GEEK 2014: Report and other things!

So as all of you know I went to GEEK last Saturday. I went with my boyfriend Ben and it took a good while to get there since I had a 2 hour approximate journey because of flooded lines, but all was well! Got there about 11:00 and got straight in with not much hassle (hooray for pre-booked tickets!) Now I wasn't sure what to expect, so we entered the first hall which was peppered with goods stalls, very old retro consoles, a stage and a 3D printer. The arcade area was adorable, with massive Gameboys to play and a game made of fruit (I kid you not).

I was so tempted by the beautifully made sprites on one stall, and after having a good look around we headed to the main hall. And wow had they packed it out, there were games from almost every era possible, carefully labelled above each station with the years. However our eyes locked onto the Minecraft: Hunger Games section, this was our time to shine! We both died. So we walked around for a bit trying out both games in the main section and the 18+ area. I have a bit of a thing with Pokemon so I finally had the chance to play Pokemon Stadium 2.

After winding around some more our eyes drifted back over to the Minecraft section again. We needed to redeem ourselves, we knew we could do it! Finally my survival skills payed in as both of us made it to the final. I was so so close, I played it cool (much like Katniss if I do say so myself XD) finding resources and staying low. Before I knew it I was stuck in a tree and was one of 3 left in the competition. Ben was also one of the 3 so it was now to the death. He rushed forward and was defeated. I then stepped forward and got my ass kicked. Oh well :) It was fine that I didn't win because it was so much fun.

The whole event seemed to be mostly children running around playing old and new games which was wonderful. Overall I had a lovely time, the weather was beautiful and I had a nice walk next to the sandy beach.

So that was GEEK 2014!

In other news, I am completely re-modelling my website and adding more content and more goodies so I'll keep you all informed!

GEEK 2014!

It's been a while since I've posted as I've had a lot of stuff going on, so apologies. However, I'm really excited because I'm off to GEEK 2014 in Margate this month! It's a convention that I discovered online and it looked too good to not try and attend. Revolving mostly around the gaming industry with some spotlights on the indie genre; there's a lot of things that I'm really eager to have a go at. Even though the Pokemon and Magic: the Gathering card tournaments tempted me, I feel I will be spending most of my time trying out the various games (especially the retro section! Tomb Raider here I come again...!) and playing around in Minecraft in Hunger Games and Parkour style.

Above all those things though I'm very excited to meet others with similar interests and get to know people. I'll be going and hanging round on the Saturday. I'm really hoping it'll be a great and fun day out, and I'm sure it will. 

GEEK 2014 Website!

http://www.geek2014.co.uk/index.html

Guardian's Crusade

"You will find her in God's Tower"

Guardian's Crusade is my favourite game of all time because it introduced me to the genre of RPGs. I was much younger and I was also notoriously bad at finishing RPGs back in the day and this was one that I could get through and enjoy. I loved the little morphing baby who I wonderfully named 'Baby Eve' after Eevee thanks to Pokemon. I also thought the main character was a girl because of the red fabric on the back of his helmet so I called him 'Misty'...*sigh* Never the less it didn't stop me from playing it and playing it until I became attached to the characters and the world.

I wanted a piece of art that showed my appreciation for the game and how much it meant to me then and now. I thought of how the characters would look on a promotional poster and also in a simplified vector way. Even though it's not as classic, I did draw some inspiration from Art Deco posters, but I didn't want to lose the classic fantasy feel of the story.

This is what I came up with.

 

And here is my progress from rough line design sketch to finished vector piece. I was tempted to leave the vectors as block colours in the second image, making it look more like a simple children's book illustration, but I decided to continue.

Arthur Rackham

I was so delighted this Christmas when I received an Arthur Rackham Illustration book. He is one of my favourite illustrators! and what I love about him is his swirly and intricately detailed line art designs. (Book: Arthur Rackham: A Life with Illustrations by James Hamilton)

Frozen Fan Art

Happy Christmas Eve everybody! I recently saw Frozen, Disney's new animated feature and I have honestly not loved a film like this for a LONG time. I adore the characters, the songs, the environments and the story as I have been a huge fan of the Snow Queen since I was very very little. I also haven't done a fan art in a long time and I fell in love with Elsa, her compassion and strength among other things drew me to her. 
(Disney owns all the rights to this character)

Below is the process I went through (it started off pretty scary!)

Victorian Sea Creatures

It's nearly Christmas so let's show some more work. I was applying to a company that I thought would appreciate a fun twist in my portfolio. There were some fun elements that I had already but I wanted something more...silly! I decided to dress up sea creatures and do it in the style of vector art. Finally I settled on Victorian clothes and this is what happened:

Also here are the sketches I ended up using to base the vectors on, I find it easier to have a base sketch to work on, especially in Illustrator.

Tree (in a) House

I was walking around London (as per usual), once again very cold, and I saw a tree next to a small house window and it was so close that I wondered what it would be like if that tree was almost the foundations of the house. That got me thinking, so I went home and thought of an interesting concept of people living with nature. It was also good timing as I wanted to do a design that demonstrated perspective.

Outside

This design shows the front aesthetic of the house
-tree protrudes through any opening it can (windows, roof cracks, door window)
-birds nest on top of the roof (ladder used for caring for them and for sustainable food with the right care)
-birds lay unnaturally large eggs for their size (possibly another species of bird that fled their unhatched young?)
-allotment at the back of the house for more reliable sustainable food

Cutaway

This design in particular shows the cutaway for the house
-the tree holds a television in a small nook
-another cut off tree is used as a table
-the bed is now pushed towards the roof to allow for living space*
-*stairs are spiraled up towards a makeshift rope bridge to the bed area
-a dug out hole amongst the roots is used as a water filled pond which acts as a bath (shower head above on wall)
-swing used for seating and to wash before plunging in the bath
-deer hide used for living room space behind the tree which is in front of the fireplace (good spot to read) 

 

Character

 For this design I wanted to explore who would live in such a house and I wanted to show examples of my thought processes.
-feet would be dirty because making shoes would be hard for them to learn or hard to maintain regularly
-hair would be slightly tangled and matted due to lack of personal care
-would have knowledge of cooking and utilizing natural herbs and plants
-current age of main designs is around early teens (just about grasped an efficient life amongst nature)