Imaginative, colourful, atmospheric!

Wonderful and captivating storytelling!!

kazky:

i adore the sunset! you can feel the still warmth, beautiful

Thanks, that's definately the feeling I was hoping to capture.

Domtopia:

Imaginative, colourful, atmospheric!

Wonderful and captivating storytelling!!

 Thanks Domtopia, glad you like my work.

 - Neil

Here's another new one:

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

CGSociety Gallery - Conceptart.org Sketchbook - Deviantart Gallery 

Thanks foxman, glad you like that one. I guess it's sorta my tribute to bladerunner :)

With very limited painting time this week, I started this one image, and after 2 hours, I was like 1% done. It turned out to be way more complex than I had originally hoped, and here I had wanted to do something quick. Frustrated and tired, I quickly whipped this gas city rough out to relax. I promise I'll get back to the other image some week when I have some decent time to devote to it.

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

CGSociety Gallery - Conceptart.org Sketchbook - Deviantart Gallery 

I am a big fan of the Halo games, so did this piece of fan art for fun. The grunt characters are some of my favorites, not only do they have tons of personality, but overall I love the design. Since I own several of the McFarlane Halo Grunt toys, I did a little photoshoot, and used the photos as the basis for the character's pose. Painted in about 3-4 hours, the last couple of hours were mostly subtle color corrections, usually I start off with a pretty strong color scheme in mind, this one ended up coming together at the end of the piece.

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

CGSociety Gallery - Conceptart.org Sketchbook - Deviantart Gallery 

Not a speed painting, but here's a finished painting based on a quick speed painting from a few years back.

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

CGSociety Gallery - Conceptart.org Sketchbook - Deviantart Gallery 

Some quick 15-20 minutes a piece environment sketches, all based on the same theme. Used a few custom Photoshop brushes of my own, and a few from Ben Andrews http://ben-andrews.deviantart.com/

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

CGSociety Gallery - Conceptart.org Sketchbook - Deviantart Gallery 

A few new ones...

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

Thanks Suiter!

Another quick alien painting...

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

Two new paintings. First, a favorite Beach...

 Next, a quick weapon design, meant for use on Mars, the M-0908 Submachine Gun is reasonably light considering its size, and the moving parts are well shielded to survive in the harsh sandy mars landscape. This weapon is not meant to be pretty with lots of curves and sleek design, just highly reliable and functional.

A note on the design: Of all the things one can design, I feel that weapons, especially guns, are one of the hardest. There's just so many factors to consider: How will it be held while firing? Is there enough room to properly grip the gun? Will it be for a human or non-human combatant? Is it too big or small? Is the barrel large enough for whatever sized bullet it'll use? Where do the bullet casing come out of? etc. It's like my first architectural design class where the teacher suddenly hits us with all this information: The average doorway needs to be X size so that the average piece of furniture can make it through. The average desk should be X height so it fits the average sized person. The rise and run of an average staircase should be X/Y so it feels comfortable to the average gait. It was crazy, all of this thought had gone into something that I had used my entire life, and yet had never really noticed. Anyways, back to guns, the other factor that makes it hard is how many gun geeks there are in the design community (and I use the term geek with the highest reverence), so anyways, hopefully I didn't screw up too badly :) I did my research, but I'm sure I've neglected to think of lots of things. But everyone's gotta start somewhere. Feel free to critique if you'd like, this has certainly been a valuable learning experience.

- Neil

Website - Blog - Twitter

I actually can't quite agree with your gun design. At first glance, it looks very uncomfortable to hold the weapon. The scope is way to small and way to low for the eye to properly use it. Overall it looks very gimmicky and not something designed around a basic function: shooting something. I think you tried too hard to make it look different. A weapon is usually a combination of parts that each perform a very simple and specific duty, so if your design ventures beyond that point, then it will look strange and excessive.

If you want some example of really unconventional guns, check out a Japanese manga called Gantz. Go to Google Images and type "Gantz weapons." Notice that each design might look very weird but also look like something a human being can hold and operate. Real life details such as wires and stocks also make them look practical and more believable.

Sorry, another gun geek here. I don't mind the top section/barrel housing on your gun, it reminds me of an Uzi that's been through the Colonial Marines design department. It's boxy design and simple stock really suit the rugged brief you set yourself. If you were being generous you could even pass the 'scope' off as a something like a red-dot pointer or waffle it away in any number of sci-fi ways (smart-link, camera, etc). However, I think you've got too many 'dangly  bits' which make the gun look impractical; there are just too many things sticking out that could catch on clothes, equipment, environment, etc. The rendering of the gun itself is pretty cool though.

 That aside, what actually got me into the tread was the red 'speed painting that's not a speed painting' a few posts up. That is simply stunning! Great stuff :D