Sketchbook: Eric Elwell

[EricElwell]

Pardon the watermarks, it's just easier to grab them from my blog than to make a new dir.

http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080229_805_site2-29-08sketch.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080229_805_site2-29-08Alchemist.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080211_901_site2-11Dom3.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071115_286_site11-15hermi4.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071019_682_site10-19creatures2.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071019_682_site10-19creatures3.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071019_682_site10-19creatures1.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071116_771_site10-19creatures.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071019_567_site10-19scape1.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071019_567_site10-19scape3.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071116_94_Croc1.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_323_3_27_08_Dom3_7armor2b.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_323_3_27_08_Dom3_7armorB.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08_creatures007.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_323_3_27_08_Dom3_7armor3b.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08_Dom3_1Crab.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08_Dom3_4Storm2.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08_Dom3_2Tribal.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08_Dom3_4Storm1.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08_Dom3_4StormSketchy.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080229_805_site2-29-08Concept1.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080229_805_site2-29-08t4900.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080229_805_site2-29-08Concept2.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080229_805_site2-29-08Concept3.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080208_48_site3-08creatures002.jpg http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20071116_842_RhinoCrocPaint1.jpg

C&C is welcomed for sure

[rooster]

pretty cool dump man! i like the wing faced guy very interesting idea

[EricElwell]

Here's a new one:

http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080328_636_3_27_08_creatures011b.jpg

Also moved these from the top to this, since they are more recent.
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08__bots001.jpg
http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08__creatures006.jpg

[EricElwell]

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/Dom3Concept5b.jpg

here's a dealio I did for my pastor, he wanted the image blown up and cropped
for landscape format, so I figured I would just fill it in.. Did this with the mouse
so it is a little bleh bleh.. but I figured I'd show it since I don't do these sort've
things often.

Here's the original:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/RoadOriginal.jpg

and the reworkio:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/RoadCrop.jpg

[Vig]

Nice stuff! And a lot of it too, wow! I really like the Rino-Croc, thats just awesome.

I'm not too sure about the reworked photo. I'm not really sure what you where going for? Did you extend the photo? Did paint over it?

[EricElwell]

hey thanks! yeah, just extended it to the left and increased the size. Cleaned it up to get rid of the text so he could use it as a background for powerpoint (leaving the copyright).

[EricElwell]

Dom War concept ditty
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/dom_final2.jpg

All came together in one night, as I had to take a trip 4 days before the deadline. I let it creep up on me, and did all the painting in one long shot. I had done a bunch of studies and sketches leading up, but I really think i could have taken it farther with fresh eyes, but whatevs.

[Sage]

Nice work. I really like your style.

Alex

[Japhir]

great sketches! i love the creature on the middle left of this (http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080327_247_3_27_08__creatures006.jpg) image. How do you achieve the gray tones? is that some kind of special marker or just a felt-pen?

[EricElwell]

Thanks for the comments.

Japhir: For that image, I did rough pencil shapes, then drew over with Copic Grayscale markers and
black Faber-Castell pens. I do use the 2 sided chisel and brush Copics. The blacks, I have an assortment
of line weights, and brush pens, which I have come to love (ehh.. mostly).

Sometimes I will use the Faber-Castell colors and grays, when my Copics are getting dry (They are almost
all dry now, need a new set, but I am cheap). I don't like how the Faber-Castells spread so much as the
Copics, but they are cheaper markers and I like variety in my tools/techniques, so I figured I would give
them a try. I've also used Prismacolor markers, and really liked the feel and results, but I have not used
them in awhile.

I would really recommend getting into markers. With the right technique, you can get great results and
they can be very quick and fun to work with. I would recommend getting thin copy paper though, and be
mindful that it will bleed through. When I started using markers I made the mistake of using Coarse Paper,
and it killed a lot of my markers, which I could hardly afford at the time.

[EricElwell]

Nothing special, just a brush test gone astray.

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/ships002.jpg

[Japhir]

very nice eric!
thanks for your detailed reply!
damn those copic markers are expensive, 106$ for a set! :O!

[Parsnip]

Some great stuff here :D

[EricElwell]

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/speedpaintrandom.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/random1.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/random2.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/random3.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/webNatureRef001b.jpg

[EricElwell]

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creatures013.jpg

[Ferg]

nice stuff eric. The colors and strokes on the brush test are beautiful, and you really nailed the forms on the metal shoulder armor face thing. The brown dude in the last one reminds me of the giant rock guy from the never ending story.

[Rens]

love it!

[Johny]

love this man, and its awesome to see how you progressed since the first image ! love your usage of color too, congrats !

[EricElwell]

Commissioned piece for card game prototype. Border was done by someone else, so I muted it out with black. (I am no thief!)
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/CardBullFireFrame_ALT2.jpg

more to come, but I am a bit busy now.

[StJoris]

Eric, I allways like looking at your work, great pen and brushmanship!

Japhir, yeah those copics are quite expensive, but well worth it. I'm not sure where in the netherworld you are based, but where I study, at the TU in Delft, at the architecture and industrial design faculties, we can get them discounted.

[frubes]

i really like all your work but i especially like the war elephant you have depicited. The composition is great and i would love to see you work into that one more as it feels a little unfinish currently. The view and everything is spot on :)

[EricElwell]

hey thanks for the comments. Some doodles from the coffee shop:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creatures014.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/NateNoRef001.jpg

Been working on this contract for Realm of Empires (a facebook game), this is where I am now:
http://work.ericelwell.com/RoE/wip/OverviewPainted2.jpg
Painting medieval houses gave me brain cramps, so I just vegged for a bit and moused this up in mspaint:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/blubble1.gif

[EricElwell]

k.. not much.. but some little bits'n'bobs of changes:
http://work.ericelwell.com/RoE/Overview_GIF_grid.jpg

original size of that bull dude with the border cut out:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/Portfolio/Concept/CardBullFireFrame_ALT.jpg

[Slingshot]

Like the medieval houses, and the pixel fish, nice stuff.

[Vig]

wow, awesome stuff!

[EricElwell]

rawr.

http://work.ericelwell.com/RoE/RoEdev1d2.jpg
getting closer and closer.
http://work.ericelwell.com/RoE/Troop1.jpg
http://work.ericelwell.com/RoE/Barracks.jpg



some sketches:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creature015.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creature016.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creature017.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creature018.jpg

[EricElwell]

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/doodle010.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/doodle011.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creatures019.jpg
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creatures020.jpg

[Ged]

doing stuff for the DEEP challenge? Realm of empires is shaping up nicely, is it gonna be modular so you can replace buildings with upgraded ones etc?

[EricElwell]

yeah, that's the idea... I haven't had much time RoE is taking most of it, but it's a lot of fun to develop! I'd like to enter DEEP, but I tend to not put as much effort into contests as they really require...

For RoE, yeah the village overview is modular and the buildings change as they are upgraded (at least, most of them. Need to finish up the last few!)

[EricElwell]

another DEEP doodle.
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creatures021.jpg

[BoBo_the_seal]

nice. I'm really digging those sea creatures

[LEViATHAN]

The top-left fishy is so adorable. :poly142:

[EricElwell]

Cool, thanks for the comments guys! Always have been a fan of your work, Bobo, for it's light and humorous qualities.


here's a paint diggy based on an old sketch:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/seacreature04.jpg

[EricElwell]

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/TagRobot1cCrop.jpg

[Peris]

Ooh I really like that last one. Cool touch with the patterns and red light reflecting in the fog =)

[EricElwell]

thanks! Here's a little update based on some feedback I got at GA


http://www.ericelwell.com/upload/20080613_733_6_13-08bot.jpg

[EricElwell]

Zombie Possum (and friends)
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creatures023.jpg
based on a true story.

[EricElwell]

DEEP creature
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/DEEP_cow_plaetrix.jpg

WIP of RoE:
http://work.ericelwell.com/RoE/overview_wip5.jpg

[Slingshot]

Hey looking nice,
the RoE wip is coming along well with all the details. If those are transportation pods on the side of the fish I would watch the placement of the one near the one big fin in the middle of the fish, looks like the fin might hit the chains when it swims. Looks good tho.

[EricElwell]

back, after a summer long hiatus (not exactly, but close enough)

http://www.thetextureguy.com/Portfolio/Concept/Pirate1c.jpg

[Japhir]

ah your still alive! loving your stuff!
this (http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/creatures023.jpg) one on the bottom right is very very cool!

[EricElwell]

thanks! Yeah I like that guy... maybe a better pose for him. That was a fun night actually, we banged out a handbook for the camp, told some 'tarded stories, which is where the zombie possum comes from. My friend shot a possum which apparently seemed to care less that he was being shot repeatedly. Good times.

here's a WIP of that old ecotron bot:

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/ecotron001WIP3.jpg

[kary]

We're just starting to see some branches of fall colour here, so that is a preview of two or three weeks from now :)

Very cool way to make an orange robot be something that you see on a second read. Seems like the right side doesn't have the weight of the left, but that area seems a bit in progress. Is a sense of fog intended? The atmosphere seems to come up very quickly.

Bold colour scheme, fun content, well captured setting, good stuff :)

[EricElwell]

Done from a photo ref from one of Ben Mathis' photos. I hate the coloring
as it was done in B&W and colored later. I never like the results of that
technique, but I suppose there's a good enough reason to practice it some more.

http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/NightLamps1b.jpg

[EricElwell]

HORRAY bobby, for mirrored threads!

eco-tron bot continued:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/ecotron001WIP4.jpg


Some brush tests:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/Brushtest3.jpg

hurray for new brushes!
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/BrushTool1.jpg

[Sectaurs]

dude, those look fancy! I like those three left-most.

that rose bushery turned out fantastic

[Rebel_XD]

cool stuff, i like that pirate and those ink sketches

[EricElwell]

thanks! At some point I want to do a full write-up on the Alt+Smudge technique,
but at the heart of it, you are just using the smudge tool, holding Alt key. You need
to design the brush to have some spacing and position jitter. Holding Alt will dab
your foreground color down before smudging, the spacing in the brush will give it
texture, really fun way to digital paint.

anyway... here's an open canvas session:
http://www.thetextureguy.com/screenies/ee_1gMonster.jpg



get the .wpe event file here (http://www.thetextureguy.com/files/ee1Monster1500.wpe)

[Marak]

Wow, theres some awesome stuff here. Love your wings and your use of light is very effective. You put detail where it's needed too, I always get bogged down with things that don't really matter.

Keep em coming!

[onionhead_o]

i like your angelic invoker drawing. very awesome