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While I don't like to think that I partake in the whole "New Years resolution" type stuffs, I do often find myself building on that fresh start momentum and start setting new goals at the beginning of the year. My objectives for the coming year are simple: be a finisher! I've discovered I'm really great at starting my own projects, now it's time to start seeing these projects through to the finish line!

Revisiting this little looping animation has turned into an ongoing project mostly due to the various hurdles that come with learning new software. While there are still many things to be learning, and trouble-shooting with Blender, the experience I've gained this last year has really renewed my excitement around exploring the software, making this the perfect project first to reach the finish line.

Keeping each project on my (ever expanding) list a higher priority will certainly be challenging among the other client work, though I'm looking forward to seeing them through to their final stages, and how my skill set continues to grow and develop. Balance will be key, as this type of work keeps me growing and the creativity flowing!

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Bit of a throwback today as we close out another year in anticipation of once again starting fresh with the new, I thought I'd share a little holiday themed illustration from way back in 2020 (right).

It's been quite the journey for myself. Over these past several years I've been trying to figure out the next steps, trying to visualize where I'd ultimately like to see my life and career move into next, and while I know I've made some progress, I really don't spend enough time celebrating the wins. If I were one to be making New Years resolutions, that would definitely be top of the list, aiming to be a bit gentler with myself, a little kinder, and a lot more loving overall. Let's all take a moment to celebrate all that was amazing about 2024, and carry that momentum into 2025, celebrating as much as possible and truly enjoying this journey of life.

Happy holidays everyone!

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This little looping animation was something I created using the software of the Adobe Suite: After Effects, and Animate. Now that I'm out from under the Adobe thumb, I thought this could be a fun and simple project to recreate using Blender. As I really should come to expect now with Blender, what appears simple is often anything but...

There truly is always something to be learning in Blender. Even when I think I have a pretty good idea as to how to use a tool, primitive, or simply executing a technique, there is always some nuance that has yet to be discovered. I continue to persist though, and am especially excited to be doing more character work in Blender. Even the simple Snoopy character has been fun playing with, and I'll be curious to see how the rigging and animation part of the project progress.

I have other character modeling (and rigging) projects in mind, and you can find out more and vote on which projects are most interesting to you as donor incentives or shop items on my Ko-Fi page.

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Recently I started work with a new collaborator on another game project, this time working on character design. Designing original characters has been something I've been wanting to get into for a while, and while I have enjoyed working on my own projects, I really appreciate this opportunity to work with someone in hopes of bringing their creative vision to life.

The game idea is in early development stages, though there are more solid concepts when it comes to visual direction. Based on some of the elements provided by the developer, I am in the process of creating a few different styles for this magical girl character, starting with some poses and general costuming before re-visualizing in the isometric view of the game.

Ideally, my aim is to get one of these characters into Blender and experiment with some 3D pixel art, eventually moving into rigging for animation.

Always on the look out for new projects, if you'd like to collaborate one something artsy drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you!

If you like what I do and want to support, visit me on Ko-Fi as well!

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First animation I created for a client using Blender, and it was an experience! Definitely a project I'd like to revisit at some point as I had some very different ideas that I was hoping would be relatively simple to execute, though I seemed to have underestimate just how complicated, and frustrating, Blender can be. Fortunately, I was saved with this tutorial by Blender Made Easy, as well as this amazingly free, online video editor, Pikimov (mostly for help getting audio and lightning effects to sync more cleanly).

This was the first of a series of animation projects for First Stage, and really helped me to finally commit to some animation software, something I've been internally debating about for far too long. Every time I've tried to get into Blender, it's felt so overwhelming and daunting, and while the deadlines were stressful, they did help me to laser focus my learning. Grateful for the opportunities, and looking forward to digging into Blender with more projects!

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Recently, I've been continuing my journey with 3D and Blender. Just as I had finally cut the Adobe cord, I was commissioned for some animation work, which I was happy to take, it simply plunged me straight into my own personal deep dive with Blender. It was a fun, and often hair pullingly frustrating experience, though I learned a lot, so much so that I got more and more excited about doing more work in Blender.

This project is one that I've had on the way back burner for quite some time. I wanted to take this illustration I did many moons ago, and turn it into a short, looping animation. I had various ideas, especially as it related to the various Adobe options at the time, and with more 3D options the concept is beginning to solidify. First things first, get the character modeled and rigged. While these are not small tasks, I'm looking forward to seeing this character come to life in a new way!

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More gesture drawing today, along with circling back to some concept art for another project that's been a bit back-burnered for me, a 2D platformer game. With an interested party on the development side, it's time for me to start digging into this project a little more deeply so we can start moving ahead with it together. These are some rough ideas for the Peter Pan and Tinkerbell characters. Perhaps another reread of the original work might be in order to help further the world building, along with creating some fun references/easter eggs for fans of the story.

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As I've been continuing to work through the Mermay prompts, my goal is to turn these into a series of postcards, or posters, maybe some stickers depending on the artwork. Once things get further along and I start completing them, perhaps I'll do a poll to get some input on what to print.

This particular piece is certainly a work in progress. My hope is for a more graphic looking piece like my design for the #force prompt, using simpler shapes and colors, while also being a bit more fluid in the illustration style.

It's been fun revisiting this project, and as it has been in the past, working on each of these has really helped to re-energize my creativity and playfulness with every other project I've been working on as well.

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Revisiting the Mermay prompt of Dolly in a few different ways. This revised version fits more with my initial vision for the sketch, now I'm working through the coloring of the piece. While I was originally imagining something much simpler, I'm liking how the texture is working and would like to see the two ideas come together.

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Continuing to follow the Mermay prompts, today's entry is for Dolly. Bit more challenging today, especially with my first concept for dolly. While the image was clear in my mind, translating to the page proved more difficult than I anticipated. Will likely need a bit more refinement before moving on to color with this one.

My second concept will also need a bit more refinement. I had a simpler character design in mind, and got a little too lost in the reference.

Definitely some fun ideas to revisit though, looking forward to seeing how each of them progress!

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Another Mermay inspired sketch based on the prompt Toy. I had a couple ideas for this, and wanted to pursue them both!

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As I continue to re-focus my work by re-incorporating more time for my own sketching and project exploration, I've been going through the Mermay prompts. May fourth was force focused, and I liked the idea of focusing on the forces of nature. Whales and waves can be so unfathomably large, that they can be forces unto themselves, which made it fun to see how I could incorporate these little mermaids.

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Inspired by Mermay and my earlier attempt with the #Aloha prompt, I discovered it had been way too long since I did some drawing, or any real creative projects for myself. Working my way back towards more character work, gesture drawing, and delving back into my own project work has become a much needed priority again. I'm always too quick to sacrifice time for myself because I am so invested in collaborative projects and those I'm working with, and am always reminded that my creativity is fueled by this type of work. Looking forward to more play, and continuing to explore some of my on-going projects that had gotten back-burnered recently.

Prioritize the play!

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A late, and very rough entry to Mermay.

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Back to the Donut Tutorial today, sort of. Following a bunch of tutorials in order to play around with text, geometry nodes, and other tools in order to make a more visually interesting intro to my rather long-in-the-tooth donut tutorial project.

Some tutorials of note: Blender Guru -- really a fantastic resource, and this time creating a small candy in order to demonstrate the geometry nodes. Joey Carlino -- while a little quick for this newbie to follow right along side, lots of really great information and explanation for each of the added elements. Really well done.

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Some very early, rough character design concepts for some game art I've been working on. The end look will be pixel art, which is very new for me, and so I wanted to try a few different styles and character types to see which might translate the best to the game environment.

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Some more very rough storyboard art for my animated short. I found myself back in Photoshop today, doing a little experimentation since I've been working in Krita for a bit I wanted to get a sense of the performance differences. Unfortunately it is significant, may need to continue to seek out alternatives, or simply see how things progress with the hand-drawn animation side of things. I do like how that side of Krita works over Photoshop, but there are still some major issues. Lots to keep experimenting with and consider.