Just about there

I'm going to take a look at it and see what it needs. Maybe add a few things here and there as well as some detailing on the Cup. Barring any new feedback, this is basically it :)

Update

Had to change the wings, they were really bugging me. Also changed lighting, light source and moved The Cup back to the center of the pic instead of behind the King.

Game Six Update

Here's an update. I wrestled with what The King should be using as a weapon and I came up with the idea of a flag with the old school Kings logo. Also sketched in some rocks and a bit of snow, just messing around with that for now. I'm not sure how much I should make this a "finished" painting or maybe just keep it in the loose "concepty" phase. I also changed the aspect ratio and put The Cup behind The King character. Open to feedback.

Game Six WIP

I started this painting after game two of the Stanley Cup Finals. I blocked it all in rather quickly, but then I got so caught up in watching the games and the subsequent celebration of the Kings victory that I didn't get back to it right away. My initial idea was just a King vs a Devil. I sketched out a bunch or rough thumbs, did some online research. I saw a lot of "Archangel casting Satan out of Heaven" type of themes, but I didn't want mine to look overly religious, so I started thinking about some old Frank Frazetta paintings. I had something in mind and started sketching.

To my dismay, disappointment, embarrassment, etc, I found a Death Dealer painting that was similar to what I was already starting. I didn't want to rip Frazetta off, but I found it might be cool as a parody\homage, so I stuck with what I started and tweaked it to look more like the Death Dealer V painting. After I blocked it all out, I decided to add a Blue, Canuck and Coyote.

Once it was all in place I found that I still had to design what they were all going to look like. What exactly does a Blue look like? My team and I had worked on The Guardian Project last year. It was an idea to merge Stan Lee comic book characters with NHL mascots. Because of this, I was very sensitive as to how I wanted the characters in this painting to look, so I spent more time away from the painting and back into my sketchbook. I also decided that I didn't want them to have any weapons, too violent, and no hockey sticks, too cheesy, so I just changed their hands and arm poses, especially with the devil. I also started to define what the King was going to look like.

I soon began to realize that I was spending way too much time designing the peripheral characters, so I just went back to my original them, King vs Devil.

  

Once I had this settled I could now really concentrate on the characters, lighting and environment. I didn't really have a light source or lighting color established, which is of course a mistake, even though I had a general idea of the lighting direction. I also started thinking about the King standing on some kind of a wall made of ice or maybe even a slope of ice. LA isn't exactly a cold place, but I thought it might lend itself to some cool colors (no pun intended) as well as tie in the overall hockey theme, not to mention a nice contrast with the reds of the Devil. I also started to think more about the King's design. My original ideas were kind of a knight in shining armor look, but this LA Kings team is not the old finesse team of the Gretzky days. These guys are big, strong, fast and in your face, so I decided if I'm already doing a Frazetta kind of theme, might as well make this King something from a Conan movie.

 

So here's where I'm at. I've noodled in a cliff, like maybe he's defending an ice ledge, a cave or something. I also removed the purple from the cape and gave him a set of wooly boots and animal fur on his cape.It feels like it's coming together so thought I'd post all this process up for some feedback.

Game Over

Something for NFL fans on Star Wars day

I've got to first off say that I'm not a Saints hater. I've got a ton of respect and admiration for Drew Brees. Personally, I think the NFL is getting to be as hypocritical as the NCAA. They rake in billions of dollars on violence and are worried about "player safety" but have no problem trying to make an 18 game schedule instead of 16? They fine players for violent hits and yet sell pictures of those fine worthy hits on their website. Ridiculous.

Have A Good Time Vancouver

Why does art cost so much?

More and more I get people who want me to do something for them, their business,etc, then get some kind of sticker shock at the cost. Want to know why it costs so much? Because it's like any skilled labor. I have a skill. You need it. I work in the fields of entertainment, music, games, movies and advertisement, which are multi-billion dollar organizations. What I do helps you or your business to make money. It takes money to make money, and I also have expenses to pay. Forget about a roof over my head or eating, let's just look at the costs to create your work for you:
1. A computer- I don't just walk into a local retail chain and buy some off the shelf brand computer.I need specialized equipment with a lot of power and RAM. Those aren't cheap. Neither are the monitors, although prices have come down, again, I don't just use whatever monitor you're using to check your facebook or play solitaire.
2. Software- Have you ever thought to buy image editing software? A copy of Adobe CS suite costs around $900, and it upgrades every single year. A copy of 3D creation\animation software costs about $4000, and again, it needs to be upgraded all the time.
3. Education- like many specialized fields I went to college, earned a degree, and got work right out of school. It was a private art school, and while you think we were probably just spray painting gold paint onto macaroni shells, we were learning how to market products, create opening titles for movies, visual effects, etc. And like all professional colleges, it was very competitive and not cheap.
I've had people come to me with the most ridiculous requests: Create this and we'll pay you if the client uses it. Work on our game and we'll pay you once it ships. Make a short animated film for less than minimum wage. I don't get it. What do you think we do? Not eat? If you can do it, do it. If not, pay me what I'm worth. Not sure about the rates? Do some research. You're going to be very surprised. You'd rather outsource? Go for it. Have fun understanding that "English", just don't expect those rates from me, because I'm not that kind of "Indian".

Easy! I know what I'm doing!

Sometimes random nonsense just pops into my head. Times like these I am thankful for photoshop knowledge.