Robots

Blitz

2012-01-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

There's only a couple of games that I would ever say that I love. Ico and Motor storm PR are the easy ones to mention. The original golden eye, Free space 2, Ocarina of time and Vice city are in that love zone and orbit there proudly with a couple of others. But the all time leader in amount of time sunk into, is the original Blitz for the N64, and sits squarely at the top of that pile. And I don't really follow foot ball making my love for it that much more impressive. So just after the new year EA release a update to it on the download services. Aside from a difference in play speed it's a very good and accurate reboot that has captured my attention like the original did. It's great and frustrating (in a good way) fun.
In the reviews of the game they mention (a lot) the lack of late hits in this reboot. A trade mark of the original, it has gotten a lot belly aching about it's absence form this version. I personally miss them a little but I don't think the game suffers that much from there absence. Besides the NFL has been clamping down on that type of crazy behavior. However Playing the game I often think that it would look weird for the players to give the late hits in this update. I think that unlike the old Blitz I don't find the players wacky or cartooney enough to be doing that. This is not a knock against EA by the way, I think they did a great job all around. I just think since it's a download they probably needed to design the players to take advantage of the more realistic madden engine's animation system or the NFL had a say on there look. Regardless when I love something I want to paint it.
So I thought how would they have to look for it not to seam odd them doning late hits. I thought they needed to be more distinct in difference according to the positions they play, not unlike what team fortress 2 did. Looking a the N64 one I couldn't help but notice that because of the graphics you could not see there eyes on the players making easier for them not to look real. So I tried to caricature the face, and hide the eyes more in shadow. I tried to make the defensive line men more lumbering slow but powerful the tanks of the field. The quarter backs/ defense men thicker good all around but squarely in the middle in strength and speed, arms built for throwing. And the wide receive/ running backs more lean and built for speed but not that strong. Blitz is a arcade game so I simplified the types of player types to just 3.
And again this is not a knock against EA I really think they did a fantastic job and I love this version in it's own way. I just thought it would be fun to paint some football players. Also like I said I don't really follow football so I didn't research the who wears the numbers on there jersey. So excuse the inaccuracy of said numbers. Crazy 81 followers thanks for looking folks.

happy 2012

2012-01-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

200 hundreth post, crazy. I wanted to start simple this year, dark scenes are always easier then light scenes to me at least. I find that it's easy to find that right balanced of colour temperature, images tends to be a lot bolder since it's almost mono chromatic. Inspired by a photo of a friends winter trip. I also finaly swiched to CS5 after my CS3 finaly forced me with it's horrible lag.
Thanks for lookin.

2011 on to 2012

2011-12-31T18:22:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's the end of 2011, I feel like this year flew by. I enjoyed this year, moved to a new place in the world, joined a great studio and shipped a pretty rad game (40K space marine). I hope that 2012 is good year for everyone and thanks for checking out my work and leaving comments. Thanks again and happy new year folks.

seasons of VAN

2011-12-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

been here a year got a nice view of the mountains out my window.

Study time

2011-12-18T22:57:00.000-08:00

Studies the top one is a Richard Schmid, I really love that paining. I tried to replicate the brushstrokes as best as I could. He (like many Masters) has a effortless look to his brush strokes, almost as if his brushed danced around the canvas. I admire that look and strive to have all my paintings look that effortless. However effortless is far from how a painting like that is accomplished.
The second is a photo study just like the way it looked and the reflective light on the rock.

Friday speedy 01

2011-12-03T22:45:00.001-08:00

Did a speedy at after work yesterday (1hr) got some time today and just pushed it a little further. Theme was "the wall".

DOW 2 retribution DLC

2011-11-23T23:19:00.001-08:00

These are portraits done for some of the DLC character packs. They were super fun to do and based on some fantastic models done by the 3d character artists. of course THQ copyright

here`s is the link

lunch racing

2011-11-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

roooom, roooom, eh I mean vummmm,vummmmm.

Lunch

2011-11-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

mmmmm cannon

locke

2011-11-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

Been jonesing to do a character but didn't want to do something sci fi or fantasy. How do you make the ordinary interesting? I was also trying to refine a process for character sketching. spent about 2 hr and a bit on this. And commit to the weekly updates I've been so inconsistent recently.

looking out my window

2011-10-24T01:15:00.000-07:00

2011-10-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Took the train to Seattle for thanks giving weekend (Canadian thanks giving). The vistas taking the train were pretty awesome and inspiring. also love taking trains, no traffic.

Morning Raid

2011-10-11T21:45:00.001-07:00

Water Towers

2011-09-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Trying to make it feel like a hot sunset. kept the pallet simple, and the painting in general. working on colour temperature.

This is some thing

2011-09-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Last year I drew these character (bottom) last year. just found them again recently and got back to them. It's a idea for a idea I have nothing much to say until I have other things to show. thanks for checking it out.

Sunday

2011-08-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

refining my brushes and having some fun.

Collateral studies

2011-08-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've been verry lazy and not posting anything in a week and a bit now. here's a couple of studies I did in the course of a week in the mornings to warm up. I want to paint the way this movie looks.

big robot at sunset

2011-07-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Adrian Smith fantastic Brass gods piece.
60 followers cheers

Infamous 2

2011-07-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Finished inFamous 2 recently, loved it. fantastic game one of the best open world games I've ever played. Cudos to the folks at Sucker punch.

Here is my conduit design.

ATV

2011-07-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

ATV sketch, thanks for looking

studies and skcetches

2011-07-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

Some photo studies, working out my brushes and learning which ones to use for what, and some sketches. Those penguins were super fun to paint, there so small.

BW Exo

2011-06-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

Random early morning sketching.

farming on mars

2011-06-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

Dream I had the other night.

hide and seek

2011-05-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

just messing around with texture brushes and colour.

overcast volcano

2011-05-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

wolf

2011-05-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

"My, what big eyes you have."

little Red

2011-04-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

missed the dead line over at concept art.org for the chow (busy, lazy, life, in that order) I liked the direction it was going and I got a second monitor finally so finished this one up. been wanting to do a polished character for a while now. Wolf is coming soon.

the wolf

2011-04-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

the wolf for the charecter of the week over at concept art.

little red hood

2011-04-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

just some sketching

Photo studies

2011-04-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

Sartorist studies, grate resource for photo studies. trying to find a life painting venue and as always time. The face on the second one was a struggle. Subtlety in emotion on faces is by far the hardest to capture. The other one is just a photo study of a photo of Patagonia.

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

red circle drape

2011-03-26T01:12:00.000-07:00

very random but this poped into my head the other day. I just today could get to it. here it is. inspired perhaps by Sargent.
Update: needed a pattern

Study Sargent

2011-03-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Asher Wertheimer 1898

It's interesting I spent a long time trying to get the tones right and in the book I have (where the pictuer of the painting is) there seems to be a bloom on the whites. I couldn't quite get that in this study.

Moby Dick

2011-03-08T01:08:00.000-08:00

just for fun

First flight

2011-03-06T23:10:00.000-08:00

Finally got a good desk and a chair so I can paint comfortably now. Were supper busy at work but I'll try to get the weekly post going again. Also what do you call a litter of dragons?...

some sketches

2011-02-25T01:59:00.000-08:00

Nothing special about a hour and a bit each. still don`t have a chair for my work desk so painting is still a slow going. Just trying to keep these simple and work on not over working paintings. Hey 31 followers thanks folks.

Friday night speedy

2011-01-30T17:58:00.000-08:00

Hanging gardens of Babylon. After work a 1hr and a bit. struggled with the composition, and detail in it. '~'

Beware of the Bin Tank

2011-01-28T00:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long delay in posts. I've been painting stuff see. Just moved and don't have a desk chair yet so it's been a bit slow at home for painting. Here's a sketch I started yesterday. I recently started working at Relic entertainment so bin busy with a lot of that. I'll get the weekly post going again, promise ;)

Hive speedy

2011-01-15T01:27:00.000-08:00

Speedy for today. Getting back in the grove of things. The theam was Hive, about a 1hr and a bit. Got to get better at these.

North West

2011-01-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

Moved recently, having the mountains as a backdrop you realize we pale in comparison to the mighty mountains.

New year sunrise

2011-01-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone. With the holidays, family, and moving across the country, I haven't been very productive. Here is the first one of the year, hopefully a year from now I can see painting and know that I can do this much better. about 3h sketch

Black Swan

2010-12-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

what? what other one. I don't know what your talking about. It must of been another blog.

Cold, very cold here

2010-12-16T18:49:00.000-08:00

More Perspective

2010-12-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

Got to work more on the perspective. they take longer then natural environments and it's a little more ridged. However it's another discipline to practice.

Green Metal

2010-12-09T21:58:00.000-08:00

today's efforts.

Got out of a rut

2010-12-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

Re-designed agent red from yesterdays post. Had a couple of days there of slow production. So I went back to basics and did some anatomy gestures to loosen up. Also went through the proper design process for myself. yesterday I wanted to paint straight to colour and to put it mildly: I got in my own way. I got to design then render. I admire the people that can do the 2 at the same time. I'll work towards that, but for now here is what I got today. I wanted to do a quick one, this one took a little longer then I wanted. Got to work harder.
Had a good day today ;)

agent red

2010-12-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

sketch before bed.

Ink metal

2010-12-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

A image I have had in my head for some time now. Ink metal!!!

oh come on!

2010-12-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

Another in my favorite subject: unfair fights. Struggled with this one. It went from a walker climbing a cliff to one standing in the water. Finally found something interesting and I was able to put this one to rest. I need to work harder to not have this happen.

Film Studies

2010-11-23T07:39:00.000-08:00

Some morning sketches to get into the grove of the day. Tropic Thunder, Atonement, and Road to Perdition

back to sketches

2010-11-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

Moved back to Canada last week so haven't had too much time to sit and doodle. Here some very random stuff.

"We've got incoming!"

2010-11-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

(Lot's of sound effects)

Guiding light on the Bayou

2010-10-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today's efforts. down on the Bayou. Still trying to figure out the cool light warm shadows. Using and figuring out the soft brushes in the set.

High sunset

2010-10-27T03:34:00.000-07:00

Today's efforts of unemployment. Kind of a study based on a photo of New Zealand.

Move it or lose it!

2010-10-26T02:42:00.000-07:00

I thought my Star wolf needed a buddy. Had fun with this one.

added the armor up version

Speedy Forest Morning

2010-10-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

another one before bed don't know about the palette. I wanted the shadows warm, cool light don't know if it worked...

city speedy

2010-10-20T04:45:00.000-07:00

speedy before bed, I got to do a vegetation one see if I can get the pallet right.

"all good things must come to a end"

2010-10-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

Lost my job on Monday, here is a couple of things not really related to my job. A coder, and designer, and a artist got together and developed a idea. It wasn't Krome related it just happened at work. Here they are, the first 2 are the direction the guy in charged was happy with. The third was the original direction but after it was done it was decided to "darkish". he didn't want that much colour but colour full. The top 2 are how I tried to solve that problem. There was suppose to be a 3rd one in the set, a witch. oh well...

Nautilus

2010-10-13T04:48:00.000-07:00

Nautilus speedy, got to do more speedys

Frustration thumbs

2010-10-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

frustration thumbs, working on composition

alone

2010-10-11T04:03:00.000-07:00

Trying to figure out my brush set. experementing with texture, and controling the focal point.

"it's so damn hot"

2010-10-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

"It's so damn hot.... " couldn't sleep yesterday night so for some reason I thought of this.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll find a home"

2010-10-05T04:53:00.000-07:00

The littlest Hobo... sort of

Cold spring Mech

2010-10-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I got a good critic on my work. And one of the things mentioned was how I have a hard time over working every part of the painting. I think part of it is insecurity over the painting not looking finished. The other is not planning well enough. So here I am trying to loosen up and control were I want the eye to go.
Also doing a lot of photo texture I had the impulse for some brush texture.

Bug armor

2010-09-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Couldn't finish this one on time over at concept art but it was the CHOW this week. Armor made form giant bugs. So this is me being 10 years old. I was looking at some inspiration form the McFarland toys so I think this one has that vibe.

From front to back

2010-09-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Rich inspired me with his warrior girl recently. He also showed me a pretty simple way of doing a rotation with a interesting pose, cus the T pose is so 2002.

Ambush over Kilum 114

2010-09-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

More photo mash up. refining process and having some fun ;)

Industrial

2010-09-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

Exploring and refining the process for more of this photo collage. One of the biggest challenges is hunting for the right textures lucky I came across, CG textures.com is a huge help.

Draw, find, copy, paste, colour correct, and the paint the crap out of it...repeate

Here there be dragons

2010-09-04T03:48:00.000-07:00

Started this one last night, found a interesting pallet so I added some dragons... Every one wins

Studies

2010-09-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

I can never do enough, here is me trying. I got a book called Alla Prima the first 2 were done after reading the first few chapters. Awesome book by Richard Schmid

Big Bug!!!

2010-08-30T19:19:00.001-07:00

Experimenting with using more photo texture in my work.

EOW festival

2010-08-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

Hey 20 followers thanks folks.

Into the Forest

2010-07-23T00:35:00.000-07:00

EOW 146 had fun with this one.

Rapids formation

2010-07-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Started out with a B/W thumb. Changed the scale some what from the initial idea. I was trying to control the tonal range and control the depth of the environment.

"get Wendell"

2010-07-18T22:02:00.001-07:00

Practicing prespective, started this out after watching Carl dobsky prespective tut. I was also looking at some studio ghibli background paintings.

Race car Diorama

2010-07-14T04:40:00.000-07:00

Future rally car. " two times fool!"

personal project that I work on from time to time.

Sniper deadly

2010-07-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

Designing, and painting side on. oh, if every thing else I painted came this easy.

Chow 203

2010-07-04T20:01:00.001-07:00

Chow 202

2010-06-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

Who is the Ultimate World Tournament Fighter? A blind Chinese Shaolin monk, handcuffed. He adapted to his condition. still is too good to be beaten. link here

Edit; some things were bugging edited the blind fold and neck-less.

More big Robot action

2010-06-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

Started this one on a while ago as a sketch. And spent most of the weekend trying to finish it. Painting and watching the world cup makes painting slow. The palette went through some iterations but here we are.

Big Robot

2010-06-06T01:15:00.000-07:00

I call unfair!!!

Project Race

2010-06-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

I was a little obsessed with sunny days a while ago. The top is form that. The other is just me messing around and losing steam on it. Forgot to post this a couple of months ago.

Red robot redemption

2010-05-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

Don't have time to play Red dead Redemption. But I like Cowboys, and as always Robots. So, here we are...

Leyendecker study

2010-05-26T03:04:00.001-07:00

Leyendecker study of the November 1933 cover of the Saturday evening post. I love Leyendecker, a illustrator that is some what forgotten by many contemporary artist. This study was a couple of hours, well spent. Just trying to replicate how he laid down the strokes was so time consuming. Though the strokes look almost gestured and fast I think ( and I could be wrong), that each stroke he placed had so much thought on it. The way it help to describe couture and volume is incredible. The simplicity of the tones on the skin is also something that was unique to him.
Didn't quite get the likeness down on the character but man did I learn a lot.

Tall stones

2010-05-23T20:33:00.001-07:00

Wish I could go hiking again.

Space Wolf

2010-05-15T03:33:00.000-07:00

Star fox inspired character. Practicing process and trying out new techniques.

Morning Complex

2010-05-06T06:00:00.001-07:00

Started cooking this one a couple of weeks ago. I had some free time tonight so after playing with the composition for a while decided to wrap it up. I was trying to stream line my process and play more with mood. something that I don't think is very strong in my work.

Leap

2010-04-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

started out as a speedy, not a good speedy, had hard time making up my mind on what it was. O_O

Helium forest grazer

2010-04-19T00:14:00.001-07:00

The creature of the week 173 on concept art.org Forest harvester a fun little subject. link here

Here is a little wright up that was requested:

Mainly grazing at night the Helium forest Harvester dose this to take advantage of the cool night air. Through it's complex digestive system it transforms the trees and plants it devours into a helium like gas. Doing this allows it to sail through the forest every night and helps it lift it's immense body. Sailing for up towards 12 hours before it's gas supply is exhausted. This creature can cover up to 300 kilometers in one night, in search for new grazing ground.

Ship yard city

2010-04-16T00:46:00.001-07:00

Inspired by Dylan Cole that guy is crazy good.

Warrior princess

2010-04-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Posted this one a while ago, but I hated it when I looked at it the day after. It's interesting how something can look very different if you don't look at it for a while. I reworked the hand in the foreground and the shoulder area. Something still bugs me. Don't know what it is though...

Studies, lifedrawings, sketches

2010-04-14T01:51:00.000-07:00

Some life drawing

Figure studies based on photos from character designs.com awesome resource for studies.

Some Sargent studies some of these are over a year old.

Albert Bierstad Study.
Clearing out the studies and life drawing from the vault. Had some time so I thought I'd post these, and get motivated to do more. I need to keep doing these and actually finish them. I always get very lazy about a hour into them. Don't know why, I love there work respectively but I always seem to feel kind of bored studying. I was never good at school :)

Giant robot mayhem

2010-04-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

This started out me trying out a splash brush and just playing with the sense of scale in a shot. I reilised that I havent painted a robot in a while. So here we are...

Blue

2010-03-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

"the humans are coming!!!"

In the shadow of the colossus

2010-03-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday...

Big Knight

2010-03-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

Been having fun with a new brush I found for sketching.

More Clouds

2010-03-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

one more before bed... trying out brushes, playing in the sandbox.

Rocky study ish

2010-03-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

been doing a lot of studies recently this one kinna got out of hand. Got to work on my colours.

Snowy ship yard

2010-03-14T05:58:00.001-07:00

Started this at work liked were it was going so I turned it into a full painting.

Blue mech

2010-03-11T00:28:00.000-08:00

lunch time mech with some time after work.

Magic forest

2010-03-09T04:09:00.001-08:00

Found a pallet thought it would make a good forest, liked were it started and ended. First time that's happened.