Sketchbook-phobia

Real sketchbooks (the kind you buy from a store) intimidate me. I never grew up with them. Instead, I drew on reams and reams of plain ol’ paper. In school, I had a section in my binder with plain ol’ paper just for drawing. I have folders at home filled with drawings I did on plain ol’ paper.

Then I got into college where I needed to use sketchbooks as part of my grade. I filled them up, but it just never felt natural.

Even now, I still do my best thinking on plain ol’ paper.

So about 2 months ago, I came up with an idea that would combine the best of what I like about sketchbooks with the familiarity of plain ol’ paper.

So far, It’s been working out really well. It’s small and ring-bound (I like to be able to fold the cover around to the back of it). The thin masonite cover gives it a good solid feel that’s still pretty light. I can carry it around just about anywhere.

The book rings allow me to remove/add paper to it as I please. I can write/jot down ideas in it, paste extra notes in it, or throw away pages I don’t like.

Specifications:

Cover: roughly larger than 8.5x 5.5 inches, eighth inch masonite. (I made it slightly bigger than the pages to protect them.) The holes are drilled to match a regular paper punch in both size and spacing (see paper below).

Book-rings: ¾ inch rings

Paper: regular ol’ 8.5x11 inch paper cut in half. I punched the holes in a regular paper punch (punching two holes, then turning the paper over to punch two more). I also found that it holds 100 pages pretty cleanly, without bunching up, bending, tearing, etc.

Maya Class: Assignment #1

I've signed up for a Maya class at SLCC. It's being taught by a friend of mine whom I've had the privilege of working with at my last two jobs.
Although I've picked up a lot about Maya and 3D at work, I've never really had a sit-down, teacher-guided class and it's been a lot of fun.

Our first assignment was to create some kind of still-life out of Nurbs -something I'd never really done before. We were also supposed to use Maya's built-in procedural textures as much as possible -also something I'd never really played around with before.
I decided to create all the textures procedurally for this one and pushed it as far as I could within the time frame.

I also learned quite a bit about post-processing and compositing things within Photoshop. It's such an easy thing to do. I wished I'd known about it several years ago.

I'll be posting additional assignments as I finish them.

Halloween lesson!

Busy practice work . . .

To keep my skills sharp, I've been doing color studies from everyday subjects. Sometimes I also grab a sketchbook to work on anatomy or architectural studies.

Here's one of my color studies to share. . .

I don't necessarily enjoy the study work, but appreciate what I gain from the result of it.
To help me out, I need some kind of distraction while I do sketching and studies. I compare it to people who watch tv or listen to music while they jog or workout -I can lose track of the actual time I spend and it makes the time go by faster.

One thing I've recently come across, which I enjoy listening to while I sketch or paint, are the Ninja Mountain Scrolls Podcasts. They are put together by a group of artists working in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. They talk about the business, tools of the trade, contracts, working with editors, their experience, etc, etc, and have a lot of fun while doing it. I've found I really enjoy listening to them while I study. It reminds me of my college art classes and all the fun we used to have.
Anyways, they're up to their 32nd podcast. I only found them a little while ago and have been doing some catching up. So far, what I've learned has been invaluable and I highly recommend listening to them.

On a slightly different, but related note, I also recommend visiting ArtOrder. Whereas Ninja Mountain comes from the perspective of artists, ArtOrder is run by Jon Schindehette, the Senior Art Director Dungeons & Dragons / Wizards of the Coast. Athough I can't read his blog and sketch at the same time, I still gain a lot out from it. His backlog of posts are valuable as he answers questions about his role as an Art Director and his experiences working the other side of the artist/director equation.

Wizard painting revised

 

 

I revisited my Wizard painting (the original can be seen several posts earlier) and polished it up for the Blizzcon Fanart Contest.  

 

To be short, I didn't win -and I didn't even place!

 

When I started revising this piece, I took it as a personal goal to push myself as hard and as far as I could.  I even enlisted the aid of several friends, who gave me very helpful critiques.  Don, Mike, Kim, and Nate -you know who you are, thanks!  I appreciated your complete honest and brutal (yes, I did ask for that -thanks!) opinions and suggestions.

 

Things that may have counted against me:  

• (1.)  This was a revised piece.  A painting specifically geared to the contest may have fared better.  
• (2.)  The overall value of the piece is very dark.  Granted, the Diablo universe is dark, but it doesn't help the readability of the piece much if I were to hang this on a wall and try and read it from across the room.  
• (3.)  Reviewing a few other 'conflict' compositions, such as what Frazetta created, I noticed that most of his paintings, I admired most, captured the 'winding up' moment before any conflict actually began.  The anticipation and energy stored up in the composition draws the viewer in.  -As soon as the conflict's engaged, the story's already been told.  I asked myself, "Is this something the average fan would be drawn to hang on a wall?"  

Although I didn't win anything from the contest, I did come away with some good painting experience and really appreciated the input, I got from others, as I was working on it.  Maybe the journey, sometimes, is just as worthwhile as the destination.

Caldeum Process

 

 

I was asked in the diii.net forums how I did this piece. 

  

After figuring out what kind of composition to go with, I began with some basic 3D shapes to start me off.  I hate ellipses (even worse -long columns of ellipses), but I couldn't resist the subject matter.
It wasn't until later in the process I realized the 'balloon-thingy' was much too big in relation to the rest of the city and I scaled it down a bit.  Doing so weakened the composition a little, but I tried to salvage it by inserting flocks of birds and changing the background landscape a little bit.
  

Caldeum: Sanctuary's Onestop . . .

Seeking ways to add more architecture to my portfolio, I found some fun subject matter in, yes, once again Diablo III. Looking through all the concept art for different locations, I found one of Caldeum which I thought would be fun to explore, but from a different perspective.
For a change of pace, I created this one entirely in Photoshop. It's fun to change gears once in a while and discover different tools and painting techniques than what I've been normally using.

Froggy

Made with Inkscape.

A Fallen Demon?

Apparently, when you think things just can't get any worse, they can.

Here is another fan piece for Diablo III, a portrait of a Fallen One. These guys were one exalted demons (if there really is such a thing), performing the deeds of their leader, Azmodan. As a result of a botched plan to usurp the power from a higher demon (Diablo -yes, there is a hierarchy of demons), "they were twisted into small, ridiculous imps, in contrast to their previously powerful forms."
“The infuriated Azmodan held them responsible for the Prime Evils' continued reign, and so he left the fallen in their new bodies, where their degradation would serve to amuse him for all eternity.”

Tragic? Maybe. Fun to paint? Absolutely!

I had to paint one of these guys when I saw him. I love the buckteeth and the squished up face, the large gremlin-like ears, and the bone necklace. -and nothing says 'tude' more than the little goatee on his non-existent chin.

Uncut Diamonds

This last month, I had the opportunity to do a book cover for a local publishing company:

WiDō Publishing.

Update: 7/15/09 - I just got word that the book has been printed and is scheduled for a release date of July 30th. It's pretty crazy to see it on Amazon.