Wail of the Banshee - Logo and Background

Dealing with typography is always fun, it's a nice break from always painting.  I wanted the logo to look intense and horrific without the use of any blood (although there's a bit of splatter, more for the effect of stress.)  The background was designed for use with a Twitter page, so the middle is fairly bare and sandwiched between two of the characters in the game (the Banshee and "Sean.")  I had an awesome time developing concepts for "Wail of the Banshee"; my contracted time is now over, so it's on to the next project!  I'm really looking forward to sharing this next project.  It's been incredible to paint AND it has a very special subject involved.

Wail of the Banshee - Banshee concepts

I almost forgot - besides the Banshee that was posted, here is a small sheet of Banshee heads I sketched (with a ballpoint pen, always a favorite on-the-go tool.)  My personal favorite is the last one (3rd one, bottom row), but I realized I wanted the Banshee to look more appealing.  Even though she may be a villain, I wouldn't want to design her in a completely unappealing light.

Wail of the Banshee - The Banshee

I had a lot of fun developing the Banshee herself; this image was painted as a concept, but later we incorporated it into a Twitter BG page.  I'm incorporating more "lost" information in my paintings recently, it's always been a priority in my traditional work.

Concept Sketches: Wail of the Banshee

After relocating to Oakland, I picked up a small concept art job for a game called "Wail of the Banshee."  It's a plot-driven mobile game being developed by Cassandra Wolff, an awesome gal who heads Prime 39 .  Over the next week, I'll be dropping some of the images I did for her.  I really enjoyed the subject matter (survival horror), I was a big "Silent Hill" fan back in the day (I can't say I'm too pleased with where it ended up recently.)  

Personal Project Sketch

The past 2 months, I've been very busy working with my girlfriend Jessica on our full production team, Studio Tinlock (StudioTinlock.com).  We spent a lot of time developing artwork for the Dallas Comic Con (which was a big success for us) as well as establishing business practices.  In short, it was very consuming.  Now that the DCC is done, I have time to start working on some personal projects.  I'm taking an online course with Chris Oatley, I'm looking forward to expanding my digital painting abilities.  I'll be taking these sketches and turning them into painted pieces in the next couple of weeks.

Cocker Spaniel

Besides trying to get as much freelance as possible and developing my portfolio, I work part-time as an instructor.  I tutor privately and I work at a step-by-step painting studio.  One of my favorite classes that I teach at the studio is a pet painting class.  This is the one time I get to discuss concepts, color theory, and painting technique (our other classes are very linear.)  Every class I get to paint a different breed of dog.  The challenge I have is my time limit:  I can only paint my dog in about 30-40 minutes cumulative, the rest of the time I must walk around and help students.  The time limit forces me to think quickly and use a lot of broken brushwork.  I've been inspired recently to make better grays in my paintings.  I'm also always evolving my black mixture; my current is phthalo green, alizarin, and raw umber. 

Even though these studies are quick, I feel like they have helped me see what's worth including and what needs to be omitted.

Something different

I needed a break from my current Dallas Comic Con projects, so I decided to make a quick sketch.  The umbrella of clean, graphic, comic style was still hanging over my head!  I'll need to sketch something more painterly later on to compensate.