Whoa! Has it just got dark in here?

I'm not entirely sure why but I fancied doing something rather macabre. Yeah, im rather disturbed too.

To be honest i'm reading 'Legend' by David Gemmill at the minute and there are constant references to crows feasting on the dead in battle so voila...

Inevitably......A 'Roo

Ozzy Tree Frog

The Kookaburra

Yeah I know not exactly the coolest or interesting of creatures but trust me, these guys are bloody noisy early (very early) in the morning so I thought I'd do a picture of one. That and the fact that im slightly high on flu medicine so I wasnt in the mood for anything too taxing. I'll make it up tomorrow with a tree frog or something.

The Living Dinosaur - Cassowary

Australia is renowned for its unique wildlife. The animal that grabbed me the most is the Cassowary. Looking at this creature its not such a leap to imagine Dinosaurs having feathers. It looks like something straight out of Jurassic Park. Its related to the Ostrich, Emu and the Kiwi and found in the rainforests of northern queensland. This are aggressive and can attack people, seriously, how cool and terrifying is that!

Anyway I was inspired by its colours and the creat on its head, which, incidentlly they use to cut through the forests at high speed with their heads down.

This pic took about 1 and half hours in Photoshop using all manner of brushes to obtain the texture.

Li'l Gods - 'Grown-up' Hermes

Back on the Saddle

Its been a few days since my last sketches, i've been party-ing hard wahoo!! So now I'm back with these, not my strongest but I'm glad I have the motivation to do them after the mini break. Im feeling a little 'story-boarded' out to be honest, so I may give these a break until I have a sequence to work through. Some colour studies and perhaps the designs of the adult gods in the next fews days or so.

The last days of my 'Youth'

So, my final week of my 'Twenties' and I must say people around me are making a bigger issue about it than me. And by a big deal I mean lots of people sucking their teeth saying "oohh thirty ehh?" and the timeless "all down hill from here". Now this is particularly cruel as anyone who knows me knows that I, on occasions have dispostion that would make Eeyore look happy-go-lucky so any misplaced comment could send me to a spiral of ennui and self despair. Having said this even I cant help to feel like I’ve accomplished that which is expected of me by the time of the big 30, lets face it I've been stressing non-stop for the last 15 I'd be well annoyed if I hadn’t :)

Education - Check! Got a decent degree. And in true twenty something fashion I'm doing a job that isn’t related to the course I studied for three years

Stable Relationship - well I am married if that counts :) I was lucky enough to marry my childhood sweetheart that I met at the tender age of 16 so yeah, a big Check!

Job - Well my perspective of this changes like the weather but I must admit I'm doing a job that is respectably paid and a lot of people would like to do and the big plus is I don’t have to wear a suit everyday. For those who are curious I'm 3d artist for computer games and the odd bit of freelance work now and again. One of the lessons I have learnt is that a job is a job really, there are always drawbacks but as long as you work to live all is well. Check!

Travel - I'm pretty sorted on this front, I've been to Paris Barcelona Amsterdam Bruges Luxembourg Venice (Got engaged there) Cyprus (Got married there) Corfu Greek Islands Athens Tunisia Cambodia Bangkok Koh Samui Chang Rai Laos Burma Egypt Australia United States – various, for a little while when I was 7 Turkey

I’m currently working out in Australia, I've been here 10 months, whilst I've been here I've climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Swam in the Barrier Reef amongst other things. We are leaving Australia in a few weeks (yay!) and en route back to the UK my wife and I are touring China. We start at Beijing and work our way down to Hong Kong stopping by the great wall, the terracotta army and shanghai and dodging bird flu. This little escapade lasts 20 days. So BIG check there.

There are other less tangible or more personal ambitions I been lucky enough to realize. I, for a while had the Italian Sports car I drooled over whilst I was at University, Okay it was only Fiat Coupe but a bloody fast one. I also have my baby. Lottie, the boxer dog. As a kid I always wanted a red and white boxer and now I have her, unfortunately I also have her air fare costs to and from Oz too!!! :) She’s worth it, just... I think.

Last and certainly not least I have my fantastic family, who have the power to frustrate and delight me in equal measures, but as I've found out in Oz, life is not the same with out 'em. Oh yeah, I also own a house, and in the UK these days that is no mean feat! :) That was more by luck than judgment.

So, where now? Well to be honest I just want to get back to the UK and enjoy my friends and family and for once, live in the moment. Smell the roses, y'know all those clichés. One day I'd like to have my own business or have a film/TV series commissioned based on one of my ideas but I'm not going to bust my hump on that just yet. Ahhh and then there is the greatest journey, that of fatherhood. Hopefully my wife and I will be lucky enough to bring a life into the world at some point in the not too distant future.

I've shown the 20's the big can 'o' whup ass So I say bring on the 30's, lets see what you got?

Li'l Gods - Back on Track

Li'l Gods - Just The One Today

Li'l Gods - More Scenes

Li'l Gods - More Compositions

Li'l Gods - Scene Sketches

Here are more ideas in sketch form, in response to my pal Dan's advice i'm leaving these in this form as they convey the idea, and at this stage that's what its all about, the idea.

Li'l Gods - Prelim Sketch

After a stint of visual constipation here is a value sketch of the Gryphon scalding Apollo. I'll probably address a few issues when I work it up but it works on a 'storyboard' type level. Also diggin a new sketch colour and style. This is what gawping at Tarzan and Jungle book art does for ya!

Li'l Gods - Mount Olympus Concept

This is a sketch of my vision of Mount Olympus. Obviously sat on a floating mountain. I used the blue mosque from Istanbul as my inspiration I felt it was more grand than a standard Acropolis style structure. There is plenty of realisation left to do with this but I thought it would be good to just dump my thoughts down on paper so when I do something more finished its not completely on the fly.

Li'l Gods - Titan Ideas

Here is a method i've picked up. This allows me to create more random interesting shapes and allow 'accidents' to happen. I quite like the ideas on this page. I rekon I'll use this method more as its great fun, give it a whirl!

Li'l Gods - Melina

Well, this is quickly turning into the 'lil gods' blog but have no fear this is not the case. So let me contradict myself straight away and present Melina (name supject to change) She is the precious daughter of the wise centaur Chiron, who we'll get into a little at a later date. I'm a little unsure about this design, I think it maybe due to the fact im getting 'comfy' with this style. One thing you can be sure of is that i'll realise what it is I dont like as soon as it appears on the blog...helpful!

So next up more environments and some more interesting villains to try and stretch myself a little.

Please feel free to comment on anything on the blog, anyone can, you dont have to be signed up to blogger.

Li'l Gods - Village Concept

Here is a peasant village concept. Im trying to think about the world the characters live in as well as the characters themselves. Expect a few more of these I reckon, though they are a little time consuming but the results aren't bad at all.

Li'l Gods - Gryphon

Lil Gods - Cyclops

New member of the Li'l Gods family. The friendly if seemingly wierd cyclops