Updates About Updates

I have new things to tell and I haven't had much time recently to dedicate to keeping this blog up to date (as much as I want those things to be told). But I will tell you, there is a lot to be said! I am currently working on a new website with a brand new art direction and updated portfolio, which should be up and running by the start of next year. This is an update about more updates to come. So keep your eyes peeled and thanks for reading!

Loved The Thing, Alien, Starship Troopers? Then Back This Practical FX Creature Film On Kickstarter!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1117671683/harbinger-down-a-practical-creature-fx-film

So this is not a post relating to my artwork. However, this is related to an artform in general.

Practical FX! 

I grew up wanting to do this stuff, then I developed a new passion for art in the digital realm. I still would love one day to work on props, getting my hands dirty with silicon and clay, mold making, and creating animatronics.

That is why I donated (a pretty hefty amount for my budget) to make sure that the Harbinger Down project gets funded. ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics Inc.) is responsible for making the monsters and creatures. They helped bring to life Alien, The Thing, The 6th Day, Jumanji, Spiderman, and many more! I believe a great FX film cannot be great without a good balance of practical and visual/digital FX.

Please, if you have any dollar to spare, it will go to supporting a movement of a wonderful medium that gave us so much in film. You also don't donate without getting rewards! =D Check it out and see if there's really a way to escape from contributing, cause I couldn't :/ lol.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1117671683/harbinger-down-a-practical-creature-fx-film


Here is their first pitch on launching the Kickstarter project. Alec Gillis of ADI also talks about some of the work they've done. It's pretty sweet.

Check out ADI's Youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/studioADI?feature=watch

Demons Are EVEEL!

Do you know about Stan Winston School of Character Arts? If you don't, check 'em out:

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/

They were holding a Demon Art Contest the last month and were asking for art that depicted a demonic character in any shape or form.

This is my submission!

He waited on top of the china cabinet. Waiting…. Waiting until the next victim passed by so he can take their sins and bring them back to his boss.

Yes, it's gross! I was even wincing at the idea, buutttt that is what I'm going for so SUCCESS for me =]] I wanted to focus on the eyes. I gathered reference from past demon interpretations, theological demons, Gorillaz art, gorillas, movie demons, and more. As a result, gave me a lotta nightmares, which is cool D;

A bit more time on this drawing would have given me a chance to refine and push detail further which is my favorite part. I split up time between 3 days about 4-6 hours each for the actually making of it, but spent days beforehand thinking of a good concept. Might I say, I was also visiting in Ft. Lauderdale at the time. Perfect thing to do is work on art after sunburn :)

I don't usually color in my pencil drawings in photoshop so this would happen to be my first time seriously doing so. Gave me a chance to get more acquainted with setting up my color layers. Also got to play around with brushes, brush settings, and blending modes.

The End Is Nigh

Finally Graduating!!! I don't know if I am excited and ecstatic or nervous and completely terrified. Can be a little bit of both which could be the reason for my recent strange streak of forgetfulness this week. But however, with a new end comes a new beginning and for that I have something to show for the last 4 months of hard work and dedication. My finally finished demo reel is uploaded/uploading to Vimeo and Youtube ready to watch and will be taking its rightful place on the front page of my website.

I could post some renders and stills from the reel here, but I figure, why waste the surprise until you actually watch it and see everything all at once? =]] and since I don't have anything else to show, here is a quick sketch of Tony Stark I did while watching the first Iron Man. I did see Iron Man 3 and it is A-MA-ZING. I loved it. New favorite movie.

Lawless Hardy Model

Kay, so I have to update this! Here are some renders and WIP pictures of my realistic human model for my demo reel. He is supposed to be Tom Hardy as he played in Lawless. More WIP and renders to come!

 Sculpted pore detail in zbrush. First time detailing a human :D

He didn't always start out like this. At first he was inspired by the Forrest Bondurant character in Lawless, but the project eventually turned into a Tom Hardy likeness. Here is the character before the alteration. He was merely a countryman bootlegger. Now he takes on his new identity as... Lawless Forrest Bondurant Tom Hardy ;]

Jackson Chameleon Model

These are some test renders I did for my Jackson Chameleon model. Really tried to get a simple beautiful lighting without worrying about accuracy to a chameleon's true environment, which might be a little greener. Hope to later go more in depth with the process I went through to get to the final results. I still have more ways to take this further from a texturing standpoint. I might take the uvs into photoshop and paint a diffuse map for his scales.

These are the normal & displacement maps that contain all the scale detail information.

Pose and displacement tests.

Lighting tests using Physical Sun and Sky, but I tweaked the settings!

Tested some shaders for the chameleon using mia_Material_x. Branch (aka elongated cylinder) with Noise procedural displacement.

Caveman and Dog Model Renders

These are renders of my finished caveman model and dog model. The caveman came a long way from just the zsculpt.

Night Terrors

I came across an art contest that deviantart was holding called the MAMA Scared Stiff Contest in the beginning of January in which you had to create a visual depiction of childhood fears, demons, monsters, etc.. involving a child's bedroom or closet. So being that I love stuff like this, horror, scary things, and fears, I entered it. Unfortunately, my submission was not chosen, but I am very glad that I had the opportunity to paint more, be creative, be expressive, and gain practice. And now I have a new wonderful painting that I feel very proud of, especially in the amount of time I had of one week to get it done. It was also therapy for me since I recently had wrist surgery that same week in, ironically, my drawing hand. Hope whoever sees it, enjoys it as much as I enjoyed painting it!

The medium I used was acrylic paint on card stock. When I was little, I always feared that whatever was in the darkness would surround my bed and my bed would protect me for only so long... And seeing a bunch of hands come out to grab me would just freak me out. But something more chilling is not knowing what's there while you're sleeping peacefully, eyes closed, waiting for when you finally open them.