Alpha Plus Good

The Joy of Food Service

2012-02-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

For anyone out there who has to wait on people for a living... I feel for you.

Fantasy Characters

2012-02-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

There's something I find really fun in drawing two heavily contrasting characters interacting with each other (particularly when it reveals a little about their relationship). On that note, here are some random fantasy characters.

Snow Ball V

2011-12-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

Here's some more graphic design I did for the Fifth Annual "Snow Ball" fighting event my friend hosted. He told me what he wanted, and I must admit I had a blast drawing it.

Coffeehouse Show

2011-11-06T13:42:00.001-08:00

This is a quick little sketch I did of my friend Jake while he was playing a coffeehouse show recently. It was done on borrowed paper with a borrowed brush pen, but I still kind of like how it turned out.

Sketchbook Doodle Dump #3

2011-10-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sketchbook Doodle Dump #2

2011-09-20T17:03:00.001-07:00

Sketchbook Doodle Dump #1

2011-07-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Some Poster Work

2011-06-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a few versions of a poster I whipped up for a friend's local blues show. I really enjoy doing posters. I hope to do more in the future.

Primate Scraps

2011-04-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

Monkey Kid

2011-01-31T22:59:00.000-08:00

New Character Design

2011-01-17T21:32:00.000-08:00

These are a few early development images of a comic character I'm working on. If you can't tell already... he's a little bitter.

WINTER

2011-01-12T22:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a long, hard, and insanely busy winter thus far (hence the lack of updates). As I shovel the driveway, de-ice the porch, and fend off rodents from invading my house I find myself missing the west coast all the more, but thankfully I've managed to find some steady animation work here in the Midwest. It's nice to have a job again where I'm actually PAID to draw.

That said, I'll be counting the days until spring.

2D Animation Reel

2010-11-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

NNorman 2D Reel 2010 from Niklas Norman on Vimeo.

2010 CG Animation Reel

2010-11-19T22:34:00.001-08:00

NNorman CG Reel 2010 from Niklas Norman on Vimeo.

Two Minute Concepts

2010-10-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

These are some extremely quick concept sketches I worked up for a recent freelance project. Nothing much came of them, so I figured I'd throw them up here.

Snow Ball

2010-10-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

This is a bit of graphic design I did for a friend of mine. I've been very busy as of late with freelance animation and working on things at my new house, so I figured I'd throw it up here.

Cats and Dogs

2010-09-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

Cartoon Me

2010-09-10T20:36:00.001-07:00

As part of my effort to become a better character designer and artist in general I've recently started drawing self portraits again. I used to draw more realistic self portraits using mirrors or photos as reference, but now I'm going a bit more cartoony, and using no reference at all.

The results are kind of a mixed bag. Ironically the fastest one is by far my favorite. The lesson: keep it simple stupid!

Dragon Things!

2010-08-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Cartoony Ape Designs

2010-08-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Smokers

2010-08-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Just a few character designs I randomly threw together. I like the style, though the specific characters need some work.

An Update on "Primates"

2010-08-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

Sadly, my work on "Primates" has been at a bit of a standstill as of late, owing both to more pressing matters and (perhaps even more so) to my complete inability to be content with my current designs.

I'm happy with Steven's design, difficult as it can be to get right sometimes, but when it comes to all the other characters I'm simply can't nail them down. I'll draw something I think is perfect and then draw it better a few weeks later. At least my cartooning skills seem to be improving!

The character below is David, the antagonist of the story. He's also MY antagonist, as I can never seem to nail him down. I know that what I want is character who can be both threatening and pathetic, and I know what kind of hair he should have, but how human is he? How primate is he? Is his face more on the side of a chimp or gorilla? I just can't decide.

WW1 Storyboard

2010-07-29T23:50:00.000-07:00

A Moment of Down Time

2010-07-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Character Concepts

2010-06-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything here, and I feel a little guilty. Then again, I have spent the last month looking for a new job, fixing up my new house, and trying to fit a social life somewhere in there as well... so there is that.

Anyway, here's some random concept work.

Thugs

2010-06-01T15:06:00.001-07:00

These are a quick pair of quick character sketches I did while sitting in on one of the Academy's digital clothed figure classes. I had to do it from the back of the room, but most of the details came though (though I couldn't actually see his legs).

More Randomness

2010-05-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

Dead Man's Hand

2010-05-11T00:34:00.000-07:00

Random Scratchings

2010-05-03T03:28:00.000-07:00

More Doodles!

2010-04-27T01:26:00.000-07:00

More Random Characters

2010-04-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

Just a Random Character

2010-04-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Nerd

2010-04-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

Bird Warrior

2010-04-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

I did this goofy sketch into my head a while back, based loosely on the story of the birds that attempt to go to war with land animals. For a while it sat on the back burner, but recently I decided to take it out once more to work on my photoshop coloring. Now I'm actually quite happy with it.

One Hour Sheriff

2010-04-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick doodle I did at work today. I definitely like the sepia toned version the best.

Hunting Season

2010-04-08T02:36:00.000-07:00

I drew a few sketches shortly after getting back from the zoo with my roommate Eivind. I liked the cartoony one so much I decided to turn it into a finished piece. Eivind suggested the title.

More Zoo Inspired Pics

2010-03-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

Zoo Pics

2010-03-07T22:15:00.001-08:00

So I went to the zoo this week with my roommate Eivind. We both brought our sketchbooks, but wound up having to use them quickly because it started raining almost immediately after we arrived. Here are some of the results.

More Faces!

2010-03-04T22:50:00.001-08:00

Faces!

2010-03-02T00:51:00.000-08:00

Wild West Works in Progress

2010-02-11T00:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a little while, so here's some progress shots of a few cowboy pieces I whipped together. The first is a fairly standard showdown shot. The second is a slightly more substantial photoshop painting "Dead Man's Hand." Hope you enjoy.

More Steven Re-Designs

2009-12-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

Yet again I've been designing and re-designing the overall look of Steven, the main character of my "Primates" comic. At first it was simply a matter of getting the face right. Now I've begun to reconsider the body as well.

The turnaround of Steven above is probably the most stylized and pathetic version of him I've yet drawn. I like it, but I'm not sure I want to go quite that extreme. Below is the former version, which seems a bit too bland and human looking.

I've also posted another set of alternate faces below that, so if anyone out there has any suggestions on which head/body combo works best, I'm all ears.

Horray for More Character Design!

2009-12-08T01:18:00.001-08:00

More Boredom at Work

2009-12-02T01:11:00.000-08:00

Some CG Stuff

2009-12-01T04:40:00.001-08:00

Well, I figured it was about time I finally posted some of my CG work on this site, though all of these scenes have been kind of put on the back burner as of late. It seems that whenever I reach a certain point in a 3-D project I always seem to wind up being enticed back to 2-D. I suppose my job is partly to blame, as I have to deal with CG problems all day. That can get a bit old after a while.

The good news though is that my 2-D work has shown vast improvement. And I'm sure I'll finish these... eventually. In the mean time, I'm pretty happy with the bug.

Tommy Guns and Trophey Wives

2009-11-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure just what it is I love so much about the 1920's and 30's. The fashion, the culture, the art, the trench coats and fedoras. These certainly all play a part, but it's how they all uniquely combined during that period that really fascinates me. Anyway, here's my little tribute to that era. To Volstead!

This wealthy socialite is by far my favorite of these drawings. I'll have to finish and color it at some point.

Of course, I had to throw in good old Humphrey Bogart.

I drew a fairly nice feme fatal, and decided to give her a male accomplice, but I wasn't quite happy with this one.

I decided to give her a somewhat more affluent partner. I think I'll have to finish and color these two at some point as well.

ROBOTS!

2009-11-09T21:06:00.001-08:00

I got bored at work today. Decided to draw some robots. Maybe I'll turn one of them into a finished piece at some point. I kind of like the buzz saw shield on the steam bot.

The Evolution of 'Primates' Part III

2009-10-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

After nailing down the basic look of Steven. It was time to finalize some of the other key characters of the story, beginning with April, the female lead.

My basic idea for April is that she is everything that Steven is not; attractive, witty, confident, and well spoken. The problem (as I mentioned before) is how to make her attractive, but still thoroughly ape in appearance.
Steven is a rather short character. April and he stand roughly eye to eye. In one version Steven was even shorter, but that just made him too pathetic.
This was my first April turnaround. It wasn't bad, but I felt like I was simply putting female attributes (I.E. long hair) over a masculine ape's skull. Additionally, the lack of hair on the face was, I felt, kind of cheating.
And so I came to this design. I decided that rather than try to hide the facial hair I should just stylize it. I also gave her a far more ape like nose and hair while maintaining unmistakably feminine eyes.
Steven's friend Ian has stayed more consistent in his basic design then the other characters. His aloof, sunken eyes, sarcastic smile, thick jutting brow, and messy hair have been with him since the beginning.
However, the basic forms underneath these attributes, combined with their stylization, have gone in all different directions. This digital version of Ian (with eyes far too big) just didn't have the same flair.
In the end I did basically the same thing that I did with Steven. Combining my favorite headshots of Ian into a single turnaround. I then went over it with the red lines to stylize the proportions a bit.

The Evolution of 'Primates' Part II

2009-10-16T02:18:00.000-07:00

So after playing around a bit with these ape characters I decided to start nailing down their final designs. This was a painful process, as in every incarnation there was something I different that I liked. I'd be convinced that "this is the final version" only to draw one that made me second guess myself.

I knew exactly what I wanted to communicate, but finding the best (and simplest) way to do so involved a lot of drawing, re-drawing, and re-re-drawing.
Here's a lineup of some of the story's main characters. From right to left; Ian, Steven's cocky but goodhearted former roommate, David, Steven's asshole new roommate, Steven, our protaganist, Tim, his uptight other roommate, and Ralph, his good friend. You'll notice our female lead is conspicuously absent. At this time I was still figuring out how to portray attractive female apes.
Headshots of Ian, (dark haired) Steven, and David.
James (Steven's other friend and fellow biology major), Tim, and an incidental character.
More shots of Ralph.
In addition to the faces, I began to work more on the physicality of these ape creatures, and how I would streamline them for the comic.
I played around with size, posture, and the like. I also considered going back to more human designs (as you can see on the bottom of this page).
I decided against it, and considered going in exactly the opposite direction, using the various ape species. This was a concept of a baboon character. I'm still not sure whether I will be using him or not. He hovers a little too close to furry for me.
This was Steven's first "final" design. His features are a roughly fifty-fifty blend between human, with big expressive eyes and a very human profile.
I must admit was a bit surprised when my good friend David Lundin preferred this (far more chimp-like) version of Steven, with a further protruding mouth, more prominent brow ridge, naturalistic ape nose, and shorter hair.
I decided that a re-design was in order. In this file I gathered together all of my favorite quick sketches of Steve and combined the elements I wanted into a final cohesive design. The resulting turnaround has formed the basis of Steven ever since, but I'm always open to new suggestions.

The Evolution of 'Primates' Part I

2009-10-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Much of the character work I've been doing lately has revolved around a comic project I've been working on called "Primates." It's one of my first attempts at a longer storyline, so given that I will have to draw these characters over and over again, I've been trying to make sure I get them right.

Here is some of the earliest work I did with "Primates." The overall designs have changed drastically over the different incarnations, and I've gone back and forth on a few of them, but for the most part I've been pleased with how they've developed.

These are the two main characters of the story, confident and self centered David, and Steven, a meek and mild biology major. When I first wrote the story, they were simply normal humans.

Then I got the idea to give everyone in the world (that's Steven and David at the top of the page) very ape-like features, as a reflection of how Steven sees the world.
Also, they were rather fun to draw. =)
Originally my plan was to make the characters that Steven admires more human, while others are simply like chimps in clothes.
I grappled a bit with the anthropomorphism of these ape hybrids. How hairy should they be? How long should their arms be? How ugly should I draw them? Those are some concepts of Steven on the left.
Again, some early Steven ideas at the bottom right of this page, back when he was more human and had dark hair.
For a short while (like on the top of this page) I tried to dial down the size of the eyes and add more ape-like wrinkles, but the resulting loss of appeal made me drop that idea quickly in favor of the designs at the bottom of this page.
I redesigned David several times. I really like the version of him at the bottom center of this page. It's a look that says "I'm the boss."
Woman were another important consideration. Even female apes have very masculine features. So how does one communicate femininity while still keeping the look of an ape? These are some of my earliest (rather poor) attempts.
At some point I stopped trying to simply meld ape features onto a human face, and began exploring different types of primate to draw inspiration for the character design. This helped a lot to make the characters more recognizable and infuse them with greater personality.
Well, that's all for now. Any and all comments are welcome!

Quick character designs

2009-10-15T03:24:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been taking a bit of a break from CG (which I need to deal with on a daily basis at work), to go back to good old hand drawing. It's been really great. I've been working a lot with character design.

Where is the fine line between appealing and cutesy? How does one create characters that are both simple and memorable? These are questions that I've been trying to deal with in my work as of late.

Here's a little taste of the results.

I'm not sure which of these characters I like the best. I guess I like them all for different reasons.
I really like the guy in the top right corner of this page.
For some reason the dumpy tie wearing guy at the top of this page always cracks me up.

Some animal doodles to start things off

2009-10-14T02:56:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is. My brand new art blog. Now I too have leapt onto the cultural bandwagon that is 'blogging.' Hurray!

I've been out here in California for almost a year now and feeling a bit disconnected from my Minnesota brethren. So I decided 'what better way to tell everyone back in the North Country what I've been up to then to actually show them?!'

It's always better to have another pair of eyes looking at your work, and I'm hoping that having those eyes (or at least those potential eyes) looking over my shoulder might motivate me a bit towards getting things done. I have a nasty habit getting really involved with an idea, then moving right on to the next midway through. "I'll come back to it," I tell myself, "...eventually."

This problem is compounded by my reluctance to show people work that isn't finished. Well no more! On this blog I will show you my doodles, concept sketches, storyboards, and roughs in all of their half baked glory! Critique them, comment on them, tell me what ones you like and don't like. I'm always open to constructive criticism.

So, as this is an ART blog, let's kick things off with... what else? Some art! Here are some animals for your viewing pleasure.