Brett's Blog

Vikings!

2012-02-28T11:06:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, here are some designs we're currently working on.

I've been watching a lot of Ren & Stimpy, Samurai Jack and Foster's Home lately so you may see a bit of that spilling into these. I'll be sure to post the screen recordings in next month's "Tinman in Review - March 2012" video.

Red Samurai WIP

2012-02-06T17:51:00.004-05:00

Here are some shots from a short I'm working on. Since college I've been redesigning a red samurai with a fiery sword every couple of years. This year I'm animating it. It's still pretty far off, but should be done this week.

Alien Redesign

2012-01-22T15:44:00.005-05:00

This is a redesign of a character I did shortly after college. I always really liked it, and thought it could use a bit of a face-lift.

New Design

Original Design - April 2005

Fun Illo

2012-01-15T00:21:00.004-05:00

Here's one that's done in a bit of a different style for me. I might do a few more like this. I also animated this, which you'll be able to see on the Tinman Creative reel when we launch at the end of this month.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-23T16:01:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a stellar 2011! See you all next year!

Tinman Promo Art

2011-12-16T17:30:00.001-05:00

Here's some promo art for Tinman Creative I'm working on.

Cineplex Holiday Greeting

2011-12-14T14:24:00.004-05:00

Here's a project we worked on at Tinman. Hope you like it!

Portrait

2011-12-13T13:09:00.003-05:00

Here's a portrait I did for a friend of mine, Cory Skaaren. He runs the Dignified Devil blog.

Tinman Animated Short - Preview

2011-12-12T17:39:00.002-05:00

Here's a preview of one of the projects we're working on at Tinman Creative. The final will be released in January alongside our official launch.

Dignified Devil - November

2011-11-14T13:44:00.002-05:00

Here's my November illustration for The Dignified Devil.

Tintin

2011-10-31T12:00:00.000-04:00

I took part in Toronto Draws Tintin. Here are a couple versions of my submission.

The Dignified Devil

2011-09-05T12:03:00.004-04:00

Here's an illustration I did for The Dignified Devil. Head on over there to read the corresponding article and many other manly writings.

Zombie

2011-08-29T14:06:00.000-04:00

Just a fun sketch I did over the weekend...

Andy

2011-08-10T20:00:00.002-04:00

Exhibitionist

2011-08-09T00:29:00.002-04:00

Here's a digital painting I put together today. Pretty happy with it. Gave it a title and everything..

Also, here is a work-in-progress on another one I'm putting together.

Falling

2011-08-08T17:49:00.002-04:00

Just a quick piece today. Wanted to do something with an odd perspective, involving a bit of motion.

Old Woodland Fairy

2011-08-04T17:54:00.003-04:00

Got a little further on this design. Still not quite done yet, but it's getting there. The idea for this character is that he's a very aged forest spirit. His wings are all tattered, and he is the colour of autumn approaching winter.

Interview - The Skaaren Design Blog

2011-08-04T13:08:00.002-04:00

Was interviewed by Cory Skaaren for The Skaaren Design Blog. You can check out the interview here!

Also, here's a new design I've got in the works. It's a re-imagining of an old character I came up with a long time ago.

Sketching with Ink & Paint

2011-07-27T15:32:00.002-04:00

I've started sketching with ink (no pencil). I've found I'm getting far more interesting work now that I have to dive right in, and that I'm unable to erase or undo. Did a bit of painting today too. Haven't done that in years, but it's something I've been meaning to get into.

Off to Ireland

2011-06-16T00:59:00.004-04:00

I'm going to be in London, Ireland and Belgium for the next two weeks gathering design reference for a project that I've been production designing. I'm going to try and squeeze a bit of fun in too..

Baboon Detective

2011-05-17T16:45:00.002-04:00

Here's my finished baboon detective. He doesn't ... monkey around ... when it comes to crime. Classic. Classic.

Consuela

2011-05-17T15:10:00.002-04:00

I sketched this on the weekend while watching 'Zardoz', and then painted it today. It's possible that it's loosely based on Charlotte Rampling, who played 'Consuela'.

Final Dragon

2011-05-13T17:03:00.005-04:00

Here's the final dragon, as well as a work-in-progress baboon detective I started today.

Dragon WIP 2

2011-05-12T15:59:00.000-04:00

Still chipping away at this one. I think the left side is mostly done, just working on the girl now.

Dragon WIP

2011-05-11T16:24:00.000-04:00

Here's the work-in-progress of a two-page spread that I'm working on. Dragons have always been a challenge for me, and I'm happy this one turned out.

Comic Book Style

2011-05-10T10:57:00.004-04:00

Here's the final of the kick illustration, as well as another quick character I did. I'm enjoying working in this style quite a bit, although I may try to add a bit of a painted/watercolour look to it moving forward.

Work-in-Progress

2011-05-06T16:40:00.001-04:00

Here's a wip illustration I'm working on.

Art of Brett 2011

2011-05-04T00:09:00.002-04:00

Here's the work-in-progress cover for the portfolio book I'm currently assembling.

One more Zbrush sculpt...

2011-04-28T15:58:00.002-04:00

Here's one more zbrush model. I wanted to do something really fast so I could practice quick sculpting. From tip-to-tail he took 3 hours. No pre-existing design.

Sad Man Sculpt

2011-04-28T09:58:00.001-04:00

Did a Zbrush sculpt loosely based on my Sad Man design.

Sad Man

2011-04-04T12:25:00.002-04:00

Here's a design I finished up today. Hope you like it!

Some Painty Designs

2011-03-31T17:12:00.002-04:00

Finished up that samurai I was working on. I went a bit too far with the textures, so I had to reel them in. Also a painting of some wanky guy smoking his cigarette.

Digital Paint Practice

2011-03-29T16:06:00.002-04:00

I've been practicing some digital painting. The pose for this one was taken from a 13 Assassins poster.

Here's an update:

More Style Frames

2011-03-06T23:43:00.003-05:00

Here are some more style frames from the documentary. I'm also wrapping up some pre-production work on a stop motion animated feature. It's definitely the best work I've ever done, so I'm hoping to be able to share some of it soon.

Guerrilla

2011-03-01T23:16:00.002-05:00

Here's a styleframe I did for a potential upcoming project.

Succubus

2011-02-01T14:34:00.001-05:00

Kind of a fashion/fantasy sort of thing..

Quick Character Design

2011-01-23T00:46:00.001-05:00

Quick character design before bed. He's based on every coach I've ever had for every sport I've ever played.

Last Painting

2011-01-22T18:59:00.002-05:00

One more painting...

Painting

2011-01-22T14:06:00.003-05:00

Here's another painting. I gotta stop doing these different styles two at a time and then moving on..

Quick Painting Before Bed

2011-01-22T01:26:00.002-05:00

Started sketching a little too late and got some lines that were working for me. Had to paint it up. I'm not ashamed that I had Black Eyed Peas on loop while I was doing this too. G'night.

Round Headed Boy 2

2011-01-21T23:34:00.003-05:00

Wasn't entirely happy with this one so I made a few tweaks. Added some wear to the hat, gave him a neck and made his hands a bit smaller. I also gave him a better mouth expression and put the eyelid on his eye that I'd forgotten.

Round Headed Boy

2011-01-21T17:05:00.003-05:00

Here's another painterly design I did. Not a monster this time. Well ... I suppose that depends on how you look at it.

Another Painterly Monster

2011-01-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

Here's another one...

Painterly Monster

2011-01-20T14:12:00.003-05:00

I've seen this painted style kicking around a lot more recently. I know it's in every 'Art of...' book that Pixar releases, so I thought I'd give it a go and see if I could do it. I'm really happy with the amount of character you get out of it. I'll be doing more of these for sure.

Smoking Zombie - Final

2011-01-14T12:28:00.003-05:00

I added some more highlights and put a matte around the image. Might make a good poster, I dunno.

Re-do

2011-01-12T17:55:00.004-05:00

Here's an old piece of art I did a few years ago that I liked but it's kind of dated now so I fixed it up.

2011

2006

Old Art That Holds Up

2011-01-11T15:40:00.006-05:00

I was looking through some old backup CD's and came across a few gems. These are all from around 2005.

Angry Birds

2011-01-08T12:47:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time coming, but I finally got every star on every level of Angry Birds.

Cover

2011-01-05T11:35:00.002-05:00

This is the cover for a comic book a friend of mine Cory Skaaren developed. We started doing the comic a couple years ago but then got away from it. I wanted to get this much of it done at least..

Quick Character Design

2011-01-02T01:01:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of characters I'm working on. Didn't get through them like I wanted to. This is the last of my holiday artwork. Back to doing freelance stuff that I can't show.

Ol' Illustrative Style

2011-01-01T19:16:00.006-05:00

I got nostalgic for the style I used to illustrate in a few years ago so I whipped up this piece. I remembered why I don't do too many like this one any more. There's not a lot of actual artistic creativity that goes into it. It's more tricks of the trade to make it look good. That being said, this is the most marketable style I've had as far as illustration work goes.

And here's the original sketch:

I might do an opposite to this with a guy on the other side.

Holiday Rough Sketches

2010-12-31T01:29:00.001-05:00

Here are some rough sketches I did this holiday. I usually don't show my roughs at this stage because they're very veeeery rough. I'm probably going to be taking one or two of these a bit further before I get back to work on some freelance projects. Stay tuned to see how much they change.

More progress on the model..

2010-12-29T11:03:00.000-05:00

I started learning how to pelt, so it shouldn't be long before I get some proper textures on this guy. Also that hair is temporary. I'm still trying to decide how I want to tackle that.

3D Model

2010-12-24T01:45:00.001-05:00

It's very early days on this model, but you can get a sense of how it'll look. I'll post my progress.

Work-In-Progress Concept Art

2010-12-21T19:02:00.000-05:00

Haven't been able to do a ton of drawing lately. Holiday stuff. Here's a piece of concept art I've been chipping away at though.

Initial Sketch
This is the initial sketch I scan into the computer. There's usually a bit of finessing and adjusting in Photoshop to make sure the proportions are working.

Colour & Texture
I set the layer style of the sketch to 'multiply' and then paint some base colour underneath. I also overlay any textures I need. In this case I did some cloth textures for his clothing.

Highlights & Occlusion
To push the darks and lights, I draw over the sketch using black and white, which I then set to 'overlay'. This will brighten or darken any colour beneath it.

Shadows
I paint in some shadows, lower the opacity and set the layer to 'multiply'.

Side Highlights and Additional Details
I add the side highlights, some hair on his head and face and some imperfections to his skin.

Still a ways to go on this one before it's done. I'm going to chip away at it further over the holidays, but will most-likely come back to it after moving on to some other things.

Nudie 2

2010-12-16T00:22:00.001-05:00

Another pretty lady in nothing but socks and underwear.

Scribble

2010-12-16T00:20:00.000-05:00

A really loose sketch with just a marker (no pencil first).

Nudie!

2010-12-14T22:36:00.001-05:00

I'd like to think she's adjusting her underwear in the back there.

Christmas Card!

2010-12-13T18:06:00.001-05:00

Self Portrait

2010-12-13T18:04:00.001-05:00

I haven't done one of these in a while, and truth be told they haven't exactly been the most honest looks in the mirror either. I think this one is pretty spot on though..

Little Monster

2010-12-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a little monster sketch I did.

Hottie with a gun

2010-12-05T22:55:00.000-05:00

A couple more sketches..

2010-12-05T01:43:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple more. I think I'm going to stick with this colour combo for at least another three or four and then I might switch it up.

Monster Sketch

2010-12-04T13:30:00.001-05:00

Here's a sketch of a little monster I came up with a while back.

Playing with Perspective 2

2010-12-04T13:26:00.001-05:00

Another couple of sketches using extreme/warped perspective.

God of War?

2010-12-02T12:16:00.000-05:00

Here's a sketch I did a while back. Kinda looks like God of War maybe?

Playing with Perspective

2010-12-02T12:04:00.001-05:00

I did these on the plane ride home from the Dominican this October. I normally find it difficult to let go and really play with perspective like this. It must have been the week of relaxing by the ocean and pool. Opened up my brain pores.

Tough Lookin Characters

2010-12-02T11:25:00.001-05:00

The two on the right are designs I did a while back for a great CG guy named Chris Nelder out of the east coast. The one on the left is a sketch I did the other day.

Angel Design

2010-12-02T11:19:00.000-05:00

I'm currently working on a feature, and incorporating a collage technique into the designs I'm doing for it. This is an example I did yesterday.

New Blog!

2010-12-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. I've got a new blog!

Now I know that my attempts at maintaining an ongoing blog in the past have been less than consistent, but that's all going to change. Keep a look out for lots of new artwork.