MIKE GARN STUDIO

2011-06-08T10:43:00.005-08:00

JUNE 8 2011

It's been a long time and I've got 6 months worth of news to cover. First off, I finally placed in a Gnomon contest, i'm pretty phased about it. I got forth place with the piece depicting a SciFi corridor looking out into space. For the prize I won 5 DVD tutorials made by professionals already in the field. I spent a few hours really choosing efficiently which DVDs I needed. Also for the record I did just beat Dead Space 2, so there was a lot of inspiration derived from that, shape and concept-wise for the image. Also, I've been diving deep into matte painting, and really loving it (that's the last two images).

I officially own the domain MikeGarnStudio.com I just need to get a new ISP then finish building a fitting site for it. Yeah I really need to get on that. In other news, I don't know what I'm going to do fall semester. I need to be in school doing something no matter what, it's a habit now, but I realize that at this point I'm mostly waisting time that should be spent on learning software. I've yet to find a place that teaches 3D here in Phoenix in a manor more efficient than me just learning of Lynda.com or from one of the many tutorials online. I hear SCC has a good film program, but I'll be forced to take prerequisites that are often dragged out for an unnecessary whole semester. I really need to go to a school that teaches visual effects. Meh.

After looking over the last posts on here it pleases me to see good progress. Everything's going great and I'm staying focused on my goals. It's a matter of time and pressure.

2010-12-31T00:54:00.007-09:00

DECEMBER 31 2010

Well I've got some exciting news, I've now completed my Associates in Arts, and now it's off to find a new job doing something I enjoy doing; at least that's the plan. Since the end of last semester I've gotten my hands (quite literally) on two graphic design gigs. Hopefully I'll land a full time job sometime soon doing something similar.

I figured I'd better post up something new, so I scanned through some unfinished paintings looking for something I could fix up real quick. It's still not finished, but who want's a post with out a new picture. Also the image below the painting is my next idea for wall art I'm going to build. The addition is a glossy four panel displaying an abstract city. I know the panels look real but they're not, I'm just pro at Photoshop. It'll be sweet when finished because I'll be able to arrange them in different ways depending on the amount of space available in my room. Pretty stoked.

2010-11-18T13:45:00.004-09:00

NOVEMBER 18 2010

Heres a project I've been working on for my 2D Design class. It really shaped up after I took it digital.

2010-10-01T00:10:00.004-08:00

OCTOBER 1 2010

Welp, I just finished the drawing I think I talked about in my last post. I think the colors and tones might be off because I'm running off my motherboard graphics card, since my nvidia card is arriving tomorrow! The name I chose for the painting is "Faulty Optics" which is much better than whatever I was thinking about calling it before. Surprisingly this image took me a personal record breaking 3 days (roughly about 12 hours). I think if I was to redo this image it would take about 6 hours.

Other news... let me think... Oh yes, along with the new graphics card I took the liberty of also buying a bunch of parts to upgrade my PC, and they arrive tomorrow as well. I'm pretty stoked.

I've also planed out what will be happening next semester. I'm going to continue going to MCC for the sake of maintaining my grants. So I'll just be taking some classes there and probably some online ones. Then with my extra time I'll focus on making money and of course drawing. In that time I'll be preparing my skills for going to the Gnomon School in Los Angeles. I just want to be sure that when I get there I can make an amazing first impression, then be taught by some of the best concept artists that exist. It's a big leap to say but if I can stash away enough scholarships then it's a done deal. I've got a positive feeling about this.

2010-09-22T00:04:00.007-08:00

SEPTEMBER 22 2010

I'm almost back in the artist saddle again, but at the moment focusing more on photography for school. My graphics card broke recently so I haven't been able to finish some of the concept art I've been wanting to do. I sent the GPU in to be fixed so it's only a matter of time now.

I took the photo above tonight for a school project due... two days ago. It is one of several I took. I will most likely be making a new series titled "Domestic Abductions", but the title is still up in the air mostly because not everyone associates the word abduction with the only aliens. Or I'm thinking "1905" because that's when the word paranormal was created.

2010-09-03T08:18:00.004-08:00

SEPTEMBER 03 2010

I've been fairly busy lately with school and work so I haven't got around to making any new art besides my math notes which seem to be tattered with enough pictures to create a gallery. The image above is of a statue I created for a scholarship (which I did not win) about a month ago. Hopefully with the art classes I'm taking I will be able to create something I deem worthy to be on this blog.

So I should tell everyone about my adventure at Collins College. So these people really hyped me up telling me how perfect I was for their game design program. They told me I'd be one of the better artist in the program even at the level I'm at right now. They also tried to commit the hell out of me.This got me thinking and I decided to see what other artist were doing. To YouTube! So first thing I found was this, which wasn't very assuring. Then I looked at the portfolios and demo reels people have uploaded, most being final projects representing the outcome of the students complete progress. To say the least I was very disappointed. Most reels looked like Nintendo 64 games. The 3D sculpting was also horrendous, and the student films were like watching something a bunch of 9 year olds would make with their parent's video camera. Then I looked into the teachers and found out that 9 out of 10 of them have no in field job experience, and that most of them are graduates from Collins College. I'm glad I caught this before I was $80,000+ into it. I think my associates in art will be more valuable than their bachelors in game design. What a joke.

Because I'm getting my associates soon I'm trying to decide what to do afterwards. I will be doing something concept art, film, or game related. Right now it's between Arizona State University, the Gnomon School in CA, and Maybe something in Washington State.

2010-07-28T00:17:00.008-08:00

JULY 28 2010Well I haven't had much time lately for any serious paintings, mostly just scribbles in what should be my biology notes. The good thing is that it's given me a lot of time to think of some new concepts that I will be drawing soon. Also I've decided I'm going to do a series entitled "Basic Macanics" which will be several paintings of robots doing various ironic things. I'm pretty excited to start on that and expand my portfolio.

On another creative type note, I've finished the first draft of the first chapter in a sci-fi horror novel I've been preparing to write for two years. I don't want to let out anything more than it's a sci-fi horror, and is a concept that hasn't really been expanded much upon. So I hope within a year it will be finished. Until I reveal the title of the novel I will refer to it publicly as "Project Eprith".

On ANOTHER note, I was on the official "Dead Space 2" forum trying to get the nitty gritty on the new sci-fi horror survival game when I saw that someone was making one of the creatures from the game out of clay. So armed with the thought that I need to make something out of clay I'm brainstorming ideas. It will probably be a concept sculpture of one of the creatures from my novel.

2010-07-07T17:58:00.009-08:00

JULY 07 2010

I've been messing around with a new drawing technique called "matte painting". Basically it consists of taking a real photo, altering it, and painting over it to make it look like it was painted. Applying textures over the top really makes a huge difference to the finished product. I call this painting "After Hours".

Also for anyone who knows who Craig Sellars is, I was studying his style as I painted this. If you've ever wanted to see examples of 1940s and 50s sci-fi B-movie concepts painted in a serious tone then check out Craig Sellars work. Makes for great reference and desktop backgrounds, trust me, I know.

2010-07-01T09:14:00.009-08:00

JULY 1 1010

Remember that image I was talking about not too long ago, well it's finished! It took me a time period of about 3 weeks to finish, working on it a little bit each day. It turned out pretty good.

The next painting I want to work on will most likely be of a boy and his dog landing on a planet in their spaceship, or an image I started a couple months ago (but haven't had time to work on since) entitled "Robotic Antique". I've also been meaning to paint some fan art of Mega Man or Battletoads; both concepts derived from games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

2010-06-24T09:02:00.007-08:00

JUNE 24 2010

So I've redesigned the old portfolio, adding some order to the chaos. I still want to get a new site up within the next few months once I have some more art to display. Also I will be updating this part of the portfolio every now and again with the things I'm doing.

At the moment I'm working on a new drawing I call "Low Octane". It features a bar of robots, and I'll let the image do the rest of the talking when it's finished. Still needs a bit of work but should be finished within the week. No limits people.

2010-02-25T08:04:00.023-09:00

Welcome to my portfolio that will be here until I finish building a new one. I specialize in many different design styles and am constantly developing new ones. I'm familiar with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, photography, digital painting and graphic design. I also specialize in album art for bands. I'm searching for any full time, part time, or freelance job. Take a look around the site, email me if you have questions or job opportunities, and thanks for stopping by.

-Mike Garn

Hi Speed Soul

2008-12-11T22:44:00.003-09:00

ive really been getting deep into cgi. just thought id throw out my newest image.

Like Foxes Through Fences

2008-09-24T23:01:00.003-08:00

im still alive. ive been very busy with studing the last week and tomorrow is my last test for 3 weeks. memorizing art history info is a pain in the neck, but i just now finished that. now i should get to bed so i dont feel like crap in the morning.

sidenote, i deleated my myspace profile, and i feel like a free man now!
...also OFFICE SEASON 5 TOMORROW!!!!

The Autumn Fire

2008-09-01T19:02:00.007-08:00

Ive made a music review blog
YOUR MODERN INDIE GROUP
do check it out

Its been awhile since i posted anything on here, so here we go. things going on:

1. Im not moving to washington until 2009
2. Im back in school and pursuing a graphic arts degree
3. On the rise of setting up my own guitar products business

so the decision to stay in AZ alittle longer was very difficult and i regret it while i welcome it. in the end it really is for the better and im pretty stoked to just be around my friends and close fambly. that sure wont stop me from living in the cloudy state of washington... where people wave at you when you cut them off on the road. school is awesome and i feel content just knowing that i have another optional destination.

music writing has been going pretty slow but i did buy a synth keyboard, of which ive already customized it with wooden side panels. the thing looks BAD. i got two songs writen that i should probably set aside some time to record, i think these songs are alittle more listener friendly than the songs ive writen in times past. speaking of music type stoof, im starting a song review blog where ill comment on music that im listening to or songs that catch my ear.

End of Alaska

2008-07-30T21:52:00.005-08:00

were returning to arizona.

Seven Days

2008-07-24T15:17:00.008-08:00

Leafs and Chimes

Brothers, Minus One. :(Fish swim up this river...

...no, they jump up the river!!!

Its raining today.

Final Count Down!

2008-07-13T22:46:00.005-08:00

seams as though time is coming to its end here in alaska. in two and a half weeks ill be home for four hours in the seatle airport, and then im going to arizona, where ill stay for 3 weeks, THEN ill take my car full of junk and drive to washington. im very stoked to finally feel settled down. all the moving from place to place that ive done in the past three years has been fun and exciting but i just want to finally find that place called home.

a wild pack of meese.
exploration in bear territory: no bears found.
bullet holes...
...in the truck we shot!
deven about to look for gold in a stream

Man V.S. Fish Beast

2008-06-23T18:13:00.015-08:00

sitting there on the floor of the boat, hidden behind the seat in front of me, i escaped the cold winds. we had been there three hours, while my hopes had been gone an hour before that. thats when it happened...

the pole jolted down, pointing down into the river. i asumed the fish was about forty yards out because i let my line out very far due to my prior boardom. i struggled to take the pole from its holster. the line was very tight as the fish resisted my reeling. out of nowhere the fish changed direction, hoping it would make enough slack to escape its feight. i kept the line tight as i reeled the line as fast as i could, keeping the fish hooked. it surfaced with a large splash! my eyes must have been so wide because i could hardly believe the size of that monster! by this time i had been fighting the fish for about fifteen minutes and my strength was becoming less. i consided defeat but knew that if i did i would never forgive myself, and also everyone in the boat would probably have made fun of me for letting a fish get the best of me. after twenty minutes of fighting, kim put the net in the water. seconds after uncle gordon bonked the fish over the head with a stick, and thats when i knew...

i had defeated the twenty pound king salmon!

lifes been good. i have four things ive been trying constantly to remind myself to do. floss my teeth, maintain hygine, and improve my gamer score on halo 3. JUST KIDDING! actually its eat healthy, work out, dedicate 15 minutes a day to meditation time, and keep writing more music. so im pretty stoked on my new list of things to do.

Musical Things

2008-06-11T22:06:00.006-08:00

If there was one thing that i can start missing really fast it would be my music things. last week i took a drive down to old whitey's music store, and made a purchase. its a fender champion 600 amp. this little guy doesnt match up to my vox by any means, but after tweaking with it i got it sounding pretty good, after all it is a tube amp. the adventure doesnt stop there either! so today i was dying for some variety, something fresh, something new, something expensive!

so i payed old whitey a visit. i entered the store, and with five people inside, it got real quite. almost like those scenes where the cowboy walks into the salone looking for the man that spiked his horse's drinking water. i confidently said, "hey whitey you got any of them RC-2's in stock." and he replied, "you bet'cha sonny." i picked up the box, with sweat glissening my palms, and there it was the boss RC-2 loop pedal, taunting, beckoning.

i checked the price. just as i could have expected from whitey, price gouging. this was no ordanary price knock-up either, i was looking at a hundred dollar difference! so i called him out. he tried to pull the old "this is the list price" and i said "musicians friend will sell it to me for a hundred dollars less, with shipping." so he checked the book, took the hundred off, and i walked off with my RC-2 for normal price.

its been good up here in alaska. weve been working hard, playing hard, and fishing. tomorrow im going to try to wake up at 5:00am so i can go fish the kenya river and catch a king salmon. oh and follow up to the RC-2 pedal, ive already had loads of fun with it and right off the bat, not knowing how to use the thing, i wrote i sweet riff that i enjoyed. i like making noises.

Homer is a fishing place?

2008-06-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

homer is a small town, in alaska, that has a huge pennisula leading into the pacific ocean. so yesturday we went there for the second time. it was cold, windy, and beautiful. we got out of the car and i made fun of jake and his waiters, which are basically water-proof trouser pants. even though i thought the joke was on him, it didnt take long to become envious that he could go up to his waist line in the water. so i bundled up, threw on some sweet fingerless gloves with which i grabbed my mighty fishing pole, and ventured towards "the spit", which is just a fancy word for a water hole that leads into the ocean, or an inlet. this spit is said to be like the salmon meca and for whatever reasion they always go into the inlet at high tide.

right when we got there some guy pulled out a 2 1/2 foot long salmon. i was sure that this time i would catch something. after a long 2 hours of casting and reeling i gave up. as i walked back to the car i was thinking about all the possibilities of why only 2 people had cought fish that whole time. my conclusion is, A, the waters so cold that the salmon perfer to hang away from the ocean. B, the people who cought there fish are locals who have their friends go under water and hook salmons to their lines for the purpose of awing the tourists around them. this would also explain why they always catch one fish then leave. i think its a tourist trap.

all in all, it was a good day of, not fishing, but casting practice. i seriously enjoyed it anyway.

Alaska and Me

2008-06-04T19:01:00.001-08:00

first off, i guess this officialy exposes me to being called a "blogger", but id say thats better then being called a "myspacer", right? so this is for friends and family to keep track of me, but the deep dark reasons why i started this blog is because i saw my brother's blogspot and was envious.

so right now i live in alaska working for my uncle building cabins. ive spent alot of time fishing and been writing music. i cant imagen a better atmospher for my mind to wander and explore the different possibilities of sounds and lyrics. im sure ill share some of them on here eventually. anyway thats all im willing to talk about for now.

enjoy.