Michel Maas

The Invincible - 2012

2012-01-25T13:51:00.001-08:00

Some sketches for my main character...

The Invincible - 2012

2012-01-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

Still going strong;)

Birthday art

2011-09-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

I made this for my second oldest daughter who turns 5 this coming monday. She always makes the most beautiful drawings for me when it's my birthday, so I decided to make one for her. Happy birthday!

In the meantime...

2011-08-21T02:15:00.001-07:00

Production Design

2011-08-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

There’s no point in using Paradise Valley in South America or Rio de Janeiro as a background to my story, when my story is based on true events that happened in a "normal" place. I simply cannot take my story anywhere else just to make it more appealing.
And since my setting isn’t as exuberant as, let’s say a jungle in South America, I have to try a little harder to find characteristic places with lots of visual opportunities to make the scenes in my movie feel equally overwhelming as in any other animated feature. Just look at how they turned something ordinary as lesser duckweed in a visually stunning design from Disney’s Princess and the frog.

Or the lighting and colors in this background from Brother Bear.

Using something so ordinary (and easily overlooked) and turning it into something so extraordinary is truly inspiring.

I might as well plow through google images, but nothing beats real life. So whenever I find inspiring places, I make sure I add them to my research library.

In the meantime...

2011-08-11T14:28:00.001-07:00

In the meantime...

2011-08-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

In the meantime...

2011-08-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

I went to Brussels

2011-07-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

Because I'm completely new to the animation industry, I had so many questions I thought it would be a good idea to go visit an animation studio with a substantial track record when it comes to making European animated features. So, one beautiful day, I decided to call them and my very first appointment was set! Just like that!

So, to make it a fun weekend no matter what they were about to tell me;) I went to Brussels (Belgium) with my wife and booked a hotel. I certainly got inspired by the medieval market place called 'the Grand Place' and had an amazing afternoon with two producers from the animation studio who took the time to help me out with every question I had. And more.

They gave me advice from money issues (where to get it?) and industry insights to practical information on how to cooperate with different companies and how many people they had working on a 90 minute feature. Whom I should talk to and which animation festivals to visit. And most importantly, they provided me with a reality check on my feature. They were very helpful, but were very clear on the subject: How easy is this project going to be? This wasn't going to be an easy ride and it's at least very (very very very) hard to get a big budget together. Period. Good luck!

So, not completely desillusioned, I went back to meet with the my wife and we had dinner like people do in Brussels. Have Mussels. Later that evening we found this very nice bar downtown where they must have had literally hundreds different brands of Absinthe in their collection.

conclusion: I had a great weekend!

Sharing a Dream

2011-06-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

After I talked to my friends about what I wanted, I started doing 2 things. One was draw concepts and moments. It is fun to do but also very crucial. Crucial to capture a vision. Your vision. Don't write it down. Visualize it. Ideas come and go, but a vision is essential. That is what I've learned in the last couple of months. It's so easy to get carried away and forget what is important to feel in the movie just by looking at it. Especially the moods, or that specific time of day, where the sun shines that particular way. For those of you who know what it's like to go fishing on a summer's evening; That feeling. Capture it.

The other was trying to get in contact with someone with more commercial talents than I have. With a proven track record. You know, someone who gets things done. Someone who knows how to get in contact with people who know other people. I needed to find someone who believed in me and my project. Someone that I could trust. Most importantly: Until now I only had talked to people I knew and not a single one of them told me I was crazy. Now it was time to tell someone whom I didn't know. Someone who could say: Hey, nice try, but I don't believe this is going to work. Whatever you do, don't quit your day job.

But I found him.

The starting point of all achievement is desire.

2011-06-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Almost one year ago it came to me. I was going to make my very own feature animation! I decided not to pursue a job at Pixar or dreamworks when I grew up, but instead I decided to start my own project. You know, just an entertaining 3D animated movie with a good story and a global release. That’s all.

Now I’m from Holland and saying you’ll start your very own feature animation isn’t something you hear on a daily basis. You can imagine the reactions...

The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. ~Napoleon Hill
There were three very important ingredients that made me believe that this dream could become a reality! The first most important thing was that I had something to say, something that still is, after one year the foundation for my story. Something that I have to get off my chest for a long time and at the same time is something that everyone can relate to. I could tell by the way people responded. I had my ‘universal’ theme.
The second most important thing: I had found an historical event and a unique and dramatic location; the perfect setting for my ‘universal’ theme!
Third: I discovered a promotional opportunity for my movie. I found a second and earlier date, but my first discovery was a date set in the year 2018! So, that gave me 8 years time to work out a plan, get to work and finish what I started!

This combination made me feel I had something here. Something that could last once it was executed in a good way. And I needed that belief, because I would have to stay motivated for 8 years! This was the easy part...

No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. ~H.E. Luccock
How was I going to start? I didn’t have any experience in story development, let alone that I knew how to start -or even end- a monster project like this. The only thing I knew, was that this project was going to be my major personal project for the next coming 8 years.
Was I going to do everything myself? The answer was easy. I wasn’t. After all, my primary goal was not to release a movie that is produced, written, drawn and animated all by myself, but to release a movie in 2018 for a mainstream audience.
I had to understand how the industry works, how much money is involved and more importantly, where you get money from.

Before I had read anything on screenplays, I started with every historical book I could find on my subject. Because this was going to be an animated movie based on true events. I wanted as much information I could get my hands on, to see if it was worth exploring for my story. Second I bought ‘Invisible Ink’ (Brian McDonald) which seemed like a good first book. Like the title says: ‘Invisible Ink. A practical guide to building stories that resonate’. It was written for me.

More in the meantime...

2011-06-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

-The Invincible-

2011-05-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

Although I have made some very interesting progress with my project, I have some other things I'm working on at the moment.
I've talked to some people in the industry in the meantime and learned a lot of things. Most important thing I've learned so far, is that I won't be needing as much money is I thought I would, so that is great news! Second: If you have an ambitious plan and it will take a while to get it outthere, stick to your plan; Listen to people who know how you can move your project forward. After all there's enough people who can tell you how hard it is what you're doing. It won't get you anywhere.

My next first big step will be submitting my project at Cartoon Movie in Lyon. Trying to get my project selected in March 2012 means I have to submit my 'project in concept' before November this year. I'd say that is an attainable goal.
I hope I can keep you updated in the meantime...

In the meantime...

2011-05-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm also doing some other sketches that don't have anything to do with my animation project.

-The Invincible-

2011-04-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

Meet the...uh...bad guy!

Storytelling, Great characters and Appeal.

2011-02-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a while. First I would like to say thanks to everyone who has offered to help. I promise I will get back to you in time.
A lot has happened since. So it seems I haven't been upto much lately, but that's just because I haven't touched my wacom in a while now. I am spending my time reading, writing, watching movies and rewriting my story outlines. I can honestly say that story is one big tough cookie. With great taste, but tough nevertheless. And because it's so invisible compared to creating art, I'm thinking of using my blog in a different way.

So, where do I stand after spending 5 months with my project? Well, I still believe in what I originally wanted to say (Thank God;) Although I might have changed the way I want to say it, but I consider that to be continous insight. And at the same time I'm constantly working and sharpening my ideas on story, great characters and appeal I read a while back in an inspirational post by Kevin Koch:

‘What are the three most important things for a successful animated film?’ is, Storytelling, great characters, appeal. When you’ve have these three things going on, you have a chance unleash a Lion King or a Toy Story or an Ice Age.

Appeal, as I’ve discussed before, is difficult to quantify, and I’m not going to try here. We know it when we see it. The first moment we saw Skrat in the very first teaser for the very first Ice Age, we were hooked. Regardless of what the story might turn out to be, we were going to that film. I was turned off a little when I saw the later trailers, which gave a taste of the story and other characters (I recognized the well-used “Three Men and a Baby” story, and wasn’t impressed with Ray Romano’s voicework). But the appeal of Skrat and his elusive acorn sold me, as I think it did so many others.

And appeal is something that is important to me, because my story taking place in medieval Europe. Personally I see some issues if I want this to be for a mainstream audience. Not unsurmountable, but still something that needs to be fixed in my eyes. I don´t think it´s something that is appealing to a lot of folks. Appeal also relates to the world in which your story takes place. In short: You need to want to go back to that place, even after the movie ended.
Just ask yourself (you as a mainstream moviefan): Would you go to see an animated movie that took place in medieval Europe?

-The Invincible-

2010-12-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

Now that I have something that you could call a basic storyline, I wanted to get a better feeling with the first 10 scenes of the first act. I am not trying to fall in love with these scenes;) but I'm just trying to get a sense if my story is taking the right turns. This thumb is one of two images where an emotional change took place. A positive change to be exact.

This is a sketch for my main character, as he finds himself in a carriage with his father after (!) they have been robbed.

-The Invincible-

2010-11-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks I've been working on the story outline. And I have to admit. Writing a good story is really really really really hard work. The toughest part for me at this point is identifying the weak parts, how to spot them and how to make them stronger without getting too emotional attached to the story and the characters. Especially to the 24th version;)
Anyways...here's some visual development for the girl in my story!

-The Invincible-

2010-10-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

-The Invincible-

2010-10-06T13:28:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of other characters in this film. This character is one of the gatekeepers of the city. Needless to say that there is a lot that can go wrong when 'the going gets tough' when your job is mainly about sitting around and killing time...

-The Invincible-

2010-09-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on my story for a couple of weeks now and things are really coming together. What has 3 weeks of story development done for me? Well, although I'm constantly rewriting it and probably will be for the next coming months, it made a few things very clear for me. I now know what I want out of my main character. And this is really important for me, because this makes it a lot easier to spot weak elements in my story.

I'm leaving story for what it is right now and I'm going back to the drawing board. I have to get a better understanding of where my story is taking place. I need to get a sense if my story fits the size of my locations. And the other way around. I still don't have a clue wether my main character has to travel and how far. If he has to travel miles and miles before he arrives where he needs to be, maybe I have to double the size of my setting.

Stay tuned...

-The Invincible-

2010-09-24T14:02:00.001-07:00

-The Invincible-

2010-09-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

I'm still in very early development and you understand I won't be posting everything I create but here's a sketch from a scene somewhere very early in the film. Our main character has to escape from an angry crowd inside a tavern. At the moment I'm still working on the story so my guess is I won't be posting new artwork very frequently the next coming weeks.

-The Invincible-

2010-09-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

I'm planning on beginning working on the story when my historical research is finished. There is a lot in history that can initiate or help my story so I don't want to begin a complete ignorant.

Not only am I using artwork to straighten out some historical issues, I'm also planning on using a lot of visuals to challenge or define my story. There is a section that can be very dangerous or scary. These visuals help me to get the answers I need. How dark and how scary do I want this be? Do I need real monsters or do I want it to be realistic? After all, anything can happen in feature animation...right?

For your consideration, my plan is to aim for 90 minutes and I want the piece to be ready somewhere around 2016. So that should give me some time.

So stick around, it might get real...

-The Invincible-

2010-09-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

Like I said I've been doing some historical research and there is very little known about a lot of stuff from the period around 1600; The period where my story is taking place. Simply because it isn't there anymore and there seems to be very little documentation. I've created some artwork to check for historical accuracy. This is one of them.

I will be talking to some people who are (so I'm told) the only people that can help me with this...I'll keep you posted.

Color Keys -The Invincible-

2010-09-03T15:31:00.001-07:00

Color Keys -The Invincible-

2010-09-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

Color Keys -The Invincible-

2010-09-01T13:22:00.001-07:00

Couple of weeks ago I decided to create my own personal animation project with the working title: "the invincible"

At the moment I'm doing a couple of things at the same time:
I'm doing some historical research, I'm working on a story and I am creating some keys that illustrate the dramatic key moments and locations that are important for the project. I am in still in very early visual development phase and I'm not worried about touching different styles so I can still move freely through the story.

Delicious!

2010-08-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

Color key for a new "Delicious Memories".

Late august in holland

2010-08-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

This is how one of my holiday afternoons looked like yesterday. It's just a color and paint excercise, but I wanted to share with you some 'late august in holland' because it is just to beautiful to let it pass...

NIght in a museum

2010-08-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

This is a detail from a bigger scene. Just wanted to show you because I like the lighting that is coming from the back and the atmosphere it creates. It's the same kid from "color palettes" (2 posts back) only a bit older...

And a view from the ground...

2010-07-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

These backgrounds will not appear in the game as they look right now. You have to buy the game if you want to know how they will look;)

View from a tree

2010-07-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

Something I'm working on right now for a game called "HEART-Medicine" which is a working title. It's a view from a treehut in the backyard. It's a background so bear with me;)
Enjoy the view!

color palettes

2010-07-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted something but that's just summer I guess...In the meanwhile 'm working on something right now for which I'm putting together some color palettes. I'll be posting some more from this in the near future.

Forest

2010-06-20T13:24:00.001-07:00

surface & texture

2010-06-15T14:24:00.001-07:00

Light these days (on the edge of spring) is just plain awesome! Just before the sun sets, the magic just comes pouring in through the windows. I'm going to do more of these simple color sketches.

more...

2010-06-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

From drawing to painting

2010-06-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

(sketch by Dirk van Dulmen)
Lately I've been discussing the differences between a sketch and a painting. With this one I tried to stay as close to the sketch as I could. I picked this sketch out of a dozen other faces on the same page, because it had something I liked. By staying so close to the sketch I hope that it keeps that something I liked in the beginning.

Example: As you can see his face (on the sketch) has no eyebrows. When I'm adding paint, should I decide on adding eyebrows in the final painting? I think not. I'm not discussing how one should use a sketch or how to interpretate a sketch.

I'm just thinking: If you want to stay close to the 'magic' of a sketch it's best to stick to the original creative decisions. So, no eyebrows.

Another thing I tried to do is to push the character's personality and translate it in the painted version. His reddish cheeks with little highlighted spots enhances his innocence and with that, still fit the sketch but communicates his character in a stronger way.

Contour Continuation

2010-05-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

I created some visual development background art for a game that was never released. As you can see, it goes from a paradise like forest on the left going to a more evil place on the right. I thought I was pretty happy with some parts of it, until last week I found an interesting post on contour continuation by Frederick Gardner that I just wanted to share with you. If you look at my background pan after reading his post you can notice some weak spots.

"I started using this "Contour Continuation" technique as a background designer at Warner Bros Classics. Contour Continuation is the lining up of shapes to continue a contour (or directional element) across the composition. Sometimes this technique is extremely successful and beautiful, other times, it is subtle and almost invisible."
"I have used "Contour Continuation" to create a flowing rhythm to the composition. As the camera pans through the scene, the landscape "flows" by the camera like water so lacking in the environment. Pay particular attention to the dead tree branches hugging the contour of the hills behind them."

How to become awesome! part 2 (and in black and white)

2010-05-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

One thing I noticed in the last few weeks is the excitement with a lot of people on the internet about working from B/W and adding color later on.

I learned this from Bobby Chiu as well, and I have to say that I immediately started working with this, but I did it the other way around, because I never got the colors right after adding them to a B/W image. Instead, I use(d) it to check the values of the colored image. In my opinion the only reason to start in B/W; Because of the values.

The values of your original B/W image are different from the colored image (I prefer to check values of your colored image by adding a black layer on top and the blend mode on color, instead of turning the saturation down). Just check it yourself.

Experimenting with technical theories is what you should do. Understand them. Don't expect these kind of trics to do the magic for you. Make it work.

Back in milk business

2010-05-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get that feeling that you're really in the scene. I began working on the car and especially how the car feels when you're looking at the house alongside when you're standing in the shadows in front of a big mansion.
If you know what I mean. Again, first draft. Below, previous version, above, new version. Also, somewhere I have to make a decision which part needs the most detail, contrast and/or saturation; What should attract my attention? I think I'm going for the house right now. Or at least the entrance of the house. The front door.

In Between Jobs

2010-05-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do something more stylish for a change. Comments are welcome.

MILK!

2010-05-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

Next version.

My Animated Life

2010-05-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I got "My Animated Life" by Floyd Norman in by mail. This guy worked at the Disney studio from Sleeping Beauty until ToyStory2. This must be one inspiring story!

MILK!

2010-05-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Even without the logo on the bus, this is more like it. It's still not finished yet and I think it's great fun; Painting without having to worry that it's not done in half an hour. I'll just take my time. Spring will be around for a few months more.

MILK! doodles

2010-05-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I did some doodle work on the logo. And I say doodle, because after doodling for an hour, I came to the conclusion that doodling doesn't get me anywhere.

Apart from coloring and lighting I have a story that envolves a milkman that goes to 'visit' some big mansion (That's why he's parked his car in the shade and not right in front of the mansion). Maybe the milkman goes visiting the lady of the mansion while whistling his favorite tune (without milk bottles-and with his hands in his pockets) or maybe his just leaning against his milk car and smoking his cigarette.

Anyways. If I give the logo such a prominent position I'd better think twice about the name in the logo. So, it's back to the drawing table...

MILK!

2010-05-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I'm happy with it -maybe I'll change a couple of things- but here's a first draft.

more color sketching

2010-04-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

color sketching

2010-04-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

Some golden oldies

2010-04-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

skin color sketch part 1

2010-04-14T02:44:00.000-07:00

Lady and the Fox revisited

2010-04-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

I did some adjustments on the dress. First of all, her dress has 2 components. The dress itself and the top layer. The top layer had 2 different functions. One was to make the dress less static by underlining the 'frightened' emotion (like it is blown up and back at her because of her encounter) and the other was to use it as an arrow towards the fox.

In the second place I made the left line of the dress a lot stronger than it was before. This line also emphasizes the 'frightened' emotion. It really pushes her back more than in the original.

Compositional reading

2010-04-11T00:58:00.001-07:00

There are a few reasons why I flip my artwork horizontally during the process of creating a painting. In this case I wanted to share my thoughts about compositional reading. Or in other words: Do I tell the same story if I flip my painting and secondly: Does it matter?

If I'm 'reading' the picture from left to right, the original top painting would say: 'The fox frightens the lady' or in the flipped, second version: 'The lady gets frightened by the fox'.

The thing with this painting is that I want the lady to be the protagonist, the eye-catcher of the painting. Should the lady then be also the first one to see? Should I've positioned the lady left from the fox? Now it seems that I want the story of the flipped version to be the story of my original painting. Does that even work?

Francis Glebas talks about compositional reading in his book 'Directing the story'. Which by the way is a fantastic book. According to Francis compositional reading is very important if you think of an image as a joke. Then you would want the punchline to be last. Not the first thing you see.

Lady and the Fox!

2010-04-08T01:45:00.000-07:00

No it's not a new movie...It's a painting I did for my oldest daughter´s fifth birthday. It was her own idea so the credits should really go to her. She's hasn't seen it, because she hasn't turn 5 yet, but if you like it I bet she will too.

How to become awesome!

2010-03-21T03:32:00.000-07:00

...and 5 reasons what blogs have to do with it.

• The first reason: You get to see tons and tons of inspirational and extraordinary artwork from artists around the world, when that same inspirational and extraordinary artwork can really get you down. It’s too overwhelming. There's so much really great talent out there but the amount and speed at which it comes at you, makes it hard to analyze why there are so many amazing artists out there and you feel you are not one of them.

• The second reason: Institutes like Bobby Chiu deliver such a huge amount of information on their blogs that I personally feel it´s hard to see the wood for the trees. Even if it’s valuable information. There’s sooo much that it keeps me from focussing; The key issue in growing.

• The third reason: Then there’s the fans on forums and blogs. And the time it takes for you to realize that “I love your work” never gets you anywhere if you need constructive criticism. And believe me, a lot of people do.

• The fourth reason: Another thing I've noticed is that if you (like I do) have a few bookmarked blogs you visit everyday before starting your working day, the attention and time you give to the art presented, is brought back to a minimum. Like you treat the artwork with disrespect or something, like it becomes some sort of disposable. Just think about how fast you scroll down a new blog in search for something great which makes you pause and be amazed. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can stop reading now..;)

• And last but not least, even if you have a succesful blog, with a lot of followers it's hard to focus on the right thing. It maybe even harder...

That's why we, at the ZylomGameStudio, decided it was necessary, in order for us to develop our skills in a structural way, to create a plan that breaks down your artwork into smaller aspects and with that helps you focus. A plan that gives you the tools to understand how to develop your artistic skills and tools that help you analyze afterwards. So basically how to become awesome and better yet, how to create awesome artwork!

Therefore we (the talented artist Dirk van Dulmen and me) developed a -theory and guidelines- which we use for the studio’s Master Assignment. A very complicated assignment described in two simple steps.

Step 1: Write a story.
Step 2: Make sure every aspect of your drawing supports your story.

In the months to come I’ll write more about this on my blog. If you want to follow our artists Master Assignments check out the ZylomGameStudio blog.

If you are interested in working with these steps and want to know more, let me know.

sketching in color part 6

2010-03-17T05:37:00.001-07:00

Just a moody setting for a swampy story!

New Children's Book part II

2010-03-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

A small glimpse of my main character.

sketching in color part 5

2010-03-02T14:21:00.001-08:00

A fish a day...

2010-02-24T13:45:00.001-08:00

By the way, great sketch by Dirk van Dulmen. An in-between exercise in our studio.

just a quick paint

2010-02-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

There's a story in everything.

2010-02-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

I started this exercise with just some basic tree shapes. Nothing special, but I wanted to go through this process for two specific reasons.

I felt that it was too easy to lose myself in painting the foliage and at the same time losing the basic shape. I often found myself creating all these smaller areas that only made the foliage and tree shape unclear and weak.

Also, I often drew the tree starting with the branches. This sounds weird maybe, but I did it. Probably without thinking. Starting with a basic shape helps me to define where branches are and why.

This time I added a little bird house just underneath the top foliage to help focus, giving it some character, purpose or meaning.

New Children's Book!

2010-02-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

ALthough I think that I should focus more on one particular subject, I constantly find myself working on several projects at the same time. This one is a color study for a new children's book I'm working on right now. I have a story outline, I have a character and some sort of direction for the art. The thing I'm struggling with at this point is: How do I turn night time into colorful illustrations and at the same time create iconic and recognizable artwork?

You maybe thinking: Why don't you make it daylight? Well, the story can only exist in the night time.

Siberian background

2010-02-08T13:32:00.000-08:00

A Russian Soldier is living and working on an outpost on the border of Russia and Siberia. He has been isolated from the civilized world for almost 4 years.

I started working on the background already, because I had a clear view on how his house and cabin should look like and wanted this to be leading in style design. Although I'm still considering to make it less realistic.

Bop & Belfi and the Goggly Goblin

2010-02-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

It's been 7 years since I finished working on my first book "Bop & Belfi and the Goggly Goblin". I should say, a wonderful children's book that I produced together with Marck van Dooren. I'm still very proud that we sold the concept and the book.

What’s it all about?
Bop & Belfi are going to stay with Auntie Myopy in Clearview Village for the weekend. They are looking forward to eating pancakes and playing hide and seek in the villa’s many rooms. But a monster lives in the house of Belfi’s aunt. It is a mean and nasty beast. A beast that crushes glasses with its feet! And that is a real problem, because Auntie Myopy has a special hobby. She collects glasses... Can Bop & Belfi save her collection?

Who is Mr. Camel Hick?
Mr. Camel Hick is a pseudonym for the creators of this exciting book: Michel and Marck. And of course this sounds much more exciting than their real names.

The book was a premium at Het Huis Opticians and truly is a collector's item. It hasn't been in stores and it probably never will be...or will it...?

Emperor's New Clothes

2010-02-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

This is a personal assignment we decided to give ourselves at work together with Dirk van Dulmen. Something completely different than I am used to do, but some interesting things came out of this one. One of the most important things I've learned in the last year is to concentrate on a specific subject. If you're interested in never getting anything done, you should try to work on everything at the same time. (I have to work on that one...)
So I've been reading and studying Walt Stanchfield's "Drawn to Life" and working on gesture drawing for a couple of weeks now and this is the first colored attempt.

old tree

2009-11-27T12:31:00.001-08:00

Encore!

2009-10-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

And then one day...

2009-09-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Old stuff

2009-08-24T23:07:00.001-07:00

Some conceptual work I did for GameHouse. Never been put into production though....

Meet Mocci

2009-08-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Meet Mocci from The Wonderful World of Mr. Sweed.

I decided to begin character sketching on the little guy. I felt he needed some more extreme facial features because I want him to underline the main character's emotions. So BIG ears and a magical tale.

Mocci has been in the big guy's family (haven't got a name for him yet) for a little over 320 years. And not without a reason.

Every once in a while the ripe berries from an almost extinct plant spread a scent that puts some sort of spell on Mocci. He gets in a trance and he transforms into something very special with very special abilities. This is Mocci as he gets into the first phase. Check him out.

The Wonderful World of Mr. Sweed

2009-08-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

My first visual acquaintance with The Wonderful World of Mr. Sweed. It's a story situated around the mediterranean sea. I'll tell you more about the story as my blog progresses. Hope to update some more soon.

color sketching part 4

2009-08-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

color sketching part 3

2009-08-14T00:47:00.000-07:00

I turned this little sketch into color last night. Maybe I'll do another pass to make it a little stronger and maybe more interesting. Original drawing done by Dirk van Dulmen.

real baa's and mehs

2009-07-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

Just a new post to keep the blogblood running. It's funny, I thought I'd do one piece every week, but that's not as easy as I thought. Anyways...this one is just for fun.

color sketching part 2

2009-07-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

color sketching

2009-07-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

Like I said before. Trees. It's not because i like 'm that much-I do-but it also gives me the opportunity to play around with colour and mood. I'd like to do more of these little sketches. Stay tuned!

equilibrist

2009-06-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Back at the office...I promised I'd start my blog with a tree-sketching and painting excercise but instead I wanted to do something that reminded me of our short but well earned holiday. Just a couple of days ago I tried to walk over a chord in "Klein-Zwitserland" which is a fantastic playground. It was hanging next to a circus and tied between two trees and some 30 cm above the ground and I almost walked all the way to the other side of it. I heard my wife and daughter scream -while my other daughter bounced off the chord when I jumped on it- and because I was cheating because I touched the ground while I was walking over the chord...anyways...

btw...the jumping and bouncing part didn't really happen...