Link as a Ninja

This quick little sketch was based off a silly idea I had for Link dressing up as a ninja for Halloween (is this post a week late or what?). I also wanted to try the cool technique for composing illustrations that uses the Fibonacci spiral; I've never really consciously tried it before. Here you can see a rough approximation of what I was going for:

The Legend of Zelda series is arguably the best video game franchise of all time, and Ocarina of Time is probably my favorite game ever. If you've never played a Zelda game, I would HIGHLY recommend it.

Also while I'm on the subject, if you want to see some spectacularly awesome sketches of Link and Ganon, check out this guy's blog: http://dimitriarmand.blogspot.com/2011/11/legend-of-link.html

Peter Ninja Pan progress!

Check it out! Progress! *(only on the face, and the hair is wip) I sure took my time getting back to this little guy, but the model and uv's are all finalized. Now I'm going through the task of painting textures to fit into the "stylized-realism" category. I just know that if I didn't have Mudbox to keep me company on this project, I would be pretty miserable. Is it sad that my software is keeping me company? yes and no, i suppose...

Minocentaurus Final

Minocentaurus = the head of a bull, the torso of a man, and the main body of mostly bull/kind of horse. I think the ax turned out pretty dang awesome, but I can't say the same for the rest of this piece.

I saw some awesome digital art today at this site: http://ldaustinart.blogspot.com/2011/10/hogger.html and then I felt sad when I looked back at mine. Getting back into the digital painting game is tough. I feel like I'm starting from scratch all over again, which is incredibly unpleasant. Feel free to post crits or offer any helpful feedback.

Thanks for coming around to check out my stuff!

behold, the Minocentaurus WIP

wooopp halloween's coming! I sketched this piece using pencil and paper, then scanned it into photoshop. At this stage I'm laying down some ambient occlusion before I get into the more complicated lighting stuff. and the wicked battle ax is obviously temporary. I call him "The Minocentaurus."

On that note, I'm looking for work as a Video Game Artist! If you or anyone else you know happens to have info on those types of jobs, you should probably pass that good stuff right this way. To my inbox. Thanks in advance, you!

I've also updated my portfolio site, if you hadn't already noticed. http://ezralauportfolio.blogspot.com. And you should all be expecting a lot more regular updates, as I am devoting a lot more time to upgrading my portfolio and producing higher quality 2d/3d artwork.

why hello, mudbox

I just started doodling around in the 3D Digital Sculpting package known as "Mudbox," and this cool looking bust of a surly Frogman came out. Here's some of the images that came up in my reference search (thank you internet! also, I don't own any of the images below: all rights go to their respective owners and blah blah copyright jibber jabber):

cute!

precious!

Naruto! narutoads?

hmm... Battletoads? 

This frog neck is what nightmares are made of.
Imagine how many babies he could fit in there if it was fully extended.

If you actually made it to the bottom of this post to read this, then you sir/madam are a trooper. Thanks for coming around to look at my art! Comment and post your best joke and see if you can beat my Jorge Lucas one. 

My internship submission is in

And now all I can do is hope and pray for the best. These are some of my "finished" renders of my little environment piece. I was running really low on steam and time tonight, and so I am quite unsatisfied with what I've got to show. But I guess that's just life. You just gotta do the best you can with what you've got. And hopefully in the process your best keeps getting better.

And the only thing worse than a grubby animation student doing his/her best to get more experience in the industry is a greedy animation graduate trying to hog it all for himself (yup, that latter one's me). But sometimes it's okay to be selfish, right? People do desperate things when their job satisfaction is suuper low. We'll see if I even get considered for the spot, because otherwise this rambling is all moot...


Time for the sleeping! woo hoo! Thanks for coming by to take a look, and I appreciate all your support and whatnot. Peace.

ha! i bet you all thought I had gotten lazy!

Source: ArenaNet blog

But in fact I was super busy working on an Environment Artist Internship application which I found out about just last week that is due today! (ArenaNet had posted their internship positions Aug. 15, but I only read about it on their blog Sept. 12) ... and come to think of it, daily posts are exhausting for both the blog writer and the blog reader... so I might amend my previous commitment to weekly blog updates.

I was delaying posting my WIPs and any other details about the internship just in case some other grubby animation student was planning on stealing my spot! Now that there's only 24hrs left before the submissions are due, I figure there's no harm in showing you all what I've been working on. Here's a link to the blog post with all the cool details about ArenaNet: http://www.arena.net/blog/arenanet-class-of-2012-internship-program-now-accepting-applications

I still have a few things left to work on, but I've only got so much time in the day to devote to this project. If only I didn't have to go to work all day every day... JUST KIDDING I LIKE GETTING PAID MONEYS

Anyways...

If any of you have any crits/feedback, feel free to drop a line. If not, then feel obligated to wish me luck!

progress?

Yup, I suppose this could be considered progress. His arms are about halfway done, and his legs have yet to be started. My long weekend was pretty awesome, involving good friends and my first ever outdoor rock-climbing expedition (FUN!). Oh, and I saw Super 8 for the first time at the local dollar theater here in Provo. It was good. And I watched Memento (2000) last night with some work friends instead of working on my art stuff. That movie made me think about how I think about things. It was cool.

I'm realizing now how out of shape my character modeling skills have gotten. And my eye for human anatomy = also quite rusty... *sigh... at least I'm working on it, though I wish I hadn't let this digression go on for so long.

Stagnation and mediocrity leads to greater frustration, and I am perpetually reminded that my present existence is plagued with all three.

sketches from institute

I went to an LDS Institute class today. I drew some people. as I was listening to the uplifting Gospel message. I promise.

Sadly, I didn't make much progress on Ninja Pan today... but there should be more to show tomorrow. Promise. Actually, I take that back. Tomorrow's Friday! No promises on having artwork to show for the weekends.

almost a duplicate but not quite

yup, this post looks a lot like yesterday's... but I actually spent a ton of  time getting some better edge flow and tweaking verts to get his face to look "just right". So I'm pretty sure I'm finished with his head, and then tomorrow I'll see how fast I can get his body and everything else done.

ninja Pan in 3D! kinda...

A little screenshot of my Maya work space. I guess I'll be keeping this guy low-poly with tri's with the intent of putting him into a game engine. Kinda wish I'd gotten more done on him today, but hey it's progress. I think I spent about an hour modeling to get the face this far.

blog lovin time

Wow, my last post was around 3 months ago. Sheesh. Well anyways, with a bunch of my friends going back to school today, I figured I should set some new goals for myself and push my artistic boundaries. So each day I'll be doing a sketch or some type of art activity, and I'll be posting my progress here as a means to hold myself accountable to you, the people/robots/sentient beings of the internet.

Meet Ninja Pan, an interrupted clone experiment that will never age, with his AI guide TNC (Training/Nurturing Computer; pronounced "tink").  This is the futuristic/Asian/street culture restyling of the classic Peter Pan story. Stay tuned for more art featuring Pirate Mercenaries, Mutant-spliced Savages, and the crumbling vestiges of Earth's civilizations. I figure that if I'm going to be making art on a regular basis, I might as well think up a theme to base them all on. The story line is still in production, but I'll be posting more soon.

Used Photoshop to draw the character, about 45 minutes total.

'nother update

Finished another piece of the pie... the skull-spear prop is super lo-poly (164 tris), and so with that consideration in mind, I think it turned out pretty good. The detail comes mostly from the diffuse and normal maps.

inca temple WIP

Click image for fuller screen version!

Here's an update with the most recent work on the color and figuring out the look and feel of the base material. Compare to last update:

Check back to see additional pieces as I get around to them!

Oh, and in other news: I got a job as a 3D Generalist! Check out L I M E's website. Much thanks goes to Worth Dayley for giving me the inside edge for the position. They're local to Provo, so it looks like I'll be sticking around in ol p-town for at least a little while longer... yay...

Inca Sun God, Moon Goddess, and Creation Myth

The Final for Joe Olson's Drawing for Animation class was to create your own "plausible" non-Greco-Roman myth.

Final

The Inca God of the Sun was lonely and was searching for a wife. He knew that the Panther of the Night had captured a beautiful Moon Goddess, and had imprisoned her within its ribcage. However, the Panther was invulnerable as long as it was underneath the surface of the River of Darkness.

The Sun God devised a plan, and while standing on the surface of the River, pulled the Panther out by its eye-sockets, so that he wasn't bitten by its dangerous fangs. With his other hand, he reached into the Panther's now exposed ribcage and rescued the Moon Goddess. As soon as the two beings of light touched, their combined light grew brighter, and she became pregnant. However, the Panther had scratched a deep scar on the Sun's arm, and bright drops of glowing blood fell on the River, and became the Milky Way.

So the Sun and the Moon created the Earth and all life that lived on its surface. The Panther also sent his spirit to torment the Earth and every month tries again to reclaim the Moon.

Mudbox Sculpting

Here's a vampire bat head I sculpted out using Mudbox. I'm going to try and post up my practice sculpts to see if I can get any critiques on my 3D sculpting skills, as I am very new to the whole thing.

Oh, and in other news... I just had an interview for an internship with the guys up at Disney Interactive Studios in Salt Lake. It was pretty cool. Joe Olson was even there. But also a very sad day, because the SOE Denver studio was closed down. Best wishes to all you great people who helped me out during my summer internship last year.

One last image: Inca Temple WIP

Bodies - Exaggeration Practice

Image Source: The Sartorialist

A character study from a photo found on the fashion blog, The Sartorialist.

Faces - Caricature Practice

Andy Samberg
Source: Google Images

Academic Study

Distorted!

Emma Stone
Source: Google Images

Academic Study

Distorted!!

I was practicing faces for Joe's class, and I'm reaally quite out of practice (check out my previous caricatures!). I've been busy working on a portfolio piece, so I'll show you a WIP shot to try and compensate for this otherwise grossly underwhelming post.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my art stuff. Peace!

Environment Design

Half inspired by, and half revolted/haunted by the film Apocalypto, this is a three point perspective assignment done for Joe Olson's class, done to the theme "A Place of Evil." It's an odd blend of Mayan, Aztec, and Inca architecture, including some of my own creative spice thrown in for good measure.

I'm planning on modeling and texturing this scene out as a portfolio piece, as I am in the process of preparing to graduate and find my place in the world... of making video games. (PS. If you know of anyone in the industry looking to hire people, do me a favor and pass on my info. Thanks much!)

Oh, and I've run across a spectacularly awesome project: "Tsunami: Pictures for Japan" (http://cfsl.net/tsunami/). You should definitely check it out.

Japan Earthquake Art

I first read on Facebook that a massive earthquake had hit Japan (weird how that's my best news source these days), and throughout the day I've had a certain image come to mind whenever I heard updates on the situation or anything like that.

I feel weird and helpless being over here, and unable to do anything for those that are suffering... just like when previous disasters have struck elsewhere around the world. I don't really have any extra money to donate, and I can't go globe-trotting to do any real service, so I guess I'm doing what little I can to increase awareness and make a tribute to the nation of Japan. I have Japan to thank for giving me Dragon Ball, Anime/Manga in general, many of my very favorite video games, and great friends and acquaintances (shout-out to the BYU Asian Ward!). 

Looking over this post as I'm about to publish it makes me feel very cheesy and embarrassed by my crappy art, but I guess cheesy, crappy art is what I'm all about! I read this article about art and motivation a while ago, and it made me feel better about myself.

If I was 1/10th as awesome as the Great Jake Wyatt, I'd do something like he's doing, but you should TOTALLY check out his charity prints he is selling through his blog/deviantart:
http://jake-paperlife.blogspot.com/2011/03/charity-prints-help-heal-japan.html

Here's a handy link on how you can help with the relief efforts:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/tsunami-aid-and-relief-how-you-can-help/
For the "latest" news from CNN: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/live-blog-japan-earthquake/

Thank you to everyone who checks out my blog regularly, especially my sisters and parents. And to those with family or loved ones in Japan I wish you all the best and hope that you'll enjoy peace and comfort throughout this emotional and tumultuous time.

UPDATE: (I copy/pasted this from Dice Tsutsumi's site)

Artists Help Japan–earthquake & tsunami emergency fund from Dice TSUTSUMI (Art Director at Pixar)

Posted on Saturday 12 March 2011

Hello everyone

I hope you and your loved ones are safe in the catastrophic disaster in Japan.
The earthquake was the most powerful in the history and the outcome is devastating without showing any sign of calming down.
It took me and my wife to get in touch with our families in Japan. Some of our relatives are still out of reach in the hard hit areas.

Aside from it’s my home country, I would simply want to ask for your help.
As you may know, artists have done numerous charity projects such as Totoro Forest Project, Art Block for Ghana, Picture Book Project, and Sketchtravel.
Artists once again can get together to bring our inspiration together to respond to the immediate needs from far east.

Working with Give2Asia who we worked with for Totoro Forest Project to help preserve Sayama Forest back in 2008, we set up a simple fund called Artists Help Japan.

Artists Help Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Fund is responding to the immediate needs of survivors as well as short-term to long-term recovery projects undertaken by the affected communities.
Give2Asia has a local team based in Tokyo to assess the current situation and to obtain more information on the needs of survivors. Give2Asia helped Totoro Forest Project efficiently send fund to Japan and has a great reputation when it comes to humanitarian efforts in Asia as a part of Asian Foundation.

Having worked with them, I can trust the fund will be used wisely and efficiently to help people in Japan.
This may be just a small help we can only provide from far away but I hope our prayers will reach people in Japan.

>>>>DONATE NOW!
You might have already helped through other venues? Then please help spread the words on your blog and facebook!

***Give2Asia is a US 501 (c) (3) public charity, to which contributions are tax deductible (Federal Employer Identification #94-3373670).

Snow-Terrain Vehicle Concept

A concept for a snow-terrain utility vehicle... with missile-launchers... I actually looked at snowmobiles, old tanks (particularly their treads), and armored personnel carriers for reference.

Here is a previous attempt... including the original line work.

If any of you are into this kind of concept art, I would highly recommend these sites, because they do it much better than me. Anyways, thanks for looking!

http://conceptships.blogspot.com

http://conceptvehicles.blogspot.com/

http://conceptrobots.blogspot.com/

http://concepttanks.blogspot.com/

http://benmauro.blogspot.com/

http://davidsketch.blogspot.com/

http://sparthconstruct.blogspot.com/

http://www.isaachannaford.com/

http://skul4aface.blogspot.com/

http://koryhubbell.blogspot.com