Ye Olde Scribblin's

GNOSIS returns!

2010-04-01T11:25:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't posted in a while and I decided that it was high time my sketch blog got some new duds. As such, I bring to you two new environment concepts for my game, GNOSIS. I plan on doing some more of these, as well as some character redesigns, just as soon as I get some more practice with Corel Painter. I've decided to try an modify the brushes and workspace to more closely fit my workflow with Photoshop. We'll see how that goes... Stay tuned for more on this project!

Also, check out my new portfolio site at: www.cargocollective.com/mattzeilinger

Alcademy Launches!!!

2009-11-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I last posted. That's because I've been hard at work on a game project through my school, entitled "Alcademy." However, after months of hard work, the official website has launched, and the first level of the game is playable! So, go check it out at www.alcademy.net, see if you can beat the first level, and leave feedback on the form that follows. It would be greatly appreciated! You can leave me feedback on the art of the game as well, since I functioned as the Art Lead on the project. Also, we are submitting the game to IGF this year (www.igf.com), so wish us luck in the competition!

I'm a Cthulhu kid!

2009-07-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

I did this one a couple months ago, and I just forgot to post it up here. I did it as a father's day gift to my dad, since he's the one who started me on my love for the horror genre all those years ago... Sitting around watching old Vincent Price movies, and laughing about the ridiculous special effects. Those were the days... Anyway, this actually started off as a very simple sketch in one of my sketchbooks about a year ago, but when I found it, I knew I had to finish it. I also ended up using it as one of my bookmark business card designs. It took about 2 days to complete, using Sketchbook Pro and finishing up in Photoshop.

Steam academies... IN SPACE!!!

2009-07-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

Actually, these are two completely unrelated (imagine that) pieces I've done over the last 48 hours. The "SPACEMAN Nebula" as I like to call him was for a project for the Digital Artist's Guild of Milwaukee. We are having monthly (?) projects that everyone posts to, and this was my submission for the "SPACEMAN" subject. Anyway, you can check us out here: digitalartistsguildmilw.blogspot.com

The second piece I like to call "Steam Academy", and it is for an undisclosed school project (stay tuned!). It was a 4 hour speedpaint with the purpose of establishing mood for our chosen theme. It's still a bit rough, and I could definitely spend A LOT more time polishing it, but it was meant to be quick, so I decided to leave it as is.

Steampunk Storytime

2009-06-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a set of self-promotional images that I'm doing for bookmarks. All of the images will be "book-themed" and will be in a bookmark format (even though it is not depicted here). Next one coming soon!

Game Concept

2009-06-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

These three pieces of art were part of a concept document assignment for my Intro to Game Development course. The assignment called for the creation of an original game concept. The name of my game was "GNOSIS". The character orthographic is one of the main characters, with his bag as the object I chose to represent. The environment is a location in the city just after the beginning catastrophe in the game.

LOST is awesome!

2009-06-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

A portrait of the conflicted Dr. Jack Shepard. He detonated a hydrogen bomb... what WILL he do next???? 4 hours, Photoshop with photo reference

The Ice Spire

2009-05-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would throw up the final render for "The Ice Spire", a conceptual illustration for my design course. The composition was not my first choice, but we were supposed to allow the class as a whole to guide our decision on the matter of composition and color scheme. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, and there is very little I would do to change it. It was started and completed in Photoshop CS4 in approx. 8 hours.

Hmmm... I just noticed the similarity between this painting and the one I did for my final project in my perspective class... I guess I have a thing for spires... or phallic imagery....

....I'm tired....

2009-02-17T14:24:00.001-08:00

Okay, so here's the finished image for my final project in Perspective class. I really like to cause myself a great deal of pain... so I chose futuristic Tokyo as my theme. Anyway, it took about 15 hours to complete, over three days. I didn't get much sleep. I'm happy enough with it, though I think it is a bit confusing to look at. But then again, so is real life Tokyo, so...

Valentime's Day

2009-02-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

I painted this the other day for a valentine's day gift for my wife. It's her and our dog, Dracula. I used some new brushes that I got on it, including the textured rake brush on the background. I've been trying to go for a more natural feel to my digital paintings, and this is the first attempt. More later...

Waking up to Desolation...

2009-02-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

Here is another assignment I completed for my Perspective class. I came up with the idea while playing the demo for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. I entitled it "Waking up to Desolation", because I envisioned someone waking up in a ruined hospital, and when they walked into the hallway, this is what they would see. There was a bit of a rush on this since this was attempt #4 at this assignment, which had us dealing with cast shadows, reflections, and changing planes in perspective, but I thought it turned out okay despite the time constraints. If anything, it definitely forces me to practice turning out a completed image in a limited amount of time.

New Cairo

2009-01-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

This is a project I was working on for my perspective class. I was happy with the way it turned out, so I decided to upload it here. We were required to portray a cityscape in three-point perspective, and we had to choose a theme. I chose futuristic, and I decided to take it in an Egyptian direction. I may do color on it someday if I'm feeling ambitious, but this is the assignment I ultimately turned in.

The Calling

2009-01-31T10:27:00.000-08:00

I started this painting while working through Jason Chan's quick sketch tutorial. I'm not sure whether I'm finished with it or not, but since school is eating the majority of my time, I decided to put this one aside for the time being. I may return to it at some point to add some polish, but for the most part, it is complete. I call this one "The Calling" for obvious reasons to anyone familiar with Lovecraft. Photoshop, 3 hours.

The Last Stand Final

2008-12-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

So, here it is, the final render of "The Last Stand". Put in about 4.5 hours to finish it up, putting me at right around 10 hours total painting time. Not too bad, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I may tweak it in the near future after I look at it with fresh eyes... we shall see... Anyway, let me know what you think of the final piece! Viva la Aliens!

The Last Stand Part 3

2008-12-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

2 more hours and lots of futzing with possible color palettes. I want it to have a somewhat dreary blue overtone to everything, a la the Aliens film. Anyway, had some issues that slowed things down a bit. I will need to explore possible options for streamlining this process. Maybe watch some more demos.... Eh, I felt I've got a good thing going so far, though. However, I might end up changing the whole thing before I move on. We shall see....

The Last Stand Part 2

2008-12-05T22:33:00.000-08:00

Here it is: 2.5 more hours logged and the shapes are coming together without too much difficulty. A couple of hiccups along the way, but otherwise smooth sailing so far. More painting shenanigans to come shortly...

The Last Stand

2008-12-03T00:02:00.000-08:00

So I decided to continue my foray into speeding up my painting techniques. The last one I did went rather well, so I decided to go for some slightly more complicated fare this time around. I increased the number of subjects, and shifted to a more dramatic angle. However, I still chose subject matter with which I am intimately familiar. The epic battle between Alien and Space Marine. I'll be posting progress shots of this one as I go. So far, the initial sketching and roughing out took about an hour. So far so good...

To commemorate the first snowfall of the year...

2008-12-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

This little ditty here was actually a bit of a speed painting exercise. In wanting to gauge how far my digital painting has come, I decided to see how fast I could take a painting from conception to finished piece. I completed this one in two days, with just under 5 hours total painting time. It's entitled "The Fall Goodbye", and was inspired by a comic entitled "The Robot and the Sparrow" by Jake Parker. His comic can be found in the anthology "Flight" volume 2. Gotta give credit where it's due. Anyway, I decided to post it in honor of our first real snowfall of the year here in Milwaukee. Shoveling snow sucks...

A little dash of the voodoo...

2008-12-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I loved that first post so much, I decided to post more! Here is a painting that I started a while ago. It started with a more blocky coloring aproach, which I never finished. After I had completed the Shanoa painting, I was debating what to do next, and was having some trouble coming up with ideas. I decided to return to something older in the meantime, and so I revamped this old Witch Doctor girl idea using the tecniques I learned with Shanoa. Anyway, feedback please! By the way, in case anyone's curious, both Voodoo Girl and Shanoa were painted in Photoshop. The original for Voodoo Girl was started in Corel Painter.

The beginning of the end...

2008-11-30T23:47:00.000-08:00

So, the circle is now complete. It started with Myspace, and has finally come to this. At the behest of my brother, I have finally entered the fabled realm of sketchblogs... For my first offering to the sketchblog gods, I felt it was appropriate to start with the first digital painting I've done lately that I felt has finally broken some boundaries for me. It represents a shift in my style, towards new techniques, and hopefully bigger and better things. Anyway, as with everything I do, I crave constructive criticism, so feel free to go nuts. The painting is of Shanoa, the main protagonist from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.