Monster Commute Character Concepts

Recently Bobby Chiu commented on my "Unbridled Optimism" post (Oh snap! Bobby reads my blog?). It got me thinking about his Whaleboy painting. Bobby's painting was actually a "re-imagining" of Patrick Morgan's WhaleBoy.

This inspired me to do some free work for a friend. I've been reading/inspired by Daniel Davis's webcomic Monster Commute. It's about two characters, a red-goat like character named Beastio Wand, and a skull enclosed in a glass-dome-robot body named Chadworth Machine. The plot and suspense is REALLY starting to build on the comic so if you haven't checked-it-out, you should.

I looked at his characters and thought, "what would I do if I where creating concepts for a live-action film of Monster Commute?"

I approached this work with a Martin Laing flair. I love how his technique is approachable. Much like a great matte painter, when you really get up close you can see all the little brushstrokes and differences in image resolutions. But looking at it in its intended size, everything tightens up. You can't tell the difference between a piece of leather and a

brushstroke. I decided to work loose, but at a very large resolution , and just try to blend a bunch of different brushstrokes and photos together.

I started collecting the needed photos from sxc.hu (and used only royalty free non-attribution photos). For Chadworth I used a bunch of tractor parts, steam engines, and a grain silo. I painted the glass bubble myself because I know that you can never find good transparent glass that is even close to the shape you want. After I positioned these parts on the canvas I just started painting them together till I was happy with the result.

The same pretty much went for Beastio. He's made from several goats and bears. The funny thing about the smirk on his face is it wasn't there in the original white goat photo I swear. It sort of just emerged and I accentuated it.

The methods I used for matching photos and painting were really matte painting techniques.

Here's the final results:

I sent the results over to Daniel and he even liked them enough to post them to his blog.

This was a really great exercise and I really recommend supporting your friends by creating something inspired by their work.

Unbridled optimism

Maybe it's because I lack some sort of chemical in my body, but I find it really hard to be cynical. Even when things are at their worst, I see life as something that is filled with hope and magic. I do sometimes catch myself whining (hopefully mostly internally), but it's only because I want to make the current situation better. 

I find that having a positive outlook can really help to achieve life goals, and there's nothing like great music to put us in that mood. It has to be the right kind of music though. "Walkin' on Sunshine" is a great track but it doesn't neccessarily put me into hopeful, looking toward the future kind of mode.  The kind of music I need is the kind that makes you smile, laugh, and then cry, and then laugh at the fact that you're crying.  

I've heard this "style" of music categorized as uplifting, heartfelt, and emotional, but I think that Jeremy Elder said it best: 

"Simply put, this song is what it sounds like to fly. All of the light and happiness and unbridled optimism I can imagine are wrapped up in its melody."

So I'm calling it music for unbridled optimism. Thanks Jeremy. 

Here's what I want to share with you. Hopefully this music fills you with joy, if it does I think that you'll find a smile crossing your face and you'll have to use the excuse that there is dust in your eye. But more importantly I want this music to fill you with a positive outlook, and hope for the future. 




This song is great but it REALLY hits home when set to Star Wars



The good stuff stars at 3:00



A really well edited piece that compiles themes from Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Randy Edelman's best work. The beginning really makes me think about the achievements Bruce Lee made in his life and makes me hopeful about mine.



My Mother told me that she wants this song played at her funeral. She's gone from a little girl who lost her father at a young age, to losing a child, living as a farm wife/stay at home mom, being divorced twice, and then following her dreams and becoming a CPA at age 55. I can't think of a more fitting song. But now every time I hear it I get dusty eyes.






No doubt you've heard it a million times before, but I promise. This version is well worth a listen. The end of this film had me choked up real good.

Amazing Grace
Uploaded by coljakesg1

Timeless theme from a movie of my childhood. Craig Safan's best.



IMO James Horner's best theme.



Heat. Epic movie, epic song by Moby.


There's more but these are some of my favorites.

Matte Painting is Back! (in the VES's eyes anyway)

Really, matte painting has never taken a hiatus. The growing number of matte painting jobs in VFX houses is a true testament to this fact. 

However, in recent years matte painting has lost favor because it's become popular to lump matte paintings in with "environment design".  Environment design is a blanket term to mean procedural terrain, 3d environments, HDR panoramic photography, and many other cool techniques. 

Even the VES (Visual Effects Society),  has grouped matte painting in with "Created Environments" for the past 4 years .  At the 4th annual VES awards Star Wars Episode III was nominated for this award yet 3 out of four of the recieving members were matte painters:

Jonathan Harb

Yanick Dusseault

Brett Northcutt

And the next year the same thing happened with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, with 2 out of 4 of the artists working as matte painters:

Chris Stoski

Susumu Yukuhiro

(my apologies if I missed anyone's names)

This year the VES has decided to do the RAD thing and bring back the awards for Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture and Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial. Here's the full list (with links to the matte painters portfolios!  :D  Sorry compositors. This is about us for now) :

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture

CHANGELING - 1928 Downtown L.A.

Romain Bayle, Abel Milanes, Allan Lee, Debora Dunphy

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

Richard Bluff, Barry Williams, Yanick Dusseault, Yusei Uesugi

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK - Matte Paintings

Brett Miller, Garrett Eaton, Matthew Conner

SPEED RACER - Overall Matte Painting Presentation

Lubo Hristov, Dennis Martin, Ron Crabb

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

DOCTOR WHO - SERIES 4 - Silence in the Library

Simon Wicker, Charlie Bennett, Tim Barter, Arianna Lago

GENERATION KILL - Episode 2

Christian Irles, Yannick Bourgie

MERLIN THE MARK OF NIMUEH SERIES 1 - The Mark of Nimueh

Dave Early, Simon Wickers, Bryan Bartlett, Sara Bennet

Awesome job everyone! 

Thank you VES for bringing back the matte painting award!

Vast Improvements

I've been using custom brushes to try to create matte paintings and environments, instead of using photos, textures, and 3d generated content.  This piece was alot of fun and I can hardly turn away from it to post it here. 

This is still a work in progress but I feel that it's a vast improvement on my previous painted works and things seem to be starting to click in my brushstrokes. 

Approaching Army DS Sketch

Click here to see how this was painted

ice planet sketch

Doing this one just for fun. I'll be updating it more in the coming weeks.  I felt really good about the concepts in this and the shapes so I think I can take this one really far. 

Shadow Bot

Decided to test out al.chemy and do the first thing that almost everyone does. Create a robot. When I was pleased enough I took it into photoshop and did some painting over. I'm pretty pleased with the result. Lots of happy accidents

Edit: forgot to mention that I did this right before bed so I could have cool robot dreams.

Sketch before bed

LOLPainters? a new internet meme? Sketched this one before bed. Saving as JPEG and save for web F's with my colors though. Gotta get a color calibrator.

I Miss Kauai DS Sketch

Ok. So there's a little behind this one. My wife and I went to Kauai about 2 years ago and fell in love with Hawaii. Cecil Kim stirred up some up some of the feelings I have for the islands when he mentioned that he worked in Hawaii at Square. THEN I went to a massage therapist for a get-away that my wife bought for me awhile ago. So this is where I went when she was working out the knots out of my neck and shoulder blades. The image stuck in my head so vividly that I subsequently painted this right afterwords. 

Click here to see how this was painted

The Chase DS Sketch

Halfway through this one I realized that the greyscale studies needed to end and that I need to move on and "man up". This will be the last greyscale for a while. Time to have some fun with color. 

Click here to see how this was painted

Arch DS Sketch

Click here to see how this was painted

Misty Mountains DS sketch

Saw these while at lunch one cloudy. The clouds were trying to hide the peaks of  the mountains. Very cool to see in Arizona.

Click here to see how this was painted

Africa DS sketch

Painted while watching 24: Redemption.

Click here to see how this was painted.

Tired Magician 2 DS Sketch

Just painted this one as fast as possible. Decided to make it into another tired magician painting. What is with me and this tired magician wearing the big hat?

Click here to see how this was painted.

Where am I now.

I thought I would take just a second to outline some of the things that I've learned or how I changed artistically, so that other beginning artists who might be a few years behind me can use some of these lessons.

When you draw/paint/create everyday,  great artwork is more of a by-product than a goal. You should enjoy the process. Doing it everyday is more about teaching your eyes to see, your mind to let go, and your heart to feel. 

With each new day, I can see a composition in my mind's-eye much clearer and I'm able to paint these with much better accuracy.

"Photoshop is just a tool" has become sort of a  cliche' but it's true. Alot of beginning artists wait until they can afford software, hardware, or classes to create what's in their hearts. No matter what the tool or medium, you should never wait to create. If you can't afford a computer it shouldn't stop you from finding a paper and a pencil. Practice as much as you can and it WILL make a difference. 

Stop making excuses, especially to yourself.  I used to think that because some of my favorite painters use both Photoshop and Painter, than I had to as well. However, there are other painters I admire that only use Photoshop. The point is, I currently don't own Painter so I shouldn't make excuses for why my art isn't as good as someone elses. However, hardware does tend to make a difference. Painting on a Wacom Intuos vs a Graphire is like painting with a whole set of paintbrushes instead of the jagged end of twig. The Intuos has already made a huge difference in my work. 

If you really care about what you do then you'll find a way to afford the hardware/software that you absolutely need. For a while all I could afford was an ibook 700mhz, and a wacom graphire 4x6.  I did some of my first paintings on it. I scratched and saved and was able to finally afford a macbook 2.2ghz, a wacom 6x11, Photoshop cs4 extended, and a Nintendo DS with an R4 card so I can run colors!. It's not the perfect setup. But it is my dream setup. It's the setup I knew I wanted so I focused on it and I did what I could to make my dream happen. 

If you are just a beginner, don't post a message to mattepainting.org or conceptart.org etc etc with the subject "My first mattepainting/vehicle render/whatever whatever. No-one cares. The typical reason for posting this is that you think people will reply with something like "woah! first time? you're good", or something like that. It's not going to happen Unless you're an accomplished concept artist or other parallel artists that wants to dabble in something that you're already pretty good at anyway. Sometimes beginners cheat. They practice for months before posting something. Don't do this either. Other beginners will find a way to composite images together that were easy to composite anyway. I always hate this. If you really want to be good. Do the hard work. More about this next. Start posting on forums by just asking questions that haven't been asked (search !) and post something in the sketch threads. Post some WIPS but don't expect people to be amazed.

When you're a beginner, (painting for 1-5 years. yes years.) Do the hard work. For example, Paint rock textures instead of using photography. When you're a professional you'll need to do things efficiently and use photography as much as possible, but there will certainly come a time when you'll need to paint something you might not be able to find photography for. Paint from scratch. You'll be surprised how much faster you can paint some things than taking the time to look for a photo of it. 

Mattepainting and conceptart isn't your teenage fad. No-one cares how much better you are than the other guy. Matte painting and art in general is a career. Please treat it with respect. 

To my two best friends.

I know you guys would do the same for me. 

Junk World DS sketch

I was inspired by Raxus Prime from the game "The Force Unleashed". Painted on my DS.

Click here to see how it was painted.

Nintendo hates artists

Ok. So maybe Nintendo has come out-right and said that they hate artists, but they certainly aren't sending the right message when they crack down on Flash carts.

http://kotaku.com/5086747/mother-and-son-arrested-in-r4-piracy-bust

Without a flash cart you can't run Colors! on a Nintendo DS. 

I purchased my R4 card when I heard that Nintendo was starting to crack down on Flash carts. THEN I bought my DS. I bought my DS for the sole purpose of running Colors! on it. If I wouldn't have been able to run Colors! on my DS then I would have never purchased this handheld gaming system. I have never pirated a game. Hell, I don't even know how to. I've run a few homebrew apps  on it besides Colors! but that's it. That's all. 

If Nintendo continues to send this sort of message then they better be ready to give us cartridges with Colors! on it (for free) and give us access to get the colors files off the DS so we can send them to the Colors! website. Otherwise, Nintendo will lose a small amount of sales to Colors! users who will pay for the application to be used on their Apple touch or iphone.

Landing site is 2 clicks away DS sketch

Click here to see how this was painted.

Another beam DS sketch

Click here to see how this was painted.

Cliche Beam at Gates DS sketch

Click here to see how this was painted.

Tired Magician DS Sketch

Click here to see how this was painted.

first major colors! sketch

FINALLY. Got a DS and an R4 card so I could paint with Colors! on my DS. This is my first major painting with it. I have certainly felt myself get better by using it almost every day. 

snow mountain pass wip

Not really sure if I'm going to finish this but I feel like it's an improvement on my work. I studied a demo of another artists methods and work and I feel like it helped. I also felt frustrated that my work didn't look as great as his but I only put in half the time that he has and he's a professional concept artist. So I shouldn't have any shame.

dark towers wip

Not sure if I'll put any more time into this because I think I might just want to leave it and move on.

New wacom 6x11 and first sketch

Just got my new wacom and this is my first sketch. I worked supersmall. and really went "too" small, but it was a blast and the new wacom will improve my skills by so much. It's so much easier to get the right kind of stroke that I want and It actually changes my perception of scale. More to come. 

Does it read well?

Does it read well? That is the question that you should be able to ask yourself when you look at a small thumbnail of your painting. Tonight I put this together after learning alot from a demo by Marco Bucci . I made a conscience effort to simplify things and also paint within a small canvas. I originally started within a 300 pixel canvas. 

Overall I was pretty pleased. Not anywhere where I want to be of course.

The Bay

 

20  minute sketch. Asked the wife for a theme:

Me: What theme should I do

Her: ...

Her: Bora Bora

Me: ...

Me: oh crap. 

She wanted bugalows over the water but I think I took it too far. Brushstrokes are a little closer to what I want but the colors are a little funky and to me this painting looks a little amaeturish. 

Bierstadt Study

I decided to do a study of Albert Bierstadt's "The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak".  I learned lot from it but was mostly frustrated (a fun and good frustration though) at my brushstrokes and how I can never seem to get that minimal brushstrokes look. I think the Wacom Graphire is holding me back and if I could afford to buy a Intuos 3 I would. 

Over all I think I learned more about lighting, different brush settings and atmospheric perspecive/color. 

"It's essential that they should take a pride in their job."

UPDATE: Songza song removed...sorry!

note: Song was the Main Theme for Bridge on the River Kwai






Work has been rough. Painting has been rough. Just need to keep things in perspective.

clouds

I really need a DS, a R4 Card and colors! . Tonight I saw clouds like this coming home and wanted to paint them immediately. 

So when I got home I started working on these clouds. I utilized a few different methods from a few tutorials and got some pleasing results. I don't think I'll really use this method for anything else but a painterly look and for concept work.  

I still haven't learned alot of the painting methods I've been trying to. I want to use minimal strokes in flat color and building small detail in a larger painting with random looking strokes. (ie: goodbrush.com  John Wallin Liberto )

My Computer is trying to lift me up

I just worked a 12 hour day. Spent the whole day building the base for 11 After Effects comps. I get home, and it's fashion night on TV. So no video games or relaxing movies for me. My wife gets to watch 4 straight hours of reality TV that I don't really care for. She truly deserves it though. I decide to paint, put on the headphones and fire up pandora and this is the first song that comes on. What could be more motivational?

Bierstadt Machines

This morning I was studying some Bierstadt paintings and at work today we talked about Terminator 4 and the war against the machines. I guess both kinda seeped into my subconscious tonight.

This took about 20 minutes for the bulk of the work and 20 more for a few more details. 

nuclear funk

I think I was in a funk tonight. After working out, my creativity and energy went downhill fast. I started by reading through the first lesson of an environment workshop on Conceptart.org but did the typical thing that most people do with lessons on the internet. I cut corners.

I didn't take part in the perspective lessons that I should have and so when I started painting I came up with the same old boring perspective that I always seem to do.

I was practicing something else on this and that's texturing and laying down solid large brushstrokes instead of 200 smaller brushstrokes. This usually works better with REALLY dynamic lighting though since your lights and shadows in your foreground areas are at two very different ends of the spectrum. 

 Overall I think this took about 2 hours :P bleh. But it helped me to realize that I need to work on some more dynamic perspectives. 

The Mission

Listening to Ennio's Mission Score really makes me wish I was outside painting.

post siggraph sketches

I'll post some siggraph information as soon as I feel like it. Siggraph was a big boost to my creativity. Big thanks to Cliff Berry for dragging me along. 

Here's some speed sketches from the past two days. 

New beginnings

Tonight I finished my new site, my first demo reel, and my reel specific matte painting resume. 

I am so happy.

Check out my new portfolio site here.

 

Woot

At about 12:00 noon today I got excited when my favorite internet tv show released episode 72.

The Totally Rad Show

Tuesday afternoon is always my favorite day of the work week, because of the show. This week has held me in higher anticipation than any other episode so far.

The show's intro and exit has fan submitted artwork in the backgrounds. I submitted a background to the show to be used for when they reviewed the Mummy.

and IT WAS SELECTED! (Boondock Saints Reference there).

It goes without saying (but I'm gonna say it anyway) that I am elated.

I can't wait to put this in my demo reel.

BTW. Happy Birthday to me and Jeff Cannata, we share the same birthday. Happy Birthday Jeff! I really hope you're career takes off soon because you sir. Are RAD. You can make sound effects for my backgrounds anytime.

Dan, you are the man and I hope to work on one of your features or commercials someday.

Hello Albrecht! I've followed your work since I first saw you on TechTV. You are as awesome as you are hilarious.

Steve, you're motion graphics and videography is awesome and hilarious. Very professional. You really are the the oil that makes the show run smoothly.

Awesome episode, keep up the good work guys I LOVE the show.
(been getting caught up on the episodes. I started watching at episode 59. Big thanks to my buddy Lee Glasgow introducing me to the show.)

Progress check yet again

 

This one has been on and off the chopping block for quite some time. This was created from the brief of one of my favorite books. It's a place I've always wanted to see. 

Progress check!

Here are a few shots from my demo reel in various states.



The pass. I think that this painting is just about done. I don't want to fiddle with it too much.



I feel that I'm getting close on this one. I have been painting the buildings on the right hand side, but I need to add a bit more color and architecture to them.


I really think that this is about finished. This is the orignal shot.


And the matte painting in it's current state.

Frustrating lightbulb moment

In just about every piece of software I have ever used there has been some moment where a different variation of keystrokes or hotkeys has given time saving results that I could have used earlier.

With flash it was Control + Alt + Enter. I am so used to using Control + Enter to test a movie, but Control + Alt + Enter allows you to test a movieclip. As soon as I used it, I wish I had been using it 6 years earlier. DOH!

I don't know what else to call these frustrating moments so we'll just call them "Frustrating Lightbulb Moments".

I had one today... in Photoshop none-the-less. Which is REALLY frustrating because I've been using it longer than any other software in my quiver.

Using the brush or eraser:
Shift + LMB + (pull your mouse from left to right, top to bottom, 45 degree angle) is not the same as LMB click THEN Shift + Click. Now I have to say goodbye, if only for a while, to the line tool.

Line tool: Hey buddy, You wanna get some work done?
Me: ummm. Sorry but I've got a different matte painting I'm working on where I'm not gonna need you.
Line tool: Wha? What's the painting?
Me: It's a 1700's style harbor.
Line tool: Hey, i would be very helpful for that. All those posts and beams and straight lines type stuff?!
Me: ummm... I've found another tool.
Line tool: wha? huh? eh? ... What tool?
Me: The brush.
Line tool: Huh? You've known brush for ages. He can't do what I can!
Me: uh. yeah he can. I can draw straight lines in whatever direction I want.
Line tool: %#*@!
Me: Hey, it's ok. We'll get together again sometime soon... I promise. We'll play the Xbox or the Wii sometime soon, Ok?
Line tool: *sniffles* Ok.

Post Siggraph plans

I'm getting close to finishing 4 of the shots for my demo reel. And with August 11th fast approaching I've been thinking about what I'm going to do after Siggraph. Here's a little list if anyone is interested.

• Unpack boxes. We recently moved, but because my awesome wife wants me to succeed in creating an awesome demo reel, she has given me time to work on my reel instead of unpacking and organizing.
• Work on a fan film or independent film. I have a few directors and visual effects supervisors in mind but if anyone reads this and needs some matte painting, concept, or basic compositing work done let me know, I'd be happy to send you my reel and review your project after August.
• Tutorials. I have a long list of 3d and painting tutorials that I have been saving. Some of them are REALLY basic but I want to go through all of them and try to learn something new.
• READ! I really miss reading. I have about 3 books I want to read that are already waiting on my shelf. I want to read to my daughter more as well.
• Paint! I REALLY miss my watercolors. Painting plein air ala Nathan Fowkes style is such a blast. By then my daughter might be old enough to start fingerpainting with me. It'll be so much fun.

when reality becomes fantasy

Imagine a future where there isn't a way to shoot photography of glaciers, or to shoot in hawaii, or Thailand? Where almost every environment has to be matte painted because everything has to be shot on a soundstage?

We call real environments that exist but need to be faked "invisible matte paintings".

I was reading No Impact Man's blog today and it got me thinking about this. There's alot we can do to lower our footprint on this earth. Here's a few low impact ideas that my wife and I have used:

• Use glass. The benefits are that you're not exposing yourself to BPA and not contributing to the rising cost of oil. Plastic is made from petroleum. Any time we buy something to drink at a restaurant or fast food joint we try to get something in glass that has a wide mouth. SoBe bottles make for great waterbottles. POM jars are great glasses, so are mason jars.
• Shop more frequently at the grocery store and but buy less. That way you won't waste alot of food. Use cloth bags instead of plastic ones to carry your groceries around in too.
• Keep the tabs off of pop cans, and then give them to a kid who's school who will use them to recycle and trade for cash. It's a little thing but can add up quickly and "can" (pardun the pun) make a little kid's day.

I would hate the day that everything becomes a "fantasy matte painting" because so much of what we find beautiful, no longer exists.

The Greatest Adventure

UPDATE: Songza song removed...sorry!

Thank you Glen Yarbrough

The Pass update

My recent update to "the pass" matte painting. Still not finished yet but I've made some great strides. 

Happy Father's day VFXers!

If you are living your dream, working in visual effects/film. Then you have given your child one of the most important things they can have...a positive role model.

Someday your child can look at your career and say, my father followed his dreams and shot for the stars, I know that I can too.

Here's a big salute to you.

Big inspiration

My favorite scene from 3 Amigos. Just couldn't help myself...had to post it. It's too good not to.

Yes. This scene is a big inspiration for a project that is waiting in the wings.

Progress check!

Here are the updates from my "demo reel" work

Yo Momma

Bryan Woods has started a brushfire of "Yo Momma" jokes over at VFX Talk, and since I check for new posts inside my Google Reader, I couldn't help but see it and smile. I quickly chimed in with a Joke of my own. 

"Man, Yo Mamma so fat, we was talkin about node noodles and she grabbed a bowl."

One of my favorite VFX blogs has joined in with:

"Yo Momma so fat she broke my clipping plane!"

Seriously that one made me laugh out loud.

Hack has posted a news post on his blog about the "event" here.

I love the photo of that bear. I seriously would have never thought that anyone could have found a more fitting photo.

Woot! He fav'd mine. 

accentuate the negative

Zoic is famous for faking it and adding to the realism of shots.  The camera movements in Cloverfield were built off of it. You see it more and more in matte paintings. 

Sloppy camera movement. Despite sounding bad it can make a shot look more "real".  

My good buddy Cliff Berry  suggested that I ditch the stabilize nodes and go for a more "handheld" look. 

So I did. 

CGTalk2

Again, this is just a garbage composite, but I wanted to re-comp this and see how it looks. It desperately needs some motion blur to match the original footage's blur, but I'll work on that later. It's back to work on my "coastal city" and "road to hell" matte paintings

Dreaming

I've been trying to think realistically about films or properties that I might get to work on.

Typically, matte painters get their start working on sequels to big franchises. Dylan Cole was lucky enough to start with Time Machine so there is the ability to get started on a "smaller" (relative) production.

So here's my list. This is what I would love to be working on or after 2010.

• Terminator 6 (Terminator 4 is currently in production)
• Avatar 2 (Avatar to be released in 2009. And if anyone knows me ...they know that I have been looking forward to this film since 2005)
• A Lucasfilm property involving fantasy elements...Like Willow
• Any video game (or FILM!?) involving Ragnar Tornquist
  
• A Dirk Pitt film (Preferably starring Matthew McConaughey)
• A sequel to The Chronicles of Riddick
• James Bond 24
• The next Serenity/Firefly movie (Please Joss!?)
• The He-Man film
• Iron Man 3
• Unbreakable 2 (please?!)
  
• Hellboy 3
• The Hobbit 2
• GI Joe 2
  
• The Flash
• Lord Baltimore (Based off of Baltimore, or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire) (I would also want to assist witht the concept art and art direction on this film)

There's more but I can't think of them at the moment.

Shake comps

Here are my first comps in shake. Mind you, these are both garbage comps, just meant to give me an idea of what I need to work on. 

Lost World

CG Talk Challenge

Better luck next time.

I created a new rule for myself last night. Do 10 pushups before sitting down to do any matte painting work. Did I follow it? No. :(

On a better note I did my first compositing and tracking in Shake this weekend and had some awesome results. More updates as I have time to post them.

Feng Zhu Quotes

I've kept these two quotes in my journal for quite some time and I've found them to be very inspiring.

"there is no secret to drawing. The more you do it, the better you'll get. It's all about mileage. A lot of people try to look for shortcuts, but there aren't any. Just bite the bullet and do the work. There is no easy path."

"You are 29? Not a problem! It's never too late to get into anything. Here's a little story that might inspire you. If you have the Art of Episode 3 book, look for an artist named Sang Jun Lee. Believe it or not, he didn't do any drawings (and I mean none), before attending college in the U.S. After he got an internship at ILM, he drew like crazy. Within only 2-3 years, he has reached the level he's at now. which is pretty amazing! He draws like a seasoned pro. What a great inspiration huh?"

NHM Challenge

Just comped this out quickly. The original plate was from a CGTalk challenge and I never had time to finish. I was cleaning up the plate but now I have finally put my concept onto canvas.

Swatch set

This is a swatch set I've been developing for both matte painting and web. Hope someone finds it useful.

Panoramic matte candidate

Richard Cave (aka: RockHopper) is a fellow matte painter, but he's also an amazing photographer, embeded photojournalist, and a nice guy to boot. 

Richard has been experimenting with handheld panoramic photography. He's received much better results than I have (as to be expected) but I promised to post the results of an image that I shot back in June of 07 in St. George, Utah. 

I've just decided that this might be a good candidate for a matte and will have to test it with the groundplane painted in. 

The original image is 6841 x 2730 and 180 ppi. 194 MB