The Lost Village

One of my favorite locations from Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One was the Deadgrove. Lots of roots, bugs, and raking light. We wanted to get the vibe of the underside of a log. Here’s a look at a location layout along with some ideas for structures. If you haven’t had a chance to play, there’s some good discounts out there — jump in!

In other news, we stumbled drunkenly into the Behance Network. If you’re a member stop by and say hi!

1080Pinball

A few years back Insomniac Games took a stab at a new game concept dubbed 1080Pinball. The goal was to make a rockn’ pinball game with a classic sci-fi flair. Even though the project never left the testing bed, I had fun with the concept art. To kick the project off, I explored some style directions — including guzzling a six pack of Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon.

More pinballastic images can be found at Insomniac’s Facebook page!

Croid Journals

To help tell a major chapter in the story of Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, we animated a series of illustrations through After Effects. There was a boatload of painting to get done, but the process was a fistful of fun. Here’s a peek at a few of the images.

We hope everybody had an awesome holiday — we’ve been soaking up our vacations while trying to cram in as much drawing as our fingers can muster. We’ve been posting our battles on Twitter and just started an Instagram account for some of the visuals. If that’s your cup of tea, stop on by!

So what groovy stuff did you guys get for Christmas??

CTN-x Wow.

When we headed to the conference we didn’t quite know what to expect. We heard amazing stories from previous years but nothing could have prepared us for the grandeur of this show. Our schedule was packed pretty tight and we jumped in head first.

There are lots of shows across the country throughout the year with plenty of talent and panel talks. Yet none celebrate the art of the animation industry in this way. In depth discussions and intimate creator group sessions combine with an onslaught of remarkable creative talent from wall to wall. It’s rare in life when you can talk to one of your heroes. Now imagine meeting dozens of them day after day.

And that’s where CTN-x truly shines. You literally can’t walk ten feet without bumping into engaging talks about art, design and the industry in general. We had the supreme pleasure of talking shop with countless friends both old and new: Francisco Herrera, Tony Bancroft, Florian Satzinger, John Nevarez, Jose Lopez, Leonardo Olea, Kent Melton, Jake Parker, Ty Carter, Kohl Glass, Doug TenNapel, Steve Talkowski, James Gurney, Terryl Whitlatch, William Stout, Sue Nichols, Phil Allora, Willie Real, Stuart Ng, Colin Geller, Britney Lee, Peter de Seve, Rachael Mark, Wayne Medina and the list goes on and on. And many thanks to Tina Price for inviting us to this crazy carnival of art. We’re already looking forward to next year.

We also wanted to thank all the kind folks who came out to our talks. This was a new experience for us and you all made us feel right at home. And many thanks to Tony for keeping us in check on stage. And to the students, we’re jealous that we didn’t have a show like this while in school — soak it up!

Finally, we’ll leave you with a glimpse of madness — a climactic collaboration sketch during our last dinner in Burbank. Yeah, like we said.

Wow.

To the Moon!

With All 4 One, we had the chance to explore a whole new set of locations. Here’s a peak at the initial layouts for the small moon orbiting Magnus. When in doubt, throw a big ol’ googly monster in the background.

CTNX

We’ve also been gearing up for our visit to Burbank in a couple weeks for the CTNX show. We’ll be doing some live demos, signings, and presentations – so if you’re in the area be sure to come by. It’s one of the best shows for animation professionals in the country. More info soon!

Wrath of the Octomoth

All 4 One has hit the shelves! Greg and I had the great opportunity to create the concept art for the project along with many of the character models. Octomoth is one of the crazy bosses that you’ll battle along the way – hold on tight!

Also, if you’d like to catch a look at over 30 pages of development art, the A4O Strategy Guide features a robust concept art gallery. Kudos to the folks over at Brady Games!