sketchbook: lutzbot

lutzbot

Hi all- I'm mostly a 2d guy, planning on putting a bunch of sketches and process stuff together here. Here are a couple of extremely random things to get started:

I do a bunch of plein air painting- this is a gouache painting from yesterday (11/29/15). Most everything I do is digital so it's nice to get outside and see the sun and whatnot.



I like giant robots


Then there's this little bastard...

Eric Chadwick

Love em! Especially love the first piece, just plain love painterly work, and I really like the colors and composition and lighting. Nice job, looking forward to more.

blue_skies

So fabulous. Nice variety, too. Man that plein air is glorious.

lutzbot

@Blue_skies thanks !
 @Eric Chadwick thanks! - planning on heading out this weekend to do some more outdoorsy painting, haven't figured out where yet. I did a second one at the tail end of last month ..

A bit of random sketchy warmup gibberish-


and these two. both WIP. They're the start of an article I'm writing more or less for myself, putting into words a bit of a game I play when designing stuff. The basic idea is that there are two sorts of thinking that help develop a concept, storytelling and internal logic. A good design works along both lines- the storytelling is there (this is the visual, emotional side), and it makes sense within the context of the world. The game I've been tinkering with is that good ideas come from crossing the streams (this one time it's ok)- taking a storytelling visual, justifying it with internal logic, and letting that internal logic suggest the next visual. I haven't figured out how best to present this info yet, so you get the braindump images:

Simple example sword:

I started with the idea for an iceblade. kind of boring, generic- the first thing I drew from the prompt "iceblade" is stupid. Then I threw spikes on the grip- something that visually looks dangerous and tells a simple story, "this would hurt you if you tried to use it." Spikes on a grip make no sense though- who would possibly use a sword like that? Well, an Ice Demon might- so now we have the internal logic of "this is for an ice demon." This internal logic led me down the path of 'how would it get made' - and it seems to me that an Ice Demon wouldn't have a blade forged of steel, because that process is really hot- so what if he grows his blade like a glacier - which in turn suggests the storytelling/visuals of a glacier. From there I snagged a few pictures and drew the thing out. I'm not in love with that drawing- I think it's good but needs another pass- but that was the process.

Here's the next one- an evil fuck known as 'the buzzard'. The first thing I draw, as usual, is boring and shitty.

So how do we fix it? We think the shit out of this thing. He's a vicious and cruel thug, but he has the backing of the king- so maybe he's the guy the king calls to get rid of people in a way that makes a statement. So this guy should get stuff from the nobles and wealthy folks he knocks off- which lets us go visual again with fancy armor and gold rings and trophies from his victims. This also informs the pose- he's lean and predatory because he's a predator. He's grabbing his weapons because he's always looking for a chance to use them. From a visual side, I also wanted him to have ragged, torn up cloth, purely because it's cool- but we're gonna justify it by saying he likes to hold onto his stuff from before he worked for the king, just so he can shove it in the nobles' faces - he wants them to know they're gonna get taken out by a low-life. This also feeds back into him taking trophies.. this guy is all about status and letting people know that he has a chip on his shoulder. Not quite done with this one, but closing in, maybe.

wall-o-text over. anyone else think this way? I'm also shortcutting the iteration/variation process here for the sake of making a cleaner doc- it did mean i had to draw this guy like 6 times though, so that may find its way into the next page..

lutzbot

Here's a quick update on the buzzard - more resolve all around and i ditched the small, fiddly detailed pendants for some simpler, larger ones.. always a good idea to go bigger and simpler. also car sketches!

lutzbot

i should get real work done

lutzbot

Here's this thing I've been painting- threw it into the 'what are you working on' thread, which is pretty sweet.

lutzbot

working really loose/stream of conscious tonight.. fun shapes

Melazee

Wow! I'm in love with your work! That last one is great

lutzbot

@Melazee Thanks!
This is a stupid lumpy head render testing out some new workflow business. My favorite conan was the cary nord conan-this is very loosely based on that. last one for 2015!

lutzbot

here's the new new - testing out new workflows, experimenting, although these are more finished works..

lutzbot

i definitely haven't been neglecting my painting outside of work for a good ten months. nope. no way. regardless, here's some designy work for a game i'm planning out and a quick tutorial on a technique i have for painting reflective things - not sure if folks here are going to find it that useful, but figured i'd post it anyway.