Cypress Matte Painting

Here is another matte painting I've been working on under the guidance of Blizzards wonderful David Luong. I'm currently taking his CGWorkshop course: Photo Real Matte Painting, which has been a real pleasure to participate in. David is a patient and generous tutor and I've really enjoyed exploring this new art form with him, and chatting about all things film and genre related. I've really learnt a lot about light and cinematograpy by taking a couple of pieces to a really polished level of realism. I'm sure it will help out the quality of finish in my quicker sketches enormously too.

 
Visit David Luongs personal website to see some real Matte Painting Kung-fu.

Rivendell Matte Painting Competition

So in the interest of adding another string to my bow, and to quench my thirst for learning new things, I'm in the process of putting together a Matte Painting Reel.

Here's one I've been working on, which I'm proud to say managed to take out top honors in a contest over at CGChannel. The competition was run by Jonathan Berube, who kindly provided a great plate to work from. The task was to remove any signs of the modern world, then add Rivendell and modify the environment until it looked like it sat in the world of the Hobbit / LOTR films.

You can see the original plate on Jonathan's Flickr page if you like, so you can see where my work began and ended.


I've still got some work to do on this one though as it's not quite finished. I'll be sure to post a link to the video once its all done!

Kopane School Billboard

Here's an illustration I completed at the end of last year. Kopane School in the Manawatu now proudly bears this image in a couple of spots around the school. It was printed at nearly billboard size so I had a bit of fun adding local wildlife for the kids to spot. So if you're ever passing through Rongotea, swing by and take a peek.

My thanks to Principal Neal Duff for the savvy art direction.