Braden Art

2011-07-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

2011-04-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

2011-03-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

2011-03-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

Again I have been neglecting this blog in favor of my other one for some reason. Staying busy at the moment searching for jobs and spending quiet some time on my bicycle. Why??? Because racing season starts this coming Sunday!!!! Woo hoo!!! I have been spending a lot of time doing my art. And when I am not doing my art...I train...or have to work my shitty part time job, but we'll leave him out of the equation. All I want to concentrate on is my work and racing me bicycle. Its what I love. Whats not to love about that???? I can get super nerdy on my computer learning the coolest new tech and sci-fi stuff while staying in shape and getting to enjoy the outside world when I cruise the roads. Now all I have to do is find a way to get rid of that pesky part time job so I can have more time to enjoy my nerdiness. Oh yeah, hope you enjoy the new painting. :)

2011-03-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

2011-03-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

2011-02-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

Alien portrait. I think I'm going to have to design what i would like my alien girlfriend to look like now that I've painted an alien portrait. This could very well get interesting.

2011-01-25T23:11:00.001-08:00

Funky spaceship with added fx. Basically just messing around with the fx part for this painting. Its always fun experimenting without an idea of where you're going with a painting. Didn't like how the painting was going so I chose to add some fx to add to the interest and BAMMM!!!!...an alright painting. I'll probably have to go back in and push and pull some of the elements to differentiate the spacial relationship of certain objects, but for now....we're good.

2011-01-20T23:17:00.000-08:00

Another similar landscape painting. Having fun experimenting with the form of the land. Trying to find a unique style so I can start illustrating some parts of a story that I've been working on. Hope you enjoy.

2011-01-18T01:37:00.000-08:00

2011-01-18T01:27:00.000-08:00

One of the many matte paintings I did for film. I'll upload all of them as soon as I get a chance. :)

2011-01-14T23:09:00.000-08:00

A quick concept for the plains. Came out of nowhere really. Just playing around and...POOF! Hope you enjoy.

2011-01-13T00:25:00.001-08:00

Another speed painting. Could use some refinement, but other ideas have emerged and I must get started on them as well.

2011-01-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

2010-12-06T16:16:00.001-08:00

New painting in b&w.

2010-11-21T16:06:00.001-08:00

Funails.

2010-11-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

Trying a new technique and style compared to my more common painting style. Fun times.

2010-10-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Another creature. Sculpture maybe?

2010-10-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Painted creature. woo hoo!!

2010-05-08T19:11:00.001-07:00

Creature sketches. woo hoo!!

2010-04-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

Robot. Goofy-ass robot. Fun style though. Something a bit different for me. Its all about exploration.

2010-04-23T17:50:00.001-07:00

Quick sketches of disgruntled robots.

2010-04-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

New study. Lately I've been busy working on other projects, so when I get a chance, I try and do some fun stuff of my own. Soon the robots will be coming. Oh yes, the robots are coming...

Stayed tuned.

2010-04-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

Quick color study.

2010-03-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

2010-03-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

A somewhat finished matte painting. Still have a little to go with the painting before its complete and I can consider it part of the family.

2010-03-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

A small drop of some of the things I've recently been working on. Cheers!

2010-03-04T02:22:00.001-08:00

Quick 6 hour study.

2010-02-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the first matte painting for a film I'm currently working on. The film is Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark" directed by Michael McNeff. This painting is of Snark Island. More posts to come as soon as the work is finished. Hope you enjoy.

2010-01-18T15:11:00.001-08:00

2010-01-09T01:55:00.000-08:00

Piece in progress. 8 hrs so far. Much more reference to be sought.

2010-01-04T17:14:00.000-08:00

First post in like forever. Life can be funny at times and has been lately. You just have to take it what its for and hope for the best. Should be posting more work soon though. Recently had an art test for Sony Online, so we'll see whether or not I'll be moving once again, this time....to Austin. Hopefully everything will play out right and I'll find out soon enough. Needless to say, I'll be posting more work soon. This painting is just a quick piece for...fun...I guess. Don't really know. Color, maybe? Hmmm.... I think I've stumped myself on this one. Ah well, hope you enjoy.

2009-10-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Before I started this painting I thought it would be cool if I saved an image every few minutes as I worked to show how I go about quick concept paintings. This painting is roughly 4-5 hours of work. Hope you enjoy.

2009-10-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

First concept to my story. Its just an environment setting in the underworld. Although there are no people in the scene, and nor will there be, it seems a bit busy. I'll have to correct that in the final.

2009-10-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a quicker 6 hour matte study. I did this one kinda quick simply because its a lower resolution than some of the others I've done. And who says that living under a rock is such a bad thing anyway? I hope this painting doesn't look like one of those cheesy photo-manipulated images floating a million times over on the internet. Well, back to that place I crawled out from under. Cheers!

Wow, now that I've read it, that is one badly constructed paragraph above. So bad that I'm going to have to leave it to remind myself how silly it is that I sound sometimes. I guess that's what happens when you have a million things going inside your head. Good thing for proofreading.

2009-10-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

A quick sketch that's going nowhere. I'll have to revisit it after I get away from it for a while. Maybe something will come about, maybe not. It does have sheep in it for crying out loud, so something must come of it.

2009-10-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

New matte painting. Damn, why don't I know 3d yet!? I might actually have a somewhat successful matte painting. Matte painting #5. Hopefully they'll just get better from here on out. Finding the perfect reference is not easy, especially hi-res. Time to start working on matte paintings and concepts for my own project. Actually, I have a lot of writing and brainstorming to do as well. Very early stages.

2009-09-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Matte painting #4. Roughly about 8 hours of work. Still just playing around with newly learned techniques. Enjoy.

2009-09-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Quick painting. Semi-matte. I just got bored and wanted to try something different. This was mainly an experimental painting trying different things in photoshop.

2009-09-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Second matte painting. I included a side to side comparison with the original plate and the finished painting. Of course I am going to go back and add real fire to the torches once I get a chance and animate the waterfalls as soon as I learn that as well. Hope you enjoy.

2009-09-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

First matte painting. I could spend a little more time on it (which I eventually will), but for now I have other ideas I would like to extract from this tiny, little thing in my head called a "brain". We'll see what concoction comes out next. Enjoy!

2009-08-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well this is going to be one of the last concept "paintings" before I embark on the world of matte paintings. I think it should be somewhat of an easy transition other than the fact of learning how to utilize Photoshop in a completely different manner. Should be fun though. I will be posting some of the matte paintings as I get more comfortable with them.

2009-08-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are two older paintings I pulled from the archives and added a little magic. They could use a bit more polishing which I might do later, but for now this is all you get. Hope you enjoy. Cheers!

2009-07-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

Building.

2009-06-29T18:25:00.001-07:00

Here are some quick characters I did for the"Looking Glass Wars"by Frank Beddor. Great books which is possibly going to become a great movie.

2009-06-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

A new painting for all to see!!! First painting in a while since I've been busy doing everything else. Woot woot!

2009-02-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

Two more paintings from the vault in my head. Quick little things. Started out with simple black and white compositions and added a little color. Nothing final. Just fun, fast paintings.

2009-01-29T16:33:00.003-08:00

A few things done recently. Working on compositions, lighting and color. Nothing too crazy. Just simple and quick paintings.

2009-01-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

Speed paintings and compositional studies. Fun for the whole family!

2008-12-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

Just working on creatures (not my specialty, but trying).

2008-10-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a creature that is a little more technical than I usually like to work, but it was a lot of fun and I have a few more of these that I would like to figure out. I have to work on my industrial design skills anyway and this is a fun project to try it on. Its like being Dr. Frankenstein. Trying to put all the pieces together until you come up with something legit that is actually functional. This character itself is a "reeker" that goes out and gathers information. In scale it would be no larger than that of a basketball with tentacles that trail off around 5 ft. Made of both mechanical and organic properties. Enough already. Enjoy. Color seeker coming soon.

2008-10-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a painting I did for the Environment of the Week on ConceptArt.org. I think I spent a total of 10 -12 hours on this one. I see a few things wrong with it atmospherically, but who's paying attention anyway. Enjoy. The activities on ConceptArt should help me with getting better and sharpen my skills.

2008-10-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a revisit to a painting that I had previously done about 4 months ago. I went in and did a repaint. I changed the overall tone (from pinkish purple to blue) to bring more of a sense of real life to the painting. I also added some more realistic lighting and stone work to the mountains to bring the painting to life. Spent roughly 4 hours just playing around trying to figure things out. Hope you like. The top painting is before the revisions.

2008-10-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

A new painting that I spent a little longer on than usual. I haven't painted this tight in a while, plus, I'd like to try and do some matte paintings sometime to see if its for me. I usually paint somewhat loose, so this is a change. Hope you enjoy.

2008-10-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a painting I've been working on over the last two days. I spent a little more time on this one as you can tell trying to convey a bit more of a sense of realism in my painting. Its just something that's out of my head with no real purpose, but if I take it a little bit further it may find its way in to my story before its all over. Hope you enjoy.

2008-09-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

A new character before nights end. I did this quick sketch from a bunch of doodles experimenting with a new brush. Eventually I'll go back and do a final version of this little guy, but until then may he wreak havoc on this ungodly world.

2008-09-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Two new sketches messing around with a new brush. Soon its going to be time to start working on a number of short stories and illustrations of ideas that I've been wanting to get out. I've always been a sucker for tales and fables. More or less it was the illustrations that accompanied the story that I was so drawn to. I'm not much of a writer and I'm not the greatest of artists, but I'll do my best to conjure up something tasty enough that we all can enjoy. I hope. Enjoy the sketches and I'll do what I can to get the stories started and have some preliminary sketches soon.

2008-09-21T11:13:00.001-07:00

...and another. I enjoy doing these speed paintings although I might spend a little more time than I should noodling things here and there. We'll see where this takes me in about a month of doing 1-2 speedies a day. As important as art is in my life and progressing in it I have much better things to worry about....like what I'm going to be for Halloween and how many midgets can you actually squeeze into a phonebooth. More paintings to come soon.

2008-09-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Two more speed paintings. I'm trying to get faster and faster at painting and capturing a real feel for the environment to establish the mood of the piece. Its also nice to experiment with new brushed and techniques. All in all these are in no way "finished" paintings. Just a way for me to learn... and conquer the world...one painting at a time. And damn do I have a lot to learn.

2008-09-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick one. Just a speed painting out of some old scratches in my sketchbook. A little boring since it is straight on, but what more can one ask for in a couple of hours. My momma says its the best paintin she ever saw and she don't tell no lies.

2008-09-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, it really has been a while since I last updated this blog. So much work has been done over the last year, I don't even know where to begin. I haven't been able to do much personal work, but I'll post some of my more recent stuff that I've been playing around with lately.

2007-03-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Lately I've been busy working in other projects and haven't had time to work on my own work, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse of some of the other things that occupy my time. I do a little sculpture here and there while also learning the art of bonsai. Both have there own qualities that give my mind a rest from the constant "rack my brain for new ideas" way of thinking for concept art. Don't get me wrong, its good to keep thinking of new ideas and staying on top of my game, but my poor little brain does need a rest from time to time. Hope you enjoy the new pictures. Oh, and the other picture, thats my new friend I aquired about 2 years ago. He's pretty old. Really.

2007-02-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

Here's another one for those who look at my work. Just a simple landscape without any life in it. I think I need to add something to it to give it a little more umpf.(never had to spell that before). Hope you enjoy.

2007-02-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

This is a piece for a story that I would eventually like to write. I have all these different ideas of the characrters and environments, so I thought I would try and get a few of these ideas rolling. I'm sure all of it will be tweaked a little here and there, but its just the first idea. Hope you enjoy.

2007-02-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

Just a quick 20 min. study in photoshop. Trying to stay loose and quick to give it a nice painterly feel. enjoy.

2007-02-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

Here's just a bunch of randomness from the sketchbook. I've been trying to do more characters so I can get a little more aquainted with doing them. Not my strongest point. Some are head studies of Hades (god of the underworld) and others are just goofy characters from trying to make me look bad. Hope you enjoy.

2007-01-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

Heres another quicky I finished today. I should probably spend a little more time on these things , but I need to learn how to work fast. This is about a total of 4 hours, from another quick thumbnail. I like making abstract marks in a box to see if any nice compositions come through and slowly keep tightening it up until something comes about. It makes me learn how to pull things from my imagination and get a solid idea down from pretty much nothing at all. Maybe not the most effective way of working, but it works and I'm learning. I guess thats what matters most. Well thats all for now. Hope you enjoy.

2007-01-24T16:53:00.000-08:00

Well, here's another one I did for fun. I just found an old thumbnail that had an interesting composition and wa-la!! Its just an interior city of some industrial world. I am always intrigued by the complexities of early industrial factories and the like. I love seeing nature overgrowing in places that are abandoned, like ruins, where it looks as if nature is taking back what was rightfully hers. ahhh the splendor of nature. That piece is coming next.

2007-01-13T22:41:00.000-08:00

Here is one of three pieces I am doing of the Kahn study. I am going to do 2 more poses, one with a little more action and the other with his hat off so you can see more of his facial features. I feel like this one was a little more of a successful character painting than previous attempts. I love creating characters, but it takes away from me concentrating on environments (which I really love). Its hard to try and learn everything, so many technical issues involved. We'll see if the last 2 attempts turn out a little better than this one. Stay tuned.

2007-01-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest design I've been working on. Its just a color study of Genghis Kahn. I think I spent around 3-4 hours on this study mostly trying quicker approaches and creating textures with brushes rather than found textures. I've been working on designing a character of Kahn and this was just one of the head studies that I came up with. I think I need to push the concept a bit more when I get around to putting the whole figure together, which should be posted tomorrow or the following day. I'm sure you'll see a few more of these studies since, as you can tell, I need portrait practice. What can I say, I love environments...and thats why I'm working on characters. I love confusing my brain, its so much fun.

2007-01-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

Back again with a few more things I've been working on. These are just a few of the color studies that I threw together. I'm trying to get quicker at painting while paying attention to whether or not everything is being communicated properly. I love doing these studies sometimes more than longer studies. They are so quick and spontaneous and don't draw everything out of you. Ahhh refreshing! Here I messed around with the same shot with different lighting situations and a few changes here and there. Once I found the right sail, I went to the color studies and experimented with different temperatures of color and a weather effect. I think I like the green painting with the orange sail the most. Obviously, It was the first one.

On another note, I'm still trying to finish that storyboard. I've just have been caught up in other projects right now. It seems that everyone is looking for storyboard artists, so I better get on the ball! enjoy.

2006-12-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some postings of the final widow design I felt somewhat satisfied with. I thought of doing two versions; one with a dress and the other with spider legs. I'm getting a little burnt out on this because there are so many other characters flipping through my head at this time (not psychologically), and I want to get back to creating some new enviro's. There is just something so compelling about environments that draws me to them. Maybe I should become an architect. That would require more schooling and more money, so I don't think thats an option at this time. Anyhow, enjoy. Stay tuned for new work coming soon.

2006-12-26T18:56:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to all. This is just an older piece that I wasn't happy with, so I decided to go back and revise it. I think for an hour it looks alright. Its kinda hard to go back to old work and revise it when it was already to a finished point at one time. It gets tricky trying to fit things into your old composition. More work coming soon. Stay tuned.

2006-12-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

More widow stuff. I thought it would be fun to do a charcoal study of her. This is just a piece in progress, so I'll post the final tomorrow. There are still a couple of issues I have to address. Charcoal is such a fun medium to work with. I think I am going to do a series of this in charcoal. I think it fits the mood just right. Maybe a little more chiaroscuro than what I came up with this time. Love the dark side. AAAHHHHHA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

2006-12-16T13:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some new sketches I've worked on for the Black Widow character design. Just working with different ideas as to what her whole figure should look like. I'm trying to stay away from the typical "girl with spider legs" look and trying to push it a little further. I thought it would be a cool idea to have her bottom half made into a cocoon that is holding her victims. Kinda like a dress made of webbing. I want to have some feelers coming out of her back , around her waste, that she uses to hold her victims before she injects them with "arsenic???!!". That should fun to work in there somehow. Well thats what I'm working on right at the moment. Enjoy.

2006-12-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

Hello? Someone? Anyone reading this? Boo hoo. Well for those of you's who do happen to drop by, here are a few concepts I've been working on lately. Just some lazer-beamin' robots for my storyboard. Quickies. About 15 hours on each. Just call me speedy. Actually, roughly 1-2 hours. I just had to do some color. I was getting tired of doing studies in black and white. Like I said, I hope to have the whole storyboard done soon. ooooooh, I can feel the anticipation in the room. Its getting hard to breathe. Enjoy!

2006-12-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

Not much news this time. Just working my butt off to try and get all of my work to the highest quality. I am in the process of finishing up that storyboard soon and a few new concepts that I have been working on lately. Here are a few new sketches of a random character with squid-like arms and a few head studies for a concept of "the black widow". enjoy.

2006-12-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well I made it to and fro California in one piece and I have to say it was well worth the money. Although it wasn't the greatest experience in the world, it was an experience I won't forget. I had a rough time getting things together before I left and things just didn't fall in place the way I would have liked them to. I was happy to have gotten some feedback from some of the professionals as to what I have to work on and so on, if I want to get into this field anytime soon. All in all, I can't wait to get over there and start working.

Anyhowser, here is another sketch I did for the storyboard, which I promise is coming soon. I spent about 3 hours on this one. Not a final yet. I just wanted to attempt to convey the mood through the color and atmospheric perspective. enjoy. Comment if you would.

2006-11-28T18:38:00.000-08:00

Well, even though I didn't get to post my enviro's yet, heres a little taste of something new.

I've been trying to get prepared for the Gnomon workshop coming up this Fri.. I can't wait. It'll be the first time in California for me. I'll probably never want to come back to Cincinnati. Anyhow, here is a quick study done of one of my frames from my storyboard. I thought I would be done with the whole thing by now, but I keep coming up with new things to add to it, so its taking a bit longer than expected. I chose to experiment a bit more with custom brushes and a few textures. It could be a little cleaner and if I have the time I'll clean it up and post the final version. I usually don't do pieces with robots or cyborgs, so its a first....of many to come. Let me know what you think. Later.

2006-11-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

Back again with some new doodles. Lately I have been working on a variety of different projects mainly to make my portfolio more rounded. I came up with this idea for a storyboard and I decided to give it a shot. You'll have to wait to see the finished storyboard, but I can show you a few of the characters in the making. I really never did much storyboarding, so I thought, what the hell, it can only help. I took about 8 hours to see what I could come up for a main character and a few others. He's suppose to be somewhat of a cyborg/warrior. Tonight I am going to give myself a few hours to see what environments I can carve out of my brain. Hopefully I'll have the entire thing done in the next day or two. I'll be checkin' back soon.
Be productive and enjoy life while doing so.
Later.

2006-11-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back from a small vacation which was a little less productive than suppose to be. Got a lot of inspiration and photographs along the way which I guess counts for something. Nature is definitely the best resource for inspiration. Whenever I get stuck in a rut I can always look towards nature to get me through it.
Still can't wait for the Gnomon workshop. I still have a lot to do to prepare for it over the next two weeks. I can't ever be prepared enough. I'm still fighting that never-ending battle with myself to get a portfolio together that is satisfying enough to show or send out with confidence. Its definitely a never ending battle. Well, here are a few new things. Speed painting and sketches. Roughly 2-3 hours on speed painting. Not too speedy huh?

2006-11-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well here are a few more designs that I've been working on. I'm trying to get a lot of stuff finished for the gnomon workshop coming up in Dec., so I had to put this project to the side for a bit. Few sketches and color roughs. Nothing set in stone yet. I've also been working on some storyboarding lately which I'll post soon enough. If only I were good at everything then maybe that dream job wouldn't be so far in the distant future. It seems that there is just never enough time, and progression always seems to just want more. I guess thats the life of it. Enjoy.

2006-10-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Hello hello hello. Since this is my first post I'll throw a couple of things that I have been working on over the past few days. I'm working on an adaptation to the Smurfs. I thought it would be a great way to see what I could invent with a story like that. Right now I am mostly working on environments to see which direction I would like to take this. I took a stab at this a few months earlier and now have returned to it with a greater sense of direction. I want to take this story into a slightly darker direction, but still remain truthful to the original. Hope you enjoy. Each painting is about 6-8 hours. Need to work faster!!!