Monday, November 30, 2009

Rabbit




Mines R34 G.O.W livery by Peanut TN


Got some nice comments on my livery designs over the weekend from a few people and even did a custom livery exchange with Peanut TN. He did me up this Jelly Muffin personalised version of his insane Gears of War livery. Looks absolutely amazing.
I highly recommend everyone to go check out his Forza Storefront. He has some wicked designs and vinyls!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Forza recap


Ha! It was one of those nites on Forza last nite :)
I had to laugh. I had the dreaded battery pack in the controller die on me mid race again. Normally not too much of an issue but this time I was racing the new A Class expert category on multiplayer (with the simulation damage enabled). So, in this case when my car coasted in a straight line (no brakes) into a tyre wall, the damage was catastrophic! :)
On top of that I'd left the replacement batteries in the kitchen, so when i got the controller up and running again I had to finish the last 2 laps with a car that looked like it had just emerged from the trash compactor in Star wars. I also had broken steering and now only a 3 speed gearbox.
Now I know how race drivers feel when they get engine failures. I think on top of this incident I dropped out of a race in the lead with half a lap to go (for what appeared to be an xbox live update), had two incidents of the game freeze during a race load, and then got tackled by my dog when it jumped on me mid race :)
Just one of those nites I guess. And you know what, these incidents just make things just that bit more intersting! :)
For the record: A Class Expert Category is awesome! Full damage, no abs or stability control and full collisions. It makes for cleaner racing and for my mind is the best way to play this game!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Work in Progress Part 3


Added in that ugly dude on the left :)

Team Redfrog V8 supercar






Designed up the livery last nite for the Team Redfrog FG Falcon V8 Supercar. Even gave it the FPV style racoon style effect under the front lights. Gave the car a test run last night but she was still a bit twitchy, so have been working on the tuning setup to make her a bit more competitive on track.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Work in progress PART II


Have now added Alana to the xmas sketch...

The different side of Forza multiplayer




Took to the multiplayer circuits last nite to race some R3 class. Its a lot more challenging to drive but requires a little bit more restraint with the throttle, which can lend itsself to a bit of mayhem sometimes.
What I did experience tho last nite was some of the less than savoury aspects of the multiplayer community. The example i speak of happened on the Laguna Seca circuit after some usual turn 1 mayhem. I myself managed to avoid the carnage but others were not so lucky.
One guy after being shunted off by another player proceeded to verbally abuse this guy over the headset for a good 2-3 laps continuously, and when I say the language was pretty ordinary I'm severely understating it.
Folks, there are kids that play this game! They don't need to be hearing that sort of stuff. Yes, we all like clean racing, and nobody likes to be shunted off because somebody else didn't brake, but seriously, these things happen. Express your intial displeasure and then move on. It is after all a game, so lets have some fun and not take it too far.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Work in progress


Xmas theme sketch of the dogs that we are planning to put on some home made xmas cards.

Work in progress...

Monday, November 23, 2009

Sketch Practice


Scribble


My dog, Sam...

Forza 3 on the weekend







A real mixed bag of racing on Forza 3 on the weekend. Some real good groups of good clean racers, and then some other groups who think the only pedal is the accelerator and there is no need to brake for corners. Sigh...arcade style racers have a lot to answer for :)

Pulled the RS4 out of the virtual garage and did a few tuning mods and applied a new Redfrog Gen 02 livery to it. With the tune it has a bit more pace and acceleration with a bit better turn in, but it rides a little bit more slippery than the R8 and S5. Definitely a fun drive.

Took a few shots from a Sunset Pennisula race that had some cool crashes, that I was mostly lucky enough to avoid. Most of these were just racing incidents tho and should not be attributed to the arcade style drivers I mentioned above :)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Forza Custom - High Octane Racing


Fellow forza 3 gamer, Sour Deeee, messaged me to get this custom done for him, for his High Octane Racing nissan. Incorporated the idea of the assassin from this mornings daily sketch.

30min DSG entry


a quick 30 minute scribble for one of the topics over at CG society.

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=6215589#post6215589

Friday, November 20, 2009

Jack is back!


Jack: the pumpkin headed assassin character that graces the current cover of my folio and online gallery, is the subject of my latest sketch.
This is a work in progress: just the initial sketch so far...

Sketch Practice


Thursday, November 19, 2009

My baby's back!!!






My baby's back!!!

After 3 days (which seems like forever!) without her, I now have my baby back.
She's been at the panel beaters getting a bit of plastic surgery where someone backed into her.
New bumper and exhaust housing and she's good as new!

I definitely have to give some serious props to the guys at Victorian Smash Repairs
( http://www.vicsmash.com.au/ ) in dandenong for doing an absolutely amazing job on her!
You should see how immaculate she was when she came back.

The car looked like it'd been given a full wash and detail. These folks were both professional and prompt. If you ever need panel work done i could not recommend these folks more!

It sounds like a plug, but these days if a business impresses me then i've gotta mention it!

Its great to have my baby back! No more driving the girlfriend's Daewoo to work tomorrow!
(contented sigh) :)

Sketch Practice


Maybe its the heat but i feel a bit out of sorts with the sketching at the moment. Not real thrilled with this one either...

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Sketch Practice


Had a bit of trouble with this pose

scribble

Scribble i did yesterday

Forza 3 - Threading the needle







Only had a couple of races last nite, but I did have one race on the Sedona track that stood out. Started from last on the grid and made my way through the pack. Managed to steer my way through the usual turn one carnage (without a scratch no less) and then half way through lap one managed to thread the needle between crashing cars and come out the other side unscathed.

It was a very cool moment as both cars were spinning and i was able to pick asmall gap between them and shoot on through without so much as a touch - very satisfying. That took me up to third where i spent the rest of the race. Didn't have the pace to catch the leaders and never saw anyone in the rearview mirror.

Its moments of satisfaction like these that make me love this game so much.

Monday, November 16, 2009

S5 Forza Custom - No 77 Scotty Canuck

Did another custom Job for the S5 on the weekend. This time no 77 for Scotty Canuck. Remember anyone that wants a custom of this send your number and color pref to my gamertag, Jelly Muffin. (So far 03, 11, and 77 are taken)

Forza 3 - Toyota Trueno and '84 Supra




Went a bit retro on the weekend, and had some great racing and made some new racing buddies (Outlaw and Olympic Dreamer) Also did some racing with Forza buddy Scotty Canuck. Check out his website at http://www.canuckistan.org/
Back to the retro thing: My second car I ever owned was a '84 model Celica. God, I loved that car. It may pale in comparison to my RX8 these days (which has to go to the panel beaters today cause the girlfriend backed her car into it :( ), but i seriously have some fond memories of that car.
Its not exactly the same but the closest i could get in Forza to it is an '84 model Supra. So i did up a Supra and A trueno and enjoyed giving them a spin on the track.

Alana


Sitting on the couch last nite watching tv, I sketched up this pick of my partner, Alana.

Added the highlights first thing this morning.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Absolutely loving Movember!


Must sayI'm a big fan of Movember.

Firstly I get to raise some money for a good cause. Secondly, I can attempt to grow a moustache (I stress attempt!) and Alana (my partner) can't complain too much about it (see point one). Thirdly, the good people at Grill'd are running a Movember promotion where you get a free Grill'd burger every day for 13 days!!!

Now, as a massive fan of their burgers that just blows me away. Alana and I have now been back (last nite) for our second burger. Our challenge is to try as many different burgers from their menu over the 13 days. I can see all that gym work going straight out the door in the next 2 weeks. First nite we tried the Mustard and Pickles (a personal favourite) and last nite I believe it was the Tuscan Delight. Props to Grill'd for this awesome offer!

Did up couple of scribbles last nite whilst we were feasting!