Two Years of Soulful Savage!

This month marks two years since the creation of Soulful Savage, and sees me undertaking some cover art for the works of Science Fiction Grandmaster Mr Jack Vance. It's been a very busy time and I'm off to hit it again!

So happy Birthday and more from me later!  

Head Study: Alien Huntress Facial Design...

Alien Huntress Facial Design...

This month truly is the month for Marching forward, and sees me firmly back in the saddle, riding the beast that is Freelance Concept Art. Two hands will be needed to control this wild thing I believe, for since February it has truly started to awaken. In response, this month has seen the launch of 'Soulful Savage Concept Art & Design' as an official freelance concept art business, with me as the sole artist. Currently it is a 'feast and famine' regime, and like many things early on in their infancy, there are many posibilities before it. So as I expand my skill set and do my absolute best to look after the Clients that I have, I'm looking forward to creating, trying new things and really pushing myself to honour the Craft... bringing in some fresh new works in 2012 that hopefully inspire. I'm excited, for there is nothing better than inspiring People to inspire... 

So I've been underground for a while, toiling away in the Grotto and giving my skills a Face-Lift; the results of which can be viewed here in this latest offering: The Alien Huntress. So much to do, so much to learn, so it is best to start at the beginning... I'll be revamping this blog with a more updated look; a sort of Face-lift if you will for 'Soulful Savage', with new art from the varied sub-sets of  Film and Games concept art. (For now I have chosen to begin with Character and Creature Design.) Along with the fresher look will be new regular features like 'The Savage Armoury' as well as a 'Feature Artist' segment on some of the finest concept artist's in the business... my Friends :) 

'The Dragon's Vault' will also return in full with more insight into the World of Spyro The Dragon, with new works also planned that expand on the vision and show the direction I would have taken had I still been involved. Old posts will also be edited, explaining this and that about how The Legend Of Spyro games were made and the inspiration behind the art... 'til then Peoples, keep creating! It's going to be a good year. Always looking Forward...

Alien Brute Facial Design...



  

Listen to the Soul: remember always what is most important, and never compromise on it. Defend that like a Savage.....
J S Pullen

Freaky Creature Illustration: The Naysayer

The Naysayer...

Welcome once more to Freaky February! As promised please find enclosed yet another offering of the freakish and the bizarre! I have been gone for far too long, turning this way and that as change sweeps across all that I know, revealing in its wake a landscape that is familiar yet wholly uncharted.... unemployment. This creepy little fiend, dubbed 'Naysayer' finds me back on the hunt in 2012, looking for work in fresh places. Once more, like so many of us from the Australian games industry I'm navigating my way about the dust bowl, scounging here and there... looking for a fresh kill to scavenge... (too freaky?) So when leaving for more abundant hunting grounds is not an option momentarily, it can be easy to feel doubt... but you just can't give in.

We all of us, no matter who we are, at one stage in Life or another, experience self doubt. Doubt in our career direction, doubt in what we really want, and (specifically where art is concerned) doubt in our own abilities. Nagging self doubt is for me (without a doubt) worse than a tangible crisis :) It's a time when that intrusive, secreted monster coiled deep within you stirs, rising to scale the ladder of your spine and take up residence within your Spirit... 'He' comes at you in sections, through dark and irrational places, herding fears like a shepherd through your Mind, and once he gets his hooks in, he can be very hard to shake. In that nagging, Nay-Sayer voice he spits in your ear; "You can't do it." Whatever 'it' may be...

Self doubt and the feeling that you're really behind the 8-ball skill wise (much like the pursuit of perfection) seems to come hand in hand with many of the art disciplines. It's that age old curse of self deprecation. Humility is a beautiful quality and is to be admired, but specifically self doubt, if left unchecked can do some serious damage long term. From experience, being paralyzed by doubt can often lead to stagnation in ability as you'll be less likely to try new things. As such you'd probably be less likely to develop as an artist :(

It's the same thing for Leads of any profession, who rise to the position because of their skill, only to wind up involuntarily shelving their craft in favour of managing a Team (and the task sheets) to handle the workload. If you don't make time to continue to develop (or you have no time to invest in your own skill development) before long the Team you're managing are leaving you in their dust :) And its easy to dispair the situation and start doubting your own abilities. Just never give up! Defeat is only momentary, and I believe its true that the best storytellers (for that's who we really are as artists) are the ones that have travelled long the paths of adversity.

Naysayer grey scale illustration...

Everything you do and everything you say (and I mean everything) has an energy... and that energy has power over us; for good or ill. While challenges can lead to 'will power', self doubt can lead to 'won't power'... the trick is to use energy in a positive way so that you (and potentially others) can benefit from it. For Freaky February I decided to give my doubt a name and a face, and use it as an art opportunity to have some fun and create something... albeit a bit sinister and weird. While he is not a joy to behold, he seems less intimidating on the page than when wreaking havoc in the mind ;) Again it borders on the edge for me, but all in all Naysayer was fun to bring out for you all to see. (Craig Mullins did something similar a while back when he gave his doubt a visual persona.)

I definitely think Life is what you make of it, and more importantly how you see yourself colours how you view the World and all things in it. It's easy to doubt yourself should your peers surpass you. Its easy to doubt your place if you feel you don't have what it takes. It's easier still to become synical and even bitter if you hold onto that doubt for a long time. So... take what you've got right now. Use it... weild it like a weapon and swing it for all you are worth. For you are worth alot indeed. Never doubt your value... You can do it, so go for Yours. I know I am :)

Creature Character Head Studies: The Alien Condition...

Alien Bust Final Design 01

Alien Bust Final Design 02

Alien Bust Final Design 03

Alien Head Study (Rough) 01: Seer

Alien Head Study (Rough) 02: Privateer

Alien Head Study (Rough) 03: Pirate

Listen to the Soul: remember always what is most important, and never compromise on it. Defend that like a Savage.....

J S Pullen

Costumed Characters and The Super Hero Space...

Coming soon ;)

Creature and Environment Illustration: Freed Souls WIP

"Freed Souls" WIP...

Hi Peoples, stay tuned for an update on my "Freed Souls" piece. Busy, busy, busy.. and getting busier! Will be posting this asap to give an update :)

Kindest regards... and GO THE ALL BLACKS in 2011 ;)

Soulful Savage.

Work in progress section 01...

Work in progress section 02...

Overall Illustration WIP...

Once More Inside The Dragon's Vault: Prop Concepts From The World of Spyro...

The Ancient Scrying Pool...

Stay tuned for more from the Dragon's Vault, in which we'll take a look at various prop concepts from the World Of Spyro The Dragon...

With much to do and so little time. Keep on creating Peoples :)

Boom Barrel from The Munitions Forge...

Diseased Silt-Hopper...

Obsidion Beetle Hive...

Obsidion Beetle Hive: Damage Remnant State...

Smashable Plate-Rock Entrance...

Smashable Plate-Rock Entrance: Remnant State...

Infernal Pool Shoots...

Corrupted Tree: Small Scale...

Corrupted Tree: Mid Scale...

Corrupted Tree: Large Scale...

Corrupted Tree: Feature Piece Scale...

Listen to the Soul: remember always what is most important, and never compromise on it. Defend that like a Savage.....

J S Pullen

Creature Design: Grotto Gargantuan; resolving the details...

The Grotto Gargantuan Returns...

Greetings People and welcome to May 2011 and once again to the home of the Soulful Savage!

This post marks 1 year of art posting under the Soulful Savage banner; 1 year since I took up this much needed journey to create something beyond my 'nine-to-five' existence...

And what better way to celebrate than by returning to where this blog began? By going back into the wooded wilds of my mind to wrangle that zoological conundrum; that slippery Leviathan... the Great Grotto Gargantuan!

In last May's post you'll find the creature from a more illustrative approach, but I mentioned I wanted to go back to wrangle all the details and resolve the particulars of design. So stay tuned! The May 2011 Post is here! I thank you all for your support in tuning in over the last year, and for being patient! The Gargantuan is surfacing from the crushing depths, and its full story will be revealed very soon. Design work is on the way...

Gargantuan Design... preliminary head studies

Gargantuan Design... overall treatment and scale

More on the way!

Kindest Regards,

Soulful Savage.

Listen to the Soul: remember always what is most important, and never compromise on it. Defend that like a Savage.....

J S Pullen