Some cool sites I've come by and other things.

For anyone interested, here are some cool art blogs and websites I've stumbled upon whule surfing the net:

http://sparthconstruct.blogspot.com/ This artist is probably the best I've seen when it comes to futuristic cityscapes and machinery. He especially has a greater sense of scope than I've seen with other artists, creating worlds so vast you couldn't possibly hope to process all their information in your feeble human brain while maintaining a strict sense of geometry. I first found out about him when io9 did an article on the cover for a new Halo novel by Greg Bear. I've never checked out Halo, and my knowledge of video games isn't as strong as your average art student (I'm more of a book and film buff), but I really enjoyed the cover image and I just had to check the artist out. Turns out he's done a lot of game artwork as well as book covers, including a nice "Dune" tribute.

http://www.creaturespot.com/ Offers a wonderful selection of monster designs from various fantasy artists, from Tolkienesque Orcs to Lovercraftian monstrosities. Some of the artists on this site are also featured in a new book coming out called "White Cloud Worlds" (below) which features the work of artists from New Zealand, a few of which worked on "King Kong" and "Lord of the Rings."

White Cloud Worlds is published by Haper Collins New Zealand, just so noone thinks I'm plagarizing.

http://illustrateurs.blogspot.com/2010/03/science-fiction-art-3.html?zx=873b0142a0d903f A French website which also features work from various people but instead focuses on sci fi in general with art both old and new that has a wonderful retro feel to it.

Also, in time for Halloween, the website Pink Tentacle recently posted some wonderful images by Japanese artist Tatsuya Morino, who is probably best known in the states for the cartoonish art in "Yokai Attack!" These are a rare departure as they feature characters from US and European gothic horror instead, including Frankenstein and Dracula but also rarely known works such as "War with the Newts" and "The Terror of Blue John Gap." Check them out if you want your day made: http://pinktentacle.com/2010/10/gothic-horror-illustrations-by-tatsuya-morino/

Before I go I'd also like to declare my love for the cheesy 1970 gem "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" which is probably one of the greatest B-movies ever. Watch the trailer on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXX5EFQAV48 Cheese factor and cave women aside, it bosts the most epic stop-motion dinosaur effects on screen not created by Ray Harryhausen, even though it's a sequel to his "One Million Years BC." I'd even go so far as to commnit heresy and say they're even better because their limbs actually blur when they move just like in real life, something Harryhausen's beasts never did. The plot isn't even that important, something about blondes being sacrificed to the sun to keep away dinosaurs and the moon gets made somehow. It's all about the dinosaurs. My favorites are the captured plesiosaur near the beginning and the giant green carnivorous dinosaur which ends up befriending the heroine. The pterodactyl ain't bad either. 

Anyway that's about all I wanted to say. I''ve got some more art projects to post in the coming days and "Crocazill" is still moving along at its own steady pace. Until next time, then.

Creepy Birthday Card

Part of the same project as the vampire card. On the inside it says "In dog years, you'd be 210."

Vampire Card

Damn this is ugly. Then again this is based on a photo of me so of course it is.

Part of a project for Humourous where we had to design greeting cards. On the inside it says "Have a Fang-tastic Halloween!"

Our teacher said "fang-tastic" for the rest of the class, which earned him many a sour look.

By the way, since this is a vampire pic I feel it would be right to say here that I do not approve of the sparkly variety in the least. Go team Dracula!

Dear Dean Cornwell and J. C. Leyndecker,

I humbly apologize for creating these bastardizations of your artwork. Please forgive me, as it was for an assignment. Hopefully one day, if need be, I can do better.

My attempt at landscape painting

I'm not very good with oils. I like this one because it's not an ugly blob like the rest of my oil paintings. Oil dires too slow, gauche dries too fast. That makes me an acrylics man, I guess.

Oid design

Presenting for your consideration: an Oid, a prominent monster in the first Crocazill story arc. How big is it? To give you an idea, Crocazill is about six foot four and even he only comes up to a head above the first eye.

Extremely tough, they were the dominant predators on their planet, and Crocazill and Skylla had their work cut out when they were stranded there. But with the world's destruction, the Oids were brought to earth, hiding in fragments of their former home.

Although originally I had the Skullweeds as the Oid's main prey, I decided to make it so that they were the larval stage, because I think they're too cool to appear only in flashback and it was easier to come up with a design for the Oids that way. Though Oids do still eat them. Oids eat anything, really.

See, Skullweeds are kind of like a living eggshell. They serve as a vessel where the adult grows inside, then when they grow to be about twice as large they crack open, hatching an Oid.

Sketch Dump mini