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??

The Abominable Charles Christopher

On the way to CTN-X a few weeks back, we received a message out of the blue from one of our favorite artists – Karl Kerschl. He wondered if we were interested in contributing a guest strip to support his phenomenal Eisner Award Winning webcomic: The Abominable Charles Christopher. Once we finally picked our jaws up off the floor, of course we said yes.

Abominable is a remarkably unique and genuine body of work. Karl continues to present a masterful balance between humor, action, and heart ache to the audience — all while creating breathtaking illustrations week after week. The expansive cast of characters create a world you simply want to spend time in while digging deeper into the story’s mysteries.

Above all else, Karl hits every Wednesday, never missing a beat. This is a feat of super human proportions and we truly wish we could steal a shred of his power. If you haven’t started reading, you owe it to yourself to check out one of the best strips out there — web or otherwise. And don’t forget to pick up the first collection here. Making comics is one of the most challenging jobs in art!

Thanks for the awesome storytelling Karl!

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!

The Evil Beneath

We’re closing in on our October 18th release date for Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. We can’t wait to get this adventure out to the public – it’s an awesome time to have solo or with friends! The image above was one of the first production paintings as we began to define the massive scale encounters you’ll be able to experience with your friends. The battles are epic!

If you’re the preorder type, be sure to check out the Playstation Blog for some cool bonuses. We also have an updated Fankit available with new images of all types (the pack with the monster is the most recent). Download away here!

Bad Day

Dave and I are hard at work prepping for Heroes Con this year. We’ve been under the gun with some heavy deadlines all year, and we finally get to push towards a deadline for ourselves. Tonight I got to sketch for no reason a bit, I knew I wanted to draw a robot (duh)…but then every night when I’m working in the pitch black huddled over the Cintiq, my cat sits and watches me releasing these little curious meows that I only hear when the music in my headphones quiets for a second. Scares the crap out of me every time. That and I watched a documentary on trash pickers in Brazil tonight…I have very very little to complain about anymore. So here ya go…

Ratchet & Clank Concepts

During our march forward on All 4 One, the kool kats at Kotaku were kind enough to feature a few concept pieces from the game. We’ve been working on the project for awhile and hope to show more images in the future. For now here’s a peak at a few locations and a couple maniacal menaces you battle along the way.