'With Zither Music by Anton Karas'

Hi there!

Just some studies from me this week. I'm taking an environment design course at CGMW with Jason Scheier for the next couple of months. My first assignment is to do 10 studies from a visually striking film. I decided to choose a black and white film so I could concentrate on composition and value grouping. The Third Man is one of my favourites and it features tons of great shots (maybe they went a little crazy with the Dutch Angles!) and lots of striking lighting setups. Here are the first five studies that I knocked out this afternoon:

Here's the second half of 'em:

Mechs and a Mask

Hi there, I'm a little late updating this week, but here are a couple of recent noodlings. Firstly, a bunch of silhouettes for some ridiculous armoured vehicles. That's probably enough military stuff for now:

And here's a lighting test I did the other night. I learnt a couple of things on this, but it came out pretty stiff as I was concentrating on not screwing up too much! Hopefully I can loosen up a bit once I've internalized some more of this stuff:

I'm off to the mountains with the family this weekend, so no update for a bit. More stuff soon though!

Cheers,

Nick.

A Few from the Masses

Hi there,

Here's this weeks doodlings. Firstly, some background characters for one of the story's locations:










And a sloppy speedpaint for a story moment. Who's that giant in the foreground? I'll be working on that soon.











I went to a tank museum (more like a graveyard to be honest) in LA this weekend and snapped a load of ref photos. I'm going to work on some bulky mechs and tanks next, I think. I also found my brush pen in the back of a drawer (woooo!) so I might do some studies with that also.

Cheers!

Nick.

Bunch of Posers

Hey there,

I've pretty much finished this three character diorama. I might go back and add some details to the base (rubble, barbed wire etc.) but I'll leave it as-is for now. This is just a quick Zbrush render with a quick lens blur alpha and some colour gradients that I added in Photoshop:









More stuff coming soon!

Cheers.

'What's a Diorama?'

Hey there,

I'm working on a a little Zbrush diorama featuring B.R. Avery, this guy below and the robot from the same character line-up. Here's some work in progress on the little gas mask wearing mole-man:











Also, as a bit of extra stuffage, here are a couple of quick Oga Kazuo studies I did quite a while ago but forgot to post. This guy is just the absolute best (unlike these studies!) and I really recommend tracking down the blu-ray of his Studio Ghibli works:



















Should the diorama maquette finished soon.

Cheers,

Nick.

Bunch o' New Bits

Hi there!

Here's a bunch of stuff I did this past week. Firstly, a thumbnail for a story moment that I ended up spending a bit more time on:










Also, a simple costume design for a female character sculpt that I'm currently working on. I was thinking of champagne flutes and Venus flytraps when I worked out the dress silhouette.


















Finally, let's file this one under 'what the hell were you THINKING?!?!' heheh.









I've got another sheet of character sketches I need to work up in PS. A few other bits on the go too. More stuff soon.

Have a good week, all!

Cheers, Nick.

Rally at The Mountain Pass

Good evening,

Here's a speedpaint of a mountainous location for the project . It started as some choppy polygon lasso selections that I built up and then skewed pieces this way and that. I kind of like how all the scattered little triangles are suggestive of trees and also reinforce the sharp, angular feeling of the mountains. Poor, lonely little car...











More stuff soon.

Cheeyers!

Keep it simple, soldier.

Hi there,

I've been trying to find an approach to character concepting that feels efficient and enjoyable for a long time. I've dabbled with drawing directly in Photoshop a fair bit, but I never feel fully in control and I end up redrawing lines a lot which tends to kill any sense of movement or spontaneity in my drawings. Also, it never feels as fun as sketching on paper with a blue Colerase pencil. I think the method I used for concepting these guys is what works best for me: Linedrawing on paper which I tidy up a bit in PS. Then I just block out some simple flat colours and then paint choppy shadows within those flats. Quick and simple! I know this is a very standard approach, but it's taken me a long time to realize that it's the best method for me. It means I get to do more 'real' drawing too! Anyhoo:












Hopefully I'll have some more stuff over the weekend.

Cheers!

A Mere Rifle

Hello there,

I've not had a great deal of time for personal work this week, but here's a design for a rifle that I finished up. I might get the chance to do a bit more stuff tomorrow, but I'm also teaching a class at Blizzard this week so I should probably do some prep for that! :/












More soon!

Cheers.

NYYYAAOOOWWWW!!!! DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!!!

Ahem,

Hi there blog-watchin' fellows. Here's this week's stuff. A story illustration I did over a couple of evenings. Those people in the foreground are way too nonchalant, but hey...











And an expression sheet for the engineer, Shukhov:



















I've got some weapon designs on the go and another quick character line-up too. Hopefully I can post it up next weekend.

Cheers!

Book Layout Tests

Happy Sunday!

I've not had much opportunity for finishing new work this week, but here are some quick mockups of page layouts for the book (coming before the end of the year, hopefully!). Nothing fancy, just trying to work out how many images to use on different pages. I have about 100ish pictures that I'm considering using at the moment and I reckon I'll average about 3 images per 2 page spread. So by my crude arithmetic, that means I currently have enough for about a 60 page book - I'm aiming to get somewhere around 100 pages eventually. I'm planning to do some step-by-steps for different techniques that will spread things out a little more and there'll be a fair amount of text devoted to the story and explaining the visual development, but as it stands I'm still a long way from having all the images I want. We'll see how much I can get done in the next 6-9 months... Text and everything else super temp BTW...


































I also managed to do a concept for that sculpt I started last week. I'm still trying to decide on a definite aesthetic for presenting characters. I'll keep experimenting for now...



More soon,

Cheers!

Musings and Miscellany

Evening all,

Here's some things from the project for this week. First, a cantankerous engineer character that I'm working on. I'm planning to do a finished concept for this guy next and maybe another emote sheet for the sculpt (cos those are always fun!). Just a rough head for now though:








A location shot of the town where the locomotive, El Cisne departs from:












And here are some quick notes about the process I use for doing the industrial designs bits. Let me know if it doesn't make sense.



















More soon,

Cheers!

Chocks Away!

Hi there,

Right, let's get this blog going again. I've got a bunch of things in the works at the moment that I hope to share soon, but here are some aircraft designs for the project to keep things ticking over. I'm getting pretty quick at cranking these out now so I might do a bunch more at some point. I'll also do some finished (coloured) versions of a few of these too, I think.



































































More very soon.

Cheers!

The Ruler of Dustrum

Hey guys,

Just a quick, flying update before heading back to the UK for a few weeks. I'll not be updating the blog until mid January, but I have tons of exciting things planned for the project in 2012, so watch this space!

Here's a quick bust sculpt of one of the major characters in the story, The Ruler of Dustrum:










Have a great Xmas and New Year everyone, and I'll see you next year!

Cheers,

Nick.

Wooden Soothsayers Line-up

Here's the finished versions of those silhouettes from last week. I tried out a kind of graphic-y, cell-shaded look for this rendering, but I don't know how successful it was. I'll probably go for something more painterly/rendered for the next character line-up.











I'm working on another character bust for the project and planning to do some aircraft (dogfighting biplanes, fat bombers, crazy blimps etc.) thumbnails next weekend.

Cheers!

Silhouettes and Studies

Hey there,

I didn't manage to get a great deal more done this weekend, but I did start to solidify the designs for the wooden elder/soothsayer characters who live at the oasis. I have the silhouettes pretty nailed down and I did some quick studies to get a better idea of how I want to handle the drapery and the different masks etc.





















Hopefully I'll get the finished designs done next weekend.

Cheers!

Approaching the Fortified Oasis

Hey there,

I'm working on that character line-up that I mentioned, but I feel like I need to do some more studies before I tackle the final designs. In the meantime here's a shot of Avery and his robot mechanic nearing the fort in the desert:










Also, here's a shot of me with my art director on the project. He keeps demanding that I add more bears to the story...













More soon!

Cheeyers!

Gadzooks! My brain!

Hi there,

I've been playing around with Dynamesh in Zbrush and it's really a lot of fun. It makes concepting creatures in 3d really quick and intuitive. Here are a couple of giant insects for the project:

















And here's how one such dreadful creature might attach itself to an unlucky host:











I'm planning to work on a finished character line-up for The Wooden Soothsayers next. Should be fun!

Cheers!

All Aboard!

Hey there,

Here's an illustration featuring the train from the previous post. I still feel like there are a ton of errors with this so I'll no doubt go back and rework it once I have fresh perspective on it. This is where it is at the moment though:











CTN Expo next weekend (wooo!) so not sure if I'll have time for art. I hope to meet up with some of my fellow bloggers at the event though!

Cheers!

El Cisne: The World's Greatest Locomotive

Here's a more resolved design for the trans-continental train I thumbnailed some time ago. I'm working on an image that features this train on a platform with lots of passengers boarding, but I wanted to get the shapes worked out in profile before I got too far into the piece.









I'll upload the finished illustration soon.

Cheers!

Welcome to Dustrum

Here's an establishing shot for the city of Dustrum, where the story begins:











Had fun doing this one and learnt a couple of things (which is always good!).

More soon!

Blizzcon Sculpt Update.

Hey there,

Just a quick BPR render in Zbrush after a little more polishing of this guy:











And here's a turntable of the full bust:

Cairne Bloodhoof Blizzcon Sculpt from Nick Carver on Vimeo.

Blizzcon Sculpt

Hey guys,

Here's the sculpt of now-deceased Tauren leader Cairne Bloodhoof I made for the Blizzcon charity auction that I worked on during the artists' demo:











There's still some work to be done on it, but eventually this is going to be 3d printed and given to the highest bidder. I'll make sure to upload some pics of the actual printed sculpt.

Right, back to The Race Project. What to do, what to do...

Shameless Self Promotion

Hi there,

No new artwork from me just yet, but I wanted to let you know that I will be doing a Zbrush demo on the Artists' Stage at Blizzcon this Friday. So if anyone reading this is attending the con, then drop by and say hello. I will be demoing along with Arnold Tsang and Justin Kunz so it should be good fun! The Artists Stage was my favourite part of Blizzcon last year and I recommend checking it out. I promise actual new art next time I post.

Cheers!

100 Horsepower Racer

Hey guys,

Here's a vehicle design for the Race Project that I thumbnailed out aaaaages ago. Hope you like it!

Cathedral of Industry: Story Frames

Here's a couple of sequential pictures for a particular part of the story. I'm planning to do a few more to try and see if I can get a feel for the action moving along between each cut.



















I often do quick 3d blockouts for these images to find the most suitable camera positions and also to use as a rough basis for the painting. Here is an example of something I might start with:











More soon - cheers!

Wooden Acting and Best-Dressed Hero

Hey guys!

Here's a couple more pieces for the project. First is a sculpt of a wooden tribal
elder. I thought it would be cool to have some characters whose faces are reminiscent of African masks. I'm imaging that there would be the creaking and cracking of wood when their faces animated. I think this was partly inspired by the scene in Return to Oz with the animated rock faces!















Also, I thought it was time that I gave the hero a more varied wardrobe, so I made a bunch of costumes for Mr Avery Esq. that correspond to some different parts of the story.














More stuff soon - cheers!