New Project!

If you didn't already guess, I'm going to be working on some Gears of War pieces!  I'll be working with my good friend Captain Castle on some commentary videos, and get a chance to  do some art for his videos!  Make sure you check him out at www.youtube.com/captaincastle 

   This is a rough draft of the style that I'm thinking. What do you think?

In other art news, the first section of the Skyrim Series: Whiterun will be releasing soon!  I also began working on my Etsy shop, and will be offering some things on there relatively soon.  

Skyrim series

   And, this begins my series on the world of Skyrim!  I'll be covering different areas, people, and creatures; pretty much everything that's fun in the game :)  If there are any requests, I'd love to hear them!

EDIT: here's another!

Creation

   This is a piece that I created using a few programs and my camera.  It took me actually a really long time to figure out what to do with the image after I got the original.  After a serious amount of editing, I finally was left with the above result.

   The amount of work and time required to do some of the editing that I do has made me rethink what to call my pieces, and my process.  I've found that my work is better received when the audience knows less about the process and is simply allowed to appreciate the end result.  Which is nice, for me, because it's during the process of creating that we are most vulnerable. 

   Visual Art is an interesting medium.  I like making images that I think look cool, or explain an idea, or convey an emotion.  But in order to do so, I have to put myself in a place of trust for my own ideas and opinions. Turns out, if you don't feel safe, you don't want to create.

   My daughter is a wonderful example of this.  She revels in photography, music, cooking, any form of creation, really.  She lives to be on either side of the camera, and when I'm taking pictures, she knows exactly what poses and faces make the people around say "aaaawwwww!" 

   

   This is my first post from my phone, with an app. So, let me know how it looks, I want to make sure this thing is easy to read.

   

Work, Life, and Other Boring Stuff

   So, I tried to make a Deviantart account today... after fiddling around on the site for a while and trying to figure out an username that hadn't been taken yet, I found out that I already have a Deviantart account. Turns out I made one a couple of years back for reasons unknown to myself. In any case, I posted the photo in the previous post on my page, and finally have gotten some of my stuff onto my hard drive, so I'll probably begin uploading and blogging soon.

   I really enjoy writing, and will go on two month binges of pouring myself into writing different stories, blogs, reviews, etc, and then end up wandering off to go back to Work, Life, and Other Boring Stuff. Money, fatherhood, work stresses, and the like always inadvertently pull me away from the things I would try and blog about (programming, cooking), and in turn from my writing.
   Its interesting to live in a world where things are very important to me, but only momentarily. Granted, there are things that maintain their importance over time (offspring, xbox, feeding the offspring), but in general I find that most things pass. I will go through my photos and remember which project I was working on at the time. It was during one of these trips down digital memory lane that I realized something: I still take pictures.
   The fact that I take pictures is probably not very surprising to readers, as this is a blog about digital artwork and photography is a big part of my process. It surprised me, however, because after a high school photography class or two and a brief internship in a bridal studio, I still love taking pictures. Its been ten years. Its something that has always been constant, and I never thought to write about it. I love sharing my work, showing my change over time. I can't believe I never wrote about pictures before! But I digress.
   I am currently working on a series based on the world of Skyrim, though really one does not have to be even remotely familiar with the game or story to appreciate the art. The first part of the Series a collection of pieces of the main cities of Skyrim. I will also be doing portrait work on different denizens of the game, and probably a few actions shots just for the fun of it. The current series will be broken up from week to week, and I'll be posting other personal pieces on the side and blogging often. Hopefully you enjoy the work!

   My username on Deviantart, by the way, is gbdallin. Links and stuff to follow.

And it begins

So, here's my first one. Carved stone head from Skyrim. Thus begins the following series on Skyrim, her characters, and different areas in the game.