Twenty Eight

Just a little sketch without too much thought or design. These things are usually fun to do because there's practically no pressure me to hit it out of the park. Not that I've hit any out of the park!

In other news, I turn 28 today. I guess it's a good time to look back and see how little or much I've progressed.

Bummer.

Magma Crawler

Here's another one of those that started with me being full of optimism, only to be deflated halfway. I usually find myself lost the moment I start to paint something up. At first, this seemed like quite an interesting lighting situation. However, it proved to be a huge challenge.

Anyhow, I decided to wrap it up and leave the lines in. I'm moving on.

Attempting ZBrush

Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop featuring Ben Mauro and Neville Page at my alma mater. It was a great and insightful weekend, listening to their interesting stories and watching them sculpt.

Like many others, I went home and decided to give ZBrush a try. I have to say, they made it look too easy. After some nights of struggling with the not-so-friendly user-interface and haphazardly using the tools to create something almost recognizable, I retreated to Photoshop.

Apparently if my sculpt was untidy (that's pretty much an understatement), I had a lot of painting to do to cover up the sloppiness. I guess this alien-helmet guy was pretty much a disaster.

Take a look at the sculpt below.

Sky Glider

This took me quite a bit of time, as I slugged through the process. Being pretty weak at production painting, I went through every step rather carefully, from composition to linework before proceeding to add values and colour.

Here are some process shots:

I really need to do a whole lot more of these to get better.

SAC2 Enforcer Class

A random silhouette doodle that turned into another mech. I really wanted to push the badass-ness of this guy with his proportions. Looking back, I've been doing quite a number of pretty cartoony stuff and I wanted to do the opposite. I guess I'm still trying to find my own skin.

Yesterday was a low point for me in terms of my progress in art. But it was a good clear reminder that the weaker you are at something, the harder you have to work at it.

See you guys at the finish line.

Utility Robot

Finally dug out and hooked up my $25 scanner to scan this guy from my sketchbook. Just felt like he could use some colour. Technically, this is pretty riddled with errors, but I find it really refreshing to throw some caution to the wind to loosen up a little.

Somehow, painting him in yellow reminds me so much of Scud: The Disposable Assassin.

Blood Harvester

This was supposed to be a Halloween piece, before I got distracted. I've never really done a character for the 'horror' genre, so I guess this is my spin. Not particularly scary, if you ask me. Basically he chops people up with his chainsaw, and sucks up the mess with his vacuum cleaner accessory. The blood sustains him, as he is after all, a being made entirely of blood contained in a suit.

Once again, did this entirely as a painting, so a lot of time was wasted solving some design and figuring out what to paint.

Pre-Lunch Study

Just a quick pre-lunch study.

Tranquil Sunset

Set out to do something peaceful for a change. Decided to avoid using textures and do everything by hand. Naturally, the painting didn't work out for me. I'm not quite sure how to fix it, so I'm stopping here. It could be a boring composition, shitty values, lack of design or all of the above.

Whatever it is, I'll get up after beating myself up about it for a while.

Steampunk Stagecoach

I didn't really get the chance to doodle anything while I was back in the army last week, so I spent the weekend sketching a second steampunk vehicle. I'm pretty happy with how the front portion turned out.

Fret not, this is an all-terrain express stagecoach that is sure to bring you to any obscure village you desire! Godfrey & Sons never disappoint.

Steampunk Mobile

Disappointed by the previous failure, I decided to approach this one with caution, plotting each point quite carefully. It was a good exercise and a gentle reminder to never abandon fundamentals.

This genre is a little unfamiliar to me, and I admit the design is not revolutionary, but it was fun. Perhaps I'll throw in a wizened old man with pilot goggles as a driver in the future.

It's a rather bleak week ahead, dressed in green. I hope I can find some time to draw.

Hover Racer

So I decided that I needed to get back to some fundamentals and draw a little more before committing to a render. Looking at the above, I desperately need more practice. This sketch took a really long time and it still turned out wrong. Wrestling with it proved to be futile, because the error lies in my sloppy drawthrough, especially while attempting this whole wide-angle thing. Seeing how it's 4:30am right now, I'm throwing in the towel.

I really hate going to bed like this, but sometimes it's just better to start something fresh another day.

Beast of Burden

I wanted to try designing something non-humanoid for a change. Studied a few camels for this one, before proceeding with a sketch and trying out a kitbashing method to flesh out the mechanical parts. I also tried to avoid over-rendering the entire thing, spending most of my time on the head and the front leg.

I keep telling myself to draw more, but I always end up painting instead. Therefore, I shall vow that the next post be purely lines.

Stone Golem

Yet another stylized attempt. A rather generic stone golem, but he was definitely fun to draw and paint. I think bits of rock might fall out of his mouth when he talks.

Dragonkin Guardian

When it comes to art style, I think I'm still trying to patiently find my own skin. I'm easily impressed by the legions of great artists out there and I find myself wanting to try a little bit of everything. Perhaps it will prove useful for me as a commercial artist at this stage.

This was sparked off when my colleagues bought and played Torchlight II recently. I've always wanted to try the stylized approached, leaving my lines in and using bright colours that pop. However, I found myself struggling midway and I think I might have underestimated it quite a bit.

My marine iguana study did come in handy. Here's a look at my haphazard process:

Marine Iguana Study

I would say this was a pretty unsuccessful study. I wanted to try and paint that scaly texture in without using layers but I did not (and still don't) know how to indicate that efficiently. I also failed to capture the subtle colour gradients on this iguana's body.

No matter, I will try this again another day. Moving on!

Jaguar Study

I realize I've been doing a lot of hard surface stuff lately, so I thought it would be a nice to do a quick study of this jaguar. It was also a good chance to get familiar with painting using pen pressure.

Cybernetic Gorilla Prototype

This was definitely inspired by the works of Ben Mauro and Aaron Beck. I've always envied how they made their art so believable, as if their creations were top-secret government projects locked deep underground somewhere. I also took a quick look at how Daarken paints his fur, finally giving me the courage to use Pen Pressure for my Opacity Jitter setting.

I have to say that playing with some Lego Technics lately gave me a slightly better understanding of the construction of things. Oh, and I love drawing gorillas.

Feudal Future - Ronin

Realized I had a sketch of this guy lying around, so I decided to finish him up and complete the Feudal Future trio for now. I rather enjoyed going back to this theme, especially with this Ronin.

In case you missed the previous two, here's the lineup thus far.

Maybe I'll do more in the future!

Nano Bloodsucker

This little guy started as a tiny sketch on the train home. I wanted to do something somewhat light and less serious, similar to the stuff I do at work. More importantly, I wanted to shake the cobwebs off this blog.

The late nights were taking quite a toll on me, giving me consecutive migraines for about a week. I guess my body was telling me to rest a little bit more.

In any case, I should be posting a bit more often now.

ATSF Unit 08 - Arctic Tundra Config.

I've been so busy doing some work for friends lately that I've forgotten how good it feels to work on something for myself. It's almost like skipping boring homework or secretly doodling during lectures.

Anyway, I tried knocking in some manga/mecha sensibilities into my design, while trying to keep a pretty serious Western bulky silhouette to the whole thing. As always, I have major problems with robot legs.

Had to finish this up real quick, to make way for serious work. Bummer.

Vought F4U Corsair

Yet another plane study, in case I start forgetting how to paint. Time for bed!

Lockheed P-38 Lightning

I wish there were more hours in a day. That, or the ability to go without sleep. Due to certain commitments, I have less time to work on my personal artwork these days, so I guess it's best to do some quick studies in-between.

Alien Nesting Ground

It looks like this astronaut stumbled upon some kind of alien nesting ground in the swamps.

This piece was rather fun to paint. As mentioned previously, it's a little bit easier for me to do organic environments. They really help in instilling some painting confidence.

Alien Suit

Something light for the weekend. I was really intrigued by the organic-looking suits the Engineers wore in Prometheus so I kinda doodled my own for fun.

Without line, I'm still a lost cause, I'm afraid.

Cosmonaut

So here's my take on the Soviet cosmonaut. Started sketching this before I caught Prometheus and after watching the show, I realized how truly uncool my suit was. Anyway, I decided to finish this off with some colour under my lines, in the interest of time.

Voltage Vindicator

Took way longer than I expected, simply because I tend to change my mind a lot when I have no lines. Anyway, I really wanted to learn how to render like Scott Robertson here but I still think I have miles to go when it comes to material indication.

Process here:

Cybernetic Police Unit

I jumped straight into this one without any linework. I'm always amazed by (and also envious of!) the speed that some of my schoolmates have achieved by speedpainting or building on silhouettes.

Safe to say I quickly ran into a huge problem; I have a very limited understanding of anatomy, especially of the female kind. Looking back, I probably have less than 5 female characters in my portfolio. But with some guidance from a dear friend, I guess I pulled through.

Take a look at the struggle below:

Abandoned Research Facility

Here's an abandoned research facility, partially covered in overgrowth. The vegetation would most probably thrive since the water source is near. Painting nature elements are slightly easier for me, due to the fact that I can freely riff in a particular direction without worrying too much about being correct.

Linework and work-in-progress shots below:

The Raid

So I first caught The Raid: Redemption 2 days ago and I distinctly remember rushing home to paint a corridor scene. In my attempt to create a tense and/or scary mood, I discovered that indoor lighting can be rather tricky.

I watched the movie for the second time yesterday. I can probably list down numerous reasons as to why I love this action flick but I think the most important one has to be that this film was made in a neighbouring country, with a fairly small budget.

It gives me hope that perhaps one day, we might be able to do that as well.

Undead Samurai Archer

Here's another undead samurai, taking aim with his bone bow. I quite enjoy just doing lines for now. After all, I can always paint these guys up later.

Undead Samurai Cavalry

I'm not quite sure why, but there seems to be an undead theme going on here. Damn you, Diablo!

Anyway, I've always been harping about my terrible lines and yet I spend my time painting instead. Inspired by the master's latest demo, I have decided to double my efforts in improving my strokes, starting from now.

Zombie Shaman

After all those bots, I really felt like doing something fun and non-committal, like a zombie. Here's a speedy, despite my lack of understanding of the human anatomy.

I definitely need to work on material indication, to bring all the gooey and fleshy parts to life.

World Robot Boxing - Troy

This one is probably my personal favourite of the 3. And that concludes my Real Steel inspired series for now! More to come some time in the future, I hope.

World Robot Boxing - Primal

Decided to continue with the thumbnails I had from the previous post to create Primal, aptly named for his ape-like proportions. These kind of exercises make me realize that I tend to use similar methods to solve joints or parts across my bots.

I need to study more joints.

World Robot Boxing - Hank

This was mainly a design practice, taking the language of an existing car (in this case, a Ford Mustang 2012) and making a robot out of it. And since I've been wanting to make a Real Steel inspired bot for a long time now, this was my attempt. More to come, I hope.

Feudal Future - Canal Slums

When it comes to production paintings, my confidence usually flies out the window. So I hold on fast to what little I already know and try to approach it cautiously, making sure I'm pretty happy with each step before proceeding ahead. Below are some work-in-progress screenshots I kept to document the process.

Moving forward!

Voltage Racing 2

In my opinion, it really takes a special kind of something to design cars. A special kind of something that I definitely do not possess. This one was a bit of a struggle, trying to make a second car while keeping the design language consistent with the previous, utilizing my really limited car vocabulary.

I thought I'd share some of my haphazard process this time. As you can see, it didn't quite go as initially planned in the sketch.

Voltage Racing

Once again, this took longer than expected. However, I did enjoy the process, even though the forms (though simple) kept playing tricks on me, probably because I underestimated one-point perspective.

Also, I might need to sit down and cater some time designing cooler rims or hub caps. They are not to be trifled with.

On a sidenote, I have also just realized that it's 7am. Feels like school all over again.