Stayin' focused!

Hey guys and gals. Came across the theme Atlantis and it got a couple of ideas in my head. At the same time, one of the guys at work had linked us to a neat lil random sketch program, Alchemy. I figured it was a good reason to experiment with Alchemy and see what it can do for my process. All in all, it was a pretty neat way to start out. It kinda was reminence of cloud images you see. No one else sees it but you. 

Oh, I now have a car! Just a couple of weeks ago, I brought a used Toyota 01 Echo. Compact, good gas, and all mine! Yeah, its a good time to buy a brand new car with great deals, but not having a monthly payment was a bit more appealing. It was nice not to have a car in SF, but out here, its a bit of necessity. So far, I found a figure drawing workshop I'm looking forward to checking out. And... I found a burger chain that I daresay equals, if not passes, In N Out? It called Five Guys Burgers. Hmm? A bold statement you say? Why, indeed it is. I think I shall need to consume mass quanities to ensure the validity of my bold statement! Starting right after I hit enter... NOM! NOM! NOM! NOM!

Finally?

Happy New Year everyone! I know its been sometime and I've been bad about updating here. But! With the new year, comes the resolutions. Guess what one of mine is? To draw and paint more!

Anyway, keeping with my resolution, I joined in conceptart.org's weekly event again. I didn't want to just work on props and vehicles, I want to go into an uncomfortable area, characters. So, here is my recent entry into character of the week, a Knight of the Round Table. I picked Sir Gawain and after some after work doodling, my concept of Sir Gawain.

I've been finished concepting for Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard for some time now. The game is due out this Spring, as soon its out, I'll update again. Right now, I moved on to the company's next projects, which I am excited about. But, of course, I just can't say a thing... stoopid NDAs

Visit back...

As I am in-between little projects, I found the pictures I took while I was back visiting my folks back home. Of course, since my visit wasn't with any major holiday, everyone was at work. So, I took a quick train ride into Chicago to the Art Museum on Michigan Ave. And as luck would have it, most of the American Illustration collection was in storage because of remodeling. I think I maybe cursed in this. But luckily a few pieces were still on display and I got to check them out.

Sadly, I half expected to see Elvis, Marilyn, and Humphrey in this classic...


I had another picture of this one , by Sargent, with me in it; but it didn't turn out too good. Well, I didn't turn out too good...


Strolled down the parks and Michigan Ave...


And found myself here! How about that? What a coincidence! It was one yummy pizza I ate every last crumb. Oooh so full. But, unlike my cheese steak pic, I did not take a pic of my delicious deep dish pizza... why? What would people there think? "Oh, look at the tourist eating his first deep dish!" It was a matter of deep dish pizza principle.


It was a good time back home for a few days before I came out here to Raleigh. I only had a chance to see a few friends, tho I wish I could have seen them all and played a few games of Risk with them. Or, better yet, introduce them to Settlers of Catan! Who would have thought a non-violent game could get as aggressive as Risk? Anyway, it was a good time to see my folks and brother. Its strange how many things didn't change back there; just a bit more empty strip malls, new lights at intersections, and just more overall suburbia... Why I remember youngin' when it was all wheat fields as fer as de eye kin see! No, really. Ah well, I guess you just can't go back unless obligated by the holidays or guilt.

Howdy!

... oh wait. That's Texan. Nevermind! I just wanted to share with everyone the last two images for conceptart.org's weekly challenge, the DEEP. Along with the previous 3, these last two round out my entry. There is a lot of good work and many more people working hard to be better artists. If you have a bit, check it out here. My final presentation is somewhere in the lower half. I thought I was late, but being on the east coast, I guess I was kinda early! Sweet.

So, the last two are good ol' weapons and a remote drone. Somehow I didn't see an underwater society using much bullets. But my tiny knowledge sound and the water, made the idea sound plausible. The drone came from the idea that there are probably still some limit on how deep this fictional society could go. A drone, like the Mars rover, could.

the monthly blog...?

I guess nowadays I've become the monthly blog rather than a often updated one. Sorry folks. Moving on! I'm here in Raleigh and basically as settled in as I can be. I'm in a nice place thats a 5min walk to work and I love that part. While most people are commuting home, I'm in the clubhouse gym or swimming laps in the pool. Work is good and I like the people there. Yeah, its nice out here, but... ITS HOT. Oh SF, I miss your cool weather. I haven't had a chance to really explore too much, but without a car, it is a challenge. I've got my trusty road bike, so its good for now.

Of course, while I am at work I don't get to draw or painting anything thats mine. So, I try to draw in-between unpacking and playing Team Fortress 2 and Crysis. Yes, Call of Duty4 is next. Hey, I just got this computer. I... I digress. Sorry. Um, so I've been participating in conceptart.org's weekly event for sometime. Now, that I have settled in enough that I've been working on this new challenge. Its an across the topic involving "the DEEP", ocean, not space. I really like working on these, some come out alright, some pretty good. I like the practice and the chance to be creative and finish what I like. I've got a few more to round out, but here's what I recently did. A floating lantern, breathing helmet, and a underwater suit. The last one, crab/lobster suit, I took some new tricks and hopefully they turned out ok. More to come... 2? 3? We'll see!

Having fun...

So, as I ready to move and have things setup, I didn't want to get rusty before I start and have some fun. At conceptart.org, I rarely post or participate in their weekly events. These past few weeks I did and had some fun, some I didn't finsh in time, but here are the ones I did.

The first up is idw#68, a timber harvester. Its was put out around Earth Day, so I had to join in! Yar! Have at thee ye overrated trees!


Which was followed up this previous week with a idw#69, a happiness dispenser. My second thought was a 'happy dispenser' using the number 69, but I figure I should keep it G-rated. Going with my first thought was a steampunk aether dispenser. You really don't have to figure out how the physics work in steampunk tech too much, which is always nice. I liked my first sketch and ran with it. Put myself on a short timer and pooped out his lil' piece...

west coast to east coast...

The time for change is upon me everyone! During GDC, I met some good people from Vicious Cycle, and later contacted them about concept artist positions. Last week, I flew out to Raleigh-Durham and interviewed. And just this week, I accepted a position there! Yay! Its going to be a big change, but I'm really looking forward to it! I've never been to Raleigh, but everything I saw there, it looked like a great place to be. I'm going to miss San Francisco, but I'll be back to visit and soak up everything I'm taking for granted here. Speaking of which, I'm gonna have to eat at all my favorite places before I go!