Space Sickness

When I was a kid I had terrible bouts with motion sickness. I’ve thrown up in purses, back seats, front seats, and even baseball helmets. The toughest journeys were those in the summer to New Hampshire – a truly intimidating 4 hours away. One fateful trek left my brother holding my ankles as I hung out the back of the family van doing what I had to do. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on the driver’s face behind us as my Dad swerved down the highway. Fortunately these days aren’t so bad but if we hang out, please, let me drive.

Until next time!

Glow On!

I was trying to get you guys some new sketches. But life is getting in the way these days, lots going on, and fortunately, some of it is for CreatureBox. As a consolation prize, this set of designs is from the Quest for Booty title like the previous posts. These “glow slugs” were a fun task. The bugs were to be picked up and used as torches to light your way through dark caverns and caves. It was a great solution to something that could have been pretty mundane. And when the animators got a hold of it, it really sang. I was lucky to get to design these guys. We ended up using the green one.

The World Beneath

Egads! Environments! Yeah, every once in awhile Greg and I journey to the other side of the fence. When starting levels, creating small mood pieces can help work out potential palette, lighting, and mood issues before production begins. These are the times when you wish for at least a couple more colors in the rainbow to provide more separation between planets. The images above were to explore the various segments in Q4B’s Viper Caves.

Onward!

Back from the Dead!

Quest for Booty was an amazing project for Dave and I to be a part of. It was a really small team, limited resources and some very ambitious ideas. In the end it turned out really well and we were all able to interject some new concepts across the board. With some of the restraints, we were forced into coming up with new ways to use old technology. It might seem like an awful position to be in, but the team was so energized by it. I think that being surrounded by that energy helped us make a really cool game.

It didn’t receive the marketing it needed, and the reviewers didn’t really understand that it was essentially a mini-game. But we are still very proud of it and if you have the means, check it out. It’s a great afternoon of fun and adventure.

Booty Pinch

This summer Greg and I spent our time at Insomniac working on a Playstation store exclusive: Ratchet and Clank Future – Quest for Booty. We were responsible for the character work along with the book plates and map materials. It was a good deal of fun so if you’re into pirates and looking for a bite sized adventure to play over the weekend, give it a look!

Trying to get a HEAD.

I want to formally apologize for only drawing heads lately, but I’ve got this itch I have to scratch. I was lucky enough to attend a tribute ceremony for Ollie Johnston a few weeks ago and it was amazing. The man was truly one of the greatest animators of all times not to mention an astoundingly giving person. They showed a number of his pencil tests and rough animations. My jaw still drags on the ground in awe of what a he did.

I can easily point to the few artists or art experiences that have changed my life, and this was easily one of them.

The challenge of designing a character has always been a rough ride no matter what. So much to think about; believability, structure, comedic qualities, anatomy, color palette, pose, clarity, silhouette, line quality, composition, etc. But I started thinking about how the character would actually feel if it were brought to life. Working with characters brought to life as 3D characters all these years has made me a bit reliant on the animators doing that for me. Not good enough. I’m gonna figure it out, if for no better reason than to create better characters.

Sorry to take this out on you all, but it really itches.