This is a 3D girl head study I made in zbrush.

This is what I've been experimenting with line and volume on 3D character. I made Yokai 3D character in Japanese old picture scroll style. trying to find good balance between mimicking calligraphy brush line style and 3D volume shading.

 this is a 3D CG character experiment with zbrush. tried not to make it too creepy..

I'll post some works while I abandoned this blog. 

it's been a while since my last post! well, I don't know what I should start...but I'll post a wood block painting I did for charity auction a while ago.
the theme was "home", the title of my piece was "womb nostalgia".
The auction was for kids in Ghana to have home and education.
http://artblocksghana.blogspot.com/

it has been so long since my last update!
this was one of my concept sketches for some Japanese anime character.
(she doesn't look so happy because this is the scene she burned dinner : )

some sketches of the people on the train. It's always a good study.

these are some of the concept idea sketches I did a while ago for the children's story project "witch doctor in Manhattan". Characters just started to be developed, but the project is up in the air now, so I think I share some sketches here. well, I'd like to keep working on it, also I'm thinking of developing some of the characters into 3D CG model. It should be fun.

so, here is another personal project I'm working on.
for those who don't know much about Computer Graphics, this is a "digital sculpture" created with a software called zbrush. with this tool, you can create 3D sculpture in your computer by using pen tablet. once you've learned how to use it (and it's not so difficult as you think), you can "sculpt" whatever you want VERY easily as if you paint with a brush... I only spent 3 days on this head.

please allow me to have a little abstract nerdy talk here to explain this project.
since I started dealing with Computer Graphics, I've been thinking more about "reality". this "digital sculpture" looks "real", I can rotate and move it in my computer. but this is actually a set of data consisted of numbers, which is completely different type of existence than what we used to think as a sculpture. it just LOOKS LIKE a sculpture in its appearance.
this makes the definition of sculpture ambiguous. what is the ESSENCE of sculpture?
this is almost the argument of digital/analog issue, which has been discussed for long time.
when I make this "digital sculpture" with zbrush, I'm not making an actual sculpture, but I'm making a "structure" of sculpture - construction of data(numbers). but with this user friendly interface using pen tablet, I see the object in the screen as if I am physically making something almost concrete, individual and solid, but not quite so - my hands can't quite feel it. there is some strange feeling beneath this "sculpting" procedure, and I sort of need to expand my perception to get used to it.
we can see the similar architecture everywhere these days. the good example is the game Wii. we play "sports" half virtually half physically with this game program, looking at TV screen, picturing virtual play field in our minds, and actually using our physical body.
seems like our world is more and more complex - physical and virtual reality are mixed up naturally in our daily experiences. our brains have to accept reality in various shapes and integrate them into one world.
I'm interested in this transformation of our perception of "reality" and how it affects our lives and minds in this postmodern time, and how it changes our future. this project will be one of my experiments to look into this theme in the art field.
....does this make sense? does it sound nerdy?
even though, I will try to create something entertaining with this material.
I'm still playing with this thought - would be glad if you could share your thoughts.
and I don't think I did explain well enough here with my poor vocabulary, so I'll keep posting this subject to describe more.
thanks for reading!

this is a sneak preview of my painting project I've been working on.
I've missed working on large size piece like wall paintings, so this is about w38 x H50 inch size.
this is one of the series of portraits of people. this image is an iphone picture and a part of the whole painting (well, my Nikon is under repair;( but I'll post the whole image when I finish the piece.

I updated the misc section. check it out!
http://motokowadaartblog-misc.blogspot.com/

my colleagues at Blue Sky Studios, David LaMattina and Chad Walker, have created a feature-length documentary titled "Brownstones To Red Dirt", which is about a pen pal program between a group of at-risk sixth graders living in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and orphans from the war living in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This Postcard Art auction is an extension of their film. many artists contributed art of original postcards under the same theme of the film in a fundraising effort to build a school for the orphans in Freetown, Sierra Leone and create a library for the youth at their school in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.
below is my contribution-
auction is now live at ebay here .
enjoy bidding!
link to the blog & bio ;
http://btorpostcards.blogspot.com/
link to the documentary film;
http://www.brownstonestoreddirt.com/

creepy?