20th Anniversary

20 years ago today (June 24th 1999), I started working at Blur Studio in Venice California, so today marks my 20th Anniversary of being a professional artist in the entertainment industry. I have been so lucky to work with so many amazing people, 3 years at Blur, almost 16 at Pixar, a year of freelance, and now I continue my journey at Monolith Productions. I look forward to another 20 years of collaborating on amazing projects with fantastic people, and then a busy retirement of making scifi art books. Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way, I so appreciate you all!

Spaceship doodlin while waiting for my network access to reboot

Two New Starship Sketches

Horseshoe Laser Pistol

I don't often design weapons, but I saw a piece of luggage on an airplane whose handle reminded me of the laser pistols from the black hole, and so the Horseshoe Laser Pistol was born.

Ship Jumper Logo

My new "Ship Jumper Logo", and a bunch of variations I explored before deciding on the final.

Heart of The Giant

As well as "Inc", I have 4 other personal IPs in the works. After my Megastructures book, next up is likely to be "Heart of The Giant". Typography master Susan Bradley https://twitter.com/lowercasetype came up with an awesome logo for the project. And go here for a few teases of what's to come

https://www.artstation.com/artofsoulburn/albums/592586

SoulburnScripts Updated April 25th 2019

The scripts have been now fully tested in Max 2020!

New Maxscripts:

vrayMatteManager: Allows you to turn on or turn off the shadow catching Matte properites of selected objects for vray.

Updated 7 older Maxscripts:

groupWithPoint: Added ability to place the point at the origin.
iDSetter: Fixed a crash bug when using SaveDef
materialInfoDisplayer: Added "Top Level Materials On Selected Objects" function. So if you choose "Materials On Selected Objects" and you have a multi Subobject material you will get that material and all submaterials. If you use "Top Level Materials On Selected Objects", you will only get the material assigned to the object itself, no submaterials.
modelPreparer: Updated GroupWithPoint function to fix crash bug.
objectDropper: Added a pick button. So now you can select the object to drop to, hit add, and thens elect the objects you want to drop. Or you can do it backwards, select the objects you want to drop, then use Pick to choose the object you want to drop to.
objectPainter: Defaults now to no Prefix on newly created objects. Now you can have the new objects created on the active layer, or have them keep their original layer. If you choose Actve layer, the script now gives you an error if you try and create objects on a hidden layer. If you REALLY want to paint objects on a hidden layer, unhide the layer, hit the "Paint" button in the UI, then rehide the layer to circumvent the system.
vertPlacer: Added ability to place verts at Min or Max, not just Average.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/scripts/3dsmax/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

A Few Line Sketches

Gotta keep my doodling muscles strong...

A Few Photos From Emerald City Comicon

Had a blast! Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of Inc!

Emerald City Comicon!

Come visit me at the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle! (sharing a table with fellow Blur studio alumni, the amazing Chuck Wojtkiewicz) Come hang out March 14-17th, say hi, and buy a copy of "The Story Of Inc" and some special fine art prints!

The Inc Logo

A little blast from the past. Before we chose our final logo for "The Story Of Inc" book project, a lot of logos were tested and discussed with the team. Here's a bunch of Logos that didn't quite make it.

Megastructures 12 Nicoll-Dyson Laser

Speculative Fiction Reviewer James Davis Nicoll first proposed the Nicoll-Dyson Laser as a weapon where the satellites of a Dyson swarm surrounding a sun act as a phased array laser emitter capable of delivering their energy to a planet-sized target at a range of millions of light years.

The laser could do anything from wiping out the atmosphere on the target planet to cracking the planet in half depending on the focus of the beam (a collimated beam would be the diameter of the Dyson sphere used to generate it, whereas a focused beam could be more concentrated). Other factors that could effect the beam’s intensity include the size and energy output of the sun surrounded by the Dyson Swarm, the efficiency of the swarm’s solar energy conversion, and the amount of time the laser was pointed at the target planet.

Inc Coral Desert Wandering 15

Landis and Inc trying find shelter before the final rays of sun sink below the horizon. Continuing to refine my more painterly style.

Monolith!

So big announcement time! I have started a new full time job as a Senior Concept Artist at Monolith Productions in Kirkland WA! If you don't know Monolith, they have been around for the last 25 years or so, and some of you may have played their critically acclaimed videogames "Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor" and "Middle Earth: Shadow Of War". I've started on a new project with an amazing team of people who have been tremendously supportive in this transition.

I have enjoyed tremendously the last 20 years in California, the last 17 of which I spent in San Francisco, but over the years housing has just become far too expensive, traffic has become pure gridlock, and the once thriving SF film and videogame industries are now a tiny fraction of their former selves as those companies have gone out of business or moved the bulk of their work to tax incentive rich countries.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Seattle, as well as being a naturally beautiful city, the area has a lot to offer compared to SF. Housing is less expensive. It has a thriving videogame ecosystem with dozens of companies. And you can buy housing in good school districts within a short commute to those companies (minimizing your time on the crowded highways). In the last few years I've seen a lot of artists from the entertainment industry trying to find a better quality of life, moving from the overcrowded population centers, and now it's our turn! I will always love the San Francisco Bay Area, but it is time to move on.

I am so excited to be working at Monolith, the team is great, the project is cool, and I look forward to making lots and lots of art!

17th Annual VES awards

So I am honored to be nominated for a VES (Visual Effects Society) award in the category of "Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project" for my work on the Underminer Tunneler vehicle in Incredibles 2. Congrats to my co-nominees Philip and Kevin, and congrats to the other nominees!

https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/post/17th-annual-ves-awards-nominees