Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Off to Florida

Hello all,


Well it seems like once again Florida the place I grew up is where I will be moving to next month. I will be working as Visual director at Ignition USA a video game company originally based in the UK but now having studios in Florida and Japan. I am extremely excited to take on this new venture. I'm a little sad because I am leaving LA and have made some good friends here but hey I'll be back for E3 shows and GDC etc.

The project I will be working on has the potential to be ground breaking and it will be up to me and the team to make it look beautiful that's easier said then done but that's the challenge of it all.


My feelings about being in LA for 4 years is mixed on the one hand it's a great city plenty of work and filled to the brim with talent. However on the other hand I find that many artist concept artist jump from one gig to the next without blinking which is fine to a degree. The number of concept artist working in the film industry is not so big, Hollywood uses the same creature guys for practically every creature heavy project out there and at some point you begin to notice this within the designs themselves. It's a bit hard if your just getting started to break into. In the end it is definitely who you know but more so who knows you and what you have done for them lately it's also a matter of being at the right place and time.

I also feel everyone wants to push their own ideas and sometimes in the melee talented and creative people get shuffled in the crowd and go un-noticed and basically buried under a sea of corporate bullshit and managed by higher ups who have no clue how to harness such talent. I see why many people get discouraged and leave LA, but maybe those are the people who cant tough it , perhaps that's the case. For me though I'm no spring chicken and now is the time I must give it all I have as far as art. I hope to return to LA at some point and it's an amazing place and like anywhere it has its good and bad points.


I believe though you can be in a basement in an igloo the middle of Siberia and still produced the most inspiring art and be as creative as possible, you don't have to be in LA.



Well enough of my ranting here are some new works,


































15 comments:

Mark Behm said...

Congratulations on the new gig! New starts are always exciting. Seems I've read of a few industry people moving to FLA lately.

Billy George said...

Ive been a long time fan and just wanted drop in and say AWESOME work. Your stuff is a huge inspiration for me. looking forward to a lot more.

LuisNCT said...

Man, your work is reaally cool
cheers!

Ray Lederer said...

Ditto on the long time fan. I must say each piece seems to get better than the last. I really admire the craftsmanship and passion you put into each of your pieces. Absolutely inspiring. I'd love to see more of the Conan thumbnails from CA.org developed. Anyway congrats on your new gig in FL. Remember, invest heavily in Deet, and watch out for those goddamn dive bomber flying German roaches. Yuk.

Clinton said...

I love your DVDs, JP! I watch them religiously! Worth every penny

Dawood said...

Great stuff man!
I would like to collaborate on a painting with you one day.

Kiro said...

Best of the best..
you're a genius. is admirable.

Fernando Acosta said...

hey JP,

How are you doing? How is Florida treating you? I hope you are doing well.

I myself just moved from Colombia, South America to Canada, to start working as a concept artist for a Games Company and I am loving it so far.

I just found your blog, but I see your posts constantly on CA.org

Awesome stuff, Keep it up and thanks for sharing!!!

Jean Marie Ward said...

And here I just dropped by to see if we could get together when I'm in CA June 18-22. LOL Talk about overtaken by events! Hope this means I'll get to see you and Regina (and maybe Logan) at DragonCon. Much love to you all!

Unknown said...

GAH! Sweet! Best of luck on your new gig. LA is great but man the LA freeways just suck your life away.

Andrew Glazebrook said...

Brilliant !! These are all so great !!

Cid said...

What medium(s) did you use for the B&W creature drawing? I love the contrast. Is it digitally edited at all?

Keep up the amazing work, long time admirer.

Anonymous said...

Good words.

Unknown said...

wow amazing art overall
is that greyscale lizard thing "Slythe from Thundercats" ?
looks like it would be a cool version of him if not !

gonna browse through the rest of your site now

Targete said...

thanks all , really encouraging words.With my art directing gig it's hard to find time to do actual art :). Yo Joverine yhea I could see that guy as Slythe, but I'm sure they wil come up with a cool version for the film.

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