William Thorup

Illustrator, Motion Graphics Designer, Animator, and VFX Artist

Category: Other

  • INKTOBER 2015 | Finished

    INKTOBER 2015 | Finished

    Here we go. Time to give it a try. Inktober. I have been wanting to do this for the last few years, after my friend Michael Buhler first introduced me to the event. Be sure to check out his blog, as he is currently inking away as well. I think I final have myself worked up enough to carry through the end of the month.

    Inktober_blog_logo_web

    Goals

    I think that the only way I am going to see this through is if I set a few goals to help generate ideas, but keep it basic to avoid being too ridged. I want to keep it fun as well. For the sake of keeping my blog clean as well, I will be posting everything in this post, and I will also be sharing out to the Facebook Draw Night group, Google+, Deviant Art and to my Instagram.

    Goal #1 is to produce 10 larger, 11×17 vertical illustrations, for my top 10 video games. I won’t list that here now, don’t want to spoil the surprises to come.

    Goal #2 is 21 other small scale pieces. This can include inked sketches, smaller, and quicker to finish.


    Quick Link List

    A list of what is done, and linked for quick navigation.

    11×17 Fanart Illustrations

    Day 4 – Transistor
    Day 11 – Phantom Dust
    Day 16 – Tempest 2000
    Day 17 – Journey
    Day 18 – Adventure of Link
    Day 19 – Shadow of the Colossus
    Day 21 – Ocarina of Time
    Day 29 – Link’s Awakening
    Day 30 – Final Fantasy VII
    Day 31 – Street Fighter 2010


    Day 13 – “Navigator”
    Day 14 – “Hybrid CI”
    Day 15 – “Checkers”
    Day 20 – “Ambassador”
    Day 22 – “Lighter”
    Day 23 – “From the Depths”
    Day 24 – “Suzzie”
    Day 25 – “Time to Fly”
    Day 26 – “Unwavering”
    Day 27 – “Mouse Thief”
    Day 28 – “Minmei”

    Weekly Time Lapse Video

    Week 1 Time Lapse

    Week 2 Time Lapse

    Week 3 Time Lapse


    Day 1

    Play the Beast


    paint_the_beast_inktober_web


    Day 2

    Another Bullet


    bounty hunter_inktober_blog


    Day 3

    On the Throne


    on the throne_blog


    Day 4

    Transistor


    transistor_blog


    Day 5

    Gate Keeper


    gate_keeper_blog


    Day 6

    Forgotten Trophies


    forgotten_trophies_blog


    Day 7

    Fighter


    fighter_blog


    Inktober – Week 1 – Time Lapse


    Day 8

    Push the Button


    dots_blog


    Day 9

    Just a Few Notes


    disco_singer_blog


    Day 10

    Distilled


    distilled_blog


    Day 11

    Phantom Dust


    Phantom_Dust_blog


    Day 12

    Potential Baller


    baller_web


    Day 13

    Navigator


    navigator_blog


    Day 14

    Hybrid CI


    hybrid_CI_blog


    Inktober – Week 2 – Time Lapse


    Day 15

    Checkers


    checkers_blog


    Day 16

    Tempest 2000


    tempest_2000_blog


    Day 17

    Journey


    journey_blog


    Day 18

    Adventure of Link


    adventure of link_blog


    Day 19

    Shadow of the Colossus


    shadow_of_the_collossus_blog


    Day 20

    Ambassador


    ambassador_blog


    Day 21

    Ocarina of Time


    Ocarina of Time_blog


    Inktober – Week 3 – Time Lapse


    Day 22

    Lighter


    lighter_blog


    Day 23

    From the Depths


    from the depths_blog


    Day 24

    Suzzies


    suzzie_blog


    Day 25

    Time to Fly


    Its_time_to_fly_blog


    Day 26

    Unwavering


    unwavering_blog


    Day 27

    Mouse Thief


    mouse theif_blog


    Day 28

    Minmei


    minmei_blog


    Day 29

    Link’s Awakening


    08_links akwakening_blog


    Day 30

    Final Fantasy VII


    final fantasy 7_blog


    Day 31

    Street Fighter 2010


    Street Fighter 2010_blog


  • Atari Lynx | 3D Printed Lynx Cartridge Shell

    Atari Lynx | 3D Printed Lynx Cartridge Shell

    A little side project. I was digging through patents for old Atari stuff and noticed that the original cartridge shell’s patent was never renewed. No big surprise really, but I thought I would take advantage of the situation, and try my hand at some 3D printing.

    I dissected a California Games cart and did all the measurements I needed with a pair of calipers. After double checking my measurements, and making some slight adjustments to the original design to accommodate thicker walls that the 3D printing process required (and adding our BitJag logo in place of the Atari logo), I modeled it in Blender, and sent it off to the printers. Below are the results, and if you would like to purchase some, I have made them available on Shapeways for the cost of printing. I hope this might help others to replace damaged shells, and maybe even use them for a future Atari Lynx homebrew release. Enjoy!

    BUY HERE

    black_back_1black_front_1red_back_1red_front_1shapeways_lynx_cart_01shapeways_lynx_cart_02shapeways_lynx_cart_03shapeways_lynx_cart_04shapeways_lynx_cart_05shapeways_lynx_cart_06shapeways_lynx_cart_07shapeways_lynx_cart_08

  • New Cintiq 13HD

    New Cintiq 13HD

    sunrise_web

    I am going to brag a little bit, only because this is such an awesome device. But before that, I apologize for the lack of posting. We have officially started our next project, so, I have been doing allot of writing, organizing, and discussions, to make sure we give this project a good start.


    Scuba girl_web

    This Cintiq 13HD has been very fun to work on. Having worked on an Intuos for such a long time, it takes a bit to adjust to working on a display, but it comes with some advantages.

    The first thing that I noticed was how much easier it is to do line work. It is more accurate. The reason for the increase in accuracy is because the disconnect created by drawing on one surface while looking at a different surface, is gone. This makes it more like a traditional medium, which, for some artists, can be very attractive.

    Pro number two, is how portable this thing is. It is the same width and height as my 15.6 HP ENVY 15, and they easily fit side by side in my bag. I take it between work, Draw Night, parent’s house, and my house with out worrying about it at all. It does add a few extra cable to my bag, and is slightly heavier than my medium Intuos 4 tablet.

    Which brings me to my next point. This device is deceivingly light. And, even thought I don’t do this often, I can easily draw with it sitting on my lap. This is the big plus to this device, light and portable.


    monster_web

    Now some down sides. The screen is a bit dim. Most of the time I don’t mind it, just because it is still brighter than most LCD’s. I heard somewhere there is a way to adjust this, but I haven’t been able to find a service manual to adjust brightness. There isn’t anyway to change the brightness with Wacom software unfortunately.

    This one isn’t really a con, seeing it will be resolved soon. Getting it to work in Linux was a bit of a chore. Because of how new the device is, native support won’t be around for a little while. I was able to build the latest driver from source, and then I have had to trouble shoot the Settings GUI so I could map the buttons. A bit frustration at first, but I eventually got everything working right, and it works great in Kubuntu 13.04. It also works great in programs like the Gimp, MyPaint, and Krita.

    The one big downside to this device is the connector for the proprietary cable, and how it connects to the device. It is a bit flimsy, and one good bump would definitely render it useless. With some extra care though, this can be avoided, and shouldn’t be a problem for most people.

    Overall, it has been a joy to use, and for the price point it is a very good device. Great color, great portability, and a great price. I would definitely suggest it to anyone interested in getting a Cintiq, and not wanting to spend more than $1000.

  • New Office!

    New Office!

    This is a quick post just to show off Thor Media’s new office. Nothing special, but it should help bring a new focus to our work and help us make better plans for the future.

    New office pano_1_web

    New office pano_2_web

  • Self Portrait | 16-bit

    Self Portrait | 16-bit

    Personal Portrait_scaledX2_web

    Got thinking about the Atari Jaguar again, 8/16-bit stuff, and nostalgia hit. So, to help feed the hunger for the good-old-days, I thought I would do a some 16-bit graphics myself.

    I didn’t want to come up with a character concept, or anything, so a self portrait seemed like a good choice. As for style, I was thinking of King of Fighters, or Samurai Showdown. Great fighting games, in the same realm as Street Fighter. Sticking closer to the cel shaded style over the smoother more realistic styles that come from some of those games.


    Doing 16-bit art changes the way I think about things. I started out with a sketch, just like any other piece, but when I began moving into the line art, things began to change. Similar to paying attention to the shapes of your lines when inking, when doing low-resolution outlining you have to pay special attention to your lines. The limited resolution forces you to figure out how to make lines go from thick, thin, then to nothing.

    Also, another problem that is introduced lines that curve, don’t curve very well. Because pixels are generally square, it gets harder and harder the smaller resolution you have to make a decent circle or curve.

    But there are pros as well. With the limited resolution, there is less detail to worry about. This is one of the reasons why games have gotten shorter over the years. The more resolution you have, the more detail you need to fill that empty space, and the more the costs go up to fill that space. Therefore a shorter game. But, my point is, less detail to worry about.

    Personal Portrait_process


    This piece was originally done at 256 x 512 pixels, with a palette of about 30 colors. I did it at that resolution to test out larger graphics on the Jaguar for the future. My brother and I have been playing around with coding our own Jaguar stuff, and would like to move into a game eventually.

    But that is way in the future, and I consider this more about practice than actually putting together a game. I have enjoyed doing this small piece. Simple, stylized, and looking forward to doing more in the future. And I wish my hair actually looked like that sometimes.