9/29/11

Gears of War 3

(Digital)

Hey all! I know it's been a while since my last post, I've been pretty busy between graduate school and working on my Gears of War 3 submission. I've finally finished it! It was definitely a step outside of my comfort zone. I've worked digitally many times before, but this time I tried something new. With this piece I worked on the entirety of the drawing in black and white and then colored it using various filter layers containing color. It was a learning experiment, and I'm glad to have done it, but I don't think it's a method I'm going to be using again (at least to do an entire drawing). If you look at the previous post, I took a very different turn with how I was going to render this drawing. As I mentioned this was a submission for the Gears of War 3 contest on DeviantART. It features the character - "Anya Stroud" from the game. You can view my entry here: Anya's Stand. This is a desktop background (per the submission guidelines it is 2560 x 1440 pixels). The image above is full resolution, feel free to download it and use it as your desktop background! All the work is copyright me, Victor Preato IV, and the character(s) and logo(s) are copyright Microsoft (I think...they own Gears right?). Enjoy!

9/17/11

GOW work in progress

(quick snapshot of my WIP - working in Photoshop)

Well I don't want to give too much away - and to be honest I don't really like showing my works-in-progress a whole lot...BUT I've been working on this little project for a little while. At least... I've been trying to, I've had some serious Art Block, and I'm pretty excited to be over/under/past/through/done with it. So in my excitement, I just decided to post this up. I know it's not a lot, but no worries, there will be more soon. I'm finally having some fun AND I'm back working in Photoshop on the tablet. Poor thing had been sitting on the table for weeks...

9/13/11

Zombie Brainstorm

(Ink, Marker, and Digital)

Well our facebook group strikes again.  This time the theme was zombies! I decided to start by writing down ideas, ie: brainstorming (I'm sure you can already tell where this was going...) I organized a list of different things about zombies: what they are, what they want, and what they hate.  Well I figured - "Wouldn't zombies enjoy an actual brainstorm?" And thus my idea was born. I sketched out a few thumbnails, chose one, drew it in ink and marker, scanned it, and added some halftone pattern in photoshop. Here's some links to a few other drawings of zombies by group members:

Sarah's Drawing - sarahlouiselovesart.blogspot.com

Jacob's Drawing - jacobandersonart.blogspot.com

9/8/11

Back to the Futura!

(Image borrowed from: artsupply.com

Well  I still don't exactly have a studio like I USED TO, but I did get a new drawing desk (and chair) so at the very least I've been able to set up a solid work station.  I'll avoid rambling on about how important I think it is to have a working space to keep you motivated...the fact of the matter is I think it is very important (it helps keep me organized).  So needless to say I'm thrilled to have a new drawing desk.  In case you're curious about what I bought, it's a "Futura Craft Station" (see above image).

9/1/11

I have an inkling on this one...

Well I don't normally do "reviews" (I guess it's not a review since it's not out yet, nor do I have one...), but I have to say I'm pretty excited about this one, and to be completely honest, I'm not quite sure when this was announced, so I may be a bit behind the times...

(Image borrowed from tehnabob.com)

Anywho, just the other day I came across Wacom's newest gadget: the "Inkling." As an artist who's used and owns a few of Wacom's tablets, I'm really excited for this.  Wacom is really getting into the whole idea of being able to draw digitally with it feeling like it's traditional.  From my understanding of the videos and what I've read, the inkling allows the user to draw traditionally with their new Inkling ballpoint pen in a sketchbook or wherever, and the sensor placed on top of the page captures all of your movements with the pen and creates a digital file, and not just a .jpeg image. Apparently the sensor allows you to work in layers and to create vector images from your drawings, all without a need to scan your original drawing. Oh and the Inkling doesn't need to be hooked up to the computer when you use it - you only hook it up to transfer the drawings via USB. I think this is a great way for those of use who aren't comfortable with drawing digitally to step in with this unique blend of the traditional and digital. With a projected price of $199 I think it's reasonably priced (though we'll see how much they charge for ballpoint ink replacements).  I look forward to hearing more about this product after it comes out. Looks like something I may be needing to pick up.

Check out this video by Wacom explaining everything I just said a little better: