Sketchercise #70

Howdy! Here's Monday's Sketchercise! Thought I'd pull myself away from doing rocky terrains for a change, & work up a location that looks a little more inhabited... So I came up with this; some sort of strange castle-type fortress. The one key thing I had in mind before putting anything down was that I wanted some sort of construction towering over us... After a few rough sketches, I settled on the object being a tower. I wanted it to be the main focus of the scene, with pretty much nothing else near it or close to it's size... So from there, I knew it'd be best to have the sky mostly bare, as the scene would look too busy otherwise, & would disrupt the balance of shapes; not to mention, distract from the focus of the tower... Lighting-wise, I originally started this piece off as a night time scene, but then somehow (adjusting blending modes etc) decided the lighting I already had worked up, worked better for a daytime setup.

Not quite sure what this tower is, but I had decided that it was somehow carved/ constructed out of a giant crystal (hence the surface smoothness towards the top), & was some sort of ancient power source. With the lighting at the peak, I imagined due to the smooth crystal surface, it would reflect other highlighted clouds opposite it (off screen). Finally, as I wanted to convey a strong sense of scale, at the very end, I made a little swipe of a grainy textured brush to represent a flock of birds way up in the sky... that's about it ;)

Here's Sketchercise #70

-M-

Sketchercise #69

Hey all! A little late to post this one up, but here's Monday's Sketchercise. My process on this piece was a little indecisive... It started off as one thing during the early blocking out stage (with the very same shapes, but a completely different perspective), then ended up transitioning into this... I'm sure it's worked out better though...

Here's Sketchercise #69

Theme: "Landscapes"
Session topic: "Epic Scenery"

-M-

Sketch-ercise #68

Hi folks! So several months have passed since my last daily Sketchercise Session due to lack of time (& -discipline), so with some stern encouragement & a little scolding from some good friends of mine, I've decided it's about time I fired it up again!! If you'd like to join me & the rest of the guys who have come on board with my sessions, feel free to drop me an add on Skype by searching sketchlounge. 

As I did last year, I'll be taking a little time off commercial work to jump back on my various personal projects (animated/ illustrated) which I'll be sure to share with you all as I go. With regards to my Sketchercise sessions, I'm not sure I'll be doing it 'daily', I may just keep it to one piece a week (we'll see); but for now... 

here's yesterday's session #68













Theme: "Landscapes" 
Session topic: "Epic Scenery"



-M-

Star Trek (TOS) Character re-designs

Hey folks!! So I've just arrived back from an incredible adventure trip to Peru. I had an amazing time there, saw some incredible sights, met some amazing people & made some new friends. It's been a real dream of mine for many years to visit, so I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to go. If you ever have the chance, I encourage & recommend a visit; you won't regret it! Official post to come + pics & travel movie.

Ok back to business... Those who know me well will know I'm unashamedly a lover & fan of the Star Trek (the original series) franchise... Those of you who may not know me as well may remember this post I made back in 2010  declaring my love for the original Gene Roddenberry show & how I'd always wanted to create my own illustrated versions of the characters (for a future animated* project)... Well here are a bunch of the main cast members I actually designed last year, but only just decided I'd post up.

Kirk, Spock & McCoy...

Initially, I wasn't planning to share anything on this project yet till I'd developed the concept & vision I had a little more, but I figured it might be interesting to see what the response would be at this stage... I really grew towards liking the idea of designing the characters with no pupils or irises, only the white of the eye... The thought first came as I was roughing out 'Spock', & since he is after all half alien, I figured it'd give him an instant visual difference to the other characters... But then once I had the other guys in, I wondered how they'd all look with the same treatment... I really liked it! I liked the idea of them all looking slightly abnormal, which I think adds to the beyond-earth science fiction vibe + gives it a little dark/ mature-ish format, which is where I'd take a re-boot of the original animated series if I were ever to direct it. More in development...

Uhura & Chekov...

Scotty & Sulu...

-M-