Phoenix Atelier Orcs

Hey all... very pleased to share the Orc's that I created for the Program I'm running at Phoenix Atelier !

It was a great experience creating the program, one I'm sure to repeat again!  My only challenge was creating the artwork on such a small scale on screen, but I got over it really quickly.  My students are quickly putting my work to shame!  I'll be dusting off my ol kitchen knives soon looking for work after this judging by how well they're doing!  :P

Phoenix really has created an awesome method for learning, one I wish I had when I was approaching this industry, and I'm really glad to be involved!

Mary Doe

I've had the great pleasure of working with M.E.G. outside of my Weta hours on a number of projects but namely Mary Doe which has been created by Nick Nicolaou and his team including Paul Katte, who has been a make up artist on a number of films including the Hobbit, which is where we met.

I think original story and independent properties like this are what will really change cinema, giving us all something to be excited about again.  It really was a pleasure to contribute to the wealth of idea' s that Nick has created in this world.

To get a better idea of it all, check out the kickstarter they have going and if the idea of it sounds good.. you can also see a creative spotlight on yours truly here... help out a little by backing.  Some cool rewards for those that do!

Phoenix Atelier Creature design

Hey all,
I was asked to do a course for the Phoenix Atelier on how I designed some of the creatures for the Hobbit.  It's my first instructional content so am a little nervous about it as I'm still learning and growing in this industry, but am happy to share my experience thus far.  Check it out here...

Phoenix Atelier - Registration

I also created a demo and introduction video with Phoenix for the program... check it here!  :)

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey pt2

We have been given permission to show some of the artwork that is in the public domain for The Hobbit!

As I mentioned in my first post it was an extreme honour to have been involved in this film to the capacity I was as Lead Creature designer for Weta.  I'd have to say out of all the briefs we've done for the film and still doing the Goblins were one of the biggest challenges.  There will be more artwork I can post as the books are released especially a lot of Orc design, Azog as well and the creatures we have yet to see. ( I think there's a dragon as well???)  :P

Here are some early Goblin designs that weren't in the film but I rather liked:

These were some of the designs that made it through.  There were A LOT of these guys! 

 These were the final designs and an early design for Grinnah, the one talking goblin and my favourite of them all (as well as the scribe, these two were my favourite).

 And the designs for the King of the Goblins  :)   There was a lot of work done on this guy and was really stoked with how he turned out!

I designed the Stone Trolls however It was mainly done in ZBrush and I wasn't able to get any "pretty' artwork done for them, so here's the design maquettes for their faces  :)

I was mainly involved with the creatures of the film but on occasion we're able to do some other design, here's some Thorin tests, a Radagast costume and Bombur's costume concept which I did as well as a warg rider and one warg concept which was pretty much all I was able to do on those creatures as I was focused on Orc's at the time.  

this warg was based roughly off a Nick Keller design  :)

There's plenty more and please check out the Art of books which document the concept's, design, and production by the talented Dan Falconer and team!  Looking forward to sharing more as we're able  :)  A film like this is only made on the backs of all the talented people that collaborate to make such an amazing looking film!  It was and will always be the biggest education I ever had working on this film and really was among the best company to get me through!  My art has progressed heaps since working at Weta and love the continuing learning curve!  :)

Banner Freaks

A little project to keep my banners fresh, that I called Banner Freaks!  THis is Rancid Rob, the first of a collection I'm hoping to keep up with.  Thoroughly enjoyed doing this as it wasn't something we've never seen before or anything, overly complicated and had a bit of humour to it.  Created and rendered in Zbrush and photoshop for the final touch ups.

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey pt1

A few years ago I remember the impact that the Lord of the Rings films had on me, and so many people around the world.  To say I was captivated is a gross understatement.  I remember getting the art of books and just studying them religiously.  The work of Alan Lee, John Howe, Jamie Beswarick, Mike Asquith and Gino Acevedo to name a few were particular driving points for me to get off my arse and become something.  I never would have realized that some day I might feature in one of those types of books.

Working on the Hobbit has been the realization of a long term goal, and coming from South Africa, a little town called King Williams Town, with NO connection to the entertainment industry in anyway, it seemed like a fools dream.  My parent's were the best support any kid could ask for, and they did nothing but encourage my determination.  To have ended up with the Lead Creature Designer credit for the movie is incredibly fortunate for me and I rest on the shoulders of the giants that lay the foundation for this world and the awesome team I worked with, namely Greg Tozer, Jamie Beswarick, Dave Meng, Nick Keller, Paul Tobin and Gus Hunter (there were many others as well).  Led by our amazing boss, Sir Richard Taylor.  My partner Lindsey who helped design some of the dwarves and does collectibles as well was my inspiration and an amazing artist herself!  Could not have done it without her.

Featured in this book you will see SOME of the fruits of our labor.  I wish I could share more but unfortunately, this is all I'm able to show now, and please, go out and get the book if you're interested!  I hope the work inside inspires as it did me years ago.  Many thanks to the talented Daniel Falconer for putting this masterpiece together!

Purchase Here

 Goblin King - Creature and costume design illustration.

 The ComiCon statues of the Trolls.  I designed these characters and was able to use the Zbrush files to create the life sized versions for the display.

 Some Goblin Designs.

A collection of what I could find online that has been released.  But there is plenty more in the upcoming books!

Grey Alien project

Anyone who's seen the bulk of my work must have worked out by now that I kinda like these fella's.  This is the beginning of a bigger project I'm doing where I want to realize all descriptions of what our otherworldly counterparts might look like.  I'll post more as I develop his body and the other characters as well.  I will be using this guy as the base to do the rest, and might do a skeleton as well.  It's really enjoyable as it's less about designing something we've never seen before and more about refining subtle forms until it looks real.  That is my goal anyway to create a realistic depiction.  Enjoy  :)

Cintiq test

We've been test driving the new Wacom 24 inch Cintiq and it was my turn today!  So.... I made an alien... I had a lot of fun using it in Zbrush and definitely think it's worth it for that... took a bit of getting used to in Photoshop though, I might try just drawing in it next time.  A great product for sure, although I think I'll be going 22 inch for home (when I can afford it) as it would be nice to move it around a lot more... chur!  :)

3D Artist

Been a shockingly long time and here I go talkin myself up again!  Shameless really...

I was lucky enough to work with 3D artist magazine on issue 49.  It was good for me to get down some of my process and talk a little about working at Weta and my journey getting there from good ol South Africa.  If I haven't bored you already,  and if you're brave enough to read and see more, check it out!  :)

3D artist issue 49

Here's the piece I did specifically for the tutorial and the sculpt along with it  :)

PRIME - Pre Order

Hey all... a plug for the soon to be released, and available for pre order, kick ass selection of books, AND a game!  Holy hell what more could you need!?  The fella's and fella es's at 3D total put together an amazing collection of digital art.  Check it out HERE

Life sized DemonGirl Figure

My boss, Sir Richard Taylor has been an amazing support and bought a copy of my sculpt and decided to mill it out lifesize and turn into a figure for his sculpture park to be released!  I was hugely honoured and you couldn't ask for more as an artist to have something you created turn into something like this.  It was milled 1/1 from my zbrush file, then refined by some of the artists at Fred Tangs studio in China, and these are the progress shots!

old Bugalugs the giant...

A fun sketch in ZBrush over the weekend.  Bugalugs was the first name I could think of, but i imagined him being a tad tipsy at the point of this study!  I might do a colour up version, red nose and all :)
I haven't had maya on my new machine, so rendered this on my old machine (which chugged and moaned a lot!) but I miss doing renders like this, so am gettin me mah copy running again!  I think of Maya as my photography studio now, where zbrush and photoshop I use mainly for concept illustrations, getting the most out of ZBrush.  But for me, I really like doing set ups in maya/mentalray for presenting form studies this way.