Hot off the presses......

MMMM....Fresh Futurescape......Titled 'Artemis V'

Drift....

I love the concept of drift vehicles and future drift racing, thought I'd share this latest concept sketch I did as a study for in game designs along these lines. Enjoy!

IIID

When you can't get it...simply invert.....

Sometimes coming up with a compelling composition can be a real pain!  You draw tons of thumbs but just can't get something you want to proceed with.  I found something that works really well for me and that has really helped speed up my workflow and I think improved my compositions quite a bit since I started doing it.  The best part is, it's easy.  Invert your sketches?  That's right invert them to white on black rather than the other way around.  Sometime all the white info on page can literally bleach your vision and make it hard to see.  Also when doing contemporary concept work a finished painting has a ton of black in it, so starting with the lights off so to speak allows you to start turning them on with white sketch lines and then move on to colors quickly.  It takes a bit of getting used to but when you start drawing your highlights first the place them on a screen or linear dodge layer, you can then just move on to painting in quick color block in's beneath and you'll be surprised at how fast you get things done and in my opinion just with a simple variation on technique that really makes a difference.  Keep in mind black lines rarely exist in nature but white highlight lines are everywhere.  I started doing this by doing inversion on black over white sketches but now start most of my paintings this way and just sketch white on black from the start.  Give it a shot and I think you'll find it allows you to read composition a lot faster and more effectively that black on white sketches.  Hope that is helpful!!

Best Wishes

IIID

Beware of Silly NDA's and slick willy's.....

     So you're in the market for job experience and in the process of building your resume up with game titles you've worked on.  This is a very real and necessary part of working in the game and entertainment biz and there's no shame in it.  Remember that!  Someone agrees to take you on for free or maybe for a royalty down the road(nice of them isn't it?) all you have to do is work and slave for them and do your best work and all will be well right?  Well maybe.  Honestly most of these projects crap out so don't count on it.  Think ahead and protect yourself.  One of the things you will inevitably run into its the dreaded signing of  the NDA document.  Everybody who runs or even pretends to run a studio will want you to sign one if you have access to design docs and team files, etc.  They are all producing the next big indie hit that nobody has ever seen anything like it before.....yada,yada, yada..... There's nothing wrong with most of them at all.  They are a standard contract and simply outline what you can and can't do with information you use while producing your designs or artwork for an given project.  Those aren't the ones I'm discussing here.  The dreaded ones go a little something like this.....After signing this you can't show anybody sketches, artwork or anything you produce related to our project as long as it remains a project and even if not, then for an unspec'd period of time afterwards aka-forever.  Which boils down to until we say otherwise your artwork is ours and we might pay you for it someday, but probably not.  What a fine thank you to anyone inexperienced enough to sign it and then work for free, on credit or the proverbial 'royalties-someday' basis.  If you work on a project and you are asked to sign one of these, make sure to tell the individual that you won't sign any document that diminishes or revokes your right to use your artwork for any purpose.  Even if you are getting paid you should still retain the rights to your artwork-sometimes you have to wait to use it until after the release date which is fine and commonplace.  Remember-you own your artwork unless someone purchases it.  Don't give it away, especially not to end up shoved in a digital closet and forgotten about by someone who is simply trying to use a heinous little contract to do something everyone frowns upon. Just because you are inexperienced doesn't mean you aren't talented or are worthless.  NDA's are a total reality on any project but you have rights.  Read the fine print and protect yourself.  It sucks if you are resume building and can't show off any artwork in your reels because you signed it's life away, or when someone else thinks they own it because they got you to sign over the rights to it before you were compensated, with a completely open ended time frame for usage.  If they are using your work, and not paying you for it, even if they have given you a big 'IOU-someday' you really must retain rights to anything you produce.  It's how we advertise our services to potential clients and prospective employers, etc.  Anybody who doesn't understand that most likely doesn't really care and are probably best avoided.  You can also avoid this pitfall by simply letting the individuals at said 'studio' know that you want to work on a need to know basis only-aka-don't feed me any more information on your game than I need to know to do my job and  I can't leak anything of value, but I'm retaining the rights to my artwork and designs for use in my reels portfolios, and potential advertisements.  If they want you to do work for them, and they always do you have the leverage to get them to agree.  There are lots of times I've avoided signing NDA's altogether or had them write me up an amended one tailored to how I want to work and interact with them.  Sometimes writing up your own in best.  Every situation is unique and these are simply tips to try and help you navigate the slippery slope of junk contracts.  Best advice-when in doubt back the hell out.  Until next time peeps! Much Love!

IIId

Had to say goodbye...

Well I had a lot of fun working on the Exile MMO project and put in some great artwork, and met some great people, but due to my current freelance work schedule and other pursuits I'm undertaking at present I had to step out of an active role in the project.  Responsibilities aren't always very much fun.... I'll be still producing concept artwork on a volunteer basis for the team and helping out when time permits.  If you are a concept artist that has some free time and wants to work with a great group of people on a big, visionary indie game then you should hit them up.  I know they could use the help.  All the best peeps!

IIID

Keepin it real on the 'indy' scene...

     I love working on games...period...Sometimes the pay is good, sometimes it's not, or it's non-existent.  No matter.  Sometimes the project is a fun release and totally different than your paid projects and it's okay to donate some time.  Sometimes the pay is in the form of royalties, profit sharing, etc.  There are tons of different situations out there and none should be discounted because the cash isn't up front.  With this in mind though when you involve yourself in an 'indy' game project there are some real pitfalls that can make sure you'll suffer, and more than likely never get paid, that I want to outline here briefly.  First and probably most obvious is, get a contract in place.  If you are going to slave over work of any type on a game project,  make sure the terms for getting paid are agreed upon up front and put in writing, not an open ended agreement, they never work, ever.  They ruin your day and make best friends into mortal enemies, yada yada yada.  Don't do it.  Secondly make sure the project you are involving yourself in is viable for the crew that is working on it.  Two modelers and a coder cannot make an AAA title no matter how good their idea or how bad they want to, or how great they tell you they are.  It cannot be done.  Make sure that the team is in place and meets the scale of the project being discussed in a real and quantifiable way, otherwise you can easily end up doing a year of work and seeing everyone burn out and run away screaming!  It's better to make a kick ass small game that can be finished than trying to make a crazy huge game with no budget and millions of man hours involved that will never get finished nor see the light of day.  If the talk is big and the crew is small and inexperienced, might be better to limit the amount of work you offer on said project until you have confidence that real progress is being made.  Stay away from the three G's (God's Gift to Gaming) they know everything, are inflexible as hell, and never get anything done but talking about the great game they're gonna build.   Next, it's okay to be friendly with the crew, but remember even though we are artists, we are all collaborating with an end goal of making money on a game project.  Don't let someone who is charming, charm you into doing all of the work or even a lot of the work, while they exist under the guise of being the 'administrator' and contribute next to nothing. Next it is very important to always make sure that there is a solid game plan in place before anything is painted, designed, modeled, or coded.  This is a step that many games being developed independently just decide to skip, instead just 'winging' it.  Dumb move and in the end the little bit of work and delay of instant gratification up front would have saved you hundreds of man hours during the course of the project.  Planning is crucial for so many reasons that I don't have space to list them here.  You also need to make sure that your art style fits with the game project or you will constantly be frustrated when your efforts aren't well received by the crew-this includes being flexible enough on your part to design within the described parameters of said project and not designing over the heads of your teams.  If you design stuff that won't work with your engine or is way too difficult for your modelers then you are doing a poor job, even if the art rocks.  Last but not least make sure that if you aren't getting paid up front that the project isn't stressful, these are the projects you work on for fun, in lieu of cash up front.  I'll take grief on a cash project, but if I'm feeling the heat on a project where I'm taking a risk of not getting paid, or won't see any compensation for a year or two then I better be having a good time.  If people are spending their imaginary currency up front with you and acting like a boss on a paying project or acting like you should be treating their project like a job when they aren't paying you anything and may never end up paying you anything, well it's your choice whether or not you want to exist like that.  I for one will not.  Those are the projects I work on for fun or for personal interest in said project.  I don't work on them to make believe I have a tyrannical boss or deadlines, or anything of the sort.  I won't put up with the headaches, and feel that when the situation starts to swing that way that the people who begin to get it in their head that they can act like the head of a game studio with no monetary investment up front are simply kidding themselves and have lost touch with the reality of their situation, and that generally ends up severely dampening morale all around on a project and you then see people start to meander away or outright run.  I personally like to remind the group or individual of the reality of the situation and see if it helps, but sometimes you just have to walk away.  To be honest your better of being realistic than remaining in a stressful, non-paying and bad situation getting worse.  It in the end is a judgement call and every situation is unique but keep it real with yourself and never let anyone tell you that their circumstances are more important than yours.  A game must be a collaborative effort and if you're not feeling it, then best to walk away graciously and look for a situation better suited to you and your goals as an artist.  I hope my perspectives on this are helpful to you when considering whether or not to get into an indy project.  Best Wishes!

D

First on the box.....

Flippedbox Studios has a new FPS in the works.  I'm proud to say I'm doing a bit of concept design on their project in addition to the other projects I'm involved in.  I wanted to share the first piece I finished for them.  Enjoy!