Works in Progress

Hi all!
Just wanted to give a quick update about a couple of projects I'm working on (one of which I'd love to get some feedback on!).

Recently, I've acquired Fatal Frame/ Project Zero 4 for the Wii after several months of wondering whether I could get it to work (seeing as it's a Japanese-only release). Well the good news was that it did and it also inspired me to do my first piece of PZ related artwork.
This is of one of the main characters, Misaki Asou, and Ayako Haibara, a ghost who you meet (i.e battle) early on in the game.

I've laid down some flat colours underneath a pencil sketch and am now working on a few surface textures before I finish off the shading (started on the wood for the desk and shelves and will follow it with the grime on the mannequin parts). The finished piece will be a lot darker and grungier, so hopefully there are no worries about it being too "cheerful" for now. : D

As I said, I'd love to get some feedback on it so far and if anyone's got any helpful hints, they'd be very welcome!

Second, I've decided to submit a piece for the Kitacon conbook as well. I've started work on some preliminary sketches for an illustration featuring the two convention mascots. Can't say much more about it for now, but rest assured it will be suitably geeky (based on a certain movie that was released in the last couple of months). ; )

I'll post some more updates in the coming weeks along with any new artwork. Need to start sorting stuff out for convention prints!

TTFN.

Upcoming conventions

First post of the New Year after a bit of a hiatus!

This year is proving to be quite busy on the convention front. I have three lined up so far, with hopefully more in the pipeline.
The ones I'm definitely attending at the moment are:
Kitacon - 1st to 3rd April (Hilton Metropole, Birmingham)
MCM London Expo - 27th to 29th May (Excel Centre, London)
Ayacon - 19th to 21st August (Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry)

I'm going to be selling the "Anime Convention Survival Guide" prints and Team Fortress 2 postcards that I've had at previous cons, along with a few other works in progress which will be posted in the coming months (and hopefully Trololo Man prints since it seems to be a hit!).
Also, my Expo appearance will be alongside a table with the Midlands Comics Collective where we will be selling both anthology comics and work from individual members, so come and say hi if you're planning on going. We will also like you very much if you buy things. : D

Some new artwork is on the way and will be posted sometime this week and I'm still going to finish off the final eight Project 52 drawings as well. Even if it didn't quite work out as planned, it has most definitely helped me get back into the habit of drawing regularly, which was the big reason I set out to do it in the first place. : )

Until then!

Project 52: Weeks 37 to 44 - Vincent Cass style meme

Happy New Year everyone! My last submission for 2010. : D

I've never tried memes before but I've seen *Goku-chan's pop up several times and it looked quite fun to do.

Anyway I chose Vincent as he's probably the one who would vary the most with different styles (especially the manga related ones). If you've not seen him before, there's more information about him here.

I'm a little unsure about the Yoji Shinkawa one. It looks better than I hoped it would but perhaps doesn't quite match his style. Same with the Disney one as well, with the eyes probably being the most accurate part. Also, the head shape of his realistic counterpart is quite a bit different to the original (should be a bit more triangular rather than squared). Still, they felt rather refreshing as drawing exercises at least!

And yes I know I cheated a little by using Mike Krahulik for "DA artist style", but it is technically correct. : P

Until next time!

More...

Weeks 35, 36 and 37 - The Batmen of BICS

With special guest, Swiss Army Wolverine.


Okay so it's a month after BICS, but here are some doodles based on a few things that happened that weekend.

1 - One of my friends came back to our table and commented that she'd seen one of the four Batman cosplayers texting somebody. We reckoned this was the only thing he could possibly be doing (I think Batman would have an iPhone).
Adam West and Burt Ward Batman and Robin used for comic effect. :P

2 - On the Sunday, three of the Batmen (we think it was a comic Batman, Adam West and the Tim Burton version) stood near the table talking about utility belts. I tried to take a picture of them, but I think they're too well seasoned at it because they all posed for me before I caught them. XD

3 - When we were all out for dinner on the Saturday (eating Chinese food), most of us were using chopsticks so we were thinking of how to use the surplus cutlery. Probably not all that surprising that this was one of the uses that were mentioned.

This is my first time drawing any version of Batman or Wolverine, so comic geeks please be gentle!

DeviantArt link

A Beginner's Guide to Photography

Today we have moving pictures!
My MA project was to produce a set of animated shorts that explained some of the basics of photography (in this case, aperture, shutterspeed, ISO and exposure) to first year BA Photography students at my university. So after a year of being an ex-student, I'm finally posting the videos for aperture, shutterspeed and ISO here. :D







Enjoy!
There is also a video for exposure (linking the three aspects together) and a short introduction in the works, so hopefully I can finish them and put them up soon.
The model for the main character is photographer Shaun Joyce and the voice talent is freelance journalist Matt Kamen.


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These videos were developed for Birmingham City University and are for educational/ non-profit use only. Feel free to share the link to this blog post, but please ask permission if you wish to show them elsewhere.

Weeks 33 and 34 - Soulsnatchers pages for BICS

Continuing with comic work for the MC² BICS banner, I redid the first two pages from a Soulsnatchers oneshot that I'd entered for Tokyopop's RSOM contest a few years back (never bothered with the contest after that either!).

My drawing ability and technique have come a long way since then (I'm a lot better with anatomy and perspective for a start). I also ditched the greyscale shading it originally had because I think black and white suits it much better.
I'd be very grateful to receive input from others so I can improve it further when I eventually start the story properly.

Deviantart linkDeviantArt link

If you're really curious, here are the original pages for comparison. :B
Page 1
Page 2
I changed the scenery on the first page because I wanted it to look more like a rundown part of town than a city scape.

Weeks 31 and 32 - Preparing for BICS

Been a couple of weeks at least since I last uploaded anything. I've been preparing stuff for the British Internation Comic Show next month, including artwork for the Midlands Comics Collective exhibition banner and free sampler comic that we'll be handing out at our table.

First up is the brief bio and cartoon portrait for the sampler:
(I'm not that bad with cats, but they are distracting bundles of cute (mostly!) : P )
DeviantArt link

And second is a new drawing of Alusius to go on the MC2 banner:

DeviantArt link

There's more BICS/ comic related artwork to come in the run up to the show, but I should be back to regularly scheduled uploading within a week or so. : )