Monday, February 25, 2013

Lecture Presentation At Blizzard Entertainment



Last week, I had the honor of doing an hour and a half design lecture/presentation to the talented artists of Blizzard Entertainment. I had great time also touring their awesome studio, and get to see my friend Craig Harris.

All images ©Armand Serrano.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Design Evolution Lecture at Graphika Manila 2013






Almost 3000 people attended last week's Graphika Manila 2013! Representing Sony Pictures Animation, I was one of the seven lecturers at the event. I showed the Sony anniversary video and did a lecture on my visual development/design process for Hotel  Transylvania and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

A Simple Process


Another unused concept art from last year. The setting is suppose to be somewhere in contemporary Toronto during summer so I had to look for some online references. I've been asked a lot about my drawing/painting process so here's one of my simple, speedy but effective process. There's no secret other than first and foremost, lay out all the basics: readable shapes, composition, values and lighting; then proceed to color. I don't even think about textures and overlays for the most part since they're just secondary for me. Enjoy.

Draw the linework. Keep it loose and control the shapes and amount of details. Have fun like when you were a kid. 

Apply values using the lasso tool. When done correctly, it gives controlled but bolder, even looser shapes than your line work. This is crucial for it is the very foundation your color. Define the skin tone of elements and apply consistent lighting.

Completed value.

Apply color without loosing the values. I don't use multiply but color brush instead.

Make adjustments in color balance and apply highlights. For those familiar with how I work, I use the old #19 preset brush. No fancy stuff :) Then on the finished piece, I did some last minute adjustments on the lighting for a slightly different time of day, added the ball, applied a simple texture overlay, then turned off the lines layer.


©Armand Serrano.

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Photos From Animahenasyon 2012



Visual development talk at Animahenasyon 2012, an animation convention held at De La Salle University of St. Benilde College of Arts and Design in Manila last November.



Monday, December 10, 2012

iPad Paintings: Procreate App




Been lazy with my iPad paintings lately. These are the more recent ones I did. One on top was a late night painting. One at the bottom is an early morning view of my backyard. Both done in Procreate app. Fun.

All mages ©Armand Serrano.


Friday, November 30, 2012

Earliest Hotel Transylvania Foyer/Lobby Design


Another one I found in my archives! Hotel Transylvania went through five different versions. This is the very first lobby/foyer design for the first version of the movie. Interesting to note is the date and the early Dracula design I used here. I pitched the idea that the entire hotel was carved from a huge rock on a mountain top.


Image ©Sony Pictures Animation.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Freelancers


Sorting my hard drive and I found this! A bw sketch I did for a friend's game studio's presentation at E3 last year.

©Armand Serrano.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Animahenasyon 2012


I'll be speaking at the Philippine Animation Festival next week in Manila. Quick trip but should be fun.



CTN 2012 Photos

Always a blast to catch up with these guys: (l-r) Mark McDonnell, Nicolas P. Villareal, Armand Serrano, and David Colman. Other friends I saw: Tony and Tom Bancroft, Robh Ruppel, Stephen Silver, Faye Hsu, John Nevarez, Jeff Ranjo, Armand Baltazar, Holly Miller, Craig Elliot, Bill Perkins, Chris Deboda, etc.


Manned the Sony fort on CTN day 1. (l-r) Boola Robello, me, Ken Maruyama, JC Cornwell


All images @Armand Serrano.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

CTN Animation Expo 2012

I'll be at the Sony Pictures Animation/Imageworks booth this Friday, Nov. 16th from 2-5 pm. Looking forward to seeing friends, colleagues, upcoming professionals and lots of artworks! Stop by and say hello.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Ringling College Of Arts Visit


Amazingly talented faculty and students during my Visual Development presentation.

Did a demo.

I bumped into colleagues James Finch and Matt Roberts from Disney.

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Hotel Transylvania! No. 1 Movie!


Hotel Transylvania topped the charts in its first weekend with a strong $42.7 million, setting a new record for a September opening! Thanks to all who supported the film.
Shown here is an early design I did for the hotel lobby entrance that is shown at the end credits of the film.


©Sony Pictures Animation.