Arms Cartel work

I had the opportunity to do some work for Pixel Addicts' iOS crime game Arms Cartel. You can get it at the app store here. 

I did 2 character designs, in-game portraits and splash screens. Initially it was only for 1 splash screen, but it soon expanded into a character design and in-game portrait as well. I guess they liked it since they came back later for a female character as well. ^^ They asked me to wait with posting, but I got approval to show them now.

The brief was for a Lord of War-ish arms trader with a bad-ass attitude. Unfortunately they didn't pick the 'Travolta in Pulp Fiction' haircut (3, 4 and 5C) :/.

The head designs :

heads 1-1

heads 1-2

heads 1-3

heads 1-4

heads 1-5

In-game / splash screen images. Pixel Addicts wanted a digitally painted look for these, not the more chalky look of the designs. 

image 1 Yeah, the money and falling bullets weren't very good. The version in the game, without those, looks better.

in-game portrait

splash screen (yes, head kept largely the same as the portrait :). Hurrah, for digital tools! )

For the female character we took a similar, but more streamlined approach. Keywords were strong and sexy and initially an Angelina Jolie / Tombraider kind of girl, but the final version has a bit of Michelle Rodriguez  and a tiny bit of Olivia Wilde and Jessica Alba thrown in. 

Heads: 

Heads 1 (haircut ended up being a more conventional version of 1I)

3 head and 3 haircut variations based on 1I, with 2K as the winner!

And the in-game portrait and splash screen:

portrait

Splash screen. Yup, we kept the sky. ;) They changed her a bit for the final version (less strong jaw, more curvy), but being the artsy guy I still prefer this version (even though their tweaked version is closer to the portrait).

These were a lot of fun to do! Go play Arms Cartel now and see them in their 'natural' environment! And leave forum posts that they need more characters / splash screens ;), especially more sexy women and one with oversized sunglasses and tattoos (like I originally planned for this one).

Various works

Been a while. I have been busy with various freelance jobs, art tests, pitches and a small contest. My entry was in the top 6 out of 97 entries (some people entered multiple variations and WIPS though).

My entry. Done in 1 day. Not the most exciting design, but I didn't wanted it too outlandish. Think I'll pick this one up in a couple of days and give it some touch-ups here and there. 

An older piece I never got around to upload. I was intending to fix some things at some point, but I think I'd better make new stuff instead. 

Cartoon Viking Woman. 

Sketches / roughs for pyramid influenced buildings, 1 done in lineart.

 Treetrunk house by the water, warmup.

Started on a fantasy 'Arabian Villa'. Work in Progress. 

Back to scribbling... Hope you enjoyed them and see you next time!

Some work

They're from a pitch for an iOS game that fell through:

character design

pet design

style suggestions

sketch for the background

My favorite part of the background ^^

Oh well, better luck next time eh? ;)

More stuff

Some work of the past few weeks. I've been busy with job searching, art tests, pitches etc. and finally a small freelance gig.

This is from another CoW and a doodle.

I went for a front and side view ortho instead of an illustration this time

started from various silhouettes.

Cute critter

That's it for now, have a great day!

CoW 229

Hmm, another amphibious creature (this time it was explicitly in the topic though).
My take on CoW 229: Bouncy, Amphibious Rain-Dancer. I call it Sploop.

Description:
When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
(voice over)Look, what a rare sight! We see a never before captured moment of a very shy and rare being. This strange creature is as if two creatures merged into one, having lungs for breathing above water and gills for under water, 2 sets of eyes and 2 brains and 8 limbs. This creature has both male and female reproduction organs and can reproduce by itself.
The native humans have a fable about the origin of the Sploop in which it describes how a very shy land creature spends the days alone, pining for a mate, but too shy to approach one. Then, one day it decides it can't live like that anymore and decides to commit suicide by throwing itself in the river. As it's about to hit the water a water creature surfaces and they accidentally kiss. The water creature was also alone, also trying to commit suicide, by throwing itself on land. They found each other in their desperation. But they wouldn't be able to live in either world separately, so they searched for a way to be together no matter the consequences. They found it by merging together.
Whenever it rains it starts a mating dance (by itself) by surfacing and flopping about on the water surface. It secretes an oily residue from their skin pores, allowing it to float on water with its' paws. The rain makes the land part wet, while it shields the water part so it stays relatively dry. For a moment the surroundings are reversed, to better understand and appreciate the differing parts. Once it's at the pinnacle of happiness it produces offspring and dies, which is pretty similar to the married lives of the humans that live there.

And a 30 minute caterpillar scribble for a pitch:

My first CoW

I participated in this week's Creature of the Week, over at Conceptart.org. I only saw it yesterday, so didn't spent a whole lot of time actually designing this creature. The topic: Fantasy War Mount! Too cool to let is pass by. I chose goblins (frog race would probably be better, but that wasn't one of the options). It's 90% aligator, 9% tortoise and 1% rhinoceros or so.

Anyway, mine turned out like this:

CGMA workshop : Environment Design for Games 1

My piece for the final week of the workshop. I learned a ton! We had a great group and James is amazing as an artist and a teacher! I will definitely do the second workshop, but not in the fall I think. Hopefully I can attend in the winter.

It's v2 of the Flying Dutchman piece after incorporating the c&c I got and threw on some extra digital paint.

CGMA workshop : Environment Design for Games 1

Work from the Enviroment Design for Games 1 workshop weeks 5 till 7. Only 1 more week to go!

Week 5: 4 'thumbs' around 1 theme. I went with a Blade Runner-esque version of Kyoto where all the traditional Japanese houses, gardens and temples are put on top of skyscrapers and other high buildings. I was in a bit of a hurry for no. 2, so it's of a considerable lower quality. It's also missing it's purpose of connecting no. 1 with no. 3 and 4. I went a bit experimental with no. 4

Week 6: some extra love for last week's fav. Still needs loads more, but my left hand was hurting, so took it easy that week.

Week 7: Also about half finished. Got some valuable crits and planning on making the towns more interesting.

I've been working on a pitch as well, but it's turning into a full blown illustration. Been a while since I did one of those. I'll see if I can upload the current WIP somewehere this week.

CGMA workshop : Environment Design for Games 1

I've been busy these past few weeks with different stuff, but for art works the most important one would be the CGMA workshop Environment Design for Games 1, instructed by James Paick. I'm learning tons of stuff again and it really helps to work with other students and seeing their work and visions. Then getting some ace C&C to top it off! ^^

These are my original submissions, so kind of like the 'before' shots, with all the errors and weird stuff still in it. ;)

week1 - 5 value only pieces:

horrible perspective error all over :/

Argh, pesky perspective again! I need to plot those out and stop eyeballing them.

I'll probably replace those light towers when I revisit these.

Maybe I should've had the warrior carried out on a shield by two villagers, and have a small and really big warrior carrying a huge rock. ;) 

Week 2 - 3 more value only pieces:

Started plotting perspective.

Is a bit empty atm, so needs more stuff like pipes, antennas and what not. 

Flying Dutch people! Somehow I loved painting those cows ... makes me want to moo somehow. ;)

Week 3 - A scifi, space scene involving scale. As Mr. Sulu would say: Oh my ... (way, way out of my comfort zone. But you can't push boundaries if you stay clear from them.) Used references needed to be added to show what we look at when we do these environment assignments. Photos are still used as reference only, so no photos using as textures.

Again, a bit empty with those meteors / asteroids (I keep forgetting the difference) being more confusing rather than helpful compositional elements. Also lacks design. I would still like to try to incorporate some Santiago Calatrava with a standard scifi space station.

Week 4 - Jumping into colour! 5 paintings.

You see, it wasn't a meteor that killed the dinosaurs, but those pesky aliens! Next time I'll study dinosaur anatomy a bit more ...

I revisited this week 1 painting, added colour, tightened it up a bit and incorporated some of the feedback James gave me. Got some more feedback though :)

I felt the need to steal ... I mean, get inspired by Sparth's work, so did this clunky flying mist lamps sporting transport. 

Proud scaly parents are glad their little whelp's born, errupting from it's volcano incubator! The city's inhabitants don't feel like celebrating somehow. 

And finally my favorite of the bunch; a SWAT team lands on a roof of a zombie invested mansion (no, I'm not making a political statement about the rich and powerful!) I'll give this one some more painting time to make it a full illustration. After the workshop's ended and I incorporated all the c&c I received.

I also did another study of a nice National Geographic photo, right before the start of the workshop:

Hope you like them. Have a nice weekend people!

More

A study of a M6 Bradly and a scifi soldier concept which was considered too human: