CLOSED

I see quite a few blogs and websites where people have lost interest or gotten busy with other things and just stop updating. I'm guilty of this as well. For instance, this blog hasn't been updated in nearly a year.

It's not that I lost interest in creating and posting fun art projects. I just got very busy at my full-time job for a while.

Recently, I looked at my own Dale Ankrum Design website and even this blog and decided the stagnation had to end. It was time to either shut everything down or re-brand and take it in a whole new direction.

Dale Ankrum Design is now Blue Grid Studio (www.bluegridstudio.com) and I am running a new blog under that brand as well, the Blue Grid Studio Blog.

I don't know exactly how long Blogger retains inactive blogs, obviously quite a while. I'm going to leave everything up here for posterity as long as it lasts, but this will be my final post for Seven Percent Solution.

I'd like to thank H.B. for following the blog as well as the perhaps three other readers who ever read a post at one time or another.

Ha!

Seriously, it's fine. I never set out to launch a hugely successful enterprise or anything. I just wanted to create a fun venue to post some spooky-themed art projects and I did that, so mission accomplished.

If you happen across this blog and this article, you are more than welcome to visit the online presence for Blue Grid Studio and see what's new in the world of my freelance and other side projects.

It's been a good run for SPS and I had a lot of fun creating the art it displays. Thanks again for reading and I hope to see you over at any of the Blue Grid media sites.

Best,

-DLA

Election Night (1976)

As I sit at home this evening browsing the various news media projections for who will win the 2012 presidential election, and witnessing all of the "buzz" over the tight race, my thoughts drift back some 36 years to the eve of the '76 election race between Gerry Ford and Jimmy Carter.

Of course in those days, we just had the three major networks and that was about all for television. We're talking about the days when the local affiliates normally signed off at 12:30am while playing the National Anthem.

Knowing it would likely be an otherwise boring evening for me with nothing on but election coverage, my mother took me to the local pharmacy store so I could pick out a fun toy or game or puzzle to keep myself entertained.

Being in small-town Ohio, we didn't really have big-box retail, so the locally-owned pharmacy always had a pretty extensive inventory of toys and games and comic books compared to the pharmacy chains of today.

So with carte blanche to pick out pretty much anything I wanted, of all things, I chose a new Colorforms playset themed as Castle Dracula Fun House.

I was brimming with excitement to spend a long evening playing with my cool new Colorforms set full of all my favorite monsters, a spooky castle backdrop, and awesome illustrative graphics!

My last memory of that whole experience is waking up in the middle of the night on the living room floor, my Colorforms set all spread out in front of me, my mother asleep on the sofa, and on the TV: Jimmy Carter accepting his newly-won presidency.

Given the current state of this country, there is a lot of excitement and anticipation surrounding this election. And yet I cannot help looking back to a time when the only excitement I knew over an election was getting to play with Drac, Frank, Mummy, Wolfman, Phantom, and Creature, all in a castle of hidden doors and secret passages.

It's curious how such things tend to stay with us over the years. This was just one of many childhood influences that led to the passion I hold today for haunted theming and design. And though most of that beloved visual media is long-since physically gone, I always keep a bit of it close by so the inspiration and excitement never die away.

A Unique Environment

From the weekly challenge series, a "unique environment" concept painting a la Scott Robertson from The Gnomon Workshop.

The gist of the process is creating a series of quick grayscale marker sketches (or the digital equivalent) and overlaying them in Photoshop on individual layers with varying layer effects.


Then, within the jumble of visual information (like finding recognizable forms in clouds or wallpaper patterns), identify the visual "bare bones" of a composition and render it to a finished view.


In working through this process, I found considerable difficulty in visualizing usable compositions hidden within the overlay of abstract sketches.


After a lot of experimentation with layer order, effects, opacity, etc. one clear landscape finally materialized.


The process work for the project is shown below:

"...ascends..."

Brock and I have decided to resurrect our weekly challenge to generate concept art and reinvigorate our creative drives.

This challenge tasked us with the design of pieces based on any part of the following randomly generated sentence:

"A particular pose ascends near the rock."

I simply chose the single word "ascends" around which to design this piece.

Line work and a basic shadow layer were created in Sketchup Pro and exported to Photoshop where the image was painted and composited with a few different photo plates.

Though originally intended as a mall or possibly a hotel with the perspective itself and the elevators representing the concept, the piece evolved into an airport which provided both the visual payoff of the airplane as well as another layer of "ascends" to the piece.

In the fall of 2003, to coincide with the release of Imagineer Jason Surrell's book, The Haunted Mansion: From The Magic Kingdom to the Movies,  as well as the distribution of the live action movie based on the attraction, Disney released this "book" which essentially is a collection of pieces to construct a small scale paper model of--not The Haunted Mansion--but a form of haunted mansion based more on the production design of the movie.

The ghostly blue nuts and bolts shown in the blister pack attached to the cover are the fasteners for all of the walls, floor, and partial roof.

The availability of the book was short-lived and now it fetches about three to four times the original cover price on the secondary market for a copy in new condition.

It's really geared more for the much younger as is evident in its overall simplicity and the illustrative style of the graphics. Hard core Mansion fans might collect it just because it is what it is, but once it's put together, the result is largely anti-climatic.

However, I decided to scan all of the pieces and take them into the cg realm for a bit of fun. Until an animated fly-through can be rendered out and composited, here are a few stills:

(click images for larger view)

The model was massed using SketchUp Pro 7, then imported to 3DS Max 2009 for materials, lighting and rendering. A bit of post was then done in Photoshop CS2.

In the early stages of planning for The Haunted Mansion, imagineer Ken Anderson created a series of concept sketches for the original idea of a walk-through attraction.

One of those vignettes depicts an overhead view of a dilapidated parlor with an organ and ghostly footprints leading to it.

 

 Having admired this sketch for many years now, I finally found the opportunity to recreate it in 3D with interpretive finishes and materials.

The model space was created mostly in SketchUp Pro 7, then finalized and rendered in 3DS Max 2009 with post done in Photoshop CS2 (click image for larger view).

A relatively quick Photoshop exercise using a downloadable coloring page freely available on the net.

Might use it as an avatar for something.

For this week's Illustration Friday exercise, the topic was "subterranean."

During my first year at Ringling, as a class exercise, I created a series of photo collages using the architecture of a campus building.

One of those collages provided the inspiration for this image (see below).

The image was created using Sketchup pro 7, 3DS Max 2009 and Photoshop.

In an effort to "stay in shape," so to speak, Brock and I have decided to participate in a weekly challenge based on the ideas supplied by illustrationfriday.com

This week's word was "perspective."

So, here's my run at it using 3DS Max and just a bit of Photoshop.

Soon (hopefully) we'll also have a blog set up to showcase these weekly "workouts." It's just too easy to get lazy about things--especially during down time between projects.

The point is to stay sharp...maybe even push a little.

Though, maybe not this week.

Using another of Ray Keim's paper model templates, I completed this short animation exercise recreating the animatronic tombstone found outside the entrance to WDW's Haunted Mansion attraction.

I made some minor modifications to the original graphics to animate the eyes and also changed the design of the base to look more like that of the actual installation.

The model and animation were created in 3DS Max.

A Trial Run
























In 2004, graphic designer and animator Ray Keim created Haunted Dimensions--a website tribute to Disney's Haunted Mansions and all things generally spooky. What has most distinguished Ray's website from other tribute sites is his creation of numerous paper model kits available free to download and construct.

Though the models are intended to be printed and cut out for assembly, I thought it might be interesting to simulate that process digitally--essentially creating pieces of mesh based on the shape of the graphics and then assembling them (mostly) according to the original instructions.

It makes for a great exercise in modeling at the sub-object level.

The initial idea was actually to do this with Ray's model kit for the Liberty Square Haunted Mansion, but I thought I'd start a little smaller and see what I might be getting myself into. So I started with one of the less complex models--the Liberty Square entrance pillar.

Anyone with an affinity for The Haunted Mansion, modeling, or both should visit Haunted Dimensions and browse through all of the galleries and look at the model kits.


Ray is also a seasonal designer with Universal Studios Orlando and works on the design team for the annual Halloween Horror Nights event. Check out his blog (The Mansion Observer) for more on his work at Universal.

This model of the entrance pillar was created and rendered in 3DS Max.

After reading his initial post on the forum at doombuggies.com, I contacted the author of the blog The Zeitgeistarium about using his design concept for a Haunted Mansion-themed theatrical stage set in a 3D modeling and animation exercise.

He graciously gave his permission and here is the final visualization.

The first big obstacle was the spiral staircase, which is always a little tricky whether you're working in SketchUp or 3DS Max.

The next challenge came in the animation stage with reproducing the ghostly footprints effect as seen in the recent enhancement to the attraction. I'm sure there are multiple solutions, but mine was essentially a series of keyframed planes with instances of an image sequence and alpha channel sequence.

Then came Constance, the ghostly bride. Using an edited video sequence from an excellent fan video (martinsvids.net), the video loop was applied to a couple of bent planes with an alpha channel and many tweaks to self-illumination and RGB output to make her visible. And since the source video was shot only from her waist up, I had to figure out a way to "fudge" the lower portion of her gown as she walks to the balcony railing (just don't look too closely, please).

I'm still not happy with the lightning effect at the end, but it will do for the purposes of the exercise. Keyframing a light to simulate lightning is--quite literally--a nightmare. I had to go to the Graph Editor in Max and use a waveform, but even with that there is a problem with variance because of the uniform wavelengths.

Laying the audio tracks was probably the most enjoyable part of the video compositing.

Special thanks to Kenneth Macleod for the use of his concept and design. See more of his projects at The Zeitgeistarium

A visualization of the classic Lakeside board game The Haunted Mansion, based on the Disney attraction. Created using SketchUp Pro and 3DS Max; rendered and animated 3DS Max.

If you were a kid around 1975 and ever passed through the toy section of the local pharmacy or discount store, you may have seen a display of small boxes adorned with the graphic of an old manor-style house and printed all over with the description of its contents, "Pet Ghost."

No doubt it made its way into the impulse buy market on the coattails of the Pet Rock, only it was a much cooler concept. Essentially a small styrofoam ball wrapped in tulle, the tiny "ghost" came with stickers to give it a face and necktie and with the option of making yours a boy ghost, or a girl ghost. A line of thread was attached to the ghost so it could be controlled to appear to float, fly, dance, or whatever else you could make it do.

I, myself, never had much luck successfully puppeteering my ghost, but I did love the graphics of the house on the outside of the box.
Now, years later, I thought it might be fun to visualize those great little graphics in 3D. The model was built using SketchUp Pro and 3DS Max with a little post done in Photoshop. Pet Ghost was created and distributed by FunStuf of Orlando, FL.




















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UPDATE: A recent discovery has revealed the graphics used for the packaging of Pet Ghost were actually a near-direct copy of an illustration by Phillipe Fix used for the book Alexander and the Magic Mouse by Martha Sanders, copyrighted 1969--well before Pet Ghost appeared on the market.















Although disappointing after being intrigued by the Pet Ghost box for so many years, it was still a valid modeling exercise and will continue being based on a favorite part of childhood.

Yes, another posting of a lamppost. This one may be recognized from Disney's Animal Kingdom park.

The signage may date the photo reference at about 2005 or so.

The scene was modeled in SketchUp 6.0 and 3DS Max 2008 with some post work in Photoshop CS2.

Self Portrait

Nothing more than a quick and simple Photoshop job, but in the spirit of the American Halloween season, here is yours truly among the undead.

Created as a profile picture for MySpace.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

One post-rendering technique used for still images in 3D visualization is to overlay an ambient occlusion layer to deepen the shadow spectrum created by global illumination.

That was the general approach here, but rather than using an AO layer on a CG rendering, I used several instances of the same photo at varying grayscale and opacity levels with a few different solid colored multiply layers and finally a number of subtle adjustments to brightness, contrast, hue and saturation.

Why? Sometimes we just have to play.

Taken at the Ca'dZan in Sarasota, the original photograph by Brock is available for viewing at ElectricSynapse.com in the Photography section of his online gallery.

The alterations were completed in Photoshop CS2.

On the grounds of Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris stands a lonely gazebo where presumably the Manor's resident ghost, Melanie Ravenswood, once enjoyed summer afternoon tea. Approaching the Manor, as you pass Melanie's gazebo, you'll hear the sound of an unseen music box playing a haunting melody (in fact, the very music you hear when visiting this blog).

The images were created using SketchUp Pro 6, 3DS Max 2008, and Vue 6 xStream with post done in Photoshop CS2.

Revised cover design for Sheryl Brennan's novel, Celtic Sacrifice. The raven is the final of three major symbols in the storyline--the other two being the Celtic knot and the dagger.

The book is currently available from Underdog Press.

The revision was completed using Photoshop CS2.

A Museum of the Weird

Among the many early show concepts for Disney's Haunted Mansion attraction was an idea hatched by WED designer Rolly Crump dubbed Museum of the Weird.

Mr. Crump envisioned a parlor area filled with a fantastic menagerie of exotic and unusual artifacts as well as a cast of character props including a talking chair, a melting candle man and even a full-sized gypsy cart which would suddenly come to life every few minutes.

Though somewhat ridiculed at the time by his peers who told him his ideas were too far off the map, Mr. Crump's Museum concept got through to Walt Disney who planned on using it as a "spill" area for guests entering and exiting the Mansion.

Unfortunately, the idea was dropped when the decision was made for the Mansion to be a ride-through attraction. Neverhteless, Rolly Crump's idea, in the form of his drawings and scale models, lives on in the history and mythos of The Haunted Mansion.

This visulalization was created using SketchUp Pro 6.0, 3DS Max 9 and Poser 6. The images were rendered using Mental Ray and post was done in Photoshop CS2.