tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17554246041011991582024-02-19T02:04:32.669-08:00Must Draw HarderMolly Maloney's art and design blog-Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-43391239502054325502015-08-28T23:01:00.000-07:002015-08-28T23:08:26.633-07:00Job HuntingIt's been a while since I did any updates, I've been really hard at work on <a href="https://www.telltalegames.com/talesfromtheborderlands/">Tales From the Borderlands</a> and haven't done a ton of personal work. However, recently my friends <a href="http://gaoshirong.com/">Shirong</a>, <a href="http://anniewongart.tumblr.com/">Annie</a>, and <a href="http://www.emilyras.com/">Emily</a> asked if I would be interested in collaborating on a zine with them.<br />
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The theme was <b><em>Job Hunting</em></b>.<br />
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I've had some difficult experiences looking for work, and I've had a lot of people ask me for advice about finding a job so I thought it would be nice to post this up. It probably isn't super helpful in terms of what to do (in fact it's more useful in terms of what <em>not</em> to do), but it definitely touches on how it felt personally landing my first job and subsequently being laid off. It was a really strange and surreal experience and I'm happy I got the opportunity to capture it somewhere.<br />
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I hope you enjoy it.<br />
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Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-9226100636015079182014-02-21T23:54:00.002-08:002014-02-22T11:26:10.699-08:00On Breaking Into Games<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I'm giving a talk to some students this week on how to break into the industry, so I decided to write down some notes rather than just show up to the talk and tell jokes. I think I'd be better at telling jokes, actually. But, as I was writing I realized that I've gotten a lot of emails on this sort of thing lately and maybe making a blog post on them might helpful. I'm not sure that I'm the most qualified to talk about what is valuable in the video games industry, but all of these tips have really benefitted me in my Sisyphean journey to be a concept artist. Maybe they'll help you! Or maybe you'll read them and think I'm full of it. I am full of it, really.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">MOLLY'S SWELL TIPS ON BREAKING INTO THE GAMES INDUSTRY</span></strong></span></span><br />
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<strong><b id="docs-internal-guid-2107c736-5894-c26c-f429-7d3afd695e67" style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>1. Examine what professionals are doing and be as good as them.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Until you are executing at a level on par with the pros you probably won’t get hired. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that some day you’ll be good like them if only someone would give you the chance. While pros learn a lot on the job, starting at a professional level is what gets most people through the door. There is no real shortcut to being at a professional level, you need to work your butt off and put in a lot of hours in whatever your field of choice is.<br /><br />On a related note, I often get asked the question of what sort of things it's good to have in your portfolio. If you want to know what to put in your portfolio, take a look at some pros working at your dream company and pull up their sites. What's in their portfolios? Look at a handful of portfolios for pros that have the job you want and try to fill any gaps they're covering that you aren't. Also, if you look at a portfolio and it looks far and away better than your stuff, then you better keep working. You can be at that level too, it just takes effort.</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>2. Be able to identify your weaknesses.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Most people lie to themselves, it’s how we live our lives. We all want to believe we’re better than we really are! I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but you have problems. We all have problems. You need to do some soul searching and figure out what you suck at. This could be holes in your technical proficiency, a bias toward certain techniques, hating a particular step of your work pipeline, or even a personal character flaw. We all have faults, but really understanding what your buttons are will help keep you out of situations where people can push them. Focus fire your weaknesses once you see them and fix them - if you hate something that you suspect is a part of the job you’ll have to do, do it UNTIL YOU LOVE IT. I used to hate drawing environments, now I’m an environment concept artist. If you get defensive, learn to identify a defensive reaction and tamp it down. This is really hard, but really really important. Also, never ever stop looking for your weaknesses because they’re like weeds - as you grow new ones will sprout. This is a lifelong thing and critically important if you want to continue to grow through your career. It also helps you grow as a person, bonus!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>3. No one is going to teach you how to be a professional</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>No class will teach you how to work at a professional level. This brings us back to #1: look at what the professionals in your field are doing and be as good as they are. On your own time you should check the quality of what you are doing against the quality of professionals in your field. This is brutal, but it will make you very good very quickly. The problem is life doesn’t judge you on a relative scale, life won’t say “Oh he’s just a student, cut him some slack.” It’s the awful truth, but either you’re good at what you’re doing or you aren’t. Observe how the professionals do their jobs and try to reverse engineer their techniques. Learn the programs they use even if your school doesn’t teach them. Follow their blogs if they have them, read interviews with professionals you admire. You can even reach out to pros who inspire you and see if they have tips! They are real people and you might be surprised at how friendly they can be. Figure out what tools your dream company is using and learn how they work, or even try to improve on them. Realize that if you want to work there you need to try to be the equal of the professionals you admire. You really can do this, it just takes hard work and passion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>4. Be organized</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It’s simple, but don’t let things fall through the cracks. Only make commitments you can do. Budget your time, establishing a personal pattern of being reliable will allow you to be a reliable professional. Never promise something you can’t do, and if you’ve made a commitment to do something always do it. The classmates you’re collaborating with may be your co-workers tomorrow and they won’t forget if you slacked off and left them holding the bag.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>5. Be disciplined</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Create a schedule and actually do it. For some reason this is one of the hardest things for most people to do and it’s totally under your control. If you want to get good you need to put in an incredible amount of time and effort. You’ll make sacrifices. Having a degree in your field often won’t be enough - it helps to live and breathe what you want to do. Having a life is for later when you’ve got a job and some money, if you’re trying to get hired you owe it to yourself to make an aggressive schedule and stick to it. (That said even when I worked my hardest I always tried to set aside at least two hours a day for myself. You need to recharge or you’ll just implode. This comes back to #2 - know your weaknesses and by extension know who you are. If you truly NEED 5 hours a day to work out then take them. You need to be as productive as possible and this is a different cocktail for everyone.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>6. Take every opportunity to make connections, even when you hate it</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Whenever an event is going on, if you don’t have a job you need to be there. For a person like me who despises networking this is particularly lousy. I am not what you’d call a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">party person</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Trust me - you might hate it the whole time but slap on a smile, find something to say, and be charming. 9 times out of 10 you won’t make any headway, but on the off chance that it’s that one time things work out you need to be there. I’ve actually made some really good friends at parties I didn’t want to be at. I firmly believe that people aren’t lucky, people make their own luck. You probably aren’t going to make many connections from your living room.</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a follow up, going to a variety of events allows you to establish patterns. Lots of the same people will be at multiple events. You should find reasons to have follow up conversations with people you’ve met and see again. It’s also helpful to not change your appearance, it helps people remember you. Sometimes it’s better to not even show your work (gasp!) the first time you meet someone if you sense you are genuinely hitting it off - making new industry friends is even better and there is always time to show your work later. </span></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>7. Learn how to be good at talking to people</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This is a sucky skill to learn if you don’t get it naturally but in my opinion is one of the main things that’ll keep you out of the industry if you don’t have it. Learning how to gauge people, how to know when they want to talk, how to be a pleasure to talk to while giving and getting the information you need is critical. Some people are born with this skill, but if you weren’t I highly recommend studying up. Find a charismatic person you know and study them. Are they charismatic because they are well-rounded? Is it because they are funny? Is it because the know when to stop talking and let the other person speak? Read books on cheats for being charismatic if you have to, there’s nothing more important than creating an impression. This is important on the job too, since you’ll have to get along with a range of people and if you want to be good at what you do you’ll need their help. This is a saturated industry, being good with people is a great way to set yourself apart. I really like this TED talk by Amy Cuddy on body posture and what a difference it can make on your interactions: </span></span><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>8. Take on as much extracurricular as you can</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You don’t want your resume filled with exclusively student projects if you can help it. Showing that you do things outside of class shows employers that you’re motivated above the average. This can be as simple as creating personal projects, homework assignments for yourself. If you do even one personal project a semester you will have a lot to show in your resume/ portfolio/ reel that your fellow students won’t.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>9. Only write things you can actually do/ have actually done on your resume</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This seems silly but you really will get called on these things. It’s tempting to get caught up in padding your resume and saying you have experience with programs you barely know, or taking credit for more of a group project than you did (especially if you’ve been unemployed for a while). Unfortunately, you’ll likely get asked about these things in an interview, or worse you’ll be asked to use/ do them on the job. You’ll get exposed in the end, so make sure you can actually do what you say you can do. Or be prepared to learn, FAST.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><strong>10. Know the companies you’re applying to</strong></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This should go without saying but if you are applying somewhere be familiar with their products. Cater your portfolio (if relevant) and your cover letter to them specifically. You don’t need to be a fan of the games, but you need to understand them. I’ve finished 40 hour campaigns in under a week just to prep for an interview, If you can help it don’t rely on youtube to show you what you need to know. Nothing preps you to talk about a game or what you like about a company like actually playing their game.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you have trouble finding a job after school, or if you get laid off and are between jobs, don’t take a break and assume something will just turn up. Like I said, I believe that people make their own luck. Jobs don’t fall into your lap, you should be working your ass off. Make a list of things that being good at would help your chances of being hired, create a schedule week by week on how to learn them and then go learn them. Update your resume and portfolio as you go. Keep in touch with recruiters and don’t be afraid to show them new things once you’ve made significant improvements to your repertoire. (read: significant. This takes us back to #2 - know when you’ve actually improved, and eliminate your weaknesses. If you removed all the old pictures of unicorns from your portfolio only to replace them with newer, similar pictures of unicorns you are wasting your time.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pick something you have a natural aptitude for and be amazing at it. When people look at you, you want one skill that you’re just really super at. Be GOOD at a range of things, but be incredible at something. It helps if this is a demonstrable skill, (maybe you can model amazing monsters in zbrush or you are epic at designing complicated adventure game puzzles) but it could even be something like being super fast and dependable. I really recommend having an attention grabbing thing that will attract a recruiter, then a solid ability to do a wider range that keeps you in the running once you’re interviewing. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><strong>14. Be generous</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You’re not the only one looking for a job, your friends are too. I’ve been to a lot of career fairs and while I always have a plan and a checklist, I usually keep an eye out and let my friends know about areas with good opportunities or short lines. Not every job is right for you and you should remember that when your friends succeed, you succeed too. Helping eachother whether it’s sharing knowledge, tools, contacts, or job postings is a really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> thing. I know it probably seems bittersweet watching friends get hired before you, but just remember: those friends are now industry contacts. Helping your friends find work is only a good thing for you professionally. Incidentally it’s just a nice thing to do, but this is a how to break into games list, not a how to be a nice person list.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial;">My friend Jeff, an environment artist, has a nice list of tips up <a href="http://blog.environmentartist.com/?p=567">here</a> as well. Check them out!</span></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll update this list later if I think of anything else.</span></span></b><span style="color: white;"></span><br /></div>
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</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></strong><br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-91382173436368886312014-01-12T17:56:00.001-08:002014-01-12T18:01:19.699-08:00DoodlesI've been working on some side projects lately that have been hindering my personal work, but I figured I'd post a few odds and ends that have been rattling around.<br />
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First, I'm really into the art of Banner Saga. It looks very similar to Eyevind Earle and I imagine it was inspired by him, he was a serious badass. Some examples of his badassery:<br />
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Just really beautiful shapes, it's like the bastard child of a cartoon a UPA cartoon and an ukiyo-e. Actually, Earle was instrumental in Disney work like Sleeping Beauty. So anyway, I thought that was neat and decided to do a few little clumsy doodles inspired by it his style:<br />
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It's really tricky to figure out since the style is so streamlined, I felt like I was drawing with my feet. I'd like to get more time to try it out... frankly I think I'd need to get some custom stamp brushes set up to really give it a go. Cheating, cheating.<br />
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And here are a couple of quicky photo-mashup plain environments. The first one was a for fun Tatooine doodle, the second is for a personal project:<br />
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Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-50606808684071656052013-09-09T21:03:00.002-07:002013-09-09T21:03:45.926-07:00New speed environmentsI got back from PAX last week and I've been exhausted since. I didn't get PAX pox, but 4 days is a lot and that trip really took it out of me. Still, I got to see a lot of good friends as well as meet some new ones! Overall, it was a blast.<br />
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Here are some new speed paints. The first one was done before I left and is in the more cartoony style of the previous entry on this blog:<br />
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This next one was just to blow off some steam when I got back. I think I was going through drawing withdrawl after a week + of travel:<br />
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And this one is for a short series of travel posters I'm doing, inspired by my friend <a href="http://gaoshirong.com/wp/splash/">Shirong</a>. The posters are going to be for Star Wars planets:<br />
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...And just because I've been listening to it on loop for 3 days, here is Short Change Hero by The Heavy:<br />
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Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-87347561641965649612013-08-25T11:48:00.000-07:002013-08-25T20:59:06.253-07:00Phew!I'm resurfacing for air. What a couple of months it's been - new job, new car, new apartment, cats... Things have been nuts. In between working and moving and side projects, I've done a few doodles, so I'll just upload those for now. I'll be at PAX next week if anyone is going. Definitely excited for some of the talks, I love that show.<br />
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This started off as a one hour, but turned more into a 2 hour, since I decided to add textures and punch it up a bit. I've been playing with more overt texture use as a stylistic thing (not to mention speed thing) as well as using stamping and the custom shape tool. <br />
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This one is a similar story - speed painting, but pushing textures and saturation.<br />
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I have a side project going where I'm doing a deck of cards - each suit is a fairy tale and takes place in a season, so that's 10 cards to tell the story and the face cards for the characters. I initially wanted to do it for APE since I'm tabling with some friends this year, but that will definitely not happen in time. Still, it's a fun project. Here are some of the cards:<br />
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The last one isn't for my project, it was a gift for a friend's car-building project. Anyway, I like the style, so it should be a fun little side project.<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-74642439494686835392013-06-17T20:30:00.001-07:002013-06-17T20:30:11.405-07:00Update!Just a little note - I started a new job with TellTale Games this month and my personal update schedule has been blown out the window! Once I get my bearings I'll be back to posting doodles and drivel. Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-34926257418162591082013-05-20T02:05:00.004-07:002013-05-20T08:22:07.848-07:00This and ThatIt's been a really hectic few weeks! We're gearing up for our spring show at the Palace of Fine Arts here in San Francisco - the opening is this Wednesday. Because of that I've been very busy fine-tuning work, helping other others get things together, layout/ formatting of pieces... all sorts of random (and often unexpected) stuff in preparation for the show. We also wrapped another semester and it was my birthday!<br />
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So, here are a few weird things I've been working on on the side lately -<br />
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Above is a piece I started for fun while observing a class in the cintiq lab and I was enjoying it so I brought it home to finish. Nothing terribly original about it, but it came out nicely.<br />
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A giraffe-legged femme fatale pinup. I've been told my characters are kind of stumpy sometimes, so I pushed her legs and they got... well... <i>very</i> long. Maybe she is standing on a bucket under there. You don't know!<br />
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This is a speed paint, but it was done almost entirely with the custom shape tool. I've been reading about Sparth's custom shape technique from a few years back. I've tried it before, but only in passing. Now that I have a few weeks to myself I want to really get it down, it seems like a very useful technique. The above painting was a test of how I could use some of the custom shapes I came up with this afternoon, then I applied a quick color balance mask so it wasn't in black and white.<br />
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And what would an update be without some more one hour cinematics?<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-7971937752631290492013-05-05T22:44:00.002-07:002013-05-05T22:44:45.310-07:00The Good And Evil PalaceA couple new things! First, the more or less finished version of the good palace from last week:<br />
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And then, the evil version of it ten years after the warring faction invaded and made some architectural modifications:<br />
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<br />I'm still not perfectly happy with them, but they have come a long way and I like the over all concept.<br />
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I wasn't tired last night so I did a silly self portrait doodle:<br />
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I don't usually have a lot of time for light stuff like this, it was fun to do it. :)<br />
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And then here are some new one hour paints:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8262/8708350706_eee5e4d0f4_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8262/8708350706_eee5e4d0f4_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iron Man 3</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8253/8711993149_32f727575d_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8253/8711993149_32f727575d_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Django Unchained</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8279/8698595492_626a99e17e_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8279/8698595492_626a99e17e_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hobbit</td></tr>
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Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-37913325452831238042013-04-28T21:34:00.001-07:002013-04-29T20:43:32.648-07:00New things.Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been very busy the past week or two. We're gearing up for our big spring show and I'm prepping a lot of pieces for submission. Apart from that I've had some pretty intense freelance projects that have been taking up time. Here are a couple new things I can show from the last week:<br />
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New gun! It's for the same project that the Prince and Blue Guardian are for. The project has a name now, it's called the Empire of Shadows project, and I've been having a great time working on it. This is an enemy beam weapon - the concept is that the plasma it fires is highly volatile. If you get even grazed by it, the wound must be lanced because the plasma will continue to burn into you and cannot be put out, like the embers of a fire. So regardless of how critical the injury would normally be, the wound will continue to burn deeper into the flesh until it kills you and cannot be "put out." This makes it extremely lethal, as injuries that would not normally be life threatening become fatal if they cannot be lanced or amputated. I also imagine it hurts like hell, having live plasma fires burning through you.<br />
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Here is my first view of the Palace Seat in the capital city for Empire of Shadows, before it is consumed by evil:<br />
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It's not 100% done yet, but I like the concept for it. I posted thumbnails earlier and this is where I decided to go with it. This city is the largest on the continent, and during the peaceful era it was the heart of a cultural and scientific renaissance. The next step is to evil it up this week and show its altered appearance once the warlords take it over.<br />
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Here are some one hour cinematic speed paints from this week:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8395/8690418568_c00a210210_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8395/8690418568_c00a210210_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain America</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8262/8674261770_6b97ae5d23_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8262/8674261770_6b97ae5d23_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oblivion</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8675000731_acb0ccd677_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8675000731_acb0ccd677_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Big Lewbowski</td></tr>
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Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-67600465129567731982013-04-16T23:38:00.003-07:002013-04-18T01:51:27.437-07:00Blue Guardian FinishI've been down pretty hard for the past week and a half with bronchitis, but I'm starting to feel better now. Thanks to everyone who offered to bring me food, I'm lucky to have such good friends.<br />
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I thought I would do a post on the finish for the blue guardian character I've been working on. I'll probably let this sit for a day or two and tweak a few things then - if I make any major changes I'll post an update. Over the the past month off and on I've posted sketches and thumbnails relating to her, if you sift backwards through this blog you'll find a few. I designed her in tandem with the prince character, who I finished off a couple weeks ago. I hadn't had time to bring her to finish, but I got the urge to do a character yesterday so I decided to finally bring her to life. Here is the rendered front view, with the rough back view (with and without her wrap).<br />
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And here she is next to the prince character from a little while ago:<br />
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There is a complex background for these two, but the quick gist is he is a prince who's spent the last ten years hiding out in a tribal community. She is an exiled royal guard, who has spent the last ten years wandering. In their design I want them to feel like they belong to the same universe, but while he has more or less gone full-on tribal, she is a regal character who left her old life unwillingly and there are bits and pieces of her old uniform mashed up with costume elements she's picked up along the way. Even though current circumstances have brought her low, inside she is still a proud warrior.<br />
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Personally I'm proud of the wrap design - I myself haven't seen anything quite like it and I'm always pleased when I can create a costume element that is a) something you can make out of real materials, b) reflects the culture of the world it is a part of, and c) is something I haven't seen before. Those successes are why I absolutely love what I do.<br />
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Some people have expressed curiosity about my rendering process. I've played with taking videos but it often hinders my photoshop from running smoothly. This time I took jpegs along the way, maybe you'll find them interesting:<br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8107/8656407771_0df7919668_h.jpg"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8107/8656407771_0df7919668_h.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The process is pretty simple. I do the line, then block in flat color. Then I add highlights, then shadows, then slowly start removing the line by painting over it. Last I add texture elements, sometimes with photo textures, sometimes with spatter brushes. And yes, I use photo references for faces. I'm sure there are geniuses who can invent perfectly photo-realistic human faces from their imagination, but I am not such a one.<br />
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Here are a few new one hour paints:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8523/8651922921_31035268bc_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8523/8651922921_31035268bc_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Army of Shadows</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8258/8651258964_9b1029915f_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8258/8651258964_9b1029915f_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Star Wars Episode 5</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/8655020795_ef6b250659_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/8655020795_ef6b250659_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Incredibles</td></tr>
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Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-44235315478058361902013-04-08T21:19:00.002-07:002013-04-08T21:21:16.738-07:00Post GDC RecoveryWell another GDC come and gone. I had a really nice time and met a lot of interesting people. I can't wait for the vault to come online so I can catch up on all the talks I missed! However, since the end of GDC I've been completely destroyed by some sort of virus I picked up. You know that sort of cold where you can't stop coughing to save your life? I hardly ever get sick so this has hit me like a ton of bricks. As such, the past week or so hasn't been very eventful, but here are a few things I've been working on:<br />
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^ New environment, just felt like inventing an interesting place after a week of talking to people all day.<br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8404/8633957178_d3c2f4c653_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="341" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8404/8633957178_d3c2f4c653_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
^Thumbnails for a palace I'm designing.<br />
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And below, some recent one hour paints:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8602732221_a24466d8a5_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8540/8602732221_a24466d8a5_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blade Runner</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8240/8628869990_1ef6f8ccc9_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8240/8628869990_1ef6f8ccc9_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hugo</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8245/8632586924_320c117905_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8245/8632586924_320c117905_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8261/8620123848_187acfe8eb_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8261/8620123848_187acfe8eb_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prometheus</td></tr>
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Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-2100937356321079302013-03-24T10:56:00.002-07:002013-03-24T10:56:40.754-07:00Getting Ready for GDCJust a short update today, I've been pretty much consumed with
getting my portfolio and materials ready for the Game Devlelopers
Conference this week. If you're in San Francisco and want to say hi,
I'll be the girl with the short hair running around like a chicken with
its head cut off. But seriously, if you see me you should come say hi!<br />
<br />
Here's
a painting I started while at the lab sitting in on a class Friday, I
liked it so I brought it home and put some more effort into it:<br />
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And here are a few recent one hour paints:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8585670237_1f2a2ce6ed_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8585670237_1f2a2ce6ed_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hugo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8581378632_b14ef3e2bf_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8581378632_b14ef3e2bf_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8582456489_e42b2252e5_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8582456489_e42b2252e5_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warhorse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Warhorse one went 10 minutes over, two faces and two hands was a bit more than I could chew in an hour.<br />
<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-9598440757499770732013-03-22T00:40:00.001-07:002013-03-22T00:46:57.967-07:00Guns, Swords, and Men with no Shirts OnWrapping up a few odds and ends today. I did a final polish on my sword design from earlier, reverting to a different design that I felt was more successful but with the same ivory color scheme:<br />
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I designed a new sniper rifle:<br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8574914471_4de1899649_h.jpg"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8574914471_4de1899649_h.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And I've been pushing to finish the male character from last week. He has some crazy hereditary tattoos that glow cyan when he's enraged. Somehow I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for that:<br />
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The little jacket thing is what he wears to cover them in populated areas. I also did a back version in flat colors. <br />
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Here are a couple of one hour paints from the the latest batch that I like:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8108/8577152033_4e90eefc16_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8108/8577152033_4e90eefc16_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amelie</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8521/8574486993_63ba54b881_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8521/8574486993_63ba54b881_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gangs of New York</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Doing them every day, I've noticed that some days it's just easier than others. I think it depends on my disposition. Also perhaps the amount of coffee I've had.<br />
<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-40716430633061729652013-03-18T21:47:00.002-07:002013-03-18T21:51:16.517-07:00Pointy ThingsSince my last posting I've been working on a variety of things, but my most interesting project has been to come up with a pair of blades for the female protagonist of one of my projects, the Blue Guardian. In the story she's a wanderer, and her bloodline possesses some pretty fantastical properties. As such, I needed to design a pair of swords that "activate" when held by her, kind of like how James Bond is the only one who can use his particular pistol in Skyfall. (Man, wasn't Skyfall awesome?)<br />
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It was decided that the metal the swords were forged with would have some sort of reactive qualities based on the user and this metal would also have a semi-transparent look. The setting for this project is a fantasy one, but more a Star Wars technological fantasy than a Lord of the Rings style fantasy. I came up with the idea that she would use twin blades (kind of samurai style, she's a warrior class) and those blades would have the option of being fused into a greatsword. Here are the process drawings:<br />
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First I did some hasty thumbnails, then I mirrored them and played with the shapes to see how best they might fuse together to make a fantastical greatsword. I picked the three I thought were most successful and did some variants on possible detailing.<br />
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I thought of the three, the top most one felt a) the most "real" and b) had the most practical and identifiable greatsword shape, so that is the style I went with. I used a lot of reference when coming up with the swords, but ended up being drawn to Persian style blades the most - they feel exotic with their embellishing and interesting curves, and I felt the elegance of those weapons suited the regal qualities for this character.<br />
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Here are three skins I came up with:<br />
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And here is my favorite of the three, showcasing as well the merged look for the greatsword:<br />
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I named them Erryl and Entis and invented a legend from which the names for the blades were taken. Overall it was a lot of fun. I might end up polishing them a little more, but I've stared at them for so long now that I need to leave them be for a bit.<br />
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Here is the Prince character from the same project: <br />
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Not your typical prince, that's for sure. I'm leaning toward the right-most one as far as costume color.<br />
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And a few more cinematics from the last couple days:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skyfall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Hur</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tron: Legacy</td></tr>
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-86494543460756984102013-03-12T22:07:00.002-07:002013-03-12T22:07:58.874-07:00Give Me Some SkinToday I invested a chunk of time on skins. Making a cool prop is just one step, coming up with additional textures/ skins for it is both a fun and important conceptual step. Skins are often used as unlockables for the player or can be alternated to reuse the same 3D piece in different ways within a level. First, I revisited a gun from last week, the Eviscerator:<br />
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Ideally I'd like to offer a few more options, preferably one with a pattern but there are only so many hours in the day I guess. More work for the future!<br />
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Next I came back to the box prop from yesterday, revised the original one and did an additional two skins for it as well:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skin 1</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skin 2</td></tr>
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When I do skins for things like the service kit, I try not to simply just change the color. This isn't a color study. The great thing about applying a UV texture to a 3D object is that as long as it matches the geometry it can be different in a lot of ways, you can add or remove seams and detail elements. So I do my best to change things up but still get it all done reasonably quickly, not spend hours noodling away on something. I'll probably try to do additional skins for my other guns from last week when time allows.<br />
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I also did this hour cinematic today, Mr. Willis from pulp Fiction:<br />
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...I love that movie.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-92085633517657254362013-03-12T00:21:00.000-07:002013-03-12T00:38:08.641-07:00Moar Props!I got a lot of positive feedback on my post last week, thanks everyone. I enjoy it when people read and have thoughts on the blog. I've been working on a lot of half-baked things since, but here are a handful of more or less finished things.<br />
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First, a new gun:<br />
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A lot of people are asking me how I do these - there is no 3D, it's a composite technique coupled with painting in Photoshop. I've been messing around with Camtasia Studio and I'm looking into making some process videos. Probably coupled with campy techno music. And flash animations of unicorns. People like that sort of thing, right?<br />
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I wanted to work on some boxes today and broke into google sketchup this morning. It's been a while since I used it and honestly I don't remember it being this much fun. I'm something of a veteran of the Maya Wars and I find it incredible that google distilled 3D software into something so simple and intuitive. For simple geometric iteration it's perfect.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Sketchup mockup of the box</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paintover of sketchup model</td></tr>
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I usually like to do multiple skins and this was just the first one, I was interrupted by some errands I had to do this afternoon, but this was fun times. It's a pet peeve of mine when boxes in games are boring, I really have fun with them and I love seeing nice little props and well filled out rooms in a game. I think Deus Ex: Human Revolution had great boxes and props, every time I look through the art book for it I dwell on the page of boxes and drool a little.<br />
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^ This is a little for fun doodle of the characters I've been posting previously. It was super quick, drawn in between some large-scale environments this weekend as a break.<br />
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And it wouldn't be complete without a couple new 1 hour paints:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skyrim screenshot from <a href="http://deadendthrills.com/">Dead End Thrills</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Patriot</td></tr>
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-10984580226818856452013-03-07T18:11:00.001-08:002013-03-07T18:11:15.549-08:00The Kitchen SinkI've had a lot of struggles defining myself as an artist because throughout my development people have told me that you need to specialize. Heck, I've told my friends that you need to specialize. I mean in an industry as competitive as ours people starting out need to compete with 20 year veterans, and how can you possibly do that if you try to draw everything? You need to draw like a mad man, it boggles the mind.<br />
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The problem is, concept art is about <i>ideas</i>. At its heart I don't believe it's about beautiful rendering or fine art finish. And anyway, how can you tell a concept artist to only be interested in one thing? "I am only interested in vehicles." "Oh no, I care nothing for people, only buildings." I mean, to a point I get we have preferences, but who says that? I can't design the architecture of a fantastic world without imagining the culture and fashions of the people who live there. I can't do a character without imagining where they live, the props and philosophies that define them. It goes round and round.<br />
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In this spirit, here is a load of all sorts of things I've been working on since March 4th. So... the last 3 days. I define myself as an environment concept artist, but there really aren't any environments in this dump at all. I just love to draw and design.<br />
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Above is a new gun and a heavy duty polish on the gun from earlier this week. I plan to do some more guns ramping up for GDC to round out my portfolio. The top gun I started Tuesday evening, was busy all day Wednesday and finished it Wednesday evening while listening the episodes of <a href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/show/extra-credits">Extra Credits</a>. (If you like game design at all, you're insane not to check that show out.)<br />
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Further costuming investigative thumbnails for the Blue Guardian visual development project. I did some new thumbs while in the lab helping with a class on Wednesday, then did the tighter line right when I got home, mixing and matching costuming elements.<br />
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Further costuming investigation of the Prince character from the same project as above. The methods were the same as well, only difference was I haven't finalized the hair style on the Prince yet, so I keep mucking around with options.<br />
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A couple of new 1 hour cinematic speed paintings. I do these every day, usually in the morning for warm up. You can view every day's painting along with the paintings of my friends who are also doing this at our blog, <a href="http://cinematicspeed.blogspot.com/">Cinematic Speed</a>.<br />
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Mmm. Drawing. <br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-53304323588857305062013-03-04T01:34:00.002-08:002013-03-04T01:43:25.504-08:00New environment, movie stillsI've been working on a new interior environment for my thesis, a cantina meet up place that serves as a hub for time travel agents:<br />
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It kind of serves the same function as the End of Time area in Chrono Trigger. It's not done yet, I want to populate it and make some more tweaks. It's coming along, though. I'm working to have a specific color set for each time period, this stage is red and cyan.<br />
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Here are some new stills from my ongoing daily 1 hour movie still project:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Dark Knight</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kill Bill Vol. 2</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince</td></tr>
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-29657021319282934572013-02-28T17:38:00.001-08:002013-02-28T17:38:20.056-08:00Characters, Movie paints and GunzI was sitting in on the exceptional <a href="http://drawaholic1124.deviantart.com/">Michael Buffington</a>'s prop design class last week and he asked me to demo how I design guns in a crunch. It's a photo-compositing technique used to save time when I have to do a lot of guns quickly, and I cranked out the following during the class:<br />
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The one of the left is the marriage of a number of different real guns I found using GIS and compositing, and left was the "finished" product from the demo (painting over it, tweaking etc.). I liked how it was coming, so I took it home and did some more work on it. The line is a little more sloppy than my usual standards, but it came out pretty decently:<br />
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It's been a while since I did a gun, so this was fun to do. Maybe I'll do some more in the near future.<br />
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Here are some fast costume thumbs for the character from last time:<br />
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...And another character:<br />
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And here are a couple new movie stills from the daily 1 hour paintings:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avatar</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marie Antionette</td></tr>
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-90164247507315195952013-02-24T21:35:00.001-08:002013-02-24T21:35:29.647-08:00Odds and EndsHere is an environment I did in the lab while sitting in on a class last week. I think it has potential, so I'll probably work on it some more this week:<br />
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<br />Some more film still 1 hour paints:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doubt - 1 hour</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8098/8505058950_c9063422b2_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8098/8505058950_c9063422b2_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inception - 1 hour</td></tr>
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Some mornings those are easier to do than others. I try not to directly paint over, but rather flip between layers so that I'm focusing on what looks natural rather than say, paint by numbers. In the end it's an amalgamation, but it's extremely informative and I enjoy doing them.<br />
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Here are some ~10 minute thumbs for a new character:<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-63993304835798814042013-02-22T00:35:00.002-08:002013-02-22T00:40:08.645-08:00Character follow upSome people liked the character I did yesterday, so here is some follow up work on her. Her name is Renee Murong, and she is a character for my thesis. I did a back view, some poses and alternate hair styles.<br />
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My thesis is a game about time travel. Renee plays a corporate investigator trying to ferret out white collar crime at a tech company by posing as an administrative assistant. Her time period is roughly 150 years in the future.<br />
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Some people remarked that she looks Mass Effect-y. I'm a big fan of Mass Effect and I definitely let some of that bleed into this design, especially the pistol in the poses ;) Sometimes you have to let yourself draw something you love.<br />
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A note - I tend not to go as all out with the rendering of back views. I may come back later and do so, but I usually find that if the materials are the same as the front view there isn't a lot of purpose to doing it. Most important to me is costuming clarity.<br />
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If you want to see larger, you can right click in lightbox and open the image in a new tab. Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-4842078461369568932013-02-21T02:04:00.002-08:002013-02-21T09:49:36.629-08:00Character, Cinematics, DoodlesEvening drawing! I got a bee in my bonnet this evening and decided to redo a character concept I had from a while ago, Renee Murong:<br />
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Even though I've only been doing cinematic speed paintings for a week or so I can feel that they are really helping me. It only took me about 4 hours to do this start to finish, and I'm pretty sure it's thanks to the cinematics.<br />
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Speaking of cinematics, here are some new ones:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zodiac - one of my favorite movies</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">True Grit</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Beautiful Mind</td></tr>
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I've also been mucking around with this environment for the past few days. I like the idea but I'm not sure it's coming out. I may need to trash it or redo it:<br />
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Still, it's fun to mess around with ideas, even when they don't come out the way you hope.<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-67425369186734531022013-02-19T00:14:00.000-08:002013-02-19T00:56:33.696-08:00CreaturesI recently did some creatures, here are two of them:<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-2841964204246988022013-02-17T15:53:00.003-08:002013-02-17T15:53:45.512-08:00More 1 hour stills and a doodleI set up a <a href="http://cinematicspeed.blogspot.com/">blog</a> where a couple friends and I will theoretically upload our movie still speedpaints and I've linked to it at the top. Hopefully we can stick with it, and multiple artists means multiple paintings. Everyone wins!<br />
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I'll probably still upload at least some if not all the paints to this blog, I haven't made up my mind yet. Here are a couple new ones:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amelie - 1 hr</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - 1 hr</td></tr>
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I also enjoyed the little drawing of the sorceress from the other day, so I drew her from another angle. Here is the new drawing, with the original drawing on the right:<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1755424604101199158.post-50817600330104039812013-02-16T11:09:00.001-08:002013-02-16T11:12:00.592-08:00Environment and 1 hr cinema paintsHere's an interior I've been picking at off and on over the past couple of days:<br />
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It's probably not done yet, technically it's a piece for my thesis. It's an apartment for an obsessive workaholic cop in New York City 2032. It's supposed to have that messy yet barely lived in sort of feel. I want some futuristic elements, but nothing groundbreaking since it's only 20 years ahead of where we are today. Do you think people will still use gmail in 20 years? It'll probably be upload to some sort of retina display by then... like...<i> actual </i>retinas.<br />
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A few of my friends have started doing 1 hour paintings from movie stills every day. After a week of jealous observation, I decided I would try to shoe-horn in one a day as well. The idea is to pick a stilled scene from a movie that looks cool and do a painting of it in an hour, pretty straightforward. I'm hoping it will increase my speed at painting people. Here are my first two:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#1 Skyfall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8478773631_20a03c495f_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8478773631_20a03c495f_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#2 Raiders</td></tr>
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I think I'm going to try and get a blogger group going of friends of mine who are doing this, it could be fun. If I do I'll link to it at the top of this blog.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645797775011587849noreply@blogger.com1