Character Assignment: Final Version

After some work, I completed the two characters seperately.

After, I made a background and combined the two, for the final version.

Character Assignment: Work in Progress

Using the sketches I did as a refference, I started making the general shapes for my characters.

Character Assaignment: Thumbnail sketches

Before I found any refferences, I drew this quick scetch up on paper.

Using the two images I found as refference, I drew up the following sketches.

Picture 1:

Picture 2:

Character Assignment: Research and ideas:

When I think of simple illustrator shape based characters, I probably think of an animal of some kind. And, if I'm thinking of an animal. I'm probably thinking of a wolf. I found these images on the internet which gave a pretty solid representation of what I was thinking of.

This was taken from Wikipedia at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_wolf

This was taken from a wallpaper site at the folling link: http://wallpaper-s.org/11__Injured_Wolf.htm

I could not figure out how to upload this file right, so now it is very stretched... Sad Face.

Mike Mitchell, kindred spirit...

The topic of video games and popular culture wasn't the only thing that interested me about this artist. Some of my favorite artists fall into the realm of political art, satirical art, and in short, art that conveys unmistakably clearly the artist's message to the reader. After all, I value art most as a form of communication. Mitchell's choice to render the cute cartoon dinosaur in a more realistic light not only showcases his technical skill, but shows you exactly what he wanted to, as explained in the description, tennis shoes and all.

The artist's second piece showcases an entirely different set of skills, and a different mindset as well. Within that, I feel he shows you his deeper, expressive side with the woman's face, and then shows of his more playful expressive side with the stylized creatures surrounding her; A touch I very much appreciated. It was this image that solidified my choice of this artist. In the art world, perhaps we follow a similar road...

Hi there!

My name is Nathan Takemoto, and I am twenty years old. I was born in California, and I've never actually left the state. Just like the rest of us, I went through around 14 years of schooling now. While I am not completely certain of my career goals yet, I am very interested in art, computers, video games, and the wonderful combination of the three. I also have an interest in film, computer graphics, animation, creative writing, and popular culture. I hope to gain more knowledge of digital art as well as art in general, a solid groundwork for art programs such as Photoshop, a better understanding of techniques and uses of a computer in the art world, and in general better skills on the programs in question. I also of course, hope to have a lot of fun, and produce the best work I can.