Blog Bragino » Design

Environmental Design studies

Bragino — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:04:30 +0000

I've been hard at work teaching myself how to create environments that depict scale with the help of the amazing set of free tutorials over at the FZD school website. I want to personally Thank the creator of those videos (Feng Zhu) for all the work that he put into them. Feng Zhu is one of the top conceptual designers in the Entertainment industry. I've learned a lot so far but I'm just beginning. Thinking about applying to the one year design program. I'll let you know if that happens. Here's some of the studies I've done so far..Let me know in the comments below how you like them…

Biplane Race..

Prehistoric Forest.

Seal Team..

Why is Matte Painting so much fun?

Bragino — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:00:34 +0000

Well, there's a whole list of reasons why it's fun to make Matte paintings. It's not just that they look cool but, for me, it opens up a whole new world of dialogue as an artist. Matte painting is something that's used for creating environments for TV, Film, and Gaming. It's an exercise in creating stories and that's what appeals to me the most. I just started learning about it and so far I've been having an interesting time getting my feet wet. I'm generally teaching myself the ins and outs of it with the help of some dvd instruction from the amazing artist's over at The gnomon workshop. I am in no way affiliated with them, just a very happy customer of about 5 tutorial dvds. I've learned a lot from them and I'm using that knowledge to move my self along as an artist. Here are a couple of quick black and white environmental design comps that I did. After I had a few compositional sketches completed I opened up a cool image that I had in my image library of Scotland and decided to try my hand at making a matte painting. Check out the results below. I'm personally very happy with where this is taking me…

Here's one of the first environment sketches I did in photoshop. Very loose, just trying to sell some depth in the image and an interesting composition. This took about 10 minutes to do.

Here's the second one I did. Again this was quick, about 15 minutes. Just working on creating an environment with some decent scale to it…

Here's my first matte painting. My intention was to incorporate the Asian buildings into this Scottish landscape. Please understand that I am just beginning with this. I realize this would not be suitable for an actual Matte painting but one day through practice I'll create something that will be.. I find this process interesting because your starting out with some kind of mood or feeling and then your allowed to build whatever world you want right into that landscape. It might be too early to tell but I think I'm hooked..

MATTE PAINTING, I call this "The BonnieLand"

West Gilgo Beach Mural Documentary

Bragino — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:05:33 +0000

This is a 12 foot tall by 240 foot wide collaborative mural accomplished in the summer of 2010 by the following artists:

I designed this mural as a 4 seasons cyclical theme starting in winter on the South wall and ending again in winter on the North wall. It's painted inside a 120' tunnel and both walls were painted to complete the cycle of the seasons. I gathered some of the best artists I knew to come down and join me in the creation of this mural. My brother John shot a documentary while we painted this.

Here are two versions to view. The top one is a wider format so you can see more of the mural at one time. The bottom is for checking out details. Enjoy!!

Valley of the Egrets

Bragino — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:18:02 +0000

This image has been through many stages to get it to this point. Here's a list and a good reason to embrace technology as a tool for art…

This started out as a commission for a client that needed a wedding gift for a mutual friend. I was given some information about the soon to be couple. They both loved outdoors and nature, his favorite animal is an Egret, and she loves sunflowers.

I remembered a conversation that I had with someone from that circle of friends about canoeing down the Nissequogue river on Long Island. The sun was about to rise and as soon as it crested over the horizon it appeared as if the lights turned on over the land and the birds that were resting on the river took to flight. The biggest of those birds was a Great Egret that flew by the two guys in the canoe just above the water. I recall them being pretty inspired by the whole scene.

With all that in my head I set out to create a comp or image on the computer that I could later use to paint a large scale painting from.

After the comp was complete and approved by the client I used it to work on and complete a 7ft x 3ft painting

After the painting was complete I took high resolution images of it and brought it back into the computer where I re painted the background of the image. In the actual painting there was some loss of the time of day that's reflected here.

What your looking at in the image below is a computer painted background behind a hand painted foreground. The trees and birds are a direct scan from the original large scale painting and the background was repainted in Photoshop. Sometimes having more tools available to you is beneficial. My challenge for the next image I paint large scale by hand is to be able to get the background painted the way I want it without having to redo in the computer. On the other hand having gone through this process has led me to many ideas and techniques that I would have never thought of…..

Ballpoint Pen drawings

Bragino — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 21:41:37 +0000

A friend of mine asked me why I draw with a ballpoint pen the other day. When I first began learning to draw the figure I chose to work with pen initially so I couldn't erase. The thought process of having to accept and work with the marks that you put on a page still intrigues me to this day. It generally forces me to be braver when I draw and that always helps create more dynamic drawings, mistakes, and nuances that identify me as an individual. I like to see the struggle of the artist on the page and using a pen or any other permanent tool to make marks with encourages that. Here's some images drawn with a Ballpoint pen.

This is a drawing of Craig who regularly attends the Draw Humans sessions at Theceeflat.

Here's a few drawings of Gestural poses. These were about 2 minute poses

Here's a complete figure drawing from a 20 minute pose of Laura

Cows in Scotland are friendly

Bragino — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:59:11 +0000

I know it sounds corny saying that cows are friendly but that's what I experienced in Scotland when I met some cows grazing in a pasture along the road. They are such beautiful and gentle creatures that are very aware of the things around them especially humans. They remind me a lot of dogs. I was shocked at how moved I was by these wonderful animals. i wanted to visit them everyday I was there in Scotland and was happy when I finally got a good 2 hours to go out and draw them. Here's the results along with some pics and a video of these amazing animals.

A picture of some cows that were interested in what I was doing…

Some drawings of cows in the field.

A video of my new found friends..

Subtle figure drawing

Bragino — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:17:06 +0000

I drew this last week at figure drawing and wanted to share it with you. I feel I captured the subtlety of the model and her relaxed pose. I used the pillows and the fabric in the front to lead you into the composition and to contrast the human form and frame it. Let me know your thoughts about this one.

Seductive Poster Design

Bragino — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:10:21 +0000

Sometimes you choose to lean towards a more dreamlike state in design. This poster has that mysterious seductive feeling to it. There are a few elements that I think help accomplish this type of look. Here they are:

Vintage paper texture in the background > This is an easy way to call to a bygone era. In this case the texture adds a mysterious element to the design.

Script fonts > They always have a sexy feel to them especially when they're treated the way these are. Very organic and stylized.

Soft color palette > Notice there aren't any blacks in this image so we're getting a soft feeling. The cream color is delicate and pink will most often give you a feminine feel.

Subject matter > Curvaceous female form slightly hidden in the shadows undisturbed except for the trickle of light falling on her back. Yeah that pretty much works.

All in all I think you get the point. With all these elements put together you get a certain feeling. I'd like to point out that these elements came together for me in an intuitive process. I didn't plan for them to happen. I more or less analyzed why they worked after the fact. The point I'm trying to make is that you should go with the process and see where it leads you. If an element is working then move forward and add another element and hopefully that works as well. If it doesn't work then try something different. It's all like a puzzle that needs to be solved and in the end you wind up with something that surprises you and hopefully speaks to you as well, as this poster design did to me.
And finally after all that analysis here's the actual poster. Let me know what you think in the comments section below…….

West Gilgo mural

Bragino — Wed, 25 May 2011 23:44:04 +0000

This is a 12 foot tall by 240 foot wide collaborative mural accomplished in the summer of 2010 by the following artists:

Here are two versions to view. The top one is a wider format so you can see more of the mural at one time. The bottom is for checking out details. Enjoy!!

How to Design a Logo

Bragino — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:22:46 +0000

If this were an actual step by step tutorial it might not read very well. I'm not sure if you can give a step by step on something like this. A logo is a symptom of an ideal. The thoughts, the dreams, the vision that a person has for their company. It's how they want the public to view them and what services they offer. Color, graphics, style, treatment of all these things tells a story visually without them having to do it verbally.
Here's some quick advice for working on a logo:

Ask your client a lot of questions about their style, tolerance for design, color preferences, and most importantly how they want other people to view their company.
Sketch as many ideas as you can but narrow it down to the top 3 or 4 designs to show the client. Don't give them too many ideas to consider because it will just confuse them.
You as a designer are responsible to get the client what they want but remember your the one who knows what looks good and what doesn't. That's why they came to you and you have to steer the process as much as it requires. It's ok to tell a client that what they envision won't work. Make sure to tell them why, in your professional opinion, your steering them away from that idea.
Consider the company image as a whole. It's not just a logo. It's a brand. How will they present this brand with all their future marketing materials? Web, print, stickers, fonts, verbiage, etc…..
Charge accordingly. This is an extensive process which I budget for at least 20 hours of design. It will probably be twice that amount. Figure out what your hourly rate is to design and multiply that by at least 20 hours and thats how much you should be charging to design a logo.
Have fun and enjoy creating the brand. It's hard work but it can also be very rewarding.

Although I would not consider myself a logo designer I have designed my share of logos. I like to think of myself as an artist in general. If you understand design you can approach a great many disciplines in art. It all just requires doing it over and over till you get the feel for the specific discipline. Here's some logos/brands I've designed over the past year. I rarely take on commissions to do this type of work but I have a lot of friends and family that have started their own businesses/dreams. In these cases I try to help them out when possible. This is what we've done together…..

Live Your Yoga (designed logo and website)

www.liveyouryoga.net

Vero Restaurant (designed logo and print marketing material)

www.verorestaurant.biz

Vittorios Restaurant (designed logo and business cards)

www.vittorios.biz

Town Farm Organic (designed logo, business card, tshirts, website)

www.townfarmorganic.com

Wolf Garden of Massage (designed logo, business card, website)