Last of an Ancient Breed.

Has anyone seen the film the warriors? if so, have you listended to the soundtrack? Theres a song on the track, final one I think called Last of an ancient breed by Desmond Child. Great song. The whole album is really catchy in that 80's sort of way.

Carrying on with Character concepts I decided to delve into the great galaxy of far far away after seeing the advert for the new game Starwars: The Old Republic. Shame its one of those MMOPG things as I would have quite liked to buy the game if it was an xbox title. The advert for it is incredible, the only thing that really confused me was that the republicans were wearing clone trooper armor which technically isnt supposed to exist back then? (correct me if im wrong)

Anyway, I went with a sort of 'General Kota look' from the game Force Unleashed 2. Wearing old clone trooper armor salvaged from enemy kills. Not neccesarily going with a jedi as it feels too easy to simply create a new jedi, so Im gonna say he's a bounty hunter.

balaclavas, fashionable?

Lately I've not been doing that much doodling in my spare time, I've pretty much just been working on this enviroment project for uni. so far so well but I've never done an enviroment before so it really is a difficult process in that I dont have a clear path set out for me. but at the same time i enjoy that, with the host of unexpected faliures i also hit a bit of unexpected success.

Its also opended my eyes to envrioment design aswell, as with most things that I cant easily comprehend I stray away from them, hiding in the dark drawing what im comfortable drawing. but I feel like with a lot of practice I could do this for fun.

My only problem with this breif is time keeping, though I try to do at least an hour of work a day (sometimes more than that) for uni (excluding actual study time) ive found that im still in some sort of initial stage after nearly 3 months. but maybe this is just because im feeling for the thread with this new area of design.

ATTENTION! pls read...

Lately Ive been looking at my self with a critics eye which is soemthing i normally do when im working, butat the moment im looking not at individual peices but my work on the whole over say the last two years. i find itdifficult to judge my self because artistically so much has happend to me and my process in the last few years, tostart i made the jump from traditional to semi digital. i also started university which impacted upon my professionalpractice and also my ability to recognise more subliminal flaws within my work.

On the specifics of my concept art, ive found my self falling into the 'specialisation rut' too much of one thing (creatures) is no good for an aspiring artist in the field of concept design, it will narrow my options and ultimately render me useless like a plucked chicken with a tooth pick sword on the front line of a war. i also feel and know that im falling way too short of my desired style with is photorealism, like wayne barlowe or todd marshall.i know these guys didnt wake up one day creating god like art work, they spent years practicing traditionally both intechnique and subject matter. but i cant seem to dicipline my self to do this. perhaps i should e realistic, im notgoing to be able to stop my addiction for designing creatures but i can set my self small targets. once a week i cando a few sketches from photo reference or life, and i can also try doing concepts for things i dont normally approach.

I've been looking at Marko (he he same name almost) Djurdjevic lately. Anyone whos been on conceptart.org or likes theircomics will know this guy. hes an insanely good artist, talented in a wide variety of things but for me its his basic drawingskills that keeps me so intrigued. in a world where everything is becoming more advanced and techy by the second,this trend setter is still bashing out works of art with a mechanical pencil like hes not even breaking a sweat.i ask my self can i ever reach this standard? or is every one born with a certain amount of talent which ultimately defines their ability if not their capability? if this is the case then i cant see how ill ever reach industry standard,competition is high in any industry, but i feel with so many players on the field that the visual industry is thetoughest competition to win.

I recently recieved feedback for my work on the last semester and though overall it was very good feedback, i feel like imnot reaching my own personal standard in my head. it didnt help that my feedback was numbered grades without written commentsas i feel i can only improve with criticism, so i might contact my tutor and see why i didnt get a higher mark.

I'm pretty sure that concept art is more than just drawing what ever you see in your head. im positive theres an unwrittendoctrine to it, a theory that must be applied to distinguish a concept above others. when i look through my concept art booksi see patterns emerge that i wouldnt have considered by my self. i wonder, must i learn to be all this by the time im outlooking for a job in the industry or do these artists learn these valuable lessons as they progress from one job to another,like experience?

I was contacted a while ago on deviant art by some guy, cant remember his name, about working on a non profit game project.they had their heads screwed the right way round and seemed to be pretty co-herent, but i found that i didnt have the time and even now between university, socialising and working upon my own visual projects i dont know if i could dedicate my selfto that project. but im wondering, do i have to do these projects to gain that experience and understand how the mechanics work?or should i put my faith in my education and hope that it steers me well and leads me out the other side confident, capableand facing the right way? to be honest, i have my doubts about the course im on, as everyone does, but what makes me worryis that its a lack of confidence the teaching programme its self. not sure, would love it if some one from the top came to my humble little blog and gave me a little answer at least, but the reality is im going to have to find the answers my self i think.

Divum

Still carrying on with uni work, and thats about it for the moment, might be going to france in april to have a look round the galleries for the week end.

Divum Carnero is a large arial herbivore from the planet Dwarf Blue, neighbouring Belkin. Dwarf Blue's low gravity has allowed life forms to develope bizzare means of locomotion, with many creatures taking to the skies permenantly.

My Fellow Artist.

One of my best freind's has now started his own blog after I've been hounding him to do so for about a year. Anyway hes got it running and its brilliant to see some of his work, most of which Ive only glimpsed in crappy mobile phone shots.




For anyone whos interested in the 'fine art' side of life or just appreciates good expressionism I recommend taking a look at his blog, beautiful yet sublimely disturbing paintings.



I did a colouring of a sketch from his book, the pose and the look on the figures face just drew me in.

Anyway visit his blog, http://thethoughtsoffelixsmith.blogspot.com/

Arboreal Floravore.

I did absailing at university in the week, they'd set up shop for the day and it was £1.50 to go down the side of a 5 storey building on the campus, at that price I couldnt really say no. It was scary waiting around at the top (didnt help that I could see for miles around) but as I lent backwards I found it was a very differnt experiance than what I was expecting, it was good fun. Deffinitely reccomend it if you get the chance.

This critter is an arboreal floravore, whereas species such as Deloricatus and Hippasuchus are strictly terrestrial animals, Brontus Brontus tends to lead a more vertical existence as it feeds from the parasitic flowers that grow upon larger flora, these parasitic flowers tend to be much more nutritous than the normal terrestrial flora, which is an added benefit considering the much more active life style of B. Brontus.

B. Brontus is also a notable fauna for its symbiotic relationship with its flora diet, B. Brontus is equipped with a pair of trendils that are specially adapted to carry the pollen of parasitic flowers from host to host. Although all floravores do to some extent carry out this pollination indirectly, B. Brontus is the only known species with a anatomical conscience towards the preservation and reproduction of its diet.

In return for this specialised job, B. Brontus recieves certain toxins from its symbiotic partners which are utilised as a glandular secretion which is produced when B. Brontus is distressed, this form of toxic defence is quite common amongst many amphibians on earth, how ever on Belkin the use of Toxins as a defence mechanism is quite rare.

New House.

Moved house a few weeks ago and had no internet, that modern gateway to the world of the secluded and technologically dependant western people. Anyway Ive got it back now. Our latest project at uni is to re-design our campus as a campaign or multiplayer map for a game, Ive decided to go with a modernised building similar to the style of Mass Effect but I also want to incorporate areas of the map that have been taken over by shanty sort of slums. I like maps with contrasting scenery, the possibilities of ambush and changing enviroment tend to keep me on my guard as opposed to a map like 'Valhalla' in the halo 3 multiplayer.

Anyway heres another beast from the lush and tropical world of belkin. Like Hipasuchus, Loricatus Nutritor feeds on an exclusive flora based diet, more specifically nectar which has a higher energy content.