Mackies Ice Cream - Mock Advert Banners/Creatives

Hello,

I have been lucky enough to get an interview for a new startup company the vertical digital is an advertisement network company based in ayr.

the brief stasted that I needed create advertisement banners for mackies 3 new flavoured ice creams which are Succulant Strawberry, toffee fudge heaven and Lucious Velvety Chocolate. I also need to show that i know how to create html clickable images that link to a page. and this is where this blog comes in as I am unsure on how else I was to show this...

old packaging design

So heres the banners for each flavour....






















                               

Pixel scape update

Hey,

So this is my piece of pixel art finished now...might update it later on but we shall see.

But time to move on to other things, I have started pose sketching again try get better at sketching people will hopefully help me improve my other works. ( especially that animation i have planned )

So, whats next...

Firstly,

I gotta get some more applications sent away, so that i can keep the job centre happy.. annoyingly writing applications over and over again seems to be a good way to make me want to not do anything for a while but hopefully i can still keep hold of my motivation after that...

and finally get the last bit of that wolf animation finished with (keep forgetting about that)

I also want to do some explosions and particle effects stuff so yeah... should be busy.

so keep an eye out for all that,

until then just you stay classy..

David M

Super meat boy fan art, pixel tree update, a new HDD and portfolio feedback

Hey guys, quickly just going to show you lot a couple of things to chat about,


So first up, I got a new hdd through amazon a couple of days back so expect to see the next timelapses of the wolf run cycle soon.

secondly, being a massive fan of team meats, super meat boy game I created a piece of fan art to show my love,

little horn sketch

little horn

little horn + dawn of the dead mash up

heres some footage of it to give you an idea of where i got my inspiration:

lastly the image is up for sale if you like it on my RB page for tshirts posters cards stickers or ipad cases :)

Pixel tree update

next up heres a little image to see the progress on my pixel tree idea, i have been playing alot of terraria recently since the new 1.2 update so its starting to influence me a wee bit.

pixel tree

pixel tree with slimes...

Lastly, you may remember me talking about 4j studios contacting me asking to see more stuff, well i didnt get the job but the lead artist David Keningale did however give me some ver good feedback on my portfolio and good words so all in all put a smile on my face despite not getting a job and has given me some much need motivation to get going and improving :) so stay tuned!

till then, laters potaters.

David M

Quick update

Hello,

So today I was just about to do my 10 30second sketches a day routine when I have realized my sketchbook has been filled.

So, my mission is to buy a new sketchbook of course, but I have decided for this new one i shall keep it more organised might buy multiple ones so i can have 1 for poses/30 second sketches (which I have decided I will post no matter how bad i think they are) and also one for tshirt designs or anything else that finds its way onto paper.

But yeah so other than that I have started a new pixel art landscape piece, I havnt gone back to my wolf just yet as my hard drive is full so I cant do anymore timelapses until my brand new hard drive gets delivered.

However part 2 should be up on my youtube channel by tonight.

pixel art landscape numero deux

Planning on making this into 4 different landscapes showing each season.

heres the timelapse for part 2 of my wolf animation dont think this one is as fun to watch but ahwells,

My first quadruped animation (pixel art) | PART 2

So this Is the stage I am at now finished the first pass of the animation and started on the second adding more detail in shading and moving the smaller bits of hair and adding the tail. with 5/7 frames done.

Hes still got a long way to go, before I would class it as finished but taking my time.

Also just to add my Part 1 timelapse is now up and ready for you to watch if you like, with part 2 coming later.

Thanks for your time,

David

My first quadruped animation (pixel art) | PART 1

not finished

Hey guys,

Well today along with my sketches i decided to get back into animating to prepare myself for the short I am doing,

So, I chose to do a quadruped animation because its something I have never done before I have done a lot of human animations but nothing else really.

The above image I would say is about 25% complete maybe less, so how did I get to this stage then,

timelapse

1. the sketch so bellow is my initial sketch on paper which i then highlighted in pen to make it easier for the camera to pick out, you may ask why I didnt just sketch it straight onto he computer using a graphics tablet. well the truth is, I really don't like it I feel on the sketching stage I produce stuff much closer to what I had in my head and paper and pencil is just easier and more tactile for me.

2. After doing this I then made a rough pixel outline

3. cleaned the pixel line adding base colour and shading

4. started animating using run cycles of dogs as reference most notably this animation by Paul Robertson.

5. As I am right now on just the base poses of the wolf I am ignoring smaller details such as the hair and tail which i completely removed so i could focus completely on the legs.

so I am about 2 thirds of the way through my first pass, so this is 6 frames of a total of 9.

So hopefully I will have Part 1 on youtube tomorrow and will be working on the 2nd part :)

untill then, bye byeeee!

David

Pixelation for the nation

Hello,

Thought it was about time for a little update. So I am still doing sketches fairly regularly along with doing some more t shirt designs for qwertee just for general practice if you like any of them you can vote for them here, anyways shameless plugging aside I also thought of doing some pixel art.

I decided to do something out of my comfort zone so i did an environment landscape...

original size

scaled image

Apart from some mistakes here and there im rather happy with the outcome, it felt good doing pixel art without the pressure of uni looming over me. It was originally going to be a background for my pixel boy guy.

but i felt that he didnt really fit the environment and would be better in a more simplistic scenario, also i was doing this as my mum wanted an ipad case from my redbubble store so told her that i would make it a bit fancier first, however since the ipad has a set resolution and template i would need to keep it in mind so when it scales it does so properly.

moving on from that,

My bloopers or W.I.T.H (what if this happened) animation is still going rather slowly i am sorry to say, as I rushed through storyboards, missed out animatics in a desperate attempt to get straight to animation only to find myself in over my head.. so taking a step back and taking a more careful approach.

hopefully going to get the storyboards done for tonight and al post them on here tomorrow.

until then, thanks for reading....

David - Portfolio

Bloopers Concept

Hello,

Previously I mentioned that I had an idea to create a short animated short parody of a film,

well I eventually got round to starting to do work for it,

i have drawn some thumbnails into my sketchbook and drawing and started the first concepts of the first character but first my idea,

I thought it would be cool to start a sort of short animated series for youtube at my Dam90 channel just to keep me going with animating stuff.

so my idea is to do bloopers for scenes in popular movies/tv shows, first up is the avengers.

 avengers sketch

thor

so I am going to keep it simple so it saves time, al prob spend more time in animating explosions and stuff.

this isnt final work and may change...

anyways thanks for reading, and remember you can check out my portfolio here

David McGill

Some projects on the horizon

Hello,

So thought i should put up another post of what I have planned...

first up,

I am still hoping to team up with a friend to release a game for iOS/Android, currently working on the design document and sketching up some concepts.

Hopefully we will begin working on it soon, but this could take 1-2 years to make as we have alot of other things to do, but shall keep you posted on that.

secondly,

I want to do a wee animation sort of in line with the style of HISHE (basic flash animations) and shall put that up on my youtube channel when its done,

going to start on it tomorrow but may not be up for a week or so...

thirdly qwertee designs I have prob quite a few since my last upload so please check them out here:

http://www.qwertee.com/profile/view/108861/

if you like them please vote for them!

Inspiration and sketches

Hello everyone,

So now that I have a somewhat online portfolio to use this will now just be a place where I put everything else and maybe discuss the thought process behind my work. what I like and what I think needs improved...

Anyway, gather round and let me tell you a story...

A couple of days ago I got a lovely response from David the lead artist at 4J studios asking to see more of my work, this made me look at everything I have done and realize how much more I could of had to show and how much better some of my stuff could have looked.

However I didnt want to keep him waiting so got together my work that I liked and forwarded them to him, ( now just waiting patiently for a response )

It had me thinking hard about what I want from the response ( besides a possible job opportunity ) but in the end any honest feedback from someone in the industry would be great.

So I thought to myself that despite the other things that are keeping me busy throughout the day I will try to do something artistic be that body structure studies, observational studies, misc sketches, game idea concepts, fan art, pixel art, t-shirt designs for qwertee or animation clips for at the very least 1 hour a day but ideally shooting for 6 hours ( as this is the working hours of my parents in which I relatively speaking the house to myself, then after this time I would need to spend looking for jobs to keep the jobcentre happy.

So that is the plan.

and heres some motivational tools im trying to help keep me on track,

First off time, going to use the timer on my phone for traditional sketches, to keep track on my time. every hour of work gets me 10-15min break.

on computer i have installed this handy device... http://neilblr.com/post/58757345346 this is even better as time i spend on the internet/games etc will not be logged.

also found this rather motivational,

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=507706109322758&set=a.233908436702528.52840.233887176704654&type=1&theater

 So now for some sketches that I have done over the week or so...

First up - archer

I originally drew this spontaneously onto my whiteboard whilst watching an episode of archer, the whiteboard version unfortunately wiped off so i decided to sketch it aswell. I dont think the sketch is as good, his eyes look a bit odd too big and squint i would say.. but heres an image of archer for you to compare...

http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2013/02/05/05-archer-inspiration.o.jpg/a_610x408.jpg

from left: FM, M, BM

http://www.posemaniacs.com sketch #1 - Decided to do some body sketches

FM: I think the female sketch is relatively close to the source image, however something quite ismt right, the pose is sound but i think the problem is I have made the shoulders to far apart which makes her boobs appear out of proportion.

M: the male sketch was the first one I did and it shows the legs arms and head are way out of proportion, in my defence it was a difficult pose to do.

BM: the body builder sketch was probably the most fun to draw the exaggerated muscles meant it was easier for me to break down the body into smaller sections, I think it went relatively well apart from his left leg looks a bit twisted. Also without any shadows it looks like hes jumping down from the sky a-la spiderman, instead of standing bent forward in the source.

from left - MF, FF

MF: the male face sketch i feel looks pretty good the eyes and nose the places I found the most difficulty, looking at it now I would also add the forehead looks too shallow which probably where the troubles of the nose placement came from.

FF: the female face main problem probably is because I was silly and tried to cram it into the corner rather than give it its own page this gave her a squashed head making her look somewhat alien, I like the lower half though the nose mouth and jawline seem to flow pretty well, the bridge between the nose and forehead is way too deep as well.

Anyways nice couple of sketches for my first hour (most of that time was trying to get me into the correct mindset), going to do some more and upload them later as this post is getting way to big for them to be put on here...

Anyways, until then I shall see you lot later...

David M

Online portfolio up and running

Hello,

I have got round to creating a website to display my portfolio, you can check it out here:

http://dammcgill.wix.com/damportfolio

(there is still a lot I need to do to personalise it now but it gives you an idea of how its going to look)

feedback please I want it top notch before I invest in a proper domain and starting linking to it in applications.

but yeah thats all from me just now,

David

Terraria: NPC Competition

Hello,

So, was just looking through my facebook and noticed that re-digit posted a competition to design an NPC for the new update that they are doing.

Here is the post:

Hey guys! With the update nearing release I thought it would be cool to do another community based contest. This time, we are offering you the rare opportunity to have an NPC designed by you brought to life in the game!

Not good with art? No problem there! Simply give a thorough description of your NPC, and we will have one of our Re-Logic team members bring your vision to life!

Ready to get started? Great…here’s how it will work:
Required for each entry – please use this format to make the review of what we hope will be tons of creative ideas easier for us.

This contest will run until Sunday the 25th.


Here are the guidelines:

1. APPEARANCE: What does he/she look like? Again, if you are not artistically gifted you may describe the design. If you are able to provide an example of your NPC in sprite form feel free but for legal purposes the final design will be done by a member of Re-Logic with communication from you on the design.
2. PURPOSE: What is the purpose of your NPC? What does he/she sell or do?
3. ACQUISITION: How do you get him/her?
4. DIALOGUE: What is his/her personality and signature phrases? Be clever!
5. NAMES: What are some names you would like him/her to have?
6. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT: Be original! Let's not get me sued over this. 

P.S
Before anyone says it, this will not delay the release of the update in anyway as NPCs are not difficult to add in game. 

Want to design your own, then here is the link.

NPC COMPETITION

The organ donor

Appearance: Old and malnourished and covered in blood.

Purpose: This dodgey dealer likes giving you cash for donated organs.

(everything you donate takes X amount of health from your health bar)

*HEART: donate a heart from your health bar = X amount of coin
*STAR: donate a star form your mana bar = X amount of coin
*EYES: donate your eyes = X amount of coin + impaired vision everything is blurred and or completely black sight is restored after time or if you have lenses in your inventory
*LEG MUSCLE: donate your leg muscles = X amount of coin + movement speed reduced
*ARM MUSCLE: donate your arm muscles = X amount of coin + melee speed reduced

All i can think of in terms of donations just a bit of fun character prob more end game and makes players have to go out in search for heart and mana crystals to replenish their health bar again. The organ dealer does not sell if you donate more than X amount of your health/mana bar this is to stop players from just constantly selling organs to make loads of money.



OR the player can spend money and get Health, mana top-ups, and some temporary buffs. Whatever would be easier to implement

Acquisition: When you have "X" number of health, and have died "X" number of times.

Dialogue:

"Psssssssst, mate."

"I like your eyes, can i have them?"

" 89% mortality, better than that nurse though"

ok, dialogue is pretty naff may need to think more on that

Name: Jeff, Lector, Heiter, Szell, Zoid-Berg, (any other names of questionable doctors)

Please, if you are reading this let me know what you think by leaving me a comment.

David

Graduation, job hunting and other stuff

Hello,

I havn't posted in a while so though it was time to put up a wee update so whats happened since my last post...

Well I graduated and got a third class honors degree ( which I have had mixed feelings about since I got it) but im still happy with my final project.

So heres some pics of me graduating...

and here's my family and Angie celebrating after.. :P 

So it was all good fun, my 6 years overall of being a student were possibly the best 6 years of my life. Met a lot of really cool people that I hope that I remain in contact with.

However...

I am now back home in Ayr, Job hunting and trying to keep myself busy. So, what are my plans...

• Right now I have to make sure i am looking for jobs so that i can get money from the job centre

• these jobs are mostly retail jobs as for career jobs, I would much rather have a portfolio for it (a better one that is)

• doing anything to try inspire me to do some creative things that can hopefully be added to my portfolio/keep me sane.

So, this blog will prob change to pixel art stuff and I shall create a new blog just with videos/Art for my portfolio.

Lastly I have had an idea for a game in my head since 2nd year and i want it made and out there for people to play, so currently getting a team together in the hopes to begin work on it within the next 2 weeks or so, so will prob have another blog for that.

As alot of website out there tend to have limits to the amount of pictures you can have and stuff and i thought I might just aswell put it all in the blog, so shall keep you posted.

over and out

David

Honours Project: Critic of final work.

Hello,

So the past couple of weeks has been rather hectic but i have finaly managed to get my project done, so i thought it would be a good idea to have a final critic of my work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYRFV7Xl1MU&feature=youtu.be

So here is the final version of my project working on my timeline, apart from some memory crashes it works perfectly fine. 

so going to take this opportunity to thank Stuart howieson for making this possible and coding this for me to focus solely on my pixel art.

So, I am going to talk about each style and level individualy discussing what works and the bits that dont to well.

First up ~Vintage,

 planet - lvl1

 landscape - lvl2

character - lvl3

Vintage: Since it was created originally on early game consoles in the 70s and 80s everything was very basic 2 colours low resolutions and limited frames for animations as stated in my critical framework.

Since I am doing a more post modern approach to try update the style but still keeping its character I made some changes. i kept the colour pallette the same reminiscent of games like space invaders. I kept the frames relatively low in the animations until it came to the special,

However despite being rather limited in detail i think its still rather striking and nearly hypnotic. I think this is the simplistic nature of the style.

Planet - Lvl1

Landscape - lvl2

Character - Lvl3

Classic: The changes from vinatage to classic is that of colour how the resolutions and frames are still rather low. 

This makes the character more defined I deliberately made him/her hard to sex, this was because i wanted to keep it so that it was upto whomever who the character is. 

I would also point out i made an error i think i made the city part of landscape to detailed which made it a problem for later on.

Also feel the need to point out the reasons why the special is so over the top is because i wanted to show people in the most basic way why i am attached to pixel art it still has its unrealistic over the top childish nature things didnt really need explained people just went with it.

I think my approach to the classic style went rather well and represents the style well.

 Lvl1

 Lvl2

Lvl3

Retro: more colours gave characters and landscapes more detail and depth animations could also have more too them and the characters taking more of a resembelance to an actual person.

apart from some animation niggles that due to several reasons havnt been fixed, this style went rather well and you can see a step from the previous styles.

The crazyness of specials was toned down too, i like the arm changing at the initial flash his other arm annoys me and looks a bit abnormal.

Old School: The last original style before 3D started to become the new industry standard another step up in colours its most notably recognised however by the shading.

so yeah overall old school went relatively well however as you can see i was struggling to make the city really stand out however the nature side is progressing in each stage rather well.

last but not least stylised...

Stylised: Stylised is pixel art that is made with the complete freedom of colours and resolution. however usually the highest any pixel art goes is about 200x200 pixels anymore then it can be rather laborius and time consuming

unfotunately if i was going to be really honest despite the fact i like the general look of these styles some of it being the best pixel art i have done the animation has alot to be desired i was intending on fixing these but during one night of extreme tiredness i saved over the animation file and i hadnt the time enough to amend this.

however overall im extremely proud of what i managed to achieve in a rather short time it did feel like for the first half of this semester the world was out to get me but i have made it and genuinely looking forward to see what people make of it.

David M