Busy times...!

Quite busy at the minute with a few projects, so here are some old WIP renders of some bad boys from Privateer Press: Ios (now renamed Scyrah) Warjacks:


These were modelled purely in 3DSMax, mostly using subdivision modelling, hard edged modelling and booleans (shudders) - with character sheets by the amazing artists over at Privateer.

The were rendered with VRay using basic settings and a lighting/ studio rig similar to that found in my 3D World article.


The above were a lighter class of Warjack, I also modelled a heavier class - love those huge shoulder pads!


The great thing about this project was that the 3D models also formed the basis of the box illustration - so what you see on the box cover is exactly what you get in the box. Very nice.


So now I can also class myself as a miniature sculptor as well. Here are a few shots of the final painted miniatures over at Privateer Press:

(Above and Below)
The final paint job - I'll leave that to the professionals, thankyou!

This was a very involved process from start to finish - and also very rewarding to see it all come together at the end. Hopefully in the not too distant future I'll post up a more detailed "How it's made..." for you.

Also, I'll put up the final illustrations. I'm sure you'll like them.

See you soon!

Privateer Press: Year of the Gear

I'd always been aware of Privateer Press, I really like their big steampunk-style robots and 'chunky' design aesthetic, so I jumped at the chance to work on this piece - entitled "Year of the Gear" - a cover for their 'No Quarter' bi-monthly magazine.

The idea was to have Cygnar Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane and Centurion Warjack defending a hill against a Cryx attack. After a few sketches, and some revisions from the Über-Kool Kris Aubin who was art directing the piece, we settled on the final design:

(Above) The initial thumbnail

(Above) the thumbnail with Kris' alterations -
as with any good art director they always improve a picture.

From there I went on to model, light and finally render each element and their separate passes - compositing and painting it all together in Photoshop. Sounds easy, right! Well, obviously there was much, much more to it than that, but I might cover the more technical and artistic points in another post. Maybe. If anyone is interested.

Near the end of the piece Kris wanted the Cygnar Centurion Warjack to be bearing its shield, to balance the image out - so I quickly modelled, lit, rendered and composited it and it looked great! I find that's how things work being freelance, whatever wants/ needs altering, I'm always happy to oblige! So, here's the final piece in all its glory:


And here's the piece with the final layout and typography added:


And for those still reading this post, here's a detail from the image, showing Siege in full flow:

(Above) ACTION!

Ace! I love this job, making this kind of imagery is what I've always wanted to do - and now I get paid for it!

Well, that's it for now, but don't fear - I've got plenty of other things in the pipeline (logo's, 3D models, more illustrations) of which I'll be showing you as time goes by, so stick around!