Krita Test

The next 3D render has left me with a lot of down time, so I thought I'd finish off a sketch that emerged while I was evaluating Krita mid-last year.

Blacktop Kings Concept Art

There's not much to show for the years between 1999 and 2006 - other than a certain short film project - so let's skip forward to '06 when I re-entered the game biz for a few months in order to fund completion of said film.

These are some of the concept paintings I did for an Iron Monkey Studios game during that time. Not sure if/when it will be released..

My Art History: Infiltrator

Sketches from another defunct Beam/Infogrames game in 1999.

My Art History: Biotech

1998 concept art from one of several Beam games that never saw the light of day.

My Art History: KKnD Krossfire

Now that that mess is out of the way (after yet another laborious cleanup... the infection wasn't contained after all), it's time to delve back into the archives and continue where we left off.

Here we have some promo stills from the opening cinematic of KKnD 2, on which I served as Lead Cinematic Artist while at Beam Software in 1997.  The whole intro can be found on YouTube without much effort.

My Art History: Rodent

The other character from my doomed 1996 short.

My Art History: The Digital Age

A concept for my first Lightwave short, which made it as far as a test animation before I found full time employment. One of my early Fractal Design (now Corel) Painter paintings, 1996.

My Art History: Tea Break

My last real-life airbrush painting before it was overthrown by the arrival of The Wacom. I never even cleaned out the airbrush. Missing are fireball exlosion and debris, background Harrier and face detail amongst other things. Acrylic, 1995.

<-- Cockpit closeup.

My Art History: Armature

The armature for the aforementioned stop motion creature. It's about 14cm high and is made from aluminium, wire and car bog, with ball and socket joints made from pin heads, and little bolts that inconveniently needed tightening in-between shooting frames. A pain to animate, but not as bad as the wooden one I made a few years earlier.

My Art History: Stop Motion Creature

With school out of the way I could now concentrate on designing the star of my next unfinished animated film. This time I managed to make an armature and some test footage at least, before my new PC arrived on the scene, enabling me to not finish anything in a much more effective manner.

My Art History: EV

Some final final year Industrial Design designs. This time it's a single-seater electric vehicle, featuring a suspended "active ride" cockpit that leans into corners. I also made a previs of it in 3D Studio 3 (my first ever 3D computer animation project).

My Art History: Portable Computer

A tablet PC for industrial purposes, featuring a keyboard configured for single-handed use (1994). Left or right hand operation is accommodated via reconfigurable character LEDs within the keys.

My Art History: Luxury Train

Designs from another final year ID project (1994).

My Art History: Video Camera

One of my final year ID projects (1994). Note the fold-out/swivel screen concepts on the left; at the time, external LCDs were either built into the case or non-existent, and shortly after having conceived this idea a new camera came out featuring the exact same design... and it has been standard on video cameras ever since. Typical!

My Art History: Rumpelstiltskin

Cover illustration for my second MacMillan book. This one nearly cost me my design degree, since I had to miss a couple of weeks of classes in order to finish all 24 pages.  Acrylic and pencil, 1993.

My Art History: 4x4 Recreational Vehicle

Automotive concepts for the distant future world of 2001 - as visualised in 1993.  Fineliner, marker, pastel, pencil and watercolour.

My Art History: And If You Should See The Giant...

A page from "How To Get To The Giant's House" by Virginia King. My first children's book commission, published by MacMillan Education. Gouache and pencil, age 20.

My Art History: Derelict Car

Like the car, this picture has seen better days. Painted in gouache from a photo. Age 19-20.

My Art History: Wild One

A not-quite-finished-but-close-enough technical illustration of my RC car. Gouache, or acrylic possibly. Age 19.

My Art History: Boulder Planet

Scouts inspect strange markings during a surveyance expedition. Gouache I think, age 19-ish.