(5th post)
I created this as a very short post on it’s own because it was the first image I liked enough to actually animate the process this summer. I like making these animated gifs. They are fun to show off and I like seeing my own process this way. Helps me prioritize my drawing methods.
(4th post tonight)
Remember that time I complained about how hard Paintovers are?? It basically just happened. Two posts ago. (About 20 minutes ago, for me).
I had to make an interior as a paintover. And I was going to do better! I’ve been so disgusted with my last few assignments that I even wondered if Concept Art was really what I wanted to do for a living. BUT OF COURSE IT IS!
So I found a neat photo of a room for a base and I started to draw over top. After a few thumbnails I decided on this:
You can see the original image, both the image and sketch, and finally the sketch on it’s own. An apartment on a space station or a space ship. Complete with hologram computer and jellyfish tank in the back corner.
This was the first line art I had done in a very long time that I didn’t hate. The perspective was right and the level of detail was higher. I had wanted to do other details like a butler robot but I decided to do less and do it better. Plus I find the emptier room seemed more ultra-modern.
I wanted to really emphasize the computer in the corner so I zoomed way out and using a soft brush I did just the values. Light parts that I wanted to stand out and dark everywhere else.
Then I used that as a base to do clean values.
I was pretty happy with it… until I went to colour it.
Eek. I knew I wasn’t near done colouring it but that screen was killing me. Every time I tried to fix it things got worse. It didn’t look high tech at all. One of the focal points of the image because it’s worst feature.
I completely redid it and I was so glad I did. For once I didn’t hate the final image as much as I normally do.
Of course this image was way late by the time I handed it in. I would have fixed the values on the couch and changed the way the room was reflected on the glass ceiling. I also would have added texture. Right now everything is smooth and made out of plastic instead of all the brushed metals and ceramics that I wanted.
Perhaps this one I can fix up for my portfolio. Hmmm.
Michael
This is the 3rd post I’m writing tonight and probably not the last. A weight will be lifted after I’m caught up logging all my assignments.
In term 3, week 5 I learned about Set Breakdowns. These are when an artist takes a image and starts to explain some of the details. Like if you drew a house, you may do a simple blueprint of the floor to show off how all the furniture is laid out.
It was a neat assignment because I had to take an existing image that I had created earlier in the program to expand on. I had very few environments which pretty much stuck me with the Post Apocalyptic San Francisco House (longest name ever).
Yikes that house exterior is brutal. It’s VERY clear that I need to work on my exteriors more than anything. But I liked the way the interior linework was coming. Bordered up windows and all that.
The more astute of you may have noticed though that I added a whole area on the left side of the building past the bay windows. Obviously that’s no good. I had to go edit the original image:
See that? I still hate that house but it was a neat experiment to move that wall out and make it seem like it was always like that. I also added flat value to the room. It was up to the student to decide how detailed they wanted to get with the set breakdown. I intended to go to full colour but (you guessed it) I ran out of time.
Michael
A paintover, for the uninitiated, is a technique of taking a photograph or 3D model and PAINTing OVER top of it. See how that works? Sounds like the easiest thing in the world, right?
I can’t do it! The assignment was to take an exterior photo and make it all differenty. By the end of the picture you have very little of the photo (if any) visible but you use the perspective and structure as a guide.
I started with a photo. This photo.
I wanted to make deep ruins using the steps as giant slabs of stone. And I wanted a monster skeleton smashed inside that the original temple was built around. I thumbnailed a million sketches. I started over completely dozens of times.
I settled on this design simply because I ran out of time.
You can see how I changed the scale of the image by putting lots of people inside all tiny. Then I created the line art.
So simple. So terrible. I was creating the Victorian drone at the same time I was creating this paintover. You can clearly see which image I gave all my time too.
Filling in the image did not fair much better.
Also keep in mind that this was already 2 weeks late at this point. I was trying to save time but throwing down textures and blending them together. Every step of this was a bad idea.
This is the final image I handed in:
I made it so dark to hide how bad it is. This is the worst image I handed in during this program. In fact, this is the first time anyone has seen it besides my teacher. I didn’t put it on any social media even though I try to post my art on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
But the point of this blog is address my abilities properly. And clearly I could have used a hard slap of perspective while I was creating this.
Michael
I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I updated this. This website isn’t just a place to show off my doodles. It’s also a place to log my journey to becoming a concept artist (and hopefully after I make it). I’ve written dozens of posts over the last few months… in my head. But I never found the time to sit down and write. Here’s whats been going on:
This summer has been hard. Not bad, though. Just hard. I want to make that clear that it’s been a great summer. I work full time for my families auction company and we have been busy. Big auction after big auction every few weeks. I’ve been working overtime nearly every day for months. I was supposed to get 2 weeks off as a break and I ended up going back after 7 days off. 10 times I planned to take a day off for a rest and ended up working the full day plus more.
It sounds like I’m complaining but I’m really not. For the most part I love my job. I feel like I’m needed at my work and that I’m good at it. But it’s been demanding on my time. I went 4 days without seeing my son. That sucked.
Because I want to spend time with my son, Mason, I don’t draw while he’s awake. Plus I want to give my wife, Becky, a break. With me working so much she’s basically lived the life of a single mother for most of the summer. Meaning most days my homework begins at 11pm. Assuming I didn’t go straight to bed. And I’d draw until 1am to 4am. Then sleep. Then work. It doesn’t leave much time for writing blogs (even though I missed doing it).
Also I’ve been late on EVERY. SINGLE. ASSIGNMENT this term. It’s awful. It’s EMBARRASSING. It’s not what I pictured when I signed up for this program. My teacher, Todd, has been VERY understanding and even supportive. But firm. He understands why I’m late and doesn’t blame me… while also reminding me that if I was a professional I wouldn’t have the luxury of late drawings. Sometimes weeks late.
I’m going to quickly catch up on my assignments right now (multiple post night) but I hate to leave a post without any pictures. This is a comic I drew in 15 minutes (notice it’s only 3 colours and mostly copied/pasted frames) about some of the usual anxiety most artists get.
It’s done, Diary!
I actually finished this forever ago but I forgot to post it on here. The Victorian Steampunk FPV Racing Drone!
I’d very much like to build this but I don’t have any money right now for parts. But drawing it was fun. If I did build it thought I’d have to use vacuum form and wood veneer because something made of ebony and amboyna wood probably wouldn’t fly at this size.
Here’s the animated process.
Awesome, right? I have a new drone website launching right away too! But I haven’t done the logo yet. BUT SOON! I’ll post the link when it’s done.
Michael
Hi Diary,
It’s been a crazy month for me. First of all I BOUGHT A HOUSE! Yup yup. My wife and I smashed our piggy banks and started climbing that property ladder. But with moving and a ton of overtime at work I got WAY behind in my art homework. I’ve been trying to catch up for 3 weeks and I’m still behind.
For the last month we’ve been working on vehicles and I could draw any vehicle in the world that I wanted. Naturally I chose a drone. Drones are my new obsession.
Here’s the line art for it.
I designed it as if it was in the Victorian Era. Not really Steampunk but kinda. I’m currently adding value, color and texture to get this assignment done. It was officially due 4 days ago but as soon as it’s done I’ll be back to my regular schedule.
Speaking of which, I should get back to it.
Love Michael
Dear Diary,
I’ve been meaning to make a post about this for a while. I’m learning After Effects! Not because I wanted to either. It’s a work thing. Having snappy effects during your ads/videos makes you stand out against your competition, right?
After Effects, for the uninformed, is a video editing program used for the fancier effects you see in media. They use it to add fire and junk to movies. I used it to make an unnecessarily aggressive intro for my dads youtube videos:
Obviously this isn’t the full HD video version. I turned it into a low-res animated gif for the sake of the blog. (5 second videos are buggy on blogs anyway). That’s the first thing I’ve ever animated like that. It has smashy sound effects too in the video.
I’m also starting a drone blog (more on that in a future post) but I’m using the online handle of Mykol. And yes, that sounds like Michael. I’m like that. I gave myself a logo and then animated for the videos.
The glitchy effect is a Drone thing, which I’ll explain later.
We had a booth at a trade show this weekend for both auctions and real estate and we had a TV cycling through all the appropriate logos every few seconds. Well I thought it would be neat to animate those too.
In the full thing clouds float across for 45 seconds all smooth.
In the full the globe spins for 45 seconds. My moms arm is actually making it spin and I was able to cut it out. I’m that good.
And finally the gun logo. It’s a zoomed in rifle scope that keeps aiming on it. There’s not jerky jump in the real version.
I’m having a lot of fun making these things so maybe I’ll have to learn some more After Effects stuff. I’ll post it here if I do.
Um.
BYE!
Where the heck have I been, Diary?
How long has it been since my last post? Hang on, let me check.
…
23 days?! That’s more than 3 weeks! Also how dumb is it that I told you to wait while I checked? I could have skipped all of that.
Yup, term 2 has ended and Adrian isn’t my teacher anymore. And that sucks because he was aces. I’m going to make a LinkedIn account soon and get him on there so we can keep in touch.
The last two weeks of the term had no assignments and then they had a reading week so I’ve had nothing to post. I mean I have art stuff going on but nothing I can talk about just yet.
o_0
Actually I have LOTS of stuff to talk about and some I’ll talk about on here and some will be elsewhere.
o_0 again
Anyway, the new term started and I’m very excited. And my new teacher, Todd Marshall seems awesome. He likes dinosaurs and space ships and pretty much everything I care about. He’s also the most “rock and roll” artist I’ve ever met and that’s cool too. I’ll write a post about him later but for now check out these balloons I had to draw!
That’s literally a copy of the artwork proof they sent me to approve from the files I sent them. It just makes me laugh that they have to get something so silly approved. I was given 30 minutes to draw “anything a kid would like” so fat dinosaurs and space ships is what they get.
Ok bye,
Michael
It’s been a year since I started the Concept Art Diploma class at the Vancouver Animation School, Diary.
I was recently messaged by a prospective student, Adriana, through my Facebook art page. She wanted to know what I thought of the school. It’s probably obvious that I think the world of the school. The assignments and the teachers are exactly what I need to grow as an artist.
I did, however, mention that some of the recorded lessons could do with a redo. The teachers that recorded them are clearly very good artists. The school did a good job finding talent. But it’s also clear that most had never recorded a process video before. There are a lot of long pauses and hesitations as they think about what they want to say next. Or they may go long times without saying anything at all. For a first try they aren’t bad, of course. But perhaps a second or third recording couldn’t hurt so that they really know what they want to say and can do it succinctly.
In the end, though, the real evidence about how well the school works is in my art progress. Last March (a year ago!) I applied for the schools scholarship and I had to create a bunch of specific artworks. Let’s compare last year to last week, shall we?
Oh. Oh no. I think I’m going to be sick. *pukey noises*.
Ah, that’s a little better. I’m sure in a year from now I’ll make pukey noises from my Eel too but compared to the snail I am WAY more pleased with it.
Let’s look at the man-made environments:
Well I definitely like this more than the snail. But it’s just boxes. Flat boxes in a row. In 1 point perspective even. For shame.
Aww yeah. That’s better. It’s only been a week and I already see a bunch of little things I’d like to touch up or redo but I really think I’ll be adding this to my portfolio.
Only one more year to go. I already know I’ll be sad when it’s over. I’m sad now just thinking about it.
Love Mikey
