117b Portfolio

Hey everyone! So I'm about to graduate as a story artist! :D If you want to check out my boards, I've got a shiny portfolio site up at http://veeotto.weebly.com/

That being said, here are a few things I did in my vis dev class this semester.

Helen was originally supposed to be a side character,
but the farther I went into the project,
the more interested I was in her story. She yearns for more. 

I'm not happy with this, but I learned an important lesson from it.
I was trying to make the original design work,
when what I didn't like about it was it didn't work. 
What I should have done was go full force starting from scratch. 

Bonus final day activity:

Did you ever think you'd see Helen from the Iliad as a sloth? Well, here you go. 

Crew of You

The idea behind this project was to split yourself into into 6 different characters, then put them in a situation to see how they'd interact. 

Tombow pens on Bristol, with a few Photoshop touchups.
I've been trying out limited color palettes lately.

The story I ended up with takes place in a modern fantasy world: Fairly similar to our own, except a fraction of the population has elemental powers. The little girl is a water elemental, and melts when she's nervous (which is most of the time). The story is focused on her impatient mother Adria's attempts to help her daughter, even though they don't really understand each other.

The Interrupting Cows did not make it into the final.
I felt like it was getting too busy already. 

A little extra Riley <3 She's so cute.
I wanted to draw her happy for once. 

My Name Is

Our first senior project was to make a 1 minute video introducing ourselves. Here's mine!

Generations

The first project for Barron's class is called "Generations." You choose something that evolved over three stages, and then make 6 "bits" (2 for each evolution), which you then assemble together into one in the end. It can be your family history, or the anything that's evolved.

I did my project on 3 of the the places I've called home: My house growing up in Minnesota, the one where I lived with my parents until I came to SJSU, and my place with my current roommates (who are some of my best friends).

While cutting up my bits to make my final, I ended up drifting a bit from the actual places themselves, and it ended up being more about the feeling of home that I got from each place.

This project was a a lot of fun to experiment with. I tried watercolor again, made a stamp, even did some 3D (2.5D?) stuff with fabric. The quote in the main area is part of something I wrote before we left the MN house as a message to the new residents. It was a wish that they would love the new place as much as I had. I edited it a bit here, and maybe it's a little cheesy, but I like the idea of my 9-year-old self sending current me a message. She had a lot of faith in me.

The only bit I thought lost something in the cutting was this one, based on my door/wall back at my parents' house.

Timeless

Done as part of for my 116 class "Generations" Project. For my project, I'm doing 3 of the the different houses I've lived in. My middle house used to have a pool, and I wanted to represent that feeling I got when floating underwater, like it was a different world. 

Found inspiration in the photography of Elena Kalis (specifically, the photo 4 rows from the bottom of the girl with the red ribbon).

It's interesting how rotating the image gives a different feel. When viewed "properly" so that the surface is up, she looks like she's drowning (not what I was going for). With the surface on the bottom, it's like she's falling into a portal (which I liked, but wasn't quite right either). The surface to the side feels more like it's her choice whether to go through or not.

Imagine taking it for walks, though!

Been trying to draw more comics lately. It's what got me to fall in love with art in the first place. Featuring me and my roommates! 

Stuff I've done recently!

In Greek Mythology, Epimeliads are
the guardian spirits of apple trees (and also sheep).

My second Shepard from Mass Effect.

An attempt to get myself to stop blending so much too early in the process.
Partially based on Frances McDormand.

Screenshot redraw from Green Lantern: The Animated Series.
It's such a pretty show. 

Dumbing of Age is a fantastic webcomic about college students and shenanigans, and you should be reading it. Dorothy is predictably my favorite. 

Random art dump

Thought I'd toss up some art I've done outside of school recently!

Christmas present for a friend, based on an old joke.

Commission, based on Dragon Age characters. 

An attempt to draw characters from the game Mass Effect in the style of Kim Possible (Stephen Silver). Kim Possible was a big influence on my style, and a big inspiration for getting me drawing seriously in high school.

Challenge Day 4: Animal

It's a sloth. Oh dear. I need animal practice.

Challenge Day 3: Friends

BEST FICTIONAL BAND EVAAA. 

 Poor Anh has no idea how to play bass. 

I have a never-ending list of potential band names. This is the one I liked best. 

Also, Anh liked my sketch so here it is. Need to figure out how to keep some of that original flowyness.

Challenge Day 2: Someone you like

Jess does not want your moves. Take them back.

I think Adam Levine of Maroon 5 is pretty dang handsome.
The joke wrote itself so well it's probably been done before. Oh well.

Challenge Day 1: Persona

Friends and I are doing a drawing challenge.

Sadly, I do not own that shirt :(

Day one is "persona." I drew myself with symbols of what's been inspiring me the most lately, my three favorite game series: Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic. Each game I go through, I create a new character, and each has a little bit of me. 

Improvement!

This is kinda hard to look at .__.

A summary of my drawing style since I started doodling my silly comics at the beginning of high school. I think I need to print this out and put it above my desk for the days when I feel like I'm not getting any better.

Summer '12 Sketchbook!

Here are some selections from my portfolio sketchbook I did over the summer. :) Despite the stress, it was good times. I like the result, and feel like I learned a lot.

Portfolio: Tentative final draft?

Submitting this tonight! Fingers crossed... 

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback! Leaving the old post up for reference of what I changed from beginning to end.