SHOo

Cadbury - Share the Joy

2011-12-02T10:29:00.001+13:00

So.... it's been a while, hasn't it? I swear I was feeling bad about it! But I was kind of busy on Tintin up until quite recently, and, then busy taking my first holiday in three years, and now busy finishing making a baby, while working on the Hobbit, Prometheus and other stuff... So I dug up some old stuff that I had never posted (because I was busy).

Anyway, last year, I was contacted by some super awesome folks, Andy and Dave from DDB Auckland, to enter a concept, along with other artists, for a Cadbury campaign. I somehow ended up being the selected artist and got to develop some more the concept and roughs... before the whole job fell through. I think we were all ~~a little~~ very sad about it, but this is how things go in advertising.

This would have been part of the Share the Joy campaign and would have been a series of 4 limited edition chocolate block packs. The trick was, we wanted a fresco when you put all the packs side by side, but because we couldn't control in which order they were going to be put up on shelves, the fresco had to work in all the possible combinations. The illustration had to flow regardless of the order the packs were in. HA!
So, we went up to a solid final concept, and didn't get to hit final rendering of anything, but you can still get a pretty good idea of what it could have been.

But enough talk, let's look at images instead!
First up, the concept that got me the job. A single pack as proof of concept for feel, render, colors and grade:

Then a little later, the full linework and flow. You can already swap the packs, the illustration will still flow.

The linework itself, with all the characters (couldn't resist posting this, I love them displayed like this!):

Then we realised that maybe it was a little too busy in there, so we made adjustments, shrunk some of them, discarded others, and ended up with the final concepts for the first pack and the full layout of the series:

All of this is copyright Cadbury, ok?
Ok, gotta go back being busy!

Interlude

2011-02-16T00:21:00.001+13:00

Since I'm not posting much at the moment (cue string of work related excuses), why not post some old-ish stuff, I ask you.
So here's a little finger-on-iPod bird for ya.

Brushes on iPod touch

NZ Goes Pop exhibition

2011-02-05T13:40:00.001+13:00

Thanks to my friend Jess at Wootini, I got to be part of the NZ goes Pop exhibition opening tonight at the Gallery. Make sure to go and check the pieces out if you're around, or go check the website to discover all the cool artists that are in the show (Becky, to only name here, is absolutely amazing!!!). The show runs until Feb 28th.

Pencil, Watercolor and Ink on Arches, A3.
This pic shows the original frame, which I hear, is no more. Not sure what it looks like now, but I'm sure the peeps at Wootini did an amazing job. Thanks so much guys!

Sneak Peek

2011-01-31T23:43:00.000+13:00

Here's a tiny little look at my piece for the NZ goes POP at the Wootini Gallery, in North Carolina.
The exhibition opens this Friday, so be sure to drop by if you're in the surrounding!

Full pic and description coming in a few days.

Merry Christmas to y'all!

2010-12-26T12:07:00.000+13:00

I'm a little late, but seriously, who goes on the net on xmas day?
Hope you all had a fantastic, fabulous holiday and are all getting ready for an awesome 2011!

Pencil and Photoshop

In between

2010-11-12T01:59:00.003+13:00

Just a quick quick little update, with a quick quick little doodle. I was obsessed with my workmate's tee shirt today - it had a tiny tiny bow right in the middle of the back - so I had to draw that detail to get it out of my system. And one thing leading to another, I ended up with this. Go figure!

Also, it was time for an update.

Photoshop

Clint the Deer Thingy

2010-10-01T00:55:00.001+13:00

I thought this blog started to seriously lack cuteness. Or maybe I did. So to re-establish the balance of cute in this world, here is Clint.
As a matter of fact, I work with a Clint, but he doesn't look anything like this.

Photoshop

Roughs feat. Juno

2010-09-27T22:20:00.001+13:00

I played around quickly in some spare time I had today, and built up this pink-haired lady. Then I turned it to grayscale (well, desat' to be exact) "just to check things up", and now I'm stuck, because I can't decide which one to post.
So I'm posting both. Because after all, they're roughs, so I can afford not to pick one.
Oh, and this is totally our cat Juno, by the way, for the very first time on the internets!

Guess what? Photoshop.

About time!

2010-09-07T01:41:00.002+12:00

I don't know... It must have been a good three or four years (and a good hundred of lame sketches) since I first wanted to do a Monkey Girl Fan Art for Barth.
So now, it's done. Well, a Wellington version anyway - I don't know how girls do it here, but right in the middle of the very windy winter, they manage to rock out in tiny skirts and backless tops.

Photoshop and that previous-post brush again.

It's not Spring yet

2010-09-02T20:17:00.000+12:00

...and in case I forgot, the weather is here to remind me! We alternate beautiful sunny days with cold wind and sideways rain (could have called it horizontal rain too). It's ok, tomorrow will be nice.
I just wanted to test a brush I made for last illustration actually.

Photoshop

Sketchoholic - Chris Sanders contest

2010-08-29T21:18:00.001+12:00

I feel like I'm saying this all the time, but I'll say it again: I'm really busy at work. And find I rarely have the time or energy to work some more when I get home. Plus I generally feel quite uninspired at the moment, which doesn't help.
But when I heard that Bobby Chiu was hosting a Chris Sanders contest and interview on the terrific Sketchoholic, I couldn't resist, and ended up pulling an all-nighter at the beginning of the week (real smart! I'm still paying the price) to enter the contest. I didn't really make it in time (read, I didn't really finish it), so here is the Wip I posted, that I intend to finish... one day... maybe.

Photoshop

The theme was "Nightmares" and you can view all the other entries and watch the interview here.

Fot Fan Art

2010-05-20T00:04:00.001+12:00

Here's a fan art I made to celebrate Fot's TV premiere tomorrow!

ArtRage, Photoshop and a CQ tweaked cover

Fot premieres 9.30pm tomorrow on RadiRadiRah, is created by Alex Dron,co-written by Karl Wills, and is voiced by Rhys Darby.

Testing out ArtRage

2010-04-30T03:15:00.000+12:00

Following the good advice from Christian Pearce, I downloaded ArtRage tonight and decided to try it out. I haven't painted in ages (weeks Digitally and years Traditionally) so it is a little painful but it was real fun!
I'm on the demo version (hence the beautiful duck-poo color watermark). I'll try some more tools and drawings in the next 29 days to make up my mind, but I am already seriously thinking of buying it. Yep, it's that fun, you should give it a try!

ArtRage Demo

Everything but what I'm supposed to be doing

2010-03-30T23:54:00.004+13:00

Well, hello there! It's been a while!

I've been ~~lazy~~ busy lately, I changed jobs and have to get used to the ultra-excitement and new rythm, and have been working on a few freebies for family and friends (the usual Wedding Invites and Logos... you know how it is).

So I'm finally back to working on my own stuff in my spare time, and decided to perhaps do the Pin-Up challenge that my Weta-colleague Pascal hosts on his forum (and I've put links, so please, do go, the forum is really great, and since it's not overcrowded (yet), it's real good to get feedback and critics! Plus he's pretty awesome!).
I was doing colour roughs tonight and quite liked the brush I was playing with. Got carried away once again, and did this little tiny doodle:

Photoshop

I've noticed that I have the bad habit of doing everything but what I'm supposed to be doing.
Tonight, I was supposed to block out my pose for the challenge. While I have explored several tracks already, I am not there yet and will have to work some more on it tomorrow.
Same happened for the previous post. I haven't forgotten I am supposed to finish this jogger-of-the-future girl (which I started when I was supposed to do some urgent wedding invites, of course!), but now I have time, I decided to take on the pin-up challenge. Maybe. If I don't get side-tracked, that is....

Roller Derby?? wip

2010-02-10T12:12:00.003+13:00

Posting a quick sketch I did yesterday to relax. Ended up with this...
Does she kind of looks Roller-Derby-ish to you? I think so too! I don't really want to give her the full elbow and knee pads thingies though, so I'll think about it... Maybe she's just some kind of jogger from the future or something.
Anyway, just wanted to share the first step. Not my usual style, but getting out of the "cute" comfort zone is loooooong over-due.

Photoshop

Table Centerpieces

2010-01-20T01:40:00.001+13:00

I got married a few weeks ago. On top of the invites, menus, name tags... and everything you have to do to prep the wedding itself, I also decided to do the table centerpieces and the bouquet, as I don't really like flowers.
I kind of had an idea of what I wanted (very, very rough idea though), and decided to take a punt. I quickly painted a few leaves, like this (in photoshop):

Then we printed them out on some nice card, cut them and I assembled them (without doing a test run, as we were out of time by then). They turned out like this :

And here is a picture of all six of them:

It was so much fun to do! And then we added some plastic animals (just for fun) that we spray-painted white. I also did the little candle holders thingies you can see around the centerpiece...
And then, the bouquet, which is not anything new, but great to do (and a damn good excuse to buy tons of buttons!):

Props go to Hubby-then-to-be for cutting 99% of the leaves, and all my family that came over from France and helped me out cut and paste and put buttons on wires as soon as they landed!
Photos by Stephen Langdon (except the one of all six centerpieces, I sent my cousin on a mission to snap all of them before the ceremony)

Friday Sketch

2010-01-08T16:51:00.002+13:00

Happy 2010 everyone!!
I was a ~~little bored~~ not very busy at work today, so I did a quick one.

Photoshop

Avateeshirt!

2009-12-29T10:30:00.001+13:00

A couple of months ago, there was a contest in the Animation Department at Weta Digital to elect the three designs that would get printed onto Avatar Crew Gear. I somehow got to submit something -I'm the receptionist, not an animator-, and ended up winning.
It's pretty much everything in the movie.... but there's no spoiler, it's also all in the trailer!
Thanks again guys for letting me play and liking what I did! It meant the world to me!

Ink on watercolor paper, Photoshop.
This is the version that got approved and printed, after a few minor changes.

Goodbye Card

2009-12-05T12:28:00.003+13:00

I was asked to do a little "goodbye card" for someone at work. Lovely Miae is off to have a baby and is leaving Weta for a little while. I only had a few hours at night to do the card, but it was so good to get to do something for her!

Photoshop

I will hopefully be back soon. My wedding is in a couple of weeks and there's still heaps to do... I will try to post the Crew Gear Tee-shirt design I did for the Animation Department as soon as I can (which means after Avatar is out =) )...

i can haz more doodlez?

2009-11-04T21:36:00.006+13:00

I've been eagerly waiting for this moment since I finished this bunch of commissioned artwork for EA's NFS Nitro... Actually, I've probably been dying to show them ever since I put my pencil on the paper and started drawing the first character. That's pretty much how excited I've been to work on this project (with those awesome peeps).
But you know how it is, NDAs and stuff, and I had to wait for a few months. Luckily for my nerves, I didn't have to wait for too long.

So, you remember that post? Well, they are bits and pieces taken from that one, that I did overnight:

Then I did that one. Cool, I had a full weekend to do it:

A few months later, I got asked to do some more. This time, I had to follow the theme of the different tracks in the game for the cities of:

-Madrid:

-Cairo (my fav'):

-Singapore:

-Dubai:

-and Rio:

For the Cities ones, it was total luxury time-wise - I had a week for each. On the side of my normal day job hours of course.

And then (why stop?), I also did two more pages of elements for the User Interface:

Pencil on Paper, A4 (apart from number 2, which was slightly bigger). Copyright Electronic Arts.

I also did some logos, but can't get my hands on them right now... Funny thing is, I don't believe any of those made it to the final game. Haha.
I hadn't looked at them since I finished working on the project. Now I understand why I was a little tired and drained out. But man, I had the best time!

French frog and other cliches

2009-11-03T21:46:00.003+13:00

So. I know I'm not posting as often as I should, but here is one for the road I just did tonight. I am always quite amused by the cliches about us little frenchies...
I've been up to a couple of things recently but am awaiting approval and print before I can show anything.
Tomorrow or in a couple of days, I should be able to post the work I did on NFS Nitro... Yay!

Photoshop

Birthday Card

2009-10-13T17:33:00.002+13:00

I did a quick little birthday card yesterday. We got a print of it, and for some reason, the dress and the eyes came out super black, instead of blue-green. I hope you guys can see it properly (here at work it's pretty damn dark too actually!!)...

Photoshop

Yuki Wip

2009-10-09T16:57:00.003+13:00

I'm not dead, I just have a job at the moment and some freelance work, contribution, birthday card and wedding invites (mine, this time) to do in the evenings.
But I had time to do this one today at work, between two phone calls. It's just a wip, I'm exploring different possibilities for the treatment, but I wanted to have a go at the awesomeness that is Yuki 7...

Photoshop

Bumblebeeing around

2009-09-14T20:46:00.003+12:00

Ha-ha! I'm sure you weren't expecting our little bee to be in such a cold place, huh? Well, me neither.
I was originally just testing a brush I had made for fur (and, what's better to test fur than a BumbleBee?). And then I thought I'd make an environment for her. And then I got carried away.
And now I even have thumbnails for some other layout of their adventures...
So below is the first concept. I'll go and refine the background and stuff later. And for once, I've posted a "detail" of it... Well, I had to show you the fur, right?

Photoshop (not sure yet, but I actually think I might have lost the brush I made in the re-install)

Sneak Peek

2009-09-04T23:45:00.003+12:00

Can't resist to show you a little sneak peek of an illustration I'm working on. I'm doing the concept right now, and it might actually remain a concept for a while... I don't really know how to tackle this idea. Anyway, I'll post it when I'm happy with it, whatever it will be.

Giant Clouds

2009-09-03T12:16:00.003+12:00

That's the view I had from my window this morning. I tried to do a speedpainting of it (by the time I finished it, it was actually raining... u_u I'm obviously not fast enough).
Those giant clouds were taking up all the sky and looked just... well... gigantic. I've tried to draw those mountains several times now, and I just can't get them right. Pity, because they're quite cool in real life.

Photoshop

The pug at the Cafe

2009-08-31T18:35:00.003+12:00

I was catching up with a friend on Saturday and we went to the cute little cafe two bays away from home. At the table next to us, there was this little fatty dog. He looked super laid back and comfortable and he spent all the time we were there, staring at his owners in a pug kind of way (you don't really know if he's actually looking at you), with a tiny bit of his pink tongue sticking out.

Photoshop

Gonzague The Elefun

2009-08-26T21:42:00.002+12:00

Yeah, I started giving them names - proper names.
This one took me waaaay longer than I would have wanted, but I really wanted him to be shiny-shiny... I guess he's quite shiny now.
I knew I wanted to paint something shiny and pink, but thought (and I know I'm right) that a piggy bank was too easy a choice. So I went through the tee, and discovered that one. Yeah, discover, because I have to say, I have no recollection at all of drawing him, or even coming up with the idea. I don't know where he comes from. But he made me laugh enough to be picked.

Photoshop

I have added the proper names of the other ones too.

Reggie The Masked Spaghetti Dude

2009-08-19T15:55:00.005+12:00

And another one from the tee... Not sure about this one. Or his name... Anyway...

Photoshop

Arpad The Round Bear

2009-08-18T19:17:00.002+12:00

And an quick and easy one for the road. Still from the tee...

Photoshop

The Boscombes Brothers Water Worms

2009-08-17T13:52:00.006+12:00

Another one from the tee doodles. I know they're not technically under water, but that's what I chose to call them. Always had.
Maybe I should also post bigger versions... but that'd mean getting a pro account on flickR... So until then, sorry to say, that'll be little pics only.

Photoshop

Liam The Brainy Count

2009-08-13T19:24:00.006+12:00

Well, he's not really brainy... I guess I should have called him the engraved-patterned-oversized-foreheaded-count instead... too long.
This one is from a doodle I did on the tee. Can you spot him? I kind of upgraded him with a cape. And rendered him slightly more.

Photoshop

Julius

2009-08-11T11:01:00.003+12:00

I'm finally back! I took a week off to settle down in my new super house, and reset a little. Ok, apart from unpacking and decorating, I've just been plain lazy...
So, yesterday, to get back in the saddle, I did something I intended to do for a loooong time. I painted my favourite robot (ever), Julius, from Karl Wills's Connie Radar. I had asked Karl ages ago (such a long time ago I can't even remember when) to give me some roughs of Julius so I could paint it/him. I had colored the comic, so I kinda knew the base colors, but I took some liberties and painted him more how I envisionned him - not brand new, a bit worn off.
I think I originally imagined he had more paint chips and rust and scratches, but now that I got to "meet" him, I know he's a tidy, well-groomed robot. He surely wouldn't let rust happen. He knows better.

Photoshop - Character Design by Karl Wills

Off to Wellington

2009-07-28T11:47:00.002+12:00

I'm totally busy right now, and sadly have no time at all for some decent artwork. I'm trying to do as much as I can on the short film before I leave Yukfoo at the end of the week, and packing and cleaning as soon as I get home, because I'm moving down on Saturday... And on top of that, catching up with caterers and cake makers for my wedding at the end of the year...
I did this little drawing ultra quickly for my Farewell Drinks Event Invitation on facebook... For those who wonder, Wellington is just about the windiest city in the world!

Flash and Photoshop

I'll be back as soon as I can, I'm really craving some time to work on personal projects. Hopefully, that should be soon. But I might be busy walking on the beach across the street from my new little house... =)

Sunnies 05

2009-07-23T09:22:00.004+12:00

And that will be "le dauphin" for today.

Brushes on iPodus Touch

Sunnies 04

2009-07-22T01:00:00.001+12:00

I find I'm struggling with this series right now, but I won't give up. And forcing myself to post helps a lot! Not sure it is a good thing though. =) Here's the fourth one.

Brushes on iPodus Touch

Sunnies 03

2009-07-20T23:24:00.002+12:00

And the third one.

Brushes on iPodus Touch

Sunnies 02

2009-07-17T10:21:00.003+12:00

And here is the second one.

Brushes on iPodus Touch

Sunnies 01

2009-07-15T22:43:00.004+12:00

I feel really bad I haven't updated in a while. I've been uber busy at work, with a big deadline coming up in two weeks + (being, I'm leaving Yukfoo at the end of the month) and tons to do before that, plus trying to organise the move, and looking for another job...
So the only spare time I find for myself is in the morning. I give a call to my fiance to wish him a good day, and spend about an hour more in bed, checking my emails, reading what everybody's been up to (while I was asleep) on Twitter, and... having fun with "Brushes" on the iTouch.
I decided straight away I would wait before I buy one of those fancy stylus for iPod/iPhone , so I'm painting with my little fat fingers. They are not actually that fat, but fatter than, say, a Pogo thingy. Not that I don't want a stylus, I do, ultimately, but I just thought I'd see if I liked Brushes more than Colors on DS (never quite did it for me, sigh), and it'd hopefully allow me to loosen up a little, not be so pixel-precious and so on...
So. Started a pointless series of animals with sunnies. Here's the first one, who happens to also be the first thing I ever painted in Brushes. (I'm actually cheating, this one was not done in bed, it was done in the plane between Auckland and Wellington.)

Brushes on iPodus Touch

Big Update

2009-07-09T13:40:00.003+12:00

It ended up taking me way longer than I wanted, but I finally got to do my website. I thought it might be the occasion of upgrading to the "whole package"... I now also have a flickr pool, a vimeo account, a linkedIn profile, a "pro" facebook page, and a twitter!!

The website takes a while to load, and is not doing EXACTLY what I want (that is, being all centered and behaving nicely), but nothing that would justify not showing it... =)

Kidnapped by Wetas

2009-06-19T15:30:00.001+12:00

Wetas are taking my Fiance away from me...
It is weird, because we've always worked together at Yukfoo, and now he's moving to Wellington, to work for Weta Digital! I'm so so proud!
I made a quick little drawing for him, so he gets to put it on his blog too, and announces the big news!

Photoshop

...and sometimes, not so lucky...

2009-06-11T12:19:00.001+12:00

Right after I finished my last batch of commissionned artwork for EA, and hurried this birth announcement card, I entered an illustration competition. It was for the "Monster Maintenance Manual" contest organised by Murdoch Books with Peter Macinnis.
Even though the pitch was really fun and exciting, I kinda knew I didn't nail it and felt like I didn't stand a chance. And in the end, I was right, I failed, and didn't even make the shortlist.
No wonder, here are the three culprits:

Photoshop

Summery Ladies

2009-06-09T13:32:00.004+12:00

Did this one between two color keys at work... I saw the great gals Xav' did and it made me want to do some curved summery ladies... beginning to be really cold down here, so some fresh colours won't hurt either!

Photoshop

Sometimes, you're just sooo lucky!

2009-06-02T14:30:00.010+12:00

I am so excited!!
After weeks of looking frantically on the Internet and counting days until E3, I finally spotted some of my artwork in EA's new game: Need For Speed Nitro, on which I did some commissioned artwork!
I still can't believe my luck to have been able to work on such a project, with such amazing people!

This image is from the nfs Blog. I only did the doodles around the car. It was released a while ago, but I wanted to wait until I found some in-game pics. In these ones - all but the four posted at the top of the thread- , my artwork can be seen on the road. Can't wait to see more!
And when the game is out (I believe by the end of the year), I should be able to post all the work I did on it! In the meantime, I will keep you updated if I spot anything else on the web!

My baby sister is not a baby anymore

2009-05-18T10:23:00.003+12:00

My youngest sis' turned 14 yesterday! So this year, I got 'round to doing a (long overdue) drawing for her.
When I did it, I was in the middle of my series of commissioned artwork, and took a Sunday afternoon (and night) off to start (and finish) this one. It was good to do something else for a few hours, and good to "push" my doodles a bit further this time. I had read Bill's technique a while ago and pretty much followed his advice step by step... minus the patience.
Got a text in the middle of the night from my sister: she loves it! YAY!

Ink and watercolor

Célian and Louis

2009-05-14T01:01:00.002+12:00

One of my lovely cousin was due with her twins at the end of June. We agreed that I would do a quick little illustration to use as an announcement card, as I was very busy at that time.
The day I finished a batch of commissioned artwork, I did some roughs and sent her my ideas.
Two days later, she sent me her comments and... a picture of the babies, who decided it was time to come check out the real world. So it turned out to be an even more rushed job, but the new parents are super happy with it and I heard the twins think it's sweet too. Yeah, they are 10 days old and can speak already.

So I present to you: Célian and Louis. The drawn ones that is.

Photoshop

I hope it helped...

2009-05-08T14:45:00.006+12:00

Well, well, well... I didn't think I'd be able to post it so soon, but that's just great I got the green light today!
Joolz came back from LA after a little "pitch trip". He brought along with him two illustrations I made to "help out" on his pitch. Alex did one too.
It was not really helping out, more like contributing... The idea was to draw something (anything) that could tell a little story, give an idea of little animation inserts to go in his show.
I was very honored he asked me, and it gave me the opportunity to do something I wanted to do for a looong time, without really managing to. That's the first illustration.
And then I still had a leftover pig from roughs I had put together, and couldn't obvioulsy leave it out, so I had to do the second illustration.

Photoshop

Make sure to check out Julian's website, and even "adopt" one of his dolls. I've got one at home (Hooper) and she's really cute and behaving really well. ..

Sneak Peek

2009-04-29T23:13:00.004+12:00

I just can't resist showing you little bits of a couple of projects I've worked on recently. I can't post them now, but will eventually.

The first one is a personal illustration I've managed to do in my "downtime", which I don't have much of lately... And I'll be able to show it sometime in May.
The second and third are both little illies I did to "help" Julian on one of his projects.
The fourth one... well... I'm trying to get my portfolio together, in a nice little tidy website... Haven't even had time to do a "coming soon" page yet!

I'll talk more about each of them in due time. Now, gotta get back to work!

Forgotten

2009-04-17T02:27:00.004+12:00

I didn't think I would actually find anything old that I forgot to post, but I did! I was looking for something else and found this one instead.
These doodles are from last year. I made them for a very good friend who abandonned me in New Zealand to go live her life in London. Tss... What a silly idea!
That's the only picture I have of it (I was in such a rush I forgot to take a picture once it was in the frame.).

Ink on weird paper (can't remember where I got it from...)

Bon voyage, Monsieur Karl!

2009-04-14T18:58:00.003+12:00

Have you ever tried to draw on Msn? It's good fun, especially when you want to send a message/drawing to a workmate that is leaving. Super workmate Karl is off to the US for a few weeks so I sent him that through IM.

Msn draw tool (the one in the conversation window)

Sorry for the lack of posts (if anyone is checking this blog), I'm super busy with super exciting secret stuff and will be back in a few weeks, or maybe I'll find some oldies I haven't posted yet, or some work stuff I can now show...
Bisous

"Il aime l'école, surtout quand elle est loin"

2009-03-01T21:12:00.004+13:00

I did a very quick sketch the other day at work, and wanted to put some colours on it, just as quickly... So here it is. I think I kept in my mind the image of one of my super workmates, who came in one day wearing this hat that made him look like Tom Sawyer. This Tom Sawyer.
Anyway...

Photoshop (after pencil sketch)

10 minute cliché sky

2009-02-24T02:11:00.003+13:00

I was just trying to do some skies tonight for some up coming paintings. Here's my first test. Uber cliché, but good fun, and it's very nice to have results so quickly when you have the right tools.

Photoshop

Color Bubbles

2009-02-19T01:43:00.002+13:00

After a totally non-productive evening trying to finish the illustration with the dragons (I finally decided I would start from scratch again), I didn't want to go to bed without doing anything. So I did that to relax a little:

Photoshop

Old collections

2009-02-13T14:32:00.005+13:00

I was going through my folders and got my hands on these two "collections" of characters. I seem to have done them for the Phoenix projec t back in the days, but have no recollection of making them at all. I do remember having lots of fun making similar things though. It's so good to draw straight away, with no construction lines, and the only roughs are in your head.
So I was pretty pleased to find them.

Pencil

I am using Dragons number 5, 12, and 25 for a new piece I started last night. That should be my next post. I've also been working on Fiance's music video a little (doing texturing and soon I'll be doing some more paintovers and some skies too), and on some commissioned artwork I can't show for a while (even though part of it has been released, I think it's more savvy to wait for the rest to come out... But I'm really excited about it!!! Like, almost-counting-days excited!)

Color on Kuri's drawing

2009-02-06T13:43:00.007+13:00

I just put some colors on Kuri's drawing for a little contest she's hosting on her blog. Go check it out, she's got plenty of good stuff.
This one is a little too Tinkerbell-ish in the end, but, oh well...

Photoshop

And I thought I could show you a few of the steps I went through. So here is in order, the line work by Kuri, a first block out for me to see if I could get anywhere, the greyscale pass, the first color pass, some adjustements, and textures and final tweaks.

Three years ago

2009-01-14T11:31:00.007+13:00

When I first came to New Zealand, in January 2006, it was for an internship of 4 months.
I got the chance to work on the "Child Cancer" campaign for quite a while. I started doing some tests for the characters treatment (textures, colours, feeling), and in the end, I scanned them all of course (one of the joys of being a trainee in traditonal animation), and got to colour them. I always thought I would hate colouring, but I just loved it.

Very early on (like a week after my arrival), I also had a go at some of the characters. They didn't make it, but it was good fun.

And here is the campaign, since I never posted it:

Following the trend

2008-12-23T15:14:00.003+13:00

Not very original in this holiday period, but here are my Christmas cards.
Merry Christmas to all of you guys!

pencil and photoshop

Mad Squirrel

2008-12-18T23:46:00.002+13:00

I finally got to finish a more worked out version of this speedpainting. Ticking off one more thing of my to-do-before-the-new-year list. Next are some more paint over renders for my fiance's short.
I should also be able to post some of the cool projects I got to work on at work lately! Hopefully before the X-mas break.

Photoshop

Lady Long Legs

2008-12-12T10:12:00.012+13:00

I tried something I should do all the time really - work in grayscale first and get my values (more or less) right, then go on to coloring. So I did with this one. It was fun and faster than I thought. Will definitely work like that from now on, at least for a while (one or two days at least), until I'm getting better at it, and better at color.

Photoshop

Now, my problem is, I just want to start over this one, and get it right in grayscale first... There are things that are definitely jumping out as wrong... It's really tickling me, but I think I will just keep on with what I started and get better habits on the next one.
Also coming up soon, some studio work I did recently. As soon as they're on air.

And I'm realizing as I'm posting these images, that I need to upload them on a different account if I want high quality (these ones are losing in quality and details...)... One more reason to work on my own website... I'll set up a special Flickr account asap too.

The Girl Downstairs

2008-12-05T17:45:00.002+13:00

I was just downstairs minutes ago, doing what I had to do (that is, enjoying a fag with my friday-afternoon-at-the-studio-beer), and I saw this petite girl with a long torso and real large thighs. Had to draw her.

Photoshop

Dancing makes me happy

2008-12-02T16:03:00.003+13:00

As I was doing the originals (see last post), I also came up with this one. It was good good fun making him, and gave me heaps of other ideas.
I'm sharing my time at night now: half traditional medium, half digital. So, expect to see some more of those.

Staedtler .1 on watercolor paper

Originals

2008-11-27T07:44:00.012+13:00

For those of you who are in Auckland, you can come and grab a copy of the latest Makeshift issue at the launch party on Friday, and if you're one of the lucky first 250, you'll get the very special hand-numbered edition, including goodies such as one original piece of artwork by a local artist.
I participated in the donation of artworks, so you might be able to grab one of these:

12.5 x 8.5 cm, ink pen, ink pen and watercolor, ink on watercolor paper

Let's have a closer look at them:

Make sure you come along early to get one of those, or, even better, one of Karl Wills', Alex Dron's, or Julian Stokoe's!

Speedpainting

2008-10-29T19:27:00.004+13:00

Last week, I did one of my first speedpainting. My first one was a rip off, my second one a total failure. And here is the third one, that I liked enough to want to turn it into a more accomplished painting. So I'm painting it right now in my spare time, and will be posting it as soon as it's done.

Photoshop, 1 hour

Wedding invitations -again-

2008-10-14T10:08:00.005+13:00

A couple of nights ago I did some wedding invites for a good friend of mine. As soon as she got engaged, she asked me if I could take care of the illustration. So she came back to me last week to ask if I could do something quickly, telling me she wanted a bride and a groom, smiling and with blue eyes and also that she liked the octopus and the pirate in the banner (that I originally did for her best friend, who's gonna be the witness)... So following are the roughs and final colored version.

photoshop

The wedding is in August next year, but she allowed me to post it before she sends the invites, which is very sweet of her.... and lucky for me, 'cause I couldn't wait to show you!
I've been wanting to do a pirate/octopus-like piece for a while, but couldn't find the right characters or the drive to do it and failed the few attempts I did... But I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out...
Next wedding invites should be mine... Gosh, I have no idea what to do...

Paint over renders

2008-09-25T00:57:00.008+12:00

Here are some paint over renders I did for my awesome fiancé's personal project so he could camera map them. I've put the render he gave me, the paintover on its own and the final render of it in the shot, if anybody's interested in seing the process.
If you want to know more about the project itself , drop by Hamish's blog! =)

Dooooooooodles

2008-09-17T04:18:00.008+12:00

And here's a design I did for threadless. Actually, it's not. I want to do this big print, like 4500 x 4500 px, to put in our appartment. But because there was this awesome contest, I decided to turn it into a tee-shirt for the moment and will finish the print next week. Or the week after. I thought I'd take a little break from this: I spent around 22 hours on it and already counted 570 characters and items. I need to reset my brain to find more little friends.

Walkin'n'chattin'

2008-09-17T04:00:00.003+12:00

I just wanted to try something else technique-wise (I only used one brush - the round default one - and tried to only use colors rather than different layers with different blending modes). It ended up being a totally random drawing. But I enjoyed doing it (I'm not sure what I think of it though) and will probably try more often to change my way of working. I'm feeling a bit stuck with what I know at the moment, I guess it's time to stop playing it safe (-ish), and try to get out of my comfort zone.

Photoshop as always.

Big Bird - updated

2008-09-09T10:06:00.005+12:00

Here, I'm finally back. No real excuse for the lack of post, apart from having quite a bit of work, going on holidays, and being jetlagged for two weeks...
So here is a fellow inspired by a photograph my sister took in a bird park in the South of France. I have no idea what kind of bird it is, but have a look at the photograph and if anybody knows, please tell me, because I find it amazing with its pants-and-jacket-like feathers!

Photoshop

Update - My good friend Joelle just saved the day: here is a link to more info about this awesome awesome snake-eater african bird, the secretary bird himself!! (that's why he had to wear pants and a jacket, if he's a secretary!!)

Salmon Sushi for Me

2008-07-06T10:19:00.003+12:00

I did that the other night to relax. I'm pretty busy right now at work and don't have much time to do personal illustrations (or anything else really). Plus I lost all the data on my external drive (yes, my back up drive...), which is pretty sad, I have to say, but I'm trying not to think of all I lost.
I don't know about the colors in this one, since it seems to be extremely different from one computer to another (I will have to check I didn't mess with the settings on mine), but I hope it will come up right on your screens.
I just wanted to play with a brush in photoshop and wanted to keep it simple.

photoshop

Dragon's Treasure

2008-06-27T11:36:00.003+12:00

It's a well-known fact that dragons like to sleep with their treasure. This one is no different, only, his gold is a tad less abundant. But don't worry, he's just as happy!

Watercolor

Wedding Invitations

2008-05-15T15:48:00.003+12:00

Here are the invitations I did for my sister's wedding. I'm still trying to figure out why they wanted a bumble bee and a bee.
So here it is, the front, the inside (the left page will actually be printed on tracing paper and put in only for those invited to the dinner, the others will only have the ornaments) and the back.

Photoshop and Illustrator

Girly Octopus

2008-04-03T10:42:00.005+13:00

Yesterday I opened Zbrush for the first time in my life. My awesome boyfriend showed me the basics, and I came up with that in the end.
It's straight out of Zbrush, so forgive me for the quality, I'll post better renders in the future.
I had so much fun, I'm thinking of doing my little animals from the previous post in this software too. I've got a looooong way to go, but I'm loving it.

Zbrush

Glowing evening

2008-04-02T16:15:00.004+13:00

Here is a little series of sketches I've quickly done last week. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, I haven't found the right treatment or how I want to paint them yet. For now, they're just roughs, with rough light and colours, just to put the idea down before I forget.

All photoshop.

Florida's Natural

2008-04-01T11:53:00.010+13:00

It's been a while since I posted the first character I did for this ad. You remember the little professor? Well he was ditched, but here is the rest of the project.
First a styleframe I did at the very beginning, and the different backgrounds I created. We usually don't go that detailed on backgrounds in ads, but I wanted to spend some more time on it for once, as I remembered all those Kellogg's Cocoa Puffs ads (with the monkey).
And you can also see the final render with the 3D and all. I really hesitated before posting this job, because I can barely stand it anymore... I don't know, I'm just over it. Haha! Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy.

Princess BBQ

2008-03-05T01:28:00.005+13:00

Paul Lasaine just said "now go draw", so I obeyed of course, trying his pencil brush. I wanted to re-work on this drawing for a while (I did it almost two years ago in Illustrator), so I re-drew the lines and coloured it. Ok, that's also because I'm a bit lazy, but I promise I'll do some other ones I had in mind (but never did), in the next few days.

EDIT: in May 2010, someone left a comment on my blog on another post. I went to check their work and thank them, That's when I came across the second post on their page at the time. I was quite puzzled by the ressemblance of our two pieces and emailed the person. I was simply told it is very possible two persons have the same idea. I guess I would have never thought we could come up with the same layout, same props, same hat and shoes and same concept. So just for ref, I wanted to make sure I also linked to my original original one, dated July 2006. Just for the records.

Space Bear

2008-02-13T08:50:00.001+13:00

Just thought I'd finish that one before I'll post the latest backgrounds I did at work. Wanted many things on this illustration, a soft look, a bit of fur... Got to keep on practicing, but it allowed me to try some new things and experiment a little. Enjoy!

Tea time

2008-02-07T10:37:00.001+13:00

Yesterday was a bank holiday, so I finally found some time to finish a little drawing I started for my Mum's birthday.
I've been very busy lately, and very lazy on my spare time, but I'm back on track now, and have a couple of projects to finish.

Photoshop

I'll be posting some work stuff soon, as we just finished a new ad. And I'm just about to start a very exciting project too and will be overwhelmed with work, but it's gonna be great! I'll tell you more about it as soon as I can!

Circus dachshund

2007-12-10T10:33:00.001+13:00

Here is a drawing I made for my boyfriend, who, I don't know why, is in looooove with sausage dogs. I first wanted to make the little guy jump through the ring of fire, but then thought he would probably refuse to do anything, ignore the orders and stay on his stool.

Photoshop

Saint Nicholas

2007-12-06T21:45:00.001+13:00

Today is Saint Nicholas Day... Hum, doesn't mean much... Except if you were born in Alsace and spent your first ten years in Germany (uh oh! like me!!).
On December, 6th, you would always have a hot chocolate and eat those little brioche-like little men called Manalas (or Mannele in Alsacian) for dinner. So, as I obviously couldn't get any of those here in New Zealand, I made some myself, and since it's quite long to prepare, I made a little drawing while waiting for the dough to prove and then to prove again, and then to bake. And then to cool down a little bit.
So here is a little Saint-Nicholas-related thingy as it's the only time of the year I can make it.

Photoshop

The Manalas were delicious. Just like home!

I should really post something

2007-12-06T17:48:00.002+13:00

I did a doodle yesterday night while I was sketching on something totally different (normally I should post it later today), and quite liked it, so I thought I would do a quick photoshop version of it today during a break from the backgrounds I'm currently working on. So here it is:

Photoshop

Christmas is soon!

2007-11-23T18:32:00.001+13:00

This year, I decided to try out my boyfriend's method for Christmas shopping: shop super-early! Like, right now, all my shopping is done, and I'm usually the kind of person to shop on the day! I have to say, it feels pretty awesome. Except that now, I want to give my presents, it's too hard to keep them.
As I have to send quite a bit to my family too, I had to do my christmas cards in time to send them with the gifts.
I know I shouldn't post it, but here it is. I can't show the presents, so let me show you the cards!

Watercolor and Photoshop (more to fix the bad quality of the scan than anything else)

It was the first time in ages (like, 3 or 4 years) I actually used watercolor. It was really fun to do and leave the computer aside for once.

Fox and Pirate-fox

2007-11-22T10:50:00.002+13:00

I found those two little foxes I made a while ago (told you I would post mostly old stuff -don't worry, I'm running out of them now... well, soon). The first one was just a little character I wanted as part of a menu for a website (I've done a few website designs for a portfolio, but never was completely satisfied, and ended up dropping the idea, until I decided to go for blogger).
And the second one is more of a play around from the same fox, to suit the pirate trend that was hitting a year ago.

Illustrator and Photoshop

A little Professor

2007-11-15T15:22:00.001+13:00

Here is a little professor I did for a pitch on a project. I'm currently working on the project itself, but we had to redesign the main character to go more for a "cool teenager". I'm working on the backgrounds and overall look right now, and don't know if I'll have time to give it a try at animation yet, but I'd love to. I'm really starting to feel like I need to get more into traditional animation. It would help me for a lot of things.

Illustrator and Photoshop

Map

2007-11-12T10:46:00.002+13:00

Here is a little map I did a couple of years ago. That's actually my portfolio (that I greatly need to update), and you can navigate on the map to view the different categories (illustrations, photos, art... and so on).

Photoshop

Lino

2007-11-09T14:01:00.002+13:00

A little print I did on lino years ago in Art school.

Lino print on Arches

Phoenix update

2007-11-07T14:34:00.001+13:00

I've finally managed to gather some pictures about the phoenix job in-situ. So here they are:

There might be more stuff coming soon, but I can't really talk about it before next year.

And I'm currently working on a website for my boyfriend's paintings, so I don't have much time to post anything else right now. I'm coming back soon, I promise!

Announcement cards

2007-11-05T13:32:00.001+13:00

Here is one of the projects I couldn't show you before, because those announcement cards for the birth of my cousin's baby were not sent yet, and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for the other members of the family. So now baby Léon is born, I can finally post it here.

You receive it folded (you can only see the giraffe and the baby, and it's held in place by cutouts of the giraffe and butterfly), and when you unfold it, you've got the full version.

Photoshop

It was really fun working on this project, and I can't wait to receive mine in the mailbox!

McUpdate

2007-10-26T14:34:00.001+13:00

I intended to do way more updates on this blog, but time is running so fast. Just think, wasn't Christmas a month ago? NAH! Almost a year! Yeah, I know, it's pretty hard to believe.
Anyway, I'm a bit busy (and a lot lazy) at the moment. I've managed to do a couple of things still, which unfortunately I can't show you yet (because even when it's some personal work, sometimes you have to wait. How frustrating!).

So I've gone quickly through my folders and Oh! What did I find? A styleframe I did a while ago for an agency in Singapore.

I made it in five hours from scratch, with the help of my colleague because I was running out of time. So I made him do (how awesome was it to order things from him! haha!) the castle (white tower and little building with the flag) and the banner.
So here's a mix of Illustrator and Photoshop (mostly the latest) and cramps in my hand in the end!

And while I'm at it, I'm posting some character design I've done for it. Research more than anything really.The McPrincesses and McKnights.

And here is the final animation.
It's never been aired (some dark story of rights), but we still finished the ad for the agency itself.

The same colleague that helped me on the styleframe was the director (yeah, he's a bit of my superior) and did all the characters. I did all the rest of the artwork.

Back from Froggyland!

2007-10-03T18:20:00.001+13:00

Allo, Allo!
I'm back from my holidays! It was great, we had such a good time over there, and it was awesome to have a break. Now, I have to get back to work with new projects, and a bunch of personal stuff I want to finish! I have to say, it's hard to get back to it after a month!

So, as promised, here is all the work I did on the Phoenix Organics job. I even put the two I had posted before, so everything is in one post. Those are all in magazines, the two last ones are also street posters. I've done everything on those five little guys, except the font for the three last ones.

Pencil, colored in Photoshop, and hours of work.

And, as it was not enough to do in a month and a half, I designed and directed (and put together most of them), the Tv commercials:

I'm off

2007-08-24T14:24:00.002+12:00

I'm finally almost done with the Phoenix TVCs, so I'm officially on holidays! I'll have a nice whole month of vacation in France, and I'll be back at the end of September. One month away from computers, my little eyes are gonna be thankful!
I'll try to do some doodles and sketches, but I can't promise anything, since I'll be driving quite a lot and catching up with friends and family.

I thought I'd put my little Octopus and Pirate duo, as I realized I haven't put it fully (even if you've got quite a good view of it in the banner - a bit big, by the way, I might change that when I come back). I can't put more of the Phoenix illustrations or Tvcs right now, because they're not out yet, but I'll do it first thing when I come back.
Ok, that's it, I'm off! Have a good one!

Pencil and Photoshop.

Quiet Village

2007-08-23T12:36:00.001+12:00

A long time ago, ok, 2 years and a half ago, we had this little village to light in 3D, as an exercise. Well, I thought it was a cute quiet little village. Quiet. A bit too quiet. So I came up with that.

3D studio Max, I only set a couple of lights, and got help to set the mask for the shadow, I didn't build the village, indeed, I suck at 3D. I really have to work on that.

Rooster ride

2007-08-22T17:31:00.001+12:00

At the end of my internship last year, I was asked to re-design a banner for the newsletter of my company. So I took the opportunity to do a drawing I wanted to do for a long time, that is, a frog riding a chicken. Here is the banner, and the illustration itself:

Photoshop

Today on Shooonline

2007-08-21T16:31:00.002+12:00

A character design for a cut out king. I was so much in a hurry (see the shadow under the arm? how lame!) I had to re-use a Santa Claus I drew for x-mas cards. But there you go anyway:

Illustrator and photoshop

Rabbits, Cats, Birds and Raccoons

2007-08-20T22:51:00.002+12:00

Some quick character research for a music video. I quite like working like that, straight to the line, no roughs, no eraser.

Pencil.

Cats' hard life

2007-08-19T09:25:00.002+12:00

Here is something I did in Art school. I didn't want to go to the engraving course that day, so I needed to find a good reason to escape the terrible teacher. I grabbed my China Ink, my pen and did that instead.

Ink on paper

Christmas holidays

2007-08-18T09:29:00.003+12:00

An illustration I made last year during my traineeship at Yukfoo. I had been drawing little stories about those three characters for a week (it was for a series project), and I needed to do something a bit bigger, so I did this.

Pencil and Photoshop.

As you might have noticed, those were the early days of Fot and Angus from Alex Dron's Fot.

Fat racing horsey

2007-08-15T19:58:00.002+12:00

Here's a little horse I made for a Racing Festival project that never occured in the end. The project, not the Festival.
This drawing is part of the little things I keep in a corner of my mind, hoping one day I'll do something with it. I don't know what yet, but I'll definitely animate it.

Illustrator

Bunnies' love

2007-08-14T12:52:00.001+12:00

Hop!
I'm trying to post as much as I can before I go on holiday. So I can have a little break between two animatics or so! Come on, less than two weeks now, and I'll be flying to France... Hopefully, if I manage to sort my Singapore F***ing Airlines ticket problem. Oops. Sorry.

So? What have we got today? Two rabbits. In Love. A year old. I should really perfect it a bit, but it's a good start already.

All Illustrator.

Monday Post

2007-08-13T13:15:00.002+12:00

Here is something really really old. Like, 4 or 5 years old. It was my very first colorisation on the computer. With a mouse, like most of the old stuff I'm posting. I only started using the wacom tablet last year.

marker and digital.

Scarlett and the others

2007-08-10T14:10:00.001+12:00

Can't wait to show you the new Phoenix illustration! I haven't managed to put my hands on a magazine with it yet (just that I don't really have time to go hunting it), but I know it's out! So here you go! A bit less busy, but fully colored.

Pencil and Photoshop.