More Cardstock

Still experimenting with cardstock. The surface doesn't hold darker values well, but the smooth texture is wonderful for my workflow. Very cheap alternative to using Hot Press illustration board, especially if you plan on a digital finish.

Graphite, coloured pencil, digital

India Ink, digital

Wallpaper!

I've been on a blog kick recently. Within the last two days I've saved over four-hundred images. If you like fashion inspiration as much as I do, you'll check out Twisted Lamb. It's run by a fashion artist in the game industry, and she is superb. 

The two drawings seen here are from that blog. The full-sized image is 1920x1080, so feel free to make it your new desktop image!

Chaotic Figures

Following the portraits, I decided to offer figurative commissions in a slightly different style. The focus was on keeping dynamic strokes and gestural quality through to the finish (something I try to do normally). Below is the collection of finished sketches:

Next up is are ink drop portraits. Hope this example encourages more people to try this style:

--\-

The dash-dash-slash-dash ( --\- ) is a signature I started using over a year ago. You'll usually see that symbol hidden somewhere within my images, but what you probably don't know is why I use it.

The symbol came about when I was eating a cookie. I looked at the shape my bottom teeth made when I bit—turned out one tooth was crooked. I liked that pattern enough to use it. But sometimes I forget how to  do my signature and have to bite something as a reminder.

Search the symbol in Google and see what happens.


Not very many results at all, huh? It's far more exclusive than "Jonathan Duncan", or even "Jonathan Vair".  Eventually, it will only post to my work. My goal of having an unobtrusive and effective signature will then be realized.

It will eventually come in handy when someone posts your work on Tumblr, it gets famous, and the original poster never credits you. And to all the folks on Tumblr, it's graphite, not charcoal. :)

Asura's Wrath

Capcom was holding a contest. Submit your art based off of the game, and if they like it it'll be used within the game somehow. It sounded a bit shady, but I figured it was a good time to break out the oils. 

Here is my entry. If you'd like to see a GIF of the process, click the bottom image.

I have been busy.

Well, it happened. I am officially published. To think, I was at in the computer lab at school and thought, "I like Sims' stuff. I should do art for him," and then I did, and then he used it the images on his latest EP. Artists, that's all it takes.  

Life Never Gets Less-Crazy

One of my favourite things about my life—besides having the greatest friends in the world—is being constantly entertained. I literally cannot remember the last time I was bored. This is due to being an artist constantly trying to see my world objectively, but also comes from being thrown into situations bigger than myself on a regular basis. 

For example, in the middle of creating new work for this contest via ImagineFX, I had to apply for a last-minute passport after winning a contest to SIGGRAPH, a convention I wanted to return to this year, but couldn't afford. Now that my new images are done, I have to finish a cohesive concept portfolio as fast as possible. After that's done, I'll be finishing an EP package for one of my favourite hip-hop artists. From there I'll be completing two more designs for a snowboard company. From there, I'll probably hound Arenanet the rest of the year until they blacklist me or hire me. 

If I'm lucky, somewhere along the line I'll get paid! 

Here are the three images I completed in the last seven days. New record!

Environment Sketches

I've been meaning to do this for a while: I took the last two days (three if you count this morning) and completed a several environment sketches. Soon I'll be comfortable to the point of intelligently abstracting environments without references, and then my work is going to seriously level-up!

Most of these are referenced from my photos in Old San Juan. Such a great art opportunity!

Jonathan Duncan: ORIGINS

I owe a good bit to videogames. Ever since I was in Middle School anyone that knew me could attest to the fact that I was always drawing videogame characters from copies of Electronic Gaming Monthly or taking videogame guides into English class for mandatory reading time. It started out as an obsession, but after I matured (maybe) I came to appreciate games rather than have an unhealthy obsession with them. 

Metroid was one of my favourite franchises. It was by unlocking concept art in Metroid Prime that I knew I wanted to do concept art in videogames for a living, and Samus Aran is by far the character I've drawn more than any other. After a mother of an old friend found a rendition of Samus painted on her basement wall from around eight years ago, I decided to give it another go, for old time's sake:

There's something endearing I've lost with the newer version. 

Maybe it's the broken arm or the glam-rock boots. 

The Start of Summer

I apologize for my absence. In my defense, many things have happened! I visited Old San Juan, I moved to Columbus, and I've been sketching. 

Here's an update for the Guild Wars folio, just to prove I've been working. Each of these sketches will help actualize my goal for a Guild Wars class that revisits good aesthetic choices from earlier in the franchise, enhances the culture of the world, and offers more exciting real-time combat opportunities. My website will have the finished versions, including descriptions of each.

Now that I've graduated college, my desire to work in-house has never been stronger.  Wish me luck as I make that last push!

Guild Wars Post 1

Working on several images to develop a new class for Guild Wars 2.

Bad Time Zoo, 2 of 2

Gift for SIMS and the Doomtree crew

If you're a hip-hop artist, you're good at what you do, and you're looking for an artist, send me a note! 

Bad Time Zoo, 1 of 2

Gift for SIMS and the Doomtree crew

My 3D Paintings

Now that my Senior Show has launched, I don't mind publishing my stereo paintings. 

Click the image to be sent to the 3D Portfolio!

Preview of some promo art for SIMS. Decided graphite would be a good start for this sort of thing, with minimal Photoshop on top.

Check out the entire Doomtree crew for more excellent hip-hop!

Senior Show!

Image links to Behance 

Monday, April 4th, 2011, I will preview my newest work in 3D at Indiana Wesleyan University's 1920 Gallery in the Student Center. Any in the area are invited for an afternoon/evening of fun and free food. 

Armor Study #1

I've been studying armour plating to understand better how one would concept warriors. If I'm going to be more than just talk when it comes to focusing my sights on Arenanet, I'll have a handful of studies to upload by the end of the semester. 

The Underground Railroad: Eros

An image on human trafficking—the emphasis on the external.

Yet another preview for the Senior Show. Hope the nudity gets approved. From my point of view, emphasizing the sensual over the sexual should be permitted.

Senior Show Preview

Three weeks left until the deadline I made for my Senior Show. I had to make some sacrifices, but I should be able to show seven new images. I haven't produced work this quickly before, so we'll see if this makes me better or makes me cry for death. 

Or both.

Sculpture

Here's a preview of a sculpture I'll be creating in wax, ultimately ending in a bronzing. I may incorporate ammonia to give it a cool, blue marbling. We'll see.

He'll be holding a hammer, not a cardboard tube.

Make Believe

Another image that will be finished and added to my Senior Show

When I was little I used to pretend I was a monster. This memory came back to me in the middle of this sketch. When I pursued the monster from a long time ago I was surprised to find that the monster himself had gotten older. His design changed (just like mine) and his visual aesthetic had different needs now than it did when I was younger. 

I'm reminded with this image that art (for me) is not a one-way project—it is an exchange. There are things I've forgotten that haven't forgotten me, and I learn about these things (and inevitably myself) the more time I spend in an artistic state of mind. 

New sketch up. If all goes according to plan, I'll make this into a stereographic image and feature it in my senior show!

Also, an image from a Photoshop demo I covered. The purpose was to teach painting basics, so I used a mouse.

And, finally, I submitted an image to Udon's Megaman Tribute art book. That'll have to stay under wraps until the book is actually released, but I'll let you know if I made it regardless. Have a good one, and don't forget to sketch daily!

Ego Trip

That image I planned on finishing is mostly completed. I'm new to this whole "finished image" business, but in doing this image, I'm appreciating the importance of a visible brush stroke. The less strokes there are, the more important the strokes become. A simple concept, yes, but I had to learn it the hard way.

Left to right: Id, Ego, Superego

I have more images to work on for my Senior Show. If you're in the area of IWU, it'll be on April 4th.

Spectrum + Bats

Thanks to all recent visitors. Your attention has been appreciated!

I have been diligently working on an image for Spectrum, and hope to make it in this year. This year's entry represents me far more sincerely than the last one, and hopefully the end result will show. 

From left to right: Ego, Id, and Superego 

I also spent last evening studying the anatomy of bats. Here's a doodle from the end of that session. Little artist bat has a lot on his mind, doesn't he? (From the sketch it would appear he's thinking of Jon Foster.)

From Christmas Break

Another tradition I carry over Christmas break: studies off of Native American subject matters. I found most of the images on Old-Picture, FFFFOUND, or Shorpy, or deviantArt.

As a bonus, something I drew when I was looking at Diablo characters:

EVG Music

Commission for a friend's site. I told him I'd only work for him on the condition that he's good at what he does, so check out his music!

Late Night Adventures

"But Mo-ooooom, I don't wanna wake up for Church!"

(Photoshop over Colors! on the Nintendo DS)

Blame New Years for screwing up my sleep schedule. Here I am, way past my bedtime, working on some more gift art. For whatever reason, redoing other people's characters gets me completely pumped, even more so than creating my own stories. 

Looks like I'm suited for the commercial art world after all.  

Artist Spotlight: Adam Law

(Photoshop over Colors! on the Nintendo DS)

Even without the bounty hunter name, Adam Law has been an inspiration of mine. I used to frequent his old webcomic forum back in the day, but since then he's moved on to bigger and better things. Over the last three years I've made it a habit of doing sketches of his characters during my Christmas Break.

Check out Adam's work on his website and sketchblog.