Modbook Pro Artist Feature Story: Tommy Castillo and the City of Angels (Part 1)

Tommy Castillo here! If you haven’t read my previous article, let me give you a quick explanation of whom I am.

Twenty-five years I have been in print and art… and writing for all that time. I have worked for more companies than I can count, and I have loved (and hated, LOL!) them all.

OK, let me explain. I am getting on a flight to L.A., six hours of flight time. As I’m waiting for my flight I get the call. You know the one I can’t talk about: signed non-disclosure agreement and all. So, I get the call and I am asked to design up my dream job. So, I grab a napkin and draw up the idea with a pen I borrowed from some business guy. I shot the pic with my phone and emailed it to the head-editor-guy at the secret movie company and myself! I pull out my Modbook Pro and logged into my email for the pic as I wait for them to respond.

Oh, and the thing is they need it for the meeting I am heading to L.A. for.

So, major time crunch. If not for my Excalibur (that’s what I call my trusted Modbook Pro), there’d be no chance in hell I could get it done. So I’m on the plane and the flight attendant is giving me that “turn off your phone or be catapulted from the plane” look. Seconds turn into seemingly hours when my phone finally rings and everyone looks at me like I have the plague.

“Go for it, Tommy!” says Editor Big Shot!

Finally, I’m allowed to pull out my Modbook Pro and get to work. Now, I am a traditional artist and work mostly in oils and acrylics, but I live in the present and a computer is a must. So why not have the best? I have worked on PC tablets, but nothing compares to having the power of a MacBook Pro and a full Cintiq in the form of a Modbook Pro in one’s hands, anywhere you go.

Now, let me tell you what I did. I took the pic and made it into a layer in Photoshop. Turned the layer into a multiply and started redrawing it clearer and detailed. It went from a napkin sketch to a full rendered black-and-white finished piece. So, I put on the Dr. Dre Beats Pro headphones my wife got for me, and I am off!

As my plane makes its way across country, layer after layer and the file grows and grows.

But here is the beauty: no lag, no freezing up. I find myself laughing at the power of this prize as the art comes to life. I worked on the art for the next five hours. And my Modbook Pro’s battery held its own the whole time!

I love to create art, but I never knew I could also sing along out loud with my music as I make art. My wife just let me be and had fun watching people trying to see what I was painting… and what I was painting it on.

Unfortunately, I can’t share the art I made for said secret movie project yet, but I have included art that was made in the same fashion. From a simple idea on a napkin, to the state-of-the-art computer for a final piece. The Modbook Pro has become a mainstay in my artistic arsenal. If you take what you do seriously, then you have to decide if you will depend on the best or take your chances with mediocrity.

My name is Tommy Castillo, and I thank you for taking the time to check in and see what adventures a working pro and his Modbook Pro are up to next.

Thanks! Talk to you all again soon!

Tommy Castillo