Artastic

 Krystal's Caves was fun to design. Krystal is a little robot who is trying to get home. Along the way she needs to light up "plants" that are powered by Crystals. This task is easier said than done because mice steal the crystals and snakes can only be stopped by generating a cloud of darkness, which are created by bumping into the tall fungus "trees". To assist me with organic forms in an isometric 3/4 view I made some models out of plasticine, which I have found a great tool in the past.  Below is the fully assembled sample of the elements I created for the game.

 I love the character of Grogu from The Mandalorian, and was disappointed when I could not find a t-shirt of him that I liked at the local Comicon last September. I decided to make my own t-shirt. The first version was OK, but not great. That was before I had any knowledge of digital painting. I am now about to start my third semester at the Illustration and Concept Art Program at Algonquin College and I can see how far my skills have progressed with this new painting. .

 This project for school was fun. We had to illustrate an article for National Geographic of National Geographic Kids. I decided to do one for the Kids magazine. Instead of using filler I researched the latest discoveries about Neanderthals to create a real article. A long time ago I took an anthropology course, and I have never forgotten learning that Neanderthals had larger brains than Homo Sapiens. I was thinking of the character Eep from The Croods when I decided to give her red hair. Some Neanderthals did have red hair, though it was not the most common color, so far as we know.

 I needed to create three landscape paintings where my Sherlock Hounds character will have his adventures. Completing these paintings involved a lot of learning, because I am still new to digital painting. They were fun to create, especially adding the atmospheric touches. Only the first painting is in colour. I want to add colour to the other paintings when I have the time. I would also like to add more finishing touches.

 The only requirement for our background painting assignment was that it must be a farm. I decided to put mine on an alien planet.  It was a fun challenge to figure out the lighting on a planet that would have a different atmosphere. It is also emerging from an eclipse. The landscape behind the cliffs has already emerged from the eclipse, allowing me to put some nice rim lighting on the background cliffs. I would like to revisit this landscape later and do it with lighting at a different time of day.

  This scene from one level of a side scroller game will be put into a program in a later semester. It will be very fun to see this fully implemented. The Game Premise This game is about the challenges of being an artist.    After roughing out ideas for three different levels, this is the environment that was further developed for this assignment. It is based around the fear and doubt that an artist has to constantly work through and conquer.         The key to conquering those fears is to keep producing art, so that is how the artist overcomes the challenges. She throws paint at blank canvases and creatures.   When she paints an inactive canvas, it is activated, and can then be used to overcome obstacles by riding on it as it moves or to duck under or behind it as she encounters obstacles.              The villain of the game is an art critic, who throws thick black globs of criticism at the artist. The Obstac...

 We were given a choice of books to partially illustrate. Some were children's books and some were books of poetry. My ultimate goal is to illustrate children's books so I I chose one of those. I selected a book titled "Sheep's Farmyard Friends" by Dani Best. In addition to thumbnails for all twenty pages we needed to fully illustrate the front and back cover, as well as two two-page spreads.

 This assignment was fun. We were presented with a poem called "Raven" by MGM (not The Raven by Poe). We were asked to do a quick thumbnail of a character from the poem. Later, we were asked to come up with dialog for the character.  I wrote the below internal dialogue: First betrayal cuts the deepest. It sunders the mist of childhood and reveals with harsh light the hard edges and textures of the larger world. The stories of my childhood, beloved and believed in a state of innocence suddenly seem disconnected from the deeper realities of life. Trust - once given without thought - becomes precious; hoarded like rubies. Their blood red sparkle holding the potential to cut my soul. Should I loosen my grip? Perhaps one. A hand outstretched, forcing my fingers to part. The ruby tumbles, shining and entrancing as it falls into the void. I can not see it now. Will it be treasured, as I treasured it? Will it even be noticed? The wings in my chest flutter, ready to take fli...

 Hi Everyone, I have spent some time gathering items for the textures challenge. Shopping the after-Christmas sales for decorations has been a great way to pick up some spherical objects. The pet section also had a few interesting items. I now have a variety of items to paint that I keep in a little box.  I am still taking time to rest, so although I am trying to do a little painting each day I don't get fussed if I feel to tired.  I also have some reading I plan to do between semesters. I visited the College library before the break to get some books that would not be found at the regular Ottawa library. Have a great holiday season everyone!

 In my digital painting class we learned about a challenge that an artist named Jonathan Hardesty created for himself to paint 500 textures as a way to improve his skills. Apparently a lot of other digital artists are taking up the challenge.  Sine I am still very new to digital painting, and the method we learned was very different from traditional painting I decided to give the challenge a try. I am nowhere near being able to do one a day, but hopefully with the extra practice I will be able to work faster and with more confidence.  My first two textures worked out very well. This was my first. This was my second. I have a small box where I am collecting items to paint during my time off between semesters.

 When handed the assignment of designing a room I decided to tie it into my creature design assignment. This is the laboratory of the mad scientist that has been designing "Swamp Things". In this scene one of the creatures that the scientist has created managed to escape from the incubator on the platform. I am hoping to find time to add more props to the scene later. The elevator required a lot of work.

 We were given several prompts to choose from for our creature design assignment. I decided to design a "Swamp Thing".  I included some unusual characteristics in my design. My Fargle can glide like flying frogs do, by spreading the membranes in it's hands and feet. It can also run across water like the Green Basilisk Lizard. His facial features are similar to a Potoo bird, which has a very silly face. The end result turned out very well. We then were given the option of making a trading card for our creature. I decided that my creature is a finder of lost things. This is what I created using a template we were given.  I need to determine why the colours change when I post this image. When I open the original JPG image it looks the same as the original. There is always more to learn.

 For this assignment we had to create an illustration that was built around the concept "designing a better downtown". This assignment originated with the Creative Team at Ottawa Magazine. My career goal is to illustrate children's books, so I used this opportunity to explore that style. Here is the rationale that I submitted:

 We were asked to create a brochure for any company, real or imaginary. I decided to go with something comedic. My teacher may die laughing or regret allowing such latitude in the assignment specifications. Fans of Sir Terry Pratchett's Diskworld series and the Rocky Horror Picture Show should get a kick out of this. Marty Feldman of Young Frankenstein is in there as well.

 For this project we had to take a piece from our current portfolio and rework it as a different style. I have been a fan of Edgar Allen Poe since I was a teenager, so I decided to incorporate his portrait into a surrealist rework of a painting of some ravens flying at sunset. Here is the original.

 We had to paint these props first in greyscale, then apply the layers of colour. Guesstimating the shadows and highlights on the surface under the Phoenix candle was interesting. I have received some suggestions for a few small improvements that I plan to work on in between semesters.

 For this assignment I wanted to explore the Etruscan style of art, since I previously knew nothing about the Etruscans. The Etruscan equivalent of Poseidon is Nethuns. I decided to do a submerged ruin of a temple to Nethuns.

 This was more complicated to paint. We were not trying to replicate the texture or the background. It it the last of the black and white paintings we will be doing in this class. Next we will be moving on to painting the props we designed.

 This is not the stairway to heaven, though I did get the idea from a Buddhist temple.  In my Environment and Asset Building class we had to design a staircase, and then create an environment for it. I liked the idea of a tropical setting and added a waterfall as well. It will be fun to eventually add some colour to this scene, though I will not be doing so for class.

 This exercise follows an old tradition. The old art schools would have students do drawings and paintings of casts made of plaster. This allowed the students to learn how to see changes in values without the distraction of colours.  We did this exercise digitally this week. This is the first part of the exercise. Next week there will be a sun face to paint.