Hero of Time

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Along the way in making this, I got lost in the fun of creating a more realized illustration. The textures and palette choices made this stray from the initial "feeling" that inspired this, but I'm quite happy with the result of this artistic meandering. You can find details, including a close-up image, after the jump.

I liked the idea of Link being covered in dirt (dungeon-crawling is dirty work!), so a bit of effort went into getting some textures happening to show he's already been in the thick of it (I'm also pretty keen on that buckle—looks like candy!).

Hero of Time sketch

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Reading GameSpite's take on Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in their newest Quarterly got me reminiscing on the feeling I used to get from playing the game when I was a wee lad. It was colorful and adventurous, with a little grit, like everything was eroded by sand, wind, and time. That feeling made me want to explore creating my ideal interpretation of Link, with bits and pieces of his design that I liked throughout the years amalgamated into one. This definitely needs coloring to really get my idea across, but for now I thought I'd share this sketch.

Twi'lek Jedi

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So I drew this a few weeks ago, I think around the time the trailer for Season Two of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" was revealed. The show itself is very well put-together, and being as big a Star Wars geek as I am, it's exciting to see the universe being expanded upon like this. Hopefully Lucasfilm/LucasArts produces even more esoteric EU material in the same sort of accessible media.

Eli & Amos Circumnavigate the Globe

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At last, here's the finished illustration of "Eli & Amos Circumnavigate the Globe" that I posted a tight sketch of back in February. It may appear that this single illustration has taken me ages, but in actuality I worked on it for just a few hours once or twice a month. Sometimes it's nice to work on something in an unhurried fashion, don't ya know. There may very well be future exploits for these two, so keep a weather eye open!

CCRA Character Designs

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I've been freelancing on and off for a clinical research company called CCRA, creating the characters and print advertisements for a unified marketing plan they've started (You might recognize the name from this site: you can find one of the ads I've done for them here). I'm happy now to share with you the four original character designs they had contracted me to create. Each was designed to model a different age group/generation, with a focus on creating versatile characters who could demonstrate different ailments, depending on the ad. Special attention was paid to make sure that they would not be caricatures; they had to be soft, relatable individuals to draw in those people afflicted with the disease each ad would target.

Eli and Amos

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From time to time my friend Rhiannon and I come up with little projects for each other to work on, just for the heck of it. The most recent one she suggested for me was a little boy and his dog, with a series of illustrations showing the adventurous flights of fancy the two embark on. These are the basic "real world" designs, which are intentionally a bit simplistic; this is to make them reflective of the dull nature of the everyday world, which will thus contrast strongly with the world of the imagined in the forthcoming illustrations.

Geekbox Podcast

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I'm proud to add these pieces to my Design work. You can read the full story behind their creation below the fold.

Sadly, at the beginning of this month about two-thirds of the editors of 1UP.com--my preferred source for gaming info--and their sister magazine EGM were laid off by their parent company Ziff Davis. One of the highlights of 1UP was its podcasts, which gave a voice and identity to the editors. They became people you related to, a sort of friend-you've-never-met, and let listeners feel it was OK to be fully immersed in gaming and its unique culture. So, suffice to say, it was a pretty hard blow to the community to see these people lose their jobs.

Almost immediately afterwards, however, many of those cut loose by Ziff refused to roll over and wished to maintain their connection with their loyal followers. Schemes were hatched, plans were made, and ultimately brand-new podcasts were created. Several formed Rebel FM as part of "Eat. Sleep. Game." while others started "Area 5" to house their new video podcast CO-OP.

Still others worked on another podcast, which brings us to the point of this post. Ryan Scott, previously a part of 1UP's CGW/GFW Radio and its successor LAN Party, decided to keep the dream alive by starting up The Geekbox podcast, suitably named after its home base at "The Geekbox."

Living frugally as I am, I thought that instead of donating money to support these endeavors I could donate my artistic skills. After whipping up a banner I sent it off to Ryan saying to feel free to use it or not. I'm glad to say he happily adopted it for the podcast and asked for a square rendition that would basically serve as the album art. It's incredibly exciting and rewarding to see one's artwork on the iTunes music store, and to have a shout-out in the podcast, and for that I say to Ryan: THANK YOU!

Snowman Handyman

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I was contacted in mid-December by an outlet reseller of power tools. They commissioned me to create an illustration accompanying a holiday email they send out to the various tool companies they work with (in effect, an ecard). It was a good experience and I think I learned a bit more about how I like to work. As an aside, comments have been turned on. With it being the start of a new year and all, it just seems appropriate to try something new. I'm not sure why it seems you can't comment on older posts, but let us just make due with the idea that it's a new year, with new posts sporting new features to match!