Creating Orthographic Reference Images For 3dsmax

Posted a new video discussing my technique for creating orthographic image planes for 3dsmax to use as templates to build 3d models. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZobMeFBTxo

January Doodles

Doodles from January's Drink 'n Draw with The Workshop Academy in Seattle

Soulburn Education Section Revamp

I've done some major spring cleaning and revised all 172 of the art lessons on my website with modern info! Also added 20 Blender tutorials. See this short intro video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCIWCBIfc0Y and then see the new tutorials here: http://www.neilblevins.com/art_lessons/art_lessons.htm

Holiday Doodles

Happy new year everyone! Gonna start this year off with a few holiday doodles, but expect some bigger things coming up in the next few weeks as I kick 2025 into high gear!

Goodbye 2024

Here's my year wrap up, my 9 most popular pieces of art from 2024. This year has been a complex roller coaster of awesome and terrible. For everyone in the entertainment industry, may 2025 be when things finally turn around for everyone, and we can focus again on making magic. Love you all!

Best bot heads of 2024

My favorite robot sketches from 2024, think my next book will likely be Vol 2 of my sketchbook series, this time on robot heads.

Space Baroque Venrusi Forest 3

A sister piece to Venrusi Forest 2, this is kind of the reverse shot looking the other way, maybe a few hours closer to sunset. Playing more with a painterly style, really trying to push the color complexity in this one. 

PDF Bundle

For those of you who're interested in my 4 digital books in a bundle, added a package deal, you save almost $15 if you buy the set. Check it out here: https://artofsoulburn.gumroad.com/l/kufndh Maybe a good Christmas treat for yourself :)

Bot Heads

I live near Seattle, and the whole region got hit was a major storm last week, half a million people without power for days. Only upside for me was more time to sketch, but lets not do that again, 4 days without power or heat in the house was not fun. 

Thumbnailing Tutorial

For students learning concept art, this lesson discusses the purpose of thumbnailing, the different techniques you can use (silhouette, line, 3d, color and photos), and under what situation a certain kind of sketch might be more appropriate. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDEOUteE9g0

Venrusi Homeworld

Got super inspired by the stylized brushstrokes of the film "The Wild Robot", and so decided to do a brushy painting in my Space Baroque Universe. This shows a view of the Venrusi's lush forests, along with a monk enjoying a moment on the hill.

Color Sketches

Think it’s time to revive throwbackthursday. Here’s a bunch of color thumbnails I’ve made over the years, many of which led to more realistic paintings, but step 1 is always to try and capture the color / light / composition with as few distracting details as possible

Simple Compositions

Going back to those simplified environments, can I create compelling compositions from just a few fundamental shapes and strokes? Tons of fun to try!

Drink 'N Draw Doodles

Robot head doodle from last Saturday's Drink 'N Draw with the Workshop Academy in Seattle.

Final Online Sale

This is it, the final time copies of the Megastructures book (2nd printing) will be available for sale online (may do a third printing one day, but it will likely be several years). So if you want one, head over to my webstore and get it now! https://artofsoulburn.gumroad.com/

Drink N Draw

The Workshop Academy's Drink'nDraw in the Seattle area. As algorithms tweak our behavior online, & AI bots become indistinguishable from real users, we need to focus more on meaningful in-person community. I recommend, artists, find a local group you can connect with regularly! Thanks Josh for setting these up!

Starship Hulls PDF

For those of you who would love a copy of Starship Hulls book, but the international shipping is too high, or you just prefer digital, the pdf copy is now available for purchase from my gumroad store 

https://artofsoulburn.gumroad.com/l/ndqh 

LBX Sketches

Robot head doodles from Lightbox Expo. Usually have way more time to draw these between talking to people, but this LBX was just crowded beyond belief, so only had time to draw a couple the whole weekend.

Lightbox Expo 2024 done!

Had a great time at Lightbox Expo 2024, met so many great people, sold out of all the books I brought to the show, and now I am exhausted with a half working voice and hope to get some serious rest after tonight. Thanks to everyone who came by to say hi!

Lightbox Expo 2024

Final con of the year. And will have a bunch of copies of the Megastructure book + Bonus book for sale. If you're in the Los Angeles area this friday-sunday, come by and say hi!