sketches and such

fresh sketches

2012-01-12T11:09:00.001-08:00

A couple new images, both pencil and ink drawings for the Arc sketch club.

Red Ridding Hood

2011-12-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

This colour sketch was done for the Arc sketch club, but here it is posted on my art blog. The topic was book character and I went with a classic fairy tale, with a slight twist.

dwarf painting

2011-12-02T05:36:00.000-08:00

I finished painting what was a loose colour sketch for the arc sketch club. I painted out the pencil outlines, defined the background a little, and added some more detail all around. I also added in some lighting effects to make the scene more interesting and fun to work on.

arc sketches update

2011-11-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some new sketches from the new sketch club. The topics where magical creatures, big vs. small and surfing. I spent the most time painting the monster vs. dwarf image because I thought the drawing turned out well.

Fresh colour sketches

2011-10-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Two more drawings from the weekly sketch club at Arc. These topics where pirates and dragons. The pirate image was inked, but the girl and dragons is just a pencil sketch with some quick and loose brushwork.

Arc sketch club posts

2011-09-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some new images I did for a weekly sketch club started at Arc studios where I work (use the link to see the blog). These paintings where done for the topics , ninja, ancient Greece and aliens.

Amazons vs. Minator

2011-08-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is the second in my series of Amazons images. After tones of sketching I finally settled on a composition and started painting. It was a struggle to get the lighting to work and all the characters to fit together, but I think the final image turned out alright.

Amazons vs. Sea Monster

2011-07-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest photoshop painting, featuring an epic battle between a sea monster and some amazon warriors. This one started as a small doodle and lead to several stages of more finished drawings and colour sketches. The final image is a bit more finished then my last few paintings, but I tried to keep the style fun and cartoony. I have a second version posted on my CG talk portfolio page with a tighter cropping of the central figures and reduced background:

http://alexichabane.cgsociety.org/gallery/996326/

Red Sonja Painting

2011-06-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a new painting I have been working on, based on the comic character Red Sonja. It started out as a colour sketch but I kept adding more detail and polish, and even some texture overlays. It was fun painting the various light and water effects, and trying out some new things.

Samus Colour Sketch

2011-06-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is a quick painting I did over the past two days, based on the Samus character from Metroid. I had some trouble figuring out how to light the image, and I settled on a spotlight effect that is coming from off screen. I'm not sure if it makes sense, but it was fun to paint.

New Old Stuff!

2011-05-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch of new images, two of which are re-workings of older drawings for my portfolio. The three monsters and knight where done as character and colour designs, rather then as a finished painting (hence the lack of proper backgrounds). I inked them both on paper and did the rest in photoshop. The spy-girl image was painted in a couple days, using a simple two-style colour. It was fun to start and finish an image before I got sick of working on it.

Braviators Concept Painting

2011-05-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

This painting is re-designed version of drawings I made way back in 2006. I pitched an idea for a television series based on these kids that fly around on old style airplane flight packs, but I had no luck. I worked out the planes better in this version, and tried to render the characters in a fun and colorful style. If I have some time this summer I think I will to model one or both of these kids for a short film project.

Birthday Troll

2011-05-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

A funny new image with a different color palette for me. I tried to keep it fairly loose and not keep painting it for weeks and weeks. So now it's done and I'm on to the next one!

Shinny Bum

2011-04-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

These are new photoshop paintings featuring a sexy sci-fi girl in a shinny sci-fi suit. I exaggerated the highlights and blew out spots on the armor and body to suggest futuristic materials. The background is a mash up of abstract brushwork and color fades. I tried out numerous color schemes for this image, unable to settle on one I really liked, these are my two favorite versions.

cavegirl and zombies

2011-03-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Finished these two images...finally. Both are older ideas that I have redrawn and repainted for my portfolio. I think they turned out well.

cave girl painting redux!

2011-01-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is my second stab at the same painting (something I do not do very often). My first attempt was painted over a loose pen sketch and did not turn out very well. This new version has a much more refined pencil sketch as its base, an expanded composition and improved character posing. I've only begun to paint the image, starting with a quick colour fill and then some rendering to plan out the volumes and shapes. The next stage will be to paint in the light and shadows, and then to figure out what to do with the background.

old images, reworked

2011-01-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

I am starting to put together a new portfolio and I realize I don't have many finished images to show. I also noticed some older drawings and paintings that I thought where good ideas but where not well executed. So I thought I might take a few of my favorites and re-work them to be more presentable. Hopefully I will get to painting them in the very near future.

beauty and the beast (sketch club painting)

2010-11-29T05:31:00.000-08:00

This is digital painting I did for the sketch club at my studio. The topic was "beauty and the beast", and since we had two weeks to finish I decided to paint my pen drawing in photoshop. I tried out some intense colours, and I kept some of the black outlines around the characters to preserve the flat, graphic look of the pen drawing. The other image is from the previous week's topic "how did that get there". My drawing was a bit r-rated but most people seemed to think it was funny.

halloween at pipeline studio

2010-10-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

This creature model is the second part of a sketch club exercise at work. I drew the sphinx girl character for the frist part (see the previous post), and I chose a character drawn by Elena Panova to model and texture. I tried to match her painting style in the look of the textures, but I also added some grit and detail to the surfaces. The second image is a poster I made for our company Halloween party. I filled in the black with inks and then cleaned the whole thing up in photoshop.

character design post

2010-10-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is an older character that I fixed up a bit for a sketch club event at my studio. A group of people are posting character designs in the first week, and then next week a group of modellers will chose one each and model them in 3d. This sphinx girl is my entry, but I will also model a character from someone else's design, so there will be more posts from this topic in the weeks to come.

watercolour sketch

2010-10-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is small watercolour study I did over the lunch hour this week. A group of artists from my studio drove up to the rural farmland that is just north of the Sheridan campus in Oakville. This sketch took about 30 minutes and is four by eight inches.

zombie sports

2010-07-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is a new drawing from the pipeline studios sketchclub. The topic was zombie sports and I drew a kids soccer game caught in a zombie outbreak. This sketch was a pencil drawing with a quick inking job. It could use a bit of clean up in photoshop, but I am moving forward with a comic project so there is no time.

sketch club: monkey drawings

2010-07-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

This week the topic was monkey business and did a few drawings and character designs. I made two versions of the snowboarding monkey (one clean and one that is a bit more adult). The other image is a monkey fight with various chimps, gorillas, baboons and monkeys all going to war. I posted the initial outline drawing and second version with completed inks.

sketchclub: goldilocks

2010-06-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is the "goldilocks and three bears" topic for our sketch club at work. I did two drawings; one is a classic pin-up type image and the other is supposed to funny, but no one seems to get it. I posted various stages of each image to show the progress from pencil sketch to finished image.

sketchclub: monster rehab

2010-06-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

We have the sketch club up and running at work and our topic this week was monster rehab. I'm showing some mythological creatures in a rehab clinic doing the classic trust building exercise where you fall backwards and other people catch you. I've posted the pencil skech, first ink, and the final version with thick outlines and photoshop clean up.

dolphin force colour sketches

2010-04-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

Some new colour sketches of the Dolphin Force characters. One has a flat toon shader feel and the other is a bit more rendered.

game concepts (post2)

2010-04-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

These drawings are various takes on the gaint castle needed for the story. At first the idea was to incorporate cathedral architectual elements into the castle design, then the story changed and the castle was carved to be from giant vines that where hard like stone. Finally, it changed again to floating islands and docks for the flying airships.

game concepts (post1)

2010-04-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some older sketches I did at work for a video game project that my company was involved with. The characters are based on initial designs by Brian Wong, but I tweaked the look and colours. The other designs are for an airship that the kids where supposed to travel on.

character designs

2010-04-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some character designs done for my studio. The first bunch are rough pencil sketches, and I took what I thought where the best two and inked and coloured them.

more colour sketches

2010-03-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is a quick colour sketch of an evil character in a comic book I am working on. She is a mad scientist type, with bizzare animal creations and futurist technology.

animal design colour sketches

2010-03-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Some designs for wacky sea animal hybrid creatures.

western sketches

2010-03-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

These are two new drawings from the sketch club at work. We restarted it after a long break, and this week the topic is western.

olympics post

2010-03-03T07:22:00.000-08:00

Here is another speed skater drawing, this time inspired by the resent Olympics in Vancouver. I did a pencil sketch and then inked it and colored it pencil crayons. I got the uniform from the Korean short track team but I made up the pose.

cavegirl (finally finished)

2010-01-21T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here is the final version of that cave girl sketch I have been working on.

pinup image

2009-12-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

This image was for an on-line contest. I heard about it at the last minute so I drew and inked the drawing and quickly scaned and colored it at home. I fixed the image up a bit more before posting it here.

Office Christmas Card

2009-12-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

These drawing where done for an office christmas card at the studio I work for. They asked for a surfing and beach part scene, and I threw santa in there as well. In on of the earlier sketches I included some charaters from the shows we work on but I could not include them for various legal and copyright reasons. I think the final image turned out alright, I did a bit of painting but kept all the colours very flat.

batman and catwoman drawing

2009-12-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

Another sketch club drawing, but this time I went for a less cartoony style. The topic was comic book characters and my drawing is a roof top showdown with cat woman and batman. I drew one version and cleaned it up, but I was not happy with cat woman's pose. After a few tries I got one I was happy with, and then I began to ink the drawing. I did the outlines and then photocopied the drawing, one verion I filled in with flat black and white areas and the other I added some hatching and textures. I think I will colour the flat version because it looks a lot cleaner.

Arrgh! Zombies! (in colour)

2009-11-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

Here is that zombie drawing I did a while back in full colour.

viking drawing, in colour

2009-11-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

I've done a painted version of the viking drawing, using flat colour fills for a comic book look. I may do another with some shading and highlights, if I have time.

viking post

2009-11-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

This the newest drawing from the sketch club. The topic was vikings and my first thought was those fat ladies that sing at the end of operas, so I drew one being admired by a hoard of viking warrior types.

zombie ink drawing

2009-10-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Our topic in the studio sketch club this week was zombies, and here is the ink drawing I have been working on since Monday. This one was a lot of fun, and is my favorite drawing in this sketch club series. The final image was cleaned up a bit in photoshop. Hopefully, I will have time to add some colour soon.

Colour drawings

2009-10-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 versions of the secret agent drawing, as well as the time travel drawing from last week. I tried something a little different with the dinosaur image, going for more of a paintery look with blended colours and loose brush strokes. The secret agent is similar to my other cartoony paintings, with flat colours and a few lighting effects. The first image is the final version, and the second shows the colour fill stage, where the colours have been added but not the lighting or colour adjustment layers.

secret agent post

2009-10-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

This week we are doing secret agent as our sketch club topic. I did a pencil drawing and then inked it, here is the image in its various stages. I am working on a colour version, as well as a better version of the space travelling dinosaur from my last post.

time travel 2: space dionsaurs in colour

2009-10-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

I liked this drawing from last week, so here are the inked and colour versions. The topic was time travel but this is more of an alternate time-line thing, in which earth was never hit by an asteroid the dinosaurs continued to evolve.

new drawings: time travel and circus

2009-10-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

This drawing of the clowns was a quick pen sketch and it could use some clean up, but we moved on to a new topic this week and I had to move on. The new topic was time travel and no one drew anything, so I think we will stick to more specific ideas from now on. Anyway, here are some enteries I did. The first is little Marco, as a kid in the late eighties, and is based on a famous Calvin and Hobbes comic panel. The other image is dinosaurs in space, and last drawing is the sign I put up on the posting wall.

Circus, drawing one

2009-09-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Next topic: Circus! I went with a family of Russian acrobats.

Brian on Vacation

2009-09-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

Last week our sketch club topic was Brian on vacation, where we imagined what our buddy Brian Wong was up to on his two week break. Here are some drawings.

manimal

2009-09-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

This last week out sketchclub topic was "manimal", as in man-animal hybrids. I did a bunch of drawings, and here they are. The first one is a kid in a costume, but the second and third are people at the office combined with creatures; Marco-squirrel and Dean-duck.

backt to school drawing (finished post)

2009-09-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

I tweaked the colors a bit for this final posting of the "back to school" image.

back to school: new sketch club drawing

2009-09-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

We only did one sketch this week, and because our studio is right on the Sheridan College campus and all the kids are back this week, we chose back to school as our topic. My drawing is a group of random students waiting for the bus.

catbuglar painting

2009-09-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

I finished the catburglar image (the villians drawing I did for sketch group at work). I did some colour overlays and added fill lights and some highlights on the character. I was going for a simple and graphic look with out any textures or colour blending.

cavegirl painting update (just about finished)

2009-09-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

Another cavegirl painting update, it just needs a few more hours work and it will be complete. I changed the dinosaur colour so it fits better with the rest of the painting, and I filled in most the black shadow areas with blue and purples. I just need to tighten up the painting in some areas and add some more texture to the tree trunk and dino.

sketch group: another villians image

2009-09-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

This is a second drawing for the villians topic we had this week. I scanned the pencil sketch, inked version, and did quick digital painting. I used flat colours with a 2-tone multiply layer. I would like to finish this one up a bit more, but I still have that cavegirl painting to finish, good thing this is a long weekend.

studio sketch club update: villains

2009-09-03T19:37:00.001-07:00

This drawings is supposed to be an evil scientist type who is bringing some kind of monster creature to life, but no one at work seemed to get it. I am working on a second image for this topic that I hope will be a bit more effective. I had a chance to ink and colour the mad scientist character but not the rest of the image, I want to do a new one every day so I have to keep moving on.

knights sketch club posting

2009-09-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

These are two more drawings for the studio sketch club. This time the topic was knights. The first sketch was the image I posted on the drawing wall, and the second is an inked version of the knight character.

cavegirl, more painting progress

2009-09-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

This is a second work in progress post for my cave girl drawing. This time I have given the dinosaur some attention and added some more leaves in the background. It still needs a lot of work of the painting is starting to take shape. Next I will experiment with colour shifting the dinosaur because I am not crazy about the green.

cavegirl painting progress

2009-08-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

I put a few hours into this painting so far and I think it is comming along ok. I still have not got to the dinosaur, but I have blocked in the tree and girl with some basic rendering. I tried to keep some of the ink outlines showing underneath the painting because I think it looks interesting. Once everything is painted roughly I will go back and put in some blue fill fights and fix up the drawing a bit.

new sketch club at work

2009-08-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a pen drawing that I did at work for our new sketch club. We randomly choose a topic and then have a day or two to come up with something. This topic was "cave-person", so I did a historically inaccurate drawing of a t-rex chasing a sexy cave girl. I drew the image first with animation pencils and then inked it, the color image is still a work in progress but it shows the direction the image is headed.

dolphin force, finished image

2009-08-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

Here is another version of the original Rio Dolphin Force image, but this time I inked the pencil drawing and cleaned it up before I colored it. I went with the same flat color style, with a two tone fill and a few specular highlights. I wanted to keep it interesting but still have a simple graphic look.

colour pitch sketches

2009-07-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

Some colour versions of the previous sketches. I did them quickly in photoshop with flat colour fills. I tried a two-tone colour scheme one of the images, similar to an animation cell, but I'd have to clean up the pencil lines for it to look finished.

dophin force

2009-07-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

Two new story ideas for the Rio dolphin force, each one stupider the the last. These would be special episodes, where the girls leave the dolphins behind and head for land, but for some reason they don't like walking. I'm working on some color versions of these drawings as well, I'll be posting those soon.

rio dolphin force

2009-07-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

So far this is my favorite show pitch idea. Its like bay watch but its set in sexy brazil and features sexy lifeguards saving animals from poachers and bandits. And best of all, they ride dolphins! The episodes just write themselves.

Some more wacky pitch ideas

2009-07-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

These ideas make little sense, but they where fun to draw. There is Dino-offie, granda and elephant, and grizzly md. The last page is kid versions of fellow studio workers Sarah, Marco and Brian, on various adventures.

Another pitch idea

2009-07-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

This ides is called paws and professor owl, its about a detective agency run by a lion and owl. CSI meets Sherlock Homes meets two animals? I drew these with an animation pencil and then had a tough time scanning the images, that explains the poor line quality. Anyway, more sketches coming soon.

some pitch ideas

2009-07-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some pitch ideas for a show/internet short film done at the studio. The concepts started out as jokes but maybe some of the characters will get some further development. The first idea, shark lawyers, is self explanatory. The other drawing if for a Backyardigans-go-to-high school spin off series that could happen if the show goes past season 15.

some more lunch paintings

2009-05-29T07:56:00.001-07:00

A few more scans of oil studies.

fresh ink drawings

2009-05-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

These pen sketches where done at work, without any pencil drawing. They are different versions of some anime characters that Brian Wong painted on his blog (see link for a look). I drew the character outlines, then added some shadding to a photocopied version.

oil sketches

2009-05-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

These are some paintings that I did at work during my lunch hour. The studio I work at is close to a forest ravine and some farm land, so a few of us head out and paint for thirty or forty minute periods. Here are some oil sketches made on 6x8" canvas boards.

finished contest image

2008-05-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

This the final image in the CG talk digital art contest I entered a while back. It is due tomorrow, so even though I think it could still use a bit of work, I've got to leave it alone. I think the painting turned out well considering there was a tight deadline and I've got a lot characters and details in my scene. I might work on it a bit more to clean up the brush work and tweak the colours a bit. The space craft in the top corner also need a bit more work, as they where really rushed.

painting progress

2008-04-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

Another update on my digital painting. There are still 14 days left in the contest so I think I'm in good shape to finish it.

cgtalk challenge composition

2008-04-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

This image combines all the individual characters sketches. I'm still not sure about those two characters outside of the main group, I may lose them to keep the composition nice and simple. The space ships in the background are still fairly rough, and I may blur them out so it looks like they're going really fast.

more inked character drawings

2008-04-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the final two characters and sketches for the camp fire. My idea for the contest (the theme of which is human-alien interaction), is to show many species gathering together, sharing what little food and drink they have to create a hobo feast. The pots over the fire will show the various foods thrown together to create some sort of stew.

inked drawings (CGtalk art contest)

2008-04-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

I did a few more pencil and ink drawings of my alien characters. I refined the costume designs and changed the characters a bit, to make them more diverse and interesting. I've still got two to go before I can composite the whole group together and start painting.

colour sketch

2008-04-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

This is a quick colour sketch for the CGtalk art contest. I havn't added the characters because I'm still working on thier design and posing. There will also be lots of space craft flying in the top left corner. I added a little bit of texture over the stone and wood areas, and took the star field from a photo as well.

CGtalk art contest (finished background)

2008-03-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

This is a pencil and ink sketch that I will use for the background of my "uplift universe" CGtalk contest entry. I had to scan it in three parts because the drawing was about 8.5 x 11", so there may be some visible seams. Once I get more finalized designs for the characters I will composite them in and begin to paint. I may have to zoom in a bit because there is a lot of dead space in the composition, but I think the rocks and roots have an interestin pattern and I'll try to keep as much of them in the scene as possible.

CGtalk art contest designs

2008-03-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

Some more images for the CGtalk "Uplift Universe" contest. I am trying to find more interesting designs for the alien characters, and make the human characters more animated. These are pen sketches with a bit of clean up in photoshop.

CGtalk challenge(part 2)

2008-03-27T07:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a composite of all my separate character sketches for the CGtalk alien art contest. I think it looks good so far, but I still have to designs costumes for the characters, and maybe push the alien designs a bit. I'll have to work on the gestures a bit, so that the story (which I have not thought of yet) will be more clear. I will also add a second fire in the center of the group to act as the main light source.

CGtalk challenge(part 1)

2008-03-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

These sketches are for the newest CGtalk challenge, dealing with human-alien relationships. I'm a big sci-fi fan but I havn't done much work dealing with non-human characters, so I thought this would be a fun project to start up. I've never done a fully finished digital painting, and having a deadline means I'll be more likely to finish the piece. My Idea for the contest is scene with "space hobos" camping around a fire. I thought this would be a good opportunity to show a diverse group with an interesting variety of clothing, gear and foods. I also think the campfire will be a great light source, and provide a centre of interest in the centre of the composition. In the background there will be a space-port with all types of flying ships so its clear that this is a futurist scene. I'm still planning out the poses and expressions on the characters, I'd like keep the scene interesting by telling little stories and insert a few jokes. Here are the first batch of drawings.

character design drawings

2008-03-27T07:04:00.001-07:00

These are character designs I submitted for various projects. The first three pages are different versions of the same characters while the last is a collection of designs. These characters where for flash-animated projects, so they had to have a strong graphic look. I like to start with a few quick and simple lines that desfine the shape and outline of a head, before working out the details. Sometimes you hit upon a design that works, and instantly communicates the personality and attitude of the character.

pen drawings (a few more)

2008-03-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Some more pen and paper drawings, ranging from rough sketches to finished work. I usually start with a quick and loose drawing, that I clean up on a separate piece of paper. The fight scene is a composite of two separate drawings, the character in the foreground is in the early rough stage, while the character in the background (red sonja) is cleaned up and ready for colour.

ink drawings

2008-01-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

This is a warcraft character I drew at work, starting with a rough sketch and then a more cleaned up version. I messed the face up a bit in the final version, and couldn't really correct it because it is a pen drawing. I think the trees turned out well, and I may try painting this up in photoshop. The other drawing is a simple character study for a cool surf'n guy. Alexi

some more colour pen sketches

2008-01-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

A couple more quick colour sketches, these where done for msn icons.

pen sketches

2008-01-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun new pen sketches I've been working on. I'm trying out a lot of different inking and shading styles. All these images where done without and pencil work, so there are a few mistakes in there, but I like the energy of pen-only drawings.

Sketch club images (part 2)

2007-10-05T12:20:00.001-07:00

Some more images. This time the themes where Garvey/wallet/pregnant and James/fly/cat fish, for which I did two images.

sketch club images (part1)

2007-10-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some images for a sketch club we started at work. We start with 3 random names and words pulled from a hat and go from there. Week one was Brian/wet/fist, for which I did two drawings. Week two was shark/leg/monitor, and then cactus/pet rock/water bottle, and finally Joel/burrito/Damon.

paintings and such

2007-04-29T05:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some oil paintings from the last few years, from just after comming out of school until last year. The painting with the Balrog is a scene from the J.R.R. Tolken book the Silmarilion, and it was done before the movie trilogy came out. The landscape paintings are mostly based on photos that I have taken while on trips to northern Ontario. The Image of the rockey shore line has been completed, so I'll post an updated image soon. Alexi

pencil and ink drawings

2007-03-01T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some older (2004-05) pencil and ink drawings that I scanned recently. The orc character was the basis for my entry into the warcraft art contest (see the related post). Another drawing is a duel between stylized versions of ninja and samurai characters. I drew these on different pages and put them together in photoshop. I did an inked version of one of the characters, along with an early version of my starcraft character. The anime looking characters are an inked version of Brian Wong drawings. Alexi

rough pages (comic that never happened, part6)

2007-02-28T12:39:00.000-08:00

These are two rough pages from the comic book, as well as a few more sketches and layout thumbnails. I like to do a whole pile of generic "fight scene" sketches, and then try to piece them together in a logical order. New images are then created to string everything together and make sure the actions hook up. Alexi

Environment Designs (comic that never happened, part5)

2007-02-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

These sketches are rough designs for the various settings of the comic, in particular, the first act. This was most developed area of the story and we got right up to the layout stage. I like to plan out areas with wide, map-like reference drawings to establish size and space relationships. This also helps in the planning of the story and in figuring out where the characters are at a given moment, and what views should be seen in the background.

Character designs (comic that never happened, part4)

2007-02-28T12:24:00.000-08:00

More comic stuff, including some costumes and designs from background characters. Alexi

Character designs (comic that never happened, part3)

2007-02-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

More sketches from the design stage of the comic. For me, this is the best part. I usually start by looking though national geographic or museum or collections for ancient artifacts. I look for interesting shapes and designs, and look at how certain aesthetics are common in various societies. When I design characters from a specific (and in this case, fictitious) culture I try and repeat graphic and stylistic elements. So, at a glance it is recognizable that they are of the same group. The style and symbols of a culture will depend on values and standing of the society (are they war-like or peaceful, wealthy or poor, isolated or cosmopolitan?) From there I can expand on the design, changing it to suit the individuals and their place in society. I try to reason out what design elements can I incorporate so that it becomes obvious that a character is, for example, a merchant or a soldier or a nobleman. Finally, I adjust the face and body to give the character a distinct and interesting look and personality. I didn’t really get to that stage on these sketches, as they are mostly concerned with costume designs.

Character designs (comic that never happened, part2)

2007-02-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

future-past world, where a once great civilization has been lost and the characters exist in a primitive and savage (almost medieval) environment. It was our idea to mix remnants of the advanced cultures and the new primate societies into the character designs and weapons. To further develop the back story, and explain the designs for different species, we imagined that at one point space travel existed before some event in the very distant past caused for the down fall of all civilization and the loss of most technology and knowledge. As a result, many different species where left on the same planet, with only mythology and legend to explain their origins. Anyway, here are some more images. Alexi

Character designs (comic that never happened, part1)

2007-02-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

Here are some character designs from a group comic book project that was started but never finished back in my college days. We had the story worked out very loosely, and where developing the costumes and architecture of the various civilzations. Then we finished school, got jobs, moved apart the project died a slow death. These sketches where works in progress, but where very close to being finalized designs. I used the same template for the male and female bodies to save time, and focus more on the details and shapes of the costume, rather then re-drawing the figures for each character. Here are some samples. Alexi

another pitch concept

2006-11-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of images I drew for a group pitch to Nelvana studios last year. We worked out a story about a group of kids in space with mech-like suits of armour but everyone we showed it to said it would be too complex and expensive to create a series (in 2d or 3d). The target audience was supposed to be kids 8-12 so the designs arn't too intense or agressive, but it was pitched as an action show so I tried to keep things fun and cool-looking.

flying tank car thing

2006-11-15T13:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a cool model I made for the 2d show Grossology. It gets rendered out in a toon shader for the show with two tone colours and black outlines, which is why I made the stripes out of 3d geometry. It does not get used too much in the show, which is a shame because it has a cool design and I rigged the wings, treads and the rear suspension. I even made one of the characters in 3d, just for fun.

Some more concept work

2006-11-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

A few more pages of design work for Nelvana, dating back to the Spring of 2006. We would meet in groups and get information about the shows and characters, and then have a week or two to come up with some sketched and designs. We would meet again and eveyone would show thier drawings and discuss what worked and what didn't. It was a fun process, though I am not sure if any of the properties will ever get made into television series or how these designs effected the final versions of the characters.

Character designs for Nelvana

2006-11-08T06:44:00.000-08:00

Nelvana will have pitch sessions from time to time where employees can submitt ideas for short films or series. They also have design sessions where we develop properties already owned by the studio. Here are some sketches I did for shows that where in the early stage of development and looking for direction in terms of character design and style.

Comic Layout Pictures 2

2006-11-01T06:13:00.000-08:00

Here is the layout for the landing sequence, which I did before the drawings in my last post. I think the newer ship design is better, but the long and narrow one works better for these compositions. Alexi.

Comic Layout Pictures

2006-11-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

Here are designs for a comic book sequence I've been thinking about for a while. I need a to land on a platform which extends over a vast cliff. I've been trying a few different designs foe the palace as well as the ship, but it's getting there. Alexi

Animal characters

2006-11-01T05:58:00.000-08:00

Some characters I've been developing. I had an idea for a short about a group of animals that live the lone tree in the centre of a small park in the middle of a city. I havn't written any stories yet, I was first trying to establish the characters personality through thier designs. I dropped the bug characters because they look way too much A Bug's Life designs, but the ones I inked and colored seem like a fun group.