Daring Entertainment

Currently working on RPG covers/illustration for Daring Entertainment.  Learning a lot as I do each one of them.  Here's one for World of the Dead.

Under the Influence

I've seen this grid years  ago and never got around to it.

Got a grid template and need to fill each square by importance of that artist/persons influence.  so I rummaged some art folders of artists I admire and fill it up with the ones that inspire me the most.  Guys with solid linework and painting I love looking at and a tv character/actor. Just followed my gut at the moment.

Then there was a big chunk left at the bottom and it just didn't feel right putting artists there at all anymore.

Art is probably in my mind most of the time so its on top of the grid. but its the people in my life that makes everyday meaningful and are my solid foundation.... and I always leave a lot of space open for more.  

Imagine FX March 2012 Issue

Thanks to Imagine FX for being featured on the "Planet of the Arts" section. I've been reading/collecting it on and off for a couple of years and its such a beautiful feeling to see my name featured albeit from the wrong country (I'm from the Phillipines).

On an issue with Howard Pyle and Paul Bonner!

This doesn't change anything, I'm still working harder this year to get my skills to the level of peers I've admired. If anything being featured in the magazine is for the people whose efforts and support enabled me to change careers and work alongside my passions to be proud of.

On Work and closing 2011

As 2011 closes, I'm glad I gotten a chance to apply what I learned into games. Casual games in this case. Not really what I was aiming for at first but now working on them I get to appreciate the effort it takes to make even the simplest one.

Things seem to work out and I'm not really a religious person but it feels like somebody up there is watching over me (Hi Dad.) Well now, I can't disappoint him can I? or all my friends and family that supported me on my crazy ride back and forth from Singapore to the Philippines. Architecture to Entertainment Design. Mostly anyone who gave me hope when I felt hopeless and confidence when I had doubts. I'll pass on what those people gave me to whoever needs it.

Will be entering a semi-sabbatical on art posts for 2012. Got too caught up on all these online postings and forums that I couldn't see the forest from the trees. I'll definitely be doing artwork but you'll have to drop by my room to see most of it.

:)

Project LXG - Nemo and Hyde, Allan and Mina

Took a point to polish my paintings, from now on everything will be finished. No more sketch paintings for me.

Project LXG - EDWARD HYDE

I think one of the most satisfying part of digital painting (besides it being digital) is when your last piece turned out well you can carry what you learn into the next piece albeit more confident. The beauty of knowing some painting fundamentals IMHO is that all it takes is mileage and keep churning out pieces and you will notice a considerable difference between your the quality of your work 2 months ago and what your presently working on. When building a portfolio this is frustrating since you can't hit the ideal number of pieces you are satisfied presenting and at the same time quite happy that your skills are growing.

For the next piece (still a work in progress) is Edward Hyde, Dr. Jekyll's evil alter ego. Painting over and using the values from previous

painting, I roughly blocked in what I had in my head then changed the color into a more reddish hue. For the scondary lighting I looked at near the opposite of the color wheel and found a misty emerald that I like.

Normally for portraits I find 1000 pixel wide canvas is good enough to get in enough details, I never go higher than that. Since painting I keep in mind to look at the Navigation Tool which is sized extremely small. If the overall looks good in that size its worth it to bang in the details because so far your painting already has a slight guarantee that it has a direction and "going somewhere." Take control of your painting.

Details up ahead.

So I made a list of significant details I need to research on like "Screaming mouth with Fangs" and bloody lip. The up is the FX part to add energy and motion to a simple headshot.

Project LXG - CAPTAIN NEMO aka Prince Dakkar

On my continuing journey in studying digital painting, I chose portraits of characters from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as my subjects. Choosing subjects I'm familiar with eliminates inventing a story background and just proceeds to portraying the essence of these characters.

First up is Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
I started quite rough at first to get the overall direction I want the painting to go. In this case a full front view with a dramatic light coming from the bottom conveying the feel of being under the ocean.

Method wise what changed here is I put some thought first into what I'm painting rather than depend on happy accidents (like the usual). This I found out saves a lot of time and energy.

Afterwards, making a new layer over the rough and adding details is fun and less stressful since early on the art direction was already established in the rough stage. Just proves that with careful planning there's a high chance you'll get a satisfying result. This work was spread in two days for a total of 5 hours.