Hey there Marty!

Haaaaay!

Halvdan

Halvdan here.  Just make sure to photograph his good side.

Cheer up!

Sometimes life is more than just 0s and 1s.

Beaker - before and after

Beaker thankfully didn't require too much tweaking.  His beak needed some fixing, but otherwise the rest stayed in tact.

I was torn on the color, seeing him both as a cool bird and a warm bird… so I made both.

Eeek!

Her name is Eeek.

Why, you ask?  Probably not.  It's pretty obvious.

Decisions, decisions.

You can look at Stompy positively or negatively.

I leave it to you to decide.

The Crabbits are done!

The crabbits are complete. Hope you enjoy!

Crabbits in progress.

Crabbits in progress.

Meet the Crabbits.

The best things come in threes, right?  Well, so do the Crabbits.

Look for these guys to be the next creatures that get the full color treatment.

Zom.B - progression

Here's a progression of how I created Zom.B.  Typically I work with a toon line which makes this process a lot faster… for me anyway.

Though already posted, here's the sketch to start the progression:

From the sketch I can see issues with the shape of the torso, the angle of the dome, the length of the right leg and waist, etc.  Illustrator is my favorite tool for fixing these issues… though it's handicapping my ability to fix this is the actual sketch.  Enough self-deprivation.  Moving on.

The first step: create all the shapes.  The color is somewhat arbitrary, but I like to make each neighboring shape a different color.  First I create vector lines according to the sketch, then make adjustments to the scale and positions.  In the end, I end up with this.

I did jump ahead to feel out the glass and bubbles to see if I had to make any adjustments to the composition or feel of the glass.

Next, I take the shapes and create gradients for each shape according to the lighting I want.  I'm not concerned with color here.  The goal is to get good gray tones and shading that can work for the picture.

After competing the shading, I duplicate the shading layer and make adjustments to the warmth or coolness of the gray.  This layer will be adjusted for opacity and blending later.

This new tone layer is duplicated again.  Here's where I apply color.  This layer was a tricky one for me, because I first envisioned the robot as green and blue, almost like a dull moody robot.  After a bunch of experimentation, I found that making him more red/yellow and aggressive felt better.  This is the color layer in the end.

Now that shade, tone and color are completed, I then make yet another duplicate and merge the sections that have similar makeup: a glass shape, a metal shape, a rubber shape.  I found some nice textures on line and, using the merged shapes for the materials, create the texture using the shape as a mask for the texture.

Finally, after adjusting these layers for transparency and effect, I create highlights and rim lights to add to the composition.   In the end, this is the final picture:

I'm going to make a toon version as well, mainly to use for stickers and (hopefully) t-shirts.

I think it's time for the same treatment to a monster, don't you?  Let me know your favorites and I'll narrow down the field to the right monster.

Thanks for reading!

Zom.B - After and Before

Just finished putting most of the the polish on Zom.B.  Went through a few crossroads, from "pin line or no pin line?" to "warm or cool color?"  Finally settled on this setup.  Need to add some highlights and rim lights and this guy can go wreak havoc on the planet.

And here's the original sketch.  I had to do some cleanup to the final image, such as shape and position, though I really tried to stick to the original sketch (changes were minor).

Destro… destroy!

Destro

"Don't look back…"
      - Boston, 1978

Yip!

Yip

A wicked overbite.

Zom.B

Is it really worth saying any more?

Zom.B

Coming for YOU.

It's time for new robots!

Hello.  Robots!

1-i

After a while, the morning routine becomes a chore.

AlBot

Nature is confusing.

Big Jaw

Loves to go by his "human" nickname.  A big ol' softy, if it wasn't for the sharpened metal edges.  

Rockit

Never had a negative thought in his life.

Buck, Damek and Frothy.

Here's another few figments to wet your whistle.

Buck

He sent 3 dentists out on disability from routine cleanings.

Damek

He LOVES to surprise little children on their way home from school.

Frothy

Despite his appearance, he's actually rather pleasant most of the time… except when Dr. Phil is on TV.

Halvdan the pubescent and Arms VI the teased.

It's been a while… too long actually.  Thankfully the robots and monsters have continued to spawn, even though they've been too quick to get a picture of and share with you.
Here's a new crop of troublemakers.

Halvdan

Carlin's older brother.  Puberty is a bitch.

Arms VI

It's a terrible name, but his great-great-great-great-grandfather wasn't particularly original, and his great-great-great-grandfather decided to make it a family name.  6 generations later, he can still smile despite the teasing he gets.

Robot Parade… robot parade...

It's been a while since the robots came out.  Hi guys!

Big.0

Can chew a mean bolt medley

Box.E

Appreciates the simply things in existence

Fl@.top

Can speak R2.

Robodobo

He's been awake for 37.62 years without one blink.

S-Pi

Never trust your secrets with this guy.

Scary monsters… super freaks...

Hello there!  I hope you are enjoying some of my creature and robot figments.  They're a lot of fun to do.  I'm very interested in fully finishing some of these.  I know my favorites, but if you happen to enjoy certain characters, let me know.  I'd rather finish the ones that mean something to people rather than just what I want.

In the next post, I'll get back to more robot figments.  For now, here's another bunch of creatures.

Alouette

It takes him 42 minutes each morning to get his hair just right.  Not to mention, his hands are made of feathers.

Carlin

He's actually a homicidal sociopath that you don't want to make angry.

Longfellow

His adopted parents… weren't thinking too deeply when they named him.

Sthena

She once mistook a water wiggle for a high school friend.

The monster post

Monsters have personality too.

Cornelius in the Raw

Original concept, but thanks to Darcy Korch, this guy is now in the third dimension.  

Algernon

He helped his monster barber to put all 18 children through college.

Quigley

Typical: Has great curly hair, but would live to have straight locks.

Chuey

Quick and slick.

Asteroth

Like a shark, this efficient machine is all about running and smiling.

More coming soon...

Just picked up a new scanner a couple of days ago, so the pics should look much better from the ol' sketchbook.

Coming very soon...

O-Key, Cheese-I and the penguin

Here's another robot and monster.  While trying to explore this theme, I find myself trying to incorporate more stories into my drawings. Sometimes a character design is good to get out of the system, but the stories are much more rewarding.

O-key and Cheese-I

You may be big, but I'm small.

And a fire-breathing penguin, of course.

Robots and monsters descend on Comic-Con

Headed to Comic-Con and realized that I forgot to upload some drawings last night!  Chalk it up to more Oddworld New 'n' Tasty... man that game is good.

C.P.R. 30-2

Don't push yourself too far without paying attention to the basics. 

Steve

Weapons and intelligence don't always mix.

X.O.Ro-Bo

Machines need love too.

Skully

He's been to hell and back.