Illustration Friday: Born To Be WILD!

     Yeah! It's Friday!  Illustration Friday!  This week's topic is WILD.  I try to participate every week, but that plan doesn't always work out,so it's been awhile since I posted an IF Illo. 

     I was determined to create something for this week, but at first really couldn't come up with something satisfying to fit the topic.  Suddenly, I had an idea.

     I had just recently returned from a trip to Vegas where my partner was attending a convention for work there.  I was fortunate enough to get to tag along.  Though I didn't gamble too much, I had actually won enough at one of the downtown casinos to buy a new pair of shoes, which for me was SUPER exciting as I don't tend to win too many things or be too terribly lucky. 
I mostly did more sightseeing than anything.  As I had never seen the desert before, I was absolutely fascinated by the environment.  The weather was warm but not heavy, and I loved how everywhere you looked, you could see the mountains.

 
     Anyway, while I was there I took advantage of the fact that there was an IMAX theater nearby.  As The closest IMAX to our home was in Atlanta, almost 4 hours form home, you can imagine how often I am able to see an IMAX film.  Jurassic Park has been re-released in theaters not only in a NEW 3D experience, but also in IMAX 3D.  I was fortunate enough to see the film in theaters when it was originally released ten years ago and it changed the way I looked at film as well as the whole world, I would imagine as this was really the dawning age in CG Special Effects. 

Present Day, CG-SFX are kind of old hat and expected from huge blockbuster films, but 10 years ago, as many of you know, when that shot showed the the reveal massive size of that brontosaurus, a realistic CG dinosaur, you had to really be there to experience it first hand. The world I think literally stopped to watch that dinosaur eat. I had NEVER seen anything like that on film, as most dinosaurs in movies were done with a stop motion animated puppet then composited into each film shot. The CG dinosaur was absolutely flawless.  It was, quite literally, a WOW moment in the history of film. 

    I was SO absolutely beside myself that I get to re-live that experience.  If you thought the movie was at all thrilling watching it at home,

you can only imagine what it is like being surrounded by the mere vastness of the dinosaurs.  There is no where to run or hide in when that IMAX screen wraps around you.  You better run from that big T-Rex.  

     I was inspired by this delightful treat of seeing Jurassic Park again on the big screen. I wanted to draw a T-Rex, which fits completely with the WILD theme of this week.  I furthermore played with the idea and dressed my dinosaur in a WILD costume of sorts. I love the wild and usually bold and colorful styling of modern day punk rockers.  I felt it would be more fun to make my T-Rex a punk rocker and get to play with a very colorful Mohawk. :0)

     There really was no other connection between a dinosaur and a punk rocker other than to me they epitomize the word WILD for me. 

So go treat yourself to a really great cinema experience and see Jurassic Park in 3D,  IMAX if you have it privy.  It is SO worth it. 
Until next time...
Keep sketching, keep thinking, keep laughing and most important of all, keep making art. 
Cheers,
LEWIS