Monster girl!

This girl is wearing the sort of monster costume I dreamed of wearing as a kid ;D Wanted to practise a stylised girl figure :) It started as just a random sketch that then evolved and became 'more' - was just practising some shading in the first pic. She looks like a happy child, doesn't she? :P



Next I did a full body version, in a more vector style - to the left is the more plain one, then a slightly tweaked version next to it. :)



And next is a closeup ofc! :)

Fish! (and chips)

Gah...I just can't help it...I did more character sheets ;) I'm loving it so much though, is it a crime?? So after the ipad characters, I decided to explore the colour/shading/pattern of the big round fish :) Just going for different effects, looks with this page.



Then I thought I'd put one of them in a kinda background - just wanted different texture to the smoothness of the fish, I imagine a rougher, more faded bg actually.



And then............CLOSEUP!! Raaaaawwwr!! Fear the round fish!

Sun, sea, ale and monsters!

Orrite! Back from my holiday of sun, sea and ale, back to a way-too-hot Frankfurt; I am not meant for heat like this, send me North to the ice and snow!
Sooo...I know I said I would do more environments, but a friend has asked me to collaborate making creatures for an iphone/pad game - cute monsters was the brief, and here are the results so far! There will ofc be environments soon..;)

This first one is shaded slightly:



The second version is completely flat. Not sure which version I prefer...



I didn't use a black outline for these latest images, will see how it goes. :)

Dragons, raaaawr!

Draaaaaagons!! Can never have enough dragons, right? I don't think so, anyway (just as you can never have enough shoes, scarves, jackets and pina coladas) These were made for a friend - she requested cute dragons, so voila! Can't decide which one I like best... I decided to go with very 'in your face' colours for this - so bright and clashing that you almost need sunglasses to view them. : |



Probably my last update for a little while, as I'll be on holiday for a bit - never fear, my sketchpad shall of course be accompanying me :)

Griffin!

Here's a pic I finally finished that I'd started a little while ago - a griffin! I don't think these 2 guys stand a chance...It would be quite cool to have a pet griffin, I reckon, would beat taking the u-bahn or tram :P

Cuter environments :3

Update time! Been practising some more cuter backgrounds for a change. :) So first off we have 3 fluffy guys on a beach, in search of coconuts! Tho 1 has found 1...



Next is a girl in a shop, I drew the sketch for this whilst sitting in Starbucks, staring at all the food, nom nom...



Lastly a weird cave with glowing flowers - why not??

Follower of fashion!

Ok, back to super stylised. :) I'm liking this tho, tis fun! So here's a bit of a fashiony one, the top row were more kinda 'normal', and did some more stranger stuff the bottom row. :) I love designing clothes related stuff, sometime wish I'd pursued that, but I'm pretty sure what I'd have designed wouldn't have been able to be worn down the street, hehe.



And here's just a random late night sketch - I always wanted white hair, how cool would that be to have pure white hair?? (and young - I *know* i'll get it eventually ;p)

Creepy stuff

More stuff! I needed to do something a bit more nasty after all the cute stuff, so how about a creepy market? :) Why's everyone staring at you? What's that flying thing in the sky?? I reckon it's controlling everyone.....:O



And then to finish everything up, a cutesy pic! Some clothing designs on the same figure. Want to do some more!

Cuteness continued!

Continuing with the cute - bear with me :P This is something I don't get to draw so much usually, but I love it. :) I want to do an environment in this style too...and then back to something nastier again. ;)
So here's a little gang of mice creatures (aside from the bushy tailed one) Bit of an assortment, just fun to play with. :)

Now for something a bit different :)

Now for something a bit different :) Trying simplified cute fluffy creature, with cool patterns. Am attemping a vector style look, flat and sharp lines. Which one's your fave?



Also a black and white version of a slightly different one, not vectored but more painted - this guy looks a little bit meaner. : |

Don't look! It's Medusa!

On a fantasy creature roll! Here's one of my fave, Medusa - the guy in the middle's got the right idea with the shield though. ;) I was always really terrified of Medusa due to the old Clash of the Titans film - her scene was absolutely terrifying - those eyes and that snarling face! Fantastic :)

Creepy Minotaur's coming to get you!

Creepy Minotaur's coming to get you!! I wanted to do a taller, less muscular Minotaur than you usually see; these soldier guys better watch out, I don't think it's gonna be so easy to kill. :o
I used to have nightmares about Minotaurs when I was a kid, just find them really creepy...

Sunday sketching!

Sunday sketching :) This started off as a random doodle, then I 'accidently' started working into it, and ended up with a girl with 2 snakey things. :o



Also, Crytek was just featured on a cool german gaming website, and I have a lil interview on there! Es ist auf Deutsch aber interessant ;D

http://www.gameswelt.tv/21316/insert-coin/sendung-69.html

R e a l paintings, oh my!

In the past few weeks I've done a few canvas paintings for friends to celebrate birthdays, graduations and babies being born, so I thought to share them :D Apart from the long landscape one, they're all quite small canvas, and all painted using gouache. Veeeeerryyy different from what I do at work, but they're simple of fun, have done tons of these the past few years. :)



These are 2 seperate canvas (my friend owns 2 bunnies :)



Chase that elusive golden butterfly!!



Again, 2 seperate canvas, a cat and a pug!

Not what it seems...

Dear oh dear! It's been an age since I last updated! In between the last time and now a lot happened - my twin sister moved to Vancouver, I found a new apartment and moved in, and Crytek moved to a new office too - intense business! So hey I have an excuse. ;) Now I have the lil Cintiq to myself, and got round to doing a quick environment. :) Here everything is not as it seems...

Crysis 2 update!

Oooooohh, a Crysis 2 update! Sooo....the game's been out awhile now...you all played it right? Right?? Good. :) As a word of warning, some of this work dates back to 2009, so it's kinda oooold. Me and my twin sister worked together on the storyboards and a concept or few. :) Here's a little sample, the rest you'll have to checkout here at my website!

http://www.artcastles.com/astrid/Crysis2.html

Spikey waterfall of doom

Allo allo! A new environment piccy - it's been awhile. :) It's a bit of an odd one - just imagining huge spikey rocks, with a giant flowing river, that also generates glowing particles that help to light the small dwellings on the 'islands'. :) Didn't go too rendered or anything, just a quicker one.



Also, I will do a Crysis 2 update, finally! I'll post 1 or 2, and then the rest you'll have to view at my website ;D (how sneaky!) Stay tuned!

Sci-fi tank!

Guten Tag! Time for an update, a bit different from the latest ones - cos this one includes a tank ;) It's good to try different things...and vehicles for me are dead hard. : O So here's a sci-fi tank!



It was based on one of the thumbnails, found here -

Fluff gang

A Monday evening sketch...just felt like drawing something cutesy and B R I G H T for a change, ahem ;) Trying to give it an 'Illustrator' look, but in Photoshop. Here we see a little gang of fluffy garden creatures, marvelling at the blue cat - all hail Blue Cat! : |



Crysis 2 is out now!! I hope you have bought a copy and are playing it, you won't be disappointed :D

Cat doodles

Crysis 2 is out, woo hoooo!!! Finally :D So great to see how well it progressed, from there being just a few sketches and white boxes to the fully polished game we see now. :D We're all super proud at Crytek. :)
So right now, Truds is playing through the 360 version, and as I was watching her play, I did some doodles. Felt in the mood for some silhouettes and something a bit silly, so here we have a lineup of odd cat-like creatures. :)

R E A L painting!

Allo allo! Here's an actual real canvas painting (omigodwowthatscrazy) that I did for some friends in Sweden, for letting me stay with them at their apartment when I visited the ever-stunning Stockholm. :) Very different from my 'normal' work, when I do canvas paintings, I love simplistic, silhouetted work that's kinda cutesy. :) Used gouache btw, in case anyone wonders!



And since I was in Sweden, here's a few pics *tourist mode*

Overgrown mech - coloured

Sooooo, here's the colour version of my overgrown dead mech - now with more green! ;)



In other news, I got myself a little Canon camera (IXUS 130) and it's bright orange - love it :D Have already started obssessively taking photos of my 2 cats ;)

Overgrown!

Been trying a technique my colleagues have been doing and showed me, recently. :) Starting with a basic shape, then fading it slightly to add more complex detail to it, then shading. :) So here's my over grown dead mech..creature..thing. :) Poor guy, he kinda died standing up! Coming soon will be the colour version. :D

Crysis 2 and Crytek video time!

A video update! Get a load of this - me and my sister Truds were interviewed by RTL (one of Germany's biggest tv channels) at Crytek, about our jobs :D Can view it here - sorry, is ofc in German, but hey you can hear our voices - dubbed! ;D

http://www.rtl-hessen.de/videos.php?video=13227


Next up is the Crysis 2 story trailer, and is absolutely fantastic!

More Crysis 2 (Nano Edition) Videos

Thumbnails!

A new year! I realise I say this as we are moving into February - oops! Better late then never, ay? :) So here's this years first update, and it's a few little speedy thumbnails I did in my spare time, just practising composition and depth. :)



Incidentally, I also started a new blog, based on my other habit - drinking pina coladas! I'm sampling the delights of Frankfurt and its many cocktail bars, and rating and reviewing them (the good and the bad!) Check it out here: http://astispinasblog.blogspot.com/

Crysis 2 mega cool pics!

Orrite! Nearly christmas, yay! Hope everyone enjoys themselves and relaxes/has fun :D Just thought I'd post the latest images released for Crysis 2 - these 2 here I made the initial sketches of :D





Next year I promise to update my lonely lil blog a bit more regularly - gonna be lots more environments too! Seeya next year!

Glowing Ball of Doom

A new pic!! I have no idea what's going on with this one, to be honest..I was just playing around with some textures and lighting, when suddenly this floating ball appeared! :O It looks very solomn...but what is it? Some say it's an ancient god...others say a demon, trapped in the cave, waiting to be awoken. It looks peaceful...but I'm not sure I'd trust it. : |



I just got the new Color and Light book as a christmas pressie from Dennis and Vikor - what a great gift!! I will definitely be reading this over the holidays, and hopefully can apply it to my own stuff more :)

Zombiiiieeee, argh!

Orrriiiiiiiiite guys n gals! Thought it was time for a character pic, so here's a beautiful zombie lady, who was on her way out to a party, when she got bitten....oh dear. :/ Either that, or she had a very rough night, haha! Didn't spend too long on this, fancy doing a longer piece at some stage...Thought I'd add the black and white version also.



And here's a close up of her lovely face ;p




More to come! I have a pretty weird environment pic I shall upload soon :D

Unfinished pic

Just posting an unfinished city piece I was working on...have given up on it now tho, got bored with it, hehe ;)

Supernatural sketch!

Just a quick sketchy pic I did this evening whilst watching the tv show Supernatural....hmmm! There's nothing in it that looks like this (yet! I'm on series 4) Just playing around with a lil technique Truds is doing too atm, pulling images out of textures and shapes, tis fun. :)



On saturday I am on an adventure to Amsterdam with a few mates from here and London, plus meeting other friends there, yay! Hopefully it'll inspire me for more crazy pics :D