The Art of Ryan Bowlin

Takin' a Wee Break

2012-03-01T20:20:00.003-06:00

Hey guys!

I wanted to apologize for the disappearing for the last month or so. I wasn't avoiding you intentionally. ;o) I had a few job related decisions come up and that sucked away most of my attention/energy. The sketching slowed down and my relations online just sort of came to a stand still while I deliberated and negotiated my options. BUT... a decision has been made. And by the end of March I should find my little family living in Chicago, IL as my job has transferred me to a new team at our corporate headquarters.

I'm super excited to be closer to my MidWestern homeland as my wife and I are expecting our first this summer. But there are going to be some things I'll really miss about my life on the west coast and Vegas. For starters the weather is freakin' amazing here. Not looking forward to snow returning to my life. California is pretty awesome and I'll miss going to Comic Con and all the awesome times we had over there. And of course I'm gonna miss all my new friends that I've made out here over the last few years. But I'll have to drown out my sorrows with deep dish pizza, baseball games and a city that actually has some culture! Looking forward to new faces and new experiences of living in a big city!

As for art updates, I'm going to try and find some to scribble in between packing and moving across the country. But my art blog updates probably won't be as frequent until I get settled. I imagine I'll probably keep the Twitter and my "Art of Ryan Bowlin" Facebook page updated more often as it's easy to snapshot stuff and post it via those sites. So if you're starving for updates you can check out those pages!

Until then... I'll see ya on the open road! At least, I hope it's open. I hear Chicago traffic is maddening. ;o) Take care and thanks for sticking with me through the month of no updates!

- Ryan

PS: That sketch up there is a sampling of a random scribble from my sketchbook. Probably should have mentioned that somewhere.

"The Penguin" Original Sketch Giveaway

2012-02-04T20:43:00.006-06:00

Hey dudes and dudettes! Yea, sorry I said that already. :o/

I should be dropping hot art updates on here but I'm trying to build up more sketchbook pages before I hit you with that stuff. Until then I thought I'd do another original sketch giveaway to try and get more traffic directed to my Facebook page!

This time I'll be giving away the sketch I did of The Penguin that I did not so long ago. You can see a picture of the sketch below or click HERE to view the original post on the blog. How does one acquire said sketch? Well, I'm glad you asked!

EDIT: BREAKING NEWS! On top of the original sketch I'm also going to be giving away to the winner a copy of both of my latest prints! That's right, the winner will also be taking home a Hellboy and Legend of Zelda print!

Basically all you need to do is head on over to my Facebook page titled, "The Art of Ryan Bowlin" and LIKE the page and share the post about "The Penguin" sketch giveaway with your friends on Facebook. That way I can see who shared the post and do a random drawing to see who will win the sketch next weekend!

Sounds easy, right?! It is! Thanks for supporting and sharing my artwork! And good luck!

- Ryan

*Action Figures Not Included. ;o)

UPDATE: Congrats to Brandon Alderman of Las Vegas, NV! Our lucky winner! Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be doing more as time goes on so maybe you'll win next time! Thanks again for all the support! Results courtesy of random.org!

Weekend Scribblefest

2012-01-30T04:24:00.007-06:00

I promised you guys more sketches and even though I didn't get much in during the work week I tried to destroy some pages this weekend. Most of the stuff is scribbles/studies from photos I randomly found on the internet. Trying to practice quick drawing figures and get a little more anatomy work in there. I really just want to focus on getting ideas down quickly and trying to waste less time noodling on stuff. I suffer from "reder-itis" a bit. Tried to be more hasty when laying this stuff in though. I hope you guys like 'em!

The unfinished dwarf and the troll with the Corgi puppy were obviously random imagination stuff. The troll sketch is who I like to imagine my dog hangs out with when we're away. ;o) Y'kno how animals sometimes seem to see things that we can't? I used to imagine they could see ghosts or something. Now I think there's an invisible troll that lives in my house and just loves my puppy to pieces. lol

I'm going to do my best to be more proactive in the days to come but I'll probably only update the blog a couple times a week. Not sure which days just yet. Perhaps Sundays and Wednesdays? Regardless, I'm getting back into sketchbook mode and am having a blast! Can't wait to generate more images! Keep checking back for more scribble mayhem! Take care!

- Ryan

PS: Lots of Zelda and Hellboy prints still available! Check out my store by clicking HERE!

Things I Love Right Now:

Money Ball - Just saw the movie tonight and really adored it. Man, do I love baseball. Can't wait for spring! Go Cards!

Moleskine Sketchbooks - They really do make the best notebooks, don't they? Something about 'em just makes me feel inspired when I pull one out to sketch.

Late 80's/Early 90's Cartoons - This week was a blast from the past. I've been feeding my eyeballs episodes of "Batman: The Animated Series", "The Real Ghostbusters" and "TMNT." I'm gonna hit the big 30 this year and it has me feeling nostalgic. Looking forward to more toons this week as well!

M83's "Hurry Up We're Dreaming" - This album has been on repeat all week. Incredible old school vibe. Love it. Check it out!

It's time to LEVEL UP!

2012-01-20T14:51:00.001-06:00

My drawing skills have fallen off quite a bit since I started working in games. My paintings have improved but I don't draw nearly as much as I used to during my school days. It's always such a headache for me to work out poses and get my sketches looking lively. But I'm sick of the frustration and it's time to level up!

I'm going to try my best to sketch every day in my sketchbook and watch for improvement. I'm giving myself freedom to do whatever I want. As long as I'm drawing and throwing study sessions in there from time to time. I read recently that if you want to improve you need to complete a sketchbook a month. That's a tall order for me but we'll see how far I can get!

Why am I telling all of you this? Hold me accountable! And be on the look out for a lot more scribble sessions then finished paintings. 2012 is the year of the drawing for me! Ha! And it's seriously time to improve! Here's the first page of my Moleskine to get things started. Something about telling myself how bad I suck makes me want to draw more. lol Hope you like these random scribbles! Look for more soon!

- Ryan

PS: GigaCon was awesome! Thanks to all of those who came out! I hope you guys enjoyed it and took something away from my ramblings. ;o)

Legend of Zelda Limited Edition Prints Now Available

2012-01-13T03:44:00.003-06:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to pop in to let you all know that I've just ran off a limited print run of my new "Legend of Zelda" piece! The print is on high quality, matte paper stock and measures 11.8 X 17.7.

And these things look really sharp! The colors in my lame iPhone photos don't do them justice. And I included an image of what the "Hellboy Portrait" print looks like in comparison in terms of size. These guys are quite a bit larger! Still need to find a way to ship them out! Ha!

If you're looking to snap one up you can just head over to my new online shop and fork over $20 dollars plus $5 shipping. They should be arriving on your door steps in a week or two! I think you'll really like 'em! Especially if you're as big of a fan as I am!

What other super, cool stuff is going on? Welp, this weekend (January 13-15) I'll be attending GigaCon in Washington DC as a guest artist! If any of you are going to be in the area you should totally come to the Con! Really looking forward to meeting people and getting my art on with all of the awesome people on the east coast! Ha! I'm sure I've been spoiled by this Vegas winter tho. I'm sure I'm gonna freakin' freeze out there! But if you're in DC come shiver with me while we sketch!

Hope you're enjoying the New Year! I can't wait to see what 2012 has to offer! I think it's gonna be a big one! Take care and thanks for supporting my scribbles. ;o)

- Ryan

The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Tribute

2012-01-09T04:19:00.002-06:00

Well, after several days of scraping together time to paint, I finally managed to finish off my Legend of Zelda illustration. I took some chances and varied my approach when it came to this piece. It didn't quite come out how I'd hoped but I still think it's pretty fun and I learned a lot for the next time when I dive into a work like this. And I was painting freakin' Link! So how awesome is that?! Ha!

I hope you guys liked how it turned out and enjoyed watching my progress as I moved along. There's something that I really loved about the original sketch and over the course of the illustration I just lost some of it. But I'm still satisfied and ready to move on to something new. I think I'll be working on more sketchy stuff for a while. Between this piece and work I'm getting a bit tired of working so tightly.

At any rate, I just wanted to get it posted! I was pretty sure I'd do a small print run of this but I want to see how the reception is first before I plop down any cash. I know the feel of it is a little different from some of my other work I've previously posted. Let me know what you think and I'll keep you updated on whether or not I print them off! Thanks for looking and happy Monday! Have a great week, guys!

New Year's Business Cards

2011-12-30T12:08:00.002-06:00

Hey guys (and gals),

Work is still under way on the Zelda piece but I took some time to make up some new business cards for the new year! I'll be at a Con this month and just wanted to have something to hand out to all the new, awesome artists I'm hoping to meet!

I couldn't decide on which piece to use so I figured I'd do a print run of both! Maybe in the future I'll do more with other art pieces to make a little set. You could collect them all! Ha! ;o) May there be much more awesome art made in 2012! Happy New Years!

- Ryan

The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Tribute WIP: Part Three

2011-12-28T20:06:00.003-06:00

The progress on my Legend of Zelda illustration has been slow going since enduring the holidays and the acquisition of a fiesty, little puppy. Ha! But I'm going to try and find the time to finish it over the next week or two. I haven't said much about it since I've been so busy. But I figured it would probably be good to address it for the sake of continuing to document the process! I still have quite a bit of work to do but it's shaping up a bit since the last time I showed my initial color pass. Hope you guys like where it's going! I'm going to throw my efforts behind this image and hoping to get it done soon so I can get some prints made in time for my trip to GigaCon in mid January. More on that later though!

Thanks for looking through my art messes! Enjoy the rest of your year! Just a couple days left in 2011! Lets rock 2012 with even more awesome artwork! Get scribbling! ;o)

- Ryan

Hoo Hoo Hoo! Merry Christmas!

2011-12-28T00:14:00.003-06:00

I hope all of you are enjoying the holidays!

This year my wife and I made our own Christmas cards by hand to send out to a few of our family and friends. In each card I hand drew a unique owl. This is a sampling of some of those owl scribbles! They were a hoot to do (See what I did there? Ha!) and it was neat to see how each one could be a bit different then the next.

I hope you like them and I wish you the best as you continue celebrating into the new year!

- Ryan

Christmas Caroler Scribble

2011-12-20T19:49:00.002-06:00

Here's a little pen scribble that I did while in a meeting at work today. Christmas is just a few days away! What's Santa bringing you?!

- Ryan

Ogre Head Sculpt

2011-12-19T16:52:00.001-06:00

I swear I'm going to get back to drawing and painting soon! Haven't had as much free time lately so doing these quick little sketch sculpts have been a nice change of pace. This Ogre was another one done in Sculptris and I think he's the best of the three I've done thus far. I gave up on trying to make his hairy chops look believable though. Been having a blast playing with shapes in these! Hope you like him!

- Ryan

Sculptris Head Sketch/Sculpt

2011-12-16T19:28:00.002-06:00

So I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not to share these little 3D sketches with you guys. I don't ever envision myself moving completely that direction but it is a fun way to push my art brain around in a different way. I basically have just been exploring these things the same way I do random sketches in a sketchbook. I just start laying in shapes and push and pull it into something. Their a blast! I start all of these with a basic sphere and just go to town on it.

I was a bit let down by the price for ZBrush but my friend (Casey Dockendorf)commented on my last post and alerted me to Pixologic's free gateway drug into ZBrush, Sculptris! It's awesome and just powerful enough to do what I want to with it! Check it out and toss some virtual clay around!

With the new puppy in the house it's been slow for art production. Hopefully the holiday break coming up will help me out. We shall see! Really want to finish that Zelda piece and I might push back the Snow Moose into January. This dog has turned our life upside down. lol Puppies are a LOT of work. Anyway, thanks for lookin' over my scribbles! And take care!

- Ryan

Baby's First ZBrush Sculpt

2011-12-12T22:41:00.002-06:00

We're starting Z Brush training at work so I figured I'd show off my first ever sculpt! It's kinda crude and amateurish but I'm quite impressed with how easy it was to grasp some of the basic tools. Might work on this dude a bit more as we keep learning! Just wanted to share! By no means am I a 3D artist but it is fun to mess around with from time to time.

Perhaps I'll have more ZBrush sketches as time goes on. It is a very interesting tool to mess around with. I don't think I'll become a ZBrusher but it's fun to mix it up every once in a while! Just wanted to share!

- Ryan

The Penguin Sketch

2011-12-11T18:12:00.004-06:00

Hey blog peoples! Hope you're enjoying your December! I know I am! It's been super busy but I'm trying not to completely abandon my art efforts.

Yesterday I scribbled out this goofy sketch of The Penguin after discussing with some friends how disappointed I was that Bane was going to be the main villain in the newest Batman. I'm just not that fond of him when compared to all the other great villains that Bats has been thrown up against!

So I did a quick scribble and spent about another 15 minutes throwing some layers at him to add a dash of color/texture. Pretty far off from a finished painting but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Maybe I'll paint him up proper some other day when I have the time.

I'm still making headway on my Zelda illustration but it might overtake my holiday illustration of the Snow Moose or push him back into January. The big reason is the wife and I have decided to get our first puppy! We've been in preparation mode for the little one and it's been nuts around here. I'll post a pic of her below so you can "ooo" and "awww" with us! Ha! Corgi's FTW!

I know it isn't much but hopefully I'll have more updates as the days spin on. Looking forward to getting some work done over the course of the holiday break too! So keep checking back and thanks for looking! Take care!

Ryan

Things that I love right now:

Christmas! - The music, the movies, the holiday card making, the feeling of being a kid... just all of it! Ha! I'm sure I'm not alone. ;o)

Corgis - We've been falling in love with this breed of pup and can't wait to raise our own. They're quite smart too! YouTube has been a safe haven for all of my Corgi puppy video needs! lol

Zelda 25th Anniversary from OC Remix - It's amazing and on repeat on my Macbook Pro. Check it out! Did I mention it's free?! http://zelda25.ocremix.org/

The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Tribute WIP: Part Two

2011-12-03T17:56:00.006-06:00

Started digging into the painting today so I figured I'd upload a small update on the final drawing. I also thought it might be nice for you to see how this image started so I've posted an image of the initial thumbnail where it all began. I try to work really loosely in that portion of the process and really just nail down basic shapes, compositions and poses. I think I have more fun exploring options there then at any other place in the process! So much promise in these little scribbles!

The second image is a rough value pass on the lines for my Zelda illustration. I almost always do this before jumping into a painting. It tends to help ground some of my ideas for me. At times I'll really push this part further and spend a lot more time rendering. Value and lighting is important and if I forget that I usually will loose all of my contrast in a piece. I need to make sure I remind myself of that as I continue since I didn't push it much in this one.

And lastly, I figured I'd toss up my first, initial wash of colors as well. These two phases kind of go hand in hand. After I do a value pass I create wash of the overall colors I want in the image. It's just a color layer with a few overlays and BAM! You've got some color to start working with! It's neat to see how a little color really starts to make the image come alive.

I'm much further along then this now though. So next update should be with a nice coat of paint on everything. I might wait a few days before I do that though. Or I perhaps might wait until it's completely finished. We will see! Hope you guys like it! I'm excited to see where it ends up!

- Ryan

The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Tribute WIP: Part One

2011-12-01T20:14:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to share this really quick. Here's a sneak peek at the pencils for my Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary tribute illustration. I'm a huge fan of the series but I've never created any fan art. Really excited about this one!

Also don't forget to like and share my Facebook page for a chance to win some original Mega Man art and a Hellboy print!

http://www.facebook.com/ryanbowlinart

Thanks again for checking out my stuff and welcome to December! ;o)

- Ryan

"MegaCute" Original Sketch Giveaway!

2011-11-30T15:09:00.006-06:00

Hey guys! Do you like original art? How about original Mega Man art?! Well, I wanted to announce a little raffle of sorts that I'll be conducting to launch my new Facebook page! That's right, you can now follow my work on Facebook if you're so inclined.

The Art of Ryan Bowlin Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/ryanbowlinart

Head on over and check it out! I'll be posting more frequently there then I do here. Little sketches, works in progress, contests, things that have grabbed my interest, etc. If you'd like more updates about my art then that's your best bet. I'm looking forward for more ways to connect with artists and those who just love art! So head on over and like the page to follow all of my updates in your feed! And thanks in advance for checking it out!

As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to do a drawing for the original pencil sketch that I created for my "MegaCute" illustration. On top of that I'm also going to include a limited edition "Hellboy" print for the lucky winner!

How do you enter to win this drawing? Simple. Like the fan page to become apart of the community and then share the page with your friends on Facebook via your news feed/wall. I'll make note of who has shared the page (even those who already have shared will be entered to win) and will randomly select a winner next Wednesday evening (12/7/11)!

Thanks a ton in advance for supporting my work and for getting the word out! And good luck!

- Ryan

Hans and the Abominable Snow Moose : Ideation Sketches

2011-11-24T02:14:00.006-06:00

It's that time of the year again! The weather is starting to cool down, my video game consoles are overflowing with awesome titles to play and that sense of child like wonder is starting to fill up within me! There's something about the late fall/winter that really brings out the kid in me. I'm sure the holidays have a lot to do with that but I really love the seasons as well.

I've been living in Vegas for almost three years now and I have to admit that I've become a bit spoiled with our mild, "eternal fall." But there's nothing like breathing in that still, cool scent of winter. And I often sit in my apartment pining for the times we'd watch the snow fall out the window near the fire at my parent's home. However there are plenty of things I don't miss about my midwestern home during the winter time. It is quite nice not to have to carve my car out of ice every morning. Ha!

At any rate, like many, this is my favorite time of the year. And this year I thought I might do a "holiday" themed illustration for the heck of it. This idea was generated from my desire to draw a little kid with a big cuddly monster. Simple enough! Nothing says Christmas like some monsters, right?! Throw in some snow, Christmas lights and some snow men and you've got a holiday themed image! And that's where the initial thumbnail that you see above came from. I shared it on Facebook and received some positive feedback so I've decided to move forward with it.

But you know me, I had to flesh out my Snow Moose monster just a bit more. Hence my color sketch. I'm not sure about all of the elements but I think he still has retained at least some of his initial charm. My wife wants me to ditch his thick eyebrows and instead go with something more fluffy. I might but I enjoy how expressive they are right now. It's just a sketch so I tried to keep it quick and simple. Light on the rendering but I still couldn't help myself in areas. ;o)

Hope you guys like where Hans and his pal are heading! I'll be plugging away at it over the next couple weeks and will share more when I get the chance! Thanks again for checking it out and I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season! Take care!

- Ryan

A list of things I love right now (an idea I'm stealing from the super awesome band, Sleeping at Last!):

- SKYRIM!!! I'm already like 23 hours into it and am seriously adoring the sense of exploration. I could live in that world!

- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword soundtrack. I've been listening a ton while working and cannot wait for Santa to drop this on me at Christmas! The "staff credits rolling" track is amazery.

- I recently stumbled upon this European band, Amiina, and I'm in love with their music. So simple and haunting. I can't believe I've lived this long without them!

Another ogre head for the pile...

2011-11-05T04:59:00.003-05:00

Here's another one of those blasted ogre heads! This was a quick scribble for my friend Aron who recently purchased one of my Hellboy prints. I've been doing these quick little sketches as an extra thank you to those who have been supporting my work.

I completely lost my posting habits this month but I've been busy with plenty of art related things. And I'd be lying if I didn't note that I've been indulging in a lot of the new video game releases as well. Ha! I get to pretend to be Batman! C'mon, who can fault me for that?! ;o) I'll make sure to have a more proper update in the weeks to come. Hope you're all enjoying the start of the fall season! I know I am! Take care and thanks again for stopping in.

Ryan

Bier Haus

2011-10-08T12:48:00.008-05:00

Last summer the video game studio I was working for here in Las Vegas, NV abruptly shut it's doors and left me looking for work. The economy being what it was I had my series of ups and downs before I decided to give the local gambling industry a shot. I've been working in it now since last October and it's been an interesting experience to say this least! Not a bad one by any stretch of the imagination but just a different one. I've worked on quite a few gaming projects and none have been released into the wild yet. Until now!

This past week at the annual slot gaming expo our company deemed one of the games I worked on this year worthy to show. I figured I'd toss up some pictures of the game on the machine with yours truly posing next to it. You'll also see a couple pictures of the actual game mockups as well.There's a lot of painting going on in this game but you'll also find a good deal of photo manipulated bits in there as well. It's interesting to see that our highly rendered paintings aren't always enough anymore to sell that style now that 3D exists. It's not the way I really like to work. I enjoy a more painterly style and seeing all the brush strokes a lot more. But as the company releases more of my other games you'll see my more natural styles peeking through a bit more.

The game isn't on casino floors yet but it should be soon! I feel like I've been such a slacker this month but I promise I've been busy. Just haven't been sketching and doing much personal work recently. Hopefully October will be filled with lots of fun stuff though! Thanks for checking in and take care!

- Ryan

IT'S ALIVE!!! - The 3D Art of John Shuman

2011-09-25T21:56:00.013-05:00

Argh! I know I've been late posting the blog recently. My productivity has slumped a bit outside of my full time job as well. My wife and I have been doing a bit of traveling and wrapping up other odds and ends (*cough* Gears of War 3 *cough*). Ha! But I wanted to post something to let you all know that I'm not dead!

In the last few weeks I've been thinking a lot about the work I've done over the last couple years. More recently I've been working more on illustrations and graphic design oriented work. But a little over a year ago I was busy creating creatures and characters for an MMO that would fail to ever materialize. Some of my work on that project is feeling a bit dated now. But I'm still quite proud of some of those pieces. And I'm even more proud of the work our team did on the game that will never be seen.

One of the greatest pleasures I've had working as a concept artist is to see my scribbles brought to life in the third dimension by 3D artists. The back and forth relationship between a concept artist and a 3D artist is really a fun one. Both of us would grow more and more excited as we'd knock back and forth ideas during the process. And I'd never cease to be amazed at what they'd come up with in the end.

The talented man I'm referring to is John Shuman, a ridiculously awesome modeler. No matter what crazy critter I'd dream up, I could always count on John to take it to the next level in his models. I'd always love to peak over his shoulder as he brought my dreams to life. The experience was amazing and I miss being apart of it every day. John's moved on to other projects and continues to be awesome. But I wanted to share some our work together below. The concept art is all done by me but the way he translates my paintings into 3D is really the interesting take away. I hope you enjoy taking a look through these as much as I enjoyed watching him create them! You can check out more of John's work on his website. And he even has a lot more of the work we designed together posted on there.

That's all 'till next time! Thanks again for checking in and for putting up with my idleness! I'll try to be more diligent this week. Take care!

- Ryan

Did you say chimichangas?!

2011-09-13T22:27:00.002-05:00

This weekend I had the honor of taking in a workshop featuring some talented artists at the Kavika Works art gallery in Santa Ana, CA. It was really inspiring and awesome to be apart of. Big thanks to David Pursley, Paul Richards, Kurt Papstien and Erick Rodriguez for taking the time to drop some knowledge on all of us in attendance!

During the art workshop this weekend I scribbled out some random doodles while soaking in the inspiration from the instructors there. I was scanning in my sketches Sunday evening and couldn't help but want to do a quick color pass on this dude. He was birthed after watching Paul Richards rock an amazing troll of his own for us at the workshop. So much fun.

Also, I've been thinking about why I seem to draw so many ugly things lately. I think it mainly stems from the fact that my day job has me consistently creating images that are appealing to what I refer to as "The Grandma Demographic." lol So I'm constantly urged to make stuff pretty. And when I get a chance to do something for fun I can't help but get as nasty and goofy. Ha! Hope you guys like him! More to come so stay tuned and thanks for dropping in!

- Ryan

MegaCute

2011-09-07T04:06:00.002-05:00

Just to prove that I didn't completely waste my holiday weekend I present to you this MegaMan sketch that I painted up. I actually had a mostly finished color version but I wasn't really happy with how it was turning out. It got "Howdy Doody creepy" and lost some of the cuteness that I had captured in the original sketch. As I was working this up my wife told me she thought I should keep in in black and white to kindle some of "old school" feelings. I think it does the trick. Hope you guys like it!
If anyone is interested I think I'll be putting the original sketch up for sale over on my Etsy shop. I'll be sure to edit this post once I do! He was fun to work on as I've been scribbling little MegaMans all over random bits of paper recently. He's sort of become my go to subject for doodling. Ha! Maybe I'll compile a bunch of them as time goes on into a grouping of thumbnails. Could be fun!

Before I go I should say that I've neglected my Space Princess duties and have instead been enjoying BBQs and video games with friends. Ha! I might neglect it further as I'm thinking about doing a sample for some trading card artwork I'm hoping to get into. Maybe I can work on both together though since they'll be differing styles. All that to say this... hang with me! I'll get there! Ha! Thanks again for dropping in. Take care!

- Ryan

Space Princess: Preliminary Sketches

2011-08-30T01:39:00.003-05:00

First of all, please pardon how messy and sketchy things are in this post. These are much looser then I'd like to be showing! But I always enjoy peeking into people's minds when they're generating ideas. So I figure it's only fair to bare a bit of mine to you guys! Here are a few doodles I managed to scribble out over the course of the last week while creating ideas for an monthly art challenge with some friends of mine.

We're hoping to produce a piece of art, monthly, based on a random theme. This month the image just had to include a "Space Princess". So while everyone seemed to be interested in drawing pin ups, I decided to take it another direction!

I knew I wanted to my Space Princess to be a little girl. So here you can see some of the many scribbles where I explored what she might look like. I loved the idea of her hair being wild and frizzy. I also thought it was kind of a fun idea to have her hair bunch up and spill out of the bottom of a space helmet. Ha! Still not sure where I'll go with her design completely but these at least helped me understand what direction I'd be moving in.

The little thumbnails included are indicators of the image I sort of had in my head. I thought about doing an angled shot with the two alien guards on either side of her. That way we could see her lording over all of her alien minions below. But I think I'm going to go with the more simplified straight on composition with her thugs at her side. I felt pretty confident about where it was all headed but I wasn't sure what I wanted the aliens to look like.

Which prompted these sketches! During the week, when I had a free moment, I'd scribble out some random design with no real thought other then it needed to be wacky. I just played around with shapes and silhouettes. I kept coming back to tentacles for some reason. I still don't know which one I'm going to choose and push forward in the final illustration. I'd love it if you guys would help me to decide! Leave me a post in the comments with your thoughts! And anything I don't use might make for good starting ideas for some of the aliens in my Zebzulon project! Ha!

As the week goes on I'm going to dive into the illustration and hopefully start painting by the time this weekend gets here! Hope you guys like the messy look into my mind as it tries to rough on ideas! See you again soon!

- Ryan

Ogre Heads!

2011-08-27T22:27:00.003-05:00

Those of you who have bought one of the first twenty of my Hellboy prints will find that you will also be getting a quick sketch from me as well in your package! I just did a few Ogre head sketches for each person to include as a personal thanks for the support! I hope you guys like 'em. They were really fun to doodle out!

I've only sold six prints so far. So make me work even harder and draw 14 more Ogre heads! Ha! And I hope those of you who picked up a print already will enjoy this little additional gift! Thanks again!

As for other art, I'm still crafting some things for another little project that a few friends and I are doing monthly. This month's theme is "Space Princess." So I should have some posts regarding that in the coming days. I don't have much time left! Ha! So this week should be interesting. It might bleed into next week a bit but stick with me! Hope you guys are doing great. Thanks for checking in!

-Ryan

Happy Anniversary

2011-08-25T03:15:00.002-05:00

...to the people in the portrait. Not me. Ha! I don't do commissions very often and am approached for them quite a bit. Particularly for this sort of work. But when my friend, Maryann, came to me asking I was in the mood to do a study. So it didn't take much arm twisting to get me to dive into this project. The fact that I also find the two of them to be pretty awesome doesn't hurt either. ;o)

Overall I'm pretty happy with it! I worked on it off and on over about three evenings. Her face seemed to come really easily but Shawn had such a fun look on his face that capturing his likeness was much tougher. I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with how he turned out. But I think I did get it close. And as far as portraits go, I think this is one of my best digitally painted portraits so far.

So that's what has been eating most of my free time the last few days. I have some scribbles that I'll probably offer up in the days to come. Thanks for looking! Hope you like it!

- Ryan

Hellboy Limited Edition Prints Now Available!

2011-08-22T20:57:00.003-05:00

Those of you who are familiar with my blog will remember the Hellyboy portrait that I posted a couple weeks ago. I went and had these guys printed and they are now available for purchase via my shop on Etsy.

This is the first time I've ever gone through the process of having something professionally printed before and I learned some lessons along the way! I'm quite pleased with how they turned out and hope you guys will enjoy them as well! They're a limited run so get them while you can. I won't be printing of any more of them so get 'em while they're hot! ;o)

What are the specs, you say? They're a thicker, matte paper stock that measures in at 9.5 x 11. They look so nice I'm not even sure I want to sign them on the front. Ha!

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse. I'm just kind of excited to have nice hard copies of my work to share with the world!. That's all for now!

- Ryan

Wolvie Scribble

2011-08-20T20:49:00.003-05:00

I've been spending some time lately trying out new processes for drawing and have gone back to trying the col-erase pencil method. I've never liked those pencils much because it always felt so waxy to work on top of. But this week I came across some Prismacolor col-erase pencils that seemed to work much better. I'm hoping that this will help free me up to be really lose in the gesture steps of my work. So far it's been really fun and I think it's helping! I always tend to get tight to quickly.

So out of those scribbles came this Wolverine doodle. I've actually never drawn him before. So most of this is from memory and I've added my own changes for the heck of it. Last night I sat down with my sketch and tried tossing some color at it. I was looking for a treatment similar to my Harry Potter sketch from last week but I had terrible go with it. The painting just got away from me and I spent hours trying to get back the personality I'd captured in my sketch. So when I finally "finished" the painting today I decided to scrap it. Ha! I hated it.

I'll still be trying to tackle a paint up on ol' Wolvie but I just wanted to share my sketch with you guys to let you know I'm still around and kicking! I should have a fully painted version in the coming days so be on the look out! I've got some other things I'm batting around too so be sure to check back in for more updates!

- Ryan

Edna + Hellboy Process

2011-08-17T23:12:00.005-05:00

Timely updates to the blog! It's nice for a change, eh? Here's a sketch I did a couple months ago that I intended to finish but just lost interest. I figure there's enough in there that it shouldn't just go to die on my hard drive somewhere. I had considered doing these almost like portraits on their mantle. I even had drawn up a pencil sketch of her goofy husband to go with it. I thought it'd be really funny to have a third of their son who looked completely normal. Ha! Maybe someday I'll see it through but I've too many other things on my plate for now! So Edna will have to make herself comfortable here for a while.

And as promised, here is the a step by step progression of my Hellboy piece for your viewing pleasure. I don't know that you'll find much help here though. The next time I create a more simple illustration maybe I'll try to work better in steps and walk you through the process a bit better. But you might be able to glean some information from this. I hope it's helpful or at least fun to see how the piece evolved as I worked.

Thanks for checkin' in! More sketchery to come!

- Ryan

PS: I promise I have more then portraits coming soon. lol

PSS: Hellboy Limited Edidion Prints are still available on my Etsy shop! Check 'em out HERE!

The Boy Who Lived

2011-08-13T15:58:00.003-05:00

So yesterday I was thinking about other potential illustrations for the future and I started thumbnailing some potential compositions for a Harry Potter themed image. It got me curious what my version of Harry might look like.

So I did a few quick pencil sketches of some fun versions of Harry. And I thought this one was too cute not to toss some color on. Just about and hour or two in Photoshop. Plus I figured I owed you guys something cute since I might have scared some of you off with my big, ugly Hellboy image. Ha! Hope you like my scribble!

In the next couple days I post the Hellboy "process shots" that I promised. Until then, thanks for stopping by!

- Ryan

Hellboy

2011-08-10T14:41:00.007-05:00

I recently finished up this portrait for the infamous Hellboy. Overall I'm pretty happy with him! It was kind of a test/study for a larger piece that I've been intending to do with him as the main feature. After having some successes here I'm looking forward to working on the next one! Hope you guys like him!

I'm also considering doing a small limited print run on this if there is interest! So let me know in the comments. It'd probably be a bit larger then 8.5 x 11 and would run probably $20 plus shipping.

Next update maybe I'll show a bit of the process of how I got to this finished illustration. I always love seeing the start and what it took to get the art to the finish. ;o) Anyway, thanks for looking at my work and take care!

- Ryan

EDIT: If you're so inclined you can now preorder/purchase a print of this image through my shop on Etsy! I'm only doing a very limited print run so get 'em while you can! Thanks for supporting my art!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/79610418/hellboy-limited-edition?ref=pr_shop

In honor of Shark Week...

2011-08-03T01:17:00.003-05:00

Everyone keeps blabbing about Shark Week so in honor of this momentous occasion I present to you GLOW SHARK! lol This guy was a concept for a creature that was to appear in a axed MMO that I worked on last year. May he live on forever in your nightmares as a glowing predator in the dark, murky waters of your dreams!

In other news, contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead! ;o) It's been nearly a year since I've updated this thing and I'm going to try and make another push to be better about updating again. Lots of work and life happening. More to come soon! I promise! I mean it this time! Ha! Thanks for checking out my scribbles!
- Ryan

Zebzulon: Explosives Expert Head Concepts

2010-08-13T02:33:00.002-05:00

Name: N/A for the time being
Class: Explosives Expert

This time around we have some head concepts for the explosives expert on the Zebzulon team. He's a crazy, cocky sonuvagun but you love to have him in your corner during a fight. We've all had those friends, right? He's the sort of ticking time bomb that you could let loose like a pack of pit bulls at the mention of a few words. "Hey, Mike! Did you hear what that guy called you?" Boom. And you're just glad you aren't on the receiving end of whatever "Mike" is dishing.

The explosives guy is a bit of a loose cannon and I wanted him to have a bulky look to him. Similar to the Heavy in Team Fortress 2 only with more of a psycho feel. I did a good amount of pushing and pulling on his head to come up with some interesting shapes. And I tried to make sure each stare had its own sort of "craziness" in the eyes.

I also really loved the idea of having his face scarred up bit from an old accident. Perhaps the tools of his trade, which he's a master of, once got the best of him and took a toll on part of his face. Little things like this really help sell the character and tell a story. It's kind of cool to think back to when the firepower that he wields might have once bitten him as well.

His arsenal is pretty much what you'd expect. Rocket launchers, flame throwers, grenades, etc. I don't have any real flashy ideas for him at this point. I'm completely open to suggestions if you do have some! Not that we'll ever see any of these attacks as this whole game scenario is fake. lol But who knows?! Maybe I'll storyboard each character's special attacks or something.

That's all for now! Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Zebzulon: The Crystal Defenders

2010-08-10T06:10:00.008-05:00

A few months ago I started kicking around the idea of starting a personal project to work on in my free time. Most of the work I've done in the gaming industry has been for fantasy MMORPGs. I really hadn't spent much time designing in the realm of science fiction. So I decided to take on the challenge of creating a "fake" game that I would concept to completion. Not only would I be exploring a new genre, but I'd also be trying to nail down a new process for creating a large scope of concept work.

So I present to you the first fruits of that labor, Zebzulon: The Crystal Defenders! I roughed out a logo last night but I'm sure it's not the final. The concept for Zebzulon is pretty simple. I have a loose, several page design document written up. But nothing is edited to the point that I'd post it for everyone to see. Basically, Earth is polluted beyond all hope and the only thing keeping Earth from falling into ruin is a giant machine run by five mysterious crystals. The machine somehow filters the pollution, heals the atmosphere, whatever. The problem is that now we've found those crystals to be stolen by an evil Lord from deep space. He has hid each crystal in five different planets and it's up to the newly formed mercenary group, Zebzulon, to get them back. It's easy to see what I was doing here. I basically outlined what I wanted to concept and built the framework for the story around that. There's a bit more to it then what I've written here but not much. The story isn't the point though as I just wanted something to use as a vehicle for concept art creation.

One thing that I knew from the start of developing the game is that I wanted the game to feel like a Ratchet and Clank game as far as play style. I also wanted the player to be able to choose from four different main characters (Zebzulon Mercs) that each had their on special abilities and played differently. Which brings me to my first piece of concept art...

Name: Unknown (Still filling in all those little plot holes!)
Class: Mechanic

During my last year of employment at RDS I found that drawing several heads first helps me understand the character. I'd often say to my art director, "Eh, I haven't met him yet (the character) but I'm still opening doors!" Once I hit on the right head it was pretty evident to me that this was the guy I was looking for in this particular design. And who doesn't just love drawing heads, right?

Anyway, the first designs I started on were some head concepts (after some loose, full body silhouette sketches of all four characters) for the mechanic character. I did these minus facial hair but in the next round, once I've chosen the head I like, I'll create hair concepts. I won't share much about the design of the mechanic other then the fact that his combat is more short range. His main gun will be something like a shotgun and his special abilities will be utilizing special robots to help him with various tasks. He's the shortest and stumpiest of the group as well. He's sort of the comic relief in the game. He'll waddle around saying funny stuff as he destroys aliens. I also like the aspect of using robots in his design as this will give me opportunities to draw more technical drawings.

I've already rambled enough so I'll cut it short. I hope you like it and am certainly open to more ideas and feedback. I'll be posting more heads in the days to come. I've also considered doing an alternate style for this game where the concepts are more realistic. I'm really set on working in this fun style for this project but the potential for more is in the back of my head. Thanks a lot for looking and may the Zebz be with you... or something

-Ryan

Legionary Sketches

2010-08-06T05:10:00.003-05:00

This past week has been full of email correspondence and art tests. Looking for a new job is always a good time. Most of the work I can't share but this one I can.

The assignment was to first provide a loose sketch of a Legionary with the armor/clothing reference provided. They also provided some GTA4 concepts and said they wanted the character to have the same realistic style and pose. The second they wanted me to take the realistic character and create a more cartoony counterpart. Perhaps a character that might be used in a casual, social game. They kept stressing that they didn't want you to really focus on rendering or making these finished illustrations. They wanted me to keep them loose and just wanted to see what my process was for solving design problems.

It was actually a fun distraction from the craziness of the week. Especially the little toony guy. If I get some free time I might just work both of these images up properly. For now you'll have to endure their sketchy origins.

In Yo' Face

2010-08-04T18:34:00.006-05:00

Earlier this year it had occurred to me that I hadn't painted or drawn a self portrait in quite a while. All this time drawing from my imagination had weakened my trained eye. So I thought I'd give it a go. You can see the results of that portrait in the first post on this blog.

My art director at the time pulled me aside to let me know how much he liked it. Then he asked if I'd be willing to paint one for every team member. I jumped at the opportunity and now have a mass of portraits that I did in the same style as my first. I found myself pretty happy with them overall and I could even see improvement as I moved from one to the next.

So, rather then let the images sit on my hard drive for years to come I figured I'd share some of my favorites here. I hope you like them! More posts to come but at the moment I'm still working on art tests and finding a job. Lets see if I can squeak out some personal work in the coming days. Thanks again for looking!

Well I've gone and done it...

2010-07-28T13:42:00.004-05:00

...created a new site for my portfolio, that is! Ha! It's still a little bit rough around the edges and I'm working on rounding it out with new work. But thanks to CarbonMade it was pretty painless to put together. You can find the link and a blurb from the "About Me" page below. More updates coming soon! Thanks for visiting!

http://ryanbowlin.carbonmade.com/

I’ve been making images for as long as I’ve been able to get my little mitts around a Crayola. Some of my earliest memories involve being face down in a pad of paper and scribbling like a wild man in the living room. When I let my mind take me back I can still feel the shag carpet imprinting abstract designs on my skin and the waxy smell of the crayon as I pulled it across the paper.

It’s funny to think, looking back, that I’m still completely enamored with doing the very same things today. Sure, now I have a fancy desk and the tools aren’t nearly as crude. But the passion for creating stories and imagining worlds has always remained.

For the last four years I’ve been fortunate to have an outlet for that passion by working in the video game industry. The past year I have worked as a creature and character concept artist for an MMO developer in Las Vegas. Recently that studio unexpectedly closed its doors and now I’m looking for new places to continue living out that love for cultivating the imagination and creating amazing worlds.

If you’re interested in hiring me for my services (full time or contract) I’d appreciate you contacting me via email. I can provide a resume, references and additional samples upon request. I’m very much looking forward to sharing my passion and imagination with you!

-

Ryan Bowlin currently lives, with his lovely wife, in Las Vegas, NV. In between creating art he enjoys playing video games, watching baseball, and devouring chimichangas.

And so it begins...

2010-07-22T21:27:00.007-05:00

Welcome to my blog! Oh, the beard? Don't fear the beard. It's more loving and nurturing then it appears, I assure you! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my little slice of the interwebz. Out of this barren wasteland of a blog will rise a virtual sketchbook. I'm looking forward to updating as frequently as possible with sketches, paintings and other art goodness. So stay tuned!

I suppose a small introduction is in order as this is my first post. My name is Ryan Bowlin and I've been an artist in the video game industry for the last 4 years. I currently reside, with my lovely wife, in Las Vegas, NV where I worked as a concept artist for the past year at Red Dust Studios. Recently our studio unexpectedly closed it's doors and I am now seeking out new opportunities. If you're interested in my services I hope you'll drop me a a line!

I'm currently creating a new website/portfolio at this time with more current work in it but for now you can get a sample of some of slightly older work by visiting the link below.

http://zebz.cghub.com/images/

*EDIT* You can now view my new Art portfolio by clicking HERE. *End Transmission*

The beard and I both thank you for taking the time to visit us! Come back soon for more fantabulous art updates! Take care.

- Ryan