Still on workshops. I took another CGMA course the semester after I took the perspective one. This time I took Environment Design for Games 2, instructed by James Paick. I did his other masterclass (Environment Design for Games 1) earlier, so figured this was the natural choice. I really struggled with this one as I was going through a learning curve dip. The approach was different than the first masterclass, as this one had a central theme: colony. I wanted to steer away from humans settling.

Some exploratory thumbs. I was thinking about insects surviving an apocalyptic event, wiping out the human race.

More along the same theme. Values really suffered in some of these.

Continuation on the 2 I found most interesting. Both depict a spider / ant hybrid race. One lives in an arctic environment, using ice crystals for their habitat, the other has an ant hill like structure over water. I imagine them building webs for hunting and living in a hive like structure.

More of the same. Same problems as before. I like 1 and 3 though.

A bit better result. Exterior shot of the arctic ones, hunting and catching some seafood.

Interior - nursery with detail call out and references. Workers gather liquefied food frozen into crystal shards and place these in feeding pillars. Heat travels through these and the liquefied food melts and slowly trickle down these shafts. Holes in the shaft allow portions to drop down, feeding the hatchlings beneath it. In the background the queen can be seen laying more eggs. 

Long time no post, sorry! I was a bit busy with various jobs and some workshops, as well as some personal scribbles.

I did another CGMA course: Intro to Perspective for Entertainment Design, instructed by Polina Hristova. Most of the work is a bit boring to look at, so this is a selection. The course was very informative and I really needed it (still do). The previous run however was instructed by a new teacher.

1P perspective thumbs, line art. Oh yeah, I was all excited about Diablo III. One of the Blizzard cinematic artists was also in the course, so that was fun.

First 3 thumbs of week 4, 2 point perspective.

Second batch of thumbs, also 2 point perspective.

3 point perspective thumb.

Translating points and curves, measuring (I estimated a few things because I ran out of time)

Another 3 point perspective one, with some color this time.

I'm glad I took the course as I tried learning from a book before and didn't quite got as much out of it.

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!

2 Updated CGMW images

Here are 2 images I worked on after the end of the workshop.

The jellyfish cities from week 5.

The final confrontation from week 6.

Some older vehicle work. Not something I do a whole lot apparently. ;)

CGMW - Environment Design 1

I've been doing the master class Environment Design 1 over at CGMW, instructed by Jason Scheier. I learned a bundle, gained new insights and had a lot of fun working on the assignments. It was also a good starting point to pick up some new good habits and to further my studies.

I'll post some of my assignments here.

Week1 - 3: 

This is the week 7 version, where I bundled 2 pages and made them a bit more presentable. 

Weeks 4 and 5:

Weeks 6:

week 8 (week 7 was bundling the separate images and make presentable sheets out of them):

I saw this Feng Zhu video on his youtube page where he painted 3 environments at the same time. I tried this here with these 4 and it was indeed a lot faster. Really forced me to concentrate on the big shapes first and leave details for later. 

I'm still incorporating feedback I got from Jason, so some of these will get an updated version later on with improvements like better depth , clearer shapes, tighter painting, more design and such.