I got plans!

With my teaching contract with Interac ending in early March, I've decided to return to the UK for the summer, instead of re-contracting for another 7-12 month period from next September.  Teaching at my elementary schools have been incredibly enjoyable and the time has flown in, almost without me noticing it; only 5 weeks left! I'm glad I applied and got the chance to work here, but its not a job where I can work on my art after work or on weekends, most of my free time is spent getting enough sleep so that I can wake up early enough to get to my rural schools for 7am.

Thankfully I was able to recover the PSD file from an old backup of that GW2 piece at the top- I started it back in the summer and just got back to finishing it over the Xmas break

 This was for a Dragon Age codex illustration, the games have such a cool art style for the murals and wall art that I wanted to give it a go!

My sketchbook hasn't been entirely neglected either (but still not enough!)
 **Sketchdump incoming**

 I've been drawing out variations on these characters, which are developed versions of the "Monk" concepts from the Excelsior MA project. Looking at some of the art I submitted for that course, I can only be embarrassed of. So to Level Up! as it were, and to update my portfolio, I'm working up turn-arounds and character paints for these guys/gays/masked constructs/whatever they are.

Please check out my artstation profile and like anything that takes your fancy!

Life drawings & Etching update!

So despite the weather's desperate attempts to prevent me from getting to life drawing last Thursday , I still managed to get there if a bit late. The rest of these will go up on my facebook page but heres a couple that I quite liked. 

As for print work, I've started the first of two (perhaps more than two) plates for a new series of prints based on Zodiac characters and the constellations that their 30° divisions of space as seen from earth. Starting with Libra (the sign rather than the constellation), in his cloak are the constellations of Lupus, Ophiuchus, Scorpio, Virgo, Hydra, Serpens Caput and Centaurus. Somewhere else on his figure will be the astrological notation for libra ♎.   

First, I drew up some quick thumbnails and silhouettes in my sketchbook, did some research on the constellations in each sign's domain and tried out different poses and places for the star field to be placed- on the cloak, hair, skin, shawl, dress etc.

Then after drawing it up in Photoshop to my liking, I printed it out A6 size (same as the copper plate) and traced it onto the plate with the needle. Then, as shown in the image above, I laid down a light rosin aquatint and stopped out all the areas I wanted to remain clean with varnish- the background, the mantle and the constellation points.

5 minutes of etching later, the plate was ready for another round of stop out varnish. 

And after 2 printing proofs this is where it's at. I'm quite happy with the result though I should have let the aquatint be stronger on the cloak since it isn't quite as graphic as I expected. Next week I intend to re-aquatint it so that this time I get a light shade over the figure as well as the cloak, and also to deepen the tones in the star field. The 2nd print will be Virgo but more on that next week.

Dragon Age Inquisition comes out pretty soon, so I channeled my excitement for the game into trying out the official artwork's beautifully stylized Tarot cards. It was a fun exercise and in the future I might be tempted to include more abstract shapes within my work.


And finally, I've got some prints available to buy in the Belfast Print workshop Gallery , should you be in the city and want to see some of my older prints. There are several artist proofs and unique prints (non-edition ed) that I will be adding to my Etsy shop in the coming weeks so look forward to that! :)

-Sam

Finished painting!

Finished the painting a couple of days ago, spent yesterday merging and splitting layers and repainting small sections that only get seen for a few seconds as the camera moves. I've currently got around 30-35 layers  that made it through to aftereffects. As a bonus,  a screengrab of my workspace in Aftereffects, with a nifty 3 quarter-ish view of everything- almost in place. 

Today I'm focusing on the camera's path and getting some of the smaller particle systems in place. 

Master's Project: the last four weeks!

 Last four weeks of work till the submission date,  and I'm making good time with the painted assets,  which I'll arrange separately for the pdf submission aswell as within the composited avi. Something like the page below.

For the initial shot where it begins as lines drawing themselves into ruins, then colour brushes itself over, I've come up with some quick thumbnails; with a focus on space and light. Personally, I've been really trying to keep things loose with visible brushstrokes and blocks of colour. Its quite challenging for me to stop before I overpaint it so this has been a good experience in itself.

The previous blogpost is sparse with information because I was in a hurry and needed work online to show easily; the first few gifs preview the line drawing idea that I mentioned above. Then there are some early city concepts, and a further developed but still loose idea, some early set pieces and a short video clip of everything in 3D space. 

a quick mockup of how I want the upper city and tower to scale to the very detailed lower city. Though the tallest tower should be much more slender in the painted version- closer to the video example below. 

Lower city clip previewing an early camera movement and wave animation with 80% of the lower city assets completed.

A silhouette asset of the meteor strike that destroys the city- resulting in the ruined version you see at the start of the clip.