So after several dozen requests I started doing commissions.  I posted my art on forums and community groups and got numerous responses.  So far I have had about 50 official requests.  Here is my latest art share:  CHECK IT OUT HERE

I'm not very good with these blog things so I guess I will just dump a bunch of art down until I catch up to the present.

For the past few months I have been moderating my own fictional news studio for a game called Elite: Dangerous.  It was a great way to get my artwork out and make new friends.  I also managed to greatly increase my productivity.  Here is a few related posts.  You will have to check out the articles here:  THE PEOPLE'S MEDIA

Pirates!  Pirates everywhere!  It's Pirates vs. Pirates vs. elements in the sky!  And this here is an art dump for lots of plundering for yer fancy!  YARR!!


Seriously though, I made alot of Sky Pirates artwork in a super short amount of time.  My goal was to get others excited in the area to help me out with some concept ideas and now my computer and sketchbooks are overflowing with some.

I might not have a game being made right this second, but I have some super exciting things that come from this so far and I'm excited to do more when the treasure calling comes again.  

I have alot of art here on my website so be sure to check it out if you like cartoon stuff and pirates.  Bug plus if you like cartoon pirates or pirate cartoons!
I really like that logo I made btw.  I had some critiques from my art instructor at the local college.  He does traditional drawing and painting, and the cartoon colors might have been new to him, but he has an eye for shapes and that was a big help for the lettering.  
My next step with this is to design it in 3D and show it off in UDK.  I can give the floating rocks some offset to make them wiggle a bit, the trees blowing in the wind, and the crystals shimmer with sparkly goodness!  It will be a flouting miniature paradise!

From the Desk of Kevin Massey:

I present to you a self portrait based on how others perceive me.   I wanted to have fun with this one and make it something that would represent me in a humorous way my close friends can identify with.  I want to make this into a series of fantasy office paintings that feature many of my friends who suggest they would find their dream career working for me.  I myself am some sort of industrial mad-man, similar to Bioshock Infinite's Jeremiah Fink.  

So far I only have the main painting completed, but plenty of plans for the others.  Without further delay, I present this painting.

 

I can now officially say "From the Desk of Kevin Massey", and you can officially assume this is officially what my office looks like when I am making art.
BTW I draw digital pictures using a large glass etch-a-sketch, a custom type writer, and a low paid artists every square meter to represent the pixels in each painting.  That is over 12,000 workers reproducing each sketch mark I make to finish my work, because I'm ridiculous like that.

The lovely secretary to my right is Miss Kayla Henricksen.  Sorry boys, she is married to her job, and she is a snob anyway.  Regardless, she works 18 hours a day and I can't complain about that.
The gentleman to my left is a real sir, goes by the name of Sir Anthony Birge.  He clicks his heels, dusts the ceilings, trims the plants and trees, and delivers my text messages to me on a golden platter.  He remembers my clients names so I don't have to, and for that I keep him around.

Additionally I have a part of my action figure collection on my desk.  The figures are obviously of me, who else would they be?  And I have a portrait of me back in the days when I settled into my first mahogany desk.  By the way I was celebrating another successful day of art production.  That is the reason for all the party balloons, the cigar is always there regardless.

Lastly, I thought it would be fun to include an easter egg in my office.  Sir Anthony Birge did well to include one that any observant eye should catch, regardless of background in entertainment media.
Even if you never played Halo, you will get this one!

It would be a real shame if you could not find that easter egg.  Seriously...

Anyway, I have plans for more paintings like this.  
-We have my chaperone driver Josh Wise, he is a real chatterbox I tell you.
-Then we have Mr. Anderson.  I'm leaving off his first name because it's too similar to mine, and that is a copy-write lawsuit waiting to happen.  He is a lock smith.  I put locks on just about everything too, and I have no idea what a key looks like.
-Then there is the young and beautiful Miss Megan Murphy in the human resources department, whatever they do.  Anyway, she is probably the only reason new employees wonder into this workplace, which is a pity for them. HAAA!
-Oh and there is Jesse Ladd, head of security.  He is pretty much the only guy holding this place together besides me.  He and his cronies drag away angry clients, snuff out my competitors, and plans my schedule for the sake of my well being, which is nice.
-Kandi Henricksen is locked away in the treasury.  Last time I heard from her, she said the vault room was looking a bit empty.  I had her convert all my profit into pennies and that seemed to solve the problem.  We pay the workers downstairs by the ounce anyway so it helps save money. 

I'm sure there are plenty more to come including me standing in front of a portrait of myself from the year before.  It's been a ten year tradition, so there is alot of us in the same frame.

Till next time!  Now get out of my office!

-Kevin Massey

I have been dying to create a bunch of paintings that show the progression of Janey Warren's rise to power.  I don't have that kind of time, but I did manage to sit down and paint this one evening.  It even features the Ice Guardian from my previous post.

WARREN AND THE YETI

View my painting here: http://fav.me/d6fcejt

From my story Allied Enemies:

Some quick backstory first.
Even as a child, Janey Warren despised people who barked but did not bite. She hated politicians in particular as she felt words without action were meaningless. When she grew old enough to advice her father's rebellion, The Children of DelCarlo, her determination to show up the politically minded main hero earned her his seat on the advisory board. Over time and with the aid of a corrupted A.I. that enslaved her mind, Janey Warren turned her innocent vision of a better free world into a dystopian dictatorship that engulfed a majority of civilized nations across several planets. She treated the hero as an enemy and tormentied him with her idea of action prevailing over words.

Voice vs. Action is an important theme in Allied Enemies. The voice is represented as the color blue and the action is orange. This applies for all of Allied Enemies. It was important that I force Janey and the Hero to switch roles as they learn the values in both, forcing them to work together, making them allied enemies. When the Hero is cast out of his own rebellion, he is forced to take action to stop Janey before she makes her corrupted vision a reality. Meanwhile, Janey is becoming the most powerful individual in all of history and forced to become a political speaker as she spreads her influence. She never admits to being a slave to what she hated most, until the events that transpire in this painting…

Ok, now for the painting.
With the main protagonist (hero) incarcerated in Camp Jericho and out of the way, Janey Warren continues her climb for ultimate dominance as she builds her "Perfect World". By now Janey is the Empress of the Olandrian Empire, Leader of Free Earth, and the leader of the Rays of Warren, a policing and fanatic cult that imprison Janey within her own icon as an excuse to murder, burn, and pillage all who do not measure to perfection. The Rays of Warren paint themselves orange and spread war to all nations who are sane enough to reject Janey as the Sunshine of the Perfect World.
Janey is on a tour to rally nations across several planets to join her kingdom when she is rejected by the people of the icy planet of Detosha. They are wise enough to see Janey's growing power is being fueled by something unworldly that is causing sane people to become radical followers on a path to destruction. The Rays of Warren pressure Janey to convince the Detoshians that she is chosen to unite humanity under one name. They had witnessed her public execution by fire, her miraculous unharmed survival, and the crumbling of the Earth United Government at her command. Janey is forced to stand before a provoked and territorial Detoshian Yeti Spider to prove she is invincible. 

The moment Janey Warren stands before the Yeti Spider, she has a big character change. Knowing she is not invincible and certain she will die, Janey recalls a moment as a child when the main hero told her that he was confronted by a yeti in the ruins of Cortez City. He said he mimicked it's scary vibrating cries and the yeti was intimidated. At the time she laughed at his empty words as there was no proof he or anyone could chase off a giant spider. But now, she has no hope but to trust that by mimicking the sounds of the spider, it may spare her life. At this moment she is admitting that her voice can be stronger than her actions. This is when she realizes her "Perfect World" is wrong.

In the painting, the yeti is feeling threatened. Although generally not aggressive, yeti spiders can be very territorial. The spider is colored blue to symbolize the power of voice. The girl is Janey Warren, currently trying to stay graceful. This does not last when she becomes certain the spider will kill her.


The yeti spider was featured in one of my earlier paintings "Ice Guardian": .fav.me/d5q3tjc

I spent a week painting various monsters that could appear in my Allied Enemies universe.  Although I stripped each painting of any lore storytelling elements, it was a good practice for composition and color, something I felt I really needed.

First is the Bog Guardian.  It is a Yajsaad seeder that transplants life from one planet to another.  This will explain the mystery in my story when Humanity discovers other human civilization on other planets.

Next is the Desert Guardian, a giant tunnel snake from the Olandrian Empire.  These played a part in my high school script that was eventually cut and molded into the story I have now.  It makes a small appearance in Allied Enemies.

Here is the Sea Guardian, a monster that never appears in Allied Enemies.  If it did, it would be in the oceans of Fontia.

Next I have the Beach Guardian.  This creature is passive an appears on the beaches of Fontia.  I am not sure if they appear in Allied Enemies or not.  They have no impact on the story.

One of my favorites, the Ice Guardian.  This is the Detoshian Yeti Spider that appears frequently in Allied Enemies.  They originate on Detoshia but are captured and sold to to Earth militaries.  Earth United uses a domesticated version for military purposes, mostly for homeland security as they are not weapons.

Next is another Yajsaad creature/ship, the Jungle Guardian.  This one really has nothing to do with jungles as it is simply a Yajsaad scout.  It may make an appearance at the end of Allied Enemies.

Lastly, I present the Sky Guardian.  This is a common flying creature from the Olandrian Empire.  It is harmless to the story but does appear in the skies.

I have at least one more that is unfinished.  Maybe I will add it here at a later time.

After many sketches during the many power outages here in Lassen County, I present my finished concept art for the Sirens in my Allied Enemies story. 

Siren Concept Art

The repercussion of Felix Freeh's BE FREEH campaign is the genetic disease named Parch Lobe Syndrome. Sibal Azhar Masih-Parch, an Arabic-American scientist, discovered that the frontal lobes of young minds were deteriorating and therefore established a research foundation focused on eliminating the disease.

Years later, a new class of dystopian society arose called SIRENS. These women are highly augmented females with the sole purpose of distributing a Parch Lobe Syndrome suppresser. They also played a role as upper-class courtiers with sexual connotations, often returning to a state brothel at the end of each tour.

Sirens have augmentations that allow them to manipulate minds using projection hormones, a science related to Felix Freeh's research. This allows them to seduce clients and government officials for pleasure and assassination. Other augmentations assist in brutal murder including contraptions too dark to describe. 

Sirens play a big part in politics because of their legal right to assassinate when a contract is paid for by the "free people". Individuals with great political importance are often in the company of Sirens to show their trust in lower classes of society. They also risk their lives knowing that murder is always a potential if the popularity is down.


SIRENS in Allied Enemies:

Mallory Kramer manipulates Janey Warren into killing a Siren on Sunshine Plaza. The Siren had arrived to make a contract with the people of Colorado who had recently suffered a great massacre. She was offering a way to eliminate the politician responsible. Janey Warren denied this offer and sparked a revolution, showing that the "free people" didn't need prostitute-assassins to regulate government.

The main hero, Ethan, is invited to a brothel to meet with a Siren who claims she can save Janey Warren from Mallory Kramer. This is a trap however and the hero is seduced by the Siren, triggering a drugged and dream-like struggle with the assassin. When the Siren's processor core is disconnected from her brain, a massive EMP blast induces a seizure on everyone near the brothel except the hero.

The hero, Ethan, meets a Siren during a New Years Party. This Siren is mute and fitted with a chameleon suit, allowing her to disguise herself as anyone, particularly Janey Warren. This brutal encounter ends with a bomb blast that destroys the gravity well on the space station, killing millions of lives. The Siren had tried to justify the necessity to kill so many before Warren controlled them.

The hero, Ethan, interrupts a Siren's propaganda against Janey Warren and her Rays of Warren rebellion. He has a deep argument about the truth of Warren, her slavery to Kramer and her own rebels, and his goal to free her and the rest of humanity. When successful, the Siren gives the stage to Ethan, giving him the chance to convince thousands to join the League of Veterans (L.O.V.) in a final assault against the Rays of Warren and Kramer.

Ethan's first encounter with a Siren gives him serious side effects that parallel Janey Warren's rise to power. He later learns that he is suffering the effects of Parch Lobe Syndrome and is starting to fall for Janey's false illusion of a "Perfect World". He fights insanity long enough to eliminate Kramer and free humanity from forced perfection.

Her name is a mystery.  Her job, serious criminal activity.  Miss Hailey Kane is the connection between a client and a specialist.  Need a hit?  Talk to her.  She will get someone on it for you.  Best of all, you will be safe.

This is a simple female character I recently started.  She fits into my Allied Enemies story but does not have the dystopian look most of my characters have.  She has a lot of money and is hidden in a secure location. (apartment building in France)

I know her concept looks a bit casual but I hope to fancy it up a little.  She usually would appear behind a monitor, hologram, or other visual window until the protagonist goes knocking on her door.  I sculpted some anatomy for her the other night and got it baked into a game cage.  Just need to get started on that costume.

I found this color pencil sketch I did almost three years ago.  I think this was my first concept of my character.
Let's see how true I stay to it.

I am currently back home in California with plenty of ideas to elaborate on and opportunities to share my new knowledge.  As a recent graduate of Full Sail University I have reconnected with instructors from my high school and community college to volunteer for training workshops related to my program.  A couple weeks ago I introduced EAST students to various industry pipelines that I have been exposed to.  I again did a presentation at my local community college.  It is my hope that students like me have an opportunity like I did to pursue their dreams.  

I recently finished my first game [Pirates vs. Pirates] and now I feel like I'm on top of the world!
Check it out if you get the chance! You can find more information here: