The Leland Group (Homearama Cincinnati)

The Leland Group (Homearama Cincinnati)
http://lelandgrp.com/

I had the pleasure to represent a long-time client The Leland Group at Carriage Hill's display. Such a beautiful home. Coming in over a million dollars, there's no way I could afford this home, but I am happy to help represent it. :) The photos were taken on a dying Samsung Galaxy phone (digital display animation and environmental display.

Pixar's Brave

"Brave" is the 13th-straight Pixar release to open at No. 1 since "Toy Story" launched Hollywood's age of computer animation in 1995.

Saw Disney Pixar's Brave 3-D. I have a great love for digital animation. There is no studio better at formulating a great story with superb animation like Pixar. Their film short, La Luna, was another sweet, clever animation preceding the film.

I can understand critic's complaints that the story is safe (by Pixar's standards), and similar to many Disney princess movies (and Beauty and the Beast). However, the film is enjoyable, funny, smart, and incredibly animated. I highly recommend seeing it.


SIDE NOTE:
Lord Dingwall may be my favorite digitally animated character ever.

Lord Dingwall Disney Pixar's Brave

Journal 06/23/12

Nathan Spotts's Portfolio

If you "Like" Adobe Creative Suite on Facebook, you saw these beautiful, imaginative landscapes by Nathan Spotts. I have written before I have always loved artist's renderings of distant worlds, but this is a surreal perspective of our own existing world.
Nathan Spotts's Portfolio

Unrealistic Scenes by Nathan Spotts
(image via http://www.nathanspotts.com/)

15 Photoshopped Transformations of Celebs and Models

An article making the rounds... However, some of them just look overly smoothed.

View Gallery:
15 Photoshopped Transformations of Celebs and Models

If you’ve ever wondered what people really look like before being Photoshopped, a new software tool developed by researchers at Dartmouth College reveals the answer.

Are video games art? Draw your own conclusions

From USA Today

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, which houses such masters as Georgia O'Keeffe and John Singer Sargent, steps right into the middle of the argument with a new exhibit, The Art of Video Games. It begins a six-month stay at the Washington museum Friday before going on a national tour.


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Video Games in the Smithsonian

We were having this discussion a couple of weeks ago at work. I definitely think video games are art. One of my "top-secret," under development gallery exhibitions focuses more in-depth on this concept. However, our topic was regarding a game a co-worker has been playing called "Skyrim." Every screen capture he took from the actual gameplay was worthy of being a framed piece of art. So, he took his high-res screen captures, blew them up, and did exactly that.

Happy Little Trees?

Only Missing Two Figures  :)

Virtual Models

Clothing Giant H&M Uses ‘Perfect’ Virtual Models

"It's not a real body; it is completely virtual and made by the computer," says H&M press officer Hacan Andersson.

I think I have a virtual crush.

H&M's Computer-Generated Models

Uncharted 3

Uncharted 3

A screenshot from Uncharted 3 by IGN.com

I can't say I am an avid video game player, but I respect the art. I wanted to be a video game artist when I was younger.

I own a Wii and a PS3. I used the Wii for a little while playing Wii Sports when friends came over. Besides that, I've probably only played a couple games for it. I mainly use the PS3 to watch DVDs and access Netflix. However, there is one game franchise that has me hooked--Uncharted.

I was impressed by the movie-like storytelling (say Indiana Jones), the compelling digital renderings, and the action-puzzle gameplay. Uncharted 1 and 2 were fantastic, so I am looking forward to 3 which releases November 1, 2011.

If ratings are any indication, IGN has given it a perfect score of "10" which equates to a masterpiece.

Psychedelic Poster Design

Psychedelic Poster Design

I recently had a guy come to me to recreate, color and print his psychedelic poster design so he can put them up for sale. It was nice to see the old school geometric design, consisting of a pencil sketch from measurements and circular templates.

I still sketch ideas and deal with measurements on a daily basis, but I have become a bit spoiled on what I draw by hand versus digital. I used to create handmade engineering drawings for mechanical parts, and a lot more fine art.

Lately, if it can be done in an Adobe product, I'll do it in an Adobe product. It's faster, cleaner, easier, and there's an "undo" button. However, it's these same aspects that make me miss creating more intimate art by hand.

Sometimes it takes a little project like this to influence/motivate me to get back into the stuff of old.

Details. Design by Mike Beaty

Multiples. Design by Mike Beaty

My line drawing for poster based on Mike Beaty's sketch