hansbrix's CGPortoflio Gallery

Alien gaze

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:12:05 +0000

A quick personal painting. I draw normal (human) eyes fairly frequently for medical diagrams and I've been wanting to try something a bit more dramatic and colorful. I tried to give it a very organic look with some interesting anatomy, yet keep the eyes expressive and mysterious.

I've been working on a larger, more complex illustration for months and this was a nice break from it. I hope you enjoy it, crit and comments are most welcome.

Photoshop ~5-6hrs

Paper Memories

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 22:25:21 +0000

Hey everyone,

Whew.. I've been working on this one for quite a while. I really hope you like it.

This started out as a self-imposed CG Challenge: create a female warrior who is strong without being scary and beautiful/feminine without being an elf-princess in thong bikini armor. While that manga-style artwork certainly has it's place, I really tried to avoid something overly sexy in an effort to tell a deeper story.

Here we have a young military armor pilot on some strange planet. She is weary of her duties and perhaps tired of killing. I tried to capture her in a moment of wistfulness. She's taken off her helmet and folded down her flightsuit during her brief pause, trying to lose herself in a memory of earth.

The origami crane is her memento, perhaps a goodbye gift from a family member before her deployment.

Stylistically, I really took my time on every detail that I could think of which led to the very long completion time on this one. There was a lot of 1 pixel brushwork, particularly in areas of pattern (cracked soil, t-shirt, glove, hair). The colors were meant to seem alien and a bit melancholy, while given a warm tint to suggest an old photo. Also, I tried to contrast the hard, dangerously looking mech-hardware with the figure's soft features.

I know every post says this but please do check out expanded files as the scaled down version just kills me to look at. I love getting lost out in the details.

Thanks so much for looking. I loved every second of rendering this image and I'm almost a little sad that it's finished. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Photoshop CS, ~120hrs

face

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a143/hfowle1/armorpilotfaceweb.jpg

origami

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a143/hfowle1/armorpilothandweb.jpg

mech

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a143/hfowle1/armorpilotmech.jpg

Holy War

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 04:36:40 +0000

Hey everyone! I haven't posted in a while and it's great to be back.

This is a photoshop illustration that I did a while back. I tried to capture the drama of a grand armada taking off to fight a desperate war.

I always try to add a human twist to these dated sci-fi concepts, so rather than showing the ships locked in combat, I focused on a group of soldiers kneeling in prayer before boarding their dropship. I thought that this added much more emotion; perhaps their faces are afraid beneath those intimidating helmets...

I tried to avoid any specific religious iconography.

This is quite a stylistic departure for me. I'm usually very meticulous about my rendering and here I tried to losen up the brushstrokes. I'm very curious to see if everyone likes this style better than my past submissions. The colors are also a bit more wild than I'd usually venture to use.

I hope you like this one, it was a lot of fun and great exercise in stretching out stylistically.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Photoshop CS, ~30hrs

Prison In The Sky

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 05:01:41 +0000

This is an illustration that I did for fun/practice based on the idea of a prison without walls or chains. Just a guy stuck on top of this impossibly tall pillar, reading his life away.
I really took my time on the details of this so feel free to check out the detail zoom file attached if you'd like.
Thanks for looking! Comments are most welcome. Photoshop CS 30+hrs
>> Hi resolution image <<

Mourning Giant

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 04:43:09 +0000

Another gentle giant theme.
Basically just trying to show a victorious celebration after battle where everyone is elated except for this one compassionate beast. The subject is basically the giant being devastated because he couldn't protect his friend.
This one really took a while because of the amount of detail in every figure. I wish I could post a larger file, sorry.
Hope you like it and I'd love any comments you might have.
Thanks for looking!

Transcend

Fri, 12 Aug 2005 20:30:59 +0000

This evolved from a study of the musculature of the back. I found this pose very dynamic and powerful, so I decided to expand it into a full figure. I used two light sources to define the shape of the figure and describe the musculature. The first was a diffuse light from beneath, illuminating the back, buttocks and feet. The second was the spotlight from above and beyond, lighting the face and shoulders. Presumably the light of heaven?
My ultimate goal was to create a dramatic piece centered around an accurately rendered (if not somewhat exaggerated) representation of the human form. Also, I wanted to possibly inspire thoughts of the lines drawn between science and God or man and heaven.
This was done in Photoshop CS with mainly the brush and pencil tools. I'd love your impressions on this one, specifically: how did you feel in the first few seconds that it hit your eye? Any thoughts on improvement, as well. Thanks so much for looking.

Giant's Book

Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:52:53 +0000

This is something that I set off on after settling on a concept of contrasting weakness and strength and an intimate trust between the two. I thought I'd try to make the giant seem intelligent and compassionate despite his outwardly stupid, juggernaut appearance. Hell, I just like the idea of this powerful creature patiently waiting while his little friend takes a nap.
I'd love any comments on where it could be improved. What were your impressions of the characters and their personality? Thanks for looking, hope you enjoy.

Unforseen Side-effects

Thu, 25 Aug 2005 01:49:45 +0000

This started as a figure study, working with a new technique for skin tones, but it started taking this demented direction which I got totally caried away with.
I certainly didn't completely invent this concept (Akira, Cuckoo's Nest, X-men 2, etc.) but I was trying to make it unique and beautiful with little details like the stitches, the gown pattern and the Norman Rockwellesque haircut.
Plus, I just can't get enough of the idea of some weirdly powerful (dangerous?) kid that has to be locked away somewhere.
I'd love any comments, I hope you enjoy this. Thanks for looking.

Heavy Conscience

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:28:24 +0000

I wanted to show this soldier's sudden horror at a war that he may have embraced earlier (hatch-marks counting his kills). A face haunted by sights that it can't unsee. This is my attempt at the "thousand mile stare" expression.
The guy in the background glancing towards us is an opposite side of this concept. He strolls away from the ruined city with his helmet on, and his sinister mechanical eyes wondering what this guy is so upset about. Everyone else is just moving on to their next set of orders, leaving this guy behind to battle his own demons.
I hope that all of this is apparent without having to read this, but part of the fun is hearing the interpretations of others. Also, the 13 year old in me will never get tired of drawing futuristic wars but the slightly more grown up side of me decided to attempt to attach a deeper meaning instead of just cool armor and guns.
Hope you like it, I'd love any comments.
Photoshop CS (7hrs?)

Life?

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:37:25 +0000

I'm sticking with the gentle giant concept here, but I tried to add a little depth to the story.
I thought it would be a cool idea if a machine built to cut down trees could suddenly have an appreciation and curiosity about life. (Life?) I thought that the delicate pose of his hand cradling the frog would illustrate this. I haven't drawn a robot since I was a kid and never to this level of detail, so I referenced about a dozen different designs. Basically trying to make him look like a humanoid bulldozer with an expressive and inquisitive face.
I just did this one for fun, I hope you like it.
Comments are very welcome.
Photoshop CS. (1 weekend)

The Man Who Unleashed Hell

Sat, 08 Oct 2005 18:35:11 +0000

This one actually just started as a sketch of the hand, but I got pretty carried away. I developed a concept around that pose of the hand, kind of casually holding something dangling from a cord.
From there I came up with the idea of this mysterious man (dressed nicely but with some hidden darkness (tatoo)), holding a key, who has come to release this world-ending monster.
For the monster, I wanted it's eyes to express both a menacing and dangerous quality, but also to seem interested and hopefull in this man's key and the prospect of being unleashed upon the world once more.
I'd love any comments and to hear whether or not the story got you. Thanks for looking everybody, hope you like it.
Photoshop CS, approx.10hrs