blogobora

Midnight philosopher

2011-08-03T00:15:00.000+01:00

Here is a quick midnight study. I don't know why he's smirking.

Shellsuit Zombie & Designer Dan

2011-07-09T18:57:00.002+01:00

I was fortunate enough to be approached by the mega-awesome guys at Shellsuit Zombie, and contribute to their ultra-super magazine's second issue. I did two illustrations for an article titled Placement Man.

Also, we celebrated Dan's 5th anniversary at Collective yesterday. We all wanted to contribute with a small thing, so I thought I'd do a couple of illustrations.

You should definitely check out Dan's blog for all things art & design you wish you discovered.

Dragon's blood

2011-06-25T16:53:00.000+01:00

Sketched during another viewing of the final episode of Game of Thrones.

Pen sketches

2011-06-09T18:21:00.000+01:00

I'm going to try and post more of these, as they are more frequent and better than no blog activity.

Sketches

2011-05-03T01:16:00.000+01:00

Sketches from last week, one of the busiest weeks of my life.

Pooj

2011-04-19T23:41:00.000+01:00

Not a very good PM, and loves the penis.

Gesture Drawing Practice

2011-04-19T00:38:00.001+01:00

I haven't been to a real life drawing session for a long while. That's because:

A: Lack of time
B: £7.50 session charge
C: There is one man there who makes me feel uncomfortable, because he says "Oh hello!" really loudly the millisecond I walk into the room. Plus he always wears the same stripy t-shirt.

Well anyway, I found this great little website, that gives you a random naked person just posing for you (surprisingly non-porn, yet still NSFW). You can set how long you want the image to stay on until the next random one to appear. It is great for quick gesture practicing.

Here are a couple of long poses; that evolved into their own things...

Pookie mookie moopa shoopa

2011-04-15T00:44:00.002+01:00

That is her name. No joke.

Bearded

2011-04-13T01:46:00.000+01:00

I reckon I'll make him some coffee.

I'm just a sweet boy

2011-04-12T02:00:00.000+01:00

Take one look at those eyes, and try to withstand the intensity... It's impossible.

Or that famous Nietzsche quote.

GET IN MY BELLY!!!

2011-02-20T03:38:00.000Z

Getting back to sculpting, perhaps. I have finally managed to get a displacement map going, and rendering a sculpt in an external application. Here is one I made earlier:

I can't say much about the design, as it's looking pretty clichéd; but I did work on texturing and the render to get this result (it still looks a bit too plasticy). Here is a posed close up.

"I was perfect..."

2011-01-31T02:48:00.000Z

Guess what I watch earlier?

Two heads

2011-01-30T16:47:00.000Z

Just getting back in to painting, after a loooong break. I know these aren't very inspiring, but they were a lot of fun to mess around with. The guy on the right started as a russian boxer, but ended as a russian... space marine... My idea of Russian people seems to be that they're all very tough and too blonde. Damn you Rocky 4!

Skully

2010-12-06T00:38:00.000Z

I started another painting; a real painting! It's nothing fancy. In fact it's a practice piece, but I wanted to put it up here anyway. Starting straight on linen wasn't a good idea, but after putting down some paint (acrylic), it started to pick up (but still struggled to take any water in). Oh well. Let's see where this one goes.

Alien Gorilla thing WIP

2010-12-01T01:36:00.000Z

Always label it alien if it doesn't look like the real thing.

This started as a quick sketch at 10pm, and now it's 1.34am... Quick my ass. I will finish this one eventually though.

Tuunbaq

2010-11-15T01:51:00.001Z

"Francis Crozier believes in nothing. Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. It has no plan, no point, no hidden mysteries that make up for the oh-so-obvious miseries and banalities. Nothing he has learned in the past six months has persuaded him otherwise... has it?"

This is just a little preview for something bigger; much bigger (maybe I should have titled this post the epitome of hyperbole...).

Iron Dad

2010-11-13T21:39:00.001Z

Get it? It's an anagram for android. Clever...

If this works - I said to myself today - I may become the richest man in the world. After taking a very bad photo of it with my phone, I started painting what this quick, tiny but spontaneous sketch was giving me. I know it reeks of influences you can easily think of, but the goal was taking that small thumbnail into a big, semi-finished painting.

One, two, three. That's how I paint; just three strokes.

I wish I could show you more progress, but unfortunately I don't save that often. I will dig out some old sketchbooks and maybe see what other sketches I can make use of. Here is a bigger version:

Shocked android is shocked.

Pancho

2010-11-12T02:55:00.000Z

He's standing there - all rigid - yet there is also energy. I think it's his lovely costume. Michael Hampton's book on Design and Invention excellently explains how to create flow by only using C,S and I shaped lines. It works, I think.

This is sort of inspired from an event I attended to last night. This is the kind of crap I would pull if I was one of the contenders (who'd really want this as a tattoo though?). Maybe next year.

Crabman

2010-11-07T23:21:00.003Z

After killing the entire crew of Deadliest Catch, Crabman felt finally satisfied.

This happens to be a design that goes way back, and I finally immortalized it. It hasn't got a real background except that it was the only thing I used to sketch back at Uni; one of those things I used to test things with.

Still not sure whether if it's mechanical or just heavily armoured... well who cares?

Flying V

2010-11-02T02:02:00.002Z

She's clearly naked.

This time, I knew exactly what I was going to paint. I did not faff around with random gradients/textures to discover something; I must say I'm quite proud of sticking with the initial idea (It was however, excessive repeating of this track that kept things flowing).

I see a few wonky bits in anatomy, so I may revisit this (maybe = probably not ). So, not only does this painting prove that there is definitely improvement on my painting skills, but also that I'm an ass man.

Sexbot

2010-10-31T23:50:00.000Z

This is my second entry for a Photoshop Ping Pong thing we're doing at work. Unusual choice of colours for me, but somehow, worked out all right I think.

Get a few textures together, mash them up in random shapes and there you go, a great starting point. Thanks Burch!

Spiderman

2010-10-28T16:48:00.000+01:00

Not the one you think.

Tyrannosaurus Burch

2010-10-26T09:58:00.000+01:00

This one's not quite easy to explain, unless you know the man himself and his habits... Used the same technique but this time with more opaque strokes. I keep needing to adjust the colour balance, brightness and contrast, which is probably not a great habit.

Maybe I'll do a series of everyone I know as extinct beasts. Hmmmm.

Bad horsie

2010-10-21T00:11:00.001+01:00

Previously, on The Menacing Ungulate...

I got it to the stage where I can add detail and just push the shapes more and more. This week I discovered a method that truly works for me; I felt the idea go into my bloodstream, and I know it's going to stick. Here is the mantra:

"You're not Hokusai, bring the brush opacity dooooooooowwwwn."

I'm so excited that I might revisit old ideas/sketches with the method applied with the simple work-flow... take them somewhere I couldn't before. Just grab their little hands, point at the mountains and say: "Come on little buddy, we can do this!".

I don't know why they're little.

"A very majestic horse."

2010-10-20T01:04:00.000+01:00

That was the brief that I set myself. To be fair, even a small sentence really sets an invaluable direction - not saying I've succeeded at meeting the claimed description, but I'm quite satisfied with the current progress.

This was an exercise I decided to take on after talking with my friend Stef, whom I abuse as a free source of tutorials for pretty much any subject you can think of.

The workflow he suggested was:

- Get a rough outline of your design.
- Put some gradient there; get your values down.
- And finally, get down to details ("It's when the real fun begins!")

And it sort of worked, I think. Although I didn't use any separate layers (ah ha! boasting?), the simplification of the work flow (i.e. just a few steps), and a bit of commitment to each step really makes you think before you start on the next stage.

Tonight's lesson? Don't get ahead of yourself, son! I will continue on this painting as I dared to start with a huge canvas - there is lots of room for more. Perhaps I will print it out and sell it somewhere like... oh.

Not very aerodynamic

2010-10-18T22:14:00.000+01:00

I'm gonna try to write a bit more here. This one's inspired from all the aeroplane action I had in the last week.

Using a photo reference for the landscape as a start was probably the best thing I did since learning how to use computers. Do you like the heat ripples? I made them for you.

Giant fire breathing reptile

2010-10-18T19:30:00.002+01:00

What do you call them things?

Test sketch done in PS.

Dusky mech

2010-10-18T02:31:00.001+01:00

It looks really flat, doesn't it? Maybe I'll try another angle.

Pterosrosrasuaorsaur

2010-10-09T03:06:00.001+01:00

OK I lied, here is another one. Not a plane though.

Orange plane

2010-10-09T02:25:00.001+01:00

Study from a photograph - before I get on an actual plane.

That's it for wanimal

2010-10-04T23:49:00.002+01:00

That's about it for this ridiculous thing.

Previously on Wanimal...

2010-09-29T01:43:00.000+01:00

I don't know how far I will actually push this. We shall see.

Watch out for the wanimal!

2010-09-26T23:51:00.000+01:00

Wanimal > weird animal.

Work in progress... maybe.

Is it a turian?

2010-09-24T01:31:00.001+01:00

Maybe some sort of a retarded one? Came out in between the madness.

Rifleman

2010-09-17T00:10:00.000+01:00

We don't like your kind round 'ere!

Crocodiles really scare me

2010-06-27T23:40:00.000+01:00

This is how I deal with my fear.

Running man + monster whale

2010-06-21T00:44:00.001+01:00

Very random sketchlings from a long time ago.

Life drawing

2010-06-21T00:37:00.001+01:00

Not very good.

Cavestract

2010-01-08T16:31:00.002Z

Value exercise.

Little guy, big hair

2009-12-22T18:28:00.000Z

Meh.

Sir John Franklin

2009-11-20T01:25:00.000Z

He may not have looked like this, but this is how I always imagined him in my head. He's perhaps lacking the confused puppy eyes.

A self portrait

2009-11-15T01:20:00.001Z

This is what I look like by default... Took me a few hours. There is nothing special to it. Might do a few more, but preferably more attractive and mysterious versions.

Fisherman

2009-09-28T16:13:00.003+01:00

I was trying out my friend Stef's 6d Wacom stylus, and this came out... purchasing one right now...

Badadam

2009-09-23T23:41:00.007+01:00

A sketch ended up looking like my friend, BADADAM!

Pink & Chrome poo

2009-08-21T15:15:00.006+01:00

These two are sort of material studies. I am kind of pleased with them, but I need more reflection practice.

Quick and painless

2009-08-13T18:04:00.008+01:00

A quicky.

Old man gloom

2009-06-07T22:19:00.003+01:00

A sketch turned painting. It began as an airbrush experiment hence the blurriness. Might try a few more like this.

Head doodle

2009-05-11T17:18:00.002+01:00

A pretty random doodle done during lunch.

Golden beetle

2009-05-10T22:21:00.003+01:00

Hello. Here is a random painting. A bit of a specular highlight exercise ( I am sure you couldn't figure that one out). Pretty pleased with the outcome.

Running man-thing

2009-05-04T15:00:00.009+01:00

Found this in my old hard drive as I was going through it for old Amiga games... Think it was just a Zsphere exercise. I really like the dynamism of it. Back then I used to be a lot more patient with myself and would continue to work on things, however pointless they were.

I need to get back into 3D. Could somebody please remove the clutter of laziness (or the perception of seeing everything as pretty pointless) out of my head?

Motion graph

2009-05-01T12:19:00.005+01:00

Was working on an animation in AE and just staring at the beautiful curves of the motion graph, I thought I should share this screen shot with you.

Back in action(?)

2009-04-26T21:30:00.011+01:00

Couple of paintings done within a few hours each. Trying to get back to painting again, since I haven't been doing it for such a long time. I believe I need to set some sort of a project and stick to it. Unfortunately I am pretty rubbish at working on self initiated briefs. I either have some sort of ADD or am just plain lazy.

I'm hoping to increase my productivity with more frequent blog posts... I hope. Please do not hesitate to leave comments such as "God you're awesome" or "what brush are you using?", so maybe my ego might want me to carry on. Cheers.

I have made a book!

2008-02-15T01:38:00.014Z

Long time no see, as if anyone cares. Anyhow, here is a little update. Here are a few pages from a recent book project based on me and myself. I have taken a different approach and style which is unusual but necessary due to a tight deadline. You can see the rest of the pages over here at conceptart.org forums.

Weirdology

2007-09-14T19:34:00.002+01:00

Don't ask me the idea behind this, I have no idea. There are a bunch of other drawings I have done and I might go ahead and continue. I am pretty new to this sort of drawing, since it came totally natural and I wasn't thinking of anything apart from lines. Couple of people at the conceptart forums inspired me to freely scribble and then later turn the shapes into objects, characters etc. just by rendering them. Must work harder on the environments, looks a bit plain eh?

Cyberpunk chick

2007-09-14T19:27:00.000+01:00

Here is a quick little update. Coloured version of a previous sketch. Painter's real bristle brushes are sweet. It smudges and mixes colours at the same time, with no delays (well, when used with a reasonable brush size).

Picture This: How Pictures Work

2007-09-11T09:05:00.001+01:00

This is a great book about composition by Molly Bang. It's one of those books with information so vital you think to yourself "hang on a minute, I knew that", but really, I actually didn't know, at least they never stuck to my head before reading it. I have discovered it whilst I was on conceptart forums.

Its a very simple and straight forward book about shapes, their placements, colours and how they work together. Molly Bang illustrates a scene from little red riding hood, and its pretty amazing to see how the simplest shapes can have meanings and personalities. Its only around 90 pages which is the only let down, but it's well worth the money (I've paid £8).

If you're looking for a book about grids or typography, this isn't it. Its a very simplified book, and that is why I think it works well getting its ideas across. I'd recommend it to anyone who's remotely interested in design and struggling to deal with compositional problems.

Strange sketch scans

2007-09-07T20:39:00.000+01:00

This time I'm just gonna put whatever I have managed to scan right now. I have been sketching nearly everyday this whole summer and already filled 3 small moleskines (but you don't wanna see most of the stuff since they are god awful anatomical studies).

Here they are, starting with a self portrait.

Imagine a whale with arms

2007-08-12T22:05:00.001+01:00

Here's a small update. This is a game creature concept titled Blind whale. It was a complete random doodle later suited into a game. Still trying to get used to colouring and the bigger size of my new tablet. Big is good but I wish I have had a wide screen monitor as well, normal ratio monitor feels claustrophobic.

Giant Snail vs. Evil Bunny

2007-08-05T23:12:00.001+01:00

I have finally got it. I have got my A5 intuos3 and I have been busy getting used to it. The nibs, the blue led, the feel of the surface. Just thinking about it pumps adrenaline. Not much to say apart from how sad I am to know how I wasted my years using an almost non-sensitive volito.

A few random pieces from the last few days. They were originally graphite sketches. I may post them later on.

I am still dependant on starting out on paper first because I'm not very comfortable with sketching with the tablet yet. I am very used to just rotating the paper and using my elbow when using pencil & paper. That is why I have been told to focus on Painter since it has the rotate canvas feature. It looks really good but I feel intimidated. I'm such a wuss.

Well, now I have almost all the tools I need, I don't have an excuse not to work my ass off. One problem I've encountered with my tablet is that it is too good. It's like a lightsaber and I feel like a jawa. How can I use to something so advanced, I almost feel like cheating, that is why I should start using Painter so perhaps it balances the artistic effort on a level where I have to think on a more natural way. I will post more random works soon as I feel more confident.

My dreaming skills

2007-07-12T17:07:00.000+01:00

Here it goes the beginning of an era. This will be a place where I talk about things you don't really need to hear, before I fall asleep and completely forget about them.

Have you ever had a dream so marvellous it made you keep saying “I wish I could bring that magic-wand-that-can-turn-anything-to-ice-cream back”. I have.

A long time ago I have had and I stopped having happy dreams since, my mind stopped generating good thoughts whilst asleep. Now I hardly ever dream and even if I do, it’s either about getting killed by maniacs or half-human half-farm animals. But mainly, it is falling from a very high place that I used to experience the most. Usually a church or a cathedral of some sort in an eastern european city. I hate falling from high places, it hurts a lot and when I do fall in my dreams, my mind switches itself off because of the high amplitude screaming caused be my desperate misery.

Unfortunately I don’t even remember the last time having that sort of a dream. I hate to say it but I even miss those dreams. When I sleep now, I have nothing but blank unconsciousness. Just to wake up even more tired in the morning. I seriously don’t understand the point of sleeping any more. Well I do, because it is bad to have my head keep falling on the keyboard at work…makes things a bit more difficult.

But I am happy, despite the glitches and design mistakes I have made in my life, I try to forget and experience everyday as if it was a dream. From now on I will try to use this place to put my work up and try to get some people to look at it and maybe leave comments if I'm lucky.

Maybe next time I will be more insightful and talk about something creative, interesting or even weird. Perhaps how excessive 3D work started making me see people and objects in wire frame mode, or the fibonacci spiral I visualize when I look at people’s faces. We’ll see.

Bora