Progress

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by. Even though I haven't been posting lately a lot of people are still accessing the blog. I really appreciate the good traffic! Thank you!

I want to let you know that I'm making steady progress with the special project I've been working on. I'm missing posts cuz I'm into it. Every day I get more and more done. It's looking good! You're going to enjoy this special feature. I've got enough accomplished now that I can pretty much tell when I'll be publishing. A little while longer and I'll have something to show that you'll really enjoy! A new character based franchise is on the way. I'll be keeping you informed. Thanks again for hanging out.

Update on Special Project

Hello folks! I've been creating on a daily basis on a dedicated project I've been telling you about for some time now. The art I'm doing is going towards the completion of the project getting it to a point where I can publicly disclose it and share the content online. There's a lot of work that's going into this. It's been a monumental personal effort to develop the project over a very long time but the end of this phase is coming into sight I'm happy to say. It's getting closer to publication with each passing day.

This is a character based property that I'm sure you'll enjoy. If you like the concepts I've developed before, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and Jak and Daxter, or anything else I've done in animation, I'm confident you'll love this one. I enjoy working on it and I'm excited about how it's turning out. The project is very different in a way that you'll find engaging and entertaining. It has a long and profound behind the scenes history and I'm glad it's at the point where it can be disclosed soon.

So hang in there with me if you would please. I'm still around and will post as much art as I can in the meantime. Thanks for checking in! I'll be following up soon.

Charles Zembillas

Exploring characters through watercolor

Not sure if I posted these images previously. If I have please consider this entry a review. Sometime around 2003 I was working with my students at my school in the Visual Development class. Lesson being how to employ simple rendering techniques using a classic medium such as watercolors. I sketched these demos and finished them with a very direct and efficient use of pigments. That's the great thing about watercolor. The simpler your approach the more effective the results. Practicing with traditional mediums such as watercolor paints will help you improve your digital illustration skills as well. Many artists including myself recommend learning basic analog painting techniques prior to or in conjunction with your education with digital illustration programs. It'll help make you a better artist.

Character Head Rotation demo

Hello folks! Last night in the Character Design 1 class at my school I helped a student understand the basic concepts behind a head rotation. This is a continuation of what I featured a few days ago on my blog in connection with the raccoon head designs. 

Rotations are a vital aspect of what a professional character designer must be able to do. It's the bridge between concept and production. I make a point to my students of being able to come up with professionalsstandard character rotations as part of one's skill set. 

This technique was a simple line up on a single sheet of paper. It's easier to do that the animation technique on multiple sheets of paper on a lightbox disk as is the traditional method of animation but it's not as accurate so you have to be very diligent during the process to keep your character on model. Rotations are also a handy exercise in improving your artistic abilities. I recommend practicing them as a creative challenge.

Something old something new on the way

Hey there everyone! I'd like to thank you for continuing to visit my blog and gracing it with good traffic and lots of page views. I'm sincerely appreciative of the attention you've given my art in the going on 20 months that I've been actively posting it here.

 

I'd also like to tell you about something I've been working on. I've mentioned it before in passing mostly on some comments here and there. This is something special. It's been in development for a long time. I'm enthusiastic about publishing and sharing it. Especially with people who like character based entertainment.

 

I've committed myself to bringing it home for all to enjoy and experience. I'm closing in on the last part of it. Once this is finished I'll be debuting the project here. I figure it to be a couple more months or thereabouts before I'm at that point but it's getting close. It's a large amount of work. With your patience and indulgence I'm confident you'll like what you see once it's released. 

 

I've also got a large catalog of art that I intend to bring to the light of day. A big inventory of stuff including more images from Crash Nitro Kart, the original He-Man and She-Ra series and never before seen art from lots of other projects. Some from different eras and even other video game characters that were created but never made it to the console.

 

Thanks again friends for frequenting my blog. I hope you'll continue to stop by and see what's up.

Tonight's doodles

I had a chance to draw with my students in this evening's Visual Development class at my school. The purpose to these sketches was to practice and have fun. I attempted to succeed in both areas. They're presented in the order by which they were created. Hope you enjoy them.

Raccoon head doodles

This evening as class resumed for the New Year one of my students was working on a raccoon design for her assignment in Character Design 1. As she worked to develop her concept I came up with a few images of my own to help illustrate a point and guide her in the ways of generating a variety of images to define an idea. Even subtle changes can make a significant difference in appearance when it comes to your characters. When you embark on the path of concept development the more designs you generate the more you're able to explore all the possibilities and achieve a result that's right for what you're looking for.

More strange girls

Wonder what these ladies would be like on a date. More concepts from sketch sessions over the Christmas break.

Bad dude - Character concept

Something else I sketched while having fun over Christmas. I imagine this fellow to be a real bad ass in ways would be intriguing within a narrative context / story line...

Strange girl - More character doodles

As it always does the Christmas break sure went by fast. This year as opposed to times past I got a chance to do some drawing. Here's a couple more images I came up with while sketching with a friend who stopped by to visit. I mentioned that the first girl looked like an alien so he suggested drawing a third eye on her. So I took him up on the suggestion and placed it on the top of her head. Then I followed up with another more conservative version of the character. Always fun drawing with friends.

2014 - Crash the party !!!