Photo-study Quick sketch - Happy New Year

The Christmas and New Year Season took its toll on  my productivity this year. My family came to visit us for three wonderful weeks and I maintained my usual work-pace for a while before pulling the plug on work for the year. It was a nice break, and I have come back to work super stoked and working  my deadlines like a fire demon. Here is a quick sketch, I'm thinking that I'm going to recycle this image and paint it into my new blog banner. I was meaning to post up the vid demo/tutorial of 'Weep' but family time took that over. I will post it up soon though. A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who pass this way. I'm looking forward to Chinese New Year now. This year I'm determined to make huge progress in learning more Chinese, I'm aiming to take my skills as an Illustrator and concept artist to new levels and write more books! On a personal level I want to be more tolerant of others, do more meditation/yoga and connect to the glorious universe of energy that our collective subconscious forms part of. May all our dreams come true.

It begins... developing a visual language for...

Some early rough sketches for conceptual work on 'The Piano'. Will be posting more into this post as time goes past. This is for 'The Piano Hall'. Coming up, details, props, and characters.

Below: describing the objects in the hall

 Please be reminded that ALL ARTWORK AND TEXT COPYRIGHT © CIRO CORREIA, UNLESS OTHERWISE ATTRIBUTED TO THE RESPECTIVE COPYRIGHT OWNER - IT IS ILLEGAL TO PUBLISH OR PRINT ANY SUCH ARTWORK OR TEXT WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION BY THE ARTIST. I guess I'm saying just ask me.

Character concept - action

This was another one of the pieces I submitted, the pose is in a state of movement. Now that I have some extra time coming up, I succumbed to the temptation to do some work on this. So, this post will carry a few updates as work progresses. I'll leave you with a low res of the original for now. It was done in a rough in style. I decided to hint at villainy in the character. I imagined him standing in from of some peasants house while it burnt down. (que-in evil laughter)

SciFi Environment - WORK IN PROGRESS

I recently did a concept art test and this was one of my submissions done in a 'rough-in painting style'. (waiting in anticipation). I liked the rough so much that I decided to take it further. I'll be posting up some of the other submissions as well, rework them etc... So here is the first of the work in progress images for what I'm doing with this. These are really low res. Will post more in this thread as I find time.

Above: WIP 1

Above: WIP 2



Below: WIP3 (updated)

Below: The original rough. I had to portion my time over three images, and ended up doing as much as time permitted. I thought the image had potential. So, I'm taking it further. 

Here are some of my original thumbs for the image.

Quick photo study - landscape

Here is another quick photo study. I used to have dreams as a child with these kinds of landscapes, in the dreams gravity was somehow different. I could leap across the terrain easily. Immediately attracted to this photo, so I did a study of it. Growing skills.

Rough Pencil Sketches

Rough sketches from my sketchbook:

Mr. Casau - Character sketch

So I'm trying out different styles and trying to show versatility. I know I can do anything, but my portfolio has to show it or no one else will know. Just wish I had the time do all the things I want in one fell sweep! I'm planning to post some 'machines' soon. More characters - not so stylized - serious villains and more technical stuff. I love painting fantasy and sci-fi subject matter but that's not all I can do.

 The original rough sketch - doodle mode :) 

Line drawing complete:

Alternate 1:

Alternate 2 (shadow added):

Photo studies and exploring new approaches

These are two photo studies I did recently. The aims I set for these studies were very specific. I didn't want to just create copies, as valuable an exercise that might be at times. I recently got Donald W. Graham's book 'Composing Pictures' (birthday present) and I have been undergoing paradigm shifts at the presuppositional level. Earthquakes. The changes in viewpoint are subtle but things I have been searching for for a long time. They eluded me for a while but I have finally been able to make progress on this level. I remember reading something that Sparth said and thinking how that was something I was trying to get a grip on. He said that going digital gave him a sense of the canvas, that he had discovered it in a sense (paraphrasing, from what I remember). Well, this is what I'm discovering: a sense of the dimensionality of the canvas - the picture surface. My views are shifting radically and I have discovered something I've been looking for for a while. I think for an artist sometimes the Gnostic idea of hidden truths is really applicable. You study, you paint and experiment, you know something but one day suddenly those things you know transform and you relearn them from a deeper point of view. It's time to level up babe and I'm going to ride this monster wave right in to the shore this time.

These were speed painted studies:

The figure study: I chose a photograph with nice light and my purpose was to be super aware of the surface whilst painting, being aware of the symbols, lines, shapes and areas I was creating. Further I have come up with a concept of hidden light and color that has surprised me because I think I might be right. I held these ideas in my head with the aim of creating representational art but not thinking of the subject matter as representational. Strange? I am pleased with the end result of the study because I captured an essence beyond that of the photo and all along I was in this abstract mode of creation.

The landscape: I want to do more of these. Again, the same as above. I struggled a little at times but managed to pull myself away from mere reproduction most of the time. It has been an interesting experience. These images are obviously not completed but they contain more than enough information to convey a meaningful message. 

Environment - Ship Down

Environment Concept Art. Ship goes down on strange and hostile planet.

Ichabod D'Amarelo - Character Illustration (stylised and rough version)

The slightly insane and strategically brilliant Captain of 'The Frolicking Jade Empress' from 'Tales from the Sunless Sea'.  This is the rough sketch that I neatened up a bit, it actually goes with other sketches of the character. This one is the most stylized of the bunch. I'm working on putting a variation of styles into this blog and ultimately my portfolio. My preferred style of painting is representational and realism but as a professional I want my work to reflect the fact that I can do anything from ultra stylized work to ultra realism. Watch this space.  

(Sorry, if you're using an older browser this .png image might not display correctly, time to upgrade :))

Concept Art - The Crypt

Concept Art for game level. I created a few different versions of this during editing to try optimize the light.

Female Amazon Warrior part 2

This is an alternate version of the first one. I included a side by side view.  This was done as an art test for Gameloft. 

Gisthorn the magician and props.

Character views with props, etc... just another version.

I love bells, I get kind of obsessed with them at times... Thought I'd give a closer view of the bell at the end of Gisthorn's 'Staff of powerful enlightenment'.

Some Friday Night Quick Sketches: 10 - 20 min max each

Friday night. These are nice and quick, maximum allowance for each sketch 20 min, but ideally I want them to be around 10 min each. I usually work to my trusty egg timer, when it says ding its final. 

             

Hippolyta - character illustration

This was done as an art test for Gameloft. 


 This is a character illustration of an amazon warrior. I gave her the name Hippolyta, though 'Amazon Warrior' works just as good as a title. Hippolyta, according to legend, was their queen. I took way to long on this, mostly because I was nursing a head cold and partly because I was obsessing about it's importance. No excuses, it is what it is. Below this post is my screen capture for this, you'll probably  notice I painted the figure nude and then overlaid clothes. I want to do some variations on her clothing and 'make up/war paint'. Perhaps a resketch, if a have some time too. Below is a portion from wikipedia about Hippolyta.

"Heracles' ninth labor:Hippolyta appears in the myth of Heracles. It was her girdle that Heracles was sent to retrieve for Admeta, the daughter of king Eurystheus, as his ninth labor.When Heracles landed the Amazons received him warmly and Hippolyta came to his ship to greet him. Upon hearing his request, she agreed to let him take the girdle. Hera, however, was not pleased, as was often the case with Heracles. To stop him, Hera came down to the Amazons disguised as one of their own and ran through the land, crying that Heracles meant to kidnap their queen. Probably remembering all too well what Theseus had done, the Amazons charged toward the ship to save Hippolyta. Fearing that Hippolyta had betrayed him, Heracles kissed her briefly then hastily killed her, ripped the girdle from her lifeless body, and set sail, narrowly escaping the raging warriors." - according to wikipedia 

Character Illustration of Amazon warrior.

This was done as an art test for Gameloft.

Here's a screen capture of me drawing a female amazon warrior. I got a brain numbing 'head cold' a few days ago. Those who know me know that I'll to paint through anything. I created quite a pile of tissue paper next to my work station. I didn't include all the thumbs and roughs that I did in the video. I tend to cluster the similar poses together, these I usually put on their own page and then I produce my main thumb from there.  This is what you see in the vid, The page with the rough thumb pose I produced from a few gesture drawings. I'll post the completed sketch in one of the next posts.

Character design process for 'Gisthorn the Magician' Part 3

Side and rear views:

Character design process for 'Gisthorn the Magician' Part 2

Here I've taken the chosen rough thumb sketch to the next level. Next I'm going to do a side view and a rear view. It's still rough and aimed at getting the character idea across, from here on it's mostly just spit and polish. Gisthorn is a main character from 'Tales from the Sunless Sea', he helps the boy on his journey back home. He is meant to be a 'mentor' and protector. I went the non-human route because Gisthorn is almost 'ent-like' in temperament. He is head and shoulders above the other characters and the boy sometimes rides on his shoulders.

No Rapunzel...

Speed painted tonight on a whim.

Character design process for 'Gisthorn the Magician' Part 1

Character Sketch 'Gisthorn' Part 1 from Ciro Correia on Vimeo.