These were supposed to come out thick and fast, but I blame my pace on the all  the other projects for slowing me down. Interestingly, the amount of time spent painting a single piece, doesn’t correlate to the quality of it. Therefore, I’ll just say that the time limits ranged from 10 minutes to 1 hour, per painting. All from reference, except the final two.

Definitely good practice though.

Test brushes were unfortunately only used briefly, seen further down.

These two are from the pitch project, but I treated them the same way as before. Started on 10 minutes, then worked in. I didn’t get to finish them up, but I liked where they were going.

Can’t say that went so well, but I’m relieved the whole pitch brief is over. This term has been really busy, with lots of different projects going on. There always seems to be one project, which really doesn’t get enough of my time spent on it, and that was this one. In fact, the element which was most important (the ‘idea’ which was being pitched) was almost completely absent.

Backgrounds

The backgrounds were definitely more successful than the almost-last-minute characters. In fact, my backgrounds have generally been more successful to date than my characters. I had hoped to do 3 finished backgrounds for this pitch, but I only managed 1 and 1/2.

Didn’t get to finish the one below unfortunately. Although I didn’t finish with the one above ^^ either, I can pretend that one is finished…

Characters

The final characters I created for this were dire. My intention for the characters did not show through. Like the previous pre-production brief, I really struggled with creating characters, although forced sketching was easier this time. Still, definitely not enough sketching.

It is rendering the final characters though, which really comes out weak. My painting approach is very different on characters, than it is to my backgrounds. Definitely think I should practice character-related stuff over summer. In fact, drawing and painting characters from imagination is pretty urgent for me.

Lol, at the neglected guy in green (he was supposed to be the main character).

The Pitch

Pitching something that you produced and hate, is hard. I refused to even describe it, when asked by other course mates. It just tasted so wrong. Which is probably why I failed to prepare the pitch. I had already expected it to be a slow burn from start to finish, so having to be one of the last people of the day to pitch my crap, was tedious as hell.

The feedback from our industry visitors was pretty much as expected. Story sucks. No preparation. No motivation. That seems like a pretty reasonable evaluation.

Tips for next time:

1. When the brief requires you to do anything that you don’t want to do (like writing a story…), work with a partner. Or a even a team. Just don’t go solo. It crippled me, big time.
2. Starting with rigid characters and wrapping an idea around them is a bad move. Don’t do it.
3. You might have other work, but don’t neglect the project that you actually have to pitch to someone. Otherwise, be prepared to go down in flames.

For the negotiated brief, I made sure to collect up plenty of reference material for study and inspiration. Most annoyingly, I managed to lose all of what I had initially collected (probably the equivalent of what is below), due to me forgetting that some studio computers may occasionally not save anything after logging off.

Desert

Plenty of rocks, sand, tents, barrels and maybe even a few temples. Perhaps a few vehicles for show, since deserts can be pretty, umm, deserted. I think as far as video games go, this sort of environment possibly requires a little more thought to stay interesting and varied.

Jungle

Potentially the most difficult to reproduce, it will be interesting to see what kind of jungle concepts come out of this project. I reckon plenty of custom brushes will need to be made for these. I’ve haven’t really made any before, so I will test a few out.

Snow

I’d of liked to think this would be the easiest to reproduce, except once I tried, I realised that light bouncing off and through the snow is quite difficult to accomplish. Hopefully a few studies will help me get a better understanding of what is going on.

I will possibly need to do some prop research as well, but it will depend on what type of locations I decide to go for. Until then I will do some short practice studies, to get into the flow of things and help me understand the environments a little better.

The highly anticipated first volume of Botobit arrived through my letterbox yesterday.

If this is the first time you have heard of ‘Botobit‘, maybe I can enlighten you a little. It is a high qaulity illustration magazine featuring the work of some very talented artists from various different countries and backgrounds. Each of the artists are required to create a piece based on the topic specific to the volume. Volume 1 revolves around the theme ‘Epidemic’. Every artist’s themed piece is then followed by feature pages of their other creative work and an interview.

Aside from the great artwork inside, the first thing that struck me was just how well the book has been put together – from page presentation, right down to the binding. This is certainly the start of a very collectable series.

Huge kudos to Wesley and Ryan Eggebrecht for putting this book together.

————————————————————————————————————-

List of participating artists for Volume 1 below:

Patricio Balanovsky | Mathieu Beaulieu
Wesley Eggebrecht | Min Yum
Troy Galluzzi |  Scott Daly
Chris Houghton | Dennis Brown
Jens Claessen | Maria Filar
Anthony Baez | Jillian Evelyn
Federico Piatti | Victoria Maderna
Leo Espinosa | Matthew Byle
Don Kilpatrick | Nicolas Francoeur

————————————————————————————————————-

Pick up a copy today!

What recently perked my interest again in Mumford (not that I ever forgot about him) was that I discovered he does the prints of his artwork himself, in his London based studio. You can see his screen printing methods in his news feed, for band promotional poster prints including the Gallows and The Black Dahlia Murder. He prints a limited number, so I snapped up two of his Gallows prints this afternoon, for myself and a friend. You can purchase prints through his website.

A lot of Dan’s work is band based, getting a lot of recognition for his work with Gallows on their album cover a few years ago. He has a whole catalog of t shirts designs, CD/vinyl covers and poster work in his online portfolio.

Below you can see some of my favourites from his collection. Be sure to check out his site.

Day Dream

A Day to Remember – Homesick

Ford Birds

Gallows – In the Belly of the Shark

Gallows – Orchestra of Wolves

The Plight – Black Summer

Miss May I – Apologies Are For The Weak

Links for more about Dan Mumford:

Portfolio | Store
12 Questions With Dan Mumford
Back in Black – Dan Mumford Interview
Myspace

The ConceptArt.org forums are a goldmine for talent and inspiration. They feature artists of all experiences and styles, from elites to newcomers. What they all have in common though, is a lust for art. Since you are reading this, I assume you also share the same passion.

Those of you who have visited ConceptArt.org or have joined the CA family already, probably understand when I say that the site can seem very daunting at first. Almost every user seems to of started by hiding in the shadows, just observing the work being uploaded, before finally signing up. Well I’m telling you now: come out of the shadow, and sign up.

If you still need a few reasons why, then read on:

1. Self Improvement

Self improvement is probably the main reason to get set up on ConceptArt.org. If you are seeking to improve in your creative abilities, whether it be drawing, painting or any other medium, you will definitely benefit here. Setting up a ConceptArt Sketchbook is probably the first thing to do. It is essentially your own thread where you post anything and everything you have, as you do it. Others can then post on your thread about your work. Click here to see my own sketchbook.

Why is this a good idea? Feedback. Feedback is the key. This worries some people, but you probably won’t get far without it. I don’t mean feedback like ‘wow that is so amazing, wish i could do that’, but genuinely constructive criticism. Yes, criticism. The harsher (but still constructive) the better. I’m not trying to say you will only get dragged through the dirt, but those sort of comments are probably the most beneficial. You should encourage people to pick holes, so that you can improve on those areas and get an idea of where to go next.

Not only will people comment on your most recent work, but as you provide more and more, they will start to notice the progress you have made. After being paranoid about my anatomy work, I felt a great confidence boost from being told that I had come along way with all the practicing I had done. Trust me, feedback really goes a long way.

2. Community

We all need friends. At ConceptArt.org there is a huge community just waiting for you. As I mentioned before, feedback is essential. The other users at CA are all at different skill levels themselves. What makes CA feel so much more welcome is that the ‘elites’ (for example those in industry) will come down to ground level, to provide valuable and encouraging feedback too. From my experience that is quite unusual, and definitely worth taking advantage of.

With people at so many different skill levels, it is very easy to find someone at your own level and interest that you can bounce off. This can really give you the motivation you need to keep working at it. You feel obliged to respond to any work they upload and vice versa, starting a relationship which will likely result in you both accelerating your progress.

With all this relationship building going on, it will naturally result in some valuable networks. A lot of people end up creating clans and collectives, linking to each other in their signature and potentially setting up websites together / putting in good words for each other.

3. Inspiration

If you are seeking inspiration, this is another big reason to get involved. The most obvious form of inspiration here is just the huge amounts of eye candy artwork that is being produced from all angles. Though it isn’t just searching for artwork to inspire you, but artists themselves. I have discovered so many artists through CA, including one of my new favourites Wesley Eggebrecht.

As mentioned before, it is very easy to find artists to bounce off and use as inspiration to push your own artwork further. It is good not only to have artists to aspire to, but to also those who you can improve alongside and be inspired by each other mutually.

4. Digital Footprint

I know this isn’t always an interest to artists, but it is certainly something you should be thinking about if you want to gain exposure and get noticed for your work. I personally think it is essential for an artist to spread themselves. Any site which allows you to submit your own work is giving you free advertising. The wider (and richer) the coverage of your digital footprint, the more recognition you will receive.

This ties in with the community / networking aspect mentioned above. If you continually update and post to the forums (or almost any site, for that matter), you are leaving a value trail of bread crumbs to follow. This doesn’t just include people, but search engines as well (essential for when you set up your own site). It all adds up.

5. Competitions, Activities and Resources

There is always a lot going on at ConceptArt.org in terms of activity. In the activities forum, they have community activities going on every week. These include Character of the Week (CHOW), Creature of the Week (COW) and Environment of the Week (EOW). Each week has a theme and descriptive brief designed to help you hone and push your artistic skills. As the titles imply, there is a winner each week. Think you are up to it?

There is also a huge resource for artists, which can be found here.

How to make the most of it

If you are hoping to make the most of ConceptArt.org, you need to stick at it. The people who receive the most feedback on the site are those who update regularly and consistently, rather than just dumping huge piles of scraps every so often. Not only does posting in bulk overwhelm any potential feedback providers, but it means your thread will rarely reach the top of the pile and quickly disappear to the bottom.

Every time you post (or someone else posts on your thread), the thread will move to the top of the forum front page for all to see. Posting regularly means that you can maintain a spot where you will certainly be noticed.

Get involved with the community and be sure to post constructively on other peoples work, or at least spare a few kind words if you are in a genuine rush. People will almost always return the favour and will take note when they see your name crop up regularly on other peoples threads. Remember you will only get out, what you put in.

I find Joël’s graduation and background in animation leading him to become a well established concept artist really fascinating. As I am currently still at an early stage in my animation course, it can be quite difficult to imagine having the time to focus on a particular area. There is so much involved and to be learnt with animation. Joël proves that you can still become a master of what you enjoy most.

E. P. Chase

Base Jump

High Spy

Street Jump

Hiphopogy

Gangsta Lovaz

No Way

You can find more about Joël Dos Reis Viegas and his work via the links below:

Portfolio
Blog
CGHub
Deviantart

I first discovered his work when I came across his conceptart sketchbook, where he also links to his blog and portfolio (not enough artists do this). In fact that is how I come across a lot of my favourite artists. If you aren’t already on CA – get involved!

[Click images to see them larger, along with their respective sketchwork]

Penny Holder

Pretty Little Prince

Monster Energy

A Day at the Beach

Bird Man

Nazi Scientist

You can find much more of Wesley’s great work through the links below:

Wesley’s Portfolio
Blog
@CGHub
ConceptArt Sketchbook
Savant Skate

Rocket Bird

Invisible Man

Middle Class Batman

Mickey Mouse

Nomnomnom

Carly

Places to find more by Mike P Mitchell:

• Webhome
• Mike’s Blog
• Deviantart
• Twitter
• T Shirt Shop

If your on Facebook you can become a fan and recieve updates.

Having attempted one myself, I know a lot of time goes into it. Mine was from reference (using an existing photo to look at as you draw/paint). I spent roughly 10 hours doing it with a mouse. The result: something softer and similar looking to the original reference. Why did I bother? It was practice. Getting used to the techniques and such before I tackle my own ideas. No doubt I will do a few more from reference in the future.

Do people deserve credit for copying photographs? I personally appreciate the efforts of anybody who has put time into their work, whether other people think it is pointless or not. Though, what I really appreciate is when something is added to the image which takes it beyond what any photograph can achieve. That is when the artist really does get credit they deserve.

I have featured below a few digitally painted portraits which I really like.

[Note - When looking for portraits, I came across an article which featured my own painting! It was quite a surprise to say the least. You can see the post here]

Nykolai | Quietly

Fat-JedGfx | Thom Yorke the Android

Edana | Grazed Knees

MikePMitchell | Self Portrait

BikerScout | Elisha Cuthbert

Click the image below to see the full size wip of the above image.

BikerScout also has a little tutorial on painting skin textures which you can read, link below.

Painting Skin Textures

Enjoy.