What I'm doing now

It has been a while since my last post, so I thought I should give everyone an update. Unusual for me, I am not teaching this summer. State budgetary problems may have something to do with that. So I am concentrating on freelance and self promotion. I also figured it was time to gain some new skills, so I am currently taking an online class in Nuke. This program is node-based compositing software often used for special effects in the film industry, which is something I am very interested in, especially for matte painting. It's very complicated, but it can do some amazing things.

Winner in an art contest

Recently, I entered a few images of mine at Anything Goes, the latest art competition at Exhibitions Without Walls. To my surprise, one of them was picked as best in show. Another surprise was the image that was chosen (the cow at the left). The original image was done as part of a promotional piece for Ninetimes, and I adapted it for the show. I do like it, but I never thought it was one of my best illustrations. However, I guess it fit the theme of the contest better than other images I submitted. Anyway, it's nice to win something again. I'm trying to promote myself more to new markets, so maybe this will help. I just hope they like diving cows.

Click here to see the contest results.
Click here to see the cow animated at the Ninetimes website.

Recent work

You may have noticed that I've been absent from the blog for a while. It's because the last month or so has been quite busy for me. As classes get near the end of the semester, there is a lot for me to do to get ready for finals. Also, I took on an onsite contract at a firm in the Bay Area specializing in legal graphics and animation that took all my 'free' time. They recently moved their office location and I created a digital illustration for the front of their mailer to inform clients of the new address. Here is that image. It's a straightforward illustration of the historic building that houses the new offices, but some details have been simplified and its position relative to San Francisco has been fudged a bit, so it becomes a bit conceptual.

New large illustration

Another exhibit image has come my way. This one was not as large as some I've done, but it was quite complex and quickly zoomed up to over 2 Gb. My time was running out as the deadline quickly approached, so I had to cut some corners near the end and leave out a few details. The day before it was due, I stayed up all night trying to get everything finished on time. I ended up being awake for 41 hours straight those two days, but I wasn't working on this illustration the entire time. I also had to go out and teach a few classes, then I went to San Francisco for a concert after the image had been sent off. Still, it was a grueling process and I'm glad it's over. I kind of like the image though, after all that.

New class last weekend

I taught a digital illustration class at the BAVC last weekend. It was all day Saturday and Sunday and I think the students learned a lot and had a good time. I'm working on updating the handout I give them, so when I do, I'll put a link to it here. I'm also working on putting together a new tutorial to share and I have some upcoming news, so stay tuned for more.

New magazine cover assignment

Recently, I was contacted by Foreign Policy and offered a job illustrating the cover of their upcoming March/April issue. It was a quick turnaround, but the money was good and it seemed like a good opportunity. This is the first time I've been contacted by a publication like this directly, so that is nice. The image was pretty straightforward, so I just needed to do an accurate rendering and try and make it look cool. Along the way, I learned a bit about UAVs and Hellfire missiles. This particular UAV is a Reaper.

Click here for a preview of the cover at Foreign Policy.

Sample file for the Photoshop class

For tonight, we are going to try some cool stuff. You may need a sample file to start with, so here it is. Click on it to get the fullsize version, then download it.