Digital Art - "Mr Stork"

Rough pen sketch, scanned
then placed over a
textured background

Another of my entries for the Imagine FX magazine forum weekly competition.

Title: "Mr Stork"

Brief: "Produce a full colour, full body, character design for Science Officer/First Officer Mr Stork"

Description/Info: "Following on from challenges #193 and #202 - Mr Stork serves under Captain James Quack as the Starship Interpond's stork like Science Officer/First Officer . Based on the very similarly named Mr Spock from Star Trek, and good friends with Captain Quack, Lieutenant Uhurow and Dr "Bones" Macaw."

Work in progress

It flopped a bit in the competition, due to not being clearly 'Spock-like', but I was personally rather pleased with this one.

I went for more of a retro-scifi Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers look, and it turned out to be a fun, vibrant little character which I started and finished within 4-5 hours. For this version I strengthened a couple of highlights and added a couple of antennae on the little sidekick alien, but it's otherwise the same as the final competition version.

Final Painting

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Art - "Dark Days"

One of my entries for the Imagine FX magazine forum monthly competition.

Title: "Blade Runner"

Description: "Ridley Scott has decided to remake Blade Runner with the advantage of today's SFX. He's looking for a Concept Artist who can best envision what this world might look like."

Pen and Marker concept illustration

I spent quite a bit of time on this one, and I'm reasonably happy with the results. Given that the brief described a remake of the film and Ridley Scott is in fact genuinely making a sequel, I originally thought I might do something in a more 'up-beat' style. Perhaps envisaging one of the off-world colonies that were never seen in the original film, but that would share visual similarities. After seeing some of the other entries, however, I realised that people were expecting something more reminiscent of the original film, so I went for the dark and moody atmosphere already established. Perhaps not the best choice in hindsight, but it was fun to do something in a Blade Runner style anyway.

I started with a quick pencil sketch, that I then went over in ink. Once I had erased the pencil, I shaded it with markers, to create my initial concept illustration. When scanned, I then roughly coloured this, as a guide for the larger full piece.

In order to keep the atmosphere without directly copying, I avoided looking at too much reference material from the film. I wanted things to be filtered through my own imperfect memories, that way alterations that creep in hopefully introduce a few unique elements to the otherwise established look and feel. There's a bit of everything in there, for Blade Runner fans. A sushi bar with neon lighting, a cityscape in the background with flames from one of the buildings, an antennae-laden blimp advertising the off-world colonies, a spinner launching or landing, pedestrians with self-illuminating umbrellas, sheets of rain and of course a suspicious looking character in a futuristic trench-coat...

Final Painting

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Art - "Batcave"

Initial sketched ideas

My apologies to any readers, as I haven't updated my blog for a long time. On the plus side, there's a few things I can post, so here's the first of what I plan to be three new updates in the next day or so.

This is another of my entries for the Imagine FX magazine forum weekly competition.

Title: "The Bat Cave"

Brief: "Depict the Bat Cave how you think it would look"

Description: "Paint the Bat Cave in a graphic novel style (dark comic style), include control panels, and show an innovate entry/exit."

Early Work In Progress

I wasn't especially pleased with how this one came out, but it was good fun and achieved fairly quickly. You'll notice that for speed, I also re-used my vehicle design from a post or two earlier, as a new version of the Batmobile.

Final painting

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Art - "Pink Fluffy Apocalypse"

Yet another of my entries in the Imagine FX magazine forum weekly competition.

Work In Progress images 1 & 2

Title: "The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse"

Brief: "A long hidden manuscript has been discovered and contrary to legend it seems that a fifth horseman of the apocalypse has been mentioned in the manuscript."

Description: "Although the manuscript mentioned the horseman, no description or association was written. Depict the horseman in his glory and display a banner with the forces he/she represents."

Work In Progress images 3 & 4

I suspected many people would go the dark dramatic route, so I decided to do the opposite, and do something fun and humorous. My description was:

"The five horsemen... Conquest, War, Famine, Death and... The Pink Fluffy Maiden of Doom!!! The worst of them all, she has been airbrushed from history because she is so terrifying that none can know of her existence lest they be plagued by eternal nightmares... The Pink Fluffy maiden of Doom will bring about the final apocalypse (the other four are only her henchmen, sent to pave the way) with an excess of throw pillows, pink drapery, lace detailing and rampaging hordes of merciless puppies and kittens... Fear her... Fear the Pink Fluffy maiden of Doom!!!"

 

She's supposed to be very pink and girly. I didn't have time to put in the extra details I would have liked (and completely forgot the banner mentioned in the brief). I wasn't happy with my first attempt at drawing the horse (as you can see in the first two WIPs). However, I went back and decided to draw it in pencil, rather than trying to do the initial sketch digitally. I was far happier with the results, after sketching it traditionally. Then I photographed it and painted over it digitally.

 

Final Illustration

 

I'm reasonably happy with the horse and rider, but I didn't leave myself much time for details or the background. I think I may come back to it at a later date, drop the "5th Horseman" idea, and turn it into something light and cheerful (perhaps another fairy, to add to the collection of fairy paintings!). It's not one of my better pieces, but it's hopefully good fun.

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Art - Concept Car

Here's another of my entries in the Imagine FX magazine forum weekly competition.

1st Work In Progress image

The challenge was to design a new product, essentially of any kind. I left myself with little time (again!) so decided to go for a futuristic concept car that I could create fairly quickly. I started with a few very rough sketches of the top, front and side, then a quick pencil sketch of the vehicle from the angle you see.

2nd Work In Progress image

I then went over this in pen and erased the pencil. the next step was to photograph it (I was too lazy too hook up my scanner), and then use it as the overlaying illustration to colour digitally. the finished illustration was started and finished in around four hours.

This final version has a few minor amends, as I decided to change the logo and title details a little.

Final Illustration

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Art - "The Clown"

Here's another of my entries in the Imagine FX magazine forum weekly competition.

1st Work In Progress image

The Brief: "Depict a clown after the show is over and everyone has left the circus."

The Description: "Does everyone fear clowns? This is your chance to paint a clown as you see them, either pure evil, as they really are, or as the delightfully funny characters, that they want people to think they are…….. you decide. This can be a portrait, or a full character or anything in-between."

2nd Work In Progress image

Again, I ended up leaving this entry till the last minute, and this was completed in a little over three hours. What it represents, is up to the viewer. Personally, I think it's about the idea of alien life as part of us, or simply hidden amongst, but masked by the way society ridicules and and laughs at alien abduction stories or UFO sightings.

Final Image

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Art - "Last Days"

 Here's another of my entries in the Imagine FX magazine forum weekly competition.

This was created for the September 2011 weekly challenge entitled: "2012 - The End"

1st Work In Progress image

The Brief: "We have all seen disaster movies about the end of the world. Your job is to depict a snapshot scene of an aspect of it."

The Description: "This is quite an open challenge, this could be simply a shot of the Earth showing the reason for it's demise, an action shot of a ship being swept into a city, a lava threatened house, etc. The choice of scene is yours."

2nd Work In Progress image

I ended up leaving this entry till the last minute, and so this was completed in a little over four hours. I wanted to do something a little different that signified some cataclysmic event, but in a more subtle and subdued way, than the usual great fiery disasters. I was lucky enough that this entry actually won the weekly competition!

Final Image

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

One Day (2011) – Cinema Review (4/10)

One Endless Day...

First let me say, I have not read the book. This review is based on the film, and the film alone. The premise is quite interesting. Take a couple of characters, and visit them on the same day over a number of years, to show how their lives progress at that same point annually. Unfortunately you can't help feeling that the premise is what prompted the author/script writer, David Nicholls, to create the story, while the characters and events were somewhat of an afterthought.

Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane, The Princess Diaries) stars as Emma, who straight from university, befriends Dex, played by Jim Sturgess (The Other Boleyn Girl). The film then charts their respective lives and friendship over the years.

It all feels rather aimless and random. Some might say that echoes real life, but at the same time this is a film that uses any number of tired clichés for emotional impact. There are really only four characters of consequence, two male, two female. Both male characters are shown to be fairly pathetic throughout most of the film. One is a typical 'geeky nerd' character, who is clearly played as the 'sad loser', and comes out with all the worst clichés that non-genre writers think define science fiction and fantasy fans. Meanwhile the male lead, Dex, is a drug addled, reprehensible, womanising drunk. On the flip side, there is Dex's mother, shown to be strong yet tragic, the emotional role model for her son. Finally we have Emma herself, the sturdy shoulder for the weak male to lean on, the one constant in his life. Strong enough to resist him until he's sorted himself out, but always there as another emotional crutch.

It is to Anne Hathaway's credit that she made an otherwise mediocre character vaguely interesting. Her performance has been criticised somewhat, most especially for her Northern English accent. Admittedly, her accent is hit and miss. For the most part, she does a straight forward and generic 'English' accent that works well, but her regional inflections are a mixed and occasionally out-of-place bag. However, it's not terrible by any means. Her performance in most other aspects, is excellent, and honestly the best thing in the film. Hathaway is quite adept at being able to play both slightly nerdy girl-next-door, as well as glamorous and beautiful within the same character in a believable way.

It's difficult to judge Jim Sturgess as Dex. The character is mostly unsympathetic, and by the time he supposedly redeems himself, you really don't care what happens to him. As such, Sturgess has either succeeded at playing the character as written, or failed to make him sympathetic when he should be. If the latter, it would still be difficult to blame him, given the material. Unfortunately there was nothing that stood out about his performance, unless you count acting drunk and/or drugged-up occasionally.

Given the lead character's friendship was in many ways the core of the film, there was very little, if anything, to explain why Emma stayed (or even became) such close friends with Dex in the first place. He was never shown to be particularly interested in her life, or helpful, or really even have anything in common with her. The best that could be said, is that he used her friendship as an emotional crutch, while she stayed friends with him because he was the unobtainable handsome 'bad-boy' that she wanted. So perhaps it would be better to say that there was no healthy reason for their lasting friendship. Which at the very least undermines the romantic aspect of the story.

Whilst trying to avoid any spoilers, the finale of the film is based around a manipulative emotional 'shock' moment. It is not only unnecessary for the story or characters, but executed in a contrived way that feels unrealistic for the sake of making the audience jump.

I can't honestly recommend 'One Day'. It's not a bad film as such. It keeps you watching, though much of that is down to Anne Hathaway's likeable portrayal of the potentially weak character of Emma. The romantic elements of the story, such as they are, keep things vaguely interesting in the latter third or quarter of the film, but there is little else to grab your attention alongside the lacklustre ending.

Fans of the book may enjoy the film, as they might see more within the scenes than other viewers. As for the rest, as you walk out of the cinema doors or switch off your TV, I think you'll find yourself shrugging forgettably. What score I have given it, is mainly for Hathaway's performance.

4/10

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Digital Art - "Witch's Familiar"

Here's another of my entries in the Imagine FX magazine forum weekly competition.

This was created for the September 2011 weekly challenge entitled: "The Witch's Familiar"

Original Pencil Sketch

The 'Description': "In legend, a familiar or familiar spirit is a supernatural being that supports a witch or magician. Traditionally, a familiar is an animal but some are said to be humanoid."

Due to time, I wasn't initially going to enter this competition, however I decided to give it a go on the last night of entry. In order to complete it as quickly as possible, I decided to sketch the 'Familiar' in pencil first, scan it, and then colour it digitally.

Work in progress

Since the stereotypical witch's familiar is a cat, I decided to play on that. I thought that perhaps the cat is possessed, when it becomes a familiar, by some small demonic creature, which only reveals its true form to the witch. Hence my creature is not an animal, but still has some cat-like features.

Final Digital Painting

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Super 8 - (2011) - Cinema Review (9.5/10)

Simply Super

It's been a while since I felt compelled to write a film review. There has been so much mediocrity in recent months, that I simply haven't felt the enthusiasm, but Super 8 has compelled me.

Set in the late 70s, Super 8 is helmed by writer and director J.J. Abrams, probably better known as the main force behind the series Lost, and the recent reboot of Star Trek. The film follows a group of pre-teen/teen kids as they make their own movie on 'super 8' film (For those who don't know, think of it as the handycam format of its day). In the process of filming a scene, they witness a terrible train crash. As it turns out, their camera filmed something mysterious in the wreckage. The military begin to take over the local area, looking for something that has escaped, whilst our young protagonists begin to solve the mystery themselves as increasingly strange things happen across their town.

The gang discuss the train crash

To put it simply, Super 8 is a nostalgic nod back to the days of E.T., Goonies, Explorers and a whole host of children's films from the late 70s and 80s. Films that captured the essence of childhood, mystery and adventure in a wonderful concoction of feel-good-fun. Bluntly, it has been far too long since someone made a film like Super 8. It is in a different league to even Harry Potter, reminding its viewers how children's films should be made.

Witnessing the super 8 film for the first time

I'll get the very minor flaws out of the way, first. The pivotal train crash of the movie is absurdly over-the-top. To the point where it feels out of place, given the setting and atmosphere of the rest of the movie. It felt like something Michael Bay would have looked at and said “Let's take this down a notch or two.” On top of that, essential characters, vehicles and equipment escape with barely a minor scratch, crack, or bit of dust. Secondly, the tired 'evil humans/military' plot device is overused. It is acceptable given the nostalgic setting and style, but that doesn't stop it being a cliché. Thirdly, J.J. Abrams has brought in his regular associate, Michael Giacchino, to compose the soundtrack. Unfortunately, whilst serviceable, Giacchino doesn't seem to be able to capture the grandeur of those he is following. With Star Trek, he was walking in the footsteps of Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner (at his peak). With Super 8, he is very much following in the footsteps of Goldsmith again, and especially John Williams. Unfortunately, Giacchino just hasn't reached those heights, and fails to embody the musical sense of wonder that could have accentuated events even more effectively. In fact, the music used in the trailer (By James Horner from the film Cocoon) exemplifies this, because the film's own music can't quite compare.

Strange cubes...

Having said all that, I have to stress these are minor flaws in an otherwise superb film. One element that truly helps the atmosphere, is its period setting (Which makes me feel extremely old!). It is a perfect time in which to capture a sense of wonder and enthusiasm, where you can still have pre-teen characters who are not as jaded as their modern counterparts would be. They still have a sense of innocence and lack any contemporary cynicism.

Watching the military clean-up of the train crash

Joel Courtney is excellent as the lead character, Joe Lamb. He looks and acts the part perfectly, not once feeling out of place in the late 70s world. However, the real stand out is perhaps Elle Fanning (Sister of Dakota Fanning) who nails the part of 'token girl in the group of boys', without feeling like a 'let's appeal to the girls too' addition. Sometimes in these kind of films, the romantic interest for the young male can often come over as excessively mature, or at the very least the archetypal 'inaccessible school beauty'. Although there is a hint of this in her first introduction, after that point she is simply one of the gang. The romance (such as it is for this type of film) feels completely natural and sweet.

The film as a whole builds its pace nicely, never rushing things for the sake of getting to the whiz-bang effects. Super 8 definitely puts its story and characters first, allowing them to pull us into its adventure and mystery all the deeper. The nods to its inspirations are often clear, but never blatant to the point of copying. For example, a family scene around a table with misbehaving children is reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, there are echoes of Invaders from Mars, a character similar to the young lead of Critters, a shot overlooking the town at night that is clearly a wink to a shot in E.T., as well as numerous other films. However, these 'nods' work extremely well. They tread the fine line between drawing a smile of familiar nostalgia, without pulling you out of the film by being too obvious.

The standard by which many contemporary children's films are compared, tends to be Harry Potter. So with that in mind, I will say this. If someone told me they could only see the final Harry Potter film or Super 8, and asked which they should see, I would recommend Super 8 without a second's thought. There isn't even really a comparison. The unbridled enthusiasm and fun of the character's short film over the end credits, sums it up perfectly (Remember to stay in your seat and watch).

Watching in wonder

It is possible that modern youngsters may find Super 8 too slow or lacking in immediate special effects (Which could explain the over-enthusiastic train crash). However, I hope they give it a chance. This is the way children's films used to be, and there are no reasons why they can't be again. They embody a childhood sense of wonder, excitement, mystery, adventure and friendship that will entrance the young into dreaming of their own adventures, whilst whisking the old back to the best moments of their youth.

9.5/10

Image Credit: © 2011 Paramount Pictures


All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - (2011) - Cinema Review (6.5/10)

Is it in B&W?

The Harry Potter franchise finally draws to a close, under the guiding hand of David Yates, who essentially took over directorship of the films since 'The Order of the Phoenix'. This time around, Hogwarts school of wizardry is under attack. In previous instalments we've seen a variety of locations. This time round, apart from a few early events, we're essentially treated to a siege movie.

The big question is, does it succeed at rounding off the story successfully? I'll say yes, but it's a tentative yes. This final film is a very mixed bag. Overall, the film structure feels like a series of ticked boxes. Step by step, covering exactly what needed covering, without any real passion or feeling. Don't get me wrong, the film is technically brilliant. It is slickly made, and highly polished. The acting is sometimes excellent and certainly never less than serviceable, even from the often criticized Daniel Radcliffe, but honestly, I don't know what else he could have been expected to do. Almost all of the characters you can think of, get their little moments, though in many cases they feel shoehorned in for the sake of completeness, without any real care for the characters or emotions involved.

Facing Voldemort

Unfortunately, the films no longer feel like children's films, even though that is their primary audience. Despite the subject matter, there is no 'magic' in Harry Potter any more. The content is dark and tough, but even that could have been managed in a less heavy handed and more nuanced way. You only need to see the way a film such as Super 8 deals with the difficult subject of a child tragically losing a parent in far more raw and realistic way than Harry Potter has ever done, but uses that to accentuate the film's themes and characters without losing its charm or child-like wonder. One scene in Harry Potter even treats its viewers to a bloody foetal figure in a setting reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey's finale.

A grey world

David Yates seems to have decided that the only way to cover the darker subject matter, is to quite literally make the film dark. The final instalment feels as though it could have been filmed in black and white with the projector bulb turned down. They have desaturated the colours and darkened the picture so mechanically, it feels less moody than simply eye-straining. There is a trend for giving modern films an overall tint, such as sepia or teal, which is fast reaching over-use. In this case, Yates has just decided to drain the life from the picture. One shot especially stood out for me. A dramatic panning shot across the embattled bridges of Hogwarts as magical forces faced off against one another. It should have been epic and awe inspiring, but I could hardly make out what was going on, it was so dark and monotone. In contrast, the most moody and sombre scenes in the Lord of the Rings films feel vibrantly colourful, yet those are adult fantasy films. Heck, classic horror films like The Thing, Alien, Halloween, The Shining, feel like they were made in bright day-glow paints in comparison.

Professor Snape

One character and scene stands out in the final film, which I will give it credit for. This deals with the fate of Professor Snape, played by Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Truly Madly Deeply, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). Without spoiling it for those who don't know, his story is by far the most poignant and moving. In most cases, the demise or success of other characters is dealt with in an almost throwaway manner.

Nearly Forgotten

Another under-developed element was the 'romance'. It was obvious from the first film, that Harry would probably end up with Ginny, yet eight films later, we still have practically no development on that front. It simply 'happened' for plot convenience a film or two ago (I can't remember which one), without being given the screen time to justify it (I presume that the books may have given it more depth).

Under Siege

The ending of the film also feels somewhat rushed. To compare The Lord of the Rings again, those films have been criticized for having too many long endings. The final film covers every character's eventual fate in great detail, and takes plenty of time to do so. After eight films, Harry Potter gets a somewhat forgettable 'The Next Generation' scene.

I know the Harry Potter films were intended to become darker and grittier as time passed and its characters grew older, but there is no excuse for losing the vibrant sense of magical fun that permeated the first few films.

He Who Must Not Be Named
(Otherwise known as Voldemort)

All I can say, is that it is a serviceable film. It works on the most basic levels, even if it never reaches beyond those. If you have collected the series up till now, it makes for an acceptable if lacklustre conclusion. Nothing more, nothing less.

6.5/10

Image Credit: © 2011 Warner Bros. Pictures

All work is the © copyright of W.D.Lee and/or the respective companies, individuals or organisations to which the work is related. No infringement is intentional. No reproduction or copying is permitted without express permission.