Catherine Jobes- Illustration & Character Design Portfolio

Illustration & Character Design

By Catherine Jobes

Table of Contents Digital Works & Character Designs

pgs 4-13

Environments

pgs 14-21

Maya Models

pgs 22-31

Figure Drawings

pgs 32-33

Additional Illustrations - Various Mediums

pgs 34-45

Resume

pg 46

From intrigue to passion.

Inspired by nature, much of the art I create revolves around animals. The world has so many different weird and elegant creatures to draw inspiration from.

Through the use of my intuitive abilities in rendering realistic animals, I am able to create character scenes, and environments using a variety of materials such as ink, watercolor, and software applications, including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

As a detail-oriented and driven individual, I excel in focused team environments or on my own.

Inspirations

An artist’s intuition and understanding of composition is what gives their work so much weight. Masters such as De Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Monet, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Angelica Kauffman, Rosa Bonheur, and countless others, took what they could see around them and recaptured it on canvas or in stone.

These artists evaluated shape, form, light, shadow, color and composition, and made artworks that told a story. Sometimes these artists did more than that, they made comments about the world they lived in. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard’s “self portrait with two pupils,” took a stand that as an artist she was willing to break the rules and teach other women the techniques of her craft. She did this in a society ruled by men who did not feel she should be creating, despite her obvious technical skill.

Picasso and Pollock took art in a completely different direction by producing work that was so out of the norm. These artists pushed boundaries and left messages in their work. I am inspired by these individuals because they pushed boundaries.

I am not only inspired by the masters of the past. Artists such as Josiah Brooks, Aaron Blaise, and Hardy Fowler have payed close attention to their surroundings. These artists use their understanding of the priciples, to create captivating and inviting scenes that convey their own message. I hope to fallow in their footsteps.

Finally, the work of the production team and animation team on The Hobbit trilogy have inspired me to pursue a career in animation. Their work on Smaug the dragon was absolutely incredible and is probably one of the best examples of what 3D animation can really look like. These individuals and nature itself are my inspirations for what I want my art to be.

Direction For the expansion of my skills, I am going to be attending Chico State University and acquiring a Bachelors in Computer animation and Game Development.

Digital Works & Character Designs Below: This digital painting of an original character “Odin,� was created in 2018 using Photoshop.

This was the first fully digital attempt at a more realistic take on this character. Although, digital media is new to me, I am confident that I can create captivating images with that EPIC flare that I look for in other works, with dedication and practice!

ODIN- Character Design DETAILS

This character design was a self motivated project. I had come up with this character for a comic I have been creating for my own exploration. I wanted to create a scene that depicted this character’s arrogant and diabolical nature. Now, I have decided that he is going to be the main character in one of my first animations. I took the basic idea of my character and sketched him in multiple poses and facial expressions. Ultimately I felt that the smirk of this design captured his personality the way I wanted.

Process:

I began with several sketches of “Odin”. Once a composition appealed to me, I drew it on a much larger water color board. From here, I used Prismacolor colored pencils and watercolors to create the scene. Next, I scanned my scene and brought it into Adobe Photoshop where I edited colors, added paint layers and lighting.

Date: March 2017 - Present

Q Smash DETAILS

“Q Smash” was a self-motivated project where I designed the actor Brian Quinn, from True TV’s Impractical Jokers, as a Hulk-like character. Originally drawn in a sketchbook (2016) and then scanned and colored in Photoshop (2017). I made the design so that it would be able to be put onto a T-Shirt or poster in the hopes to send the design to Mr. Quinn himself one day.

Date: March 2017

Sasha: The squirel DETAILS This character has a cartoony feel to her that I am not accustom to creating. Creating varying expressions and different poses for Sasha was a fun process.

Sketched with graphite pencil, Scanned and brought into Photoshop.

Character Design still in Progress.

Date: 2017-present

Gopher Champion DETAILS

This character design was inspired by my brother and our friend who we play League of Legends with. He started out as a joke and something that we would send to each other in chat but then he really started to take off and so I began work on his design.

PROCESS:

Initially I began by determining what I wanted his face to look like and what the style should be in my sketchbook. When I wasn’t happy with the first few sketches, I looked up what a real gopher looks like and then sketched a realistic face of one. When I settled on a face I drew multiple poses both on the computer and in my sketchbook. He will be used in a game that I am in the process of constructing.

He is confident and has a big heart despite his small stature!

Date: 2017- Present

Under the Surface DETAILS

This work is a depiction of an ominous water creature lurking in the ocean. The animal blends itself into the landscape and waits for the next ship to arrive.

Mixed-media

Process

The image was sketched on paper first, then colored with Copic markers. Next the image was scanned and edited in Photoshop.

Date: 2017

Environments

DETAILS

This background acts as a scrolling scene for a running obstical game similar to Geometry Dash. The goal was to create a recognizable environment that had a stylized look. I have created many of the sprites and other assets that will be seen in the game.

This game is planned to release in early 2019.

Created with Adobe Illustrator

Date: December 2016- present

Shale Valley - Environment Concept

DETAILS

This environment is a self-motivated project that was an exploration into the use of Photoshop brushes and techniques used by the concept artist Hardy Fowler.

Process: Beginning with a value thumbnail, the composition is laid out. I then created the line-work that would give me the guidelines for the structures in the scene. Then I experimented with brush settings and pressure sensitivity with my drawing tablet.

Created in Photoshop Date: Sept. 2018

Forest Environments

DETAILS These two concepts are works in progress. I will be rendering them in Photoshop and practicing my skills with Photoshop. I began with the value thumbnails and then fleshed each image out with line-work. I will then pick out my color scheme, paint and texture.

Date: Dec 2018 - present

Additional Concept Art DETAILS Self-motivated projects that I use to practice and warm up for the day. Projects like this give me the opportunity to try out more than one single composition and allow me to find the composition that fits the original idea properly.

Working with Maya

Although my experience with Maya is limited as of December 2018, I have taken one intro to Maya and 3D modeling course at Sierra College in Fall 2018. I took the course to begin familiarizing myself with the program somewhat while I applied to Colleges for transfer. I have been continuing to teach myself and learn more about the program. I am not afraid to look for the information I need to acquire skills to properly construct in Maya. I am learning quickly and cannot wait to dive deeper into this program.

Sea Dragon DETAILS:

This 3D model was constructed in Maya in 48 hours. The purpose of the model was to challenge myself to design, build, and skin a character in a limited amount of time.

Process:

I began with a drawing of a sea dragon in my sketchbook that I roughly shaded with alcohol based markers. Next, I used a digital sketch pad to expand the character. Finally, I used my sketches as a reference and began construction. I later would import my UV shells into Photoshop to create the skin for my sea dragon. A basic rig was put into the model to pose it. I plan on constructing a more elaborate version in the future.

Date: Dec 4th 2018

Sea Dragon- Construction

As an artist it is important to challenge yourself. My desire to expand my knowledge and learn new programs, techniques and visual themes is what will make me a better artist in the future. Passion for what I do and create is what drives my creativity. Getting inspired by other artists and nature is the lifeblood of art. Artists have been bouncing ideas off one another for centuries and even the best of artists can learn something new!

Humpback Whale

DETAILS

This was the third project for the 3D modeling class at Sierra College. This project was the introduction to the UV shells and creation of a skin for the model. This was probably one of the most entertaining models I created. I have a passion for animals and especially love Humpback whales. It gave me an understanding of how the skinning process functions, as well as built upon some of my newly acquired skills in Maya. I created my own references and constructed the model from them.

Marble Statue Head DETAILS

This marble statue head was a challenge. I chose to construct a face because I wanted to give myself something that I thought would be difficult.

Bridge DETAILS

My first 3D model in Maya. This project involved a lot of problem solving, especially since it was my first model.

Figure Drawings

Spread: “Heavy Duty�

DETAILS

I am constantly wanting to practice using new materials and coming up with strong and dynamic scenes. I have a passion for horses and love the emotions they portray.

Process

Graphite pencil for sketching and layout of scene. Micron pen for outlines.

Copic markers for rendering.

Date: March 2017

Additional Additional Illustrations Illustrations Various Media Various Mediums

“Lazy Wolf ” DETAILS

Sketch of a wolf I drew on a lunch break at work. The goal was to get a distinguishable variance in light and grey tones. drawn with black ball point pen.

Date: May 2016

Sketchbook of owls DETAILS

This page in my sketchbook began to take shape as a collage of owl sketches. As one of my favorite birds, I love to capture their incredible beauty in my work.

Capt. America DETAILS I drew this to practice my rendering of the human form.

Date: May 2016

Commissioned Lion Head DETAILS

This lion head was commissioned in 2018. He is Acrylic on canvas.

Date: Aug 2018

“Big Brothers�

DETAILS

Painted in Acrylic on canvas.

I wanted to keep a somewhat loose hand while working this painting.

I plan on submitting it to the Draft Horse Classic in September 2019.

Date: November 2018

Cobra Date: Jan 2017

Pit Viper DETAILS An exercise in texture and layering graphite.

Date: November 2016

Watercolor Horse DETAILS This watercolor painting I created in 2014. Experimenting with the medium to find my own style.

Dragon Head DETAILS I was looking to create a creature that would have many textures so that I could experiment with my Copic markers. I wanted to focus on a piece of the creature that would have larger details.

Process Graphite pencil for construction lines. Micron pens for the line-work. Alcohol based Copic markers for the shadows and textures.

Date: September 2017

Light Study- Walking Draft DETAILS Exploration of light using solid black to describe form.

DOODLES Date: 2016

Octopus DETAILS

Tattoo Design. Graphite Pencil to lay out the design. Micron Pens used for rendering. Crosshatching techniques used to create shadows.

Date: October 2017

“Dakota” Date: 2014

DETAILS

Entry for Jazza’s August Contest of the Month “Untraditional Art.” The contest was to create a work of art with a new or unusual material. Sketched with graphite pencil. This piece was created with cocking, cardboard, spackle knife and handsaw. I enjoyed the challenge and it has inspired me to create more images with these materials.

Date: August 2017

Skills Soft •Creative Problem Solver •Strong communicator •Detail Oriented •Self-starter •Team player •Professional •Motivated •Energetic •Strong Organization skills •Timely •Independent •Can work alone or in a team •Open Minded •Easy to communicate with •Dedicated •Focused

Traditional Mediums •Watercolor Painting •Acrylic Painting •Ink and graphite drawing •Colored pencil •Copic Markers •Mixed media Technical •Vector graphics creation •Raster image editing •Digital painting Software •Photoshop •Illustrator •InDesign •Adobe Sketch

EDUCATION AA for Transfer Studio Arts, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA, 2017 AA Illustration, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA, 2018 AA Art History, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA 2018 Colfax High School 20092012

RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE Book Cover Design, Devon Merritt’s “Five Wives”,2013 T-Shirt/ Logo design, for Union Square Lounge, Grass Valley CA 2016

•DESIGN GOAL: The client wanted a design that would incorporate the feeling of the lounge and appeal to younger and older crowds. Created in Adobe Illustrator.

Art Director at CatNap Gaming, Grass Valley CA2015- present

•RESPONSIBILITIES: Workout project deadlines; prepare files for development;

Character designer, CatNap Gaming, Grass Valley CA2015- present

•RESPONSIBILITIES: Character concept design; Character color schemes; concept sketches; create and complete animations; Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Animate

Environment designer, CatNap Gaming, Grass Valley CA2015- present

•RESPONSIBILITIES: create the background and environmental art for various apps; create functional moving environments on a 2 dimensional plane; Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop

Calendar Feature, Colfax High School Fundraiser Calendar, Colfax, CA, 2009-2012

•Criteria: Pen and Ink drawings of the historic town of Colfax California; All funds acquired from the sale of the calendars was given back to the Art Department of Colfax High School for art supplies, drafting desks, and to better the art community by inspiring youth.

Feature in Jazza’s COTM, August 2017

•Criteria: Use unconventional materials to create traditional artwork

Commissioned Tattoo Design, Various clients 2012- Present

•SUBJECTS: Dragons, Vegan themed, Animal portraits, Landscapes, Trees of life, Anchors, Military themes, Fantasy, ect.

Commissioned work, Various Clients 2009-present •Animal Portraits

Illustration & Character Design

By Catherine Jobes