Manga Drawing - Morishita from Love Theory

So this is another character from the same manga that I wrote about the other day, called Love Theory. Her name is Morishita and she is actually a gamer in the that avidly plays Monster Hunter throughout the story.

I will probably do a few more drawings of my favorite characters from the manga. Thanks for reading!

Manga Drawing - Saki from Love Theory

So I recently found a new manga that I really like on CrunchyRoll that I really like called Love Theory. I really like most of the characters in the book, but this is the main love interest of the main character, her name is Saki.

Anyways, I really liked her and I decided to do another trace and keep practicing steadying my hands while drawing. Thanks for reading!

Anime Drawing - Lida from Rail Wars (Colored)

So the drawing I was working on is finished and i added some color. The point of these exercises are to help me steady my hand when I try to draw something. When working in 3D I can push and pull vertices until it looks good, but when drawing its different. I will soon try to draw something of my own since tracing won't really help me in the long rung.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Anime Drawing - Lida from Rail Wars

So not too long ago I finished watching an anime called Rail Wars. Its essentially a show a guy that really likes trains and wants to be a train operator/driver one day. One of the girls he meets in his job is the girl above called Lida.

Now I'm not going to go any further into details of the show, but I do have to say that I really like this anime and all the characters in it. I have decided to keep training and trace picture I found of her. I find that tracing is helping me understand the anatomy more every time. I will add color to this here in the next few days post another when I'm done. 

Thanks for reading. 

Death's Mask - Pedestal Idea

So after starting this little project to make a replica of Death's Mask from Darksiders 2 I thought to myself that I needed something more than just the mask to make this piece really pop. My idea was to make some kind of pedestal, but I needed something that would make sense to the game and that would look cool. So that's when I came up with the idea above.

I'm going to give some back story to the game for those of you that don't know anything about Darksiders 2. I'm going to be as general as possible to not give away too much of the story for those of you who may care about spoilers.

The game is played from the perspective of one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, in this case you play as Death. On the fist game you play as War, but he was tricked into starting the Apocalypse and at the end of the game he is told that he will be punished even if it wasn't his fault.

Darksiders 2 if the story of Death trying to bring back all of humanity so his brother War is sparred. But in order to do so, he has to travel to different worlds in search of a way to revive all the people of the world. But there is a new threat that is slowly destroying all these worlds, its Corruption. This Corruption is everywhere you go, and it manifests itself looking like huge yellow crystals surrounded by black tar.

My idea for the "pedestal" of the mask is to make one of those spikes of Corruption and have Death's mask resting on it. And so far the render above is what I have. This is the first time I've tried doing rock/crystal in ZBrush, and its turning out to be a little harder than I thought it would. I will have to look at some tutorials and make sure that spike looks like crystal.

Anyways, that's all for now. If you haven't played the Darksiders series, I completely recommend it. Thanks for reading!

Death's Mask - Retopology Done

So the retopology is done, it took me a while trying to make sure that both sides would match and quads. I also had to restart the process once or twice since I messed up. I have to say that this was a really helpful experience since I've never had to do the retopo by hand on a model.

Now that I have the low poly model, I'm going to do the UVs and bake the maps. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Drawing - Koi Fish (Colored)

I have been working more on ZBrush, but I decided to take a break and do some sketching in Photoshop. I added some color, but this was mainly a drawing exercise. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Death's Mask - Retopology

Now that I have finished the high detail model, I'm working on doing the retopology.

This is my first time working with the retopology tools in ZBrush, normally I would just use ZRemesher and call it good. The problem with using ZRemesher won't really give you the best possible topology and you have almost no control of the edge flow. This is a really slow process, but it will be good practice.

Next time I think I will try to use 3D Coat or TopoGun, but I heard that its better to try and do as much as possible in one software package. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Death's Mask - Polypaint

I wanted to make this mask with hollow eyes to make it like a real mask. I had to rework a lot of the detail using Dynamesh to cut out the holes for the eyes using this quick tutorial I found on youtube.

Once I was finished redoing the detail, I quickly polypainted the model. I will do the retopology for the model to bake it down and transfer the detail. Thanks for reading!

Death's Mask Revisited

I have been thinking a while that I never finished one of the sculpts that I really liked a while ago of Death's Mask back in March. Now that I'm better at ZBrush I thought that I should revisit it and work more on the detail.

I think I will rework the eyes and make it look more like a real mask with eyes all the way through. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Batman Beyond - Melanie

So I've been watching a lot of Batman Beyond recently since it was one of my favorite shows when I was little. Also, it was my favorite skin in Arkham City.

So I got curious about one of the characters in the shows and I found a really good picture of Melanie and decided to do a quick trace over and paint. I'm not really good at 2D art, so a friend of mine told me that the best way to practice is to trace and get in the habit of drawing.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Resume Updated

So I recently decided to redo my resume. Seeing how I am no longer working at Disney, I think its a perfect time to update the resume for the incoming job hunt. Any feedback is always appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

Disney Infinity 2.0 - Released

Today Disney Infinity 2.0 was released, and I'm really happy for everyone to play the game that I play tested. I know that I didn't make a huge contribution to the game as I would like, but I still have an attachment to this game since this is my first official game credit in the game industry.

I love every Play Set being released, but my favorite one is the Guardian's of the Galaxy Play Set. While it doesn't have Star Lord's "Awesome Mix", I still love the environment and the characters. But the best introduction sequence to a Play Set is on the Spider-Man Play Set. But overall, my favorite character has to be Captain America. He is really strong and at later levels you can upgrade his shield toss to ricochet off multiple enemies. 

But the best part of the game, in my opinion, is the Toy Box. There has been a ton of improvements to this part of the game, and I like how you can build a bunch of different games using simple building blocks and the logic toys to make your game truly work. While a lot of the items will take some time unlock, many of the logic toys can be easily unlocked with a few hours of game play.

Anyways, I really hope that everyone gives this game a chance, and I'm not just saying that because I worked on the game. Thanks for reading!

Last Day at Work

So today was my last day as a QA tester at Disney Interactive. I'm not going to lie, I was really sad that I had to leave but I'm confident that I will go back again. Everyone was really nice at the studio, nicer than any other studio I've ever heard. Normally contractors aren't really part of the studio, but here I felt that we were part of the "family".

I'm really happy for them having finished working on Disney Infinity 2.0 and I really hope it does well since I know first hand how good the game is. I can honestly say that everyone there is trying to make the game better everyday.

Here is my favorite trailer that was done for the game, enjoy:

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

RC Car Rendered

So I finished my little RC Car and I have renders that I got using Mental Ray in Maya. I really did enjoy learning MODO and I'm sure that I will go back to it soon since I do like a few things more about it than Maya.

That is all for now, thanks for reading!

Learning MODO - Update 2

So today I was able to dedicate more time to my little project on getting my feet wet with MODO and I'm happy to to show some real progress.

So I'm learning how to use MODO by doing a simple model of a RC Race-car shown above and its being modeled to smooth. The car is pretty much finished and I'm in the process of putting the last touches on the remote control.  Then I will be able to add a few minor tweaks to model to make it more my own.

Hopefully I will be able to finish it tomorrow since I only have like 5 more videos to follow in Digital Tutors. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Learning MODO

So I'm now in the process of learning MODO with the help of Digital Tutors.

I have to say that this program is really different, I don't feel as lost when I first started using ZBrush or Maya, but I still get lost once in a while.

One thing that I really do like about MODO is that all the tools are in tabs to the left of the view port, and I don't have to go digging in different menus like Maya. And this also feels like a cross between Maya and ZBrush, which I'm not sure if this is a good thing yet.

Right now I'm in the process of making a toy race car, and I should be done in the next day or so. Thanks for reading!

Disney Infinity 1.0 - Loot Drop

So today I got a really good surprise from work, I got a free copy of Disney Infinity game and almost a full set of the figures. This is one of those times where I'm really happy to be working at the Disney Studio.

I'm just a contractor at the studio, meaning that they didn't have to give me all this stuff. Anyways, that's all for now, thanks for reading!

Been Really Busy

So today is my birthday and I'm really sad that I haven't been able to post almost anything lately. Since I started working as a QA tester I have been working two jobs and I don't have much time to sit down and work on something to post.

I will admit that working two jobs means that I'm always tired, but everyday I walk into that studio I feel great and it just goes away. I know it probably sounds stupid, but I really do enjoy my time there and I hope that I get a chance to stay there for a while. 

I know this isn't a journal I don't like posting personal stuff like this, but I felt bad for not posting work on my blog. I've been keeping up my blog for the last four years and I try to always post stuff, at least a few times a month. 

Anyways, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

My First Job in the Game Industry

So today was my first day at work as a QA tester for Disney Interactive Studios.

Obviously I can't say what I'm working on, but I am very excited to have my first job in the game industry. I hope that this will be my foot in the door to working in the game industry as an artist.

I know there are a lot of horror stories out there of working in QA, here is one of my favorites:

Honestly it hasn't been anything like that and everyone is really cool at the studio. I will continue working on my art on my spare time and hopefully I will be working as an artist in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Book Cover Progress

So I know, this picture doesn't look like much. I just haven't had much time to work on the cover. But I did get the basic rim done around the tree. I did this in Illustrator and I'm using a stroke to make it look like calligraphy and more stylized.

I'm really excited to get this done and hopefully it look half as good as I picture it. The tree will probably take me a while since Illustrator still gets the better of me. Thanks for reading!

Orc Head - Update # 7

Here's a render of where I'm at. I have finished doing the polypainting the orc, but I still felt like it was too empty. I applied the red marks across his face to be "warpaint", but I don't think I like it as much and may go back.

All I have to do now is bake everything down, paint the eyes in Photoshop (I don't like to poly paint eyes in ZBrush) and render it in Marmoset Toolbag. I'm almost done, but I don't think it will be that easy. I usually run into one thin or another in the baking process. :(

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Book Cover - Sketch

So a friend of mine is writing a book and will be publishing it real soon, I won't write his real name but he goes by JD. I won't really write what his book is about, but essentially its about a girl finding herself. He asked if I could help him with some ideas for his book cover, he doesn't want anything fancy and would prefer something more symbolic and simple.

Here is what I have so far:

I know the drawing is not that big or too complicated, but I did this in Photoshop as a real quick sketch of what I think the cover should be. I will now need to make a vector version of this so that it can be easily scaled up and down for the different sizes he needs to publish his book. 

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Orc Head - Update # 6

So those are the renders of what I've got so far on the painted head. I have to say that I'm liking this so much more than my previous attempt at painting. I will hopefully have more time this weekend to add more color to the model.

I do have to add that the hair won't be white. I just haven't gotten to it yet. Thanks for reading!

Orc Head - Update # 5

So I decided to backtrack on model for a bit. I decided/found out that I hadn't put enough detail to start painting. I tried to add the detail as I was painting, but that was a horrible idea. At least I figured it out before I spent a long time painting.

On this version, I put some texture/detail on the skin and the teeth. The hair still looks weird, so I'll see if i can find an alpha that can help me in that area.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Orc Head - Update # 4

So its  been a while since I did anything to my Orc head sculpt. I figure now is a good time to finish it. I did some minor detail on the sculpt and did the base colors I will use for the Polypaint.

I will take another screen shoot when I have more work done!

War - Speed Sculpt

So I needed to do another speed sculpt, and I figured I should work on War from the Darksiders series. There is just something about the games that is really cool for me, and it makes me sad to think that THQ went under. And who knows what will happen with Darksiders story under its new owner...

Anyways, here is a quick sculpt I made of War's face. It took me longer than it should have since there is virtually no detail on this model. But I really wanted to get the basic shape down:

I have improved over the last little bit, but eyes and lips are still the hardest part of the face. And the ears! I made this sculpt starting from a sphere and dynameshed it to get this simple head sculpt.

It just hit me today that War also wears a mask in the first game, and since I have already done a sculpt of Death's mask I may try sculpting War's. I hope that I will have more time this weekend to do another sculpt.

That's all for now, thank's for reading!

Death's Mask - Speed Sculpt

So I was talking to a friend of mine and he reminded me that I need to do more sculpts, everyday if possible. So today before working on my portfolio stuff, I decided to look for something that I could do a speed sculpt of. I decided to try and sculpt the mask from Death in Darksiders 2.

Here are the renders:

Originally I was trying to only spend an hour, but I ended up taking like 2 hours on it. I liked how it was coming along and didn't feel like stopping. I had to force myself to stop since this was only meant as a quick exercise and not a new project, I have enough of those going on and I don't need to start something else at the moment.

I liked how it turned out, maybe one day I will come back to it and finish it. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Splash Damage Art Test - Progress

So I've been redoing a lot of the work on the art test that I never finished. I started it a year ago, but I never got around to finishing the project. I got a solid base down, but it was nowhere near done and practically a copy of the sample art to get you started.

I have been dedicating my last few days to finishing this. After another sleepless night, here is where I'm at now:

I've added a lot of detail to the building and the street. I also added close ups of the areas that I've worked on since a lot of the stuff was probably hard to see on the first render.

On this version, I decided to move the entrance of the old building to the other side. I was going to keep it at the same place, but there would have just been too much going on there. I also added a dumpster to the back alley, and I will be adding other trash cans and stuff to make it look a little more run down. The coolest part is probably the sidewalk I made. It took me a while to get it right, but I love the bend tool! :D

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Splash Damage Art Test - 2.0

Here is a render of what I worked on tonight:

This is the Splash Damage art test that I never really finished. I got a good base model, but it was almost the exact same thing as the concept image provided with no uniqueness. I have been working on this for the last 6 hours and I think that its looking better. The Building is still boring, but there is improvement!

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Orc Head - Update # 3

Here are the screen shoots of where I'm at:

I have added a few extra things to the model, it just felt a little empty for me if I didn't. I did the UV in Maya and now its ready for the high detail sculpting and polypaint. 

Thanks for reading!

Orc Head - Update # 2

So as I promised, here is another update on the sculpt:

I have added the eyes and teeth, as well as some "facial accessories". I still have some more stuff do do on it, but I am almost done with the base mesh. Once I'm done I will be able to do the re-topology, and do the high level detail.

Like I said on my last post, I don't want to waste a lot of time on this sculpt so I'm moving faster than usual. This is also because I find that if I stay on a single project for too long I get bored and don't finish...

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Orc Head Sculpt - WIP

Here is a render of an orc head I'm going to work on quickly:

I'm not planning on spending too much time on this project. I need to finish this sculpt (and paint) in the next week and a half at the most. The reason for this is that I need to get better and quicker with my pipeline process if I'm ever going to be good.

I can't afford to spend a month and a half staring at the same thing like I did with the Bull Head I did last year. Don't get me wrong, I loved the way it turned out. But it took too long.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope to have another update soon.

Sci Fi Floor Texture Version 2.0

So after posting my last texture, I went back to the art dump on Polycount that the developers of Borderlands posted. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go to this link RIGHT NOW because you are missing out big time.

Ok, now that you have been enlightened by the awesomeness of all that art, I realized that my first texture was not close at all to the style of Borderlands. My texture was too clean and I have changed it. Behold!

Maybe I overdid-it this time around, but it much closer to the Borderlands art style. I read through a lot of the tips the game devs posted on the site and it really worked.

Now I will have to keep working on the rest of the scene. I'm really trying to beef up my portfolio because I intend on getting hired soon! I need to show that I as good in 2D as I am in 3D.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Sci Fi Floor Texture

I've decided to give the Diablo sculpt a break and go back to my Sci Fi environment and get it textured once and for all. So I have broken it down into pieces and decided that I should start out by doing the texture for the floor.

Here is a test render from Maya on what I have:

I'm still sticking to my original plan of trying to mimic the Borderlands style, and I think I'm on the right path. Right now this is too clean, so I will have to add other stuff to the scene like papers and miscellaneous junk. But for now, this will do for the floor tile. I have rotated a few of the tiles in an effort to make it no so Tile like.

Here is the png file:

I added the "ink" in illustrator. I think I may have to remove the white cracks, but I will go back to that later. I also still need to do the specular map, but I think I will do that in ZBrush with polypaint along with some of the metal feel for the normal map. I was going to do it tonight, but I have to get some sleep before going to work in the morning, hopefully tomorrow.

Anyways, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Diablo Head Sculpt - A Step in the Right Direction

So here is what I have since last time:

So I have been looking at more reference images and I'm more confident now on how Diablo should look. I have started to add some detail to the dynamesh. There is still a lot left to do on the sculpt, but I finally feel like I'm at least getting to the end of the base mesh. I also added the teeth and the pointy parts in Maya since it was easier for me to do it there then in ZBrush.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Sci Fi Scene - Revisited

So a while ago, I was working on a Sci Fi scene, but I don't think that I ever showed how it turned out. That's mostly because there wasn't really a good way to show how the environment turned out with only still images:

Now that I've had some time to play around with Sketchfab, I'm proud to show the result of my work on this sci fi environment. Its better if you switch to full screen and then to first person view, this way you can look at the environment as if it were in a game engine.

Sci Fi Scene

by FushiNoRyuu

on Sketchfab

I'm currently trying to work on the light maps and trying to get a good Ambient Occlusion look on the scene before I do all the texturing. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Diablo Head Sculpt - Not as Easy as I Thought

Here is a few renders of what I have so far:

This is probably one of the weirdest sculpts I have ever done, this is because there is not one exact way to sculpt Diablo. From all the reference images I have seen, There is always something different about each, and I think it just depends on how the artist thinks that Diablo should look like.

Here is what I mean:

Even the official sculpts from Blizzard are different on how the head looks. So I have decided to stick to just pull from all of these and make my own sculpt. But I think that I will try to focus more on the look of the last picture.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!