Some doodles, desk ideas and graduation!

This week has been a bit of a busy one, so I haven't had a lot of time to work on any art stuff really: It's hand-in week for the students so that's one reason.

Also Thursday it was my Masters Graduation! I am officially now a Master of The Arts! :D

So yeah it's all been going on. But despite that I still got some little bits done.

New Promarkers and some arting.

I was in Ryman's earlier in the week for the purpose of buying a new note bookbut I thought I would treat myself even more, so I bought some new Promarkers. They were 3 for 2 so I got a pack of neutral tones, a pack of pastel colours and a vibrant pack. Click this link if you want your own!

So whilst all the students were handing in their engine work on Wednesday I thought I would have a go at doing a sketch for the pixel art project. Just something random as a test. I love Promarkers for quick doodles like these, but I find they don't last long after I have done a few of these images, usually my packs of neutral tones only last a month or so, but that might just be how I use them. (I use the greys A LOT for building up tone in quick doodles)

Marker Sketch - Sorry about the bad quality! :S

It's been a while since I have done any marker art, just doing this little piece makes me really want to jump back in and do a lot more. I miss doing lots of art, I think the last time I did a large amount of it was back in my second year of uni. (It says on Game Art on my Master's Degree but it was mainly technical stuff inside Unreal Engine.)

I think I might see what I can do in regards to producing a lot more traditional artwork to support my pixel art and gamedev stuff, I always doodle in my sketchbooks so it hasn't died completely, but it has been a while since I have really pushed my traditional skills by doing colour work or anything painterly. All of my recent doodles (over the past year or so) have been in fineliner.

My Desk Plan

I think the reason I have sort of left it is because since my third year of uni I have been in the position of the 'engine guy' on the projects, which is cool but it doesn't give me a lot of room for manoeuvre when it comes to wanting to produce art.

It was a similar situation with the MA, also combined with not having the desk space or having much of the equipment left for doing artwork. I probably could have done something though, but for whatever reason I just didn't try hard enough.

Now seems like a good time to try and add a bit of art back into my routine, just putting some markers into usual fine liner work might help to shake it up a bit.

But I have a bigger plan! When I move out later this year I'm looking into putting together a proper personal workspace. I want plenty of space for inspiration, all my books, art equipment and my digital things. So I've been looking at putting together my own desks and such.

'Steal Like An Artist' by Austin Kleon - A brilliant book. Short, simple and sweet. I happened to buy this at a time I needed it and it has been a great motivator, if you are struggling with creative block or are feeling a little frustrated by slow artistic progress then read this book. It helped kick my ass into gear a bit.

I actually got an idea Tuesday when I went out and bought a book called 'Steal Like An Artist' by Austin Kleon.' (By the way this book is awesome and I recommend it to anybody looking to get into anything creative) 

Inside was a tip about having a separate desk for digital work and analog work, this is done to encourage more creative thinking, whilst the actual production work and refinements done on the computer. It actually reminded me that I had a similar setup in my second and third year of uni, and that was when I feeling most creatively fulfilled.

So when I love out, I want to have one desk area for any traditional stuff, I can set up my drawing board, a nice lamp, have a cutting board and a big pile of sketchbooks and paper. (Oh and a little place for all my lego, I do get some cool ideas from building stuff out of Lego.)

Then opposite that I can have my space for my PCs and a more typical office setup, with some little flourishes so it isn't completely bland.

I have been adding some inspirational images and things for what I want in Pinterest. It's general house ideas but a lot of it is focused around the desk area. I will probably do another post at some point showing my current setup and the reasons I want to upgrade.






See you next time! Hopefully you should be seeing a lot more sketches on here along with the UE4 stuff. -James