It is time!

My professional portfolio website is now up and running. The url is http://www.matthewgayle.com/. This was my first go with dreamweaver so updates and modifications will arise from time to time. If you have any comments or suggestions that would improve the site, by all means let me know. The advertising on the top header is only temporary as I search for a secure web host.

EXTRA EXTRA

Well this is it, closing time, crunch time, whatever you want to call it. Only three more weeks left in my collegiate career. Then it's time for reality to kick in. This is the artwork for what my promotional postcard will be. I'm finishing up the design of this card along with my biz card and stationary letterhead. Then it is off to making my own professional site.

Digital Overload!

These are a few of the works I've done in my electronic class. The Halo illustration was done for a magazine cover assignment. The artwork was done in painter while the magazine layout was done in illustrator. Next was just a quick character concept done in painter. I chose to do an adaption of the rock'em sock'em robots with a robot in the boxing ring. The last one is a logo that was done in illustrator as a tutorial to get used to the program.

Global Warming Series Continued...

These are the other two in the global warming series that I am doing. They were both done in nupastels. The first one is depicting the problem that is facing penguins. Their food source of krill is swimming to colder water since water temperature is increasing. This is decreasing the penguins food supply and ends with several starving. So this illustration is showing the adult penguin trying to feed the baby but the krill is swimming away in the current while the water is warming. The second is more straight forward showing the drying environment of the painted turtle. I went more with an abstract and simplified approach for this one. The dried out land shapes are repeated in the shell while the turtle is disappearing into the shadows.

Takeover

The series continues with the arctic fox. The warming climate is allowing the red fox to migrate north into the arctic fox's territory. Since the red fox is twice the size, it is easily taking over the arctic fox habitat. So the illustration is depicting the arctic fox looking back at it's home while the red fox is looking from above. The medium is nupastels.

Quick Render in Painter

This was a speed painting of Gimli from LOTR in Corel Painter 10. This was my first attempt in painter and I enjoy the possibilities that this program offers.

Preliminary work

These are some of the preliminary work for two more illustrations in the global warming series that I am doing. I'll post the finished works once I can get around to scanning them in.

Melting Away

For my portfolio class I'm doing a series of 4 posters that show how animals are being affected by global warming. This one is showing how the polar bear is affected. Polar bears usually swim long distances to catch their food. They depend on ice bergs as a bridge back to their homes, yet they are melting away. This forces polar bears to swim until exhaustion with no rest and risks their chance of drowning. This illustration shows the polar bear sitting on top of the earth while it is melting away from the pollution that is rising. The northern lights in the top background represent the purity of this planet that is fading away. The medium was nupastels.

I challenge you to a duel!

-Experimenting in Adobe Illustrator with live trace and the brush tool. This was a banner done for the 2008 Olympic games being held in Beijing, China. I chose to illustrate the sport of fencing with a technique similar to Martin French.

ABCs Sing with me!

Well here it is...the illustrations for my Wildlife Portraits for an ABC animal book. Overall I'm glad with how they turned out. We were only required to have 4 color spreads but I would like to down the road have the entire book in color. The medium was nupastels. The layout of the book has the alphabet on the left page and the illustration on the right page. So the left page would be Aa alligator with the alligator drawing on the right page. I printed a hard copy that does it justice and the feeling you get when holding it in your hands is overwhelming. Let me what you think!

Sneek Peek

These are some color comps for my Animal ABC book that I will be completing in the coming weeks. Each letter in the alphabet has a portrait of an animal that will represent it. So these are obviously for T and F. In the final book the border will be white with the letter being placed in the left of right corner depending on the page placement in the
book. The entire book is being done in nupastles to allow the vivid color to catch the viewer's eye. It's getting a little stressful with the shadow of the deadline looming but I know the final edition of the book will be a success. I'll post a copy of the final when all is well.

Public Service Poster

This was a public service announcement poster against smoking. The concept was based around a smoking character from the 1950's that was a carton of cigarettes with women's legs dancing. I took this character and drew a body outline around her as if it was part of a crime scene. The text at the bottom is a play on words that would headline that smoking character. The placement is meant to resemble that of a surgeon general warning on a cigarette pack. The medium was nupastels on pastel card and was then touched up in photoshop.

Event Poster

This was an event poster and I decided to illustrate a seafood festival that is held in south Florida. I went with the concept of seafood market chalkboards that show sales. The claws are more of a surreal combination of lobster and stone crab claws, along with shrimp boarding the sides of the text. The medium was nupastels on pastel card.

Movie Poster

Well this is it senior year...crunch time. This is a piece from my poster design class. The theme was movie posters and I picked the British crime movie "layer cake." If you haven't seen it then check it out, it's by the same guys that made "Snatch. " The illustration is pretty self explanatory, with a cake that is bleeding. The title is a metaphor for the levels of crime, starting from the bottom and working to the top as in layers of cake. It was done in nupastels. I'm also making my own kid's book in another class. It is going to be a Animal ABC book. I'll keep you updated with how that process goes but I'm excited about how it will turn out.