Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Thesis Environment and Character

I've started to really dive into the alternate dimensions of my Thesis project! These are versions of Dani that will exist in a dimension where the time of day changes the direction of the planet's gravity, so all the people of that world are gelatinous. As gravity changes, they drip into a new formation, thus Dani has three forms in this dimension.



This environment is from a dimension that's dominant life forms are insect and serpent-like. The surface is populated by the insects, in a swamp with termite mound-like skyscrapers.

Thumbelina Environments

Here are two environments for the world of my furutistic Thumbelina project, the first being in the forest on the "mother" character's back and the second is the wasteland where the "fairies" of this world occupy. Both have been completed digitally.



Monday, October 10, 2011

Pop up!

What a busy weekend! but here it is! An "autobiographical" popup card. Most little girls stick to the "I want to be a princess" phase. Me? Sure, I wanted to be a princess, but many many other things too. Like a pirate! Yes, I went through a pirate phase. So here is a depiction of the "make believe pirate world" of little Kate.



This is the cover of the card, done in colored pencil.and here's the back of the card, papercut and colored pencil.


and the inside! Also cut paper and colored pencil.


Thursday, September 29, 2011

Futuristic Thumbelina - Thumbelina and Beetle




Here's 2 versions of Thumbelina having just come out of her stasis pod as well as a design for the beetle.

Futuristic Thumbelina - Sketches







Here's some preliminary sketches for designs of the prince, mouse, Thumbelina and the Beetle.

Futuristic Thumbelina - Mother








For my Advanced Concept Art class we have to choose a story to genre switch.

Storytime!!!




It will be set on an alien planet filled with organic creatures of colossal size. One of these creatures, a lonely female creature longs for a companion, a child. She requests the help of the civilization’s “witch” or wise woman. This witch blesses her with a gift, an artifact preserved from another world in the form of a seed. The witch tells her that she has been entrusted with a great responsibility by accepting this gift and she must protect it at all costs. The motherly creature plants the seed and as the pod from the plant blooms, from it emerges the last human in existence, Thumbelina. Thumbelina is raised by this motherly creature despite her relatively miniature size. The mother teaches her all about this world and the other creatures that inhabit it. All the creatures of this planet are interconnected to the energy force of the planet itself, the “Bloodflow.” The Bloodflow is managed by the royal squadron paralleled to the Fairy court from the original story. They govern the planet and ration the energy the planet provides, considering that every life form on the planet needs energy from the planet to survive. In exchange, the creatures of the planet must return energy to the planet during the time of year the Royals call the “harvest.” The “smaller” creatures (which are about Thumbelina’s size) all retreat underground to escape this time of ritualistic slaughter despite that it will one day be every life form’s duty to return their energy to the Bloodflow. Thumbelina is naturally curious about the world around her despite the dangers and encounters a variety of creatures such as the Mole who preys upon smaller creatures hiding underground to hoard his own energy source, and the Beetle, who acts as a mob leader for the insects that hoard their own pool of energy. She is protected by characters such as her creaturely mother, winged companion (Jockimo) and her guardian (Dog). Along her adventures, she stumbles upon the descendant of the Royal Elite (the prince) who no longer wishes to take part in his ancestor’s sacrificial ritual.



The first character I designed was the mother creature, who I envisioned to be almost tree-like.

Papercut opposites


An assignment involving opposites, mine were hope and despair. Here's my first pass at it. I haven't done a paper cut assignment before, but I think I may try and pursue it in the future.
Also, I believe I've met my "drawing monsters quota" for a while....maybe.

Sculpture time!






I've finally decided to attempt work on a 3-dimensional level and am now in a figurative sculpture class. I'm really enjoying it so far.

Thesis progress!



So, I begin the long journey known as senior thesis. My project consists of developing pre-production art for a video game.

(disclaimer: if you read the previous concept art story for Dani, the REALLY long one a few pages back, this story is essentially the same =D )

The story of said game involves a daughter traveling through alternate dimensions to track down her father and bring him back. Her father, a scientist/inventor focusing on saving the environment, has been working on a material to patch the holes in the ozone layer as well as repel the chemicals that deplete it. His project backfires and the patches begin to repel the natural ozone layer. He attempts to use a set of mysterious stones hypothesized to be able to travel in time and vanishes, the stones being left behind. So no it is up to his daughter, Dani to find him. She'll encounter alternate versions of herself along the way who give her various skills and items to help her along her journey. Each dimension, like her own, is on the brink of a disaster that Dani must help prevent to ensure her alternate self's survival.

Well. now that the back story is out of the way, time to show the progress so far!! Here are designs for Dani and the house her and her father live in.

Editorial and Fortune Cookie

This was a quick editorial assignment based upon an article discussing polygamy


This assignment was based off a fortune cookie fortune, I thought it turned out pretty adorable!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Nature Conservancy Calendar

The first assignment for my summer illustration class. We were asked to design a calendar with a nonprofit organization in mind as a client. I chose the Nature Conservancy and completed a series of acrylic paintings highlighting environments from around the world and animals that live in that given area that function as a group.
Landscapes painted in acrylic, completed digitally.

Dani

Final project for my concept art class: create a concept based on an original story.

A father and daughter own and operate a repair shop, Danielle (Dani – 17 yrs) and Richard (late 30s-early 40s), in a small, West-coast city. Dani follows in the footsteps of her quirky father who is brilliant as an inventor and she often can be found wandering the outdoors, collecting specimens from nature to expand her knowledge of science. Her father believes that he has created an invention that might patch the holes in the ozone layer. The artificial ozone patches however, are designed to repel chemicals that come into contact with it, begin conflicting with the elements of the natural ozone layer and begin to repel it. As the remaining ozone begins to deteriorate, people begin feeling the drastic effects on earth, plant-life and wildlife dying, water supplies dry up and oxygen grows thinner and thinner. Before time runs out, the father hopes to reverse the effects of his experiment and attempts to put his recent experiment involving a set of stones that can harness energy capable of achieving time and dimension travel that has not quite been finished yet. They do indeed transport the father, but the stones are left behind. The daughter is left to combat with the declining conditions of the planet and attempt to find a way to use the stones herself so that she may save her father. She fashions them into devices that she attaches them to an earring and her set of work boots. She is skilled, but not as adept as her father in the ways of science, and therefore has no idea of how to track where or when her father may have gone, causing her to search through a vast variety of times and dimensions to search for her lost father. She ventures off into time and space just as the very city she lives in begins to melt and collapse into flame. Each dimension that she enters presents her with an alternate world, with an alternate planet-threatening disaster and an alternate version of herself. Each alternate-self she encounters presents her with a new set of skills and abilities that she has mastered only in this world. She continues her nature-collecting habits in these new dimensions, storing specimens of plant, insect, etc, in the jars attached to her belt to bring with her when she returns to her own time. Gaining skills, equipment, and special abilities, she quests for her father and a way to return to save the dying planet in her own dimension.I was envisioning this story as a video game, each dimension functioning as a new mission, or new level.

Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot




This project was for my concept art class in which we were asked to complete two environments and two characters from the young adult novel "Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot." This book deals with both a kid in present day Baltimore and how his adventures with he biggest band in the afterlife world. Here are the concepts for characters Jo-Jo (protagonist) and Max (bands drummer) as well as the Baltimore graveyard and Club Flamingo where the Fiendish lot band plays in the afterlife.
Completed digitally

Kaa

After reading "The Jungle Book", my concept art class was asked to completed a concept for either a character or an environment from the story. Here is my acrylic painting for Kaa the python.

Frog Alphabet

Completed for my Handletters class. We were asked to create a concept for a fabric pattern to enter in Spoonflower.com's weekly contest (the chosen week was alphabet themed).
Completed digitally.

Circus Freaks Playing cards

My final project for my Illustration II class, a concept for a deck of playing cards. My original idea included a circus freak for each number card, but the assignment only allowed for a general theme for all numbers. I hope to revisit the project and complete the rest of them.
Completed digitally.