Crash Bandicoot - Baby T concept art

Not sure how much of this has been previously published but in any case here's some concept development art for another character from Crash Bandicoot. This time it's Crash's pet dinosaur. A baby Tyrannosaurus  Rex which was eventually named Baby T. He appeared in Crash 3. As with the other art I've been posting from this phase of Crash these are photocopies of the originals which I made at the time they were created. Unfortunately in some of these drawings I didn't capture the entire image but at least I kept a record of what I came up with.

The first image is the initial concept development of the character and is dated February 12 1998. The ones that follow are from a week later on February 19 1998.

Blue line doodle monster head

Guys I've been feeling pretty good lately thanks to the groove I'm in. For a long time I was drawn away from drawing and wasn't feeling too swell about it all the while but it was what it was. Since early last year when I changed the way I operate my school it's been a different story.

Here's something I came up with this evening doodling an image while thinking about things. I also had the chance to place a graphite line around Medusa from yesterday's post.

Medusa

A few days ago a student of mine was struggling to come up with a design for Medusa. She's a character from Greek mythology. Head full of snakes was her distinguishing feature. Last night I thought I'd try my own version and voila. This is a work in progress. The blue pencil sketch is as far as I got in a sitting with my talented and inspiring students. I plan to finish it by darkening the lines and some of the shading. Also plan on doing a few more versions of her.

Head rotation demo

I was organizing some of the art I've created in class recently and discovered a page that had a head design lightly sketched in preparation for a rotation. I started it several months ago but it got buried in the demonstrations I've accumulated. I decided to finish it and over the course of the past couple of evenings I had the chance to do just that. Another example of how to handle a basic head rotation using the line up technique which involves drawing all the poses on a single sheet of paper as opposed to animating on a light box with a page per image. This will come in handy next week when the new students in Character Design start for the month of July. The full page follows each individual pose at the bottom of the post.

Crash Bandicoot - Coco and Pura 2

Here's a couple more drawings of Coco Bandicoot and Pura from the development of Crash 3. They're dated January 29 1998. These are xerox copies. The originals are online but placing these images here on the blog helps to keep the presentation and historical archiving of Crash art going. This completes the collection of concept drawings featuring Coco and Pura in each other's company.

Classic Profile

Lately I've been introducing students to artists who are masters of classical imagery and illustration from around a hundred years ago and earlier. I'm being creatively influenced just as much or maybe more than my students. With a little time on my hands I sketched this profile in a manner reminiscent of a bygone era. I like to draw this way and plan on doing more compositions in this vein in the future.

Jak and Daxter girls - Part 4

There were several types of female characters I developed for Project Y aka "Jak and Daxter" in 2000. These girls were supposed to be librarians I think. Thus the big eyeglasses and longer skirts. I still attempted to give them a certain kind sexiness in their appeal. Whenever I got the chance to work on female characters for the project I especially enjoyed the creative experience.

Drawing Jesus - Burbank Art Association

The night before last on June 19 I was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Burbank Art Association. This is a not-for-profit organization that's been in Burbank since 1950. Believe it or not I went there as a guest and wound up becoming the president. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. 

As part of my presentation I was asked to create a simple demonstration of how I work. I began by describing that at a young age I was influenced by the art I saw at church. Growing up in the eastern orthodox church I was immersed in the byzantine style of design. Since most of what I do is concept development I thought it would be interesting to create drawings of Jesus in that manner. These are the sketches I came up with.

I'd also like to mention that my book was part of a raffle which the Association conducts during their meetings based upon what their guest artist contributes. I was told the amount of money they raised from the raffle that night broke their record. It was a very positive experience for everyone.

Crash Bandicoot - Coco and Pura

Here's something for the Crash fans. These images are from Crash 3 and the origin of Pura which was Coco Bandicoot's pet tiger cub. They're dated January 29 1998. Unfortunately they're photocopies as I never got quality reproductions of the art I created for Naughty Dog during this period. On the flip side at least I made xerox copies so a record could be kept of what I came up with back then. I don't know if any of these drawings or the ones that will follow have been published before. If not then enjoy some additional art from the heyday of Crash.

Pura is a nice character but I feel the design could have been enhanced. I was provided with a sketch from one of ND's artists and was directed to use it as a model for the design of the character. I don't like working this way. I felt stifled and not able to fully explore all possibilities during the development process. I didn't make a big deal out of it and went along with what they wanted while trying to do my best with the concept. In any case it is what it is and it turned out okay.

  

Appearances

These images are from a class demonstration at my school from about ten years ago in 2003. Although I was lecturing in character design I also mixed up a little life lesson in the session as well. Sometimes appearances can be deceptive. What you think is one thing may be another once the wool is removed from one's sight so to speak. Look for the truth in things. It may not necessarily be in what you initially see but in what lies beneath it all...