Details, Details

I don't like to post huge images on here (though I try to make them of admirable size) so I occasionally feel that the painstaking love I put into certain areas of an image get lost. So I thought I'd take an opportunity to post some details of previously posted images which I feel deserve a closer look.

Drag me to Hell!

I finally watched this a few weeks ago. I've wanted to see it since it came out but it released the same weekend as Up and I saw that instead. I'm not sure I made the right choice. This is the best horror movie of the year, possibly the decade. Modern it may be but it had, in part, the tone of a great classic horror film (so I felt compelled to do a fan-art movie poster carrying that mood). Sam Raimi's storytelling style is very conspicuous which is why I think he excells with pulpy subject matter. As a fan of such material he's one of my favorite directors and Drag me to Hell is one of my new favorite movies.

Sketch Trade with Dillon

A bunch of the artists here at Avalanche have been trading art for art and my good friend Dillon and I decided to trade. I got a cool acrylic painted space man and he got a ball-point pen and marker cowboy sketch. Thanks Dillon!

5

It has been far too long since I did one of my video game posts and part of the reason is because of Resident Evil 5. I've played it start to finish about 5 times, at least once on each difficulty, and earned the Platinum Trophy. Yes, I'm awesome. The game is great, though not as good as RE4 (but, really, what is?). The new additions to the series are great (co-op, Sheva), and the old stuff is still entertaining (cheesy-cool storyline, shooting zombies). The horror element has been even further diluted and I, for one, am happy to see them trying new things. The game focuses almost exclusively on combat and Chris (whose phisique I've only slightly exagerrated) and Sheva (the main characters) are super strong zombie killing machines. The new Silent Hill game (called Shattered Memories) puts you in the shoes of the most average of individuals removing combat completely, making monsters something you can only run or hide from. What makes me happy is that two of my favorite Survival-Horror franchises, which started out with similar gameplay, are both going in such different directions.

Currently Playing:

Final Fantasy VII (again) - I just downloaded it from the PSN and copied it to my PSP. I forgot how great this game is! It's reputation is well deserved, one of the best ever.

Patapon - Fun.

Recently Finished:
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - loved it. It was been especially fun to go straight from this into FFVII. I plan on continuing my FFVII marathon by watching my Blu-Ray Advent Children after I'm through with FFVII and even playing the poorly reviewed Dirge of Cerberus after that...Epic.

Ghostbusters: the Game - Better than I expected. Nothing great but a solid experience overall.

Fallout 3 - I didn't finish the game (It's huge!) but it kept me engaged about as long as Oblivion did. I love the environment, the V.A.T.S. system, and the sense of discovery. Ultimately, however, the lack of a compelling narrative and mundane/repititious missions killed my interest.

God of War I and II (again) - Gamers seem to be leaning in preference more and more towards the procedural, sandbox experience (like Fallout 3). I still far prefer a straight, focused game. The God of War games are about as linear as they come but the experience is relentlessly captivating in every way. I can't wait for GOW III.

Killzone 2 - I'm not a big FPS fan, but I got this one mostly to admire the tech on display (and there is A LOT to admire). I ended up really enjoying the game as well.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - I don't know what it is about Dragon Quest games, they're so simple and essentially all the same, but I just can't get enough.

Anything else good out there?

Delila

Portrait of my niece, Delila. I did it for her birthday...and so she would get my brother to let me borrow his PSP during my vacation next week. Thanks Rich! Hope you like it Katie.

Sinister Skalliwag

'Nother pirate.

Creepy Pirate

This is a quick painting of a pirate based on a homeless guy I saw in downtown Salt Lake City.

Miss White prefers Merryfeather

I've been wanting to paint some of Disney's leading ladies in a retro style and thought it might be a fun fit to place them in old magazine ads. Snow White is first since she's my favorite. Hopefully I can find the time to do more.

Pirate Sketches

I won't bore you with the details of my long absence. I will only tell you it involved an ancient curse, a mad scientist, and high speed car chases...or I've just been working crazy overtime at work leaving me no time to draw or paint. Either way, hopefully I can now begin updating regularly again.

Xanax and Allegra, Conquerors of Zyban!

I've always found an amusing similarity in the names in fantasy novels and the names of prescription drugs, thus the title.

The Pig People of Padulang, Utah

Valkyria Chronicles

Yes, it's been a while. I've been busy, give me a break. Anyway, it's 2009! What better way to start a year of blogging than with the most important issue of the previous (or any) year: video games. One of those games (which I got for Christmas - thanks Heather) is called Valkyria Chronicles.

The game takes place in a fictional version of 1930's Europe with situations resembling those in second world war. You play a squad leader for the small country of Gallia, desperately struggling to fend off "the Empire" which is fighting to gain control of their land and it's ample supply of Ragnite (their main source of energy).It's a tactical RPG which you play both from a bird's eye view of the battlefield (selecting which unit to move) and from a third person view (within which you actually move the unit, playing like any 3rd person shooter). It also uses a clever turn-based combat system and a distinctive art style. An ad for the game has already played off another popular war poster featuring Uncle Sam (itself based on an earlier poster from Britain featuring Lord Kitchener).I like this image so much I wanted to do something similar and since one of the characters in the game is named Rosie I thought Rosie the Riveter would be appropriate.

Back to the games of 2008: Game of the year? Metal Gear Solid 4, followed by Valkyria Chronicles and Little Big Planet.

Right now I'm playing:

Valkyria Chronicles - If you can't tell I love this game. A lot.

I've recently finished:

Mirror's Edge - The concept feels fresh and the graphics are phenominal. When it's working it's wonderful, but unfortunately it becomes too frustrating too frequently in the latter part of the game. Still, definitely worth a look.

Gears of War 2 - I played this after hearing people go on and on about it on the gaming blogs and podcasts. Due in part to these lofty expectations I came away from it feeling it was only marginally better than average and certainly nothing special.

Prince of Persia - I ended up really liking this game. It's fun to play and nice to look at. It did feel a little repetitive by the end, but it's a great new direction for one of my favorite franchises.

Dead Space - A competant blend of Bioshock and Resident Evil 4 with a bit of it's own identity mixed in. I hoped the game would be more frightening but enemies are thrown at you so relentlessly that the tension never has a chance to build.

Anyway, what are you playing? What was your favorite game last year?

Is that you Santa Claus?

Merry Christmas!

The Archer

The new Avalanche blog topic is Zodiac and I'm a Sagittarius.

Ana Lucia Cortez

In getting back to my LOST caricatures I'm following up my favorite character (Mr. Eko) with my least favorite. I can't stand her, I cheered when she died.

BOLT!

BOLT the movie opens in theaters today and the video game came out a few days ago. These are a few screenshots from the two areas I worked most on, the cave and the helicopter battle in the Yucatan jungle. I'm quite happy with the finished product so go out and play it!

Halloween '08 Pumpkin

I wasn't going to post this, feeling the season had passed and it was time to move on, but I have nothing else to post right now so here was my pumpkin this year before it met it's eventual demise in our compost heap.

Fun Shall Overcome!

I've had LittleBigPlanet for a few weeks now and it is genuinely wonderful. I've never seen a game with such ineffable charm. Whether it's the inspired art direction or the delightful narration by Stephen Fry or the marvelous soundtrack or it's sweeping accessibility- the game is just impossible not to love. My two year old son watches me play and frequently laughs because the game is adorably captivating. He likes to wave at the Sackboy on the screen (I, of course, always make him wave back). Heather wants a Sackboy or Sackgirl as a pet. When playing it with others, everyone ends up laughing. This game is for everyone and it's just plain fun.

I just finished and published my first created level over the weekend (and I think it compares fairly well to other user-created levels). It's called "Sackboy Jones" by kanyn. Play it, heart it, give me feedback. Thanks!

Right now I'm playing:
LittleBigPlanet - Endlessly fun!

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Better than I expected but not quite the home run it could have been.

I've recently finished:

Silent Hill: Homecoming - This ended up feeling like a montage of the most popular elements of previous Silent Hill games and the movie. Anything new it introduces doesn't fit the unique SH atmosphere. Ultimately it feels like a competent tribute to SH games instead of a real addition to the series. There are a few small additions that I love but they're too small to carry the game beyond the realm of mediocrity. The SH franchise is in real need of a reworking the way RE4 so successfully did with Resident Evil. Until that happens I just can't muster the enthusiasm I once had for this series.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen - This is a must play for fans of old-school J-RPGs. I loved it.

What are you playing?

Happy Halloween!

The Grave Digger

The Evil Lord of Destruction!

I've never loved anything the way I loved He-Man when I was 5-7 years old. This was when I called Saturday - Cartoon Day. My brother and I would get up so early Saturday mornings that we would watch the color code thing until the broadcast would start at about 6 am and be swept away in a blissful haze of terrible animation and toy commercials for 4 hours. Smurfs, Thundarr the Barbarian, Transformers, Thundercats, Voltron, and, of course, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The 80's was a great time to be a kid.

Dracula

"What manner of man is this,

or what manner of creature is it in the semblence of man?"
-Bram Stoker

I love the original Dracula novel, but, as is almost always the case, none of the film adaptations have portrayed the spooky specter the way the book does. Bram Stoker provides the following details:

-Dracula has a full mustache, but is clean shaven everywhere else.
-He is an old man with aquiline features and slightly pointed ears.
-He has bushy eyebrows and a full head of hair but is balding around his temples.
-He has stubby fingers and hairy palms.
-He dresses in black and has a cruel look in his eyes.

This is a far cry from the suave gentleman many picture when they hear the name Dracula. I decided I wanted to paint the famous bloodsucker and stay fairly close to the original description. I found that it's hard to make a mustache scary. Some of my sketches look like a hook-nosed Borat with a mohawk. I was convinced it could be done, however and I eventually ended up with the sketch that turned into this painting. I'm quite pleased with it, and it sorta creeps me out a little.

Homecoming

Within the last month two of my favorite video game franchises have had new releases. Dragon Quest IV hit a few weeks ago and Silent Hill: Homecoming hits retailers today. I figured there's no better way to celebrate than with a painting of everyone's favorite Silent Hill denizen, Pyramid Head! It's also a wonderful way to begin the month of Halloween. Few games can compete with the immersive atmosphere and interactive narrative most Silent Hill games have. I'm always looking forward to going back there.

Silent Hill fans (myself included) are fairly intense when it comes to the foggy town. Many are intelligent and interesting. But among any fanbase can be found the fanboyish whiners lighting up the internet with their self important observations and complaints. Team Silent out of Japan created and developed the first 4 games, the first 3 of which are held in the highest regard. SH4 was a bit of a departure for the series, it was more experimental and openly surreal. It was met with much criticism from the SH fanboys. I enjoyed it but fatigue for the series was becoming evident in Team Silent's work. When speaking of the future of the series the creators wanted to push it even further away from the traditional Silent Hill gameplay and atmosphere. Fans complained. So the next game (SH Origins for the PSP) was handled by another studio and some (myself included) found it to be a competent and worthy addition to the series. Homecoming was also handled by an outside studio and so the fanboys have been outspoken about their disapproval of this from the day it was announced. They all object to the series being handled by someone else, despite the fact that the original studio has all but said they don't want to make any more and if they were to they would be very different from what we've come to expect. Personally I'm happy either way, I like the original games enough that I'm fine with playing variations on the theme or letting the series evolve. I get irritated by those who just want every new SH game to be a remake of SH2 (rightly considered the masterpiece of the series though the first game is my personal favorite). Homecoming could very well be no good, reviews have been all over the map (some rank it as high as 95% and others as low as 60%) but that's beside the point. Making up your mind about a game before you've played it is unfair. Being so exacting in your expectations that you're nearly impossible to please does not make you an intelligent and discerning individual. I know the internet will never be lacking in pretentious people with unfounded opinions, but they still bug me.

Right now I'm playing:

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen - The DS is the perfect home for the DQ games, I'm enjoying every minute of this one.

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 - I've been enjoying this more than the original HL2 or Episode 1 -and I loved those!

I've recently finished:

Killzone - I played this because the sequel looks so cool. Unfortunately it kind of deflated my enthusiasm. It had some cool moments but overall...meh.

Anybody else playing anything good?

Bella

This is a protrait of my neighbor's kid I just finished. I've never really tried a portrait of a child before and in doing so I now realize why they are so rarely done well - they're hard! It took me 3 previous attempts and many long hours to finish something I was happy with. Thankfully, they also like it.

Mr. Eko

Mr. Eko is my favorite character (so far) from LOST. RIP.

Bumble

The current Avalanche blog theme is Snow Monster. I decided to depict an encounter (not included in the show) between Yukon Cornelius and Bumble from "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." I translated the characters into my own style, but left the mountains in the background essentially the same as they are in the movie. It may end up looking a little inconsistent but I like it for some reason. Hope you like it too.

Claire Littleton

During the LOST hiatus I'm going to start doing the characters from the show who are either dead or missing or a ghost or posessed or brainwashed or a zombie or something. I have no idea which category Claire falls under, maybe none of them...I love this show.

Desmond Hume

Everyone's favorite "bruthuh."

I never got a chance to do a LOST caricature for the season 4 finale and I've been meaning to catch up. Even though the finale didn't focus on any particular character I felt that Desmond had the best moment.

Why So Serious?

More fan art for my new favorite movie.

The Dark Knight

As is no doubt apparant by the lack of new content uploaded on this blog I am very busy lately. I have, however, fortunately found time to go see The Dark Knight. My wife and I saw it last Saturday and enjoyed it so much we saw it again last night (this time on IMAX!). This is not only the best Batman movie, but the best superhero movie. Period. I've never had the experience before where I'm completey in love with a film while at the same time annoyed with it for being so good that it's made a lot of other movies I like, in comparison, seem pretty crappy. So yeah, thanks a lot Batman.

Team Logos

These are a few logos for local sports teams I did for some people in my neighborhood. They were actually pretty fun.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

I've been extremely busy at work lately so my monthly video game post is a little late. I've also been feeling lonely on PSN, the newest firmware update raises the number of people you can have in your friends list to 100. I was amazed when I read that - I had no idea anyone was so popular, I have a total of 5 friends in my list. So please, if you have a PS3, be my friend. Just so I can feel good about myself. My PSN name is kanyn. Thanks.

I'm really only playing 1 game at the moment:

Metal Gear Solid 4 - I've come to the conclusion that this game is worthy of the great deal of the praise, and also some of the criticism, that it has been attracting. Fan or not you can't deny the significance of this franchise nor can you not respect what (MGS creator/director) Hideo Kojima and his team have attempted to build here. MGS4 is a masterpiece. The game is bursting at the seams with exhilarating game play, a compelling story, and production values that rival many Hollywood blockbusters. I'm nearly through the game for the second time and I've enjoyed an almost completely different experience than I did my first play through - the depth of the game play is staggering. There are moments so exciting and intense and fun to play that afterwards I had that adrenaline pumping, heart pounding, awe struck feeling you get after riding a good roller coaster. That said, the game is by no means perfect, some of the plot twists are absurd, dialogue is still poorly written and preachy, most disappointing is that the last act is probably the weakest in the game but these complaints seem petty when weighed against the wealth of entertainment the game provides. In a way too, the absurdity of certain plot elements and the silly dialogue adds to the fun of the experience and helps maintain the identity of the franchise. The MGS titles never take themselves seriously enough to make these elements unpalatable, in fact they add to the overall charm of the series. It's a fine balancing act to make a story, characters, and gameplay that are simultaneously silly and serious, but MGS does it and this 4th installment in particular does it well. It has moments of genuine emotion and deals with some deep issues, but never forgets that it's just a video game. A very, very good video game.

Seward Home

Mr. Hopey Changey

It looks like Obama is the Democratic Nominee for president...so I thought I'd paint him.

Old Snake

I'm a pretty new Metal Gear Solid fan. I played the third not long after it's release but have only recently played the first and second. Their ridiculous plots and unforgettable characters are pretty addicting and totally awesome. I am very excited for the 4th installment of the series being released in a couple weeks and thought I'd try my hand at a little Shinkawa style art. I recognize some of the anatomy is off, but that's also in keeping with the Shinkawa style...also I just sketched it out quickly with a brush pen.

Right now I'm playing:

Dementium: The Ward - So far a very fun DS FPS/Survival Horror game. Something I never thought would exist on the DS (let alone be successfully pulled off).

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness - I've never played a Tactical RPG before so I thought I'd try one. I like the character designs and it got good reviews and so far it's pretty cool.

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb - This is a relatively old PS2 game that I picked up just because I've been excited about Indy lately. I wasn't expecting it to be very good but I'm actually quite surprised by the fun gameplay, solid story and quality voice work. The graphics, however, look like something from the PS1.

I've recently finished:

Resistance: Fall of Man - Awesome! I can't wait for the sequel.

MGS2 & 3(again) - As I said above, these games are great. There's nothing else quite like them.

You playing anything good?

James "Sawyer" Ford

Tonight is the first hour of the three hour finale "There's No Place Like Home." There is no character in particular that this episode focuses on and I got a lot of requests for Sawyer so here he is. I'll be out of town for the finale so I might have to catch it in a small low definition hotel room TV, which sucks! I probably won't be able to do another Caricature for it, which also sucks, but I might do some more when I get back.

John Locke

Tonight's LOST episode is called "Cabin Fever" and focuses on Locke. Next week we get the first of three hours for the finale, but then have to wait two weeks after that for the rest. Apparantly the final episode focus on no particular character but I'm so enjoying these caricatures that I'm open to suggestions on who I should do next.

Jack Shephard

Tonight's LOST episode focuses on Jack and is called "Something Nice Back Home." I'm hoping we get to see more Daniel Faraday. He's my favorite new character.

Frog

It's my monthly video game themed post! I think there's no better day to do it on than today, the day when the biggest video game ever is being released (that's Grand Theft Auto IV by the way). Which means that for today and the following weeks we'll all enjoy the numerous news stories about how this game turns kids into homicidal drug dealing criminals. I will not be playing it. At least not for a couple months. I'm under a self imposed game buying freeze. I was buying a lot of games and not playing them because my "to play" pile was getting bigger than my "currently playing" pile could ever catch up to so I'm trying to exercise some self control and finish what I've got before I get more. My gaming embargo will be lifted on June 12th (coincidentally in time for Metal Gear Solid 4) but until then I've got plenty to play.

Right now I'm playing:

Resistance: Fall of Man - Why this incredible FPS doesn't get more attention than the very average Halo series I'll never know.

Metal Gear Solid 2 - This is the last of the previously released Metal Gear Solid games I've not played. This is one of those video game franchises that tells the type of story and has characters and situations in it that really could not successfully exist in any other medium. They are all so weird and wonderful.

Rock Band - Still Awesome.

I've recently finished:

Zack and Wiki - I actually liked this game less when I finished it. The early puzzles are short, fun, and solvable, but near the end cease to be any of those things. I'd still recommend it, just not as glowingly as I did last time I posted.

Metal Gear Solid - Fun, engaging, challenging, rewarding...I love this game.

Chrono Trigger - Frog is a character from this game (in case you were wondering why I painted a frog with a sword and wearing armor), he's a warrior cursed to look like a frog and he speaks in old english (how cool is that?). He's my favorite character from the game and he's also got a great musical theme. If you like JRPGs and retro games definitely track down a copy of Chrono Trigger.

Games I started to play, but didn't like very much, and stopped:

Devil May Cry 4 - This is a good game, the DMC series is just getting stale. I highly recommended it if you haven't played any of the others or you just loved the others so much that more of the same sounds great to you. I just got a little bored.

Super Smash Brothers: Brawl - I tried to get into this series with Melee and just didn't get it. I tried again with Brawl and I still don't get it.

Anyway, what are you playing? Anything good?

Benjamin Linus

LOST is on again tonight (woohoo!) and it's a Ben-centric episode (woohoo?).

Green Gore

I'm not sure how well I captured the likeness, but anyway, Happy Earth Day...yesterday.

Tutorial Thingy

This is a demonstration I did here at Avalanche for my fellow artists. Others have posted or may post their demonstrations as well. I talk mostly about shape-making and composition then start a sketch (which eventually became my "Wii Warrior" a few posts before this one) using those principles. It's pretty long but is hopefully informative in some way to those interested, if any, in my thinking process.

The Seward Family

This is a new piece for a project I started a while ago. I didn't like the direction it was going then and dropped it. After some retooling I'm excited to start it up again. I've found I'm good at starting things, but not finishing them.