Sugar and Spite (current)

Character updates

2012-01-31T07:13:00.000-08:00

Currently in Mumbai for my wife's brother's wedding. Definitely an intoxicating, chaotic melting pot of a city. It's a concept artists wet dream, really- every corner is either Blade Runner, District 9, Fallout or Children of Men. Inspired a completely new project for me, which is nothing like any of those just listed, surprisingly :P

Put these up on my portfolio, might as well toss them up here too.

City Environment

2012-01-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to do this kind of establishing shot for one of my own projects forever, but couldn't seem to get it to the top of the priority list. Finally just sat down and cranked out it. Fun!

SketchUp, Photoshop, VRay, Nikon D200

Coming soon(ish)

2012-01-06T18:00:00.001-08:00

Working on a tutorial for how I created this image. Should be pretty helpful for those of you who always wanted to get into SketchUp- the easiest 3D program known to man. Also a bit of VRay in there and, of course, a bunch of Photoshop.

Portfolio update

2011-12-29T21:05:00.000-08:00

New portfolio! Check it out at concept1027.com. I started it from scratch just before the Massive Black workshop, and I'm pretty psyched to finally have new work out there.

A couple speedies from the last few days. Hope you dig!

Multipass!

2011-11-09T10:37:00.001-08:00

Couple quick updates. The near final version of the brute, subway environment progress and something a little different- two early concepts for a comic reskin of The 5th Element.

More on the way soon!

Brute

2011-10-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Some thumb stuff and the final rough-in for the monkey-like Brute character type.

parafected update

2011-10-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

just a quick loot drop. tons more stuff on the way!

Parafected

2011-09-29T07:10:00.001-07:00

A preview of things to come.

Paraffected

2011-08-05T16:01:00.001-07:00

Working out the zombie/aliens from my personal project.

Style experimentation.

This guy is a burglar alarm, of sorts. He can flinch that spinal column to pop that brain up and make it glow, alerting other monsters in the area that a tasty snack has wandered through- aka, you. Starting to play with the branding too.

More on the way

Paraffected

2011-08-02T11:49:00.001-07:00

Some random work for my personal project.

More hipsters

2011-07-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

Messing with style for a personal project.

Hipster girl is hip

2011-07-25T20:37:00.001-07:00

15 or 20 minute painting based on a random images.google.com search. just trying to keep in the swing of things every once and a while :P

working on some 3d stuff that i'll post concepts for pretty soon. first personal project in a very long time !

Untitled

2011-06-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Been bogged down with learning the beast that is Maya, but managed to find some time to get this guy up and running. Will post larger when I work in more proper detail.

Back in the saddle

2011-06-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Been doing a bit of speed painting lately, here's two quick ones from the last few days.

Attack, CS4 / 45m

Warmachine tribute, Aleksandra Zerkova, CS4 / 2hr

field of spears

2011-02-11T19:40:00.000-08:00

been trying to do a speed painting a day this week.

based on a screen shot from lotr and random photos, respectively.

Miyazaki final

2011-01-11T06:43:00.000-08:00

Finally finished this guy the other day. The theme is based on Howl (of Howl's Moving Castle) inadvertently opening his portal doors into the worlds of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away-- unleashing spirits from both to run rampant through his home world. Pretty happy with how it came out, though far from satisfied. Check out the other entries, right over here. SpikyTiger's entry is particularly amazing.

Update

2011-01-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

First Miyazaki panel just about finished.

Experimented quite a bit on the general process with this one. Got a couple new brushes out of it, as well as an entirely new way to bring an image to final from the thumb stage. Not a bad haul :P

Miyazaki Challenge

2011-01-03T23:32:00.000-08:00

I heard about the new CGHub illustration challenge the day they extended the deadline by a few days. So, naturally, I turned a rush job into insanity by planning a triptych. Oof.

Here are two WIP shots- a sketch and an under-painting. I'll explain the full concept next post.

leaf dragon

2011-01-02T11:20:00.001-08:00

Had a bit of time to kill the other day, so I turned this quick photo from the park into a little beasty guy. He's kind of like a flying squirrel- using his light bones and very thin skin to float atop the breeze from branch to branch.

*blows dust off

2010-12-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't been experimenting or studying lately, and that is surely artistic suicide. So I'm starting up a new personal project. It takes place just outside of Bombay in the late 70s/early 80s. Well, maybe. I haven't nailed down the timeline just yet.

More soon.

Gandolf the Gay

2010-09-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Job stuff is pretty nutty right now. Heavy workload, lots of software bugs and not much time. Thanks to the Atelier experience, just the way i like it >:D

I did a quick speed painting over an old SketchUp model last night. kind of a play on an urban lord of the rings- a young hipster Gandolf ("Gands") fights a subway demon. "Dude- you're totally not passing."

Spent like an hour, hour and a half on it. Just messing around.

I do these ALL the time. Its just a five minute doodle to work out posing. I don't concern myself with anything beyond the gesture of the figure and how to emphasize it via clothing drapery. I use them to avoid senseless noodling in the original image and generally don't save them. Kinda fun. Very loose. Just like your mom.

Seamus and such

2010-08-24T12:07:00.001-07:00

Here's some speedy junk. More finals some time soon, hopefully.

Back from the deeaaaad

2010-08-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

Well, hello there.

A lot of things have come and gone since my last post. No one reads art blogs for these funny looking word shaped things, so the short of it is: I start at my first in-house concept art position next month. Crazy !

I have a ton of work I can't show just yet, so until then, here's a quick cover I did for a zombie apocalypse tale set in the south.

More soon!

big boyz

2010-07-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

next round of guys for my subway project. they're a bit more polished than the last set, but still only took a few hours each. which is pretty fast for me, sadly.

must. get. faster.

Experimentation

2010-07-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well, my time at the school here in San Francisco is tentatively over. I'll know in the next few days, but I have little confidence in those who have the majority of control in the situation-- obviously not talking about Carl Dobsky or Massive Black on that.

So, I'm spending July starting over from scratch. I think I've honed my current methods as far as they need honing and now its time to begin anew and skew that knowledge in favor of what I know to be more effective. I've set deadlines and put multiple personal projects into development. This time next month, I hope to be an entirely new artist.

Here are a couple speed paints to get the general tone of the setting for my next illustration, and one failure of an attempt at speed painting straight from the head. Onward ;p

sketcherz

2010-06-28T08:01:00.001-07:00

after a very, very long hiatus, i've started working in my sketchbook again. definitely rusty, but i'll get there.

Subway Mattes

2010-06-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

These are a mixture of speed painting and matte painting for quick ideation based on a new personal project (same one the zombiens from below were created for). I was kinda going for a "campaign" feel with these, hence the similar compositions.

Hope ya dig.

zombaliens

2010-06-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

think of these guys as bums turned zombie turned alien parasite host. i figured out a few shortcuts with my process, so these guys only took 45 - 60 minutes each. more on the way. looooots more.

raaaahhh BUKKA-BUKKA-BUKKA

2010-06-08T17:28:00.001-07:00

prepare yo self ;p

gunner bishes

2010-05-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

quick round of thumbnails for the camaro gunner. slowly figuring out a faster way to work with these things.

2010-05-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

Quick update, the final concept for the camaro for my illustration.

Vroom

2010-05-17T17:55:00.001-07:00

WIP for my dad's birthday and as an asset for my new illustration. Double up !

2010-05-17T01:36:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to inject speed into my concept work. Figuring out ways to simplify problems rather than throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, which I still do far too often. There's a fine line you need to walk as a production artist, where-in both under-thinking and over-thinking inevitably destroy the potential of your work.

--

The circular building is from a photo I took in Seattle, the rest is speed painted in. Just working out some new techniques, many of which are borrowed from Dylan Cole.

Alternate cropping that I kind of like better.

Character design done in one quick sitting. Trying to get as speedy with character thumbs as good ol' Zacharicious has been lately.

More on the way...

The boob runneth over.

2010-05-12T23:21:00.001-07:00

Boob Runner final:

First attempt at matte painting. Fun!

Boob Runner

2010-04-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

New illustration I'm working on. I tend to start with a set of rough thumbnails before the line stage, but I was pretty sure on what direction I wanted to go with long before I started. Lines were approved, and here we are.

The concept is basically a strip club located on the lowest rung of a stacking shanty-town city. The environment is rather toxic, so the girls stay confined to their cryo-tubes and the waitresses wear protective gear, the air-tight oxygen helmet being of particular importance.

Final coming sooooon(ish).

*guitar solo

2010-03-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

A couple sci-fi environment things. Better than what I used to do but, in the eyes of those whom I have in my scope, still shit all the same. MUST FIGURE THIS OUT !

Yaaawwwn

2010-03-15T23:17:00.001-07:00

Speedy before bed time. And by bed time I mean, of course, 2 or 3 hours of sleep before I get up to do another one.

Web site Update

2010-03-14T01:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Had to catch up on classes and get ready for the beast that is GDC. Got a lot of great feedback and I definitely have a better idea of where to concentrate my efforts in the following year.

Also, new site is up and running! I trimmed all the fat (75% of the work), added a few new things and retooled the layout to ensure the work sits center stage. Check it out here.

Feedback much appreciated !

Stuffs

2010-02-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

Been crazy busy lately. Most things aren't ready to post, but here are some studies and works in progress.

Thumbnails for the "hippies" from easy rider redesign.

Doofy speedpaint for hippie ideation.

Digital head painting from our Tuesday night class. He really was that saggy.

Thumbnail for a new project.

Current progress on the never-ending illustration.

On a side note, I'm about to start my first cast painting at school, having just finished up block-ins. Block-ins set me on the path to overcoming a few major artistic shortcomings, and cast painting is poised to (hopefully) tackle another huge set of problems. Here's to failing ;]

Stoody.

2010-01-31T15:21:00.001-08:00

Quick environment study from this morning.

Sheriff Update

2010-01-30T00:25:00.001-08:00

Sheriff + beast. Need ground plane, of course, but headed towards final.

New character illustration.

2010-01-23T00:53:00.001-08:00

Here is a (near) final for my new portfolio. Aiming to have it done well before summer. I can't let my progress at school dictate my career pursuance. That's a recipe for trouble in a program with no real curriculum timeline :P

Illustration in progress.

2010-01-15T21:33:00.001-08:00

Here is the current progress on my illustration for Mike Bierek's composition class. My initial thumbnails were based on Neal Stephenson's seminal cyberpunk novel "Snow Crash," but when that quickly snowballed into a proper cluster fuck, I decided to dumb it down a bit. This one is based on Little Miss Muffet.

Character Ideation

2010-01-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

I tried a quick round of generic characters to test out a working method I've seen a couple other students/folks working with. I don't find it terribly efficient for someone with a lackluster design sense, such as myself, but it was definitely fun.

--

I chose a very loose theme of found-object samurai and just dove in. No reference search, no forethought.

Slapped these guys down in 45 minutes or so using a nearly uncontrollable chalk to rough in silhouettes, then a standard round to imply design and some value.

Chose four to take forward and further refined their values and general design. I'm intentionally staying in a very mid range, erring on the side of higher values.

Chose two more (rather, the other two turned out even more retarded than intended) and used my low mids and darks to push and pull the designs, as well as turning the forms a bit in some areas. Used my high values to further establish the light source.

I'll post final roughs as soon as I get a chance to finish them up. Hope you enjoyed my nonsense ;p

Works in Progress

2010-01-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas present for Rupa:

Accidental Plague Spreader:

Works in Progress

2009-12-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

The Reclemation of Nature

2009-12-19T23:34:00.000-08:00

Managed to churn out two illustrations over the course of four days for a competition over at Deviant Art. The theme was "end of days," something or other about the end of mankind and all that. I decided to depict the reclamation of nature, as enacted by giant mutant earth monsters, of course.

My actual entry:

My guitar solo, concept art cliche-ridden, rim-light-o-riffic entry:

(thanks to good ol' zach skelington for convincing me to join the dark side on that last one)

New illustration.

2009-12-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

Starting the visual development for a new illustration. I'm working with an entirely new process (as per Professor Bierek's requirements), so I decided to share the awkward and occasionally humiliating process with the interwebs at large. Enjoy!

rough concept for main character

cartoony initial version

i got the idea that he would use a canopy of trees as his web, flinging himself around by wing-like spider legs.

initial thumbnails

rough value study for tentative composition. i rarely spend more than 15 or 20 minutes on these- since everything will change a few more times. even the main character changed already ;P

The Never Ending Illustration, part II

2009-11-15T14:03:00.001-08:00

Here is the current progress on my Conquest of the Nephilim illustration. Done under the constant tutelage of Mike Bierek and the occasional help from the other students, especially Lake. It's probably the most accomplished illustration I've ever done, which is slightly disconcerting for where I need to be ;p

Also, an alternate take to the George Harrison painting seen in my header. Not quite finished, but well on its way.

Update.

2009-10-30T16:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a final of the doof from the last post, plus one more metal head guy.

Going to polish up a few more of these thumbs I have sitting around and put together a more stylized portfolio for casual games, since they're all the rage now.

Kids these days.

wereboy

2009-10-29T19:01:00.001-07:00

doofy cartoony werewolf guy for school project. this stuff is fun ;P

The Never Ending Illustration

2009-10-13T19:41:00.001-07:00

Here is the current progress on the angel illustration. Still struggling through it but, hopefully, I'll have a final by next week.

Updaaates

2009-10-03T17:59:00.001-07:00

I put this smirky broad and a slew of new work up on my portfolio site, check it out right here.

Beasties and the like

2009-09-19T12:09:00.001-07:00

Still trying to figure out composition, value ranges and color theory simultaneously. Probably not a smart idea, but that tends to be how I work ;D

I should mention that these guys are technically angels, not just dopey beasts.

Return to CotN

2009-09-06T19:48:00.001-07:00

We just started a new composition/illustration class at school and it's sweeeet. We're spending 6 week periods working our way from generic thumbs up to fully realized final illustrations. I've been entirely unable to squander a single second of spare time for personal projects for the last 6 months, so this is the perfect opportunity to drag out my sketchbooks full of Nephilim concepts and go to town. Plus its all under the guidance of Mr. Mike Bierek and his beard of power. I swear I catch that thing staring at me sometimes.

Here are my first round of thumbs. Spent about 30 minutes to an hour on each, since the idea was to keep things a bit abstract to allow for compositional fine tuning at any stage. I was totally off the mark, so I'm going to redo the whole idea from the ground up, which I'm pretty excited about. Every screw-up is a chance to learn, and when Mike is the one correcting you, then the more mistakes the better. I also apologize for the terrible, terrible value range I worked with for all of them ;P

Blarfl?

2009-07-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

I couldn't really get this guy to scan very well, but here is my third cast drawing:

The next one is going to kick my ass, for sure. If you've never done it, try to look at a face and see anything other than a face. You fucking can't! Your brain just goes "face!" over and over no matter what. Apparently you can break your brain of the habit, but thus far I've just simply broke my brain. Even as I type this I can feel my little synapses sputtering and spewing and surely before long I'll resort to some simian poo flingery and word jarble nonsenk jja perfff blut grook blarfl tart blllrrrgg.

Shit.

The banality of finality.

2009-05-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Finished my second cast drawing today. Clocked in at around 50 hours, which isn't too terrible, I guess.

I'll be posting my first oil painting soon. Get your belly laughs ready and armed.

2009-05-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy. My first cast drawing (90 hours) and some digital stuff.

Someone's standing on my chest.

2009-04-18T21:13:00.001-07:00

I'm anxious for the point at which the steady stream of epiphanies and failures coalesce to provide some good ol' fashioned understanding.

My fingers are perdurably crossed.

Some new stuff:

Huck Finn redesign project - Border Society - sheet one

Huck Finn redesign project - Border Society - sheet two

Digital Life Drawing 01

Digital Life Drawing 02

Space Opera Goodness

2009-04-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

Some concepts for a re-imagining of Huck Finn- Atelier homework.

Dryad

2009-04-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

You'll be seeing more of her soon.

Shapeshifter

2009-04-04T03:36:00.000-07:00

Trying to apply some of the ideas I've been learning to digital painting.

New paint over followed by the old sketch.

Sketchbook Poop

2009-04-02T23:21:00.003-07:00

Just some random stuff from the sketchbook and a quick digital composition test.

Obligatory intro post

2009-03-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm busy with school and what not, I need an easier blogging solution than the server integrated hullabaloo that I've been using for the last few years. So, here we be.

A few older paintings to get the ball rolling.