Ok..I’m back…here we go!

Sorry about the last two months…It did feel good to just enjoy some good gaming that is for sure.  Here is a link to what I have been up to with the gaming world…

http://www.360voice.com/tag/dreno360

that is right…39 days straight of playing games…

With Gears of War 2 and Left four Dead coming out, Fall Out 3 already out, Dead Space, Fable II…Gaming is really easy to fall into these days…

But I will be steping back into art world really soon!

I only had two entries to the October contest, but there were both really nice.  Here they are…

A character from Dead Space…”Necro-morph”

And two characters from Silent Hill “Pyramid Head” and “Nurse.”

I will announce the winner soon.

With great sadness I have to also announce that the October winner will be the last prize awarded this year.  I am revamping my site and with the cost of that I won’t be do the monthly contest until February 09.

The blog with be going strong and I will be awarding people with smaller prizes like gift cards, Microsoft points, Wii points, and other things as well.

But when the site opens (no date just yet) it will be smooth as butter and mega easy to navigate.  Thanks again to all who have come to this little blog and checked out the ramblings of this gamer/artist!

Leave a comment just to say hi and let me know who reads this blog!  Also write why you like it, if you like it, so I know what I else I could do to make this grow into something larger than what it is now.

Thanks for reading!

Meet *kandoken!!!

I am really jealous of the next artist being interviewed! I mean I have been jealous of alot of  the artist interviewed here! But this guy he is just too laid back and cool for words you can’t help but like his style.  Not just his art but just is style of living, writing, the way he “Arts”.

Kandoken doesn’t take himself too seriously which is why he is so cool.

Check out some of his work…

Even though his Phillies smoked my Brewers…he is still alright with me!

Well on with the interview.  Not only can this guy draw, he is a fantastic colorist.  Some of the work displayed later on in the interview are collabs he did and I will list those as well to give the other artist there shout outs! Thanks again Kandoken for agreeing to the interview!

Could you start with a brief intro to yourself? Name, age, where you from, who you are and what you do….anything you want the readers to know about you…

Yo, my name’s Steve Mack. I’m 23 years young from Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and I’m an illustrator. I love skittles Capcom artists smash bros and heavy food. I also like girly music, white tigers, and street signs with graffiti over them.

What is your art background…Schooling, self taught etc. Also how long have you been into art? When did you start taking it seriously?

I started drawing around the age of 11. I remember being heavily into dragon ball z and alpha 2’s artist Bengus.  I took art classes in high school, but never really took it seriously until I was in college. In 2004 and I was on Akiman`s hp, and Akira had a blog on sf comics and I thought omg, Alvin Lee has leveled up immensely! Then looked closer and found it was colored by an artist named Arnold Tsang(cover of Ryu looking at Sagat). and that was when i wanted to throw away my smudge tool and lens flare for the real deal aka take art seriously.

Lines by Joe Ng Colors by Kanoken!

I love your sketches (the ones on your blog esp. )(blog shout click Here) What is your personal preference..pencils or full color illustrations?

I’d like to consider myself an ‘all-around’ artist. I like life drawing in 4B pencils. I use a ticonderoga 420T blue pencil with an F pencil for illustrations, these are the sketches i’d most likely take to photoshop. 

 

 

Do you have time for video games these days? If so what are you playing?

I try to, just to keep my mind off art, but that’s practically impossible. I’m a fan of the Advance Wars series, along with Metal Gear, Brawl, and Ultimate MK 3. I don’t play FFs(Final Fantasies???) anymore. Too many remakes.

  

Who are some artist that you admire? 

Phew… let’s see. For sure I’d like to say Akiman first, but….. it was actually kinu who influenced me first. Growing up, there was a Chinese owned mom & pops around the corner of my house called Hung Fat. It was awesome, they had new arcades like every 2 months. One month (i think this was in ’94) they had Dungeons and Dragons!!! And I thought the art was sooo $#!@kin cool I was like, ‘wow it looks like Ronin warriors but better!’ I’m sure those were my exact words. But yeah Kinu Nishimura first, then akiman. then it’s a mix of olds and news. Arnold Tsang, Norman Rockwell,Peter Nguyen(saigonradio), LeSean Thomas, Kim Seung, Stanley Lau, Frank Frazetta, so many. The list goes on and on.

Pencils by Joe Ng Colors by Kandoken! 

What inspires you as an artist? (Films, other art, people’s comments on DA…etc.) 

Umm… I’d say people. Mainly because I like to impress and improve. You can’t get better without the help and eyes of others! One of the key things as an artist you must know. And please.. be humble!

 

 

Lines by Jon Buran colors by Kandoken! 

If you weren’t an artist, do you see yourself doing anything else creative? (Music etc.) 

Definitely music. I looooooove music. It actually plays a huge role in my work. I’d probably make electronic beats. Mainly 8-bit combined with hip hop or something.

Lines by ~nupharius colors by Kandoken!

What are your tools of the trade? (also what programs do you use for colors)

Mainly photoshop 7. cs and up you cant group previous layers i’m like ‘wtf?’

Lines by  ~angel-t inks by jrs2345 and colors by Kandoken! 

What direction do you see your art going in the next few years?

Hopefully in the right direction.

Lines by Jon Buran colors by Kandoken! 

Are there any projects that you see going on that you wish you were apart of? (Film, video games, comics, etc.)

 I know people keep saying that I should try out for UDON. Yeah, maybe that. If they’re hiring I’d probably get a passport and head for canada.

Thanks again Kandoken! Awesome interview! 

Thanks again man! Love your colors and your pencils!!  Good fortunes to you in the future! 

Meet aaronwty!!!

Sometimes pictures speak louder than words so let me start with this…

Holy batman-flippin biscuits it’s the Joker by aaronwty!!!

Awesome artist, cool and humble person…just a great interview!

Questions by me awesome bat-butt-kickin’ art by aaronwty!

Well, thanks again bro for taking the time for the interview!  Let’s get things started with a brief Bio about yourself. Name (not required if you don’t want) age, and your background with art. Any schooling or classes or formal training?

My name is Aaron Wong and I studied in an art college in Malaysia, my home country, for 3 years taking diploma in Illustration. I loved drawing since I was very small, but until I stepped into college I only realized that I couldn’t really draw so well all that while, during the 3 years of studies I improved alot and I worked as a concept artist in the animation line in malaysia for more than a year after graduation. In a week time i’m going to UK for final year for a degree in Illustration and continue my journey of exploration in art.

Talk about determination! You are truly a blessed artist who doesn’t mind working hard to improve!

Gotta start with HOLY-FREAKIN’ BATMAN! Are you serious! Those joker pieces are the Best I have seen on the net! What drew you to the character Joker from the Dark Knight to illustrate him so many times? (All are fantastic by the way!)

After I watched the dark knight, I almost cried and I was really stunned and touched by the effort that heath ledger put in to the character Joker. I have never seen any acting as good as that and the whole world was amaze. Other than the joker, the dark knight is one of the best movie ever in the sense of storyline, acting, action and so on. It shows the industry that in end a good movie still comes back to the basic foundation of storyline and acting. Not fancy specialy effects with no meaning. And this movie really brought back my passion of painting because I rarely drew for my own interest since I started working. Heath made me feel like I wanna draw again. I was slowly losing the passion. so I decided to create some really nice tributes for him to remember this great actor we lost.

You have a great style with traditional media and digital. Do you think there needs to be a balance or can a person just jump into digital mediums like photoshop and painter without getting an understanding of the traditional things like paint or inks?

Yes I think that in order to master digital art we need to learn the foundation of traditional mediums like water colour, pencils, and acrylic. Especially pencil. I think that if we master the skill of pencil sketching, you can do well in most of the mediums. Cause that is the basic foundation of drawing and it trains your art sense and observation. I dont believe that a person who cant draw with traditional medium can suddenly create brilliant digital art. unless he uses photo montage.

Any particular games you are playing now? (Here is one for you to watch for!) [link]

I used to play warcraft 3 DOTA but I sucked at it.. most of the time i just play winning eleven on ps2. i have been playing since winning eleven 4 until winning eleven 11 now.. I hardly get sick of the same game.. haha.. maybe football games hardly repeat when we play.. so its always interesting

What are your plans for your future in the world of art and design. Are you making this a career move?

When I studied in college I thought about doing covers for movies, novels, comics or albums. But once I started doing concept art I fell in love with it and I think I can do that for my career. Now my dream will be doing concept art for movies, and it will be nice if i can draw concept art for movies like Dark Knight or other cool movies. I worked as an environment concept artist and also a character designer for an animation project previously.. so most probably I will continue with that.

Who are some artist that you admire?

I always admired DrewStruzan, especially all the great movie posters he did for star wars, Harry Potter, Hellboy, Indiana Jones and so on. I also loved Slam Dunk the manga alot but i dont remember the artist’s name in english cause i read it in Chinese. And I also like a Chinese artist called zhuzhu. His works are very special. The strokes are so simple but yet so realistic and nice.

(Deviant Art can’t remove this one!)

I love your digital painting tutorials! How long have you been working in photoshop. Could you give a brief statement about your process work and how long it takes to finish a piece.

It depends what I draw. It’s really different the way I draw environments, portraits and character designs. If it’s a portrait I normally open a blank canvas in photoshop, A4 size and 300 DPI. I start with the outline in one layer, a rough sketch first. Then when the rough sketch is done I trace a neater outline over the rough one in a new normal layer. When the outline is done I open a new multiply layer and start painting the major colours in darker tone from light to dark. and finally I open a normal layer and paint opaque colours from dark to light. Always paint the big areas first and do the details at last.

You are a big fan of films and pop culture. How do these things affect what you wish to create with your art.

I always tell myself that I only wanna draw the things that I like. Because if I have no interest in something no matter how hard I try to paint or draw it I dont think it will look nice. That is why I drew so many football and basketball players, movie stars and batman characters because I like them and I enjoy it alot when I draw them.

If you could work on any project/ film/ video game/ television what would it be.

I would definitely wanna work in the next Batman movie! haha! or Superman, or any basketball or football related movies.

Favorite video game of all time?

Winning Eleven 5,6,7,8,9,10,11!!!

Thanks again Aaron! Good luck on your adventures in the UK! Click here to see his whole gallery!

And the Winner is…

Got to go with the Glukkon on this one.  These guys are the true essence of evil and they have what it takes to be a villain for sure.  

These Glukkons are only worried about getting more wealth through whatever means possible. For the rest of us, this means smoke‐producing factories, exploitation of natural resources, enslavement of indigenous cultures and slaughtering of any wildlife that stand in their way. 

Evil… pure Evil as we know it to be!!! 

This fantastic artwork was done by squeak117 from Australia.  (First International Winner!) 

The game he chose was Gears of War 2.  When it comes out it’s all yours Squeak117!

The other three entries…

were all done by ~lukedenby.

He was one of the first to be interviewed here at gamersdigart.com. Here is that link.

Yes he submitted all three!  Awesome chap!  Hope he submits again! 

I went with the glukkon because first: nice piece of art, but beyond that this was a true villain.  They hate all and are very selfish creatures by nature.  

Vodka Drunkenski is a jerk for sure…but not a villain. A drunk yes, villain no. 

The Koopa family has caused some problems in the mushroom family…but besides kidnap Princess Toadstool what have they really done.  They just prove Bowser needs to work on his skills with the ladies that’s all.  

Earth Knight…from Shadow of Colossus…is vicious, cold, destructive but not a villain he be.  More of a natural force of destruction, sort of like a massively walking tornado…with a club! 

Well that is all for now…I want to see more submissions!!!  A game!!! A Free Game is on the line…Brand New and wrapped in plastic waiting for YOU!! 

Here is a reposting of October’s Contest Rules:  

 

October’s Contest (since halloween is approaching) is to draw, paint, vector, or simply “Art” a monster/creature from a video game. It could be any video game, but the creepier the better. Monsters and creatures could range from anyone like the Nemesis in Resident Evil, the Locust or really any villain from Gears of War, to a character from Devil may Cry. (also Ninja Gaiden had some crazy monsters/creatures in there!)  

So the theme is monsters/creatures and the creepier the better! Hope to see some more entries! Think about it…November has some really cool games coming out! Who here wouldn’t want Gears of War 2 or Left 4 Dead for Free?  What about Fable 2????

 

 

Third contest results: Villains

September’s contest was titled Villains.  It was simple, open and easy to do. Illustrate a villain from any video game past or present, win a free game call it a day. I won’t say who illustrated each entry this time, I will simply post the entries. I will announce the winner on Friday 10/3/2008. Thanks to all who entered! 

No explanation really needed here. Everyone in gaming knows this villainous family from the mario universe. Not to be confused with Bowser Jr, this is the Koopa Family! 

This is a Glukkon from the Oddworld universe. 

-Click here to read more about Glukkons

Glukkons are the ruthless, heartless capitalists that are the management of the Magog Cartel, the achetypal industrial family with a stronghold on Mudos.

This is Vodka Drunkenski from the old school game Super punch out (not to be confused with punch out and Mike Tyson’s punch out!) 

 

This is the Earth Knight – Gaius – Terrestris Veritas – Mammal guardian 2 from Shadow of  the Colossus! What a great game! 

There you have it! I will announce the winning illustration on Friday! The winner will receive free game of their choice!

 

October’s Contest (since halloween is approaching) is to draw, paint, vector, or simply “Art” a monster/creature from a video game. It could be any video game, but the creepier the better. Monsters and creatures could range from anyone like the Nemesis in Resident Evil, the Locust or really any villain from Gears of War, to a character from Devil may Cry. (also Ninja Gaiden had some crazy monsters/creatures in there!)  

So the theme is monsters/creatures and the creepier the better! Hope to see some more entries! Think about it…November has some really cool games coming out! Who here wouldn’t want Gears of War 2 or Left 4 Dead for Free?  What about Fable 2????