Jason Snair Portfolio

Tattoo Design

2011-04-21T12:08:00.002-04:00

Designed a tattoo for my brother Justin. It's supposed to represent the Tree of Knowledge.

Marvel Summer Movies

2011-04-12T17:23:00.000-04:00

And here's the final.

New Art

2011-04-12T13:33:00.004-04:00

Lots going on these days. I've been trying to find extra time to make an editorial portfolio. Here's something I've been working on today. It's not really done yet. Still needs work. I like the orange version, but it's a little too much. I need to bring back some of the cooler local colors so that each character can still stand out.

Werewhale Sculpture

2011-02-17T15:23:00.002-05:00

Started in on the arms. Gotta add way more mass.

Four Seasons Hotel

2011-02-16T10:15:00.002-05:00

I don't think I ever posted theses. They were done for the Four Seasons Hotel back in Sept. Basically I went around Boston Public Gardens and illustrated a few scenes. I have a few more of them floating around somewhere.

Ogre Test

2011-02-14T15:43:00.002-05:00

Painted an Ogre for a job test.

Sculpture progress 2

2010-12-14T14:32:00.002-05:00

Coming along. Almost time to start in on the arms.

Werewhale Scuplture

2010-12-09T10:50:00.004-05:00

I'm currently writing issue no. dos of the Werewhale comic and I've decided to make a little sculpture of the beast himself. For this next issue I'm changing the look a bit, hell, why not...different whale, different look. My chapter will be divided into two stories. The first will take place in the year 700ad in England, and the main story will take place in the 30's in London.

So here's progress shot. I've run out of clay for the moment, and as soon as I get some more, I'll finish it.

The Monkey King

2010-11-08T17:39:00.002-05:00

Haven't been drawing in a long time. My Mac has been sluggish lately, so it kept me from doing any kind of art whatsoever. I couldn't even use Photoshop in real time. I would use the pen, and about a minute later my line would slowly show up on the screen. One day last week I realized that I only had about 525mb ram...so yeah.. time for an upgrade. After spending an excruciating long day at the computer store - a computer store that even though had all the latest fixings, felt slightly like time had forgotten it. It had a definitely 90's vibe to the place, which made sense, since the service was done in 1/3 speed. Technically, they probably were still in the 90s. Anyway, after tech guy told me that they could install new ram, and then couldn't install said new ram, and then could...could not, could...could NOT... I walked out of the store around 6pm, with extra 2gigs or new memory. Mac seems fixed now...and wow. what a difference. I've never been able to draw as quickly before. It made all the difference.

Here's a little sketch from tonight. The Monkey King (from Chinese Mythology)

Imagine FX interview

2010-09-23T12:26:00.004-04:00

ImagineFX interviewed Chris and I about self-publishing The Curse of the Werewhale. It's on sale now in the UK, and should hit the US in October.

Warlords Game Cards

2010-07-14T08:00:00.003-04:00

I did some illustrations for Warlords game cards last month. Here's one, which also got used for the package art.

Original:

Meal in a can

2010-07-12T14:04:00.000-04:00

Update

2010-06-10T10:29:00.001-04:00

Spiderman Page

2010-06-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

New Page

2010-06-07T11:54:00.000-04:00

Spider-man page

2010-06-02T09:03:00.001-04:00

Just for fun. I figure that it's probably a good idea to have a couple of pages of recognizable characters. So I think I'll do a DC page too. I'll paint this when I get the chance.

New Page

2010-06-01T08:21:00.001-04:00

New Page

2010-05-24T09:19:00.001-04:00

Page 9 and Page 16

New Page

2010-05-14T07:45:00.002-04:00

Cover and Page 1

2010-05-12T17:51:00.001-04:00

Page 7

2010-05-12T07:40:00.002-04:00

Page 8

2010-05-11T14:38:00.002-04:00

New Pages

2010-05-10T09:39:00.002-04:00

Pages 3 and 6: These are both pretty close to finals. I need to go back in and add some textures, and fix the bottom two panels on page 3.

New Page

2010-05-04T16:55:00.003-04:00

I'm not painting/posting these pages in order. This is page 2, and happens about 12 pages before the Ice section

2 Final Pages

2010-04-26T09:07:00.003-04:00

So this section is now done. Now off to start the fishing tale.

One more...

2010-04-19T10:55:00.002-04:00

Some more pages

2010-04-18T15:44:00.002-04:00

These are not quite finished but I thought I should post 'em.

Started Painting

2010-04-07T18:48:00.002-04:00

Werewhale Comic Thumbnail Pages

2010-04-02T12:45:00.005-04:00

Started laying out my pages...just trying to get the flow of the story going. Now to clean 'em up and make 'em pretty.

(each image is a page spread)

Werewhale Finished

2010-03-14T10:10:00.002-04:00

Werewhale process 2

2010-03-11T23:22:00.000-05:00

Werewhale

2010-03-08T12:11:00.002-05:00

Gunther

2010-02-21T16:28:00.002-05:00

Just messing around. Designing some of the background characters for the werewhale story

Started Painting

2010-01-05T09:28:00.001-05:00

El Captain

2010-01-03T12:33:00.002-05:00

Now that OhTen is here, I'm going to start working on the Werewhale comic more. I've been tinkering with the story some and I intend to actually finish it before comic-con. (7 months should do it, right?)

Here's a new version of the captain. Similar to the old one, just a slightly different expression this time.

Jacob Marley: Final

2010-01-03T12:32:00.000-05:00

Jacob Marley

2009-12-09T08:30:00.002-05:00

Space Race: Final

2009-11-15T17:20:00.002-05:00

Space Race: Step 3 : Painting

2009-11-12T22:55:00.002-05:00

Started in on the guy, and refined some of the lighting more. Just realized that his head position is a bit weird. With that neck brace, his neck and shoulders would never really fit normally.

Space Race: Step 2 - Color Pallete

2009-11-12T10:48:00.002-05:00

Just laying down some quick colors. Trying to get the right mood.

Space Race

2009-11-11T20:05:00.003-05:00

Doing another CHOW challenge. This week you have to design a jouster, who races in the most famous sporting competition in the year 2703. The jousters ride on hovering steeds and the whole thing is corporate sponsored.

I never do far off sci-fi concepts, so this kind of fun.

So here's my take: I started thinking about the Il Palio horse races in Siena, Italy and how the before-hand there are these elaborate parades showcasing real Renaissance style armor. That got me thinking.

What if in the 2700's they do the same thing with us. They put on these elaborate jousting competitions to mimic the real space race that went on when man first left the confines of Earth. Each side dons, old-tech inspired suits, similar to the genesis NASA suits and Cosmonaut ones.

So I'm going for an illustration that kind of represents that ideal. The suit is kind of generic right now, and isn't going to look exactly like our current day suits...but along those lines. I hope to still make it look very futuristic.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon: Finished

2009-11-04T09:16:00.002-05:00

Creature Update

2009-11-01T21:00:00.002-05:00

Started painting:

Creature from the Black Lagoon

2009-10-30T16:54:00.003-04:00

Started designing the poster. I'll start painting the creature tonight.

Creature

2009-10-28T09:41:00.003-04:00

Just sketching for this week's Chow contest. The challenge being to do your own take on one of Universal's Classic Monsters. So I'm resdesigning the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Just Sketchin'

2009-10-27T10:50:00.001-04:00

monday night sketchin'.

Gang Territory; Update

2009-10-20T13:23:00.002-04:00

Started laying in colors. Far from finished. need to rework the background buildings and fix the perspective of the tracks (it's messing up the size relations of the foreground to the background)

Gang Territory

2009-10-17T11:21:00.002-04:00

Started working on the Gang Territory landscape. Wanted to go for an underpass, railway, dark, seedy, kind of area.
Just layed in shapes and values and trying to get the right composition. Once all of that working better, I'll start adding in color (Started adding in some in a few areas just to test it.. The color palette will be muted blues, greys, greens, yellows. )

Gang Leader: Getting Closer

2009-10-08T21:28:00.002-04:00

Gang Leader: Progressing

2009-10-06T20:58:00.002-04:00

Painted more of the figure (jacket, jeans, etc.). I've got to figure out what I want to do with the helmet and sword...so I think I'm going to move on to the bike next.

Moped Gang Leader

2009-10-05T19:35:00.003-04:00

I really like the way this is coming out...so i think I'm going to expand on the original CHOW brief and make a whole series of moped street racers. Maybe painted a couple of locals too. I dunno. Could make some cool portfolio pieces for a imagined videogame. (Bunch of Robin Hood gang members race thru the city, over main streets, highways, and labyrinth back alleys, to steal from the rich and the back to the poor. All the while chased by cops and landlords.)

Started painting and laying down color.

(Oh and Chris: yeah, the bike looks like it's floating, i think once I paint in the shadows it'll fix it.)

I also have to start working on our ArtGasm Logo. Got a couple of ideas mushed around in my noggin.

Black River Crew: Gang Leader

2009-10-04T19:21:00.002-04:00

Reworked the design a bit of the character as well as redesigned the bike too. This is just the value study.

Gang Leader

2009-09-27T14:13:00.011-04:00

I've been sick for the past few days, but today felt like doing some drawing.

This is another CHOW entry. The brief called for a young gang leader for a band of thieves with a code of conduct much like Robin Hood and his Merry Men. You could either do male or female and I decided to add in the moped-biker element.

Moped Gang Leader

2009-09-27T14:13:00.008-04:00

I've been sick for the past few days, but today felt like doing some drawing.

This is another CHOW entry. The brief called for a gang leader for a band of thieves with a code of conduct much like Robin Hood and his Merry Men. You could either do male or female and I decided to add in the moped element.

Finally Finished

2009-08-28T17:42:00.003-04:00

Wasn't able to work on this for the past few days, been kinda swamped at work. After staying untill 11pm last night, I decided to not go in today and work on this instead.

Almost done...

2009-08-24T07:23:00.001-04:00

Still a few things to do, but getting close to wrapping it up.

Started Painting

2009-08-23T12:06:00.002-04:00

Started painting. Still lots to do. Need to fix the shoulder still and fix up the handle/hand, it's not lined up right with the sword.
Next up will be the face, the rest of the body, the background.

Value Base

2009-08-22T18:04:00.002-04:00

Here's the BW under-painting. I've got to fix a few things, namely the back shoulder and arm. Kind of goes off into perspective the wrong way....just got to beef it up some. Next: Colors

New Sketch

2009-08-21T07:43:00.001-04:00

Redrew the character in the pose that I wanted. Gonna paint him this weekend.

Concept Costume Sheet

2009-08-20T09:26:00.004-04:00

Going back to an old character and trying some new things. The older version had a pretty boring costume, so I'm trying to come up with something more interesting suited to the charater

Cyclops: Finished

2009-08-18T21:44:00.003-04:00

Cyclops

2009-08-17T23:29:00.002-04:00

Over at Artgasm Chris just posted some cool Cyclops. When I saw his designs, I just had to do my own version of it.

Not done. I want to go in now and add some details, textures, scratches, and scaled skin.

Getting Younger

2009-08-17T18:53:00.001-04:00

Next step in the progression.

Dracula: Retired.

2009-08-14T16:37:00.000-04:00

Doing an aged/progression of a character over at Artgasm. Went with Dracula. This here is the final step/age. Now all I have to do is the other previous 7 ages.

Getting there...

2009-08-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

Pulled out some of the forms, made the coat white, and desaturated some parts

Update: Saladin

2009-08-03T19:34:00.000-04:00

It's getting a wee bit dark and flat...which is one of the biggest crits that I got from almost everyone from Con. Need to lighten it up some.

Post Con

2009-08-02T19:31:00.000-04:00

Can't believe con is a week over now. It all goes by way too fast. Met some really cool people this, hopefully I'll see them again next year. I also received some really excellent crits of my portfolio, some great, some good, some honest. Which means, I have to start kicking a new level of ass now. got to get some new work done.

Here's something I started today.
Saladin: Muslim warrior from the crusades. (Order = most recent, first color, sketch)

My Books!

2009-07-13T22:46:00.001-04:00

Portfolio Handout 2009

2009-07-06T12:05:00.003-04:00

Here's my portfolio handout for Comic-con this year.

First Mate

2009-06-16T20:41:00.001-04:00

Here's the First Mate character from the Werewhale story.

Paranormal Investigator; fix-up

2009-06-09T11:49:00.002-04:00

Repainted the coat, the clothes, took out the background. etc.

Portfolio Pages

2009-06-07T17:27:00.002-04:00

Started designing the pages to my portfolio. Some of them are very close to being done, others are a little more far off. I've got about 75% of the pages done. Some of the ones posted here, such as the Paranormal Investigator, the Monkey Witch Doctor & the Whale page need to be finished still. Each one of the images is a spread, so just imagine the spine running down the center of the image. I'm going to have about 17 or so spreads just like this.

Troll Done

2009-06-06T15:45:00.001-04:00

Finished one of those trolls sketches from before. The inspiration for this guy was Napoleon. He's shorter than the other trolls, essentially controls the loot and arms, and likes to imagine himself taking the place of the King. (He even conspires to do so). The other trolls are essentially dressed very sparingly, but with this guy I wanted him dressed well - for a troll. Like he's been collecting and stealing this stuff for years.

Portfolio Book Cover Idea

2009-06-02T13:34:00.002-04:00

Working on the cover to me portfolio book. Not sure if this is where the direction I really want to go in...just experimenting. Thoughts?

There be whales!

2009-06-01T10:44:00.000-04:00

Promo card for Werewhale. And Character concept art.

Life, and some comic painting too

2009-05-19T21:43:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy couple of months. In all honesty, I haven't done much art. My father's cancer is nearing the end now and a friend of mine, someone I just met in early March, was shot and killed on May 6th (by a sad, horrible individual/stalker). My mind has been elsewhere these days.

But. Comic-con is right around the corner. And I need to produce some artwork to show around. Chris and I are making an art-book, with a little comic preview of a story we're both working on; The Curse of the WereWhale -- or something titled to that effect.

I have five pages in the story, with the hopes that at least one page is painted finished and the others a pencil finished.

Here's page one. Long way to go, but I'm just trying to get something going.

Just about done.

2009-03-21T18:37:00.001-04:00

need to fix the hands

Oh Captain, my captain...

2009-03-14T18:07:00.000-04:00

A friend and I are putting together a short comic for Con, where we each do half in our own style. We're working out the characters and story now, but here's my take on The Captain. He's the narrator. Kind of going for classic crusty old guy, who's got a thousand stories and no one believes any of them. I've got to work out the details in his body, the legs are bit wee short and I think is in need of a pipe.

The Queen's Consort: Final

2009-03-05T22:23:00.001-05:00

Final. (Although I may tinker with a few things after it settles for a few days.)

The Queen's Consort: Getting close

2009-03-04T21:55:00.000-05:00

Little update for the night. Getting closer. A few areas need some fixin', but I like the progess I'm making so far. I definitely want this portfolio quality.

The Queen's Consort

2009-03-03T07:55:00.001-05:00

Update:

Another week, another CHOW.

Brief: The Queen's Consort. {Free reign}

After sketching around a bit, I decided on going for an old Elf King. He was once a proud warrior, and due to social customs ended marrying the Queen. He quickly found out, though, that the role carried with it no power. It was mostly ceremonial in nature and he found it completely boring. To show this, I drew him leaning back in his chair, while gazing down at the floor, bored, and perhaps recalling more interesting days. I also wanted to play around with light and shadows in a narrative way. The shadow on the right is going to be the Queen standing. As much as the King wishes to edge away from her, from his role, she (by using the shadow), keeps him in place. Even the shadow of her staff (her power) cages him in place. He has little room to go.

Female Sith

2009-02-25T22:14:00.001-05:00

Update: Final

Doing another CHOW, this time the brief calls for a female sith.

Decided on a character who has a distracting beauty. I didn't want to go the evil glare, evil-sith route. Just wanted a simple classic portrait.

E.G. Brownstone: Final (+WIPS)

2009-02-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

Finalized E.G. (work in progress shots included)

E.G. Brownstone: Update 2

2009-02-19T19:46:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure about the whole collage element. I think I've gone too far away from a character piece. I'll save it regardless, but I think for the CHOW, i'm going to click away that layer. Not sure about the device still, it's too sci-fi. I'd like to keep it 1970's themed. I'll have to find some ref.

E.G. Brownstone: Update

2009-02-18T21:32:00.000-05:00

E.G. Brownstone: Paranormal Investigator

2009-02-17T08:19:00.000-05:00

Decided to do a CHOW (Character of the Week) over at ConceptArt.org.

Brief:

E.G. Brownstone: Paranormal investigator; Open interpretation.

Here's what i came up with -

To many in the public, E.G was a normal senior citizen. He lived alone, in a quiet apartment building and kept to himself. He had no family and spoke to few. Many passed him by and would fail to even notice him.

In certain circles, however, E.G was very well known. In fact, he was a legend to some of those in the paranormal underworld. He spent a life time building a reputable career investigating mysteries from all over the world, from all walks of life, dead and alive. He was the best. He never let a case go unsolved.

But during the mid 1970's, at the age 73, mysteries began swirling about E.G himself. Rumors that flew in the face of everything E.G. had built. Many began suspecting a hidden past, covered up and long forgotten. Some even suspected that E.G. was much, much older than he let on. People began questioning his entire career and his successes.

Who really is E.G. Brownstone? Hmmmm

Update:

Weekend Art!

2009-02-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

I ended up sketching and drawing this weekend (read: no valentine this year). I decided to get going on what I want to bring to Comic-con this year. Chris and I over at artgasm.blogspot.com are doing a Villain Project, which we want to get printed into some sort of book form. We want to do something along the lines of a...classified journal. Something that a character like, say, Batman would create to catalog the villains he's searching for.

I also sketched up another Robotic Cupid.

Cupidbot: The Robot that Loves...to kill you

2009-02-14T09:34:00.001-05:00

Robot was designed for lovin', but due to factory defect, he wants hate you instead.

Heyyy, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Space-Pirate Kid

2009-02-13T09:36:00.000-05:00

Getting closer. Face, upper body & space are done. Still need to refine the arms, legs, background.

The Kid

2009-01-24T11:52:00.000-05:00

Over at artgasm.challenge.blogspot, chris and I are switching each other's concepts and redoing them in our own style. He's taking one of my troll characters and finalizing it and I'm taking one of his and doing the same.

The Kid, youngest member of the Space-Pirate gang. (Chris' original sketch is below too for comparison)

The Troll Gang

2009-01-12T11:33:00.000-05:00

Over at ArtgasmChallenge.blogspot.com, this weeks challenge is come up with 10 characters for a group of thieves. Decided to go with a gang of Trolls.

Vox: Eldest member of the group. Not very smart, but always gets his loot.
Nuc: Treasure guard.
The Twins: Usually they're used for small ambushes. They hide just off the road to the village and make away with small steals.
Ztirf: Disfigured...even for a troll. He's smart, strong, and prideful.
Troll King: This guy's the leader. Pretty much hordes the loot for himself.
Ruz: He's the King's brother. Has a Napoleon complex, and secretly tries to take over operations.
Buc: A good thief, but is getting older. He's loyal to Ruz and is helping him out.
Kuno: Guards the hide-out.
Larnu. Essentially he's the accountant. He's scrawny and doesn't steal much. He's the only one the King trust to 'handle' the treasure.

Golden Monkey Witch Doctor -- Final

2009-01-09T12:43:00.000-05:00

Well, here's the final. I've gone in and redone a few things, made him significantly more evil looking than before. I like the way the face and staff came out.

Evil Orange Monkey

2008-12-29T12:02:00.001-05:00

First sketch, needs to be much more evil though.

Snowy Night

2008-12-21T11:33:00.000-05:00

It started snowing Friday at about 1pm. It's now Sunday at 11:3oam....and it's still snowing.

Here are some shots from various windows around my house. The next major storm that comes I'm going to trek out to Collidge Corner...or maybe the BU Bridge and take some more.

Shhhh, he's coming to town.

2008-12-21T10:54:00.001-05:00

Finished my christmas card.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Viking

2008-12-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

I'll be painting this tonight. Planning on going for traditional Santa colors; white beard and trim, red helmet and sleaves. I'll also be adding in some snow afterwards. I didn't really know this before hand, at first I just wanted to draw Santa as a Viking ... but just from doing basic research and from some other sources, it would seem that the Viking Odin (and viking culture) is thought to be one of the true origins of the Santa mythos. (For Odin, he rode an 8 legged horse, which shook the earth as he went about. Children would leave their stockings full of hay and in return Odin would place inside of them small gifts as thanks.

Fin

2008-12-10T20:50:00.001-05:00

Finished the character painting.

Update:

2008-12-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

It was rainy and grey all weekend, so I stayed inside and painted some. I've got to paint the hatch door and the background ... then design the sub as well.

Getting close though. Feels good. I haven't painted since Sept.

Bond-like Villain

2008-11-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

Over at ArtgasmChallenge.blogspot.com, this week's challenge is to create a Bond-like Villain.

I've decided on going with a submarine commander-type, who's trying to alter the oceans currents and change the Earth's land temperatures - all in a plot to rule the world.

Here's my step by step process so far (about 2 hours work)

A: Final Sketch

B: Background/Underpainting

C: Face Detail

D: Painting so far

E: Hue/Saturation variation.

I'm going to try to finish this over the weekend. I'll need to paint in the submarine at some point too.

Doppleganger

2008-10-29T09:18:00.000-04:00

Over at Artgasmchallenge.blogspot.com, Chris and I are doing a bunch of villian characters. This week's challenge was to conceive of a Hero's Doppleganger.

Here's my take on The Doppleganger:
The Hero is a telekinetic human, who's very much in charge of his abilities. I always figured, though, that if telekinesis really existed it would probably leave the person with some sort of mental handicap. Like, the brain just can't handle all that information. In a way, I'm thinking something similar to autism, where all the information is stored, but processing is difficult. Here, my villain has the telekinetic gifts, but he has almost no real control of them. I'm also thinking that if someone were to actually be telekinetic, their motor skills were be low or uncontrollable. I'm thinking that he lashes out in fits of rage over his circumstances, but is quite powerful. This is just a real quick sketch. Just wanted to get some attitude on paper. I'll have to fix the body and hands some, maybe add in some levitating object, like a car, in the background. It also sort of looks like Punk-rock Snair...which I wasn't really aiming for.