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. 

 

 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...

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.