Here are some of the pages from my pixar portfolio,
preliminary work I did for 'Masterminds' illustration from the Fix'it Bros. series.
Chess Piece Designs:
I thought of the cats as having well-crafted ivory pieces, which would contrast the bros' nuts and bolts. The game being deplicted is 'The Evergreen Game'.
Thumbs/Character Design:
original Sid concept has been dubbed 'S&M bear'
A student emailed me for an interview recently, and that got me to put this together to show process for 'Fat Peach's Bakery'. Fat Peach's is actually based loosely on my local bakery, Fat Apple's.
I didn't really have showing process in mind when I saved my wips, so the jumps from one stage to another are pretty big. Still, I think this shows how I work. I go from one element to the next, painting until it's close to finish. Then I come back at the end with minor tweaks.
Looking for ways to use digital's cheap tricks without it screaming digital is always a challenge. One way I've found is to half finish something you plan to duplicate, copy/paste them, and then go on to each individual item and paint/erase them differently. You are gaining a bit of time, while the element still gets the look of individual attention. Usually, I don't like to duplicate. There's something great about having someone assume duplication, look in, and realize that each one is done individually. That being said, deadlines are deadlines.
While I'm working, I usually think of making my characters as puppets. Everything is separated into layers and groups, and can be moved and adjusted. This is an economical method to keep characters looking the same. You will never have problems with scale, and require only minimal adjustment and painting to get them into another pose. This usually results in many, many layers. I'm usually well over 300 layers at the end of an illustration.
but hey, why build puppets in your head when you could actually build them.
Check out Chris Sickels, he's awesome city!
Red Nose Studio
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