Illustrations: "The Young Dinosaur of Red Rock Canyon" (working title) - Various Illustrations of Desert Animals and Dinosaurs for Children's Book

About four months ago I was commissioned to be the illustrator for a Children's Book about a Dinosaur that comes to life from fossilized eggs at modern day Red Rock Canyon, a conservation area just outside of Las Vegas. The author needed about 20 full page illustrations for the book. I have been compositing 2d Illustrations with photo's and matte paintings of Red Rock to give the illustrations a fun, unique direction that still showcases the natural beauty of the Conservation Area. Below are collages of the original line drawings as well as the Photoshop painted renditions of selected characters from the book. We are about half-way through the illustrations at this point and actively seeking out publishers for the project. I will be posting some finished illustrations in the upcoming weeks but for now I wanted to give everyone a taste of what I have been working on. Enjoy!

Slug Monster: A Painting to 3d Model Conversion

A few years ago I did the below painting for fun. It was a character I had created in my sketch book which I thought would be interesting as a painting. It came out very nice and it has been on display in my residence ever since. About a month ago, in my free time while working on the several different projects I work on at once for my portfolio and for fun, I decided to translate it into a 3D model/ composition. I have always thought that it would look great in 3D and that it would really bring the characters to life. After not touching it for a few weeks I came back to it yesterday and completed it. I am thrilled with the final product and I am considering possibly further developing this concept into a sculpture or toy. I have posted the original painting below along with the final 3D Render. Check it out and remember that when you come up with something that is interesting whether it be a drawing, painting, sculpture, or 3D model, think about exploring the same concept further in different mediums as I find it important in the development of ideas and for your growth as an artist and designer.

Original Painting

 Final 3d Render

Detail/ Close-ups

The original painting was done in Acrylics & Markers on Canvas. The 3D version was created with 3ds Max and rendered with Mental Ray.