Chess - Game of the Century

Chess - Game of the Century: This is it. This is my final for 3D Modeling and Animation class! The set up of the pieces, if you take a close look at them in certain shots, is based on the famous Game of the Century between Fischer and Spassky. This is also a basic rough prototype of what the arena in my actual Chess concept is going to look like.

(Sorry I didn't post last week, things have been getting crazy - I'll have an announcement out in about a week or so)

Tools: Autodesk Maya and After Effects.

Chess-Madness of the King

Chess-Madness of the King: It's finally here! I'm so happy to finally be sharing this with you all. This video starts setting in place all the blocks of story that make up this Chess concept. I sincerely hope you enjoy this one!

Tools: Adobe Animate and Adobe After Effects.

Chess Board Progress (Delay Announcement)

I'm sorry I couldn't post this sooner-I've been experiencing a lot of annoying Internet connectivity problems recently. Because of said Internet problems, along with work and school, I'm delaying the concept art video until next Saturday. I'm really sorry, but in order to make something that looks good without driving myself insane, I have to do this. Thank you for you patience.

But here, in the meantime, is what I have on my Chess-related finals for 3D-modeling class!

Chess Board #1: An overhead view of the chess board! The armies are complete and ready for an abbreviated version of The Game of the Century.

Chess Board #2: We've learned to play around with depth of field on the cameras in Maya, and now I can take beautiful shots like this.

Chess Board #3: Here's a more sinister shot of the White royalty staring down the enemy.

Chess-Madness of the King (Teaser)

Chess-Madness of the King (Teaser): I have for you the title of the new Chess concept art video, The Madness of the King, along with this piece of teaser art. Some would say that Chess is just another dimension of life, and for the White King Edward, the realities are blurring. What once were his friends on the opposite side are now his enemies, and his only desire is to have the board completely under his control.

Working fast and hard on this video - it will be out next week!

Tools: Adobe Animate (formerly Flash).

Chess - Bishop v Knight Test

Chess - Bishop v Knight Test: Getting the hang of Flash has been a little rocky, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of things! This was a little pencil test I did of a bishop versus a knight (definitely going to have to revisit my run cycles).

Tools: Adobe Animate (Flash).

Chess-Conservatory

Chess - Conservatory: In this piece of concept art, we see the Black queen Florence in her private conservatory. It was made specially for her by her husband, the Black king Alistair, and serves as sanctuary. Enemies would do better not to disturb her here.

Tools: Pencil (outlining) and Sakura Micron pens.

Wildcard Wednesday #60

This week, we can expect: more Chess stuff (showing off a bit of my first Maya work) and some of my first life drawing sketches.

Chess-Pawn: Today marks a momentous occasion - I have only just been getting the basics of Maya for two days now, and I've already constructed a pawn with a matted color! Now that I can construct something like this, finals will definitely be Chess themed.

Chess #33: Going to be working on a lot of Chess art over the next two months, some of which I can't show 'til later or until the next concept art video comes out. One of the things I'm trying to get down to memory is the designs for all the different characters, especially the kings, now that they finally have their own distinct designs.

Life Drawing #1: Like I've said before, I'm finally taking a life drawing class this quarter. And I have to say, it is possibly one of the best classes I've ever taken so far. Drawing from real live models is incredible, and I feel like every night I attend, I keep growing in skill, excitement, and passion for what I'm going into. The model drawn in these sketches was a wonderful poser.

Wildcard Wednesday #59

This week, we have: a return to Chess stuff! Sorry there isn't much today. After the off week I had, it's time to make up for lost time on drawing.

Chess #32: A little inspirational drawing of the Black King Alistair. As I prepare for the next concept art video, I'm trying to round out not just the kings' character designs but also their voices and how big their role in the series will be.

Chess - Concept Art Video #1

Chess - Concept Art Video #1: And here it is, the first Chess concept art video! I realized the ideas I had were too big for one video, so I've decided to make a whole series as I develop the concept. I'll probably do the same for other projects like Between God and the Devil and Tommelise.

Tools: Sketches (traditional) and Photoshop.

Chess-The White Queen

Chess - The White Queen: Working my way through royalty in the designing process for my Chess concept this week, and now I'm retouching the queens. The White Queen, Camilla, has some traces of her earlier design, but she's definitely lot more sympathetic this time around.

(I've been posting lots of my work on Instagram lately, and the House of Staunton, a major chess set manufacturing company, has actually been liking a lot of my Chess art-aaaahhh!)

Tools: Pencil (outlining) and Prismacolor pens.

(Belated) Wildcard Wednesday #56

This week, we can expect: lots more Chess stuff! And a little drawing of L because Death Note is amazing.
(So sorry I forgot to post on time-had a really busy day at work)

Chess #29: As I've been giving the Chess concept and world a full development and makeover, I'm revisiting the kings. They need to be more distinct from each other and have more character to them.

This is your first glimpse of the Black King, who now has a name - Alistair.

Chess #30: Another glimpse of King Alistair. A playful, optimistic king, he is very skilled with the game and an enthusiastic risk taker.

Chess #31: A first glimpse at the White King, Edward. Way back in the day, the kings looked very similar to each other - their only differences being black and white, dark haired and light haired. But in order to give them each their own character and make them distinct, I've added more to their characters. Alistair is British Japanese, and his character traits were listed above. Edward is British, but he's a rough, cunning bloke who's determined to succeed. While Alistair's my favorite, Edward is going to be the most fun to draw as far as expressions go.

L #1: Another drawing of L! (And I'm going to start numbering them because I have the feeling I'll be drawing him quite often) This time I tried drawing him in my own style. It's kind of hard to break away from the manga/anime look, but this time around, I think I finally got something satisfactory.

Chess - Eliza Character Sheet

Chess - Eliza Character Sheet: This week got a lot more full and interesting than I thought it would, but I managed to get another character sheet done for my Chess concept art video. This one I'm really proud of. It astounds me how much I've evolved some of these characters over the span of four years. Originally, this pawn was named Emily and honestly, there really wasn't a whole lot to her character or personality. Now, her name's Eliza, and she's a fierce little pawn who defies her peers and has moved on from a less reputable past in arms dealing to now being the Black Weapons Master.

Man, how she's grown...

Tools: Photoshop.

Wildcard Wednesday #55

This week, we can expect: if you guessed Chess, you're correct! More Chess work, why not?

Chess-Character Sheet #1: Starting to crank out the character sheets now! This one is for Lorenzo.

Chess-Lorenzo Test 1: Lastly, a little test animation of Lorenzo. This one's based more on personality than movement and combat, but those will soon follow!

Chess-Isolated Pawn

Chess - Isolated Pawn: A new teaser for the Chess concept art video. Since I haven't focused on this aspect so much, I'm going to be drawing/animating more in-game scenes, like fights between pieces, dramatic shots, and other such stuff. I've got pretty much all of next week off, so I'm going to be putting in a lot of time into this.

Tools: Adobe Photoshop (plus thumbnail).

Wildcard Wednesday #54

This week, we can expect: more Chess work and some playful doodle work.

Chess #28: Some thumbnails for the concept art video.

Theatre Doodle: Some random concept I'm playing around with. Not thinking of getting too serious with this one at the moment. I've got so much work to do on Chess and Between God and the Devil.

Chess-Eliza

Chess - Eliza: As I plan for character sheets and the Chess concept video (which will be coming out a little later next month, since things got busy), I've been thinking about my characters. And I've decided I'm actually going to cosplay as one of them for Nebraskon this year. I'll be going as Eliza, the Weapons Master on Black. I thought not only would this be fun, but it could also get some interest in my Chess concept. I'll be cosplaying her exactly how she looks - and that includes pale skin and the black and white/grayscale scheme. The red accent is not a part of her official character design, but only to add some contrast to the cosplay.

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Artist's Loft colored pencils (trying out new brands), Prismacolor pens, and a Sharpie pen.

Wildcard Wednesday #53

This week, we have: more Chess, Stranger Things fan art, and a random character design for fun!

Chess #27: Working more on the concept video for Chess! This piece of concept art illustrates a moment where a Black knight, Rory, finally finds the courage to face down the White bishop Basilio. This was a lot of fun to make, and I can't wait to illustrate other moments like this!

Stranger Things - Will: Finally doing some Stranger Things fan art! I love this show so much, you'd think I would've gotten on the fan art wagon sooner. Well, better late than ever! This is a moment from the season two trailer.

Character #1: To loosen me up and keep my creativity on point, I'm drawing random characters that come to me. I was kind of thinking of Pitch Black from Rise of the Guardians when I was drawing this dude...could be a good guy or a bad guy. Don't really know.

Wildcard Wednesday #52

This week, we can expect: developments in Chess! Yes, all current focus is now on this concept.

Chess #24: You are looking at the first scene of the first episode of Chess! For four years I've struggled with finding a compelling story to tell with these characters and the people who play them. Now I have one. This concept is going to be bigger than I ever dreamed it could be.

Chess #25: A blind date in the chess world usually means an interrogation. And when it comes to loyalty, none are harsher about it than the White side.

Chess #26: Some gesture drawings of fencing knights. I know, I know, they're knights! Wouldn't it make more sense to have them joust? But why use a horse and a lance when a fencing foil is so much quicker?

Chess - First Stage

Chess Stage #1: To help make the worlds in my concepts more real and tangible, I'm creating props and backgrounds for a small cardboard box I'm using as a stage! This first stage is very simple. I used acrylics on the background, but I'm going to be a little more considerate using acrylics again, because when you paint with acrylics, seventy percent of that time is spent blending.

This is a view with the chess pieces themselves. And then...

Chess Stage #1.2: ...here's a view with the characters themselves! I'm going to learn how to better make character stand ups and props the more I work with these stages.

Tools: Cardboard, Prismacolor pens, acrylic paint, pencils, and crayons.

(Belated) Wildcard Wednesday #50

This week, we can expect: Cirque du Soleil simplicity and more Chess developments.

(Sorry this came late-I lost track of time and I'm trying to make sure I'm ready for Patreon)

Cirque #1: A simplistic doodle I did around the Innocent, a character from Cirque du Soleil's Kooza.

Chess #22: Playing around with my Chess concepts again. This time, I made some ceremonial outfits that resemble the pieces' appearances. The knights are a little wonky, but I'll get them right soon enough.

Chess #23: When I said I'm playing around with my Chess concepts, I really mean it, and it's not just because of Patreon. This series is something I want to make big and meaningful to many people. So I'm really going to work on the story to make sure everything is perfect. And a perfect story will provide perfect visuals and artwork.