Structura is out!

Structura is finally here, or at least you can obtain it on the DesignStudioPress site for now. it should be on Amazon and other stores in the next days or weeks.
I am of course delighted to see the book being released. It is always a pleasure to touch the final object and have it in the hands: the quality of the printing is amazing. Not to say i am greatful to DSP and Scott Robertson for this project to see the day. I also hope it will match your expectations.

Sparth

tripod or octopod or else

don't know why, but this one had to be rapidly extracted from my mind. it was pretty impulsive. i guess that i create better when things are dictated by impulse.

white thing, manufacture 222

Prime Spot

Happy new year 2008 everyone!

here's a small brush test slowly transformed into an image. oh, and most important, my book STRUCTURA is officially finished. it should be out in march. more informations soon.

sparth

Latest Covers

i may not have a lot of time in my schedule, but don't ask me how, i managed to squeeze three book covers in there. done over the last months. the best way to keep track of the stuff i've done is probably to make a post here on the blog.

the covers for croisiere sans escale, by brian aldiss and Fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury were both done for french publishers. my friend benjamin carre added the final touches to that bradbury cover since i fell ill at the exact same moment i had to send it to the publisher.

the middle cover, untitled the martian general's daughter, by theodore judson, was done for Lou Anders and PYR publishing. It's actually my second cover for the US market.

DS Sketches

A large tribute has to be given to jens andersson for that little COLOR program, that gives us artists the ability to paint wherever we want, with no real constraints. the nintendo DS is light, the screen is bright enough, and the proggie is very well done, with all the basic features necessary for doing fast sketches and concepts. Not to forget that they managed to implement pressure sensitivity and opacity to the brush system.

It's actually the first time we artists have an access to such a tool, even if it is via the DS. It seems unbelievable that in 2007, no company has taken the time to create such a portable platform specialized for this usage. We are in such a specialized niche, i suppose.

These are the first tests i've done. and you can see more on the COLORS gallery, here.
If you want to look at the process, playbacks are available at the bottom of each image page.

Assassin's Creed

looks like "assassin's creed" is near completion, and artworks are starting to appear here and there. CGsociety has just released an article on the subject, mainly oriented around the artistic direction and concept design of the game. i gave them a tiny tiny interview concerning my contribution to this project, and they're also featuring my friends raphael lacoste and vyle. left the project at the end of 2005, and it's actually fun seeing things from two years ago being finally shown. here's a concept of one of the cities.

Suspended Structures

Cenotaxis - extract

Moving from an apartment to a house is a crazy process, especially when kids are in the way when you move boxes around. actually i guess it's far more exciting for them that for us. Anyway it is now done. we moved. The house is great. huge. and we are happy and exhausted.

Tinnitus is still here, and unfortunately the 1 year milestone has been reached in august. It is sometimes hard to plan the future when you don't know what tomorrow will be made of. sound? no sound? full sound? "T", as they call it, is a bit like a torture. true it is not cancer, and theorically i'm not going to die tomorrow because of it. but when the sound is at its peak, i sometimes wonder how i'm able to deal with it without losing my mind. it's a day after day process i suppose... and there's still very bearable moments, so i'll shut my mouth.

Anyway i'm still creative, and that's probably the only thing that counts. here's an extract of an illustration i did around june, for the cover of a novel by Sean Williams, called Cenotaxis.

Milicia

it's been a while...

Space Taichi

another doodle done quick.

oh, and apart from that, it's going to be a sad period: no more LOST, no more Battlestar Galactica... if you have any good scifi shows as good as these, i'm ready for any advices. it will help me wait until 2008.

sparth

richdig

emptiness ... nostalgia ... space.

well, that's about it.

miniblimp

a fast experimental semi abstract scene, with flying entities. and now, bedtime, as tinnitus is playing with my nerve.

sea vertigo

in my (rare) spare time, i have been reading "20000 under the sea" by jules verne. i have always been fascinated by this novel, i even remember that verne audiobook i had in my youth. it was on vynil, and i'm unable to find the same version today. the quality was absolutely great.
here's a personal interpretation of the nautilus. just for the sake of creating something for myself. i already have several other sketches ready. but i'm becoming picky...

HNY 2007! - the rescue

two posts in 5 minutes. this one is done in order to wish a happy new year to all peeps visiting this humble blog. thanks for your support and comments. it keeps the motivation going on.

adding the first artwork done in 2007 too. sparth

POPWW 2004 studies

here's a bunch of studies i did back in 2004 for prince of persia warrior within.

we had a great time imagining this big mama guy following the prince in the main plot. i'd be glad to spell the monster's name for you, but i would spell it wrong, so i'll restrain myself.

peak repair

a preliminary sketch done for a piece that now includes a large partly abstract spaceship. some friends told me they prefered the sketch compared to the final image. i do not completely disagree even though at the very end my preference goes to the final image and not the doodle.

the second sketch is based on a paint over from a sijun artist called destinatus. thanks to him for letting me borrow his initial artwork.
once again, i think that it shows, but animations mentors have been having a real influence on my art and the way i try to enter into a new image. hans, neil, thank you for being there on the web. and thank you to all of you who have showed me their support.

for the last week i have really been going much better. tinnitus is here without disturbing me much, and the cycle sound that i had during a full week has disappeared. in other words, i feel like i'm heading towards the good direction. but as a friend of mine often says, "tomorrow is another day". she's been having tinnitus for 18 years. one day, science will find a cure. ... one day! :D

tapetou

a year ago, i couldn't even go back to a previously done illustration and rework it in any ways. a mix of frustration and the desire to do better on the next ones was probably the cause of such a discard. but today, because of Structura, and because of the fact there is a lot of materials left unfinished, i decided to give it a try. it was three weeks ago.
i did a big effort on myself in order to go back into time, into the stuff i was doing three or four years ago, and did another effort in order to consider it not that bad compared to my first impressions.

today i think i managed to go through this problem. i can look at older illustrations without denying it completely. i even took the pleasure to do several paintovers and had great fun.
this tapetou bot was probably done around 2003. hope you'll like the revamp.

on the health side, i cannot say that things have been going better. i have been hearing a new sound in my left ear since last monday, and i try not to think about the future too much, as living with such ringing in the ears is something nobody would be ready to endure or even understand unless for the ones having the same symptoms. tinnitus is crazy. it's like falling into a bad dream without waking up. the bad dream has been going on for five months now.

still. i can still smile, be happy, and create. things become more complex because of that sickness, but i must convince myself that i don't give a damn about it. besides, i've got a book to finish, and on this matter, things have been going more than well.

sparth

structura

here's the final cover for "structura". the book will be released by designstudiopress next year. already visible on amazon. i'd better hurry!

sparth

ecosystem with stripes

here's the new addition to the house. i decided a while ago to go back into aquariums, but with saltwater this time. here's our two clownfishes as well as several soft corals that are quite amazing, especially one of them, that looks like a tree with hands at the end of each branch. the hands open and close each three seconds. the live rocks are also fascinating, as a lot of things happens on them. you can even see worms and amazing algees growing on them in some areas.