Ok. So life has been ever more hectic and blogging has slipped to the side of things important. Also there really hasn't been anything I could post due to the top secrecy of the projects I've been working on. Things have changed, as you'll see...
Who Killed Round Robbin http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/ is sailing along nicely so I thought I'd take some time out to introduce a character that has developed, over the past few months, into a mysterious and intriguing chap. Visualised by myself and created and developed by all involved with the BlogComic, The Parisian is proving to be the most interesting character to come out of our little adventure...as far as I'm concerned anyway. I have a whole book of ideas for this guy, so many that I've been thinking of taking him into his own side project, with the approval of my fellow creators.
The image above is from a very top secret document that has come into my position. Don't blame me if the CIA start phoning you in the middle of the night!
Right then...on to the news...and I should say that what you're about to read is from my understanding of what went on and may not be the full story.
Sony invited me to create some design and concept work for a computer game they had in development a few months back. I was delighted to be involved in such an interesting and challenging project and threw myself into it fully, putting all other work aside. It seemed there was at least a years work needed so I hesitantly closed down the comic book department of my studio to devote my time and energy to Heavenly Sword 2. It was going great guns. Then the bomb dropped. The project was cancelled and all freelance staff told "Sorry, but it's over." I have to admit to being very angry and frustrated at the time. The producer had put together a very fine proposal and gathered an excellent team of artists...we were all turning out great work and things were getting exiting, I for one was having a lot of fun and wallowing in the process...then BAM! No more work.
I know these things happen all the time in this industry, and having heard exactly why it was canned I understand that it had to be closed, but boy does it hurt! Not only was I producing work that I've been wanting to do for a good while, character design mostly, but also the comfort of knowing I have at least a years work to do at a good wage (for once!), something very nice to know as a freelance creator.
The three images here (copyright Sony) are a small sample of what I got up to. The one above and below was blue pencilled and then coloured in Photoshop. The last image was purely Photoshop.
The up-side of all this is that I've further developed my skills as a designer. And on hearing the news of the cancellation promptly contacted the editor of 2000AD and got a Dredd cover immediately! I'll be posting more on this later.
5 comments:
Hi Dave,
I'm a character artist/ designer at Free Radical Design and I know how you feel. Game Industry can be volatile, which is why I also freelance on the side. Funnily enough, I'm looking to get into comics - we should do a job swap ;)
Look forward to seeing more of your stuff.
Cheers,
N
Hi Dave, first time posting.
From my experience when I first entered gaming there were more cancellations than published titles.
One of the projects was a Spielberg A.I. related movie tie in game back in the day. We were however a little further into the project before it got canceled,almost a year in fact. Apparently due to the movie doing so badly at the box-office they did not want to take the extra risk on spending excess money marketing the game (amongst other things)It was a very frustrating experience.
At least on the bright side we get to see you back on the comics side of things.
Cheers.
Shit, man! I am so sorry for you.
I wrote you an email, a couple of weeks ago. Did you get it?
P.S.: If you need a writer for that Parisian chap, let me know... :-)
Please don't get me wrong here guys...and thanks by the way! I'm not angry any more, it's all part of the job, and I'm not squealing or blowing off steam...this post is simply an update on my life as an artist. I'm still doing some work for them and I have plenty of irons in the fire so all is good.
And welcome Neil and Lubbert! I hope you enjoy what you find here!
I love it when creators tell it like it is! So often we're forced to be diplomatic about our affairs... but I prefer it when people talk straight!
Fantastic art, by the way...
and it will be great to have you drawing comics again.
We missed you!
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