CANNIBALCANDY

Turkey Day imminent!

2011-11-23T12:21:00.001-08:00

The Ambassador

Gizmo C.1756 (part of a little concept side project I'm working on) Got more arts for it coming up so you guys can enjoy EVEN MORE nostalgia based redesign. I really hope this fad ends soon!

CTN super fast color Demo

Random ComicCon Demo for CGMW at CTN booth

Hey guys, I've got a load of art to share, mostly Wizards stuff, I just need two seconds I can rub together to get them in. I'm busy working on a writing project, putting some serious effort into the office job, and I've become a total servant to my Skyrim Master. Damnit.

Comic Con Demos

2011-07-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends!!

If you are rocking out to comicon this year come catch me doing some live drawing and painting! On Saturday I'll be doing a Sketch Theatre recording at 3pm at booth booth 4712 and then an hour demo at the CTN Booth 5022 HALL G at 5pm. Come on down and shoot the shit while I paint for your general entertainment! It's gonna be a blast and there will be lots of amazing artists milling about. I hope to see YOU there!
Big loves,
Izzy

Lunchtime Sketchies III

2011-07-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

Joined some of the fellas at the office for some lunch time endeavors.

Check out everyone's AMAZING work at Zbrush Central

Here's a crappy warm up Skeletor

Another Mr. Freeze. God I love this guy.

Orko!

And finally Soda Popinski.
Look forward to more arts coming up!
And if you want to keep up on the thread come and say Hi!
Peace,
Z

Some more Neverending Story

2011-05-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

Grograman The Many Colored Death

Atreyu the Greenskinned Warrior

Grograman and Atreyu from the Neverending story. These were demos for: http://www.cgmwmasterclasses.com/

Atreyu is one of the protagonists from The Neverending Story. I made him a little older, and switched it up from the more traditional Native American look. He's more Mezzo-American/ Mayan inspired with a massive blowgun with poison snail darts for taking down the Purple Buffalo his people hunt.

Grograman is the lord of the Desert of Colors from the Neverending Story. He's featured in the novel when Bastian goes crazy after going to Fantasia and wishing it back together. I did this as a demo for my online CGMA class!

Student Interview

2011-04-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

A student I met last year when I did a super short lecture at Siggraph sent some questions for a school assignment.
I thought there were some good ones in there so I figured I'd share them and my responses with you guys!
=============================================

1. When did you first develop an interest in art?

I started getting into drawing in Highschool, as I went to an 'alternative' school for weirdos, and they expected us to have a portfolio coming in. I basically traced a bunch of shit out of a victoria's secret catalogue, and some manga images on lined paper. Hahaha, that's how it really got started, after that, I started meeting people that actually knew something of drawing, and started to learn ravenously.

2. Your pieces are generally digital paintings; did you start in a more traditional art background and move into the digital realm?

I started with a pencil and paper (they were and are the cheapest art form). Eventually in college I learned to apply more advanced and expensive materials. Ha! Finally I went fully digital (for work anyway) because of the speed, alterability, and ease of clean up. So the short answer is: Yes!

3. Has fantasy art always been your passion?

No, as I mentioned in the first response, I didn't get into art until a little later. Before that I wanted to be a musician... and before that... (this is a secret!) I wanted to be a marine biologist. Which apparently EVERYONE my age wanted to be as a kid. Who knew?

4. What jobs/internships prepared you for Sony and the freelance work you do nowadays? Do you miss any of them?

The interesting thing about art is that the final result of what you need to turn in never really changes. You change. You constantly build on what you learn, and are in a constant need to learn more. Art is absolutely the VERY best field for a person with a made hunger to learn. You can never know it all! I do lots of the same freelance I did early on, I'm just faster, and as a result make a bit more money. I don't miss any old jobs, as I'm always looking forward to the next new thing. That alone keeps me damn busy.

5. What drives you to do freelancing and lectures/teaching, in addition to your primary career?

Initially I went to teaching and lecturing to challenge myself. I'm generally a fairly shy person, and knowing that I try to force myself into some uncomfortable situations. You being there for the biggest one to date. Speaking in front of hundreds of people terrified the shit out of me! Once I got comfortable teaching in front of people (I'm still not there yet for siggraph sized groups), it started becoming interesting to see what I could convey, and how simply I could share it. Actually seeding people with notions and ideas. That for the moment now has become a little boring though, and I'm looking for something new in it to challenge myself.

6. What is your favorite kind of work to do? What's your favorite part about your job?

I love what I do. It's definitely my favorite kind of work. I paint monsters and boobies all day! Awesome! Lately I have been working as a full Senior level guy here, and I'm getting some new responsibilities which has made things interesting as well. Also... Boobies.

7. What's a typical day/week like as a concept artist?

Well, I don't know about the rest of the guys, but I get in to work around ten. Paint all day. Leave between six and seven. Go home, hang out a little. Paint some more on freelance OR teach... sometimes both. Go to bed around two or three, unless I want to play some video games... then it's a little later. Rinse. Repeat. The interesting thing about doing for work, something that you genuinely love to do in your free time, is that you can actually get burnt out on it. You can put TOO much in, and exhaust yourself out of excitement. I've found the key is to try to hold back just a little. " Put in eighty percent", a friend once told me. "No more, no less. Key to happiness!"

8. What's the most challenging part of your work?

Iterations. Definitely. When you see a design we've done for a game or something. It's usually the end result of dozens, or even hundreds of sketches. Constantly generating new ideas, and a variety of the same basic idea can be VERY mentally exhausting. But it's also the core of the purpose of concept artists.

9. Your pieces display a vast knowledge of anatomy, movement, etc. Is that where you get ideas for your creatures, by piecing the various kinds of creatures together? Where does that inspiration come from?

I do pull from nature ALL the time. For more specifics on my creature design check out this article I wrote: http://mercilessdesign.blogspot.com/2007/10/advanced-principles-of-creature-design.html

10. What is the best method, in your opinion, to develop those skills? What sources do you recommend? In other words, how did you get so good?

The absolute best method to develop visual understanding of things is to sketch them. If you can, take them apart. The ability to depict anything in detail with levels of reality is entirely dependent on a great deal of mileage studying it. We think of study and sketching as a chore to be gotten through to get to the final art. The fact is; sketching IS the art. Visual study is how those skills are developed, and the only way the finals will have any breath of life blown into them.
This sounds tedious, but there is no magic recipe to improving a skill. Personally, I find this liberating. Because, then we are all responsible for our own levels of skill, and how quickly we improve. The only thing one need to, is keep doing and practicing that skill. They are guaranteed to get better. Mileage, see!?

11. The ever famous - What do you wish someone had told you when you started? Any suggestions for a noob?

You will never stop being a student. Don't look at this as a bad thing, it means your life will be filled with exciting challenges, and you'll constantly be levelling up to the next new thing. Plateaus in skill improvement are normal. Learn to love the plateau, and keep on practicing, notice how they get shorter when you do. Find time to do other things. Find a subject, or medium, or show, or anything that you like and you find interesting. Make time to follow that interest until you are done with it. When you've gotten bored of that interest, find a new one, and start a new flow. This is not flighty, this is amassing vast stores of knowledge to be pulled from. You will be AMAZED at how all that seemingly irrelevant stuff will start to pepper your work, imbuing it with greater depth, interest, and realism.
=============================================
Questions by Amanda Walker

Surviving

2011-04-07T12:22:00.001-07:00

Another age study. Trying to do a mid to late teen this time... I had some pretty solid reference this time around, a photo of a homeless kid, I changed his expression, he had a little too much ego.

Sniper 2038

2011-03-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do more quick normal human character designs. I decided to do a 'space marine' (as I've never done one) but instead of a snarling hulking badass, more of a soldier from WW2, a young kid that maybe tricked the draft, and is now realizing he may have made the wrong decision.

Tech wise, I decided to try to figure out how gear would change for a Sniper in the future. I gave him this massive gyroscopic stabilizing sleeve for his holding hand. And his legs are mounted with a sort of muscle enhancement/ shock absorbing system. They are working on that technology right now, so I just sexied it up a little. I think it'd be cool if they still wore ghillie suits in the future though!

Bad Dates.

2011-03-13T05:03:00.000-07:00

I was taking a break from my freelance, as I do sometimes, and just sketching some anatomy studies. I ended up staying up late and finishing one! I have not done many adolescent characters so it was a great learning experience.

El Zombo takes a smoking break!

2011-03-07T23:47:00.000-08:00

My pin up entry for the awesome upcoming El Zombo Fantasma - Michelada Mix comic book by ever bad ass Dave Wilkins and company. Many amazing artists took part in the pin up section, and it was a total honor to be counted among them! Go buy this man's book!

Therizinosaurus Pilot

2011-02-08T22:02:00.001-08:00

He'll fly me anywhere I want to go!

Little Ancient One's First Day at School.

2011-01-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

Isn't she cute!?

Here's my first SketchTheatre!

It was a blast, and what I ended up with was not at all what I was considering sketching.

Big thanks to Lili, for letting me take part in this awesome project over there. I am definitely excited to do some more!

Lunchtime Sketchies II

2011-01-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

A little character sketch for lunch. I didn't watch the show a lot, but I LOVED the toys!

Lunchtime Sketchies

2011-01-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

Some sort of Planet of the Apes randomness

Class Demo

2010-12-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

Cute snake for giving hugs!

YT from Snowcrash

2010-10-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Featured in her RadiKS Gear. Working out the silhouette for her messenger road tech.
She won't be in black and white, her jumpsuit will definitely be in the orange and blues as described in the book. But those light spots are going to be reflective tape, I think. She'll be covered in light when she's skating along at high speeds from consulate to burbclave.

ArtOrder: Lovecraft Challenge

2010-09-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here's my version of the Ghast from the Lovecraftian Mythos. I just felt like getting a little involved with the art community again, so I did this for the Art Order Challenge. I named him Skood.

Lunch Sketchies: Ico

2010-08-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Eytan kindly offered to let me join him in working on his ico redesign project. My first pass at doing an environment in a long time! Just a lunch time sketch.

2010-08-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Quick interview up at the Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/video-games-in-long-beach/interview-with-god-of-war-3-artists-izzy-patrick-and-cecil

Sunday Painting Posse

2010-07-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

Gouache and photoshop. I painted this on location up at the Malibu Creek park.
Scanned it tonight and touched it up. I had to up some contrast, and paint into it a bit.
I really didn't like the composition I had before, so I transformed it a tad.
Turns out that content aware transformation TOTALLY works for paintings! Awesome.
Gotta keep practicing so I can get what I want in the first go.

Ariokh's Muse: The Voodoo U Do

2010-06-11T23:48:00.000-07:00

Further exploits of willing models. Fun time trying to do a pretty chick. I always have a hard time doing it without it getting a little plasticky. Gotta paint more!

late night sketchies

2010-06-10T01:28:00.001-07:00

The Boxer

2010-05-16T01:08:00.000-07:00

"The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That's pride fucking with you. Fuck pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps."

Here's the boxer I sculpted for Jordu's class. We are sculpting, casting and molding masks for the first assignment. I didn't have any eye forms so I had to do the quick goat think and came up with this theme to compensate. This is the last moments of the actual sculpts life as it was cast and I just finished gobbing all the damn clay out of the negative. That was bloody hard... More to come!

Tasty New Arts for You!

2010-05-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

God of War III art is now live on my website! Please take a look and enjoy!

Also Gnomon Gallery is having a big gallery show for the GOW art team on the 29th. Come on down and have some drinks and see this work up close 'n personal.

See you guys there!

Falkor the Luck Dragon

2010-02-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

my entry for this weeks COW on concept art.org. Churn and burn, baby!

Official Playstation Magazine Cover

2010-02-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

My second God of War 3 cover featured on OPMC. It may only be a European release. I am looking forward to the release of the game so I can finally share all the work that was done on here for you guys!!

I am WAY happier with this one than the last one, as this was fully painted, from scratch, without any 3D or anything. We were super tight on time so this was had to be cranked out pretty fast.

Ariokh's Muse: Innate Kate

2009-12-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

a clear bite from Nathan Fowkes and Zhang Lu.

I have so much to learn from these titans of portraiture.
I always seem to have a hard time with the last forty percent or so. Looking at it now it feels unfinished and not very smoothed out. Garrrr!

I forgot how fun doing the ariokh's muse project can be for just shits n giggles.

Sickday OCD

2009-11-20T03:37:00.000-08:00

Home sick from teaching. Felt like crap but still had the compulsion to paint. So I entered the newest COW contest over at CA.org. This weeks theme is "Merlin's Familiar".

At this point, I'm running on mad fever and insane congestion, so I can't be held accountable for the madness I painted in the last couple of hours.

I think this is more just a statement of my obsessive compulsive need to be productive. *wheeze*

See you on the flip side.

Snowtick:class demo

2009-11-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

Panthro Zbrush Sculpt

2009-11-02T18:26:00.001-08:00

Zbrush! Second try!

2009-10-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

I learned so much today!
Here's a five or six hour study of an ancient asian woman I found online. I DEFINITELY want to try more zbrush fun! Specially portraits. ^_^

GamePro: GOW III Cover

2009-10-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a 3d paintover,

Read a sample article HERE
And pick up a copy for more fun GOW III info and arts!

Class Demo 2

2009-10-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Class Demo

2009-09-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

M-R 170 Aphid Recon Mech

2009-08-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

The M-R Recon Mech is a quasi-military vehicle.

The machine is designed with a split ankle dual foot bipedal system to allow for maximum speed and terrain versatility, as well as to provide a broad set of options for stability in said terrains. If you look at the mechs arms you'll see tiny hands on the upper inside part, those are the actual hands of the operator. They are exposed for sensitive surveillance and sensory array operations. (For this reason the mech is not equipped to operate in nuclear or biological warzone *see index for further information)

The mech is outfitted with the latest in combat sensory equipment, RADAR, LADAR, SAT Triangulation and GPS Marking, TREMor Tech (tm), Full optical range, Multi Target painting, and so much more.

It is lightly armored and fully modular for any militaristic or private purpose and comes stock with our new SYLNT (r) technology with full circumference white noise projector, and servo dampeners so it runs almost silently; even tromping through the underbrush. (note: SYLENT (r) tech does not support weapon silencing as of this time, as the round travels faster than the speed of sound outside of the SYLENT (r) tech's patented "Sircumference of Silence"(tm) circumference)

It comes with a stock rail mounting system to support our ST-308 50mm mech mounted Sniper rifle, or our M-708 24 count missile/ grenade rack, for those moments stealth may fail. (ST-308 and M-708 sold separately)

The M-R Recon Mech can be shipped with any two to three color paint scheme and full corporate logo detailing please call our eager support staff for details.

2009-08-09T03:51:00.000-07:00

I never EVER do vehicles, and more over never touch sci-fi... so here's a lil starwars action for you from Carlo Arellano's class (damn entertaining btw).

Check out some of the other work I've been up to at my website: www.mercilessdesign.com

Updates!!

2009-07-19T12:45:00.001-07:00

Yo peoples. I just put a chunky upload on my website.

www.mercilessdesign.com

Check it out, it's largely Wizards of the Coast Magic art, but there's some new stuff from a class I'm taking with Carlo Arellano this summer.

Bitchin.

Sushi K

2009-05-25T01:18:00.001-07:00

From Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash.
I was nearly done with this, then I went to Jaime Jones' workshop this weekend and realized I needed to improve it vastly. It's better, but I'm definitely no Jaime Jones!

I'm excited to do some more practicing. SO much work to do.

Ariokh's Muse: Shitgrin

2008-11-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

Ariokh's Muse: Sockpunk

2008-10-09T11:20:00.001-07:00

A milieu of magic card illos!

2008-10-06T00:40:00.001-07:00

Von Borkus: Spice Trader

2008-08-30T01:11:00.001-07:00

Horrible and more!

2008-08-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

2008-07-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I have such beautiful dreams, that I wake up feeling like I need to tear up puppies and pandas. Piss on rainbows, dig the eyes out of infants, and shit in your coffee.

Moroginh Merchant

2008-07-16T02:13:00.001-07:00

NDS Colors Sketches

2008-06-30T02:44:00.001-07:00

Quick bathroom painting, trying to figure out some lighting for a freelance piece I'm struggling with.

Mr. Freeze

2008-06-30T02:43:00.000-07:00

I saw Heart of Ice when I was a kid. One of the finest episodes of Batman the Animated Series ever. I fell in love with Mr. Freeze from that point on. I've seen him universally portrayed as a tall super thin guy, but I figured, someone who's body has basically taken on characteristics of ice would have an insanely slow metabolism. So I figure he maybe feeds once every month, but maintains a chunky shape, to some degree. I rarely ever draw or paint fan art, but I think I'll definitely consider this of the same ilk.

Here he is with his iron lung like suit, that sustains his unbelievably cold standard body temperature. He'd sweat to death as if in a desert even in the frozen north of the Arctic. His two bears are named Frigidaire, and Icetrey.

Lots of raw internet photos were used to expedite the process. So it is essentially a paint-over of a collage.

Ariokh's Muse: Mousemask

2008-06-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Papercut Smile

2008-06-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

This is not for the soft of heart. That said, you already saw it... You can't UNSEE it!

It's just an old sketch in my unfinished folder from a while back, I decided to put in a few hours to finish the damn thing. Someday I've got to go through and finish all the ideas i've got in there.

Mancubus

2008-06-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

A little something new and a great opportunity to go way out of my usual style choices.

Gehko Bindus: Master Thief

2008-04-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

This is a painting of my character from my recently joined D&d game. When I first started gaming way back when, it was always my favorite thing. First creating and then drawing my character. I enjoyed (still do) creating characters even more than playing them. I guess, doing what I do for a living is kind of a perfect fit! Anyhoo. Introducing, Gehko Bindus the thief extraordinaire. He's a halfling. Like hobbits, I suppose. A hardcore pipe smoker, and smooth talking, fast thinking, gold purse's worst nightmare. He has an ironic penchant for the tallfolks' women, considering he's only pushing 3'3". I originally created him thinking he'd be a close combat type guy using a sickle and a dagger. But it turns out halflings and rogues are mega-pussies. So I spend a lot of time in the shadows wangchung-ing baddies with a crossbow. It wouldn't be so bad, but fighters can be such self-important pricks when it comes to the kill ratio. Experience whores. HA!

2008-04-10T02:22:00.001-07:00

Ariokh's Muse: Frohawk

2008-03-30T12:21:00.001-07:00

Just finished a big block of freelance. It's been insanely busy lately. Magic cards, and other wizards fare. Those guys keep me very busy. Anyway, my first free day and I feel like I'm not getting anything done, so i practiced some autoportraiture. Good times! I hope you guys like.
Comments and suggestions always welcome. Painted with Art Rage and Photoshop.

2008-02-29T13:42:00.001-08:00

Crazy DS sketches. Been dead busy with work as of late, I hope to have some new high production personal work soon! Stay tuned.

Broken Fortune

2008-01-22T00:00:00.001-08:00

Just a value sketch on my DS of a tranny fortune teller.

2008-01-19T13:13:00.001-08:00

Self portrait while pooping. That's right. Painted on the DS. See the process at: http://colors.brombra.net/details/2883-Portrait_of_the_Artist_Pooping_by_cannibalcandy.php

How to mod your DS!

2008-01-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

I had a hard time finding out how to and what to get to set up my NDSlite for homebrew. Here are all the pieces you need, and links to get them, and you too can mess about with Colors, the most brilliant sketch program ever! (I'm posting this because so many people actively tried to keep me from getting the info when I asked like a raving fanboy)

There are a couple of cards available, but this one worked perfectly well for me; the R4 Revolution:

http://www.amazon.com/R4-Revolution-for-DS/dp/B000ZLTKBO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1199933218&sr=8-1

Right now the four gig HC micro SD card is NOT SUPPORTED. I bought it, and tried it, and couldn't return it. It may seem logical to get the largest possible card, but it will end up being a waste of cash. I hear they are working on updating the software, but I've also heard that it's categorically impossible to use the HC in the Revolution. That said... this two gig version will work PERFECTLY, and hold quite easily almost every game you could want to play, as well as precious Colors:

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-MicroSD-TransFlash-Adapter-SDSDQ-2048/dp/B000K3IZ0O/ref=pd_sim_misc?ie=UTF8&qid=1199933218&sr=8-1

Finally following the directions that came with your R4, drag and drop the downloadable app with the extension .nds into a "ROMS" folder on your card... and blammo! Sketch to your hearts content, my little piglets!

http://www.collectingsmiles.com/colors/

Grease Munky

2007-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

Another DSlite sketchy. I love this thing!

NDS Sketches!!

2007-12-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

I finally got my little tartan DS all set up for homebrew, and these are the first of many sketches/ paintings done with this powerful little utility.

You can watch my gallery on the NDS Colors application site, here:Cannibalcandy on COLORS

Maw

2007-12-12T02:09:00.001-08:00

Some kind of unholy testament to PacMan. I dunno what I was thinking really. I'm reading the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and was sketching up another DA portrait. This time around I was playing with color and value keying, and how it naturally indicates atmospheric perspective. When I look away for a long time, and look back at this image, the guy feels HUGE! What do you think?

2007-12-05T05:00:00.001-08:00

Two paintings in two nights. Painted simultaneously! I just figured out the control-tab feature, which switches between your PS docs. Awesome! Man, I'm tired.

Portrait

2007-11-14T02:08:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty busy with freelance lately. I can't wait to start showing the body of work I've been putting together under the flag of Wizards of the Coast. There's a few pieces I'm kinda proud of.

But as per usual, when I'm finally able to show it, I'll be thinking it's not good enough anymore. I'm already thinking that about my work for them earlier this year. I take this as an EXCELLENT sign. I may have figured out how to completely bypass the dreaded "plateau". (Theories someday to follow)

I'm on a break from freelance for a couple of weeks, and this was what I chose to do with my first night off. Jesus... I have no life.

Critter Thumbs

2007-11-08T01:40:00.001-08:00

Well, thumbnails... I think some are kinda cute, and I might go back and pop a finish on one or two. I was planning to join up on CA.org's 100 creature challenge, freelance killed that plan. Ah well.

Advanced Principles of Creature Design

2007-10-23T11:42:00.001-07:00

Your Cup Runneth Over:
Fill your head with information. The more intricate and related the details are the better. Watch Animal Planet, Discovery Channel. Go to the zoo. Read up on basic quadrupedal locomotion, how snakes move, what elephants eat.

This is a passive practice, you can do it anytime, anywhere. If something random catches your interest, allow yourself to follow it all the way through so you can learn all about it. This method is... 1. the secret to happiness, and B. the path to being a GREAT designer.

Lesson: Keep your eyes and ears open to information relating to animals (or ANYTHING) always. Got it?

A Strong House is Built on Solid Foundations
Consider your theme, genre, and style. Hyper realistic, fantasy, sci-fi, whatever it is? This is a great place to start because it will narrow your focus, and that is ultimately the purpose of any kind of concept design.

Removing all the possibilities until you come to the best design that fits the needs required by the art director. I find it's often easier to work inside at least some constraints than without any. When anything in the world is possible it can get a bit overwhelming to come up with something. So. For example, if you were working on a sci-fi project, you likely wouldn't create creatures that have weaknesses based on magic mirrors and such. The consumers of your work are getting more intelligent as a whole, and expect believability, so logic in relation to the rules of your world are paramount.

Lesson: Know what you are designing this creature for. If there is not much in parameters (like Conceptart.org's C.O.W.), create your own. Allow yourself to be strict with your work, as this can only strengthen your ability to deal with and create within the boundaries of the workplace project. This also forces you to be able to work in different styles. Which is the second most important asset to getting regular work. (The first is being easy and fun to work with. Most everyone would rather work with someone cool that's not the BEST in the world, than work with a brilliant yet fussy and unpleasant Prima Donna.)

The Answer to the Ultimate Question(s)
THINK! Think about your concept. Ask yourself questions to help bring it to life. Consider the whole biosphere. Not just the single creature you are working on and not just the Environment/ Atmosphere. Consider it's predators, it's prey, it's function in the 'chain of life'. If you don't know exactly what and how your creature eats, you've already lost the game. If you are going to ask yourself only ONE question, this better be it. Establishing where your critter sits in the food chain should be the first important fact you relate in your design. On a deeply animalistic level, I think humans need this kind of quick and easy visual assessment of animals in reality. They may not want to or be able to admit it, but somewhere in their medulla oblongata they are sizing up your creature wondering if they can club it to death and eat it, or if it will tear them to ribbons. Play with these subconscious concepts, and you will find your designs will be stronger than ever.

Please try and remember that there are more than just super predators out there. For example, the most common mistake I've seen in creature design is people essentially attempting to make a sloth into the Amazing Super Mega Conan X-men Ninja of sloths. Your creature does not NEED to be the destroyer of worlds to be cool. Unless the concept calls for it, of course. Understand that few if any creatures exist that have all the best features of all the best animals. Creature design, or any convincing storytelling related design has to also have weaknesses and short comings to feel real and relatable. Keep that in mind.

Lesson: Always be asking questions of yourself about your design. If you can't answer for why you made a certain anatomical decision, reconsider why it is there. This is where some artful bullshitting can be very useful, and the MORE you know about different animals the more you have to pull from to make a convincing reason. Do not misunderstand me. Being able to bullshit is not a negative thing, if done well it will only make your designs stronger and stronger. In a way, good design is just very intelligent and thought out bullshit. It's pretend! But, it can be damn good paying pretend, so... The More You Know... (shooting star)

Don't Always Reinvent the Wheel
Allow yourself at least at the beginning to heavily reference reality. Look at the plethora of dancing colors and bodies that are already all around us in the REAL world! Use big chunks of beasties that are already out there, the more recognizable, the more realistic it often will feel. Make sure that when you mix and match animal parts, you work out the new anatomy to accomodate your changes. If you design a caterpiller with human arms, make it feel natural, or it will scream "slapped together". And again, see the above section about being able to create good reasons for these choices.

If you want to break this thinking down into a formula to help get it into your head, then I suggest the following:

Make about sixty percent of your design recognizable referencing real animals. That sixty percent should mostly be one or two animals. Twenty percent should be lovely details or interesting features that you've found on animals that may not be as easily recognizable, and the remaining twenty can be COMPLETELY made up. This is just a rough idea to help get you going on the path to making realistic feeling creatures that feel like they fit into a real but unspoken biosphere. (Do not confuse this breakup of percentages with actual physical body mass. I am only speaking in terms of recognizability. If you've done it right people will observe, "Wow that looks like I would bump into that in the -insert random environment here-." Work on your percentages if they say something along the lines of: "That looks like a -blank- crossed with a -blank.")

This is just a quick and rough way to get a strong feeling of reality into your designs, and as you improve you will develop a much better system more fitting to you and your style, and that's just fine. Remember that nothing is written in stone.

-Lesson: Study the anatomy of everything. Learn the ins and outs of different animals to make logical decisions about which animals to mix, how, and why.

Drawing from Reality
Drawing FINALLY! Once you've picked a direction, find reference to all the animals that fit closely to your concept. If you are doing an amphibian kinda thing, look up frogs, salamanders, everything amphibian. Now DRAW. Draw the hell out of those things. Spend an hour or two just drawing real critters from photos, and be aware of a few things-

Shape and line: There are visual indicators that say frog, mouse, tapeworm, or goat. Learn the shape language for the animals you are referencing and be sure to use them later, as you sit down to work on the actual design.

Proportion: How can you suggest scale with your own designed creature? Learn the proportions of your reference animals so that tweaking them later will feel natural and still indicative of where they are coming from.

Coloring/ Patterning: Remember recognizable patterns and prints can suggest your reference, or adversely contrast the accepted pattern you would normally find. What does a diamond-back rattle snake look like if you use CANDY patterns instead?! It changes the whole meaning and attitude of the creature. Figure out why your ref. animals are colored the way they are. Knowing these different purposes can make your decisions for color and pattern easier and more logical when it comes to doing the final paints of your design.

Anatomy: Super important. Get to know the biokinetics of your creature's influences. This will help again with making things realistic. Having a good understanding of how different animals get around will expand the possibilities of your design's locomotion.

(Also... as you go along sketching/ researching or sketchearching (hehe) you will come up with tons of ideas on story details to make your creature more convincing... Mating habits, social interaction, communication... always keep that mind churning)

Lesson: This stage is vital, and I see it passed up all the time. Know your influences for a design intimately. This stage is perfect if you aren't an expert on your subject, and of course, each time you do this with something new, you add to your visual library as well as that all important bullshitting library. So don't skimp here. And, hell, do these kinds of animal and plant studies all the time, even when you aren't designing. Go to the Zoo and draw. Write little blurbs next to your sketches detailing the things you've drawn. Write the names of the animals, latin and common, these will always help you make more convincing critters later.

Closer to done than you think
This is where your different visual design methods will come into play. Some like to do high contrast thumbnails, some like to make loose pencil sketches till something comes out of it, other's like to find imagery in random coffee stains, or ceiling bumps. Whatever.

Just come up with a few different sketches to get an idea of your direction. This part should be easy and FAST if you've done all the above things, because believe it or not, in your head, you've been designing this whole time. Finding elements you like, and discarding ones that don't fit. When you have all the factual reality stuff from reference the rest is all up to you! Personally, I find I don't often do more than one or two sketches at this stage, because I've been developing the idea in my head in all those quiet moments of the day. Reading/ showering/ toilet time... whatever. Develop your own system. Remember your own system will ALWAYS work better for you, than trying to force yourself down another designer's flow. I don't mean for you to not LEARN different ways of doing it, that's plumb retarded; I am saying, once you know a variety of ways, go with your gut.

In essence, critter design can be likened to painting a room in a house. Most of the work should be done in the preparatory stage, getting things ready. If all the preparation is done correctly and carefully, the rest is a cake walk.

I hope this brief essay on critter design principles has been helpful, drop me an email anytime if you have questions, concerns, or suggestions (cannibalcandy@gmail.com)!

Remember to spay and neuter your monsters, beasties, creatures, and critters.

(I will be posting some sketches shortly, I had to publish this, to save it... the blog isn't saving shit for me. Bastard. Also, if you choose to link this, or use some of the text, please credit me by including a link to this blog!)

2007-10-21T12:32:00.001-07:00

Some characters I did as a character concept artist on the Tony Hawk game that just came out. Working in semi-realism has it's own challenges. You can see I tried to make them a little over the top in their own right. Most of these were done at least seven or eight months ago. Keep an eye out for the game and see most of these guys in action! More posts with other new stuff to come...

Horus

2007-10-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Just doing some quick practice on my environments. I need a lot of work.

More goodies from the Vault!

2007-10-04T10:49:00.001-07:00

I did the top half of a few illustrations for WotC's Dreamblade adverts.

An illustration based on a dream I had: Tatanka

An entry for CA.org's C.O.W.

Second part of my test for Sony.

2007-09-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

The creature part of my test to get into Sony Santa Monica.
The concept is a female blind dragon that lives both in the sky and the sea.
Since it's a dragon, indicating gender was pretty tough, so I went for an amphibian style eggsac.
What do you guys think!?

Another Portrait

2007-09-18T01:16:00.000-07:00

I've been having a great time doing portraits of people on DeviantArt to keep up my chops when I'm at home painting, rather than at work painting... Heh. This is a foxy girl that makes dolls. Hope y'all likey...

Genesis...

2006-09-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

An introduction:

Izzy. Cannibalcandy. Ariokh.

All online psuedonyms I've used in a variety of galleries. All of which I am hoping will coalesce here! The quick to update, and fun to follow professional portfolio of yours truly.