Ducks Amuck

Posted in Daily Sketch, Art and Animation on June 2nd, 2008 by burtabreu

I thought the post title had a clever ring to it - until I did a quick search on Wikipedia and realized why. That really was a gem, I’ll have to watch it again.

Duck Amuck on Wikipedia

I wonder if anything we think is original? Maybe our ideas and inspired thoughts are nothing more than children, reborn of echoing footfalls? Ah well, it’s 1am, I’m tired, and I’m pretty sure that’ll sound like a bunch of malarkey when I get up in a couple hours.

So, let’s talk about important stuff - ducks. I’m having a bit of a go figuring out how to draw those beaks and make them expressive. My wife wrote a short story for my son several years ago. It was a way to explain adoption. I decided to take a crack at illustrating it. As a result you’ll probably see a lot of ugly ducks for a while. :)

Click to see full size

Click to see full size

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Hire Me!

Posted in Art and Animation, HodgePodge on June 1st, 2008 by burtabreu

Yep, hard as it is to fathom -given my exquisite Mr. Potato physique and clam-like conversational skills- but two months after being laid off I am still seeking a new job! While I’ve enjoyed my countless hours chasing freelance opportunities, sending out resumes and making ramen noodles out of scrap paper (giving a whole new meaning to ‘going green’), I need a job!

I have a few items in a portfolio here

http://bupaje.elance.com

and more information here

http://www.linkedin.com/in/burtabreu

I’d love any creative work but I particularly like kid art -children, not goats (though I guess they’re ok too), video game, educational, casual game art and anything else fun. I’m a year old in the industry, but I have a lifetime love of creative endeavors.

So, what do you say? Be a peach and hire a pear today!

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Photoshop Tutorials

Posted in Art and Animation, Photoshop on May 28th, 2008 by burtabreu

I started creating two beginner level Photoshop tutorials aimed at texture art. If that is something that interests you check them out.

Creating Cracks

Using the Displace Filter

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Dragon Sword

Posted in Art and Animation, Photoshop on May 27th, 2008 by burtabreu

I did a test image today while chasing down some freelance work for an indie rpg. Not sure if I’ll get the job, but it looks like it would be a fun project. If anyone reading this has worked on small rpg weapons/inventory item art I’d love to hear your tips or see some samples (I realized after I drew that dragon head that you can’t even see it at the 100×100 size it will be shown at).

Click to See Full Size

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Free Photoshop Brushes

Posted in Art and Animation, Photoshop on May 27th, 2008 by burtabreu

I am working on creating content for my site and just made a few Brushes. I know there are tons out there, but if you can’t get enough you can download them from here.

sv_wood_damage_1.zip

I made the brushes from images of fungus, rotten, cracked, gnarled, and axe bitten wood. I used one of the brushes along with some layer effects to create the moss, stamp some damage marks and with the eraser to expose a lighter wood layer beneath in a quick demo image. I didn’t add any presets so you’ll have to fiddle with the brush settings.

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Daily Sketch 05-19-08

Posted in Daily Sketch, Art and Animation on May 19th, 2008 by burtabreu

Just some rough sketches - I may clean up a couple of these in Flash.

Click for Larger Image
Click for Larger Image

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A bit more webdesign

Posted in Art and Animation, HodgePodge on April 20th, 2008 by burtabreu

Well I am still slogging along. I spent hours trying to sort out the div tags today - it’s only a few tags but my head almost exploded in frustration to get stuff lined up right. Finally got the basics done enough and I turned them into templates for the CMS I am using. Lots more has to be done but it is starting to take shape.

http://www.stormvisions.com

I have a couple pages of sketches I need to scan Monday and then will post. I’m also trying out the Illustrator lessons on Lynda.com as we only had two short classes on it in school. I hope to get a paid subscription soon but for now I think I have one more day on my trial so I’ll be up late watching as many videos as I can. I hope that getting some basic Illustrator skills will increase my employability..

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Website Redesign - WIP

Posted in Art and Animation, HodgePodge on April 12th, 2008 by burtabreu

I have started to work on a redesign for my site. I am not comfortable enough to do all the interaction in Flash so I may go static. I’m just drawing it now and then will convert it to a template that works with the CMS I am using. I’ve always created boxy design - the sites I owned in the past have been content sites so the object was always having a neat hierarchy so people could drill down and find a specific tutorial or download. Plain, ugly and boring.

I’m going to try something more like a kid’s storybook this time. Here is a shot of the main page in progress.

Click for Full Image

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