Brain Scribbles

4R2B

2012-02-10T02:53:00.000-08:00

Got a hold of the new Zbrush update and got into the new fiber mesh for hair. I'll have to play around with it more...

Keep it going.

2012-02-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a few things that I've been working on recently. Some random stuff really, but it's stuff.

I'm working on a shield package for the Unity Asset Store.

There's expected to be 20 shields in the package but I only have two wips as of right now.

Made some loose portraits. Gotta keep my drawing hand moving and alive.

Got to talk with the Art Lead of TF2, Moby Francke. Pretty cool guy and got me to want to experiment and delve deeper into drawing styles and techniques, we'll see if I have the time to get very far.

This guy will hopefully be up on the Asset Store soon. I'll get a link up when it does.

Reviving Habits

2012-01-26T00:02:00.000-08:00

Trying to get back into the habit of sketching things everyday again. I really feel like I've been unable to expand my creativity because I haven't had much free time to draw out the random ideas banging around in my head.

I've been busy with doing 3D and school work and had less time to expand my abilities in drawing and painting. This actually turned out to be a pitfall that affected the rest of my work because drawing allows me to experiment and reiterate ideas quickly. It also expands my own mental library of shapes, concepts and techniques. In short leaving my other skills on the wayside to diminish will only hinder my work later. So I'm going to push myself to sketch and develop ideas everyday from now on.

Unity Asset Store

2012-01-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to try and sell some things on the Unity Asset Store as a way to make small cash on the side. I've made my store and currently the only item for sale is a simple sword that I made mostly for the purpose of testing out the process of submitting.

A link to my STORE

A link to the SWORD

Gearvolver

2012-01-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

Sort of a Steampunk 6 shot revolver. Just a high poly, I'll see if I can bake it down to a low poly at some point.

My Little Knight

2011-12-27T02:54:00.000-08:00

Now for something a little lower poly.

WIP

Brushing some Z's

2011-12-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

Getting some practice with Zbrush.

I like your Pancho

2011-11-13T19:06:00.001-08:00

I need to draw and paint a lot more.

Columns

2011-11-12T23:21:00.001-08:00

Just making a few columns and getting to know the different orders a little more. Here's Doric, Ionic and Aoelic for now. Next I'll get to Corinthian and Composite.

Colt

2011-10-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a gun.

Thoughts on Visual Style and Games

2011-10-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

Versatility of style in video games has expanded tremendously in the past decade. I'd say there are more styles found in games than in any other form of entertainment. With such dramatically different visual styles and the advanced technology that games now have I'm actually finding it a little disappointing at the implementation of these visual styles in games. Many of the times it's used to match some other successful style, or it's style for the sake of style.

When it comes to games it's gameplay is king and everything has to . As of now the most successful games use their visuals to help explain direct the player through spaces and indicate how to solve challenges or set the mood of the story. This is all good and well but should be expanded on to make room for making the visuals their selves interactive and tied even closer to the gameplay.

Hazard: The Journey of Life is a game that has a visual style that I can't really describe. It's visuals don't serve a purpose to anything other than being different. It's visuals are an attention grabber but has no depth or connection to the gameplay.

Team Fortess 2. Awesome art direction but while it's exaggerated shapes and style create it's own visual language for it's players to understand the gameplay, there are some aspects of the visuals that just don't go as far as others. Still a very successful visual style and should be something other games styles try to achieve.

Minecraft is an example where the visual style is based entirely off of the gameplay. The core mechanic is building with blocks. The art is all blocks and squares. The visuals tie their selves to the core experience of the game entirely. While it doesn't look to be anything better than programmer art, I still consider it to be an elegant approach for it's visual direction.

With the diversity of styles that games have now the developers should be choosing and molding their visual styles around the gameplay and user experience much more than they currently are.

Art of Zone

2011-08-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

I had worked on some artwork for an indie project called ZONE: The Battleground a few months ago. They finally got around to updating their IndieDB page with some of my designs and illustrations. Here are a some pieces I contributed to the game, I've made many more but those are secret for now.

Odyssia: The Thesis

2011-08-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

I've posted artwork for one of my thesis pitches in a post just a little below this one, but I never posted any work of the second thesis pitch. This one is what I'm working on in my senior year.

It's game where you try to escape an underwater resort that is being destroyed by a giant sea creature. The only thing at your disposal is a tool that can harvest energy from electrical devices and place it into other devices (a sort of high tech master key). The creature however is attracted to electrical energy, so the more you gather, the more the creature will begin to shake the place and attack.

Here are a few environment sketches that I recently did. You'll probably see more work in the coming months

Follow the Odyssia Development Blog here!

Hot

2011-07-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

It's the hot months.

So I made this.

My other job is a Space Man

2011-03-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Been working on a character model in my 3D for Games class. Just finished the project and while I'm still going to work om it some more, it's still decent enough to see the light of day through my blog.

We actually began working on this character in the previous semester, in our Drawing for Games class. Then after developing the concept art we brought it over to our 3D class this semester and brought it into UDK. Textures still need work but that'll get done later.

Project Aurora

2011-03-12T20:55:00.000-08:00

One of my thesis ideas has passed Pre-Production. This means I have a passing grade for that class and will be allowed to continue to Senior year! Yaaay! Now I can come up with any random thing for the next half of my thesis pre-pro class. (We need to come up with two in the semester.)

The passing idea is based off of magnetism. It's set in the near future where the Earth's magnetic field has weakened and faded away, allowing solar winds and radiation to bombard the surface of the planet.

The player has to maneuver a magnetic ball through an abandoned city and reach a giant machine that can restore the planet's magnetic field.

Once the machine activates however, an intense wave of solar winds enter the atmosphere and destroys the machine. The balls magnetic properties get transferred to the player in this process and they now become the magnet.

A friend of mine, Michale Hosticka, had developed a functional version of the mechanic last year
We worked together to develop the story and concepts, theses are a few of the pieces I created for this project

In the beginning of this project we had an entirely different world and story
that involved a society of robots and an evil corporation.
We abandoned it because it made the project too large for us to handle as a two person team.

Youtube Channel

2011-02-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

I have a YouTube channel set up to showcase some of my work. Currently I have the camera fly throughs of two environments I showed in the previous post but more videos will be posted later.

All of these videos are of projects done collaboratively with fellow students. The first is a five man team and the second is a three man team.

The art dump of all art dumps

2010-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile and it's been busy. Lots of class work with lots of ups and downs. Hard to believe this was just the first semester of Junior year, it felt like an entire year of work. Although a lot of the work I did was lost in the fast paced semester. Let's see what I can gather together.

collaborative project with Michale Hosticka, Clarke Nordhouser, Brian Harries and Linnea Harrison

The Greydell Catastrophe

2010-07-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

A few pieces I created for a Dungeons and Dragons game my friend was putting together. I'm usually the Dungeon Master with these games but the tables have turned for me and now I am taking the seat of a player.

Character sheet of my D&D character Kaeden

Card design for spells and abilities to be used as quick reference

The actual printed cards

Map of my friends D&D world

Dig Deep

2010-07-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Character concept for a "Dungeon Master" from Dungeons and Dragons

Paint over of a level design for a class

Illustration depicting mechanics for a small game
that never reached an end in development

This blog has been dead for a while since I forgot about it for so long. Here's a few pieces that I've found when digging through my computer that I figured should go up online. More will come, honest

Game Over

2009-12-18T10:11:00.001-08:00

So the mod project I mentioned before is over and all the work is done. It turned out alright, I was trying to take advantage of this situation to learn as much as I could about designing an interesting play experience, which I think I achieved for the most part.

My game is called 'Evicted' because you play as one of the 4 races that have been evicted from the land by the gods because they have become too much of a hassle to deal with. So they are ordered to pack up their things and leave the land. By pack up their things, I mean move all their land into their ships.

Each race is designed to be distinctly different from each other.

The four ships are meant to be pieced together by the players
so that when they are stood up they aren't completely flat.

These are the docks that connect to the main board.
It's the starting area for the players and where they have to bring their land in order to score.
The players slip their boats into that white sliver (area that is cut out in the actual piece) so that it stands upright.

I had turned the idea that Small World was a land into a literal land grab game, in which players need to pieces of land to their ships in order to win. There are 5 different types of land: lakes, swamps, hills, mountains, and forests. On the back of each tile is a number, this number has to deal with how much points the player receives. The cool thing, I think, that emerges is how the map begins to change it's shape and turn into a maze as the game progresses, due to the land being taken by each player.

The winning condition is an odd one, it was inspired by the game Tigris and Euphrates. The winner is decided not by who has the most land by the end, but by who has the most points in their lowest category of land. This means players can't go grab any piece of land, they have to think about which type of land they are in need for to win. The game ends when all the land is gone.

Some other pictures and progress of my designs

Character portraits

Some silhouettes for the final unit pieces.

An example of the process in designing the land tiles

This was what the land was originally going to look like.
9x9 squares with a special zone in which players pick up their victory points

These are some initial sketches for the Elves in an earlier version of the game
that had different types of units with abilities

An early Illustration of the elves.

Originally I was going to have Undead units, but to me it didn't make sense in terms of the back story. The Undead seem like the type that would be more worried about gathering other people as food than gathering land.

Waking the Dead

2009-10-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

It's been about a half a year since the last time I updated this blog. Found myself with projects and procrastination towards those projects [this blog being one of them].

Catching you up to date with what has been going on in my life recently is that I'm now a sophomore at Ringling in Game Art and Design. Thing haven't changed much, have they? Still, it's exciting for me. I won't go into very much more detail but I'll show you some art and talk about my projects I've recently been working on.

In Game Design I class we've started a game mod of a board game of our choosing. I chose a new game called "Small World". A board game in which you take control of a fantasy themed race and fight over land against an opponent, gaining victory points in the process.

During the first half of the semester we were to make illustrations showing off various game play aspects. Here are a few of the finished illustrations and sketches.

The rough of my pitch document and some photos of my mod to this game will be up in a day or two.

My Computer Animation I class is having us do modeling projects for this semester. One of our first project was to create an accurate model of the Linux Penguin in Maya. Here is my turn around video of the model. I think you'll find it interesting to say the least.

More updates later when I get some sleep and more work done...

Space Boobs

2009-04-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a painting I did live one night. I've decided to do this more often. Every night I'll be painting live at 11:00 pm

Charles the Beetle

2009-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

A character design sheet for Traditional Animation class. We were given an animal that we had to turn into a bipedal character for our upcoming animations. I was give a Beetle and I designed the character off of a Rhinoceros Beetle. I realize now, why you don't see these characters that often in animated movies...

Sunshine

2009-03-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Here's another update with s few pieces.

This is a wallpaper inspired by the movie Sunshine. 1920x1200

Sketch of myself to try out a different painting look.

Page Views

2009-02-25T20:26:00.001-08:00

BIG BOY

2009-02-04T19:43:00.001-08:00

a doodle to escape the work that needs to get done.

Something cute somes this way.

2009-01-04T22:21:00.001-08:00

Some sketches and one for fun picture that won't get past the rough stage.

Words of wisdom from Jason Manley

2009-01-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

A small lesson on how anything can and is possible in life by the artist and president of Massive Black, Jason Manley.

At seventeen I was homeless and orphaned, taking care of my fourteen year old brother who I somehow managed to keep in school. I had dropped out of school. I did two years of wasting time eventually trying to get my head on straight. At nineteen I was homeless again. Scraped together enough money to get my ass to Arizona to study art. Got a temp apt to get me through to the end of the month and took a job at subway (applied all over til I found something). The subway job paid enough money to sometimes eat and pay my small studio rental. I went back to school to get my graduation and was working full time (thought I needed to graduate from HS to get into a good college). Trust me...it was fucking painful. I transferred to a community college the following year and slowly got better and better jobs. Worked telemarketing fund raising to afford a 1977 Datsun and art supplies. Shittiest job ever but paid double what subway did. Worked three jobs during the summer to get caught up including going to Alaska to work the salmon docks across the country. I did not give a shit what it was, if it paid for my goals to be met and didn't involve anything illegal, I did it.

As time went on I realized I needed to arrange my priorities again. I took a night time job so I could exhaust all my energies in my art and studies. Eventually got a job at AT&T..."AT&T this is Jason how may I help you?"...I was still far behind those who had life handed to them their whole life. However, I was catching up. In time I realized it was not a chase against others but to only my own race to my goals. Kept the nose down. Chose friends who worked on art or learning always. Ignored the time wasting folk who never will amount to anything other than regular. Grew up around enough of those to realize the difference. After three and a half years I took my first art job and quit my shit job...have lived with and from art ever since.

By the time I was 29 I had achieved every goal I had reached for when I first set out. That is when I realized it was time to set new goals...each time this happens it feels like starting over...get something done..start again...in time your life becomes what you want it to be. Even those of money have to do this if their life involves learning, skill, and growth. It is not money that holds people back...is just their own mind.

The hard part about certain situations is not everyone is told they can do and reach their goals if they just work their ass off starting RIGHT NOW. Some know it and wont work for whatever reason. They listen to that voice that says I want to chill and watch TV or i don't feel like it. Others have addictions or mental issues keeping them from growing and learning. I didn't want to be any of that. I wanted to do cool stuff...to have an interesting life...and to work in a creative way.

Hard manual labor growing up taught me that my mind would rot if I chose that kind of path. I wanted something to use my mind. Bored if not...and with boredom comes making trouble or distraction. Gotta turn that into work ethic...no choice. Carl Dobsky was telling me this about the atelier every day. It has to be just uncomfortable enough to make the coolest thing to do be art. If there is a blaring TV or anything else, than there are other options. Options that keep one from not working to reach their goals.

Complacency is the womb of mediocrity. You clearly are not complacent. So do something about it in every free second of your day. All this wandering around doing not a whole lot but thinking isn't getting you much done. It is however, giving you a taste of life many others would never have the guts to explore. Just don't stay down there too long without coming up for air.

Holiday Treats

2008-12-18T20:32:00.000-08:00

Finally got around to getting these online. Most of these are the final pictures I drew for Figure drawing class. My vacation is going well so far, I've found a time waster by making my families christmas presents. I'm currently making a very large CD rack for my brothers CD collection. I have no clue what to make my parents though...Christmas is coming up fast and since I don't have much money to spare I need to design something. I'm also looking for commission jobs or ways to sell my art. It seems like a good idea to jump into the business now and get a feel for how things work, maybe get some money in the process. (I really hope so)

Happy Holidays.

First Semester

2008-12-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

First semester is over at Ringling and we're out for winter break, it's a week earlier than most colleges. I flew back home today but the morning went by extremely slow. I woke up at 7:30 a.m. and didn't get up until around 8:30 a.m. My flight wasn't taking off until 1:43 p.m. so I had a lot of time between that. Most of it was spent pacing my room thinking.

By the time I left at 10:00 a.m. to get to the airport I was thinking about what makes a great piece of artwork. My entire semester at school got me to realize that research is one of the most important factors in a masterpiece. Still though, almost as soon as I realized that I also remember great pieces of art that have to do with the actual painting of the picture, like the work of Andrew Jones where the real beauty in his work is how he paints and not so much of what he paints.

I pulled myself into an inward debate over what the most important factor was in creating an amazing piece of art. Was it how much time was spent on it, what the meaning is, the use of materials and style, how accurately it portrays the subject, etc... It was ended by the idea that it wasn't about any of those things. In fact it had nothing to do with the artist, but the viewer. Artists will never have the last say on which of their own pieces is better because it communicates to everyone and so everyone replies back. Every piece; every idea is just like a word, sentence or story that speaks without a voice. All art speaks through sight. Even if you never put a message to it.

I arrived at the airport 3 hours before my flight. So I sat down and waited outside the security check drawing in my sketchbook. Almost as soon as I sat down a woman came along with a large bag and started to set up something Christmasy right behind me. She pulled out signs on a stick each with a meaningful remark, like "Self Determination" and "Good Will", drawn on with crayons. Three girls in red and white and Santa hats soon appeared with their family. After a while more families and little girls in red and white appeared and over hearing the discussions I realized that this was a small play being put on by elementary students. I wasn't able to see it since I saw a line building up in the Security Check. I would have to get in there now to be sure I would be one time for my flight.

Naked People!

2008-11-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more. The Floating Sculpture is going on in 3D Design, so look out for some designs and project updates.

Making the Mark

2008-10-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to update this as often as I can. So here's a few I did in F.E.W.S. I feel like I need to practice my figures much more often. I'm having trouble making the gestures, I think I need to slow down and examine my subject more carefully instead of rushing it all just to get it down. In order for me to use the gesture I should be able to understand it...

A Long Time Ago...

2008-10-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

...I made a blog and stopped updating by accident. I'm finding myself very busy with work and play but here are a few sketches and homework I've done in the past month.

Here's to the beginning

2008-09-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

Some projects from the Concept and Ideas Club:

Super Hero Silhouette
Animal Mash Up: Alligator + Mandrill