Nerd In Love: Illustrations by Nicole Martinez

See more at: cargocollective.com

Francoise Nielly: South France to Fluorescence

"... all of that classical imagery of South France is very alive as an experience inside of me. Maybe it is what led me to the use of fluorescent colors in my paintings."

Though Nielly now lives in Paris, she says it is the memories of childhood in South France, living along the Mediterranean, that are largely what lead to her style; the fluorescent colors could represent the loss of clarity or emotion with the memories. She also credits her work to her love of urban life. She does a great job maintaining such great detail but with the use of loose strokes and aggressive contrasts. Her work is greatly inspiring and urges me to try something similar.

See more at: francoise-nielly.com

Andrée Wallin: A Master Of "Enviros"

Sometimes I wonder if I had put more effort into my art education and went full steam trying to make it in the design industry perhaps I could have been a concept artist. But then again, maybe not. But I'll say this, whether I have the potential or not Andrée Wallin inspires the creativity in me.

His "enviros", as he calls them, are incredible works. He really knows how to make the viewer feel like they are right in the middle of the action or lack there of in some cases. His loose brush strokes and attention to lighting-detail make each of his projects seem like still memories of a vivid dream.

His portfolio is slowing building and getting more and more impressive as it does. He is currently working with Joseph Kosinski, director of Tron: Legacy. He is on a team of concept artists for another futuristic film in the works, Horizons.

Like many artists I have written posts about I have a hard time deciding on which works I'd like to feature. So, with great difficulty I have posted just a few of his pieces below. Of course you can go to his site to see more. The link will be at the bottom.

Swamp Fever













Starship Factory













Dodge












Deep Impact












Archland











Downtown















Check out more at: andreewallin.com

David Rapoza: His Talent Makes Me Weep

I don't really even know what to say about David--his talent has me speechless. I'll just post a few pictures for viewing. Now, choosing which ones is the hard part. I'd like to just post his entire portfolio but that would be a little overkill. I'll just show my favorite series he did, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

See more at davidrapozaart.deviantart.com and daverapoza.blogspot.com.

50s Style Go-Bots: The Past Is The Future

So this old news to many people but after seeing this I had too post it. Japanese artist Kazushi Kobayashi has created the Chubu 01 This line of beautifully designed mecha robot models could be described as something from “a parallel 50s where these robots are the most popular transport system”.

This is just genius and looks like something straight out of an anime movie. Now all we need to do as is add some gears and a motor and get these things moving and into garages everywhere.

If you would like to have your own all you have to do head over to Harajuku's Tokyo Cultuart gallery and shell out 28,000 yen (about $350) for the DIY model kit.

Blender: Another Texture-Study Design

I haven't had much to write about lately. Thought I'd post another blender project. I have been working more and more with textures and UV mapping. Its a slow process learning how to map something realistically. I am trying not to put the cart before the horse as I tend to do with things of interest. I have a tendency to try and reach the ultimate goal whereas in this case it would be an animated object. After a few more models I might begin my attempts at animation.

This is the latest design. I can't say exactly what it is. We'll call it a sci-fi grenade. A "frag" for you Halo fans.

Blender.com

Top Five: Favorite CG Short Films

So with my new found addiction taking up a lot of my free time, as well as time that is not-so-free, my love for CG films has been rekindled. Blender has given me a whole new perspective on what goes into a film like The Incredibles. I thought I already knew so much. I had taken classes on basic animation when I was in school (studying fine art: graphic design) but I suppose I had never really taken a class purely on animation. Just modeling basic low-poly junk is tedious... but fun. I can't imagine the time and attention to detail it must take to even produce a CG short with a fully realized world. Granted, many of the larger films have massive teams of people who know all the hot-keys and shortcuts but much of the time these shorts are done with a team of three or less... even just one person at times. Seeing what goes into modeling, texture wrapping, bump mapping and rigging, among many other tasks, I see now, more than ever, how impressive these films really are. Sure they are beautiful to look at but there is beauty behind the scenes as well... and a lot of crying and temper-tantrums I am sure. So, while rekindling this love over the past few weeks I have been watching a lot of CG shorts and have come across some really good ones. These are my top five favorite CG shorts as of now.

Sigg Jones from Asterokid on Vimeo.

I lived on the Moon from Yannick Puig on Vimeo.

Cat's Meow from Jorge Garcia on Vimeo.

Pigeon Impossible (720p) from Paulo David on Vimeo.

REPLAY HD from Anthony Voisin on Vimeo.

If you would like to see more amazing CG work check out the post "10 CG Shorts You Must See" at www.3dworldmag.com. This site is great for keeping up with what's new in CG.

Patrick Brown: Artist, Designer, Gamer

I want to take some time to highlight of my favorite artists, Patrick Brown. I came across his work on Deviantart.com a few years ago. This guy blows my mind with every new post. There is no doubt that he is a great illustrator but where he really shines is his work with color and texture.

Those who have played Grand Theft Auto might recognize the influence from the Rockstar Games senior artist Stephen Bliss. Patrick makes it clear where his influence comes from and to say that he is a big GTA fan would be an understatement.

This past year he was approached by Playstation Magazine France to develop two-page features every month based on upcoming PS3 titles. You can check them out as they are posted on his Deviantart page.

www.patrickbrown.deviantart.com

On another note: Who says you can't get a sweet dragon tattoo out of a vending machine at a cheap movie theater. That's one bad-ass dragon neck tat Pete.

Blender: Why Am I Just Now Discovering This

I have been trying to think of a good first post. I figured it needed to be a great ice-breaking topic but as I sat thinking of which thought to write about first I came to the conclusion that my best approach would be to jump right in as if I have been doing this blog all along. So...

For those of you who don't already know I am an artist. Graphic design is my "profession" and what I studied but I have recently opened the door to the world of 3-D modeling. Some might say it took you long enough, but I finally downloaded Blender (a great open source software for simple CG modeling and animation). Over the course of a few weeks I have obsessed over what the software is capable of. I have been modeling some basic low-poly models and it makes me wish I had chosen the gaming industry as my area of study. Here are a few models I have been working on over the past few weeks.

www.blender.org

This is a starship design currently in the works. On this project I was focusing on materials, texture and lighting.

Those who know me know that I am quite the Star Wars fan. So, modeling lightsabers is a must. The first two images are replicas from the films. The last one is a design of my own that I did for a friend.

From left to right: Luke Skywalker (ROTJ), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jocasta Nu (modified), Luke Skywalker (TESB), Darth Vader

From left to right: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kit Fisto, Adi Gallia, Jocasta Nu

If I am going to make lightsabers I might as well make a few guns as well. Here are a few models that are based on standard designs from the films with a few modifications.

Custom-Mod DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol

KYD-21 Blaster Pistol


Modified Nabooian Compact Blaster Pistol


Custom Jawa-Style Ion Rifle

I'll post some other Blender projects as I finish them.