Madrigal

Linkin' it up.

2011-11-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

More of my Zelda obsession. Speed paint attempt. Roughly 30 minutes. Original pose from a doodle on my notepad at work. Not sure if I'll go back and continue on it, I like the simplicity of it. SKYWARD SWORD THIS MONTH!

BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL!

2011-10-21T16:56:00.001-07:00

HE-MAN! Sometimes, at work, I don't do my work. And I do this instead. FRIDAY YOU ARE SO GOOD.

Small update!

2011-09-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

So things are going swell at Gas Powered, and work steadily continues on Age of Empires Online. Here's a quick WIP for anybody that checks in from time to time! At work, I tend to sketch in pen on my notepad. I've gathered quite a collection and one of them happens to be this Link sketch. I decided to give it a quick splash of color.

NEW JOB GET.

2011-07-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

OH HEY ALL. Posting to announce that I've been working at Gas Powered Games for a solid week now and it's been pretty damn rad. I've been working on Age of Empires Online as a concept artist. The team is pretty flippin' great and the offices are beyond rad. Be sure to check out the official site for updates and hopefully I'll be able to post some work when I'm allowed to! I can't say much, but what I can say is that the game looks awesome and it's a thrill to work on.

Tree.

2011-06-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

A concept for a theoretical video game my friend Craig Camara came up with. Full scale version, and then given a pixel pass. Is that a term? It is now.

MOAR D&D DAMN YOU.

2011-06-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

So our regularly scheduled game has hit a stupid roadblock. Our last session was cut short by ComCast being a giant bastard with their connection. We didn't get to finish our sweet encounter with some very powerful characters (Okay, they weren't powerful, but we keep sucking at rolling to hit). Here's our Invoker Alek, and a Goblin.

Aedran the Cleric

2011-06-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

So my fellow D&D adventurer and best bud Neil just drew his character so I could reference it. I have to say, it was utterly impressive and humbling to see how well his original drawing came out (he normally couldn't draw himself out of a brown paper bag). I didn't alter his design at all, just cleaned up the linework a bit. This is Aedran, our half-elf cleric. Now i have to go and change the comic strip I'm almost done with.

Stella

2011-06-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Another piece of art based on a great photograph by Roxi Dlite photography of my friend Stella Semiautomatic.

D&D Comic

2011-06-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

A teaser for a comic strip I'm working on for our group's D&D adventure. Since I spent so much time listening to the Penny-Arcade D&D podcast prior to starting up our sessions, I felt inclined to attempt to illustrate the comic in Mike Krahulik's distinct style. Success? Probably not, but it was fun to try and imitate his sweet sweet style. That's Aedran our cleric (Sorry Neil, I auto-piloted a warrior priest kind of dude until you draw your guy), Whinston our hunter, and Tyrren our paladin. Missing is our invoker Alek. He'll be in subsequent D&D adventure art.

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS.

2011-05-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

I roll 20s, he decapitates the undead. It's a working partnership that I find brings happiness to my life. His name is Tyrren Azureblade and he's my D&D character. On other updates, I've got a freelance thing going with a company in Florida. They said they'd let me put some stuff up on my blog/website, so we'll see how that goes! I'm all moved into Seattle, and still settling down. Looking forward to getting back to posting more updates again, some of which will be depictions of my D&D adventures.

Things.

2011-03-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

So got a couple of things brewing. The first is this jump trooper. Wearing equipment enabling ship to ship boarding, or short atmospheric jumps. Working on the color version now.

The other thing, is an inside joke that has sparked itself to life. I will probably never explain this to any of you, so let the speculation begin!

Wolverine Redux

2011-03-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

Looking through some of my older work, I get the urge every now and again to revisit something or change it a bit. With my Wolverine fan art piece, I wanted to try something where less was more. So, nothing incredibly new here, just a take on an old bit of work.

Paladins. Love 'em.

2011-03-07T04:26:00.000-08:00

Because you (I) can never have enough Paladins.

Goblin Hero

2011-03-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

A work in progress of what's coming out of refining the last silhouette exercises. Next up, armor design and continuing color.

Shapes

2011-03-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

An exercise in silhouettes and shapes for Goblins. Hopefully some personality also came across in the silhouettes.

A Boy and a Beast

2011-03-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

A boy and a beast. Companions? Competitors? Couriers? Cantaloupes? I ran out of 'C' words to describe what might be their relationship.

Lion-O

2011-02-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

Finally wrapped up that Lion-O fanart piece. Boy, how I miss 30 minute animated commercials for action figures and accessories.

Elf Paladin

2011-02-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Elf Paladin portrait. Attempted speed paint. Wasn't too fast, but it wasn't too slow either. For some reason, when Blogger uploads images, the colors change drastically. If anybody knows how to fix this, puhleez PM or email me.

Creatures

2011-02-16T01:23:00.000-08:00

A concept for a Rhont, a beast of burden. It's almost an elephant! Or a turtle. Or wait... what?

Thundercats, HOOOOOO!

2011-02-08T02:17:00.000-08:00

Yeah, you remember. There's been a lot of talk about Thundercats remakes and I heard about the new Cartoon Network show, so I decided to fanart my own Lion-O as I'd like to see him remade. This is till a work in progress, but the little kid inside of me got really excited so I had to post a WIP.

Space Marine

2011-01-30T02:38:00.000-08:00

SPASE MAHREEN! Everyone needs to draw space soldiers at some point. So then I did. I started off with wanting to do a speed paint, and then that didn't happen. So, this is what I ended up with. With and without tactical HUD faceguard/visor.

More Earth Eternal!

2011-01-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

More concepts for the ill-fated MMO Earth Eternal. These armor concepts are spread over the categories of light, medium and heavy armor.

Copyright Sparkplay Media 2010-2011.

It's Morphin' Time?

2011-01-24T23:40:00.000-08:00

So I was going to practice some digital painting techniques and I was going to try my hand at your run o' the mill Space Marine armor but because I'm tired of space marines, I started making it something else. Everyone remember the Power Rangers? Because I sure as hell still do. Here's my favorite one ever, the Blue Ranger.

Cute Girls.

2011-01-23T19:51:00.000-08:00

This is a portrait of a wonderfully talented Burlesque dancer/performance artist who goes by the super-pretty-damn-awesome-moniker Stella Semiautomatic. The original photograph which I used for reference was taken by Patrick Edwards. Ms. Semiautomatic is part of The Keyhole Sessions, a super talented group of hot people, being hot. And performing deliciously erotic modeling for life drawing and photography sessions! If you're in the Toronto area, and love drawing live models, this is a must.

Also, who wants to buy me a ticket to Toronto?

Book Wizard

2011-01-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

This wizard carries a lot of books. For his spells. And appointments. Recipes too. And Router WEP password.

SF-33 Starfighter Pilot

2011-01-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

When you pilot one of the world's most technologically advanced starfighters, you have to glow blue. Well, a part of your suit does anyway.

Manticore in color

2011-01-15T16:04:00.001-08:00

Mrrrvyn

2011-01-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

An Elvyn boy of the wood, Mrrrvyn ventures into the wild to seek roots, shoots, and old brown boots.

Marigold.

2010-12-21T02:27:00.000-08:00

A preview for my comic book anthology/collection/collaboration called "Marigold".

Painting

2010-12-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

A work in progress for a small painting I'm working on. First of a series of tiny self portraits. TINY.

Book WIP

2010-12-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

So my friend Cornelius Coons and I are working on a book. Here's a quick illustration sneak peak. The final book illustrations are going to be far more glorious and illustratish (this is a new word I made up, just roll with it, please) than this. Self published and all that jazz.

Video Game Making

2010-12-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

My best friend Cornelius and I have always wanted to make an old school 16-bit game full of pixely goodness. We mostly dabble these days, but once we win the lottery... we're buying corvettes. But right after that, we're making a video game. Cornelius made the initial palette and shape choices for the pixel version.

VIKING.

2010-12-09T01:03:00.001-08:00

Earth Eternal

2010-04-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the creatures I designed for the free to play Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, Earth Eternal. All artwork in this post, Copyright Sparkplay Media.

Time Management

2010-04-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

Wings

2010-04-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Slink.

2010-04-07T22:41:00.001-07:00

Subtle Differences

2010-04-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

Classic

2010-04-05T17:19:00.001-07:00

How do?

2010-03-03T15:08:00.001-08:00

Smoking

2010-02-21T23:36:00.001-08:00

Snare.

2010-01-30T01:57:00.000-08:00

Do you know who loooooves Batman? My Grandma looooooves Batman. Fact.

Street Fighter FEVER.

2009-03-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

My friend Cornelius and I spent a large portion of college playing Street Fighter III: Third Strike. It's a wonderful game, and incredibly deep in terms of the gameplay mechanics and tactics. Now that Street Fighter IV is out, and allows pretty decent online play, it's time to pass the mantle and take on a new Street Fighter. And to commemorate, Ryu sketches all around!

Whuh?

2009-02-21T21:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some additions to my nerdery. First off, another Wolverine fanart addition, BUT, including 100% more Nightcrawler. Pulp free. Kinda.

Then this bee-boop here is a Battle Fairy. Inspired by my lovely lady. She told me "Draw a battle fairy." I might have omitted the word "bitch" and the phrase "or else".

Bloop!

2009-01-16T11:53:00.001-08:00

So, I'm pretty much confused by this Blogger Compose deal. I can't seem to get a handle on laying out my blog posts the way I want them. Moving text and images around in this window is odd. People on the street with flounder eyes.

Massive sketch blob.

Random skinny guy.

People and winged monster guy. O_O

<3

2009-01-03T18:15:00.001-08:00

At the behest of a very special and important lady, I have taken up my blogging again.
Yes, I say this every other time I update this thing. Yes, I totally mean it this time. Like I always do. But motivation is high now. So, I guess actions will have to speak yadda yadda louder yadda.

Here are some bits of art I did while I was working in an office. If you can't tell by the sheer volume of drawing on these pages, and all the Post-it notes, I was doing very little productive work.

Doodlin'.

2008-09-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

The mind wanders. Easily. I get bored with all kinds of things. I blame video games. But I don't. While at work I drewed this guy.

Which begs the question: Why do I draw so many characters that share this kind of body archetype? Just fun to draw? I secretly want to be super buff? Am I troubled somehow? We'll never know.

Who took my watch?

2008-08-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

This little fella is another one of the four player characters for my in-development game. He's the swift sneaky Thief. He's a master of Daggerful Demise: The killing of which is did with the knifey knives. Look forward to more concept art from my little side project!

Black and white. And brown.

2008-08-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Sketchbook thing. Brown watercolor, ballpoint pen.

There's this great art space in Northbeach called Fivepoints arthouse. They've just recently started utilizing the space to host galleries and a varied body of work by rotating artists. Every Wednesday, they have a collage night. There are friendly folks, usually some beer, always some choice tunes, and every now and again, a great film shown on the projector. I did this numbah on the first night I attended. If anybody is in the Northbeach area of San Francisco and is interested in hanging out with artists and talking about art, head on down! http://www.fivepointsarthouse.com/

SNIKT!!!

2008-08-10T00:08:00.000-07:00

Over the course of my comic book loving life, I've gone in and out of superhero phases. I've run the gamut from obscure indie autobiographical works to some of the cheesiest spandex muscle fests and for what it's worth, Wolverine still remains one of my most favorite comic book characters. He's short, furry, pretty much always aggravated, and the fact that he's been increidbly well written for the last decade gives him a bredth that few other characters possess while still keeping the reader guessing about his origin and history. Oh, did I mention he's got Adamantium claws, a mutant healing factor and an indestructible skeleton?

Swords and Dungeons!!!

2008-07-16T18:29:00.001-07:00

That's the working title for this little game I'm developing in my spare time with the very talented Shane Parker (whose site I will post as soon as I get a URL from him). He's in the process of developing the engine and some of the procedural work for the game, and I'm making these digital puppets which I am articulating and animating. The following image is the finished Paladin for the game, which is sans tabard and wings/halo since they'll be handled on a different layer, so to speak.

The game is pretty much a side-scrolling beat-em-up very much like the beloved four player Ninja Turtles co-op arcade game, or Final Fight, or any of those I'm-going-to-run-around-and-punch-things-until-I-win games of the time. I hope to incorporate some light RPG elements so there is a little character progression and it doesn't get boring after you've beaten up your 150th Axe Wielding Dark Orc.

Coming soon: Concept art and in progress shots for the Cleric, Archer and Thief characters!

San Francisco! SHAPOW!

2008-06-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

So, I usually don't post personal bits on my blog, besides the juicy and whimsical tidbits under my artwork (someone thinks they're funny, right?), but I don't have a MySpace and I don't really use Facebook so for those of you that might still check up on my poorly updated blog, I've packed up and moved to Sanny Franny! I can call it that because I'm a local now.

I'm working as a concept artist at Sparkplay working on this Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (deep breath). It's been a blast being up here and it's taking a while to get used to having curry served in every other restaurant on the street. If anybody else is up here, be sure to pay me a visit!

-Alex

Coming Soooooon!

2008-05-10T03:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick work in progress of this new fancy shmancy project I've been working on! I've been busy since forever, and now it's time I hit the Blog again. I know I always say this, but expect more!

Whozzat?

2007-03-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

These are the two "What's the Ogre Holding?" entries that survived a mass migration of files from hard drive to hard drive. Those who would like to resubmit their entries are more than welcome! The stunning Dodger fan Ogre on the left was cooked up by Steve MacLeod and the one on the right, hurtling a violent Pegasus into the welcome hands of death, was drewed by Jojo Ramos! If those not posted want to resubmit, please do so. You can win absolutely nothing!

Blomp!

2007-03-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

Two versions of this, the top being done in Painter, and the bottom in Photoshop. I'm not very familiar with the Painter interface, but I'm giving it a go! Hopefully I'll have figured it out soon so I can churn out some more Painter work! I must say the differences between the two were eventually pretty minimal. What does that say about me?! I don't know. I had fun.

This is a little poster sketch I turned into a colored thing. This thing was really me just going crazy with some of that new-fangled blooming action. I think I should add more. It's not overdone enough.

Sketch Dump! Yarrrgh! (no pirates actually)

2007-02-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

Here it comes! ::DUMP::

This is a barbarian. I think I secretly love giant axe wielding brawny hero types. Wait, is he a hero? Maybe sidekicks? Maybe... just maybe... I'm a barbarian at heart.

As much as I love Barbarians, I think I love Knights even more. Chivalry! Axe Chivalry! No wait. No, that's right. Axe Chivalry.

Manticore are awesome. They're basically lion heads, scorpion tails and bat wings grafted onto the body of an Ankylosaurus. No lie.

Fred Mertz was always my favorite I Love Lucy character.

I think I love to draw such beefy character types because it's fun to work with huge shapes and making up anatomy is always a treat. All those life drawing classes paid off somewhere... I just don't know where... This Ogretrolladon is grabbing something. Copy and Paste this drawing into your Photoshop and draw your own "thing"! Submit all entries to wedgeismyhero@hotmail.com! I'll post it. I swear. If you want to add in the other foot, by all means, do so.

This guy listens to Rockabilly. I don't.

These are soldier designs for a game I'm working on with a friend. It's going to be hawt!

This is young Tycho.

This is older Tycho. Anybody that knows me or is familiar with my art knows this guy has stuck around with me forever. He's in an ongoing story and world that perpetuates itself in my head. Maybe I should start a blog based entirely on this world. Maybe I won't!

Stay tuned for more dumping!

More work in progress!

2007-01-03T20:33:00.000-08:00

For me, this is the fun stuff. This was a doodle at some point. Then I got wrapped up in it. Started on my Wacom and soon he just got out of hand. I'm going to put more time into him later. I have some other sweet goodies I'm working on!

Wooops!

2006-11-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

So some mishaps on my last post. Things I can't seem to fix. First of all, that's not supposed to be a blue man.

This guy has nothing to do with the blue man. But I'm continuing to post things that are at various stages of my process. This guy is Muy Thai.

Also, in my last post, I reposted the woman with the flower in her hat. That's boring, so I'm uploading this woman. She doesn't have flowers in her hat. She doesn't have a hat either. But she does look cool (I think she does anyway). You may be asking yourself "What's her official occupation?" Well, have any of you seen that sweet film, Brazil? Yep. She's a plumber.

This is a former roommate of mine. His name? Oh, he shall remain nameless for now. However, I should plug his site:/http://www.buenothebear.com/. It's choc-full of goodness.

Look forward to more postage goodness!

Process!

2006-11-21T11:31:00.000-08:00

I've got some things I've liked from over the past few months, and I've thought about not posting them because I had this overwhelming urge to post 'finished' pieces. You know what? Nuts to that. It's my blog! I'll cry if I want to! No... wait... I'll cry if I HAVE to? Regardless, here's some new stuff!

This here's a thing. This thing looks angry.

This woman? Not so angry.

What is this thing? I don't know yet. But if you happen to find out before I do, please, send me a PM.

This however is an SF-33 Tigershark. If you really wanted to know the specs on this bad boy, let me know. I'm so nerdy I spec out all my cool space flying things. Yes. I even make up units of measurement for things that won't exist for 2 billion years.

This could very well be a monkey with a gun. Or a very ugly guy with a gun. Maybe it's a banana. Who cares?!

Back!

2006-05-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've been kind of on a hiatus dealing with the end of school and some things with family. Now I have to catch up with things I've been neglecting or have forgotten about. Here are some things I have just scanned or have had on my drive for a bit.

This is a punchy guy. I don't know what he's all about.

This over here is a cowboy and a robot. They are just quick color comps that I did in a few minutes.

This is another version of the shadow monster that I had up in an earlier update. This is bit more cartoony than the previous one. Hopefully still scary on some level.

This guy over here is a winged man. It was an early concept for an RPG idea a friend and I had. Most of this stuff is under lock and key (my closet), so this is a rare exclusive (the drawing that was closest to the top of the stack).

Film Stuffs

2006-03-01T21:23:00.000-08:00

More stuff from my film. This is a shot from my film. Or is it? MYSTERY! OH NOEZ.

Lurking...

2006-02-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

Some Monster sketches for a film idea I had about a shadow monster.

Planes and tanks?

2006-02-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

These here are some drawings for various purposes. Planes and tanks.

Sketches

2006-02-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

I've been going through a lot of sketchbooks and random piles of drawings and I'm scanning them in so I can do more PhotoShop color work. So here's a big post with lots of drawings! This is a woman. Walking a dog. Sans dog.
Turtle! Not of the ninja variety.
Crocodile? Or Alligator? I really should remember how to distinguish one from the other.
Some designs for soldiers in my film.
Quick thumbnails for my film.
A bird and an elephant. I don't remember what kind of bird or elephant.
This is a barbarian... I think.

Warrior!

2006-02-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

This is based on a Warrior from FFXI. I'm doing it to spiff up my linkshell's site. If that makes any sense to you, you can find me on the Bahamut server. I'm a lv.75 PLD. Word.

It's in progress, so look forward to the finished image.

Weight Lifter

2006-02-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

I thought this guy was cool. So I'm posting him. Snong.

Film Concepts

2006-02-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

These are some sketches for my upcoming film. Still untitled.

Color In Progress

2006-02-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

This is my current progress on the girl I sketched earlier. I don't know how much it'll change from this for the final one, but it probably will.

Kitty Cat-tat.

2006-02-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

My cat is named Dulcinea. She's recovering from surgery. This is a drawing of her.

A Little Further.

2006-02-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

I liked the girl on the right from the previous sketch so I decided to take her a little further. Next stop, color!

Almost Forgot!

2006-01-31T12:49:00.000-08:00

Forgot to post this last night. It was a sketch I did. I'm not too happy with it, but I figure I'll put up my bad work as well as the stuff I like so I can stand back and look at all of it. I think I learn more from my bad work than I do from my good work.

My plan is to do daily sketches with my Wacom tablet. So this is one.

The Website That Almost Was

2006-01-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

An image used for a website my roommate and I started. Alas, this is as far as it got. The design work is his (Cornelius Coons) and the character illustrations in the middle are mine.

...And It Continues.

2006-01-28T17:11:00.000-08:00

So I ended up not playing video games. Well, I started, but then I wanted to draw a wizard.

I have this somewhat unhealthy obsession with fantasy worlds. Well, maybe it's not an "obsession". I mean, I don't go to RenFair or anything like that... although I think I should...

Anyway, here's a sketch. I'm going to color it soon.

It Begins...

2006-01-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

So it seems the animation industry has stumbled onto blogs. Not that it's something new in the industry, but they seem to be catching on. So maybe it's not so much of a "stumble" as it may be a "running leap". So, off I go, into the deep end with a blog of my own. This will be my first image. It's a work in progres. Soon to be spiffy!

Wow. Now I've been overcome with the desire to post more artwork. I better go play some video games before I become a post-machine.