SOTW Steampunk lava walker concept
Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Steam powered lava walker! This is a sketch I did a long time ago (see my first post) but never really got around to adding color to the concept. The inspiration for it was just by coming up with three random themes. Lava, steam punk, and 4 legged. I love picking the three random things because it gives you starting point instead of just pulling something from the air.
I tried something a little different with my approach by laying out flat colors and then using the burn and dodge tool in photoshop then going over a second time with some color to add the glowy parts.
I also overlaid a few textures that I got from HERE. Awesome site, with lots of free textures to choose from. It’s easily the best texture site I have found yet.
That’s it for now. With any luck I’ll be posting next week too. Hey nobody is perfect….
Sketch Of The Week October 7/09
So I’m getting back on track, kind of.. Instead of a two-month gap between post I’m down to a two week gap. Now that’s progress!
This week’s sketch falls in the same universe as last weeks. Remember Castle Von Beacon? Well this would be one of the Marshals heavy tanks. I was going for something not too futuristic with a heavy iron style. Kind of like a big daddy from Bioshock but way “more machine now than man”. Err if you can call a big daddy a man.
First nothing says bad ass like a huge mec with lobster claws for hands! Then if that wasn’t enough he has guns coming out of his arm pits… I liked the guns so much I even threw in a second sketch of it. Throw in some metal bolts to give it that heavy metal feel and boo-yea instant walking tank. I toyed with putting a third leg on the mec but too many dirty jokes came to mind.
All right I’m done for now. As always I open to suggestions for next weeks sketch.
See ya
A
Sketch Of The Week Sept 22/09
Ok so the sketch of the week is really, really late this time. Quit your whining it’s here and free of charge. I’m still getting use to the whole father thing, which is going well FYI, thanks for asking. I finally managed to get some time for this weeks sketch by hiding in the bathroom and pretending to be sick while the wife takes care of tiny E.
Anyways, I broke away from doing the normal three themes. I’ve been wanting to work on a friends project/story so did this sketch of the castle I call Beacon. The initial concept was a fortress that not only had the outer walls to keep invaders out but, it’s also sectioned off on the inside to keep the four factions living inside from killing each other. You can see how the fortress is broken up in the top view image. That’s the basic concept so I ran with it.
I added multiple levels onto the fortress to also break up the different levels of the feudal system. The higher up you live the better off you are, the lower well I guess it sucks to be you. At the very top of Beacon is Beacon tower where the Marshal resides. He’s far from being the king, more like the watcher of Beacon. Or maybe the babysitter would be more accurate. I thought it would be cool if his office were suspended over the city while he keeps watch through his glass floor. Some what voyeuristic but hey. And above that is where the fortress gets its name, a lighthouse for incoming travelers.
It’s a little hard to tell in the final sketch but there is an ocean port on the backside of the fortress. You can see it more clearly in the side sketch. The sweet part of this is that the flying buttresses would make an awesome rigging for the loading and unloading of cargo vessels. Not to mention I can see a bad ass fight scene/ escape taking place here.
That’s it for now. I’m a little tired and every time i write Beacon i have to double check so I didn’t write bacon. Probably a little hungry too. I’m already working on my hiding place to get next weeks sketch going.
A
Sketch Of The Week July 22/09
Welcome back! The Sketch of the Week’s themes are Civil War, Apollo 11. Civil War (courtesy of Wendog), and the Apollo 11 in honor of the anniversary of the moon landing. No third theme this week. Sorry, I just thought the first two themes were so contrasting one more might be pushing it.
Anyways I can’t decide if the concept art is getting weirder or more creative. Its amazing how close genius and madness really can be. I guess it’s just on of those things history decides.
I’m pretty happy with how this weeks sketch came out. The old photograph texture really helps play out just what the theme is. I did that with a load of PS brushes on multiple layers. A lot of the inspiration came from civil war era steamboats, warships and a submarine. Yes apparently there was a sub back in that era. You can see it here.
If I made a summery of just what I did I would say I pulled the 45 degree angles and rivets from the civil war era and added them to a Saturn V rocket. Throw in a few smoke stacks and support wires for good measure and this is what you get. Originally I had this in full color but it just made more sense to give it the ye old photograph look. I threw in the green flame for no other reason than it just looked cool.
That’s it for this week. As always let me know what you think about this week and what I should do for next week.
A
O yea and FYI old skool astronauts were bad asses with huge huevos. Did you know they fixed a broken circuit breaker with a pen while on the moon! Without it they couldn’t take off. They also only had minutes of oxygen left when the launched off the moon. Now a days we are scared if their toilet breaks down.
Sketch Of The Week June 03/09
This week’s Sketch of the Week is brought to you again in Technicolor! The themes are medieval cyber pirate.
When brainstorming about this concept sketch I had the idea of crossing pirates with the armor of a medieval knight. Then just to add a little bit of the sci-fi element I threw in the cyber part. I’m starting to wonder if I have some sort of fascination with cyber people (see the cyber magician).
The blending of the cyber and the medieval armor was no problem. I tried to make the design of the mechanics in the right arm a little lo-tech. It just seems to make the cyber arm more realistic. Not that a robotic arm on a pirate is realistic but it just looks more like an obsessed ironsmith could forge it together. Of course no cyber pirate would be complete without his cyber eye patch. Then throw in a few belt buckles for good measure (also a common theme between pirate and medieval).
I was running out of time so I really wanted to add some color quick. So what goes fits both the theme of pirate and medieval? Canvas maps of course! I selected some colors to pull off that feel and added a thatch texture to drive it home. Pop some highlights in for detail and wahala!
See ya next week,
A
Sketch of the Week! Apr 7/09
The idea of the sketch of the week is simple in theory. Take three random items and combine them into one sketch. For example this week is steampunk, 4 legged, lava walker. Mash those together and this is what you get.
For now, I’m going to generate the themes but hopefully as this website picks up some steam, I want everyone to pick the themes and also submit their own concepts.
Thanks,
A