Blog

SPEEDPAINT - ENVIRONMENTS

Mixed Environment Color Speedpaints. 30 mins each.

CHARACTER - POLICE CHICK

Character Design - Police Chick. Approx 5-6 hours.

SPEEDPAINT - DEMON

Saturday morning speed painting and WIP. 2 Hours.

STASIS

DUSTING OFF OLD COBWEBS

Wow its really feels like a lot of the old dead weights being shed and to-do lists are finally getting shorter and shorter. These last 2 months I've been working so hard on so many small personal projects that I finally feel like once and for all I am getting to the point where the sun is coming out and soon I will be able to just work on making new art again.

Ive been real busy making this website as well as working on designing my girlfriends own web development blog layout which is keeping me very preoccupied afterhours. I did manage to paint up 20 spaceship concept designs yesterday for Stasis which felt amazing. I'm about half way through them and have developed an interesting method which I may turn into a step-by-step tutorial once they're finished.

Along with the sites and the Stasis concepts I am also very keen to move into developing apps for the Apple iPhone. For those viewing this site on their phone you may have noticed the new icon I designed last week for your homepage bookmark (if not just add it to your homepage and check it out). I just get the feeling there is so much potential on the iphone and it seems simple enough to be worked on by a couple of people.

I'm also keen to start making tutorials once or twice a week as they seem pretty fast enough to keep producing regularly so long as I don't try and tackle a topic too large for a single tutorial. Once I finally finish proof-reading the color theory tutorials I aim to start sharing them on here in the tutorials section. With so many things now almost complete and on the go I feel I'm finally able to see past the 8 ball and it looks like this will be a huge year to come.

I also noticed this site finally reached the top search result for the term "Adam Nichols" on google.com, bing.com, altavista.com but is still no 2 on yahoo.com and google.com.au. Hopefully it will be only a matter of weeks until they both reach no 1 as well. I just want to say thanks to those who have visited and been so supportive of the new site, hopefully its all worth the effort and can only get better from here on out.

STORE NOW ONLINE

Along with the Tutorials section, the Store is also now online featuring Prints, Posters and Postcards as well as a small selection of T-shirts available in a range of sizes and colors.

Much more on the way including original artwork for sale and sketchbooks.

See whats available at the Store >

TUTORIALS NOW ONLINE

So its been a few weeks in the making but finally the Tutorials are now online with the first tutorial about Creating Perspective Grids in Abobe Photoshop CS4.

Each week will feature a new tutorial article or two, depending on my schedule. I'm also hoping to share the 30+ pages of color theory very soon.

Check out the Tutorials now >

NEW BUSINESS CARD

Here is a preview of my new business card design. I had a thousand of these printed up over the holidays through Salt Printing. As you can see I elected to go with a minimalist design along the same lines as this website. I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

If anyone wants one feel free to ask. I doubt Ill use a 1000 but things are always cheaper in bulk.

TUTORIALS

Starting next week I will be posting a weekly concept art tutorial showing how concept artists create the work they do. I already have a fair number of Color Theory modules written and am currently working on some basic perspective, composition, presentation and process tutorials to kick start the new section of this site.

I find too many artists, especially concept artists in particular, who are too afraid to share their skills and knowledge with others. In sharing these tutorials on creating concept artwork I mean to make this knowledge available for everyone. While skill is comparable to wisdom in that it takes patience, persistence and lots of practice, knowledge is your fastest track to improving your skill level. Learn as much as you can.

Stay posted for future tutorials on topics such as:

Color Theory - How to use a Color Wheel
Color Theory - Using Color Palettes
Perspective - Creating Perspective Grids
Perspective - 1Point to 5Point Perspective
Composition - How to Frame Your Shot
Composition - How To Start A New Image
Presentation - The Professional Look
Presentation - Creating an Artists Folio
Process - The Concept Artist Pipeline
Process - How to Get Hired

Hopefully these will be just a few of the many written and video tutorials to soon feature on this site. Check back every week for new content!

DEVIANTART HITS 50,000 VIEWS

Well its been a long time coming but I finally hit the big 50,000 page views on DeviantART. Most people usually celebrate that kind of milestone with a free commission or thank you artwork but Ive decided a DeviantART Prints Account would be the best way to support those who have supported me these past 5 years.

I will be aiming to add 2 or 3 new prints each week from now on starting today. Be sure to request the prints (either by note, comment or print request) you've been wanting to ensure they are the first on my list.

Ive been an off and on again contributing member at DeviantART since March 2004, while in my final year of study at university. In that time I've gone from an unemployed struggling artist in training to a professional Concept Artist with almost 5 years of experience come this May. In my early days some of you may recall I focused on coloring comics, then moved back into the realm of penciling, and eventually into digital painting and image manipulation. It was at about that time when I was hired by Krome Studios to work on Hellboy - The Science of Evil when I really started to improve as an artist. Painting and drawing everyday as a full-time concept artist, surrounded by other aspiring artists on a daily basis, really compels you to do your best work. It was at this point where I posted less and less at DeviantART only to return in 2008 with a whole new style and stash of works. Hopefully the next 5 years and 50,000 page views will be even better then the last.

Long live DeviantART.

View my DeviantART Gallery here.