Sunday 17 July 2011

Of Badgers and Burrows


As you may have read in previous posts, I belong to a local writing group. Over the last two years, we have produced two books of short stories and poetry. For the first book, the material was based around our local town. For the second, we encompassed the Yorkshire Pennines.

The cover of
'Reflections of Holme'
The books are titled “Reflections of Holme” (available on amazon.co.uk) and “Pennine Reflections”. Not only did I have a story printed in each, I designed (to the group's specifications) and formatted the books. My story for the first book was 'Badger Collider' and revolved around the world of the 'Burrowers'; The badgers, the moles, the rabbits, etc. who all live underground in a secret world hidden from the humans. The burrowers had built their own Particle Collider under Yorkshire, with the intention of taking back the above world from the humans. The humorous story was only around five hundred words, but it started the ball rolling.

The cover of
'Pennine Reflections'
For the second book, I decided to write a sequel that carried on the adventures of these characters, and fleshed out their world considerably more, in a story called 'Badger Chariot'. I also took the opportunity to illustrate the characters with my own sketches. Unfortunately the finished tale was too long for the allotted space, but rather than trim it down and lose much of the fun, I cut the story off at a reasonable point and added a link to a 'Badger' website. The website carries on not only the story, but provides a fun glimpse into the 'Burrower' world, with character profiles and location descriptions.

Click here to enjoy the stories and characters on 'The Burrows' website. Who knows what the future has in store, for their underground adventures...

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Painting - "Grumplemug - The Fairy Carving Troll"


Here's another of my entries in the Imagine FX magazine weekly forum competition. This was created for the July 2011 weekly challenge entitled: "Grumpy Troll"

Brief: "Without context, design the character. The only restrictions are that he must have something on or beside him to show scale."

Description: "A new (fictional) fantasy film for kids, has a grumpy, somewhat dimwitted troll-like character who in contrast to his cumbersome appearance, likes to carve delicate fairy figurines out of wood. The troll is also short sighted and has a carved wooden leg."

A couple of very early troll designs
I was lucky enough that once again they had chosen one of my ideas for the challenge, so I was ready to get my teeth stuck into this one.

I did quite a few (very!) rough sketches initially, trying to figure out what kind of look to go for. Initially I was going to make him rather a tough looking 'realistic' troll, but I wasn't especially happy with any of the designs. They just didn't feel right for the character description. It needed something more light-hearted. In looking back at my earlier painting, 'Beyond the Darkness', I realised it might be fun to use a similar look to the creatures I had invented for that, giving the character a more "children's illustrated book" feel.

Refining the design and working out a pose
So next I  did a few designs of the character along that route, and messed around with his pose. I decided I wanted him to be a travelling troll, who keeps all he needs with him. In this case, his tool box is also a seat upon which he can sit and carve.

One more thing was needed, which was an object that shows his scale. I decided that he was a modern troll, who uses a mobile telephone for reference pictures and for taking orders via text. In the end, it became a touch screen telephone, purely for speed, as I was nearing the deadline and didn't have time to draw and paint the buttons and details I wanted. So on screen I thought it would be fun to place my previous 'fairy' painting, as if he'd been using it for reference.

Semi-final design (left), working out the pose (middle and top right)
and a photograph taken for reference (bottom right).
After completing it for the competition, I went back to finish a few details for my own satisfaction. Namely things such as the smoke from his pipe, the carving on the tool box, and a pot of varnish and a cloth in the bottom left, to finish the visual 'triangle' between top right (from the smoke) to bottom left, as intended. However, I didn't change the phone back to its original design, as I quite like the way it came out in the end. Below, you can view an animation showing the gradual 'Work In Progress'.


It didn't do well in the competition, but I was personally rather satisfied and happy with the final painting, which is all that matters at the end of the day. Not to mention, it again adds to my growing portfolio of digital art. I hope you enjoy looking at this light-hearted character and imagining his story, as much as I enjoyed creating him!

"Grumplemug - The Fairy Carving Troll"
All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Digital Painting "Outpost 32"


I've been doing some of the weekly Imagine FX magazine forum competitions rather than the monthly ones, which has encouraged me to speed up and improve my techniques. Instead of getting bogged down in extraneous detail, they have forced me to make sure I get maximum effect without spending hours over-working something.

Hospital designs
This was created for the June 2011 weekly challenge entitled: "Highview Hospital design"

The 'Brief': "Your challenge this week is to produce a full colour environment painting of a futuristic mountainside hospital."

The 'Description': "Highview is built high on the side of a mountain range. The hospital is constantly battered by the elements, surrounded on all sides by snow and rock. Highview is only accessible by an advanced lift system built into the side of the mountain below it, or by helicopter (which is more commonly used, and overseen by the hospitals dedicated flight control tower). Their only communications are via a large satellite tower."

Helicopter designs
I thought that perhaps a futuristic building on a weather-beaten mountain would be designed to allow the weather to move around it with as little wind resistance as possible, so I imagined the bulk of the structures to be elliptical (see designs above). The communications pylon is positioned horizontally, so that it will be clear of falling/sliding snow from the mountain, and if damaged, it won't fall on the hospital itself.

As for the helicopter design, I wanted to do something futuristic and unusual, but instead of going wild with multiple rotor arrangements, I wanted to keep that archetypal helicopter feel alongside its futuristic look.

I also thought, why would you build a hospital on a mountainside that is practically inaccessible in the first place? I decided that it was on a different planet where this location actually is one of the safer places to build the hospital. Hence the alien planet on the horizon...

Final "Outpost 32"
This final version is almost the same as the one entered in the competition, except for a few minor details on the helicopter. I gave it the title 'Outpost 32' as a little nod to the film 'The Thing', in which the Arctic base is called 'Outpost 31'.

It's one of the pieces I've been the most satisfied with recently, as I think it almost has a 'movie production art' feel to it. It has also been great practice since I haven't done many landscape scenes of this nature so far.

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Painting - "Fairy Dust"


I've been doing some of the 'weekly' Imagine FX magazine forum competitions rather than the 'monthly' ones, which has encouraged me to speed up and improve my techniques. Instead of getting bogged down in extraneous detail, they have forced me to make sure I get maximum effect without spending hours over-working something.

The original version of this was created for the June 2011 weekly challenge entitled: "Fairy Dust"

The 'Brief' was: "Illustrate the fairy as described below, the only conditions are that she have insect-like wings (no feathers) and an outfit at least partly made of scavenged human items."

Final "Fairy Dust"
And the 'Description' was: "A (fictional) book of fairies is being launched, and the creators want a light hearted illustration of a mischievous fairy leaning against a garden gnome after painting a moustache on him with a brush or pen."

This final version is closer to what I originally had in mind, and is fairly modified from the 'final' version entered in the competition (That was somewhat limited by time), mainly in terms of the fairy's wings, along with a few minor details on the Gnome and garden, as well as the border and tinting.

The challenge picked had been my suggestion, but after completing the initial 'naked' fairy with a view to adding her garments, I decided to leave her as she was without the "...outfit at least partly made of scavenged human items.", as I felt it she had a certain 'classic' fairy look that I decided not to embellish or mess with.

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Painting - "World War II Power Suits"


I've been doing some of the 'weekly' Imagine FX magazine forum competitions rather than the 'monthly' ones, which has encouraged me to speed up and improve my techniques. Instead of getting bogged down in extraneous detail, they have forced me to make sure I get maximum effect without spending hours over-working something.

This was created for the May 2011 weekly challenge entitled: "World War II Power Suits"

The 'Brief' was: "Design front and side views of each suit, and an image illustrating the clash between the prototypes."

And the 'Description' was: "Discovered in a pile of forgotten WWII records, are designs for a Nazi power suit, with which a soldier could attack the allies with added strength, armour and high-powered weaponry. Found alongside these records were the designs for an Allied response to this machine. It is doubtful that any form of mass production was started, but there is anecdotal proof that a battle occurred between the prototypes of either side."

Final "World War II Power Suits"
This final version is almost the same as the one entered in the competition, except for a few minor refinements, such as the folder in the background, the Union Jack on the allied suit's armour, and a handful others.

The suit designs were drawn traditionally, then scanned. I also created the 'aged' paper for the technical illustrations, using a few different methods, namely crumpling things up, folding them, scraping them against a rough wall, burning the odd hole, and smudging in wet coffee. I then scanned them, and overlaid the pen and ink drawings. The central painting was done digitally, but placed on a scan I made of an old photograph back, to complete the 'period' feel.

I didn't expect to have the time for a challenge in the final week of May, but seeming as the challenge picked had been my suggestion, I couldn't resist. Given that this was produced quite quickly, I've been  happy with the results. This image won that week, and is (Fingers crossed) going to be printed in the next issue of Imagine FX.

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Painting - "Spybots"


As stated in my previous article, I've been doing the 'weekly' Imagine FX magazine forum competitions rather than the 'monthly' ones, which has encouraged me to speed up and improve my techniques. Instead of getting bogged down in extraneous detail, they have forced me to make sure I get maximum effect without spending hours over-working something.

This was created for the May 2011 weekly challenge entitled: "Tiny Robots"

The description was: "This week we go small as you are to design a set of tiny spybots used for covert information gathering."

An obvious route would've been mechanical insects, and such. Having already done a 'mechanical insect' acrylic painting before (see here), I had no desire to do the same thing again. I wanted to go a different route, and decided to do something more light hearted for kids. A group of spybot characters, each with their own individual skill set. The commander places traditional 'bugs' for listening in on people. One places camera devices, as well as being the team's lookout. Another acts as the team's transportation expert, capable of firing a grappling iron that enables them to reach difficult spots. While the final character is the 'hacker', who can tap into electronic devices such as computers, for secret files and communications.

Unfortunately I didn't get the colour version finished in time, so my entry was a tinted B&W version, but here's the final full colour picture.

Having gone the route of aiming the characters at kids, I chose to keep the adventurous and fun atmosphere, by making the final image look like a fictional poster for a new show or book.

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Painting - "Giant Parasite"


As stated in my previous article, I've been doing the 'weekly' Imagine FX magazine forum competitions rather than the 'monthly' ones, which has encouraged me to speed up and improve my techniques. Instead of getting bogged down in extraneous detail, they have forced me to make sure I get maximum effect without spending hours over-working something.

Parasitic creature designs
Here is the next one I did, toward the end of May 2011, titled: "Huge alien parasite invaders".

The brief was: "Design some huge alien parasitic creatures invading Earth."

Since most parasitic creatures are smaller than their hosts, I tried to merge the idea of a something huge with something smaller. By combining the two, I came up with a giant monster that releases tentacles with sub-creatures at the end, which hunt and capture a host, latch onto their victim, and then drain them of life and energy to support the large monster.

Being on holiday for most of the challenge time, this ended up a little too rushed. I did some design sketches while on holiday, but when I got back, had only two evenings in which to complete the finished piece. So it is heavily flawed (I may even return to it one day), but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Final "Giant Parasite"
All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Painting - "M.U.M. Unit"


I've been terribly distracted lately, and let my blog updates slip...

So I'll try to add a few new articles. Firstly, a few new digital paintings, for the Imagine FX magazine forum competitions. However, unlike the previous two articles, I've done the 'weekly' forum competitions instead of the 'monthly' ones, which have encouraged me to speed up and improve my techniques. Instead of getting bogged down in extraneous detail, they have forced me to make sure I get maximum effect without spending hours over-working something.

The first weekly I tried, was as follows:

Initial Designs
Brief: "Design a MUM system for long range space travel."

Description: "The MUM unit is an automated human incubation and hybernation pod designed for long distance interstellar travel. Each unit holds a single infant in hybernation. As the infant grows to adulthood within the unit, the MUM supplies the subject with sustinance, and provides muscle and brain stimulation (including educating the human as it sleeps). Once the destination has been reached the pod will wake and release the full grown adult, ready to perform his/her duties. Most terra-forming ships contain several hundred MUMs to establish base colonies among the stars (to infinity... and beyond)."

Final design before
digital colouring
As I often do, I started with a few rough pen/marker designs (above). I chose the first design, and in order to complete the task in time, I chose to draw the final version traditionally and only colour it digitally.

My idea, was that each unit would have a self-contained control tower beside it, that not only monitors and controls the growth of the individual, but provides a virtual 'up-bringing', during which the will learn and reach full maturity before arrival at their destination.

For the final image, I coloured and painted it digitally, then gave it a stylised context. As you can see, the result isn't astounding, but it was fun and satisfying.

Final "M.U.M. Unit"
All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.