Andrew Dowell

I honestly feel like I've achieved something owning this book. I still remember the excitement of tearing open presents on Christmas morning, discovering a brand-new Transformer in a shiny new box. While the toys were amazing in their own right, what made the packages stand head-and-shoulders above the myriad competing action figures on shelves was the stunning hand drawn box art. This wasn't 2005, this was an age before computers, no Photoshop or 3D renderings, everything was painstakingly constructed and painted. Transformers Legacy Art book combines hundreds of beautifully airbrushed paintings from the iconic first decade of The Transformers. Hasbro, Takara, and private collectors opened their archives, yielding an unparalleled level of quality. This hard back book is a huge 4lb beast with over 290 pages of classic images, including never-before-seen artwork from toys that never were, original design sketches, catalog artwork, and Japanese Transformers. There isn't ...

It's not often I have spontaneous purchase, but this one just seemed too good. Whilst at our local swimming pool, I needed to buy some goggles and decided to try the small Taiwanese store across the road as it looked cheaper. I was mildly surprised to find that it was indeed the same price but the rest of the huge store was, in fact, a toy haven for 'Hot toys' and other such collectibles. I'd hit the jackpot and was very impressed. I saw this guy and I couldn't reach for my wallet quick enough. This interpretation of Shogun Vader's foot soldiers depicts Stormtroopers clad in far-gone Japanese feudal era attire and armament. A wonderful homage to the inspiration behind the franchise. I'd love to see a remake of 'Hidden fortress' with a star wars cross over. The figure has been master crafted by Japan's top sculpting talent and features hybrid material use for dynamic posing possibilities. The articulation is solid and the paint job is just...

I first came to Taiwan with my girlfriend over 6 years ago. She's now my wife and I've started a new chapter in life. I originally worked as an English Teacher with a school for 5 years until I could apply for a permanent visa. Without this, I couldn't apply for work within the film production industry without asking my new employer to pay for it. Without prior experience nor a solid background in the business, this wasn't likely to happen. But everything fell into place nicely, as it did six years ago whilst thinking about visiting Taiwan for the first time. Some moments in life present huge opportunities for great change, luckily I was ready. So, what's it all about. Many people ask me about my job and what I do. I am a Production Technical Director. but honestly this often confuses them as I try to explain specifics. The purpose of this blog is to quickly define the pre-production pipeline and where I fit in. According to Wikipedia, Pre-production is the proce...

As part of my job, I'm working as a research and development artist. We usually work with 3D software such as Maya and Zbrush to produce pre-visualizations for film, animations and theme park rides. It's fun creative and rewarding but you can easily get lost in a scene. Literally.  We are developing scenes which render in real time, and can be used with the Oculus device to help see the scene in action, from any position or angle without the use of pre-rendered video files or any actual sets being fabricated in real life. Epic games released the 'Unreal Engine 4' this year for free. By using a unique pricing plan you only start paying for the product licence once you start making money. There are tons of market place library assets appearing every week and are wonderfully easy to use (at first glance) with a high level of alteration in the blueprint maps. If you can dream it, anything can be achieved. Impossible is nothing.

It's been a few months already and I now understand why artists usually don't have current work on their website or blog. It's because they are busy working. Posting tweets and clever captions means I'm procrastinating. I embraced my procrastination. I developed my Pinterest account. I love it. I know what you're thinking, Pinterest is for girls and stay at home mums. They use it obsessively for a few months and then give up. But this could be the ultimate scrapbook resource for the inner artist. I have a hard drive with thousands of reference images that are neatly organized and generally very useful for getting inspiration. But it's not something I carry with me all the time, or can easily share at a moment's notice. And then there is also hardware failure which would be catastrophic. So, I've set about the task of updating everything into boards and into the Pinterest universe. It's a huge undertaking and I'll probably spend the next few mon...

It's no secret that I love watching movies for a variety of reasons, and some lucky flicks more than once. The current trend of movies being released so quickly, really doesn't provide much time for a rewatch. Once at the theater and then again on blu ray at home. Done and on the shelf only to be bought out every four or five years at Christmas. Seems so sad that amazing films just don't get the use that they once did. I remember watching my Vhs tapes until they snowy and squiggly. However, whilst reviewing pre and post production film pipelines I had a crazy idea. Flip the horizons and watch a mirror image. Yes, the text is wrong but its creates a weird je va vous, I know this movie but my memory can't place the imagery. It's fantastic, you focus on parts of the film you didn't see before, your experiencing it again for the first time. And the best thing is, its so easy to do. Download VLC player on your computer and adjust the geometry effects. Some TV's a...

With all the new work I'm producing I need to update my website (again), it seems yearly at this rate but its getting better with every reincarnation. Version 1.8 will be out soon, but in the mean time; here's a wallpaper I made in anticipation of a new game called Fire Watch.