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Deep Space Vista

Chris Allen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:56:46 +0000

Its been a while in the making, but I have finally finished up on my latest digital art work, Deep Space Vista. This was definitely something new for me and I was happy to take on a new direction with my art. I’ve always had an interest in concept art especially from the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres for books, movies, and games, so trying my hand at a ’space scene’ of some sort was something I’d been wanting to do.

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View on Flickr – Deep Space Vista

In the future I would like to explore more into the creation of traditional concept artworks and possibly come up with some original ideas showcasing various structures, environments, and landscapes. All just because of an interest and a desire to delve into something new from a creative perspective.

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Great Smoky Mountains Vacation

Chris Allen — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:31:09 +0000

During the first week of November Julie and I took a much needed break from the daily grind and decided to take a little road trip to the Smoky Mountains. It was a perfect and more importantly affordable little getaway for the two of us. Plus it had the additional benefit of only being about an 8-9 hour drive from home (Northwest Indiana).

We left for our trip on a Friday morning, in the pouring down rain of course, though eventually the weather would end up being perfect for the majority of our time away. On the way down we eventually got out of the rain and enjoyed a beautiful drive through southern Indiana, Kentucky, and on into northern Tennessee. Without a doubt there is some beautiful countryside to be seen along the way.

It was the perfect time of year for the trip as it was out of the busy tourist season and we arrived in time to still catch quite a bit of the autumn colors. Needless to say the Great Smoky Mountains State Park is amazing and the sights to be seen are both grand and beautiful. You could easily spend weeks exploring and still only see a small percentage of what all there is to experience within the park, but in the short time we were there we were able to take in quite a bit.

We spent our first two days at a Holiday Inn Express in Kodak Tennessee as we had a couple of free nights to use up. But the highlight of our time in Tennessee was staying in a rental cabin on Bluff Mountain for 4 nights. It was great to have a nice place to relax in at the end of a day’s worth of site seeing. It came complete with amenities such as a full kitchen, two baths, wood burning fireplace, Jacuzzi tub, billiards table, covered wrap around deck with a hot tub, and most importantly a great view.

Essentially, the cabin was just what we were hoping for and we were so happy that it was. Having never done a cabin rental we weren’t exactly sure what to expect, but after doing some research and making the best decision possible, it all worked out just fine. We chose to go with Fireside Chalets in Pigeon Forge and we stayed in the Cliff Hanger cabin, if you’re interested in the details.

We always woke to a beautiful sunrise peaking up over the mountains in the distance, which was something we definitely enjoyed, as we made a point to get up every morning to experience it fully. And with the weather being so perfect overall, we enjoyed sitting outside quite often. The view before dusk was equally gorgeous, as taking in the varying colors as the suns light would slowly fade away was every bit as amazing.

Overall, this was a great trip and the perfect getaway on a budget. We saw quite a bit during our time there and some of the highlights would be the Cades Cove Loop Road, the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, and Clingmans Dome (the highest point in Tennessee – 6,643 feet). These are all popular sights to visit and there truly is something amazing to see around every turn.

Needless to say one must experience the Great Smoky Mountains in person, as words, or even photos cannot accurately capture the beauty of it all. Though this did not stop us from taking hundreds of photos, some of which can be seen here – Great Smoky Mountains Vacation.

|Great Smoky Mountains National Park| |10 National Parks to See Before You Die|

Spatial Entity

Chris Allen — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:08:54 +0000

Spatial Entity is the result of some simple brush work in Photoshop mixed with some blending and blurring of a few luminescent colors. Add to that some stars in the background and it all just came together. Again, this was mostly an exercise of creative exploration and just putting into pixels what comes to mind.

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View on Flickr – Spatial Entity

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Tropical View

Chris Allen — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:23:04 +0000

I have been rather enjoying creating more digital art works in my free time as late. And Tropical View is essentially a follow up piece to View from the Sea although far more colorful and well, tropical. This composition is all about the perspective and sense of distance. A destination I would not mind visiting and one fun to not only imagine, but create as well. Maybe it’s a sign that I need a vacation, as a secluded beach with such a view kind of sounds good right about now.

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View on Flickr – Tropical View

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

View from the Sea

Chris Allen — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:25:22 +0000

View from the Sea was essentially my second effort in creating a digital art piece using a pen tablet. My intent was simply to capture a hazy view of the land while meshed with some low lying clouds from a distant seaside perspective. Simple air brush effects and soft gradients were brought together to realize this final composition.

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View on Flickr – View from the Sea

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

A Break in the Clouds

Chris Allen — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:01:06 +0000

Wanting to get back into Illustrator and have a little fun, I came up with this little bit of inspiration to share – simple and straight to the point, I think. And moving forward I’d like to spend some more time creating small works like this just for fun. After all, sometimes less is more.

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View on Flickr – A Break in the Clouds

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Chicago Cloud Cityscape

Chris Allen — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:07:45 +0000

Here we have another look at the Chicago skyline captured with an enhanced vibrancy and falling within a soft cloud shaped perimeter. A photo I had on hand was used to establish the general outline for the overall cityscape to which I then continued to add further detail. I have included this reference outline of the city which was used in colorizing and detailing the final work.

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View on Flickr – Chicago Cloud Cityscape

This was completed at the end of last year, but this is the first time I have posted this work. Additionally, if you like this work you may also enjoy the Chicago Skyline Stylization, which used some similar Photoshop techniques.

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

The Totally Rad Show Backgrounds

Chris Allen — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:26:49 +0000

I have mentioned before that I’m a fan of the Revision 3 network and enjoy the programming options offered through this internet television provider. One of my favorite shows on the network is The Totally Rad Show (TRS), a news show for gamers, movie watchers, comic readers, and TV show fans from today’s geek culture. Furthermore, it is a show that I highly recommend if you have not as yet come across it, especially if you have interests in any of the aforementioned topics.

TRS has a close following of fans, some of which like to submit original background art for use on the show that incorporates the shows logo and perhaps is even themed specifically to coincide with a recent movie, game, or other popular topic. I created and submitted the following backgrounds for consideration; however neither made it on the show, so I thought why not share them here – possibly some of my fellow TRS fans may be interested in them.

TRS Urban Light & Shadow Background

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View on Flickr – TRS Urban Light & Shadow Background

TRS GTA Background

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View on Flickr – TRS GTA Background

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

A Winter Scene (and a new pen tablet)

Chris Allen — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:42:32 +0000

I received a Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet as a gift for Christmas and of course I was very eager to give it a try. This is my first Pen Tablet and so far I have spent just a few hours literally playing around and just getting used to working with the device. It is all very new to me, but I think I am starting to slowly become more acclimated to this more natural input device. I can definitely see this as the right tool for any type of graphic design or artistic creation, but I know I need more time to get over some of the mental barriers that are a result of having used a mouse for so long.

A Winter Scene is my first artistic work utilizing the Bamboo Fun (medium) Tablet with Photoshop. I wanted to start simple and see what I could accomplish with relatively few hours of experience with a tablet. It was fun to actually draw/paint digitally with the device, even though I struggled with it at first. Again, a mind over matter thing for the newbie tablet user that I am. However, I do look forward to spending a lot more time perfecting my pen tablet skills, but for now I think I am off to a decent start.

I am also willing to accept any advice on how best to become more quickly acclimated to utilizing a pen tablet to its fullest potential in both design and artistic endeavors. So if you would like to share your thoughts please do. I am sure that as with most things, practice makes perfect or perhaps at least marginally better.

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View on Flickr – A Winter Scene

I hope you enjoy this work and please let me know what you think, as feedback is always appreciated!

License:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

The New Xbox Experience Review

Chris Allen — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:47:35 +0000

The New Xbox Experience (NXE) is quite the reimagining of the overall user interface system we have been accustomed to for the past three years. I was lucky enough to have been selected to be one of the preview program participants and have spent some quality time with the new dashboard so I figured that I would share some of my thoughts. There are some similarities to be found, but oh so many differences and changes for the better, so let’s get into it.

What to like about the NXE:

The fresh new look
A responsive and intuitive interface
The new, all inclusive guide (accessed via the Xbox guide button)
The new Parties integration (up to 8 players)
Game installs to the 360 Hard Drive
The new marketplace (finding content is much easier now)
Netflix streaming w/ HD content coming at launch

These are the features that I feel add the most to the overall 360 experience. You may have noticed that I did not highlight the Avatars feature. The reason being is that I don’t feel this is a feature that currently adds a whole lot to the overall interface utilization. I know there will be more to come with regards to Avatars, but for me it is currently not that big of a deal. This said you will need to choose, create, and/or customize an Avatar when you first get into the NXE. The process is easy and intuitive though the variety of choices is a bit limited. However, I am sure this will change significantly after the official launch with new clothing and the like being made available.

Now onto one of my favorite NXE features, the new and improved guide featuring similar functionality to the original blade style interface. This is quite literally your one stop shop for quick access to just about everything including your friends, your media, the Live Marketplace, system settings, etc. The best thing about it is that it’s available no matter where you are, in game, watching a video, listening to music, or even utilizing the Media Center Extender functionality of the 360. Overall I found that getting from one area to the next was far more efficient and I feel that this feature will be the most utilized by far.

Another feature worth noting is the new Live Marketplace which offers far more detail than before. When you select an item to view you are now presented with such things as enhanced descriptions, screen shots (for game content), and quick links to related content. Additionally, you can now search for content alphabetically which does make it easier to find content specific to games, as well as movies and other items of interest. In all this makes for a greatly improved experience that will only get better with the ability to also find and purchase Marketplace content via Xbox.com, of which your 360 will then download the next time it connects to Live.

What I think should be added:

Visual customization (e.g., a transparency adjustment for increased theme visibility)
Theme creation and customization (use different images for the Channel backgrounds)
Support for more friends to be able to partake in a Party (of course we all want more)

Of course there is probably a list of a million other things that everyone would like to see and supposedly we will see far more frequent improvements and features added in the future as a result of the NXE update. This is a good thing!

There are a host of new features that are too many to even begin to sum up here, but overall I am very impressed with the NXE and what it brings to the 360. It is a reinvention of the system in many ways and I think the benefits and improvement are quite significant. With the official launch coming in just a few days, we all have a lot to look forward to, as I truly feel that Microsoft is becoming ever more attuned to the wants and needs of the core gamer demographic as well as media enthusiast.

|Xbox.com|

Image Source: Flickr – Major Nelson