Friday, April 25, 2014

3D Illustration: Gears



Title: 3D Illusttration: Gears
Medium: Mixed Media

Notes: For the final 3D illustration project we were allowed to work in teams and had to create more-or-less a scene and storyboard.

I looked to my right immediately and there was instantly like a silent agreement between Colton, Rob, and I. So off we went, just throwing around suggestions and different ideas. I think somewhere in there I was like, "Let's do a self-portrait of ourselves as adventurers trying to break into a dungeon." <we all shook our head pretty quickly to that> So we kept scribbling and searching for ideas, and I just kinda toss out this idea of, "Hey... what if we were to do robots. DRUNK ROBOTS!" <again, we all shook our head and kind of had a laugh> There was a silence over us for a few minutes. I think there was a certain hive mind brewing for a minute about this. And then I think it was Rob that looked over and was just like, "Well... what if we did Wall-E as a wanted poster.", to which I responded, "Yeah, he would be wanted for Grand Theft because he's constantly putting shit in that little drawer of his!" <laughter ensues> And literally from that moment, the project's scope just grew and grew. Looking back, I wonder if this project is a testament to see just how far and ridiculous we can go with a project.

Regardless, it was incredibly fun! I also think that after the fact, Rob looked at us and was like... I think I want to make an entire city of this stuff! Potential for future team-projects? We shall see...

So here's the breakdown of who did what:

Mat Kaminski - passed out drunkard robot,  bar stools, and all the advertisements and posters on the wall.
Colton Beretta - the bartender and all the accessories to the bar - cups, bottles, mugs.
Rob McElhaney - "wrestler bot", and the bar itself, and gears logo.

 

 
 





Thursday, April 24, 2014

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Illustration 4: Ascension Preview

Title: Illustration 4: Ascension Preview
Medium: Photoshop
Scale: Each 'card' is 

Notes: Alright... lots, lots, lots more to do on these. They are all in varying levels of completeness, but I thought it was high time to at least give a preview of what I've been up to since this month started. Our illustration 4 class is working on different card decks, and this just so happens to be my contribution to the card game project.
This just so happens to be a passion project that I started for my graphic design degree quite some time ago.
I'll upload them near the end so that you can see them all at a larger, individual scale.
More on this soon... I promise!

Baldur's Gate - "FULL OST"
(if you've never played this game... PLAY IT NOW or, if you're really feeling awesome: !!!!)

I think from the very beginning of my gaming days... at least when I finally sat down and got serious about it, I think that I was drawn to being a video game artist. I can still remember sitting around with buddies playing old super nintendo games like Earthbound and Final Fantasy 3 / 6 and my (to this day still) second favorite game of all time: Chrono Trigger. I would think then that it's safe to say that I always wanted to do something in the video game industry.

My first real experience with video game art that I can honestly say drew me into the world of video game design was probably the cover art for Chrono Trigger:

Yeah, that's the same guy that works on Dragon Ball.

And also the character portraits:

  
 

You would've thought that in those days that my goals would have been clear.
My tastes have changed quite a bit since then, but it just goes to show you that things you do in your childhood really do influence you in the long run.

Initially I wanted to be an environment artist for the silly reasons that I didn't want to animate, that I thought environments would be simpler, there would be less competition for this type of work, etc. The reasons are insignificant, because it's much more important to A) have a clear goal up front, and B) to never compromise because "It's easier." As the saying goes, nothing good comes easy. And I whole-heartedly agree, because if it were easy, everyone would be doing it and it wouldn't be worth the time. This goes into a very different rant that I could go on and on about how a majority of the public looks down upon artists. But I'll save that rant for a different time.

Like I said, pay attention to yourself early on. I was interested in the character designs from the get-go, and I didn't listen to myself. Fast forward a tiny bit (not much) and you get closer to what I really wanted to do: character art. Baldur's Gate was probably my first real experience into what makes good character art.


(I still drool over these)

I have gotten into portraiture probably mostly in the past few months and I think this is an after-effect of my childhood gaming habits. I think I secretly always wanted to do this, I was just worried that I would never be good enough to get to this level.

I was talking to my fiancee the other day and I told her all about how I felt about being a character artist in the long run and I don't think I've gotten a look of "wow, you're really dumb if you don't go after what you love" like that before. I mean, sure the competition is stiff. There is a full gamut of artists with all different skillsets, but the point is that I have a clear goal and I am going to try shooting for it.

 
(my current goals probably lie somewhere between these two)

The whole point I'm trying to make is that everyone that starts art should have a very clear goal of where they're going in the long term. I've met a ton of artists (even some getting close to graduation) who look at me completely dumbfounded when I ask them: "So, when you get done, what's next? Where do you want to work?" And I know sometimes it just takes the pressure of being done with school, just relaxing and things, but sometimes I think it's ultimately important to do a little soul searching up front and really discover your passions. Your career and stress levels will thank you in the long run.

Try it... make a goal list. Look at where you see yourself in one year, five years, ten, etc. And see what kind of results you can get. It takes some real research to discover where you want to be. I'm still working on my first step to my goal-list, and keep in mind that it constantly changes. It's a step-by-step process. Think on micro-level first and work up to the macro.

If you're just starting out in art, for example, and you want to be a character artist... I suggest firstly to bone up on your anatomy. Then consider clothing, then weapons, and so on. Marc Brunet says it pretty well here.

If you ever need critique or anything, let me know. I'm usually up for giving advice and critiquing and things.

And just as a bonus... here's some progress if you just practice your ass off.

 
(2010)                                                                          (2013)

Monday, April 7, 2014

Self-Portrait


Title: Self-Portrait
Date: April 7, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3
Scale: Same as Above

Notes: Trying out new techniques when it comes to digital painting. Also trying to gear up to finally get some stuff printed. This might be the only thing for a few weeks not directly related to the big projects that I'm working on.

EDIT: Just looked at it again and noticed how off some of the features were... FIXED:


Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Type O Negative - "World Coming Down"

'Quick' Studies


Title: 'Quick' Studies
Date: March 24 - 31, 2014
Medium: Graphite, Photoshop CS3
Scale: Varies

Notes: A compilation of things that I've been up to for a little bit. Mainly just trying to make sure that I don't get rusty in any specific area. So this is just a few tests of different things over the past few days. I want to crank out a ton more stuff, but there are big projects in the works.

'Zoodles


Title: 'Zoodles
Medium: Graphite, Brush and Ink
Scale: Each 'page' is 9" x 12"

Notes: Every week on Wednesday, during lunch the illustration department at MCA goes over to the zoo and just sketches away. I think every time I go I get a little faster, a little more experimental, a little more... something. If nothing else, it's just great to get out of the school and away from everything and just sketch my ass off.
It's a bit more therapeutic than anything and if nothing else... it gets exposure to my art to all the passer-byers. Either way, it's a fun thing to do and I highly recommend it!

Follow Mat @artofmatk

Follow Ash @ashley.storyteller