Update:

Personal Update: Lots of potentially exciting things on the horizon as of late which has left me trying to scramble to try to put some semblance of a thesis together and it's finally starting to shape up as I've managed to cobble together some base lighting in maya and finish the first floor and few shops pass. 

Life-wise has been exciting as well as I've been going through the paces interviewing for Environment Artist positions. With some advancing into the final stages it's incredibly exciting to think I have another shot getting back into the industry and getting to work with more colleagues again.

Lastly, the exciting thing is after an incredibly tough past year and a half with many complications with my health and auto-immune flare-ups I'm close to being back to full health, which last happened around Spring 2016, shortly before I entered the Rookies challenge as well as moving to Burbank to work on Spider-man. I certainly couldn't have done it without the constant support of the art community, and especially my incredible girlfriend who's constant check-ins, homecooked meals and night's rubbing my back like she's trying to get a ticket to the s.s. anne. It's been the toughest of roads I've experienced personally, and what it's brought into crystal clear focus a deep found appreciation for the two sides of the coin that life can bring. Moving forward with my art, personal life, and career it's a manic-like focus and an unending quest to hear, tell, and experience all the stories from a variety of walks of life, to not just listen but to hear what's been said and digest, grow, and improve in my quest to tell passionate and inviting stories in the environments I craft.

With all of that out of the way onto the art shall we?

BOOM:

Wow man, this project has been quite the undertaking and has challenged me personally on a level I really wasn't sure I could achieve, but setting aside the constant unfinished projects I decided no matter what that I would see this through to completion, and I plan on it =). With that said the overall story for those who haven't followed or may have forgotten is really a message in the fight against censorship that this particular government happens to excise over its citizens. What that means is in this world the citizens of this beachside city are being censored by the satellites found in previous screenshots. These satellites turn off all mobile electronics in this neighborhood in Los Angeles. Themed to Chinatown-like architecture I really wanted to go for a 1984 (the novel) themed setting. Gorilla Joe's Scrap station is then responsible for taking the hand-held electronics that are forced to be turned into government scrap shops. But this shop isn't like the others. They take handheld electronics and under the guise of their building and field of work they repurpose the electronics into weapons such as tasers, wifi-communications receivers and blockers, as well as the more, let's say forceful weapons. At the end you'll see the main building and gorilla joe's first rendition I mocked up and tossed in unreal to get a feel for things, that main building will be replaced by these one's I am crafting and detailing and it's exciting to see my vision come to life. NOTE: The apex gorilla art, and billboard art, as well as the gorilla in the shop are placeholder art or assets derived from commercial-free sites such as turbosquid, etc and are there primarily for the storytelling theme of the universe I'm trying to craft. 

As always Critiques, Comments, and Concerns always welcomed and greatly appreciated! Cheers guys!