A small sample of a larger piece...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Re-Organizing
For sake of clarity, I have created another blog for just illustration. I have a few year end projects coming to completion soon so there should be more entries. I'm focusing heavily on Photography over the next month and I'm not sure how much will get posted here over that time period. But hang in there, this venue is not forgotten.
A small sample of a larger piece...
A small sample of a larger piece...
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Captain V and Pufflings...
It has certainly been a while since I posted. Mostly due to work load and the fact that some projects you just can't disclose any information till the client says so. But I did manage to finish one personal project and ran it through the paces of self publication.
Originally it was to be coloring book in a comic book style but that aspect changed as well. Although I think at some point I may go back and color the entire story just to run it through the press and see what kind of quality color they can produce.
Thumbnail
The image above of Saturn's rings was the last image completed for the book. What I had originally drawn was far from as exciting as this and was, in my opinion, the perfect example of me choosing the easy way out. Here is the original...
The final run of prints came out amazing. The paper quality and the richness of the blacks is perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better first experience with Self Publication.
And now Pufflings...
I do not have many images I can disclose from the project, but these are a new line of breed-able pets at Ozimals Inc. They asked me one day if I'd be interested in designing a cute rotund bird for possible consideration as a new product line and how could I say no. My parents were fairly avid bird watchers and we often went on outings just to bird watch while I was a kid, so I have an above average understanding and fondness for all things avian.
Ozimals also had me design different attributes for the Pufflings, like different tails and crests (or tufts). You can see a few below but as these different aspects are to be announced as they are released I can only disclose "official" imagery.
Second Life has been a fairly interesting beast to me. When I first was hired to design for Ozimals I had no idea what Second Life (SL) was. In fact, Ozimals kept referring to SL in our initial conversations and I made the assumption it was their gaming engine. They finally set me straight and since then I have no problem playing the "I'm new to this" card, because I am. I'm still no expert in all things SL, but I am more and more amazed at what people are creating and doing in this virtual world. The following images are considered "Photography" in SL. Obviously captured in world and manipulated in Photoshop or some other imaging software, these are great representations of Ozimals product.
These images were captured by Strawberry Singh
I do not know this individual but if you check out her blog you can get a grasp of what is possible in SL. I was also hired to create another line for Ozimals called "Stranglings." This project is still in the working stages but has had some officially released images. I did a couple of teasers for the product earlier this year. I hope to have an entry with more specifics on this outing in the future.
Captain V Space Dog has been a work in progress for the better part of a year but in July, I was able to find the time to finish it and have it printed through lulu.com. I received my proofing copy in mid August and was delighted by what I saw. I changed up a few illustrations and Bridget helped me tighten up some of the dialogue before sending it in for a small print run. It was mostly an exercise in figuring out all the steps and actually finishing one of the myriad of projects I have going (started and still in my head!).
The story was originally to be more educational and have Captain V Spacedog stop at each planet of the solar system on her way back from a deep space exploratory mission and disclose obscure but interesting facts, but my audience was more into space police and action so I altered my storyline. Thus "The Space Heist" was born. I didn't waste to much time on exposition or actual reasons for the crime and dove right into the action.
Originally it was to be coloring book in a comic book style but that aspect changed as well. Although I think at some point I may go back and color the entire story just to run it through the press and see what kind of quality color they can produce.
Unfinished color page.
Here's the grayscale version.
Thumbnail
The image above of Saturn's rings was the last image completed for the book. What I had originally drawn was far from as exciting as this and was, in my opinion, the perfect example of me choosing the easy way out. Here is the original...
The final run of prints came out amazing. The paper quality and the richness of the blacks is perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better first experience with Self Publication.
And now Pufflings...
Ozimals also had me design different attributes for the Pufflings, like different tails and crests (or tufts). You can see a few below but as these different aspects are to be announced as they are released I can only disclose "official" imagery.
Second Life has been a fairly interesting beast to me. When I first was hired to design for Ozimals I had no idea what Second Life (SL) was. In fact, Ozimals kept referring to SL in our initial conversations and I made the assumption it was their gaming engine. They finally set me straight and since then I have no problem playing the "I'm new to this" card, because I am. I'm still no expert in all things SL, but I am more and more amazed at what people are creating and doing in this virtual world. The following images are considered "Photography" in SL. Obviously captured in world and manipulated in Photoshop or some other imaging software, these are great representations of Ozimals product.
These images were captured by Strawberry Singh
I do not know this individual but if you check out her blog you can get a grasp of what is possible in SL. I was also hired to create another line for Ozimals called "Stranglings." This project is still in the working stages but has had some officially released images. I did a couple of teasers for the product earlier this year. I hope to have an entry with more specifics on this outing in the future.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Ozimals...
While I write this blog for myself, I always want someone to read it or at least look at the pictures. I've always had the "build it and they will come" attitude but that does not always pan out. In the case of Ozimals Inc. it panned out and in a big way. After my departure from my last photography position I needed time to get my head screwed on straight and pursue some art other than photography (I know that sounds all wishy-washy and so artsy of me but if you've ever been there you'd understand). I began drawing monthly "packages" of images for my nephews in New York to color. Some were just excuses to draw things like spaceships and dinosaurs others I attempted to have actual story lines and minor character development as each installment progressed. Alas you can only go on unemployed so long but I did post the pictures on this blog and Someone stumbled upon them.
Ozimals gave me an opportunity I've never had - to design a character for an upcoming product. While I cannot release any of the character sketches at this time, I had a blast just sitting down and creating for creations sake. On top of the character design, they also asked me to create a teaser for them. They gave me a rough concept and I took their direction and I drew a mock up on bristol board. They said go with it.
While I have played around with digital painting, I've never completed anything to this kind of detail or scale (But I'll get to that in a moment.) I always believed being able to paint would help my post-production skills especially when compositing different photographs. To be honest I knew I could do it, I just didn't know how, exactly. And that was exciting. Its been a while since I've had an honest challenge and had the confidence to pull it off.
With this particular image I rendered it on a 12 by 12 inch canvas 16 bit color depth at 300 dpi. In hindsight, I'd consider that a mistake. Photoshop only crashed on me a couple of times but the time it took to save the main file was stupidly long. I ended up keeping a master file with all my layers and working separate group elements (Mushrooms, Sky, Creature) as different files. 16 bit color was important to me because I was working with lots of gradients. I've found over the years that especially when working with skies and burning them down on a digital file, 16 bit is the only way to keep from getting banding. As for 300 dpi, I'm a photographer and it was important to have a large enough file to print from, although this image was rendered primarily for web use... I can't help myself.
So whats the compromise? I was asked to create a second teaser and I went with a smaller canvas size 8 x 8 at 300 dpi and kept the master file at 8 bit. I created my parts separate on 16 bit canvases and then converted them to 8 bit for the master. This kept eveything moving very fast. In fact I finished the second teaser in half the time (I also new what the hell I was doing better.)
On a completely different plane of creation, Ozimals asked me to create textures for their breedable bunny line. I was designing textures for their "elite" releases that only occur at special times of the year. This year being the year of the rabbit in China they asked if I had any ideas for a Chinese New Year Style Rabbit. I quickly drew up a couple of bunnies. The top set reminded them of Mexican wrestling masks... While not my intention, that's all I can see now.
So we went forward with the dragon style at the bottom. And this is where I realized I was in way over my head. The textures I were to create were to be rendered on a flat canvas then wrapped around certain parts of the rabbit's 3D model. To anyone who has worked in gaming or in this 3D execution, I commend you. Because this was next to impossible.
It required a lot of trial and error and I couldn't have chosen a more ornate texture to wrap the bunny's head with. We ended up creating four different color sets for the rabbits.
The next texturing project was a Tin man Bunny for Valentines day. This one required some assistance from the Ozimal guys. My first rendition is very similar to the final product but it was flat and unexciting. It resembled more of a dull brushed aluminum coating as opposed to a more sleek stainless steel look. After some assistance and tweaking they were happy. My favorite part is the inner ear. I designed a speaker for the inside and a series of air brakes to act as the fur that would be present at the base of the ear opening.
Ozimals gave me an opportunity I've never had - to design a character for an upcoming product. While I cannot release any of the character sketches at this time, I had a blast just sitting down and creating for creations sake. On top of the character design, they also asked me to create a teaser for them. They gave me a rough concept and I took their direction and I drew a mock up on bristol board. They said go with it.
While I have played around with digital painting, I've never completed anything to this kind of detail or scale (But I'll get to that in a moment.) I always believed being able to paint would help my post-production skills especially when compositing different photographs. To be honest I knew I could do it, I just didn't know how, exactly. And that was exciting. Its been a while since I've had an honest challenge and had the confidence to pull it off.
With this particular image I rendered it on a 12 by 12 inch canvas 16 bit color depth at 300 dpi. In hindsight, I'd consider that a mistake. Photoshop only crashed on me a couple of times but the time it took to save the main file was stupidly long. I ended up keeping a master file with all my layers and working separate group elements (Mushrooms, Sky, Creature) as different files. 16 bit color was important to me because I was working with lots of gradients. I've found over the years that especially when working with skies and burning them down on a digital file, 16 bit is the only way to keep from getting banding. As for 300 dpi, I'm a photographer and it was important to have a large enough file to print from, although this image was rendered primarily for web use... I can't help myself.
So whats the compromise? I was asked to create a second teaser and I went with a smaller canvas size 8 x 8 at 300 dpi and kept the master file at 8 bit. I created my parts separate on 16 bit canvases and then converted them to 8 bit for the master. This kept eveything moving very fast. In fact I finished the second teaser in half the time (I also new what the hell I was doing better.)
On a completely different plane of creation, Ozimals asked me to create textures for their breedable bunny line. I was designing textures for their "elite" releases that only occur at special times of the year. This year being the year of the rabbit in China they asked if I had any ideas for a Chinese New Year Style Rabbit. I quickly drew up a couple of bunnies. The top set reminded them of Mexican wrestling masks... While not my intention, that's all I can see now.
So we went forward with the dragon style at the bottom. And this is where I realized I was in way over my head. The textures I were to create were to be rendered on a flat canvas then wrapped around certain parts of the rabbit's 3D model. To anyone who has worked in gaming or in this 3D execution, I commend you. Because this was next to impossible.
It required a lot of trial and error and I couldn't have chosen a more ornate texture to wrap the bunny's head with. We ended up creating four different color sets for the rabbits.
The next texturing project was a Tin man Bunny for Valentines day. This one required some assistance from the Ozimal guys. My first rendition is very similar to the final product but it was flat and unexciting. It resembled more of a dull brushed aluminum coating as opposed to a more sleek stainless steel look. After some assistance and tweaking they were happy. My favorite part is the inner ear. I designed a speaker for the inside and a series of air brakes to act as the fur that would be present at the base of the ear opening.
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