Art of Brian D. Elliott

2011-06-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

2011-06-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

2011-06-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

"Oh, darlin' - they're playing our song."

2011-06-05T15:32:00.001-07:00

2011-05-26T01:57:00.000-07:00

Hi guys.

I have somewhat involuntarily migrated over to tumblr - I find it's user interface to be much more versatile than blogspot at the moment. I'll hopefully update this dusty blog in the near future but right now i've kept busy with freelance gigs, personal projects and what-not. But, again: if you want to see more up-to-date images or information, head over to http://bedavelli.tumblr.com/.

-BE

2011-03-03T12:36:00.001-08:00

2011-01-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

2011-01-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

2011-01-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

2009-10-28T17:39:00.001-07:00

2009-10-27T21:20:00.001-07:00

2009-07-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

Seriously?

2009-07-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

See how it was made.

2009-06-26T01:04:00.000-07:00

working. i miss you guys.

2009-06-08T21:50:00.001-07:00

been crazy busy.

2009-05-19T01:24:00.000-07:00

high five for all the pals who got their diploma today.

I've been trying to get back to doing quick drafts on paper, and I can honestly say that i've been spoiled because of photoshop. While I've gotten faster on programs it feels like all the neglect of the triple p's (pencil, pen, paperzzz) has caught up with me. Lots of work to be done, i'll hope to update as soon as I get the chance to.

Don't pay any attention to the upload, boredom taking hold of me.

• Portrait Process •

2009-05-05T23:54:00.001-07:00

There is a really good vibe we've got going on in Columbus - this sort of Illustrator's unifying; where the old world told us that we're all out to get each other, we're rejecting that and trying to be better friends and helpful professionals to one another. Honestly, it feels like the mindset is finally right - the old mentality is just, well, negative. Which, negativity is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is apparent that the attitudes have to change. We're all connected.

You, right now, reading this, are becoming connected to me, it's a simple, quaint fact. So, in respect to the whole "let's be a community" thing, I figured i'd scan a few quick drawings I did today in a portrait class and break down the process with 3 fairly easy steps to the approach.

First, as elementary as this sounds, I just draw. Just like a swimmer may want to just play around in the water before he/she starts to do time runs, I just draw for a little bit; it is an incredibly helpful and important process to ready your hand for a more intellectual dive into what you want to represent on the paper.

The structure of the subject matter begins to take noticeable shape in the second step. In this case, since it is a portrait study, the facial structure and slight keys of the anatomy begin to be easier to decipher. This step, although it is a very fast sketch like the first, has a greater depth of likeness integrity. The first step was practice, and this one is the preliminary.

Keep in mind all of these drawings are not long at all - the third step actually took just a little longer than the first two - probably 20 or 30 minutes, and then the minutes that followed were simply erasing slight things that bugged me. Anywho - before I begin to draw with my (brick) charcoal, I turn the brick on it's side and coat the entire paper with the blunt side, and then smudge all of it with a paper towel (pretty basic 'tonic' technique, most of everyone learns how to tone their own paper early on). This drawing was approached VERY slowly than the others: instead of letting my hand do the orchestration and my mind wanders, my head orchestrates while my hand builds the blocks. I look very closely at both my model and my drawing very often, probably 3-4 seconds in moderation, so there is alot of looking up-and looking down-in this drawing. After i've drawn her out, I take a tuff-stuff eraser pen and use the blunt side of the eraser stick to lift off the charcoal and create accented highlights. Not a finished drawing, but at this point I am most concerned with the 'likeness' of my model - correct anatomical structure and eliminated any exaggerations in my studies are the top on my list at this point.

Well, that's my attempt at being part of the community. Hopefully i'll get a chance to do some more of these in the days to come.

2009-05-01T20:58:00.001-07:00

2009-04-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

I have to say that figure drawing was probably the most fun, in general, out of all the classes in the C. Because it was a wonderful thing to realize just how fast I was starting to get, and how your thought process evolves when you are thinking about what kind of image it is going to be when the session is over. Somewhere along the lines it stops being a homework assignment and you decide to make it what it is : something you make, which has, ultimately, more integrity than a "homework" piece would feel like. I think that is what separates the people who drudge along and the people who really start to twist it around for the better. All in all, I'll miss life drawing, not sure when i'll get the chance to do it again.

2009-04-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

100% original

2009-04-28T13:20:00.001-07:00

GET MONEY

2009-04-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

1: Painting detail

2 & 3: Sketches

4: If you never met me, this is pretty much what I look like

2009-04-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

A mouse-pad I made for Svet.

30 minutes.

2009-04-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

So, I had 30 minutes to myself and sketched up a very on-the-spot sketch of a transformer. Because, I mean, there ain't nothing cooler than a Transformer, honestly; except maybe a kitten with gargantuan eyeballs. On another note, I uploaded two new videos of likewise quick sketches. Watch them and star the hell out of me.

Updizzate

2009-04-27T05:49:00.001-07:00

SUP DEWDSZ

No joke - i'm in a choke-hold of work right now on behalf of CCAD's infamous senior semester, we've got Directions coming up and the ribbon on my college school is going to be cut in a few weeks 3:

On a good note, it's been a phenomenally good few days. * Can't really say much now, but I can throw up a few uploads of the work I did for the 2009 Hasbro Toy competition. I didn't place in the sculpting 5...buuuuut.....well, i'll just leave it at that ;3. As far as the book goes, I mean, it could have been alot better, but overall, i'm satisfied with how it printed. If anyone who didn't get picked is reading this, don't feel bad. Like, 80% of the toys in there were awesome, and the remaining percent were no joke amazing, coming from someone who never sculpts, I'm sure it doesn't mean much - but honestly, the toys that were busted out looked so awesome. I put in so much work on my guy but...well, he kinda fell short of the competition. But, in the end, well, let's just say, he did his job : he was there to support the artwork. X3 x3 oh lolol

BACK2WORK4MOI

- G.I. Joe : New Ops Book -

2009-04-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Alright, getting published. Feels good.

Also, get that money.

Can't upload the pages until next week when the comp is done, so, yeah.

Peace.

G.I. Joe : New Ops Comic Panel

2009-04-12T20:51:00.001-07:00

Just havin some fun.

YOU DISGUST ME

2009-04-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Olllllllllld sketch

2009-04-12T05:28:00.001-07:00

Mozart's Color Exploration - Video # 3

2009-04-12T04:09:00.000-07:00

Posting it before I forget and wander off into the workload.

Check it out on the Tube.

This is the only video of the three without a commentary, but probably the weakest in terms of subject matter and content. I just wanted a "snappy" music video.

2009-04-12T03:29:00.000-07:00

Lots of old sketches for nostalgia's sake,

the last four are from freshman year;

I really do believe those were my best

"drawin" years, I had the clearest mind

in terms of what I wanted out of myself

and what I wanted out of the world.

In other news, I made and ordered my first printed art book today for all of the stuff done for G.I. Joe : New Joes! 34 pages of stuff, so i'm pretty excited to see what that looks like after it comes out of the presses. Been blogging alot as of late...it floors me how many of us are out there, making things, every day, and will be 'til the end of our days. It's 6:49AM, and no sign of stopping so far. I'll upload the third video i've made for the boys over at Hasbro for you guys to enjoy, but the rest will have to come after they stop down in Columbus.

Rooting for you while you root for me.

-BE

Insomniac Games Contest : Ratchet & Clank Future Weapon Design

2009-04-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

I had overheard a few folks talking about a weapon design contest

over at Insomniac™ Games, so I had to gorge myself on it.

Unfortunately, forgetting to read one line of the rules that

specifically stated: "Avoid fine details", I'm hoping they

mean for the gun, lol. In which case, all the schematic

stuff I have around it will have them tossing it in

the trash in no time.

Other than that, Insomniac™ is a great publisher,

their titles have always had that cartoony flair that

attracts more coming-of-age adults rather than

teenagers. Come to think of it, I never realized

how much fun I really had on Sly Cooper, Spyro,

and R&C. Good tizzimes.

2009-04-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Something old,

And something new.

2009-04-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

2009-04-08T01:39:00.001-07:00

I'm making 3 books.

I'm going to die.

2009-04-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

I promise i'm working. I'm extremely tired.

Have some ridiculous nonsense in the meantime.

2009-03-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Resident Evil 5. What a game. Seriously. What. A. Game.

I really admire the fact that capcom contacted firearm makers like Sig, H&K, and other manufacturers of numerous products featured throughout the game to texture out the smallest details for the closest representation of realism in an already cutting edge game. Screw all the 'racist' publicity American reviewers are trying to spin - you can't tell people a clean, pressed shirt has a stain on it. Speaking of which, anyone read the reviews for the Watchmen yet? Seriously - have you? Wikipedia the reception of the film, the reviews people are making are blindingly absurd. Someone had the nerve to say, "Watchmen is a bore."; and many of them collectively complain that the film followed the graphic novel too closely, and, from that one concept, go on to spin preposterous criticism that a film based on a graphic novel simply should not represent it down to the bone. - - I'm sorry, if a film, based on a video game, or a graphic novel, follows the original work too closely, it's because that is the POINT of the film. They, of course, rewrote certain scenes, i.e. the child killer that Rorschach executes, so, it was in fact "interpreted", the effort that most critics latch on to. I guess, what i'm trying to say is:

Did anyone see Super Mario Brothers?

You know, that little film, based on that video game? Remember, how they didn't change ANYTHING at all when trying to recreate it? My humble, and well reserved opinion on film adaptations of both games and comics is simply: i'd rather you recreate each panel and frame of the original work than see you completely, COMPLETELY change everything, save for the character's names, which seems to be the total opposite of what most employed critics believe.

...Probably read 3 pages of any of the issues and that suddenly assumed they were masters on prophecizing what it should have been.

Whatever. Resident Evil 5: Play it. Watchmen: Watch it.

2009-02-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

Old stuff.

Which one are you?

2009-02-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

whole lotta this goin down

2009-02-12T22:35:00.000-08:00

In 7 days I somehow managed to make 9 videos on youtube,

granted, not the best videos in the world, but considering the fact

that I utilized that trial software to the last drop of time, I feel happy.

I do feel a little weird in knowing that all of the videos were very military-related, seeing as how I was finishing up vehicle work for a project. Hopefully, when I do get Snapz, i'll have more of a variety of subject matter on there. You can see my videos at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/bedavelli

2009-02-12T21:54:00.000-08:00

Hey there b-spot.

I've been a little preoccupied with school, portfolio nonsense, and a really wicked project underway with the 3D fellas at Hasbro - seeing as how they're probably going to go toy-nuts with the upcoming G.I. Joe movie, i'm doing a new G.I. Joe line for them. Can't say i'm feeling too confident about physically sculpting my guy out, but like all things, it will have a beginning and an end eventually. I've had a ton of fun for the 2D design aspect of creating the character, but, up until I go through with the presentation, I won't post anything on here as of yet. So, until then, enjoy some remote-controlled tanks.

2009-02-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

getting addicted to this Snapz Pro - im tellin ya

2009-01-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

Snapz Pro is awesome, srsly - next program i'm buying, hands down.

2009-01-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

2009-01-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

2009-01-26T02:56:00.001-08:00

2009-01-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

Senior year is hitting us hard.

That's all I really got to say.

2009-01-16T06:30:00.000-08:00

for you.

2009-01-15T23:03:00.000-08:00

Hmm. Well, it's technically my first 'gettin' there' vehicle design page that i've made.

Good thing is it was a happy experiment, I had been playing Ubisoft's™ Endwar™ (yeah yeah I know lol ™) with some buddies and remembered how much I love tactical strategy games - and I loved the transports they designed for both the Russians and Europeans. These are all exploration comps, I think I like the one in the bottom left in the 4-pair box the best. Anyway, hopefully I'll get to play around with tanks and helicopters later.

2009-01-15T02:59:00.000-08:00

Was digging around old files and came across this old "what if" poster I made forever ago, haha. I couldn't help but get a laugh at this - I had made one for an actual class sophomore year that was actually well thought out and crafted nicely, but sadly the file got corrupted and all I have is the printed version. Anyway, doesn't it always feel cool to find stuff you had forgotten forever ago?

2009-01-15T01:45:00.001-08:00

Fyi, my website is finally up:

www.elliostration.com

So hard to memorize, right? Not catchy at all.

I still have MUCH work to update and upload, but it is at a good starting point for me right now. More to come and change, i'm sure.

2009-01-15T01:41:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be up all night, baby.

I've got alot of work to make up for Ron, and i'm looking to dish out most of it tonight and tomorrow night. After being bored of the same old erasing and pasting stuff from old scans for concept boards, I had the urge to create a new board and brainstorm up a few APC's. I'm going to be up for a long time, so it's going to get mighty lonely in this house, but at least I have all the oatmeal and Bob Dylan I could ever need. Hit me up on iChat/Aim to help curve my growing insanity, pals.

2009-01-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

(emily)

2009-01-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

(courtney)

Old image, yadda yadda.

2009-01-12T02:48:00.001-08:00

(paige)

It's a shame I couldn't go home this winter. Really, it would have been great to see my family.

But work had to be done, files had to be fixed and other things needed tending to.

This is going to be my last semester of CCAD, hard to think how quickly it flew by.

2008-12-31T20:53:00.000-08:00

Tiger, my dog (coincidentally also the greatest dog who has ever lived), wishes you all a healthy and safe New Year. He also wants you to know that my website, www.elliostration.com, is up and running, some kinks still need to be worked out, yadda yadda.

WE'RE ALL GOING TO GET HAPPIER AND RICHER BECAUSE THE ECONOMY CANNOT GET ANY WORSE. THE LOGIC IS UNDENIABLE!! U.S.A! U.S.A.!

-b.e., the last day of '08

2008-12-09T00:07:00.001-08:00

just testing my animated gifs. nothing to see here, people.

2008-12-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

2 down. -

fyi this will probably be the last upload for now,

i don't have the time to update on the craziest

week i've had up to this point...

I will definitely link up my website here in the coming weekend,

it'll be done and i'll be happier.

2008-12-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

1 down, 20 to go. (lol, yeah right.)

2008-12-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

everyone has a different way of working.

everybody.

I was lucky enough to find the initial sketch that I made for this final piece, and well, for this one that I did last year it is pretty much cut and dry.

It was more or less an experiment with certain kinds of brush presets; in this case I basically scanned a sketch and went right overtop of it on a painted layer, no other layers, like texture layers or blending layers accompanied it. The textures on the rocks were made pretty easily by blowing up a large pastel brush and turning the opacity down way low and just bricking it.

2008-12-02T22:14:00.000-08:00

lawlSLURPlawl

*sorry about the beginning glitch, this was the best uploaded version blogspot could handle. The actual version doesn't contain weird gridding crap.*

2008-11-26T00:08:00.000-08:00

Since my blog seems to be taking shape into more of a nostalgic art thread on my behalf, I figure i'll post some homework pics as well.

to all those wondering what art college must be like:

most of every assignment will you have questioning reality at all times.

BUT- there are some assignments buried deep in the endless piles of homework that you very much enjoyed working on. For me, it had to be the game board project in Sophomore Ad & Graph. It was a wonderful exercise of communication, conceptualization, and specializing everyones' uniqueness in making a superbly enjoyable end result.

It was a great honor writing the basis and characters for the game, and an even greater experience to see other people craft it into a reality.

Matt Koulermos, Luke Deady, and my good pal Emily Spear are the team in the photo above.

Painting, drawing, and sculpting is one thing, but to make interactive art was a majestically rewarding learning experience.

2008-11-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

I really miss the way I drew in high school.

There was no thought, no planning, no goal,

just the ink and the paper

2008-11-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

Obviously the whole world around us 'artists' floods us with the outcome of what we make will eventually look like. Music, movies, games, everything effects how we grow and evolve as students of our craft. For as long as I can remember, I always put a song on repeat, for hours, god help me hours and I draw away like a machine (or at least that was the case before junior year of college). I can even remember the song I listened to when I went through about half of the sketchbook this particular page came from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JTloZWFuGQ

2008-11-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

I swear, if I ever publish anything it will be just a collection of all the things i've drawn on anything ever handed to me from school, from age 5-21. I seriously could release 100 300-page volumes. But then again, who'd enjoy that? );3

2008-11-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

i'm trying my best to upload an image a day, at the least.

let's hope I can stick to it.

2008-11-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

well, i've finally settled on what my website background image is going to be.

picked it at random, but I think it works fine.

other than that i'm knee deep in animating stuff and programming my site up, this semester is getting more insane by the minute. I'm missin the pals hard right now

2008-11-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

This semester is really, really cracking down on me.

I'm looking forward to uploading movie files for the viewing public soon.

2008-11-14T21:27:00.000-08:00

slightly more recent stuff -

2008-11-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

Well i've had advice from friends to upload more recent things, so I guess i'll post more things from last year.

More legacy stuff, only thing I was really digging on this one was the sword and the grenadier's get-up.

2008-11-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

One of the friggin countless sketches I made for Legacy.

I can remember Ron Tardino, my teacher and well-known legend at the

illustration dept. at C-Cad, telling me,

"MAKE HIM SEPIA TONED. LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS."

2008-11-13T00:16:00.000-08:00

OH GOD I DREW A MILLION OF THESE COPIC MARKER'D GIRLS FRESHMAN YEAR.

2008-11-13T00:06:00.000-08:00

the cool thing about drawing, just like, well, every last thing in life-

is that it has a story. Every bit of it, every scratch of ink had a thought behind it.

I want to say I drew this about 3 years or so ago.

I was staying at my pal Jeff's house- this log cabin in the most beautiful hillside,

buried in trees and wrapped in sunlight during the day and completely dark at nightfall.

It was the first night I had sat down to play Resident Evil 4, and, some hours later, Jeff

trotted off to bed and in the wee hours of the night I stayed up all night and drew, drew, drew.

I'm not sure what goes through your head when you are doing the thing(s) you love,

I can remember that I felt like the whole world was asleep that night when I was drawing.

Thinking that all over the world, even on the other half where the sun is shining, people took

the time to take a nap. I really felt like I was the last person awake that day,

doing his best to make sense of the time I was lucky to have by myself.

2008-11-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

I can remember doing a bunch of drawings

while looking at the screen playing Vagrant Story.

Truth is, no one can copy a masterpiece.

That's the point of the piece being mastered.

remember how awesome it was to learn new things,

like the hue/saturation tool?

Yeah, hah, it's still got it.

For all the potential onlookers, friends, and fellow creators,

my name is Brian Elliott, a soon-to-be graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design.

I don't get out half as much as I used to when I was a much more bright eyed kid in the city,

so hopefully this site will be a good window for everyone who might happen to wonder what

it is I might be doing in my day to day life of defeat and victory.

This blog stuff is new to me, so i'll make sure to upgrade it and

throw on links to my fellow guys and gals on the front lines.

For the most part, i'll do my best to keep this blog a day-to-day upload

of old sketches that have never seen the light of day for your viewing pleasure.

be good, be just.

-b.e.

2008-11-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

The first of many.