What time is it?

This is an extremely common question that I am asked, especially when I am wearing what is called a "watch." A "watch" is a device that tells you the time, without the use of the Sun. I heard that it is important to wear it on your left wrist, or else you will turn into an accordian-playing monkey. The answer is 11:22AM.

Alright, alright. Here are some real questions.

In high school, my friends and I had a graffiti crew called SOL: Spraycan Out Laws, or Styles Others Lack (I went by the tag FOCUS). I consider these years invaluable in shaping my creativity. I named this site See Out Loud to carry on the SOL name. The fellas have gone on to direct short films of their own. Check out their work at www.sevenohfive.com (705 is SOL upside down). Be sure to check out the short, "3 Card Studs."

Since I've joined the "working" world, I haven't had much time to do pieces. We used to paint on the legalized walls of Huntington Beach back in the day, but they shut that program down years ago. I still paint at UC Berkeley's Annual "Hip-Hop in the Park" from time to time. If there is anyone out there that would like to commission me and the crew to do a wall, I'm completely open to that.

I had the pleasure of meeting her a few times. The 1st time was in 1996, at 106.1 KMEL's annual Summer Jam concert. I was a Berkeley student at the time, and my hip-hop dance crew won a competition to perform during the show. I met her backstage, and exchanged contact info with her father to potentially do artwork for them. A few years later, I showed her label some of my new work, and I was asked to do her album art and ad campaign. I met her again on the set of her video, "We Need A Resolution," to show her a rough animatic of the commercial I was directing for her. Even from those brief encounters, it was clear she was one of those people that could light up a room with her presence...charming and beautiful, inside and out. May she rest in peace.

I've met with him numerous times for artwork reviews. He's an extremely intelligent innovator, and I admire his accomplishments and what he has done for the film industry. Star Wars fueled my imagination and love for drawing when I was growing up, so I'm grateful to him for that.

Even though I didn't take this particular route, the best thing is to enroll in art or design school. Most of my peers studied industrial design, transportation design or illustration. There are a number of really good schools out there: Pasadena Art Center, Academy of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Otis etc. and many of them now offer entertainment design courses. But keep in mind that school isn't everything. What matters is how good your portfolio is. I got into the ILM art internship program as an economics major with a portfolio of graffiti and sketches I did for fun. (I was rejected the 1st time I applied and was accepted the 2nd time) That got my foot in the door, and I worked my ass off the next four years, constantly absorbing and learning. I would also highly recommend purchasing "Art of" books for films. Some really good ones are the Art of Star Wars, the Matrix, Alien(s) and the Disney and Pixar films. Just keep practicing, and compare your art to the work done by the professionals. I am always analyzing my weaknesses and searching for ways to improve.

CG work is not really my area of expertise. I do know that ILM is a really competitive place to get into, and it helps to have a reel demonstrating experience in film or video games. If you are a college student, Lucasfilm/ILM does offer a great internship program, and you can find out more info at www.ilm.com.

Almost all of my conceptual art is sketched with pencil, then I will either tone with Prismacolor pens and/or scan my drawings into the computer to paint in Adobe Photoshop. Similarly, my graphic design work is loosely sketched out first, then scanned in and retraced in Adobe Illustrator. I plan on having a step by step overview of how I work by April, so stay tuned.

Too many to name them all...but here's a shot.

Art: I was never formally trained in art, so my major influences are my peers that I have worked with in the film industry. I admire the artistic eyes of Doug Chiang, Ryan Church, Iain McCaig, David Nakabayashi, Brian O' Connell, Dermot Power and Erik Tiemens. My heroes growing up were Norman Rockwell, Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes), Chuck Jones, Syd Mead, Shoji Kawamori (Macross), Los Angeles graffiti artist SLICK, and the OG Star Wars artists, Joe Johnston, Nilo Rodis-Jamero and Ralph McQuarrie.

Film: Films by Christopher Guest, Stanley Kubrick, Spike Jonze, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, P.T. Anderson, Brad Bird, Robert Zemeckis and George! Mike Meyers and Adam Sandler movies are a guilty pleasure, especially Happy Gilmore.

Music: As with many people, music drives my art and my life...especially hip hop. I love Common and Lauryn Hill for depth and lyricism, Gang Starr for Premier's beats, and The Roots and De La Soul for innovation. Outside of hip hop, favorites of mine are Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, D'Angelo, Beck, The Strokes, Weezer, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello, The Cure, Hall & Oates, Pat Benetar, Billie Joel, Elton John (his old stuff), Van Morrison, The Beach Boys, T-Rex and The Beatles.

Leadership and Character: Former President Jimmy Carter, Robert Kennedy, U2's Bono, The Beastie Boys, former UC Berkeley Chancellor Tien, and my parents.

Here in United States, we are extremely fond of "smoothies." Simply place all the above mentioned ingredients into a blender, and blend until you get tired of dancing. Pour into a tall glass and garnish with feta cheese. Voila! "Smoothie." For the adventurous types, substitute the milk with Grape Nuts cereal. This is called a "roughie." I will upload a demo of this in March as well, so stay tuned.

Last question...Yes, you in the back, with the Spock ears....

Uh... I gotta go.

I have to uh....go feed my...uh...goldfis-

-Alright. That will conclude this session of Frequently Asked Questions. Goodbye.