Thursday, February 26, 2009

General Portrait Final


And I'm done! Voting starts on March 5 so I'll be sure to pimp some more soon. Had a lot of fun with this challenge.

General Portrait WIP 6

Pretty close to done now. I added more details to the face and head bones and added some overall texturing. I think I'll take one more pass and call her done. Need to think up a name.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

General Portrait WIP 5


More detailing and contrast. I'm trying to keep the focus on her face so I'm attempting to avoid over rendering.

Monday, February 23, 2009

General Portrait WIP 4

Blocking in some color and some facial details. Gotta figure out where to stick the clan logo.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

General Portrait WIP 3


More build up. Starting to finalize some design elements here and there.

Dominance War IV - General Portraits

I'm throwing my hat into the ring and entering Dominance War this year. They're starting with some mini challenges so this is what I've got so far for the General Portrait challenge. I'm going for a classic Presidential, Civil War general portrait type painting. Nothing too firmed up in terms of design, but I'm starting to work up some decent values.



Friday, February 20, 2009

Bonus - Hammy Time

This is sort of a tech test of a Photoshop web demo I'm planning. I captured this painting of a cute hamster while I was working on a design for a new Erfworld website. The webcast turned out okay and I was able to capture this high def timelapse. Enjoy. It's HD 1280x720 so it looks AMAZING if you check it out in fullscreen. You can even see the settings I use to make the chalk brush (my current fave).

Erfworld is written by Rob Balder and illustrated by Jamie Noguchi (me!).

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Self Portrait FIN


And I'm spent! It's me as a crazy golden lion tamarind. This is my final post for the CGTalk Imaginative Figure Workshop #001: Self Portrait As A Creature. Lots of fun work on the thread.

I think the hair is a little helmety and I completely wussed out on the background. But overall, I think it looks like a crazy monkey me.

Part 1 - sketch
Part 2 - value blocking
Part 3 - color blocking

Headline DS Edition #26 - A Relationship That Works--Except in Bed


"A Relationship That Works--Except in Bed" is from the February 10, 2009 edition of the Express. Poor Battlecat. All he wants to do is snuggle with He Man. Granted, with his new rhino armor (I totally forgot what Battlecat looked like so I stuck a horn on him), the extra weight would probably crush the bed. Oh well.


[VIDEO]

Monday, February 09, 2009

Self Portrait Part 3


Probably should have come up with a common naming convention for these posts, but ah well. I threw some color on my self portrait as well as more hair. No eyebrows yet, but I have plans. Oh yes, I have plans.

Part 1 - sketch
Part 2 - value blocking
Part 4 - final

Headline DS Edition #25 - The Bright Side of Unemployment


http://www.headlineds.com -- "The Bright Side of Unemployment" is from the February 9, 2009 edition of the Express. The article talks about a number of so called perks to being unemployed including spending more time with your spouse. I think it's a pretty sad commentary on working life that you have to lose your job in order to spend more time with your family. Sure, work is important. But if you spend more time during the week with your co-workers than your husband or wife, that just seems like an imbalance of priorities. Distributed by Tubemogul.


Sunday, February 08, 2009

Self Portrait update


This is my second update for the portrait as a creature workshop. I wanted to start building up some volumes off of the sketch so I started painting over. Tried not to get too detailed, wanted to concentrate on light and value. But I think I can push it more. Hope to finish by Thursday.

Part 1 - sketch
Part 3 - color blocking
Part 4 - final

Friday, February 06, 2009

Headline DS Edition #24 - Labor Pick Put on Hold Over Taxes


"Labor Pick Put on Hold Over Taxes" is from the February 6, 2009 edition of the Express. I'd be a little pissed if I were President Obama right now. Who's vetting these people? Hilda Solis's husband failed to pay liens on his auto repair business for 16 years! Sure, he's not nominated. But it looks horrible for her. I hope Obama can catch a break soon.

Self Portrait as a Creature Workshop


I'm participating in a workshop over at CGTalk. You have to do a self portrait of yourself as a creature. Could be an actual creature or something made up.

I chose a golden lion tamarin, my most favorite monkey. I think my left eye is drifting focus a bit, but I'll fix that when I get to the real painting.

Part 2 - value blocking
Part 3 - color blocking
Part 4 - final

Thursday, February 05, 2009

SUMO Paint



This looks like a pretty robust online painting program. No pressure sensitivity, but more features than your typical Oeakaki kind of thing. Looks like a lot of fun to play with.

[SUMO Paint]

Headline DS Edition #23 - Hot Stove Turns Cold


http://www.headlineds.com -- "Hot Stove Turns Cold" is from the February 5, 2009 edition of the Express. "Hot Stove" must be a baseball reference because this is the second cutie stove I've sketched off of a sports headline. Distributed by Tubemogul.


Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Headline DS Edition #22 - Tax Errors


http://www.headlineds.com -- "Tax Errors Sink Obama Picks" is from the February 4, 2009 edition of the Express. Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination as did Zoe Baird who hired illegal immigrants and neglected to pay their social security taxes. The good news is that they're both out. But how did they get nominated in the first place? Is Obama's "change" really just lip service? Or does everyone in DC have some dirt laying around? Distributed by Tubemogul.


Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Headline DS Edition #21 - Daschle Grilled


http://www.headlineds.com -- "Hill Grilling for Daschle" is from the February 3, 2009 edition of the DC Examiner. Tom Daschle's tax "mistake" is irritating enough. But his lobbying activities on behalf of the pharmaceutical companies is really troubling. The fact that he's not a registered lobbyist just doesn't cut it. As much as Obama says he's about change, Daschle's nomination feels like business as usual. Still feel weak on my caricatures, but I keep on trying. Distributed by Tubemogul.