Oily Pirate

Around the time I started this blog (more than 5 years ago, wow) I began exclusively painting digitally. When I started I used lots of layers and digital tricks but as time has gone on I've begun basically painting as one would traditionally, using very few, if any, layers or overlays. Originally I liked digital painting for the ways it was different from traditional but slowly found myself unsatisfied with it for those same reasons. So I decided a few months ago it was time to get back into real painting and decided to go with oil paint. I'd only used acrylics before and thought it was as good a time as any to switch to oils as I'd essentially be relearning how. So this is my first attempt, ever, at an oil painting. It took a while since work has me so busy but I really fell in love with the process and can't wait to paint more, hopefully better, oil paintings. Thanks to Dave Malan and Dave McClellan for answering my endless questions.

Play Ball!

I've been crazy busy at work and have thus had less time for art (at least any art not for the Cars 2 video game).  I did manage to finish this 50's style pinup girl I've been working on for a while.  No, I don't think she'll be able to run the bases very well in high heels.

More Sketchbook

Drizzt

A friend of mine is a big Drizzt fan and asked me ages ago to draw a picture of the heroic dark elf.  He's been doing me a lot of favors lately so I figured I owed him.

New Sketchbook

Around Halloween I got a new sketchbook.  I was desperately needing something different after using essentially the same size and kind of sketchbook for years.  I wanted something wirebound with non-white paper so I could work in both the darker and lighter values.  They didn't seem like unreasonable or obscure expectations for a sketchbook but it took a surprising amount of time and research to find what I was looking for.  I eventually found this book which I've been loving (it's even eco-friendly for all you hippies out there).  The white highlights are done with one of those gel pens and the rest of the sketch is my stalwart Zebra ball point pen.  It feels so good to be sketching again on a regular basis.

Maria Wiegenlied

Merry Christmas!

Simple Nativity

Another one done for my sister.

A Right Jolly Old Elf

A quick painting for my sister.

King's Vineyard

This is another, much less digital, game I did some art for.  Designed by a few of my coworkers, Sandeep Karkhar and Dave Haslam, it features some clever mechanics.  Working with Mayday Games was great, this project was a little different from anything I've done before and they were very patient.  Ultimately I'm quite happy with the final product which you can find out more about here.

Epic Mickey

No, I did not paint this

I've spent the majority of this year working on a video game called Epic Mickey which is out today.  I worked on the environment art for a several levels but spent most of my time on a few of the boss fights.  In some ways it was a dream project for a Disney geek like me to recreate stuff from the movies and parks.  It was fun because the art, for some clever story reasons, was meant to be inspired by the Disney stuff but not exactly match it.  So I was able to help create (with the help of other talented artists both here in Salt Lake City and Austin, TX) a dark, twisted version of Hook's Jolly Roger and a Tron version of Space Mountain.

 

The game includes its own version of the Haunted Mansion (called the Lonesome Manor).  There was no way I was going to not work on that (Haunted Mansion is my favorite Disneyland ride), so I muscled my way into it where I could, ultimately helping to render the ballroom level and even do one of the long paintings for the stretching room. I also worked on an area modeled after New Orleans Square. It was a cool project and I'm excited to see it released,  It's exclusive to the Wii, you can see the trailer here.

Angel

Young Rapunzel

My 2010 Pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

Drac

Wolfy

Mum

Frank

She's Watching You

It's not too early to start Halloween posts, right?

Nilbog! It's Goblin Spelled Backwards!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some art from my favorite bad movie for the Avalanche blog topic: Troll.  Troll 2 is a must see!

Watercolor Fairy

No one's EVER painted a fairy with watercolors!