[NDHill]

Hi everyone

My name is Noel. I'm a freelance illustrator and concept artist currently based out of Portland, Maine.

This is my work. Critique and feedback is welcome and very much appreciated.
Enjoy

I'll start by posting some choice pieces from my portfolio. Updating as I go.

My latest.


Some designs for a Graphic Novel I've been working on. Tentatively titled 'Verge.'





Cthulhu interpretation.



A couple of older pieces inspired by Beowulf.





BFA show piece



Book Cover for 'After Twilight' published by Permuted Press



Conceptart.org LMS piece.

[kovah]

nice images here I think you have what you are trying to portray down pretty well but alot of the pieces could do with some more contrast.

For example, i did a quick paintover of the zombies its literally just an overlay/soft light layer with some darker and lighter colours on it to really bring out the awesome detail you put into some of the characters. That said less is sometimes more and its alot more scary when you cant quite see everything - like just pairs of eyes in the background hinting at unknown numbers I think is scarier than seeing every zombie.

Almost all the images suffer a little from too much ambient lighting, there is no contrast in them and when you are trying to create tension knowing where and how to use light can really help. Roughly the lightest part of your picture should be the focal point and create a starting point for your eye to then travel around the image and end up back at the focal point.

[NDHill]

New stuff.



A couple of concept pieces for an unnamed personal world-building project.





A couple of quick self portraits.

[NDHill]

kovah: Sorry I missed your comment. I totally undestand what you mean about contrast. That's been a lot of the feedback I've been getting. I think it really all comes down to planning and considering value and saturation just as much as content in regards to composition. Definitely something for me to work on.

Here's some graphite work. Newer work appears at the bottom.

A study of Jusepe Ribera's St Onuphrius hanging at the MFA in Boston.


Some sketches.

[NDHill]

This digital study was done from a photo that can be found at posespace.com. Posespace is a great resource if you decide you'd like to drop 15 bucks to get a variety of hi-res pictures of models in various poses. What makes it unique is that you often get shots from a full orbit around the model to get a better sense of volume and three demonsionality. I still prefer a live model but I feel like this turned out to be a decent exercise during a light work day.

[NDHill]

This is a master study painted from a John Singer Sargent self sortrait. I've never really done a master study before and I admit I got a little frustrated with this one and felt that it had plateaued a bit after having reached the point where it is now. I thought I'd throw it up here for some crits. One thing I've already noticed is that the face is tilted down a bit more in mine. My drawing is off.


The original.

[NDHill]

Here's a recent study. This is a study of an Écorché sculpture by Ligier Richier painted from a photo reference.



...the reference.

[NDHill]

[NDHill]

A recent character design.

[ScalC]

Nice sketchbook.
Really love the pencil drawing.

[Williamgsilva]

Your most recent character design looks great. Technique, proportion, lighting, all looking good and, in my opinion, professional grade work. Very technical clothing design too. Communicates to me a rough smugler/"businessman" type guy who needs to be ready to roll with the situation. Real working class guy.
Given that the jacket and shoes have a prominent warm color scheme, might want to try brining some of that red or orange into them. Just a palette swap kinda thing. The jacket looks thick and heavy like leather and dense synthetics. I am sure it has all kinds of places to hide things in it. I would like to see a simple sketch of what it looks like zipped up, just to see the silhouette and line structure.
The pants look good but if you have ever tried to run in cargo pants with the pockets filled you know how much of a detriment it is. Might want to try "sanding them down" to see what that does to the overall silhouette and form of the dude. I do like the idea of pockets though.
The shoes are great. Straight from the mind of a Maine dweller. Like the cross lace that goes straight into, what looks to me like, weather proof material all the way down to the soles. I do want to see them all buckled up in a sketch (formal dress style).
What is your concept of the belt? I feel like it has some technical function (clips into something, magnetic holster, on body data storage or pc, etc). It raises questions but looks like it would make bending at the waist difficult.
Overall though I think he looks great. Your anatomy and tonal control are awesome and you have been able to imbue some real world function into this guy. Makes me think.

[NDHill]

Thanks for the crits. Yeah, I'm not quite sure what the belt is or what it would even look like in its entirety. I was kind of going for that back brace thing that people who do a lot of heavy lifting wear. He's supposed to be sort of a space-age longshoreman and it may be attached to some kind of prosthetic or harness. I guess I need to conceptualize that further. The color scheme satisfied me initially but as I look at more of my work, I'm finding that that specific pallet permeates a lot of my work. I'm currently playing around with alternatives. As for the pants, I might just redraw them since I've used those before as well. I am going for a practical, worn, aesthetic for everything. I'm glad that's coming across.
Thanks again.

[NDHill]

New Sketches.

[NDHill]

a commissioned creature concept for an RPG.

[NDHill]

Finally got a scanner.

Here are some better shots the drawings done at Safehouse atelier's figure drawing class. My third will be done tomorrow.

First month


Second Month


This was sitting in my sketchbook.