Dotun Ogunsakin

Hero of Hyrule

2012-02-01T05:24:00.040-08:00

The character is Link from The Legend of Zelda series. This was a subject I always wanted to paint, but never quite got around to, until I had a character design project for my Digital Ink & Paint class. So, it's both a class & personal project.

The sketch, tone, and color fill were done in Photoshop.

The Photoshop sketch.

The painting was done between Photoshop and Corel Painter. In Photoshop, the colors were laid over the tone (color layer set to "Color" blend mode). The layers were then combined and fine-tuned further - color adjustments, duplicate and overlay, etc. Then, further work in Painter to achieve the painterly, brush-and-palette feel.

I worked on the background on its own layer; I never had more than 2 layers throughout the project, as I approached it more as a natural painting than a digital composite.

Once finished, I flattened the image.

Final.

Concept Bumblebee

2012-01-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

A quick car sketch and paint, all done within Photoshop. I had sketched on a layer, set it to Multiply and filled a solid color underneath. Then, I decided to challenge myself by collapsing the layers & completing the work on the Background layer only.

Having to work on one layer did extend the time I spent on it (a little over an hour total), but the result stayed true to the concept I had.

Shark Bay Postcard

2012-01-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

A fun pencil sketch, scanned, colored & composited in Photoshop.

Initial sketch

Final result.

NOTE: This is not representative of the actual Shark Bay in Australia, as I'm quite sure shark wrangling would be discouraged there :)

Solar Monolith

2012-01-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

My first art piece of 2012; a painterly style done in Photoshop.

Extremely Stuffed Bird

2011-12-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

An Intro to 3D Animation class project. The goal was a short narrative or commercial, achieving motion with motion paths and deformers only.

Modern Classic Roadster

2011-11-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

A quick sketch in Photoshop, combining classic roadster proportions with modern lines.

Bouncing Ball 3D Animation

2011-10-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

3D Animation class project.

Zoo Trip (08-28-11)

2011-10-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

Animal sketches from a class trip (2D Animation Principles) to Zoo Atlanta.

SAM (Secret Agent Man)

2011-10-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Character model (no texture or rig) for my Intermediate 3D Modeling class final.

Guilin

2011-10-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

A painting done in Corel Painter X, based on this impressive image featured on Bing:

The reference image (location: Guilin, China)

Background & Character Design Final

2011-09-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Eyes

Noses

Mouths

Male Heads

Female Heads

10-min Self Portrait

Heads

2011-09-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

A series of heads for Background & Character Design class; alternating rows of male & female.

Character Development: Final Selections & Detailing

2011-09-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Final stages of the character development work from my Background & Character Design class.

Prime Rock

2011-09-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

A quick one-layer painting done in Photoshop.

Character Development Partner Work

2011-08-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

Character & Background Design class work; we were paired up and asked to design character silhouettes together.

The silhouettes.

Subsequently-developed character.

Character Development Work in Progress

2011-08-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

Work from Background & Character Design class; building up on instructor selections from prior silhouettes.

Character Silhouette Work in Progress (Updated)

2011-08-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

Background & Character Design class.

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

Perspective Reproduction From Reference Image

2011-08-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

Another assignment for my Background & Character Design class; it is a reproduction of an image.

Cosmic Islets

2011-08-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

A casual sketch in Photoshop that I liked & decided to develop.

The sketch.

With the sketch (turned off) on its own layer, I flood-filled the Background with a very dark blue and then blocked in some nebulae.

Block-in of the nebulae.

I painted the nebulae just like clouds - hard and soft edges, light and dark juxtapositions. I constantly varied brush size, hardness, opacity and blend mode (Color Dodge for the bright areas, Multiply for the dark).

I then turned on the sketch of the islets and blocked those in also. I removed the spaceship on the side, as I decided to draw that differently later; I also modified the size, position & rotation of the islets.

Islets blocked in and adjusted.

Then I returned to the nebulae and worked on details.

Background completed.

On another layer, I added stars; all subtle, nothing strong.

Subtle stars on their own layer.

Finally, I completed the islets (added several more) and spaceships (one obvious ship & 2 tiny ones over the islet with the dome).
Final result:

Waving Flag Pencil Test

2011-08-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

Waving flag pencil test from my 2D Animation Principles class.

Bouncing Ball Pencil Test

2011-08-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

Bouncing ball pencil test from my 2D Animation Principles class.

Environment Sketches Assignment - Final

2011-08-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Final sketch-up for a Character & Background Design class assignment.

Final sketch.

Environment Study Assignment - Work In Progress

2011-08-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Work in progress for a Character & Background Design class assignment.

Environment Sketches Assignment - Preliminary

2011-08-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Character & Background Design class assignment; 1- & 2-point perspective sketches, indoor and outdoor.

1- & 2-Point Indoor.

1- & 2-Point Outdoor.

1,2 & 3-Point Perspective Exercise

2011-07-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Perspective exercise for my Background & Character Design class.

1-Point Freehand

1-Point Straight Edge

2-Point Freehand

2-Point Straight Edge

3-Point Freehand

3-Point Straight Edge

Alcohol Wash Technique Fruit Sketches

2011-07-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Click on image to view larger.

A project for my Background & Character Design class. Prismacolor color pencil (black) on Bienfang Graphics 360 paper, washed with alcohol on cotton pads.

Tinkerboy

2011-07-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

This piece is from my Image Manipulation class taken Winter Quarter 2011. The assignment goal was a sketch-ink-scan-color process. The inspiration for this was an eager young gearhead testing one of his contraptions (the scooter has a slight steampunk influence).

The inked drawing.

I imported it into Photoshop and adjusted the Levels (Image > Adjustments > Levels or Ctrl/Cmd + L) until satisfied. The project required at least 3 layers - the outline (which was my scan), color, and values.

All layers.

The "Drawing" layer was the scan, with transparency locked and layer mode set to "Multiply". The "Values" layer was filled with 50% gray (Edit > Fill, then select "50% Gray" from the "Contents" drop-down) and then dodged and burned for the highlights and shadows (also project requirement).

I put all colors on the "Fill" layer. Ideally, colors should be separated across several layers, but I wanted to minimize layer count and already had a clear idea of my outcome, so I colored on this layer only. I colored by selecting a desired area(s) on the Drawing layer with the Magic Wand Tool (W), expanding the selection by 1 pixel (Select > Modify > Expand...), then returning to the Fill layer and coloring in the selection. The wand selections were pretty clean (due to the clean, inked scan) and the 1px expansion took care of any unselected edge pixels; any slight gaps between the color regions were obscured by the outlines of the Drawing layer. Also note that the scooter flames were simply loosely painted with no masking involved.

Left: Color regions with gaps (outline hidden); Right: Regions obscured by outline.

Tinkerboy and his scooter's shadow got their own tonal layers (both set to "Multiply"); selections were made with the Path tool and filled with 75% gray.

The background was also painted on a single layer. The sky and grass were painted with a round, hard brush, and then smudged. The bushes were painted with a custom brush I made in Adobe Illustrator (download the brush file - Photoshop ABR).

Finally, the background received a zoom blur effect (Filter > Blur > Radial Blur). I selected "Zoom" from the "Blur Method" option and eyeballed the focal point approximately at the vanishing point of the background.

Final result:

And Here We Go!

2011-07-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

Finally caught the blogging bug! But for useful purposes, though; I will be putting up my artwork and process, and linking with my website: www.contourpixel.com.

I hope the info I offer will be of use to someone out there, as those of others have been to me.