New Stuff

Okay, so after many hours of work, its finally finished.

I'm fairly happy with how it turned out, although the process was more trial and error that I had hoped it would be. I did find some new tricks along the way, and also rediscovered the program Poser for rendering observational models for reference. I will have to make better use of it in the future . (It would have made the Vincent painting below much better.)

Preview #2

Just wanted to share this. I really like this section.

New Project Preview

Preview of a new project (as if the title didn't explain that fully). I'm working on a new painting in Photoshop. It's big. As in the preview area below is roughly 1/10th the area of the full picture. I'm attempting to use some chiarascuro techniques. So far, I'm liking what I've got.

The more artistically critical of you might say, "But you're only utilizing the lower half of the dark/light spectrum, you hack." You'd be right, and I do plan on using much more in the upper half. But for right now, I'm still establishing my forms. I just wanted to share this with anyone who might happen to stumble by while on their way to something far more interesting.

On a somewhat related note, I very much still consider myself a student of art (probably always will be). So if you should be reading this and have some constructive criticism, on this or any other of my works, please feel free to share. I always appreciate tips and suggestions.

Late art. Or early. Whatever.

Sometimes my mind wanders. Occasionally, when it does, it brings back souvenirs.

A few months back I was at a friend's house with a sketch book and let my mind wander, and it came back with this odd little character. No name, no identity, no purpose. Just him, under a bare tree reaching down for something. Someday, when I have a sketchbook section, he'll probably end up there. I've carried the little guy around in my head, searching for his purpose ever since. I feel like he has a story to tell me, but I don't know what it is.

Tonight I was thinking about some stuff, and my mind went off, and when it came back, who should I find leading it but my little friend. I opened up Photoshop and began to paint quickly, trying to capture what he had to show me. I don't know where it came from or what it means yet, so I'll leave that up to you.

Another Quick Painting

Another quick painting to drop off, this time of Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII. This one I wanted to try fast and loose, playing with a different PS brush style.


Also, just to note, this one, along with the Joker from the other day, were both painted in a single layer. I consider it practice for the canvas.

I think I want to try working from an actual drawing next. I've colored line art before, but always going from an art cel standpoint. I think my next project will be something more like a combination between line art and a painting. We'll see what happens.

Do I Really Look Like a Guy with a Plan?

I feel like I haven't been able to exercise my creativity lately. The biggest reason is that I don't have a lot of space to work, and lately I have been very busy working the day job. It becomes hard for me to do art work without a dedicated space, since I have to factor setup and tear down into my work time, and then decide whether the remainder is even worth utilizing for any project.

There is one medium that requires no setup or cleanup- digital. So whenever I get that urge for now, I think I will have to sate it by cracking out the tablet, and going to town in Photoshop. At least until I have a space that I can just put stuff out as I'm working on it and not worry about it being disturbed.

So today, I decided to flex my digital skills with a quick digital painting.


All in all, I'm pleased with how it turned out. I'm more pleased by the fact that I felt like I had learned some neat things from the process. It makes me feel like I didn't waste my time. r^_^;

I've set up a Digital Art section to keep stuff like this. You can find it under the newly labeled Works section of my site. Hopefully I find the time to do more stuff like this.