Up the Nose Tube to Monkey Trash

...2012 Life Drawing

2012-01-28T04:06:00.000-08:00

Well a Happy New Year! (albeit a little late).
I went back to life drawing after a couple of months away. It was pouring rain and I had arrived 40 minutes late, so I wasn't expecting much from the night. The weird thing was once I got the pencil and paper out I felt utterly focused and kinda breezed through the session.
Man, I wish I knew what the secret formula for that was!!!

Ipswich City Council

2011-12-15T03:29:00.000-08:00

This is one of a series of TVCs advertising the virtues of the the city of Ipswich.
They were all completed entirely in After Effects. I do so love that program!!

More Dinosaurs

2011-11-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting this poor old blog lately...oops...Anyway here's a dino animation I cobbled together from bits and pieces for one of the local shows. As always there was no budget. The main sauropod was actually a bit of 2D animation.

History Alive

2011-11-10T21:21:00.001-08:00

I've posted before about the History Alive weekend that takes place out at Fort Lytton during winter. This time I took the 550d along to try my hand at getting some cool action shots. Man it was hard. You couldn't really get close enough to the action and my 18 - 135 lens just wasn't long enough.So a fair bit of it is a bit shake-arama...

Still I had fun editing and grading it.

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I'm baaaack!!

2011-09-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

It has been months since I've posted....ouch. I've been playing around with a camera stabiliser for the Canon 550D. Initially it didn't work very well. I discovered that the 550 was simply too light for the stabiliser. After adding some extra weight to the camera end of things, it seems to perform much better.

This is the stabiliser I ended up buying:
http://www.b-hague.co.uk/hague_dslr_motion_cam_camera_steadicam_stabilizer.htm

GSE 2011

2011-06-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

GSE2011 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I recently had the privilege of redesigning the look and feel of one of the local television programs we produce here called 'The Great South East'.

The previous look to the show had a very graphical '2D' look. I wanted to try and get away from that and devote more time to the images and textures that are actually out there in our local area. I also wanted the talent to look as good and as larger-than-life as they could.

It was an interesting experiment to pull back the graphics content and just let the images do all the work. While I certainly don't think its perfect, I'm quite proud of this new take on a long running show.

It's funny, some have reacted really positively to it while others have been a little bit shocked by what is a reasonably radical departure from had been done before.

This is one of those rare times when something I have worked on really has engendered a wide variety of responses.

The music on this clip isn't used on the actual weekly show. GSE has its own original scored track. This music is taken from the opening titles to an absolutely brilliant show called 'Boardwalk Empire'. That series title sequence was the original inspiration for me.

...Hey! More life drawing sketches!!

2011-06-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

Not sure if this really works. Strangely enough I was quite happy with my original sketch. It was only when I decided to do a colour version of it that I started to see all of its shortcomings. Oh well, I present it here as evidence 'yer honour..

RoboDingo!

2011-05-26T05:02:00.000-07:00

Robo_dingo from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
More animated Dingoes (for the company that has a Dingo as its logo). This was based on artwork supplied.

More Life Drawing

2011-05-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit tardy of late with the posts. Work has really ramped up and my spare time has disappeared. So this time just a selection of recent life drawings.

I'm really enjoying these sessions. I'm finding them very useful.

My constant struggle is to loosen up without letting proportions etc. suffer. I think it's one of those things where it's all about the journey. You never really get to a point where you are absolutely happy.

Ruff Graphics part 2

2011-04-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Dingo animated logo from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This is the logo for the company I did the previous graphic for. I found some footage of dog walk cycles on the net and took my animation cues from that. I pretty much did the whole thing in After Effects.

Ruff Graphics

2011-04-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

old style TV from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

An old style 'movietone news' animation for an intro to a segment in a corporate video.

The Fabulous Baker Boys.

2011-04-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

These were done for a promo for the TLC network show 'Cake Boss'. It's basically about a cake baking family empire in New Jersey. The concept was for you to think the mafia have moved in, then it's revealed that the 'boss' head 'gangster' is actually a cake baker. The style was in a sort of a comic-book/ paper cut-out look.

The elements I created were taken into Maya and intergrated into a 3D camera move.

Life Drawing....again....

2011-03-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

A new post...at last...or to put it another way...who cares? Just a couple of life drawing sketches this time around.

Also an animation I did late last year for the agency handling the Liberals campaign in NSW. Now being the sort of bloke who tends to dress to the left, I was a little hesitant about this project. But I figured Labor in NSW was screwed anyway and it was one of those rare paying gigs

Liberal Party Ad from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I was proud of my animated flies...basically a sort of 21/2 D solution. They then asked for the maggots, which I felt was 'gilding the lily' somewhat, but I guess they really wanted to ram home the message.

Anyway, despite my early misgivings it actually turned out to be a fun animation to work on.

Render sketches

2011-02-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

When I returned from holidays someone had left a large A3 style calendar on my desk. I thought ...'Great I can mark off relevant dates right here in front of me'. I then noticed that the calendar was for the year 2009, obviously what I thought was an act of generosity was actually someone cleaning out their trash and dumping it on my desk.

Being the ever resourceful fellow, I flipped it over and I use it as a sketch pad for when I'm waiting for my computer to finish whatever calculation it's doing at the time. The top sketch (Hulk or Frankenstein's monster) was sketched in blue biro. I then took it into Photoshop to ad the colour.

Summer by the Beach...

2011-02-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

Local Show Summer Promo from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Forgive me Father it has been more than two weeks since my last post.....

A couple of sketches from a comic strip idea I've been working on. A promo I created for the local shows over the summer. I shot the beach, surf and timelapse clouds on the Canon 550d then comped them all in After Effects.

Brisbane Flood

2011-01-23T20:59:00.000-08:00

A piece of, now ironic, art outside the Brisbane theatre and art space 'The Powerhouse'.

When I posted a few weeks ago, I had no idea that here in Brisbane the roads really would turn into canals for a few days.

It really has been quite surreal to know that this great disaster has visited so many in my city and yet, where I live, life goes on as if nothing has happened. I guess I'm very lucky my family and I don't live in a suburb near the river.

It has been amazing to see how the Government and general public have pulled together to very quickly clean up the city and attempt to get life back to normal. Of course it will take years for some people to recover, if at all.

I guess what will come next is the discussion on whether anything could have been done differently to reduce the impact of a disaster like this and what can be done to mitigate future floods . There may never be definitive answers to these questions.

The floods of 2011 will certainly cause future city planners rethink how we interact with our beautiful and, at times, awesome river.

Check out these amazing aerial before/after views of Brisbane. I had lunch just after Christmas at the Eagle Street Pier....(It looks like the water came up to the roof).

Wet, wet, wet.

2011-01-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

Offshore Superboats Opener from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Here on the eastern seaboard of Australia it has now rained constantly for over two months. I live in what used to be known as the 'Sunshine State'. Pretty soon we'll all have to start using boats instead of cars to get around.

Ok, that was a really dumb attempt to make this latest post relevant in any way...

I did the graphics for this show over a year ago now. I was happy with the way I intergrated 3D from Maya into After Effects. I love the way you can directly import 3D information from Maya into AE via the .ma file extension. At the time I think I was only just exploring the possibilties, now it's standard practice for me.

Happy New Year 2011!

2011-01-04T04:20:00.000-08:00

Another one of them thar' Tharks from John Carter of Mars...

Merry Christmas...

2010-12-27T02:35:00.000-08:00

Xmas animation from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Australia's Greatest Theme Parks

2010-12-15T21:27:00.000-08:00

Theme Parks Opener from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I recently completed the opening titles and graphics package for a special that went to air on the 7 Network. As always my budget was pretty tight, so I had to do something that didn't require lots of fiddly layering. I liked the idea that the credits were themselves a rollercoaster ride. Most of the sequence was rendered in 3D and then tweak in After Effects.

Love at First Bite...

2010-12-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

A couple of designs done for a game concept. And, you guessed it...there were vampires in it.

Gallivanting Gourmet

2010-12-11T03:07:00.000-08:00

Off the Eaten Track from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Gallivanting Gourmet was the 'working title' for a while. Hmmmm, seems like forever since I've posted...been busy.

One of the things I have been busy with is creating the graphics for this 'lifestyle/cooking' show. I was inspired by a fellow's animation on Vimeo that was in turn inspired by the work of the great 60s designer Saul Bass. He did a few of the posters for Hitchcock movies (the most notable his work for the film 'Vertigo') as well as some great designs for ad campaigns. I love his stuff in the same way I love Vic Mizzy's sound from that time.

So many people I know seem to think something is inferior if it 'dates' or doesn't speak with the same voice to future generations. While I can certainly understand that point of view, I love the sense of 'flavor' and style from something that truly belongs to its age. It forces you to stop and work a little harder at immersing yourself in a different period of time. That can sometimes become a very rewarding experience, I think.

Anyway, this was pretty much all animated in After Effects. I'm finding I'm doing more animated character stuff in AE, I found this awesome script that lets you set up IK controls inside AE. Bloody brilliant!

Oh, the music was composed/performed by a talented fellow I work with called Pete Christie. He is actually an editor by day, but makes music in his spare time as well as running a music publishing label.

...yet more life drawing...

2010-11-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

I think I had a better session this time 'round. It helped that, once again, the model was quite good.

...More Life Drawing

2010-10-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post at least one drawing from each of the life drawing sessions as a way of pushing myself to produce better figures. Not sure if it's working just yet.

I managed to convince Eddie C to come along. It's been years since I have done any drawing in the company of the great Mr.Campbell. It was both inspiring and a little depressing. His stuff was confident, free, full of life. Mine: pedestrian, methodical, dead.

As always, his mere presence forced me to think more about what the hell I was doing. I hope he continues to come.. it was fun toiling away together (just like in the old days).

Quick sketch..

2010-10-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Another sketch of an old sock character. Ultimately he was deemed a 'bit too furry'. I always liked this one, though.

Valley Rattler

2010-10-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

Valley Rattler from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
Out and about with the Canon 550D again. This time our family took a trip on an old steam train that traverses the hills and valleys surrounding the country town of Gympie. I was impressed by the sheer 'bulk' of the engine. It really had quite a presence.
I think I've mentioned before that I really need some sort of camera stabilisation for the Canon. They don't call it the 'Valley Rattler' for nothing.
I gave the whole thing a bit of a grade in After Affects.

Toybox

2010-10-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

Toybox Opening Credits from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Starting last week on the Seven Network is a kids television series I worked on called 'Toybox'.

I basically did the opener as well as a few graphics peppered throughout the show.

The concept is a well known one: when the people leave, the toys come to life and play. It's aimed at a younger audience with an educational perspective to it.

It was great fun to work on. As always, time and money were very tight so I had to be fairly economical with my approach to the opener. Because of the 'green screen' nature of the show the camera had to be 'locked down' for the ease of production. I was determined that I move the camera as much as possible for the opener to give the audience a greater sense of the characters interacting with their environment.
This is the opener with the temp audio track laid in.

Toybox_patch vfx from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

As the 'toys' were performers in suits, there was both a 1:1 scale set and an over sized set built.
Budget constraints meant that only certain 'frequently used' areas could be built in the over sized area. All other locations were achieved with the actors on green screen keyed into the 1:1 set.

Toybox_Tina_vfx from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Obviously props like giant scale chairs and tables would have cost far too much to build practically, so CG versions were created and the original camera move tracked.

Toybox_Tom_vfx from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This shot was very difficult to track. I realised after the shoot that I needed WAY more elements in the green screen to help with tracking the shot. Matching perspective also became a challenge. In the end, I think I managed to strike enough of a balance between making the shot believable as well as aesthetically appealing.

Robots of Death

2010-10-12T04:47:00.000-07:00

Not that there are any 'Death Robots' in this post. I just love that title from one of my all time favorite Doctor Who episodes. Man, I wish someone would bring those robots back for the new Who. They were cool.

Seems like a million years since I last posted...oops.

A few 'blasts from the past'...character sketches for a proposed Jackie Chan animated series. Hmmm, I think they eventually did make a show, although I don't think the villains in it were quite so Cthulhu-ish..

Robot/droid design..

And a new drawing...this is from a sexy babe, vampire thingy I've been working on. Yeh, I know...more sexy vampires...but I'm talking about Vampirella sexy, not lame Twilight romance novel sexy.

...just like riding a bike...

2010-09-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

...like hell it is. Life drawing. It never seems to get any easier. I always feel like I waste the first hour of a life drawing session fumbling around like an idiot producing crap. It's only in the final moments of a session that I feel like I'm actually making decent pictures.

It's been almost a year since I did any life drawing. Now that there's a class every couple of weeks up the road, I certainly don't have any excuse not to go.

When in Rome...

2010-09-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

Rome animation from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

A couple of quick shots establishing the scene for a 'Gladiator'-like sequence for the same company I did the

'Space Hairdryer' for. Once again, time and money worked against more eleborate set-ups. The first shot uses photos from a huge model located in Italy of ancient Rome. It truly is a remarkable piece of art. I would love to see it 'in the flesh' one day.

Space:1970

2010-08-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Space:1970

Thanks to Retromancy for guiding me to this fantastic blog. If you're like me and are fighting the good fight for 70s Sci-Fi...this site is for you!

Sealab 2020.....not.

2010-08-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

Remember that show? When 2020 seemed soooo far away..... A bit like the year 1999 (with moon bases etc.) This is another concept painting for a project that may or may not happen. (Nothing to do with Sealab, unfortunately).

Minimal Movie Posters

2010-08-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

I've become a bit of a fan of the current 'minimal' film poster craze. Maybe it's because the simple two-tone posters remind me of growing up in the seventies. Anyway, I thought I'd try my hand at this style using my favorite film franchise as the subject. Here's my first attempt.
The Jerry Goldsmith main title to this movie is just fantastic. Bloody genius.

550D

2010-08-24T03:49:00.000-07:00

Sydney-Canon 550d 18-135 lens from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

A little sequence I cut together from a recent trip to Sydney with my Darling Wife. We decided to purchase the Canon 550D after reading so many positive reviews about it on the net. Darling Wife wanted to do more photography and I wanted a camera that could shoot HD. Sure, if we had more cash, it would have been great to get the 7D or hey...the 5D, but after reading up on the specs for the 550d (T2i in the US) it really did seem like great value for money.

I think it is obvious that an investment in a camera stabilizer will be next. Still, the camera makes even low rent amateur cinematographers like me look almost good. I didn't perform any grading or software stabilization on this footage.

Warlord of Mars...Tharks

2010-08-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

Another John Carter of Mars pic.

I actually started this picture before the Dejah Thoris pic. I kinda got sick of it and put it to one side. I finally got around to finishing it the other night. Yep, against all logic I'm looking forward to the new film....sigh...

The quick sketches are experiments in Illustrator. It's a bit like Photoshop...and yet, annoyingly not.

The last illo is a concept from a top secret project that will probably never see the light of day.

More Termites...

2010-07-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

No Strings Attached....

2010-07-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

GSE_vfx from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This was part of a sequence dealing with modern television production. I had next to no time to come up with something (so what's new). I wish I could get a few more 'vfx' type gigs. They're good fun and break up the monotony of the daily grind doing 'flying-logos'.

Termite Attack!!!

2010-07-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

These are some frames from a storyboard concept for

another Pest Control TVC. The idea this time specifically deals with termite problems. I sort of thought 'Aliens'...'This time it's war' kind of thing could have made quite a fun spot. The termites are supposed to be this relentless army who is led by an evil queen. The hero is the pest control dude who arrives just in time to stop the ravenous horde from destroying some poor woman's house.

Unfortunately the client passed on the concept.

Possibly a bit over the top for your average day time or late night viewer....

Weird, Whacky and er...Whacky

2010-07-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

Weekender Special Opener from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
This was done for a special 'Queensland Weekender' (one of the lifestyle programs made by my company). The program featured 'colourful' characters and events. It had to be turned around fairly quickly, so I didn't have much time to add too many elements.
I used Maya and After effects.

Vive la France!

2010-06-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

Did the 'History Alive' at Fort Lytton again this year. I took this photo during a recreation of Waterloo (the French won this time around). I then did a bit of picture trickery in Photoshop.

I took the whole family along and made a day of it. There were Romans, Vikings, Knights, Confederate soldiers as well as different groups from WW1 and 2.

We were having a picnic when it was interrupted by a German WW2 tank followed by a parade of German soldiers in full gear. My daughter was most indignant at having her lunch spoiled in this way.

Conquest of the Return of the Planet of the Apes

2010-05-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

Cornelius/Caesar is finished at last! I ended up extending the layout somewhat..adding another ruined pillar. (made from a piece of plastic tubing and detailed with Milliput).

Ironically, the face didn't take as long as I thought it would...his tunic, however, took many coats of paint to create an even colour without blemishes. I had fun painting the ruins around him...the grass etc came from my stash of train-set vegetation painted to blend in with the overall colour scheme. I used DAS modeling compound for the main 'sand' texture on the base followed by a sprinkling of crushed chalk pastels for the finer grade sand.

Fangs for the Memories...

2010-05-06T02:25:00.000-07:00

Someone told me vampires are 'cool' at the moment.

Sparkly Sparkly Shiny Things

2010-04-23T04:45:00.000-07:00

Stefan Awards opener 2009 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Ahhh...it's that time of the year. Summer has finally released it's stranglehold on us and has stubbornly conceded to Winter. (We really don't have an Autumn in this part of the world).
Kids back at school, wheels of the economy well and truly turning over and I do the graphics for the annual Stefan Awards.
Stefan is basically a local identity, he owns a huge chain of hair salons. He's kinda like the 'Richard Branson' of the hair industry here in my state.

Anyway, every year he has this mega-budget awards ceremony where all of his hairdressers can compete for big prizes. It's a sparkly, shiny, glitzy night where my company supplies all the video feeds to the massive screens at the back of the stage. I get to do the animated backgrounds based on whatever the 'theme' is for that year.

It's always last minute, always kinda tacky, but gee I actually have a bit of fun doing it.

Last year's theme was a sort of heaven, hell, angel affair. I get to go along and a have a nice meal with plenty of wine watching tall, leggy models parading up and down a catwalk. Quite a civilized way to spend an evening really.

Heresy

2010-04-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

At a recent SciFi/Comic convention I got talking to a fellow down 'Artist's Alley' who showed me how he inks his work in Adobe Illustrator. Now, I've dabbled with inking in Adobe Flash with some good results, but I was always keenly aware that I was using the software not in the way it was originally intended. After all, Flash is fundamentally a web/animation program.

Well here's my first attempt at 'penciling' in Photoshop, 'inking' in Illustrator then coloring in Photoshop.

Early days, but I think there's some promise in this technique. It certainly is fast!

Sunday Night Sketch

2010-04-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Quick 15 minute sketch taken from the Madonna film clip 'Frozen'. Fantastic imagery, great clip.

Troodon Attack

2010-03-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

Dinos_troodon attack from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
More Dinos. This time a sequence showing the meat eating Troodons stalking their prey. Once again, Bevan Lynch handled the dino chores. Nice view of my miniature rock.

The Adventures of Toilet Door Man

2010-03-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

career video from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This was a 30 second commercial advertising a Career Expo here in Brisbane. I thought using the 'universal symbol' man would be a good way of representing a non-gender specific member of the public. It was all pretty much created and animated in After Effects with only a couple of elements (paper plane etc) coming from Maya.

I had about a 3 day budget on the project. I created a very rough storyboard which I cut to the voice-over to give the client a fairly accurate idea of how the TVC would play out. That seemed to work very well.
The audio on this version is a temp track without effects.

...Flying Logo Friday

2010-03-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

Trophy animation from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
I always liked the glass finish on this one. Fairly quick turnaround (aren't they all) using Maya and After Effects.

Monday Mornin' dinos...

2010-03-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

Troodon_forest from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
This was one of my favourite shots. It had the CG dinos, the miniature tree and foreground foliage as well as comped background stuff. really nicely animated by Bevan Lynch.

Beauty and the Beast

2010-03-03T04:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't seen the film 'The Wolfman' yet, but I'm hoping it's going to be every bit as promising as the trailer I saw. I'm a huge fan of Rick Baker's work and I read somewhere that this was going to be his last film. (!?)
I'm not one of these 'all-CG is evil' types who bang on about how stuff looked SO much more convincing in the good old days. Frankly, I think that's just plain bullshit.

I do think that craftsmen like Baker however, can bring a certain artistry to a film that no amount of ray-traced reality on a computer can surpass. I know that this sort of make-up effects stuff will one day disappear completely, more because of cost cutting than for aesthetics, and so it's even more exciting to see a great master (like Rick Baker) strut his stuff for perhaps the last time.

These were done a while ago for a werewolf project (obviously). I really can't remember what the girl illo was for, I just thought it would nice to include her to balance out all the hairiness.

Hmmm, this all reminds me of a cool comic from the seventies 'Werewolf By Night' drawn by Mike Ploog (I think). Man I loved that comic.

Things to Come...

2010-02-25T22:38:00.000-08:00

Future Bris B from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

'Things to Come' is an old movie I have always wanted to see in its entirety...hmmm...maybe Youtube...

I really can't remember why I had to create this. Photoshop, Maya and After Effects were the tools of choice once again. It's the standard... 'like those Hollywood movies except with a two day budget' scenario.

I think it went at the end of a quasi-historical documentary about transportation in Queensland. You know the last line is: ' What does the future hold?...'
or 'Where will it end? Perhaps Artoo, it will never end.'
That sort of thing....insert nerd alert here.

Tatooine Graffitti

2010-02-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

A couple of sample pages done for Dark Horse comics years ago. Needless to say I didn't get the gig! Bummer!
I can't remember if this was from an original story we were pitching at the time. I have a vague recollection about a storyline set on Tatooine detailing the adventures of Luke and Biggs.
Kind of a 'Tatooine Graffitti'. I thought it was a cool idea, anyway.

....doooooctoooooorrrrr!!!!

2010-02-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

When I had heard years ago that they were doing another Dr. Who series I got to thinking about the good Doctor's arch nemeses the Daleks. Surely they would HAVE to be updated for a more savvy 21st century viewer. I did a couple of sketches along these lines.

Nah...what was I thinking...

There was nothing 'broken' about the designs as they were.

Sure enough, when the series aired my favorite aliens were back larger than life and looking pretty much as they had for decades. They're still cool and wonderfully scary.

future bris from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I posted this ages ago...but very small...I thought I would also show the original plate that I had to work with.
It took a couple of days (usual budget for this sort of thing). Fun gig, wish there were more like this.

Go Ape!....another one...

2010-02-11T05:04:00.000-08:00

Ok...here we go again. This kit was my first ever Ebay purchase. I thought it might make a suitable companion to the gorilla kit I had completed.

I'm not sure whether he will be Cornelius or his son, Caesar. The ruins around him would make him more likely be the latter. Straight away I really didn't go for the pose recommended on the box.

I decided to add some good 'ol fashioned 'ancient sacred scrolls' to make the pose work a little better. That's blu-tac standing in for fingers there for the moment.

The feet also needed some attention. I guess the original sculpt for this was in the late sixties early seventies when thongs or flip-flops were all the rage. What appears to be bare feet in the films are actually 'ape boots' shaped like the simian's feet. I've started filling in the areas with Tamiya putty.

I really love the detail in the face. It's going to be a challenge painting this guy. I want to get across the subtle detail that was present in the chimpanzees' make-up on the show. The color scheme for this will be ochers and olive greens. I was also going to try for a sandy environment around him. I haven't exactly figured out how to do that just yet.

Space Jockey....finished!

2010-02-04T05:41:00.000-08:00

I'm fairly happy with the end result. I shot these images on my workbench lit withmy desk lamp. I blurred any off-shoot areas in photoshop. I think the colours I ended up using are kinda close to the film.

In fact, it was quite hard to find any good reference for colour, particularly for the Jockey's base. It's funny... I used to be a big fan of the spacesuits in Alien, having seen a load of photo reference of them in closeup they come off looking a bit crappy. I guess it's a testament to the brilliant way Ridley Scott shot the film that these things all look as good as they did.

The little figures were TINY! I made good use of my magnifier painting them. Anyway, I'm glad it's done....

.....NEXT!....

Arctic Park

2010-02-02T21:15:00.000-08:00

dinos_004 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
More dino animation. This is another one of those animations I have already posted at much lower res.

dinos_003 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.
This one was quite a challenge. It was certainly helped along by an excellent matte painting by my colleague Darren Roach.

Meet George Jetson....

2010-01-31T20:11:00.000-08:00

A quick sketch and yet another one of those 'cartoon ladies in the nude' for Penthouse Magazine. Just in case it isn't immediately obvious, Judy Jetson....daughter of George.

More Dinosaurs

2010-01-21T22:08:00.000-08:00

dinos_001 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

A couple more prehistoric animations. Bevan Lynch created and animated the dinos (another fellow, Richard Waterhouse, did the death throes bit). I pretty much did the rest. The shot below I had posted before at much lower res. I thought it deserved an up-res.

dinos_002 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Space Jockey new pics

2010-01-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm pretty happy with the paint job on the jockey...It might need a bit more colour variation here and there. The next task is to assemble/paint the small figures. This is certainly going to be very detailed work.

2010-01-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

Hinze Dam from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Occasionally I am called upon to do stuff that is approaching 'architectural'. While it isn't something I generally get over-excited about, these projects do present enough challenges to keep things interesting.

Dam 001 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Dam_002 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Warlord of Mars

2010-01-12T04:22:00.000-08:00

Well Xmas 2009 came and went. As did the New Year.

Here I am, my first post for 2010

(the year we make contact...he he).

I have long been a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series. I was first introduced to the world of Barsoom in the Marvel Comics' version in the 1970s. Beautifully penciled by Gil Kane and superbly inked by Rudy Nebres, I found the stories both enchanting as well as genuinely original.

It wasn't until much later that I read the actual books. I think a lot of modern sci/fi, space opera owes much to Burroughs' work...'Jeddaks' and 'desert seas', for example.

There is something hauntingly tragic about this story of a highly civilized and beautiful culture gasping for it's last breath against the backdrop of a dying world.

When I heard that there was finally to be a film in production I got all inspired to do a scribble. I used the likeness of the actual actress cast to play the 'incomparable Dejah Thoris' as my starting point. Dejah (for those who don't know) is the title character from the first book of the series 'Princess of Mars'. Naturally she ends up falling for our hero, John Carter.

Man, I usually don't fret too much about film versions of books. This is the first time I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will turn out to be a decent version of Carter.

In space no one can hear you putty....

2009-12-18T04:07:00.000-08:00

Well it's taken a while, but I've finally got around to putting the Space Jockey together.

It has gone fairly well so far...despite the fact there were gaps in some key areas. Nothing a generous batch of Milliput couldn't fix. I really am falling in love with that stuff. It's very easy to use and, man, is it ever strong.

I'm still not really sure I like the whole vinyl kit thing. It seems to take a lot of fiddling around to get things to fit and be symmetrical.

Kangaroo with Horn

2009-12-03T22:22:00.000-08:00

....a bit silly. Perhaps.

Some Days you need to Kick a Cat....

2009-11-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

....just kidding. I like cats. Most of the time....

...hmmmm...a boot up the bum theme today. Weird.
These two illos represent work I have done for Men's Magazines, basically illustrating other people's stories. I have lost count over the years how many of these I have done...hundreds I think.

Family Speeder

2009-11-05T21:25:00.001-08:00

Star Wars-ish concept.

Living in Oz

2009-11-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

Living in Australia 003 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Rarely do I get to do something that is actually a benefit to the community. Usually what I do is all about flogging some product to an unsuspecting public.

A producer came to me with a request for some basic animation showing a newly arrived migrant family going about daily tasks (like going to the supermarket). This would be cut together with other footage to be used on a DVD to help educate migrant families how to cope with their new lives in Australia.

Living in Australia 002 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I was astounded to learn just how little information there was available to newcomers. Basic things like where to find frozen foods, not packing detergents with fresh veges etc. needs to be explained to someone who has lived for years in a camp in Africa.

Living in Australia 001 from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Luckily my crude 2D animation skills were enough to get the point across for this DVD. I used a combination of Flash and After Effects. I must say I really learnt a lot doing this project and I certainly relish the opportunity to apply what I have learnt to a new project.

Vic Mizzy dies at the age of 93

2009-10-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

My 'ol mate Tim Wade and I often have commented that whenever we're feeling a bit down, popping on a bit of Vic Mizzy's delightful music always perked us up. Man, Mizzy's soundtracks were so welded to my childhood consciousness.
'The Addams Family', 'The Ghost and Mr.Chicken', 'Green Acres' etc etc. take me (even now) to a sunny place of Saturday afternoon matinees, freshly mowed lawns and cold lemonade drinks.

What a brilliant talent. I know his style of music had long since passed out of the contemporary limelight, but I'm still saddened to think that the bloke who came up with all those wonderful tunes won't be writing any more.

At least I'm hearted to learn that he actually owned the rights to his most famous work: 'The Addams Family' theme.

Says he: "Two finger snaps and you live in Bel-Air."

For the ABC news story click here.

Freaky Aliens and Spaceships

2009-10-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

...more concept stuff...

Concept Art

2009-10-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of designs for film ideas. The concept behind the second illo is a sort of 'mobile camp site'. The first sign of trouble the whole thing packs up and shoots off into the sky to find a safe haven somewhere else.

Flying Logo Monday!

2009-10-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

Great Adventures from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

...my day job....

Graffiti Technica

2009-10-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

Brad Schwede is a fellow I have worked with professionally on various projects over the years. He is a brilliant graphic designer. When he showed me this stuff I knew that he was also a very talented and unique artist. I would love to see his art as public sculpture around the city.

The People's Hero, Comrade

2009-09-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't inked with a real brush, pen etc for a couple of years, so I thought I would quickly do something to warm up. I have no idea where the concept for this dude came from....I thought it might be fun to have the Soviet version of 'Captain America in WWII' scenario. He could fight bad guy Nazis as well as perhaps bad guy Yankees.

It would all be a bit more exotic and grittier over there on the Eastern Front.

What's next?...

2009-09-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

...The Space Jockey from Alien. I have always been a huge fan of the original Alien movie. As an aesthetically well-designed film I still don't think it has been surpassed.

This kit was released by Halcyon in the early 90s.
It will be my first attempt at a vinyl kit. Trimming the pieces sure was a pain in the %@##!!
I must say I'm looking forward to getting out my Giger books and going to town on the airbrushing with this one.

Holy Frack! It's Finished!

2009-09-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

Whoops! Been out of the blog sphere for a while. I wasn't well and ended up doing a stint in hospital. Eeergh....

Anyway...at last I think the viper is finished.

I wish I had taken photos of the terrain build, but I was keen to get it over with. Basically the terrain is plaster over a polystyrene base. The grass is railway model fibers with acrylic paint dabbed on to break up the color.
I used a sponge and worked from dark to light colors for the rock face. The weird plant things are left over milliput sculpted then painted with acrylics.

Lessons learned from this exercise? Weathering took a lot longer than I thought it would.

My 'ol mate Tim Wade thought that I could have gone a bit further with the weathering. Looking at it now, maybe I could have.

Although I thought if you look at F1-11s (which are old planes these days) that are still in service, while they show a bit of wear and tear, they are still kept up to a certain standard. I figured the Colonials would treat their ships the same way.

I actually realised one must be wary of using filming miniatures as reference for painting these spaceship models. For the most part the film models are WAY over weathered...I assume so that there is no doubt that the details will show up on film.

While I do like my terrain, it probably dominates the whole display a bit too much. I could have got away with a base half the size and made a much more elegant statement with the design.

There are a few things that are a bit sloppy...you can tell the bits that were rushed. I know I'm always going to struggle with wanting to get a thing finished and keeping an eye on the quality.

Overall, it was great to take something that I had always thought I had ruined at age 14 and turn it something I'm fairly proud of.

They're creepy and they're kooky...

2009-08-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of pics today. The first was from the series of pin-up illos I did for Penthouse magazine.
I thought it was appropriate after all the discussion on female pubic hair over at Eddie C's blog. Interestingly, I always wanted these paintings to be far more 'coy' in keeping with a 40's Elvgren-style of thing. The magazine wanted see more rather than less, so this is where the illo ended up.
In this era of instant images, photoshop etc. I think the only reason for doing pin-ups like this is if it's in a nostalgic context.

Sometimes you scribble away and the end result is not too crap.

...When ya got a Thirst...oops wrong Drink...

2009-08-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Powerade Hamiton Is. Cup from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Another logo animation. My company seems to be involved in the promotion of a lot of water sport activities.

I personally try my best to keep out of the ocean. If you don't drown, you can be stung by jellyfish, eaten by a shark or even stabbed by a manta-ray!!!?

No thanks.

2009-07-31T00:06:00.000-07:00

Safety Switch Animation from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

...another one day wonder animation effort.

'History is more or less bunk.'

2009-07-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

I have always had a fascination with history, particularly military history. From the Battle of Thermopylae to the Tet Offensive, human conflict has repeatedly marked turning points in civilization. I absolutely abhor violence of any kind and yet war has a habit of not only showing the 'darker angels of our nature' but also a great distillation of the best of our humanity.

'When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way....'

Each period of history has it's own particular fascinating story for me. As an artist I am astonished by the incredible array of imaginative paraphernalia that accompanies the military historical time line. When I heard that the local historical societies got together once a year for an all-out history-a-thon, I couldn't resist taking my eldest lad and his mate along to soak up the atmosphere.

This guy had to ask the wife..."Darling you know that recent
windfall we had, could I use it to buy an armoured car?'

Luckily, the young boys really were fascinated by everything they saw and I was impressed by how the people in the armor etc. were only too eager to educate inquisitive young minds.
Imagine, two young boys being taught by a French grenadier to say 'Vive l'Empereur Napoleon!' while he cooks his Sunday roast over an open fire.

Man...this is how history should be taught!

Today the part of Napoleon will be played by Josephine

I remember back to my childhood when I almost had my love for ancient history expunged from my brain by the repeated dry dronings of pathologically disinterested teachers.
I desperately wanted to put flesh and blood to the names of the people that filled my historical texts. Television shows like the BBC's adaption of Robert Graves' splendid 'I Claudius' helped propel my fertile imagination past the grey landscape of high school history classes.

My boy now can tell you that during the American Civil war many of the Southern soldiers went into battle without shoes. He has felt the weight of chain mail, seen a viking encampment and understands that Redcoats were red because the dyes were inexpensive.

He also knows that those words in the textbooks were once of flesh and blood.

Only in the 21st century....

All Mimsy were the Borogoves...

2009-07-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

During lunch I try to escape the air-conditioned, computer screened environment of my work and go for a walk out there in the real world. Luckily, nearby is the city's largest Botanical Gardens. This place really is great for the body, mind and the spirit; I never tire of my walks there.

Amongst all of nature's wonders there's a growing number of public and private sculptures nestled in alcoves and detours. Some are quite delightful.

When this one (below) was being installed the day I walked past, I honestly thought it was a creatively mellifluous version of a park bench. In actual fact it turned out to be a musical instrument.

I'd like to think it could be both.

Serendipity

2009-07-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

'...is looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer's daughter.'
Julius H. Comroe

2009-07-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across 'When Comic Books Ruled the Earth' by Joel Bryan the other day. Those old B/W POTA comics obviously had the same corrosive effect on his psyche as they had on mine. This is a seriously funny article and a great blog. Hey, anyone who celebrates (or even remembers) the work of Doug Moench and Rico Rival has my attention!!

2009-06-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of examples of 'Flying Logos'. This sort of work is 'the meat and three vege' of the post industry. The challenge is always not to repeat yourself, the reality is that you invariably do.
A fellow worker commented that he could pick my 'style' the other day.

Living Savvy from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

I interpreted that as an early warning to shake things up stylistically on the next project. It can be real tough.
I've known designers who have had a good instinct for this kind of stuff. With me: sometimes it gels and flows right out...other times it's like the proverbial 'camel through the eye of the needle'.

Silver Series from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Holy frack!...just a few more centons!

2009-06-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

I think I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel with this model.....maybe.

The colonial warrior started out as a 1/35 scale Dragon BSG9 'Elite Urban Series Soldier' model kit. I assembled what I needed from the model then carved into it creating 'boots' and new folds in his tunic.

Using Milliput epoxy I sculpted a colonial style jacket adding hands from the Dragon model. The warrior's hair was also sculpted in Milliput. I tried to give a 'seventies' feel to his hairdo. I've given him a base coat ready for his detailed paint job.

I've started weathering the viper. Man, this really is an exact science. Luckily my copy of 'Sculpting the Galaxy' by Lorne Peterson has come in very handy for reference.

Even though the vipers in the show were heavily weathered, I don't want this craft to look too 'beat up'.

Remix

2009-05-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

Copyright in the digital age.
Check out this interview with Lawrence Lessig on LNL (Thursday 28 May 2009).
(Yes I get a gold star and a koala stamp every time I mention the show here on my blog).

I Robot

2009-05-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

A mixed bag this post...

...A robot design idea for a short film...

...a dabble in steam punk....

...and a nasty looking creature thingy...

"If I could talk to the animals..."

2009-05-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

Panda_enclosure from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This was done as a concept for a Panda enclosure. The project eventually fell through. It was interesting discovering the complex nature of the logistics involved in creating an area like this.

I bet the pandas couldn't have cared less about all the trouble and angst they caused.

I Dream of Jeannie

2009-05-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

A few old concepts on show today. I tweaked them a little before uploading.

First, I had heard about the Obama White House Correspondents' Dinner speech the other day on LNL. When I say speech, I should say 'stand-up routine'. Wow this guy is funny!

Not only did he 'lay 'em in the aisles' but when he turned to the more serious topic of the recent severe job loses among journalists, he was sincere, understanding and gave a serious commitment to the concept of a free and healthy press.

We do seem to be in very troubled and turbulent times, I draw some comfort from this new, commanding, ferociously intellectual and witty American President.

This last concept was my take on the 'genie in the bottle' thing. Sort of a scary Barbara Eden if you will.

Psychos in Space

2009-05-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

A very eclectic bag of stuff today...Another game concept pic...

psycho from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

Hitchcock's great masterpiece.

A digi-matte painting taken from images off the net. I love the different aesthetic you get when you work in black and white. It's a real shame that you don't really see that many black and white shows on TV anymore. Even though most of the great black and white films and programs were made before I was born, I was lucky enough to be exposed to them via TV re-runs.

I think there is a perception in the modern idiom to think that a lack of colour implies 'less'. A lot of the language of cinema and television craft was formulated in the B/W era. Watch a re-run of one of the original 'I Love Lucy' shows from the early fifties and you can see the template for every sitcom ever since.

It's a bit like when you develop an interest in art it is paramount you investigate the history of art in order to inform your present understanding of it. I fear we run the risk of ever increasingly diluting the 'creative gene pool' if we don't take the opportunity to visit the work of the past.

satellite from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This was done for the local hairdressing company 'Stefan'. Hair dryers in space...yup.

Snail's Pace

2009-05-04T06:28:00.001-07:00

Been real busy with work, life, work, kids, work, work, work...
Managed to do a little bit more on the Viper. I've added the cockpit interior.

It certainly isn't 100% accurate, but I'll be putting the cockpit hood (?) over the top so it won't be completely on show.

Finished the landing gear assembly. Probably a little bit of putty work to go on these. Next is to cut into the underside of the fuselage for fitting the landing gear areas. More than a little scary!!

2009-04-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went with John P to the Ideas Festival here in Brisbane to attend 'Sunday Brunch'. The forum was chaired by Phillip Adams and his guests included US robotics expert Helen Greiner, Professor Ian Lowe as well as comedian Bryan Dawe.

The basic discussion revolved around the emergence of a global 'intelligence' and how this could be the key to effectively addressing climate change. It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning and John and I vowed to get along to more of this sort of forum in the future.

I'm a big fan of Adams and his ABC Radio National show 'Late Night Live'. It is always interesting, always funny, always thought provoking and sometimes surprising. Follow the link and download a podcast.

Cyclops design for a Sinbad game concept.

A couple of illos for Penthouse magazine. The first was going to be for a series of fake 'B' movie posters. This one was 'Attack of the 50 DD Woman'. Clever, huh? Yeh right. It only lasted the one jape before a change of editor and the whole thing was scrapped (I assume).

The other illo was for the 'cartoon girls' done sexy thing. I don't know how many people remember the 'Wacky Races' show, but one of the main characters was a femme fatale called 'Penelope Pitstop'. Other memorable characters from this cartoon were Peter Perfect, Dick Dastardly, the Gruesome Twosome and the Ant Hill Mob.

The Phantom Menace

2009-03-30T00:38:00.001-07:00

This illo was done for a Phantom trading card back in the nineties. The Phantom was never something I 'grew up with' so he doesn't hold the same nostalgic charm for me as other comic book characters from my childhood. Still, he's practically a national icon so it was fun making my contribution to the whole thing.

With all the corporate failures around at the moment, I think it's important to recognise the tell-tale signs that it could be your company next.

You know the end is nigh for your company when...

A rock star becomes a member of the board.

A new company strategy is to put someone in a chicken suit and accost members of the general public to engage the services of your company.

and finally...

The fellow previously referred to as 'one of the pillars' of the company decides it's time to leave and start a milk run.

Dinos on DVD

2009-03-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the two versions of the Dinos on Ice documentary on DVD. The one on the left was for the American market, the one on the right for the Australian and European market. I'm not really a big fan of either cover, although I much prefer Ruth Berry's original title than the fairly pedestrian title the yanks gave it.

At least the Australian design has something of the enigmatic about it. It does remind me of the opening scenes from the film 'Blade Runner'. Had I known that image of the eye was going to be used for the cover I probably would have added a lot more detail to it.

It's always a familiar story, there's always too much to do at the end of these projects and little or no time to think about things like the cover to the DVD etc.

Monster

2009-03-12T23:44:00.001-07:00

While I was over at Pete Ford's 'Unstable Marzipan' I saw some creature designs for his 'Wynter Dark'. I got all inspired to sketch a monster....so here it is.

2009-03-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

medical A from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

medical B from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

medical C from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

This was both a demanding and enjoyable experience creating these medical animations. The look and feel had already been established by someone else using an entirely different array of 3D and compositing packages to the software I use. On top of that he was a really talented fellow who knew how to get the most out of his 3D renders. Trying to match what he had produced was certainly a challenge for me.

I really learnt a lot about how much 'magic' can happen in the post process. I have always cherished the infrequent times I get to work with someone I can learn the 'tricks of the trade' from.

Quick sketch

2009-02-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

Don't ask....I don't know either.

War of the Worlds

2009-02-12T02:01:00.000-08:00

My ol' mate Tim Wade came to me once with an idea for a short film loosely based around the 'War of the Worlds' theme. I thought the approach he wanted to take with it was fantastic.

This was, of course, before the Steven Spielberg version had been made (which I like a lot).

I started with a more alien design for the war machines.

We then tried approaching them as essentially tanks on legs. The look fit in really well with the period setting of the film. I really thought this was a cool way to go. Different.
It's a shame it never happened.

You never know... maybe one day...eh, Tim?

Colonial Viper

2009-02-10T04:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the kind words for my previous post. The next modeling odyssey I'll be embarking on was actually started when I was a young teenager. I had built this Colonial Viper model when the TV show 'Battlestar Galactica' got its original airing in the late seventies.

The cockpit windows were originally black stickers and it came with a pretty lame stand (no landing gear). My paint job was pretty crappy and I was never really happy with the finished result.

I have always loved the Ralph McQuarrie concept art for the original series and this painting below has always captivated me.

So I thought I might try and recreate this scene.

I'll be scratchbuilding the viper's landing gear as well as detailing the interior of the cockpit.

I had to very carefully cut out the windows for the cockpit...a little bit of sanding left to go.

My landing aren't 100% accurate, but they're not completely off either. As long as they look close enough for the overall effect to work, I'm happy.

I'll think I might modify a suitable figure to be the viper pilot. Not sure what approach I'll be taking with that just yet. I bought some Milliput (a modeling compound), so I might attempt something with that.

I think this is going to be pretty tough challenge for me. I think it will also be a bit of fun.

Escape from Beneath the Planet of the Apes

2009-02-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

This is my first attempt at scale modelling since I was a teen. My old pal John P gave me this kit a few years ago. I have quite a backlog of model kits, which I have acquired over the years, sitting in a cupboard waiting for the day when I would 'have the time'.

If you read my earliest posts you would know that I'm a bit of a Planet of the Apes fan. So I thought it would be fab to kick start my rekindled modelling interests by giving this kit a go.

The first thing that struck me about this model, after the initial wave of nostalgia, was how inaccurate it was. I can forgive this when you take into account it was originally produced in the seventies. The surface details were one thing, but the 'far-out' paint scheme recommended by the instructions were positively drug-induced bizarre.

Original box art

I had seen this kit finished with the cover art paint scheme at a local hobby and model show. I thought it was a real shame that the same care and attention to detail that was shown to a lot of the military models there didn't extend to the sci-fi kits. So I thought I would download a ton of reference and try to stick as closely as possible to the movie/TV series colours.

Original look of the kit

The base that the figure comes with I thought lacked a certain amount of detail. I love the production design of the second Apes film 'Beneath'. I wanted to convey the twisted/melted feel given to the environment of a nuclear war ravaged New York.

My darling wife let me buy a brand spanking new airbrush to add to my arsenal of modelling tools. I put it to use base coating the figure and then 'dusting' it with a bunch of different colours to blend it all in. A small paintbrush was used for details and the gorilla's face.

I used foam fill from a can to create the melted rock as well as girders from a train accessories kit to simulate bent steel. I added the hand painted subway sign to help sell the location of the diorama.

Overall I was pretty happy with the little fella. It sure was good fun putting him together!

Attack of the Body Armour

2009-01-27T22:39:00.000-08:00

John P and I collaborated on these designs for an idea he had for a game. Obviously the inspiration was 'Iron Man' ( this was before the movie thing).

We would sit down together at lunch time and just hammer them out in Photoshop. Having him there while I drew meant that we could easily change things 'on the fly'.

I really like the process of trying to make someones 'mind's-eye' vision a reality, at least on paper.....or screen.

Climate Change Documentary

2009-01-11T22:20:00.001-08:00

A couple of shots from a Documentary dealing with local effects of climate change. The show ended up airing on Channel 9. The concept with the dead dinosaur is that climate has played a role in mass extinctions in the past.

Climate_change_doco_dino from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.

It is predicted that the Great Barrier Reef could completely die off if coastal waters continue to warm. The coral etc. was created using Paint Effects in Maya comped over real reef footage.

climate_change_doco_reef from Pete Mullins on Vimeo.