Ezra Lau Art Blog

Zbrush Sketches

2013-05-16T12:52:00.000-06:00

Time to clear off the dust on this blog! I've been doing some speed sculpting exercises (about 30-40 mins) and I wanted to share some of them. I've also just started uploading some of the time-lapse videos to Youtube. I would love to hear what you think! You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Social media everywhere!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTi33QIF9kY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_1TYo9nMWY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNHI3AqwgZA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdlQS9CLyTM

A Shape Sculpt

2012-12-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

This started as a speed sculpt referencing an old shape drawing from my character design class at BYU, but I tweaked the design a bit. I got into the polypainting and messing around with lighting and BPR renders and this is the result.

#inktober Bat Spider hunting and breeding behaviours

2012-10-30T23:50:00.000-06:00

Left: Bat Spider in flight
Right: Close-up of Bat Spider head

I was thinking about different animals that were considered "Halloween-y." Spiders and bats were at the top of my list. But then I thought, how about a hybrid Bat Spider? Then I started thinking about all the possibilities and unique evolutionary traits of such a strange creature. Some of my random thoughts are recorded below:

The first recorded encounter of a Bat Spider was in a deep cave amidst the jungles of South America. The entrance was draped with spider webs, and the ground was littered with the desiccated remains of unidentifiable animal corpses. The ceiling was a writhing carpet of many thousands of spider-like creatures. The villagers were extremely shocked when the spiders lept from the ceiling and dove directly at their faces. With deadly accuracy, the spiders darted nimbly after their fleeing prey. They maneuvered through the air like hawks with the aid of spider-spun wings stretched between their legs. As soon as the first sparrow-sized spider sunk its oversized fangs into its victim, a quick and potent neurotoxin disabled his muscles and he collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth. He was immediately swarmed by the rest of the bat spiders and the other villagers were able to escape.

While the adult variety of the bat spider is remarkable for its hunting prowess, its behaviour while still in its larval stage of development is truly terrifying. A female bat spider will spin a thin nest on ceilings or overhanging surfaces onto which she spreads her small spider eggs, forming what looks like chocolate sprinkles on a whipped cream topping. The larvae will burst from their eggs when they sense the heat of a living creature pass by underneath. The unsuspecting animal is then assaulted in any available orifice, usually the ears, nose or mouth, but also any open wounds that they find. Death usually results from suffocation or self-inflicted head trauma trying to dislodge the nearly microscopic invaders. The flesh of the dead animal is then used as nourishment for the voracious appetite of the young bat spiders. The most horrifying aspect of this method of laying eggs is that often the mother will place her nest above the head of a sleeping animal, and the larvae will enter the body and brain cavity while it is still unconscious.

Happy Halloween!

#inktober 18: No good deed unpunished

2012-10-19T01:34:00.001-06:00

So my good friend and fellow BYU artist Meredith (@LaFemmeAtomique) posted an encouraging tweet aimed directly at me. There's no way I would let such an act go unanswered. Let this be a lesson to all of you potential do-gooders out there.

ArenaNet Art Test 2013

2012-10-18T16:38:00.001-06:00

This is where I'll be putting my WIP images for my application to the latest ArenaNet internship program. It was a huge relief when they moved their deadline from Oct. 20 to Nov. 14.

I've been learning a lot as I've been going along, and learning is good. Not always the easiest or most fun thing to do, but that's how it goes, eh?

Concept provided by ArenaNet:

http://www.arena.net/blog/n..internship

3.5 weeks worth of modeling/sculpting

detail of wear/tear pass 1

detail of wear/tear pass 2

detail of wear/tear pass 3

tweaked proportions, details, fabric

retopo, uvs, baking: front

added alpha cards and misc accessory stuff

Finished!

#inktober 17: Ermagersh Pernda

2012-10-18T01:44:00.003-06:00

Shoutout to my newest Twitter follower: @meister403

#inktober 16: Protoss sketch #Starcraft

2012-10-17T00:58:00.002-06:00

With Authentic Battle Damage

#inktober 14-15: random sketch + Krang

2012-10-16T01:57:00.006-06:00

Melancholy deer creature

Shredder: Don't you know how to say please?
Krang: No, but I do know how to say NOW!

Shredder: Close enough.

#inktober 13: Brooding Ninja Turtle

2012-10-14T03:16:00.001-06:00

Some days I'm reminded of all the different ways my life is going horribly. That's what he's thinking, maybe.

#inktober 12: Quick Venom Bust

2012-10-13T01:29:00.002-06:00

A quick sketch that I felt like inking. Venom was so much cooler than Spider Man: he was like an alien ninja.

Quick and simple sketch for #inktober 11

2012-10-12T01:15:00.000-06:00

It's a bunny.

Missed opportunity, but better late than never #Starcraft #Muppets

2012-10-11T02:22:00.001-06:00

Today's Inktober is brought to you by the famous Starcraft celebrities Sean "Day[9]" Plott and Nick "Tasteless" Plott. The idea for this sketch came from a silly forum post that outlines in great detail how Sean is actually a muppet. Since Sean and Nick are brothers I went with a kind of Bert and Ernie vibe. And trumpets.

Image found at: http://gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs3/1273760_o.gif

The "missed opportunity" part comes from posting this today, this being the 10th day of Inktober, and not yesterday, which would have been day 9.

Inktober day 9. Nothing special

2012-10-09T23:19:00.003-06:00

Yup. Just a quick sketch, although I can say from experience that going in for a drink and missing the straw is incredibly humiliating.

Catching up on my #Inktober posts: days 5-8

2012-10-09T01:44:00.002-06:00

I spent the weekend hanging out with family celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving and enjoying the LDS General Conference weekend. I was still sketching throughout, but I didn't have access to a scanner or Photoshop. Enjoy the art dump!

A style-exploration-type sketch of good ol' Wolverine, probably my favorite Marvel hero (he's tied with Batman as my all-time favorite hero).

We watched Disney's Tangled, and my nieces were eager to sing along to all the songs. Granted, I probably could have, too, but I chose to remain silent.

A preemptive bird sketch, in anticipation of the upcoming turkey feast that my sister was preparing. I think I was experimenting on shading for feathers.

If turkeys ever won any award, it would be for the most awkward-looking bird ever. Their gaudy-colored faces are saggy and wrinkly. They're fat and oddly proportioned. There isn't much else to say, BUT they are really fun to draw. :D
This post is brought to you by Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent Markers (Google Affiliate Ad).
(I'm testing to see if this works...)

#inktober Day 4: The Man's Battle

2012-10-05T14:04:00.000-06:00

When I was growing up I always thought MegaMan and BomberMan were related. Kids... they are so dumb. Either way, if it came down to a Battle Royale between these two retro heroes, MegaMan wins for two reasons: a) BomberMan only has ground-constrained bombs that explode in cross-shaped configurations. b) MegaMan can jump.

Getting Adventurous! #inktober day 3

2012-10-04T00:43:00.001-06:00

I wanted something more exciting with more contrast. Well, there's nothing like Adventure Time to channel excitement and contrast.

There's some cool artwork on Twitter with the #inktober hashtag. You should check it out if you're into that kind of thing.

day 2 #inktober

2012-10-03T00:02:00.000-06:00

Calgary is getting colder. Cold is not my favorite.

Anyway, here are some of my thoughts/critical analysis looking at these past two days:
- line quality needs work
- lack of contrast in value and shape
- my artsy signatures are pretty sweet
- I need more Sharpie markers

So it begins... #inktober day one

2012-10-01T18:48:00.000-06:00

I've decided to commit to a daily draw-a-thon for the month of October that is known as "INKTOBER." The format is very unforgiving, in that once you put a line down, it's there for good. Which is something that I struggle with... (aka commitment issues, but that's a topic for another day) This whole Inktober thing was conceived by the extraordinary Jake Parker, and he has written quite eloquently concerning the concept:

It’s a month long appreciation of the art of drawing in ink and the practitioners that embrace that art. To celebrate I’m posting one ink drawing a day for the entire month. No pencils, no water colors, no photoshop, just the unadulterated black and white beauty of thick black ink on crisp white paper. Drawing with ink means commitment. There’s no hemming and hawing as to which pencil line you’re going to use, no sitting on the fence of values, no pussy footing with color. When you make your mark you better mean it. It’s black and white. True or false. On or off. And that’s what Inktober is all about.

INKtober rules:

1) Make a drawing in ink (you can do a pencil under-drawing if you want).

2) Post it on your blog or tumblr, twitter, facebook, flickr, or just pin it on your wall.

3) Hashtag it with #inktober

4) Repeat (you can do it daily, like me, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just do the 5K and post once a week. What ever you decide, just be consistent with it. INKtober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better.)
Parker, Jake. "INKTOBER DAY 1." Agent 44: The Art Blog of Jake Parker. Web. October 1, 2012. <http://mrjakeparker.com/2012/10/01/inktober-day-1/>

(ya i just used MLA format whatuuup)

So even though I made a whole bunch of mistakes on this beastly fellow, I resisted the temptation to touch things up in Photoshop. My hope is to publish a post daily and by the end of the month maybe see some form of improvement. #HopefulYetDoubtful

some quick concepts

2012-09-26T16:32:00.001-06:00

The idea is a 3rd person fixed-camera tactical squad-based shooter game, but we needed something visual to keep the ball rolling. These are some rough style explorations as we're talking about target audience and logistic issues. I'm leaning towards the simplified, "cartoony" version, not only to avoid any COD or BF comparisons, but I just like the way it feels.

Oh, and are there any game-devs out there (art or programming or whatever backgrounds) available to help out on a neat, little side project? Me and this guy might be looking for some people in the near-ish future.

Finally the final post about this Norn

2012-09-25T03:10:00.001-06:00

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Made some presentation images for my portfolio. I've been thinking that I need to update my website design... and maybe even get my own domain name... If there's anything you'd like to comment on, please feel free!

Female Norn getting some makeup on her

2012-09-14T13:07:00.000-06:00

Fixed some weird anatomy issues with the face

urpdate: legs

Diffuse map 100% complete (probably?), alpha cards included

these last two were quick screen-grabs from Maya's default viewport

This image is showing the diffuse map with flat lighting. Slow and steady progress. I kind of hate the fact that I'm so slow. Moving onto the legs and misc stuff, and then I'll go in and add some alpha cards for the fur.

The target image (Property of ArenaNet) is here:

http://www.arena.net/blog/arenanet-is-hiring-character-artists

Back in Canada

2012-09-05T20:55:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted anything in a while, and I guess that's just how it goes sometimes. Part of the reason for my lack of updates includes leaving Provo and getting situated up in Calgary, as well as struggling to get ZBrush and xNormal to cooperate. Another excuse is lots of video games, watching all three seasons of Community, and general mismanagement of time.

Either way, I want to finish this project before moving on to another portfolio project. These shots came after retopologizing, laying out UV's, and baking out normal maps from the hi-poly to the low-poly. Next up will be creating the diffuse and specular maps.

what i've been working on lately

2012-06-29T15:59:00.000-06:00

So I saw this (http://www.arena.net/blog/arenanet-is-hiring-character-artists) and I got excited. But then I noticed that it had already been posted for a week. So here I am, late to the party, and slow as poop when it comes to zBrush. These images are very much "works in progress", so feel free to critique away.

Updates:

walking and hopping along

2012-06-13T00:43:00.003-06:00

Updates:

more ear action reaction

less crappy walk

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Original Post:

crappy walk

hoppity hoppity

smore animations

goblin idle update

2012-06-11T15:05:00.001-06:00

idle

react

Here's an update on my goblin animations. Based on some feedback I've gotten here and on Polycount, I've made a true idle cycle, and the previous animation now updated as a "react" animation with more secondary movement on the loincloth and throughout the spine and shoulders.

Also, these images are getting weird compression issues, so make sure to click on them to view them in their native resolution.