Date: May 28, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS6

Notes: I'm trying to start working on a 'what-if' hypothetical project. It will consist of a bunch of different character designs based on the generic character archetypes that are in MMOs. This is of course the first of many... and it is also a bit of a WIP still. Title: WIPs

Date: Varies
Medium: Photoshop CS3, CS6
Scale: Each 'image' varies in scale.


Notes: I just want to get all caught up for the time that I've been away... just some half-starts and studies.

Title: 5-19-2014 Monday: Anatomy - Heads

Date: May 16 & 19, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Title: Applied Studies - The Pest Controller

Date: May 13 - 21, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Over on the Permanoobs forum they are doing character of the weeks and things, similar to old conceptart ones. Well, this week (I think the deadline already popped) was The Pest Controller. Here's my start just for fun. Still working on different things, so I think I missed the deadline, but I would still like to work on it.

Title: 5-16-2014 Friday: Anatomy - Backs

Date: May 9 & 16, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Title: 5-15-2014 Friday: Anatomy - Legs

Date: May 15, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Title: Head for a Day

Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: I don't really consider these finals so much as just sketches... I need to make a more realized attempt this week. Anyway... more soon.

Title: 5-13-2014 Tuesday: Anatomy - Chests

Date: May 13, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Title: 5-14-2014 Wednesday: Anatomy - Hands

Date: May 8 & 13, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Title: Applied Studies - The Pest Controller

Date: May 13 & 14, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Over on the Permanoobs forum they are doing character of the weeks and things, similar to old conceptart ones. Well, this week (I think the deadline already popped) was The Pest Controller. Here's my start just for fun.

Illustration 4: Ascension Returns

Title: Illustration 4: Ascension Returns

Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: So... you thought you would never see this project again, didn't you.

If you go back to the very first post here... there's a chunk for my associate degree undergrad for the Ascension card game.

There has been many, many changes since then, but this is closer to how I envisioned it from then.

For this project we had little more than a month to come up with a full card deck. I immediately jumped on the bandwagon to redo this old-as-hell project and decided to take it a step further and see if I could act in-lieu of art director and pull in two other students as well.

Britney Boswell and Robert Burns were both recruited into this mad-house of a card project. We were each to do eighteen fully illustrated cards for this card game and then assemble them all together in a coherent deck.

This is of course only a small sampling of the card game as a whole, as there are approximately 480 or so cards for the first set. But this is my go at it... I want to revisit a bunch of these as well as continue working more on these.

Either way, this is such a fun and passion-fueled project that I hope I can see the project one day become something fully worthy of the effort involved.

Title: 30-Minutes of Poses 2

Date: May 9, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Title: Thursday: Anatomy - Backs

Date: May 9, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Title: Friday: Still-Life with Materials

Date: May 9, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Scale: Original is 1648px x 2412px

Notes: On Friday I want to make a still-life and fill it with different materials. Of course painting from life is always the best way to go. I just kind of tossed a cloth down and put my razor down because it had metal and plastic and lights. And was all searching around the room for something else interesting. Ashley just looks over grabs a potted plant and just slams it down and then smiles back at me. I was all like... PERFECT! And here's the results...

Title: 30-Minutes of Poses

Date: May 8, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: I'm going to be using these as warm-ups all summer long. Thirty minutes of what I would consider, pre-workouts. Every time I'm thinking of doing any art, this is what I will start with.

Title: Thursday: Drapery Study

Date: May 8, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Scale: Original is 1600px x 964px

Notes: Initially this was going to be a full render of a character. But I only wanted to actually be a drapery study. So I thought about what Ashley tells me: 

Wise words... and hilariously enough, ones that I'd never considered.

Ref: http://mizzd-stock.deviantart.com/art/Pirates-The-Fortune-Teller-1-56151411

Title: Thursday: Anatomy - Hands

Date: May 8, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Also everyday I will be playing with a different part of the anatomy. Thursday's was hands.

Ref: http://daestock.deviantart.com/

Title: For Justice

Date: May 4, 2014
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Scale: Original is 1068px x 1600px

Notes: After seeing so many impressionist renderings this semester, I think I've been getting quite a bit looser with my painting. I think that it will be quite some time before I get to the mastery level that they are, but I think it's fun to try!

Ultimately this summer will be all about going back to the roots, trying out new things, and just trying to all-around get better.

This is the first of MANY for the summer... but I thought I would start it now.

Ref: http://throughel0raseyes.deviantart.com/art/Dirigible-Captain-438149913

And I'll try to do one of these each time... Tutorial below.

Title: Comics 2: Duality

Date: April 25 - 30, 2014
Medium: Graphite

Scale: Each 'page' is 9" x 12"

Notes: There is quite a bit to be said about the resolution. As in, I need a ton more there. BUT, I wanted to make my final foray into comics for awhile be at least a nicely detailed one. I think, just like always, that there are places that need some serious work, but I wanted to try my damnedest to really push it for this one. I've been told in class that I was slacking it pretty hard when it came to my comic work, so I wanted to try and pick it up somewhat at least.

Ultimately I wanted to fully color the cover (which I may do over the summer), but it was lots of fun. If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now: "Comics artists are badasses!" I can't keep up with the amount of work that you guys would have. Pushing it down this fast... I could barely keep a hold of my cards, which was still a ridiculously fast-paced project (more on this next post hopefully).

Anyway, just wanted to share...

Title: 3D Illusttration: Wrap-Up

Notes: So, at the end of every semester we are supposed to do a (per-class) wrap-up of all that we did during the semester. Here's my booklet for everything done in 3D Illustration. I learned a ton in this class, met some great people, and ultimately discovered that I love clay, but it's hard as hell! So besides personal experiments and things, I think I will still stick with my traditional illustration for now.

Oh, and I also just recently discovered that Gears won for the Best in Class show!!!! You can actually see more details below and if you want to actually see the piece check the dates as well and go check it out! This blew my mind!

The list of artists selected for the Best in Class 2013/2014 exhibition is out! Artists were selected through faculty nominations. Each department head nominated four works from their respective departments from the past academic year. The exhibition will be on view in the Main Gallery from May 17 through July 11.
Selected artists include Jade Thiraswas, Zachary Lyles, Amanda Weidman, David Hook, Kandace Fuller, Carolina Salcedo, Mary Weber, Philip Rule, Machel Kazungu, Aminah Williams, Alexander Swilley,
Samantha Nemazie, Joshua Strydom, Matthew Ton, Rachel Stovall, Lindsey Sullinger, Spencer Laws, Ben Hancock, Jessica Vandenberg, Laura Miller, Glenn Buxton, Julie Bartlow, Ruby Zielinski, Shoni Campbell, Margaret Perez, Cecilia Reed, Colton Berretta, Mathew Kaminski, Robby Berretta, Emily Miller, April Rodriguez, Jefferson Muncy, Kelly Cook, Barrett Smyth, Nialah Brathwaite, Ashlyn Richey, Nicole Trimble,
Vanessa Gonzalez, Lyman Anderson, Christian Brown, LeKeishya Alexander, Caenina Moore, Natalie Jackson, George Brooks, Joni Miller, Mary Shore, and Elizabeth Davis.

Title: 3D Illusttration: SmartBomb

Medium: Super Sculpy, Acrylic Paint

Notes: Here was another 3D Illustration project that we did along the way. For this one we had a guest speaker come in and tell us all about the process of getting a job, the art pipeline, and what it takes to really succeed. I honestly think that given this talk was a good motivator to push forward. Stop questioning what your doing because if you're questioning it, it's just not right. My fiancee has been really pushing me forward for awhile now. And I think now it's time to really get out there and start putting myself out to do work.

Anyway, back to this piece... We were given what I thought was a mundane idea, mouthwash, and somehow it developed into this crazy ass character. I think if he were to become an actual product design, I would want him to be hollowed out and made of plastic and have the bomb's wick be a straw or something. That way he doubles as a cup too.