Just a little love...

Focused Work

I've started to record my vector illustration process recently and I've noticed something: my productivity increases when I record my illustration process.

It's amazing. It's reduced the time it takes for me to do an illustration by at least 25%. I'm not counting the time it takes for me to sketch out my character illustrations, but after researching the character which takes about an hour in total, the sketch phase usually takes 1/2 - 1 hour. Then I scan it into the computer and turn the sketches into vector artwork.

I think when I record my process I'm much more aware of every step that I take and I end up making decisions faster. For example, I won't spend as much time trying different colors and patterns. Instead I'll think it through and make a decision in my head without having to see it on screen. I am more deliberate in my paths and carve out my shapes with more conviction.

I suppose knowing that someone will watch this process helps me to be more aware of what I'm doing and stops me from wasting energy and time trying to come to a decision. I also don't want to waste a viewers time by spending 5 minutes on different color choices if it's isn't necessary. I just make my decisions and move on. What's more, is that at the end of it all I actually have less tweaking to do to the final character than before. Because I'm much more sure of my decisions right off the bat, don't think twice on them as I go along. When the character is complete and I stop my recording I consider the piece done (on my end until the client wants some tweaks made). The point is, I don't sit on the illustration for longer than I have to and I don't mull over my design decisions. It's been a revelation.

I also find that watching my process over gives me more confidence in my skills and helps me to step back and see what I can do to make my illustration and my process better.

Anyway, back to illustrating...

I'll be posting one of these videos soon, so stay tuned!

UPDATE: here is one of those videos

Mission 2 "Flight to Freedom" launches TODAY!

For most of 2011 I've been working on Mission 2: "Flight to Freedom" and I'm so excited that it's finally out and just in time for Black History month in February! I'm eager to hear the reception among teachers and students. EFS has done some awesome things in this Mission in terms of game design, introducing things such as the escape map sequence and interface, side scrolling scenes, 3D animation sequences, game badges and smart word integration to communicate the issue of literacy in slave communities.

As a game artist I tackled some new challenges with this project. The background scenes and interactive environments that I had to create were of a larger scale to allow for side scrolling and a more immersive environment. As always, the character design and environment artwork required some thorough historical research to ensure the historical accuracy as it relates to the costume design, architectural details and objects. Where Mission 1 took place in Boston in 1770's America, Mission 2 takes place around Kentucky and Ohio in 1850's America around the time of the Fugitive Slave act. So the date required a whole new set of historical research.

Mission 2 has you in the role of Lucy, a 14 year old slave girl in a hemp plantation near Lexington, Kentucky around the late 1840's - 1850's. You are acquainted with slave life on a plantation and what it meant to be a young slave. Things happen that force you to run away and you realize that running away is a huge risk and takes a lot of courage and intelligence. You have to learn who to trust and to either stay out of trouble or be part of the resistance.

Mission 2 has a really exciting narrative and doesn't sugar coat life for a slave. I hope the kids take away a more thorough understanding of the complexities of slave life and the political climate of the time through this game.

My hats off to the New York teams at EFS who developed the game, THIRTEEN who produced the game in association with WNET, and our historians at ASHP for the work they've done on this mission.

Read the announcement on THIRTEEN here.

Luminarium Illustrations

This post is long overdue but after a few months I finally got my copy of Luminarium! This year I had the fortune of working again with Alex Shakar. I met Alex through my friends at EFS. Early this year he contacted me to develop his website just in time for the launch of his new novel, Luminarium, in August. The website turned out well and Alex has been blogging while on his book tour to keep us all up-to-date on his happenings.

What I may have briefly mentioned is that I began working with Alex not on his website but on his recent novel Luminarium when it was in it's post-writing, near-publication days. Back in 2009, while in the studio at EFS he approached my desk and asked if I did any illustration work and if I would be interested in doing some illustrations for his novel. I was shocked that he thought to ask me (I'm sure DL/SG at EFS had something to do with it) and I was honoured and excited!

I didn't know much about Alex's work but he outlined the novel and the themes within and his vision for the illustrations which would mark each of the chapters in his book. He wanted simple illustrations that mimicked icons on a computer desktop. They were to be small and minimalistic but easily identifiable. They were to be straight up black and white or at the most with slight gradations of grey.

This first project with Alex was an eye-opener for me as it allowed me to really focus on an idea and simplify it in an illustration. As always, Alex was great to work with and I've fulfilled a (silly... or not so silly now) dream of seeing my name in print and my work published. It was the start of more things to come. Those same icon illustrations appear in the intro sequence to his website.

If you haven't read any of Alex's work, take a look at his website and his works in particular. His writing has received great critical acclaim and Luminarium has been named one of the best novels of 2011 by several publications and editors. I strongly suggest you read Luminarium! The story struck a chord with me and it explores some interesting philosophical and spiritual ideas without losing its heart.

Congratulations to Alex Shakar and best wishes!

Mission US: Mission 1 Full Launch

I've taken a bit of a hiatus the last couple of months to focus on non-work related things. So this is a bit delayed but important nonetheless...

Mission US has officially launched nationwide (in the US)! It's a project that I've been enthusiastically working on through EFS as creative director and lead artist and I'm thrilled everyone gets to see it. When we first tested it in schools I got to see first hand how the kids reacted and they were so excited learning history in this way. It made me feel honoured to have worked on this project. I think Mission US is revolutionizing the way our kids learn in schools.

Check it out! http://www.mission-us.org/

Download the game and try it out, or explore the website! Even if you're not an American middle-schooler :)

Now that Mission 1 is fully launched we are working on Mission 2 and though I can't say much about it, what I can say is that I'm very excited as we've already started art production for our characters and locations!

After my hiatus, I'm back to full on work mode and there will be more coming...