Some quick studies I did this afternoon. Big thanks to Kim for many helpful pointers!

Just a little something I knocked up in a few hours based on an image taken while flying back from Melbourne the other day. I never really do sci-fi stuff because it seems as if every matte painter has been there before. Maybe I should more often. Yes, it’s cliché, but because of that it’s kind of fun.

At home today with a bit of a croaky throat. To keep myself busy, and away from the evils of daytime TV, I did this little piece called The Tempest (not a particularly original title, I’m afraid). All up it took about 5 hours.

And no, I have never read the play so I don’t really know what I’m talking about.

After some encouraging words from a few people I’ve finally started putting a few of my favourite images up for sale over at RedBubble. Here you can order prints in the form of greeting cards all the way up to large framed prints. Have a look – and feel free to buy them. Please?

I’m quite fortunate to already have one of my images featured on the ‘Art’ page.

Watch in HD by visiting Vimeo and go full screen.

The animation is only a few seconds. Initially I conceived this as a projection in Maya so I could have a camera transition and rotation that would come around the front hill to reveal the castle. I may revisit this, but this will be much later due to current time constraints. For the moment, however, a 2.5D layered After Effects animation will have to suffice.

A matte-painting that I started months ago but haven’t really had the time to work on. Animated version to come shortly! Thanks goes to Nathan Hughes, for lending me some images, and Kim Taylor for giving me some pointers.

Nathan and Kim, by the way, are probably the best two artists that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Well worth checking their stuff out. Will profile them when time permits.

Some interesting stuff going on over at Duck Duck Collective.

Bibliophobia is an animation I did to a poem by my father that recently won the Newcastle Poetry New Media Prize. It’s not often that you get to work on a project like this with your dad, so it was nice for it to be recognised.

Jason Nelson writes in the accompanying publication ‘The Night Road’;

“Rarely does a digital poem arrive so polished and aesthetically compelling. Using rich layering of textural and graphical imagery ‘Bibliophobia’ explores the strange place between ‘ancient’ paper and the contemporary world’s new digital story/poetic environments. Indeed the work itself seems to be directed towards the brief and portable devices, a trailer of ideas for iPhones and email sharing. Initially I was disheartened by the abrupt and all-too-soon end. But isn’t that what’s expected of media, to attract with style and mystery and ideation, then leave before interest wanes.

And like electronic candy I found myself watching this work again and again, wanting more. Perhaps what’s needed is a pause button, so readers can soak in the organic, near ‘steampunk’ visuals and archaic and experimental poetics”

Rob Walker’s website: http://www.robwalkerpoet.com
Newcastle Poetry Prize: http://newcastlepoetryprize.com