James Connors

The Tell

2011-10-21T16:45:00.002-04:00

A continuation from "The New Guy" zines

Anthropasia #17 "Incessant"

2011-08-22T23:07:00.001-04:00

Sketchbook Project 2011 Images have arrived!!!

2011-06-05T21:09:00.005-04:00

Theme: It Must Be...

It's been a long wait to finally have these pages digitized, they'll be permanently on file at the Brooklyn Library!!! arthousecoop.com/sketchbookproject2011

Welcome Rewards Member

2011-02-11T21:21:00.001-05:00

Re-tale

2010-12-29T00:30:00.005-05:00

A zine in light of the"The New Guy"

A meeting with HR

2010-11-14T21:08:00.003-05:00

Sharp Cheddar

2010-11-07T11:50:00.003-05:00

Produced by Devin Chicas and me. "Sharp Cheddar" is a satire on human relationships.

Coupons

2010-11-07T00:46:00.003-04:00

Headwind final cover

2010-10-28T19:27:00.001-04:00

Book Cover: HEADWIND

2010-10-22T15:10:00.002-04:00

"HEADWIND" Cover designs:
Devin Chicas & James Connors

Anthropasia #16 "Decisiveness"

2010-08-18T01:24:00.003-04:00

Anthropasia #14 "Elusive Perpetuity"

2010-07-14T15:12:00.006-04:00

Anthropasia #13 "Impressionable Convergence"

2010-07-06T23:14:00.005-04:00

Anthropasia #12 "Consolidation"

2010-06-27T20:04:00.005-04:00

The earlier theme of organisms and encasing structures has been transforming. Through exploring and developing these entities they have become much more environmental and biological. As though these scenes may portray the microcosm within the earlier figures.

Anthropasia #11

2010-06-10T15:37:00.002-04:00

Anthropasia #10

2010-06-05T13:51:00.002-04:00

Anthropasia #9

2010-06-05T13:49:00.004-04:00

Art featured in Baltimores "City Paper" for MICA's 2010 Commencement Exhibition.

2010-05-14T21:39:00.009-04:00

2010 SENIOR COMMENCEMENT EXHIBITION
FEATURED IN BALTIMORE'S CITY PAPER

Friday May 14, 2010

Featured my "EXAMINER INSTALLING DOME"

Link to Article

Woohoo !!!

"Layer Cake" Senior Illustration Exhibition

2010-05-05T02:55:00.001-04:00

My Illustration class displaying their best work. Standing next to my "Exist" Illustration.

ManDuck & BoyBear

2010-05-03T02:14:00.005-04:00

Created by James Connors and Dan Ellis
Animated by James Connors.

SC-232 Spaceship Advertisement

2010-04-14T22:32:00.001-04:00

Anthropasia, three additions

2010-04-05T23:38:00.004-04:00

Hello. These are two additions to the "Anthropasia" series. This series was heavily influenced by microorganisms and archetypal formations.

Year 3384, Feeder Farm

2010-04-04T20:46:00.002-04:00

These "Feeder Farms" are installations where Examiners constrain and harvest energy from Feeders.
For more a detailed explanation. look below under "Year, 3384" posts

Anthropasia series

2010-03-25T22:24:00.004-04:00

This is a series of 5 that I submitted to 3x3. I feel very happy about this and will continue developing it

Thanks for looking!

"Friendship In Season" nominated by the Creative Alliance!

2010-03-22T21:24:00.010-04:00

Hello! Here is a ad from the Creative Alliance. Devin Chicas and I produced "Friendship In Season" and submitted it to the Creative Alliance Video Bake-Off contest. A still-image from our animation was picked to be on the ad! April 9th is the screening and voting!

Year, 3384 Concept Art

2010-03-14T22:41:00.010-04:00

Hello everyone. These four images are concept art diagrams for my Senior thesis, a sci-fi story entitled "Year, 3384." In a earlier post under "Concepts" is the background story and a more detailed description. These diagrams will be printed as large posters for my final presentation this May. Thanks for viewing!!

Click to enlarge.

Falling Serum

2010-03-14T22:05:00.005-04:00

Robafrog, Concept work.

2010-03-07T18:58:00.005-05:00

Robafrog lives in a polluted swamp owned by para-military Agri-business empire. his gene mutation's made him huge and slightly intimidating while his Agri-business lords put him to use as a guard by installing mechanized legs for agility.

Take A Knee

2010-03-04T22:21:00.004-05:00

"Norse god of Fishing"

2010-02-28T23:46:00.001-05:00

Year 3384, Examiner Installing a Dome

2010-02-13T21:34:00.004-05:00

Hello! Here is a digital painting of a Examiner installing a Dome. This is the first of three environment paintings I'll be making for my senior thesis concept art.

Friendship in Season

2010-02-08T22:36:00.005-05:00

Please excuse the quality
.

"Exist"

2010-02-08T20:15:00.003-05:00

Hey there, this a illustration mock up I made for my friend's band. Thanks for looking!

stalin ad bustung

2010-01-15T16:35:00.003-05:00

Aliens with human characteristics

2010-01-07T22:01:00.005-05:00

Hello here is some concept work i've worked on this week. I chose to draw aliens with human expressions and they evolved into very humanoid figures.

Year, 3384 helmet design

2010-01-06T22:37:00.005-05:00

This is a comparison of settlers helmets from original condition to 170 years later.

Helmet colors

2010-01-04T23:02:00.005-05:00

Hello, here I have chosen one of the three "Pre-colonial" helmet designs to be futher developed in three color concepts. It is important that the helmet reflects over 150 years of use and resembles what a modern utility helmet would look like.

Hello again! I have just completed some helmet concept sketches for my senior thesis entitled "Year, 3384." The helmet designs are for the human colonists engaged in dangerous work, specifically the engineers and hunters. I imagind that some of the settlers held on to the multi-used headgear since colonization, bruised and beaten they would be prized and reserved for seniors. The remaining helmets would have been made from scratch, such as welded scrap metal, and heard leather from feeders.

Settlement concepts

2010-01-04T14:51:00.005-05:00

Hello! I hope everyone had a good holidays. In this stage of my senior thesis "Year, 3384" I am drawing concept sketches of human settlements. The humans colonized this planet 170 years ago and survived for 50 years with the aid of machines to survive. For the last 120 years they have been on their own. When brainstorming how their settlements would look like and operate I researched indigenous tribal villages and what materials they use(d). Since the humans depend on hunting the large "Feeders" for food they also construct shelters out of feeder remains. Above I've drawn 19 thumbnail sketches exploring this idea.

Character design, mascots

2010-01-04T13:34:00.002-05:00

Reinvent a pre-1980 mascot for current marketability.
"Mr. Wonderful's Surprise " was a cereal created in the mid-70's by general mills. I really enjoy the original characters completely spontaneous clothing (not to mention the para-scope hat). not to mention the awkward potential for sexual innuendo (Creamy vanilla filled puff balls), why does he have to hold two? Its not hard to see why this wouldn't be acceptable for kids now or in the 70's. I took a prevalent Willy Wonka, lucky charm aesthetic and tried to adapt his unique clothing to the character. Composing him not to look to realistic to be creepy for parents or kids, and just plain ecstatic about cereal was a good challenge.

Capture the Dachshunds personality and illustrated it as a ad for various magazines only using the companies name "Mason."
This project was very rewarding as I had not used digital painting over my pencil mark in some time. I have not experimented with text, and found this very suiting. Mason, a dog brought into our class to sketch had a dashing and very curious character and seeing him stand up really captured that behavior.

New concept sketch. Face mechanism.

2010-01-04T13:09:00.005-05:00

Hello! here is a sketch I did a little while back. The idea of small mechanisms and constraints interacting with a human face interests me. I produced this drawing while playing with the idea of where and what these mechanisms would be.

"Year, 3384" 3D model of a mechanized Feeder

2009-12-31T21:05:00.014-05:00

This is what the 3D model of the Feeder looks now as of now. The "Dome" component was more difficult to construct though it may not look it being a simple circular shape. This project has been very educational in what Solidworks is capable of and can't wait to print this out in 3D next spring.

Engineer, walking, Concept art for senior thesis.

2009-12-29T10:29:00.013-05:00

This drawing is for my senior thesis; concept art for a science-fiction world I have created . In the fall I constructed the plot, a diagram of all the characters and a 3D model prototype (seen in a earlier posting). I am now focusing on concept art for the characters in action positions.

Here a senior engineer and he is equipped with a Xamborg Examination Arm, or XARM for short. This tool is mounted over his left arm and attaches to his shoulder and breast plate for weight distribution and comfort. With this tool a engineer can perform multiple tasks with amplified power and precision.
He is also equipped with a standard tool vest, belt and tool pants. In addition, the clothes, boots, helmet and goggles are all supplies that have been past down since colonization three generations ago. Being a Engineer is a lifetime position starting from childhood apprenticeship. They are cherished among there people because they are essential for survival.
I will continue posting concept action poses for all of the characters the rest of the winter and spring.

Winter digital skecthes

2009-12-28T10:00:00.006-05:00

After taking a little break from my tablet in the fall I wanted to get some practice over the holidays. Here are a couple digital sketches I made around my house in the last few days.

The Great Synchronized Cycle

2009-11-24T16:15:00.007-05:00

For this image I focused on meshing recognizable features of industry with those of folk art and traditional themes such as plants and patterns.

Negotiation

2009-11-24T02:19:00.010-05:00

This is the first of a new series of drawings I have been very excited about because it mixes two subjects. It is based symbolic primordial figures interconnected with biological and mechanical components. Psychologist C.G Jung and Artist H.R Giger have been huge influence on me Jung for his studies on Archetypes, Symbols and Unconsciousness. Giger for his stunning Bio-mechanical paintings elegantly blending two opposite elements. In this series I've called "Chthonic BioMechia" I am going to explore these concepts by rendering these figures as symbolic images that evoke deep fundamental feelings.

Year, 3384. Senior thesis

2009-08-02T22:17:00.029-04:00

Year, 3384 description

This projects final presentation will depict scenes of daily life from the alien world. Humans colonized this world in 3214 to seek a new life. They brought with them machines that help humans survive on new planets by finding and mining available resources. The world is very similar to earths. Vast tundra's with a small variety of species make up most of the surface. Within it are a interesting fauna that resemble parasitic flowers, fungi and animal in one body. These creatures appear as ginormous larvae hunched over a collection of complex bulbous flora. The large insect form are called Feeders, the more plant-like matter iscalled puss. Many of these aspects of the same species are manipulated and exploited for resources by the Colonists Machines called "Examiners". These robotic lifeforms manipulate these lifeforms by first altering the normal growth of Feeders at a young age and applying mechanical inhibitors mutilating the growth of their bodies. The Examiners apply large egg shaped called "Domes" onto pre-mature puss bulbs to covert these organic resources into enegery they will collect. The interaction between manipulated Feeders and Domes produces powerful sustaining fuel the Examiners and Colonists need.
50 years after landing on the planet, the Examiners disobeyed human commands and stopped distributing resources from the feeders. The Settlers have lived for 120 years without the aid of the Examiners. To survive they have managed as nomads, relying on primitive methods of hunting and gathering from the desolate environment.

This chart breaks down the three species to help better understand the function and relation they have with eachother.

Year, 3384 Environment drawings

3 Young normal "Feeders", interdependent on their small bulbous plant "Puss." With one biomechanically alterd mature Feeder in the background feeding off a Dome.
Mature Feeders and Puss in their natural environment. Notice that they're single lower Arm "Naval Cord" is not attached after maturing. Naturally they're front arms "proboscis" are used for feeding.

Here a Examiner is installing a Dome over a young Puss plant, specifically it is attaching the one of the three aroma amplifiers, these keep the mutilated Feeders inebriated in their proximity to the Puss plant underneath. The tools the robotic lifeforms are equipped with facilitate their construction in all terrain.

Senior thesis sketches

This Summer I have been narrowing down ideas for my Senior thesis. I've lately been interested in different bio-mechanical organisms living symbiotically, yet monitored and manipulated by a outside force. The reoccurring visual themes in my free sketching are Dome shaped objects supplying energy to larger bio-mechanical beings. These beings are controlled and depended on by a class of machines. I find this this hierarchy similar to human consciousness and its relationship with nature, my objective is too use these basic primordial roles and illustrate them through the contemporary aesthetic of sci-fi which I am attract me. As I further developed the different characters I plotted they're mechanical functions and basic anatomy.

"Settlers"

"Feeders"

"Examiners"

"Domes"

Character design

2009-05-31T00:30:00.003-04:00

Illustrate a character in a space to convey emotion.
Drips fortress of solitude matches his persona. He's a simple guy, lives in a basement and is content. Though he can't help dripping sometimes. I went back in with and quickly added Photoshop graytones to add deph. I'm very happy with the cross-hatching.
Illustrate a super hero that upholds a adjective:
Mine was "Drip." he's a construction worker, a specialist to be exact. He does anything that requires some dripping on a large scale. Such as filling swimming pools and watering landscapes when sprinklers break. By this time I felt very comfortable using cross hatching as my primary technique.
Weight Gain
This assignment's goal was to illustrate a character in 5 segments from very thin to

Illustrate a story.
Our assignment was to illustrate a man who finds a dollar, buys a lottery ticket and gets something unexpected in 5 drawings. I have always felt less-confident drawing figures proportionately but this exercise was very encouraging. I named this guy lawrence.Cute To Brute.

Character Development class. Illustrate a a character, as cute as can be and show the transition into the most ugly and brute character in five drawings. This assignment was very fun, I got some good practice drawing figures in different body gestures.

2009-05-31T00:13:00.003-04:00

Missionary transport/ Gunship driving by settlement.
Landscape sketch and color design
First few skecthes of vehicles, people and environment.

Concept Design for Video Games.
The last Illustration assignment was centered on video game concept design, with emphasis on showing the process. The idea was to illustrate your own version of several post-apocalyptic movies we had watched. The option to combine all 3 movies and make your own plot was open. So my game idea was a post-apocalyptic world in which two groups are in constant battle. There are sedentary tribes surviving off the resources left near cities, their main advantage is access to water. In this world, all vegetation has died and replaced by giant water-storing mushroom, in which the tribes exploit and settle around.
The opposing group are the "Missionaries" nomads who travel in large transport vessels comprised of many smaller vehicle parts. They control the remaining oil fields and they're goal is to acquire the encampments for resources such as water, people and parts.
Ideally the game will provide the option to play either characters group.

2009-05-30T23:57:00.002-04:00

Oedipus's home.
The Forest where Oedipus meets the Oracle.
The Oracle of Delphi
Oedipus
Oedipus's Mother.

Concept design for Animation.
Our next Illustration Concepts assignment was to pick a Greek myth and adapt it for a animation. I chose the myth of Oedipus and focused on creating a entertaining plot for young adults and older to be watched as a Cartoon. The Freudian "Oedipus syndrome" was a element seemed to good to pass up. I emphasized the overbearing mother, and the sheltered son, Oedipus, who live in there castle-suburb. Within these characters I devised a plot in which young Oedipus encounters the Oracle of Delphi, who is more of a crazed diseased hermit. And the thought of Oedipus marrying his bossy, repulsive mother in his eyes is appalling. So he runs away... and the adventure begins!!!

"Fall of the house of user- The haunted place" scene for MICA's illustration dept. performance.

2009-02-16T02:39:00.004-05:00

Hello! these first three images were for the MICA adaptation of the "Fall of the House of Usher" specifically for the "Haunted Mansion" poem recited by Roderick to Usher. This is intended to depict a loss of rationality and sanity. In the performance the Kings face transitioned into the collapsing castle face illustration and then into the brain. Concept design for performance art.

This image was for a adaptation of the Fall of the House of Usher. It is meant to symbolize the walk through the house, from the brick, stone and finally to the tomb in the dungeon.

camel

2008-09-26T02:31:00.002-04:00

Armored Manatee

2008-09-26T02:29:00.003-04:00

Save HUMANATEE!!

2008-09-26T02:25:00.003-04:00

Spain

2008-05-18T12:44:00.003-04:00

You are what you eat.

2008-05-18T02:42:00.003-04:00

You are what you eat.

2008-05-16T21:03:00.002-04:00

You are what you eat.

2008-05-15T16:32:00.002-04:00

"DeMelignant exode"

2008-05-15T15:27:00.004-04:00

Hello. This is pastel drawing I did a little while ago. experimenting with the idea that fascinates me of machines interacting with bodies.

The Programmer

2008-05-10T17:18:00.004-04:00

I drew this in a disenchanted mood towards modern media. I was studying media ethics at the time and felt I needed to vent this out. This drawing gave way to a exploration of organic vs. technical entities and what they can symbolize.

2008-05-06T23:23:00.003-04:00

Hahah! upon completing this charcoal drawing my friend said he would've expected the artist of this drawing to be a crazy hermit living in the woods eating squirrels. I was flattered a little bit. Thanks for looking!

teeth, eyes, mouth...other body parts. And a schoolbus!

2008-05-02T00:47:00.002-04:00

2008-04-23T09:14:00.003-04:00

Hello! Thanks for looking at my very first post! This drawing is one my my favorites, it combines bio-mechanic-pseudo mystical entities with psychedelic faces and exciting proportions. I drew this for a friend who I knew would appreciate it. Thanks for checking my blog out!