Thundershock Archer WIP II

Greyscale 1

This morning I dropped what I had of the previous night's work into greyscale via Photoshop to take a look at my tonal range and see where I needed to spend time on working today. In addition to this I also looked at my image scaled down at about 700% (the accurate live art of a MTG card) to see if it still held up at a smaller size, which it does. 

Greyscale 2

Once that was done I went into the painting again, making a few quick color choices as in adding in a little pink (what can I say, I love that color!). I've been studying some references I have as I work on this, mainly for handling the lightning. So far it's been the biggest struggle.

After working on this for the day I am calling it time for another break. Yet again I can't believe how quickly this piece seems to be getting done. I dropped it into greyscale to take a look at where it is at the moment, and will probably look at it again in the morning tomorrow before sitting down to work at it again. There are a few issues I would like to address, mainly the darkness around her breast, and above the drapery. I think that it is too distracting and may either  need to be pushed back, or balanced out with a similar treatment at the bottom of the drape.

After day 2 of painting

Above is the piece as it currently stands, in full color. I feel that the adjustments in photoshop are a little closer to how it really looks. I am pretty happy with how it's turning out, though it needs to be addressed in several areas. One other thing that has come to my attention is that I am loosing my whitest, brightest whites. Normally I would use colored pencils, though I am thinking that I would rather use paint. Unfortunately I don't have any, so I am considering using photoshop to handle this. 

Anyways, ttfn!

Thundershock Archer WIP

So I just got back from Origins Game Fair, and have been thinking a bit about my portfolio as it stands, after having gotten some comments on it at the convention. While people commented on how my work has improved from the last time they saw it, talking directly to the AD's as well as some of my buddy artists it clarified that I ought to rethink on what had me interested in art to start with. 

In college being exposed to a lot of artwork and fields spread me out a bit, and while I have some things I enjoy, when I think about those things I realize that perhaps those are only hobbies of mine, even though they are still art. So I plan to refocus my work on what had originally captured my attention to begin with: pieces that could be considered as art for MTG, or novel covers. This doesn't mean I will stop with the art I have been doing, but merely won't be doing as much of it. 

So I started on some sketches of ideas to develop, narrowing in on one I am calling the Thundershock Archer. I'm intending this to fall into the realm of card art, sticking to the formatting, but having some fun with the idea. I'm working with watercolors, on 140lb cold press Fabriano paper (yep, cold press....not my usual hot press).

The above picture is how much painting I got in in just one day, kinda surprising even myself as to how fast I kinda took off. Seeing as it's now time to start making dinner, I thought this would be a nice time to stop for today and take a break. 

One last note: I am still struggling to adapt a scan of my traditional watercolor work over to digital. I find that the saturation and vibrancy, or colors tend to be  off, even with some futzing around. There are some differences in the traditional piece I am still working on in comparison to what is posted above. 

Catwoman Ad: WIP I

Here's a new project I started on yesterday and have continued working on today. Right now I am working in laying in my color, using a mix of flat color like ink working along with a little bit of airbrush for a smoother look. I also dropped the file into greyscale as I am working on it to see the contrast, and already there are some areas I need to keep an eye on as I continue forward with this piece.

This is kinda  just for fun, and I am excited to be doing a catwoman piece since she was one of my idols growing up. I might try to mock this up as an actual label for catnip, not sure about that just yet though. Anyways, I've got a ways to go on this so I better get back to it!

A Quick Update

I haven't been posting as often as I normally do on account of sorting my portfolio and preparing new works to take with me on upcoming conventions. Above is one of many pieces I had started but never really finished, and so I've been in the process of finishing up all of my pieces and working on a few new ones.