Cholesky's Lab

sincerest form...

2011-01-17T22:20:00.004-07:00

I've really been digging on Thomas Scholes' stuff lately - so I decided to make a loose copy of one of his paintings:source here:

also some random environment noodling that's somewhat based on his stuff

We need more angular panels

2010-10-03T20:44:00.002-06:00

[edit] tried to fix some of the crappy perspective issues

Attention All Class-A Drivers

2010-09-26T14:24:00.002-06:00

You have fifteen minutes to qualify...

mech-platformy-thing

2010-09-18T17:43:00.002-06:00

Bjarne Stroustrup Tickles a Robot

2010-08-28T09:32:00.003-06:00

Bubble Headed Space Helmets Are In

2010-08-21T18:06:00.002-06:00

So here's one more...

More Space-y Buildings

2010-08-15T21:05:00.001-06:00

Here's one more spacey sketch...

Long Time no Post

2010-08-14T12:48:00.002-06:00

I present this random Sci-fi building sketch as evidence that I'm not dead... hopefully the next update won't take so long.

Every Puzzle has an Answer...

2009-10-22T21:22:00.002-06:00

I just finished the second Professor Layton game - they're both awesome.

Further Extrapolations on the Elements of Awesomeness

2009-08-09T11:22:00.001-06:00

I'm still waiting for your retort Mr Vaughan. (it's like you guys are shipping a game or something...)

Pretty in Pink

2009-08-03T09:10:00.003-06:00

I spotted this awesome Kratos sculpt the other day and thought it would make a good value study.

A Spoonful of Speedy Texture-Bot Sketches...

2009-07-29T09:30:00.003-06:00

...helps the milestone go down. Also Luc = win.

A Study in Awesomeness

2009-07-21T23:16:00.002-06:00

as implied by the elements. Try to draw something more awesome - if you dare...

Face Study

2009-07-11T13:56:00.004-06:00

I decided to do a study of some faces draw by some of the digital artists that I really respect (yeah I know - I'm a fanboy) It took forever but it was a really good learning experience... There's art here from Jason Chan, Wesley Burt, Noxizmad, Marko D. and Gammon. Extra points for spotting the Warhawk Concept art.

Here's the origional art I used as a ref:

Winter is Coming...

2009-04-26T22:49:00.003-06:00

Here's a meh drawing from a great series of books. Ser Eddard Stark is cleaning "Ice" at the begining of "A Game of Thrones". I'm not generally into fantasy novels but these have been really good.

Fear my street fighting eyebrows!

2009-04-04T09:06:00.001-07:00

meh.

Under New Management...

2009-03-23T23:23:00.002-07:00

It's official. Today we announced the creation of our new company: Lightbox Interactive. Check it out. We're working on... well something cool for Sony. More info here and here...

LP,LP,D-Pad left, LK, HP

2009-03-16T23:12:00.002-07:00

Shameful!

Bring me the Earth Crystal...

2009-02-22T16:07:00.002-07:00

More nerd-fan art from Final Fantasy IV. This time it's Golbez.

Master Study

2009-02-15T16:54:00.003-07:00

I've been wanting to try painting Sargent's "Lady Agnew" since Robyn and I saw it in Scotland last year... it was amazing. Hopefully I can learn something without getting her expression right (because it's apparently impossible!)

Stupid Dark Elf!

2009-02-12T23:30:00.003-07:00

I've been playing through the DS version Final Fantasy IV. Here's a pic of Cecil, Yang, Tellah and Cid headed in to get the earth crystal.

E tu Lucius?

2009-02-03T23:45:00.002-07:00

More fun from reference...

also: why does Blogger mess with my colors?

deadwood 2

2009-02-02T21:48:00.003-07:00

At Josh's request I kept working on my Al portrait... You may need to click on the picture to see the difference. :)

Al's not looking so good dan...

2009-02-01T12:10:00.002-07:00

Another overworked drawing from ref...

Draper's Log - Stardate 1234 - b

2009-01-31T14:05:00.002-07:00

We just finished watching season one of "Mad Men" and it's great. The lighting in it just makes me want to pause it and paint... so here's Don Draper, from ref. but I guess I missed his likeness. After I had his face mostly painted in I asked Robyn if she could tell who it was. She said "uh... that guy from Star Trek?" Which is really a bad sign given that she didn't ever watch Star Trek.

Turban head and his Lumpy Hams

2009-01-29T00:04:00.003-07:00

Just a quick value doodle...

Castle of the Demon King

2009-01-14T20:57:00.005-07:00

I've put way too much time into my Little Big Planet level "Castle of the Demon King". It's loosely based on Castlevania - very non linear... Here are some screenshots:

Christmas in Space

2009-01-11T10:00:00.003-07:00

Now that it's not really relevant I guess I should post my Christmas card...

I took it in to Kinkos to have it printed (next time I'm buying a printer) and went through several employees trying to do the simple job of printing an image - at one point after the girl couldn't find the file she had just copied and was turned around looking for someone to help I reached over the counter and used the mouse to click on it... "oh", she said "It just takes it a second." Finally, after the other guy came over to help and I explained what I wanted he said "you know... we sell christmas cards here" UGH! PRINT SHOP RAGE!

Bub?

2008-12-27T10:12:00.003-07:00

I'm really enjoying Mike Mignola's Hellboy comics, but my attempt to draw him just shows how rusty I am... sigh. I've got a pretty good holiday break so hopefully I'll get a bunch of posts up.

The demon king

2008-12-21T09:50:00.003-07:00

Long time no update... I know. sorry. My Little Big Planet level required a portrait of the demon king - so here you go. I don't know if I'll actually use it in the level - I'm not psyched about how it turned out. (outta practice I guess.)

Thumbscapes 2

2008-09-18T09:20:00.002-06:00

I drew up some more environment thumbnails because they're fun. Also of note: Gerg is blogging his progress on his way to becoming a game programmer. Check out his sweet actionscript house.

Thumbscapes

2008-09-10T00:08:00.004-06:00

I think part of the reason that my last environment was sub-awesome was that I spent too little time finding a good idea and too much time trying to fix a bad one. So I spent some time just doodling landscape thumbs tonight. It's really fun. here's my second sheet of sketches...

Lamescape

2008-09-09T21:16:00.002-06:00

I really enjoy the environment drawings of Sparth and Thom Tenery but whenever I try to draw my own environments they end up like this one - kinda boring and lame.

Tonari No Totoro

2008-09-04T00:05:00.003-06:00

The forest that inspired Miyazaki to create My Neighbor Totoro is in danger of being cut down so a bunch of artists at Pixar are running an art auction to raise money to save it. There's ton's of great stuff from several of my favorite artists. I figured I would contribute by adding to the Totoro meme and buying the book when it comes out on Saturday. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Critter Friends

2008-08-30T16:11:00.004-06:00

One for the "should have posted" it files... here's Rob's birthday card this year. See if you can spot all of her imaginary friends: Jerry the purse, Reggie the iPod, Zoe the cat, Buddy the dog, Skippy the bat, invisible horse, and her two chickens.

Repainting The Lab

2008-08-30T10:17:00.002-06:00

In commemoration of 50 posts I decided my Cholesky picture was looking a little unfinished... so I repainted it. here's the new and the old for comparison.

Bush 2 Electric Boogaloo

2008-08-28T21:30:00.004-06:00

I generally keep this blog apolitical but 'tis the season so I'm gonna make an exception. (hopefully it won't scare off both of the people who read this blog)

I just don't understand how he's a candidate... sigh.

We now return you to your regular opinion-free blog.

Coffee's a little dark today...

2008-08-26T23:48:00.002-06:00

I haven't drawn an office cthulu for a while... thought I'd give him another shot. I did this on in greyscale and then added color later. It's an interesting way to work - solve one problem at a time.

Don't worry it's not loaded, never is.

2008-08-20T22:35:00.003-06:00

Robyn has the weirdest dreams... She took a nap on Sunday and was dreaming that she was a special agent protecting endangered animals with help from Morgan Freeman. After she woke up she worked out the rest of the first season for her new action series coming this fall to NBC.

Zero-G Combover

2008-08-06T21:44:00.002-06:00

Just another quick space-man drawing... can't say I like it. better luck next time I guess. Someday I'll learn to fix a drawing before I get out of the construction phase.

Stealing the show

2008-07-26T10:07:00.003-06:00

The new batman is great - Everyone should go see it... (everyone who likes dark comic book movies anyway)

You are entering a world of pain.

2008-07-04T23:55:00.003-06:00

another pic from photo ref... I worked on it too long and it ended up just being a mess - I'll have to try one without ref next.

Uh... I'm gonna go find an ATM

2008-05-10T23:30:00.002-06:00

I figued that as long as I'm drawing from photos I might as well use movie images where things are lit well. And what better place to start than The Dude.

Another Face

2008-05-08T00:01:00.003-06:00

One more random photo off of the web... It's good practice - I suck at reproducing skin tones.

In space there's no one to hear you make a sandwich

2008-05-07T00:59:00.003-06:00

Part one of the epic Star Deli series...

Another Random Photo

2008-05-06T22:29:00.002-06:00

I realized today that I haven't been drawing at all lately so I sketched up another random photo from Flikr. Hopefully there will be more to come...

And that's why they call it ArtRage...

2008-02-20T23:44:00.002-07:00

another ArtRage/Photoshop mess from reference. ugh. nuff said.

One Experiment for the Price of One!

2008-02-14T01:28:00.003-07:00

Ok... I had to keep messing with it. Here it is after some time back in Photoshop...

Two Experiments for the Price of One!

2008-02-14T00:49:00.002-07:00

After Lars and Nate (rightly?) teased me about drawing fan art for my own game (I didn't work on the art!) and suggested I draw from photo reference I downloaded the latest version of ArtRage and viola! This mess happened... ugh. ( I wish ArtRage let you mix digital techniques with the traditional ones - where's my opacity slider?)

Tiptoe through the Landmines

2008-02-02T10:43:00.001-07:00

So much for metal... This one started as an experiment trying to get grays that had more colorful lighting. I'm not sure how well it worked out - passable I guess. . Anyone have tips for lighting? comments?

Chernovans are METAL!

2008-01-29T23:23:00.001-07:00

One more attempt at a warhawk remix... This time I wasn't exactly going for TF2 and I actually did some sketching before hand. I was trying to figure out what personality would a chernovan have and I thought leather pants... over-the-top getups... pale skin... chernovans are metal! It's hard to do anything interesting color-wise with a grey outfit and pale skin so maybe I'll draw a Eucadian next time...

Whose lab is this anyway?

2008-01-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

I've really enjoy the concept stuff done by noxizmad and I haven't really done anything cholesky related so I thought I'd draw him up and spend too much time polishing the drawing.

!valve

2008-01-14T00:45:00.001-07:00

I felt like trying to sketch a Warhawk character with a more simplified/stylized look like Team Fortress 2... It turns out it's hard. sigh...

One more card...

2007-12-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Since it's been a week of cards my girlfriend Robyn was wondering why I never posted the card I made for her back in july. So here you go... one last card.

Yearrg. Yo Ho!

2007-12-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

Here's my christemas card for this year... I'm not sure I'm crazy about it (especially after the colors changed during printing) but I am sure I'm done with it.

Last Christmas I gave you my Card...

2007-12-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Last year I decided to draw up a Christmas card for my friends and siblings - and I just realized that I hadn't posted it yet so here it goes...

The ninja was on the front and the tree was on the back. It probably would have looked better if the dragon just coiled all the way around him (thanks Nate!) but by the time it was pointed out I was too tired to fix it. I'll post this year's card when I get done with it (Yeah... I know I'm late)

Robot Rampage...

2007-09-26T10:05:00.001-06:00

Wow... I haven't posted in a long time... ugh. here's a quick doodle to get started again. I'm thinking about screen printing some shirts and so I've just been drawing ideas. hopefully I'll post again sooner.

Swat guy

2007-07-10T22:25:00.000-06:00

I picked up a one of thomas herpich's books and I love his goofy squiggly drawings. It made me wanna bust out some loose line work and color it up. (I suppose it's goofy enough) kinda silly... kinda fun. dunno.

Back With Bigby

2007-07-05T16:54:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted anything in a while... but I'm not dead... Just busy. I've been reading Fables (the comic) lately (I know... James Jean fanboy) but here's one of Bigby... Fable town's resident big bad wolf/detective.

Don't Push That Button

2007-05-22T10:36:00.000-06:00

This is a quick color sketch I did for a painting that I've been wanting to make for a while... Having this guy above my fireplace would just be awesome. I'll probably do some more sketches before I paint him but if you have feedback - please let me know before I waste a ton of oil paint!

One Last Revision

2007-05-18T22:55:00.000-06:00

Donald was kind enough to toss together and send me this rework of the composition and I thought I would share it... It's impressive to see a few changes really strengthen the image - I would rework the actual image but I sadly accidentally saved over the high resolution version and I'm just too lazy to change the lighting around.

From Donald's mail:

"i know that this is changing the whole composition, but i was trying to keep the viewer stay within the picture frame. therefore, the main character facing inwards, his pointy finger almost center in the whole frame, the dragon facing inwards. i also felt that his pony tail should at least touch the top of the frame, adding mystery to the open sky behind it, keeping his razor sharp spear off and away from the dragon's head/neck. darken the main character and have the background and the secondary items like the chest and dragon not 'compete' with the main character...forgive me if this conflicts with the story....."

The NAN Cannon

2007-05-18T09:18:00.001-06:00

Jim pointed out that our Warhawk clan "the NaN clan" needed a mascot... I think it ended up being a picture of our secret weapon, but it was fun to paint nonetheless. Lots of nerdy references in there if you get the joke.

Your Feedback at Work

2007-05-15T08:48:00.000-06:00

I made some mods to yesterday's image based on the feedback that I recieved... what do you think? better or just different?

Smokey and the Samurai

2007-05-14T00:14:00.000-06:00

I've been playing with this one all weekend... trying to fix a bunch of the problems that I have with my other drawings: bad composition, not enough saturation, etc. I'm still not sure if I fixed anything - but I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. Please comment and critique!

There's Nothing Wrong with Being Sensitive

2007-05-11T10:32:00.000-06:00

Here's my second propaganda poster - this one for the Chernovans. I ended up painting quite a bit of it twice because the power blinked off on my computer. I rather dislike the composition but I guess it still works because it's absurd. Please feel free to critique!

Hard to Belive... but It's True.

2007-05-05T16:58:00.000-06:00

Another Warhawk drawing... this one slandering the bad guys / Chernovans. Something tells me this kind of propaganda would backfire.

Space Suite

2007-05-04T10:36:00.000-06:00

Just another random doodle... playing around with a different style (with the obvious apologies to Ashley Wood (possibly NSFW)) It's fun to sketch like this though... kinda lazy.

YOU HAVE BEEN JUDGED!

2007-05-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

just a quick Judge Dredd / Judge Death sketch. It's fun to play with just black and white and a chunky brush... it makes it feel like a really forgiving linocut. I've never really been that into Dredd comics... his art style has always been a bit too "Heavy Metal" for my taste, but my Roommate has had some Dredd comics floating around and they're actually pretty good.

Fear the Cluster Bomb

2007-04-28T17:34:00.000-06:00

I felt like doing a Warhawk drawing (Is it fan art if you worked on the game but not on the art?) and I ended up trying a new method on this one... Typically I draw in the lines on one layer and color underneath/over that on other layers but it's started to feel very constrained and I thought it would be fun to try something sketchy with a chunky brush. It probably also factored in that my copy of Swallow #2 and #3 showed up this week... there's some awesome stuff in there.

Louis Louis

2007-04-26T22:50:00.000-06:00

One of the reasons I haven't posted more during the last week is that Warhawk is in beta... another reason is that I've been reading Louis Theroux's book "The Call of the Weird." It's pretty interesting... I learned about Louis from watching some of his documentaries on the youTube. I like how genuinely friendly he is and how it's very disarming to the crazy people he interviews.

Cry Havoc and Let Slip the God of War!

2007-04-20T09:45:00.000-06:00

I probably spent more time on this one then I should have... but it was fun. There are a few places in there where I felt like things turned out OK but for the most part my sentiments reflect those of Kratos.

If you haven't picked up GOW II yet you should... It's pretty impressive. I have tons of respect for Tim and Christer and crew out in Santa Monica. They make it look easy... sigh.

Now with a New Section on Canadian Bacon Space

2007-04-18T01:17:00.000-06:00

Any time I tell someone the name of my blog after they ask me "what?" they ask me what it means... I'm afraid if you want to know you'll need to read from a text book I've co-authored. If you're not amused by this image I don't think I can explain it so you will be.

The Bat Snaps

2007-04-12T01:14:00.000-06:00

Illustration Friday's word this week was snap and what can you do with a super hero onomatopoeia like that except draw everyone's favorite crazy caped crusader um... well... bringin' the justice. (I'm sure that guy deserved it)

[edit:] there seems to be some confusion about what this weeks word is... I think it's actually "green." Oh well... Snap is a better word anyway. It doesn't really work if Kermit the frog is snapping someone's neck. I guess this was drawn for Nate's-Blog's-illustration-Friday.

WIZ POP!

2007-04-10T22:51:00.000-06:00

I drew up another wizard... don't worry I don't have some crazy wizard fixation - I just end up doodling the same thing until some other idea comes along. I'm sure I'll be drawing robots or gunslingers before you know it.

Look at the Sternomastoid on That Guy!

2007-04-06T23:10:00.000-06:00

this random doodle brought to you by Nate who pointed out that no one on my blog has a neck... happy now?

'Nother Wizard

2007-04-03T00:47:00.000-06:00

I was feeling fairly "meh" about last night's wizard so I thought I would give it another try. I like this one more... but it's still not that great.

Zant's Hat

2007-04-02T00:48:00.000-06:00

playing more zelda this weekend I drew up this guy with a zant-esc hat... and once again I ended up with a sketch that I liked a lot more than the colored version. I guess this make sense as I spend more time drawing things and less time finishing them - it's still disappointing. any comments?

chicken doodle

2007-04-01T18:17:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure what brought this on... I am sure that it's a pain to try to color feathers and leaves.

Nerd Banner

2007-04-01T16:49:00.000-06:00

Here's a drawing I made for the top of my resume... trying to cram a bunch of work stuff into a banner - still not sure if I'll use it.

Red Meh Mountains

2007-03-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

I suppose I'll have to fool around with atmospherics more before I can paint a scene like this that doesn't suck... (also I should probably use reference next time)

Also - wandering around on the web I came across the website of someone who used to work with me (who is still awesome apparently) and came across a friend of his. While wandering around his blog I thought to myself, "Man this guy is really ripping off that awesome FFIX guy..." actually it is that guy. great stuff.

Cthulhu Take Two

2007-03-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

I wasn't very happy with Cthulhu from a few posts ago so I gave him another try... It's fun to draw a horrible cephalopod dragon deity.

Also on the link front... Jillian Tamaki and her friend Sam Weber are awesome illustrators. Check 'em out.

happy place

2007-03-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

It's probably best not to say anything about work these days except that sometimes it's a comedy of the absurd. And clearly I know absurd.

It's the Top Hat

2007-03-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

something tells me I was up drawing too late last night.

Defeated by Ganon

2007-03-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

I've tried a few times now to color this drawing of Ganon but they all come out looking crappy. I think it's because his trapezius and collar are too high. Oh well. (Also... anyone inclined toward Zelda should definitely pick up Twilight Princess - it's great.)

rockin out.

2007-03-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

it turns out that if you crank up that new Nine Inch Nails tour Blu-Ray you will inevitably draw a picture of someone rocking out.

Teh b47d Blogs

2007-03-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hello interweb. I've decided to start a sketch blog so that I have some way to emit my random photoshop doodles and unsolicited opinion into the great anonymous ether. I plan on keeping things mainly art related because I suppose the only people who will read this will be my friends and family and they're already sick of hearing me talk about LCP solvers (it doesn't take long)