Industry13

SWTOR RP

2012-01-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

It's been a little too long since I posted. I did a few illustrations for the fine folks over at SWTOR-RP.com. Check out the black and whites. You can see how the images came out on their site!

swtor-rp.com

Sebaya Keto: from start to finish

2011-12-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Talking with the client, I was told that the character must be a little creepy, look high society and that Megan Reed from Deus Ex: Human Revolution was of some influence. I took the basic shape of Megan Reed's costume and expanded upon it to create something a little different and more original for the client.

Commissions, costumes and characters.

2011-11-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

Got stupid busy last week with commissions and making some petty cash!

Working on another commission this week. It's giving me a little leeway to design costume and character. My commissioner (client? patron?) likes the look and direction of Deus Ex: Human Evolution, and also the direction lends itself to looking at the fashion design of Gareth Pugh--client approved of course! Pulling inspiration from those sources.

These are some of the commissions I've worked on over the past two weeks, plus a fluff for-fun piece. People are getting all excited and geared up for the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and people want their characters drawn. It's a nice little source of petty cash, and I just get to keep painting!

Hand Braces and Gloves

2011-11-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

At first I wanted to do really nifty looking gauntlets, but then I thought about the kinds of forces this guy is going to be whipping around and thought he probably needs some wicked looking wrist braces instead. I can achieve the same sort of storage of kinetic forces on a wrist brace as well as I could on a glove. Straps on gloves fastened by negatively and positively charged molecule fibers--same principles behind how a gecko 'sticks' to a wall as it climbs.

This guy has a pretty impressive talk on the satae that geckos use to crawl up walls towards the end of the talk.

http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_full_on_engineering_and_evolution.html

Clear your head

2011-11-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Exploration into the face of The Magician as well as his many technological enhancements that allow him to cast his electro-magic. I wanted his face to be very square and to have a few marks that make him look like he's an experienced practitioner.

I wanted him to have a mark on his face. Lightning scars I found really cool looking and might be a plausible backlash from his early training with the forces behind his technology--electric currents. And, he'd have lost his eye to that accident as well.

I was inspired by watching one too many TED talks. You wouldn't believe the kind of medical enhancements that are on the horizon. I'll explain all of the gadgets soon.

In the future, everyone will wear spandex

2011-11-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

Starting to work on The Magician for my second, futuristic character. A few things I thought about for the future in terms of apparel, and how one uses technology to give the impression of magic: clothing has been slowly paring down, slimming down, getting closer to the body, simplifying. It's becoming increasing functional verses ornate. In the future, I imagine that pollution on the planet will dim the sun, lowering the temperature. My mage will want to stay warm. He'll also probably want a re-breather for the air. And trench coats are total the new mage robe.

Kinetic energy storage to create a kinetic wave is very mage-like. How about a collapsible electrofied staff as a wizard's staff? Acoustic wave generation for levitation is cool. I'll explore all this tomorrow!

I'm not quite done with the Warchief's Daughter yet, but she's coming along. I need to explore her weapons a little more and a few of her accessories.

In the face

2011-11-09T17:38:00.000-08:00

Started thinking about what the Warchief's Daughter looks like in the face.

Costume exploration

2011-11-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

Some initial exploration into the Warchief's Daughter's costume based on some rubbings from Aztec ruins for shape design. I'm digging the fourth one.

And, my reference!

The Warchief's Daughter, opening exploration

2011-11-07T16:23:00.001-08:00

Thinking about the character, I started with some gestures just to help me figure out who she is, what she is like. I thought maybe she's playful and would take a dancer's grace and posture. Maybe she's super confident, or super dangerous. Maybe she's a little sneaky and always on the alert.

As I've based her off the Aztec, her people might constantly be at war. What is her approach to combat? I figured she agile, stealth and strong. I picked the gesture that has a bit of tension to the pose. She's ready for action.

Costume and prop exploration next!

Research, Research, Research

2011-11-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy of Merle Greene Robertson's rubbings at mesoweb.com

I have a ton of projects on my plate at the moment. I've opted to put aside my own personal character design projects at the suggestion of Travis Bourbeau in favor of doing two characters, one low tech, one high tech and doing a ton of research on both to really get those details. It's the details and attention to detail that will set my work and design apart from other designers.

Right now I'm focusing on my low tech character. I've chosen to design a little hellion I'll call 'The Warchief's Daughter.' She needs to be fit, agile and take on a few characteristics and adornments usually reserved for men and warriors. She's rebellious, smart, and skillful. I've based her off Aztec and other meso-american, pre-columbian tribes, but doing as much as I can to stick to the Aztec. I can find information on weapons, jewelry, culture, religion, but I'm missing a key element--costume. And oddly enough, I'm missing information and examples of face paint (tattoos weren't so common) and scarification.

Clothing doesn't survive the decay of time so well. I've found a ton of sites dedicated to pre-columbian art which has allowed me some insight into what I should design. Reading charcol rubbings in difficult business, but it's good for shapes. As far as body adornment, I'm starting to think scarification is a more of an African and Pacific tribal sort of thing.

This shit is awesome. http://www.mesoweb.com/rub/rubbingsdatabase.html

Next week, a futuristic techno mage!

Gestures

2011-11-05T17:13:00.001-07:00

Some gesture sketches just to get some ideas going.

Hot!

2011-11-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

Three-quarter back view! Will paint over it soon.

Needs more horns

2011-11-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

Narrowed down horn pattern, picked hair, picked a facial marking.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween to you, internet!

Narrowed down my design choices to one and went from there to expand upon that idea with three variations. I'm digging no. 1 and no. 3. I might combine some elements when I got to my more finalized version next with a complete turn around!

I work in black and white and very stiffly at this stage just to get my shape design down. My turnaround will be more more organic and I might even change up the post a little bit just for fun. I'll also do color choices.

The Magician and the Homunculus Costume Designs Part 1

2011-10-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

Some designs for the Homunculus. Initial thumbnails to get a general shape down. Number 10, the last one is my favorite so far and I'm learning towards exploring that one.

Daily... painting?

2011-10-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

For Fun

2011-10-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

For fun when I was in Chicago last week. I felt outta practice so I did a quick 'easy' piece of art just to get back into the swing of things.

It was awesome

2011-10-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

image courtesy of gnomonschool.com and Blue Canvas

Last night's Blue Canvas event at Gnomon was awesome. Listened to the pros talk about composition, lighting, their insights into the industry and some tips for new artists.

Nathan Ota brought up a good point that I think everyone needs to be aware of. For young people getting into the entertainment industry, if you're taking a traditional class with a professor or your professor is a traditional artist be respectful and take his or her advice. It's valid, it's awesome. They might not be doing the kind of work that some students admire directly or they might not work the exact same way, but the approach is the same. It's all art. It's advice from a top-notch artist at the top of his or her game. What shocks me is that anyone would think differently.

Turnaround 1

2011-10-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is sorta bad to just 'go for it,' but its for me and I kinda when what I wanted when I started. More turnarounds soon!

Also, tonight at Gnomon School of Visual Effects Cecil Kim, Nathan Ota and James Paick will be giving a lecture on composition. I took a class on environment design with Cecil Kim and he is awesome and inspiring. I hope to see some of my Gnomon buddies as well. See you there!

Horn Designs

2011-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Rewarded myself for finishing some turnaround paper dolls (boring, dull, painstaking stuff) with some fun design stuff for another project.

Getting to work

2011-10-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Just came back from Chicago. Had an amazing time out that way, spending time with the boyfriend. But now I'm back to work. Posting a few sketches I did while I was there which will eventually make its way into some character design and some turnarounds.