The Runner

An Oz Beginning

Now For Something Completely Different...

Happy Friday to all!

Today I thought I would kick off a little project that I have wanted to do for a while now. I kept putting it off with excuses like "I have no time" or "I'm not quite ready." Well, no more excuses.

Doing this blog has been great for me. It gives me a reason to draw every day, and it also makes me available for questions and comments. One of the most frequent comments that I get from art students around the globe is "What should I put in my portfolio?" While there are many different answers that all depend on your desired position within the art field, I do have several stock responses:

1. Throw away your school work.
2. Don't rip anybody off.
3. Take a well known story, and "re-design" it.

For today's post, I will focus on point number three. In my opinion, the best thing you can do as a prospective character designer/illustrator/concept artist is to take a story that the Art Director is familiar with, and put your spin on it. Push it as far as you want, but be sure you keep things clear and easily explainable. (Because believe me, you will be explaining them.) Character design is an obvious choice, but you could also explore environment and prop design.

Also, if you wanted to get extra bonus points, you could push things even further. Set the story in a completely different location or time period. Make all of the characters squirrels. Perhaps your version of Robin Hood takes place in the refrigerator. You never know...

So why am I talking about this? Well, I have decided to put my money where my mouth is, and do this myself. It may take a while, but each morning I will sit down and push toward my goal. the story I have chosen is "The Wizard of Oz." Why that story? I like the possibilities. Varied characters with very unique personalities. Fantastic locations. Magic. Fantasy. Good. Evil.

Here is the twist. I am going to let you (my loyal blog readers) decide what direction I go with this. I have chosen three different settings for this re-telling, and you get to pick where you want me to go. I have set up a poll over on the right, and you can vote.

Setting 1: The Wild West

Setting 2: Space

Setting 3: Steam Punk

Sound good? I will set the poll to run for a week, and after that I will get started. Please pick something good. (In all reality, any of the three would make me happy.) So vote!!!

This should be a lot of fun, and I look forward to getting started. Thank you all for humoring me.

Not What I Expected

"What I saw created many more questions than answers. What were they doing here? Was this supposed to be some kind of living museum?"

Where The Cows Have Gone

Out To Sea

I would love to do a fully finished piece like this.

Thanks to all who stop by, check out my scribbles, and even leave comments. I don't say it enough... you guys rock.

Lunar Recon Group

And a happy Monday to you all. This morning I scribbled out an idea for a "space suit" style. Baggy. Antiquated. Rather clunky. Right up my alley!

And This Is How We Will Do It

A Better Looking Captain

I feel like this hits a lot closer to the look and feel that I was going for on this character. Yesterday's drawing was a bit off mark and I at least feel I am on a better track this morning. I hope to share more information on this particular project next week!

Happy Friday everybody.