The Altruistic Cow

The Atrium

2011-07-15T12:36:00.010-05:00

"The Atrium" is a low poly environment I created for my first Directed Focus Study at the Guildhall. The goal of the class is to have students work alone on creating more complex, polished pieces for use in portfolios.
For my project, I decided to create an environment inspired on concept art from the Bioshck series. Due to the limted time frame and scope of the project, I decided to give my own take rather than copying the concept exactly. I referenced both the concepts and in game assets in order to build this scene. All models are low poly and fully textured. The final pieces were rendered using Mental Ray in 3ds Max 2012.
I hope to get the scene into UDK soon.

High Poly Creature

2011-07-12T23:55:00.002-05:00

A high poly creature created for my final game project at grad school. Concept by Brian Wells.

High Poly Works In Progress

2011-05-27T00:48:00.007-05:00

High poly models from a game environment I'm recreating.

Power Girl

2011-05-22T17:16:00.004-05:00

A relatively quick painting of Power Girl. Nothing fancy - I just thought I would do a simple portrait and try something a little different with the style.

Low Poly Animal Head Model

2011-05-21T20:03:00.004-05:00

This is a low-poly model created using Mudbox and 3dS Max 2011.
The triangle limit was 3,300, and I used 2048 x 2048 textures.
For this character, I wanted to design an a creature that lives in a desert climate. The bone plating on its face is used to help reflect light and keep its body temperature regulated.

Environment Concept

2011-05-14T14:56:00.002-05:00

This concept was done with the goal of creating a scene that looks like belongs in Resistance 2, a game made by Insomniac Games. This particular scene takes place in the Chicago level of the game, where the city has been flooded and the alien forces have lined the streets with Hellfire Turrets.

Big Robot

2011-02-26T21:44:00.007-06:00

High Poly Guitar Pedal

2011-02-24T21:32:00.002-06:00

High poly model of a Digitech X-Series Digital Delay guitar pedal.
Created using 3dS Max 2011
Tri count: 4,757,024

Low Poly Character

2011-02-22T16:16:00.004-06:00

Low poly character designed in the style of Unreal Tournament 3.

Created using 3dS Max 2011 and Mudbox 2011.

Tri Count: 11,264
Maps used: Diffuse, Specular, Specular Color, Normal, Self Illumination (2048 x 2048)

UT3 Modelsheet Details

2011-02-22T16:04:00.002-06:00

Detail shots of model sheet from previous post.

Character Model Sheet

2011-02-14T00:46:00.004-06:00

Model sheet done in preparation for a 3D model in the style of Unreal Tournament 3.

Vehicle Model Renders

2011-01-09T13:48:00.004-06:00

Car Model

2011-01-05T01:18:00.005-06:00

Model of a 2004 Toyota Matrix XR done in 3DS Max.
Tri count: 3,999.
Maps used are Diffuse, Spec Level, Spec Color, Bump, Reflection,
Alpha, and Environment (all 1024 x 1024 pixels)

3D Weapon 2

2010-11-23T23:50:00.004-06:00

Low poly weapon created in 3dS Max 2011. Tri count: 2,980

3D Weapon 01

2010-10-15T18:40:00.004-05:00

Portrait

2010-10-13T13:23:00.007-05:00

Done for my Drawing class. The assignment was to recreate a photo reference as realistically as possible using only the brush tools in Photoshop (no cloning, gridmaking, etc.).

Catapult

2010-10-05T23:36:00.003-05:00

More 3D

2010-09-11T17:28:00.002-05:00

3D

2010-08-28T00:39:00.001-05:00

My first ever attempt at a 3D object. Done in 3ds Max

Apple

2010-06-14T22:42:00.001-05:00

More Painter

2010-05-18T23:01:00.002-05:00

More playing around with Painter XI. I've been trying to get it to look more like actual paint lately.

Playing with Painter

2010-04-18T19:02:00.003-05:00

I bought Painter XI about five months ago and haven't done much with it since up until this weekend. I finally decided to sit down and actually figure it out. Here's a progress shot of the painted version of a sketch from the previous post.

(Sort of) Recent Sketchbook Pages

2010-03-05T00:22:00.003-06:00

Dragon

2010-02-25T18:26:00.001-06:00

I've been working on this off and on for awhile now. It's probably about as close to finished as its going to get. Oil on canvas

Spring Cleaning

2010-01-27T00:01:00.003-06:00

I had a few extra hours at work one day last week, so I spent them making a cover for a catalog dedicated to one of the most mundane things on earth - cleaning supplies.

Company Christmas Card

2010-01-24T14:17:00.002-06:00

Round Robin

2009-12-08T18:37:00.001-06:00

BANG

2009-08-24T20:22:00.005-05:00

Done for a Western themed casino in Kansas. It's slightly different than what I submitted to them since I can't post their logo on this site, but the idea's the same.

New Stuff

2009-07-24T19:21:00.008-05:00

I've been very busy for the past few months. Here's some stuff I've done for work and for fun during my absence. Hopefully I'll be able to begin regular posting again.

Eggs

2009-03-28T09:07:00.002-05:00

Not quite Easter yet, but its close enough.

Change

2009-02-16T18:45:00.004-06:00

Maladorous

2009-02-04T19:55:00.002-06:00

Jazz

2009-01-02T18:33:00.003-06:00

Done for a local jazz club. Still needs some touch ups.

More Foxes

2008-12-25T22:31:00.003-06:00

This is meant to be the opposite of a painting I posted here

a long time ago.

More From Work

2008-12-16T22:10:00.003-06:00

Logo design done for my day job.

An Oldie (Sort of)

2008-12-01T22:39:00.004-06:00

Here's one I did awhile ago. I was looking through my portfolio the other day and realized I have a lot of stuff I like that I've never posted.

Oil Sketch

2008-09-21T23:27:00.003-05:00

A quick sketch done in oils.

Cows

2008-07-27T11:30:00.002-05:00

A quick illustration done for a coproprate trade show invitation cover.

Digital

Blue Angels

2008-07-04T11:56:00.005-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posts. Things have been very busy on the work side lately. I'm working on a couple paintings at the moment, so hopefully I'll have some good old fashioned illustration work to post soon. Until then, here's a digital piece I did for an assignment at my job.(the text is taken off because I'm not allowed to post the complete piece until after its over). It was for a contest involving the Blue Angels.

Zombie General

2008-05-27T15:20:00.004-05:00

Its been awhile since I've had the time to just paint something for myself. So, since I had some free time this weekend I thought I'd take a crack at an old favorite topic of mine.

Balloon Animals

2008-05-16T12:20:00.002-05:00

Detail of a new project I'm currently working on.

Oil on board.

Hands and Feet

2008-05-12T11:37:00.003-05:00

Its Over

2008-05-09T20:26:00.006-05:00

The KU Visual Communications Senior Show was last night, so I am now officially finished with school. Its a funny feeling. Last night was a great experience though. Thanks to anyone who came out to see our work and stopped by to talk to me.

Sparrow

2008-04-28T12:19:00.001-05:00

I just was playing around with some watercolor pencils for the first time last night instead of doing my real work and this is what I got.

Watercolor on Rives BFK
4"x7"

So I Lied.

2008-04-22T13:04:00.002-05:00

Just for the heck of it, here's one more piece from the promotional project, which I will be finished with as of tonight. Overall I'm pretty happy with how all 14 paintings turned out.

This one is the Snow Queen.

Oil on Rives BFK
9"x13"

Figure Painting

2008-04-15T16:14:00.002-05:00

Oil on canvas

To Tide You Over

2008-04-11T23:05:00.003-05:00

Sorry to anyone who pays attention to this thing for the lack of frequent updates recently. I've been working diligently on the rest of the promotional project. I have 11 of the 14 pieces in some state of finish with 2 weeks left before I have to send them to the printer. I've decided not to post any more of them because I want to make sure I don't reveal all of my good ones before the project comes out as a whole. So, until then, here's a 30 minute painting from back when my painting teacher made us do 50 peices in 2 weeks. I like how its painted in such a loose style but still holds up well as a portrait. Lately I wish I still painted like this. I'm growing weary of rendering everything to death.

Self Portrait 3

2008-04-02T04:17:00.004-05:00

The Jungle Book

2008-03-26T11:01:00.004-05:00

Just another piece for the promotional project. Its the Jungle Book this time. I managed to finish two more over spring break (The Juniper Tree and Animal Farm), so they'll be posted as soon as the oils dry.

Laika

2008-03-23T23:22:00.003-05:00

I was going through my old paintings looking for things to include in my final portfolio and came across this one. I don't know that this will make it in my portfolio, but its still one I'm pretty fond of for sentimental reasons. Laika is a recurring subject in my work. I find her fascinating.

One Down

2008-03-07T00:07:00.003-06:00

I finished the first illustration in my self-promotional project. This one is for the story "The Fox and the Crow". It was hard to get a convincing amount of snow in the air. The flakes' positions either looked not random enough or too sparse (And I'm still not quite happy with them.).
Only 13 more of these things to go....

Acrylic on Rives BFK
12"x18"

Figure Drawing III

2008-02-28T14:37:00.003-06:00

Its difficult to draw children without making them look like miniature adults with oversized heads.

Life Drawing II

2008-02-25T13:37:00.002-06:00

Pastel on colored paper,
18" x 24"

Its a small world after all. This model happens to be the first live model I ever worked from way back in my freshman year at Kansas City Kansas Community College. The only thing is that at that school they don't allow classes to use nude models, so he always had to wear a speedo.
Its kind of cool to look back at how I drew the same guy four years ago and compare it to how I draw now.

Life Drawing I

2008-02-24T14:06:00.005-06:00

Charcoal and gesso on chipboard.
24"x30"

*Disclaimer* No, this is not a self portrait. The model just happened to look like a girlier version of me.

Scene 1 Complete

2008-02-21T16:06:00.007-06:00

The video feature on Blogspot finally seems to be be back up, but for some reason I keep getting an error message whenever I try to upload the complete finished Scene 1, so here is the last part of it. I've actually done a short little title sequence and fixed the timing issues in the previous part I posted but since I can't upload the whole thing I'll just save those for when the whole project is complete. I think from now on I'm not going to post the scenes on this blog when as I complete them though. Everything seems to be turning out really well so I'd kind of like to keep it under wraps until its all done. So, enjoy. Feel free to let me know what you guys think.

Snow White & Rose Red

2008-02-19T21:20:00.005-06:00

I was going to post the completed first scene of Pen Pals tonight but for the second night in a row I'm unable to upload videos to my blog. I'll post it as soon as I get it working again.
In the meantime here's a color study for Snow White & Rose Red from my promotional project. The Snow White in this story is not to be confused with the girl that runs around with seven dwarves.
The composition's not entirely finalized at the moment but its getting close. I just need to play with the background some more. The lighting could also use some work to make it look more like they're in front of a fireplace. Otherwise I think its just about ready to be painted for real.

Red Riding Hood Color Sketch

2008-02-18T23:18:00.005-06:00

I've been working on tightening up all of my sketches for the promotional project. This is the color sketch for Little Red Riding Hood.
I'm not sure whether or not I like this one yet because it is so different from what I'm doing for all of the other pieces. They're more character driven while this one focuses on establishing setting and mood.
As an image I like it a lot. I'm just not sure if it is too inconsistent with everything else. Also, I haven't exactly decided how I'm going to be making these. I'm torn between doing the linework on paper and then adding digital color or doing all of these as oil paintings. If I choose the later I'm not going to be able to do something quiet like this. I guess I'd better decided soon. I'm forcing myself to start painting this weekend.

Juniper Tree Cont'd.

2008-02-16T11:23:00.005-06:00

I decided to throw some paint on the portrait of the step-mother in The Juniper Tree since I'm pretty happy with the design. Hopefully I'll get to start the actual painting by the end of the week. Deadlines will be here soon.

...more sketches.

2008-02-12T23:29:00.002-06:00

Pages from my sketchbook

2008-02-11T21:31:00.001-06:00

Here are two pages from my sketchbook. I've been working on character design for my fairy tales project. The first one is a design for the step-mother in The Juniper Tree and the second one is just a set of random kids. I have trouble drawing children in a consistent style so I was trying out some different things.

Birds

2008-02-10T14:57:00.001-06:00

This is a painting I'm working on for myself. I have quite a few side projects that aren't related to my schoolwork going at the moment and this is one of them. I've had this thing lately where I feel the need to draw/paint birds all the time.
Anyway, its not finished yet. I just thought I'd post what I've gotten done so far. The painting has pretty much any medium you can think of in it-charcoal, graphite, gesso, acrylic, colored pencil, a touch of oil...

Signs of Life

2008-02-07T13:08:00.000-06:00

A little over half of the first scene of Pen Pals is pretty much complete. The timing could use a little tweaking but otherwise I'm pretty happy with it.

You've Got Red On You.

2008-02-06T14:41:00.001-06:00

I've been working on my figure drawing skills for the past day or so because the point came up during a critique that there's a disconnection between the way I draw people and everything else. So, I started drawing random people and celebrities. Someone asked me to show some process for how I go from a drawing to a digital painting, so I show a couple steps below.

I spend quite a bit of time on the drawing itself so that I have decent line work to put on top of the color. For this one it took longer to draw it than it did to paint it.
Next I usually add some kind of textured background that I can have showing through in some places. Then I just start building up layers of base colors and blocking in shadows like you would if you were using real paint.

Eventually I end up with the finished product after some hue/saturation and layer property changes.

What a Pretty Bird Am I

2008-02-04T14:41:00.001-06:00

The Juniper Tree is a fairy tale about a stepmother who kills her step-son, cooks him into a stew, feeds it to his father and buries his bones under a Juniper Tree. She is then tormented by a bird who constantly sings about what she has done. The bird tempts her to leave the house and she is crushed by the millstone.
The best part of illustrating this one is going to be the Juniper tree. The bark spirals up and around the tree in a way that reminds me of something Tim Burton designed.

Promotioal Project Sketches

2008-02-03T14:48:00.001-06:00

I'm working on concept sketches for a series of promotional post cards depicting scenes/themes from some fairy tales, fables or other literary works that I've picked out. I started out with Animal Farm, one of my favorite books. While I'm targeting mostly children's book publishers with the promotions I don't want to make all of them bright and cheerful stories. This is one of a couple darker ones. Another dark one to come tomorrow.

Last of the Backgrounds

2008-01-30T18:45:00.001-06:00

I finished the last of my backgrounds today. There are about 4 more that I haven't posted but that's because they're really simple(like the inside of a closet.) Here are the final main ones. Also, I'm going to go back and change the closet shot from yesterday's post. I didn't notice at the time that the wallpaper had a green tint to it instead of purple like it should. These have been a blast to make. Actual animation work begins tomorrow night. I'm psyched.

A Few More Backgrounds

2008-01-29T17:18:00.000-06:00

Here are two more backgrounds from the animation project. The first one belongs to the first scene and the second is a view of the closet where the boy will be digging the hole to China. I'm trying to make these interesting without being so busy that they'll conflict with the characters when I insert them, which is turning out to be hard. The first one is fine but I'm not sure the other's quite there yet.

Pen Pals Backgrounds

2008-01-27T10:52:00.000-06:00

I've been working on the background paintings for the Pen Pals animation project this week. These two are from the last scene in the film where the boy gets to China. They're done digitally by taking a real painted background texture and painting over it in layers set to multiply, lighten or overlay so that the texture shows through the colors I add. Its a really neat trick I picked up a month or so ago and have been using ever since. I'll post some more of these next week.

Self Portrait

2008-01-25T16:03:00.001-06:00

I decided to take a little break from building the backgrounds for my animation project and work on a self portrait for a couple hours. Notice the new goatee I decided to grow. Just doing my part to support the writers' guild. (....not really.)

Dinosaur

2008-01-24T15:32:00.000-06:00

Hyenas

2008-01-22T23:54:00.000-06:00

Oil and acrylic on wood

More Sketching

2008-01-20T22:52:00.000-06:00

Just a sketch of Bernini's David.
Ballpoint Pen

Scribbles

2008-01-19T21:30:00.000-06:00

I was really bored tonight so I just started scribbling.

Drink and Draw #2

2008-01-17T23:50:00.000-06:00

We did another Drink & Draw session the other night. It went well. Following a nice round of Exquisite Corpse the discussion and drawing turned to moustaches and how awesome they make everything they're associated with.

While on the topic of facial hair i did this quick sketch of Tony Wonder from Arrested Development. I hope to have a beard like that when I grow up. He's my hero.

Portrait of a Wookie

2008-01-16T22:39:00.000-06:00

I had planned on finishing my storyboards for the Pen Pal animation tonight.....but then I started doodling in the margins. About three hours later those doodles turned into a portrait of Chewbacca. I know I should have worked on my homework, but Star Wars is just so much more fun.

Mole People!

2008-01-15T17:30:00.000-06:00

Here's some more stuff for Pen Pals. These are concept sketches for the mole people the boy is going to meet in the center of the earth. I thought the story needed some flair and one of my friends suggested mole people. I have to agree. Mole people make everything better. So props to her for the suggestion.
These are the first sketches. They started out either too much like actual moles or actual people.
I think these are the ones I'm going to use. They're still pretty mole-like but I think they work well.

"Pen Pals" Concept Art

2008-01-14T23:22:00.000-06:00

I've begun work on my next animation project, which I've given the working title "Pen Pals." Its about a lonely boy whose only friend is his pen pal from China. One day he decides that he wants to be with his friend, so he digs his way to China to see her. I've been working on some character designs for the kids that I'll post soon. Until then here are a couple background designs I did today for the boy's room and the scene where he begins digging to China.

Butterflies

2008-01-10T23:44:00.001-06:00

The result of random doodling.

Oldies

2008-01-09T23:28:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of older ones (about 6 months or so) . They're both colored pencil and acrylic on Canson paper.

In other news, those Lucky's logos I posted last week didn't get chosen. It turns out the people in charge of approving them wanted something an "upscale" store would have, but I didn't know that when I was designing them. The moral of the story is "know your audience".

Drink & Draw #1

2008-01-08T23:37:00.000-06:00

Last night I got together with some buddies from school at a local bar to "Drink & Draw". Its exactly what it sounds like. The below pics are the result of 3 Copperhead Ales and some damn good hummus.

I recently watched Snatch, so I had caravans on the brain.
Hedgehogs x10

I bet angler fish have trouble sleeping. Especially double-anglers.

Giraffe

2008-01-06T23:00:00.000-06:00

Its illegal to tie a giraffe to a lamp post in Atlanta.

Flower Girl 1

2008-01-01T21:13:00.001-06:00

One of a series of oil on wood paintings I've been working on lately. I really like the more subtle color palettes I've been using for the past couple weeks. Look for more from the series in the next week or so. Happy New Years.

Stitch

2007-12-29T00:27:00.001-06:00

Here's another digital one.
Lilo & Stitch rocks my socks off.