World Domination Defeated By Ubuntu

I just love seeing open source products competing in the mainstream with corporates. Especially when those corporates are trying to dominate the market. Recently the council in Munich handed out DVD/CDs with Ubuntu 12.0 to the public for free. In order to stave off a glut of computers going to the trash bins. As windows xp is no longer "supported" by Microsoft, and older computers require...well older operating systems. The kind Munich municipality council decided to educate, by way of a give away, that there are other alternatives to the vanilla Operating Systems. And to show that you can extend the usefulness of older box's. The story is quite inspiring here is the link

The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra

I love creativity in people and culture. I also love anything that can improve the lives of those who go without. This orchestra proves we all have potential if given the opportunity to succeed. These teachers and parents don't have much but what they do have, they use creatively. These kids and their orchestra should get booked for performances the world over.

Annabelle's Book Cover Takes Shape

Apparently author Annabelle Utrecht's book 102 is finished and now in "beta reader" stage so I have got to get a wriggle on and finish the cover design, so far so good. I have not yet needed Photoshop or any other commercial product to produce it. I hope to wrap this up without ever needing commercial software. Recently I have tried to get a feel for what the images will look like along side one another. But I am still a little unsure about the work I have done on the 2 so I have left it blank for now. When I feel its ready I am going to post it up here too.

So for now here is the one and the zero side by side.

Zazzle Popularity.

I am currently enjoying some popularity on Zazzle. I had tried out a few illustrations that I had done just for fun. They didn't make great waves of sales for some time but now there seems to be a whole lot off interest in the stickers and Tshirts.

 

Begun The One in 102

As this is a labour of love, an experiment and little bit of a learning curve with Blender 3d. I am taking my time. The Author Annabelle Utrecht is happy to wait while she refines parts of her book and so far so good. I have never used Blender solely as an illustration software. I use it more as its intended purpose of a modeling and an animation software. I am learning that it can be used to get both an illustrative and photo real look. Annabelle's brief was to try and attempt a James Rosenquist F111 painting feel. So there is a need for an almost hand painted photo realism with a modern twist. The image bellow is of Rosenquist's paneled artwork.

The story in the Rosenquist artwork addresses war and consumerism. But also how the hopes and dreams of middle-class were tied to the economy of war. Annabelle's book is about how culture is always in flux and how ancient cultures are in decay. I have started the 1 in the 102 title, it represents the ancient existing in the now. It is of a small eroded depression with plants eeking out an existence amongst the rubble in the small protected niche.
There is still a way to go.

Book Title for AU 102

I have completed the zero in the 102 title for Annabelle Utrecht's book, complete with an homage to the Red Hot Chili Peppers as asked for by the author. It is just ready for some colour grading and cmyk conversion. I am pushing on with the other two numbers. The next is of a canyon shaped like a number 1. There will be a track some eagle feathers, some rocks and some blood.

Cleaning Out Old Rooms

My brother and my mother were cleaning out an old room in the family home when they discovered this little gem. Its a really old graphic I did for my first animation studio called Animomo. I have added a couple of finishes to it to make it look older and to give it the historic look it deserved. If I only knew then what I do now, I would be very rich indeed.

 

Gemini Rising Trailer

This is the trailer for the Sci Fi Channel movie I contributed spaceship designs to. I  only wish I could find the full movie. All effects and most compositing was done using Blender 3D. Impressive stuff for a free software.
I hope I ended up on the credits.

Concept Art For Drone Project

I have just completed these concept illustrations for a project that a friend of mine is involved in. He and his team are developing drones for rescue and emergency situations. These drones have A.I and can be useful in many situations. He has been interviewed by CNN and will soon feature in their magazine.

Blending Up Some Jellysnakes for 102

The book cover is still getting attention. I am using blender3d to add the tattoo design to a skin texture and I am starting to put the jelly snakes on top to complete the zero shape in the 102 title. I am more than pleased with the way it is shaping up.

A Tattoo Needs Skin

Some more progress on the tattoo for Annabelle Utrecht's book cover 102. I am adding skin and eventually a texture via Blender so there will be a bumpiness to the skin. I am really liking the tattoo look of it. I thought I might have to revisit the feel of it a couple of days ago, as it wasn't working. But persistence has payed off.

Blender Jellies Take Shape

I am really getting into Blender. The learning curve isn't a steep as I thought. I have really been hesitant to muck about with materials and textures before, mainly because instant results are tricky. But I soldiered on. Now I am getting results after reading as many tutorials online that I could find.

I have yet to add all the detail and light it correctly but I feel its a great start.

Next, The Jelly Snakes

I am playing with Blender to perfect a jelly snake texture.The modeling is yet to come, but for now I want to work with a standard blender render material. Blender does come with Cycles which is a good rendering engine also but I like the results you can get with the old Blender 3d render engine.

Roughing The Details.

The edges of a real tattoo are bleedy as the ink will spread between layers of skin. So I have roughed the edges using brushes in gimp and played with some layers transparency to get a real hand done look. This detail is of the lines, I am trying to get the coloured layers working right at the moment.

Make Cow Not Human

I just took a squzz over at Makehuman to see whats new.  I was totally blown away when I discovered you can now Make a "Cow" Yay!!

Quetzalcoatl Tattoo

As part of this book illustration, I have to design a tattoo of a Quetzalcoatl (the winged or feathered snake from ancient South American history). I have begun the first part in Inksape in RGB. I will convert it to CMYK using some online tools for import into Scribus where I will finally save the completed title in *.pdf format ready for the printers. I still will need to give it more of a tattoo texturing, as tattoos tend to be more dot gradient than solid in colour. I am also going to layer on some skin texture in Gimp. The next stage is a string of jelly snakes that make up the rest of the zero in the 102 title. These will seemingly wrap back around and end inside the mouth of the Quetzalcoatl.

102 Cover Begins

I have taken on another book cover project. This one is for a pop dilemma novel by Author Annabelle Utrecht. Its called 102 a contemporary cowboys and Indians story. On a higher level it questions modernity and the ability for indigenous cultures to survive in a world that moves so rapidly to a state of cultural entropy. It follows the lives of several people who are often in a state of turmoil. 102 is a native american reservation where a drug and alcohol free zone is to exist. A tribal elders daughter is to be the reservations nurse. All is going smoothly until .... You'll just need to read it yourselves. But you can get to see the cover come together here. Here on its first draft is the sketch that won me the gig.