Return from Seattle

So we're back from Seattle. Over the course of the trip, E and I both got colds, which are lame, but we gained craploads of information. I managed to bug Jason Chan about classes at Academy to take, the art directors from Wizards of the Coast on how to go about priming my portfolio to get a chance to paint Magic:tG cards, and learned buckets full of information on the industry, concept art, and techniques on digital painting.

Overall, it was too much to process while I was there, and I'm just beginning to process it now. Also, my fingers are cold so my typing is getting really slow.

Anyway, I'm working on a 6 month artistic plan of goals to accomplish. I'll post that and some new sketches I'm working on later this week.

Seattle, here we come

So after an exhausting but fun New Year's, the Seattle Concept Art.Org/Massive Black workshop is upon us. One day for sightseeing, 4 days for the nonstop pure synthesizing of energy into art. Hells yes.

Also, I made a News Year's Resolution to draw every single day, no matter what. So far, we have kept ourselves to this. Just 362 more days to go :D

Woohoo Seattle!

So the plane tickets and hotel accommodations are booked, and we are good to go for Seattle 2008!

Now I'm working on the Unrequited Love Project (which has, admittedly, got off to a slow start), a community art project where little chapbooks are passed about, and people contribute art and stories and such. Today I'll be making more of the books and trying to get them out into the community so I can hurry up (hopefully) get some back. If you are interested in hearing more, or want to help out, email me at rick (at) skagawa . com.

I worked on this giant mushroom idea for a creature concept project. I decided to name it the Red-Masked Reaper due to it's appearance and it's deadliness. It's scientific name, I decided, was Amanita Rex, as in King of the Amanitas, the mushroom genus which includes two of the deadliest mushrooms (in real life); the Death Cap and the Destroying Angel. The back-story is that the hyphae (the "root" part of the mushroom) grows above the soil, and secretes a sort of sticky mucus that traps animals. The hyphae are pressure sensitive and then send a chemical message to the gills to produce it's spores, which also contain an organic acid. The trapped, unfortunate creature is then peppered with spores that burst on contact, dissolving the creature's flesh for absorption by the hyphae. The spores also are a reproductive delivery vessel, and new hyphae start growing on the remaining flesh of the prey. The prey is lured to the Reaper by hallucinogenic pheromones it secretes from it's stalk. As it is obviously a death trap, the mushroom tries to get you to freak out and basically stumble into it's gooey maw of death. And that's the kind of story you get from someone who took an entire class on mushrooms and slime molds and algae. Ha!

Seattle Workshop

Huzzah! So Eve and I just (as in 14 hours ago) bought our tickets to the ConceptArt.org REVELATIONS workshop in Seattle. We're heading out in January to the rainy, cold coastal city to watch, learn, and make art with some of the most fantastic artists out there. Like, seriously big names, people. Crazy.

In other news, we're both at home doing homework instead of doing crazy Halloween things. I put on zombie makeup this morning and it ended up looking pretty decent. Anyway, on to the art.

This is a photo collage I did for my digital illustration class. Fun stuff, composited of a bunch of photos I took in Australia and Europe.