Where Crows Fall From The Sky

Armor II

2012-02-14T14:09:00.002-08:00

More quick studies of armors and armor pieces. References from Resurgere and FairieGoodMother.

Armor study

2012-01-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

Another study focusing on metal. Oh metal...Why are you so tricky?
Reference taken from CGtextures.

γεωμετρία

2012-01-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

I've seen similar exercises on ConceptArt.org and decided to give it a shot. Most objects were referenced from that thread on CA, It has nice 3D geometric objects references for practice.
Great fun.

The Dodecahedron has always been my favourite polyhedron.

Necklace study

2012-01-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Quick study of my necklace. I'm trying to understand how to quickly render metal
but it's not really that yet.

Statuette

2012-01-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

Quick, mediocre study of a brass horse statuette bought at Lakhshmi road, Pune.

Godtaog

2011-12-08T11:55:00.001-08:00

Just a random sketch.

Not that fast and not that good.

2011-11-13T20:21:00.001-08:00

A bunch of speed studies.
The two first from photo reference, the last from life.

Facial Sexual Dimorphism in humans

2011-11-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

This is a quick late night post but on a subject that probably would deserve more time. What makes a face look male or female? How to make a face appear to be from the opposite gender? This article (in french) gives a few answers. It starts with "Defining what sex people pertain to is one of the tasks that our brains does the most efficiently". And still, we don't really know well how our brains do that exactly.

The study is based on an experiment with 30 male and female subjects exposed to over 300 photos of Caucasian faces. It gives a few ideas of what in a face can indicate gender. Indeed, it's not the haircut, beard or shape of the eyes that give the best information, but instead the luminance of the eye and mouth area and apparently the overall green/red colour constrast of the face. The shape of the jaw and skull also are quite important indicators.

Based on that informartion, I did a quick test on a photo of my grumpy face. I tried to make it look male while altering it as little as possible. Quite hard, but quite interesting.The opposite would probably be even more difficult in my opinion.

Desktop - speed painting

2011-11-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

A quick painting of my desktop at work during lunchbreak. I need to do those a lot more often if I want to be able to synthetize things more efficiently and find the right colours faster.
Good thing that picture on the screenshot is there do distract the viewer!

OBEY!

2011-10-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

What a better way to start updating this blog again than with crappy useless nonsense?

Kittens, they will rule the world someday, better get used to it now. They require your absolute obedience, puny human.

I cannot find the link to the reference image but it was originally on ICanHazCheezBurger. Will update when I find it again.

Human skull study

2011-08-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Speed study after this image by Eviln8. Between 30 and 40 minutes, i can't say exactly because I was getting constantly distracted by "Once Upon a Time in the East" on TV.

Jar study

2011-08-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

Speed study after this photo by Inkarnate. 30 minutes or so on photoshop.

Skull study

2011-08-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

I did this without a precise goal in mind. I just didn't want to do to bed without at least painting something. I tried to focus on reproducing the texture of the bone without too many brush strokes and getting the contrasts right.

About 45 minutes

Cloud Cats - Sketches

2011-08-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

I noticed that I actually hadn't submitted the preliminary cloud cat sketches here. So here they are now :

In the second sketch page, I tried a different wing structure, where the legs would play the part of a bird's tail. Also slightly smaller wings and an additional elbow bone to support the wing and give it its characteristic shape.

Pennasaurus Sexacrus

2011-08-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

This started out as a speed painting collab with Sayu.
We both worked by 2 minutes turns on the creature but left it unfinished. It had been waiting in my w.i.p. folder for a long time and I decided to give it an environment and some detail.

The title, pennasaurus sexacrus is wannabe latin for "Six legged feathered lizard" .

The creature design was completely, and entirely random. We did not really decided anything before starting. The only guideline was to make a colourful critter in the end.

Cloud Cat hunting

2011-08-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

A while ago I did a few sketches of Cloud Cats from the novel "Airborn" by kenneth Oppel; requested by a friend.

I was very curious about how it was possible to make a panther, as improbable as a flyer as it sounds into an exclusively aerial animal. I've been giving it a lot of thought and made a few attempts with anatomy borrowed from bats, marsupial gliders, pterosaurs and albatross.

I also wanted to give it a try in a colour illustration. The end result isn't as detailed and polished as I'd like, but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless.

Here are a few justifications for the design I made here if you are interested :

As the animal is supposed to live exclusively in the air and never land, it should have very efficient, energy saving flight capacities. Instead of going for a traditional bat wing design, I went for long, relatively broad wings for gliding. Like the Albatross, it would have relatively weak chest muscles but long wings with a specialized tendon attaching to a pterosaur-like pteroid bone. It would allow the wing to stay spread at its maximum without effort

Another important aspect of the wing design is that they are
entirely covered with thick but short fur. This was important in my opinion, because the animal would constantly stay at high altitudes, exposed to the sun. A sun that might have been harmful to delicate bat membranes. But not if they are protected by thick white fur, with a high albedo, not unlike polar bears.

Of course, the fur would also be needed to protect it against the cold and the wind.

The wings are equipped with hooks, (the thumbs) which are also deadly weapons against much larger flying animals, or against cloud cat rivals.

In this particular drawing, the cloud cat had long, rather robust hind legs equipped with non retractable owl-like claws. That would help it quickly grab its prey and eat it small bits by small bits as it flies. A feline would maybe have difficulties breathing with a prey in its mouth, knowing that it might already have difficulties without the efficient respiratory system of birds.

But I thought that much smaller but longer legs, with a secondary membrane attached to the tail would provide balance in flight, a little like in bats while not adding dead weight to the animal. It would still be able to catch prey with them but it would be restricted to smaller animals.

It would also have smaller ears than other felines and rely mostly on it's very good sight.
I haven't modified much the head itself with is somewhere between a lion and leopard. Ideally, the eyes would be protected from the sun in a way similar to birds of prey with a prominent bone.

Desk - speed practice

2011-08-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Speed practice again.
40 mins, photoshop, from life.

Now, that was a challenge. One that should be repeated regularly.

Landscapes - speed practice

2011-08-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

Speed practice. 30 minutes. Photoshop. With refs.

Cats studies

2011-07-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

More sketches...

Chicken-Man

2011-07-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

I decline all responsability in the creation of this....

Hand : Speed practice

2011-07-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

Hands are something I have a lot of difficulties painting properly. So I decided to practice a little using this
photo by Mjranum : clickety click
I think the brush strokes are too chaotic in the palm and distract the eye, also taking away some realism. I also think it lacks some colour contrast. But it was a useful exercice.

30 minutes in photoshop.

Sammy - Speed practice

2011-07-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Another speed painting practice from photo. I'm still not sure if those exercises have any interest but at least they are relaxing. Original photo here. This is sammy when he was still a kitten.

40~50 mins in photoshop.
Still far too much in my opinion.

Zurr'an

2011-07-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

An unfinished portrait was lying around in my hard drive and I decided to finish it.

Swift Portrait - speed practice

2011-07-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

I really need to do more speed paintings. Ideally every day. Even better, without refs, or from life.
Well this is a shy start. It's painted from a photo from Wikipedia by Monika Korzeniec (clickety click ) , 30 minutes on photoshop.
Maybe there'll be more but I'm not sure I'll post them. Because they're mostly exercices that don't have an artistic quality.

Anyway, this is a common swift (Apus apus). They are often confused with Swallows though they are completely different species. Their characteristic screeching cries resonate in the summer sky as they sweep at 220 km per hour over our heads.

Additionally, some ink sketches of swifts in flight.

Seaside Cybule

2011-07-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

Cybules are amphibian animals that live on coastal areas. They take advantage of the strong marine winds and ridge lift to fly and feed on fish. They are extremely agile when in the water and their large mouths filled with long pointed teeth help them to catch fast and agile prey. Sometime sea mammals.

Females are larger than males and possess fin-like, rigid features on their heads. Females have several males, generally three or four and they stay together for life until the female dies.

They are social animals and live in groups up to 50 individuals. They scatter to feed and then come back to the same spot to sleep at night.

---------------------

The anatomy in this picture does not make much sense buuut I like these little guys. Hope you like them too.

Also... Here are some preliminary doodles from my sketchbook. The genders are reversed though, with females being more dominant.

Sammy : Zombie Killer Cat

2011-07-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

Samaël (aka Sammy), my cat, is a successful post-apocalyptic zombie killer. When he is not busy laying all day on his lazy ass, that goes without saying. He's currently trying to quit smoking.

For those who didn't know, Sam actually has his own blog : clickety click
Though it is rarely updated and needs to to have this farce of a design replaced for something sexier. And that goes for all my sites... They all look like a bunch of starving graphical hobos.

But stay tuned! The blog MAY turn out into something funny and geeky.
And you can participate by drawing Mr. Sammy in all his ass kicking gloriousness in any style and even write, if that's your tool of the trade!

Legendary Blue of Sartthra

2011-07-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

It is said, that somewhere deep into the Sahara, lies a lost complex of temples. The ruins of the legendary city of Sartthra.
Ancient mid-reliefs have been recovered in the desert that show pictures of strange creatures. Winged kittens covered by bright blue enamel.

It is said, that who possesses a Legendary Blue of Sartthra will possess immortality and immense powers...

I have a life again : diploma !

2011-06-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

That's it! It's over.

I am officially no longer a student. I got the diploma with distinctions.

And there will soon be some heavy updates to the blog with all the pictures and cinematics from The House project. Hell yeah.

What the...?

2011-06-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

Suddenly. Art.

The Sphinx-Cat walk test

2011-05-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

This is an animation test for The House, of the Sphinx-cat one of the main characters. It's actually a basic panther CAT that I modified with adjustment layers. The main goal here was to test the skinning, which still has a lot of issues. Let alone the animation itself! But 3D is helping me overcome by natural aversion for animation. And that's a good thing! Maybe.

It was done in 3DSmax and rendered with mental ray.

Two worlds.

2011-04-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

You won't see a lot of photography from me but I wanted to share this one shot with you.
These are the original colours, they were not edited, and neither was the contrast.

Many people loath flies, but they are simultaneously repulsive and incredibly amazing. Not only are they fascinating animals, with an anatomy very different from ours and so very effective but these small creatures also play an important role in nature. And species like Drosophila melanogaster are a very important tool for biology and science.

Collaboration - Miranda

2011-04-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

This is a new collaboration between me and Ofelia (aka Corone) .
As the name states, this is her character Miranda .

Again, I always enjoy collaborations :)

HMC 7 - Freedom

2011-04-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

It's finally out :)
This is my contribution to Hysterical Minds' 7th pack : Freedom. (free theme). You can view other contributions on the official website here : [link]

I think this picture speaks for itself and I will leave it to your own interpretation.
It is also part of my diploma project : "The House"

Moonlight griffin - OLD vs NEW

2011-04-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

this was done in 2006. It is actually the first I ever submitted to DeviantArt and one of my firsts with photoshop.

This is the same picture, redone in 2011.

I saw many people doing this and instead of using my little spare time to do things I should actually do, I decided to give the meme a try. The concept is to take an old picture you used to like and redraw it with your current skill level to see if there was an improvement.

Even though I haven't improved nearly as much as I would have wanted. It still shows that there was some improvement along the way and that It will, hopefully continue that way. :)

The idea to do this came from Bampire's "draw it again" meme. Original can be found here.

Camille, as a sphinx.

2011-04-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

I posted this sketch and the colour version a while ago but I decided to rework on the drawing. I decided to redo the whole post with the final version.
This is Corone's character Camille as a sphinx. :)

And the sketch :)

Coelacanth goldfish

2011-04-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

This was originally a little black and white sketch, I had completely forgotten in some obscure part of my hard drive. By sketch I mean a round shape with a cute eye...I came across it the other say and really need to drop the diploma for a minute so here it is, finished.

It wasn't supposed to be a Coelacanth, but then, I added those lobe fins placed, I admit it, rather randomly and and now it does have this characteristic look. A little coelacanth-goldfish cute thing.

They come in 5 different colours, thrive in large tanks with cold water. They are affectionate and adorable! Order your coelacanth-goldfish now! Buy 2 and get the third for free!

Insectoid

2011-04-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

This is a little creature concept for... Nothing in particular.
I was inspired by a friend's original species, called Florae, who are in fact more plant-like than insect-like.
I tried to use the typical insect exoskeleton structure but with bird wing structure. I have no idea if that would work, but it does look cool. :)
Anyway, go check her stuff, it's worth the look : Kuroe
The colour pattern and anatomy details were greatly inspired by the famous Blepharopsis's images of praying mentis.

I hope you'll find it interesting

Anatomy of Angels...

2011-03-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Or why it really is preferable to just put some huge wings on a guy's back.

Because no matter how anatomically incorrect it is, it really looks much better. I wasn't even able to find a place for arms in all that chest muscle. (actually...after having a second look at anime wing anatomy, I'm taking that back. Please, try to keep it decently believable...)

When drawing winged creatures we, (myself included) often underestimate the importance of chest muscle, and its supporting bone in birds, the keel bone. The muscles generating most of the power necessary for flight are the chest muscles, the wings have little muscle in comparison. But in humanoids, a keel bone really isn't very sexy.

This drawing was the result of me wanting to get my mind off the diploma a little and have some fun putting together some human and some bird in a different way.

I hope you'll enjoy that and that your eyes won't need bleaching.

I also think that a better way to make flying humanoids would be to reference a lot Albatrosses' flight and anatomy. They have relatively small chest muscles compared to their size, and the length of their wings but they are extremely efficient gliders once they become airborne.
That said, a human capable of flying the way birds do would probably have their anatomy so twisted to fit the requirements of flight that they wouldn't really look much human anymore.
A more interesting directions would be on the side of bats, who at least are also mammals.

Loge

2011-03-24T15:48:00.001-07:00

This was part of a school assignment. We had one day to create two very different concept images for the diploma of one of our classmates, picked randomly.

I worked on Raphaël's animated short film.
Go have a look on his site to learn more about it. :)

Periodic Table of Videos

2011-03-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

So there is a youtube channel that I really love called : The Periodic Table of Videos. (Clickety clic)
It is a collaboration between the University of Nottingham's School of Chemistry and video journalist Brady Haran. They present the 118 elements of the periodic table in videos and started a great series about molecules as well.

The series' staff is full of great personalities, and among them the famous Professor Martyn Poliakoff who is really an amazing person. Here is a little funny portrait that I made of him.

Other great science channels :

Backstage Science : A series that bring us inside of some of UK's most amazing science facilities, like the STFC's Vulcan laser, or Diamond Light Source's ISIS...

Sixty Symbols : "A channel devoted to those funny letters and squiggles used by physicists and astronomers."

Monster concept : Bones

2011-02-25T17:11:00.000-08:00

Another monster concept, that I might use in The House but to be honest, it was pretty random.
Inspired by too much Dead Space and especially by the Stalkers (Dead Space 2). But I hope you like that guy despite its lack of originality.

The House : Monsters

2011-02-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

A few more images for "The House", my diploma video game project. Those are a few ideas for monsters that could appear at the end of Chapter I and in chapter II. I was asked to propose less polished images and a wider variety of monster types. (apart from the dog based ones that are the Naked Atrocity and the Howler.)

All of the monsters do have a meaning in the game and are related to Sarah's fears or traumatic experiences.

for the SH fans out there, Abstract Mommy is a direct reference to SH2's emblematic monster Abstract Daddy. The names are not the final ones so I allowed myself to have some fun :)

Drakkor

2011-02-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

I did a drawing for Drakkor over a year ago and promised I would colour it at some point. Well here it is. It's a quick something but I needed to get my mind off other things.

Longidactylus Volans : Raszw

2011-02-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

This was a little experiment I did a while ago. I wanted to mix up different species characteristics and create a flying lemur who would have evolved pterosaur-like flight instead of typical mammal bat-like wings or flying-squirrel patagium. The main inspiration for this was the Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) and Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs.

The House : Howler

2011-02-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

A portrait of a Howler's Head :)

The House : Howlers

2011-02-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Here is another monster concept for "The House" game project. You might have seen these guys before as they are not entirely new. I sketched them a year ago as a game monster idea without knowing I'd have the occasion to really use them.

Like the Naked Atrocity, they are based on dogs. Exept they are given bird-like characteristics. Talon-like claws, a long, flexible neck and a beak-like mouth.
Again, this is not the final design for them, and there will be minor changes as I model them in 3D but it gives a pretty good idea of what they will look like.

The second image, is directly referenced from a fox carcass.

Côtelette Wants You...

2011-02-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

I am looking for voice actors for my diploma project.
Like I said on the blog in earlier posts, the project is a first person horror/survival game with Myst-like point and clic gameplay with fight sequences.

The game itself is in English and set in England and that's why I would have liked English voices. Most of the dialogues are text only, but I would need voices for the cut scenes and the intro cinematic.

The main protagonist is a 9 year old little girl called Sarah.
At some point she encounters the Sphinx-cat (Chat-Sphinx) who is a human headed and winged naked cat. Though genderless looking, it is male and I would need a a adult male voice.

If you want to participate to the project and have access to decent recording equipment send me a mail!

Wherecrowsfall@gmail.com
Côtelette will like you!

Naked Atrocity - Textured renders

2011-02-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

Here is the Naked Atrocity (also nicknamed "Côtelette", Cultet/Chop) with some spec/gloss and texture done in Mudbox. I am still learning the basics of Mudbox so I am exploring the features and tools as I progress with the critter.

Naked Atrocity - Mudbox turnaround

2011-01-31T14:31:00.000-08:00

This is a little test with Mudbox at detailing a Naked Atrocity model made in 3DSmax. This is not the final model but I think it gives a good idea of what it may look like in the actual game.
I am currently in the process of texturing and animating the critter.
We'll see how that goes :)

(full view for some details.)

Kaleidoscope n°61

2011-01-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

This is something quick for this week's theme.It's really rough and quickly executed and I'll try to refine it a bit whenever possible :)
Last week's theme was "window" :)

Check ou the other participants :) :

Cely http://celyndra.canalblog.com/
Christine http://christinealcouffe.blogspot.com/
Cin http://shincin.blogspot.com/
Crecre http://christelled17.blogspot.com/
guity http://guity.canalblog.com/
Laure http://www.laurecacouault.com/
line http://www.line-et-all.blogspot.com/
Low http://low-key-low.blogspot.com/
Modolusk http://maddy-vrajan.blogspot.com/
Tiphereth http://tiph-art.blogspot.com/
Wesley http://chroniques-tropicales.blogspot.com/

The House : Naked Atrocity

2011-01-18T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more ideas for a creature for my diploma game project. This time, one of the monsters you fight. The key elements here were cow carcasses and skinned dogs.
Someone pointed out that the exposed throat could act like a "plunger" and from there came the idea to eventually make it stick on the ceiling like a carcass hanging from a meat hook.

On a similar note, it would jump on the prey/player and suffocate them with it's throat or eventually drown them spitting blood and other bodily fluids. As you have guessed, it will not be a game for kids :)

Those are quick sketches and the final design for the creature is not defined yet. I'm also working on other monsters that I may post here as well.

The last image, is a quick preliminary 3D render with the creature photoshoped on it. The game demo will be in 2D though.

Kaléidoscope n°60

2011-01-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

This week, I couldn't do what I wanted to do (again) but I am proposing a little W.I.P. instead. This is another collaboration project with Corone, of one of ther characters. The answer to this week's theme is in the picture though mine might not be that obvious.

Last week's theme was "Reptiles". :)

check out other participants ! :
alex http://apdcp.blogspot.com
Cely http://celyndra.canalblog.com/
Jennie http://jennie-lukovic.blogspot.com/
Laure http://www.laurecacouault.com/
Léa http://ephral.canalblog.com
Line http://www.line-et-all.blogspot.com/
Lna http://lnamog.blogspot.com/
Modolusk http://maddy-vrajan.blogspot.com/
Sayu http://sayusushi.blogspot.com
SeL http://blogdesel.over-blog.com/
Tiphereth http://tiph-art.blogspot.com/

The House : Le Chat-Sphinx

2011-01-15T17:35:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share here a few character concepts for my diploma game project. This is the Cat-Sphinx, the second (if not only other) main character of the game. It helps the protagonist in different ways, but isn't inherently good either, so I wanted to make it ugly without necessarily looking evil.
The sphinx is in fact a dream version of the little girl's real cat, and I thought it could be interesting to play with the real sphinxes which are that breed of fur-less cats with wrinkly and soft skin. That's why it is almost entirely bald and has no or very little feathers on its wings.

Little traditional studies and sketches.

Kauko

2011-01-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

This is Kauko for UsedRope as part of the christmas requests on DeviantArt.
I really encourage you to have a look at her account, her art is beautiful and her characters are inspiring, full of their own life though inhabited by this same deep melancholy.

Christmas requests 2010

2011-01-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

This christmas I decided to do something special on my deviantart account. I proposed to draw quick images for people who would comment on my journal and ask something. These are the ones I made so far, a few are still missing and I will post them as soon as I finish them. :)

A dragon character called Shila for Dragoburnhard.

A yet unnamed character for Raineve.

Shen for ShinigamiSquirrel.

Mekolai for DragonnessMekolai.

A creature called a Nata for Tearup.

NonName for SapphireEssence.

Denali for Windfeathers.

Steve for Hfoursaur.

844 for Ryulouis64.

an Axolotl for Ambyst

Axolotl are actually considered critically endangered in the wild. Learn more about them and their conservation status here.

Vyraknai for Traediras

Kaleidoscope n° 59

2011-01-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I originally made for Kattotang, on DeviantArt last week. :)

Check out the other participants :
Alex , Cely , Christine , Guity , Lea , Sayu , Scendre , Sfumato , Tiphereth

Otoki or "The Marvellous Adventures of Little Rhÿnn In The Lands of The Three Goddesses."

2011-01-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

In september, we started learning 3D animation in 3DSmax at school. Before that day, the only thing I had ever done with 3ds was an apple. And I had given up on animation long ago to never attempt it again.
(I originally came from another section where we did not learn 3D)

This, is the nightmare that ensued....
(actually that was a few months ago...But I forgot to upload them. But there will DEFINITELY be more to come.)

Little Bird

2011-01-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

This is a linocut I made as a christmas present to my familly. Here is the scanned version before framing.

The House

2011-01-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Here are a few preliminary environment concepts for my diploma game projet. The atmosphere is not clearly defined yet, these are quickies, mostly based on photo references to find a few ideas.
As you see, the game is going to be set inside a house and the main protagonist will be a little girl.

A Book Of Not So Holy Gods

2010-12-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

This are the pages from a book I made last year as part of an assignment. I couldn't get any photos of the final, but if get the opportunity, I will post them here. Some of the images are monotyping, others like the tree, are linocuts.

The concept behind it was to represent unconventional deities. Some of you might recognise Cy, the little cyclop kitten become famous on the internet. Others might be more obscure.

Cybule

2010-12-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

This, was very random. It's a concept for a sea creature.
The anatomy doesn't really make sense. But it was a funny concept to play with.
The main inspirations for this were lizards, eels and mackerels.

Kaléidoscope n° 55

2010-12-12T10:55:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since my last participation to the Kaleidoscope, and even this is a rushed quickie.
But anyway, here's my participation.

It's supposed to be a tribute to that awesome nerdy song by Hank Green called "'The anglerfish song regarding the human mentality; in respect to how to interpret perpetually felt emotions while educating you on the subject of anglerfish." OR for short, "the Anglerfish song".

"Because you can't hate the night
If you've lived your whole life without light
And you can't hate the dish
If you've only ever eaten fish
And you can't feel alone if it's all you've ever known
Yeah the deep sea Anglerfish has no reason to be happy
But it has no frikkin idea what else to be"

Check the other participants!
alaiks , Cely , Christine , Elodie, Guity, Isaly, Laure, Lea , Lna, Modolusk , Mystical , Sayu, Tiphereth , Vil , Zav

Breath of Fire

2010-12-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

Dragon in what is one of the most cliché pose ever. But really, those poses are too much fun not to indulge.
Anyway, this was a little speedy to change my mind and there isn't much to say at all about it.

Random fish wasn't there today, but he told me to say hello.

Dark alley

2010-12-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

This is my finally finished part of the trade with MayLamorro .
I had a very hard time on this picture. When I started it, I had a very clear image in mind of what I wanted to draw yet failed to match it on paper, or rather on photoshop.
In the end it still took an interesting path.

I really like these two characters, Cameron and Cocain. I tried to convey their personalities in the picture as much as I could.
I however wasn't able to get rid of the "speed painting" look of this. And it really wasn't a speed.

The background is shamelessly borrowed from one of Eilie's photograph of a narrow alley in Croatia.

I can Has Flavour

2010-12-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

Because yes, Quarks have the right to be cute and illiterate too.
After lolcats, lolruses and other crazy animals, here comes lolparticles. I am pretty sure this announces the end of the world. (start buying your shotguns people!)

Anyway, for those not familiar with particle physics (but who can really be familiar with particle physics anyway?) here is the wikipedia article on the matter (ahah).

Or... You can go watch this amazingly nerdy and awesome song.

"Up, Down, Strange, Charm, Top, Bottom, I you don't know what a quark is it doesn't matter, you still got 'em!"

Ballpen driftings on leathery pages

2010-12-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

I came across a lovely A5 leather sketch book with smooth parchment-like paper inside and couldn't resist to buy it. These are the first pages. They're pretty much all filled with random nonsense and sketchy ramblings.
I hope you will enjoy to go through them nevertheless. More to come as the pages fills up. :)

Vivisector

2010-12-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is my take on a lineart Phantasmagora allowed me to colour. I started it maybe a year ago and let it sunk into oblivion after many unsuccessful trials. I came across it in my W.I.P. folder today and decided to try one last time and here is the result.

I really recommend you have a look at Phantasmagora's gallery, you'll find there quite amazing linearts and drawings with a very personal style and fantastic detail.

The texture in the background comes from the collective stock, Resurgere. The more discreet one is mine.

Glimmering night on a two moon world

2010-12-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

This is a collab picture with V-Smoke (on deviantart). We agreed to draw her character Smoke in a night atmosphere. The rest was totally random.
As always, we both worked on every stage of the painting taking the .psd in turns and giving each other advice by writing text all over the picture. I can't emphasize how much I like to work that way in comparison to more conventional "one does the lines and the other colours" style of collabs.
It really allows one to go into different directions and try things they would normally wouldn't.
Dropbox is a great tool for sharing resources and references in that context.

If anyone asks about about why the head is facing us while we can see the character's back, let's jus say this is an owlcat. (those are convenient :D )

Also, I really encourage you to check out V-smoke's gallery on DA and have a glimpse or her own work.

Owls

2010-11-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

Preliminary sketches for an illustraton I am working on.

The first page features the eagle owl (bubo bubo) and the Great horned owl (Bubo Virginianus).

The second one focuses on the Great Grey owl (strix nebulosa), that I particularly love.

This sketches were referenced from the following wildlife (or zoo) photographers's work :

Boubou le Hibou

2010-11-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

A quick portrait of Boubou, my boyfriend's cat as an owl (hibou). Because he has huge, round and yellow eyes as well as small adorable ears that immediately reminds of eagle owls or great horned owls from which the image was referenced.

But that one doesn't hoot. No, mister, he says "miiii" in a small, high pitched charmingly cute voice. ( before eating your books, illustrations or whatever seems valuable to you so you give him the attention a cat demands of their human slaves. )

Now available as a Magic : The Gathering card xp
Beware of Boubou the Owlcat, all your cards and books are belong to him. He'll eat them all.

Little bloody birdie.

2010-11-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

"I found him lying near the tree;

I folded up his wings.

Oh, little bird,

You never heard

The song the summer sings.

I wrapped him in a shirt I wore in winter;

It was blue.

Oh, little bird,

Your never heard

The song I sang to you."

by Myra Cohn Livingstone

Pterosaurian Dragons : sketches

2010-11-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

More sketches of pterosaurian dragons.

Hey! I'm not even dead yet!

2010-11-22T16:14:00.001-08:00

Not really artsy, but I found it while foraging in old sketches and find it fittingly adequate.

Japanese dragons

2010-11-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

Something I found in a lost folder of some obscure part of my HDD. They are sketches from this summer I had shaded in photoshop and then totally forgotten about.

Random little fish is very random.

A fight to death.

2010-11-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

A speedy-collab between me and Corone again. Yesterday, we both decided to take a break from demanding homework and do something quick and random. A bloody fight to death between two werewolves sounded like a good idea. I made the base sketch, she painted the weres and I did some final detailing.

We went for the big vaguely-humanish wolves on a common agreement though we both enjoy different types of werewolves artistically speaking. It was something very fun and relaxing to do. :)

Saarhin

2010-11-12T17:33:00.000-08:00

The Saarhin are a species of humanoid bird-like creatures created by Corone. They are small and look like children but extremely intelligent. Here are a few sketches that I did inspired by her drawings and sketches of Myrh, her Saarhin character.
Unfortunately they look a bit too aged to be Saarhins but anyway, here they are :)

Night Fury

2010-11-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

This is Toothless from the film "How To Train Your Dragon". This sketch has been laying in my computer since last year. I found it in my WIP folder and decided to finish it while listening to the wonderful soundtrack.
I wanted to depict a more agressive, less cute Toothless, because after all he's supposed to be a nasty man eating dragon :)

The white tip

2010-11-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

Quick speed painting before going to bed. This is (or as close as I can go) a whitetip reef shark. It was referenced from several images, most notably wikipedia.
This image doesn't really make them justice, they truly are amazingly beautiful creatures. The subtle variations in colour of their skin is impossible to accurately convey in this style.

Ever since I first saw Mike Rutzen's documentary on tonic immobility in sharks, my vision on them has changed and the more I learn, the more I love them.

Sadly, sharks are endangered by the excessive fishing, especially for their fins for the Asian market.
Here are a few sites of support and conservation if you want to have a look :)

Sharktrust a UK charity
Shark Alliance a coalition of non-governmental organisations for the conservation of sharks.

Midnight Scene

2010-11-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

This is a collaboration between me and the awesome Corone. You might have seen a preview of it in here that I posted recently. And It is finally done after a long long time.
It was the usual everyone-works-on-everything sort of collab which is always very enjoyable. Corone did most of the job on the characters while I worked mainly on the background and lighting.

The creepy little red-eyed kid is Camille, Corone's character, having a lunch. (and believe me he doesn't sparkle!) And the white-haired one is Shü, my character, dieing probably.

Don't hesitate to have a look at Corone's gallery for beautiful and dark pictures.

All your brains are belong to us

2010-11-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

Few images for a school assignment. It's going to be a short animated clip. What better subjects than Zombies? Everyone loves zombies, they're cute, funny and they'll tear your face up with their rotten teeth...

Contre-Jour : A Supinfogame creation

2010-10-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

A while ago I participated in a project by the students of the video-game school Supinfogame. The game is called Contre-Jour, it tells the story of a young imaginative boy who has to go on a quest inside the Universal Exposition to save himself from a curse cast by a Fairy Queen who's kingdom he destroyed.
The game is puzzle based as the character has to avoid lights and stay in the dark.
I produced a few images for an introduction trailer.

I didn't have time to put it properly here on the blog but here it is.

Here is the game's website.

And here is the final trailer on youtube.

Kaleidoscope N° 48 : Special Edition II : Coral Team

2010-10-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

What is the kaleidoscope? It's a weekly challenge and game started by a few students from the Emile Cohl school. Every week a theme is chosen and the participants create something according to that theme. Then watchers of the blog have to guess the theme. It is open to everyone. And here is the Forum .

And now for the second time, participants are separated into two teams. Coral and Cobalt, we will also have to guess the theme of the other team :)

Here are three propositions for the color pattern of the Great Wivern (Pterodactylus Wiverna Grandis).
One of my pterosaurian dragon creatures.

Check out the other participants of the other Teams :

Coral :
Alaiks : http://alaiks.canalblog.com
Cely : http://celyndra.canalblog.com
Christine : http://christinealcouffe.blogspot.com/
Guity : http://guity.canalblog.com/
Vil : http://levilblog.blogspot.com/
Lna : http://lnamog.blogspot.com/
Elodie : http://elodie-lauret.blogspot.com/
Line : http://www.line-et-all.blogspot.com/

Cobalt :
Benjamin : http://binje.canalblog.com
Laure : http://www.laurecacouault.com/
Léa : http://ephral.canalblog.com/
Sayu : http://sayusushi.blogspot.com
Alex : http://apdcp.blogspot.com
Klem : http://clemencemoriani.blogspot.com
Gattoune : http://gattoune.free.fr
Tiphereth : http://tiph-art.blogspot.com/

How I do Advertising

2010-10-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

This was one of our assignment at school.
We had to do the concept for an animated Jingle that would be used to advertise for our school. Since it is common knowledge that I hate animation from the bottom of my warm little heart and that I also like to whine and rant a lot, I decided that I would make something with practically no animation, a quasi non-existent background and no colours. But also something that would give the compete opposite message.

Since I am ALSO a lazy ass, I am not translating it all right now. But I will upadate soon enough.
Basically, Matt the depressed student tells the world how he had to sell his kidney, then indulge in prostitution to pay the (quite expensive) fees. He then explains, how after 4 years his self esteem was nuked from orbit before shooting himself in the head.

I enjoyed making this far too much for my own good :D

The savagely vectorised picture in the first page was stolen from a fellow photograph on DA : DragonofLust

Creatures of the Shüna : Lokh - Huwa

2010-10-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

I decided to rework on several old concepts from an even older graphic novel project I had with a friend. (maybe 7 years ago now?)

This is a first step in the revamp of one of the many creatures of the Shüna, a very large peninsula in the world where the story is set.

The Lokh-Huwa are a species of flying reptiles that are used for transport and occasionally food.

It is only a draft, because I drew them from memory and missed certain aspects I liked about them that I wanted to keep in their design. The tail structure and the heavy built among other things. (though it doesn't really make sense in a flying animal.)

I will probably make a flightless, bigger breed that goes more in that direction.

I also need to rework on the Lokh-Avaa, a taller, leaner version of the Huwa.

Here is the original version of the Huwa :

More sketches to come of this guy, along with some info. I hope you'll enjoy.

WorkingLoft daily Challenge : Creature Concept

2010-10-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

I participated today, in the WorkingLoft's (An Hispanic art group on DeviantArt.) daily practice hour.

Here is what I came up with.
It is some kind of hexapod creature inspired by salamanders and lizards.
It uses its fast and very long tongue to catch small flying insects and its 6 legs to firmly attach to the branches while attacking. It then cuts up the prey in small pieces with its paws to swallow it.

I called it Longuslingua Cinabra
In very approximative Latin.

Photoshop CS4 / 1h

Kaléidoscope n°45

2010-10-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

What is the kaleidoscope? It's a weekly challenge and game started by a few students from the Emile Cohl school. Every week a theme is chosen and the participants create something according to that theme. Then watchers of the blog have to guess the theme. It is open to everyone. And here is the Forum .

This week's theme is really really simple to guess....
I thought about drawing something funny, making a little strip, or making a chibi-me. I also considered painting something quick from a photo when I got out of time. But, instead I decided to put this very old drawing. Because, no matter what I've drawn since then, this still feels more like "me" than anything else.

-----------------

But because it is a bit depressing and everything.
I decided to show you some brighter things. This was never published on the blog until now and I couldn't resist. xp This is an old meme I did over at DeviantArt, in all it's silliness.

And this... Is for the heck of it : (I'll probably add wrinkles and creepy stains later on it xp )

Other participants, check them out !

Alex , Benjamin , Christine , Gatoune , Sayu , Tipereth , Vil , Wesley , Flo71, Zav
Elodie, Cely , Elodie , Flohock , Klem , Léa , Line , LNA , Sel , Laure,

Pterosaurian Dragons

2010-09-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

Since the last image had a relative success, I thought I could continue in that way for the other sketches :)
Here you could imagine the desk of a scholar from the 18th...

These are a few studies from my A4 sketchbook. The concept was to mix certain characteristics of pterosaurs with those of the conventional western dragon. I used the wing and skull structure, the large crests and overall proportions of pterosaurs while keeping the scaley appearance of dragons and their hexapod anatomy.

It's still not quite good, but I'm having a lot of fun with this idea :)

Hysterical Minds - 5th Exhibition

2010-09-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

This is my (first) participation for the 5th exhibition of the Hispanic art collective "Hysterical Minds"
The theme was "Freestyle".

I decided to work on an old sketch I never got around colouring that you will find here :
I called this creature a Syrinx, (or Sphiren) . Because It shares traits of both the Greek siren and of the Greek sphinx.

See the whole exhibition here : Clic !
It's really worth a look.

Pterosaur sketches

2010-09-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

I have been roaming around palaeontology sites lately and I rediscovered my love for Mesozoic Era critters.
all these sketches come from my A5 sketchbook, mostly done
That is also why none of these sketches are faithful depiction of a given pterosaur species. They're all drawn from memory without any reference.
So, please, forgive my potential huge errors here.

Stocks :
Victorian pattern - photodash
Paper textures - kgstv

The Guide

2010-09-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

Something from my new sketchbook.
Some kind of shamanic guide... I am not sure what it is supposed to be. It is those kind of pictures who draw themselves without really asking your opinion.

Kaleidoscope n°40 : Special Edition - Carmine Team

2010-08-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

What is the kaleidoscope? It's a weekly challenge and game started by a few students from the Emile Cohl school. Every week a theme is chosen and the participants create something according to that theme. Then watchers of the blog have to guess the theme. It is open to everyone. And here is the Forum .

But this week, the Kaleidoscope is different. You heard me, there won't be one theme to guess... But two! All participants are separated into two teams. Carmine and Veronese.
As you probably have guessed from the huge pic above, I'm Carmine team :D

Today's picture is again, a collaboration :) This time with Corone.
Unfortunately, due to my dramatic lack of talent, it is still far from done. Here is a preview that will, hopefully hint you the theme of this Kaleidoscope. Though I really encourage you to check the other participant's images.

Click for fullview!

Other participants, check them out !

Veronese Team : Alex , Benjamin , Christine , Gatoune , Sayu , Tipereth , Vil , Wesley , Zav
Carmine Team : Elodie, Cely , Elodie , Flohock , Klem , Léa , Line , LNA , Sel , Stetiar

Last week's theme was : Mythology :)

Kaleidoscope n° 39

2010-08-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

What is the kaleidoscope? It's a weekly challenge and game started by a few students from the Emile Cohl school. Every week a theme is chosen and the participants create something according to that theme. Then watchers of the blog have to guess the theme. It is open to everyone. And here is the forum.

And again, this week's picture is a collaboration. It isn't exactly finished though, but I will upload the final version when it is completed. :)
This time, the collab is between me and Saone (on DeviantArt). Same technique as always, one starts with a rough sketch, the other gets the .psd adds some colours, refines the drawing and the file goes back to the first person. et cetera until the image is considered decent.

Tthis is the original sketch. Which is....quite Sketchy....

Also... Last Week's theme was : Ice !

The other participants : Check them out now !
Alex , Cely , Christine , Gattoune , Sayu , Léa , Lna , Stetiar , Tiphereth , Vil , Zav !

Curiosity.....

2010-08-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to revive Sammy's blog, yes that would be my cat's blog. (he is a real little attention whore you know. He harassed me every night until I accepted to create his own google account...)
So here is a little picture that will hopefully be the begining of a long series.

The little devil caught his first sparrow today. (And he ate it all for himself! The little ungrateful kitty.)

But who can resist such a cute face?

And here is his blog : Sammy VS the Zombies, that might or might not be telling his epic adventures against the walking dead with his fellow buddy Boubou. Be prepared!

Le Cygne

2010-08-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Maybe some of you will remember this picture. This is the (finally) coloured version of a sketch I posted on this blog maybe a year ago. I tried to throw some colours on it without much success...
But I whipped myself a bit and finally worked my way until completion.

During the process I received help from a kick ass artist out there, Clint Clearley who has just started a PaintOver group over at DeviantArt ( click! ) and who was truly helpful in correcting some of my mistakes and pushing me toward another direction.
Here is the animation he made of the original and repainted versions : (click the picture to see animation)

And here is the original sketch for the picture :

The bird in the background isn't a goose but a black swan (Cygnus atratus), a large waterbird which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia.

Persian Sphinx

2010-08-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

And yet....Another sphinx. (Talk about an obsession...)
Anyway, this is a speed painting I did during lunch break using a few new brushes that I scavenged on internet.

The hairdress and jewellery was inspired by a documentary I saw about the Wodaabe, a nomad ethnic group from Sahel.

Neat brush packs :

Yumedust's Brushes : Click !
Ani-r 's brushes : Click !
Kuroitora's brushes : Click !
Ramon Miranda's awesome Oil brushes : Click!
Mark Winter's Chalk brushes : Click!

And here's the Brush Sharing thread on ConceptArt.org where you can come across some very neat things.

And here an interresting tuto by Daarken about custom brushes.

Kaleidoscope n° 38

2010-08-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

What is the kaleidoscope? It's a weekly challenge and game started by a few students from the Emile Cohl school. Every week a theme is chosen and the participants create something according to that theme. Then watchers of the blog have to guess the theme. It is open to everyone. And here is the forum.

It's been a while since my last participation... But here I am today!
But not with just any picture. This is a collaboration picture between me and Vil :)
We started this a while ago, both worked on the sketch and shared the .psd. I love to work that way...
I thought it'd been waiting too long and that maybe we should finish it, that's now a done thing ! :)

Well I hope you like it!

The other participants : Check them out now !
Alex , Cely , Christine , Elodie , guity , Léa , Lna , SeL , Stetiar , Tiphereth , Vil , wesley , Zav !

Tyto

2010-08-10T05:14:00.000-07:00

This is Tyto, a little owl-girl belonging to C-C-Corone (on deviant art). I really loved the character from the second I saw the image, so I had to draw her :).
The name Tyto comes from Tytonidae, the Barn-owl family which influenced the design of this character.

Here is a link to the Barn Owl Trust, an organization dedicated to the study and protection of the barn owl in UK and worldwide.

And here, detailled information, recordings and photos of Tyto Alba on Oiseaux.net (french only)

Dream Fish

2010-08-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

In a dream I had a few days ago, I was standing near a lake and saw these interesting fishes...
I felt like giving a try at drawing them. Let me say that this... Is really not a faithful representation.
Ah well, at least I did some speed painting! Enjoy.

Here is a description of what they looked like :

They ( because they were many of them) were giant, from three to five meters and rather impressive. They had a flat head, not unlike rays, And two pairs of long and thick whiskers, reminding catfish. Their body was covered by very pretty scales with patches of black and white.

Masks....

2010-08-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

These pictures have been waiting in my hard drive for a long time and I decided to post them here. Because they're just so creepy! They were taken at the end of one of our clay modelling class, this one focusing on self portrait. But after a whole day of working on your own face, there is one thing that you really want to do... And that's smashing it with a shovel. What we did, gleefully.
I don't remember clearly how we came to this, but it was fun enough to show!

Photos starring, respectively : me, Sayu and Vil.

The Dark Whisperer

2010-07-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

"What his fate would be, he did not know; but he felt that he was held for the coming of that frightful soul and messenger of infinity's Other Gods, the crawling chaos Nyarlathotep."
—H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

A school assignment. It's not really finished but I want to leave it as it is..The subject was, more or less "the portrait of a famous person" with a whole bunch of restrictions.

Here Lovecraft as a child and Nyarlathotep, the messenger of the dark gods whispering terrible secrets from the other side of the Veil.

"Nomis Tse Nu Drannoc"