Things to click on

The internet is full of wonderful and horrible things. (mostly horrible) So from time to time I thought I'd share some stuff that's caught my interest.

Emily posted a really well written list of her top 10 artistic influences. She did it in conjunction with the IMPACT blog:
http://fabledearth.blogspot.com/2012/04/top-ten-inspirational-artists.html

I've been listening to some Philip Glass music lately, I really like his collaboration with Ravi Shankar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WVAdT27MdE

Spotted this guy on CG Hub, it brought a smile to my face. It has a Jim Henson "muppet" quality that I just love:
http://cghub.com/images/view/227971/

Maurice Sendak passed away. Emily wrote a nice post about him with some great links to recent interviews:
http://fabledearth.blogspot.com/2012/05/maurice-sendak-1928-2012.html
Stephen Colbert also had a great tribute for Mr. Sendak:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/413972/may-11-2012/uncensored---maurice-sendak-tribute----i-am-a-pole--and-so-can-you----release?xrs=share_copy

Larry McDougal had to re-start his blog, for various stupid internet reasons. But his new one is full of the same amazing art, check it out!
http://larry-macdougall.blogspot.ca/

My friend Maegan Walling started a CGhub account, check out her amazing first post!
http://cghub.com/images/view/231152/

Start your clicking!

SOTW 280

Why is everyone so sad? Cheer up sad elf man! You're immortal! Cheer up small
eyed cave dwelling mutant! You umm... live in a cave!

Since 2007 I've been posting a sketch/doodle/whatever every week on my site. I'll be continuing this trend here on my blog and on my new site:
http://www.vinodrams.com/sotw/

SOTW 279

She saw him from across the crowded room.... her beautiful deep eyes met with his
tiny, sharklike, emotionless orbs and it was love at first sight.

Since 2007 I've been posting a sketch/doodle/whatever every week on my site. I'll be continuing this trend here on my blog and on my new site:
http://www.vinodrams.com/sotw/

Anomaly Demo

Sorry for the delay in posting this; various non–art stuff kept getting in the way. Here's what I did during my six hours at the Anomaly Workshop.

Before the workshop, I did some legwork since I was worried about drawing and painting with people watching me. First, I played around with some body roughs. I knew I wanted to do some type of creature, since the theme for the workshop was "study from life" and we were in a natural history museum. 

Here's the first round of sketches that I did in my sketchbook.

Another round in the computer exploring the proportions a bit more. I'm trying
for something long, lean and muscular.

Getting somewhere... I wanted to explore something with his ears.
They have very loose skin, so when he's alerted or startled he can
expand them to take in more sound.

The images completed at the workshop.

Detail view. I was inspired by Terryl Whitlatch's bold use of color for
her creature designs.

The ever important reference sheet.

I'm happy with this guy, and I'm glad I did some studies before the workshop. That way I could just zone out and paint details and textures, which I love doing. When I get some free time, I'm going to give this guy the full Terryl Whitlatch treatment: design his skeleton, musculature, and do a page of action and behavioral drawings–the complete package!

Again, thanks to everyone who stopped by during the workshop!

SOTW 278

"Duuuuude.... Gorthox and the Slave Children are playing TONIGHT. We are
TOTALLY going."

Since 2007 I've been posting a sketch/doodle/whatever every week on my site. I'll be continuing this trend here on my blog and on my new site:
http://www.vinodrams.com/sotw/

Anomaly 2012 Report!

We're back from the Anomaly workshop in Vancouver.
It was a lot of fun, and I've come away from it inspired to create, which I think was the point of the workshop... The Beaty Biodiversity Museum was amazing. Rows and rows of skeletons, fossils and taxidermied animals to look at and study. The atmosphere for the workshop was very relaxed, and it felt very different from a comic con. Here's some photos Emily snapped while I was "workshopping."

A blue whale skeleton, the largest on display in Canada.

mouse deer skeleton

an echidna and a bandicoot

ungulates!

 The highlight of the event for Emily and me was meeting Terryl Whitlatch. Terryl is one of the most well known creature designers in our industry. After discovering her work back in 1999 for Star Wars: Episode I she quickly became one of my favorite artists and I constantly look at her work for inspiration. She did a presentation about her career and her thought process for her creature designs as well as hang out on the main floor of the museum to talk and draw with the other artists. We talked for a while and later when I was demoing she came over and we discussed the creature I was working on! I was flattered to say the least. Check out her latest project: Tales of Amalthea, it looks amazing.

Unfortunately I was too busy to attend any of the other presentations, but from what I hear they were all really fascinating.

I enjoyed meeting with friends and colleagues while I was doing my demo. Answering some questions and talking shop with students and other artists in the industry was nice and hopefully watching me work was interesting to all of you that stopped by.

Finally I'd like to thank Graeme McCormack for inviting me, and all the other organizers that put the show together. This was the first art workshop I've been a part of and it was a great experience all around.

A rare sighting of the dorkicus artisticae - more commonly known as the
"Vinod Rams."

I'll post the creature I designed at the show tomorrow. Stay tuned!