Philip Dimitriadis

Old Mining Camp

2010-10-22T22:30:00.001-07:00

Good old western movies! After watching a couple Clint Eastwood westerns, you cant help but want to design some fun environments. I drew this in blue pencil, then scanned it right into Photoshop. It was a lot of fun.

Indian Cave

2010-08-12T21:08:00.001-07:00

Having some fun working on a Indian Cave. I like the tonal better. Still wanting to fudge the color around more... but out of time. Thought I would post both.

Drawing Hands Demo

2010-06-05T11:37:00.001-07:00

I did a hand drawing demo for my buddy Evan..
over at Cartoon Block. A lot of fun!!! Check it out!!

For Chelsea's Collection

2010-06-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Wow!! I know it has been a while since I have posted.Time to get busy again. Between full time work, freelance, a nasty recession, coaching T-ball, and family time..Something had to give. Some I am back in full with new work. Thanks for stopping by.
I did these sketches for a wonderful little girl in England who is collecting a sketchbook of artists from around the world. Check it out!! Just click above on " For Chelsea's Collection"----Pretty cool!! Hi Chelsea!!

Organic Study 1

2009-07-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

This is a organic study I designed in Maya while modeling.

Downtown

2009-06-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

I came across this design I did a couple years ago for a film project I was working on developing at Big Idea Productions. I was really looking forward to building this in Maya, but the project was cancelled. It sure was a lot of fun though.

ROBOT

2009-02-19T10:23:00.001-08:00

Thanks everyone for stopping by. I have been so busy lately I apologize for not posting every month. Between work, 2 kids, earthquakes and wild forest fires in the hills I have become overwhelmed the past couple months. Have a bunch of new work coming. Here is a robot design I was having fun with. You got to love the robot theme.

Tonal Study in Photoshop

2008-12-05T01:14:00.000-08:00

Sketchbook-3 Thumbnails

2008-10-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Just doodling...and having some fun. Thanks for stopping by.

Sketchbook-2

2008-09-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Just having fun on my time off. I have been dirt bike riding every weekend with my 250cc bike, and sketching. Always been fascinated with machines that go fast. Here are some doodles I put together from my sketchbook thinking of futuristic machines. The little ships below are done on a little yellow pad of post its. When xeroxed it turns white. Makes a great portable little sketchbook.

Sketchbook

2008-09-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well I am finally enjoying some time off, and going to spend the majority of it working on my blog and new work. I haven't had a real vacation (longer than a day off) for the past 4.5 years. It is finally really nice to just sit back and sketch, and draw at the local coffee house. Here is a collection of characters I was working on from my sketchbook. Thanks for stopping by.

Thumbnails

2008-08-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Finally back. I have been so busy over the past couple months: I had to go overseas to India to help oversee some production problems with our 3D pipeline, busy with family, and work.... I have barely had a spare minute to myself. ( I have some sketches I will share soon from my sketchbook from my India trip.) A friend of mine asked me to share some thumbnails & thinking that I go through before I jump into a set... so here they are.

Arabia #3

2008-03-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here is another location I designed for the Arabia project. This is a round room with columns and one center of interest for the story. I had to design a alphabet that doesn't really exist- that way we wouldn't have to worry about offending anyone by accident. (Even had to get it approved by the legal department.) After I modeled the alphabet I was able to use it throughout this project for our version of hieroglyphic reliefs.

Arabia #2

2008-01-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks everyone for stopping by and for all the great comments!!! Happy New Year everyone. Here is a huge location I was working on from a rough thumbnail, to finished model with some rough blocking for the story department. I included some extra shots on this location to help display the overall size & different views available. When I was finished we seemed to like shooting from every angle we could find in 3D, but had to eventually pick only a couple. This really helped the story department when it came time to boarding. (Can't seem to get the video to upload properly.. will try again.)

Arabia #1

2007-12-12T21:50:00.001-08:00

Back in the Game. I missed last month, but will make it up. It is that time of year: the holidays, family visits, crunch time and I caught a nasty stomach flu that laid me out for a week & half of sick time. Here are some development sketches I started for a new project at work. Thought I would start with some ideas we began with before jumping into MAYA designing. More to come in future posts.

Factory #3

2007-10-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Factory #2

2007-09-17T23:24:00.001-07:00

Factory #1

2007-09-01T00:43:00.000-07:00

As I look back for some reason I always seem to have a Factory to design. So I thought I would list them all here in my next couple postings from past designs to present. Thanks for stopping by...

Awesome Books from The Con

2007-08-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy the past couple months...so sorry for the late information. I went to the Comic Con this year and had the chance to buy some AMAZING art books from artists that have made thier own sketch book collections. ( Just missed the signing of the amazing Surfs Up Book from the development guys at Sony ...next time) First off I must say to all, congratulations on your hard work and effort placed forward; thanks for displaying your work and sharing it with all of us. I have been blessed knowing some of you and watching you come up through the years, working hard and developing your skills as artists. It is such a small world and a pleasure meeting some new artists listed below...
Below is a cover shot and sample page listing.
The Amazing Patrick Morgan:

books available at www.patrickmorganart.blogspot.com

The Amazing John Nevarez:

books available at www.john-nevarez.blogspot.com

The Amazing Jose Lopez:

book available at www.desoluz.blogspot.com

The Amazing David Coleman:

book available at www.davidcolman.blogspot.com

The Amazing Joe Weatherly:

book available at www.amazon.com

The Amazing Stephen Silver:

books available at www.silvertoons.com

The Amazing Mucci Fasset:

books available at www.stuartngbooks.com

The Amazing Out of Picture: a collection of artists from Blue Sky development team... (a what a bunch of really nice guys)...
After Cover, sample art work in order by artist: Dice Tsutsumi, Robert Mackenzie, Peter De Seve, Daniel Lopez Munoz, & Michael Knapp.

book available at www.outofpicture.com

Out of Maya Land

2007-07-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hey ..thanks everbody for stopping by and for all the great feedback. I really appreciate it. I promised myself I would post every month, but I sure have been swamped the past couple months...so I just made it in ...at the end of July. Here are some designs I was working on...they are out of picture now...so I thought I would share them. (Hopefully they wont have me take them down!!)
It is great getting to draw again, and taking a break from Maya.

Who needs lunch...

2007-06-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

Have you ever worked so long on a computer in Photoshop or Maya, that when you go home or get in your car you think of Ctrl Z or another hot key command that doesn't really apply to the real world you are currently in. These are a series of locations I had to produce that all had to hook up to each other for one show, so lunch was out the window for a little. I included some reverse angles because I spent a lot of effort being concerned about what we would see after the camera turned around. I wish I had a little more time to push a couple designs. I was really excited because at the end they gave me credit for Production Designer.

Solitary

2007-05-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

Finally get to draw a little before modeling. I have always loved working with markers then moving into photoshop, its quick & easy, and you can get a lot done in a day. We changed the lighting direction in a Maya pass to accomadate a open ceiling, for blistering sun light. Next post I will dive into some color for this location.

SIM-R New Blog

2007-05-01T01:39:00.000-07:00

My favorite Irish buddy of all time: the amazing and talented Simon Rodgers, better known as SIM-R has created a new blog over at http://www.sim-r.com/blog/. Stop by and check it out. Such great work. Its a mixture of a website and blog all placed together. Nice work Simon.

Before and After

2007-04-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

This location is a older stylized victorian house that I made for work. What was cool is that it was going to be used twice in the story, once as new clean location, then later as a spooky rundown dilapidated dwelling!!

Freelance Designs

2007-04-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some freelance designs I did for a great studio in Texas, called Reel Fx. (Really nice people!!!) These are some drawings I did to support a script for a 3D project. We had to stay very close to the script description, it was very realistic, and we could not variate or place our own spin on things. (SHUCKS!!!) I wish it was the other way around, designing environments in a development phase that 3D departments would use to build around. Anyway, due to the fast pace time schedule involved, and budget we had to move very fast and efficiently. Oh ya it's freelance... ( I wish I could have got my hands on some of the key locations, but I came in a little late in the process.) It still was a lot of fun and a good learning experience.

Pirate Sketches

2007-03-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Just having some fun on a friday night while the kids are sleeping. Not really going anywhere with these, just searching for some shapes and ideas.

Story Department Gift

2007-03-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

When I get involved with the design of a new location, one of my main concerns is making sure I accomplish the needs of the story department. So up front as I work , I meet with the board artist in charge of a sequence and try to accomplish his/her needs as best as possible. Since I am modeling in a development phase, when finished I prepare a packet of information to hand off to the story artist. In that packet I include main angle shots of the location, a orthographic top view with camera locations, then I go through and set up 40 to 50 cameras to supply other information that might not have been thought of yet. This really aides in the consideration of new places to place a camera, and how to set up a sequence. Later on after the boards are locked we can go through and make the necessary changes in production to accomodate camera layout, and the finished set. I have found the director and story artists to be really responsive to this early mode of thinking since we are not just working with one or 2 images of art. It helps open the possibility of what we can do with a camera in a 3d set. Where it can go, and should not go.

Int Store- Themepark

2007-03-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

I wanted to thank everybody for stopping by and for the great feedback. Thank you!! I am new to the blog arena, and I appreciate the comments from everyone. This design is a interior of a store, I did for the overall Theme park location. My concern was the character animation, which I felt would be best displayed by moving in a circular path around a center, so I created a series of mini table shopping themed areas that you would find in a real theme park. Then layout could choose the areas they liked best. I wanted to make sure that there was some difference between each other, and they were not just duplicated models in every corner. (My youth of field trips to Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland was a help here.) So right from the beginning I thought of themes applicable towards a space theme: a general store theme of cups, a hats display, t shirts & clothing, ships, collectibles, and cars would be good to fill the areas for layout. Special thanks to my co worker Damian for his help with the car design during the deadline.

Teamwork- The Theme Park

2007-03-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some designs of a Theme Park I did in pre production development, that aided us in making changes early before we hit production. Things changed later with the set in production to accomodate: certain sequences, camera moves, and character animation. I must give credit to my team at work: Ron Pagenkopp in layout who is a awesome designer, super Dave Schwartz in story, and my director the all talented Mucci Fasset. We have great meetings all brainstorming together coming up with ideas and solutions, which all contributes to the finished environment. I was pretty happy with this set because I had rough drawings to work from and a good portion of the detail came out of my head while I was in the middle of it. Not to mention the turn around time was fast. Overall I was hoping to get cool shapes and design that would support the story and theme. Luckily I have a great director who encourages us to go off on our own and place our own spin on things.

Out Of School

2007-03-03T01:48:00.000-08:00

The other day at work a intern asked me what I was doing when I got out of school (and if I could share what I had done on my blog), and I said sure ...."I was trying to build a portfolio for animation so I could get a job ." Because working part time at the City of Yorba Linda as their event planner/wedding coordinator supervising weddings every weekend with a bunch of drunkards wasn't really what I wanted to do. But I could draw, and draw all night during every event, get free food from caters, and make money to take classes. I did these drawings in 1998 & 1999 after I got out of art school. At that time I was lucky enough to take classes on the side at Associates in Art in Sherman Oaks, (which is now gone). I took every layout design class offered with such ubber super duper talented artists such as Ed Gerhtner, Scott Caple, Paul Felix, Jim Schenkler, Sam Michlap, Michael Spooner, and Robert St.Pierre. While there I meet some really talented students that had so much passion in what they did it was inspiring; such as Stephen Silver, John Nevarez, and Joe Weahterly. And watching them grow into such nice and talented guys over the past 8 years has been awesome.
For those of you wondering where you can find such classes today- check The Animation Academy in Burbank www.theanimationacademy.com, and The Entertainment Art Academy in Pasadena www.enterartacad.com.
So here are some older images I did back when I got out of school. I like being able to look back and see what I did back then and what I am striving for now. Now I have been drawing to find that confidence in line and stroke that you only find with Hans Bacher, Michael Spooner, or John Nevarez. Drawing mileage.

Getting Started Part-II

2007-02-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

Before I get started I wanted to thank two great and oh so super talented friends of mine, Simon Rodgers (Sim-R) and John Nevarez for helping to light the fire under my pants for me to get busy and get blogging. I have had the pleasure of working and taking classes with theses these guys way back in the day. Couldn't know nicer guys!! Thank you!!

Ok...the science garage, since the camera is going to be in closer rather than away in the establishing shot, I added some more props because I really wanted to push the silhouette shapes to frame around the main character. I did two rough lighting passes to search for the mood I liked....one with fog and one with out, then did some close up renders around the center to see what shapes I would get in the composition. The thing I love about designing in Maya is I can go ahead and arrange shapes to fit the best composition possible early in a development phase with the modeled set, then pass that information forward to help story. Finally, I had the chance to dive into some rough color. I don't get a chance to paint much anymore, but just as I learned Maya, I shall remedy that, and as I move onward in this blog, you might see some scary color combinations, but give me sometime to grow. Thanks for stopping by.

Getting Started

2007-01-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

Finally made it!! My first step into the blog arena, trying to figure it all out. First thing I have to do is thank my awesome wife Kindra for her help and support with everything, especially watching the little ones, so I can slip away into my studio and work. Thank you!!!!
Thought I would start off with a new project I am working on with a friend.The story is structured around a childrens book idea that we are preparing for a publisher, but could lead towards animation. Anyway its just fun getting to create something fun for yourself. I only had a couple days to do the everything, and I decided to show some of my process here, that might not be shown in future postings. There are some quick thumbnails that took about 25 minutes each searching for some shapes based off what the story indicated, then some prop design roughs, then a render of the first pass of the set I built in Maya. Some revisions and changes will come, in the next posting, as I explore the set in 3d further to accomodate camera angles and story ideas that fit the composition we like the best, that might not really be represented in the concept art. It all sort of changes as the art gets moved into 3d.