Here are a couple of sketches from our Monday night sketch group which has started with just 8 D3 artists. We started with a reference image of a 4 winged chicken that we randomly stumbled upon. So we all started drawing birds which turned into pure of chaos within a few minutes. Guys riding giant chickens shooting arrows, flying demons, giant tick monsters, etc. With our sketch group, I dont think staying on topic will ever be possible. hehe. =)
Samus is always fun to sketch. She has such a strong iconic form that has stuck since the first classic NES version. Most lead game characters are too similar in silhouette so you have to get into the details to set them apart. With Samus you can throw down a few circles and an imposibly thin waist and most gamers will know who your sketching. Any programmer could draw a reccognizable Samus… well… ok, that might be a stretch. Any 5 year old with a crayon. =)
I love the Metroid Prime series and I think it may be the only title that properly utilizes the Wii-mote controls. It doesnt make me shake, juggle or break dance to jump or attack. All other developers take notes. With the new Metroid leaving Retros very capable hands, Im a little (or a lot) concerned with the idea of Team Ninja developing the new title. Not that I dont like Ninja Gaiden or DOA, I just dont really know if I want the Smash Bros version of her in a fully realized action adventure game. Well there has never really been a bad Metroid game (the DS version does not exist in my mind) so lets just keep our fingers crossed for more Metroid goodness later this year. =)
After uploading him, I realized boring guy needed a few quick adjustments. Now hes got a little character! =)
When I sketch its always stylized or cartoony stuff so I figured I should try a few more realistic sketches since this life drawing stuff is the hip artsy thing to do. This guy took me about 15 min… well its a guy… with a face… yeah. It was incredibly hard to not draw a silly moustache, scars, warts, clown nose, etc. I guess 15 min of serious sketching is a long time for me. =)
“Do you do math at work, Dad?” says a small voice from behind my chair as Im sketching. “No way, I hate math!” says the dumb artist before the parent part of the brain kicks in. “What I mean is I prefer to leave the math stuff to the people who are good at it like the programers… and your mom.”
I have 2 childred who are straight A students that easily excel in every subject. In this regard, the 3rd apple fell very close to the tree. Like myself, my daughter Jaz loves art and hates math. Luckily she is only in the 2nd grade, so Im still smart enough to help her. She only has about a 2o min attention span though. After that she just starts going completely blank and throwing out random nonsensical answers. “12-9=… fish?” Yup, she definately takes after her dad. =)
Last night I had a conversation with my brother about what games were surprisingly good. There are always the great games that you expect to be good, but this was about games that you had no expectations and they blew you away. Infamous was a surprise to me since I’m not a fan of gray city, sandbox crap. I gave it a chance because its the Sly Cooper guys and I loved it. The biggest surprise I have had this generation is My Sims Kingdom. We rented it because we rent every lame ass Wii game in hopes of finding anything decent for the kids to play on that horrible platform. I was shocked by fantastic writing, great characters and incredibly fun and varied game mechanics. Nintendo take notes.
Thats some recent goods but we both agreed that the surprisingly best game of all time is Duck Tales for the NES. When I heard you play as old man, Scrooge McDuck using his cane as a pogo stick… needless to say, that did not sound like a fun game. I cant remember how the hell someone convinced me to try it, but Im glad they did because its a brilliant game. I do remember that I ended up liking the show because of how amazing the game was. Lauchpad was hilarious and Gizmo Duck was awesome! I ended up looking up some images from back then and as always, my memory of this sweet robotic badass is a lie. Old Gizmo Duck is not so hot.
Darksiders was amazing. Sweet environments, fun combat, intelligent puzzles (for the most part) and fantastic art. Love the style. I hope it does well enough to get a sequel. GO BUY IT!
Its crazy how tough it is to use a regular tablet after getting used to a Cintiq. I have been doing a few tree branch studies to get a better understanding of how they grow and fall.
I wish these big companies or marketing depatments would get together and agree to avoid this crap. Flip a coin or something then the other guys can come out 2 weeks later. Darksiders and Bayonetta look to be the 2 best God of War style action adventure games to come out in years. Both have a dark, high fantasy vibe with amazing visuals, epic hack and slash combo driven gameplay, over the top enemy encounters and boss battles. Both are coming out this Tuesday for the 360 and PS3. I strongly feel like both of these games are catering to EXACTLY the same group of gamers so they are cutting their initial sales (which for most games is about %90) in half. Why does this happen so often? Does everyone think their game is so good that it doesnt have to worry about what else its competing with? Ah well. Personally I will be picking up Darksiders first. I prefer the art style Vigil pulled off and the exploration element the game offers. The preorder bonus being a sweet art book doesnt hurt either. =)
I added a few more random images and Im going to be updating my links tonight. See ya!
HEY! The gallery is back! I will be posting up a bunch of random images from the past decade or so in the next few days. Also posted a quick Bio that I may elaborate on later.
