New fast and furious concept environment. Urban Plateau

No not from those silly movies, although Vin Diesel is always awesome. I've been seeing some artist that I love do this so I wanted to give it a try and see why because frankly I've been getting really turned on by the hard edged and hard lit look of these paintings. For this environment concept I only used the custom shape tool and the line tool. No brushes at all. It took me about a hour to get to this point. Very pleased and had a lot of fun doing it. IF you dig that hard edged, kind of graphic look, you might want to give this a whirl.

Enjoy! D

New Painting-'Amaranthine'

Some space art did in my spare time.....Hope you Like it! D

I know it can be frustrating but If somebody doesn't hire you, don't feel bad.....

Keep going...Work hard...Get really good...and make them regret it someday big time... D

Sometimes it's easy to feel.....

Well to put it bluntly, like your are going nowhere fast as an artist. Maybe like you don't measure up, or your missing something. Maybe you feel like you aren't getting noticed and it frustrates you. I've felt all of these things and many more. It's easy as an artist today to let the doubts creep in. We exist in a digital realm where everyone out there seems to be an artist. Good, bad and ugly, you name it. It's out there. There are a lot of great artists who don't sell very much or any work simply because they aren't getting noticed. It is so easy to put your work out there that so many people are at present. We have all become needles in haystacks. You can paint your ass off, and still get barely noticed. A lot of this isn't your art, but rather how you are presenting it and more times than not, where. I've had pieces of art get no play on one website, and get overwhelming applause on another. Every website attracts it's own flavor of consumer. one of the biggest mistakes is to exhibit where other artists exhibit. Talk about fish in a pond. You have to your own thing in your own place, otherwise you just end up getting passed by for no other reason than numbers. Deviant art, fineartamerica, etc these are great places and great communities but don't rely on them for a second to sell your art. That will just frustrate you. People in those places are so overhwlemed with art and artists, they simply default to finding names they know, or picking out the first random painting they see to by. It is essential these days to have your own website, and more importantly to paint your own way, in your own style. Copying will get you shuffled to the back of the deck and unless you have something individual to offer the world at large, you won't find success as an artist, because nothing will ever set you apart. Subconsciously people will look at your work and say hmm, I think I've seen that before, or that looks just like so and so and he's famous, and you're not so I'll just go check out what so and so has to offer. Wow people with your individual style and creativity. paint along your own path. Walk your own road, however you say it. Quit reading tutorial and paint and draw, there is no substitute and failure only helps you learn faster. It's honestly one of the best teachers out there. Everyone you respect found their artistic voice through failure. Ask them, and they will tell you. Failure is a misnomer anyway. It's just something that didn't work as expected. As long as you learn from it, you're good. In terms of selling artwork. Try to think about the ways people aren't selling artwork these days and pursue them, it automatically makes you stand out. Schedule gallery appointments in person. Too many people only do the email and internet thing these days. You have to get out there and talk to people. Go to art fair, exhibit. Go to the cons in your region and get a booth. It gets your name out there. Art is no different than any other business and the same marketing strategies apply. No businessman ever got rich or even made a living sitting in his bedroom or home office. You might sell some work that way, but not nearly as much as you could by getting out there and meeting people. Don't get discouraged by the way the climate is today, buck the trends and get moving. You will find your way. It might take time and effort but nobody ever said doing what you love would be easy. Best Wishes and Luck to you all! D

Please check your pups' food....

About 6 years ago We rescued a wonderful little Siberian Huskie/Aussie Shep mix at a no kill shelter in Lolo, MT. Her name was Freya, and she was about the most wonderful little dog you could ever ask for. One day last month my wife noticed that she had a swollen abdomen. We had never detected anything wrong with her and she was always really healthy. We were naturally concerned and took her to the vet. Two days later she was in surgery and unfortunately didn't make it. She had a large splenic tumor and it was unremoveable without being fatal. The vet tried really hard but he couldn't save her. After her untimely departure, I started researching common causes of splenic cancer in dogs and found out that a really common ingredient, that is in a lot of dog food, is known to be carcinogenic and is used anyway. Hell it's even in human food! It is an additive called BHT or a newer additive called BHA. It is used to preserve fats and is a sort of antioxidant. We found a brand of dog food that doesn't contain it and won't ever feed it to our other dogs. We just don't want anyone else to go through a loss like we just did, simply because we didn't know that our poor girl's food contained a cancer causing additive. Rachel Ray's natural line of pet food doesn't have it in it, in case anyone needs a readily available dog food free of dangerous additives.

New space paintings

3 new space paintings I wanted to share. Enjoy. D

Winnie the Pooh

My daughter took ill in her first week of Kindergarten, so she had to stay home on Friday. Daddy painted this to cheer her up.

Printed it out A4 while she was napping and put it up in her room. It was a hit. She's well on her way to top kid form again! All the best D, Sometimes it's just cool to do something like this and not always work on 'work'. Made me feel great that I could just do something small to brighten her day so much when she was feeling down.

New 'PYROKLAST' Concept Art.

What great painting is to moi...

Great painting is not just copying reality. Really the art form is all about embellishing and improving upon what is in front of you. How you do that and the choices you make while depicting a subject defines you as an artist. Learn from reality and then improve upon it. Like Jazz, having a good foundation is essential so you can then jump on stage and improvise into the realm of the fantastic. I've always loved the way really good cartoonists can do this by simplifying and reinterpreting their subjects. The art is really in how they stylize things. When done right in paintings, or drawings, it's something to behold. D

New 'Bladespell' concept art

Stephen Martiniere's Trajectory!

I finally got it. I preordered it like 6 months ago and it showed up kind of after I had forgotten about it. Man was it ever worth the wait. I own all of his books and to be honest they just keep getting better. Trajectory has more of a breadth of different types of work that I've seen in his previous books. There are some sketches and cartoon characters and the like in there, but they are all really cool and worth checking out. The paintings, as always are amazing. Stephen is like everyone's deep dark secret. So many people in the concept design industry are so heavily influenced by his work, to a degree that I think makes some folks actually reluctant to admit it. He's just so good at what he does that when you see his paintings you simply cannot help being influenced by him. I mean when I grow up I want to paint like this guy! His imagination is vivid and his design language is able to convey it better than most. You can tell he's not winging it, he's just talented as hell. I would highly recommend picking up his latest book if you want to some heavy inspiration, or any or his books for that matter. Like I said I own all of them and can never say enough about how inspirational he is to me. I hope in the near future I can break away from work to actually attend one of his workshops. If you ever get the chance take it. For now get his books and see what I'm talking about. All the best cats! D

Couple of new paintings I wanted to share. Enjoy! D

Homemade Impasto Oil Paint Medium

Homemade Impasto Oil Paint Medium If you paint with knives, a medium is almost a must. I got tired of buying it, so I hunted around and found this initial recipe on http://bamberos.wordpress.com/. A cool artists's site, you should check it out. An impasto wax medium for oil paint can be made by slowly melting 2 parts white beeswax into 1 parts linseed oil. A block of wax at Micheal’s will cost you about 20.00 bucks, and try not to get the fake wax that’s cheaper, no paraffin, no micro-crystalline – simply because usually synthetics don’t mix well with natural oils. I do this on a cheap hot plate outside or in the garage but it can be done indoors if you don't have any other place to do it. *premeasure your wax and oil at least approximately before you start I have a small old double boiler for doing this obtained at a yard sale, but if you don't then you can do it as outlined below. 1. Use a small pot, fill 3/4 with water-just fill it enough that you won't be boiling all the water away within 20-30 minutes. 2. Place a tin coffee can inside, or any small metal container, it wont spill if your pot is small. 3. Pour your linseed oil before the water begins to boil. Open up the windows for ventilation as the linseed oil smell will get really strong. When the oil starts to get hot enough to melt the wax, ***don’t try to get the oil to boil***, ad some wax. 4. Slowly place small pieces about what you think is double the amount of linseed oil, into the oil until all the wax is melted or about 20 minutes. The wax will seem to disappear into the oil. Stir thoroughly until the wax melts away, you will not see the linseed oil change color or get thicker. 5. Turn off stove. Carefully remove the pot from the stove with cooking gloves or a pair of pliers and place it outside, or in the fridge after it cools a bit. This way the mix can cool faster. It takes about 20 mins to cool the mix down. The final consistency should be similar to lard in thickness and look. If the mixture is too hard or too oily, reheat and add more wax or oil. This will keep longer in a tube. If I don't have any large blank tubes on hand to load, I store the oil mix in the same tin can with the plastic lid and scoop out globs as needed. I've found that by using a softer mix with more oil you get a bit more gloss out of using this than by making it hard with more wax. You can vary the matte to gloss result by adding slightly more oil for gloss, or wax for matte. Be subtle with you variances too much wax won't work well, and too much oil doesn't work well either. I hope this is helpful to anyone who is having a hard time finding a good affordable impasto medium for oil painting. I've also used yellow beeswax for this and found the result to impart a very nice rich result that is almost unifying while using it in a painting. The small bit of yellow gives a little extra warmth and richness to the colors of your painting. Try the different bees-waxes and find out what works for you. I get my wax from ebay and it's quite cheap so no harm at all to play with. I mix this on my palette about 1/3 medium to 2/3 mixed oil color but you can add more to give translucency to certain colors for cool effects. Again you have to play with it. I keep a gob of the medium on my palette and then after mixing a color add the medium to the mixed color and proceed to lay it on. Have fun with this! D

I think Twitter is a passive aggressives' paradise.....

You are supposed to use it to participate in discussions, offer opinions, even to promote yourself right? I've noticed a nasty little trend as of late, people block you or unfollow you when you do these very things? Really? You can't take a little disagreement on your weak opinion? Seriously, you don't like it when ARTISTS post up art they want to share or sell? You don't want to be bothered with anyone else' opinions on anything? I've begun to feel like if you are dropping followers on twitter than you must be doing something right....Some people are only there just to hear themselves tweet, I swear it's true. Please don't intrude upon my Twitter kingdowm, I'm having my ego stroked here....I've been spending far less time there simply because the opinions I'm reading are are almost pointless and these folks have like a million followers. I mean you either get the sheep, if you are known for something on Twitter or the impossible people, if you are an everyday person? Take your pick. There is definitely a paradigm forming up over there and personally I think it's just becoming a lame place to spend time. I've found artist groups on facebook and other places where like minded people go to comment on and inspire each other with work, and they are really positive and great places to spend time. If your curious, email me and ask and I'll tell you where they are. Unless Twitter gets this whole negativity and narcissism thing turned around I bet a lot more folks than I will be spending less and less time there. Remember what happened to Myspace years ago? It went lame past the point of no return and everyone just abandoned it overnight. I guess we'll see. D

Values within your paintings and drawings...They are a tool...So use them.

When people start out painting or drawings they learn about values. It's like art class 101. Tenets like value change = form change and what not are spewed at budding artists and then basically applied or in a loose way and then almost put out of mind. While the rule of values is used, most artists out there jump into color and use values in a way that is very secondary. I've always been moved by pencil drawings which are entirely dependent on value for their brilliance. I draw in pencil and marker a lot and do most of my value studies that way. Gray scale artwork even in painting is beautiful to me and I paint in gray scale a lot, even when doing a color piece I start that way and work in gray scale until I have the values and light locked in pretty well. The foundation of my work is value. Now when applying value within artwork the new student or budding artist often says I know value change equals form change but how to I know what values go where. While this comes from experience and application, it is also made easier by adopting the mindset that values are not placed within artwork to be correct with nature. Obviously we use nature's example as a guideline but when applying values and light within your work, they are used as a tool to help you describe, form, lighting, distance, depth, and even atmosphere. You use value, you don't let it dictate to you. One simple thing I began to do years ago was to, after getting a sketch or drawing down as a guide, I would use a neutral gray wash to knock the white back so that my painting started at a neutral point from which it was easy to block in the shadows and then the gross lighting without approaching the hot white point-which should be one of the last things you put in. Don't put in whites and full blacks too early, start gray and describe you forms out from there with subtle values or gradations and then put your whites and blacks in as needed. After yous values are set it is easy to add a base color wash over the top and then starting to add the colors within. The values can perspectives can be reinforced with color choices here and the entire painting is strengthened by color usage over the values. If the values are correct before the color is added, the color 'pass' is a relatively easy and short step because the thought work has mostly been done. By painting in value we are focusing entirely on painting light which is the foundation of all good painting, hence it's easier and better not to confuse things and focus purely on painting light before making color choices. So start with the lights off or dimmed within a painting apply light where it needs to go to tel your story and describe objects within the painting, then turn the lights on gradually finally add color. Eventually you'll get to the point when you can sometimes paint in color and use value effectively at the same time, but getting a good foundation in value usage first cannot be skipped as it will impart those foundation skills in painting pure light through the use of luminosity that you need to be experienced with before consolidating your processes together. I sometimes start in color, but mostly I still paint exclusively in value and then apply color both when working digitally or traditionally. Same principles apply no matter the medium. So go grab your value scales and light up you paintings in an expressive way, tell stories with light, and most importantly leads the viewers' eye with light within your work. By taking the extra step you will find that you paint in a more effective and even refined manner. Best Wishes! D

Drift Speeder Concept

A new 'Drift' Speeder concept I've been playing with. This is definitely a WIP but I wanted to share. All the best you guys! D

Digital painting Vs. Traditional Mediums...Why Choose?

Ah the age old question, at least digital age old anyway....For me this question is one you hear a lot. My answer is simple. There are upsides and downsides to both, and the favoring of one or the other depends on what your goals are with you painting. For me I paint both ways. some things I simply paint better on a canvas with brushes than with a Wacom tablet and a Pc. Some subjects I treat in the digital realm for much the same reason. Digital painting is just a style and a means to an end as is any other style of painting. The same rules and principles apply no matter your medium. Is digital easier? Not really nor is it faster(if you're doing it right). Sure if you do sketchy work which many digital artists tend to do, it is, but I find that because I can zoom in and rework an area, sometimes I paint it many times over which costs me time. I largely don't think about time when I paint but traditional painting forces you to plan and be decisive and therefor efficient. This is a great reason why you should paint with a brush and canvas at least some of the time. Digital painting cannot do everything a brush to canvas method can and vice-versa. One is neither superior to the other, they really are just different ways of working with similar principles. Sometimes when I paint digitally I force myself not to erase or use undo, which actually gives the digital piece a more energetic and painterly feel when finished. I really think that the digital tools can end up being a crutch, never forcing us to be better painters. When working digitally try to think like a painter and paint as you would on a canvas. This helps you become better just as you would if you were painting on a board or canvas, and progress as an artist is important, if you ever want to get to a masters level. Digital can save you some time, but at what cost? Taking the long road with your painting has so many benefits. Throw that clock out the window and enjoy your painting. Don't try to rush through or be consumed by the need to 'get fast'. There is no reason to paint fast. Instead focus on simply painting well. Get into the nuances of your paintings and really jump in there and love the creation. Don't let it blur by or you'll end up not getting anything out of it. Hope this perspective is helpful to anyone who might be asking these questions or who wants to try out different ways to paint. Try them all, life is too short not to. Best Wishes. D

Why you should not use photos except to save time.

If you use photos for texturing, there is certainly nothing wrong with it, and using textures in a creative way is really an artform all its own. With that said, though, there is a real downside to using photographs within your work. Art is largely about identifying and translating shapes from nature or reference or wherever to the canvas be it digital or traditional. Learning to identify shapes, edge types, and the way light behaves is the foundation of good art. When you use photos you skip this vital learning process and just slap a texture in, and voila a few tweaks some clever blending and you're done. This does not help you the next time you want to paint something similar or add to your toolbox in terms of recognition and draftsmanship within your paintings or drawings. When doing concept art sometimes we simply don't have the time to paint everything and are even asked to use photos. So in that sense you don't have a choice but in the context of painting and getting better at painting, it is essential that you know how to paint a texture before using a photo to save time. Don't use a texture that you cannot paint. Also before you texture your values and forms should really be indicated. Relying on photos instead of learning to paint will only help you stay in the mediocre realm of painting. If you want to get truly great, you must learn to indicate and that is a heavily personal process, and almost can't be taught. You have to figure out how to transpose shapes and textures from one place to another. It is a mental process that is all your own. Digitally custom brushes can help, but you really should be able do most things with a regular round brush. We all have a tendency to use a lot of custom brushes, but in my experience looking at painters that I love, most of them use a small set of brushes based on the basics, whether in Photoshop or whatever software. They simply learned to paint, just as someone who paints on a canvas. The trick and the quickest way to mastery in painting is study and learning to indicate what you see. Tricks and shortcuts will hinder you and really force you to take the long way around. Use them to save time on a job if you need to, but really devote time and yourself to learning to actually paint. When you can paint anything you have no limits or crutches, and can be fearless and really get playful with your art. People will notice. Best Wishes and in the words of Bob Ross....Happy Painting..... D

An observation about contemporary art instruction and why you should paint instead of read books....

Just and observation but I find that way too maqny people that write about painting and make videos about painting can't paint? There are a lot of great artists out there making instructional material, and bless them! I'm just wondering how in the hell you get published with a how to paint book that looks like it was made by a 7 year old art class dropout? This brought to mind the usefulness of books and videos on painting. Personally I never read much on how to paint I just study paintings and photography that I like. Learning to break down good paintings and photography will teach you more than those step by steps for lames, by lames any day, all they teach you is to copy. Just learn to use your eyes and slow down and look around and you'll be way ahead of the game. You'll see the world in a different way and paint a lot better than anyone you know. It's actually quite simple, which is why people overlook it. Painting doesn't have to be complex. You just have to understand what moves you in order to find your direction. I'm a big fan of the Hudson river and Ashcan school painters. My personal taste runs to 19th century American painters more than European, and old masters to me are just f'n boring, sorry. Some impressionist work is okay, but to me most were sketches that were never realized to their full potential. Photography I just love and don't care who took the photos. Good in that respect is just good and well worth the time to study. You are studying light and the way it behaves in relation to material, distance, or atmosphere. I took painting classes when I was young and they gave me a good foundation, but I don't consider them necessary. Painting is an individual journey. You have to find your own way and solve your own problems, devise solutions to common ones and move forward in your own way toward your own goals. That's what it really is all about. The way someone else paints is often times clever but rarely do another's techniques work into your own style. A lot of what you end up learning is simply common sense or stuff you already know. Learn to see, and appreciate, then paint! Don't be afraid to fail, because you can't. You might waste a canvas or some time, etc, but you will learn and progress toward becoming the amazing painter you know you can be. Best Wishes! D

Happy 4th of July!

Please be safe and have a great holiday! Much Love from yours truly! D

Do you sketch a lot?

Good, bad, great, or ugly...Doesn't matter, if you aren't sketching you ass off, guess what, the next guy is! He's also painting while you sleep, but that's entirely another story! Sketching is important in so many ways. You really need to be exploring, trying new things, taking chances, getting outside of your comfort zone,etc, in a space that's all your own and just for you. A sketchbook is the perfect tool. Sketch on the phone, at the table, wherever you are, in the car, on a plane, etc. Just like a jazz musician who practices all the time and then can jump on stage and improv like he's got the mad gift, sketching helps you develop your 'riffs' and solve problems in your paintings and finished drawings before they ever come up. If you sketch a lot it works your visual memory, hand eye coordination, indication skills, etc. You have happy accidents that lead to revelations and every one of those just helps you build a really convincing style all your own. There is no substitute, so go get some cheap or expensive ones, make one, whatever and start burning through sketchbooks. One more point relevant to now, is some perspective employers both freelance and in studios will want to see sketches from your books or they won't even consider hiring you. I think the credibility factor that having a lot of sketches to show is also a plus in this way. Personally I sketch over coffee every morning and at night before going to sleep. It's a routine I've gotten into and it really is helpful in so many ways(I will not bore you by listing any more here than I have!) It's just fundamental to keeping sharp and getting better. Start now, today, don't put it off or discount it. Sketch! Thanks for tuning in! D If you want to sketch more and get critique from a great group of artists, join the Facebook 'Speedpainting' group hosted by one of my favorite artists Alex Ruiz. People are overwhelmingly positive over there and Alex is so cool and comments on the sketches and quick paintings all the time. It's also just plain fun and forces you to sketch and do color sketches more and more. I'm over there along with about 150 others. It's a blast, so please come, say hello, join up and share.

Don't get discouraged....Keep trying

I do sometimes, in fact every artist does from time to time. IT's easy to do, and also to think that even though you are working very hard, constantly improving, etc that you are coming up short in some way compared to others. You are not! The single biggest challenge these days is getting our work seen by others. There are so many artists online it's easy to get lost in the fray. It's also tougher than ever to break in. These days people who view art are largely viewing the artwork of people who's names they have heard or already know. That's normal. For someone trying to sell art, or get a job in the arts, it's a bit of an uphill climb. I have yet to find anyone with any kind of reasonable advice on how to get noticed. I think that's because it is different for everyone, everywhere. It's so subjective in terms of where you display your work, what type of work you do, your skill level, etc. There is certainly no magic button, even though there are services that claim to be one. I put no stock in it. One thing I do know is that in order to succeed you must do one thing above all else...Stay in the game! Don't get fed up, don't quit, don't go off and do something else. Keep at it, keep pushing, keep hawking, keep painting, keep drawing, and keep improving. Eventually you'll get somewhere. It might not be where you want to go today, but someone will see your work and it will resonate with them, and they will tell others, who will in turn tell others, etc. Don't go off on tangents either. I see a lot of artists out there giving stuff away like tutorials, and brushes, etc in an attempt to get people to see their work. This is fine and their is nothing wrong with it, but in a professional sense you gain very little by giving stuff away and you are attracting artists to your work that are on a skill level most likely below your own. If you have a need to give back, or what not, then by all means throw out a bone when you have the time, but your focus should be doing the best quality artwork in your chosen area, that you can. Don't do any type of work for free, people by and large just suck it up without even a thank you, which will just frustrate you further. When I was an animator years ago I was told by a much older and experienced animator that one of the keys to success is to never work for free. He had a variety or reasons he imparted to me as to why, and his advice always stuck with me. If you know you are good and just aren't getting the hits don't force it. Keep improving and focus on the craft of painting, drawing, modeling, sculpting, etc because that is what will eventually get you noticed by the right people. Apply for jobs in your chosen field. Even apply for jobs you have no chance of getting. It gets your name out there and into the perspective employee pools and yes people do remember if they see your name enough. Do your best work all the time and study in order to get better. The answer is almost always more work. Nobody ever said art was easy, and yes I realize that years ago it was indeed a little easier to break in when the jobs that are standard today weren't really clearly defined in the industry, but today and tomorrow is the world we live in. Yesterday is old news and no use lamenting over that. You have something truly great to offer because you're you, and you are a unique individual with unique influences and experiences to draw from. You have amazing things to show people and can really contribute to the area that you want to work in as a professional artist. If your artwork hasn't been seen by enough people in your chosen industry then they just don't know it yet. Ask for critiques from artists you respect and art directors you'd like to work with, don't be shy. Even if they don't have the time they will still respect you for taking the initiative. Remember fans are great but having your work viewed by a million people is just as useless as having it viewed by one if they are all the wrong people, it's just ego validation. Don't search our validation, search out criticism, it's much more useful and will make you a better artist. Sure it's cool to have 3 of 4K views on a piece of artwork, but having someone who is a true industry pro tell you how they think you can improve, even in short, is so much more valuable! So it boils down to don't stop trying, don't be shy about asking, embrace the critiques from respected sources, and keep trying, don't take or pay for shortcuts, don't ever quit. You will get somewhere if you truly believe that you have the talent to do so. Smile, you're well on your way to being the next big thing! All the best! D

One tip to paint or draw better and get your work noticed...

Embrace yourself and the truly unique sphere of experiences and influences you have amassed over your lifetime. Draw your inspiration from everything that resonates within yourself and your work will be like nobody else'. Don't follow trends, make unique and new ones from within and then you are setting them instead of existing behind the curve. Your vision is, simply put, valid, as valid as any other artist out there. You just have to be confident in yourself and what you have to show the world. Don't ever try to paint or draw like anyone else, it's a waste of time. You can truly only draw and paint like yourself, and thank goodness, or painting would simply be a waste of time. You can learn theories, tips and tricks from others, but the core of your work must come from within you in order for it to be truly genuine. Find out what really moves you and use that to make moving artwork.....All the Best! D

What kind of artist are you?

Personally it varies daily for me, but I realize that there are folks that specialize in one or a few types of art, and that is what they focus on. For me that has never worked. I tried it years ago when I followed some poor advice, and it really burned me out fast. I love doing concept art and design but I never wanted to just do that. I've always stated that I'm a painter and I hold to it. Some days I just want to get my Bob Ross afro out and hit a canvas hard, other days I want to design a cool sci-fi environment or a mecha, other days still I'm doodling with a pencil. I have tons of respect for a very well known illustrator, etc from MI named Matt Busch. He always stated as advice he'd give to anyone who is coming up or trying to get into this business that you shouldn't limit yourself. Why do one thing? Do everything. Life's too short not to try. I have so many things I'm passionate about that I find myself doing a number of projects in different mediums at any given time. Laser focus might work for some artists, but it never has for me. I also think that when you step away from one project and work on another for awhile, especially in a different medium, that when you come back you have fresh eyes and a reinvigorated approach. I find that since I started doing this that my work on all fronts has really improved and become much more dynamic, rather than forced. Admittedly I have produced a number of forced paintings and illustrations in the past. I'm sure I crank out one or two here and there even now. Working in the way I describe though has really helped me, and I think that anyone who might be in a rut, or feels like they are running into walls while working really hard might want to give it a try. Best Wishes and Luck in your creation! D

Arrival of the Inquisitor at Gate To Heaven

A fantasy piece I just finished. D

What R U Reading?

I don't know about you but I read a lot, apart from being enjoyable to me, I find that reading really exercises my imagination and my visualization skills. As an artist this is extremely helpful. I'm always curious about great books in the sci fi or fantasy realms. My tip for anyone that hasn't yet, is to grab any book by Peter Hamilton and dive in. I've read about half a dozen of his books as of late and just can't get enough. Really deep well developed stories that are long and suck you in deep. I started with Pandora's Star and recommend it as a great starting point to that arc of his writing. I think that book cal sell anyone on his prolific talents, but others like Fallen Dragon, or the Great North road are standalone works by Mr. Hamilton that are also really engaging! If you've had any fortune in already having read Peter Hamilton and have any recommendations that I haven't mentioned a good ones to start with, then please comment so both I and the blog readers will know. Best Wishes! Happy reading, imagining and visualizing! IIId

Hey Dad's....Happy fathers day.....

Didn't know if anybody told you guys.....Hope it's a good one for all. IIId

An observation about downloading artwork.

I've never had any kind of issue with people downloading my work, except in the extremely rare instance that said individual uses it for their own profit or gain without permission, or passes it off as their own. Both have certainly happened to me, and I'm certain to many others artists out there as well. It's simply the way of the digital world we live in, sometimes, and in that respect you take the good with the bad. Enough said. I did have a curious thought about downloading artwork by artists who's work you admire. I feel that if you are going to download a piece of artwork and use it in any fashion, you should at least comment on the work and tell the artist why you are downloading it, or what you at least love or hate about it. I get quite a few downloads on my work with no comment at all, and it always strikes me as odd. Good enough to download, but not to comment on? I for one love hearing feedback as I'm sure most artists do, so hey if you are going to download somebody's work then please drop them a line with your thoughts on what they do. Simple. IIId

Outrunning Apocalypse...

Tokyo Hit Sisters

Tokyo Hit Sisters-aka-Never Saw it Comin...from the project of the same name.....

New One

Asteroid Planet Run

Better composition in concept art....

Many artists will tell you, and rightly so, that you should study and break down good paintings by artists you love, to understand the structure of their paintings, and give you a better insight for various solutions artists employ within their work. This is very useful in helping you gain a repertoire of solutions in your own vocabulary as an artist or student. I do it and find it very helpful. In addition to this method though I've found out that when I look at really good photography, I actually find it even more helpful. As concept artists we are largely focused on cinematic imagery anyway so studying how various photographs are composed is really to the point. The camera angle of the photgraph helps you visualize yours when starting an image and I believe thinking about the camera angle up front really gets you in the right mindset to start a strong image. I don't perceive paintings the same way that I do photographs, often times the painting can be a distraction in this fashion, sometimes simply because we marvel at how awesome the other artists'work may be, I personally marvel the technique and details in paintings I love, and that can be a big distraction when you are trying to decipher a good composition. Photographs are a bit more mechanical and somewhat more logical to me so I think I interpret them better 'structurally' I think that you should study both ans see what is more helpful to you. I know for a long time I really didn't get what I was looking for in paintings and had a hard time breaking them down, and that when I by chance tried it with photographs I learned then about image structure and then it was miraculously easy to see what I was looking for in paintings by artists I liked. I also primarily work in film resolution image formats. In the end I guess it's whatever works for you, but I've always found this helpful and wanted to share in case anyone's out there struggling with it. All the Best! IIId Just an example photo I like, easy to decipher composition and mood lighting

Caelum Urbem-New Space Painting

Thought I'd share this one...it was done for a personal project.....Enjoy IIId

The Sad Decline of Animation....

I would put forth a very profound claim that animation while not invented in America was indeed nearly perfected here. We owe this largely to the Walt Disney Company of old, certainly not the new. Over decades they built up what was to become the finest study of hand drawn and traditional animation to be found in the world. Yes I'm a fan of Ghibli as well, but they admittedly came much later and were influenced heavily by Disney. Then one day a new train came to town. Pixar. Love em, hate em, they were what people were looking for at the time and something new and fun, so they thrived. I for one thought that the cg animation world could happily coexist alongside the long standing tradition of 2d animation. Back then my goal was to indeed become a 2d animator. In a short time, shorter than I would have ever expected me and a lot of other 2d animation hopefuls would see Disney and others gut their 2d houses in favor of cheaper, faster and easier to produce cg. I have nothing against CG animation-other than it is a severely limited tool, and is lacking in expression compared to hand drawn animation. I enjoy some of it, but for it to have replaced 2d outright in my mind is simply awful. I know most cg animators will tell you that cg is only a tool and the process is still the same. In ways they are quite correct, but I've yet to see a cg animated feature achieve the same brilliance and richness or their 2d counterparts. Plus to see possibly the most perfected and deep knowledge of 2d animation, a legacy of the original Disney studio just be thrown away in favor of pose to pose cg animation should really raise eyebrows, and I'm sure it does for a lot of people. Unfortunately the move towards cg was mainly to appease the stock market cats that are funding our glorious cinematic enterprise these days. They want profit and will only invest in sure things or at least things they think will be surely make them some money. Long gone are the days of Walt financing movies at the bank and staying true to his vision. It's why in cinema as a whole we are bombarded with sequels, pop movies, and the same old thing over and over again. This is especially true for animation. We just keep seeing everyone's movies starting to look the same. Overloaded with useless and jittery secondary movement and packed with stupid cliches and fad one liners. It is becoming very homogeneous out there and we are seeing another alarming trend. Our animation jobs for the sake of profit are being shipped overseas. I know these days everything is made in China, but not animation too? It's not because they are better at it. We have the best lot of animators in the world, rivaled only by the Japanese, right here at home. Instead of paying them a living wage and making a little less profit, our talented people have been replaced by computers or sweatshop animation studios run out of ghetto apartments overseas. The craft is suffering as any does when the focus becomes pure profit rather than great people working collectively to tell great stories, where profit is a welcome bi-product allowing them to do it again. It is sad to me that Disney has become so focused on profit and media mongering that it has actually forgotten how it became what it is today. I have to have faith that 2D will come back. I think people are already souring on the the fact that there is no real Disney anymore, and that they just keep seeing the same old things out of the other big animation houses(I wholeheartedly exclude the stop motion houses like Aardman-I love what they do!). Hopefully sooner than later someone will get their shot at making a truly great animated feature in 2d and show the world at large what they've been missing. For now we'll just have to wait, but thanks to Hayao Miyazaki for coming out of retirement and making his latest film, due out in June of this year. I know I'll be watching it in Japanese with or without subs because I can't wait for it! All the best. IIId

Usage of Style

Use style as a tool, don't let it make you into one..... Don't let a personal style become a crutch or a fence or an excuse for drawing or painting wrong. You hear it all the time as a cover for a lot of bad artwork, 'Oh dude, that's just my style.' Each project deserves a fresh and different approach and possibly an entirely different drawing or painting style. To illustrate or draw every project in the same manner is not only doing the project a disservice, but yourself as an artist. Every new project is a chance to explore a new style or a twist on a old one. This sin't to say that having a good foundational set of skills isn't essential to produce compelling artwork, it is, but the style needs to work with the story and when it fails to do so it simply reads as disingenuous. Sometimes this happens in a non obvious way, but it still reads as wrong on some level. I've certainly been pages into a story and realized that I was drawing it wrong and had to chuck pages, but for me that's the right decision. I'd rather throw away and start fresh than try to fix that which is unfix-able due to a lack of forethought on my part. Sometimes tweaks can indeed be made but not always. I generally layout loosely and detail only what I'm sure about up front in case this sort of thing happens. It leaves me an out so that I don't have to commit to anything until the last minute. In this way I don't get too precious with my drawings up front by committing a bunch of detail to the page that I'm reluctant to toss out. Draw light, redraw until it's right. I have also mentioned in the past that drawing individual panel layouts rather than pages can help in this process and is a very free approach to getting to the page as a whole. Then if a panel doesn't fit you don't have to trash a good page or mess with cutouts and glue, etc. Really look at what you are doing stylistically and try to relate it to the story objectively. Ask yourself the hard questions. Be critical, but not overly so. Just make sure you are holding yourself to a professional standard in your work and not ignoring obvious faux-pas in your work. Before undertaking any big drawing or painting project I sketch, a lot! I usually do a sketchbook full of quick characters sketches, story beats that I can envision, world areas that I find compelling, etc. This is research and while it seems like a lot of work, it's work that pays you back later with solutions for problems you will inevitably run into. After you initial research, once you find a style that works with the story, commit to it and run with it. Don't think about it after that, don't second guess it, just do it. Compartmentalize your steps and don't backtrack. This will help you get the project done and stay sane while doing it. You will undoubtedly make a few mistakes and what not, but no artistic effort is perfect, just try to learn all you can from each project and do better on the next! IIId

Eraseable ink!

My wife JAG gets full credit: I love sketching in ballpoint pen. I do most of my thumbnails and layouts with them. I can't even tell you any reason why, but for me they just work well. I use black or red, as the blue is useless and too close to black to separate in PS easily anyway. The other day my wife brought home eraseable ballpoints for me from one of her shopping forays. She thought I might like them. At first I eschewed the notion of using them at all, having remembered them from long long long ago in school when they didn't really erase or work very well. I must say that when I tried one at her urging I was blown away. The ink is great, the variation in line is better than in standard ballpoints I use. They flow really well and as long as you keep it clean the eraser does a good job. I know it's a freakin office implement! But the ones I have simply rock. I'm having fun like a kid sketching in eraseable ink! Just for the record I'm using black Erasermates by paper mate-supposedly the most erasable out there? I think you can even find them at dollar stores. Give them or similar ones a try if you are fond of sketching in ballpoint. I think you'll find them fun and enjoyable as well as great to produce sketch art with. After some more playing with these I might even try drawing a short story with them just to see if it's doable. IIId

Scratched up Intous Surface?

It's amazing that Wacom makes the Intuos line for professionals and supplies the tablets with a very cheap surface that scratches very easily even with regular nib replacement! I change my nibs all the time and still the scratches occur and always in the maddening spot where you draw all the time. This drove me nuts for about 6 months awhile back. Now they claim that the new sheets they sell are more opaque and better in this regard. Fine but they cost like 50 bucks! It's not that I can't afford it, but I find the price tag on a lot of wacom items a bit on the offensive side. So here's what. I found a cool tip online in a forum post that I wanted to share. The surface sheets are simply stuck in place but a thin strip of double stick tape at the top. Peel it up slowly and flip that sucker over. The backside is actually a tad bit rougher which I find to be a little more paper like and scratches a lot less easy. At worst you get two surface sheets out of every one you buy. Note: If you use hot buttons on your tablet this doesn't work for you as the label will all be in the wrong place and backwards, but for those of us that don't it rocks! Hope that is helpful to anyone with an annoying scratch in the middle of their Intuos! It saved me from going nuts! IIId

One important skill budding illustrators overlook....

When drawing anything narrative we all find or write things to work on while building our portfolios that we like. In some way the story we illustrate is enjoyable to us and inspires us to do our best work. Makes logical sense. Ok for portfolio building that's pretty much the way it's done and really should be. When however you get out into the real world and start landing freelance or jobs with publishers/agencies, the nature of stories you work on will be a bit different sometimes. Suddenly you are getting paid to work on stories that you can't alter and you have someone else who has never drawn a thing(sometimes)telling you how to change what you produced for them, in ways that suit them and not you, and not always for the better. Suddenly you are working on some pretty bad stories for money and have to make them look great which can be as painful and sitting in a dentist chair when he forgot the Novacaine. This is the skill you need to practice. Find bad scripts online(there are plenty of them if you search) draw them, and do your best to make them look stellar. It doesn't matter if you like or enjoy them or even if they end up in your portfolio. Do this for yourself to prepare yourself for dealing with the inevitable, because you will be doing it sometimes when you are hired by someone else. Some publishers or writers will simply not budge on a bad story and sometimes, they are even right! Don't always draw in your comfort zone or chosen genre, search and seek out stories that challenge, broaden you and your artistic repertoire. This will help you become a more flexible and dynamic artist in term of the subject matter you can handle and allow you to engage clients from a much broader pool. I've found it worthwhile. For example being more of a sci-fi/fantasy guy I never wanted to draw superhero comics until I drew some, and even though I didn't particularly like the scripts I was drawing from, I found the end result to be something I really liked and learned a surprising amount doing them, which I think contributed to a healthy broadening of my illustrative horizons. Don't shy away from anything, new old, off the wall, draw it and spin it your way and see what you come up with. You'll surprise yourself and come out the other side a more competent and confident artist. Well friends that's all for now....until next time...same bat time...same bat channel.... IIId

Social media sites are great...but

We all love them and they are a part of our daily lives but there is certainly a catch to social media sites, that lies within their very nature. The fact that they are indeed social can easily and to your detriment suck you in. Interacting with fans and other artists is a great way to keep up with trends and build a following but spending too much time on such sites is simply not productive. If you are wasting time promoting your old work, chances are you're failing to produce new work at a rate on par with the thousands of people out there you are competing with in the freelance arena. Make sure to budget your time on social sites and spend more time working than the next guy and you'll be much farther ahead. In today's world work ethic separates the men from the boys, or girls.....Remember work speaks volumes over tweets. IIId

To all you moms out there!

Happy mother's day! We know it's not always easy and you might not always feel appreciated, but today is the day when we celebrate the wonders of the universe that are mom's. Thanks so much for all you do! You're the greatest! IIId and Co.

You can learn a lot by......

Tracing.....A ton of great artists out there learned a ton by tracing comics they loved or from photos. Trace first so you can almost mindlessly break down how the artists did what they did, then draw it from reference, then draw it from memory. Might seem like a big commitment but it will help you memorize skills you'll be able to incorporate int your own style for the rest of your life. Just a tip. I DO NOT condone tracing work and passing it off as your own, but used properly it can be a fantastic learning tool. For all of you that struggle with drawing backgrounds, it's a great way to learn that skill as well. Find backgrounds you like in comics or just convert photos of scenes you like into black and white(or grayscale) and figure out how to indicate the various areas with a pencil. It's not cheating. In another post I'll outline how some artists base their entire style on tracing. All the best! IIId

This is the inital dev sketch for'The Ripper' Character from one of my upcoming comics. He's not quite finalized but I wanted to share some of my wip's on this one as it comes together.

Overcoming comic penciling anxiety-at least for personal work......

Let's face it, a lot of folks have a real fear of a blank white piece of Bristol board. Too many erasures, or the wrong layout and you end up wasting what is comparatively and expensive piece of drawing media compared to a piece of paper-but you can't use paper because it simply doesn't hold up to high detai penciling and especially not to inking. Well if you are penciling or inking on your own project I have an easy solution. I started using card stock from the office supply store which has the same weight as bristol board and a nice plate smooth surface. It isn't bristol, but it holds up to penciling and ink well, and even to marker. I've only found it in letter size which means you can pencil manga pages with no problem on it, or if you work in that size for your comics, but I normally use a3 boards which are quite a bit bigger. What I do is separate my panels onto different sheets and then re composite the inked panels in photoshop(you can use any basic image editing program to do this)Sometimes this results in a really fresh and vibrant page and I've found that doing it simply for a change of pace in how I normally work, is sometimes a really good thing, plus 150-200 sheets of this card stock runs about 5 bucks so you can afford to use it like cheap copy paper with no worries about messing a piece up. Plus if you mess a panel up you don't have to trash a page of mess with cutting and pasting cutout panel together. I use messed up chunks to roll tortillons, make paper airplanes, origami, or let my daughter have them for coloring pages! It is available at walmart, staples, office depot, etc. Easy to get and guilt free cheap to use. As I said for self publishing or personal work it's great, if are working for a publisher then you have to of course use their required boards and deal with the heavy anxiety of big blank pages with blue lines, but more about how to deal with that later. All the best! IIId

Don't call it anything....Do what you love.

As an artist first and foremost you have to do what you love to do. I know this might sound a tad contrite and I'm sure you may have heard it before, but I think in today's marketplace it is a really important fact that many artists out there are overlooking. So many people label themselves as this type of artist or that type of artist. I certainly denote what I feel my strongest areas are professionally when asked about what type of artwork I produce, but I never limit myself to any style or type of artwork. This in short means I don't limit myself or snob off any jobs that sound interesting simply because they don't fit into the idyll of some set artistic persona I wish to convey to the rest of the digital world at large. Taking on new and interesting challenges is fun for me. I love working in different ways and on different stuff all the time and really the only artistic truth about me is that I'm an artist for hire. You see it all the time these days, there are for example 'concept artists' everywhere and most of them don't have any idea what a concept artist really is. I mean you can argue that every painting is a concept of something, right? So if you can paint, you can concept right? Not so....As a professional concept artist you have to be able to paint story beats, characters in many angles, environments, revisions, and then be able to extract elements out of any of these and explode them as any draftsman would. You also have to know intimately how to communicate mood through your work in many different ways. It's all very deliberate, and very required of you. Painting nice pictures is cool, but it's only a fraction of the job. Really 'concept artist' is almost a misnomer. Most concept artists working in the industry would be the first to tell anyone that what they do is much more design than art. While we all use artistic technique to get the job done, it's the real design choices that make it all really happen. I recently heard Chris Oatley say that 'people want to be concept artists because they love the concept of being an artist.' This really rings true and brings me to my ultimate point. You have to do what you love as an artist without labels, especially if you are just starting out because that passion for what you are producing will carry you through hard times, rejection and more importantly give your work a very genuine aspect that most people's just doesn't have. If you truly follow your personal inspirations and influences in your own way you can become great. Nobody ever got there by copying another's style or really more to the point, they perceive as another's style. Doing that will always make you second rate. You might produce good paintings, but there will always be something missing. Don't worry about how to get the phat paycheck job, followers online, or votes on pieces, etc. When you start really putting your heart and soul into your work in a true way, drawing upon the things that have moved you throughout your life, then your work will eventually attract people. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes not, but you will gain a genuine audience, unlike the fad followers who will come and go. There are no shortcuts to getting great other than the obvious one which is an insane amount of hard work and struggle to get there, but that is something that every artist who has gotten there has been through and had to rely on the love of their craft and belief in themselves to get through. It's something that most artists think they can avoid or take a class and skip over. Trust me Gnomon has no dvd out there that addresses that particular doldrum. You have to practice, paint and draw your way through it. Show your work and honestly look for critique rather than praise. Critique will teach you lessons, praise offers you far less in terms of making you better. I'd take a good honest critique, rather than empty praise any day, even though people saying nice things about your work is really nice. I really write these endless rants hoping that I can help others out there get over the humps and bumps of this digital artistic age we live in and I hope this one while rambling and long has helped you gain a little insight into following your own path as an artist and the rewards that ultimately entails. All the best! IIId

Wow thanks Displa.io!!!!

The folks over at displa.io.com were nice enough to ask us to showcase some of our artwork on their website which if you don't know is uber kewl! They print art prints on sheets of metal. As soon as I saw it I was all for it. We're still setting up our gallery area over there and adding newly selected pieces. We'll post the link when it's all up and running. These guys are delivering artwork from some great artists in a truly unique and fantastic way. IIId

Okay bad form game boy.....

You are a game professional who needs artwork, ah but you can't pay for it. A freelancer is nice enough to offer you their services, for which you are required to put forth nothing but some faith on a stick....maybe a small royalty check in two years time....Don't ask them for a resume you dope! Since when do people have to interview for free or royalty jobs to work with people who might be losers with a dream? Sorry I know this is a bit of a rant but I was asked recently third party to donate some artwork to help a new start-up get off the ground through a friend of the project who happens to be a friend of mine and when I asked them what they wanted me to produce for them, they actually started interviewing me. I told them they could see my demo reel and I quickly backed out of the whole thing and then sent an apology note to my friend who set the whole thing up. C'mon qualify to provide pro-bono or charity artwork? Not this popsicle! I think for some people the make believe game company thing goes right to their head. Too many stoned bedroom CEO's out there. I did tell them best of luck with their project though...thought that was nice. All the best cats! Remember stand up for yourselves! Only you know how much work you actually put into your artwork. There are lots of jokers out there that don't know and surely don't care. IIId

Kneeling Pixie

Sunday Pinup so I could blow off Mowing My Lawn!

How do you work?

Do you sit in a desk chair all day slumped, slouched, crunched or cramped? I used to, but haven't for about 2 years now. Sometimes I sit on a bar stool at my desk but rarely at all. Years ago I was gaining weight and feeling kind of poorly and it came to me. It was due to the fact that I was sitting in one place for over 8 hours a day. I mean anyone will tell you that is not a good thing and I know some would say but you can't draw any other way effectively. I used to agree. That was however because I simply didn't know any better. One day thought I had a thought. When I was a professional glass artist I worked long days standing up. In that profession it allows you to be more reflexive and mobile with large amounts of hot glass in your hands and also to get out of the way quick in the case of mishaps. When I painted traditionally I painted at an upright easel standing up. This forced me to rethink my computer desk. What If I raised the height to 42 inches? That's a good leaning height for a bar top so I thought it might work for a standing desk(now I'm only 5'7" so adjust your desk height accordingly). I did just that. I built new legs and lengthened the desk to accommodate all of my stuff. My experimental desk is still there and I'm still rockin it. I find that working while standing allows me to work not only faster but in a more decisive manner. The arm swing I'm allowed by standing makes full use of my big Intuos as well. I get better and cleaner lines with more flow, energy, and power. At the end of the day I feel better, and know I've actually burned a few calories while working rather than feeling stiff and cramped, while trying to unfold myself. I also seem to take quick walks away from my desk frequently which freshens up my eyes a lot and allows me to refine my work a lot more effectively without a ton of flipping, etc. I know most folks think it's nuts but it works well for me and I wanted to share it with others in the hopes that it might be a good working method for some of you out there. All the best! IIId

Redraw it!

The great Chris Oatley recently did a small article on this in his newsletter and I wanted to expand upon it and throw my 2 cents in: Time and time again you hear artists asking others about how to improve, or break out of a rut, etc, etc. For me the answer is simple and one I've certainly stated in other posts. Don't shy away from drawing, or redrawing! It's amazing how many or our commonly used digital tools and tricks are all aimed at avoiding drawing. Drawing is the foundation of great artwork and the #1 vehicle for improving upon the artwork we produced yesterday. If your drawing skills are not improving then neither is your artwork as a whole. It really is the key to great painting. Lately I find myself gravitating more and more towards simpler drawing programs that do not rely on tools for tweaking of transforming my drawings that indeed force me to redraw something if it is wrong. In this way I force myself to improve my draftsmanship and refine my hand/eye coordination at the same time resulting over time in a better understanding of ways to indicates various subjects within my own artwork. I know the free transform tools, warp, etc are very useful but they don'y help you improve much or help you improve upon basic skills. They are fast but they over time can become a crutch in the name of speed. I find that when I slow down a bit I'm much happier in my work and in the end more satisfied with the outcome of the finished pieces. Not preaching just expousing the virtues of drawing and redrawing for me as they relate to my own evolution as an artist and designer. Drawing either with a tablet, or a pencil for me is simply the foundation of what I do as an artist and relates to my entire process, start to finish. It is also the best way I find to really avoid pitfalls and big mistakes later on within your process. Like building a house. You work out the design on paper first and hence work out many of the inherent problems of your design up front and after that is done, you build your house with a clear understanding of the process you will use. Shortcuts on the initial steps might save you some time up front, but they will generally haunt you all the way through the project. Point? Don't shortcut on your drawing skills. Get really good at it and you'll find that you get really good at painting in general digital or traditional. All the best, and as Bob Ross would say....Happy Painting.... IIId

'The Machine'

What One Skill Do All Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed?

What One Skill Do All Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed?

Here's some great information that really applies to freelancing as well as entrepreneurship.  See no charge!

New Sci Fi painting

'The Transit Spaceport' Loved this and wanted to share!

New one

The Alien mine concept

The Orb Princess

I love doing pinups and anime girls when I have the time. Here's one I thought I'd share! Enjoy. IIID

Steam Flyers Update

We're making great progress on our neo-classic scrolling shooter 'Steam Flyers' right now. The new game-play framework is pretty much implemented and running smoothly. A lot of the new graphics and elements are being implemented. All in all the game is coming together great and should be up for testing and release soon. Check back for some sneak peeks and updates. IIID

Ace Pilots, Honor bound Ronin, and Post Apocalyptic Destruction It's a lot to handle...

Juggling the dev of three new games at the studio at present. Lots of work but it really feels good every night when you shut down and you've made solid progress on one or all of them. Moving forward on projects you are passionate about is really rewarding! These projects are ones I've wanted to do for awhile and I can't wait to show them off! I'll be posting shots/vids of WIP and game-play for each up here as we get deeper into each project. All the best! IIId

Painter or Photoshop?

I'm finding more and more that the answer is both. It's really convenient to run them side by side and utilize the tool sets in both, going back and forth. It's how I've been working a lot lately and I'm diggin on it immensely! Since PSD is a native format in painter it's no thing to move back and forth these days. I'll generally draw and sketch in painter and then move over to texturing and manipulating the image(s) in PS, then back to painter for the painterly finish with oils, effects or the like. This way I make use of the strengths of both pieces of software. Uber powerful workflow. Hope that answers that nagging question for ya's D

Not Exactly Seafood

It's always a bit unnerving when you're scuba diving and a herd of mechanized gulpers comes racing through...

There is no magic bullet, or magic beans, in freelancing...don't buy the hype.....

I recently saw a freelancer who was advertising that he could show other less adept freelancers 'the way to success' for a fee. He had various qualifying statements in his ad that all pointed to him being a rising success and for a (undisclosed amount on my part) fee, he would show others the way to riches and happiness as a freelancer. To me this kind of thing is simply symptomatic of some of what's wrong with the freelancing scene these days. First let me note that freelancing isn't easy for anyone. It's a choice you make or in some cases not. Mostly it is though, due to the freedom it provides. It's appealing in many ways but can be very difficult at times. Sometimes you'll spend more time hawking your work than actually working in a given month, and sometimes to no avail. Other times you end up working for wonderful people on a wonderful project. Now if you'll notice the word I used the most in that last little blurb, it was the word 'work' and yes it is the answer to all of your freelancing whoas. Work solves nearly every problem and since it's all on you as a freelancer, it can be overwhelming at times. Never the less, I've found that hard work is what ultimately sets those who succeed apart from those who don't. I don't just mean working at your art either. You have to network, a lot! You have to talk to people, and you have to get good at selling yourself, hit the forums, etc. If you can't or won't , then nobody will hire except the occasional noob, and they rarely pay or pay little. These days there is more competition than ever in our industry, and other art related fields, that also proves my point. Those who work hard and get the work done professionally, on time, and in a dignified and professional manner get repeat business and referrals. Those who don't, well, don't. What I don't like to see is anyone, trying to make it in this business, spending hard earned money, or money they don't have to hear someone tell you either what you can find on the internet for free, know by common sense, or what you already know, wrapped up as a magic bullet that only they know and for $$$$ will share with you, if you buy your way into the club. I mean in my mind the only reason I can see another freelancer doing something like this, is well that they probably aren't making enough money freelancing and feel like they are entitled to exploit others even less knowledgeable than them for a bit of side cash. It's only an opinion, but I've always felt that your drive and work ethic will keep you ahead of others in this game, and teaching what you can to others coming up is the way you give back, not the way you cash in. There will always be strata in this industry in relation to experience, creative ability, and drive, etc. Advice is given by most top end artists freely(you'd be surprised at how gracious some of them are). What they tend to sell, in the forms of books, dvd's etc, is technique, theory, or something equally valuable, not career advice. I've honestly never seen it done before running across the ad I did the other day. Don't be taken in by this sort of thing. You have to work hard, do your best work, and work every day to improve, and then do it again the next day. Network, and take paying jobs, any paying jobs, but do not work for free! I've said that before. It gets you nowhere. IF you are going to invest money in your career, make sure that it is a sound investment and that you are getting value for your money. Don't pay for advice or opinions on the industry they are already out of date by the time you listen to them. This is a rapidly evolving industry that changes daily, weekly and monthly. It's a constant, and if you can't deal with the swings of freelancing then you might want to just buckle down and get your portfolio polished up and look for an art department job somewhere. There are upsides and downsides to that arena as well, but the benefits and paycheck are nice. All in all I'm not preaching and you can do what you like with your funds but I mean freelancing in the arts isn't mysterious or rocket science. It's a lot of hard work albeit satisfying work. I just don't want to see people get taken in by others who are looking to offer them something that doesn't exist. There are no shortcuts to becoming a professional level artist and there are no magic methods to getting dream jobs. You have to grind it out on both accounts, and anyone trying to tell you otherwise isn't being honest with you, especially if they are charging you for said knowledge. Just work hard, stay positive, and show off work you truly believe in and you will get there. You may not even get to where you think you want to go today as an artist, but eventually you will get to where you are supposed to end up. I hope this is informative and a bit helpful in avoiding unfounded high hopes and unnecessary spending on your parts. All the best! IIID

New Show Reel for 2013

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