Sunday, November 27, 2011

The Last Semester

So it's been a while since I updated, but I have been super busy with classes. Hoping to get some really cool stuff done, though. Next semester will be my last, and the classes I have lined up are gonna be awesome. Advanced Study in the Figure and a directed study in Concept Art are both going to push me and it'll be totally worth it. I can't wait! Check out my website for some updates, as I'll be changing it around a bit.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Fem-Kraken!

So...just finished this piece for a couple of friends at the gaming blog MMOMFG - which I write for as well, if you wanna check it out. I have no idea what it will be used for, and as much as I kind of wanted to put it in my portfolio...I decided against it. Maybe.
The only prompt I got was to make the eyes Red Rings of Death, and to make 'a kraken with tittehs.' Yep. Check and check.
Anyway, check it out below!

Friday, May 13, 2011

It's Been Awhile,

Hasn't it? I'm updating my portfolio site with a couple pieces, but for now I've just been drawing, drawing, drawing, now that it's summer!
Oh, and watching Hulu Plus. Having 1000 Ways To Die and The Office at my fingertips is a dangerous thing.
Check out my portfolio (dannyryba.com) for my new works. I'll post my latest one at the bottom of this post, which is a dragonfly man thing, which turned out really nice, actually. It's weird how different art styles can come together. I chose to do more of a comic-book look to the piece, with black outlines and layered colors. It's very different from most of my other PhotoShop stuff, which tends to involve just using brushes and erasing the outlines.
Anyway, I got the idea for the weirdo from this book: Fantasy Genesis, by Chuck Lukacs. Honestly I've had the book for about 3 years now, but just cracked it open. Yeah, I'm bad. But it's a great way to generate weird monstrosities to draw, especially when I have no particular inspiration. He has a blog for it too! I wish I had used it earlier, because now I'm all about playing the game!
Check out the thing below, and if you were wondering, he was supposed to be a Humanoid Dragonfly (main body) with Bull (minor forms) features. His surface was Turbine, which I made into a weird chest plate thing. His action was Recoiling head/torso and his emotion was Fear. Obviously he didn't come across as intended, because all he has are bull horns and his pose didn't lend to any 'fear' emotion.
Ah well, it was fun. I have more projects coming up, so stay tuned!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

This 3D Stuff is Hard

So I've been trying to self-teach myself ZBrush...man, it's tough. The interface actually isn't too bad, and I'm really thankful they have presets, but jeez. 3D modellers, I have newfound respect for you guys. I'm probably going to search for some guides online and give it another shot in a little bit.

As much as I would rather not learn the program and stick to what I know (Adobe Suite), concept artists have to be versatile nowadays. Not that all concept artists need to know those programs, but it definitely helps. So I figured I may as well give it a shot, just so I can at least learn the basics.

I never was good at my 3D classes, though. Ugh.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Pumpkin Dudes, Orcs, and more!

So next project for Electronic Illustration has officially commenced, and I am totally pumped. Not only is it going to be a super fun assignment, I get to digitally paint a lot of cool stuff for it. Like this guy!


No name for him yet, but he was the first guy I finished up. Also did an Orc, which was fun. I can't wait to see what else pops out of my head.

Another awesome thing is that I finally got my own domain! So now you can either access my site from the old URL of wix.com/dannyryba/dannyryba or you can just head to dannyryba.com!

Tomorrow is another day, and more art is to be done. But now, I retire to my bed to hopefully shake off the rest of this sickness. Ugh.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Projects, projects everywhere

Well I am officially done with 2 of my art projects, that's a relief. The third one if a pretty big painting I'll have to work on over the weekend, but my photography is done and so is my work for Electronic Illustration. Of course, they cost a pretty penny in printing costs, but that's what you get into with art.
Got another show on campus I'm gonna have at least one piece in, it's more of a casual event than anything else, which is actually kind of nice.
Other than that, it's all about the next round of projects now. Maybe I'll squeeze in another recreational painting in the meantime.

Yeah, right.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Awesome!

For my Electronic Illustration class (which is turning out to be a very interesting class - in a good way) we have to choose an artist/illustrator that inspires us and I chose the amazing Dave Wilkins (check out his artwork here: http://400lbninja.blogspot.com/). I also shot him an email and he is going to let me send him some questions for him to answer! It's really cool of him to let me do that, especially since he is such an accomplished artist!

As for my own work, my sketchbook has been submitted, so that should go on tour soon. I've got a lot going on in my art classes - paintings, photos, graphic art...I'm gonna be busy! Hopefully I'll have some time to do some work of my own, since the ideas for digital and oil paintings have been bubbling in my brain.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Hobgoblin!

I may be an artist, but I'm also a total comic nerd. Not too big of a surprise. Then again, I'm just a nerd in general, but I digress.
The other day I had an awesome idea for a digital painting involving The Hobgoblin, one of Spider-Man's villains. He's always been one of my favorite Spidey villains and I don't really know why. Maybe because he's clever, but not insane. He's a level-headed Goblin, which is pretty rare to find. I didn't act on the digital painting right when I thought of it though, cuz I had some other things to do. Then I went to my local Borders to get something and found the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, featuring the return of the Hobgoblin! Well, a new one at least.
Immediately becoming more inspired, I started on the digital painting yesterday and just finished it. It's on my website, but I'll post it here at well.


Pretty menacing, eh? I like how it turned out. It's the classic Hobgoblin. Anyway, have a great day everyone! I gotta go back to working on my Sketchbook, took too much of a break to finish this!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2010, welcome 2011!
Hope everyone was safe and had fun celebrating. I make resolutions every year, but don't usually end up fulfilling them. This year I'm totally going to actually do it, I swear.
Here's my list:

1. Ramp up practicing art, especially when it comes to my digital paintings
2. Get some work into at least 1 other exhibition
3. Start contacting places about internships
And finally, 4. STICK TO MY GODDAMN RESOLUTIONS


Which of course, means more art on my website (I haven't posted any because most of my art time is being put into The Sketchbook Project I mentioned in my previous post - deadline is coming up!), which will be cool.


Enjoy your 2011!