Website is up (mostly)

While it's technically a work in progress, I've reached a stage in my website's construction if which I feel confident pimping it.
I still need to add content, such as a link to my resume, and I need to iron out bugs, like the errors I get in Internet Explorer, but the main galleries are there.

Go check it out at www.hamsta180.com

I also decided to post a couple of the ID sketches I did, all from photo ref.
Bongs are fun shapes, challenging too, with all those spheres and ellipses.
I don't abuse drugs, and neither should you, especially if you are the kind of guy who traps his cat in his bong, hilarious as that is.

I also liked how these garbage trucks came out. (so did mom :P )

Working in Israel

I've been a week here in Israel, and I am still flexing my artistic muscles.
I'm working on my website, waiting for the DNS servers to resolve after messing around with the IP address. Once it is up, and I sort out everything I want to put up on it, I'll have to start pimping it out in the hopes of finding a job before I graduate.
I have also been doing some ID type sketches with a ball point pen, nothing terribly exciting.

I still plan to buy some illustration board (how do you say that in Hebrew, and do they have any available?) and do some gouache paintings of what's left of the big fire that raged around here about 3 weeks ago.
I also planned to do try some digital painting tutorials in the hopes that I will find one I will really be able to follow and that will really help me push me to the next level, although these kinds of things have never really worked for me in the past.

 I did a digital painting tonight - the Christmasaurus, bring presents to all the good caveboys and girls.
It was inspired by something Cynthia Sheppard posted on facebook :D

The final finals of Fall 2010

I'm writing this post from Haifa, Israel. The city I was born and raised in, and spent 4/5ths of my life.
While it's nice to be back, with all the little annoyances that make it what it is, I will only come back permanently if my hand is twisted, and there's no other choice.

I'm still waiting for my final grade, for landscape painting, which should bump my average right back to President's list standards, a first for a Fall semester. :P

Once I get around the jet lag, I have plans to keep myself in tip top artistic shape, maybe even form better drawing habits. I know I need them to stay competitive. Or maybe I'll slack off like usual.

The Tiltan nude marathon is on the 30th, an Israeli game developer un-conference on the 31st (groan.) I have some gouache and watercolors I can use to paint what's left of the big fire that went down here a couple of weeks ago, and hopefully my dad can repair my Intuos' cable so I can keep working digitally.

I also did a piece in Children's market I need to retouch and scan, as it's supposed to be for the SOI (not that I think it has a chance, but whatever) and the faux driver's manual I did in web design, which doesn't quite work as expected because Flash Catalyst is a typically buggy version 1 piece of software.

What I do have is the couple of finals I did for landscape painting. Views of Aphelion II, the planet where my game (which I think I will call "Operation Steel Stag") takes place.
These are digital paintings over scanned oil paintings.

I also made a couple of sculpts in dimensional illustration. I call my first Sandy, on account of how much I needed to sand her. :P
My original goal was to make her a resin, but due to time constraints and inexperience, I kept her as a sculpey figure

My second sculpt is a nuclear bug (bugs were the theme for the class) done in the last minute because I had spent so much time on Sandy, but still needed to turn in a second piece. :P

Almost done

Last class is tomorrow, Friday the 17th at 3:30 pm.

There will be one more post following this one with work from Fall semeter 2010. Anything after will be from Israel, (and I'm planning to be productive,) until I return on the 14th.

It wasn't an easy semester, and I have some mixed feelings about how much I learned, and the grades I'm expecting.

Landscape painting was awesome, I enjoyed anthropology. Comic book was pretty good, but a lot of busy work. It was fun to mess around with Sculpey, and I might use it again to make little models as reference, but I don't think I can turn sculpting into a career.
Children's market illustration was ok, but not great, as was illustration methods.
Heard a lot of good information during professional practice, but I'm not super happy with any of the projects I did, even though they were self-assigned.
Web Design II was fun, seems like I put more effort into it than anyone else :)
(reminds me I need to work on the overhaul of my site)

Art!

Caripeta angustiora - Brown Pine Looper:
Gouache painting for illustration methods, done from photo ref

Page 2 for comic book class. We never got to the 3rd planned page.

Mighty mouse cover redesign, done in Painter and Photoshop.
Pro practice class.
Original

Heightened drawing self portrait, charcoal and white pastel.
Photo ref.

2 weeks

Flying back home on the 18th, arriving early on the 20th or something like that.
Long flight, long layover (13 hours in Warsaw) and time zones will do that.

Maybe I'll finish my website in Warsaw, if I don't manage to get it done before hand.

I didn't have big plans aside from sleeping and getting my dad to fix my Wacom (I hope) but having heard Scott Hull talking about breaking into the illustration world, I think I may try to do some mock interview with Israeli game devs. I know there are a few of them doing casual games, mostly, even if I have to drive an hour and half to meet them.

Another view of downtown Columbus from the AMF building. This setup was a pain, as I was standing on a model stand, and looked through a tiny window, and we had a lot more time on it. My teacher likes it, so maybe it was worth it. ;)

"Architecture" themed drawing for Groff's sketchbook (which is no longer a requirement, but extra credit)
Kelly in the free model session.

Vasselin Behrovich, Combat tracker.

Character design for "Aphelion II" the game concept I came up with to focus my portfolio on.

A portrait of Cody.
Done for illustration methods, using Chris Payne's technique - graphite and colored pencil underpainting, gessoed, oil wash over that, kneaded eraser to take out the highlights, and acrylic and colored pencils to finish it off.

Here are some finals...

It's Thanksgiving "break."

This is the 3rd time I've been through this so called break, finding myself thankfully that it's here, but realizing that I have a lot of work to do before it ends, as finals are coming.

Fall semester has Thanksgiving. Spring semester has Spring break, student assessments, and a snow day or two to boot. Just one more reason why Springs have turned out better.

I have been planning to get my website overhauled and send out my resume, as it is 6 months before I graduate.

I'm going to get on that soon. After that, I need to work on my Payne's technique portrait, web design mech manual, Struwwelpeter collage, SOI thumbs/line art, comic page no. 2, landscape thumbs, sculpey figure, and enemy recognition manual...

Landscape painting in German Village. I like how the light was broken by the roof of the building, and how ephemeral the mail truck looks, it really was there for only a short time.

Acrylic wash portrait of Hannah, for illustration methods.

 "Dira Lehaskir" (Apartment for Rent) digital painting for the "No Place Like Home" CCAD Spotlight competition. I didn't get in.

 Final pencils for page 1 of the Comic book illustration class project.

 

"Nautical Tales" library reading program. Done for Childrens' market illustration. Charcoal drawing colored in illustrator, with a handmade font.

Where are my finals?

I have a few longer assignments I'm working on, and a few I didn't get back yet.

I guess I'll show some love to my blog with some sketches.

I'm still trying to get my schedule in order after spent the weekend attending Illuxcon as a student. Sleep schedule is all fucked up because I have been trying to keep up with homework.
I think this con is going to be a significant experience in my professional life, passing my business card around, getting feedback on my portfolio, making connections, learning new things.

I'd love to attend again next year, but I just don't know where I'll end up after graduation, maybe even in another country.

And now to the sketches, these all come from the sketchbook I am keeping for Groff's class, in which we are asked to fit certain themes.

"Liquid," a marker drawing of Jeremy, done during the free model session.

 "Armored," Graphite sketch of Courtney, done during the Illuxcon award ceremony.

"Toys," graphite sketch done during the Illuxcon model session.

"Organic," Jeremy again, this time in crayon.

November - super month

November 2010 is going to be epic. A month I will remember until I die, even when I forget the names of my brothers.

Britanee and I will be celebrating our birthday next Saturday. It marks the start of my 3rd decade alive.
Time to start a career and lose my virginity. ;)
I'll also be going to Mid-Ohio-Con on Sunday, portfolio and business cards under my arm. Need to make some opportunities for myself.
The following weekend we are going to Illuxcon. The plan this year is for 10 of us to share a room, boys and girls. It's going to be interesting.
I have a portfolio review with Rob Ruphl, who happens to have been born Nov. 7th. :D

Better get to work on my branding.

Enough words. Pictures say more, right?

Landscape painting at Highbanks Metro park:

Professional practice: Vasselin Behrovitch, combat tracker, character design

Illustration Methods:

Seated figure graphite value study. (Thanks for modeling, Emily :) )

Human animal hybrid, greyscale acrylic. Lizzie with an Inca Tern.

Full color acrylic painting. We needed to come up with 5 nouns and 5 verbs and use them to come up with an interesting idea/composition.
The words I ended up using were lizard, missile, leap and fly.

Free model session:
I killed Audrey for the "Horror" theme required for Groff's sketchbook.

Audrey again. Choose this angle for the challenge.

Côte d’Ivoire?

Just had a look at the stats of my blog. Why is my biggest audience from the ivory coast? Why is the Ukraine in second place?

Another week, another dump. More finals coming in. Half the semester flew right past me without me noticing, doing ok grade wise, just gotta keep the momentum.
I'm so happy I took leadership of Sketch Group, we are expanding little by little, but still a tight group.

And now to the work.
Childrens' market illustration, character development sketches.

 

Cricket magazine cover:

Professional practice. We all drew random professions to illustrate.

 

Landscape painting at the Whetstone Park of Roses and Highbanks Metro park.

Free model session, Jeremy in Sanguine and Black conté and sharpie.

A post with a lot of fiber

I've been falling behind on the blog updates, so it's a bigger dump than usual.


Mondays are for free model sessions (And the bi-weekly International Student Association meetings that cut the model session to an hour.)

 Taking a landscape painting class. It takes me outside my comfort zone, which I really appreciate, it's the best way to learn.
Hauling all my stuff on location, and getting caught during a major storm, complete with tornado sires and water damaged sketchbooks is the downside. We started with monochrome palette knife painting, and graduated to using color with brushes in a similar way.

 An establishing shot for comic book class.

Finally, some sketches from Sketch group, which I know head. I really enjoy entertaining the people who have been showing up, almost all new to the group, and I'm getting a better experience than I have in the past from the group. I just wish Kirsten wasn't the only veteran showing up. Maybe I'll have better luck dragging people in if I get approved to move into Circle hall.