Autumn Tree Study

Autumn Tree Study

I did this speed study of trees. The photo is of some trees in a Belleek wood which is very close to where I live.  This time of year the landscape changes very rapidly.  I try and grab as many photos as I can this time of year.  

Basilisk lizard study

basilisk lizard study

A study of the basilisk lizard.  This lizard is able to run across water earning it the nickname the Jesus lizard.  I did this as a study to help with my next personal piece.  What I was looking for here was mostly colour information. 

Cuirass Study

Cuirass Study

A study I did of a cuirass mostly for materials.  It was large and I ended up just working the top left corner to any level of finish.  I was going to use this information in the next personal piece I am working on..

Ready to go

Ready To Go

Here is the personal piece I was working on.  I used all the studies and some.  Took quite a while definitely more than 20 hours but I took the time to do the studies.  I also have been trying to get some sketching in each day as well.

Behind the Iron Curtain 2

About a month ago I took my holidays.  The past few years I have not travelled but with another summer of rain I thought it would be good to go somewhere warm.  It happened that the Behind the Iron Curtain workshop was happening around that time.  I had not been to any workshop before and I had no idea what to expect but off to Bucharest I went.  

I was so glad I took the trip.  It was educational and inspirational. The workshop was covering 2d and 3d work but I went just to focus on the 2d.  

The demos were good but what was most useful for me was finding out how the industry worked and what to consider when putting images together.  

Daniel Simon

 A designer  Daniel talked through his career and design philosophy.  He worked on the bugatti.  I had to take this photo as I painted one last year.




  Iain McCaig
Was all about the story.  After giving an overview of his work his sessions focused on storyboarding.  They were great - lots of interaction.   

 Raphael Lacoste

Raphael went over some of the projects he worked on and some general pointers about design.  I went to a few of his sessions which included a speed paint and a matte painting.  I have not tried any matte painting so was really interested to see the workflow.  

Neville Page 
Neville modeled the fine fellow below over the weekend.  I started out working in Maya and played with Zbrush but have not gone back to them since. Seems like Zbrush has moved on since I used it.  
The sessions were really informative - once again a focus on good design. 

Overall met some great people learned alot and had alot of fun.  
One of the re-occurring comments was to have a story behind the image or design.    The other one I heard alot was for those wishing to work in concept art was to think about if it would suit you - can you work in a team? Are you OK with the possibility no one may ever see some of the work you produce or worse it may even be destroyed due to contractual restrictions?


For a more photos and a look at the more informal parts of the workshop look here.

Polar Bears Study

Polar Bears Study

I am still working on the personal piece.  This is another study I did to help with it.  This was a study of a photo.  The colours were striking but mainly I was interested in the anatomy in this image. 

Dog Sled Study

Dog Sled Study

Following on from the previous landscape study here is a sled study done from a photo.  Wanted to practice the snow and get a feel for what makes up a sled.  By now I have worked out the composition for the personal piece but still need to do a few more studies.