Monday, March 26, 2012

Jellybots: Twist

The villain of the piece.

In two flavors!

I couldn't shake the fact that I like really loud pink, so I figured I'd toss it up, too :p

I finally made him! He's been rattling around my head for ages.
Just the fact that I did ANY personal work that kept me up till 3 is a big deal. It's been a while!
It's...bittersweet for a variety of reasons. Let's just say I have a lot more time on my hands, and icky-goo is therapeutic.
I'm still keeping information on Jbots pretty quiet, so there's not much I'm going to give you guys about this one. I'm pretty sure that's only a placeholder name. I've toyed with a few...Inkling, Shift, Spectrum, 99, Legion...? Thoughts, anyone?

I've been wrestling with finding my villain for a long time, which is what's been blocking me from doing any Jbots work. But a things fell into place, and I think, at least for the time being, I've got him where I want him.
It's strange how these things happen- a car ride, a few sit-down and sketch sessions, the right song, mood, and the time. The other bots are based on friends of mine. This one's...kind of a self-portrait.
Florence and The Machine can take some credit.

I have a lot of iterations and variations in mind- hopefully it's obvious that his suit is pretty
malleable, so he'll be changing shape quite a bit. Well...you'll see.
He's a bit of a trickster. His masks change color and shape, subdividing and flitting around his suit like a school of electric fish. He speaks through them, picking a proxy to fit his preferred tone and emotion. A face for every occasion.

I'm really grateful to have found my footing again re: Jellybots.
Things in that sense have started to pick up again. I've been tossing around ideas and art styles...speaking to some friends. The thought of pixel-art (my age-old mistress) and I had to do something with it. So I tried a quick little Biin :)


Even cuter in tiny squares!

I was going to try my hand at animating her, but then I realized I'm terrible at that. :p

And speaking of Biin! I wanted to show you guys this. It was made for me by one of the better human beings on the planet. It's a stuffed Biin plushie!
Kind of mega-exciting to see a character design turn into something huggable.
One of the greatest gifts of...ever:

MONETIZE IT! -_-

Things at work are intense, and I have my hands very, very full there. Which is not likely to change any time soon. It is both exhilarating and exhausting. But at least that part of my world is holding together. For all the other things, there's Bombay Bicycle Club. (the soundtrack to a ray of hope. I've been repeat-1ing this track for, literally, DAYS.)

IN THE MY-FRIENDS NEWS:
My best friend Lizzie Moonface has a Kickstarter project she's trying to get off the ground. She's quite close, but she could use the extra push! If you would like to see THIS photographer:


make more beautiful work, or if you love fairies, or pretty ladies, or just generally have a lot of disposable income and you like me and want my friends to succeed, then please CLICK HERE and toss a few dollars her way to make her book happen! ^_^
Oh, and her real name is Liz Mooney. And if you like her work, you should follow her blog here.

In conclusion, at work we had a meeting. During which I drew an emotional map of me (that day). I am not always this maudlin, but for honesty purposes and because it may be worth a chuckle:



my blog, my face, my rules.

I love you guys for reading and giving me a reason to post. I covet your comments, and read them again and again to make myself feel better about myself, so send em on over :p

A little bit of Psalm 19 to add a little actual beauty to this blog:

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."

Much love,

-n




8 comments:

Emerson Tung said...

You made jelly look evil. Awesome work, Nick! Really loving the pink bg version. Kinda wish you uploaded that to dA too. :P

And that plushie is adorbz. Can't wait to see more jellybots stuff.

the doodler said...

I love the idea of the baddie with his swirling masks. That's so cool.

Kirbish said...

JELLYBOOOOTTTTTTTTSSSS!!

You have no idea how happy it makes me to see some more work on this! It's such a fun and amazing concept, and I'm glad you're feeling charged by it again :)

I can't wait to see more!

(also, the Biin plushie is hella cute)

Stephanie said...

LOVE your villain! I love your lines and shapes and shading and transparency. I could look at that drawing for a really long time and remain fascinated. Amazing work.

Laura M. said...

TELL ME ABOUT JELLYBOTS.
Also, I like 'Legion' 'cause it has a biblical tradition and kinda fits in with the many faces thing. We are many ect...

Wes said...

Hey, found you from your piece in Flight (awesome). Just wanted to say I found your blog and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm always inspired by better artist's work.

and that villain would look awesome animated. You should find someone who does 2d animation.

Anonymous said...

haha I'm too nervous to post under my name, but I just have to tell you; every post you make INSPIRES me, makes me want to fight the messed up things in my life, and pushes me on to fight for my own ideas and dreams.

Both your God-given talent and your dedication to it... i don't really know how to say it better... it's amazing, it shows me what a Christian artist could be, should be.

i dunno just... thanks for being you and thanks for sharing. :)

Josh Cotton said...

You probably don't remember me, I follow on the DA. Just sayin', the jellybots idea looks awesome! I can't wait to see where it goes :)
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Thanks also for being brave and putting your faith out there on your professional blog.