City Concept

Hey guys! Here's another maybe half-finished concept...I'm going to try to detail this one out because I'm liking where its going. Hope you like!

Back! Kind of.

Okay, so I know its been like a week or so longer than I said it would be, but I have been working on stuff. Nothing that I've been fully satisfied with, but I figured I would post this one. I've been trying to learn how to paint using various videos that I've found by people like Feng Zhu and Noah Bradley among others...I'm still very novice at this stuff, but I think if I keep at it I can get to a more professional level. I've always been interested in Concept Design, and I plan on taking a few classes in the future to really get a handle on it. Its a lot of fun, and I find I can work on this stuff for hours and still not get board. That said, I've been very busy with my storyboarding work as of late, and it can be difficult doing this stuff on top of making my deadlines on TMNT, so obviously the work that pays is the priority. Anyway, sorry for my lack of posts...I will continue to be somewhat erratic probably, but want to try to post something at least once a week. I can't guarantee it will be good though! :) Thanks for following!

New Schedule for Project: OPUS!

Okay, so after hearing the almost unanimous feedback, and following my own creative impulse, I'm going to start alternating 1 week of once a day sketches with 1 week of working on 1 finished concept piece. So, I'm going to post next Monday a more refined version of one of my previous sketches. That means no daily posts until then. Once that piece is posted, I'll do a week of daily sketches again, and then repeat the process. Thank you all for your feedback, and for following the production of this project! :)

The Temple

Here's today's post...I'm thinking of possibly switching things up here in the near future and maybe doing one finished concept piece per week. I'd like to hear feedback on what people think of this idea. I'm also considering the possibility of alternating weeks where I do a concept sketch each day for a week, then pick my favorite and take the next week doing a refined, full-color version of it. Let me know what you think...Thanks for following!

Character Line up 1

Here's today's sketch...Some characters in a line-up to show their relative sizes to one another. Hope you like, and thanks for the support! :)

V Faces

Just some quick faces with expressions for V...Hope you like, thanks for following!

The Market

Here's today's design sketch! Tirrrreeeddd zzzzz...

V in the Village

Here's today's sketch! I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this...Thanks to all of you that follow, for your comments, and for just looking!

The Stream through the City

Today's post!

The Tunnel

Here's today's sketch...An intense walk down a tunnel. Where is he going? You'll have to wait for that answer :)

The Match

Lest you guys think that this story is all about tranquil forest scenes and quaint villages, here's some action for ya! Thanks for following!

The Gate

A little late today...Had a few deadlines this week so I had to wait till later today to do this. Hope you like, thanks for following!

The Grove

Today's post! Ruins of an ancient culture at the top of a wooded hill. Thanks for looking!

The City

Here's today's design! A shot of the city, with an important building in the background. Thanks again for all of you that are following, I really do appreciate it, and your comments really mean a lot. It's always nice to hear compliments on the work that I do, but with all of these pieces being much more personal, it's even more rewarding to hear when someone likes them. Not to get too deep or whatever, but I think artists in general(myself included) are showing a small part of themselves through their artwork, and when we hear someone say "I like what you do", psychologically it registers as "I like who you are". That is why it can sometimes be so challenging to deal with critical comments. Anyway, thank you! "

Monastery in the Clouds

This one was fun! I love this kind of stuff...

Lots of sketches

Here's today's post...I'm going to try and change the time of day that I'm posting these since my wife tells me that the most traffic on Facebook is around 2 or 3 pm. So, I did a sketch today that I'll post tomorrow at that time, and for tonight I'm posting a collection of small sketches that I've done from time to time that are not worthy of showing all by themselves. Hope you like, and thank you for following/commenting!

Aminals

So, decided to do some animal studies today...I'm still in the process of fleshing out the world, and that includes the animal life therein. One of these is a Buffalo and the other is a Bison.

Kitchen

Just a little kitchen design...

Gateway

Hey all! Here's today's design...Time to sleep nowwwww....zzzzz...

Rock Island

Here's today's design! I nice little rock island...

Sunrise on the Bay

Here's today's design! I'm having a great time doing this. Right now I'm reallllly busy...TMNT storyboards, covers for Aspen, plus these. I'm working all day, coming home, working on the covers, and then working on my daily sketches. Not getting much sleep, but I'm happy. Its great to be able to work on a variety of different things! Anyway, thank you all for your support, comments, and just for looking! I really do appreciate it! :)

Courtyard Design

So, here's today's design...Hope you like...Thanks for following!

R Hair

Today's design! Sorry for the late post, my internet was giving me problems...

Down the Stairs

Here's today's design! Hope you like!

V Hair Designs

Hey Homies...Another late night post...Sorry, had to help take care of my son so I had to wait until my wife took him off my hands to finish this one. Just working on some hairstyles for the main female character, V. Hope you like!

The River Through Town

Uuuugghhhh...So this one's even later. Technically not on the day, but I did it before I went to sleep so its the same to me. Now those of you that sleep at a normal hour can wake up and have this waiting for you! :) I'm really enjoying these background studies...Its a lot of fun. Anyway, hope you like!

A Secret Place

Okay, a little late today, but by my time I made my daily deadline by about 4 minutes :) I'll try to post tomorrow's a little earlier! Thanks for following!

The Sanctuary

Here's a cutaway design I just did for an important building to this world. Its pretty rough but hopefully it gets the idea across. I'll probably refine this further and post an updated version later. Thanks for following!

Character shots

Just a couple character development shots that I did real quick. Threw some shadows down for good measure :) Thanks for following!

Forest Path

Here's today's post! A nice forest path...I love drawing this type of thing. Thanks for following!

Village Street Study 2

Hey all! Here's today's post. Its another study I did for a village. I've not drawn a ton of these types of old style villages, so I'm going to be doing a good number of studies for them. I'm not entirely decided on what style of architecture I'm going to use for the book, so I'll probably be doing studies using various different cultures as reference points. This is inspired by a French style village, with a few little twists here and there. Hope you like, thanks for following!

V Hat Design

So, this is V again, with a hat she uses at certain times. I'm really enjoying doing these and I really appreciate the support, feedback, and shares from you guys. Thanks for following, stay tuned for more! -Micah

R Turnaround Summer Clothes

Hey all, hope you're doing well! This is a design for the other main character of the book, whom we'll call R for the time being. These are his summer duds, so a bit different than the V design which was for winter. Anyway, just want to say thank you to all of you who are following and have given me feedback on these. I really do appreciate it, and it's very encouraging and motivating to me!

Village Street study

Here's another developmental sketch I did, this one fleshing out the environment of the world. Thanks for viewing, don't forget to follow! -Micah

V cold weather clothes

Ok! This is the inaugural post on this blog, so thank you for viewing! I will be posting daily sketches, some of which will be more finished than others. The purpose of the blog is to document all development of a forthcoming project from myself and my good friend and writer Kenneth S. Brown. We've had the dream of telling this story for over a decade, and while it may have undergone many iterations and countless major overhauls to the story, two characters have always remained constant. Here is a design I did for the first of those two characters, whom I will call V. Thank you again for following the blog, and please leave feedback if you are so inclined. -Micah