Landing

I wish it was my life that the title is referring to...hehehe...just a joke. Anyway I'm referring to my latest work in progress. I'm not sure stylistically which direction I'm aiming for quite yet but I'm really enjoying this piece. I'm experimenting and discovering new approaches. Stay tuned!

WIP Landing 1

Endless Possibilities

Hello all, it's been a while. I've been keeping busy or trying to anyway. I was burnt out for a while, and so I thought I'd try something a little different. Recently, I was the Art Assistant for a short film titled, "The Ticket Seller", directed by Laura Archer. It started out the same with me creating key props using Photoshop. I made some pamphlets, a postcard and an award certificate that had to look like they were from 1929 to the 1950s to use in the film. Ok, cool. On set, I had to take the printed props I made and treat them to look worn and aged. I also assisted the Art Director with set design and I learned a lot from him. Hands on experience- lots of fun. Here's where it gets overwhelmingly cool: watching the props I've made being used by the actors and filmed. It was such a gratifying experience to see my work in a different production. There was around 50 people, about 10 were crew and the rest were actors. Everyone was on top of their game and it ran smoothly. Overall, it was a great experience. I'm going to continue with jobs like this on the side and potentially full time. It made me realize that the possibilities are endless if I take the time to look and apply myself. Here's a couple stills from the film.

1939 pamphlet created in Photoshop. Once printed, I treated it to look worn.

1950s style post card created in Photoshop. Once printed, I hand wrote the message from the script onto the post card.

Whisper, whisper...Complete.

Here is the final piece. I enjoyed working on this especially the background. Enjoy!

Whisper

Concept

Whisper, whisper...

Instead of whispering, I'll show it to you. Here's the next piece I'm working on. A fairy, a maiden, and a...wounded knight?

PPF WIP1

Leo

This was a lot of fun to work on. Here's the completed piece. Now onto the next one!

Rawr!

Things have been interesting and hectic lately but I'm glad to be back on a normal schedule. I'm continuing to work on my portfolio because I'm hoping to get a portfolio review when I'm in Altoona for Illuxcon. Here's what I am working on:

Leo WIP1

Awake

I have not felt 'awake' as an artist for a long time. I hit a road block and it was hard to back out. It was my dark years, the years where I felt uninspired and quite frankly...empty. I tried so many methods to snap out of it, like surrounding myself with things that inspired me when I was younger and continuing to draw things just to draw- which only lead to more frustration. It's like crashing your car into a wall and continuing to drive through it, but to only end up exactly where you are. It wasn't completely hopeless, I had a few moments of creativity but not enough to get back on track. Eventually, I did find myself on track again and it's all thanks to the Illustration class I took. The laid back atmosphere, the subject matter and just being in tune with the class helped me regain consciousness of who I was as an artist. That's what helped me, and the idea that I wasn't going to lose to the artist block. Everyone has their own method or way to reconnect with their artistic side. I'm glad I found mine.

Here's my book cover illustration in a mock up design that I did for fun. Enjoy.

Book Cover Illustration Final

After many hours of painting, filled with hot flashes, nervousness and some frustration...I think it's done...

Book Cover Illustration WIP 1

Hello all. I've been adding color to my previous illustration. Here's what I have done so far. Stay tuned for the finale!

Book Cover Illustration 2

After numerous thumbnails and a few developed sketches, I have finally decided on my final illustration. Now all I have to do is decide how to color it. Here it is in the beginning stage.

Book Cover Illustration

Our current project in the Illustration class I am taking, is about the art of book covers. The assignment is to choose a book of your choice, and re-imagine the cover illustration. I chose "Tithe" by Holly Black, not because it's one of my favorite books, but it has a simple graphic illustration cover. Since the original cover is not a detailed illustration, I'll have a lot of room to play with. I came up with a bunch of thumbnail sketches but I'm narrowing them down to a few and developing them more. Here's one of the finished sketches. Don't mind the negative space on top, it's where the title would be placed.

Gaming, and I don't mean console!

In Illustration class, our instructor introduced us to Collectible Card Game, or gaming for short. He illustrates for the popular card game, Magic: The Gathering. The project he assigned was to illustrate, from a given description, the theme of the card. The list he gave us varied from guardians, to creatures, and spell cards. Some descriptions were trickier to illustrate than others. I settled on the description of the 'Pride Guardian', where a lion humanoid is guarding a gate. I really enjoyed this project even though it was kind of tough. The descriptions are well quite descriptive, but the challenging thing is composing it well enough that it reads on a card. And it's small. Here's my interpretation:

Conceptual Illustration

Lately, when I've been working on projects I find myself diving right in, and hoping for the best, to churn out good and quick pieces. And sometimes in an awe-inspiring moment, something wonderful might turn out...or on occasions long works in progress. Since I've been taking a Fantasy Illustration class, our instructor does not expect us to have fully fleshed out- completed illustrations. He would rather have us work on conceptual illustrations, that are well thought out and then is used as the foundation to a completed piece. To be honest, I haven't spent that much time in the pre-production phase of an illustration in quite some time. Usually, it's just a quick pencil sketch, then I scan it into Photoshop or dive into Photoshop and paint away. But, going back to this method has not only been enjoyable, but helpful as well. I think I've always longed for this, but my mind is so geared towards seeing a final piece that sometimes you neglect the importance of preparation. With that in mind, I hope to continue to spend a little more time in the conceptual phase. Here are a few concepts, that I've been working on for class, that provides as the foundation to a completed piece.

Based off the quote, "A tiny voice asked, "is he the one?""

Ram character design

Search and You Shall Find!...What!?

Okay, so I happened to Google my name to see if my website or any of my other portfolio sites came up, and I'm perusing. Then I clicked on Images and....my illustration, "Demonia" is featured under "35 Most Beautiful Female Digital Art Portraits" at ninjacrunch.com. I KID YOU NOT. Here's the link for proof (http://ninjacrunch.com/35-most-beautiful-female-digital-art-portraits/). Oh my gosh, could I be secretly famous!? *Reality of being jobless hits me in the face*....maybe not. I was pretty surprised and flattered, but I really do not believe my illustration is up to par with the rest of them. But it's nice to know that there are people, even if they are far and few, who admire your work. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Intermission

Greetings! It has been a while, I know. I've hit a rough patch on my journey as an artist, and it was hard for a while after being laid off. But the extra time allowed me to work on different projects, learn new tools and spruce up on current skills. What I found difficult is to work through an artist block and with so many different subjects to work on, it's hard to know where to begin. I discovered for myself that it is much more manageable to bounce back from project to project because this way I won't get stuck. When I return to a project, it'll be easier to approach and I'll see it a bit differently. Here are a few things that I've been working on. I have other stuff in the works and near completion, stay tuned!

Clicky Pig character design by Erin Filson

   Clicky Pig is put on hold until further notice.

WIP

Background Designs from DietVille

Background designs can be very technical but can allow lots of creative freedom. Besides designing characters at DietVille, backgrounds were something that I've always looked forward to working on. I love meticulous work, that's why I enjoy working on backgrounds, because there's a lot to consider. How things fit in together, like color and texture. What creates the mood and the characteristics of the space. All these things and more help unify and bring to life a particular space.

When I started working on backgrounds for DietVille, there was already a set background in place. Fellow coworker, Adam Parkes, created the 3D backgrounds to establish the space in the game. My job was to illustrate the space by giving it the characteristics of the given subject, such as 'Seasonal Store'. As shown above, here's just a couple of backgrounds that I'm proud of that showcases the artistic freedom I was given.

Characters of DietVille

One of my favorite projects at DietVille, a weight loss management social gaming company, is designing characters. Here are just some of the characters, the rest can be found at my website. If you noticed, the characters are all pointing towards their left, that is because these are tutorial characters that are guiding the player at the beginning of the game. The tool I used to sketch and create the characters is Adobe Photoshop. No words can express how much I love it. Next time on this blog, backgrounds from DietVille!

Fan Art Moment

Fan Art of The Adventures of Ranger Elf by Erin Filson

Fan Art has always been an intrigue of mine as a side project. It's quite thrilling to interpret someone else's designs. It's inspiring to work on other artist's concepts instead of your own. I find that I get lost and bored in my projects after a while, but when I break away to do something out of the box, I keep that creative juice flowing. And then, when I return to my own work I retain that creative state of mind. It keeps everything fresh and open.

The fan art was done some months ago but I had delayed posting it to my blog because I wanted the original creator to host it on her website first. The creator is Erin Filson, a good friend and coworker, and she has a website called The Adventures of Ranger Elf (rangerelf.com). The fan art is based on her comic characters and you can find more information and comics about these characters on her website. Miss Filson is a very talented comic artist and will surely have you in hysterics. Go join her adventures with Ranger Elf!