Mark's "Irresistible" Blog

Old photo restored

2011-12-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

A photo of my great grandfather and his brother, taken in 1921, which I restored. I know they look like mafiosos!

The Adventures of Timmy and The Red Balloon

2011-09-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hen Party Caricatures

2011-09-16T05:46:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me to do some drawings for her sister's up and coming hen party. She's a 27 year old nurse who fosters kittens. (Font used for the nurse picture is "Sparkly" from Fontdinerdotcom

Wedding present

2011-07-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Not my wedding mind you :P Friends of my aunt who got married last week in America. I was asked to paint a picture of them together when they first met. Unfortunately the only photo I could reference from was 3 years old, grainy and obscured by shadow, so I'm not sure how much it looks like them now. Still I'm happy enough with it.

Setsuka Concepts

2011-07-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

A favourite character from the popular Soul Calibur series. A caucasian orphan raised in Japan by a master swordsman, she fights with an iai-sword concealed in an umbrella. While Soul Calibur V is in the works, I'm musing with ideas as to what she might look like. I've considered both the Japanese and the European sides of her character.

The Mermaid

2011-05-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

(Painted in PhotoShop)

Q: How Many Apples A Day Will Keep These Bozos Away?

2011-02-02T12:29:00.001-08:00

Bobby Deadbody

2010-12-16T10:40:00.001-08:00

Tango Pasión Poster

2010-09-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

Don't get excited, I wasn't commissioned or anything, I just wanted to draw something tango related as I'm rather obsessed with Argentine tango right now.

Portrait

2010-09-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I've used Corel Painter. Thought I'd try my hand at replicating this picture of my cousin using the Soft Pastel tool.

Dr. Sketchy's Aug 28th "Mad Men"

2010-08-31T02:46:00.000-07:00

Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, July 31st

2010-08-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Dr. Sketchy's is an alternative life drawing class that features burlesque models in themed costumes and poses. The class starts off with short 2 minutes poses, eventually moving on to to 20 minutes. Good music is played throughout, which is selected to suit the theme, and at the end of each pose whichever drawing is picked as a winner gets a free shot of Sambucca (or a cup cake for the tee-totalers :b).

The theme of this event was Candy and modelling for us were "Fizz" and "Sadistic" Sedition (don't ask me where they got their names).

SHOWREEL 2010

2010-06-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Life drawing Some old, some new

2010-06-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

Surgery Shots Test

2010-05-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

There's still more I want to do with those lights, but for now I'm happy with it.

Park Scene Test

2010-05-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a compositing test for the park scene. Burt isn't animated. I just wanted to see how the rain and reflections would work. I think I will resize the foreground and multiplane it to give it more depth. I might also animate some movement on the cloud.

Gesture of Gymnast

2010-04-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick charcoal animation I did for a project 2 years ago.

The Full English Experience

2010-04-28T14:47:00.001-07:00

Silver service at the White House, Middlesborough.

Burt Realizes Teeth Are Gone

2010-04-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

Burt Asleep

2010-04-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

Walking in the Park

2010-04-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Blender

2010-04-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Mood Boards (Without Burt)

2010-02-05T04:12:00.001-08:00

These are not all the shots in my film, but they show the progression of the layouts. The X Ray effect has been a double edged sword in that, on one hand it's given me a really cool style, but it also means I'm quite limited in how I use tone to inform the mood. The lighting has been particularly difficult. I'm not 100% happy with one or two, but I'll fix them when I've time. Now I have to see how Burt fits into the scenes. Will re-upload when I do.

Screen Test Updated

2009-12-09T12:53:00.001-08:00

Concept

2009-11-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

Design influences

2009-11-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

Design wise I thought it would be cool for everything to reflect back to the x-ray in shot 3 of the storyboards. This allows for some cool exploration of light planes and composition. The iridescent blue compliments the moody tonality of the film. It also makes it that much more surreal. I was particularly inspired by the x-ray photography of Nick Veasey (3rd image down).

Burt Design

2009-11-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

"Extracted" Animatic (First Draft)

2009-11-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

Here's my first storyboard draft for the film I'm making this year entitled "Extracted". It tells the story of a depressed character (Burt) who tries to cope after having his wisdom teeth removed. Before leaving the surgery he is presented with a jar containing his teeth, which he bizarrely carries with him everywhere (the teeth vaguely represent Burt's childhood, which he is quite reluctant to let go).
In the end an omnipotent tooth fairy summons the teeth away during the night, replacing them with coins. Burt wakes up, finds the teeth are gone and curls up on his bed, deflated and withdrawn.

There's a good bit that I am changing to make it clearer what the teeth actually represent and why he wants to hold onto them. The ending also needs to be clarified a bit more, but I just thought I'd throw it up anyway. The character design has also been changed.

"She Went Peacefully" (concept)

2009-11-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

This was an idea I had over the summer, based on a poem by Emily Dickinson "I heard a Fly buzz when I died".
An old woman lies on her death bed with her family around her. A fly buzzes in and lands on her bed. The room turns silent and the fly stares up, menacingly at her. She looks around the room for her loved ones' faces, but they are obscured by the cloud of creeping death. The woman cowers as the fly begins to mutate into a hideous beast with large fangs and razor sharp pincers. She stares death in the face and screams her final breath.
The camera then cuts to her daughter swatting the fly and flicking it off her bed. The old woman has gone, it seems, peacefully...

I wonder what Leo gets up to on Halloween?

2009-11-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

Imelda hates Laurie

2009-11-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

Imelda looking disgusted

2009-11-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Imelda scrubbin the dishes

2009-11-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

Imelda the Loving Mother

2009-11-04T11:56:00.000-08:00

Playing alone

2009-11-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

Layouts from "Laurie and The Litter Bugs"

2009-06-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

Early concept art

2009-06-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Character Development "Laurie"

2009-06-18T09:42:00.001-07:00

Character Development "Imelda"

2009-06-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

12 Storyboard Panels

2009-06-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

"Hard and Soft" Abstract pieces

2009-06-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

"Masculine"

"Feminine"

"The Womb"

"The Industry"

Short Gestures (2mins - 30 secs)

2009-06-18T07:29:00.001-07:00

Life Drawing 09

2009-06-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Chalk Pastels - 30 mins

Oil Pastel - 40 mins

Ink and Pencil - 40 mins

Chalk Pastels (Photoshop) - 50 mins

Water colour - 30 mins

Chalk Pastels - 30mins

Oil Pastels -60mins