Previsualization / Concept Art / Environment Design / Comic Book Pencil Art: FUTURISTIC CITY

In this post and this post also, I wrote about illustrating samples for a supposed video game company that ultimately expected the work I did to be done on 'spec'.  This is the last of the designs I had done to try to get the job that turned out not to be the kind of job you get paid for.

At the time of the job posting I saw, I didn't have anything formal in my portfolio that would serve to demonstrate my abilities for designing environments.  So when I saw this ad, I illustrated these pieces as fast as I could, but I was afraid I had taken too long and missed any opportunity for this 'job'.  I contacted this 'client' to let him know I was completing things for him, and I then sent him what I had already done.

In the description of this 'job' ad, the 'client' was looking for a futuristic city to be designed, along with roller coasters and an armored warrior woman.  I had continued my theme of placing all of these designs in the form of a comic book page (or in this case, a double-page spread).  

After I sent the initial pieces I finished, that is when I got a very positive reaction from the 'client' who asked me to send the piece you see above, even though it wasn't finished.  When I sent this to him, the 'client' slathered me with compliments, and told me all about his project, and then that's when he told me he wanted me to work for 'back-end' pay.

It's such a sucker-punch when you do all the hard work you can to get a job, only to get the carpet yanked out from under you.  It's an education on what is real, and when you should develop a sense of when it isn't.

One day, I'm going to carve out time and take this piece to finish.  I'd love to see how the roller coasters will turn out.

Previsualization / Environment Background Design: WOLVERINE and the X-MEN

Above are some of the background designs I did for the Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon series for Marvel Animation, Toonz Entertainment & Noxxon Entertainment Inc.

I illustrated these designs for producer Susan Norkin at Kickstart Productions.  As Head of Production, Susan has overseen all aspects of production since the founding of Kickstart. She recently produced the animated series, Finley the Fire for Hallmark Entertainment, and animated pilot The Amazing Scew-On Head for Sci Fi Channel.  She was an Associate Producer on the Emmy-award winning Babylon 5, it's spin-off Crusade and Hypernauts.   She was the supervising producer on the 3D animated series Voltron: The Third Dimension, Max Steel and Dan Dare.

I try to only work for the best, you know.

When I had started working on these Wolverine backgrounds, I had been used to working at a more generous pace for other clients.  It took some getting used to for the more fast-paced scheduling required for such a tightly structured cartoon series.

I feel I did a good job with the quality, but I do look forward for the next time when I can keep that same quality at a faster pace.

Previs Concept / Environment Design / Character Design / Comic Book Pencil Art

Back in this post, I talked about doing design work for a video game company that when I showed my design work, I was told that the company expected me to do work on 'spec' for them.

A number of designs I had decided to put into a comic book page format, which included character design, the futuristic city environment design & robot design.  Again, I had a very positive response from the supposed client, right before they told me that I would be working for free.

I declined.

3D Animation Storyboards / Orthographic Turnarounds for 3D Modeling: HASBRO STAR WARS TOYS

When I worked for Reel FX Creative Studios, I storyboarded for countless toy product commercials, mostly for Hasbro.  One of the jobs I had was to storyboard was a simple 3-5 second 'bumper' for the Star Wars toy commercials.  The approved concept I came up with was of the soldier droids from Star Wars: Phantom Menace, moving along an assmebly line with the Star Wars logo integrated into the back wall.  Just something visually cool to do for the beginning or the end of the commercials.

I was able to convey the concept in one single pan-shot frame storyboard, notated to specification.  In addition, I was given a previs design done by one of the Star Wars production designers, and assigned to produce orthographic turnarounds of it for 3D modeling, which you see below the bumper frame.  I had to take the previs design, and then extrapolate from the single representation to work up accurate views from all sides (except from the bottom, this time).

Even when I get paid to do my work, often a job goes nowhere and is abandoned.  That happened with this assignment.  I got to see a 3D test of the orthographics I worked on, and it was beautiful!  When we found out this was a no-go, there was a collective exclamation that came from all who worked on this project.

I can't repeat what a lot of us said here in this blog.  That would be just rude.

But it was fun to do!

Previsualization / Concept Art / Environment Design / Comic Book Pencil Art: DOME CITY

I was scouring through ads looking for work back in 2002, and came upon an ad looking for a Concept Designer.  In this ad, it specifically asked for designs for a number of things, including a domed city in a desert.  I spent several days working on these various environment concept designs, and sent them out to this company.

I got a call back from the person in charge, who told me how much he really liked what I did, and would absolutely want me as a part of the development team for whatever video game that was being produced at that time.

One catch: all my work was going to have to be on 'spec', and I would be paid on the 'back end'.  To be clear, when someone asks you about this, this PLAINLY means that they want you to work for FREE.

They have no money to pay anyone.  More likely they have money, but they just want free work from you so they can lay claim to ownership of the designs you did (because you "worked" for them on their project).  They also have no business model with which they can demonstrate to you that if you do the concept design work for them, once they sell 'X'-amount of units of said product, you would then get 'X'-amount of dollars for it.

These are hard lessons to learn...

Previsualization / Environment Design: Kurt Busiek's ASTRO CITY

When Kurt Busiek started his Astro City comic book series, he asked me to do an illustration that would be the background for his 'letters pages'.  What was suggested as a spot illustration on the top of the first page, turned out to be my suggested 4-page spread illustration, muted down in tone to lay underneath the printed letters and information at the end of each issue.

Essentially, I was the first to be able to establish the actual full look of Astro City.  Just a baseline design from which to springboard to the absolutely amazing work Brent Anderson has done over the years, illustrating this incredible comic book series.

Kurt sent me (at that time, I think it was by fax... you know, back in the 'olden' days) a drawing of a map, delineating the various sections of Astro City.  I did 2 passes on it, the first one being the rough concept sketch posted below the Astro City logo, above.  The second was the design you see at the top of this post, which Kurt liked because it looked as if you the reader might be flying above it.

The only Absolute Requirement was to have the Atom symbol atop the tallest building in Astro City be in the very spot that would follow the logo atop the first page of this 4-page letters section of the comic book.

The final piece was penciled & inked, approximately 18" x 47" on a single board.  This being the first ever previs concept design I had done, it was a daunting challenge.  Since I had never worked on something so large before, this piece took me a full month to do, what seemed to be forever and a day to complete.  It didn't help that I really pushed my job up to (and a bit beyond) the deadline, which frustrated everyone.  Especially myself.

With years more experience, I'm definitely a lot more efficient than I used to be.  However, this piece felt like it almost did me in.

Previsualization / Concept Art / Environment Design: HASBRO GI JOE Commercial Ad

My very first job at Reel FX Creative Studios was to work on the second all CG-animated one-minute GI JOE.com website commercial.

The opening shot of this commercial was of a destroyed Cobra base of operations.  I was asked to come up with a design, which I turned in the next day.  In that design, I augmented the pencils with graytones from markers.

I went right on to storyboarding the commercial.  Several days later, I was shown the opening shot.  It was awesome!  Creative Director Brandon Oldenburg took my Cobra base drawing, did a color treatment in Photoshop of it, then had it pasted on stock footage of a mountaintop pan shot with smoke billowing out of it!

It was only a 3 second shot, but it was simply amazing to see how things get put together.

Previsualization / Concept Art / Environment Design: ALIENS COLONIAL MARINES Video Game

Every so often you pitch for a project, and nothing happens.  That's the way it works sometimes.

Brandon Oldenburg from Reel FX Creative Studios asked me to work on a pitch for a job doing environment designs for what I was told to be the Aliens: Colonial Marines video game.  It would have been a nice job to get, to develop all the elements and assets of a complete video game.

I worked up several environment designs in pencil, one of which I finished in ink.  What a great job this would have been, if we had been awarded it.  But alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Oh, well.  On to the next pitch!