Monday, March 1, 2010

Sketchbot Custom Show!

It's March 1st, and I'm super psyched to announce phase 1 of Sketchbot! We're kicking things off with a huge custom show at My Plastic Heart NYC that opens on Friday, March 26th and runs thru April 23rd. I've assembled a staggering array of 50 artists and customizers to DIY up the 'bot in their unique styles. Mark your calendars, you're not gonna want to miss this one!


Be sure to check out all of the participating artist's work at the following links!
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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Mission: 10,000 Rockets

I just wrapped up a pretty cool project for the agency Creature based in Seattle. I was one of three artists chosen to interpret three winning drawings (out of 10,000) of rockets of the future from school kids around the country for the Mission: 10,000 Rockets project developed by Bing™

The entire progression can be viewed at this Flickr set.


They had seen my Sketchbot 3d prototype and were interested in getting something created in a similar fashion. Of course, I was more than happy to get another chance to print out a 3d design, and jumped at the chance to participate.


Mission: 10,000 Rockets Turn Table from Steve Talkowski on Vimeo.
This is a 3d turntable render of the rocket I was commisioned to create for the Bing™ Mission: 10,000 Rockets project.

The final model will be on display at the winning entrants school.  There will also be a book published in April that will contain every drawing submitted to the contest, along with the three final art pieces.


I'd like to thank Creature Art Director Eric Larkin and Project Manager Sarah Faulkner for making contact and including me in such a fun project. Also, HUGE thanks to Dave Gittleman and Michael Gulen for 3d output.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Happy Holidays!


It's been a busy two months since my last post in October. I finished two freelance gigs, and also received the T1 and paint samples of Sketchbot! Tweaks and adjustments are in the works, with final approval mere weeks away. Exciting times lie ahead for 2010. More info come late February.

Sketchbot Studios wishes you all Happy Holidays and a great start to the New Year!


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Friday, October 16, 2009

TweetBot


I've been on Twitter for 8 months now, and it's by far my favourite social networking site. It's the pure essence of micro-blogging. I've found that I discover - via succinct, 140-character 'Tweets' - an abundance of interesting posts and tidbits than had I spent 3-4 times more scouring various websites for the same information.

How best, then, to show my appreciation for the site than to create an interpretation of the Twitter bird - in this case, one that would fit comfortably in the Sketchbot universe! I present to you, TweetBot.


I scribbled a quick sketch of this idea month's ago but just now had some free time to play around with the character. I'll definitely be rigging and animating this little critter, so stay tuned for some animation posts in the near future.

Clike HERE to add me to your follow list!
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Friday, October 9, 2009

Mimobot X Infectious Contest Entries

It's been awhile since my last post. I recently wrapped up a 6-week animation freelance gig (will post about that next) and needed to finish some entries for the Infectious X Mimobot Design Challenge.
I thought it would be cool to actually model the shape in 3d and use the 2d template as the basis for a texture map. This way, I could easily slap various designs onto the model and see how well they hold up on the actual 3d volume.

Head on over to the site and check out all the other entries. And do cast your votes while there!

Click here to vote on Jellyfish Mimobot

Click here to vote on Sketchbot Mimobot
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Saturday, August 1, 2009

SDCC 09 / Summer Vacation Wrap-Up

We've got one day left on our 2-week West Coast adventure. First stop was visiting family in AZ, followed by 2 1/2 days in San Diego at Comic Con, a 3-day visit to LA, and wrapping up the final week in Cambria with more family visits. Unfortunately, I've spent 10 days very much under-the-weather, as I picked up a nasty sinus infection amongst the 125,000 Comic Con attendees. I did manage to get some antibiotics earlier this week and am starting to feel much better.

A few quick thoughts on Comic Con. This year seemed even crazier than last year. Preview night saw people rushing the doors like it was black Friday! The lines to every panel were longer, and the crowds more jam-packed than ever, and this was just Thursday and Friday. We drove to LA Friday night after the show, so I can only image the weekend was even more intense. More SDCC 09 pictures up on my Flickr here.

I was excited to have the Sketchbot prototype on display at the DKE TOYS booth, and got lots of great response. This thing is finally becoming a reality! Met a slew of folks from my Flickr and Twitter contacts and lots of familiar faces from the year before.


One of the highlights was getting into Hall H to see the Disney/Pixar presentation. John Lasseter talked about the Toy Story series, a new 2d animated Frog and the Princess, and the highlight was bringing out Hayao Miyazaki and showing an incredible clip from Ponyo, which hits theaters in the US August 14th. The other panel that got me excited was seeing Peter Jackson present Neill Blomkamp's District 9. REALLY looking forward to seeing this one. I missed the Iron Man 2 panel (it was on Saturday) but the HD trailer for TRON Legacy made up for it in spades. The artists over at Digital Domain are doing an amazing job on this and being a huge TRON geek, I can't wait to see this on the big screen.

Alright, time to enjoy our last full day on the California central coast. We're gonna take the dog over to the beach and dip our feet into the ocean. Will be back in Brooklyn on Monday, have a great weekend!
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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Artist Series Interview up on "I Heart Cool Stuff"

The Artist Series: Steve Talkowski from I Heart Cool Stuff on Vimeo.

I was recently interviewed by Erika (aka, Sakiwaki) from www.iheartcoolstuff.com - be sure to show some love and post a comment on their excellent site!
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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Sketchbot Prototype SDCC 09


What a difference a year makes.

Last year this time I had just completed two hand sculpted and painted prototypes of the first version of Sketchbot. I brought them along to SDCC, had one on display at Toyqube's booth, and the other I carried with me and showed to whomever would stop and listen to my spiel. I received lots of positive feedback and even some constructive criticism. The plan was always to revise the character to be more animation friendly, in addition to further refining the shape and features. It was also important to settle on a cohesive branding strategy for all the various elements that comprise Sketchbot Studios.

Today, I'm proud to announce that Sketchbot is now in full production as a designer vinyl toy!

The new prototype will be on display at the DKE TOYS booth at SDCC 09. I'll be in attendance Wednesday during "Preview Night" and wrapping up my visit end of day on Friday. I'll have a batch of the newly designed stickers and business cards with me, so hit me up for some free swag if you see me wandering the vinyl toy aisles.


It's been an exciting journey since I first began this venture over a year ago, and the future promises a plethora of surprises for Sketchbot. See you all in San Diego!
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Sketchbot Prototype Final


Here's a quick update on the Sketchbot prototype. Two full sets were delivered yesterday from the awesome Crystalline Models! One will be fully painted and on display at the DKE booth during SDCC. The other will be delivered to the factory where it will be used to create the master molds. Some key improvements are removal of the grooved eye, which doesn't lock me into one shape, and better defined grooves in the arms and legs. The figure has been scaled up by 10% to take into account the shrinkage factor when it gets cast in vinyl. Also, the enlarged right hand and accessories have been completed and look great. You can see a size comparison with a mini Munny up on my Flickr. I'll post pictures of the painted proto before heading out to San Diego for Comic Con.
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Friday, June 19, 2009

It's iPhone 3GS Day, and V2.0 Sketchbot Wallpaper!


Truth be told, I'm gonna miss my original 1st gen iPhone. I really liked the look and feel of the casing, and OS 3.0 ran just fine on it. However, I couldn't wait to finally upgrade to 3G, as the Edge network is slower than molasses. Of course, having a slight bump in camera resolution, along with being able to shoot video clips, is a nice plus. I just hope I don't regret this come same time NEXT year. We'll have to wait and see if the fourth iteration of the iPhone will be evolutionary, or revolutionary.

In the meantime, I'm offering up some fresh iPhone wallpaper with V2.0 graphics. It's refreshing to update the brand across the board with the latest imagery. Enjoy!

Sketchbot iPhone Wallpaper V2a

Sketchbot iPhone Wallpaper V2b
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