Syfy

What's up with the new spelling of the Sci Fi channel? I keep seeing 'syfylys' when I see the logo. Unpleasant. My blog has sat dormant for so long because of a mix of big life changes and work. I did have some time the last few weeks to design out a sci fi character in my bits of spare time. It's definitely out of the mold of the work I do for R*Games and it's nice to shake things up like this as often as I can. Anyway, here's hoping the next update comes sooner than this one did. I don't know about things mellowing out quite yet but eventually they will. Seasons come and seasons go.

The Dutchess

I was studying some art and stumbled upon the above painting. I liked elements of the painting a lot which inspired me to make the sketch up top. I also watched the movie The Dutchess last night and found it visually just stunning. They always light and shoot those victorian movies like paintings. The movie itself was profoundly sad though.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION

Announced today. So this is what I've been designing for three and a half years. Lots of fun. I'm excited to be able to share it finally and I'm looking forward to all of you getting a chance to play it later this year. There are a few characters in the screenshots that I designed and art directed including the main player. For more screenshots and info on the game visit this link. Larger screenshots can be found on the official site: RED DEAD REDEMPTION

Sketchbook

Some pages from my sketchbook.

Page 1-3 comps

Some compositions for the first three pages of my short (15 pages or so) comic. The colors and title are placeholder. I've got some other sketch book stuff too I'll try to scan in, nothing fancy.

Carnaval stuff ...

I've worked here and there on developing my short comic but work and life decisions have been keeping me extra busy these last few weeks.

Odd and the Frost Giants

Wow, thank you all for so much feedback. One person asked me how I developed my color sense and that's a funny question to me because color is hard for me and I feel right in the middle of developing it still. A few years back I realized that my color work was very weak because I'd spent all my time drawing and not thinking of color and light so since then I've made it a point to grow. It's as simple and as complicated as that. It's simple in that you just have to want it because if you do you'll start studying art that succeeds where you fail and trying it out yourself, driven forward by your desire to succeed as well. It's complicated in that there is no formula that I know of. I just bumble forward in the dark, grasping firmly to the rocks I feel and discarding the loose handholds, if that analogy makes sense. It feels odd to get complimented on an area I feel so inadequate in. You should look at a friend of mine instead, she has an amazing color sense (shelly wan). Look at legends like Paul Lasaine, study what they do.

Another person asked me how I draw in photoshop and I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that besides, "I just do." Maybe it's that the wacom feels natural to me. I've never had a problem with the disconnect between drawing on the tablet and looking at the monitor but I know a lot of people do. I don't know. Sorry.

Here are some sketches that Harper Collins asked me to do. Fingers crossed :)

The Warden

Thanks guys again for the feedback. I do my work in Photoshop for those interested. I still draw in my paper sketchbook but I rarely post that work up here. Anyway, here's this weeks sketch.

Comic thumbnails

So here are some thumbnails for my comic, quick sketches to help me define the camera POV. I'm working on how to introduce the readers to the story. You know, what do you see first and how do you see it type of thing. It has text that accompanies it too but I'll share that when the pages are on their way to being finished.

Plugged In

Sketch for this week. I've been working on my short comic most of the time. Thanks for all the feedback that I get on this blog. I appreciate it.

Tink's betrayal

River of Tears

As a young boy I lived far from here at the base of a very large mountain. From the peaks of the mountain a river flowed down into our valley. A saltwater river. The elders said that at the top of the mountain was a tower and in it sat a princess who wept day and night, waiting for her prince to come rescue her. Until that happens her tears will flow down the mountain and through our valley.

Ya Tom, the texture is a bit gimmicky. For those that asked it's just the stupid texturizer filter with some pattern loaded in. I bet there's a way to make it look more natural ...

Urban Jungle

Another silly warmup sketch because I want to be a good painter someday. Somebody mentioned ArtRage which I'm totally going to purchase but I'm using photoshop right now.

Attack of the robo thingy

Sketches for the week. Let the weekend begin!

Enchanted: The Story of How We Met

Final

Color Block-In

Value Block-In

So I wrapped this piece up as you can see. Alas, yet again my artwork failed to live up to the hopes I had in the beginning. However, this piece went much smoother and faster and is in my estimation a much better piece technically than my last so I'm excited to have finished it and excited to move on. I'm going to submit this and the last illustration (the kids on the tank) to Spectrum this year and hope they make it in. We'll see. They take submissions around December I think. So anyway, this piece is about and inspired by my wife and the word that best describes how I feel about her: Enchanted. I'm going to tell my children when they're older that this is how their mother and I met and that they come from royal fairy blood. So that's it for finished stand-alone illustrations for a while. I'm moving back to my comic and the occasional sketches so stay posted. Next comic con I'll have a publication with my comic and some sketches and paintings in it thanks to the magic of internet publishing. I'm gonna try a few venues out. Lulu sounds promising. I'll also be selling some prints. Ok, until the next post!