72 % Water

Finally I got round illustrating an old idea ! I imagined a water creature walking out of the ocean.   72% water, he contains chemical X. The plotters behind contamination of waters intend to 'fix it' .

This time I concentrated on a clear line work. Gray-scale painting was my next step, to solve all the complex water and atmospheric rendering. After that, colouring in was simply fun :]

 

 

 

Pushing and Pulling

The image shows one door in two sides of entering and exiting. If the job is done well, it should be easy to tell which one to push and which one to pull

Push the left one and pull the right one :]

 I wanted to give it a go designing 'user-friendly' yet aesthetic doors.

The rectangles are positioned in a triangular shape to helps direct the user towards the side they need to use (towards the handles) . Also, on the side one is supposed to pull, the rectangle protrudes slightly.

A rather great book helping me to get my head around it is The Design of Everyday Things  (author worked as an adviser for early Apple) .  It analyses  both poor and great designs of everyday objects focusing on user experience .

 It has been a mind-opener for me, with a kind of key message: when having trouble using a product/object (be it phone,  DVD player, doors etc.) users tend to blame their clumsiness when in fact it's the fault of design.  On the other hand if the use is effortless and intuitive, doesn't require explanation it is yet again because of the design!

Sketchbook update

Character sketches from a short while ago. I am exploring some themes as well as drawing techniques. Some might recognise some use of alchemy.

Feels Like Summer

And here is a T-shirt Idea for it :

I attempted a moody drawing with 'Feels like summer' .  I've been watching the works of Loish, and can  sense the influence. Other than that,  I watch for mainly two things: good variety of colour values and shapely lines.

Some Recent Sketching

Days have turned into lovely ones to spend outside. And sketch! (:] These are only some quick ones. I'm getting into habbit of drawing over a lunch break or while waiting for a friend/a bus.

Unga-Jonga Street Girls

A little drawing with a nod to fashion illustration style .  I Have been exploring  Shoreditch, London lately. All the galleries,  markets,  vintage shops  in Brick Lane.  I guess that is where the inspiration comes from. It was fairly quick to finish this one because textures did a great portion of job for me. I referenced and used  Fabian Oefner's photography.

'Sound Attack' Character

A nice fresh drawing . It is a robot armed with speakers and sound woofers, controled by what looks like a rather mean bunny .   I drew 'Sound Attack' character  having in mind a sort of feel  bands like Deadmou5 have built in their branding.

The drawing started with use of Alchemy, software which is experimental in nature, which was great for a starting point.

Life Drawing

20 min pose

55 min pose

2-5 min pose drawings

Tuesday's Life drawing classes are something to look forward to. Studio at Angel is always offering different yet interesting subjects to draw  . This time poses seemed to  suggest narratives and strong emotional state.

Animated Projections for Google's Annual Party

I was one in the crew of 7 animators to produce over 120 variations of animated visual projections for the annual Google's party in Barcelona! It is a shame , that I can't show nothing at all publicly ( available upon request though :D)

 It was a nice stretch for me, this project. Have totally left my comfort zones with Dynamics and ncloth simulations as well as some motion graphics! whoop!  .

 I was Happy to hear from the producers at Butch Auntie , that the event was more than just lively, with over 2000 party men and all the luscious vivid stuff we have produced all over the place at Razzmatazz venue!

One of the lead bands was Florence and the Machine. Here is what telegraph has to say about how it all went

'I'm Thinking'

Busy week at work it was (which is good ) ! Time for little refreshment, both in style and theme. It is called 'I'm thinking'. An attempt to incorporate fashion illustration approach and visualise a feeling of being overwhelmed by thoughts .. in a good kind of way.

I was looking at fashion illustrators such as Molly Grad and Aitor Throup

Owl-cubes!

Flavoured Owl Ice-cubes! Just a random combination that popped in my head. A fun theme  and a little challenge there, to render a believable ice-cube looks. I hope they are still recognisable as cute little owl characters :] ( they go well with lemons! )

Here is a gif showing  how I've achieved stylised icy looks:

 

Tattoo Design

I am super exited for my friend, who just had his tattoo done.. I have designed it for him a while ago, it was my first attempt in tattoo design too . I'm pleased how the tattoo artist executed it, so cool! ((:]

Life Drawing

40 min.

 Life Drawing at Angel, London. We had a really experienced male model. I enjoyed capturing  rather unfamiliar poses and avoiding an already learnt way of constructing them (which happens particularly with common poses).

Hank the Gorilla Animation

 Meet  Hank, the saxophone player. Lately I was working on series of 30 seconds long web animations. Much like with Detonation Ident for Ice Age Musics, I suggested a flash-style animation for the client. All in all this little project helped me flex those particle and sprites 'muscles', animating skills and design work. Much like Phil said some time ago , 'a one-woman studio' :D 

Another thing I should mention for those interested and looking for some gigs, there is a very neat website, called People per Hour. It offers great range of freelance projects to take part in! From logo design to 3D visualisations and even filmmaking!  It is something similar to Guru, Elance, but focuses more on England-based clients and freelancers.

Blacksmithing God Telavelis

Telavelis is a Baltic god, a blacksmith who hammered the Sun and threw it into the sky. This makes him a heroic character. However, in Baltic folklore, blacksmithing is seen as a legacy from devil therefore he inherently shares some similarities with the portrayals of Devils . Telavelis is also the only god who is seen as always working.

 

Straight away, I imagined Telovelis being bulky, choppy, crude almost , wide and short god,  as if he is ‘flattened’ ad in such way related to his day-to-day act .I tried to bring heroic and supreme being qualities:  his strong-built body , runes and various symbols. Yet also suggesting clear relatedness with underworld creature, I think this is slightly suggested by stumpy posture, devilish moustache, mean face and some subtle details in his attire.

Some of the references include bodybuilders when off season, moustache competition winners ( that.. I enjoyed thoroughly! :D ), old men and various cultural sources for deco (such as symbols for sun and strength). 

 

Not really precise with my anatomy here, more interested, as always, with the general build and feel. All the details should fall into places when I take it into 3D. Yes, I think this one I should move along the pipeline , this time in 3D Max instead of Maya (god help me...) . 

Comments and critique very welcome (: ]