A Long Belated Update

Hoho...well...wow...hi

It's been entirely too long. As so much has passed since I've last updated this blog.

I almost took a job designing almost-pokemon (but got to stay in the executive suite anyways), I was in the middle of negotiating a deal to design watercolor mascots for a theme park in France (Based on my Pokemon drawings? I know, whaaa??), went to comic-con in San Diego (almost died of the giggles, stood near Harrison Ford, and danced with two Doctor Who's and a youtube celebrity crush), and I slipped away from my duties at EA to take a job illustrating a book with...you know...those Disney people. 
I also spent some summer time watching the sun rise in Maine on a mountain (during which I was extremely grumpy for a variety of reasons, most of which were that it was 4am), rode in a Cessna, and ate one of the best breakfasts of my life. All of which are fine stories, but none of which I will tell here!

What about that book thingie, you ask? I won't go into detail or say much, but I am currently focusing all my creative energies on a fast-approaching deadline for this book. A fairy-tale project for the Maus Haus!
But I am working on a book! Actually illustrating! It is great! Mostly! Except when I feel like I don't know what I'm doing! Then I panic! Woo!

I've been told that I am allowed to show the teensiest bit of work from my project at EA- wanna see?
I was working on a MOBA that is now in Beta called Dawngate! It's apparently lots of fun, though I've never really played much myself (more of a stop-and-smell-the-roses, solve-the-puzzles, read-the-story kind of gamer myself). But it's been a lot of fun being a part of something that is actually out there in the world! And the team at Waystone games team is an absolutely killer group of people...really surprisingly open and engaged with their community for a team that's housed at EA. Big props to those people! Internet-fed prejudices eliminated!

Zeri!

Mostly, I designed skins for the existing Shapers...but one main character I had the privilege of redesigning myself! Her name is Zeri, and if you have played the Beta you've met her already! There are some characters you design because you're assigned them, but Zeri I did for fun. I heard her voice-acting and saw the general idea (a paintbrush wielding art-school chick) and fell in love. Some times you just get attached, you know?
Anyways- they liked what I came up with, and it's in the game! If you get a chance to try out Dawngate, give her a spin...her sound-bites are hilarious :)

all grown up and three dimensional!

And now for something completely different! I've been keeping up freelance work along with my other projects, and one of them was an animated show concept with a local studio called Cloudkid. I can't say anything more about it, since it's still in development. But I have been permission to show some of the work I did for them...which was super fun! I love working in a range of styles to mix things up (part of my ongoing art puberty), and designing a set of characters with expressions and personality strongly in mind was a new experience for me. It's a whole new way of giving life to a design! Also; octodog!

Lastly, on the work-updates-I-can-show-you front! I painted my first ever Vinyl figurine for an art show in Mexico! Check out Trampantojo for deets! I'm still slim on information about the where and when of the show myself- but it was fun!

Before!

After!

Looking back over the last few months- it's been a real rollercoaster of events and emotions- not all of them good or fun. Often, when I disappear from the internet it is because a combination of busy and sad are keeping me away. But no more! I am determined to move ever-onward, and glad to have the support of you guys to keep me arting. I can't wait to share the book with all of y'all :)

A couple of quick plugs- if you read and enjoyed my comic from a while back about freelance , then you should follow this twitter account if you want to be amused/terribly terribly sad.

If you are interested in my more frequent thoughts and sketches- I'm on twitter, tumblr, and instagram and post relatively often. Still sticking with this blogger thing, though- cuz I love you guys.

In the meantime, I hope you are super well.
God's blessings and much love!

-n