Mythical Creature Sculpture

Ok, so this was my very last project from 3D Design class and from Art Fundamentals itself. We had to create a mythical creature by combining at least 3 different animals...in this case, it's a horse (legs), human (body), mountain goat (horns) and bat (wings). This creature is called the "Ultioman," which comes from the Latin word "ultionem," meaning revenge/vengeance. 

First I created the skeletal structure out of wire, then I placed some aluminium foil on top of that, and then I used Super Sculpey modeling clay to create the form. I used a toothpick for some of the fine details, as you can see in the 4th and 5th pictures. After I was done with the modeling, I baked it and painted it. Most of the inspiration from this character was from Lord of the Rings (another one of my most favourite movies). 

It turned out quite well, (yes, there are a few technical errors and such) but overall, I was very pleased with myself for having created this amazing looking creature.

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So this is the last work from my Art Fundamentals collection, and I hope you enjoyed looking at all my artwork! Should you have any questions, comments, feedback, or want to see some more of my work, post a comment on my blog!

Don't forget to follow me at the side ---->

Thanks,

~Anim8r X

3D Shoe Transformation

This was probably one of the most "funnest" projects that was assigned to us in 3D Design class. We were supposed to choose a piece of music and then apply the "mood of the music" to the design of a shoe. I know, it sounds complicated. For my piece of music I chose "Calypso" by Hans Zimmer (only because I'm extremely obsessed with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Hans Zimmer's legendary music!) You can listen to the soundtrack here (look at the shoes while listening): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyPa4SHxI7c

What was challenging was that we had to use REAL shoes, and create something on top of that. I wanted to work with stiletto heels because I thought it matched the perfect attitude of the Calypso theme.

1. First, I covered each shoe (it was a pair of shoes that we had to work on...therefore 2 shoes, not 1) entirely with newspaper and tape so as not to damage the black, velvety suede material underneath. 

2. Next I coated the shoes with 2 layers of gesso and then used plasticine bandages to create the 3D forms (the tentacles and coral reef).

3. Finally, I painted over the shoes and added a real starfish to the front. (I didn't add anything to the inside of the shoes, so that they can still be worn with the designs on them).

I think it turned out extremely well and I'm happy that all my hard work payed off in the end! 

A big thanks to Hans Zimmer for inspiring me through his wonderful music! :D

Sheridan College - Architecture Drawing

We had to draw any building/house for this project, and so I thought to myself, "Why not draw my own college?" Yes, it is a very complex building, but it looked so nice that I just HAD to draw it. This was the SCAET Building as part of the Oakville Campus. I first drew the whole thing in pencil, then drew another version with technical pen, black ink.

We also needed to include at least one figure in proportion to our building, so I took a picture and used that for reference when drawing the 3 figures in my composition. I added some tree branches as a sort of "frame" just to make the drawing look a little more appealing and complete.

I'm proud to have studied in this college, at this beautiful, large campus.
I'm gonna miss you Sheridan!

Chair Design

This was the final project of our Drawing Systems class, in which we had to create our own chair. I wanted mine to be very organic, very tree-like (I got some inspiration from Lord of the Rings - Treebeard). The chair is called "Trans Plant," as it resembles a plant-like appearance, and you can take it apart as well. The tall "tree trunk" is the support for the chair, while the "leaf pod" is where you sit.

We had to draw 3 orthographic drawings (front, side and top views) with measurements, and then a "beauty drawing" (the 3/4 view shown at the top of the drawing).

I'm very happy with the outcome and I wish this could be made into a real chair someday!

Life Painting

Ok, so I'm not as experienced in painting as I am in drawing, but I've gotta say that this was probably my best painting of the year. I only managed to finish painting half the model's body in one session, so I had to "memorize" the rest on my own (unfortunately there was no reference picture we could look at). Other than the foot being a bit too small, I think the rest of the body is quite well in proportion and the colours go together well (the body stands out against the green cloth and the soft, warm, greyish background).

So I know it's not perfect, but coming from a guy who has very little painting experience, I'd say it looks quite nice!

Full Studio Drawing

This was the final project of the year in Life Drawing class, and it probably took me the most time to do. Getting the proportions right is one thing, but then you have to colour everything after that! (So it took twice as long to get it done). The studio was set up with real props along with the model sitting in the middle of the stage, and we had to draw EVERYTHING that came in our vision. Again, this was done entirely with pencil crayons on green mayfair paper (so it was very hard to erase something incase you made a mistake).

It was more time-consuming than it was difficult, and some things could have been a little better (some of the proportions, highlights and shadows), but it turned out pretty good in the end. 

Project Big Foot!

This was quite exciting to draw as we got to use our foreshortening abilities to the max! The model was actually sitting very high (about 9-10 feet high) so the reference helped me create that huge, giant look. The foot is grossly exaggerated (which is the entire goal of the project), while the hands are much smaller and the head and torso are the smallest.

After drawing, we had to colour, which was also lots of fun but took a very, very long time to do (layers upon layers, crosshatching, shading, etc.). Essentially whatever is closest to you is warmer (hence a red-ish, bronze colour scheme for the feet and legs) and whatever is farther away from you is cooler (hence a blue-ish, aqua colour scheme for the hands and upper body).

I'd say if it wasn't for the colouring, it wouldn't look half as appealing as it does now.

Still Life - Marker Drawing

We needed to use any 2 personal objects, so I chose my favourite watch and my favourite pair of eyeglasses. The composition actually symbolizes the theme of "working against time."

This assignment was unique because we got to use a new medium - markers! It was quite different from working with any other medium, but I got used to it after a few hours of practise. The details in the watch are done in colour pencil, while everything else is done with greyscale markers.
(The composition actually looks like a watercolour painting, doesn't it?)

I was able to achieve a nice, almost-realistic effect (the glasses turned out well, the watch could have been more circular-shaped). But a great work of art, and I'm quite happy with it :D

Perspective Room Drawing

Although this was terribly rushed, it turned out rather well for something I didn't spend too much time on.
The entire drawing was done in technical pen, 2 point perspective. I basically took a picture of someone's living room and used that as reference to create the final drawing. I went crazy with the texturing part (the brick wall, table cloth, carpet and couch).

And that's pretty much all I can say about this drawing :)

Household Objects Drawing

This turned out extremely well and looks quite realistic from a certain angle. We had to find and draw 4 household objects that demonstrated the characteristics of a sphere, cylinder, box and cone. In my drawing, you can see a teapot (sphere), pepper grinder (cylinder), small glass bottle (box) and plastic funnel (cone). We first had to do a rough drawing of the objects, then a simplified, neat line drawing (with the structure shown), then a rough shading breakdown (of where the highlights and shadows fell) and lastly the final, good copy drawing (which you can see above). 

Notice the detailing in the reflection on the teapot and the tiny fruit pieces in the glass jar.

It was a fun project and the end result was very rewarding :)

Self Portrait Painting

...And then after drawing our self portraits we had to paint our self portraits! (I'd have to say that drawing my self portrait was MUCH easier than painting it). In terms of colour, shadows and highlights I think it's pretty good. However the lips can be a little less thick and the nose can be brought down a bit. Other than that I think it was a good attempt of painting myself, considering I've never done this before in my life!

(If you look at the painting from a landscape view, it looks much more like me as opposed to a portrait view! lol)

Self Portrait Xray Drawing

So this is pretty much the same effect as the Hand Xray Drawing except this is a self portrait, done in Semester 2. I'd say this was slightly more challenging, as it was tough to draw my face on paper the way I see it in real life. The skull was also quite difficult to draw, as there are so many features and proportions to calculate (to make sure it fits like a glove over the first drawing). 

However, in the end I was very much satisfied with my work. 

Hand Xray Drawing

As soon as this project was assigned to the class, I was extremely excited and started to work on it right away. First of all, I love drawing hands, and to combine the skin anatomy with the bone structure underneath is such a cool effect! 

The composition is combined of 2 layers - on the bottom is the bone layer (drawn on mayfair paper) and over it is the skin layer (drawn on mylar - a translucent, glossy tear-proof material). We had to choose a position for which to draw our hand (yes, this was my very own hand I was drawing!) along with an object. In this case I was holding a card with a piano pattern on it.

It was quite fun studying the different bones in the hand, and it was interesting to draw what my actual bones might've looked like. Yes, it was a very long, tedious process but as always (well almost always) the hard work and long hours payed off and I am content with the outcome :D

3D Cardboard Self Portrait

Ok...all I can say is...I tried. 

We had to create a self portrait with nothing but cardboard and hot glue. After spending several hours on this, unfortunately all that hard work didn't pay off in the end, as this doesn't really look anything like me (lol). However it was interesting in the sense that I learned to create 3D art with a new medium - cardboard, and I just thought that it would be nice to share this with others.

Nevertheless, to this day I HATE cardboard... lol

2D Design - Gestalt Animal Painting

This is probably my best painting from 2D design class. (I spent WAY too much time on this!) The assignment was to choose an animal (cheetah being my favourite), and using borders, patterns, symbols and recurring shapes we had to create a balanced composition. This was quite challenging in a way because we had to combine all that we'd learned in the 1st semester and apply it to this final project. 

Again, I created an optical illusion effect that camouflaged the cheetah with hundreds of spots, and this was done entirely with gouache. The first picture (top) is the entire composition, and the one on the bottom is a close up of the detail. Overall I was very pleased with the way this turned out!

Can you find the Map of Africa and 4 hidden African symbols?

Shoe Design

This was a small assignment, took me less than an hour to paint (with gouache). We were given several pictures of shoes, and out of these we had to pick one picture to work on. We then had to add some design/personality to the shoe and transform it into a painting. I chose a zebra skin winter boot and decided to camouflage it with a zebra background (like an optical illusion). Though I hardly spent much time on this, the end result was very rewarding!

Can you find the boot?

Canada Project

This was basically a tribute to my country, Canada. We were instructed to create a composition about Canada - I focused on the topic of multiculturalism/diversity. Canada is known for its many nationalities, and I think it's safe to say that at least one person from every country in the world is living in Canada today. The entire thing is HAND PAINTED in gouache (yes, all those little flags, too - took me about a full day) and I managed to paint almost every country in the world onto this illustration board.

Can you find your country?

2D Design - Abstract Composition

We had to create an abstract composition combining line, shape and texture. Done with black gouache on bond paper. (For those of you who don't know what gouache is, it's like watercolour paints except it has chalk mixed into it, thus making it opaque with a very smooth, velvety feel). 

Colour Theory - Playing with Colour Schemes

The top left image is the original. We had to convert the original image into various colour schemes: greyscale, negative, monochromatic, high key and analogous. Everything is done in acrylic paint on illustration board. 

Art Fundamentals Work - Sheridan College

Ok, so I will be posting some of the best works from my year of study (2010-2011) in Art Fundamentals at Sheridan College (as a review to get an idea of what I've studied and learned at Sheridan).

Keep in mind that this is NOT ALL of the art work I have created, but only the most successful; a collection of my best works from the program.

I'm open to any comments and helpful feedback :)
Enjoy!

~Anim8r X

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello Everyone, and welcome to my blog!

Today, I start a new journey.

This is my very first blog, & it will be used for observing my progress as an animator through the course of my study at MUBC (read my profile for more info).

There will be many obstacles on the way, some awesome moments, and some not-so-good moments. However, at the end of this road, I will look back and see how much I have learned, and how much better I have become as an artist and animator.

So who will join me on this exciting new journey? Please follow my blog and add your name to the list :)

I hope you enjoy it!

(Comments and helpful feedback are always appreciated!)

Thanks,

~Anim8r X