Sleeper agent

One more character concept, just to finish with characters for a while. Apart from the upcoming sketches/drawings, expect more mechanical stuff soon, like mechs, vehicles and weapons.

Repair shop

Decided to rest for a moment from all this CG, dust off my pens and lightbox and do some traditional stuff, in a bit 'manga' style. Mechanical pencil and Copic Multiliners 0.1 and 0.3, cleanup and tones in Photoshop. I'm a bit rusty but hopefully the piece holds up. Most likely more sketches, also with markers, will follow, perhaps I'll create a separate section in my portfolio, only for more traditional stuff.

Psionic

And another character concept. If you want to imprison a powerful psionic, your restraints better be good enough :)

Vampire hunter

Another character, this time more fierce.

Golden queen

Decided to work on some characters for a change, so here's the first one. Experimenting a bit with various software, in this case Groboto (for the wings). You can create some really interesting shapes with it, probably will use it more in the future.

'Jupiter Ascending' teaser

The first teaser for 'Jupiter Ascending' is out. I worked on the movie back in 2012 and it's good to see it coming to life. And it looks great! Check the trailer here.

Guardian angel

Concept for a personal project 'Dark equilibrium'.

Rapture

Another concept for 'Dark equilibrium' project.

Dark equilibrium - Annno domini 3527

First of a new series of personal concepts. As usual, I like to fetch up a quick story that comes along :) So, here it is:

In a Medevial/Steampunk-like world of XXXV century, when humanity's sins greatly outweighed the deeds, ancient race of Guardians, that remained hidden for millenia, came onto Earth, and their nightmarish Wrath World, like a Biblical apocalypse, took over the land and the souls of humans, casting them into the Abyss of the Past. However, one Guardian stood in the defense of an innocent girl, with a pure heart, seeing in her the hope for humankind and proof that good still exists among human race. He saved her from being tossed into the Abyss and for his defiance was imprisoned in the deepest corners of the Wrath World. Ayia, with nothing to live for and aided by Guardian's last spell that allows her to be partially undetectable by the demons, undertakes the peril journey into the darkness to find her guardian angel, where she has to face a series of cruel tests and mind games. She doesn't realize that her sacrifice can yet change the fate of the entire human world..

Back in Cracow for a while

And I'm back in Cracow for some time, maybe few weeks. Working on a couple of cool projects at the moment but will try to create something personal, since it's been a while from the last piece. Gotta plan for several images, a short series, the way I like to do things, but it will take some time. It will be quite different mood from my usual sci-fi stuff, much more dark and sort of adult in nature but I think it's good to try something new and keep things fresh. Hang in there, folks.

'Best CGI' award at Louisville Fright Night Film Fest

Just a quick but nice share: I won Best CGI award, together with Bruce Holt, for effects created for '95ers: Time Runners' at the 'Fright Night Film Fest' in Louisville. Cool!

Interview for 'Hatak.pl'

During my visit in Cracow a few months ago, I gave an interview about concept art and my work on 'Cloud Atlas' for Polish website 'Hatak'. Click here to read it (in Polish)

Vue exploration - part 1

Playing around with strata filter in Vue. More sophisticated stuff is coming your way, so get ready for more environments.

'Advanced Photoshop' Issue 112 - illustration and tutorial

Here's something I cooked recently for 'Advanced Photoshop' magazine. A post-apocalyptic illustration and a few-pages long tutorial on how to mix 2D and 3D. You can pick up the latest issue here

Snapshots from lecture in Cracow

A few months ago, I gave a lecture about my work on 'Cloud Atlas' and concept art in general, at AGH in Cracow. It was a nice event and hopefully will grow bigger and bigger.

Feature at ConceptArtWorld.com

Popular website Concept Art World featured some of my works here. Thanks guys!

New job and a few big changes

Having been updating for a few weeks but there is a good reason behind the delay. I have moved to another city (always a hassle) and picked up an art director position at IDFGlobal. Some new things are coming soon though, including a cover image I did recently for an upcoming issue of 'Advanced Photoshop'. Cheers!

Assault on Silver Fin (aRevolution project)

In the finale of the story, the protagonist, merged with the modified industrial mech, leads the resistance by attacking the government HQ situated at the top of Silver Fin. The structures' defensive systems are initiated to aid Government Police forces who are already after the attacker. In such situations, smart missiles can be used to lay down an effective barrier that can at least slow down the pursuit.

Choosing the external wall of the building is a good idea to get to the top but the distance is still significant and there is no place to hide. Mech's camouflage system can only last so much and eventually only the skills of the operator allow him to evade heavy rounds.

'aTeam' (aRevolution project)

Quick snapshot of the main protagonists of the story.

Stan has a couple of NeuralNet controllers on his forearms to hack and manipulate systems remotely (up to ~100 meters away). Useful for disrupting your enemy's guns or messing with the power sources of machines/computers.

Sandra has a typical field armor, adopted from a standard military issue, with some custom gizmos, like gravity-shifter or electro-shell mode (nice for neutralizing electrical charges and projectile weapons). Her primary weapon is a double 'edged' energy vibro-sword, which can withstand around 100 blows before his battery runs out. Sandra has several spare ones, just in case she gets into some serious hack-and-slash situation.

Buzz is the head of the resistance in Atoll 7. Originally a mechanic, he supervises all the technical aspects of the movement, including network hacking and cybernetic implants hardware. He himself built more complicated elements and is largely responsible for embedding alien neuro-controllers into the mech suit created by the resistance. His own suit consists mostly of an old repairmen protective gear, used in hazardous environments decades ago when the Atoll was in early construction stages.

Police equipment - part 2 (aRevolution project)

More police hardware - personal 'mechs' for direct 'exchange of arguments' with armed suspects.

Police equipment - part 1 (aRevolution project)

Some hardware used by human police forces: air-speeders for catching up with fast vehicles and heavy air support in case of bigger problems.

Ambassador's arrival (aRevolution project)

The main member of alien part of the government with its personal security. Although aliens are considered as guests and important members of the new society, they still use formidable protection. It doesn't rise any suspicions as in some ways it may seem normal - there are obvious groups that don't approve their presence, even after all they have done. The main reason, obviously, is the resistance. In fact, the main task of armed guards is to track and eliminate on sight every member of the the movement (which is successfully demonized by aliens and clones they created) and also to prevent any attempts of contact between the resistance and the remaining members of the human government. Even though such contact is virtually impossible, one can never be too careful.

Guards are equipped mostly with alien military technology, which only they can use effectively as it channels their willpower and what could be called 'psi' energy into a 'form', be it a blast of energy or a personal force field. Their 'WillArmor' acts in a similar way and can change its configuration in-fight. Although they can be harmed and presumably even killed, their fighting skills and protective gear combined with firepower renders them, or their patron, a very rare target.

Resistance HQ (aRevolution project)

Hidden location where the resistance hack, retrieve and translate alien messages from the Global Network and is creating its own alien mech assembly system. Its members, being the main target of the city council (effectively steered by the clones, since aliens see the resistance as a possible threat) hide in the lowest levels of the Atoll 7, near the purification systems as well as within the harbor. Resistance was able to intercept and smuggle to its HQ a wreckage of an alien transmission vessel, that malfunctioned and crashed in the wasteland. It's energy core, luckily intact, is sufficient to power all the equipment and the communication systems are connected to the hacking devices.

By intercepting bits and pieces of coded messages, resistance was able to figure out parts of alien's plan. In preparation for the possible revolt, in case things go bad, technicians and engineers work on advanced weaponry, like turning a regular hazard suit used by aliens for industrial work into a mobile battle mech. Aliens revealed some of their military solutions to the council for beefing up Atoll's security but its out of reach for the underground. Since mech can be operated only by an alien, technicians came with alternate, albeit radical solution. Special cybernetic implants that modify nervous system of the carrier allow to fool the mech into 'thinking' its being operated by an alien. The drawback is the procedure itself, since not everyone can survive it and its irreversible. Mech's surface is covered with color-changing molecular lining that allows it to adapt to nearly every environment like a chameleon.

Cloning facility (aRevolution project)

Majority of population is unaware of aliens' plan as well as of many of their hidden facilities, like cloning chambers. Many high society members and most of the government have already been replaced with perfect replicas, genomed from abducted 'originals'. The new versions have fully developed alien brain and nervous system. They also have modified bone structure, a mix between regular human bones and alien organic material, although adopted to the human body in 100%, so no external differences are noticeable. It does, however, provides additional strength and endurance. Clones are created via 'DNA weaving' performed by alien equivalent of scientists, who need to operate from within a special chamber since the process is possible only in the original alien form.

Task of the clones is simple - to ensure an increase of alien influence and support for all government plans and proposals regarding alien presence on Earth. It's all merely a preparation for the final move.

Floating residences (aRevolution project)

Richer and more influential citizens, who used their connections well or were smart enough to use the economic growth since the aliens' arrival, live in floating mini-islands, hoovering over the Atol. Each island has self-sustaining energy source, temperature controlling and air purification systems. Small docking stations with syntetic fuel generators and/or ion chargers take care of the vehicles.

Depending on personal preferences (and capacity of the wallet), floating islands can also have luxurious pools, gravi-chambers and other attractions. They can also branch out and to create additional mini-islands but they need to be connected to the main one and its power source.

District 14 (aRevolution project)

Closer look at one of the city centers in District 14. Most of the Atol's living districts are spacious and clean, filled with new plant species and purified water. Although initially, alien technology was used in its pure form for standard solutions, like public transportation, humans quickly adopted certain elements like gravity shifters or light splitting to create more artistic forms, fountains, sculptures and holographic projections.

Shops that sell products for aliens (so-called aShops) can do it legally only after receiving government approval sign. Purchase and consuming the products for aliens is not recommended, as their effects on humans are still not fully analyzed and can affect humans, perhaps even on the genetic level. Safety is an issue as some sub-cultures imbibe alien medicines and certain other products that cause effects similar to drugs.

Harbor (aRevolution project)

The main harbor of Atoll 7 is located between the Main Station and Silver Fin, which are connected by LinkWay. Atoll 7 trades mostly with Atoll 9 and Reservoir B2. Most ships use new, alien technology that allows them to glide above water surface and take on much heavier cargo than regular ships. Some of these still remain active, though usually heavily modified. As the air outside the habitable areas is still considered unsafe, all ships and docking areas have protective and filtration systems. Since these areas are more difficult to be patrolled, harbor is also considered to be the 'grey area' and the possible location of the resistance.

Silver Fin is the main business, navigation and city control center. Its tip, where the council resides, is well over a kilometer above the ground. Half of the council consists of aliens who oversee the conditions and rights of their own kind within Atoll 7.

Atoll 7 (aRevolution project)

aRevolution is a personal project, where the aim was just to have some fun designing various environments, vehicles, characters, etc., all built around a simple storyline. Hope you guys enjoy the concepts and if you want to know more about them - just read the background stuff included :) If not, simply skip to the art :)

-------------------

Earth, 2183. From over 40 years, aliens live among humans.

XXII century was full of global conflicts that left the Earth deprived of most of its natural resources. Majority of areas were left inhabitable. The land and water were too polluted to grow crops and most people hid in large, cruddy metropolises.Earth, 2183. From over 40 years, aliens live among humans.

When a planetoid of unknown origins appeared suddenly around the orbit of Mars, United Government, prepped and sent an expedition to discover its origins and purpose. For several years, the shuttle hasn't responded and was considered lost. Eventually, the shuttle, augmented and modified, found its way back to Earth carrying alien species on board. Thanks to genetic mutations, DNA manipulation and other technological means, aliens emissaries adopted human tissue collected from the original crew members, with alien brain and nervous system embedded into it. In their original form, they couldn't survive on Earth. Later, it was revealed that similarly, humans wouldn't survive on their own planet should it still existed (it was destroyed by a rogue comet). Beings, resembling humans, were welcomed with disbelief and fear. However, after months of negotiations and mutual agreements, the visitors proved to be more than generous and the first wave of alien settlers in human-like form landed on Earth.Earth, 2183. From over 40 years, aliens live among humans.

For the next few decades, aliens offered their advanced technological solutions once used on their own planet to clean up the Earth and turn poverty-ridden mega-cities into thriving, clean and advanced metropolises. New power systems and new communication means were developed and adopted by humans. Aliens were given their own Sectors in all the major cities. They have their own apartments and shopping districts, with products suited to their Earth form. They have their own representatives in government.Earth, 2183. From over 40 years, aliens live among humans.

Stan, the main protagonist, is a typical blue-collar technician, working in hazardous environments using Hazard Suit, fixing electronics. When fate crosses his paths with a mysterious woman from high society circles, he discovers the truth behind alien presence on Earth and their well hidden agenda that threatens the entire human species.

------------------- Atoll 7

Overall view on Atoll 7. Built close to the land, it acts both, as a thriving megalopolis and water purification station. Huge water pumps surrounding the city suck the sea water in, filter it and distribute all over the city as well as through the air channels towards the land. Special green houses and bio-plantations take care of development of new breeds of plants, since most of the original Earth plants died out decades years ago. Some modified plant species already grow wildly, covering the surroundings.

Central part of the atoll is also filled with greenery, with numerous multi-levelled parks and other recreation areas. A super-speed highway, so-called LinkWay, connects the main part of the city with the Silver Fin - government HQ and city systems' AI, developed by aliens in co-operation with human technicians. A force-field, penetrable only by solid objects (like vehicles) surrounds the atoll, preventing any by-products of water purification or remaining germs to pollute the city's air.

The war continues... with extra shots

A couple of snapshots taken from additional VFX sequences created for '95ers: Echoes'. I already worked on the flick over a year ago but recently was approached to prepare several additional shots - over 30s of action-packed battle scenes including ships exploding mid-air.

During a few intense weeks, I went from initial design and 3D animatics, to modeling, texturing, matte painting and compositing. Majority of animation, like lasers, ships flying and falling into pieces, is key-framed in Maya. Pyrotechnics were created using Maya Fluids, dynamics and presets, which were rendered as image sequences and distributed in Nuke's 3D space. Fortress model was a pretty detailed 3D asset, with many textures projected onto it for extra detail. The environment is mostly a matte painting, in two versions, nighttime and daytime. Some of the shots you can see in the new trailer for the movie below, they will be soon included in my updated demo reel.

"95ers:ECHOES" sci-fi feature movie ("TIME RUNNERS" in Europe) from Space Ace on Vimeo.

2nd run of my workshop starts May 13th

First 'edition' of my 6-week long workshop is almost done. Next one starts in just a couple of days, from May 13th! If you're interested in creating some cool 3D matte paintings with Maya and Nuke, this workshop is for you. More info here: here

Iron Cloud

Check out the new upcoming indie sci-fi movie from young Polish filmmakers and actors. I'll be providing some concept art for it and maybe a bit more. Stay tuned!

What's up recently?

Well, I'm back from Poland after a presentation/lecture about concept art given at ArtBuzz in Cracow (see the previous post). Lots of work currently, too busy to fetch up something half-way decent for myself, so not much to show apart from some random chick I did for fun a while ago.

Right now, I'm working on a couple of cool matte painting/vfx gigs, for TV ad and sci-fi flick (more info soon). Also, just got a notice that a couple of my artworks will be featured in the upcoming EXPOSÉ 11 from Ballistic Publishing. Cool!

Prezentacja na AGH w Krakowie

Dla zainteresowanych: 20-ego Kwietnia o 18.00, w Centrum Dydaktyki AGH ul. Reymonta 7, Kraków będę dawał prezentację pt. "Kreowanie futurystycznego świata na potrzeby filmu" na przykładzie "Atlasu Chmur" (zgadza się, na tydzień wpadnę do kraju nad Wisłą). Wstęp wolny, jeśli ktoś chce posłuchać to zapraszam. Opowiem o procesie tworzenia i jaką drogę niektóre z projektów przeszły od wstępnych szkiców po końcowe rendery. Poza swoimi konceptami będę też prezentował koncepty i storyboardy innych artystów, także kilka zdjęć z planu filmowego.

Link z info: http://www.artbuzz.edu.pl/prelegenci/adam-kuczek

'Spaceship Concept Design Pipeline in Photoshop' released

Video tutorial I recorded recently for Digital Tutors, has just been released. Over 3 hours long process, using Photoshop, Modo and Apophysis. Make sure to check it out!

And only few days left to sign up for the first edition of my new VFX Workshop, don't miss the opportunity to learn how to create your animated matte shots and compose them in Nuke.

Promo clip for my workshop

Interested in enrolling but hesitating? Watch this short promo clip that explains a few things about the workshop. Only two weeks left!

'Oz: The Great and Powerful' interactive website concepts

Some of the concepts I prepared while working with Unit 9 on an interactive website Find your way to Oz. The website, which promotes for the upcoming Disney's movie, uses new capabilities of HTML5 and Google Chrome. Visitors can navigate around the environment, try various attractions and eventually take an (almost fatal) balloon trip.

Updated demo reel

Just updated my demo reel, mainly with a long shot (the first one) I will be using during my upcoming workshop as an example for participants. I will show the whole creation process step-by-step and teach all the techniques and tricks. Proper promo clip is coming any day now :)

Interview for FilmoSphere

If you want to practice your French, you can read an interview about my work on 'Cloud Atlas' provided for a French movie website 'FilmoSphere': click here

Also, now only 8 spots left for my 3D matte painting and compositing workshop. Grab the opportunity while you can!

3D matte painting and compositing workshop!

Great news for those all interested in matte painting. On April 1st, I'm launching 6-week long workshop related to 3D matte painting and compositing, using mainly Maya and Nuke. Course will be hosted and provided by VFX Workshops created by Alp Altiner. I will be sharing lots of industry tricks and techniques. Workshop has a limited number of participants, so if you're interested in enrolling, quickly go to: http://vfxworkshops.com/instructor-workshops/3d-matte-painting-maya-nuke-ak/

Guerrilla fighter

A character done a while ago for an abandoned Asian card game project. In the post-apocalyptic wasteland, toxic fumes are not your only enemy.

Article in 'Advanced Photoshop', Issue 104

I contributed to one of the main features of the Issue, called 'Pro matte painting', sharing some techniques on creating night shots. The article also contains tips and tricks from other fellow matte painters, like David Luong, Jaime Jasso, Frederic St-Arnaud, Alt Altiner and Francesco Corvino. If you're interested in the topic, make sure to pick up the magazine here.

Forgotten keep - WIP1

Here are two of many elements being crafted for the final environment shot. My first extensive use of ZBrush, hopefully will end up looking halfway decent. More WIPs coming up.

ZBrush warmup

Small warmup while familiarizing myself with ZBrush. In the past, only touched the app briefly but now I'm preparing a couple of detailed environments/matte paintings, heavily utilizing sculpting, displacements, etc. I'll post the first WIPs soon. For now, a quick and cruddy barbarian.

More suits

A few more quick suit designs.

1. Pressure suits, good for deep space flights and rapid descends into the atmosphere. Elastic, yet extremely durable. Can withstand pressure up to 12 G. (using After Effects and 'Element 3D' plug-in with its particle replicator capabilities.)

2. Combat suits, for infantry facing off-world life forms, outcasts and space pirates. (Maya scatter scripts and kit-bashing).

3. Exploration suits, for scouts, geologists, cave-divers and search & rescue teams. (good, ol' Photoshop with addition of some texture brushes).

Experimental suits

Welcome in 2013! May it be fruitful and full of great projects.

To start with something colorful, here are a few suit designs I did a while ago, more experiments than anything else really, trying various techniques and Maya scripts. I'm studying ZBrush and modo at the moment, in order to produce some kick-ass 3D faster and more conveniently, leaving cumbersome Maya behind. Soon, I'll post one or two more polished artworks.

In the meantime, first two boards.

1. Alien suits, either found in derelict ships or seen during direct encounters. Some seem to be 'alive' and able to change consistency and/or constantly reassembling themselves around the 'carrier'. Purposes, abilities and endurance unknown (using Maya's particles/instancers with a bit of kit-bashing and fractal generators).

2. Bio-organic suits, with electronically controlled 'inner environment', useful for extreme weather conditions and medical recovery (using After Effects and 'Element 3D' plug-in with its particle replicator capabilities.)