About Me

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Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
I am Ollie Elliott. I studied BA Computer Games Design and got a 2.1 with honours at Newport University. I'm from sunny Somerset. This is my blog. It's about different things. Go away.

Tuesday 31 August 2010

You what?

The Enormous Blogodile is now on the Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/EnormousBlogoVision.
It's like a lower quality vimeo at the moment but it could be used for different stuff later on.

I've put a thing on the top right of the blog with links to all the other blogodile caves and my email address for if you want to email me an email. I've also added a load of other unnecessary shit which you might have noticedbye

Day 22 (Something You Miss)

I did this one to look a bit like an advert:
I haven't had a proper drink all summer just a few occasional beers. Smirnoff Black is amazing.
This is a mixed media piece combining rich matt paint on walls, photography and digital text and imagery. Perhaps surprisingly the original photo was not adjusted or altered at all apart from the addition of the logo.
Depending on your point of view this picture took between one and nine hours to complete.
BYE!!!!!!!

1000... 1000 views ah ah aaaah

The Enormous Blogodile is proud to report that we have paid host to over 1000 views this month.
mental
bye

Monday 30 August 2010

Day 21 (Something You Want)

I want... to see The Streets live...
because Mike Skinner is one of the best.
Done mainly with digital airbrush with Mike in digital "worn oil pastel".
Not much else to say, I'm quite pleased with it although I did rush him a bit.
Bye

Day 20 (Something Orange)

Phew, finally caught up with them.
Here's today's (yesterday's now) offering:
It's a pumpkin with some carrots in, in case you couldn't tell.
Like most of my pictures it looks better from further away. In fact when I uploaded it the thumbnail was a lot paler and desaturated and looked a bit better, but too late.
I tried a new medium, "Tapered Gauche" this time, and it's cool because it hides the fact that I rushed this one a bit by looking like it's supposed to look rushed.
There's some other materials in the background.
Two thirds of the way there now!
OKthinkthatsitbye

Update: Tried upping the lightness like the uploader thumbnail. Looked ok small but just looked washed out close up.

Sunday 29 August 2010

Day 19 (Something New)

Yesterday's picture done today as I spent most of my drawing time yesterday painting my Dad's bedroom:
It looks slightly odd. It's the exploded diagram of my Dad's new Dyson Ball hoover.
It reminded me of Shigeru Komatsuzaki's illustrations of Thunderbirds and other awesome sci-fi stuff (http://pinktentacle.com/2010/06/sci-fi-illustrations-by-shigeru-komatsuzaki/), really love his stuff.
I reckon the hoover parts look kind of like a space ship...
Hopefully Day 20 up later.
Bye

Day 18 (Just a Doodle)

After the runaway worldwide success of Day 16 I did another animation:

Day 18 (Just a Doodle) from Oliver Elliott on Vimeo.
You're welcome.
Veteran Blogodile fans will remember the Super Mario image from the early days (http://theenormousblogodile.blogspot.com/2010/01/itsa-me.html).
Bit of an audio glitch at one point by the sound of it but plllllllp.
Days 19 and 20 up laterz.
Bye

Friday 27 August 2010

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

OK I did another animation today and managed to get it finished in time to upload to Vimeo before I leave, however my laptop is boiling and 74% into uploading I decided to open another tab which crashed chrome meaning I have to upload again which will take over half an hour (it's quite a big file) + the hour they add on for whatever reasons.
I thought about uploading it with the blogger video thing so you could see it but I think I'll wait until Sunday and get it in the best quality.
Sozzers but it gives you more time look at today(yesterday)'s pic and something to look forward to on sunday LOL.
anywaybye

Day 17 (Favourite Plant)

This is yesterday's, had a few things to do in the day so didn't have time to finish it:
This plant doesn't exist. It a combination of a Weeping Willow and Snapdragons, which do exist.
The leaves are digital oil and the petals digital chalk.
I'm very pleased with this one already.
Hopefully Day 18 will be up later, if not there's a chance it, and the next few days, won't be up for a while as I'm going to be at my Dad's and possibly busy for a few days after that. 
Anyways enjoy.
Bye

Wednesday 25 August 2010

Just a small point...

It's been really annoying me. That new Nesquik advert is so shit. It couldn't miss the mark any more if it tried.

Day 16 (Inspiration)

An animation!!!!! wooohoooo!!!

Day 16 (Inspiration) from Oliver Elliott on Vimeo.

I did this using Photoshop and Windows Movie Maker with a tiny bit of Painter. Unfortunately I haven't got any other video editing software on my laptop nor have I got Flash.
I could easily spend weeks on Flash making simple stuff like this that goes on for ages. I guess I had plenty of time to make it longer but this is all I wanted to present.
Don't think there's anything else to say...
buy

Day 15 (Family Picture)

Wasn't in the right mood today to draw a picture from my own family so I did this.
Tried a new medium. The Painter brush was 'Tapered Camel' from the Pen Brushes.
Looks quite good and very realistic and has quite a nice texture but my hand is now dead as you have to press very hard to get bold colours.
Anyway here's the picture:
The colour palette and style is based on a Nazi propaganda poster of a family I was thinking about drawing. 
I kept the slogan "Ein Volk hilft sich selbst!" (yes that is an s!) as it is quite a strong and universal message and certainly not Nazi specific. 
I am not a Nazi :).
Grant looks a bit too much like a bald Captain Black but overall I'm happy I thinkBYE

P.S. Whoooooooaa we're halfway theeere...

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Day 14 (Favourite Fairytale)

Well it's a day late but it looks alright. Usually it takes a while for me to like/form an opinion about my pictures.
Hopefully you can tell which fairytale it is. I haven't really got a favourite and I didn't particularly want to draw any of the other ones I could think of but I used to like this one so...
Day 15 should be up later.
byerz

Well it finally happened...

I didn't manage to finish a picture before I go to bed.
I have an excuse though, it was my Mum's birthday and we've had a lot of visitors and we watched a film so I haven't had a lot of time to do it. It's over half way though so I should get it done early tomorrow. It's looking quite creepy at the moment which is good :)
bye

Sunday 22 August 2010

Day 13 (Comic)

Haha not really a joke or anything and it probably won't make sense but...
Maybe it'll put the 30 days drawing thing in some kind of context. Couldn't really think of anything else :D
Bye

Day 12 (Most Recent Accomplishment)

WARNING: This one isn't very good as I was at my Dad's and I rushed it and I was working from a picture on my mobile because I forgot the cable that links my phone to the computer and I couldn't really be bothered and I was watching Casino Royale.
I like it though.

It's a wheelbarrow that I filled with apples for my Dad at the end of last month.
The apples on the ground have fallen since before you suggest I did a sloppy job.
Day 13 up later.
BYE

Friday 20 August 2010

Come folla me...

After a discussion with Rory I have been persuaded to get a Twitter to promote myself and the blog.
Still getting to grips with it but here's the linker:

http://twitter.com/blogodiletweet

Goodbyyyyyeeee

P.S. there's a new tweet button below the Facebook Like so you can share the glory of the Enormous Blogodile with all your Twitter cousins.

Day 11 (Turning Point in your Life)

Something a bit different today. This is the kitchen of Fairoak flat 3 and although it's more a place than a point it does represent the start of uni for me and a new period in my life. Also it's the place where I first met some of my best uni friends for the first time.
Thanks to http://bashcorpo.dk/index.php for the paper textures :)
bye

Thursday 19 August 2010

Day 10 (Favourite Candy)

Didn't have a clue what to choose for this one so went for Toblerone...
Couldn't be bothered to paint the actual Toblerone but I think it looks like a cool faded retro photo.
BYEBYE

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Day 9 (Favourite TV Show)

Plenty of scenes from LOST I had to choose from. Was thinking about doing 'not penny's boat' but that's been done a lot as it's so iconic.
I decided to do the scene with Ben, Keamy and Alex in season 4 as I think it is one of my favourite scenes in TV as a whole. Thought I should do Ben rather than Keamy and Alex as there are some cool shots of him and it's a key scene for his character.
This one took quite a while:
It's probably not completely finished but I couldn't be arsed to do any more and I think it does the job.
Bye

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Day 8 (Favourite Animated Character)

Again a lot to choose from but here's two versions of Porco Rosso (not sure which I prefer):
Didn't take so long on today's as the last few have taken fucking ages and I want to make time for my Emma Watson picture and Attack Fox 1.
Let me know which of the two you prefer, if you like either at all.
bye

Monday 16 August 2010

Day 7 (Favourite Film)

Ugh not sure how I feel about this one. It's taken far too long and looks a bit shitty but I've learnt some stuff.
It's an amazing film and you should definitely give it watch if you get the opportunity. Yet again there was a lot of films I could have chosen.
For optimal picture viewing play the following kiwi reggae from the film:
Also I remembered I did this pencil sketch of the dvd cover in college haha:
BYE

Just realised...

I ought to be putting key word labels on my posts.
bye

Day 6 (Favourite Book)

This one took a long time and actually ran into Day 7... OOPSY DAISY.
Anyway I'm very pleased with it. Thought a book on it's own would be boring so I jazzed it up a bit.
It's a digital painting again but is a mixture of oils and chalk.
Again I'm not sure that Harry Potter 6 is my favourite book but it's certainly one of them (I don't read a great deal but this is slowly changing).
Well here it is:


Looking forward today's (Day 7) picture. I think I've got a good idea for it.
Bye.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Day 5 (Best Mate)

I stay at my Dad's on the weekend and he doesn't have internet so here's yesterday's drawing of Craig Peploe having an amazing time in Ayia Napa:
Day 6 will be up later.
Byeeeee

Friday 13 August 2010

Day 4 (Favourite Place) + picture update + scandal

Like a lot of the favourites, when put on the spot I couldn't think of my favourite place, not sure if I even have one, so here's one of the places I like. Not really sure how readable it is so if you're having difficulty seeing what it is tell me and I might explain.
My picture of Emma Watson is coming along nicely but slowly. Here's an update:
The black outlines won't be in the final piece hopefully, I've just left them on as I haven't done the detail on her face yet and it looks like a stupid blob without them. Pretty pleased with how it's coming along but it is a slow process.

Finally I'd like to make an apology. Here at the Enormous Blogodile offices we have received hundreds of written complaints about the alleged "100th blog post". Eagle-eyed readers and expert mathematicians noticed that what was supposed to be the 100th post was, in fact, the 96th.
Anyway we've had our quality control and continuity staff working around the clock to find the cause of this premature celebration and it was discovered this afternoon that four of the blog posts counted were actually just drafts.
On behalf of everyone here at EBHQ I offer my sincerest apologies to anyone who felt in any way offended, troubled or cheated as a result of this mistake. I am sorry.

Goodbye and thank you for reading.

Thursday 12 August 2010

Day 3 (Favourite Food)


It's spaghetti bolognese... and it's a spaghetti western... yeah... the concept was probably better than it turned out. It looked great before I put the spaghetti on funnily enough.
Never mind.
You can see my partner in crime's days here: http://paint-the-moment.deviantart.com/.
Anyways use your imagination and my picture will look amazing.
Bye the way the spaghetti is where these bad guys have been shot, I don't know how clear that is.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Day 2 (Favourite Animal)

Thanks to the legendary Steve Irwin the croc is my favourite animal. He was/is a true celebrity and, as the polar opposite to shitheads like Jade Goody and Jordan, is the very definition of the word. Top man.
Haven't done any Attack Fox 1 for a while but I will, there's not much more to do I don't think. 
Been busy working on my Emma Watson drawing and have started colouring it with digital oil pastels. It's looking good I think. I'll post an updated WIP of it soon.
Bye. 

Tuesday 10 August 2010

30 days day 1

Brucey Chloe Bruce (http://www.paintthemoment.co.uk/) linked this
to me and it's cool so I think I'm going to give it a go. 
Here's day 1:
hurhurhur...BYE

Monday 9 August 2010

Josh Keyes

A culmination of many things I like to look at in art.

104th Post!!!! OMG!!!


Here's a WIP video of the intial drawing of Emma Watson that I made to see if I could. I had to use Windows Movie Maker in the end because Image Ready wasn't allowing me to save as a GIF. Turned out to be a lot quicker and easier at the loss of a small amount of picture quality.
Now I know how to I'll hopefully update it when I work on the picture some more.
I know using a grid is cheating a bit but it's better than tracing :D
BYE

DRAW!

Been having ideas for loads of things recently but also trying to do more drawing and stuff than I have been.
This guy was just a quick sketch that I realised looked like Rex who you will, of course, remember for standing in for Attack Fox early on in production, so I coloured him in:
Also I've been working on-and-off on a picture of Emma Watson, pre-hair chop, in the way I worked on similar pictures at college.
Tonight I finished drawing the outline and filled in the block colours using digital watercolours in Painter:


Going to work some more on Attack Fox 1 this week so keep your eyes peeled for updates.
BYE my lover. BYE my friend.

P.S. Don't forget to click my new Facebook Like button, because you do like this and I like seeing numbers getting higher.

Thursday 5 August 2010

LIKE

I added a Facebook Like button to the blog. Click it! NOW.
Here's link if you want your own:
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like
For blogger add an html gadget and paste the script into it.
Bye
Bye
BYE

Wednesday 4 August 2010

5 things Call of Duty should have sorted by World at War but didn't

 Once again I have felt the need to play through a Call of Duty game on its hardest setting, Veteran, and, as usual, various sections of the game have proven to be so excruciatingly difficult that they have angered and frustrated me into thinking about the game's most significant gameplay problems, some more obvious than others, and also into feeling the need to tell you all about them.
 This time the game is World at War. I've recently bought it on PS3 but have completed it before on Veteran  on the 360.
Apparently a lot of COD fans aren't at all keen on WaW, apart from Nazi Zombies obviously, judging by internet chatter but they're wrong and can fuck off because I like it.
 Anywayz here are the five things, some of which were sorted in Modern Warfare 2, with brief descriptions:

1) Grenades - Ridiculous. The cause of the majority of my deaths on Veteran. Combined with number 2 turns any open ground into an endlessly replenishing minefield.

2) Infinitely spawning enemies - A problem that Infinity Ward explicitly addressed for MW2. Combined with numbers 3 and 4 and some bottlenecking level design makes advancing in some cases virtually impossible and only possible with a lot of luck on your side.

3) It's always down to you to push forward - Another common one for the COD games and closely tied to number 4. Without this problem most of the others would be a lot less significant and frustrating as pushing forward is a key element in a lot of the series' big battles.
Leaving pushing forward completely to your AI allies is a cop out so perhaps they could push on slowly and your input is to speed the process up if you can...

4) AI - As lovable as they are your AI team is shit when it comes to killing baddies. Of course they have to leave the fun to you but they really do seem to be there just for show.
 This is made a lot more obvious when the enemy AI enter the equation. They shoot you, and only you. Surrounded by other targets they will take you out through a 5p hole in the rubble from a mile away.
 Now World at War gets bonus points for its super-retarded enemy AI that seemingly came out of nowhere, although, amidst the frustration, it can be quite funny imagining the thoughts of the Nazi soldier who decides enough is enough and a jog over to the Russian and back would do him the world at war of good.

5) Checkpoints - Perhaps the least obvious 'thing' that becomes very obvious on a Veteran playthrough is the   frequently flawed placement of checkpoints. The game is made up of action sequences broken up with brief rest periods, often used for dialogue or plot progression.
 What becomes apparent is that the checkpoints are almost always placed at the end of an action sequence and at the start of a rest period. So what could start off as a simple walk up a hill or ten second chat turns into a complete pace breaker on your fortieth respawn. The checkpoint should be at the start of an action sequence.
 Of course they're not all like this but pfffff.

Anyway fuck it nobody cares, hopefully Black Ops will be good BYE

Update: It's just occurred to me that I think the problem I have with the Veteran playthrough of WaW is that it's hard to roleplay as a Russian soldier when your comrades are running headlong into the enemy and you're cowering behind a sandbag every five seconds waiting for your health to regenerate...

Sunday 1 August 2010

99... 100... One Hundred Posts! Ah Ah Aaaah!

Who'd have thought it? In trying extra hard to make my 100th blog post worth reading for once I've done the exact opposite and taken 5 times as long doing it.
Sooooo I've finished both floors of the house for Attack Fox 1 and here they are:
   

I've also made a mockup of a "cover" and "poster" for the game:


I quite like it and think it looks suitably retro. Going to do a proper version in Illustrator hopefully.
Still haven't got my PC.
Otherwise I've just been building on various ideas for other things. Like "Geiger Petri the Intergalactic Aftershave Salesman".
Anyway here's to another 100 posts :) Oh yeah I've added a StumbleUpon widget at the top so if you have an account pleaaase like my page if you do.
Goodbye.