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