Texas Pin-Up

Likely going to be selling some prints at this years Vet Fest, so figured this was a great excuse to get back to some of the more patriotic art I used to make much for often.  Being that I've been in TX over a year now, I thought I'd dedicate a pinup to the Lone Star State. 

This was created in Photoshop from concept sketch to final render.

Star Wars: The Old Republic -Asset Dump 01

Hi all!

Being how I've now moved on since my Contract at BioWare, I thought I'd post up some of the first assets I got to make for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Note:
Under each image is a direct link to the asset on my ArtStation if you care to check it out further.

Asset 01:
This was part of my art test for the weapon/prop artist position.  The test was to see how I would not only build the asset, but also design something new that fit correctly into the Star Wars universe.  Being a fan of both weapons and Star Wars, I knew that most blasters start off with a WWII era of firearm with other parts of different weapons or scopes attached to make them look "sci-fi".

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/N5JZR5

Asset 02:
Also part of the art test, this was pair of binoculars I created also of my own design.  Similar to the blaster, doing some research proved that previously created binoculars in the Star Wars films often started with a 60s-70s era of camera with additional parts glued over top.  So using Luke's binoculars from "A New Hope" as inspiration, I found a camera body I liked and then added some lenses and parts from appliances as well as some of the pieces used in the film versions of other binoculars.

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/A9akNe

Asset 03:

This was the very first thing I created once starting my contract on Star Wars: The Old Republic.  I was told to take inspiration from the "Siege Cannon" seen at the end of "The Last Jedi".  (Everyone's favorite SW film lol)  Beyond that, I had the pre-determined hand positions for this type of weapon and some direction from my supervisor, Brad Lewis, who helped me dial in the design.

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Bmzq1z

Asset 04:

Lastly for this post, is the first "mount" I created for the game.  This one was based on a couple well crafted, pencil sketches from Brad Lewis.  He gave me some freedom with the textures which I pulled inspiration from both the Y-Wing and the Snow Speeder seen in "The Empire Strikes Back".

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0XDBYw

More to come...

I have several more assets from my time at BioWare that I'll be sharing as time permits.  For those that don't know, I'm no longer with BioWare and wanted to wait awhile before showcasing some of the things I made last year.  I know BioWare has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent months for a multiple of reasons I won't get into here, however I hope like myself anyone reading this will continue to wish them the best in righting the ship and returning to making excellent products.

Spike's Tactical AR15 FPS Game Models

I made a FPS quality version of the Colt M4 at my previous job, however we never got around to adding the feature and the weapons to go with it.  After holding onto the asset for a bit, I decided to turn it into a Spike's Tactical AR M4 and than later created a "flat top" version with FDE (flat dark earth) furniture.

Software Used:

• Maya
• Photoshop
• xNormal
• dDo
• Marmoset

Colt 1911 Game Model (Revised)

Another model from the vault of past goodies.  I originally made this 1911 model for a game idea where the player could customize and build their firearms and than use them at progressively more challenging shooting ranges.  Sort of a Hogan's Alley meets Gran Turismo.  The past renders I had of this asset were done with Maya's Mental Ray and not actually real-time as I had intended.  Now with current game engines and tools like Marmoset I am able to show off this pistol as it was meant to be seen.

Software Used:

• Maya
• Photoshop
• Marmoset

Beretta M9 Game Model

A common favorite in the firearms world as well as the current military issued sidearm, the Beretta M9 is hands down the most iconic 9mm on the market today.  I had made a very low poly version of the M9 in my time at Cole Engineering, but wanted to make a FPS (higher poly) version of the pistol to better showcase my appreciation for this awesome firearm.

Software Used:

• Maya
• Photshop
• xNormal
• Marmoset

School Props: Turntables 1 & 2

This is a collection of assets I made at Cole Engineering for a test scene to be placed in Unreal Engine 4.  I have gathered the assets I created (high and low resolution model, color/specular/normal textures) and placed them onto this turntable for demo reel/portfolio purposes.  All props are low poly with LOD's and were used in a real time walk through rendered with Unreal Engine 4.

You can view these assets in their natural environment in the video below.

I worked closely with the talented Justin Wildhorn and Sorob Raissi, you can see examples of this project as well as more of Justin's work here: http://www.justinwildhorn.com 

...and check out  Sorob's work here: http://sorob.net

Software Used:

• Maya
• Photoshop
• xNormal
• dDo
• Marmoset
• Unreal Engine 4

Molon Labe Pin-Up

Been so busy with gun related art, I figured I'd do some pin-up goodness.  ...and what do you know, it turned out all kinds of gun related too!  Sorry, it just sort of...happened!  :P

In all actuality, I did this more to post up on Instagram.  I've been really enjoying the firearm community over there, please follow me and join in on the IG fun!  Molon labe and shit!!

Modern Spartan

There are a lot of 2nd Amendment related "Molon Labe" spartan helmet art works out there, so I was thinking, how can I do something with the spartan helmet I hadn't seen already.  So I thought to combine the classic steel mask from the spartan helmet and combining it with a current style military helmet often used by Special Forces.  This was done in a little less than 3 hours using Photoshop using digital paint with some photo-manipulation.

Youtube channel Ebomey ( http://www.youtube.com/user/ebomey ) had a contest for a new logo and this was my entry.  I didn't win, but he has used it for some of his intro/outros on some of his recent videos which is pretty cool.  I am just happy to be getting more experience and reason to continue making these types of logos for firearm related channels and organizations and I've met some great people and even made some good friends in the process.

Beretta 90-Two Modern Art Piece

So trying something a little different with this one.  I wanted to do something that was a bit more of a modern art piece, and I wanted to do it in grey-scale with only red being the accent color. Being how this was my attempt at "modern" art, I thought I'd go with a handgun I have always loved the look of, the Beretta 90-Two.  Looking like something out of Halo, the Beretta 90-Two was an attempt to make a more modern, stylish and light weight version of the famous Beretta 92/96 series.  It was available in both 9mm and .40s&w but sadly didn't catch on and Beretta stopped producing the pistol.  Even though this design was short lived, I'm a big fan of the Beretta 90-Two and was happy to make an art piece dedicated to it.  

Remington 1911

Here is another addition to my handgun digital painting series!  It's hard to get too much of a good thing, so I decided to do another 1911, this time going with a very classic style Remington.  Chambered in .45acp, the Remington 1911 R1 is a throwback to the Colt 1911 that started it all.  Smooth straight lines and wooden grips, this is a total classic and a real tribute to the original 1911.

Beretta M9 Game Model WIP

Just started learning dDo, which is a great tool for adding scratches, dirt and imperfections to your textures.  I am just scratching the surface of learning this tool, but here is a WIP of what I've started doing to one of my pistol models.  More to come!!

Taurus Protector

I really like the "Drawn with Lead 1911" digital painting I did last year, and Jess was telling me the other day that I should do some more guns in a similar fashion.  She also didn't hesitate to drop the Taurus Protector as a possible choice for my next gun painting as it's probably going to be my wife's first handgun.  So my love, this one's for you!!  I am so lucky to have a wife that supports my hobbies and my beliefs the way you do, I love you darl'n!!!

Mr. Skullhead: First ZBrush sculpt

Just got set up with a new work station at my job this week and the only software installed so far is ZBrush.  I hadn't touched ZBrush since 2007, and I had only done the most basic of tasks even back then.  One of my co-workers suggested while I'm waiting for Maya and Photoshop to get put on my new PC I might start learning ZBrush as we'll be using it more and more here at work.  He also suggested I try out something new to ZBrush called DynaMesh.  So Mr. Skullhead here is the result of me pushing and pulling some shape from a DynaMesh sphere.  Still a WIP, just something simple to get my feet wet in the big world of sculpting.