Da Map

And so it begins!!

I have been toying for many years with starting a full blown comic from my Dungeon Notes pages.

After all I have been drawing these guys off and on since high school. I have started a comic several times over the years but could never get it to stick. I am hoping that now with this start, this will be the comic I have always wanted to draw. I hope you will all enjoy it as much as I am having drawing it.

The TARDIS Project

So I am an artist who helps create video games and as of late I have been working mostly in 2D and I was feeling a bit rusty in my 3D works. So I thought I would open up 3DS Max and do some “Box” Modeling or “Hard surface” modeling is what I think the term is now.

 I got to thinking and looked over at the TARDIS cookie Jar I have on my desk. So I thought “What could be simpler that a Police Call ‘BOX’ to model?” (What was I thinking right?) So away it went eyeballing the toy and adding a flair here and there of my own not really knowing what I wanted to do with the end result. The thing was almost done when I started mulling over materials and textures. I thought “If I put a nice glass on the dome, I might have to build a bulb to go inside it.” So off to the internet I went! I mean I thought “Somebody out there would know what kind of bulbs are in this thing!” This is when I came across this site. www.tardisbuilders.com I was, to say the least, floored.

I quickly learned that even though the details are few, it is because of this reason that they are very important to get right. Well I was too far along in my model to go back, it would be better to start from scratch. So I borrowed from here and there and to make a very long post a bit shorter, here is what I came up with.

 

I like the dome I came up with, but got so lost in the site I forgot to look up a bulb for it! HAHAHA!

I am going to hand paint my textures and Normal maps

 I am happy to have feedback on the model.

 It is a Work In Progress.

Just about done, Not sure how I feel about the Matt Smith variation.

Well to close out this tread, here are two of the more finished renders that I did.

~TARDIS Lost

Mash it up?

There are many talented artists out there who have found work revamping or doing “mash-ups” of others IP.

Now this is a completely legitimate process and I am happy to see so many successful.  But out of the multitude of My Little Pony, Dr. Who, Transformer, Firefly T-shirts, tote bags and prints, I wonder how many original works are lost by these same artists, and how much work is ignored by the companies that cater to these revamps?

Consumers clamor all the time, “We want something new, we want something new!” and when the something new is delivered they say “Oh, but it is not like this, that, or the other thing.”

 Now this is not a complaint mind you, but rather an observation. I am wondering what it takes to gain a greater audience with my own work and if I should start putting my spin on tried and true characters. After all, my most popular comic is one in which I reference Dr. Who and that very comic is based on AD&D itself.

I just cannot keep thinking that if I divert my efforts, what wonders will I miss creating.

 

So for those of you who may not have seen, I am starting to make progress on the Playing card prints. I have finished the Jack of Spades

 

I have also started a new series of prints based on the antics of baby Dragons.

 

I would love for any of you to chime in and tell me what you think. :D

New look, New ideas...

Well I think I am out of my rut and working toward lots of fun and exciting things!

I will be the Art-Guest-of-Honor at a local convention called Leprecon 39 here in Mesa.

leprecon39For those of you who can you should come on by and say hi.

Also I will be sharing a table in artist’s alley at Phoenix Comic Con, whereas Chain Reaction Studios

Chain Reaction Studios

 I will be selling prints of some of my work. Which brings me to the pointof even having this blog!

I have been drawing tons and tons of late and I hope to be ready to publish a Dungeon Notes book soon!

 

This is one of my favorites as the outdoor bit I think came out well. I have been concentrating on my backgrounds. There is another.

 

Soapbox Moment

Being an artist, people are more than willing to say you are great, for that costs them nothing.

Paying for that worth is a completely another matter. I more than appreciate the accolades, but I cannot eat praise nor can I pay my bills with it.

Being an artist is hard; it is very hard work as is any profession. There is nothing you can reach out and touch, as you are reading this, which was not touched by an artist or designed by one. Yet it is the very last thing people want to pay for.

\End Rant