my cartoon drawing I created after watching the video.  Ice Cream trucks will never be looked at the same! haha

Click here to see what happens

Photo Shoot with RC Jones!

Had a fun day in downtown Fresno with my friend Ryan C Jones.  He is an amazing photographer, check out his work by clicking on his link under my "skillful artists" section.  Thanks again to Ryan Jones for capturing such good shots of me doing what I love to do, dance and listen to music.

Air Dancer

I have been getting back to my comic book roots practicing my pencil and ink drawings.  Here is a pic of a dancer I drew in mid air.

Here's my card

So I have been asked numerous times for a card when dealing with people interested in my art or dance choreography. So I figured its time to let people walk away empty handed no more. I wanted to create something simple yet still artistic and still ME. I sketched these head drawings first and came about with the final design that you see above. The colored logo above you is the back of the card. Whats that? How does the front look? Well I guess some mystery is left for those until you find me! Take care everyone and more art work up soon.

The Early Beast Logo Designs!

Ive been away from my blog for awhile but I will be posting lots of drawings soon! I finished up working on this logo for my buddy's hip hop website called, "The Early Beast." Be on the lookout for that site soon. Here is the drawing of the beast and one of the finished logos.

Its NOT a TOY! Its an ACTION FIGURE!

Whats up everyone!?!?! I have been having a nice spring break and I hope you have too! When Im not drawing or dancing I really enjoy going on missions looking for my favorite characters as action figures. Its been over ten years since Ive been on the hunt and Ive seemed to have collected around 300 action figures! Decided to take a pic of my collection thus far! Enjoy!

Kiera

These are some character concept designs for an illustration project im working on for a friend. The story is based on a little girl who has dyslexia and is going to save the world. It takes place in the future so I was playing around with what maybe a young girl would be wearing in the future.

Live Long and Prosper

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Years! Ive been getting back on the grind with artwork, acro, and dance! I recently got Star Trek on blu ray and enjoyed watching it! Here is a sketch I did of the Vulcan man himself, Spock!

Sugar Plum Fairy for Nutcracker

Hello Everyone!!
I have been busy teaching dance and doing art! This Christmas I got the cool opportunity to design a sweatshirt for one of the dance studios I work at. All About Dance Studio in Madera, CA is putting on a cool show called, "The Nutcracker, All Jazzed Up." It is the story of the Nutcracker but with all dance styles. My hip hop classes get to get down in it also! This Sugar Plum Fairy character design will be featured on the sweatshirt for this years show.