Marcellis Wentz - Drawer

Long Time

2011-12-07T00:36:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks! Boy, have I been busy doing things other than updating this blog. Got a job at 343 industries, which has been a total blast, built a deluxe chicken coop in my back yard that my wife and I designed ourselves (that was an adventure, to say the least).

Also, I discovered this software called GameMaker. I'm fiddling around with it, and it's pretty fun. I'm excited about the stuff you can do with it...you might see a bit of indie-game fiddling from me in the future. :)

Threw this together tonight, making good on a month-old promise for my church. Should spend more time on this stuff...

First Oil Painting Ever

2011-06-27T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have done it. I took the plunge. Witness my first foray into the crazy, high-maintenance world of painting in oils.

My subject is a garbage block from Tetris Attack. The idea is

to make a blue one for my brother (for his birthday, which has just happened), and a red one for me. We used to play this game all the time together. And his favorite color was always blue and mine was always red. Anyway, here's my progress and stuff. I only used three colors: French Ultramarine, Vermillion, and Mixed White. This was mainly so I wouldn't go crazy trying to mix a bunch of fancy colors that would end up looking like gray mud.

First test. After I painted this, I had a breakdown of "I am so terrible at this. Why did I only give myself a week to learn oil painting before I try to make some

thing that's supposed to be presentable?"

Second test. Tried to mix some red into his face, which didn't work. I also learned that white really de-chromas the vivid, beautiful blue. Must use sparingly on the final piece. (And I need to pick up some kind of yellow for the red version. Do not want pink.)

Final Painting. Sorry for the glare--not the best lighting conditions. All in all, I'm pretty darned happy with the result. I was stoked to give this to my bro on his birthday this weekend, and when it finally dries, I'm sure he'll be stoked to have something to hang on his wall, finally! (Like I'm one to talk...)

Yoga... Dump!

2011-05-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

Sketch dump + Street Fighter theme = hilarious joke!

First: I know I'm supposed to be on a cruise right now, but that's a long painful explanation.

Second: I need to be packing for this weekend so I'm keeping this short.

Third: Here are some drawings of Dhalsim as a zombie (in no particular order). And some ninjas.

His and Hers

2011-05-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

Quiet month so far. Gonna be even quieter because I'm taking my wife on a cruise at the end of the week! Yay!

I made this for my church last weekend.

Then I made this for the guys. :)

Robot Dog

2011-04-27T13:12:00.001-07:00

Been a bit of a slow month for the ol' sketchblog (see previous post :P). Started playing Enslaved, finally, and I'm really enjoying demolishing robots and riding a "cloud" even though it doesn't really look like a cloud. Beautiful game; love the colors, and the characters.

And so, I threw a robot dog on the page yesterday.

Good Friday

2011-04-25T16:51:00.001-07:00

Hey all! This post represents the culmination of the past five weeks of my life. These are the images my team and I crreated for my church's Good Friday service last week. We're super stoked for the work we did, especially in the time frame we had to work with, from inception to completion. And by the grace of God, we were able to color them all and have them look decent--in the 11th hour! Special thanks to my team: Kyle Rixon (mastermind, colorist, writer), Glen Salzman (pastor), Chris Hare (writer), and Dr. Paul Dean (pastor, historian). My duties included penciller, inker, colorist, and art director.

I plan on stringing together a video using the audio from the service, so the image sequence makes a little more sense; for those unfamiliar with the story, some of the panels might seem a bit non-sequitur. Rest assured, it'll all make sense in the end. And feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments below.

Pass the Buttercup

2011-04-14T01:17:00.001-07:00

Well the comp is over, and I ran out of time to play with the armor. Oh well, I'll still do it here!

More Buttercup!

2011-04-12T00:28:00.001-07:00

Nickel and Diming...

2011-04-11T00:02:00.000-07:00

Couple...more...minutes...before...bed...

Butter Hurry

2011-04-10T20:21:00.001-07:00

All I had time for today. Now I need to watch a movie and eat pizza with my wife. :)

Ribeye

2011-04-08T23:44:00.000-07:00

Not steak, but still fleshy...

Buttercupdate

2011-04-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

Things are about to get real...Easter is a-comin', and my job hunt seems to be picking up. Boy I'd hate to abandon this project...we'll see what happens.

Commit your works unto the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3

Gotta get my priorities straight!

Also, renamed my blog again. Turns out I set a real high bar for myself, with the daily posting thing. Not an easy task, even when you're unemployed! I spent quite a few nights up late trying to keep to the standard, and I ended up just posting a lot of crap. So, I decided setting myself up for failure on a daily basis isn't such a great idea. I'll keep on posting, but it wont be every little scratch I put in my sketchbook. Quality above quantity, here.

Powerpuff Gladiator Contest

2011-04-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Caught wind of a fun competition! I'm taking on Buttercup.

Two Weeks To Go...

2011-04-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

Only one post this week. Maybe I should change the name of this blog? :P

Anyway, more on my secret-type project! The one that prevents me from posting! Cue the Rated-R Guy Voice: "This Easter...

Consider yourselves teased!

Woyer Woman Wevisited

2011-03-26T10:22:00.001-07:00

Spent a couple days painting her face. I think I'm getting the hang of this...

Silly Stuff

2011-03-24T15:53:00.001-07:00

Robots, bodysnatchers...

Warm ups!

2011-03-21T11:16:00.001-07:00

Tiny studies of my wife doing pilates, and a sketch of crazy ol' Lawrence Fishburne.

Robot Soldier: ...Day 5

2011-03-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

So much for posting on Friday! My birthday took hold of my schedule in its jowls and shook it like a small animal. Here's as far as I got on my robot soldier in one work-week of spare time (probably around 6 hours):

Robot Soldier: Day 4

2011-03-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Probably two hours, trying out some lighting.

Robot Soldier: Day 3

2011-03-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

An hours' worth of line cleaning and fine detail decision making. Robot guts. Do I spend a bunch of time making it look like it could actually work? Part of me wants to. Hopefully I'll snag another hour tonight and get a hand and leg cleaned up.

Robot Soldier: Day 2

2011-03-16T01:40:00.000-07:00

Man...had some struggles trying to figure out where to take this guy.

Tried a few things, nothing worked for like an hour. Frustrating. So I looked at cool art instead of staring at my own as-of-then sucky art. :P Found some really neat stuff, and loaded up my inspiration folder, then banged this out, mostly in a few minutes. The trick, now, is to make the sword handle not look like a big penis. Not super intimidating when you're facing an enemy holding...something that looks like that.

Also, I included some thought process.

Robot Soldier: Day 1

2011-03-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hello reader(s). :) I'd like a word with you, if you would.

Right now I feel as though I'm looking at two doors, trying to pick between them.

I've really enjoyed keeping this blog updated regularly (more or less, time and life permitting), and drawing a lot more feels really good. Now, I've been a professional animator for the past five years, and during that time, I found I was drawing less and less, and I didn't like that. I've been drawing more for the past month and a half, and it's been great, but I haven't done any animation...and I can't say I miss it. Or maybe at least not yet, not like I missed drawing. So the two doors I'm talking about are a continued career in animation, and a new career as a concept artist. It'd be pretty much a career reboot, and if I can find me spot somewheres, I know I could rock some socks, especially over time.

I want to make the things that make me go "wow!" And that's usually concept art (I loved flipping through the concepts for Metroid Prime and Soul Calibur 2 when I unlocked them, and who doesn't like Craig Mullins' work for the Halo series? Crazy idiots, that's who.), and cinematic animation (and boy are they getting better every year! I'm looking at you, Uncharted, LA Noire, and inFAMOUS 2!).

Now, on to the art, which is really what this blog is for...

I saw a few clips of Jason Chan's tutorial videos on YouTube, and I got all inspired, so I decided I'm gonna play concept artist this week, using his process. An hour or so a day, with the goal of having a sweet finished concept done by Friday.

Day 1 progress: Happy with the visor shape. Need to figure out the rough a little more before I continue cleaning up the lines.

1up

2011-03-12T14:48:00.000-08:00

Took a little break. Painted a little head.

Sneak Peek!

2011-03-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a little taste of something I'm working on lately...it's a big project, but if things keep going the way they are, it's going. to. rock.

This crop is a bit claustrophobic, but rest assured: the full panel kicks ass.

I'll probably post more about it within the next five weeks.

iBalls

2011-03-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

Some quick studies.

Hair Metal

2011-03-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

Quick doodles before bed.

I wonder how MegaMan feels about finding disembodied, exact copies of his head lying around wherever he goes? And why is it that the hairier a character is, the less intelligent he seems? Hmm.

In other news, I seem to be in the mood for polearms lately.

TCC: M-U-R-D-R

2011-03-06T21:13:00.001-08:00

Ended up paying some homage to one of my favorite webcomics, here. If you don't read Axe Cop, shame on you. Shame on your family.

Which reminds me, I need to catch up on it, because I haven't read it in a while. Shame mitigation.

Woyer Woman

2011-03-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

Whenever I think about woman-warriors, I remember all the fancy metal bikinis that perpetuate the market. Seriously? We dress our he-men up with enough metal to make a car, but the ladies could go tanning after slaying their hordes, and not have to go home and change. Yeah, yeah, it's sexy or whatever. But there's something to be said for practicality, and [rant truncated]

So anyway, I thought an Inuit-themed warrior woman would be pretty rad, so I sketched out a thing real quick. Might do more with her, might not. In any case, I like her face. Soft planes, smooth lines...mm. :)

TCC: Made With Love

2011-03-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry no posts lately. Life's craziness. The good news is, it's Trading Card Thursday! ...well, on my blog, anyway.

Dinosaurs in Suits

2011-02-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things. ♥

Kaboom

2011-02-23T22:34:00.000-08:00

Raynor

2011-02-21T22:57:00.000-08:00

Started playing Starcraft 2. I only have my friend's 7-hour trial, so that might be all I have time for, but it's pretty fun, and I'm starting to rock the normal mode, so...I might actually consider buying it, maybe. :P

Played around with this sketch of the main character in CS4...

New Demo Reel

2011-02-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Marcellis Wentz - Demo Reel 2011 from Marcellis Wentz on Vimeo.

Robots

2011-02-16T23:00:00.001-08:00

Messin' around with my robot guy some more. I always imagine him on the run, trying to escape some nasty trouble he's gotten himself into. I've been thinking about doing a proper rendering of him lately. So many ideas, so little time...

History Day

2011-02-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

So, I've been holding out on you guys a little. I go to a church in Issaquah called Soma Communities, and there i volunteer my services doing title graphics for the sermons. I've done quite a few over the years, and so...well, here are some of my favorites.

The first one I did for them, way back when:

Another early one:

Did this one last year. This was when I really started hitting my stride on these:

Real happy with this one:

My latest, and favorite:

Radical

2011-02-14T00:01:00.001-08:00

Not Dead

2011-02-11T00:10:00.001-08:00

I'm busy doing something very important. But here's some fan scribbles of Nausicaa. (That's my own version in the top right.)

Eskimo

2011-02-06T00:44:00.000-08:00

Lost his lunch. :(

More Animals

2011-02-05T01:49:00.000-08:00

I've been drawing a lot lately...just not stuff I can show. So, here's some more goofy animals!

Busy Day Today

2011-02-04T00:40:00.001-08:00

Funny animals.

Again, A Grim

2011-02-03T01:37:00.000-08:00

Finally started some detail in the face. Almost made him look like wrinkly hot lava, but then we lose the ghostly purple contrast from the rest of the image. Perhaps I'll make an old lava man someday. If you've seen my older posts, you know how I feel about rendering old fogies. ♥

Bible People

2011-02-01T23:35:00.000-08:00

In the same vein as yesterday's post. The answer was Judas Iscariot. Here's Peter and Pilate. Designs are based on their depictions on statues and in paintings.

Ol' Grampa Peter.

Guess Who?

2011-02-01T01:01:00.000-08:00

100 points to the first correct answer!

Also, Here ends the first month of me really trying to do this every day! Bring on the February.

Wrestler

2011-01-30T22:37:00.000-08:00

Quick sketch of a muscle dude. I'll get back to that reaper once I can allocate some more time to work on him. Cutting together a new demo reel takes a lot of time when you've got hours of gameplay footage to sift through...gotta keep at it!...uh, just like this wrestler!

Datum

2011-01-30T01:51:00.001-08:00

Not...too...busy...to...sketch...

Dang, missed a day again. Here's a superhero! Or villain? Could go either way with this guy. I named him Datum. He's got like...binary magic or something going on, there.

Good Knight

2011-01-28T01:32:00.001-08:00

I am so funny with my titles.

Here's a rough sketch of the knight I want to put at the feet of the giant dragon guy, waiting for him to remove the boulder and open the mystical hidden doorway...under a rock. Maybe a more dynamic pose is in order...but really, what do you do when you're waiting for a door to open?

Something Epic, Something Weird...

2011-01-26T23:54:00.000-08:00

Two of my favorite things, here. Really silly, and really epic. Getting better at epic these days, which I really like. And the better I get at epic, the even more better I'll get at silly! Yay!

Though, this silly is a bit on the macabre side...

And I am totally painting this giant dragon guy after I finish the reaper. It simply must be done. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about my TMNT redesign. Just keeping things fresh.

Grimmer Still

2011-01-25T23:17:00.000-08:00

Clouds! And finally a better hand pose. Just getting started on the figure again, but it's getting late and I want to take my darling wife out biking tomorrow morning. So this is all you're gettin'!

More Grimmer

2011-01-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

Earth a splode.

I think the idea of a Volcano with three spires is way awesome. Yay for happy accidents! Posting now, so there's less of a jump between versions. Hmm...I'm losing my nice color contrast. Need to work some green back in there..maybe behind the reaper, in that big black area where nothing exists...

Grimmer

2011-01-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

Taking it somewhere...still a work in progress. Trying to communicate that the reaper caused the mountains to split, or something else awesome. And trying to figure out how to make decent clouds. Also, if I'm gonna take this image seriously...I need to find a way to fit a briefcase in there.

Missed yesterday's post. I know, I'm sorry. Hopefully I can make it up to you all by making something really cool for you to look at...

Grim

2011-01-22T02:26:00.000-08:00

I'm glad I stayed up to start this. Updates in the next few days.

Found a neat fire tutorial.

Filler Day

2011-01-21T00:56:00.001-08:00

Here's an old sketch that made me laugh. Mysterious!

Hammerin' Sketch Group!

2011-01-20T01:34:00.000-08:00

Fun night at Two Bells Tavern with some buds from the ol' Art Institute--a weekly ordeal I hope to partake in more regularly, if I can. I totally forgot to take home the cool pen Chiu gave me, though. Lame.

Here's my frankenbunny, the theme of the night. Finished off with a decent sketch: the Grim Dean. I think I'll see about coloring him...

Mom says, "It's not cool to be rude."

2011-01-19T00:43:00.000-08:00

Alas, not every drawing is a masterpiece. So, we'll call these "practice drawings." ;)

Some scribbles of Raph. I got a little impatient at the end, as it is now 12:46 on the morning of the next day, as is becoming the norm. Need to remedy this.

I think sai are wicked cool. Need to rethink a few things here, though, mainly the anatomy of his arms and legs. Which is, like, all of him. And by "rethink" I mean "lern 2 draw muscel mans lol." I could definitely take his head further, too. Basically it's just a regular turtle head at this point...

Leonardo Leads

2011-01-18T00:55:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, I was ahead of the game this afternoon, but I almost went to bed without posting!

Here's some more Leo. I got his head to where I'm happy with it. A bit of tortoise inspiration, since he's the oldest and wisest, but slouched because he's not super confident. But still, he's the tallest; a natural leader.

Tried some scales on his head...I think I'll save those for Raph.

Smooth and bald for Leo--like a monk.

Shellacious!

2011-01-17T01:25:00.000-08:00

Went to see the Picasso exhibit at the SAM with my wife tonight. I feel like I'll make enemies if I admit I wasn't impressed, but I gotta be honest. I wasn't. Some of it might have been due to the stuffy audio commentators--most of which I felt amounted to little more than hot air and butt-patting; I'm not interested in your opinion about Picasso's art, I'm interested in learning about Picasso's art. Chuck Close was the only one who sounded like he even knew what he was talking about. ...And some of it might have been due to the fact that Picasso seems to have been a stuck-up perv who slept around on his wife. Not cool, I don't care who you are.

Anyway, I liked his mandolin player and guitarist, and the portrait of his wife sitting in the chair. And the goat sculpture at the end was fun.

Here's some TMNT redesign thoughts. Not sure about Leo's head.

I'm gonna have to start updating in the afternoon, when people are awake, and I have more time to actually draw something. Boy, oh, boy, I'm grouchy and it's past my bedtime. I want some ice cream.

Donnie

2011-01-16T00:56:00.000-08:00

Colored Donnie. Man, should I do all the turtles like this? I really like the direction here...

Fun day with good friends today. Not much time for drawing. And that's okay.

Drawing With Children

2011-01-14T23:32:00.000-08:00

First, Donatello. Second, Spongebob Warriorpantses.

Spent some of the evening drawing with my buddy's kids. After I finished Donnie, I asked them what I should draw. They answered "A gun!" (See my TCC on this topic.) Then they amended "A big gun! Spongebob with a gun!"

How could I help but oblige them?

By me:

By Tyler:

So awesome.

Inappropriate Humor

2011-01-14T00:22:00.000-08:00

This is so funny, to me. Maybe I should grow up?

Yes, I know I "technically" missed a day. I moved my desk across the house and apparently the internet doesn't come from that side. Comcast is coming to put it there tomorrow. Glad I got my 50' Cat-5. Watch your step, honey.

Young'un

2011-01-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

Gotta loosen up...

TCC: Never Anywhere Else. Period.

2011-01-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

For Jason.

(TCC means "Trading Card Comic.")

Business

2011-01-11T23:33:00.001-08:00

My Only Egg

2010-12-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Lunchtime doodle.

Atomic Lead 5 is happening

2010-10-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

And I'm really gonna do it this time. Now that I'm not preoccupied with courting/marrying my lovely girlfriend who is now my lovely wife. (As of August 15th! Tomorrow is our two-month-iversary!)

The theme this year is "Treasure." Here's my main character, who happens to be a guy I've wanted to do something with for some time now. It's been fun developing him, visually, and personalityily. He's a robot named 4C7.10N.808, or "BOB." The style is (obviously) inspired by Bill Watterson and Doug Tennapel. Probably my two favorite comic artists of all time.

Oh my goodness, what's that he's got there? :O

Sunny Town

2010-05-07T21:31:00.001-07:00

So, I got engaged to my sweetheart from California, who recently moved up here. Crazy AND awesome!

And now my life is bananas because I'm trying to plan a wedding and find a house to buy before August.

Here's a yellow...place.

Vengeance

2010-02-07T21:47:00.001-08:00

This is a joke I thought of a while ago, finally taken exactly where I wanted to take it.

I'm really shooting high with these.

Trading Card Comics

2010-02-02T21:28:00.001-08:00

So, my sister got me a little pouch of these 2.5" x 3.5" bristol cards for Christmas. "Artist Trading Cards," they're called. I also got myself a new Kaimei pen (weasel hair brush tip with sumi-e ink cartridge) so I could draw my sweetheart a sweet drawing for one of her Christmas presents. :)

I decided that I would make tiny comics on them, because I like comics and this brush tip pen and being funny. So, at least we're guaranteed 2/3 every time.

Which is a D average.

zBrush! :D

2010-01-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

Finally. I've buckled down and now I'm learning zBrush, and it's a blast. I'm making an old man caricature, because...well, it's the easiest (see earlier posts where I've drawn old man heads.) This guy is heavily influenced by another old man head I saw on the interwebs, done by a much more skilled artist, and probably in actual clay. But anyway, here's my progress so far...

Crack Juice

2009-10-30T17:45:00.001-07:00

Imagine, if you would, a short, West Virginian* man approaching you. He presents with notable intensity a small, thin pouch of a powdery substance you don't have time to read the name of which before he declares with stern enthusiasm:

"Crack juice."

Meet Billy, our new Animation Director. He likes Crystal Light powder. Recently he's gotten into the habit of using warm water.

*not Kentuckian, it turns out.

Quick Concept

2009-09-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

Working on a new comic for Atomic Lead #4! Here's a rough sketch of one of the characters from my story...

Atomic Lead is basically Sucker Punch's just-for-fun comic project that we do every once in a while. I did one last year and it was way awesome to be a part of. So I'm doing it again. :)

Excuses are like fingers--

2009-07-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

They are always on hand.

So, yeah, I've been finding a few other things to do than post stuff on my blog lately. Here are a few examples:

- Showing off Infamous (which you should buy) to my friends
- Taking my vacation (first trip to Disneyland!)
- Having an awesome summer
- Breaking my computer
- Texting my girlfriend, who lives in California :'(

She is awesome. Probably better than your girlfriend.

Cool robot!

2009-05-22T13:59:00.001-07:00

Working on this lately...

Eyeball, Revisited

2009-05-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

Did another eye, from reference this time. Man, there's some weird color stuff going on in there. I've been spending way too much time in the oranges. No wonder my last eye looks jaundiced (aside from it being monochromatic).

Eyeball

2009-05-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Yup.
Eyelashes are hard.

Animation!

2009-05-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

It's true, I actually am an animator. The witty remark in the "about me" section is, in fact, not a huge lie. But finally, I have the proof that you no doubt clamor for! Rest easy, internet denizens. Rest in the downy comfort of this link:

http://www.vimeo.com/4525097

It's an old 11-Second club audio clip! Why an old one? And why not during the actual competition? Trifles!

Strange thing about ideas...

2009-05-01T18:07:00.001-07:00

...is that so often they are much cooler in one's imagination. Suffice it to say that I had the idea for this image, I was not thinking "Windows Live Messenger icon with lips."

Dumpy Time

2009-04-30T10:51:00.001-07:00

Practice...

2009-04-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

I'm watching Jeremy Vickery's Practical Light and Color dvd from Gnomon...and it's a lot to take in all at once. I thought I'd try my hand at painting some subsurface scattering. I discovered that it's actually kinda hard. So I decided to start from the beginning. It helped, but I've still got a ways to go...

Another old shirtless man.

2009-04-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's weird that this seems to be becoming a theme, but to be honest, I wouldn't draw them if it weren't so fun.

Quickie

2009-03-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

Just a quick sketch tonight. Good ol' MS Paint.

Finishing what I started...

2009-03-14T16:16:00.001-07:00

Finally had some free time to finish a song I started at the end of last year. I'm into re-arranging videogame music from games I played as a kid. So I rearranged some music from Mario 3 and Mario 64 into a little ditty I called "Submarine Dream." Freshly posted to my MySpace music account this afternoon. I plan on submitting it to the panel of judges at OCR to hopefully get it posted as an official OverClocked ReMix. This one's definitely better than my last one, so things are looking good for that, I'd say. :D

By the way...two months after the comp is finished, here's my entry for Oswald. :P

Westerns?

2009-02-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

I've been watching a lot of westerns lately. Unforgiven, 3:10 to Yuma, Tombstone...all for the first time, too. This has clearly made an impression on me. Oh, I also read Doug Tennapel's "Iron West." That probably only made it worse.

It's a muck monster.

Crazy idea: what if the next Zelda game is a western? I mean, American style--I know he was technically a cowboy in Twilight Princess, but American cowboys don't wear girdles. They wears chaps. And ponchos. Also, the thought of him wielding an Epona .45 makes me geek out for some reason.

Sleep can wait, I guess.

2009-01-27T01:52:00.001-08:00

Super quick update before I hit the hay...

Finally got transparency working...but only in the renders. No idea yet how to view those in real-time.

The comp ends January 30th. Only three days left, and I still need to rig and pose!

Good Day

2009-01-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty sweet. I helped a buddy of mine move into his new place (moving is way more fun if you have a bunch of friends to help you out), took the best nap ever, and got some good work done on Oswald. I forgot to eat dinner, though, but still--a good day, overall.

Didn't end up using FAOGEN, after all--I found a sweet tutorial and baked the ambient occlusion straight in Maya using mental ray. Still gotta figure out how to set up a .psd network and get transparency working. I feel like I should probably know this stuff already, but then, I'm just an animator; I have other people make my 3D toys for me. :)

Not dead, just busy.

2009-01-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this post from my sweet new desk! Finally, I have room for all my computer crap without stuff hanging over the edge or piled on top of other stuff. Good times.

I've been hard at work modeling Oswald over the past few days, and I just finished the UVs (still have to pack them, though). I'm stoked to try out this ambient occlusion generator aptly named FAOGEN...

Here's a flood of progress!

This is me getting over-excited about solving the eye geometry problem.

Oswald, Kingdom Hearts style!

2009-01-13T01:36:00.000-08:00

Over at http://www.gameartisans.org, where you'll find me under the name "chumble spuzz," they have these mini-challenges. I've gotten swept up in the latest one, where the object is to create a new (or used, I guess) character in the style of Kingdom Hearts. Once the idea entered my mind, I couldn't resist following through with adapting Oswald the Lucky Rabbit into that style. Here's my initial and final design:

...took me forever to think of a good design for the feet. Just got them down about 30 minutes ago!

Sketches!

2009-01-09T22:36:00.000-08:00

A grim reaper. One of my favorite sketches from last year.

Picture of a homeless dude. Not sure what inspired me, here. Spent 30-40 minutes scribbling in some color...need more practice. Need more patience.

And now for some more light-hearted fare, it's Captain Can't! Kind of a mix between Frankenstein, Juggernaut, and Bender. Hm.

Hi.

2009-01-07T22:26:00.000-08:00

Greetings, Internet denizens. It's a new year, and according to tradition in the U.S. of America, that means it's time for a new habit. This year, it's blogging for me!

Actually, I just wanted a place to post art and/or my thoughts and keep tabs with friends who also blog and/or post art and/or their thoughts. So here I am, and here's some art. Thoughts forthcoming.

This is an old sketch I finally got around to coloring tonight. I'd like to figure out this coloring thing a little more better.