Escape Into Chris - Entry 2

Understand Still by Nick Lepard

February 2007 – Normal, IL

“…What I’m a finding overall is that this image I have of myself in my mind should not be taken so seriously. Who I think I am is an illusion. Yes, I’ve devoted myself to writing but there is nothing remarkable, nothing truly genius about my writing now. The only thing that separates me from the average person when it comes to writing is my obsession with it. I am always focused on what I have to do to improve my writing. It doesn’t matter what I write and perhaps it never will matter what I write. It is the journey I crave, I crave a place to go inside myself and not the neurotic hall of mirrors I’m usually in, but the mysteries of the unconscious. I am an explorer – some travel to different places, I travel inward to different places. I am not content staying in this mental dimension. I wish to travel, to see other domains, to experience other realities. Perhaps that is why I am so attracted to cultivation. By cultivating myself I become something greater, something more than what I had seen.”

via Escape Into Life

MONTHLY HEADER #68: Daniel Dociu

Fantastic concept art from Daniel Dociu. Tons of hi-res work by tinfoil on cghub. I'm not big on comparing artists to one another but I do have to say that Daniel's technique is similar to John Berkey's in some technical respects. Perfect placement of values via abstract shapes to create a solid formed concept. Very nicely done... One of our favorites for sure.






























Keywords: digital concept spaceship vehicle illustrations designed by daniel dociu chief art director at ncsoft north america overseeing several unannounced titles across all ncsoft's north american studios with primary focus on arenanet's guild wars franchise tinfoil games architectural environment structure desinging

Mosaic Monday/ Sama Recap Part 2

Dog Mosaic by Pamela Irving

I will try to fill you in on the rest of Sama today.  Pamela Irving was the keynote speaker at the conference and she was very inspiring. I really enjoyed the slides she presented from her project for Luna Park.   Miss Irving has a fun sense of humor that comes through in all of her work.

We watched a great movie about African artist  El Anatsui.   Anatsui takes the caps from liquor bottles and weaves the most amazing tapestries that cover entire buildings. It was refreshing to see someone included in the conference that is not working with traditional mosaic techniques and materials.

Karen Ami, gave some great gallery talks, exploring the mosaics in the MAI Exhibition. She encouraged people to talk openly about the works they liked and did not like. I really enjoyed hearing people's views on certain works.

I have found the general mosaic community to be a mixed group of people that includes both part time hobbyists and hard core professionals. People in both camps seem to have very rigid and clear ideas in their heads about what is and isn't "Mosaic".  I have always felt like an outsider in this world, doing my art, using mosaic techniques loosely to serve my needs without getting too bogged down with the rules. I was eager to hear the last panel discussion titled : Defining Mosaic Art- Who Cares, and Why. The speakers were great but the discussion was a little bit of a let down as I was still left wondering just what is Mosaic Art and why should I care. I know I will never be able to embrace some of the narrow views about mosaic that many of my peers hold fast to. I did come away with one bit of advice from Emma Biggs that I believe resonates and that is that we should not let our medium define us.  I heard an eagerness by the people on the panel for mosaic art to be more widely embraced by the broader art world. In my opinion the only way that is going to happen is for the subject to be introduced at the college level.  I think you really need young people experimenting with the medium. You need kids without the budgets for Smalti and $50 geodes picking up all types of readily available materials for mosaic work. The medium needs the head strong attitudes that youth provides. If technique and history is important to your craft then teach it to young artists and then challenge them to take what they learn and then go break some rules as they see fit.

Concept spaceships by Ben Wootten

Ben's deviantart gallery. Ben on concepttanks.







Keywords: digital spaceship art twin engine design concepts by ben wootten sci-fi science fiction battle ships fantasy art portfolio concept space vehicles port landing pad hangar sliding crane mechanical pit stop

Miniature Paper Model TGV Trains

France's high-speed train service is known as the TGV. In 2007 a TGV test train set the record for the fastest wheeled train by reaching a speed of 357.2 mph (574.8 km/h). These mini papercraft models of TGV trains show some of the various paint schemes the trains sport. Free downloads of the templates for these and many other TGV trains are available from TGVweb.

Please light a Candle For Emmitt

Emmitt Langer passed over to the Rainbow bridge today and we light a candle tonight for him as we keep Melissa and Fred in our hearts.  Emmitt was a wise old Puggie that was loved by tons of adoring fans. His Mom runs Pugnotes and is a good cyber pal.  Our hearts are breaking for this special boy's family tonight.

Camo & Hunter

Sometimes clients just have a really tough time taking great pics to send to us. Camo & Hunter are darling King Charles Cavaliers and as you can see the original pics sent in were a bit dark. The good news is that they are local and so their Mom asked us to send a photographer over  to get some really good workable shots.  I called my pal Kris Hundt and for a small fee she was able to spend some quality time with Camo & Hunter to get some terrific well lit shots.

original photos submitted (above)

© Kris Hundt
Bright well lit shots that worked out well

Camo & Hunter ( see all proofs)
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Camo & Hunter ( see all proofs)
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Max Headroom TV Set Papercraft

Every once in a while it is nice to build a mindlessly simple papercraft and this Max Headroom TV set papercraft fills the bill. ^^ It is just a simple box based on the Cubee template, no glue required. Max Headroom is the lead character in the late 80's science fiction television show of the same name. Max is probably best known for his appearances as the spokesman in television commercials for "New Coke". The template for this papercraft TV was created by 7ater and may be downloaded here.

Month of March/ A Working Vacation

So what do you do when you need to rework your website, order new business cards, order new postcards, do your taxes, redesign your entire business model and clean out your fine art studio? The only possible solution I can come up with is a working vacation. Most of you would laugh and say well, where is the vacation part? The vacation part is in the area of commissions. I will be taking orders in March and placing folks on the calendar for proofing in late April, however I will not be working on commissions in March. I just have to take a break from portraits in order to work on some business stuff.

Here is my small list of goals for March:

• Rework the photo help pages on the website.
I am soooo tired of working from low resolution images taken straight off of facebook. I just can not do it any longer. 

• Rework prices.
Most of my prices will be going up, however I will offer deep discounts and incentives for folks that can give me high resolution quality images to work from. It has been a few years since my prices have changed and I am not keeping up with material cost increases. I really have to look at this.

• Order Print marketing materials.
Need new biz cards, brochures, and more.

• Taxes ....arrrg.

• Clean out Mosaic studio and start some new personal projects. (yay)

• Bento Data base: Will work with Lola to get everyone added to a mailing list

• Newsletter: Get back to sending out newsletters, at least quarterly.

• Try out some new printing media.

Large companies have accounting departments, marketing departments and even research and development teams. I have to wear a lot of hats around here and in March I will be sporting my business bonnet, full of lovely flowers and exciting challenges.  I do not hate the business parts of business, I just never have time for it .... going to change that for one month!

Existing clients should know that I will be finalizing all of Feb.'s projects before I take my business break.

3D concept ships by Stefan Morrell

A few new pieces by our friend Stefan Morrell. NICE! Seeing as he resides near Christchurch, I hope he is ok.









Keywords: 3d three dimensional spaceship environment modeling renders by stefan morrell 3ds max deep paint final render mental ray photoshop vray zbrush working as a freelance in lyttelton new zealand near christchurch

Escape Into Chris - Entry 1

Gustave Courbet, self portrait

In tribute to the life and works of Chris Al-Aswad, we, his family, are honoring his memory by posting regular excerpts from his writings here at his website Escapeintolife.com

Summer 2006 - Normal, IL

“… I worry that I won’t have enough time, once work starts, to read and write. But I also know there is always enough time. We just don’t happen to see all the time that is available to us because we are clouded by a fear of death.

My urge to read and write is a defense against death and its anxiety. I feel that I am finite and by reading and writing and by leaving a living record of my self, I believe that I can transcend my own death. I participate in the life that so many people lead without even thinking about it. That is, working a regular job, having a family, or having a wife for me is a burden, because by leading what most would consider a normal life I am “giving up”, in a sense, I am surrendering to my own mortality. By retreating into this world I have created with words and books, I hope to transcend my own death. But I need to make sure I live. I will never be able to transcend death until I fully live.”

Front Mission Evolved Papercraft: Zephyr Wanzer

Late last year Square Enix celebrated the release of its Front Mission Evolved video game. This Zephyr mech paper model was released as part of the celebration. Standing at a height of 12.5" (31.8 cm), the model can be posed with 40 different joints. Various accessories come with the Zephyr template including a machine gun, shot gun, a grenade and a shield. The photo above is from the designers of the papercraft, 3Dpaper. A download of the template is available at the Square Enix website here. Look for the link labeled "fully colored model" near the bottom of the page. Sorry, the contest to color your own Zephyr mech mentioned on the page is over, but a blank template is still available if you want to give it a try.

Nine Kitty

"Nine" ( see all proofs)
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

I enjoyed working on this pretty kitty. I fluffed out and softened  this sweet boy's fur a bit and cloned out the eye stains. Nine was rescued out of the gutter 4 years ago by his animal loving humans ... he was #9 of nine rescue kitties.  He has gone on to the rainbow bridge, but I have a feeling his last 4 years were probably the best of his entire life.  It was a real pleasure to get to create this important tribute for such a sweet old kitty boy. He had such stunning markings.

Escape Into Chris

The Musician by Fred Aris (1972)

A long, wintry six months has passed since EIL and Blog of Innocence's founder, Chris Al-Aswad, left life behind and stepped into the world of the Spirit. In addition to countless unforgettable memories, Chris also left us with dozens of journals brimming with his deepest thoughts and philosophical ponderings of existence on planet earth. Recently, my Father and I began exploring them in depth, discovering incredible, illuminated passages rife with prophetic, provocative insights and brutal honesty. While the quest to fill the space that Chris’ parting left in us will continue for our lifetimes, we’ve found solace and uplift in the notion of sharing these with the people Chris cared for most, his friends in the EIL community. Clearly, the spirit of Chris lives on in them, as well as in the eternal flow of the creative life-force, and so he would surely approve. We will start by posting one a week and are open and eager to hearing your feedback.

Sweet Jaxon

"Jaxon ( see all proofs)
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This little guy will be shipping out on Thursday. I am at my desk today trying to get caught up. Wow it was just one week ago that I was pushing hard to get a lot of shipping out so I could leave town. I will spend most of the day weeding through e-mails to see what projects may have slipped through the cracks last week.  I do appreciate everybody's patience. Your portrait projects are very important to me.

Whenever I leave town for business or pleasure, it always puts me behind.  For my first 8 or 9 years in business I never went anywhere, and pretty much worked 6 days a week every single month. I worked like a dog, and it paid off. At some point I decided that I had to start having a life. I still work hard, but I do try to find a balance. If you have ordered in the last week or so, I will be touching base soon with a project update.  If you ordered earlier in the month and are waiting on design changes those will happen this week.  Stay tuned for more dog art posts soon!

James Chung concept ships

James' vehicle and entertainment art blog. Also check out conceptrobots, vehicles and tanks.







Keywords: digital technical illustration concept spaceship flying vehicle art design by james chung futuristic city scape atmospheric environmental design work submarine style towing vehicles in mid flight clouds sunset

Mosaic Monday/ Sama Recap

Last week I went to the Society of American Mosaic Artist's Conference in Austin Texas. I am exhausted, and wow...  did I pack a lot in.

My first day to play was Weds. and instead of diving into conference activities I broke away from the regular program guide and went with my pals Dave and Linda to visit an old college pal in Elgin Texas. Barry David Perez creates stunning one of a kind fine art jewelry and in his spare time he owns and runs a high end tile making studio that caters to commercial design studios with large budgets.  He generously showed us around his shop and explained the entire process of making ornate tiles the old fashion way, one at a time.

Barry David sent us home with a lot of scrap tile discards to play with...yay!


Thursday I had a terrific workshop with Carol Shelkin on portraiture.  Carol was down to earth and playful ... she has a great sense of humor and she really knew her stuff.  The class was very large but I thought she did a good job of getting around to everyone.  I knew two mosaic people from Dallas in the class and one person expressed the same opinion that there was plenty of one on one attention while another student I know felt that there was not nearly enough personal attention and that the class was way too large.  I guess everyone has different expectations going into a workshop situation. All I  know is I had a great time and learned a lot. I also got to work across from Christine Brallier.  I was very pleased to get to spend time with Christine, she is my oldest mosaic pal over at Flickr, and one of the first people in that community that I have connected with.

Donna Van Hooser, Christine Brallier, Rebecca Collins

My project above started in workshop

Thursday night was the Salon. I sold a piece at Auction and I bought 2 pieces. I was very excited that my work sold but was even more ecstatic to be going home with 2 amazing works by very talented and respected artists.

"The Power Of Pink" by Kim Wozniak

Earlier this year I decided to embrace the color pink and try to throw out my own personal stereotypes about the color. When I saw this contemporary work by Kim I just fell in love with it because she has certainly put her own spin on the color pink.  This work may be very sexy but I do not think I would call it sweet.

"Blue Fox" by Donna Van Hooser

I have been stalking Donna Van Hooser and her work for over a year now and you guys have seen me blog on her mosaics here several times.  I am more than thrilled to have been the high bidder on her charming Blue Fox. Donna was also in the portrait workshop I took. When I was marveling over her precise way of cutting and how quickly she works she smiled and said it is like a pool game, where you see where your shot is going to go and then you instinctively make the shot ... that is how she cuts.

I have more to share, but will follow up next Monday with another Sama post.

Concept tanks on concept ships

My dad served in the Czechoslovakian military driving and firing a T-54 in the late sixties. I wonder what the old man is up to these days? Anyways, the newest addition to the concept art blogs, CONCEPTTANKS will feature both realistic and sci-fi tank art concepts. Please subscribe and send any tank images to keep me motivated:) Thanks everyone!



Keywords: a portfolio art gallery showcase of concept military tank tanks vehicles in both traditional and digital rendering techniques from realistic to futuristic sci-fi science fiction battle war technology machines concept tank art animated flash loop

KH2 Aladdin Treasure Chest Papercraft

This is the first of numerous Kingdom Hearts 2 treasure chest paper models I hope to release over the course of the coming year. In the KH2 video game there are both large and small treasure chests to be found. This large treasure chest (which I call the "Aladdin treasure chest") can be found in the Agrabah area, a location taken from the Disney movie, Aladdin. The finished papercraft model of the treasure chest measures 3" L x 2.75" W x 3" H (7.6 cm x 7 cm x 7.6 cm). I found when I did my test build that the model was sturdy enough to maybe be used as a gift box (for something really small like a piece of jewelry). The image above is a 3D render to show the textures on the inside and outside of the chest. A download of the two page, six piece template is located here.

2008 Mustang GT500 Papercraft

In the 1960's automotive designer Carroll Shelby teamed with the Ford Motor Company to produce high performance Mustangs with the labels "GT350" and "GT500". These "Shelby Mustangs" ended production in 1970. It wasn't until 2007 that Shelby and Ford teamed again to produce a car with the GT500 label. This detailed paper model is of a 2008 Mustang GT500. A download of the papercraft template is offered by the GT Legends Papercraft blog here. Click on the red steering wheel below the picture to start the download.

Batman Papercraft

MarianoDG from imprime-recorata-pega.com has created another detailed comic book character papercraft! Mariano lists the difficulty of this Batman Papercraft at "hard" but notes that "it is not as hard as it looks". ^^ All the previous superhero papercraft models I have seen from Mariano have been Marvel Comics characters. So unless I missed one, this may be his first paper model of a DC Comics character. Batman, along with Superman and Wonder Woman, is one of the most popular characters in the DC Comics Universe. A download for this papercraft is available here.

Concept ships by Maxim Revin

One of our favorites... Maxim. Razer on CGHub and concept vehicles.





















Keywords: digital sci-fi science fiction concept spaceship space environments futuristic vehicles by russian concept artist maxim revin razer moscow born video game developer interactive concept designer