[worthless_meat_sack]

Not sure if this are finished works, but they are not in progress

I put up 13 images I did for a upcoming James Bond game from EA.

Here is a sample



The links are to my home machine. It has a semi-static IP. I cannot afford to host goodbrush externally anymore. So don't bother bookmarks, if you were interested.

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: worthless_meat_sack ]

[tarball]

owww man it looks so sweet!

hey that is some sad news about your site
not being up anymore ...... i was wondering
how much bandwith was using your site per month maybe i can host you for free

just give me the info and i will see what i can do for you i have some server here and there maybe i can give you a whole server to host your page or use my personal mine we can see something because your artwork should be up for the eyes of everybody!


(i just hope EA dont screw up) :P

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: tarball ]

[Sumaleth]

Yeah, I love this stuff (even more than the Final Fantasy mattes). It's almost a shame they're being wasted on a game.

--

You should maybe think about putting ads on your web page. At least look into it and see how much money could be made from the hits that you get on average.

Row.

[DiXter]

Wow..

I just love the mood you have created on these...(well all of your pics is so full of mood) That office picture is awesome. Makes me feel calm just looking at it.
And the mountain enviroment is just soo impressive!!

[Vesuvius]

in general the pics are very good (although I feel I must say that EA is making this for consoles so it will suck as a game) but 2 things in the pics are kinda missing, any washout/thruster flame in the pic of the jet launching, and in this pic http://66.8.172.73/hirez_pgs/bond/alpine_computer.JPG bond looks waaaaay too big

[Jezebel]

Wow... I really love the underwater scene. I think it's my favorite out of all of them. The colors are very soothing and for some reason they look a little different than what I'm used to seeing from you.

The receptionist area is another fav... did a very cool job making it look like one of those ominous, "important" and expensive places. The reflection on the floor is great

[Anthony J]

Hey worthless meat sack these are great !
I'm very interested in knowing how you went about laying out your designs. They look so realistic and damn fantastic. As usual you have mastered the portrayal or realistic scenes, with the use of great colour and lighting. I especially love "the Office" and the way the light comes into the room and fills it so well.

If at all possible, could you tell me a few instructions (i know you have a tutorial on your website, but it doesn't explain in detail as to where you begin etc, and what you do in photoshop).

How big are the original images done (pixel x pixel) ?

Do you block in all the main objects with opaque paints, and then work on top from there?

If you are working at such a large scale, do you use two monitors to help see whats going on, or just the one?

I am very interested in your field of work, and I am attending a very good school in Canada, Sheridan College of Oakville Ontario.
It's one of the best schools for animation, but I'm very interested in Illustration.

Did you take technical drawing to master matte painting and concepts, or did you just take interpretive?

Thanks at all if you can answer any of my questions your spoogeness.

take care, and great work !

[Quasar]

Thanks for sharing I feel i learn so much from your paintings about detail and form. I just wish I could figure out how you get some many colors out of photoshop I am painting something right now and I just cant seem to get enouph colors out of photoshop to be able to make it look like something that doesn't have a flate air-brush feel. I will keep trying your work is very inspiring for me and I want to get better!!!

Wish I could suggest a solution for your bandwidth problems but the best deal I have found is 30 gig/mo transfer for 20.00 and im sure you use more then that . Maybe you can find some other artists and have a shared website and split up the cost of a dedicated server with maybe a T-1 line . Now I know that runs about 1000/mo but maybe if the cost was split up enouph you could work it out?? Good luck!

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: Quasar ]

[S4Sb]

I'd like to know how much it costs to hire you for this kind of project.

Also I'd like to know more about the specifications of this job. Did they ask you to draw 13 pics? To which extend were you bound to their specifications? Did they just say: we want a jet landing in a mountain base? Would be cool if you could answer at least a few of my questions.

[Gix]

So, did hal9000 take these images and make levels from them?

[Vesuvius]

(my name's Dave, sorry for using your first name without you even knowing me)
craig, are you ever (in the forseeable future) going to either put up a new website or have your stuff hosted on another site? (perhaps one of your clients could provide space)...
did you just have too many hits / too high a bandwidth fee or what?

[docfunkalot]

Do you set the stylus as one of your brush variables (ex. stylus selected for opacity so stylus pressure determines opacity) ? If so, which variables and how? Hope that makes sense.

Your an amazing painter and I hope you realize our questions reflect our admiration to one day be as good as you...

[Anthony]

What a funky designer you be :] Too bad about the site-remind me not to get good enough that I can't afford my own web page! Lucky thing I already saved all the images off your site. And thanks again for hanging around here the past years-it's been very...educational.

[MoleculeMan]

maybe we could see if someone on the board could host the site? i duno. These paintings you have done for bond are excellentm, and i have to say that before i saw your work i've never wanted to paint mattes or backgrouds because i found them boring.So keep on keeping on hehe.

Jake

[Gambit]

Craig, this is incredible stuff! Just a few more of these projects and you will be able to retire Thanks for sharing these treasures.

Sorry to hear about the hosting issue, I really have no clue how much bandwidth you use up. So, maybe these options won't work below.

Here are a couple hosting companies that delivery great hosting packages for the money. It is a sad day to see the your site leave us...

Here they are...

Just try to get more bytes for less than M6 - http://www.m6.net/

Good reliability and prices - http://www.prohosting.com/pricing/

Good luck to you!

[jayceeL]

I'm quitting painting after seeing these.....
You are just way too good.

Can you tell me how long it took you to paint one of these paintings for bond and do you use much if any photographic reference.

[jr]

ahhhhhhhhh, amazing!!!!! dude, i just did a few back flips because words can't describe your artwork.

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: jr ]

[Briareos]

wish I could see em

[Anthony]

Don't say that JayceeL, you'll make the fellow feel bad for being good! Rather take him as an inspiration for all artists of our time, along with the other guys who are the best in their respective fields

[Highfive]

Just wicked, Craig!
I think I'll just print that out, glue to to my bedroom ceiling and never get out of bed again.

Try the "13 images" link just above the picture, Briareos, and see if you can see it on the website.

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: Highfive ]

[MoleculeMan]

on the reference question, i think he answered that in another thread, with "not usually"

[edible snowman]

have you ever made prints? if you sold them i would by several until i ran out of money.

[Malachi Maloney]

Amazing stuff as usual. About how long does it take you to do one of these concept pieces?

Malachi

[Dr.Squirley]

I like AnthonyJ, was wondering if Craig took technical drawing courses for his line of work...

[m703-324]

now that's impressive... congrats spooge you made me speechless once again... damn

[Flexible Elf]

I have a hard time believing EA will be able to capture the atmosphere you have going on in those concepts, but that's their problem

Good stuff WMS

-Flexible Elf

[Icannon]

*melts*

i agree with vesuvius' second crit. the first one i dont have any knowledge on. it seems to make sense, but is that a harrier? would that happen with a harrier?

fantastic work, spooge.

[Imhotep]

I love how extremely three-dimensional you work is, especially towards the horizon line. Yeah, the stuff way back in the distance is just incredible, I can't get enough. Anyway, I like the one you posted and the underwater base the best. Fantastic work.

[:::nVIDIA:::]

The pictures look good dOOd. I don't know, are you Spooge Demon's evil twin? I know it's a dumb question but I can't help but think that. There are some similarities...heheh. Anyway, would luv to see some "kick-up" of snow or some sort of heat wave around/below the plane. Ed--

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: :::nVIDIA::: ]

[Shaded]

Great stuff, as usual. I have a question for you - do you use references at all? Or do you simply visualize the scene in your head and translate it onto screen. Also, I remember you advising me to avoid scribbling in too much into an image, creating a sense of texture - which I have knowingly kept a wide berth of. But yet, the platform on the picture posted above is textured, in an interesting, appealing way! I suppose I cant really put a question to that, but I just find it awesome that you can in fact manage that without diminishing the focus on the main shape.

I ask because there is always a lot happening in your work. It isint simply a matter of having a character or object against a background. Everything in say the harrier jump jet picture seems to work with the remaining elements of the composition. The mountains, the scenery, the plane, all of it, it just...<i>works</i>. I cannot seem to come up with a scene like this all by myself.

Perhaps it requires years and years of work until one does through sheer second nature...

[ November 11, 2001: Message edited by: Shaded ]