Transformers Prime : Ironhide...TOY!

If there was ever some concept art I did for Hasbro, Inc. that I've been wanting to post, this is it.  And I never thought I'd be able to, anytime soon.

BUT NOW HE'S A TOY!!!  That's the best part.

Mentioned before on the blog, I got to do some PRE-pre-production designs for Hasbro, Inc., doing some internal development  for, at the time, was called...TV Show.  At least, that's the title of the folder I had saved all that stuff into.  And like I said before, myself and other Hasbro freelance artists did different passes and versions of key characters, and all that was bundled up, probably along with 25 years of other Transformers art, and sent off to Hasbro Studios, and Jose Lopez, to create the final vision of the characters for the show.

So I wasn't part of any of the Hasbro Studios production, just the internal development with Hasbro, Inc.; I had moved on to other things, and like every one else, I didn't get to see final designs and clips until Comic Con, over a year later.  And while I was excited to see the show...I was pretty bummed there was no Ironhide.

Because I wanted a toy of him.  And really, that's a pretty significant motivating factor for me.  And I'm so happy that the strength of the design was well thought of enough to actually create a product from it!  I had seen the box art, and noticed that the artwork was very familiar, and on closer inspection, looked like cleaned up overlay versions of the concept art I had done.

I got to check out the packaging at BotCon, and this image sealed it!  I begged and pleaded with the Powers at Hasbro to let me post the full frame art, and they let me!  So here we go:

As always, the way my brain works, I want the vehicle completed first.  I want to see the vehicle cues, and get a sense of weight, that can be translated into robot form and characterization.  And colors of course.  I turned it in originally all red, (G1 all the way, baby!) but feedback suggested all black to match the current movie version.  I may have done all black with the yellow and red stripe, but then Archer suggested a two-tone look, and that sealed it!  What a great idea, and I have seen it used since on other versions of Ironhide.

I'm super proud of this design - I think it captures G1, with Movie, and a sense of something new.  Of course, I had help, with Aaron Archer's input, and my man crush Eric Siebenaler at Hasbro was directing me on this project, he took the legs of one of my designs, and combined it with the torso of another drawing I'd done, and outlined the movie style gauntlet guns, and did a quick redesign of the gut, and gave it that cool shape where the Autobot emblem sits.  Then I took that image, and painted it out, and that's what you see above.

Badass Ironhide.



The product photos were taken from the Seibertron.com toy galleries.

BotCon Aftermath...!

Whoa, what a fun time this year!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by the table to say hi, and pick up some arts from me.

Yes, there are leftover sketchbooks, along with some 2011 books as well:

$15 for just a sketchbook, $25 for a sketchbook with a quick head sketch on the inside cover.

$6 USPS Priority Shipping and Handling for the United States.
$13 USPS Priority Shipping and Handling for Canada and Mexico.
$17 USPS Priority Shipping and Handling for International Locations.

I also have leftover prints, those are $20 each.  $11 USPS Priority Shipping and Handing, shipped flat, insurance recommended.  I can give you ship quotes on Mex/CA, and International if needed.

Email me at ken@badflip.com, with 'Sketchbook Order', 'Prints Order', or 'I just want some Arts' in the Subject Line, let me know what you want, and I'll create an invoice for you with payment options.  Paypal preferred.

Also, I take commissions every now and again, that's $70 for a 9x12 grayscale drawing, a character waist up.  We can always talk if something more involved...

One last thing - finalizing details to be at Robotoyfest this Sunday, the 13th, at the Sheraton in Pasadena.  So if you're local, and don't want to pay for shipping, come see me this weekend!

Optimus Prime Step by Step

When the time came to do another sketchbook cover, I wanted to take another crack at Prime, both with maybe a more exciting cover image, and something that fit the frame dimensions better.  I created a mock-up of the title and lettering for the sketchbook, and set about sketching a pose that would fit the best in the work area,

I settled on a pretty basic tactical position for Prime, called a Patrol Carry - I wanted him to look like he was ready for action at any time.  After roughing out the basics of the idea, I took it digital.

I shifted a few things around, tweaks and tilts here and there, and finally settled on a pretty cools pose that fit the frame well.  Now this is G1 inspired of course, but I put in about twice the usual amount of functionality, gave his chest a bisection to really be able to swing his shoulders a much larger range, and be able to conform to that humanistic weapon handling.  I also tried to keep all the cues intact, but I did move up the gas tanks to the upper leg.  Happy with the drawing, I moved on to colors...

Just flat colors to start with, as usual, and a general background to help the range of colors of the figure.

Created another layer, set it to overlay, and picked a light and dark color to build the secondary and tertiary colors.

I make some color adjustments to the overall image, along with getting an idea of what I may want to do with the background, and then I begin the detail passes.

At this point it's pretty much busywork, making pass after pass, adding and sharpening details as I go.

Then I get to the final, making last detail tweaks, and color adjustments, then adding a final shadow/highlight pass.  I scrapped whatever the heck I had going on with that background.  Finally I just grabbed a piece of paper and a jar of ink, and made some spatter and drip patterns, scanned it in and placed it in the frame.  Much better.  Made a smokey fade at the knee, to help blend the figure and background , and called it done.

This is the print version, (available at BotCon, starting this Friday by the way) the sketchbook version is slightly moved up, to allow for the text.

All right, that's the last post until later next week, I'm strapping on my Soundwave Nikes, and heading to Dallas!

Skywarp!

And to round out the three original Seekers, I give you Skywarp.  This is one of my favorites of the print series so far...

Oh, and look at this, originally drawn facing one direction, then flipped.  I didn't want it to be too close to the Starscream image - I brought up all three to see how best they would all fit together, and it also informed the colors for the background, giving it a subtle transitional flow.

Thundercracker!

The road towards BotCon 2012 continues, with a new print I'm debuting at the con - Thundercracker!

Here's the comp sketch for the image:

Later this week, Skywarp!

BotCon 2012 - Dallas TX!

It's just TWO WEEKS away!

And again this year, I'll be appearing in the Artists Alley during the convention.

 I'll have plenty of stuff for sale, the above image is the cover, and back cover  to the new sketchbook, 20 pages, and some leftover vol. 1 will also be available - for a mere $15 each.  Here's some preview images of what you'll find in there...

Lady Mirage, a female version of the classic G1 character.

The Protectobot Scout, a character I designed from the Revenge of the Fallen game.

And the centerfold page, Devastator VS the Dinobots!

I'll also be doing head/bust quick sketches in the front cover of the sketchbook, for an additional $10, for anyone interested.

Also, I'll have prints available:

 These will run you just $20 each, full color glossy 11x17" - by far I will have mostly Transformers images, (and even a few more than even what's shown above) but I'll have some of the Marvel images available as well, Predator, etc.  Lots of original art will also be available, most of the sketchbook images, among other things - you'll just have to stop by to see what I have!

Also, I'll be taking commissions at the con, but I can also take some preorders,  that you can pick up at the con, contact me for more details at ken@badflip.com.  It's $70 for a 9x12" B/W marker sketch, a single (existing, no new concepts) character, usually waist up.  Here's a great example of one that's going to be picked up at the con:

All right, that's about every last thing I can think of, hope to see you there!

Sidenote - I'm pretty excited.  I'm turning it into a bit of an adventure, driving Route 66, from LA to Dallas.  And on the way home, along the border, taking the 10, through Tombstone, AZ.  That's right, I'm going to the OK Corral.

One more Thor!

Versus a Frost Giant, no less.  I wanted to do another Thor, but this series of images called for an action scene, and since I had done Thor before, he got the call, in an effort to change it up a bit.  Above, the pencils.

And this step has essentially become Clean Up and Tone, prep for introducing color to the image.

Here I lay in the flat colors, setting the initial palette.

Thus begins the tone variations, with light and shadow colors being introduced.

Further details and color adjustments, working the image towards the final.

Final details are painted in, along with lightning effects and highlights, and further color blending and adjustments, until I guess it's done!  Thor drop-kicking a Frost Giant.  I wanted to see it, and now I have.


OK, BotCon 2012 is right around the corner, so from here on out, expect a lot of Transformers stuff...!