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aprillee

April Lee
337 Watchers30 Deviations
46.7K
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poukha
mig20
LostSangwyn
CritterDreams
ZeSidnusMagnus
erinyswhitewing
jacman76
oldhans117
Akabeurjub
mynamemcgregor
berkanov
arawn131
Antarel
CrowBlackJay
su-ke
AirimirOfGondor
IllLearnHowToFly
Sarqq
bkomae
bkomei
saikoxix
DalilaDolls
Aikorn
theDURRRRIAN
BlueRoseArkelle
J-e-n-K-a-t
dollist

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Artist // Professional // Traditional Art
Badges
Super Llama: Llamas are awesome! (30)
My Bio
Freelance Illustrator (traditional and digital)
Computer Game Artist (3D, 2D, modeling, textures, animation, concept)

Graduate:
Art Center College of Design, BFA in Illustration
Oxford University, BA/MA in History
Mount Holyoke College, BA in English Lit.

Born & raised in S. California.

Favourite Visual Artist
Amano, Michael Whelan, John Howe,Arthur Rackham, Waterhouse, Rebecca Guay, James Gurney, Nene Thomas
Favourite Movies
Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar
Favourite TV Shows
Ghost Hunters, Searching Your Roots, Trauma: Life in the ER, Unusual Suspects
Favourite Bands / Musical Artists
The Cure, Loreena McKennitt, Linkin Park, GreenDay, Beatles
Favourite Books
Lord of the Rings, Lymond Chronicles, Romances by Georgette Heyer, Mysteries by Dorothy Sayers, Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, fantasy by Carol Berg, SF by C. J. Cherryh and Lois McMaster Bujold... etc.
Favourite Writers
Tolkien, Dunnett, Heyer, Sayers, O'Brian
Tools of the Trade
Acrylics, airbrush, oils, watercolor, photoshop, some Max.
Other Interests
Reading, Art, History, Costumes, Everything...
I took a SmArt School online class with Dan Dos Santos, February-May 2016.  It was fantastic!  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  Dan's an amazing teacher. SmArt School Website The first assignment was a portrait of some kind. Sketch of a sort of winter queen elf... (yeah, it needs a lot more thought! like can we have something a bit more detailled?  story and personality -wise?) Digital (Photoshop and Wacom Intuos) Dan suggested maybe more of a headdress...  I couldn't make it work, snow-queen-wise... My wintery designs were crap.  So I went in another direction... Went for a more desert-like style and changed her to an antelope girl, and made her fa
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I will be in the IlluxCon Showcase.  October 19-23 (Showcase Friday/Saturday Nights).  Reading, PA. http://www.illuxcon.com/
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So 2015 was all medical problems.  Wow.  Never saw hospitals and doctors so much!  Never had medical problems (of that magnitude) before... Never had stitches or broken bones or whatever.  So it was all an experience.  Seems to be as over as it can be, though.  Still on some meds, but no big deal. I have NOT been doing any card art... so anyone interested in more of that won't be getting any news. I did do another SmArt School!  Seriously, a GREAT program that is on-going:  Online hard-core fantasy illustration with the best guys in the business, online, with some great fellow students!  I took a class with Dan DosSantos as instructor.  He
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Profile Comments 88

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I am doing some research for my college final major project, and I am basing it on the Might & Magic series. I had no idea the inventory sprites were 3D models in Might & Magic VII as a kid. No idea at all until I finally found your page and a forum somewhere that credited you as one of the artists. I love your work!! Its so damn amazing, and thank you for doing that art!
Gah... I'm sorry, I don't check in here very often (to say the least!).  

Thanks for liking M&M!  Everyone at New World Computing had a great time working on those games (HOMM, too).  I think we started building things in 3D for VI when 3D STudio Max made 3D more financially available to companies.

Realtime 3D was still too expensive in processing/memory, so they were sprites.  Memory and processing was always increasing --same as it still does today, but wow, were things limited then!  

:)
No worries! I understand, just wanted to leave a message telling you what I thought anyway, and to praise and thank you for your work.

That makes a lot of sense! M&M was a big part of my gaming childhood, and am always surprised when I learn HOW things are made, and things you guys had to do to workaround problems and stuff :)
I absolutely love your artwork for Might and Magic and HMM series! Thank you so much for endless hours of enjoying the concepts.

I actually wonder if you know something about this toad - was it in H2 lineup back then?
www.acidcave.net/images/ciekaw…
Made by placing pixels, definitely not 3D at all.
Thanks. I already contacted Tracy Iwata and made it known that this asset was once created for HoMM2, but never made it to the release version.

Would you care to elaborate if that kind of HoMM2 assets (townscreens) was created in 3D, with/without the use of landscape generators, and/or pixel painting?

static.giantbomb.com/uploads/o…

Thank you very much in advance.
Looks familiar, style-wise.  Not mine, though.  Not sure which version it might have been in...