MidWeek Post

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What's up everyone?  Finally I can post up the finished image for my Mai picture, which will just serve as a short reprieve as of this time.  I really tried to take my skills up a few notches w/ her, and imo the results were worth the headaches.  I'll also mention some other stuff too towards the end, concerning my inactivity on a few other accounts and a few decisions that are for the best.

   Yes, this is the same image that I had posted some time ago, but even I didn't foresee it being taken in this direction.  I was really just going to do w/ this one what I did w/ the Chun-Li picture, before realizing that'd be a cop-out.  I tried something bold (for me) w/ my avatar image and learned alot doing it, so it would be a crime to just rest on laurels and not do something challenging w/ this one.  Next thing I know, traces of sunlight were penetrating through the blinds in my room and hitting the computer monitor.  Normally that's annoying, but oddly enough it gave me a great idea, to try and play with lighting in a new way, hinting some form of interference.  I would have pushed for something much more, but such can be implemented in anohther picture instead, whenever I get back to inking it out :S.

    As for the water, I'm not quite so sure where the idea came from.  Maybe a thought in my head went along the lines of "she's nekkid, maybe she should be sweating some".  I looked around on Google for reference images and had to take some time to figure out how to implement what I saw, but it's actually work I did on my older Poison WIP that gave a giant boost in making it work as well as it has.  I guess for this image, I'd say she's moreso wet than sweaty; indicating the differences btwn the two (they're extremely subtle of course) will take some time, as will contouring lines of water to the body's form (in this instance a tablet would be a significant help), but for a first effort it came out bangin'.

    And of course, since it's fall I went w/ autumn-esque colors for the background ;3.

    Like I said, this was a challenging picture to attend to once I decided to implement the lighting and the water; those two aspects easily doubled the time to complete it.  Yet I have zero regrets on the matter.  I think many, MANY artists are afraid to tackle subject matter like water, because of its innate complexity.  I'm definitely no master on that, but I feel more confident in drawing and painting wet, sweaty peoople now, and wet-like items of clothing and the such.  Certainly, I'll be building on this (and what was accomplished w/ the avatar picture too) in the next few pieces, which are about on the horizon.  So I hope you all like what I was able to accomplish here..depending on how things go I might use this as a portfolio piece.

    Not to take the festive mood down a notch, but I'm also using this time to announce that I'm renigging on my CA.org and dA accounts.  It's too much to go into right now, but given the past few weeks I realize now how I work best as an artist.  I think back to when I was at my peak in terms of creating complex pieces quickly (a peak I still feel I haven't reached or surpassed just yet, but am definitely running full gear into obliterating given this pace ;), and during that time I didn't really take much to frequently seeking criticism or posting stuff up.  I just isolated myself w/ my work, and did what I felt made me happy, completing it in due time and maybe doing something w/ it from there.  Granted, I'm really hoping to become a professional freelance illustrator but I know what that has in store, and it doesn't neccessarily involve what and how I've been conducting myself online so far.

     Honestly, at this point I think it is best for me to scale back on my online networking, at least until I get myself to the level I want in terms of bulk of art and skillset.  I should also be more honest in working at a pace that's natural to me, knowing when to push, and when to kick back.  Altho I won't be having my Pro-Spec blog up until early next year, at least then, I know I'll have a hefty deal of art to publish there and a solid lock on my process.  Sorry all; I just learn best when I attend to myself in my own space, my own world, the outside inconsequential to my drive and focus.

     To that end, I'll keep my CA.org account open but won't start publishing there until January.  As for dA, my current account is maybe loaded w/ too much excess baggage, in terms of the things that have occured w/ me and others over the time since it was created, and it just isn't very professional.  I'll be deleting it completely and opening up a new account under my new screename 'fngz', also in January.  And this time it'll be strictly professional (tho just to the fanart side of things).  For the time being I'll keep up the current account and post this and a final few selection of fan pieces under that name, but from then on everything will be under the new account.

     ....Ready to pick the mood back up?  Heh, cool; here's an update to my Gally/Yoko/Alita picture:

     The perspective for the background is being shifted from what I first imagined, and the image as a whole is now a lot different from the one I was using as a mental ref from the graphic novel.  At this point her form is basically complete; I'm giving her the cape she wears in the first few volumes of Last Order, and as for that right hand?  Possibly a plasma sword.  Her left forearm meanwhile is completely gone, so I gotta make that look banged up.  I'll have to work a little less on this one as I finish up the Bilstien image over the next few days for that contest entry, but it shouldn't be too long before this one is complete.

      That's all I gotz for today.  If you're wondering about why no new sketches...yeah I'm not doing that anymore.  Sure there's still sketches being drawn, but I don't finish a lot of them, and the ones I tend to really like (like the Alita one) end up becoming full paintings anyway.  Maybe one day I'll dump the sketches to whoever, wherever but we're a shitload of time away from that happening.  Until next week, do your thing and enjoy life.  Catch 'ya l8r.

Midweek Updates

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  What's up everyone; if you didn't watch the GOP debate last night, you missed out on some good arguing.  These candidates (the majority of them) may not have any concrete answers but boy can they entertain w/ their bickering I assure you.  And Ron Paul actually got shown more face-time instances than fingers I can count on one hand, so there was some progress in any case x3.

  Also, must say I'm seeing why everyone rates Samurai Champloo so highly.  I'm four episodes in and plan to watch the rest of it about daily.  I said this already too, but, Eatman '98...underrated.  Third ep's much better and sophisticated than the starting two, so if you're that odd person who saw it way back when, just the first ep and thought "eh", I urge you to stay w/ it and wait until the 3rd to see if you feel the same way ;).

  Okay, well that's all for the small chat.  Let's get on w/..more small chat.  But this small chat has pictures w/ it too, so yay!!!

 

   I still haven't posted anything up on ConceptArt.org, but that'll be changing this Saturday, when I put these sketches-among others-to my scrapbook there.  Since I get the feeling fanart isn't liked very much around there, I'll be sticking w/ non-fanart pieces, which is just as well b/c getting any serious opportunities would come down to much more than how well one can recreate a popular pre-existing character.  These sketches are being done for various reasons; to study anatomy, to study and improve stylization, to try different body types and ethnicities, and to get back to non-human stuff.  B/c I love backgrounds and props and scenery as much as the human body and regard them as highly in terms of a good finished piece that emphasizes any amount of scenic composition.

  The plan is to keep doing these sketches for an hour or two everyday or every two days; I just wanted to have an ample number of them for when I post to CA.  Meanwhile some of them will get inked out and some of those will be colored l8r down the road; nothing epic, just exercises to improve in my artistic capabilities and try out new interesting things w/o the bother of having to do deadline for some project or commit to a preexisting set of rules.

**Note:  Tad darker than the working file, gotta fix 'er up on that**

  I started painting this one first but of the two it's further behind (tho I did make a note to finish the following picture first anyway).  Basically, everything I did w/ the Chun-Li picture that worked is being employed here, but I'll also be looking for any opportunities to improve on certain aspects.  In particular, I could've done more interesting shading and coloring w/ the clothing in that picture, and maybe some texture work as well (it's not like Corel doesn't have the brushes for the job), so on those fronts I hope to make amends here.  I also want it to just look more solid, lively and technically accomplished, so I'm taking careful note and attention to the technical aspects of it as well.

 **Note: Tad darker on the bg than the working file, I need to fix that**

   Avatar's almost done; I went ahead and fixed around w/ the dome earlier today and some more shading in the skin.  Also learned the limits of one of my chosen colors on the palette as far as how much it can go w/o resaturating, so the darks I have here are about as dark as I can push the picture in terms of overall value, which, ironically, works out great.  Still tho, it's something to especially consider for future pieces.  I'll be making sure the Mai picture matches (and exceeds) what's gotten done here but seeing that a lot of complicated stuff is being dealt w/ here is really improving my confidence.  There are maybe three pictures sitting around waiting to get painted, but they were way too ambitious for me @ the time to start on.  I feel a bit more up to tackling them now (and yes the Blue Mary picture is one of them), but they'll have to wait until these two and Bilstien are finished.

   Speaking of which, here's the S.O.B now.  Went through SO many iterations just to find something I could say I liked.  I wanted a pose that wasn't just him standing around, but some of the other ones I came up w/ were either off-character or too disjointed for him to pull off (I mean, he's a big dude and isn't quite a gymnest either).  Eventually I just settled for this one of him in his mighty chair holding his sword.  It's unbelievably rough @tm (barely gotten started), and I need to have it done by the end of the month, so here's hoping I can switch to this one for a few and finish it fast enough to resume the other two pics and have 'em done by the end of next week (which, technically, should be more than possible now).

   That will conclude it for updates this week.  Once I get the CA.org situation organized I'll link to it here, and I will also be posting some work on Pro-Spec finally by the end of the month, starting w/ the Chun-Li picture (unless I draw and paint another one before then, most likely I'd roll w/ the new one), even tho that blog needs a lot of design work done regardless. Oh well.  Anyways I hope you all like the update and I'll see you next Wednesday w/ more stuff.  'Till then, l8r out :)

ChunLi and Mai

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  Afternoon all; thought I'd stop by quick to put up some progress for a couple of new pictures.  I already mentioned one of these before, but she's being accompanied by her eternal rival.  Meanwhile the Blue Mary picture will be resumed as hastily as possible, but it is a complicated beast, hence why I'll do these ones in the meantime.

   Just some lines for structure as I get ready to paint them today.  I'm definitely using my acrylics for these ones..the big question now is how far.  If I fancy it I might complete them fully by hand, which would be nice, and I think I can do that now.  But I've gotten some neat stuff out of Corel...oh if only my mouse weren't such shit xD!

   I'll be steady w/ these two, have them done in a few days.  Meanwhile I'm going to need to eat some lunch, so catch 'ya all on the flipside :)!

Current WIP: Blue Mary

  What's up everyone; posting a current progress of the revitalized Blue Mary picture as of today.  I got a jump on it yesterday but didn't decide on an approach (in terms of layers and color) until last night as I was going to bed, then thought long and hard on some of that as I began laying in the underpainting today..  So here's the rough painting:

   Yep I'm still going about the way I did w/ the Vice picture, but this one will be much more refined and focused.  It's also a lot more complex, bunch of light sources and all.  I might be a fool for throwing color into it from the get-go but as I already mentioned that's my way of envisioning better and it helps me, even if it does bend some classical rules.  I have the palette set up and given the current rate of progress it should take only a few days to finish, but I'll probably also get to painting another drawing to post in-between this one. 

   Look forward to an update over the weekend; see 'ya all l8r!

SatMorn Update

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   I'm back, peoples, and it's kinda been a long time.  I skipped posting up any art last week b/c I felt I hadn't made enough progress (and the fact I've abandoned the Suzuka and cloud pictures, MOTL), and throughout the time since then I have just been focusing intently on finding my strengths w/ Corel and the real direction I want to take my stuff in.  Welp, I'm back now; I feel like I've gotten a fair deal of tough shit done, some ample progress, and I'll also show off one of the newer pieces I'm now just starting on.  So let's jump in there, eh?..

   Like I just said earlier, Suzuka and that cloud painting have been put on hiatus, indefinitely.  I've learned a great deal from the effort put in both, but finishing them won't allow me to do that much in terms of reflecting what I can do *now*.  And, that's what it's really about; I need to do pieces that reflect relatively well where I'm at right now.  I drew those Outlaw Star pics weeks ago (my drawing skills have improved dramatically sense then, if I do say so myself ;) and the clouds one was just started on a whim to get used to painting them (which I am now,...well, at least cumulonimbus clouds are x3).  It's probably true that you can turn anything to a high level of polish regardless of its starting state, but everything can only be improved by such a measure, if the underlying foundation can accommodate.  That's why I've moved from those pieces for now; I have a pursuit to push myself to the levels of the artists I admire such as Joe Vriens...

Genzoman...

and Artgerm....

  ....and it might seem a little impossible to try and cram so much effort in so little time but I'm just that hungry to improve, I'd say.  Of course, I can't neglect what progress I make at any time or depreciate that feeling of satisfaction over any piece, so even w/ these works I have discontinued, I feel eternally grateful for what they've helped me learn, as all of that carries over into the newer works (the ones here, I WILL be finishing btw!).

 

Newer version; grainy, rough, but the foundation's there...

   This is the new 'Blue Mary' piece I may or may not have mentioned a while ago.  I think this drawing's about maybe 2-3 weeks old by now (if not older), but it's still newer than Poison.  I've always been a sort of semi-closet fan of SNK's characters; the original FF3 movie got me hooked into ther aesthetics and universe, and while I may tend to favor Capcom fighters from a pure playability POV, in comparison to the older SF games I think many of the later FF and some of the KOF games more than hold their own.  One thing that's always impressed me w/ them is their sense of detail and atmosphere in their backgrounds; by comparison I don't think it was until Darkstalkers where I began really caring for backgrounds of Capcom's fighters, but SNK had that on-lock from the original FF.  A small cavet sure, but still...

 

A much older drawing done back February of the same char

   Anyway, I actually decided to do Blue Mary b/c I had drawn her a few months ago and inked her out, but never finished.  I was going to color her digitally and all, but I just kinda moved on.  Looking back, I can appreciate what I was able to do w/ that one then, but I knew I could do a much better job now and henceforth I'm carrying onward w/ the new rendition.  I'm really trying to push for 'full-inclusive' sorts of shots now; work in some focus, some drama, some strong sense of perspective, proportion, foreshortening and composition.  It amazes me sometimes how some really technically awesome artists, when you really think about it, stay in some very basic rooms on some of that mentioned stuff.  That's the sort of box trap I'm hoping to avoid.  Certainly I can see why some may be that way, b/c personal struggle @ this moment indicates that just getting one or two of that sort of stuff down is very challenging, and w/ different subject matter only that much more so.  But yeah..back to the picture (lolz)..at the very least I hope it seems like Mary is "reaching out" to the viewer.

    Although painting has started on this one, it's so crude @ the moment I'd rather not upload it just yet.  Next week tho, I can definitely put up the painting (for all I know it might be finished by then too...just shot myself in the foot, didn't I?)

 

I would've put the coloring for the jeans and shirt up, but the shirt is terrible atm and why put up the jeans w/o the shirt x3?

P.S: Also, still no lines; haven't inked them yet :S

   Now w/ Poison, I've finally gotten most of the base work done; the areas to tackle from here are the textures and lighting.  Oh, and I still need to do the linework as well (the paper will be getting got TODAY, thankfully).  It's been a tall order, and in-between the week I've had to really reorganize some files to make them easier to access and compressing active memory consumption, but all the effort's been worth it.

 The original reference photo...

  Somehow, I seem to be pushing for a more realistic look, not necessarily hyperrealism but not quite as simple as some of the more 'basic' anime shading either (which would actually be harder w/ my mouse setup, plus the fact I don't tend to use colors directly, aka I'm a Glazeman).  Somewhat unexpected but maybe just natural coincidence.  Yesterday alone I spent a good deal of time trying to paint some convincing lipstick/lipgloss  and some skin texturing...the issue of constraint and finding a balance btwn too little and too much realism is really daunting, but one step at a time, I would suppose.

     Btw, a closer look at the lips: busted my ass trying to somewhat replicate the ref but not ripping it.  Some more tune-up work and could have something to go w/ for real ;)

 

..and my result, many layers and strokes l8r...

   
   I'll leave it @ that for today's update.  I do have an inkling to catch up on some games and films I haven't had the chance to do so w/ over the week, but at the same time...I REALLY don't wanna stop drawing and painting x3.  Will definitely continue to try painting more of both pics throughout the day and just noting what works for me and what doesn't.  At the very least, it feels good to have a head filled w/ some useful jargon again.  Hope you all enjoyed the stuff, pleae look forward to next time.  L8r and have an awesome weekend!

Stuff For Mid-Week

  Heyzapeeps...Wednesdays are SO slow, aren't they?  Dead-center of the week, u know u have energy but the fact Wednesday's, well, Wednesday kinda drags it down some.  What a sucky day Wednesday can be, it aughta be banned imho (shorter weeks aren't as bad as others make them out to be ;).

  Anyhow, I have some more art to post, one's the Mai WIP which I'll poof up l8r, but in the meantime I have a special little tree here, done for my eldest sis in regards to her science class project for her college course.  I'm really proud she's attending school again (something I would love to do, if just for the purpose of having a degree), and I wish her all the best.  I know it's just a tree an' all, but hey, if it helps her get a smoking good grade on her project, I'm all for it.

  I had some fun w/ this one.  A long time back I bought some Prismacolor watercolor pencils decidedly on a whim.  There they sat for some odd months, only used for a now-subpar Hellsing picture I would rather not upload here (in fact I'm still struggling w/ the thought of deleting much of those older pictures b/c they might do more bad than good on reflecting where I'm at, but that's something for another time).  Sad indeed, b/c they were about thirty bucks and barely getting used (I should note by now:  I'm advocate the "get all for yer money" mentality.).  Seeing that I didn't want to break out the acrylics for a subject matter as simple as a tree--and having thrown out the pastels and color pencils and feeling a pen drawing was too boring (as well as aside from me)--I opened the tin and gave them another shot.

   Boy oh boy, when u start learning how to use these suckers, they can produce some phenomenal stuff.  Granted, I'm sure this tree is anything but the pinnacle of what these pencils can do, but I'm very inclined to explore them more as a side-media to my focus on acrylics.  In fact, they could eventually be useful for certain details and effects my acrylics can't pull off, but that's shit for another time and space well off in the distance.  It's still always intriguing to ponder on the thought, however, and I should consider investing in these more and using them on lower-scale/smaller-sized artwork.

  Oh, btw, despite kinda trouncing on the tree's "specialness", it is special in the sense my sis is using it for a family tree project.  So there's names and all that shit to add, but really ain't much more to be done.  For the sake of some internet-unsavvy fam, though, I won't be posting that final bit (which, again, won't be much of anything).

   Okay, so that's one.  Now here comes (slightly more tan than intended) Mai...ready, set....go!!

   Yes, I notice she's a bit more tan than most people consider her to be.  Granted, there's older spritework about in this range and I could lie and say that's what I was aiming for, but in reality I was looking to harmonize the skin more.  That was achieved, but due to an error in the initial laydown of the skin (relying on an old technique from older pictures that was proven to be insufficient for the methods being employed everywhere else in this one), I had to try and reduce down on the cracking and make the skin seem more alive.  Then again, I could've lightened the glaze some (but got carried away w/ having fun w/ the Extender...actually a lot more to that I'd like to go into sometime).  Ah well,..the rest of the picture will be shifting tone some to compromise, and it's still got a good ways to go so who knows what could go down.

    A side note:  working on this Mai picture has made me realize what I really want to do w/ my art.  This is the direction I want to go in full-term, and there are a lot of other pictures sitting around I wanted to finish, but wouldn't look right employing what's done here to them.  So I'm getting ready to batter down the hatches and re-envision a lot of WIPs (some of which are already fairly along) to try them in this newer technique.  Tough, but ultimately for the best.

   Another side note:  the Cresent illustration board finally came through, WOOT!!.  This motha's pretty big in person, and I'm already dreaming up what to do w/ it.  It'll be my first ever attempt on a ground this large, and I'm pulling out all the stops...once I get to it.  It'll likely be a few weeks out before doing anything, but that gives a long time for conceptualization.  Does outer space, spaceships and neo-futuristic jazz sound any good x?

Mai Shiranui Step 2

  Back again peoples, after a few more hours of working on the Mai picture I started yesterday, and was supposed to be a single-sitting session.  However, my own process seems to keep elongating the time compared to what it could be, so even today she's not gettin' done.  In fact, it might be a few more days before she's completed.

   The reason why's simple:  if I spend six-seven hours a day on it (keeping in mind I'm still learning as I go along), at least a fourth or more of that time is me purely mixing my colors and making test swatches.  A digital program might have all the colors I need right then and there, but by hand it's a pretty laborious process and requires pinpoint balance.  Nevermind the fact diluting paint w/o water is a science in itself, so yeah, it's taking a while.  Leave it to me to underestimate my own working time x3.

   So for now, I'll take it a 'layer' at a time.  I consider multiple glazes of the same colors to count to a layer, until I end up needed to reduce the medium amount or deepen the color in the actual mix, which is where the next layer starts.  Ironically it's coming off a lot like an oil painting technique ("fat over lean")..I'm sure there are other ways to accomplish the same effects, but I'm not @ that point yet to know what they are or execute them in practice (which, really, is where it would matter).

   Still, at least the basic colors have been bought out some and some details are being worked in.  I'm deliberately leaving the skin for last b/c it'll require a wholly different approach than the rest of the picture, and the background should get a good spice-up sometime during all this shit.  The whole thing should get done in maybe another few days, since I have other pictures to attend to in the meanwhile.  That's just how it goes, I suppose.

   Sorry Mai, your face won't be in the mail until quite l8r this week, but as the old adage goes, "slow and steady wins the race".  Be back l8r everyone; take care and be awesome.  Bye.