I am just back from delivering an intensive ZBrush sculpting workshop to the talented artists at GamesWorkshop, the world-famous creators of the Warhammer IP. Though never a player of their tabletop games, I can’t help but be impressed by their immense creative output – their work spans tabletop gaming, books, magazines, and video games. Over 40 years they have build nothing short of a fantasy gaming empire, they are even listed on the UK stock exchange!
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I was recently commissioned by the legendary French glass makers, Lalique, to design and sculpt an enormous (in relative terms) crystal angel, an allegory of Music, for Elton John. The piece, know as Cire Perdue (after the lost wax process Lalique used to cast the piece), is a single, unique artwork that will be auctioned off in Los Angeles in February, with all proceeds going to the Elton John Aids Foundation. After a long design process and an even longer time in production, the piece is finally finished and was shown for the first time at Elton’s Windsor estate, to an effusive reaction:
“I don’t think that I have ever seen a more beautiful piece of glass than the big Angel. It is breathtaking!
-Elton John
Elton signing the big Angel
I will be showing the new Bodies in Motion site for the first time in public at London’s Industry Workshops event on the 10-13th of September (soon!). There is going to be incredible art talent presenting at the workshop, so if this kind of thing interests you, sign up! I am presenting Saturday afternoon, hope to see you there.
I am excited to show the first images from a recent collaboration with fellow artist Jason deCaires Taylor. I designed and sculpted the four Shire horses with oil-pump heads for Jason’s installation The Rising Tide currently installed on the Southbank of the Thames, right outside the MI6 building (for all you James Bond and secretive intelligence agency fans out there).
The piece is a powerful commentary on man’s relationship with the environment. Throughout the day the sculptures are submerged and revealed as the tide cycle waxes and wanes. As a long-time scuba diver I am delighted by Jason’s epic underwater works, so it was a pleasure collaborating with him on this piece.
My work on the piece involved the design and digital sculpting of the 18-hand tall Shire horses. Interestingly, over the past few years I have sculpted quite a few horses. First my centaur, then work on Mark Wallinger’s White Horse (also installed in London), followed by the horses for Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, and now these petrochemical Shires.
Nearly high tide. image © Jason deCaires Taylor
ILM is in London!
I’ve just finished six days of anatomy masterclasses for Industrial Light and Magic, London (yes, the Star Wars guys). This isn’t the first time I’ve been to ILM, in the past I’ve run workshops for both their San Francisco and Singapore offices, but this is the first time it was just a tube journey away (not a nine-hour flight). It is great having Industrial Light & Magic in London!
our digital horse in action
I recently kicked off a series of pastblast posts digging up old but interesting projects that I didn’t have time to write about when they were happening. One of the most interesting and enjoyable visual effects projects that I have worked on is Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of War Horse.
The story follows Joey, a farm horse in rural England, onto the battlefields of World War I. Being a war story, you can imagine there are a few upsets along the way, and Joey inevitably finds himself in very dangerous circumstances – circumstances too dangerous in fact for real ‘horse actors’. Cue our digital Joey.
CREATING THE DIGITAL JOEY
Our digital horse stretching his legs
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I recently completed a tutorial for 3dArtist magazine about the making of this facial anatomy ecorche. In the article I go through the steps used to create the digital sculpture in ZBrush and about the importance of understanding facial anatomy and why it helps improve portraiture. The tutorial is in issue 81 of the magazine.
Our Megafaces project takes home a gold cube at the ADC 94th Annual Awards in Miami. If you haven’t seen the Megafaces facade in action, there’s a nice little intro video for the project on the awards page here.
We are just back from a busy weekend at London Design Festival 2014. We showed our newest design, the Moai ipad docking station, for the first time and the response was amazing. You will see a ‘special edition’ Moai coming soon to EATON.london. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi and see you again next year!
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We are proud to introduce our latest design – the Moai iPad docking station. Inspired by the serene, eternal vigilance of the monolithic icons of Easter Island, we’ve upgraded and remixed them for a tongue-in-cheek poke at the persistent distraction of modern digital life. The Moai will be available in Q4 2015. Please check back for updates!
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My life-sized bronze sculpture of Amy Winehouse has just been unveiled on what would have been her 31st birthday. The memorial is located in the Stables Market in Camden, London – Amy’s home for many years.
The piece was commissioned by Mitch Winehouse and I hope is a fitting tribute from a father to his daughter. I have immense respect for Amy as an artist and wish she was still making music.
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Our Megafaces Pavilion for the Sochi Olympics won the 2014 Cannes Lion Grand Prix for Innovation. Created by architecture studio Asif Kahn Ltd, engineered by iArt and with art direction and graphics tech by yours truly, the project was a monumental collaboration that tied together amazing creativity and a mountain of technology to create a compelling visual experience for visitors to the Olympic park.
Find the official Cannes submission video HERE.
Celebrating the Grand Prix in the green room
