:-(

Yule be good?

Yuletide salutations.

I hope the man in red brings you and yours good fortune and good will.

They mostly come out at Christmas, mostly.

For the second year running, I was commissioned to create another set of Christmas cards for Last Exit to Nowhere. This year, Ripley is the focus of the hero's fantasies.

If you order a set now, you have plenty of time to get them to your nearest and dearest in time for the festive season.

The John McClane set I illustrated last year are also available here.

In fact, the quality of the prints is far better than a card has any right to be. You could frame them up and pass them off as art prints, thus garnering yourself kudos from your nearest and dearest. Then you could buy yourself a nice T-shirt as a reward for saving money. Just sayin'.

Dead Red

Well played ESA. You may not have had 100% success, but we're still one more step ahead and valuable lessons can be learn for the next ride.

And in the meantime, TGO can continue sciencing as it hangs above the red planet. Alone.

Snif :-(

Rosie and Phil 4eva

Finally, they are together.

The two little robots sent into deep space by the European Space agency will now drift on the back of the Rosetta comet for millennia. Maybe one day they will be considered ancient relics and gathered up by our descendants, as they move to another star.

Until then.

Congratulations and high fives to everybody involved.

The F in farm

Funny Farm was a great project to work on. Produced by Dubit, for Food Zoo Limited, the virtual reality (VR) aspect provided some challenges that we were forced to solve creatively. For the product to perform well in VR we had to produce a distinct art style with minimal information, yet still deliver a strong brand identity.

Farm animals are always a fun set of characters to produce in any style, as they seem to fit into a natural lineup. From the outset we knew the bull had to be the largest and heaviest of our bestiary, so we wanted him to have a powerful, 'macho' look that left you in no doubt he felt he was in charge of the farm.

Once we had a shape we were happy with, we used him as a model to produce a selection of characters that were on brand, yet faithful to their real life counterparts.

Despite having a fun bunch of personalities, this group didn't knit together as tightly as they should so we did another pass, trying to push the stylisation even further. We focused on a 'hump' as a template and played with scale and colour, arriving as a collective of simple characters that felt fun and unique.

Once we'd found this form, we then discovered some fun routes for animation to fully embrace this simplicity.

The bee proved far harder to break than it had any right to, but once we realised the bee would primarily be viewed from behind we knew that this was the angle that needed to display our 'hump' shape. Once we made this decision it game us some freedom with the head and thorax which allowed the creative process to flow more easily.

When looking at inspiration for farms it became apparent very quickly that the red and white barns, yellow cornfields, and blues skies of the American mid-west provided a far more pleasant aesthetic, than the grey sky, grey stone, brown mud and rusty corrugated iron of British farms.

Performance was our primary goal here so from the outset we went in confident that we needed to focus on a low poly art style. Rather than trying to disguise this decision we embraced it and crafted all elements of the farm yard to suit this approach.

With a final pass to hone the pastel colours and layout of the hub, I produced this piece of art. This, along with the characters, was then modeled in 3D.

The finished product is a lovely looking pair of VR games set on a picture perfect American farm-stead. It's available now at the App Store, and Google Play. If you don't believe me, just watch the trailer.

I hope this wont be our last visit to Funny Farm as there was a whole bunch of ideas left unexplored.

I cant believe I managed this whole post without a farm pun! I deserve a pat on the back.

Artstation ILM Challenge Round 2b

Round 1

For the Second vehicle I wanted to add to the roster of Imperial ships. Their hulking grey, angular forms are descended from the mass produced military vehicles of WWII.

American trains throw up some great shapes. They also frequently adhere to that 'Star Wars aesthetic' of being well used and feel like they've lived for generations. 

I liked the idea of developing a troop carrier, or at least an engine that would transport several 'carriages' with troops in. There are some great images of the optimistic WWII soldiers leaving for war, hanging out of windows and waving goodbye to loved ones.

With young people like Luke desperate to join the Imperial Academy, I imagine there must have been a similar romanticised moment as they embarked on their career as Imperial Storm Troopers.

As I mentioned before, perspective and lighting are something that's always scared me away from this hard surface stuff in the past so to help, I turned my hand to some rudimentary 3D in order to help.

I wanted to capture the hope, enthusiasm and excitement of people leaving home for the first time on the promise of adventure and a vast new world to be explored... before they are butchered in a brutal war, duped by Imperial Propaganda and the lies of their superiors.

And that was that.

The quality of the work on Art station is genuinely phenomenal, so I didn't expect to make it even this far... and these aren't tears... and I'm not gnashing my teeth in frustrated disappointment... I just need a mug of strong tea. NOW.

Regardless, you can see the results of the competition here.

Artstation ILM Challenge Round 2a

See Round 1 here

With my botched second image in round 1, I was genuinely amazed, but delighted, to make it through to round two, (roughly the top 10%!), but with round two titled 'The Ride', I knew I wasn't going any further. Vehicle design is something I've kept away from.

Round 2 - Vehicle Challenge: Brief

Design two new Star Wars vehicles within the aesthetic of Episodes IV - VI. They can be Rebel, Imperial, or utilitarian — your choice; anything from a giant starship to a land speeder. Be sure to finish your images by placing the vehicles within the context of an environment. We want to see the story — not the blueprints.

After initially focusing on Imperial hardware, I started to think about vehicles from the other end of the spectrum. To me, Star Wars was at its strongest, delivering alien cultures, specifically the criminal underworld. We know the Hutts have Sail Barges on Tattooine, so I figured they must have other places to visit than the Sarlacc.

Taking inspiration from Cloud city I came up with the concept of a floating Atoll with enough room to dock several Sail Barges, allowing the esteemed guests of the Hutts to disembark and spend a night gambling in this luxurious, and most importantly, safe, casino above the cooling sands of Tatooine.

To compliment the Atoll designed I added a few more sail ships inspired by the colours and decor of other Tatooine institutions. I also looked at the sails of middle eastern and North African boats to deliver a Sail Yacht, and a Skiff with a daring pilot 'hiking' over the side of his craft.

I loved the idea of designing an up market version of Jabba's Palace hanging above the desert. Safe from Tusken raiders and only accessible via flight. this ensures a certain level of gambler and with a tight security force you'd have to be a fool to risk being thrown overboard... Unless you have a skiff drifting nearby to make a fast getaway.

Round 2b

50 Trek

Oh, and happy birthday Star Trek.

May the force be with you

x

Artstation ILM Challenge Round 1

Artstation recently hosted a 3 part challenge to produce art for Star Wars, to be judged by a selection of the finest artists from Industrial Light and Magic.

Round 1 - The Moment—Creating Keyframes Challenge: Brief
Create two keyframes  – an emotive still image that tells a cinematic story – within the world of Star Wars Episodes IV – VI. Use only existing Star Wars worlds, vehicles, creatures and characters to create a new story moment.

One place that was mentioned but barely shown (only in some deleted scenes) was the Tosche Station where Luke wanted to acquire some power converters.

Lucas famously took inspiration from American diners, Rock and Roll, and drag racing. I wanted to create a sort of youth-club version of Jabbas palace, somewhere the 'kids' would go to hang out, mod their rides and race them across the scorching deserts of Tatooine.

On reflection, I spent too long focusing on delivering a McQuarrie-esque style and building up the location rather than focusing on the narrative that was outlined in the brief... cursed by my flustering excitement at the job in hand.

In order to test me further, my graphics card decided to go 'on a break' half way through the first challenge. As a result, the second image was crafted last minute from elements of the final image, and my kids learned some exciting new words that week.

Round 2a

Whatchu Wandoo?

From time to time I post work that I was commissioned to do, even if its years later and I'm still proud of the work. Wandoo Planet is one such project.

It was an interest finder app to help children source material related to their hobbies such as books, films, games, toys or anything else that grabs their attention. From its inception the clients wanted the app to exist within a living world populated by friendly woodland characters.

First and foremost the product had to be a functional app so I felt it was important to achieve a strong graphic approach. The main focus of the product is the tree, so a unique shape was required, not only so that it could be 'owned' and easily identified, but also to define the Wandoo brand.

After exploring several different routes I combined several elements from different styles and arrived at the following image that was strong enough to lead the rest of the design work with its shapes and hues.

Forests have always featured heavily in literature and so I wanted to give the contemporary design a 'classic' sepia palette that would reflect its historical roots (see what I did there?) and the resulting warm, autumnal hues really brought the environment to life.

The characters that populated Wandoo Planet would be at the beck and call of the user helping nurture your tree with each character focusing on a different task. Early in the process there was a discussion surrounding the potential to re-skin the app for an adult audience. In order to retain a sense of continuity I created characters that would have strong silhouettes that would translate onto icons that could be used on buttons should this step ever come to fruition.

I then turned my attention to the development of the tree, exploring how it would grow from a seed up to a mature tree.

With work on the app well under way we turned our focus to an opening video that would greet users and could also potentially be used as an on-line promotional video. Working closely with the clients a storyboard, then full colour images were created which were in turn brought seamlessly to life by After Effects guru Mark Roberts.

 

All artwork is property of Evanced

Star Wars Celebration 2016!

Huzzah! The latest addition to my Little Destiny series is now available and if you want a signed copy, you should pop over to Star wars celebration, and visit the ACME Archives booth in S11 on Saturday between 12-2 where I'll be signing this, and other little destiny prints, and handing out free high fives on request.

As always, Little Rey's Destiny and the rest of the series are from ACME Archives. Why not treat yourself?

What Juno anyway?!

Congratulations to all those involved in NASA's Juno mission!

After a five year voyage of 1.75 billion miles, their probe arrived into Jupiter's orbit this morning beginning a new chapter in our understanding of the gas giant and in turn solar system.

Watching the images of the swirling gas giant arrive over the coming months and years is going to be awe inspiring.

If anyone at NASA or ESA is reading, how about you start including faces in the designs of your probes. I'm having fun bringing a bit of character to the likes of Juno, Rose and Phile and New Horizons, but a bit of help from your end would make these little adventurers even more fun. :-) 

How We Draw... Pandoo

I wrote a post and created a time-lapse video for Kids & Digital about part of the process for creating avatars for Pandoo Nation, a title I've been involved with. Click below.

How We Draw... Pandoo

Happy Star Wars day!

What timing! Here's a new addition to the Little Destiny series of Star Wars prints. 

Little Ezra's Destiny, depicts Ezra from the fantastic Star Wars Rebels, out filching trooper helmets for his collection, available here.

It was featured in an brief article on io9 today, which is awesome.

All the other prints in the series are still available over at Acme Archives, so why not nip over and order one. Hell, order several. The full set! Perfect gifts for the little Star Wars fanatics in your life.

As always, there's plenty more of these in the pipeline. If I'm missing your favourite, drop me a message and let me know and I'll see what I can do ;-)

May the 4th be with you.

426 (with free bonus video!)

Happy Aliens day! (almost)

Apparently.

I'm assuming the 26 of April is some kind of ancient pagan festival, and not a commercial ploy by a leading film studio to boost the popularity of one of their IPs. Right?

Regardless, Alien and Aliens are spectacular movies. Fact. As well as both being seminal science fiction movies that pushed the boundaries of what was possible at the time, both films are genuinely terrifying in very different ways.

Alien saga's ongoing themes of motherhood are never so apparent as in the relationship between Ripley and orphaned space urchin, Newt.

Over the years I've had numerous questions about the process of creating digital imagery so I've decided to record myself at work on the Newt image. It took about 1:15 to complete, not including sketchbook doodling.

Its an odd sensation, showcasing the process of creating this kind of speed-paint, as It allows a glimpse of the trials and frequent errors that help arrive at the finished result.

I have no doubt various bad habits and lack of planning are evident, but I hope some of you find it useful. Feel free to send any questions. Or answers. I always like a good answer. Especially if its correct.

'Mad props' (I think that's right), to hashfinger for the excellent music.

100101 101

Another speed paint. I know, I know, it's all I seem to get time for these days! The topic was 'Robot DJ'.

Just for fun I turned it into a GIF to bring it alive :-)

Here's the Jpeg in case this one gives you a seizure. I hope it doesn't.

Mental note: Forgo sleep. Draw more.

Speed Kaiju

Been indulging in a weekly speed paint (1hr limit) and have produced this sequence over three hours.

I think it shows that the last one was completed over 2 half hour sessions, and I lost my way with it a bit.

The moral? Forfeit lunch for better results.

What a gem!

Without a doubt the finest TV show I've ever seen, Deadwood is a bruised and bloody, mud-stained delight. The multiple character arcs twist with tension and are awash with the darkest of dark humour and the authentic dialogue is so marvellously crafted that despite foulest of foul f**king language* it often feels like poetry.

From Bullocks rage infused 'hero' to the silent menace of McShanes wonderfully vile, landlord/gang-lord/pimp/all round evil cokesucker, Al Swarengen, the town is littered with colourful portrayals of the real, often infamous, characters that passed through Deadwood.

The announcement that it is going to be revived as a film gave me an excuse to revisit it all over again. Yay!

*Honestly. I cant stress enough. It made me blush. (... And then clap with delight.)

Haters gonna H8

I finally got round to watching The Hateful 8. Tarantino's ablity to play off tension, violence, and comedy is unparalleled and whilst not being his strongest work, its still a master-class.

Brutal yet bloody hilarious. There were some great performances throughout, and I couldn't resist drawing up a couple of my favourites.

I really hope he doesn't quit making films any time soon, as he's repeatedly threatens to.

Here's hoping that Kill Bill Vol. 3 will be prefixed with: The 5th Film by Quentin Tarantino, thereby squeezing one more drop of excellence from his promise.

Happy Birthday Roy!

Name: Roy Batty

Model: Nexus Six

Inception Deate: 08-01-16. Today.

I've enjoyed films for as long as I can remember, but Blade Runner was shown in my art class when I was about 15, just at the point I was realising that movies were grown up and smart, as well as simple entertainment.

With its flawless cinematography, visionary design and a rich, slow burning, noire story, its remained up there with my favourites ever since.

'I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire of the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhaüser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like... tears... in... rain.' - Roy Batty

Happy Birthday Roy!

Incidentally... Roy Batty? Sounds like an ageing newspaper seller from 'oop north'.