ndhill

Thanks.I know what you mean. There's also always a strong sense of bandwagonism. It seems that reason in general is under the heaviest attack.Yes I do take commissions.If you'd like to contact me, I can be reached at noel.hill@maine.edu

Here's my latest. It was done for a design class. It was a rare oppurtunity to tear up a digital canvas as I'm stretched a bit thin right now. The semester is wrapping itself up though. I've been sculpting a lot lately, mostly stone carving, so I'm at least gratefull that I've found something new that I like. I'll have to whip out the ol' digital camera and post photos sometime. Anyway, this piece was done fairly quickly. Probably about 45 minutes. That's why it may look like it doesn't know if it wants to be a quick sketch or a full-blown painting. I decided that the rough look suited it and called it done. The image itself is meant to be ambiguous and I didn't want to draw any concrete connections to the Iraq war since It's meant to be a statement on war in general. On one side, there's that true-blue shining idealic cause and in reality there's only ugliness and distruction. Let's face it. No one truly believes that they're a bad guy till they see themselves in retrospect as the Germans later did after their defeat in WWII. Constructive criticism is welcome as always. -Noel

I absolutely loved Ocarina of Time. That game revolutionized 3-D adventure games. I remember when I first got it and I was in awe over how expansive the Hyrule plains were. Enough good things cannot be said about Ocarina of Time.

Yeah, the game has three new characters and a new feature that allows users to create their own character. As for returning characters, I know Taki, Mitsurugi and Nightmare are returning. New designs and models have been released for Taki and Mitsurugi. I know nightmare is included since he's in the logo.

I wonder if Avalon has seen our replies. this thread's sat here forever.

for a second I thought this was done in adobe illustrator. I'd say you have a good start design wise all though I'm not sure about that big empty space in the upper left corner. Also, the keys are a little distracting. Perhaps instead of such a weak shade of gray that blends a little too well with the white, the same shade of red that to piano has maybe more appropriate. Just shooting up some ideas.In anycase, good work.-Noel

tcave: Thanks man. It takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to about six hours. It depends on the scale of the project. For the most part, these are all quickies with the exception of the sandworm.darkool: Thanks. I use Corel Painter 7 in conjunction with a wacom tablet. It sort of a way for me to apply my traditional background on to the computer.

I'm not touching this debate with a 10 foot pole. One does not crack all the mysteries of a 17 billion-year-old universe with an 8 ounce brain.I will say however, that our society's current concept of alien-life is really quite laughable when you look at all of the very terrestrial characteristics imposed on little gray aliens, and all of star trek's aliens who happen to look and behave exactly like humans with the exception of some foam-latex facial prosthetics. If you want examples of entirely different ecosystems, look at our own oceans beyond where sunlight can penetrate. As there are different environmental requirements, there are different adaptations. Tube worms surviving off from energy expelled from thermal vents, etc. We can't even really say if intelligence to the point of sentience is a favorable adaptation yet as humans, as we exist now, have only been around for about 50,000 years. Horseshoe crabs have been around for about 300 million years. We can't even say that we're the most successful form of multicellular life now as copepods represent the majority of the planets biomass. Evolutionary success is measured by environmental compatibility and how well an organism can achieve equilibrium. Organisms that can’t keep up or consume too much are always short lived.

I know. I can't wait. I don't even have a PS2 and I'm still getting this on it's release date. SCII was so perfect in every way. I loved how you could just pick it up, without having mastered a character, and still have fun while if you did master one, you were rewarded greatly with countless cool moves. The visuals and art direction were astonishing as well... The announcer got a little obnoxious but who cares.This game looks very promising indeed. I don't know how the new feature of creating your own fighter will be implimented but it shold be interesting. From the looks of it, the arenas will have some new features as well, such as the ability to break out of them and fight in secret levels, sort of like in DOA and MK:deception.As for the new characters. I at least think the woman with the umbrella is cool. She's reminiscent of the old 'Lady Snow-blood' serials (which are definitely worth checking out if anyone else out there is a samurai film buff like me). I don't know what to make of the other two characters right now... I just hope that they bring back Ivy.

here are a few of myfavorites. Also, you can check my gallery out at http://ndhill.deviantart.com/ Be sure to check these guys out. http://arcipello.deviantart.com/ http://noah-kh.deviantart.com/ http://gorrem.deviantart.com/ http://skank.deviantart.com/ http://mc-the-lane.deviantart.com/

Check out Namco.com as it has a little bit about it. I can't wait for this. I got hooked on SCII and supposedly this version will even let you create your own characters! There's a brief feature on it over at gametrailers.com that's definitely worth checking out. This one will be a Playstation exclusive though...Enough reason for me to disassociate myself from Nintendo.

Jeez. What a tough question. SNES, as far as I'm concerned, represented the console glory days... How I miss them. As my favorite though, I'd have to go with Super Metroid. What an incredible game. I remember when it first came out and I had both Metroid for the NES and Metroid II for the Gameboy and I had gotten absolutely imersed in them. It was no different with Super Metroid. Everything about it from seeing the deserted locals from the first game as you start, to the gigantic bosses, the music, the special abilities etc. It is gaming Nirvana.Other game's a should really mention, as they're favorites as well, are Star Fox, Donkey Kong Country, Mortal Kombat II, and the Super Star Wars games.

Actually, gesture drawings (30 sec to 1 min) are arguably just as important as more time consuming and refined drawings. They're a fun little distraction too. The goal isn't to draw quick but to draw "through" your subject. Pay attention to the center of gravity and "flow" of a form and use that to simplify your drawing. It's best to do it on a big pad of newsprint paper because it's cheap and it allows you to work big and utilize your shoulder and elbow more. That brings me to my next point; being able to draw on a large scale is crucial. I'm not saying that small sketchpads and using your wrist is bad, just that forms are easier to understand when you draw them large.

Sounds good. We all have to start somewhere. If it's books you're interested in, check out anything by Andrew Loomis. He's got some of the best texts on the subject of figure drawing. They're not so much a substitute for life drawing classes as they are helpfull companions that help you interperet what you're seeing in front of you. That's the real key. Unless you're observing the figure from from life, you're pulling images of the figure from a mental stock. The goal is to get those mental images as close to the real thing as possible or else you'll simply just be arranging parts. The figure is such a complex thing that requires attention to countless aspects and relationships. The ways muscles connects and interact with eachother, the way flesh composes itself under different positions and different orientations with respect to gravity, skeletal mechanics, etc. Speaking of life drawings, here are a few figure studies and gestures done in class.

Looks good. I like how it has a strong sense of balance without being symetrical and boring. You'e pretty consistant with that except with the mirrored text which throws it off a bit for me. It might look a little better if the "hump me" text in the left side wasn't mirrored and instead, just had a different orientation like the text below it does.Good work all in all, man.-Noel

Thanks. You'd be surprised by how many times I end up going back to redo something even after it's been on my site for months.That sucks about uni. I know there are schools that I'd definitely love to attend but distance and cost prevent it. You can really accomplish a lot at any school though, if you really invest yourself. That's something I found out pretty quickly here at USM. No matter how bad the professor is, what you get out of the class is proportional to what you put in. My schools art program has no clue as to where to scratch the surface on digital painting so in that area, I'm 100% self-taught. It's the disciplines like traditional life-drawing, painting, color theory and 2-D design principles that really lend themselves to my work here, which I do separate from school.Keep at it, man. That's really the only thing that works in the end.-Noel

overture: Thanks man. Actually I'm just a slob naturally. I just figured 'why fight it?' What are you studying? I'd say the road to any good painting starts with a foundation of in-class life drawing. I'd seriously recomend it to anyone. You can find brief sessions open to the public for a few hours at just about any school with an art program if you can't afford the class. anyway, as the folks at conceptart.org always do, they helped me find some things that needed to be fixed. Mainly constrast and depth issues. That's probably always been my biggest week area. So here's the update. Enjoy. Contrsuctive critique is always welcome here so don't hesitate.

Thanks for the kind words. Yup. That's a sandworm.

spacewaste: Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. I have the upgraded hosting package which is about the same in terms of bandwidth as what I had with neopages (my previous freehost). I've been posting my stuff in every forum imaginable... My site traffic is usually so low that I can afford to, unfortunately. Thanks for the tip though. I'll be sure to hook up with them once things pick up. As long as I don't have to go back to photobucket...*cringe* overture: I have a lot of blending brushes in my personal brush library which you can down load here. But I think just about any blender will do the job as far as texture is concerned. The secret of skin tones lies within the color and value, though. I think it's probably impossible to master. All I could really tell you is that a little bit of red highlight goes a long way. It's a very complicated subject that has stumped aspiring painters for millennia. As far as blenders are concerned in general though, go to your brush settings window and open up "well." The higher you set the bleed to resat ratio, the more smeary your brush is and vice versa. Ignition: Thanks for the vote of confidence man. I've actually been involved with a few small projects, all of which sort of turned me off of mods. "Free projects" usually mean that everyone involved is busy making a living at something else, including me so they usually never see completion. I've also a variety of other things for free or at least for the prospect of seeing a commission but unfortunately, they never went anywhere either. My one piece of advice to anybody doing freelance work over the net is this; never work without a contract. Anyway, here's my latest. This is an illustration based on my all-time favorite novel, Frank Herbert's Dune.

Hey. It's all good as long as it stands the test of time.

well, I missed updating this week but that's because I'm working on something a bit larger in scale that will ultimately be part of an even bigger undertaking. It's an idea that I've had for quite some time but I've always had some sort of excuse to keep myself from starting it. In short, I'll be a little late but I have a good excuse. You'll have to take my word for it.

Games on cassette? Haha. I have to draw the line there I'm afraid I'm kidding. But yeah, I know what you mean. Those old NES and atari games weren't much to look at but some of them could be as addictive as morning coffee. I miss those old arcade shooters like duck hunt. There could be huge market potential for a comeback of console "blasters" but I think nowadays anyone who tried to reintroduce them would be tarred and feathered by parent groups. I think the very idea of selling something that even resembles a firearm to minor is probably strictly prohibited...Ah well. Duckhunt. Now that was a game.Here are a few more of my favorite classics.4. Mortal Kombat II: Probably the best of the MK games to date.5: Myst and Riven: These games are so under appreciated. It's just sad that most people won't even look at them since they're not violent and rely entirely on puzzle solving and observation. They're absolutely beautiful to look at and incredibly immersive. Just turn the lights off, crank up the surround sound and give yourself a couple good hours. It's like reading a good book. You're almost sad when it's over too. The later myst games, 'Exile' and 'Revolution' are just as good and even more beautiful.

What are your favorite or most fondly remembered classic games. Personally, I have to wonder how much games have really evolved when I think back to my old favorites and new games leave me wanting in comparison. I don't think it has anything to do with technological development but rather whether a developer is able to accomplish their goals for a game regardless of what technology is available.1. Marathon. This game was my very first mac game and one of the first 3-D shooters ever. It had such a dark, gritty and claustrophobic atmosphere and I'd also probably consider it the first true survival horror game. It took place on a moon-sized spaceship that had been infested by alien slavers and placed you in the role of a lone security guard who had to follow orders given by maniacal AIs. Unfortunately, this title was a little obscure and doesn't nearly the amount of recognition it deserves.2. Super Metroid. I shouldn't have to explain this choice. This game holds its own to this day as one of the best adventure/free-roaming games ever.3. Myth and Myth II: Soulblighter. These are extremely addictive and arguably the most realistic strategy games ever. They were all about troop management and gave you every bit of control you could want including various formations and other types of micromanagement. You had to build up the experience of each unit to ensure that they would remain effective as missions progressed. It had a really advanced tactical element as well because you soon find yourself always on the look out for bottlenecks and high grounds (for projectile units) and other areas where you'd gain the upper hand.I'm sure I'll remember more has this thread gets going.

I learned extremely basic html with an old program called adobe pagemill (Those who recognise that program's name know just how ridiculously outdated my capabilities are). Basically I just learned from trial and error. As my site evolved, so did my needs. I also spent a lot of looking at what other people were doing and subsequently trying to figure out what it was they had done to get it.

very cool. I like how you handled your flesh tones and value ranges. I think you rendered the lighting on the shoulder and neck especially well. There's a real strong sense of 3-demensionality. Be careful with some of your more complex textures though, such as the fabric and her hair. That's when you may want to consider changing brushes. There are aspects to certain brush shapes that are becoming to skin textures but lose effectiveness on surfaces that demand a more articulate treatment. I'd suggest using a finer brush on the hair and setting the bleed a little lower. That would be good to get some directional grain and then for putting in some fine and subtle highlights to really bring the texture to life.