Adventure!

Posted on by CuddlyColin

I got the job in Baltimore! *SQUEE*

My start date is January 23rd, so this month is going to be CRAZY busy, but I’m excited and ready to get back to work. While that’s going on, I’ll probably be pretty quiet.

I’m super intimidated and I’m sad to be leaving Iowa and all the friend’s I’ve made here. Also, leaving my home is upsetting. For the last year I’ve felt like I should be preparing to leave the house Amber and I bought together, so I haven’t felt like this has been my “home” for a while, but now that we’re actually leaving, I know I’m going to miss all of this.

Anyway…depressing post, I apologize! I am excited! I’ll be posting pictures of the adventure and checking in from time to time.

I still have a few commissions to finish for Christmas, so those will probably show up soon.

<3
Colin

Stock photo by “Kaleidoscopee” on Deviantart. Thank you!

Only One Show Left!

Posted on by CuddlyColin

That’s right everybody! I’ve only got one more local show this year, it’s the awesome looking Handmade City, in Rock Island, IL! I’m very excited about this show, as some of the people I’ve met who are attending (these guys) seem super awesome and friendly, and have told me how great the show has been for them in the past. They also buttered me up on their blog, so I think I’m in love. Once I get some money, I’m going to buy ALL THE BOOKS.

There’s also a leeettle bit of time to get a commission in as a christmas gift if you’re so inclined! I would love the support and custom, colorful, kid friendly art makes a great gift, I promise. The picture above is a commission I did for the awesome Tod Buffington, writer of a CRAPTON of stuff, including the incredibly humorous and sometimes terrifying Nick and Dooie

Feel free to add a comment or send me an email if you’re interested in acquiring one or two or three for yourself.

There’s also a bunch of new stuff on my etsy, including made to order Christmas gifts! Get yours before the holiday season sneaks up on you in the dark and does a stealth kill and leaves you in the snowy shadows of winter. I’ve been playing too much Skyrim…

ZENIMAX ONLINE!

Posted on by CuddlyColin

(You can middle click on the image to open it in a new tab, at full size! Sexy!)

So I’ve been nose to the grind stone BUSY this week. On Tuesday, the 8th, I got flown out to Baltimore to meet with Zenimax Online, see their current project and meet their world building team. The experience was awesome and it was super exciting to be back in a productive, video game making, talented people filled office. I’m very excited to potentially be working there as a world builder.

If you follow me on facebook or my tumblr, you probably knew all that already! I haven’t said much since then, because I’ve been super busy. It started with working hard on stuff for the Sycamore Craft Market (which went well, and I’ll post about that tomorrow) and then I got a call from Zenimax. They liked having me out and thought I was a great fit, but wanted a more recent, PC oriented example of my world building skills, so they gave me an art test. Since Thursday, I’ve been working hard on a small environment, in UDK, using pre-made assets to show my ability to create a focal point, quality composition and setting that a character would want to explore.

They gave me no specific subject or theme or design doc or map, so this is all kinda…crafted on the fly. I drew out a quick little idea, based on finding the ruin asset set in UDK to be the most interesting, and then just kinda went from there. The gallery in this post is kinda the progress of shots, from start to finish, as well as my doodle map.

If anyone has ANY opinions, feel free to let me know. I still have a decent amount of time to work on it, and my good friend Aaron Canaday (over at Bioware working as an environment artist on SW:TOR) is gonna give send me a quick paint over tomorrow, and I may play with my lighting based on that, but I’m totally open to other people’s opinions as well.

Also, keep in mind all the assets, meshes and materials are UDK’s and the Epic team did an awesome job on them, so thank you Epic, for making assets that are very easy to work with, and super sexy! I literally have put no modeling time into this project, and have just arranged and lit the assets that come standard with UDK.

Character Models

Posted on by CuddlyColin

As well as painting, I’ve been cranking out art for the upcoming Xbox Live Indy title, Dorm Story, which I’ve posted about a few times. I’ve mainly been working on characters lately and am VERY close to finishing the art for the game, but I’m taking a break to gear up for all the art shows coming up in November.

Here are a couple character models I worked on. There’s a bunch more, with various alterations but all based on the same model. I’m really not the best character modeler in the world, but I’m really proud of my work here, especially the textures. I think the faces and hair came out really awesome and cartoony, just the way I like!

We’re now planning to release the game in mid December.

Paintings and Potential Employment!

Posted on by CuddlyColin

In preparation for the Halloween Market Day (Saturday, October 29th), I’ve been painting! Here’s some of my recent stuff, and I’ve got some spooky themed pixel art planned to start working on this Monday! Hint: Boos!

Also! In other news, I had a phone interview for a World Builder position with Zenimax Online, in the Baltimore area. It went really well, and they’re going to fly me out for an in person interview! I’m exceptionally excited and have my fingers crossed. I’ve always wanted to work as an environment artist on an MMO and I feel like this would be a great position for me. I’m not excited about the prospect of moving, leaving all my new friends behind, and dealing with this house…but we’ll deal with that if and when it happens.

Keep your fingers crossed for me and come visit me for market day this month! It may be my last time going!

 

Dorm Story

Posted on by CuddlyColin

I’ve been bustin’ my chops on, the soon to be released, Dorm Story, a game by GameCola’s Paul Franzen and Ted Hung of MomentGames. So I haven’t painted much lately, but I thought I’d show off some of the stuff I’ve made.

I’ve basically taken all of the art created by Ted, and beefed it up a bit for the 360 and spent more time adding little details, something he couldn’t get to while programming and laying out the game’s story!

Here’s a few examples:


I’m still working on the characters, and then one final, large out door scene and it should be ready to go! We’re so close to release, and it’s VERY exciting.

After that, I’ll be going back to painting for the upcoming October (Halloween) market day! As well as a couple different vents coming up in November and December.

Reddit Commission!

Posted on by CuddlyColin

This past week I’ve been working on a commissioned set from a redditor who like my knights and monsters. Here’s what I came up with. I think the reds might be a bit much on the monsters, but they were very fun to design and paint, and I’m excited to do more monsters with more accessories!

You too could have a painting like this on your wall! Feel free to email me or message me on etsy and we can discuss what you’d like.