Comic strip character development.

To show how the different characters would interact with each other I created some short comic strips. First I would come up with a simple scenario and a short script. In this case Romeo the cupid cadet is stopping Penumbra and Mumbra from terrorising a defenceless bunny.
After that I created a few small thumbnail layout sketches before going on to draw the final pencil artwork.
I wanted to give the comics a real 3D feel so I drew the characters coming out of their frames in action shots to give an added dynamic.

Nick finds a magical orb deep within the Christmas realm. It has the power to summon Christmas trees from the ground in an earth splitting explosion of glitter.

Myth Makers...the not so good guys.

The darkling corpse trio known as Penumbra, Mumbra and Umbra. They are servants to the Dark Lord Rebus, master of nightmares. Below are a some of the attitude drawings I sketched to breath some life and character into them. It's always the next step once you have finished your initial character design and proportions bible. It's also a lot of fun too!

Myth Makers...the good guys!

The Myth Makers, future protectors of the World of Dreams. They fight the evil forces of the Master of Nightmares and his not so elite darkling corpse trio of Shadow Hunters.
The attitude sketches below are primarily created for my own use as a character guide during pre-production and concept stage of a project. When the main production starts they are then used by the art team as a reference point for 3D modelling and animations. This is all created to keep the art work the art team creates consistent throughout the project.

Myth Makers, a world of dreams!

The Myth Makers is a series of games originally released on PlayStation 2 back in 2003 and then on Wii in 2007. I was the lead artist and designer on the project and have produced 100s of individual images during the development of the titles. The series sold millions world wide and is one of my favourites projects from over the past 10 years.

Although not prevalent within the games, the Myth Makers and the world they inhabit is a rich and vivid one, full of secrets and mystery. In my spare time I chose to pursue the concept further by developing the world and how the characters would interact with each other. I did some of this by drawing comic strip action and story sequences but most is written in hand form locked deep within my ideas book.
Most of the artwork created in games development is never seen so I thought I would start a series of posts about the Myth Makers and the concept art and ideas I developed during the 3 years of production.

Early character sketches and ideas development.

http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/iSRbsEoiJCJi2LqXJCh6JsABjncA_0Lq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_Makers_Super_Kart_GP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_Makers:_Trixie_in_Toyland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_Makers:_Orbs_of_Doom

Hamster Heroes: Rodent Rescue!

Back in 2003 I had much joy in creating the Hamster Heroes. The game in my initial concept was designed to be set in an animal experimentation lab where you played as the 'Hamster Heroes' out to Rescue all the critters that were being kept trapped inside. Kind of like a hamster A-team that rescued animals in need. There was a demolitions and tech expert, 'Sergent Fluff', Kung-Fu master 'Katana' and 'Super Hamster' who had super powers like super strength and the ability to fly. Unfortunately the budget didn't allow for such a lavish game plot and the concept turned into a monkey ball style game instead with the characters trapped within Hamster Balls. This cautious tried and tested route of 'let's just do what someone else did because we know what sells' attitude is all to prevalent within the games and movie industry these days. Never the less the original game concept belongs to me and sits waiting...

Castle Dracula painting

This is a piece of concept art I created for a 'Movie Monster' themed title. I wanted to create the most imposing castle possible, something that looked like it had been carved from the rocky outcrop it stood upon. I used pictures from my time in Prague for the influence of the architecture. Me and my wife went over for a friends wedding a few years back. The city has so many wonderful buildings and streets and tons of great cocktail bars and Jazz clubs. If you ever manage to visit I recommend the Letni kino Střelecký Ostrov Restuatrant that sits on an island off the Most Leggi road bridge. Really great food with a wonderfully peaceful atmosphere due to it's location the the middle of the river. After that you could always try the Blue light Bar for a cocktail or two and then take in one of Prague's famous Jazz Clubs. A great place, full of visual feasts for the eyes.

Space Brains from Planet X

A few images from a first year project at uni named 'Space Brains from Planet X'. James Finlay, Dan Harrod, Matt Jones & myself came up with the basic premise of a crazy megalomaniac scientist taking over the world with the help of the alien super brains. Using a radio telescope Doctor X forges an alliance with the Brains from Planet X and gets them to travel 1000s of light years through space in order to take over the world. We didn't get to a final outcome of the story but maybe the world was saved when Doctor X got out his CD collection and played his Barry Manilow greatest hits. The Brains decided that this Doc X guy, he ain't so cool anymore, and they just flew back home.

GDC Popcorn Arcade Banner

I had to create a 2.5m high banner for GDC 2008. It featured a selection of the characters I had created whilst working at DDi, all of which featured in the Popcorn Arcade range of games for Wii.
The group at the bottom is actually all the staff of DDi re-born as virtual folk using the 'NuYu' editor that me and programmer Adam Smith designed and created for our Kids Sports range of games.

Top to bottom, Party Pigs Farmyard games, Kids Sports, Myth Makers,
Ninjabread Man, Nuyu Gang, Toy Missiles!
http://www.popcorn-arcade.com/
Nintendo Wii
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/10/a-new-you-with-nuyu-but-dont-forget-about-mii/

WAR!

Some illustrated and painted artwork from a project I worked on last year called 'Battle Cards'.
Copyright 2010 Games Media.

Fuzion Frenzy © 2001 Microsoft Games Studios

Whilst working at Blitz Games I was requested to create the characters for the Microsoft XBOX launch title Fuzion Frenzy. The game was set in the future and based around a massive game show where the contestants had to compete in multiple challenges in order to become the Fuzion Frenzy Champion. The outline was to create some larger than life characters to be the contestants, they had to be street wise, urban and also be a star in there own right.

Dub is a notorious underground cyber DJ from Tokyo. He is the founding member of the elite pirate radio station
Tanked! Constantly on the run he has devised a way of keeping one step ahead of the law by creating the worlds first portable radio station in the form of a fusion powered transmitter he wears as a backpack.

Fly is the founding member of the Def Valley Dance Masters and a leading authority in self defense. His journey
 of physical control and improvement has brought him to the Fuzion Frenzy Championships. He considers this to be
one of the greatest challenges he has ever faced and wants desperately to rein supreme as the Fuzion King.

This girl is more trouble than she's worth (and she's worth Millions!). The only child to one of Japan's wealthiest business men, Jade spends her life partying it up with the world's rich and famous. But the girl that has everything is missing
out on the one thing she desires the most...the Solid Platinum and Gold Fuzion Frenzy Trophy.

Jet lives a fast and dangerous lifestyle as an extreme, New York City courier. She takes on only the most expensive jobs and if that means risking her life, then so much the better. She will use any trick in the book to deliver a package on time and if the streets are to busy there's always the roof tops!

Zak is one of the most popular kids you're ever likely to meet. Known to his friends as the Geek with the the Golden
Glove, he has an unconventional talent for electronics and programming. Nothing pleases Zak's best buds more than when he hacks into the most popular arcade machines and rigs them to give unlimited credits. Now you can see why he is so popular.

This initial sketch of the character Zak landed me the Job of Lead character artist on Fuzion Frenzy. Although many ideas had been put forward by other concept artists at Blitz Games it was Microsoft who wanted me to create the definitive look and style for there launch title.

Fish Frenzy: Level Concept for Fuzion Frenzy 2

X fuzion champion and Fusion Frenzy host Brad Seabrick.

Early concepts for Fly and another character called the Doctor. The Doctor was supposed to be a mobile tattoo and body piercing pro. These characters where taken to an extreme so I could gauge what microsoft wanted for the feel and attitude.

Lead character designer for the 2001 Launch title, Fuzion Frenzy for Xbox.

http://www.giantbomb.com/mike-rooker/72-100364/

First edition!

Mingo (comic book concept by me and Hendrix)

Ninjabread Man

Acrostic Warrior

Action Girls

The first post on my Blog, a selection of some of my favourites from over the years.