CreativeJUUS

Creative Mondays 3 – Illuniverse Planets

// December 12th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // Creative Mondays, Illustration, Illustrator, Inspiration, Photoshop

This week’s Creative Mondays piece comes from a project I heard about on Twitter earlier in the week. The project created by @ph7labs entitled Illuniverse enables artists/illustrators to submit their own created planets onto a website showcasing their work. The aim is to create an entire universe with a variety of different styles.

The project seems to have taken off pretty well and you can already see a nice selection of styles from artists around the world. As an added bonus, each planet links back to it’s creator’s website and serves as a brilliant resource to explore a very creative collection of people!

What’s great about this project is that it’s an open idea. The brief is very open leaving you to create pretty much anything you want!

My first planet (I call Reddy) was an exploration from scratch. I sketched out a circle and drew whatever came into my head. I then worked on fleshing the planet out in Photoshop and the result seems to be some sort of red dripping spotted planet with a double halo ring!

The idea for my second planet was an homage to a scene from The Empire Strikes Back where Han Solo and his companions land the Millenium Falcon on an asteroid in an attempt to escape from the Empire. I created this planet in Illustrator as I rarely work in this program and wanted to expand my knowledge. Watch the clip below to see the scene that I’m talking about.

So I hope you enjoy these little guys and be sure to check out the entire collection over at Illuniverse.com!

Remember.

// November 11th, 2011 // 3 Comments » // Illustration, Photoshop

I do not know your name

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died

Your uniform, branch of service, it matters not to me
Whether Volunteer or Conscript, or how it came to be
That politicians’ failures, or some power-mad ambition
Brought you too soon to your death, in the name of any nation

You saw, you felt, you knew full well, as friend and foe were taken
By bloody death, that your life too, was forfeit and forsaken
Yet on you went and fought and died, in your close and private hell
For Mate or Pal or Regiment and memories never to tell

It was for each other, through shot and shell, the madness you endured
Side by side, through wound and pain, and comradeship assured
No family ties, or bloodline link, could match that bond of friend
Who shared the horror and kept on going, at last until the end

We cannot know, we were not there, it’s beyond our comprehension
To know the toll that battle brings, of resolute intention
To carry on, day by day, for all you loved and hoped for
To live in peace a happy life, away from bloody war

For far too many, no long life ahead, free of struggle and pain and the gun
And we must remember the price that was paid, by each and every one
Regardless of views, opinions aside, no matter how each of us sees it
They were there and I cannot forget, even though I did not live it

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died.

Kenny Martin

Zombie Astronaut

// October 31st, 2011 // No Comments » // Illustration, Photoshop, Posters

Every now and then ideas pop into my head and I just have to put the idea down onto paper. Zombie Astronaut was something I came up with about a month or so ago and it just so happened that it was perfectly timed for Halloween! Zombie films,  zombie television show, zombie games and well basically anything to do with those crazy undead creatures instantly captures my attention. Even some of my earlier sketches and a couple of my illustrative pieces on this site feature a few zombie creations.

The idea behind the poster was to replicate something similar to the photos that the real astronauts have taken of themselves. It was going to feature a zombie posing for the camera much like this photo below:

NASA Astronaut, Michael T. Good. This is NOT who I based the illustration off of!

I liked the thought of replicating this but as I progressed, the idea of zombies not needing oxygen popped into my head and how terrifying that threat would be in space.

In the past, I would create my illustrations mostly by sketching first, scanning the image and drawing using Adobe Flash. For this particular illustration I wanted to work entirely within Photoshop as I’ve been trying to get used to the different brushes and more particularly the detail you can get from using a stylus. I went to town with the gore on this one and with the help of a few blood brushes created some decent splats and sprays. I built up the image using layers of shading and then added dirt/grunge and blood on at the end. This enabled me to go back and make any adjustments on any layer I wanted. A really handy tip if you ever make a mistake and have to go back to redo anything.

With the title of the piece I was inspired by the look of The Warriors font with it’s rough spray paint style and The 1985 Twilight Zone title. I wanted to create the title rather than use a font so I decided it was best to try and sketch my version out by hand and once again scan it in. I still haven’t mastered writing using a stylus so this was an easier option for the time being. I refuse to give up the sketching!

Detailed image:

So here’s my poster in all it’s GORY! I hope you enjoy it and have had a fun and safe Halloween! Might get one of these printed and see what she looks like full size!

Big Brother Poster

// September 24th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Graphic Design, Illustration, Illustrator, Photoshop, Posters

Not that I’d like to promote or in any way put focus on this reality television show but my recent poster design is in fact all about Big Brother. Or rather my problem with it.

Not since the first series had I managed to ‘enjoy’ the format of shoving clashing personalities in a house for the summer, so imagine my delight when last year I heard that it was to be terminated! Fantastic I thought, we’ll never have to worry about constant updates on Facebook or Twitter about who said what to who and what they did next! Oh but I was wrong, the lovely Channel 5 (UK based) decided to take the reigns and deliver us the same drivel that we’ve seen for the last ten years.

So now that I’ve finished ranting and believe me I could go on, I decided to put pen to paper (or rather mouse to Photoshop?) and create my word of warning to all those persistent in watching people sleep until the wee hours of the morning.

Enjoy, but let it serve its purpose!