I Was Built With A Smile On My Face

Finally put paid to this ancient work-in-progress. I like the scrappy bits best. It was pretty tempting to start over from scratch and turn it into a glorified gung-ho sketch...

Actually, I've had it with labouring endlessly over this shit! New Year's Resolution for 2010 = Loosen Up!

"I Was Built With A Smile On My Face" - Process 3

After a lengthy hiatus, I'm back on the case with this jolly robo-fest. Since starting it late last year we've traded in our trusty, tiny old laptop for a shiny new iMac. The difference in screen size, not to mention processing clout, is just incredible; every last inch of an illustration can now be seen on the display, at it's actual size, simultaneously. It's been like moving into a bright, airy penthouse studio after working for years in a cupboard under the stairs.

So this one's been expanded from an A3 portrait into an A2 landscape, and had a couple of banished 'bots reinstated and repositioned while I rethink the colour scheme.

"I Was Built With A Smile On My Face" - Process 2

A bit of colour thrown on, and a couple of robots sent packing so the composition can breathe a bit...

"I Was Built With A Smile On My Face" - Process 1

The original plan for this one was to render it tightly in pencil and do the colours in Photoshop. It quickly wandered into digital execution territory instead, the graphics tab feeling that bit better suited to tackling intricate circuitry, metallic sheen and what have you.

The above illustration's part of a little package which I'm hoping might turn a few heads in game development studios - a package which will also include wide open vistas expanded from the scenic thumbnails in this pic.

Plus I've a slew of new print/poster designs on the go. There aren't enough hours in the day, I tells ye...