Merry Sketchmess!

The only possibility I've had over the last two months to do some digital personal work was during lunch and after-hours at work. In between the dragons, sirens and knights I still have enough energy to whip out some sketches that hopefully one day will get some polish and can be called finished.
The dwarf was a brain-fart, something about it being more logical for them to have spears or halberds instead of axes. That way they can keep some distance between their taller enemies.
The other two are for a game idea of a melee sci-fi game that based on the idea that force fields only block fast projectiles therefore melee becomes relevant in modern warfare again... okay, anyway it's Halo with swords and hammers, happy?
I can wait to have a decent set-up at home again so I can spend some more time on these. Have a great holiday and see you in 2013!

Fantasy Style Test

This is something I've been reluctant to share since I'm not sure about the style and design yet. For a while now I've been wondering why there's so little progress and evolution in the fantasy art designs. It's like we have set the rules and now you have to keep to it. Like the common image of a dwarf is with an axe but wouldn't it make more sense if they had spears instead? And why don't elves have beards? Maybe I've spent to much time in the world of Tolkien and there are fantasy stories that do defy the status-quo. Anyway, here's my attempt to give Strider/Aragon a new look. More to follow.

Lunchbreak Speedpaints

Well, it's been awhile since my last update. The main reason is that I've started a new job at Jagex in Cambridge as a Marketing Artist. Therefore I had to move and had to leave my trusty PC in Holland. On top of that the only internet access I've had was at work on a very secured network which doesn't allow me to upload files...
Looks like I will have to do without internet at home for another two weeks (FFFFUUUU!)
I've done these at work during my lunch breaks. Since I have to do very polished and detailed illustrations during working hours it feels nice to do some loose speedpaints. I wanted to try out some new ways of approaching color, texture and light. It's an never ending exploration of trial and error.

PS. I'm well aware that I'm encroaching if not copying some well know artists their styles, it's just for research :)

Out of the Airlock

I have no idea why but I needed to paint some dudes being sucked out in to space. Maybe it's an unconscious reference to my obsession of Battlestar Galactica, how they would often threaten to blow someone out of an airlock. Or it's something related to Alien. Whatever it is, it became a speedpaint that I spent a little more time on than normal would normally do. 

This Morning's Speedpaint Woke-up the Brushes

It has been ages since I really went mad with my huge set of brushes. Normally I restrict myself to two or three. Feels really good to be working like this. I should do more... then again, I should do a lot of things more. Oh, well. Back to work!

This Pookie, He Loves Metal.

Another sketch I had laying around, feels like I'm doing a fall-cleaning of my HD.

Some Old Quick Sketches...

These guys were haunting my hard-drive so I had to let them out. Most of them were doodles that were never finished or just completely abandoned. The second from the top was the first sketch for what later became a finished piece. Okay, back to work.

Before Bed ShockTroopers Sketches

Speedpainting harvest

I had to just get some more of these out. I done a lot of speed-paintings recently, most of which will never see the light of day. Mainly because I just did them in the morning as warm-up and never really got to a level where I feel they would do my blog any good.
I've be adding some textures but tried to keep it limited to keep a painted feel.

My Own Private Silent Hill

If there's one franchise that has excited me and disappointing me. it's Silent Hill. I've played almost all of them but only the first three have been really good. Though some of the others had some cool moments, none of them captured the feeling of the old ones. I hear the last one is not so bad, as soon as I have my PS3 back I'll give it a try.
Anyway, I've been thinking about a new game. I would keep only a few things from the series and try something new. I want to mix some of the old horror elements with some Murakami bizarre stuff. I'll go further into details next update.
I've relied heavy on photo's this time. Still, I tried to really create something new with them, maybe I'll post a progress .gif sometime.

More Speedpaints

Okay, I say Speedpaints but when you start messing around with textures it normally takes a bit more time. Still, the end result is much more satisfying then just brushes. 

Environment Speedpaints

W.I.P.

- Into the den of thieves.

EMP Tank Sketch

I had this laying around, it's just a sketch to illustrate an early idea of an E.M.P. tank. It would be deployed to knock-out all surrounding electric devices. It would then pull-back and let the rest of the squad finish the job.

An experiment

I was experimenting with using photo-ref material, distorting it and painting on top of it until it became something new. I was playing with the composition, not sure it that turned out alright :)

Midnight 15 minutes sketches

These seem to become more and more about loosening up before or after work I do for clients. 15 minutes to get ready to "pixel-fuck" (excuse me for the term, "wacom-bate" is also available) the rest of the day. Hey, don't get me wrong I love to pixel-fuck but there's nothing like a worry free sketch once in a while. I think I will start posting them more often again... like I promised last time. Okay, now where did I leave those tissues again.

16 hours, two characters.

I only had 16 hours to finish these two before I had to start on something else. That's why the level of polish is limited.

Abadonned Bunker

More Ballpoint Pen doodling

It's nice to sit and draw at a kitchen table and have some cheesy Easter films playing in the background. I'm trying out Sketchbook Pro on my old laptop. If I'm happy with the result I'll post it soon. A few more days and I will be reunited with my trusty set-up. Just about enough time to wear out my ballpoint pens.

Ballpoint Pen Madness

I love just doodling away with a simple ballpoint pen. No erasing, no undo button, I just have to make my mistakes work. My laptop is starting to really struggle with Photoshop so soon I might only be able do pen sketches until I get reunited with my trusty PC... I miss that beast!

Random Hopper

Just for fun, it was time for some more hard surface stuff. The design is a bit meh... oh well.

Lunchbreak Speedpaints

I've been keeping myself busy during lunch. Even though the weather is great I had to stay indoors to try-out Photoshop CS6. I'm very happy with it so far. Now I really need to do more environment speedpaints!

Quickies

I didn't look at the time, so I can't say if they were 15 minutes sketches. But they were done quickly!

15 minutes are back!

Inspired much? Anyway, more to come soon. This is just a warm-up!