The Old Man

Hemmingway's 'The Old Man And The Sea' was the last thing my grandfather gave me before he passed away years ago.

Only just now did I finally read it, and then I did this quick doodle (and since my doodles are in color now, I feel justified in uploading them!) Sort of to commemorate the occasion, and to continue to explore some new stylistic stuff in Photoshop, and to procrastinate, if I'm being perfectly honest (which one should always be on the internet :p). He's a bit...whiter...than he should be. Alas.

I also just read Blankets for the first time. Heavy stuff, all around.

-n

So...I have this fandom...

Okok. I've been doodling a lot now. And I had some free time at work, and I'm going to see Deathly Hallows for the second time tonight and and...

well...I have a long standing history of Voldemort obsession. I can't put my finger on it, I think it's just the simplicity of his design that I like...and I've never been 100% on the movie version.

I love what Ralph Fiennes has done with it...but I just don't dig on Voldemort with normal eyes and ears. Just an opinion.

It's also fun to do this as a "look how far we've come" exercise:

I don't know how to take this gallery down anymore, but I'm kind of glad it's still around.

Oh, 2003...

Anyways, I'm off to the movies!

Cheers, guys!

-n

More Jellybots and a Doodleface

More Jellybots! It's smiling at you :)
I thought I'd spend a little more time to give this idea it's due. Again, not a huge amount of work here, but I want to keep it simple. I'm starting to figure out the tone I want to strike, visually at least. I should be working on other things...but I figure this is helping to keep me fresh.

Again, just toying around with some new techniques and brushes. Really just doodling into the wee hours. But since it resulted in an actually colored piece (love love Cintiq!), I thought I'd post it it :D

Really nothing more than a doodled collection of things I like to draw...hair, noses, little eyes and floppy collars :p

Otherwise, not much to report. Thanksgiving-break spent holed up in my room at my parents' house. Coming down occasionally to let my family know I love them and that my workaholism is not their fault, and then disappearing back into the upstairs to draw.

And then there's the food. Egads! I've written this weekend off as a loss diet-wise. I think I have a stuffing-problem. I am addicted.

Anyways: Happy Thanksgiving, all!

I hope you are well and have plenty to be thankful for!

I am thankful for my wonderful family, their patience, my Cintiq mistress, and the project that will keep me from sleeping for the next few months. Also, my car. Which drives me to and from my Cintiq. :)

Bis später,

LEFTOVER SANDWICHES!

-n

Jellybots

Hi!

I got a Cintiq! :D To break it in, I sat up a did a really quick doodle. It's not much to look at, but I needed to get some portion of the concept down, because it's been sitting in my head for months.

It's a concept I hope to develop really fully at some point when I have some time to myself. Try to flesh out the world and cast of characters...

For now, I'm just psyched to have the opportunity to loosen up and sketch (with color!) quickly and easily.

And in the meantime, I'm completely swamped with a particular side project I am completely psyched about. I don't think I'll say anything here yet, but please be patient. I know I promised to do more personal work and not to disappear...you'll just have to trust me that I am doing just that...but you can't see any of it. yet. :D

-n

Seasons: Requiem

Yeah...about that "wait"...

I got itchy and decided I'd upload the whole comic :D I had a hard time getting the files (and I wanted to wait until I had permission to post them), but here they are!

Again: this was done over a year ago for a yet-unpublished Anthology called Seasons (to be published sometime soon by Sofawolf press...updates will follow!)

This was done at around the same time as Piper's Pet, and it was a source of some frustration to me at the time that Piper is a better comic, even though it was comparatively less work. This was done first, so at least I'm...learning? But for my own sanity: this is OLD. I make better now! I promise!

All I can see now are the flaws. I do realize that it is narratively broken beyond all sense. I ambitiously wanted to do this silently (no words), but see if you can guess what's going on! I posit you cannot!

Points for anyone who gets this without the 'spoiler's at the end of this post :p

I will gladly receive any critiques on the storytelling, since I want to make sure moving forward I work out all the kinks! This probably won't change, but it's useful feedback for the future. Lay it on me.

I'm considering adding text, but I'm afraid it would be too much an afterthought.

Still, I'm glad I did it. It was a good learning experience.

And in unfancified prose, the plot is thus:

A repentant mouse warrior returns from the war with his most regrettable casualty: a small child. He feels he must return the child to her father, but the horror of what he has done doesn't hit home until he see's her father's face. He casts down his sword in a solemn vow to never fight again, and instead of retribution he is met with forgiveness; a chance to start again. Simple enough.

Even typing that out I'm realizing how obscure some of the paneling is. Better next time!

Hope you like it anyways,

Cheers!

-n

A Dark and Stormy Night...

I'm clearing out my backlog!

I promised I'd work on more personal work and as a result would be posting more frequently. Which I have been...but I've just gotten saddled with a large personal project that I am really excited about...and that will be taking up most of my spare time from here up till around February!

In the meantime, I remembered that this old thing had never seen the light of day!

SooOOooOo...this is a preview, the first page of 7, of a comic I did almost a year ago. I'll refrain from going into too much explanation till I post the rest of it.

It was done for an upcoming Anthology called Seasons, being published by Sofawolf Press. I took the opportunity to revisit my love for all things even obliquely related to Redwall :)

Like I said, it's been over a year since I made this and now all I can see are it's flaws. Go easy on me :p

Hope you guys like it; more soon!

-n

Hiccup and Toothless

Hi everyone! It's been such a long time since I've posted any new work. I've been really starving to do some personal work, but up until recently I just haven't been able to motivate myself to get it done. Well, I finally did, and this week I got to the half-inked sketch I had done MONTHS ago of Hiccup and Toothless from Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon.

I love that movie. It was such a breath of fresh air, and a real win for Dreamworks. I have to tell you the truth: not even the last few Pixar movies have gotten me as excited to get back to the theater. Anyways, I really just wanted to draw toothless and what started as an indulgent doodle became a...more...biggerer...doodle?

It was really just going to be a character portrait on nothing, but then I got a little ambitious and decided (late in the game) that I would treat it as if it were a 2d animated version of the film, which meant painting up a background with *gasp* no lines. So that's new. And of course I defaulted to blobby and "painterly" in an attempt to disguise the fact that I don't know what I'm doing :p

In the end, I'm pleased with the result, even though I usually thumbnail out something like this and plan ahead. So the composition is WAY boring, and it feels a little slapped together. Ah well. At least I made something, right?

Since this is my self-indulgent blog, I figured I'd toss in some different states of the piece for those interested:

The lineart, and the whole piece, was done after-hours at work on a Cintiq, so it's all-digital. I still miss pencils.

The cel-shaded look gave me another excuse not to spend time rendering. I would say it was an excuse to do less work, but I spend a lot of time rendering designs at work, so it's actually just a nice change of pace :)

And then, yeah...the background. It looks WAY better as a tiny thumbnail like this. I advise against clicking on it :)

So that's it for now. I'm just really glad to have gotten something done and out there. I hope you guys like it, and I promise I will get off my butt during my off-hours and try to eek out some more personal-work in the not-too-distant future! In the meantime, life continues to be good. The job is great and I can't wait to be able to unveil what we're working on here :D In due time, of course.

Till next time, God bless!

-n

Where have I been!?

(I didn't paint this, it's just one of the only pieces of art released for the project I'm working on! all credit to: Scott Duquette)

SO: Hi guys!

As usual: sorry for the long delay. :(
I know I've been largely absent, and have barely posted art recently...and that which I have has been...well, 'meh'. Alas and alack!

I've sorta sworn off freelance for the time being, since drawing all day doesn't leave much energy or inspiration for drawing all night. I don't know how some people do it!

Of course, I'm getting the jones for a little personal-work, but I really know that I can only handle it in the tiniest dribs and drabs. Like eggnog!

But I promise you, all of my best effort and energy is going into what I'm employed to do. And you'll get to see it...eventually...

In the meantime, there's been a little flurry of buzz regarding the project I am working on, so I thought I'd be a little indulgent in my excitement and post some stuff here. If you're interested in tracking with the vagueries and rumors, here's a starter kit:

Firstly, this is ME :D
--> http://www.38studios.com/people/team_show/93

and this is the news!
--> http://kotaku.com/5488700/curt-schillings-all+star-role+playing-game-has-a-publisher-and-a-mystery-title

and this is slightly older, but kind of neat!
--> http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/4001/Five-MMOs-That-May-Surprise-You.html

oh, and this...some littlest tidbits about what we're working on are embedded herein!

-->http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27645/GDC_RA_Salvatore_On_Building_Worlds_Copernicus.php

So that's what's going up. To clarify, there are two projects...I'm on the one codenamed Copernicus. So if you wanna track with that you'll EVENTUALLY see some of the stuff I've been working on :D Still no real proper news and certainly no revealed images. Keep watching them internets!

More than that, I cannot say. But we're pretty pumped on my end. Go team!

Anyways, I miss you guys! I am still around, and I am always grateful for all your comments and watches!

Cheers!

-Nick

I MAEK PEEKSHUR

YAY!

Hello all!

S'been a little while and I am just about ready to see that Christmas post move down a slot.

I haven't had a thing to post in a long time (since all my recent work won't be seeing the light of day for...well...a while). But I did pick up a little freelance project along the way. And I gotta say: I'm swearing it off for the forseeable future. I don't think I am handling freelance very well alongside full-time employ. :( Still, I did have fun with this...between the tears. Oh, the tears.

The writing is all Rich Fogel (two-time-emmy-award-winner, and father of my good friend Andrew) and the pictures are mine. (I still need to update this with the credits in place).
It was my first time ever working with a script from someone else...it's nice because it takes the edge off my perfectionism; I don't have to worry about writing it, and I'm in good hands.
And it's also one of my very rare excursions into the realm of speculative scientific fiction, which I hear is all the rage these days with the youngsters.

It stars my friend's favorite band, The Phenomenauts, in their comic-book debut. They've been trying to break out into fiction for a while and, seeing as they're a sci-fi-rockabilly band, the match seems to be a logical one. If you haven't heard of them, you should definitely check them out here.
A couple of other friends are contributing comics (all written by Rich Fogel) to the project, and it'll be pirched around a bit by the man himself. It would be neat if something actually worked out!

In other news, I've been really enjoying my job like crazy, and now I have a bunch more RISD kids employed all around me. We're all having a good time. It's a little like camp :)

Other than that, not much news...especially news I can talk about. Life is good, God is great.

Much love to you all and, hey, "Science and Honor!"

-Nick