Between Frames

[Hamsta]

Round 3.

Why have I spent so much time on a ho-hum concept? :|

[Hamsta]

Finished things.

First, Scapanus latimanus..
Scientific illustration of the skeleton of the broad-footed mole, done for the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley.

Second, Choleric's final animation.

[Hamsta]

Gun silhouettes for my new concept art project.
Guns using cola as a power source are bound to be comical, right?

[Hamsta]

Letting the cat out of the bag.

I am doing redesigns for Captain Comic.

Inspiration, from left: Original cover for CC2 Spacesuit, and motorcycle body armor.

[Big Orange]

You're getting much better at drawing figures.

[Hamsta]

Thanks Big Orange
Environment value studies, trying to direct the eye through the jungle to the tower(s) the way a player would through the game.



In my last anime con (which happened to be Fanime) I finally got the courage to ask a couple (and I do mean 2) of the girls for pictures. I had a very specific goal in mind coming from noticing that non of the artists at any con I've been to had painted the cosplayers themselves.

Bekalou as Maeda Keiji for my proof of concept.



And on a sillier note, but still related to con experience, where gender bending and anthropomorphizing are popular

[Hamsta]

2 more Nrober value studies, challenging myself to explore more than usual.



But before I decide what I would work on, I felt I would benefit from switching to something else, so I started working on some rogue plants, based on the first enemies you encounter in CC2

[AllyAlbon]

Hey Hamsta, just looked through your whole sketchbook - looking good, the love is definately there! I would suggest though, that if you are thinking of breaking into games, to try and do a few more finished, polished pieces - characters, environments etc.

Love your zoology stuff - the skeleton of the mole is really good.

[Hamsta]

Thanks for stopping by AllyAlbon Getting that final polish has always been the hardest part for me, but something I'm working on.

Here's something I did for my business card and facebook/Google+/blogspot cover photos. Going by the comments I got via my social networks, it'll work better than what I currently have on the back of my business card.



I also came back to the Captain, picking my favorite thumbnails and bits I liked, and trying out some color themes.

[Hamsta]

Been working on a CC environment, a little at a time, but in the meantime, I've also done a few other quick things when I needed a break or felt extra productive.

[Hamsta]

Alright, back to Captain Comic progress.

Finished the environment, dubbing it Monument Valley (unless anyone has critique before I print it out?)

Also started working on the Skrejgib. It was a struggle to come up with something that looks less like a man with a fox head, but I think it's starting to click in the busts.

[Hamsta]

Scrappy has been rebooted, members of the team have left, some permanently, others (like I will soon) have physically moved, but are generally still on board, and some I'm not sure about out.
We are reworking much of what we have done, currently focusing on story.

We have also added a new member, another artist, who made a few concept art compositions. Since our other artist was so excited about these, I got a little jealous, and figured I would do a few comps of my own to inspire and get a discussion going.
These are quick enviros to show what a terraforming operation might look like, as per Scrappy's new role.



In other news, I finished the Blastola Blaster, a handheld weapon that turns a delicious soft drink into deadly plasma. Makes sense.

[Hamsta]

Back to work on the Skrejgib.
Figuring out body anatomy and doing a color and fool the Captain into doing our bidding expression test.

[Hamsta]

The finest in Skrejgib fashion.
Concept followed by final design. (Which has a little lean I only noticed when I flipped the image when I was done )

[Hamsta]

Been far too long since I've done art.
Left the US, gone through Germany to volunteer at GDC Europe, which gave me free access to Gamescom, it was amazing, and I would love to repeat the experience, but I came back home exhausted and art wasn't a priority.
Now I'm back in Israel, with mom constantly riding my ass to find a job, but on the plus side, I have access to a desktop PC, that gives me more options, although it wasn't bleeding edge when my dad bought it years ago.

Anyway this is just a quickie, messing around with shapes to see what comes out in my newly installed trial of Photoshop CS6.

[Hamsta]

God, when was the last time I updated things?
With the website going through an upheaval and me being back in Israel I guess it makes sense.
Here's a dump of stuff I've been working on lately.

Filled a page with some monster doodles, and figured it would be fun to so studies of the animals I was inspired by.


I also started doing painting to podcasts: Armin Van Buuren's State of Trance, and the Armada music podcast. The limited time ~15-30 minutes, keeps me motivated, pushes me to work faster and explore new ideas, with the added bonus of hearing some good trance

These are just a few examples.

[Hamsta]

Where was I? No love in the dsb since DSG have become so infrequent.

Finished the monster studies, start a board game design project, still plugging away on the podcast speed painting, and unemployed, so thinking of returning to the US for an advanced degree (with a shining to UW's MSIM.)

[Hamsta]

Logged in for national self portrait day, might as well update the DSB with my board game progress.
More aiship silhouetted (because side views are boring) and contraband card sketches.

[Hamsta]

Sketches for my final 3 cards, the MiG-17 is a study from photo ref and the rest are more of the daily speed paints, plus a reworking.

[Hamsta]

1. Complete DSG
2. Dump podcast speed paints on DSB



3.Ramble for a bit: Did an art test for ZeptoLab. Took far too long on it, which didn't help, but I don't think I had much of a chance, what with the job being in Russia and all.
Found a website offering game industry internships in France, been sending out cover letters, the usual response so far, mostly no replies and a few rejections.

[Hamsta]

I did the vectors for the first card.
Thinking about adding texture and working on line quality, but the project is on hiatus since my PC decided it tired of living.



Studies



Speed paints.

[Hamsta]

More of the Speeds. Now I put them up on youtube too, at http://www.youtube.com/user/hamsta180



and a study.

[Hamsta]

Speed paints:


One I thought had more potential so I put in a few more hours into it. It could use more, but I'm not sure I'll do it, I feel like I learned a lot as is.



Some concept art, since it's been ages, and some sketches to be used as custom brushes, as shown in one of Scott Robertson's Youtube tutorials.



I participated in the 5th Global Game Jam, and have to sort through all my material before I post.

[Hamsta]

A quick update on the work I did over the weekend for Global Game Jam 2013. I found myself a team to work with, starting with concept art for a platformer that would eventually be titled HELP, and continuing to making other assets such as the background, platforms and character animations.

[Big Orange]

You've really grown as an artist this past year.

[Hamsta]

Thanks, Big Orange, must be all that free time looking for a job.

Thought it would be a good idea to make my own game. It's a fairly simple idea, and should be doable if I really put my mind to it and focus, which is a huge struggle for me, and just one of the many good reasons I refuse to freelance at the moment.
Here's some of the concept art I came up with.



And the usual speed paint dump.

[Hamsta]

Speed Paints:


Study:


Just for fun:


Painting timed for longer podcasts, the first just under an hour, the second is two:


Techno Chicken 11 was too short for my test, and I still had a lot of "drawing juice" wanting to come out, so I put another 10-15 min into it, which so it still qualifies it as a speed painting:

[Hamsta]

Coming back to this sb after weeks of inactivity is painful. Always a ton of art to sort through.

Motivated by one of my speed paints (The succubus I'll be posting further down the post) I decided to get back into full blown concept art, starting with a portrait, an unusual move for me, but one which I think provided some satisfactory results in the form of this blind seer (as cliche as that is.)
Aside from the character, I also did some work figuring out the sort of environment she might be found in, and focused on her can as some prop design, which lead to the creation of a mythological beast - Leoptiofis.



Speed paint dump:

[Hamsta]

Reworking an older speed paint I felt didn't get enough love (not that this had better success


Something quick in Painter, which I rarely use these days:


Study from a photo I took at St. Patrick's day 2012 at Dublin, California, which I don't know if I have any more patience for:



And the usual speed paint dump to slow down loading: