Crystal Clear Art

New Blog/Website

2009-09-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

This will be my last post here. I have a hot new site where I will not only continue my posts, but will be adding more variety to them. ie: tutorials, designer spotlights and interviews, designer resources, and so much more. Oh, and of course my regular Crystal Clear Art site is there as well if you need help with your project. Just go HERE for the blog or HERE for the main site. Enjoy!

New Super Shock Football Intro Screen!

2009-07-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

So my first crack at our title screen looked kind of like this. Which I liked but after we got knee deep in the game, a more light-hearted style began to take shape. So in an effort to stay consistent with our new funny drawings used everywhere else I developed this new title screen for the game which I actually like much better. Enjoy!Super Shock Football comes out in a couple more weeks!!!

Section 8 Logo

2009-06-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

A while back I hinted about a big logo I was working on for a new video game. It was HUSH HUSH at the time so I couldn't say much. But the media floodgates have finally opened and I can now tell you the game is called Section 8 and is coming to XBOX 360, PS3, and PC. I did MANY versions of this logo, some more fleshed out than others, till the clients decided on the one you see below. (I wish I could take credit for the awesome art below but I only did the logo itself.) Still, I think it looks great on the box art and whats cool is the eagle emblem is used quite a bit in the game as "badges" on the shoulders of the armor. You can see what I mean by watching the trailer below or click here to see the awesome HD version.

Video Games | Section 8 | Official Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Super Shock Football Game Site Up!

2009-06-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. I've been hard at work on my first iPhone game. It's been a lot of work but it's also been a blast. I learned so much as a designer working on this project. There were many things to consider past the usual "make it look good" approach we often fall into as designers. ie: functionality, scale, intuitiveness, smart use of space, versatility, 3D texture mapping, marketability, the list goes on and on. Anyway, I wanted to let you all know to check it out by going to our new website. SuperShockFootball.com

We got all kinds of good stuff there including a trailer, game details, screenshots, wallpapers, forums, and links to our twitter, youtube and facebook pages. More than enough keep yourself busy while you wait for the summer release.

Below are some of the iPhone wallpapers you can find on our site....

Super Shock Football Play by Plays

2009-05-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. It's been a long time since I've posted anything. I've been pretty busy adapting to my new role as a father and trying to juggle a design business while developing an iphone game. So what we have here is a bunch of illustrations I did for our game. We changed the name from ILectric Football" to "Super Shock Football" This was for creative reasons as well as legal reasons :) Anyway, after the end of every play one of these bad boys pops up. The goal was to make them vintage and funny. I hope you like them. For those interested in more info on Super Shock Football, check out the Facebook page and become a fan! You can also find much higher resolution version of these drawings there. Stay tuned as the first trailer will be coming out in the next few days.

Kayla Joy is here!

2009-04-22T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone. I just finished my daughters birth announcement and thought I would share it with you all. But more important than the design are the pictures. I mean I know I'm biased but she is freaking cute.

Steamroller Studios Revisisted

2009-04-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Just a little while ago I showed you guys the logo for my new company "Steamroller Studios" while I had fun with it. We needed something a little more adult and professional as who knows what kind of games we will be developing one day. I wanted something iconic and after talking it over with some artists friends. This is the final result. Props to my boy Torrance for the sketch this is based off of, and to Mr. Iron Fist/Velvet Glove himself, Jared Mirabile for the awesome custom font.

Crystal Clear Photography

2009-04-01T11:08:00.001-07:00

In an effort to save some money on my wife's maternity pictures I thought I would use our new camera and try my hand at taking them myself. Turns out I'm not half bad at photography (or photoshop) I was so happy with the results that I have decided to start downsizing my logo and design work and start making more room for this new passion. And so "Crystal Clear Photography" is officially born. If you need maternity pictures, wedding pictures, baby pictures, graduation pictures, whatever. Crystal Clear Photography can help. Stay tuned here as I will begin showing you what my new website will look like in the coming days.

UPDATE: Yeah, not really, this was just an April Fools joke. While I did take this photo and I do think it came out good. There's no way I have any interest in starting a photography business.

Ilectric Football Is Coming!

2009-03-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

For the past month I've been working with a friend on a game for the iphone called iLectric Football. Remember those old school vibrating football games? Check out the video below if you need a refresher. We are about 50% done with it as of today, maybe further. Now that I'm wrapping up the in game stuff I've been working on. ie: textures, logos, interface, etc. Its time to ramp up with the advertising stuff. So here is the first piece I want to show you. Elements of this design will be used on things such as the website and app store page. It was fun doing an old style illustation. I wanted it to look like the cover of an old board game. Anyway, I'll begin showing some of my other stuff I've done as we get closer to release. We're looking to launch in the next month or two. Also keep an eye on our official site for the game HERE.

Vote for me on Threadless!

2009-03-18T12:49:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone. I finally decided to submit some stuff to Threadless. First up is an older one of my designs. Check it out and vote if you can. If you give it a perfect score of 5 I will mail you a puppy. THANKS!

The Barbarian Horde!!!!

2009-03-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

I'm so late in posting these. I was waiting till I finished my drawing to post them all, but I have only a loose sketch done and with me going to be a dad any day now, I don't see me having any spare time and time soon. LOL. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy them. I'm not doing any voting this time so instead just leave comments on which ones you like or don't like and why. And the end of the day its all about learning and becoming a better artist so all constructive criticism is appreciated!

Tad Branham (Always something great from him.)

Torrance Reed (he didn't finish his drawing either)

Lee Gordon (So proud he finishe d a drawing!)

Adam Meyer (I really wanted to finish this Red Sonja sketch)

Clifton Joseph (Our bloodiest entry!)

Steamroller Studios is born!

2009-02-26T14:34:00.001-08:00

So my buddy Keith Lackey who currently works at WETA digital (they made the effects for King Kong and Lord of the Rings) as a Technical Director gave me a call last week. He pitched me an iphone game idea that I fell in love with. We have been hard at work on said idea and already have quite a bit done with him working the programming and me the graphics. We're not ready to show anything yet but rest assured we will launch our first game in about 3 months time under the banner of our new company "Steamroller Studios" There's an inside joke there that I'll tell you about if you really want. Anyway, the inspiration for this intro were crudely drawn cartoons such as Doug or Ed Edd and Eddy. I wanted it to be funny and the lines constantly squiggly. (is squiggly a word?) It allowed me to learn something new in photoshop as well with the animation feature. Stay tuned for more!

GO HERE to see the better quality HD version of this. Also props to my boy Torrance Reed for the sound, he's a funny guy.

Real Change

2009-02-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you all have seen that Barack Obama poster by Obey. It's become quite popular. Well, here is my version of REAL change and hope. The one and only Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I still think Obama is gonna do a great job (hard to do worse) but I've always said that Jesus is my one true President. Check it out...

Kayla's Room

2009-02-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

It seems I've been posting lots of cute stuff lately and that trend ain't stopping here. (However the entries for our Barbarian contest will be posted soon enough so hang in there.) What we have here is the art I put together for my daughter Kayla who will be here in another 6 weeks or so. I wanted it to fit the theme of her room which is lady bugs and butterflies. I took it a step further and did a bunch of garden insects. Including a fat bee, dragon flies, and a tiny worm. I also tried to make each element have a different texture so it would have a "quilt" look to it. Hope you all like it. now bring on the AWWWWWWwwwwWWwwws!

Dealing With Graphic Designers

2009-02-13T19:43:00.001-08:00

Here is a little taste of what I'm working on for my next promotional piece. I'm putting together a small book that will be used to help clients understand how to work with their graphic designers. (Hence the title) One of the most important steps in having a successful working relationship with a client is education. This will serve a dual role as both a promo piece and a educational tool. It's all designed to look like a cheesy 50's Survival Guide. I'm trying to make it both funny and useful. I'm still writing the different segments but would love to hear feedback from any of you designers out there who have some things you wish your clients would know. ie: "Quit saying Jazz it up!" or "Please stop sending publisher files" etc, you get the idea. I would like to keep adding to this idea and maybe get an actual REAL book out of this one day and not just a promo piece. Hope you all like it. I'll post the rest up later. Thanks!

Vintage Pinup Girl

2009-02-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

Here is a piece I did today for a client in London. I actually have had a version of the pinup girl done for like a year and was selling it as clip art. I was asked to change her outfit and make it into a splash page for a Fashion website. Pretty fun, Enjoy!

Rock On Baby!

2009-01-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Now here is a fun job I was hired to do For Stuph Clothing's new Winter piece. They wanted something besides the old brochure layout so we switched it up and did a poster instead. Below you will see the final poster (both front and back) as well as a nice high resolution image of the actual illustration used for the front side. Credit to the awesome Torrance Reed for the drawing, and to the "Iron Fist Velvet Glove" Jared Mirabile of Stuph Clothing fame for the main "You're a Rock Star" text and other embellishments. I did the coloring (which byt the way I'm very proud of the style I used) and most of the layout work. It was fun working with other artists, reminded me of the times I used to work in the trenches with other artists side by side. Now back to my Lone Ranger ways.

I Love You!

2009-01-08T21:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, My last post was a gift to my Mom. That reminded me that I had this older piece I did for my wife Valerie. It was my first "real" painting since somewhere around high school. I did it this way because Valerie said I was cheating when I drew on the computer. I wanted to show her I could use the real stuff If I wanted. I HATE painting with the real stuff. If that makes me less of an artist so be it! I'll take my Wacom Cintiq and Adobe Photoshop for all my painting needs. Its not messy, you don't have to buy canvas or paint supplies, and best of all.... I can undo. Anyway, enjoy the "real" painting. I like how it came out considering I haven't touched acrylics in years. But I think I'll still stick with my supposedly cheating computer from now on. Enjoy!

Vintage Florida Piece

2008-12-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

So I promised my Mom that I would do an original painting for her way back during last Christmas. I just now got it done. Not that it took me a year to do it, I just have been to busy with other stuff to get it done. (some son I am) Anyway, it had to go with her decor which was kind of a "Vintage Florida Travel Theme" So that was the style I went for, something that looked like an old "Welcome to Florida" postcard or something. It was fun drawing the house I grew up in as well. Although I have to say I hate drawing buildings and scenery. But still a fun piece.

ART CONTEST 2: The Barbarian Horde!!!!

2008-12-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

We had alot of fun with our inaugural art contest. Everyone's stuff was fantastic and I think some friendly competition goes along way to pushing ourselves further as artists. We wanted to make this a regular thing. And so it shall. The assignment this time is "Barbarians" so let your imagination run wild and submit your final stuff to me at adam@crystalclearart.com. We will hold another vote for the entries just like before. Best of luck to everyone and remember your all winners! (except the losers) Deadline is January 21st so everyone has plenty of time to wow each other. Let the games begin!

NOTE: Yes that's Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Raver. Yes I know how awesome it is. More hilarious stuff HERE!

This Present Darkness Comic Book Pitch

2008-12-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

I've been slacking on updating this blog lately, and since I don't really have anything new I wanna show right now. I dug into my past for this post. A little background on these images.... Christian novelist Frank Peretti wrote a book called "This Present Darkness" it's about Spiritual Warfare. ie: Angels vs Demons. And the power of prayer. I fell in love with the book way back in middle school and have always wanted to see it adapted into "comic book" form. Well I got tired of waiting and so I created a "Pitch Book" that had all kinds of goodies in it. (Conceptual Sketches, Finished Pages, Financial figures, etc.) Problem is I never heard back from the author (who is quite hard to reach) or his manager. But if either of them read this blog, I still would LOVE to make this happen. For my first post you will see the 8 page sample that I adapted from part of the book. Props to my man Mike Damico for coloring it for me. I'll update with more sketches and pieces related to this down the road. Enjoy!

Zombie Competition Entries!

2008-10-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The polls are officially closed and the anonymous artists can now be revealed, along with the "winner" of the contest. Click below on the artists names to go to their personal blog were you can see more of their artwork. So who won you ask? ME! The one and Only Adam Meyer! Well, that's not exactly true. You see I had two entries and while I had the most total votes, its a little more complicated than that. Rather than get into details I'm just gonna award Mike Damico the honors of first place whether or not he had the votes to back it up. LOL. This was never about votes anyway but about the art. I hope you all enjoyed the scary images.

I have to say that even though only a few people "entered" this contest. It was a success. Mainly because it was never about any prize but about a friendly competition that would hopefully push us all to try something new and maybe even push our skills. Please fell free to vote for your favorite entry by using the poll above this post. you can only vote once so there will be no cheating. I'll reveal who all the artists are once there has been enough time to get some votes in. Thanks to everyone who entered.

1. Roger Mortis by Tad Branham
2. Zombie Victim by Adam Meyer
3. Attack of the Zombies by Torrance Reed
4. Chainsaw Savior by Mike Damico
5. Alpha Zombie by Adam Meyer

ART CONTEST!

2008-10-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

That's right an ART CONTEST! One of my fellow artists called me up the other day and suggested we pick a topic and have a friendly little art competition. I thought it was a great idea. Competitions help us push each other as artists and when a contest is themed as this one is. It forces you into new territory and you might just find yourself out of your comfort zone.

So here we go the first ever Crystal Clear Art Contest has officially begun and since its Halloween, the theme is "The Living Dead" Zombies, Vampires, John McCain, whatever. Its up to you. Whatever style you want, whatever medium you want, However abstract or realistic you want to be, its up to you. All art must be emailed to me at adam@crystalclearart.com by Halloween 10.31.08 I will post the entries I get and we will leave it up to the general public to vote for the winner. I will make sure you get credit for your piece and link to your site so people can see more of your work.

My friend and fellow artist Mike Damico has offered to print the winners art on canvas and frame that bad boy up in all its glory. If you don't win and still want this to happen (or want anything else printed or framed) you can go about it the old fashion way and pay for it. You can't beat his companies price and quality. Trust me. View his site here... I will also do a little article showcasing the art here on my site discussing the winner in more detail along with other pieces they have done. And besides, you get to draw Zombies and that's fun! So get started people!

NOTE: The above art is not mine (I'm not that good) it's from the very awesome "The Walking Dead" comic books which if you haven't read I suggest you go pick up a couple graphic novels, You'll get addicted to it...

Crystal Clear 3D Animated Intro

2008-09-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

So now that I've been getting my feet wet making these speed drawing videos. I thought I would get a fancy 3d animated logo intro to put before them. I've always wanted one of those cool movie studio intros to use on my short movies. But since I have yet to get around to shooting said movies I have never had the need. But these speed drawings give me an excuse to be a little self indulgent. That and having my good buddy Keith Lackey hook me up. (Check out some of the movies he's worked on here.) They include everything from Happy Feet to Fantastic Four 2. He's also working on the new Hobbit movies and James Cameron's new flick Avatar. Anyway, I designed the logo of course and even added the sound but he did the coolest part. Modeling and animating it. PROPS TO MY BOY! I'm also now considering offering 3D creation to my customers with him at the helm. I'll have to see if there's a need for 3D logos out there. Hope you all like it. You'll be seeing this before all my videos now. Which by the way, my next speed drawing will be Angelina Jolie as Catwoman. So stay tuned for that.

Clive Owen as Marcus Fenix

2008-09-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Now in stunning HD! Go HERE to see it.

With the announcement that one of my favorite video games ( Gears of War ) will be made into a full on big budget Hollywood movie, I thought It would be fun to make that the target of my next speed drawing. I had heard that the games brilliant and way to cool for school designer Cliff Bleszinski had originally envisioned Clive Owen as one of the possible choices for the main protagonist Marcus Fenix. I know some fans are suggesting wrestlers, but come on, Have you seen the movies with wrestlers in them? If you have, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't...... please don't. Clive Owen is a great choice and was also my runaway choice for the new James Bond before they got Daniel Craig who still did a great job. Anyway, here is my concept sketch of Clive Owen as Marcus Fenix in the Gears of War movie. I hope you enjoy it.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

2008-09-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a painting I did that was used in a Myspace theme. The goal was to deliver an edgy take on the Crucifixion. I opted for lots of paint splatters to show the gruesomeness of it while still keeping with the beautiful nature of what Jesus did for all of us sinners. Thanks for saving me Jesus!

Angelina Jolie Speed Sketch

2008-06-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Now that I've got my fancy new Cintiq Tablet (very cool check it out here) I decided it would be fun to start doing some "speed sketches" You see them all over YouTube. Some really good, some really bad. My first crack at it is just a VERY quick sketch of Angelina Jolie. I had the photo on hand for reference thanks to the image I used in the Sin City Poster which you can check out a few posts down. Anyway, like I said this one was just for practice. I needed to figure out how the capturing software worked and how to put music in, speed it up, all that stuff. Didn't want to draw something great and find out it didn't record or something. So enjoy for what this little 5 minute doodle is worth and look forward to more detailed and committed efforts soon :)

Fight the Devil

2008-05-22T14:17:00.001-07:00

I love making propaganda posters. So much that I think this is the third one I've posted so far on this blog. Anyway, my good buddy Torrance Reed, (check out his sick work here as well as his version of the poster) did the awesome illustration of the preacher that I used. It was very cool collaborating with him on this piece and I had a good time with it. Hope you all like it. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Edgy Christian Designs

2008-05-02T14:15:00.001-07:00

Here are a few of my more recent Christian themed designs I've done. I tried to make them a little more edgy than most Chistian designs turn out to be. I figure enough people in the world are making Jesus Loves You t-shirts already. I like these cause I think they reach out to a more teenage audience which can be difficult to reach. ( Whipper Snappers always listening to there loud rap music, LOL ) Anyway, hope you like them. I'm sure there will be more designs like these to come as the company who hired me to do these ( Stuph Clothing ) likes to keep me busy. Which I am of course grateful for. Enjoy!

Sin City Posters (Children close yours eyes)

2008-05-02T13:48:00.001-07:00

My last post was a cute frog. So now the universe must be balanced by some edgy stuff. Okay, maybe not. But If there's one thing I pride myself on, its trying out new styles and growing my versatility as an artist. So here we have a couple Sin City posters I did for the next couple of planned movies. Now if you've seen the original Sin City, you either hate it or love it. There's no middle ground. I've always liked the comics due to Frank Millers amazing writing and stark black and white images. The stories are classic film noir with a new age spin which I liked alot. And they captured that in the movie perfectly. Are the stories bloody? Yes. Morally Corrupt? With the exception of a few noble characters.... Yes. But you can't deny its good writing and some really cool stylized visuals. The movie helped pave the way for another one of my favorite Frank Miller stories. (300) And so I felt like experimenting with that style a bit. So here we go. 2 Sin City Poster designs, One with Angelina Jolie as Ava Lord in A Dame To Kill For. The other is Johnny Depp as Wallace in To Hell and back. These are my dream castings for the parts that have yet to be cast. Plus, as a bonus... one old sketch of Nancy Callahan I did a good while back emulating Frank Millers style of hard black and whites with splashes of color. And now back to your regularly scheduled wholesome stuff....

Nekkid Frog Time!!

2008-05-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Soon, I'll be working on illustrating my first Children's book. It centers around a frog and his journey meeting other animal friends. It's a christian themed story that I'm excited to be a part of. I don't know much on the story yet, but I know there's a frog in it and that's enough for me to start drawing. Here's my first concept. I'm going to try to do the whole book in a pencil/watercolor style. Not sure if this will be the final design of the frog but I like it okay for my first crack at drawing something cute in a long while. I was inspired by the illustrations in the movie Lilo and Stitch. (My personal favorite non Pixar Disney movie) Now, my only real concern is whether he should wear frog clothes or not. LOL. Generally I consider any animal that walks on two feet to be human enough to be modest. Its a good rule when drawing cartoon animals. If they walk on all fours, they can be nekkid, If they walk upright, they should have some clothes on. But It just didn't seem right to put clothes on this frog. Ahhhh, the many difficult decisions an artist must face! It's a quick sketch but expect a more refined look when I start pumping out pages later this year.

Annivesary Art.... AwwwWWwww

2008-03-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I've officially been married for 3 years. WOO-HOO! What you see below is one of the anniversary presents I gave to my beautiful wife Valerie. Cue the "AwwwWWwws" No more mushy stuff... on to the art!!! I did this with a combination of techniques. Traditional watercolor, Pen and Ink, and painting in photoshop with my trusting Wacom pen tablet. I wanted to do this piece completely traditional but it came down to a couple things.

When you're painting someones likeness you have to be pretty dead on, a slip of the brush and suddenly your subject has a uni-brow and looks nothing like they're suppose to. You counter this by working big so you have more room for detail. But this means more time, and time was not on my side. Besides, digital painting is cheaper, faster, less messy, and you can simply zoom in for you're detail work. But like I said, I did do some of it traditional with the black lines being inked (of course) and the background being watercolor. You can't really make it out, but in my original wash you can see some cool "sparkles" that I achieved by throwing some salt on my watercolor wash. It's a cool trick to add some detail or texture to your piece. (because the salt absorbs the pigment) give it a try sometime. You can finally mix the culinary arts with your paintings! Also your painting becomes edible so even if the picture stinks at least it'll be delicious :)

Everybodys Gone Surfin....

2008-03-10T14:39:00.001-07:00

I was recently challenged to do a design that was at least 75% illustrated. Now as a graphic Designer, that's quite a bit. But It turned out to be a fun project. The final result is more like 98% illustrated. The only things that weren't done from scratch was the text and the circle at the bottom. Even the text is really more of a placeholder as it is intended to be a template design that will be changed out down the line many times. This was a great project that helped push me out of my comfort zone and force me to throw out the "bag of tricks" and just do it the old fashioned way. It was nice to spend more time in front of the drawing board than the computer screen for a change. The only thing I would alter on this piece is the text. I'd like to do completely custom text. I'll get around to that one day... maybe. In the meantime, enjoy!

Microbursts Book Cover

2008-03-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a project I just completed for a Christian book publisher. I'm now officially their "artist" and have many projects lined up with them this year including my first full blown Children's book. But for now, check out my first book cover for them. Its not really anything fancy but I think it works well. The main thing I'm proud of on this one is the illustration. I took a picture of my wife for reference and then tried to create an illustration that had some movement in it, not in the image per say, but in the actual line work and painting. The whole idea is about bursts of wind so I tried to carry over that theme to the painting. Check out the image below or view it on Amazon HERE.

Gears of War Propaganda Posters: UPDATED

2008-02-20T19:02:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Added some wallpapers of one of these images since I get asked for them alot. Enjoy :)

Today at the GDC conference Microsoft and Epic games announced the sequel to a little game that came out almost 2 years ago by the name of Gears of War. Well I was a big fan of the first and this announcment of Gears of War 2 got me thinking about some old propaganda posters I did for the first game. They became very popular on Epic Games forums and I ended up making wallpapers of them and sending them to a BUNCH of fans who wanted them. So here they are for you to enjoy now. I had a great time making these as I had wanted to do a "propaganda" style poster for quite some time. Maybe I'll do some more for Ggears 2 as we get closer to its November release. WOO-HOO!

Wallpapers

I WANT TO EAT YOUR BRAINS!

2008-02-06T14:05:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of Zombie Movies, not sure why exactly. I'm not into blood and gore. I'm against canabalisim. And I'm all for smelling nice and being polite to others. So why then do I have such a fascination with them? My best guess is I like stories about surviving. (Or perhaps I'm just sick) So just for fun I took my interest and made a Zombie themed shirt design. You can check it out below and even buy one HERE if you feel so inclined. I really like a book written by the author Max Brooks (son of the hilarious Mel Brooks who brought us Spaceballs) It's called "The Zombie Survival Guide" It's a comical approach on how to survive the undead attacking. It's all illustrated in that horrible style you see in boy scout books and those emergency plane procedure guides. Thats the inspiration for this piece. I'd like to do more and actually make a line of "Zombie Survival 101" T-Shirts offering up different lessons for each shirt. I get a lot of compliments wherever I wear it. Apparently I'm not the only one into zombie movies. Well, enjoy, and feel free to strike back with those comments. And as a bonus I also included a quick sketch I did of myself as a zombie. Nothing great but still related to this post and fun to draw thanks to having to actually draw every layer of the human body.

Rotoscope Technique

2008-01-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

For these illustrations I was asked to showcase people modeling apparel. But it was to be done in an artistic manner. (as opposed to some photos of people standing there) It was a challenge because I was going for a very realistic yet highly stylized look. If you've seen the Movie "A Scanner Darkly" or are at all familiar with the animation term of rotoscoping. Well then you know the look I wanted. I did some research online to find a tutorial on how this might be achieved. There are a lot out there but none that I would say is the definitive way of doing it. In the end I used a combination of techniques. Some borrowed, some made up. Starting with an inked line art version, and then using the photo as a basis for the colors. Throw in a bunch of hours in photoshop and what you see below are the results. Note that the beautiful girl in the white visor is my wife and the guy hiding in the hoodie trying to look cool is me. The rest belong to google's image search :) Enjoy!

Old School Art

2008-01-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

So this is a piece I did a while back for my former employer Stuph Clothing. As a matter of fact I do a lot of work for them, and have done a lot for them in the past. Ergo..... this won't be the last post with art done for them. They're a great company with some amazing artists. They've also recouped pretty well after suffering the loss of such an amazing artist such as myself ;) Anyway, it was for one of their preprint T-Shirt lines which you can see here. The goal here was to achieve a trendy design that a teenage girl would want to wear. I tried the approach of actually painting the majority of the design as opposed to the usual photoshop or illustrator work. I wanted it to have a more natural free flowing feel. And to me that’s a style easier to pull off in the traditional way with paint and brushes. Designs all done in the computer can have a very synthetic and symmetrical feel. Every now and then it's nice to do something the old fashioned way and resist the urge to rely on the computers tool sets. Although I'm still reasonably happy with this piece, its an area I would like to explore further in the future.

The Project We Will Not Speak Of

2008-01-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

I can't say much on this design other than it was designed for a big video game that's coming out on all systems in 2009 and this is one of the designs they are NOT using. (I designed over 70 variations) This project also pushed me into the realm of 3D. I've learned so much already about modeling, lighting, textures, etc. I can't wait to apply this new tool set to my work. The new doors this opens up are gonna be great! Ironically though this version was not done in 3D. But I did use a couple cool new photoshop techniques in it. Hope you all like it, don't forget to leave your feedback. It's always appreciated.

Bioshocked: UPDATED

2008-01-23T21:19:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: New Wallpapers of art added due to popular demand, and an art deco inspired "ad" I did just for fun a while back. Enjoy :)

So back in the fall of 2007, 2K Games offered up a really great contest for fans of there then upcoming XBOX360/PC title Bioshock. I couldn't sleep one night and came across this contest at about 3 in the morning. I love video games and I love design. This was the perfect chance for me to get my foot in the door. I stayed up and what you see below is what I came up with. Nothing too fancy but I think it fits the artistic direction of the game. (rust, underwater, art deco, etc.) I always try to design for the audience, very rarely do I get to design for myself. In this case it worked. I won the contest and my art was embossed on to the Limited Edition version of the game. I was flown out to Boston for the launch party. They game me a couple copies of the game, some spending money, a stay in a luxurious hotel, and some other cool swag. I was interviewed by Joystiq and Game Pro. In the end however I got what I wanted, my foot in the door. Since then I've won a bid on another video game title that I can't talk about here. (NDA) and Bioshock has gone on to win many "Game of the Year" awards. Plus I get to show my name in the credits to people and grin like an idiot. I hope that this is just the beginning and I'll design logos and covers for many more games in the future. Besides, if I can get free copies of games that would save me a lot of money.

Wallpapers

1024x768 1280x960 1600x1200

1024x640 1280x800 1600x1000

I've been Terminated!

2008-01-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

Fox.com recently hosted a contest for the popular Terminator Series that just began airing. It charged fans to design there own poster for the series using supplied high resolution photos. Unfortunately they shot themselves in the foot by restricting the entries from using any original art or photography. This was my third entry into a movie poster contest. The first two were for the movies Resident Evil and Silent Hill. I was disqualified from those too. But it doesn't matter cause I had a blast designing these, especially making the fire. You could only enter one but I just couldn't stop once I had established my theme. I went for the nostalgic feeling I got growing up with the Terminator movies. That flaming skull coming from the fire was pure genius! So here they are, my disqualified Sarah Conner Chronicles Posters! I'd rather create a piece I'm proud of and break the rules then win a contest with crappy art man! Stick it to the man!