Mobibo on Fox 2 News

Mobibo App Pays You as You Go: MyFoxDETROIT.com

The online commercial my other half Niles and I recently created for an awesome new cell phone app, Mobibo, appeared on Fox 2 News this morning! Check it out :) For more on Mobibo (As well as the full commercial) check out www.Mobibo.com.

Cheers,
Mel

Nileses!

Occasionally, I like to draw myself as a kitty. And, as it happens, even my kitty-self is head-over-heals for that Niles fella.

-Mel

82nd Airborne Girl

My latest completed commission is for a rather awesome group of folks: The 82nd Airborne, 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment, Easy Company reenactment group, and their website at www.508pir.com. This project was a particularly awesome challenge, as not only was I going for a classic pin-up look (Even dated the result as '42, for kicks) but the uniform details needed to be as spot-on as I could manage them, as well. In the end, I'm very pleased with the result. Sassy and classy - I think we achieved both ;)

For fun, here's the initial rough sketch as well.

More art soon,
Mel

Iisjah Sees the Shinies

So, this was a fun one. I love portrait commissions for the fact that all you have, really to tell a story about the character - as much as you possibly can - is a single facial expression. Then, I get handed a character as fun as Iisjah here, in all of his calamity-prone, thieving glory, and I can't help but have some fun. One thing to be known about Iisjah, I was told by his creator, Natalia, is that he is utterly enamored by sparklies. If there are shinies to be had - he's one  very happy (scheming, clepto, endearingly unlucky) fellow. So, be it for me to resist showing him said shinies... and taking a "picture" of it, of course.

I'm actually, albeit slowly, beginning to figure out the whole Livestream thing. Iisjah here was my artistic guinea pig for my first proper recording, and despite a few technological hiccups, I managed to get the majority of his coloration (From initial shadow blocking, to finish) recorded. Below is the largest block of the recording... not too shabby for schlupping along with my other half's cold all day ;)

melmillerart on livestream.com. 

More artwork soon, Mel

Birthday Pups for Kat

Chandrak and Hinepouri, looking positively dastardly late one summer night. This image is a birthday gift for my good buddy Kat of her two characters, because she is, without a doubt, one of the most wonderful people I know.  Love you, gal!

♥Mel

Commissions Are Open!

Hi everyone! I'm officially re-opening for commissions. I currently have 6 of 7 spots available, so if you'd like to claim one, email me with your information at melmillerartATgmailDOTcom.

• My commission pricing and information can be found here
• My Commission list, and example images can be found here

Again, if you are interested, please email me at melmillerartATgmailDOTcom to claim a spot. As I'm offering commissions through various sites, it's easiest for me to track everyone's requests that way :)

Thanks! I look forward to working with you.

 EDIT: Wowza! Those slots filled up in a hurry! Thanks, guys! Although my immediate available slots for commissions are now taken up, I'm still open for offers on a waiting list basis, by all means! If you'd like to commission me, please don't hesitate to email me about it and I will add you to my waiting list of people to contact immediately when a commission slot does open up (I'll contact waiting list members on a first-come-first serve basis, much like the order in which I create commission pieces) - you'll get first dibs on a newly opened slot that way, before I announce its availability publicly! Not a bad deal, eh? ;)

And as always, thank you all SO much for your continued support. You all are an inspiration!

Cheers,

Mel

Sunset Swordplay

And - complete! Shamael gives Selene a bit of sweet encouragement one evening as he teaches her defense with a sword beside their lush forest encampment. 

I had the opportunity to really sit and utilize this pieces as practice for improvement in my coloring, and it ended up being a fantastic experience over all. Thanks again for the commission, Helene!

Cheers,

Mel

Selene and Shamael (Flat Colors)

Flat colors for Helen's commission, currently in-progress. Between interesting character outfit color combinations requested, and a fantasy world where the flora as a whole is no longer green, I've had a fun and challenging time so far syncing up all of the different hues. More progress soon!

Cheers,
Mel

Selene and Shamael (Line Art)

I'm currently working on a commissioned illustration for Helene of her lovely pair of original characters, Selene and Shamael. Here, Shamael gives Selene a bit of sweet encouragement amidst their sunset sword training session, on the very edge of their deep-forest camp site.

It's always a particular treat for me when I get to draw such well-developed characters, and these two are every bit of that - everything from their personalities and interactions to their clothing styles to the world they live in has been wonderfully crafted by their creator. It's been a great deal of fun to draw all of these elements combined. I'm very much looking forward to coloring this one as well!

Below is a bit of progress for you - both the rough sketch thumbnails for the piece and the tied down sketch created prior to the clean-line drawing you see above.

Cheers,
Mel

Mobibo Assets & Animation

With the gracious permission of our clients, I'm able to share with you some of the assets and animation I created for Niles and I's efforts towards the creation of their recent introduction ad. Above are the series of puppets and a couple of props I made - both puppets of Maxx, the mascot for the app, were fully jointed and animatable, rigged by Niles in After Effects.

Here is the series of rough pencil tests I created for the ad. We made the decision early on to hand-animate Maxx'a facial expressions traditionally as opposed to puppeting features around in After Effects. In the long run, this brought an extra level of personality and fun to the spot.

-Mel

Introducing Mobibo

My other half, Niles, and I were recently hired to create a 50-second introductory add for a great new iphone and Android app called Mobibo. We had a fantastic time creating it, and I'm pleased to be able to share it with you here. Next I'll be posting some pencil tests and assets created for the project. 

Time to Completion: 1 Week 

Crew: Mel Miller and Niles Bontrager 

Specs: A mix of puppet and hand-drawn animation. Background and bunny and butterfly assets were provided by the client, while the rest, as well as all animation and puppet rigging, were created by Niles and Mel.

Much thanks to Mobibo and Speedshape Inc for a fun and engaging project. For more information on this awesome app, check out the Mobibo official website at www.mobibo.com - I'm definitely a fan, myself!

Cheers,

Mel