Gone with the fairies : Character/creature design, concept art and illustration.

Creature logo design for band

2012-02-15T12:04:00.000+01:00

Here's a creature logo design I created for my band called Wulf of Collision. Something different to what I usually do and I had to create it in Illustrator as the design is going to be used in many different formats such as on cd covers, bass drum, internet and a banner that sits behind the band.

You can hear our 3 track demo here:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wulf-of-Collision/306583816028927?sk=app_178091127385

Fantasy Dragon and Phoenix card artwork for Levynlight.

2012-01-15T17:35:00.001+01:00

About time for a new post! I've been pretty busy with commissions of late. Here are a couple I did for a games studio called HitGrab. They develop games for Facebook. I was commissioned to create some artwork for a fantasy game they have called Levynlight. I got to create some Creatures, equipment, weapons and items for card art used within the game. Here you can see a dragon and a phoenix. I'll post some more soon. The images below are copright © Hitgrab 2012.

Dragon concept sketches in good old traditional pencil!

2011-07-23T19:48:00.000+02:00

I have been recently looking through some sketches I had done to present to a publisher. hopefully we will work together in the future. Thought I would post a few fantasy dragon sketches I had created.

These are all pencil sketches.

Dwarven head and sword pencil study.

2011-04-13T14:13:00.000+02:00

This is a pencil study/concept design I did of a dwarf head and sword.

RPG character design

2011-01-13T15:28:00.003+01:00

This is a RPG character design I was commissioned to create.

Fantasy costume concept/design for novel number 2

2011-01-13T13:55:00.001+01:00

Working on a second commission for costume design. If you scroll down you will see a previous entry with my first costume design for the client. This new design is almost complete, a few alterations and I will post the final version.

More older craft and mech concept sketch designs.

2010-11-26T00:10:00.000+01:00

Here's some older concept sketch designs created for the games company 'games construct'.

EVE online create a starship entry

2010-10-14T12:42:00.001+02:00

Just thought I'd post my entry for the eve online design a space craft competition. The specifications were to design a space craft and present 6 line drawing orthographic views. It was optional but not a requirement to include a rendered perspective shot.

I didn't have much time, saw the competition at the last minute. I've never played EVE online so it was quite a challenge. I was going to take advantage of the free trial only my computer dos not have the system requirements. I undertook a little research into the world of EVE and decided on a covert ops, stealth bomber ship route.

I created my entry line by line in illustrator.

UPDATE: Just added another image where I had some time to experiment and try and create a blueprint feel to the technical drawing. I did this using photoshop.

Mining robot concept for game.

2010-09-23T15:17:00.001+02:00

I recently completed some concept sketches of mining robots for a computer game. The concept on the right is the final concept sketch showing the direction the client wishes to take the design. The design on the left is the same design with exaggerated proportions, something I was messing about with during the vehicle design process.

Battle crusier space ship for i phone trading card game

2010-08-20T15:10:00.000+02:00

Thought I would post an image I have just completed for the 'crystal core trading card game'. The game has been created by a company called Game Construct LLC.

I was commissioned to create 3 images. This one was my third. I started with some concept sketches and then created the large spacecraft and the 3 smaller troop carriers in Google Sketchup. I rendered them up and took them into photoshop where I added the colours, texture and background.

It was a fun project and I learned so much.

Head over to Crystal Core and check out their progress. They should be releasing the game in the not too distant future! It should be real fun, plenty of mecha, armies and spacecraft to have fun with!

http://www.crystal-core.com

fantasy character costume designs.

2010-07-29T22:27:00.005+02:00

This is a costume/character design commissioned by a writer for a novel. I'm allowed to show my contribution but not actually talk about the details of the project. so here it is.

Dwarf battle sketch: Gotta have a hook challenge on Artorder

2010-07-29T17:12:00.006+02:00

This was the brief for art challenge @ artorder:

Setting - A cavern
Characters - A Male Dwarf Fighter and a Hook Horror
Scene - The dwarf has just delivered a mighty smack to the hook horror and knocked it backward through a stalagmite and/or stalactite.
Details: The dwarf is wearing heavy scale mail armor. Wielding a warhammer and a heavy shield.

Size
11.25" w x 4" h @ 300 dpi, RGB
Yes, it's a wacky size, but with a challenge comes an opportunity to create something unexpected.

So this is a sketch I've been working on. I still have to nail the rendering and create a solid foundation for myself before moving onto the colour. I want to have the composition, details, tones all solid first. Trouble is the deadline is looming, I have commissions to finis.

Well I didn't manage to finish the image due to commission commitments. I have carried on with it in my spare time. Nearly there now. A few final touches and exploding parts etc. Watch this space, in meantime have a look at my newest update.

More fantasy costume designs including weapons.

2010-06-08T00:06:00.003+02:00

Here the final round of designs for the first of a number of costumes I have been commissioned to design. The sword and the dagger were actually designed by the commissioner themselves. I have designed everything else including the sheath designs and weapon position.

So now they have been approved I can move onto colour and final render.

Some fantasy character/costume concepts.

2010-05-26T23:32:00.000+02:00

Here are some sketches/concepts I have been commissioned to do for a project. The commissioner has kindly allowed me to show them. That's all I can say, so enjoy.

Wow, didn't realise so much time had passed since my last post. Been quite busy to say the least and it doesn't seem to be slowing down!

Cyborg scout

2010-03-23T22:40:00.001+01:00

Here's a quick concept I have created for a project I'm involved with. Robot/cyborg scout

machines-scouts and war machine thumbnail designs

2010-03-23T19:43:00.000+01:00

Some quick concept designs for scout and war machines.

Krampus full creature character design

2010-03-22T07:16:00.004+01:00

This design was originally created for the creature krampus challenge on artorder. I developed it a little and will post a final version soon!

battle dwarf character design

2010-03-15T17:04:00.000+01:00

Thought I'd post the completed Battle dwarf character design. Fresh from battle, armour scarred and a little blood stained!

Name: Thorslecg Oxarine

Occupation: Front line battle dwarf, shield wall breaker.

warrior concept/character designs

2010-03-05T13:49:00.002+01:00

A couple of quick helm designs for a warrior concept.
Created in photoshop.

character/creature yeti concept designs

2010-03-03T23:14:00.000+01:00

Here are a couple of head designs I did for my yeti/abominable snowman character. One is basically the design I decided to go with. The other I felt was a little evil/demonic looking for the feel I wanted this time round. Don't worry I'm not getting soft! I have a few projects for scary creatures coming up!

Abominable snowman illustration.

2010-03-01T16:49:00.003+01:00

Abominable snowman are quite often depicted as quite fearsome creatures. I decided to go in the opposite direction with this illustration. It was a change to get into a painterly feel compared to the concept art work I have been doing of late.Here I show my final illustration.
Created in photoshop.

Thanks for looking.

New character design/concept the blaggard.

2010-02-17T21:58:00.001+01:00

This is an old school British Blaggard. If you need to rob a bank, this is the man to help you...well maybe 30 years ago! A real hard B@£$%@D! Favorite quote " give me the Fu£$ing money you c$&t!

A character concept, created in photoshop!

Gun weapon design concept for artorder competition.

2010-02-14T11:18:00.005+01:00

Thunderbird handgun weapon design/concept. Quite ridiculous really, incorporating a sniper barrel above the normal barrel. A scope on the very top and a small form grenade launcher underneath!

Unfinished fantasy work, a dwarf, wizard, troll and ship merchant.

2010-01-26T01:33:00.003+01:00

I have quite a few pieces of work I'm working on at the moment. I'm going to post a selection even though they are far from finished. Keep the blog chugging along! Unfinished fantasy work, a dwarf, wizard, troll and ship merchant.

Rock n' load challenge, Character design/city design.

2010-01-11T10:19:00.014+01:00

Another great challenge arrived @ artorder thanks to Jon. Two subjects I really have a passion for: Concept art and rock n' roll. A dream come true!

The brief was to create a character and a city called 'Tool City'. The character had to be an iconic male rocker! His studio has been taken over by the worst record company in existence, General Records. They stamp out creativity and the rocker has to fight all the way to the top!

Like I said I really needed more time for this one. I have a few more ideas for the main character and I have just added a new version of the city which if I had more time would have entered for the brief on artorder!

The results came in for the Rock n Load challenge @ Artorder. I did not make it to the selected top 3, although all the participants received a crit from Jenny and Nate who are the directors @ Rock n Load!
Here it is:

Great building concept. You took tool city in a completely original direction. The well stylized main character would be so much more interesting if he didn't look like he was battling sleep. The sky blue background makes sense against the red buildings but I would de-saturate it quite a bit so it isn't competing with everything. I saw it on a different monitor and it wasn't as vibrant but I would still tone it down and drop in some texture. A solid submission.

I agree with what they say 100%. One of the things I was not happy with was the the expression of the face. Also the blue, once I handed it in it wasn't really gritty enough for me. I've updated these images between commissions, these are the new versions!

krampus creature character designs

2009-12-23T16:44:00.002+01:00

Just thought I'd post an early Krampus head design to show where I was coming from together with a more finished version!

2009-12-21T09:23:00.006+01:00

And a few life drawing fast sketches.

2009-12-21T08:42:00.002+01:00

These are a few real quick life drawing sketches. I think they were around a minute or so!

2009-12-21T08:35:00.004+01:00

Sketches from my sketchbook.

2009-12-07T23:54:00.005+01:00

Ok sometimes we have to calibrate ourselves with some good old humanoid sketches. Anatomy really is the root to all evil. I design and illustrate evil creatures, the fundamental base of these is an understanding of anatomy, form, weight etc etc. Not only that, I love to sketch! I take my sketch book everywhere, never miss an opportunity.Without further ado, here are a few! Ok I had to add a little fantasy here and there!

Without further ado, here are a few:)

Some fantasy dragon concepts

2009-12-02T23:18:00.002+01:00

Here are a couple of quick dragon Sketches I did!

Hurakan god of storms book cover illustration and saxon warrior in snow storm!

2009-12-02T21:21:00.003+01:00

Ok I'm on a roll now, can't stop myself! The next two images I've created for a couple of challenges ran by Jon Schindehette, art director for Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the coast). Really great guy, holds lots of challenges and gives tons of helpful advice to aspiring artists. The warrior snow scene was a one off challenge and the other (Hurakan) finishes this coming Sunday. The Hurakan challenge was 6 stages, the image here is from stage 5.

If you are an illustrator/artist I strongly recommend you check out Jon's Artorder blog! here's the link:

http://artorder.blogspot.com/

Update: Just added my final image for the Hurakan challenge which Jon was running at artorder! I included a version with and without the text.

Frankenstein monster character design.

2009-12-02T20:34:00.002+01:00

At last my first post...yippeee. I'm going to treat this blog as an area to show things I'm working on, a sort of WIP. I'm also setting up a website too. Thought I'd better get something out in the void! I need to empty my hard drive of hideous creatures.

My first post is a character I've been working on. A sort of Frankenstein creation. Early stages, have to finish the full character soon so a 3D'er can bring it to life!