6/23/14 Thorn's texture pass and more concepts!

Hey everyone!


More work done on Thorn and I'm nearly complete with his first texture pass! And overall a bit of everything this week!

More concepts!  This week's set of drawings are for a video game concept.  This game idea involves the partnership and upgrading of a robot counterpart, but I'll spare you guys the details for now.

These are quick gestures with the only goal in mind of getting down as many robot ideas as possible with couple design rules set in place.  These designs would be for starting character frames with a couple more advanced designs tossed into the mix of these.

Then to test both my modeling speed and proof of concept I went ahead and made a base model for one of them for fun: 

This model was created in less than 30 mins and I'm really pleased with the results.  I'm thinking about taking this little robot further and continuing to use him as a speed tester.

More stuff to come next week so stay tuned!

Until Next Time!

-Jordan

6/16/14 Texturing and a week of Ink Sketches!

Hey everybody!

Lots of stuff this week and Ill get right into it!

First up Thorn texturing!

His body mesh is nearly complete.  I still need to hide my seams a bit and once that's completed I'll be moving onto weathering! (Battle scars, dings and scrapes!) And then of course his armor!

Onto Ink sketches!

Everything from quick storyboards to Sidekick versions of my characters! (Sidekicks- Miniature versions)

Next week I'm planning on finishing up the overall base texture for Thorn as well as more sketching action! Also considering making some new blog tabs for old sketch work that's been buried on this blog and then separating it by series of work!

Until Next Time!

-Jordan

6/10/14 Ink Work and Ink Washes!

Hey everyone!

So after watching and being very inspired by the Double Fine documentary for Broken Age, I remembered that the most important part of being an artist is really letting yourself think outside of yourself.  So many times I find myself looking inward for solutions when others have solved my creative/design problems multiple times and better.
The second part of this is remembering to let go. While in animation its never a good idea to do the straight ahead method, I'm finding its beneficial when doing either concepts or art in general.

What I was working on yesterday is exactly what I've been saying above,  I let myself go into my art, constructed a wall of inspiration for myself, and consulted far more accomplished artists for help!

These images were all done on cardstock in Ink pen and then ink washed over the top!

While I wont go into detail on who each of these possible characters are, I will say this-- They're the cyborg looking characters are a representation of the 7 cardinal sins.  Greed, Envy, Lust, Pride, Wrath, Sloth and Gluttony.

Until Next Time!

-Jordan

6//9/14 Tomorrow!

Hey everyone!

I didn't want to make this post but anyone who currently keeps up with my blog will know that Monday is Post Day!  Unfortunately today's post will be postponed until tomorrow.  I'm catching up with a lot of real life stuff along with the fact that I'd rather keep drawing tonight and have some awesome stuff to show tomorrow than to just stop and attempt to scan everything before midnight and rush the process!

So!  I will see each of you viewers tomorrow!
-Jordan

6/2/14 Thorn Texturing

Welcome to the first week of June everyone!

Was able to actually get started on Thorn's real texture mesh!  After much experimenting and research I was able to find exactly how to make texture noise.  For the past week I've been daunted by the task of creating texture noise due to my lack of knowledge in the area of painted textures.

When thinking about exactly what kinds of textures I'd like to see on Thorn, World of Warcraft immediately came to mind.  From there my journey began as I examined character models for poly counts as well their painted textures.  I formed a plan in my head to replicate the texture noise that's so amazingly done in WoW models and I put it into action!

What you now see before you is the first steps of my journey down painted texture noise lane!

The only part of his armor with work currently done on it is his shoulder-pad.  I'm currently experimenting with different texturing ideas.

I realize that some of these areas shown will be covered up by armor but for the experience of it I want to go ahead and do a little bit of it.

I'm extremely proud how Thorn's texture has come out so far! One of the things I'm following and taking into account is Thorn's natural poly edges.  I'm using the natural creases in his muscle definition to do a bit of the work for me, as less work is always better! And it would be unwise to ignore any way to save time!

I feel I'm really starting to get the hang of painted textures and I'm extremely happy with how fast I'm picking it up!  Its fun to see a character just pop out into the living space!

I'm currently looking into a program called Sketchbook Pro to use as a short cut for my real sketchbook.

 I-Wei Huang, an artist I now follow swears by it when it comes to his sketching. I've been following the work of  I-Wei for a bit now and I love his work process when it comes specifically to his Skylanders.  If you'd like to check out some of his work, here's a link to his blog! http://www.crabfu.com/

Until Next Time!

-Jordan

5/26/14 Skylander of the week!

Hello everyone!

Happy Memorial weekend!

So this week I actually worked on a Skylander a bit more than previous weeks, so I was able to do a bit more concepting for him!

As for Thorn I'm currently still in the boring base texturing phase so its not too much to look at! Hopefully next week he will return!

Introducing: Boom Blast!  The one man band!

Boom Blast is a wind beetle who utilizes his horn wind bellows along with his hollow drum hands!  This makes him of course an Air Skylander and a Swap Force character to boot!  You might be saying,"Wait you already did an Air Skylander!"  To which I'd answer,"Yes, but as I'm finding there are too few Air Skylander characters at this time that I really enjoy!  So its up to me to come up with better designs that I would find myself buying!"

Design wise his overall shape came to me in a dream so I worked from there!  His helmet/carapace is based off of a french horn/trumpet while his arms and legs are a bit more percussion.

Boom Blast - Swap Force Character

"Move to the Beat!"

Mechanics:

Beats the ground with his drum-fists, creating shockwaves. Uses his horn to blast back enemies, and can finish them off with a great leap.

Top Half:

A Attack: Drummer's Fury: Slams ground and creates Drumwaves.

Y Attack: Horn Blast: AOE wind blast using horn. Tilt Joystick up or down to change pitch.

Upgrades:

Drummer's Fury unleashes two Drumwaves.

Path Upgrades: One Man Band or Steel Drums

One Man Band:

Hold Y to Horn Blast for as long as you want.

Horn Blast goes even FARTHER!

Steel Drums:

New set of drum fists does increased damage!

Bigger drums for a better beat- increases armor!

Bottom Half:

B Attack: Sound Off!: Leaps forward and lands, pushing enemies back.

Upgrades: 

Sound Off also pushes enemies down after knocking them back.

Sound Off has a larger area of effect.

Quotes:

Summon: "Move to the beat!"

Attack 1: "Feel the groove!"

Attack 2: "Drumroll please!"

Gets Crit: "Drum solo!"

Random 1: "Can't stop this feeling."

Random 2: "Boom, Boom, BOOOOOOM!"

New Hat: "It's time for the spotlight!"

Mechanics and Quotes by Robert Hayworth

Next week will be more digital inking and texturing!

Until Next Time!

-Jordan

5/19/14 Texture Mapping!

Hello everybody!

Lots of sketch work this week! I'm waiting until these sketches are bit more finalized before I post!  I've also begun the heavy lifting on Thorn's high res textures, so this week it's not too much to look at but still a much needed part of the process!

I am currently going over Thorn's mesh and roughly dividing it into muscle groups/areas of interest so that the painting process goes a bit less straight ahead and more pose to pose.   This process is so in the long run I don't end up having to redo large portions or overly involved tweaks and save a bit more time at the end!

Next week will see the return of the Skylanders! Along with hopefully a brand new start to a Skylander based portfolio piece!

Until next time!

-Jordan

5/12/14 The Weekly Skylander!

Hello everyone!

Its been a hectic week of graduations and parties!

So this week I have a new Skylander!

This week is the water gladiator Trap Master-- Surf Striker!

Shes a guardian of the depths.  A mix of Creature from the Black Lagoon and trident/net gladiator. Due to the underrepresented women in this franchise I felt the need to make this week's Skylander a female Trap Master! 

Game mechanics and quotes by Robert Hayworth
haywrites@gmail.com

Stats:
Power: 200 / Defense: 140 / Speed: 120 / Life: 80

Battle Quotes:
Summon: "Catch the wave!"
Random 1: "This entertains me."
Random 2: "Bring on the harder stuff!"
Gets a Crit: "By the Ocean's might!"
Beats Enemy 1: "No challenge too small."
Beats Enemy 2: "All of the glory!"
Switches Hat: "Anything for battle."

Mechanics: Traptanium Trident
Main attack: Trident Stab: Lunges forth with Trident.
Second attack: Net Wave: Swings net, blasting a wave of water that pushes foes back.
Special attack: Impale: Throws net out, catching foes to bring close. Stabs them with trident for max damage.


Next week Thorn will have a new coat of paint on him along with some digitally inked Centiaq!

Until next time!

- Jordan

5/5/14 Linework and another Skylander!

Hello everyone!

Its the first post on may!  No Thorn work this week, but he'll return next week!

This week I have finalized line work for the Centiaq and a new Skylander!

 First up: The Centiaq!

The two Centiaq represented have no armor or clothing on, this is Centiaq anatomy on a base level.  The main things that will vary when it comes to this race are headdress and tail.  The tail I have represented here is going to be a pretty standard size and length, but some Centiaq may have tails that serve for precise dealings and be far more agile.  The headdress might represent things such as occupation or social status.

As far as the design goes I really wanted to capture the majesty of a centaur without making them totally half humanoid half bug and came up with the tail idea as a compromise.  The tail functions as 5th arm like I stated above or also as an anchor or a way to ground themselves!

And finally the Skylander!

This week's Skylander is Nose Dive!

Nose Dive is a sugar glider with a devil may care attitude.  Wielding two rocket gauntlets of power he delivers sky diving punches that send the mightiest of Kaos' force for a loop!  Along with his gauntlets, Nose Dive possesses a hook attached to his tail that serves as way of snagging enemies and slinging them off ledges or into each other.  The hook also serves as way of attaching himself to trees and other terrain to sling himself using the power of centrifugal force!

Next will Thorn will be returning as well another Skylander! And more concepts for other races!

Until Next time!

-Jordan