A new year, a new chance to try to keep regular updates going! Most of January I worked on a project that I can’t show until late summer, unfortunately. The little time that remained, I worked on another project that will be under the hood for even longer I’m afraid! So what can I actually write about?! Luckily I always try to make time for personal work, so that will be the focus.
Music Album Cover
Back in December I had the opportunity to join a workshop by Maarten Donders focusing on art for music albums. We worked in pencil and charcoal, creating different sketches of associations we had listening to the music. I liked the sketches I made so I continued working on them in Photoshop – trying more collage-like techniques to keep the traditional feel of the sketch intact.
I had been very inspired by an article by Rafael Sarmento in the issue 206 of ImagineFX. In his article, Rafael shows how he reuses old artwork and painted textures in new pieces, very interesting! I really liked the playful approach he had, just moving, resizing and distorting images until it fitted in the piece. Although he uses Procreate, I figured I could use Photoshop just fine.
Using this new technique took much longer than I expected – it’s not only the extra time it takes going through folders finding nice textures. Still I liked the proces, it adds a layer of unpredictability I like and by using only images you made yourself, the result is guaranteed something you!
Trico Painting
Other news: I sold my painting of Trico (The Last Guardian) on Etsy! I didn’t really expect selling those originals, Etsy doesn’t seem to be the best marketplace for things like that, I think. I put the piece up in September as an experiment – I’m not too attached to them and just keep them in a drawer, while someone might want to adopt one! There is a market for fan art on Etsy, that must be why this piece eventually sold. Nevertheless I’m happy, hopefully this is the start for more! I’m much more happy knowing someone gives the piece space and attention than when it just gathers dust in my studio.
Global Game Jam
And of course January isn’t complete without the Global Game Jam! Just like last year, the jam was held completely online. I got actually quite some sleep this year, haha! The theme was duality, and after a short brainstorm we decided to make a game about a dog chasing chickens, and it’s owner clearing up the mess. We ranked 7th of all Dutch games made this year, which is quite nice!