2011 Wallpaper - All That Glitters - Notre Dame

Submitted by monuMental on

So you've probably heard by now that I won't be producing weekly schedule wallpapers this season, and some have taken that to mean that I won't be producing any wallpapers at all. However, as I was considering semi-retirement in the face of my grown-up-adult-9-to-5-then-kids-bedtime-sleep-is-important responsibilities, I set aside time to design a few rivalry game wallpapers. The Ohio State game is a given (and probably Michigan State too) and I couldn't pass up the historic night game at The Big House.

Last year I made Touchdown Jesus say "No Good", prompting concern from my young daughter over God's feelings about mocking Jesus. "No sweetie, I'm not mocking Jesus, I'm mocking Notre Dame. God enjoys this kind of thing." Several other promising and less-blasphemous ideas were left to rot in the pages of my sketchbook, including a few inspired by the saying "All that glitters is not gold." I pictured everything from a rainbow with a pot of fools good to a Notre Dame helmet peeling to reveal a rusted shell.

Like The Game, the first night game at Michigan Stadium calls for a dramatic rather than humorous image. Where Ohio State was represented by the decaying side of a planet, Notre Dame's gold is shown as a thin, blistering and cracking layer of paint.

I wrestled over whether to make the centerpiece of the image helmets or logos (you can see the back and forth in the making-of video), but I heard from several people that one of their favorite images from last season was the lump of coal block M so I tried for something similar here. I designed the block M to match the front of Michigan's legacy jerseys, while Notre Dame's legacy helmet gets a nod with the shamrock treatment similar to my vine-wrapped block M.

Some other people you should know about

The stadium photo in the background was generously provided by Scott Maez. It would have been extremely difficult to get just the right look from an illustration or a low resolution image, but Scott's photo was shot the perfect angle (and he was kind enough to share the high resolution file with me). You should check out some of Scott's other Michigan photography. He has a nice mix of games and other events going back to 2002.

I also want to point you in the direction of MGoBlog users cjm and Blue Indy who have picked up the proverbial ball where I have proverbially dropped it. Both are doing awesome work so if you need a dose of wallpaper goodness between now and my next caffeine-fueled Michigan football design binge they're your guys.

The image below is a preview only. You can get the widescreen, 4:3, iPad and mobile wallpapers at The Art. The Art. The Art!.


All that Glitters – 2011 Game 2 Preview

How it was made

I recorded the screen while I wiggled my mouse around and hoped for a miracle. Lucky for you I sped up the footage to condense a wasted weekend into just a few minutes of video. If you want to see me ruin a nice wallpaper with a happy little shamrock Watch this video.

Football
Notre Dame
night game

Comments

beenplumb

September 6th, 2011 at 6:02 PM ^

Thank you, good sir. You have no idea how badly I've been missing these. Or maybe you do. I suppose I shouldn't make suppositions about your omnipotence...

...sir.

Joined: 10/15/2010

MGoPoints: 1552

MGoReverend

September 6th, 2011 at 6:11 PM ^

Well done as always. I also loved the line about mocking Notre Dame and not Jesus. I think the moment they called the icon on the side of their library "touchdown Jesus" reverence was already in peril. having Jesus say no good is just brilliant.

Joined: 01/31/2011

MGoPoints: 16

Six Zero

September 6th, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^

And coming from one of the select group of readers who understands pretty much everything you did throughout the process-- with exception to perhaps the Cinema 4D stuff-- dude, you're one rock solid artist, raster or otherwise.

My favorite part is easily the texture and lighting on the blue of the Block M.

Joined: 09/05/2008

MGoPoints: 10549

uofmUT

September 6th, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^

I'm by no means as good as monuMental (who is right?) but I do some graphic design on the side. I've wanted to work on some Michigan wallpapers but don't know where to find decent-res pictures. Anyone have a good resource? I'd love to work some stuff up but can't do much with the stuff I find in a google search. 

Joined: 02/18/2009

MGoPoints: 73

Bromigo

September 6th, 2011 at 8:56 PM ^

Thinking you were going to off for the whole season and then just have this pop up on the front page made it even better. Under promise over perform..... well played good sir.

Joined: 02/22/2010

MGoPoints: 961

cjm

September 6th, 2011 at 9:33 PM ^

You know we have this new huge rivalry with Eastern Michigan, San Diego State, Minnesota, , Northwestern , Purdue, Iowa, Illinios, and Nebraska? Feel free to create wallpapers for ALL these rivalries.

And as always, thhank you for the videos to help us appreciate the hard work and time you put into these!

Joined: 11/17/2008

MGoPoints: 5611

monuMental

September 7th, 2011 at 12:35 AM ^

Reading your list made my wife laugh and had me thinking "yeah, you know what, this is Nebraska's first year in the B1G. I can justify the time for a Nebraska wallpaper. Right?" (crickets) Seriously, it is very difficult for me to resist.

Joined: 09/14/2010

MGoPoints: 2025

ppToilet

September 7th, 2011 at 8:33 PM ^

and I am sincerely grateful for the walkthrough of how you created this.  I also have a great deal of respect for your obsessiveness, and your wife's patience, in creating this.

I have a couple one question and one suggestion:

Q. Lighting:  It looks like there was a bit of artistic license here, correct?  For the M and ND to light up, we'd lose those shadows on the grass in front, right?  I agree with your vision, though because the crossing shadows is a great metaphorical touch.

S. Post-game wallpaper:  I know, you have zero time for this.  But that aside, I just envision your wallpaper in the event Michigan wins.  The lighting would be on the top of the block M, looking down on the ND, which would be knocked backward and embedded in the turf.  Tulip-esque shamrocks would be rising from the ND.  If you don't mind, I may make the attempt using your wallpaper as the template.  Then again, I don't have any time either and my wife will kill me if I do it!

Joined: 04/18/2011

MGoPoints: 5263

monuMental

September 8th, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^

Lighting: yeah, a bit of artistic license. Technically there should be 4 angled shadows for each logo (two visible sets of light from the back side of the stadium and two sets of light that you can't see shining from the other side of the stadium (behind the camera). I tried to strike a balance between accurate and attractive in the lighting/shading of the logos.

Post-game wallpaper: by all means, feel free to use my wallpaper as a starting point. I really like your idea.

Joined: 09/14/2010

MGoPoints: 2025