Good Saturday evening people; I'm going to be playing a lot of Zelda:LTTP over this weekend, and just generally relax down. It's been a busy week. Thankfully this past Thursday I got an urge to once again pick up my acrylics, b/c quite honestly I've been getting a bit tired of being on the computer all the time for my artwork purposes. In fact, this could be a turning point in how I carry my art out forward for the foreseeable future.
Truly, I'd rather not talk much about it, but let's just say I'm nowhere near done w/ my traditional painting yet. Never said I was, and I really love the sense of 'freeness' it provides. So, here's a few paintings (alla-primas) I did over the past few days, w/ a very small title and description for them. The constants in these paintings are, quite simply:
-Galeria paint: Crimson, Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue, Burnt Umber, Mixing White, Titanium White, Ivory Black. That's it.
-Paper: Forget the specific name, but it's Canson brand, likely 200/250gsm, linen sort mainly for watercolor, but obviously I wasn't doing watercolor techs here.
-Brushes: Mainly my flat 5, sometimes my short and the fan brush for parts of one picture.
My goal in doing these was to rediscover my interest w/ traditional painting and my acrylics, which sorta died down a good deal over the summer. In retrospect it's probably b/c they were a bit beyond me and I was too methodological w/ them. Maybe I'm too methodological w/ painting in general, so it was a very pleasant break to just grab the brush and lay the strokes where they may. Each picture follows a basic idea of small palettes, and I did most of the mixing directly on the support. If I could learn a bit more about how these colors interacted w/ each other and which ones could form good palettes together, I was set. And that's what's happening.
The Boy: The first one done. Used a three-color palette of Earth hues. Wasn't focusing on peak retention or strokes as indication of movement and energy. Reminds me of Ed off Cowboy Bebop x3.
StaringMan: 3rd one done; flesh tones are always a bitch, but in this case (and for the others) I had a general idea of what colors to pick up on the brush and in how much a load. Also, since there was no attempt at precision it went pretty well x3.
Icy World: 2nd done; worked a lot w/ Ivory Black. Black's usually shunned w/ traditional painting but I'm not stupid and latch onto common myths for the hell of it. If used sensibly it can work very well for mood. I'd love to have some Mars Black around to see how these two differ. Also worked w/ what I would Consider Payne's Grey, and a sort of purple; can't remember exactly which purple I mixed up tho.
FruitSet: One of the last done yesterday, really just wanted an excuse to use up the rest of the paint on the palette. This and the rest below more or less shared the same palette set-up, but that will probably be obvious even w/o me mentioning it.
ThatGirl: I guess these are the same women, different hairstyle notwithstanding. I like the bottom one much more, just wished I gave her more of a damn face!
TheBird: Out of the alla primas here this one's my favorite. Got to do a lot of neat peak retention tests and use brushstrokes to indicate energy and composition in most details. That was always an issue w/ me before; using brushes ill-suited for their job, and not playing enough w/ depth. I'm over that problem now ;).
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So as you can guess, I have plenty more of these to get around to doing. If things pan out soon I'll be buying back up more paint supplies, b/c now it's really dawned on me, I can't go w/o traditional. Blessed as I am for what I have been learning digitally and continue to learn there, I'd feel a bit cheap w/o my brushes and tubes of paint. Of course, each of the two have their own merits and use, so I'll continue doing fanart digitally (in terms of painting it) but will be taking a much greater initiative now to do original pieces traditionally.
Speaking of fanart, I have a new post for my Alita pic, and some sketches of Cerula (aka Daymn She's Fine!):
After a little more clean-up and inking I'll finally get to painting her on Monday. Eager to try a few new things w/ her, mainly dealing w/ transparency. I'd also like to attempt not using the lines so heavily (I started the process of that w/ Bilstein), since a lot of lines is starting to be counter-productive to my process. As for when it'll be finished,...welp, before the holidays sounds about nice (there a couple other pictures to work on too, but I might skip coloring them in favor of just inking).
Cerula is one of my favorite BAA characters; she's powerful, has heart, cunning skill and intelligence, and most importantly, a nice pair of bosoms ;). Oh, and she's a vampire, but not of the lame Twilight variety. Playing up on sex appeal aside, I dunno if I'll proceed w/ finishing these ones out, or just proceed to other renditions of the girl. The "sketch" mentality is taking over my whole process, and I'm not making it a mandatory note to finish up every picture I draw out anymore, just do what I feel like (but of course having some sense of direction along the way). Seeing as how I do like how the one on the left looks tho, I will most likely finish her up, before maybe drawing her in proper canon outfit or w/e.
Okay, that's it for my update. I'm off to cook lunch and watch Eatman and ATVOTOMS. Stay warm, awesome, and edged. Until next time, l8r out.
Hey everyone; as the name implies, this one has somewhat to do w/ driving into the endless debate of traditional art vs. digital art. Like other inane and asinine arguments (games as art, for example), I find this one more or less pointless, but seeing that I actually do draw and paint both digitally and traditionally, it has a little more weight in this twisted brain. My consensus has been that both cater to a different type of group, in terms of age and the amount of history on art those age groups tend to know (as a basic rule your basic fine arts observer has a much richer knowledge on world art history than, say, the kid who digs the new cover work for the latest X-Men comic or Naruto graphic novel), so pitting them against each other is useless. There are nibbles in both groups I absolutely hate, but this ain't the time to go into that!
From where I stand, I personally would like to use the two more closely, but I'm talking beyond just what that normally hints at. The past two months I've been working w/ Corel, I've gotten to the realization that I'll never fully want to turn away from my tubes of paint, and I'd hate to leave them going unused for so long. This is a very critical juncture for me; my skills are sharpening but it's not at the point where I can really say I'm "ready" to do work w/ it. Certainly on certain points I feel it is, but on the whole, I got work to do. Now that I've tasted what a strong digital program is capable of, it's time to be critical and scale back on the glamor, and go for what's necessary. In my pursuit to better my ability, it could actually be extremely helpful to re-incorporate my acrylic painting into my digital process, and still use the strengths of digital medium to bolster my painting.
This can't really be explained in a few short paragraphs, but the basic gist is that I'm going to be doing some very drastically different approaches that are closer still to me being myself, instead of doing what I 'think' I should be doing. To hell if automatically relegates what I do to the depths of unpopularity; the whole time I've been too concerned w/ doing work to please other people's expectation, but that's not what an artist does. That's not what I do. I'm in this for myself and others who dig what I do just happen to be on the same wavelength and, hey, that's cool. But I can't be asked to court for anyone's attention or praise. Maybe my time on deviantART and other social sites have done more bad than good for me, but that's okay now b/c I'm reigning back the wheels some.
So for anyone who has been checking on those sites for updates, sorry to say but I might grow a little inactive on them for a few months. I'll be shifting my focus to this blog and especially Pro-Spec in terms of where I'm pushing my stuff, but if I happen to see a contest or two going on somewhere else that can push myself out there further, I'll give them a shot as well. As for what this means for the art in particular, well,...you'll be in for some major surprises over time!
I'm going back to some more painting, and maybe read some quick news. Take care everyone I'll have something new up when that gets done. 'Till then do what you do; l8r.
'Nathernoon there, me fellows (please excuse the brokenness, this is my attempt at proper English, and I must admit...it's gone sour very fast). I managed to make it out to that club I mentioned previously w/ my sister, but suffice to say I have that post in another spot; you can click here to read up on it if you wish, and when I get a copy of the photo taken I'll post it up here. Needless to say, it was very awesome and just what I needed to relieve some stress that had been building up; a few more stints in Zelda and Snatcher and I should be just about refreshed to tackle some major progress on art projects for the next five days.
Speaking of art, as promised I'm here to post some updates. I know I said I'd stop w/ all the WIPs, and I'm trying to stick to that. But for the time being, until I get into a groove where I'm more focused on one single piece instead of several big pieces concurrently (and until where, for some of those pictures, I ingrain what I learn into my head where it becomes routine knowledge), doing a single WIP until they're done leaves too big a dry spell. So I'll do a once-a-week sort of update on multiple pieces, and if there's any time I skip doing that, it's the signal I'm focusing on one piece only and it'll be done much faster as a result of that.
First off, I'll start w/ a new WIP. No it's not the Poison one; I'll probably begin drawing her today and I have a very solid idea w/ her in mind (could actually end up doing two copies). This one is something I started doing so as to overcome weaknesses I quickly realized in my other OS piece (which I'll get to shortly).
Most critically, I noticed that atleast Melfina and certainly Suzuka were not looking as "on-point" to their official image. I could just bullshit and say I altered some details for my sake, but the truth is I should've studied them a bit better beforehand. Now, I'm doing a three-piece picture of the three females (Aisha too) so as to get something closer to their official designs. It was also a good excuse in doing some better portraits. Still need to finish them all up; I'm considering either inking them raw or doing some flat paints and then inking them, leaning towards the latter @ the moment. We'll see when we get to it, I suppose.
The Valkyrie commission is coming along..ever-so-slowly. Despite so much having been done, there's still so much more to get completed, it honestly does intimidate me at times. Doesn't help I'm exploring ever-more-complicated processes and implementing them on the fly, as the time taken to study, conceptualize and understand those things eats into the time actually spent painting.
But it's like I said; glad my client is so loose in their finish date. I don't want them to be disappointed in the final work and I really want to use this piece to exponentially improve in every single way, so hopefully a couple extra weeks won't be asking for much before it's done. If anything, any future pictures on this level should be done much faster, as I'll already be familiarized w/ the techniques by then (though really, I always try some new twist in everything anyhow xD).
Here's some further work on the original OS picture. Even w/ the complaints I had earlier, I realize it's a good opportunity to practice line weighing and shading to conceptualize a full, finished piece, so I'll be finishing it as soon as able. Suzuka is basically "done", so I have mainly Melfina and most especially Aisha and Jim (lol @ Jim...lol @ him!) to finish up, again worrying that the black marker doesn't dry up.
In any case, I'll be using what little cash I have right now to pick up at least a couple others from Micheal's if that does happen (or closer..doubt Wal-Mart sells Prismacolors tho :S). Certainly, this one'll be finished this week I can't see it taking any longer than Wednesday, even if switching btwn it and the other pictures.
I'm just about done here for today, and hope you all enjoyed the progress pictures so far. Before I go, I'll simply reiterate on my dA reshuffling plan in getting the old pictures out. If in case I haven't said so here, I'll be creating a shadow account there to host the older pieces, as my current account will just host the most recent work within about a three-month time span, in addition to what are the strongest pieces (could span from any length of time really). What I'm also considering, though, is just dropping off dA altogether until the fall, so even when those pictures (and others) are completed I won't be uploading them there until about the second week of September. I can use that time to focus on other 'more important' things, like fine-tuning what pics I have and looking into constructing a portfolio, not to mention look for jobs I can post for. Everything else should fall in place from there.
So again, I hope you all enjoyed the pictures; please look forward to some FINISHED work later this week, maybe some random sketches I crap out in the meantime, and further progress on what couldn't be completed by the time I come back. Stay awesome and enjoy life to its fullest; see 'ya next time. L8r.
What's up everyone? Today I have some more WIPs (oh, as usual, the dredgery x3); I can only roughly gauge out how much longer it'll take both, but I'll try keeping the updates from here on to a minimum. Let's not waste any time then, shall we?...
First, Valkyrie. The progress so far is about to the halfway point of the finish. I went ahead and added in much more detail for pretty much everything, basing it around the concept that I'd be using this layer to represent texture, shape and solid definition. Henceforth, that's the same reason I have not done the same w/ the sword, gown, and skin; these things do not have normally solid textures or hard definitions; they are more subtle and dependent more on the effect of light. So the next round of painting will involve carrying that concept throughout the whole piece, using more values and pushing around the hues a little in thinner glazes to (hopefully) achieve a softer and more realistic look. I say hopefully b/c-like almost everything else in this piece-I'm learning as I go.
Actually, yesterday I had a major fuck-up with the hair, getting the values all wrong and contemplating if I should just let it slide or re-block it. The former would've been a dick move, but the latter had me worried simply b/c I didn't wan to EVER layer the paint on so thick for one step, worrying about cracking. To my surprise, taking the latter route has benefited the picture immensely. Her hair is closer to what it should've been the first time, and the paint layed down extremely well w/ no cracking (and maybe just minimum chipping). Even so, I think for future pieces I'll use some gesso on the ground to support this technique better in the future.
This one here is being done moreso for myself and possibly portfolio reasons (depending on how well it turns out) than a client. The characters are-from left to right-Suzuka, Melfina, Aisha and Jim, from the 1998 anime Outlaw Star. I remember OS coming on Toonami way back in the day, I must've been in middle school, certianly. Didn't give it the time of day then due to being so infused into DBZ, but it's easy to tell that it's aged much better than Akira Toriyama's epic (though, given they're quite different in so many ways, that isn't too fair to say). I've really been enjoying this show recently and wish I had watched it sooner, but that's alright. Now I can do these awesome fanartz!!
Since it's summertime, I just wanted to take the three leading ladies and the easiest male pushover and do something fun and tropical w/ them. Although, the excessive shading might be at odds w/ a supposedly "lightweight" and "fun, tropical" theme...but atleast there's an ocean above and fish swimming! See?!? They're riiiiigggggghttttttt...........there! Lolz; seriously though, I took this one up as an opportunity to sharpen my pure lining and shading skills, which have gotten complacent the past few months. I haven't tried a drawing this shading-heavy in a few years, actually :S. It's also been a good excuse to use up whatever amount of black marker I have left..in fact the only reason this one might take longer than it should is solely b/c of that marker drying up at the halfway point (though I hope that doesn't happen) delaying the finish. The other colors are okay atm though. I just don't want Aisha to find out my little confession involving the black marker...she's gonna have a fit w/ me taking so long xD.
Well there you go peoples; I won't be posting anything else on Valkyrie for another week or so, and w/ any luck I should have the Outlaw Star piece done by middle of next week. So to my fellow artists out there, I wish you the best in your pursuits and don't let frustration knock 'ya down; it's just an invitation to try harder ;). Take care you all and have a gr8 week; l8r.
Good afternoon denizens of the state; today's coming forth w/ an update of the Valkyrie commission I'm doing for a friend on 1Up.com. We've done business for little over a year; he's been my only commissioner so far but I sincerely value the contact we've had, as I've learned a bit more about the model and, hey, from here things can only get better right?
As you can see here, I've mainly just been focusing on laying in the initial color blocks. Tbh I know a medium other than acrylics, like goauche or casein, would have been better for this method. That said, I only have acrylics on hand and since they're fluids, it wasn't that hard to get the consistency downpat and JUST thin enough but thick enough all the same. I think I have a very solid idea how to proceed forward w/ this piece but you must understand that almost every concept being employed here is a case of "learning as I go". In other words, it's the first picture employing most of what I've been learning over the past couple of months on my own, and I would like the final product to reflect the original vision. Still a long ways to go on that front, but we're getting there (slowly).
So far, if I can levy any complaints on what's been the toughest thing, it's actually been mixing up these colors. Yep, no pre-made paint colors other than the primaries and some white/black/brown for me x3. Trying to emulate other colors in this fashion w/ a limited palette is extremely difficult, and I've gone as far as to use GIMP for value mapping. Countless swatches have been painted and in fact more are being painted as I come up w/ different ratios for new colors. The one big drawback I see already is that, if realism was the intent, I'd be screwed over. A lot of the colors in that Valkyrie picture use heavy doses of Titanium White, which tends to dull the color. I would probably need to buy a wider range of primaries and a few complementary colors to get the same colors I've made swatches of so far but w/ greater vibrancy (of course, a little glazing could liven up some of the duller colors, but it's a very case-by-case issue).
I still need to do the color blocking for her eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows and mouth, but from there I can proceed to the next step. Very tempted still to use a variation of the dead layer technique in this..I feel it could benefit my style. I'll just read and study on it more the next few days and see just how much to incorporate it. Also been considering trying impasto and sgaffito in some areas; again, just considering the options. One thing is for certain though: I feel much more confident in my painting skills and color theory conceptualizations now, and would like to keep improving them both. Just finding the right balance of study and practice, that's what it really comes down to eh?
Next time I post anything up on this will be when she's nearly done, so in the meantime just keep a lookout for other WIPs and random musings. Be back l8r, hope you all like the work and catch 'ya next time. L8r :)
Welp, it took little more than a week off and on, serious and semi-serious (in terms of time investment) sessions and a whole lotta of testing and other shit, but she is done, at last. Here may I present the finished Mai Shiranui picture...
"Sure to give Chun-Li some food for thought x3"
(Ed. Note: Please visit my deviantArt page here for the full version. I'll post it there tomorrow)
I said it before and I'll say it again: she was a fun one to paint. It's technically marred in more than a few spots for sure--and there's nothing saying what was done here will stick in the future--but it felt like an overall step forward to do. Now that I've learned how to use mediums for dilution of the paint, I hardly think I'll ever be stepping back to the dark ages of using water alone, or perhaps water period outside of the thin initial underpaintings. There, it seems like it can be very useful, but for final work I doubt it will make a comeback. But hey, u never quite know.
I also picked up some interesting use of mediums in ways I'm not sure they were intended for..on THAT front, there's much more testing to be done, but I do feel confident in that w/ them, I can get a greater range out of the limited set of tubes I got. Even w/ that said tho there's no time to rest on laurels: there's another picture I'm doing for a friend that I have to start from scratch again tomorrow (well, not really scratch, but I'm not using the line drawing sheet I had before, even if the pose will remain about the same), and in between working on that (and posting some bits of it here), I'll try experimenting some more w/ creating color swatches and getting a better handle of the mediums.
Reminds me, too, that a new brush or two is in order. These brushes are wearing down, and new ones are always more than welcome...
That'll do it for this time; I hope u all dig my Mai piece. Maybe sometime in the future I can go over the process, but as this process is ever-changing, all the future seems like an immature moment to pick for that topic. Tomorrow I'll prop back up w/ some pictures and underpaintings for the new picture. Hint: we're taking it back to olden Norse times for this one ;). Catch 'ya l8r...
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.
