The Wizard of Oz

Just when I think my updates couldn't get any further apart I go and take a long break like this! Ha! At least I have a nice update for you guys to look over. 

Recently we released another one of the games I did all of the static art for on our Facebook application. And as I handed this one in I was quite proud of how it all came together. It was a pretty dense game and I had to complete the entire thing in between leading several other projects as well. So I tried my best to knock around on it as much as I could in the time between other things. The deadlines for our projects are tighter then I've experienced at other companies. So I'm always wishing I had more time to push the render polish even further on the artwork I complete for these games. But most of it is just shrunk down anyway so I suppose it'd be lost on most of the players regardless.

I'll just drop a bunch of the files below for you guys to take a look at. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed crafting everything!

Base Game:

 Free Spins:

Characters Larger:

Flying Monkey Broken Up For Animation:

Wheel Assets:

Pick Game:

Super Rough Concept Sketches:

Had enough slots? Why don't I tack on just one more we recently released that I completed a few months ago.

Ok, that's probably enough for now. :) Hope you guys enjoyed the update. Happy Holidays to you and your families! Take care and thanks for looking stopping by to gander at my scribbles!

- Ryan

Note: All images in this post are Copyright CIE

Spooky Slots

In the spirit of Halloween I thought I'd update my blog showcasing some of the work I completed earlier this year at my day job. It's no secret that I've been working in the slot games industry for the last four years or so. It may not seem as glamorous as video games but it does give the opportunity to illustrate a lot. And for that I really love it.

A few months ago a game I worked on was released to the public called Frankenstein Rising. I really had a great time working on it and am pretty proud of how it all came together. As the primary artist on the game I created all of the illustrations, backgrounds and interface elements. I'll post a few of the images from the game below. 

Another game that had the pleasure of working one recently was called Gorilla King 2. Not quite as spooky but I figured I'd toss this update on the blog as well. You'll notice that I tend to paint loosely on some of these mostly because they scale down and look so good smaller. But also because our deadlines on these games are so tight. I try to keep everything as tight as possible but I tend to focus most of my polish and rendering on the symbols that will be used for marketing and such.

I hope you guys have like the little update on some of the things I've had my hands in from day to day. I've been pretty busy with my day job but hope I'll get better about making art just for me as the fall months roll on. Thanks for stopping in. And as always you can follow/reach out to me on Facebook, Twitter and any other number of places that I link to at the top of the blog. :D

- Ryan

Sketch Dump

It's been a long time coming. This is what happens when you don't update your blog on a regular basis! You're stuck with a bunch of images to scan and put together for a post. It took me some time but I finally managed to knock it out!

You'll notice I'm playing around a lot and being super loose with stuff. I've been kind of rediscovering why I love to draw. When I'm not rendering away on work stuff I've been trying to really get back to having fun again. Just drawing to decompress and explore with no serious concerns in regards to how things turn out. It's been a good time for me and I'm excited to see where drawing without expectations takes me! It's kinda like getting into a time machine and figuring out why I started scribbling in the first place. :)

I really hope you guys enjoy seeing some of my scraps from the last few months. I'll try to fall back into the groove of updating every weekend again. I need people to hold me accountable! Ha! Thanks for stopping by and for supporting my doodles!

- Ryan

Traversing the Desert

A WILD WARRIOR APPROACHES! :D Another digital watercolor/gauche painting of one of my recent warrior brush pen sketches. Still exploring this workflow but there are some things about it that I really like. Looking forward to doing more of these! Hope you had a great weekend!

- Ryan

Need Art?

Hey friends! I'm trying a bit of an experiment by starting an Etsy shop and posting some of my ORIGINAL drawings up online FOR SALE. You can head to the shop via the link below!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ryanbowlin

I'll slowly be adding more pieces as time goes on. But if you're ever interested in a particular piece that isn't listed don't hesitate to drop me a line and ask about it!

As always thanks for supporting my artwork and please share with your friends!

- Ryan

ORCS!

I did a digital watercolor painting over one of my recent sketches tonight. I recently came across Kyle Webster's brush sets and have been having fun exploring with them. The watercolor set is especially fun for sketchy, loose painting. You should totally check out his stuff if you're in the market for some new Photoshop art tools. :)

- Ryan

Adventure Awaits!

I'm still throwing awkward glances at the stack of sketches and drawings next to my desk. Scanning is such a chore and I need to carve out a nice block of time to start getting the drawings in. So instead of a sketchbook dump you'll get a sketch I did recently that I quickly threw some colors at. I've been really exploring styles and trying to figure out how I naturally love to draw like. It's been a lot of fun to just explore and let my heart kinda guide me. There's something about this guy that I'm quite fond of. I hope you like him as well.

Thanks for stopping in and if you get a minute kick me in the butt in the comments to get those other pages scanned! :)

- Ryan

The Undead: Dwarven Warrior - WIP

A friend of mine was getting a tattoo this week and it go me thinking about what a cool design might be. I had this image of a warrior like dwarf corpse pop in my head and was certain I'd seen the image before. I dug and dug through the bowels of the internet and turned up nothing. So I tried to scribble out the idea I had in my head just for the fun of it.

I really liked the design and thought I'd try and take it a step further. I normally work in brush pen but I was lazy and didn't want to print it out, transfer the drawing and all that stuff. So I tried inking in Manga Studio again on my Cintiq. It was only the second or third time and this was the first time I'd ever done anything really serious with it. I was actually really happy with the results I got out of it! And I've had a good response from other people regarding the image as well!

I've finished the inks for the most part. I still need to refine it in some places and figure out what I'm doing with the background (it's just a big black splotch right now) but overall it's done. I've also started roughing out some color palettes for it as well. I have a couple directions that I feel pretty solid about now. Now I just need to execute on the final colors and we're good to go!

Stay tuned for the final images! I'll also be looking into getting these guys on a shirt or perhaps make some prints. I'm also considering making this a series and moving on a wizard next! Maybe I'll do three or four total. So stay tuned! Ha! Hope you like him!

- Ryan

Viking

A little scribble for Sketch Dailies. I absolutely love that site! So much great artwork on a daily basis! Check them out if you get a chance! I was going to go play more Tomb Raider on PS4 but once I saw the topic was Vikings I knew I had to bang something out. Ha!

I've been exploring a bit in recent months and with this scribble I changed up my normal working process. I'm trying to just get my ideas down faster and even trying to work more loosely. This was one of my better successes I've had doing that in recent attempts. Experimentation is good, right? Hoping I start stumbling upon something I really love.

I hope all of you enjoyed E3 this week! I always love seeing the studios showing off all of their awesome stuff. Lots of great games to look forward to in the near future!

- Ryan

Mario Kart 8

Happy Mario Kart 8 Day! :D I've been really looking forward to playing it. Who doesn't want some Mario Kart in beautiful hi-definition?! I'll see you guys out there on the track!

I should have a nice sized post full of sketches coming soon. Just need to set aside a bit of the time to scan them! Thanks for being patient. If you're anxious to see more frequent updates I'm always posting on Twitter and my Facebook page (links above). Thanks for stopping by!

- Ryan

Old Ben Kenobi

I have had Star Wars on the brain ever since I attended Spectrum Fantastic Art Live last weekend and enjoyed a couple talks by Iain McCaig. And I've also had a renewed desire to start doing more studies  which spawned this drawing of Obi-Wan. I hope you guys like him!

In short, I had a great time at the Spectrum event and hope I'll have the opportunity to attend again next year. Never have I been in a place with so much talent under one roof. And I was amazed at how humble and approachable everyone was! It was nice creative shot in the arm for me. I highly recommend making your way to Kansas City next year if you're looking for the same! Loved it!

Updates here have been slow going but I've been busy away from the blog. I'll try and have a sketch book update for the end of the week. The new job has kept me really busy but I'm trying to claw at personal work as much as I can in between things. Thanks for checking in!

- Ryan