Time to grow up!

Wow, it's been way too long since my last post, but I have actual real excuses I promise. 

I've been working on a huge project for work (which I can't show here for a long time), but the main reason is all the baby stuff I've been doing... that's right - we have a baby on the way!  So late February I'm going to be a Dad for the first time and I can't wait!

It looks tough being a pregnant lady, so I've been helping my Wife out as much as possible, and along with the never ending construction of flat-pack furniture and nursery painting, my blog and galleries have fallen by the wayside.  The upside is that impending fatherhood has opened up many new avenues of inspiration and as a result I have a few big projects in the pipeline which I hope to share soon.


In the meantime this little guy (or girl!) is from the invitations I designed for my Wife's baby shower.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year,

Shane S

Our little hero...Part 3

So here's my final Schoolism assignment - got five stars for this piece!

This final stage was mainly focused on bringing the piece together using all the techniques previously covered and polishing it a bit more.

I really enjoyed painting this and I think it's given my future work more focus; I've finally figured out that I enjoy rendering fairly realistically BUT on a cartoony/cute foundation. I guess I find it more satisfying creating characters with a wider appeal than the ever popular monsters, goblins and other unfriendly beings. That's not to say that I don't plan on dabbling in the grotesque at some point in the future!

As usual, all comments and critique welcome.

For the greyscale sketch of this painting click here

For the colour sketch of this painting click here


Shane S

P.S. Look out for my Schoolism.com review in the near future.

'Guyver' Digital Painting process...

Click to zoom!

A few people have asked for a guide on the technique I used for my Guyver painting, so here you go!

It's just a basic description of my process so is far from an exhaustive tutorial, but feel free to ask any questions if you'd like me to elaborate on any of the points.

I used Corel Painter 10 for my painting and Photoshop CS3 for the final adjustments, but I'm sure the whole thing could be produced in photoshop if that's all you have to hand.

I can't take full credit as I actually picked up the foundations of this technique from a blog post by the extremely talented Sam Nielson.  Please check out his blog, you won't be dissappointed.

Part 1 of that post can be found on the The Art Center Blog here and part 2 here.
I highly recommend reading them as Sam explains the process far better than me!

Shane S

Velociraptowl...Part 2

I call this a Velociraptowl... it's some kind of owl/raptor hybrid if you couldn't guess by the name!

To see an earlier greyscale version check out this previou post.

Shane S

Guyver!!!!!!!!

Guyvaaaahhhh!

I was dead set on not painting anymore fanart, but this was for a competition so I think I can just about get away with it

Plus I loved that show.  To me it was kind of like an ultra-violent animated Power Rangers; very cool to a thirteen year old.

I've recently been rewatching the original 12 part anime, and apart from the terrible voice over I think the action scenes still hold up.

See below for some detail shots;

For a process/tutorial on how I painted this image click here.

Shane S

There's a snake in my boots...Part 3

Nearly there!

This was the last assignment working on this painting, so technically I should be finished...but...there are still some techniques to be covered in the final two lessons so I'll come back to this one last time to make those improvements and implement any tweaks from Ryan Wood's video feedback.

This is the third work in progress version of this painting.  Here's Part 1 and Part 2.

Two more assignments to go!  I'm really going to miss such useful feedback every week.

Shane S

Our little hero...Part 2

Here's a colour sketch of this previous greyscale painting.

I tried out a few new techniques for this one and tried to be a bit more adventurous with the colour.  I also held back on rendering the details too much - always a challenge!

Shane S

Velociraptowl Cartooned...

Just trying something a little different from my usual style, this time using the linework to add to the image rather than hide it away under the rendering.

This is actually a twist on a creature I previously designed, the Velociraptowl.

Shane S

There's a snake in my boots...Part 2

After a useful critique from Ryan Wood, I made some changes and added colour for the week 4 assignment.

The original greyscale (and more smiley) sketch can be found in this previous post.

For future assignments this image will be polished a bit more, so keep an eye out for it.

Shane S

Our little hero...

I have a new love - textures!  I've always seen them as a bit of a gimmicky shortcut, but after learning how to use them properly a whole bunch of new possibilities awaits.

If I ever have a daughter to call my own, I hope she's a little trooper like this.  :)

Week 3 of Painting in Painter with Ryan Wood.  Look out for a coloured version in the near future.

 As usual, coments and critique welcome.

Shane S

Velociraptowl...

Week 2 of Ryan Wood's painter course on schoolism.  The assignment was to paint a furry or feathery creature using the techniques described.

I'm definitely learning a lot and, with the feedback from last week's assignment, hopefully it'll push my art to the next level.

Seven more to go!

Shane S

There's a snake in my boots...

Last Friday I started 'Painting in Painter with Ryan Wood', a nine part online course on Schoolism.com.  The instructor, Ryan Wood, is a super-talented concept artist in the videogames industry.  Check out his personal blog here.

The first lesson covered the basics of the Painter interface plus a whole bunch of cool tricks and tips I simply wouldn't have discovered unless I used Painter on a daily basis.

I'm very happy with the opening section and am looking forward to the next.

The first assignment (shown above) was to create a black and white character using the techniques from the video.  Before starting the course I was just getting into Read Dead Redemption, so it's my tribute to the greatest game I don't have time to play!  Once I've completed the course I'll come back to this image and add some colour with my newfound Painter abilities.


Shane S

"The Claw chooses who will go and who will stay..."

I'll start this, my first image post, by stating one simple fact. I love Pixar movies.

Now let me explain; When was a kid I decided that I didn't want to be a zoo-keeper, archeologist or dolphin trainer, figuring that I'd become an artist instead. But what does an artist really do? How do they do it as a job? My pre-teen brain couldn't quite figure those parts out, so I just carried on drawing dinosaurs and Ninja Turtles (actually is was 'Hero Turtles' here in Blighty) assuming things would work themselves out.

Fast-forward a few years to 1996 when I first saw Toy Story, and when my mind was completely blown.

Suddenly it all clicked into place. I wanted to make films like this, no matter what small part I had in the process, I wanted to do that. I wanted to draw those characters, design their world, their lives, their friends, foes and families - everything.

Fourteen years later and Toy Story is still possibly my favourite movie (fighting with Jurassic Park for the top spot!) and remains the only film I've seen multiple times at the cinema. I've owned it on VHS, DVD, and now blu-ray and it continues to inspire me with every viewing.

So what's all this got to do with the odd little creature depicted in the picture above? Well in case you didn't realise, it's actually one of the little green men from the afformentioned movie with a little stylistic twist of my own.

Wouldn't it be cool if those little guys got thier own spin-off? I'll let you figure out the story...

So consider this my tribute to Pixar - keep up the amazing work.

Until next time, To Infinity, and Beyond!


Shane S

About the blog...

Good day!

I introduced myself in my previous post, so now it's time to formally introduce my new (and first) blog; Shane Made Art.

I've started this blog for three reasons;

1, To get my work out there
Nobody's going to see the fruits of my labour if it's just sat on my hard drive gathering digital dust. Plus, I have some interesting things planned and it'd be a shame if my Wife was the only person that got to see them!

2, To get involved
I've sat on the sidelines as a silent observer for a few years now, listening to podcasts, reading blogs and browsing forums. In the last year, with the rise of Twitter, the social networking aspect of being an artist has exploded to the point of becoming essential. So along with this blog I've also created a bunch of other profiles, accounts and galleries, all of which I intend to keep up to date and consistent with each other. There are some links in the sidebar and more will be added as I populate them with goodies. All of this is done with the intention of becoming a part of these blossoming communities, of which I'll list some of my favorites in a future post.

3, A fresh start
My previous online presence was a lowly DeviantArt gallery filled with a mish-mash of different styles, subjects and mediums, dating back to 2003. It was, to be honest, an inconsistent mess! I felt my ability and style had moved on to the point where I needed to leave it all behind and 'rebrand' as such. So all the art you'll find on this blog will be new. I'll look back on some of my old stuff with fond memories though, some of those pieces helped me to get into the industry after all.

So that's all the formalities taken care of....the next post will include some of my actual art! Are you excited? No? Not even a little bit? Well, I'll have to try to change that won't I...


Shane S

One small step for me...

...and one giant leap for er...me.

So this is it, my first foray into the wide world of social networking!

Like I do with most things, I'm jumping head first into this, which hopefully explains the basic look of the blog and current general lack of content. Don't worry, it's a work in progress.

So, what about me? Who, what, why where and when? Let's get started shall we?

Who? - My name is Shane Smith. Hi there.
What? - I'm an illustrator/artist/ideas man/imagineer - whatever you want me to be!
Why? - 'Cause I love drawing, painting, sculpting and all those kinds of lovely things, and I might as well do it for a living right?
Where? - I'm an in-house artist for a greetings card company in the UK.
When? - Like most artists you will ask, I've been drawing ever since I could pick up a pencil. I've been lucky enough to do it professionally, full-time, for the last three years and counting.

So that's about it for now. I'm sure we'll all get along swimmingly, after all, that's the whole point of these twitterbookblogfolio things right?

If you have a moment please feel free to visit my other net-nooks listed in the right hand panel.

Cheerio, see you next post (there'll be another one soon, I promise)!

Shane S