Air Head.

Sorry I haven't been here in a while. I've been busy with a few projects one of which includes building a portal gun.

But holy crap what a few past weeks this has been.

When I went upstate a few weeks ago I was reminded of my yearning to travel. And not just back and forth from Baltimore to New York, I want to go to places I haven't seen before. Seeing those stars and breathing in that fresh air also reminded me of how much I don't want to stay in Baltimore. MICA is a really great school but Baltimore sucks as a city. I have been looking into study abroad programs and I found a few I'm interested in. I've also been looking into the Ringling college of art and design. They have and entire curriculum based around Game art design that seems to fit my needs. Though I'm more interested in leaving the country. Right now my top choice is (and has been for a while) going to Australia. Also, Ringling is in Florida and I hate Florida with a passion.

I can't make any drastic decisions yet considering I'm still very much tied up at MICA. But I'm defiantly itching to go somewhere new while I'm still young and have the freedom to do so. Like I've said before, I'm tired of the US. I am in need of a change of pace culturally. I really just want to leave for a while. See if I can live in a completely different country by myself and learn various ways people live their daily lives.

We'll have to wait and see if I can pull it off though....


In the mean time.....


My awesome Birthday cake my sister made me.



The Portal Gun I'm building



And a drawing I did while I was suppose to be working.

The Scheduled Summer

Normally during the summer months I don't spend to much time planning exactly what it is I'm going to do. But this summer has proved to be much different. From the start it was hectic with classes, working and moving. I thought after I got back to New York for the remaining months I would just veg out, play some video games, or do whatever else I felt at the time. That didn't really happen. Since I decided I wanted that new (expensive) computer I have been doing much else then work since I got back.

10-5 every day punching in tax reduction information into a computer (what a blast). It pays well for work that's not so difficult but goddamn is it time consuming. I still have to worry about paying the bills for my house every month (something I'm so not used to). On top of that I have to make a new Name Game every other week. The good news is that I finally figured out a system on how to pace it. While this paces out the process so that it doesn't have to be done in one unbearable sitting, it does cause the issue of filling up my free time. I guess discipline is a good thing.. It just kinda sucks when you're suppose to be on vacation.

I'm also still looking for a figure drawing class to take for a little bit while I'm still home. I found one place that's cheap and once a week but I still gotta look into it more. Something else I was bummed about was I didn't get the chance to work on my Portal gun for my Halloween costume like I planned.

On a bright side though, I have been able to play some of the games I've been meaning to catch up on... I just hope I get through most of them before school starts again. It doesn't help that I lost all my save files on my PS3 when I got my new one.. saaaad times.


Even though this summer is proving to be more busy than relaxing, I have to say it is by far one of the best one's I've had in a while. Last summer was a bit of a let down and sad for the most part. This summer I feel like even though I'm constantly busy, it's a good busy. I'm constantly being challenged creatively and I'm also spending a lot of free time with close friends. I've had some awesome experiences in some really cool places. I wouldn't change a thing about it. What I find really cool is how it's got my mind thinking.. I find myself with some really awesome new interests and ideas that I haven't paid much attention to before...

...One of them being Travel. Frankly I've had enough of the US.




Preview of what's to come in the Name Game #7. Kinda like what goes through my head every once in a while...

Mass Effected

Since I got home last week things have been kind of unorganized. Slowly but surely it's been coming together. My main goal is to raise enough money by the end of the summer to build my own PC for animation and... well let's face it functional video gaming. I'm going to be working at Gamestop again (unfortunately) which will not only give me a little extra cash but will also hopefully continue to feed me material for Name Game. I'm working for my Dad's girlfriend doing secretary work and I'm waiting to hear back from a local bar where I will hopefully be bar-tending at soon.

Now that I'm not in class I finally have the time to finish the long list of video games I've been meaning to finish. Mass Effect is pretty much at the top. The one thing that has stood out the most to me is the art direction. That game is freakin' beautiful. Cool, futuristic and glowy. 3 of my favorite things.... which are also 3 similar characteristics of the new Tron movie. ANYWAY. Since I've been playing Mass Effect, the Force Unleashed and Half-life 1 my artwork has defiantly been influenced.

These are some sketches I did that I actually want to make into digital paintings soon. I'll post updates when I do.







My other goal is to master the human form. I've been looking into figure drawing classes around Long Island which I think I'll start soon. These were some studies I did today from one of my sister's medical anatomy books.

Take Up Some Space

I originally planned to do way more work this summer. What I didn't realize was how much time and energy it takes to move into a new place. And the fact that I'm practically doing it by myself is not helping the process go any faster. There are lots of little things here and there that add up and take up more time then anticipated. Lets not forget that I'm also still in my summer class until the end of next week and I started working at Gamestop again.

So since I haven't been able to make too much brand new work here is some other stuff I've had floating around. Some of it is newer and some of it is kinda old.

This was something I did one of the first nights I got back to Baltimore to start summer classes. This was when I was much better at keeping the promise to myself that I was going to sketch something everyday.



Some more faces I did before one of my drives back to New York to kill some time.


A little study I did from some Team Fortress 2 concept art. I love the retro boxy design of that game... I also just love that whole game in general... even though I'm pretty terrible at it.



Sketch of the Name Game crew I did while in the waiting room for my doctor appointment. I still haven't come up with names for them yet. Even when I finally do decide what to name them I have no idea how to introduce them without being too obvious..



Some original quick sketches I did for my boogey man project for class.

My Developing Surroundings

Over the past month I have been in the process of moving into my new place in Baltimore MD. Since my school's tuition is so damn expensive I figured it would be wiser, economically, to live off campus with a couple of buddies and split the rent. Our new place is awesome and is quickly becoming an excellent work space for myself.

This is my lovely, large bedroom which includes my very own bathroom!



Today I my mom came to visit for the day and we went to Ikea. I got a fancy new drafting table with a light box built into the top which will be extremely useful for the animation classes I'm taking next year.




As awesome as the place is it still has its flaws. Right now there is still no internet, there are only 2 AC units throughout the entire house and I still don't have a bed so I've been sleeping on an air mattress.. But these are all flaws that will be worked out in time. As of right now I'm pretty damn satisfied with my living conditions.

Game Art Class stuff..

This is some of the work I've been doing in my Game Art animation class. The assignment is to design and model the Boogyman's weapon in 3D Studio Max and Zbrush. This is what I've got so far.

Concept




Early Modeling



Unwrap Map




Added Detail




Zbrush Detail

From and For the Escapist: Unofficial Reviews

These were two pieces I did for the Escapist Magazine at some point or another.

The first is a sketch of "The Michaels" from the web series Doomsday Arcade. This sketch appeared in the page head of the Doomsday Arcade Quiz the week before the series finale in April. By far one of my favorite series that was ever on The Escapist along with Zero Punctuation and Unskippable. I was so sad to see it come to an end. I must say, Shanks's work is pretty brilliant. As someone who has studied film, I can honestly say the kid knows what he's doing. The growth from the first episode to the last was quite stunning. It was nice to see it come from a bunch of cheesy slapstick and slightly shallow jokes to an intricate story with complex characters. By the end it still had aspects of the slapstick and shallow game jokes but they were utilized in a much more successful and mature way. It was still extremely funny but far more respectable. It was obvious that Michael Shanks grew as a director and I hope to see more from him in the future. It's really refreshing seeing this much talent and hard work especially in someone who is my age.






And let us not forget about Lund who had so many piss-your-pants funny moments he could probably even get Batman to chuckle.


The second piece: Gordon Freeman's MIT degree



Seen in the background of Name Game #2, this was ENTIRELY too much fun to make. I must give credit to my good friend Patrick who gave me the idea for this specific comic. I was laughing from start to finish.