DMBoyleDesign Blog

2010-03-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

Geez it's been a while...

Work has been keeping me super busy so I haven't been able to add any blog-type things in a while. However, Junk: Battles just went through a huge update and I thought I'd share some imagery!

I created a lot of graphics for this update. Most of the UI was remade with new art. Some new chassis were created and others were tweaked to have more depth. I made some animated pop-ups for battle win/loss, loot drops, and battle syncing/searching for opponent.

Here's the new frame, header, and footer. Also, a garage for choosing which craft to build.

Here's the starting town. Buildings are clickable, kind of like old point-and-click games.

Three stores for buying goods.

New Exotica chassis, based off a Lamborghini.

New dragster chassis.

Updated the airship a little bit.

Special Christmas sleigh!

Last but not least, a video of my leet new animating skills.

Work has been pretty awesome. Being the only artist for a game company is intense. I've had a part in everything from UI to environments and characters, vehicles and other items. I've also become more comfortable with Flash and Illustrator, which I am using on our next big project. It's really cool to see the art I've made get put right into the game, and working with programmers on various parts of the artistic direction.

Meanwhile, I haven't really made any art of my own in a while, since I'm pretty happy with the stuff I've been doing at work. Perhaps in the near future I'll have some more stuff to share. :)

-D

2009-12-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

Some big news last night. At the 2009 Canadian New Media awards ceremony, Junk: Battles took first place for best innovative web-based game! Our fearless leaders were there to get the award, which I'll post a picture of later.

Meanwhile, work continues to go well for me. I can't believe it's been over a month since I started, but when I look at the amount of work I've done so far, it definitely seems like I've been here a while. :)

Here's some random warm-up and lunchtime sketches.

Hope you like!

-D

2009-11-20T12:12:00.000-08:00

Some big news since last I posted anything. I happened upon a company in London Ontario called Antic Entertainment after reading a Joystiq post about them and their new game Junk: Battles. I sent them an email with a resume and it turned out that they were looking for a 2D artist to join their team. An art test and a interview later and I got the job!

Illustration of myself for my custom avatar.

So, I had to go through all the channels to move to Canada and get started. It was a lot less painful than I thought it would be, and now I've been living here for a month and have been having a great time at work!

So far, I have been working on additions to Junk: Battles. We are releasing a big update today and have been testing for the past three days to insure everything is working smoothly. I have contributed artwork to almost every facet of the game so far, and it's been a great learning experience and a lot of fun.

One of the vehicles I created. This is the "Bandit Elite" enemy.

Another vehicle I created. This one will be available for players to use.

And this is the leader of the bandits. You don't want to mess with him!

Everything is 2D, as the game is internet browser based and uses a lot of flash. It's also free to play! The nice thing is that the art I create goes directly into the game, as opposed to drawing concepts that are used to make 3D models. It's really cool to see my artwork in a actual game!

Everyone here is also very nice. Our studio is close-knit and everyone has a stake in the game, so everyone is very involved in all facets of development. I've learned more in the past month than I have in a year previous!

Expect more updates now that I am settled, I'll be blogging both my personal work still, as well as developments on Antic's present and future titles! Also check the Antic Entertainment developer's blog for info.

-D

2009-09-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I've posted about this before, but I've been working with a great team of people across the internet to build a sword fighting game using the Source engine. The game features different factions that have their own style, motivation, and play areas. For each faction I've tried to use a different artistic style to further differentiate factions. Here's a rundown on how a street ninja/samurai was created.

Part of the story for the game is that everyone wears masks. No one shows their true face.
Since the street samurai are obviously Asian themed, we wanted to go with something that would combine bits of Asian culture and street fashion into the characters. I started by sketching street punk style guys wearing a mask inspired by demon mythology.

After showing the work to the team, we deliberated on different mask ideas, so I quickly sketched some out. We were thinking of maybe letting players use their spray tag on the mask.

We decided to go with something more subtle, since the clothing would be in brighter shades than the other factions, a semi-plain mask would be a nice contract to the costume. I did a new sketch to reflect the changes. On the right hand side you can see some changes I made to the armor, trying to get a more interesting asymmetrical silhouette.

The hard part done, it was time to start coloring. I wanted the base colors bright and contrasty, so I went with a light blue and dark red. All this was done in Photoshop.

I brought the painting into Painter so I could use some texture brushes on it and give definition. And there you have it! One character done. Now a back view and possibly a turn around needs to be done, depending on what the character artist wants.

Our team is pretty much in constant contact through mIRC, and we have a wiki and team website where changes and updates are logged. The design work is very much a team effort, and any work I do is shared with the team before being finalized. It's a lot of fun, and our game should be available to play in the coming months.

-D

2009-08-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's sketchdump time! Here's a bunch of random stuff I've done in the past few weeks. Lots of different styles of work going on, I dig it.

Been working for Hasbro a bit lately, working on a really cool project. Also had an interview and art test with a game company I really admire. Keep your fingers crossed that I might get the gig!

-D

2009-07-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Today I'm deviating from the normal doodles and cars to mention a really important campaign started by my friend Jason and his fiancé Kam. He's more eloquent than I am at describing the goals of the campaign, so I'm going to copy his statement here.

"I’m excited to announce that my fiancé Kam and I are releasing a Dollar Campaign to raise money towards the cure of the disease HIBM. As some as you may already know my fiancé Kam is afflicted with HIBM, which is a progressive muscle wasting disease which can lead to total disability within 10-15 years. We both work very hard for the non-profit organization ARM (http://www.hibm.org/arm/index.php) which is dedicated to curing this debilitating disease.

With ARM we have created this dollar campaign with the hopes of raising 1 million dollars to enable human therapeutic trials to fight HIBM. We are asking for two things: First, go to WEBSITE (http://www.hibm.org/arm/dollar:home) to donate $1. Second, send this email on to all your friends and family.

In the Internet age, reaching one million people in that amount of time is surely do-able. If you are interested in becoming a bigger influence in this campaign, host your own dollar collecting campaign in your community, church, workplace, among your friends and family and donate what you've collected as one donation. Or you can post this story and image on your own blog and Facebook page. The more people we can reach increases the awareness of HIBM.

HIBM (Hereditary Inclusion Body Myopathy) is a progressive and debilitating muscle-wasting disorder caused by a gene defect. It touches those between the ages of 20 and 40 and, although progression is slow, it typically leads to total disability within 10-15 years. Studies suggest that HIBM may be easier to cure than many other disorders or diseases, the only limiting factor is funds.

Thank you for your support,

Jason Hazelroth"

I've known Jason since college and he's been one of my biggest supporters and sources of inspiration and advice in my effort to get going in the entertainment industry. He's been involved with ARM for while a while now and helping him spread the word is the least I can do to repay him for everything he's done for me. Please, make a mention on your blog or Facebook if you can. The more people that can become aware, the better the chances are of finding a cure.

Thanks!

-David

2009-07-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Friday was the Rolling Sculpure Car Show in Ann Arbor. I took the TR-6 there and met up with my buddy Nate to park on the street. The weather was overcast but there was no rain. I was impressed with the varied cars at the show. I'm used to seeing nothing but muscle cars but there was quite a bit of British cars on show. Always a good thing. ;)

Nate's '74 TR-6 in true blue on the right, my '74 in french blue on the left.

Beautiful Porsche 356C

Lovely Sunbeam Alpine.

Bugeye Sprite.

Mini Cooper.

Porsche 914.
Porsche 356 Speedster.
Triumph TR-4
Crazy Citroen #1
Crazy Citroen #2
Amazing paint job on this Crosley Wagon.
Turbine powered F-150.
Audi R8.
Nissan GT-R *drool*.

Last but not least, here's a video of the TR running.

Overall, it was a fun day. Hope you enjoy the pics!

-D

2009-07-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

Just created a carbonmade profile. Check it out!

DMBdesign.carbonmade.com

-D

2009-06-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this, but I had the good fortune of having two of my images featured on Coroflot!

This is an oldie. I did this my senior year of college!

Here's the robotic arm I posted several months ago

I think it's a sign that my traditional work was picked up more than the digital stuff. Go pen and marker!

-D

2009-06-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

Some luck befell me and I've been working for Hasbro the past few weeks. For a while I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pay my student loans, but thankfully they will be kept at bay for a little while longer.

-D

2009-05-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

Baroness loves you.

-D

2009-05-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

Beautiful weather the past few days meant it was time to uncover the TR-6! After a little dusting I pulled the choke and pumped the gas pedal a few times, turned the key and it fired right up! About 10 years after restoration and it's still going strong! I took it to the gas station for some fresh 94 octane and went for a spin. I forgot how much fun this car was to drive, and it got a lot of looks too.

For all the flack British Leyland gets for quality, they really made some sharp cars. And with a little quality restoration, you can have a winner!

Just thought I'd share my love. :)

-D

2009-04-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

Today's piece of artwork. It's a companion to the Demon Hunter I did a loooong time ago. I call this one the Angel Hunter. Genius, I know.

-D

2009-04-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

Just some random sketches from the past few days. I did some Dark Void art, if you haven't seen this game, check it out! It looks awesome.

Also drew a BMW, because a little part of me will always be a transportation design kid.

-D

2009-04-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note- I've made accounts on DeviantART and CGHUB!

Click the buttons to go there! If anyone out there is on these communities, add me!

-D

2009-04-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hooray for new art! I've applied for a few jobs and one of them is at Realtime Worlds. I did the above image as a sort of "test" to show that I can imitate their style of art. The game they are working on, APB, is a MMO so I focused on accessories to help make the character unique. Options like customization and accessories are important to help make characters unique to the player. Having industrial design skills really helps with designing all these products!

Sorry for the low res image. The picture is pretty large (8.5 x 15 @ 300dpi) and I didn't want anyone taking the work and using it for something else. That's why I included two detail shots. If anyone would like a full res copy, just email me. :)

Anyways, as far as the job front goes, I have Realtime Worlds and Airtight Games which I have applied for, and seem interested. I'm just waiting to hear more from them. Keep yer fingers crossed for me!

2009-03-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

I've started painting that Samurai/Knight design I had. Hooray!

-D

2009-03-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

Bunch of little tidbits to post.

I've been working with Hasbro for the past few weeks on another project. It's been a lot of fun, and it's just about wrapped up. Can't say what it is of course, but it's an update to an older IP. It's neat seeing how something I played with as a kid is being re-imagined for the new generation.

While Hasbro has occupied most of my time lately, I've still been able to get some random other work in. Here's some new character work for Berimbau:

This is a base design that another team member wanted to draw over.
She'll have a much more interesting outfit than this. :)
This is the female counterpart to our Knight/Samurai model.
If she gets approved I'll do some color variations on her.
(for reference, you can see the male knight here.)
I befriended two automotive designers from Ford on Twitter.
They worked on the 2010 Mustang GT500, and I did some little doodles
in my sketchbook one day, doing some Mustang variations.

I also went to the College for Creative Studies a few weeks ago to see a presentation by the great Syd Mead. The hour long talk covered his history as an artist, and some of his thoughts on design and being a "visual futurist". It was quite awesome, and they third time I've met with him.

He had some interesting quotes when asked about working for other people and being restrained by their requirements, he said, "I could make it up myself but that's not the point...the limitations make the demand." I think what he means is that if there were no limits on what he could make, he'd be drawing all sorts of crazy things that no one would know what to do with. He also stated that after he is done with a piece, he doesn't care what happens with the design after that. If it goes into production, good. If not, he still gets paid for the job. Very business like, and I'm not sure if I share his feelings on that. I tend to get very involved in my work, and I'm always looking to see what happens with a design after it leaves my drawing board.

Syd was kind enough to sign my Blade Runner collector's edition.
I also have his book Sentury which was signed a few years ago.

I was talking with one of my friends on the Berimbau team and I mentioned I used to do some 3D modeling in college. After scrounging through my old school folders I found some renders I had done in Rhinceros 3 and Alias Studiotools. Ah, the life of an Industrial Designer.

Plate o' fruit, one of the first things I made in Studiotools.

Retro-inspired .mp3 player, modeled in Rhino.

Digital camera, also modeled in Rhino. Notice the cut lines.
Yeah, I'm anal like that.

When I was learning Studiotools was around the time I switched
from Trans to Product Design and Illustration, wanting to pursue
a career in entertainment. This was made out of that desire.

It's been a while since I've played with a 3D package, but the experience helped out a ton in visualising everything in 3D. I aim to be a modeler's best friend!

Anyways, this is a pretty long post. Hope you enjoy the imagery! :)

-D

2009-02-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Got myself suckered into another crazy project. Here is some work I did recently for it. Been using markers and pen, it's refreshing after doing so much digital.

-D

2009-02-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

New digs!

Glad to have more room to stretch out and work!

-D

2009-02-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

A while ago my buddy Jay Shuster posted some Pinewood Derby cars he had done as a Cub Scout. In a fit of nostalgia I dug out some of my old cars and photographed them. You can really see a difference between older cars and the slick newer ones as I got better at making them, with a little help from my father, of course. Ah, the memories!

-D

2009-01-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

I got bribed into making some more concepts for the Berimbau Half Life 2 mod I've been helping with. You might see some more soon.

Not really any luck with jobs yet, although I have a few feelers out.

-DMB

2009-01-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd post a WIP along with the text. :P

A while ago I was tagged by my buddy Jeremy Melton, and I'm finally getting around to tagging some people.

The rules are to tag 7 people, so they are...

Dave Swartz

Dave Chow

Angie Lai

Imran Sheikh

Jason Hazelroth

Jay Shuster

Glenn Lattiere

Here is the game rules:

1. You must link to the individual who tagged you and post the rules of TAG (which you are currently reading).

2. Post 7 random facts about yourself

3. Tag 7 friends and link to them and

4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a nice little message on their blog.

Here are my 7 facts

-I'm almost nocturnal

-I listen to dance and electronic music to get pumped

-I'm still a huge anime fan, although I'm trying to make my work more mainstream

-Science Fiction and Fantasy is where it's at

-Although I love games, I don't get much time to play them right now

-I love cats

-I'm trying to pick up acrylic painting again

Those are my facts, what are yours?

-DMB

2009-01-10T10:57:00.000-08:00

From minnpost.com.

I thought this was a pretty funny little comic. The way things are right now though, you might as well replace "newspapers are a dying medium" with "the economy sucks".

Too many people I know have been laid off now. About 5 by my count in the last month. All of them stellar artists. It's really distressing.

The added layer to all of this is artists that are fresh out of college and looking for work (or the ones like me who are still trying to shuffle through the door). With an excess of skilled workers available, what is the newbie to do? I guess we'll find out in the coming months.

I really hope everyone is doing alright. I've moved back to Michigan in order to try and conserve money. The downside is Michigan is one of the worst off states for jobs at the moment. I still have funds from my freelancing before the holidays, but hopefully I can drum up some more business soon...

-DMB

PS: I still need to do that tag thing Jeremy sent me in my last post. I'll do that once I get back from the Toyota Lecture on Design tonight.

2008-11-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

Braaaaaains.... Annnnd done. This was created for a contest on ModDB. Creating a zombie that would fit in the Left 4 Dead world. I think it turned out pretty good. Hope you like! :D

-DMB

2008-10-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Just some small updates.

I was sadly passed up by Zenimax for the position there. I was pretty bummed for a few days. Thankfully the work I'm doing for Hasbro has been going along great, and I'm having a lot of fun doing it. I still have more work to do with them so I'm happy that I'll be able to be working creatively for a while.

Meanwhile I got two jobs close to home to keep myself going. I'm a tech guy at Office Depot, and I work at the Gap as well. I'm thankful to be working, but it sure is depressing at times when I think about it. Thankfully I have Hasbro to keep me sane, although juggling the three jobs can be a handful.

Anyways, enough of that, it's time to dump some artwork!

First off I have some sketches I did at Comic Con while I was waiting for portfolio reviews and stuff. These are World of Warcraft inspired.

And the other day I did a speedpaint of a Draenei female from WoW, since this week I've had a little break from Hasbro stuff. I kinda like how it turned out. I might go back and fix parts of it later.

And lastly I've been helping out with another Half Life 2 mod. It's called Berimbau and it's a melee dueling game. So I've been drawing ninja, samurai, and knights!

You can see more at: http://www.moddb.com/mods/berimbau and http://ninjaworkshop.com/

So that's about it for right now... Anyone that reads this blog that works in the industry... Let me know if you're hiring! :)

-DMB

2008-09-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well damn, it's been a while since I updated!

It's still great here in California. I'm still poor. But there have been some cool things that have happened since I last posted.

First off- Comic Con! It was a lot of fun. I mostly did portfolio reviews and met with other artists for networking, maybe not so fun for others, but for me it was totally worth it. I met a lot of great people and got some good advice and input as well.
The Alumni gathering at Comic Con was great as well. We went to a nice bar and had some good food and drinks, and I got to sit at a table with some of my heroes!So there's the back of my head along with the likes of Scott Robertson (!!!), Jay Shuster, and Angie Lai. Pretty epic indeed.
Some of the companies I met with were Microsoft Game Studios, Secret Level, Lucasfilm, Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, Action Artists, High Moon Studios, and High Impact Games. They were all really nice.

After the Con, I actually got a call from Action Artists regarding a gig for one of their clients. Sadly, the gig fell through as the client decided to do something else. Oh well, that's the nature of the game.

I also got a mail from a recruiter looking to get some talent for a MMO studio in Seattle. The position was pretty high- senior level concept artist- but I figured I'd give it a shot and see what happens. They passed me on that gig, not that I'm too surprised!

The big news right now is that I have an interview with Zenimax Online. They're a subsidary of Zenimax Media, Inc. which also owns Bethisda (!!!). That is going to be this Wednesday with their Art Director. Hopefully things go well with them. If so, I'll be leaving California to head back east, to Maryland. While I love California, a real job is more important and I'm sure my mom would be happy having me closer to Michigan.

I can't get myself to excited about all this though, as I don't want to crash too bad if things don't pan out. Can't help being happy that people are interested in me.

Anyways, I'll keep this update about work, and I'll post some new art and photos in another update. Until then!

-DMB

2008-07-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

I don't think I ever got around to posting this stuff. This is work that I did for a Half-Life 2 mod. At the time it didn't have a name, but then I named my armor designs the Valkyrie Suit and it stuck. I worked about a month on this before my contract with Pandemic Studios started, so it was brief, but I made some good contributions I think. :)

The morph ball was the first thing I worked on, then the armor

Individual parts

Some turn-around action

More sketches

The morph ball! From my initial concept to model.

Part of the final level design

So, it was a lot of fun. I wish I could have worked on the project longer. You can see that the armor design was influenced by my rendering of the jumpsuit from way back. I think it was pretty badass! :)

More work soon!

-DMB

2008-07-03T22:11:00.001-07:00

Blah! After messing with Dreamweaver for what seemed like forever- I've redone my website.

It's very simple now, hopefully easy to navigate, and links to the blog here!

Please let me know what you think!

http://www.DMBoyleDesign.com

2008-06-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

So it isn't all fun and games here in California- There is serious work to be done!

Here is a painting I started yesterday, along with the pencil sketch. This is just a tiny bit of it, and I havn't done any of the lighting yet. So far I like it though. I'm spending a lot more time on this than normal. Let me know what you think!

Head shot. Still WIP

Original sketch on paper

Let me know what you think!

-D

2008-06-29T23:34:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach today to check out some sea critters!

Pretty flower by the sea

Sea anemone

Big ol' starfish!

Awesome corridor of water

Finger vs. pincher! Heaven or Hell, let's rock!

It was pretty cool there. Really cool weather too, about 65 degrees or so. After that we explored San Luis Obispo, and got some In-N-Out burger. Why don't they have this awesome chain in Michigan???

-D

2008-06-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

Time for some photos of the place I'm staying in. Before you look, know that I'm only paying 350 a month for this place, I have a ton of space, and it's mostly used for working. So, it's not exactly beautiful, but I like it!

This is Rascal the dog

Here's my workstation

We found this fridge from a Cal Poly house

The work area, with Stephen the glassblower

No pics of my room yet, it's still getting put together.

-D

2008-06-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last update, but as of yesterday I am now in California!

Here are some pictures from the road trip:

Mountains of Colorado

Utah mountains

Some needle thing, Las Vegas

Luxor, Las Vegas

Windmill farm in California

Overall it took me two and a half days to get here. Drove about 1000 miles two days, then 450 yesterday. Colorado was the best area by far, so beautiful with the trees and snowy mountains.

After all that driving I'm glad to be semi-relaxing now. I got a call from partner-in-crime Dave Chow about a possible storyboarding gig. We'll see what happens with that. Otherwise it's time to hit up these studios and show them what I'm made of!

I'll post again later with some more updates. Thanks for viewing!

-DMB

2008-05-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a sad day, as I had to say goodbye to a very old friend.

1993 Ford Escort LX Station Wagon

The Escort had been in your family since 1995 when my dad bought it to commute to work. When I turned 16 in '99 it was handed down to me and I'd had it ever since. I had a brief stint with a '99 Mercury Mystique but we don't talk about that. The Escort was super reliable, and never had any major problems. It wasn't without it's inconveniences though, like lack of AC, no working rear defrost, and a windshield held on by duct tape later in life. But it was my car, and I loved it. For a art student you could do no better than a wagon to carry all your junk and get great economy to boot.

Sadly, while the engine and transmission, even after 212,000 miles, still runs like a champ, the undercarriage was starting to rust out. The rear wheels leaned inwards due to the shock towers giving way at the mounts. It wasn't going to last much longer.

1999 Nissan Sentra GXE L.E.

So my mom went to Florida to visit my grandmother, and she was selling her old car (Aunt lives with her, no need for an extra vehicle). My mom figured why not and snatched it up and drove it back to Michigan. We got a great deal on it considering it only has 61,000 miles and is basically mint condition. It has power where the Escort had none, and working AC! It's a little more peppy and economical as well, a big plus. Also, as you can see, it is tinted out so I can look cool driving around in my little economy car.

It feels strange driving this new vehicle as I've had the Escort for over 8 years, but I think it'll work out. It should be the perfect chariot for my ride to California!

-DMB

2008-04-14T14:41:00.001-07:00

Oh boy! He's painted! I put up a few pics to show process. I did this old school- the way I would color an image back when I was using marker paper. First I inked the line work, then went in with my cool grays and finally layered on color. After that a little bling with the highlights and a nice glow to the eyes. I tried to do this in a Blizzard-esque sort of way, although not as satuarated in color. Let me know what you think!

2008-03-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

A surge of creative energy!

I went down to the ol' alma mater today to show off the Cintiq and draw with the other crazies.

I think I drummed up a lot of business for Wacom, as everyone really enjoyed playing with the tablet. I was told the school is hoping to get a few in for students to use. Here's hoping it happens, as the Cintiq really bridges the few remaining gaps between traditional vs. digital art.

While everyone played with the tablet I sketched it up on my trusty Letraset marker pad. Being around everyone really got me going and I made a few nice pieces:

Male Demon Hunter.
I didn't evaluate his height well enough and ran out of room for the bottoms of his feet!

Female Demon Hunter.
Not quite as sweet as the male, as the day was winding down, but a decent drawing.

So, I think I had a pretty swell day today. I want to try and color the male hunter and see how he turns out. I'm thinking gold and black armor, plus the various furs and such... We'll see.

Still no word from the kids in California yet. They're busy guys, and probably still in shock at my sudden urge to migrate. I'll keep y'all posted.

-DMB

2008-03-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

Some updates!

Lately I've been getting lax with my art. It's been driving me crazy. Not really being around other creative people, as well as having a non-artistic job is starting to take it's toll on me. I still draw a lot, but it's more in my "safe zone" and not as out there as it used to be. I didn't make this blog to cry and whine though, but I thought I'd get that little blurb out of the way first.

So, what am I going to do about this?

It's time to go to California and really show them I want a job making art!

Everyone has been telling me to do it. I should have done it two years ago when I graduated from CCS. Well, enough is enough, and this block I'm having is a message that I have to do something.

All my ideas are still in their infancy, but I've mailed a few friends out there to see what kind of input I can get from them.

I'm thinking I'll go prior to this year's San Diego Comic Con and stay in the LA area with various people (if I can- I don't want to put anybody out, but I'm trying to find out who would be willing to have a short-term roommate/cook/maid/slave) and hit up as many studios as I can for a few weeks. Then I'll go to Comicon and sell myself like crazy, making sure to let people know I'll be around for a while after the con. After that I'll remain in California for a while to hit up more studios and *hopefully* visit with any interested parties that I met at the con.

So far I think it's a pretty good plan. There are a few other things I need to work on though.

I need to make new art. A lot of it. Of a lot of varied things. I'm going to spend some time on ConceptArt.org and do some of the sketch groups and other projects on the site. If anyone has anything they'd like to see me do to add to my portfolio please let me know! I love getting assignments from people I can directly get input from.

I also need to redo my website. It's old and I don't think it's as user-friendly as it could be, so I'm going to change it to something more neutral, and easier to update.

Then, I need business cards! And lots of printed material! I'm thinking of going with a 5x7 format for my handouts, or 8.5x11 folded in half like the sketchbooks the artists at comic con have for sale. Any thoughts on this? Also, where is a good website to get business cards made?

Overall, this little plan has energized me a bit. I still need a little pushing on things to draw though. I want sexy new material to show people!

Sorry for the long gap in posts. Hopefully this long one will make up for that as well as explain the lack of new material! :*(

-DMB

2008-02-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

So two art kids walk into a sketcher room...

This is the result!

My old school buddy James Piggott and I want into a Sketcher room to mess around. Sketcher is neat because it allows you to collaboratively draw in a simplified painting program. I liken it to a slightly more robust version of MS Paint. Even though it's not the most powerful drawing program (I like Colors for the Nintento DS a bit better), the point is that you can have fun with friends!

And as you can see, things can get a little weird. :)

-DMB

2008-02-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

The above video was made in 1983. That's all I'm going to say.

Enjoy!

-DMB

2008-01-20T15:06:00.001-08:00

I think I'm in love.

It took me a while to configure the hotkeys on the side of the Cintiq, and then I also calibrated it (the calibration made only a slight change, showing how good the quality of the display is out of the factory). Since then I've been sketching and just having fun.

It's not that the Cintiq will make my art any better- it simply makes everything so much faster and also can take a bit of frustration out of traditional tablet sketching.

The above sketch took maybe 10 minutes or so. And a chunk of that was trying to map the brush-resize hotkey (Ctrl+Alt in Painter) to one of the hotkeys ont he Cintiq. :D

More as it happens.

-DMB

2008-01-13T17:07:00.001-08:00

My hair was getting pretty long- people kept telling me to cut it. So I though I'd have some fun.

Serious mohawk is serious!

In other news, I've placed an order for one of these:

The job with Pandemic went really well, so with a bit of the money I made, I decided to put that back into my work. The rest will sit in the bank for any job-related things (moving?) that might come up.

I'm really looking forward to the Cintiq. Despite using tablets for about 4 years now, I still struggle with long lines and curves. This is mostly due to the disconnect between hand and eye. Working directly on screen will be so much more natural. And I can feel like those lucky guys at Pandemic with their big Cintiqs!

Impressions on the Cintiq to come.

-DMB

2007-12-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

Ever since before I was born, it has been a Boyle family tradition to silkscreen our own cards for Christmas. My dad would come up with the design and make the covers, and my grandma (dad's mom) would write the poem that would be used on the inside.

In an age where anything can be done on the computer and mass-produced, it's cool to see my dad get the old silk screen frame out of the basement and work for hours in the kitchen, laying out cards to dry in every room of the house.

This card is one of the best yet. A three-color process is pretty tricky and time consuming to make sure everything lines up correctly.

I thought it would be nice to share this old school method of card making with you all. Happy holidays!

-DMB

2007-11-21T00:02:00.000-08:00

A little update!

I'm into my fifth week of the Pandemic Studios contract. It has been AMAZING. I've learned so much in the past weeks in regards to process. I've been doing a lot of orthographic drawings and texture reference. So far the people in Brisbane seem to be happy with the work I've done, so I'm very pleased.

I'm pretty much putting all of my drawing-time into making sure the work I do for Pandemic is good, so I haven't done many personal drawings in a while. For Christmas I plan on doing a painting for each of my family members though, so that should be fun.

During breaks in drawing and while I wait on feedback from Australia, I've been playing a bit of Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. What an awesome game! It really makes me happy to say I'm involved with the game industry.

Anyways, just wanted to make a little post to let everyone know I'm still kickin' around. See ya!

-DMB

2007-10-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is something I had wanted to post about for a while. I watched Paprika last week, sadly at home because I had missed it's showing at the Royal Oak Main Art Theater months ago. Paprika is a animated movie by Satoshi Kon, who also directed Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue, and Paranoia Agent. He's among the heavy-hitters in Japan that are really pushing 2D-style animation to new levels.

I'm not really going to talk about Paprika, save to say that it was an excellent movie. What is really on my mind is the quote at about 38 seconds into the trailer at top. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times says that Japan has really led the way in adult-themed animation, while the US is stuck in a animals-that-talk mindset. Why is that? The amount of CGI films that star talking animals is astounding. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing at all. Films like Happy Feet or Ice Age do great in theaters and people love them, so there is nothing to complain about there. However I just see a lack of mature animated films coming out of the US. We have a few great animated television shows (Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Venture Bros are among my favorite shows) but the degree of visual impact or storytelling are somewhat lacking.

I can think of the few reasons why we're in this situation. One is that Hollywood saves a lot of the special effects and pizazz for live-action movies. Japan doesn't quite have the live-action movie scene that the US has, so perhaps animation is a better avenue to get creative storytelling across? And perhaps since we have these great live-action movies here in the US, Hollywood figures that talking animals is really the only frontier that we have to plow through? Granted, these are just my musings on the subject, by no means do I claim to be an expert on such matters.

So maybe we have George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, and Michal Bay as the big movie guys, while Japan has the likes of Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, and Mamoru Oshii... Personally, I kinda like the animation directors just a little bit better.

Anyways, I'd like some thoughts on the subject. Let me hear what you think!

-DMB

2007-10-12T19:52:00.001-07:00

Man, I suck at keeping this thing up to date. Truthfully, I had wanted to wait on updating because I was hoping for some good news from Pandemic regarding that internship. Well, about two weeks ago I found out that it had been canceled. It was quite a bummer but on the bright side it is huge that they even considered me for the position! So that is progress indeed, and I give many thanks to Imran, Chris, Jeremy, Dave Chow, and all the others for pulling for me.

Despite that bit of sad news, I got a e-mail today from Pandemic's recruiter Amy, asking if I'd be up for a possible contract job from here in Michigan. Of course I told her yes, and we'll see what comes of that.

In other news, Topps has their Halo cards in the bag, but is keeping me informed as to future projects. My flying armor design has gotten some attention from a group that is creating a Half-Life 2 mod called "three month mod" which, you guessed it, is to be completed in three months. I've done a variation on the suit for them and provided additional details. So far it looks like I'll be a part of the team for a while, so expect some fancy work to be posted when they let me.

Coming up to the present, my regular job has picked up, and I'm working more hours. This is both good and bad because I'm able to make a little more money, but it takes away from my drawing time. Something about helping customers for 8 hours really drains your creative energy by the end of the day.

Jason Hazelroth from Pandemic came to town this week and gave a presentation at the alma mater. He's such a nice guy, he gave the students a good taste of what is expected of a concept artist in the games industry. He was afraid is might have been too harsh describing the realities of getting hired and staying in the industry, but I thought he was spot-on. It's a tough gig, but if you have the proper mindset and your heart is in the right place, you can get there with time. I like to think that I'm proof of that.

Anyways, I think I'll end this on that note. I'm working on remaking my website, so I've got a few hours left of messing around with Dreamweaver. Thanks for reading!

-DMB

2007-07-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

Just got home from the SDCC last night. Wow what a show! I haven't uploaded my photos yet but expect to see them tomarrowish along with all the details.

The big news in this post is that I might finally have an opportunity in California! Not even five minutes into entering the con on the first day, I got a call on my cell phone from Pandemic Studios in Los Angeles. The HR lady asked me if I'd be up for an internship in their studio. Of course I jumped at the chance and did a short phone interview later that day with the Art Director I'd be working with. So far so good but they have other candidates to interview as well, so here's keeping our fingers crossed.

I also had a chance to speak with some great guys at Topps, the trading card company. It seems they have a collection of cards that tie-in with the Halo franchise. They're looking for artists that can create 'sketch cards' which feature sketches as opposed to complete paintings. They liked some of the sci-fi styled work I showed them and asked me to follow up with them. This could be a great way to flesh out my portfolio and resume and get my name out there! Pretty exciting to say the least.

The BBDO spot took longer than I expected but turned out great. I asked the ad agency to let me know when the spot hits television so I can somehow get a copy.

What a busy-busy three weeks! I'm anxious to find out what Pandemic has to say. Till then I'm going to keep my head up and keep drawing!

-D

2007-07-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

Whew sorry for the long-time-no-post deal.

Former teacher-turned friend and cohort Dave Chow gave me a little love in the form of a storyboarding gig for a BBDO spot. I received the material yesterday and have been plugging away since. Fun stuff!

In other news (and posted on Dave's blog if you check it out) is the San Diego Comicon. I'm all set to go....a little over $1.5k later....but this should be a ton of fun. I'll get to meet back up with all the guys I hung out with last month in LA, so that alone makes this trip worth it. I'll also be staying an extra day so I can visit the San Diego Zoo! Another great point.

In preparation I'm going to make some pin-ups to sell/beg/bribe people to take. Also in the books is a new website, business card, and portfolio materials (I'm hoping this BBDO spot will make it in there in some form if it's allowed).

The WoW sketches from the last post are getting tweaked and going digital, as I expect a huge WoW fanbase at this show. I also have something of a character I came up with that I want to pimp out to people. I don't exactly like the idea of "this is my ORIGINAL character" type of stuff unless the character is actually published, but what the heck, a mascot maybe? It's fun to do repetition on a single character, refining it and such, rather than churning out people like I've been doing lately. We'll see what happens. My sketch folder is getting pretty big though, so it's time to get to painting. Painter and ImagineFX magazines really get me pumped for some digital love.

Some sketches after the break.

Street Samurai

2007-06-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

In the middle of painting some sketches up- expect to see em soon.

Also got a mail from Electronic Arts about being added to their Freelance artist pool. Progress!

These three are inspired by World of Warcraft.

-D

2007-06-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Miscellaneous photos and some sketches from the trip:

This is the vehicle used in the movie A.I: Artificial Intelligence.

Here's the car from Harry Potter.

You can't escape Dali in San Francisco!

Colorful fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Eel at the aquarium.

Awesome jellyfish exhibit at the aquarium

I was surprised by the number of oil refineries in Cali, some even right on the beach!

Of course, there was a lot of this there too. :)

2007-05-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

(EDIT: So it seems this didn't post when I posted it. Sorry it's so late!)

Continued from the last post!

The following day I went to Plastic Cow Productions and met with Mickey Corcoran, the President. They're located in Burbank, right next to the Warner Bros. Studio lots. Plastic Cow is involved in video post production and editing, not exactly where my skills lie but still very relevant.

Mickey may be the best guy I've talked to regarding getting into the industry. He was super laid back and very forthcoming and frank about what it takes to get going in California- exactly the sort of stuff I wanted to hear.

The gist of what he told me was that you can't just run in with guns blazing. You've really gotta prove yourself. A big part of that is actually moving to California or wherever you want to eventually be and showing your face to people there. Sometimes taking internships for no pay is a way to get into it, or just working the contacts you have. This overall was a big theme for my trip. Regardless of who I talked to, they all asked if I was willing to relocate. The answer is yes, of course, but I'd like to work on getting something more concrete than just showing up and winging it.

Another great point Mickey made was about skill sets, or "tools in a tool belt" as he put it. Right now my main tool is my drawing ability. Think of it as a hammer. My hammer is huge, and I know how to use it well and take care of it. My skill with video editing? Well, we could say that might be a pair of tweezers, pretty small. 3D graphics would be a wrench, medium sized. Anyways, you get the point. Some places like to hire people with a lot of great tools, a big tool belt. Others prefer a guy with more specialized tools or know how to use one or two really well. I think I'm one of the guys that uses a few tools really well, rather than having a hugely-laden belt. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not open to learning.

So I talked with the guy for almost an hour. It didn't feel like it, but the things I took away could easily fill several hours of thinking and discussion. I was so impressed that I actually think he'd be a great speaker at CCS' entertainment conferences.

After meeting we Mickey, I took a tour of WB's facilities. For two and a half hours I got to see a lot of cool stuff. I was mostly interested in the prop and background item warehouses. So much neat stuff from various movies and TV shows. Some very old and expensive as well.

After this, I went to visit another CCS grad, Kevin Chin. Kevin graduated a year before me and landed a job at 7 Studios. Like Pandemic, 7 Studios is in a office building. While a little smaller in terms of size, it was nonetheless exciting to see everyone working on things they love. Lots of great art on the walls of the three artists I met there. Kevin also told me that I just need to "get out there", and was pretty enthusiastic about my work, which is good! So we'll see what happens.

So that's it for the really big stuff, a few other things I did: Dropped off work at Ice Blink, Doug Chiang's studio. Contacted some leads at WayForward and Sierra. Also looked into EA and Red 5 Studios.

It was fun but far too short! I want to go again, right now!

2007-05-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

California.

If I had to sum up my trip in one word it would be: beautiful.

The main goal of my trip (which lasted from May 5th to 14th) was to scope out the area, meet with friends in the industry, and of course take a look at the job climate. Secondary was to visit relatives and see some of the beautiful sites when I didn't have a meeting. Both goals were met pretty well given the week I had to make everything happen.

Since this is my art blog I'll spare the deets on visiting relatives and such- save that they live in Monterey which is beautiful in and of itself, and they're located on the 5th green of the Dunes course at Pebble Beach, which is even more gorgeous (I need new golf clubs!).

The first place I went to was Pandemic Studios, which was on Monday the 7th. They're in Los Angeles, right smack in the middle of UCLA's campus. Needless to say it's a younger crowd there full of bright minds. Very awesome. I had to sign non-disclosures of course so I'm going to be rather guarded in what I share. Their studio is amazing though. Up high in a office building overlooking the city and all the people going about their lives, it's a beautiful view. Upon getting to their floor the Pandemic logo is on all the elevator doors which really made me smile. Everyone has ample room to work and the work spaces are arranged so that you're not only working with other artists, but also coders and designers. I think that's a great way to work because everyone is creative in their own way and they can in turn work off each other and have more fun. Plus, every artist gets a Wacom Cintiq! Drooling is an understatement.

I met up with Jeremy Melton, Jason Hazelroth, Imran Sheikh (all CCS illustration grads), and their buddy Bryan Norton (who graduated from Art Center). They took me around the studio to get a feel for the way things are laid out. Each game has it's workers grouped together so there is a mix of different professions everywhere. You can stroll over to a different area and check out what your buddies are working on and give input which is awesome. All the guys showed me what their day-to-day process is, and I got a glimpse at some of the things they're working on and the design process overall.

We went out to lunch and talked shop. I let them know how things are going in Michigan and how all the CCS people are doing. They shared what they're up to outside of work and everyone is really happy. We spoke at length about what I've gotta do to get myself out there. It really comes down to me just moving out there for a time and pursuing all the contacts I amass, and also work and show off my stuff as it's being done to give these companies a sense of my work ethic and tenacity. I gave each of them a copy of my portfolio CD (pics at the end), a printed teaser, and the usual resume and cover letter. They seemed pretty impressed so I'm happy for that.

The day ended well and Jeremy gave me some more contacts to pursue, which was great. I called all of them up and arranged an interview for the following day. I'm so pleased with my visit to Pandemic. I think I left a good impression and the info I got out of it is priceless. Everyone I met was so nice and friendly, and everyone is just a big nerd (in a good way) I love it. This is truly the field I want to get into!

This post is pretty long so I think I'll have to break it up. I'll make another post for the other meetings.

Here are some pictures of the portfolio CD I brought with me.

Front:
Back:
Inside:

2007-04-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Some more work, and other news!

I'm going to California next week. I managed to get round-trip tickets from Detroit Metro to LAX for a little over 200 smackers. I'm putting together a bunch little teasers and other things to bring with me, and visit various companies in the area to get my name out and get as much input as I can. I'm pretty excited, it'll be a nice trip.

Here's some more sketchwork and a small painting. My current job is starting to take more time out of my drawing. I need a art job badly!

The paintwork was done pretty fast. A quick pass with a middle-gray color and then black and white blended in, then a glaze of red, a little glow, and then some rough highlights. It was done in about 15 minutes, and I think the read is actually pretty good.

2007-04-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

So I'm thinking of a new portfolio project, a series of pieces under the umbrella name 'Mekanik'. I was sketching today and put down all sorts of triangular shapes like aerofoils or some such thing. I drew these two fellas with a theme of baseball, although you'd never see something like this on the field! I like this aesthetic, will play more.

2007-04-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here's some stuff from that brown sketchbook I posted a while ago:

The last one is a Painter overlay. I'm not sure how successful it is however, I think it's the whites of the eyes that throw it off.

2007-04-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Some quickies in Painter. I *love* digital watercolor.

2007-04-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

More sketchbook stuff.

These were done at a Borders bookstore, before I had even purchased the small book. Some of them are a little different than what I usually draw, but were fun. I want to experiment with subject matter more.

The tank and smoking girl I like the best.

2007-04-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

I thought the Conference went pretty well. Maybe not as nice as the one 3 years ago in terms of the things presented but nice nonetheless.

Shannon Gans' presentation, while not really the most entertaining, was pretty informative for those who would be thinking of making their own studio. The big thing I thought about while listening was 'who the hell is going to make their own business out of CCS'? We're not from USC. Pretty much everyone in the auditorium just wanted to get jobs in the industry and just get started- I think that starting a business was furthest from their minds. I would have liked to see some more of the inner workings of her studio- the ideation and making of props and the blowing up of things. I think her presentation was good but maybe not for a conference full of concept art hopefuls.

Marty Stoltz was a pretty cool no-nonsense guy. Even though he said he wasn't really into the whole Mortal Kombat thing- he really knew his stuff and was excited about it- which is most important. Seeing the animatics was cool, the MK videos were hilarious (I thought I saw Dave Chow doing some kung-fu in those videos). And the old Sanitorium stuff was pretty interesting. I liked how he showed progression of the industry and a little bit about how they made those CGs.... I kinda wish he showed some storyboards though! And maybe how they worked with the concept artists on ideas and such, I would have liked to see Angie's painting next to the finished CG product- a nice way to show how much teamwork is done.

Mike Wellins was interesting. I kinda thought of him like the comic book guy from the Simpsons. I think it was the way he spoke of these short CGs... It was cool watching the videos and how his students put them together and such, but it's really the same stuff our students are doing right now. I would have rather seen something a little more in-depth and 'professional'. It was really nice seeing the video in black and white stills though. I think I just wish he would have expressed a little more the amount of work done, rather than just 'this was done in 2 weeks' and it really did look done it two weeks, you know?

Linda Simensky was interesting in that she was kinda monotone in her speaking voice. That's a first thing I noticed. But it was cool seeing the things PBS is working on right now. I think that since she was a big old cartoon buff it would have been neat to show the subject matter of cartoons from the time she was a kid up till now. She was expressing how she felt bad about some of the shows she was producing at CN and Nick, I'd like to have seen some examples. I know she works as a producer but it would have been neat to see how something like the Powerpuff Girls went from idea to creation.

Jay Shuster is awesome. As awesome as I think I am, he is so much awesomer. I think he really was the star of the whole show. He's the guy that we all want to be. I think that connection lead to his presentation being the best overall as well. He went through the whole process of getting those care designed, he showed what Pixar is all about, and he made that cool video with the kids sledding and stuff. Now THAT is a entertainment conference presentation. I think the big thing I took away from Jay's presentation was that I felt bad for him for getting mobbed at the end of it all. You could really tell he was where everyone was directing their attention to.

Overall a good informative day. I'm pumped now!

-D

2007-03-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Been doing some doodling and taking those ideas and painting from them.

Here's a knight I sketched up the other day:

I took the basic idea here and started painting in Painter. I tried a different approach this time in that I used low opacity brushes and built up from there. I liked using the dark brown tones and building it up- makes for a old sketch on parchment look. Toss in some warmer tones for the hair and then a nice bright blue to throw everything in balance. In all this took about a half hour or so of messing around. Fun!

I'm going to keep playing like this and see what fun stuff pops up.

Tomorrow I'm going to CCS for a entertainment conference. Jay Shuster will be presenting. I met him three years ago at a previous conference. He's a great guy. Did a lot of the pod racer sketches for Star Wars Episode I, and now works at Pixar. He's a guy I hope to emulate.

Putting my nose back to the tablet now!

-D!

2007-03-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my post about getting a sketchbook that I got it at Borders. I thought I'd mention something else I always get at Borders when a new issue is out- and that is ImagineFX magazine.

ImagineFX is aimed at digital artists- with articles, interviews, how-tos, and other tips from concept artists like Marko Djurdjevic and Andrew Jones. Its covers everything from sketching to painting in Painter or Photoshop, and CG work like Maya and 3D Studio MAX. Another great thing is that artists can submit their work and have it displayed on a full page with a little bio about the artist and contact info (this is something I'm looking to cash in on very soon!).

ImagineFX comes to us from the UK...and thus is a little pricey for a magazine at $15. In the plastic wrapped package you get the magazine of course, usually about 100+ pages, and a nice DVD with source material and guides from the magazine.

I have a few issues of it and plan to subscribe when I can piece together enough money. Definitely worth stopping at the book store and checking out!

2007-03-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

Whew! Need some updates!

First, I got a new sketchbook. It's been a while since I've kept one of these, because I usually sketch on loose sheets of paper for easier scanning and overlays. I chose a small $5 one from Borders that has brown paper, to make the sketchbook work stand out on its own from regular loose-leaf stuff.

When I get a sketchbook the first thing I do it make it mine by decorating it. I usually distress the binder and cover to make it worn and well-used. Inspiration actually comes from some journals my dad has from the Civil War (he's a collector, not a really really old guy!). Very neat stuff to look at, and awesome handwriting as well!

For this book I used some gesso, cigarette ash, brown ink and a bit of charcoal. I added a seal with a strip of leather for a bookmark. Overall I think it looks pretty cool! I love doing crafty stuff like this. Here's a pic:

In other news, I had some issues with Painter X and my Wacom tablet communicating with each other, thankfully this issue has been fixed. Turns out that Painter is so sensitive to input, that if you have your tablet connected through a hub or other outside source, it can be thrown off. Connecting the tablet directly to my computer solved this. Too bad it took me about four days to figure this out (and several more of just dealing with the problem and trooping on!).

So that's it for updates at the moment. I have some neat sketches I did recently that I'm painting now. Hope to have something up soon.

-D!

2007-03-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today I went to a coffee shop around noon and hit the sketchbook for a while. Sometimes it's nice to get out of where you normally work and do some drawing. I found that I was able to focus a little better because it was just me and the sketchbook (headphones help too!) and I didn't have any distractions like I would if I were at my desk. Sometimes all the networking I do can get in the way of progress!
These sketches are different from the ones in the last post in that I used a softer lead and make the linework intentionally dark. These sketches I'd just scan in and paint over, rather than ink and marker like the other ones.
I warmed up with some drawings of Castlevania characters and then went into drawing whatever popped into my head. There were several more pages than these, but I figured I'd just post the best. :)

The front end of the Lexus is a little wonky, I'm out of practice on my transportation design! The girl with the mechanical arms is definitely going to get painted!

-D!

2007-03-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some older sketches I did. These are about a month old. I posted them because I kind of like this style of sketching. I try to keep it very loose and light (although I darkened them so everyone can see them better!) so that when I go in with a pen I can pick out details while I ink. Sometimes scribbling lightly with a pencil can yield some interesting shapes and designs.
For these sketches I was aiming for a steam/cyberpunk sort of look. I think I'm going to paint over some of them and see what comes up!

Next I'm going to post some new sketches that are slightly different.

2007-03-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

Cleaned up and fleshed out my samurai sketch a little more. I still looks a lot better in higher resolutions, maybe because of all the little things I put into it. I'm going to call it finished and move on. The night is still young and I think I'll make a few more drawings to post now.

I liked the wide format thumbnail so much I turned it into a wallpaper! The format on the wallpaper is 1680X1050. If you'd like a different resolution let me know and I'll post them!

-D!

2007-03-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

Continuing to play around with Painter X. I sketched up a samurai and scanned it to play with.
Threw some neutral colors around and then glazed it with a watercolor to add the red and dark tan tones. Decided to get a little nit-picky and detail out parts, to do something different. Lots of fun!

I gotta say, the close-up has a lot more going for it than the pulled-out version. I'll keep playing with it to see what happens!

2007-03-08T22:44:00.000-08:00

Got some work to post!

I got Painter X and have been playing with it all day. I've never really used Painter much in the past. I've always been more of a Photoshop guy. Both programs seem to offer a lot of the same features on the outside, but what I like about Painter is the 'look' of the work created in it. Everything looks like it would if I were using actual inks or pastels, and the paper grain options are awesome. I guess it's because Painter is made from the ground-up to be a painting/sketching tool, not so much an effects or editing program like Photoshop. I guess you could sum it up by saying Painter drawings look a little more realistic right out-of-the-can, whereas photoshop has a more digital feel to it. Painter also seems to run a lot faster on my computer than Photoshop!

I think I'm in love!

The first piece was done today in Painter. Although the image posted here is low-quality to save bandwidth, you can see the texture on the armor of the mech, and in the smoke billowing out.

The other two drawings were done in Photoshop, and I concentrated on bold colors and contrast. I think these images really pop and Photoshop is good for bright digital drawings.

I'm going to play with Painter some more. Expect to see some results soon!

-D

2007-03-06T22:21:00.000-08:00

First post! I've had this blog registered for a long time, it's time to start doing something with it! Instead of doing updates on my website, I thought it would be better to have a blog where I could post sketchwork and thoughts on art and design.

So here it is! I'm going to go through some of the work I've done recently and post some things soon. Also I hope to write about a few things that have been on my mind lately.

Till then, visit my website! Thanks for visiting!