Madness To The Method

30 Days of Sketches!

2012-02-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hello bloggers,

This month I shall attempt to draw one character every day for the next 30 days (I only now realize there are only 29 days this month). It's my hopes to get my creative juices flowing, so these are just sketches I am being pretty laid back about doing.

In preparation I did make a list of characters to draw for the next month and some days, so I'm not just pulling ideas out at random as I go along. Just to make sure I don't lose steam in trying to pick some subjects to doodle. With that, check back to see more sketches as I find time to post them up, beginning with:

Dr. Mrs. Monarch!

SW Pulp WIP

2012-01-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

After posting my process to the WiPnation forums, where this contest is also taking place, it came to my attention that I had lost a lot of emotion in Princess Leia when it came to the pencil drawing. After doing the color comp I was feeling timid about continuing onto the painting stage, and I am happy I didn't.

Original Sketch

First Draft

Second Draft

In the original Leia is obviously more surprised/shocked by seeing Vader and his torture droid, however after getting a crit my original pencil drawing made Leia look more in control. So I took my drawing back to the drawing board and made the correction. I moved her arm up so it looks more like she is cowering, or trying to shield herself. I also changed the expression on her face, which was my main cause for not going to paint.

First Post of The New Year! A WIP

2012-01-10T10:42:00.001-08:00

Its a new year, and already there are some projects to be had. In light of playing some SWOR and enjoying a little spiked cider, there are a couple of gallery events that have a call for art. The first is for pin-up work and while I have a piece drawn out I have yet to post it. The second is a call for pulp art, which is what I have posted below.

Pen Sketch

Pencil

Color Comp

Mock Cover

I'm planning on painting this in watercolor, and because of the large amounts of black I decided to do a digital color comp just to be safe. I did consider inking this in but am hesitant since doing so may give this more of a comic book feel. I am also not sure at this point if I will add in the type or not. If I do it will be done digitally. Anyways....back to work!

Sketches

2011-11-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of sketches of some things I'm tinkering around with. The first is a character from a story a friend and I wrote a while back, the second is an idea for what could be a MTG card of an angel.

I like the angel sketch, but I'm not really feeling the armor so I'll probably tweak that some more, and I'm thinking about doing some kind of a Celtic knot pattern in her halo.

WIP: Regeneration

2011-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I realize that I haven't been posting much on my blog lately and it's because of a few reasons. Firstly is that I just moved into a new house and it took a while to set up a work space. Secondly is that I have been in a slump in concerns to art making. A total lack of motivation which I struggle with off and on.

But I do have something to post! Talking to some artists at previous conventions it was recommended that I try to work with mixed media, which is a process I am greatly enjoying. During a portfolio review I received a lot of feed back, and a high point was that I have solid drawing skills but need to work on making my work look 'finished. This, I am sure, is an uphill struggle for most artists as one of my college instructors once told me that we spend more time growing into our skills drawing than painting.

Raven Mimura suggested to me that I scan in my drawings and print them on watercolor paper and paint, then try to render in color digitally. So I tried exactly this with this piece.

Originally I had this drawn directly onto my watercolor paper in pencil and after an initial wash of all water I went straight into paint. However I really disliked my use of color in how the piece was turning out, so I traced the image and started over.

Which lead me to flipping the image and inking it in with a sepia colored micron. I really love to do ink work, which I find relaxing but takes a serious toll on my working hand.

From there I went ahead and scanned the image in. I had to piece my scan together digitally since it didn't fit on the scanner, and I also reduced the opacity to about 60% so that my lines wouldn't be so saturated. Once this was done I printed it out on 140lb hot press watercolor paper and set it aside to dry.

When it was ready I taped it to my Masonite drawing board and washed over the entire work area with sepia watercolors. I made the mix using Indian red and yellow ochre paints. From there I went ahead and painted in my tones, then used a white Prismacolor pencil to add in some white.

Normally when I paint I like to leave the white of the paper, but I was trying something new here, which I like just as much.

That done I scanned the image back in and did some small adjustments to the contrast before adding in some colors. I have a few layers here with color at reduced levels of opacity, saturation, and on varying layers of overlay and multiply, with my whitest whites on normal. This only about 20-30 minutes of experimenting with colors but I am liking how it is turning out.

So far this has been a really great process as I am able to enjoy inking in my piece, painting with my watercolors, and experiment with digital. I admit to disliking rendering on the computer for reasons I can only say are personal, but I am sure are tied in with my lack of time learned rendering on the computer vs painting traditionally. I also like the textures I can get while painting on paper.

I plan to finish this piece and submit it into the next Spectrum call for entries, and to continue to work this way.

PS

This piece is based off a MTG card image that I reworked into a new concept, which was another suggestion by an artist I met at one of the conventions. Here is the original image.

Hiatus

2011-10-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hey there to those who follow this blog. I've not posted anything on here for quite a while. Mostly I've been moving in and getting things sorted out, though I have started work on some projects, things have been slow going. But stay tuned for some updates pertaining to artsy things soon. At the very least, some creatively carved pumpkins for the season!

Transitions

2011-08-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything new here since before I left for Gen Con Indy. While I did get some good feedback on my portfolio review, I will also be moving to Ohio within the next few weeks, so I will be away until I am officially set up in my new lair.

TTFN

Extraction Challenge: WIP II

2011-07-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

So, I can't believe I've been working on this for a little over six hours now and am this far in already. Time has really flown, but I think I am gonna call it quits for now, and for the sake of my hand. Time to sit back, relax, and have a beer. So ttfn!

The original sketch and a cleaned up tonal application to the sketch, leaving the airships blank (so I don't over render just them,,,,I am getting wise to my own vices). To do this I have 3 separate layers on multiply using the same near sepia color at different levels of opacity. I also used a hard round #5 eraser at about 12% opacity to erase out some of my light values.

Here I am pushing the tonal ranges a bit more, and finally adding in some life to the airships. Still using the same base color over multiple layers set to multiply, and varying the % or opacity per level as well as 'brushing out' tones with the eraser set to 12% opacity.

Finally I am sampling some colors here and using a mix of overlay and normal layers to 'wash' in my colors. I am sure there are better ways to color an image, but so far this is what's working for me, so I can't complain. I do plan to lower the saturation of some areas in the future.

Above is the photo I am using to base my pallet on. Normally I love to use this color pallet, so seeing it in nature is awesome.

Extraction Challenge: WIP I

2011-07-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, it's been a bit since I posted anything on here. Relocating to Ohio and getting ready for Gen Con Indy 2011 as well.

Since the last post I started on some black and white inks that I'll post once I scan them in. But right now I am working on a concept for a book cover as part of the Art Order Extraction Challenge. This is a real quick sketch I did and then laid some messy tone over. It still needs quite a bit of work to tighten things up a bit, and I am really hopping I will be able to finish this one on time for the challenge, which is due in by August 28th.

I'm really excited to be doing a steampunk themed challenge. I had also decided not to get carried away by adding in any people, since I know that I will probably focus in on rendering them. I wanted to stick to more of a scene with this one, and if I do add in figures I am thinking they will be suggested silhouettes.

I've pulled some reference together for the air ships that vary from old black and white dirigibles to man of war jellies, and have also taken a long look at works other artists have done in regards to scenery to try to better understand composition, lighting, and atmosphere. This is gonna be a tough piece to render, but I'm sticking to it.

On one last note: After reading Justin's post on Muddy Colors the other day, I've been inspired to try out his process of working the same way I would traditionally with watercolors, and slowly building up layers, in photoshop. It's still something I am very much in need of practice with. So stayed tuned for more process of this piece and wish me lots of luck cause I'm gonna need it!

Thundershock Archer WIP II

2011-06-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Stepping Out Of The Comfort Zone: CGHub Challenge WIP

2011-05-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

Every now and then it's good to step out of your comfort zone when working as an artist. It helps to keep our work fresh but also forces us to continue to grow.

I've always loved science illustrations and biological studies of different species of creatures, yet when it comes time to creating art it isn't something that I regularly try to do. Sure, now and again I will sketch things like this but I've never really tried to render one out.

So I am going to try to make a fantasy creature called the Durosni, a current CGHub Challenge for Creature Planet. Specs have been given in consideration of the creature including environment, what it ought to look like, size, ect. From there I looked at some prehistoric creatures and started sketching, and once I came up with an Idea that I liked I started to do my process and coloring work.

This is all very rough at the moment, and I am working in Adobe Photoshop directly, comparing my hand drawn sketch in my sketchbook to what I am doing digitally. This is supposed to be an insect like creature that has probably recently evolved wings for flight, though they are also areal creatures that can fly I need to be able to demonstrate that. Insects have delicate wings, and since this species is supposed to live in the cold I had opted to give it bird wings at first. But in my sketches I changed over to bat like wings instead.

My reason for this was that the creature is supposed to by asymmetrical and there was also a note that it would be vertical rather than horizontal. With that information I figured that perhaps it would use it's near claw like appendages and prehensile like 'tail' to climb up tress or rocks. From there it would launch itself into the air....more evolved forms might be able to sustain flight for longer. I also liked this idea because if my creature hangs upside down like a bat it might look like a pod if it had it's wings wrapped around itself, to act as camouflage perhaps, the help it ambush it's prey.

One thing that has been a bit of a challenge is that it is also supposed to be able to ram opponents or perhaps even prey. I figured that perhaps it would hod it's front appendages stiffly before it like a deer would use it's antlers. I didn't want to make anything too bulky, which might limit it's ability to fly.

Anyways, a lot of thought had been put into this so far and I started late with the deadline being the first of June, and it is currently the 30th of May. So I'll see if I can get this one done in a day or so.

Gears And Roses

2011-05-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

And here it is, in it's complete glory....Gears and Roses was painted for the Elgin History Museum and will be one of 60 chairs featured in a charity auction this summer. I believe the chairs will be on exhibit at the Gail Borden Public Library where people can vote on their favorite chair designs.

Elgin History Museum

2011-05-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

With my chair almost done I decided to give myself a break from painting since I am almost done, and go check out the Elgin History Museum for which I am painting my chair. I met with Mrs. Elizabeth Marston once at the Museum and she was kind enough not only to give me a tour of the museum and reveal a bit of history, but to show me a sneak peek at some exceptional posters not yet on display.

A painting of what the Museum looked like before lightning struck

I learned a bit about the town which was pretty impressive. A lot of commerce and business took place in the area that I wasn't really aware of, taking into consideration that companies in the midwest could easily ship both east and west of the country. I also learned that the building was once a school, the current academy now resides in a building next to the museum.

While there is some stuff about the Native Americans in the area and a few other things about Elgin I wanted to focus on the watch company that used to exist in Elgin. There are a lot of artifacts about the time pieces that I thought was really nice, including mock up areas of what work benches looked like as well as a rather nice collection of all sorts of watches.

The case of wind up keys caught my eye right away. I haven't seen too many wind up keys for watches and had no idea that they had to be wound up daily back then.

And one of the many beautiful watches on display along with it's key. I found it to be highly useful to see the watches in particular and noticed that I painted the face on the wrong side of the watch my pin-up is holding in her hand. Something I will fix today.

I also found out that while the watch company made the watches they didn't make the cases. Instead they would work along with jewelers who would then create the case for the watches, much like they made cases for make up and other compacts. And.....

Mortar rounds as well.....who would have thought?

And finally on my way out the door I noticed these little brooches made from watch parts....I thought they were charmingly steampunk and had to share it. Anyways, I have yet to finish my chair, and fix the watch my gal is holding! TTYL!

Elgin Historical Soceity: Charity Chair WIP Painting III

2011-05-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

I'm almost through painting my chair by now, having finished the seat and back and moved onto the arms. Once done painting I'll spray varnish the surface. Not a whole lot to say about this really, just thought I'd update my process.

I've also been invited to the Historical Museum and may take them up on the offer despite my work almost being done. I just hope they like the end product.

Elgin Historical Soceity: Charity Chair WIP Painting II

2011-05-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

Still working on my chair, and still finding working with acrylics to be quite a pain. I'm not quite sure if it's a bias for the medium, the fact that I suck at using it....or that the spray paint primer has been making it difficult for the paint to stick for some odd reason. I'm also a bit surprised that my Golden Paints aren't going down as well as I recall, and that the Utrect brand has been holding up a bit better. I'm also using the cheap craft acrylics you can buy at Hobby Lobby and Walmart. I had planned to add in colored pencils but they aren't applying smoothly, perhaps due to the wood grain, or else the primer. I've also opted to not use sharpies like I had planned because I'm not sure they won't run when I spray on the protective clear coat upon completion.

I still haven't touched the arms of the chair at all. I figured I would save the smallest two parts for last, though I admit I am a bit worried about painting them since they should be identical. I went ahead and placed the back onto the seat to see how it's coming along so far...and I think it's holding up pretty well....

It's been difficult not only to work with a medium I'm not confidant in but from a computer sketch translated to the actual chair....and those pesky breaks between the slats. I've also gone back and forth on some of the color choices I made, going from pink stripes on the legs to brown, as well as adding in red and making the blue brighter than it originally was.

I'm working on the seat right now, which is a 'picnic' type thing going on. I have till the end of the month to finish....ok, a little less time than that since I will be leaving at the end of the month for Ohio. The chair will be done before then and turned over to the Museum. The title (how fancy is that?) for my chair is Gears and Roses....and will be one of 60 on display at the Gail Borden Library to be auctioned off later on in June.

Elgin Historical Soceity: Charity Chair WIP Painting I

2011-05-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten around to posting a quickie here on my chair. After spray painting the base with an off white color I brought the pieces into the porch where I've set up a make shift work area by which I am painting in my chair.

Looking at my original sketch I went ahead and roughed in a pencil of my pin-up right onto the surface. I've also done the same thing for the other parts of the chair, deciding to use a template copy only for the arms (since there are 2 and they are the same).

With that done I started to lay the paint onto the chair, mixing up my colors on some wax paper with a plastic pallet knife. I am using acrylics, a bit watered down like washes. One thing I have to admit is that I find it very hard to work with acrylic paints, especially on the surface of the chair. Blending is becoming a bit of a problem for me, which is one reason I have watered down the paints so that I can apply them a bit more like watercolors.

The weather has been kinda weird this last week that I have been working on my chair, going from hot and humid to pouring rain, to kinda cold. I have had to keep an eye on my paint mixes so they don't dry out as I am working, and also check to see how dry the applied paint is so that I don't displace or work it off the wood. (I had this same problem when I was working on a project with watercolor laid down on acrylic). Above is only a part of the work space, and only the back of the chair. You can see the lap top open so that I can see my original sketch along with some of the reference pictures that I am using. Along with that are my paints, pallet, water cup (filthy) and some straight edged triangles and French curves.

I've still got a long way to go on this chair, and only have till the end of the month to do it in! Stay tuned for more process of my chair.

Star Wars GM Screen: Round 4 WIP

2011-05-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

So I've taken quite a long break from further developing this game master's screen because it was getting to be so overwhelming to work on. Working up tone in grey tones has been taking forever, and I am not confidant in laying down color on top of the grey tone work. Nor was I happy about the way I have been coloring in my illustrations in the past, and depending on the drawing so much (by that I mean the lines).

In fact, rendering and seeing my drawing disappear completely is a little scary. But after doing the mermaid piece for the CGHub challenge and being ok with the disappearance of my line work.....it made me reconsider coming back to this piece.

So in returning to this piece....

I decided to change up how I am working on this. I kinda nixed working up my tones in grey because I find that it's very hard for me to color over it that way. Why that is? I have no clue, it could be that it's because it's still a new process for me to color over grey. So instead I am doing what I did when I colored in my mermaid: working up color and tone on a flat tone drawing. I dunno why it seems to be easier for me to work this way, but it's whats working. For me at least....

So right now I have thrown in a little bit of color, trying to work out a pallet that will make sense AND look good. It's a struggle so far because 1) in reality nothing is color coordinated, so it's my job to make sure that in this picture the colors work well together, and 2) there is a lot of white on the right panel due to the stormtroopers. I'm really just laying in colors and figuring out my lights and darks right now, so things will get pushed back (saturation wise) as well as pulled out as I continue to work this up.

Hopefully this turns out well. I'm not really sure when this is going to be finished at all anymore, but hopefully it turns out well in the end.

Ponderous Pondering II: Space Elephants

2011-05-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

I've been musing over my cup of almost too cold to taste good coffee about the possibility of Space Elephants. What would a Space Elephant look like? Would it eat little mutant space plankton? Would it wear a space suit? Would it be sad cause it was the only one of it's kind (and possibly a distant cousin to the infamous pink elephant!?!).

Here is a doodlie I did of Hernan Monster, a Space Elephant. He gets around by wiggling his doofus looking ears to fly (cause in space he doesn't weigh much) and he looks for space plankton with his one eye in a special helmet designed to magnify things (cause space plankton are small and kinda invisible looking too).

If anyone wants to color this in or make their own Space Elephant feel free too and if you want to send me your Space Elephant I will post it on my blog.

=}

Happy Star Wars Day!

2011-05-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Ok....so it was technically yesterday. I'm a little late on posting the art I did yesterday because, well, I started it at about 11 p.m. yesterday and was too tired to post it.

Anyways, this is kinda a tribute piece to two great American Illustrators: Joseph Leyendecker and Iain McCaig.

Illustration by Joseph Leyendecker

Concept Art by Iain McCaig

Sketch in tribute to the above artists

You can see in my sketch how I kinda copied the design originally created by Leyendecker, most likely for one of the Saturday Evening Post covers. I put a spin on it for Star Wars Day by making the woman into Padme instead, using inspiration from Iain McCaig's concept art.

I've started coloring in my piece as well. I've been looking though some old sketchbooks of mine where I used markers or watercolor to throw in color ideas and I like those messes of color. So I tried to mimic that a little bit in how I began to color this in.

Working in digital media is a lot different than working traditionally, as you can fix a lot of stuff as you move forward as opposed to putting a bit more thought into things in advance. I'm not sure how I feel about that and still try to plan ahead a little bit, though I hope to keep my work a bit more loose by being able to work this way.

Anyways, I hope you like it....

CGHub Mermaid Challenge: Final

2011-05-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

I've finally completed my mermaid concept, though I admit I might continue to tinker with it. After dropping it into greyscale to take a look at the contrast I had decided that I needed to make it murky and that I didn't like the spear.

So I looked online at different types of fish spears and after finding one I liked, looked at the possibility at making it appear a bit more organic. I didn't want to use wood and metal, since it seemed an unnatural element for a sea-creature to use (though the idea of pillaging materials off a ship wreck was pretty intriguing).

In the end I wound up using the skull of a marlin as the spear, adding a bit of a spike from a narwhal to the center of the 'spear head'. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out overall. Now to submit it into the challenge!

Don't forget to vote!

Mermaid Challenge: WIP

2011-05-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Yep....another challenge over at CGHub, this one is for a mermaid. I wasn't going to participate in this, but then I saw I had a sketch in my book that I could go with. So I entertained the idea and went a head with it. At this point I am not sure I will continue with the Eowyn piece, since I have the chair to finish up by the end of the month.

So I'll post some of my process on this mermaid.

My inspiration is the lion fish, even though it's considered the bane of the sea since it's an invasive species. What better for a mermaid warrior/scout? So the above doodle is based off of an earlier sketch I had done in my book a few weeks ago as part of an idea for the chair I am going to be painting.

Once I had that done I kinda just let it be for a while. Today I actually decided to pick back up on it. I wasn't feeling too confidant about rendering this in since I don't feel I am adequate at digital rendering, though this is turning out a bit better (especially since I can hide my sketch layer and the image still holds up!). I'm working in Photoshop CS4 from start to finish. I'm using layers set to normal at a range between 50%-75% opacity, standard round brush at full flow and opacity. On occasion I lower the opacity for blending.

Right now I am adding in the fins and will move onto the spear. I haven't really planned this out and don't have any intentions for the background right now as I want to just focus on the mermaid concept. Once I am done with the 'sculpt' I will add in the markings and maybe a few other embellishments to the mermaid. Right now this is an exercise in rendering for me, more than anything so I am trying to keep it simple.

A quick update. I added in the stripe pattern using multiply at around 50% with a sampled reddish-brown color. When I was happy with that, I switched to difference and played with the color and saturation as well as the lightness to get the effect seen above. I'm still not done, but I thought it was time for another post!

Elgin Historical Soceity: Charity Chair WIP Preliminaries

2011-04-28T22:15:00.000-07:00

So, as I may or may not have mentioned I was recently asked to participate in painting a chair for Elgin Historical's Charity Auction. There will be 60 chairs put up on display and auctioned off through the summer and I decided to take up the opportunity to do a little...3D art.

The Chair

While I have yet to actually physically receive the virgin chair, I've put some thought into what exactly it is I will be painting onto the chair. There's a lot of stuff to the history of the town I have grown up in (and currently am still residing). It's been the territory of the Potawatomi Indians, is part of the old Chicago train lines, is full of historical Edwardian and Victorian homes, was once the location of one of the top time piece companies, and is now the home of the Grand Victoria Casino Boat.

Yup....sure is a lot to choose from for inspiration, and those are only a few things!

Rough Draft of Chair Back

Anyways, getting back to my focus. I've been really enjoying steampunk culture and trying to twist it into illustrations of late. It's a really neat genre and it happens to fit in with some of my other favorite areas of 'art': pin-ups, costume design, and limited pallets. I've decided that my charity chair will be in the theme of a fantasy steampunk tea time.

In the sketch above I have a really rough idea of a young woman on a swing, checking her time piece and balancing a cup of tea in her hand. Behind her will be a tree and some suggested vegetation.

Rough Draft of Chair Seat & Arm

In the draft above I have what would be on the ground before the young miss: her picnic lunch, along with the basket and parasol (closed). On the side of the arm of the chair will be a nouveau (not deco as my sketch says) design of vegetation. I also plan to add in a few butterflies (perhaps one or two might be mechanical!).

Pallet I have in mind right now is a variation of light to darker chocolate brown, pink, and possibly an addition of green, blue, or yellow. And of course, white. This is going to be mixed media: spray paint, acrylic, (if it were later possibly even collaged herbs set in the paint), colored pencil, and ink (or marker).

I've never painted on a chair and this is probably going to be more tricky than I imagine. A thought occurred to me today to ask whether or not it would be alright (and not cheating) to create a 'canvas' slip over the seat and back of the chair. This would be so that I can negate dealing with the breaks in the wood.

Either way, the design will get transfered. I'll keep ya posted on the rest of the process.

The Frog Prince: A Star Wars Twist WIP

2011-04-21T21:34:00.000-07:00

Over at CGHub there's a wonderful challenge to illustrate out of the Brothers' Grim stories. Even though I am already working on another challenge piece, I couldn't resist working on something from the Brothers' Grim. I settled down on The Frog Prince, as it's easily one of my favorite stories and has been on a list of projects to illustrate since the start of the year (kinda a resolution list, if you will.)

Initial Sketch

It's no big secret that I am a HUGE Star Wars nut, and while my original intentions for this piece had nothing to do with Star Wars....well...as you can tell by the sketch above it quickly gravitated that way. Originally I wanted to do something a bit darker in theme with the classic story, but I was unsatisfied by my previous sketches and started to lose interest in it. But late in the evening when I was trying to go to sleep I got the idea to do a Star Wars twist to this piece. And well....those inklings we creatives get NEED to be listened too.

Quick Color Comp

So that lead me to searching through some excellent reference sites I had previously tagged for such an occasion, spending most of the morning and afternoon developing a sketch. I decided that despite my tendency to rely on my drawing as opposed to my skill as a painter, that I would go with it. Why not? So I was hoping for a bit of an Arthur Rackham vibe to this (especially since he illustrated so many of the original fairy tales!) I chose to stick to a muted, earthy pallet for this piece...

Finalized Pencil

And so I used the sketchbook doodlie as a rough template. Taking that into Photoshop, I set to work using my pen and tablet to free hand sketch out the final composition. I decided I did not like where Padme was in the first sketch, and so I moved her a bit. I'm also taking into consideration type, which is also in the original sketch. I'm not 100% fully committed to the type as of the moment, it's in there more or less for a reminder.

Coloring Process

And after about a day's worth of work, this is where I am currently with the piece. Digital media is still not a strong suit, in my personal opinion, but then again neither was watercolor with I started out.

Pretty happy with where this is right now, so I'll let it be....

Eowyn & The Nazgul: Art Order Challenge WIP

2011-04-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

It's time for yet another Art Order Challenge, this one for Eowyn & The Nazgul out of the classic Tolkien novels. I've spent a few days sketching and looking at various references as well as illustrations from The Brothers Hildebrant to John Howe. I've filled up nearly a quarter of a sketchbook playing around with composition (this one has been hard to tackle), as well as armor and monster concepts.

The above sketches are two that I find myself playing around with the most. I don't often do 'tight' vertical compositions like this but there is something alluring about them. While these are really rough, whichever one I choose to commit too will be fleshed out a lot more. The problem is choosing which one to go with.

I like the first sketch a bit more, with the action of the illustration. I know that in the books Eowyn didn't use a spear, but I couldn't help myself from depicting her with one anyways. I figured that if the Rohirim where supposed to be the vikings of the plains that it would make sense to use spears (not to mention they were mounted and in the movies some did use spears).

The second is more 'pin-up' in my opinion, focusing on the revelation that Eowyn is 'no man'.

I am hoping to get some opinions on which of the two I ought to render out to finish. Like I said, once I choose one to do I'll flesh it out a lot more, and I plan to work on this traditionally with watercolor and inks on paper.

If you have an opinion on which I ought to render please leave a comment, or if you have any crits, as it would be quite helpful. You can also check out more on the challenge here.

Quick Update:

I've asked around about which composition to go with and more people like the second sketch, so here's a quick doodle of it more fleshed out. There are still a few things I want to work out, mainly the actual fell beast, and the POV of Eowyn.

The Ultimate Fighter Challenge: Complete!

2011-04-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

Steam Roller

And.........FINITO!

It's been a fun piece to do, and Rose Dread is finally done. A couple art crits over at the Art Order along with some WIP's of other participants to the challenge.

In retrospect I could have pushed the steam punk more, but I also wanted to not get too out of hand or too far from a D&D feel. All and all I'm pretty happy with the way this concept turned out.

Materials: Watercolors, Ink, Photoshop

Rose Dread, The Steam Roller: Another Art Order WIP

2011-04-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

It's time for yet another Art Order Challenge. This one is for The Ultimate Warrior Challenge in which we are to create some type of human warrior in a dynamic pose with minimal or no background at all.

So the challenge is to think a bit outside the box at less typical warriors that can still hold their own. The concept I have chosen is a Roller Derby Girl (cause let's face it, they kick some serious booty!). I looked up some references online for different poses and combined elements from 3-4 different poses (arms, legs) in my sketchbook to come up with a better pose that wasn't a complete copy of any of the reference images.

The Sketch

Once that was done I sketched out a few armor options along with variations on weaponry, going from the standard sword and shield, to a pike that mimicked a hockey stick, but in the end I decided on some tonfas. I also decided to follow the suggestion of a friend and make this into a steam punk derby girl, giving her some steam skates and some armor that would help the feel of the steam punk era without going too far away from D&D fantasy.

Refined Pencil

And once I was done sketching out the piece I went ahead and cleaned up the sketch. Originally I wasn't sure if I was going to ink this until I was finished with the pencil portion, but decided that after I colored it I would make that decision then.

Going Into Color

I am working on 11x14in hotpress arches watercolor block with a mix of different windsor & newton watercolors. It was easy going with a steam punk feel, to pick out a color pallet. I have chosen to stick with a pallet I am very familiar with: violet, yellow, and red.

Detail

And a closer look at the piece. At this point I am rethinking inking the piece, which I will do once the color painting portion is through. Deadline is on the 10th, and I still would like to scan this into Photoshop and do a few adjustments (mainly for highlights).

This has been a very fun piece to work on, the favorite portions being in cleaning up the pencil and watching my watercolors shape up Rose Dread.

Can't wait to finish this piece!

CGHub Challenge Freya: Ink

2011-03-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

I moved away form the Odin sketch I had chosen earlier because as I was working with it I was becoming more and more unhappy with the way it was turning out, and I greatly dislike drawing with a pen and tablet (especially with an already sore wrist).

So I moved back to Freya, doing this in a more Art Nouveau style. So far it's taken me a few hours to pencil this out and ink it with microns. I plan to start paining it in watercolor and going back to the lines with ink, then scanning it and possibly going back into the piece later on in Photoshop.

CGHub Challenge Thumbs: Norse Mythology

2011-03-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit since I posted anything on here. Over ate CGHub there is a challenge to create an illustration based on Norse Mythology, which I am geared and ready to do. Listening to Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (O Fortuna) and doing some sketches.

Originally I had two ideas in mind, one of Odin and is Huginn and Muninn and another of Freyja. So here are the two sketches....

Odin

Freyja

While I like them both I am leaning towards bringing up my Odin piece because I find it more interesting and also because I have yet to add more men into my portfolio work. I have aims to make the ravens into a Valkyrie type instead of staying with the birds. Some inspirations for this challenge in my research has been Rackham, Waterhouse, and Abbey, along with a look through some Byzantine art. As for the shaping of the image there is still a lot of work to be done. I am a bit worried about the lighting but am also looking forward to seeing how I am able to develop this piece.

So wish me luck...going back at it....

Sanguis Angelicus WIP

2011-03-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

It's not often that I go out on a limb with making art anymore...not really too much since fundamentals class back at the Academy that is. And while it's good to experiment artistically, sometimes all the prompting you really need is the discovery of a gessoed canvas panel, a doodle, and the urge to spend hours of your life you will never recapture spreading pigment and water around on a board.

Above is the original sketch on the gessoed canvas panel that was chillin' in the back of my closet. Normally I would work on a more familiar surface (and after painting on this surface, that has been backed up 100%. This is gonna be the last time I switch over from watercolor paper). It was a bit hard to draw on...I even busted out my pencil set and used graphite and (attempted to use) and eraser too! Normally I use ballpoint pen....

Once I was pleased with the sketch I went ahead and sprayed some workable fixative. Since I hadn't really done this before I looked up some information online about using this kind of surface with watercolor and ink medium. Most seasoned artists weren't too impressed by this process (after the first few minutes in I can understand why that would be). Mainly it's because the medium, in my case watercolors, wouldn't even go down onto the surface after I had sprayed it with the fixative. I had to pull out acrylic paints and water it down and even that didn't really want to stay down either. You see the 'spatter' mark effect on the image above? Those are the areas where either the medium wouldn't stick, or took too too well.

It also took nearly an hour to dry. Normally I am not a fan of using a blow dryer because it spread the pigment around....which is what happened when I tried it on this. So I took an hour break waiting for it to dry.

When the watered down acrylic layer dried, I decided to just keep painting, negating any more layers of spray fixative. Using watercolors (I tend to favor certain pallets such as red, yellow, and violet) I began to place some establishing colors. This was also tricky as the surface wouldn't allow me to work in my normal manner, expecting the paints to react the way I am used too. If I had too little pigment then by trying to add in more I would instead lift off entire areas of color, and if I used too much it would form pools (which you can see by the blooms).

So (not including the drying time) it's been a little over 2 hours to get to this stage. While this is still mostly watercolor I have also continued to mix in watered down acrylic paints. I have inks on standby, along with marker, and colored pencil since I have a feeling that once I have started to really establish some things I will be pulling out all the tools at my disposal to make this into a piece of functional art.

Finding reference images on the net has been hard, as they are all miniatures which are quite small, and all from a straight on profile with a lot of details washed out. But all in all, I think it's coming out better than I initially thought it would when I realized the problem of the paint not staying where I place it. So, we'll see what happens to this piece.

More to come.....

Mischief Making

2011-03-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted anything on here so I thought I'd let the world (or what few people pay attention to this blog) know that I am indeed still alive (or at least risen from the dead) and still working on some things in regards to art.

So what am I up to? Well, I am still trying to sort out some things in regards to a portfolio after spreading myself out a bit too much in college between different industries. Right now some of the things I am tinkering around with include this Segmentation Challenge over on The Art Order.

Above is the final thumbnail that I decided on for the challenge. It targets preschool to kindergarten aged girls, which is not a normal target audience of mine (given the amount of pin-up and character work that pops up in my sketchbook.....the thumbnails for this are quite out of place in there). This was actually a bit more challenging than I had originally thought it would be, since a lot of my initial sketches started turning into pin-up or else otherwise targeted towards a more mature audience.

Not 100% sure I will polish this one off. I was having fun with it while doing it to start, but inking digitally has proven to be a bit more frustrating than usual since my return to traditional inking with an actual brush and real ink.

Other than the above challenge I am also tinkering around with past projects, and sketching out some (what I think are interesting) doodlies that may or may not get polished.

Though over on Not Your Father's Pin-Ups I noticed a recent call for entries to help out with the WWF.

I saw that Ring Tailed Lemurs (which I am rather fond of) are on the list of endangered species. It made me think about a story a friend and I had begun writing together some time ago, and one of the main characters who has a biomechanical ring tailed lemur named Gidget. So it looks like I will be creating an image of said character with her lemur as a pin-up for the cause, you can look forward to seeing that WIP soon.

And for now, it's off to pin-up.

Just Some Daily Doodlies

2011-02-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

Not really much to say about these. I miss gestures and quick studies, so I browsed the net and spent about 10-15 minutes drawing these out quickly with a micron and throwing a bit of watercolor onto them. Sorry about the poor quality, these are taken with my phone.

I like this one above a lot....reminds me a bit of just doing marker comp studies for class and test pallets....

That's it....back to painting.....

Not Your Fucking Valentine

2011-02-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

In honor of Valentine's Day...

I need a box of chocolates.....

Old Skool

2011-02-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

Yes We Can!

So...I haven't done traditional ink work in about 2 years and happened upon my ink stuff when I was working on my Voodoo piece. Since it was out I decided to try my hand at traditional ink brush work and look! I can still do it!

Plus I don't have much black and white ink work laying about that is any good so it's not like it doesn't hurt. And a brush in the hand feels much, MUCH, better than a tablet and stylus.

Voodoo

2011-01-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

So here is my finished pulp cover, done 100% in watercolors. I am pleased with my decision to for the sepia look as opposed to inking this in black and white comic style. It's got a nice feel to it and looks faded in some places. I am planing on doing a few more of these pulp covers, so keep an eye out.

Phantom Press 2011: WIP

2011-01-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

First of all, as far as I am aware there is no such thing as Phantom Press. At least not to the capacity of publishing stuff the way that Weird Tales does. Anyways...the artwork....

CGHub is currently hosting a challenge for a Voodoo witch or shaman, and it is open to different types of entries. I recently also put together a list of possible projects to work on through out the year, one of them was similar to the proposed challenge. So this is the idea that came to mind. Initially I was thinking about an old school carnival poster. As I was drawing this out I started to wonder if I would just ink it or do sepia washes in watercolor...and since I couldn't decide I let other's vote on it....

As you can see the watercolor came out in the lead as far as votes go. Which lead me to think that it would be cooler if I made it look like an old pulp cover, which is what my aims for this are now. So this is 100% watercolor on Arches hot press paper. Some of the inspiration for the back layout come from Adam Huges and Norman Rockwell, but mostly I am really into old pulp covers. I am considering adding type to the bottom but am not sure about it just yet...maybe Love Advice From Little Ouija or something?

So it's turning out ok so far, and yes I am aware I need to get a scanner. Phage is also still in the works, so look for more WIP work of her as well.

MTG Phage The Untouchable:WIP

2011-01-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

Swat by RK Post

So, I've been out of school for a while now and while it might sound horrible, I have been struggling for purchase of an artistic kind. I've been thinking a lot about what lead me to pursuing a career in illustration, and spending monies on learning to better myself as and artist.

Which brings me to two things really. Magic The Gathering art, and RK Post. As far as games go...I started out with MTG. And that was what got my attention at first via the art. I thought, hey...I can do this for a living! My favorite from the start has been RK Post (whom it turns out lives...or lived (not a stalker) a few towns over from me).

In my quest for finding out what it is I want to do with my art, which has been open to numerous venues from pin-up to billboards, I come back to thinking about things I am lacking in. Composition and all that jazz...things I pointed out a post or two ago that I want to work on. And I thought about how much digital work I've been doing...which lead me to think of making a MTG image.

Why not...?

Sketch 1

So I started a sketch. Actually I didn't have any grand schemes for this...I've been in kind of a bog so I thought to just sketch, and I had this figure and a bunch of lines drawn in lightly (which you can't see). And I thought to turn it into something....which wound up being Phage. There are some things I need to address still....the background for one thing, some issues with the anatomy.

Drawing straight onto 140lb Arches hot press. Mmmmmm..hot press. And to your surprise I am using a pencil...yep, gasp! How horrific of me I know, but I haven't forsaken my pen. It's holding my hair up at the moment.

Anyways....here's stage one of the sketch...I'll post another soon.

Amended Sketch

So...I went back into the original doodle on my watercolor paper and made a few tweaks as well as added in some details. Such as the second hand since I wasn't sure what she was originally doing. I rather like this sketch though I am still a little worried about the background, but some watercolor washes with some salt (oh yeah baby) and a bloom or two might work out nicely. And if not....I can always Photoshop in a different background.

First Washes

So I started out with a few base colors. For the skin I started with a mix in the pallet of yellow orchre, Indian red, permanent rose and some water. I know some folks use white in their skin tones but...I'm not one of those people. I also laid in a light wash of what is apparently NOT blue but pthalo green...I must be color blind but it looks like Prussian blue to me...

Main Pallet

So right now I am still just laying in colors in places. Phage has color elements to her character that I am using though for the sake of painting I am making a few small choices to pallet. The dark 'black' is actually a mix of Windsor violet and viridian green with a dash of Antwerp blue in spots where I let the colors bleed. I did the same in the purple of the cape, first mixing my violet with pink to create a brighter hue, then letting in spots of pure pink and blue in areas for flavor. The green was mixed with Hansa yellow for the jade part of the breast plate, so far that's a straight wash. And in the face I let my colors bleed together but also am using a touch of violet and blue along in the original skin tone.

As far as the background...I probably should have used a frisket to mask out the actual figure and thrown the background in first.......BUT....I hate frisket and tend to not use it so why start now? Depending on how the figure starts to turn I will probably use a mix of the skin tone colors for the background, though at the moments I am thinking about letting some grey and pink mix around back there.

Anyways, this is the update...more to come.

Update: As you can see I am still working....pardon the weird colorations to the piece. I need to buy a scanner and have been using my camera for the time being. Anyways, this is starting to turn out ok despite a severe lack of planning....however I did decide to take a look at this in grey tones....

There are some areas I keep gauging as I put paint down. Color has a habit of making the eye think that certain tonal ranges are being achieved when in fact, they aren't happening at all. This can be an issue since if the image is painted in black and white it suddenly becomes flat. So I felt it was time to look at it sans color...and indeed I can see that the areas I have been eyeballing are indeed lacking in tone.

Think I am gonna call it quits on painting for now and grab a bite and sketch instead. Give the eyes time to rest.

Day At The Museum: Featuring Guest Blogger Lucas Durham

2011-01-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Gather round gentle readers. Kat's given me the opportunity to share a tale with The Land of Dust Bunnies, and I intend to use my time well. What's that you ask? Who am I? The name is Lucas Durham. I'm a friend of Kat's and fellow illustrator. We met during Kat's waning days at the American Academy...but that's a story for another day. I'm getting off track.....

So about a month ago, Kat had this great idea for a plein aire outting. Since only the most foolhardy go out to paint during Chicago's frigid winter months, she suggested that we spend the day drawing and painting at the Field Museum.

Lucas & Kat

One invitee, Aaron Miller, had recently been on a day trip to the museum. While he had been sketching in the taxidermy section , Aaron had noted a plaque about an artist-in-residence, Peggy Macnamara. He proposed that we try to contact her in the hopes of seeing her studio and possibly some of the back rooms not normally accessible to the general public.

I'm thankful Kat followed through on Aaron's idea! Mrs. Macnamara gave us an extremely generous tour of her studio, record rooms, and the upstairs laboratory.

Here are a few pictures of the lab:

Here's the 'Cleaning Room' a portion of the lab where they use native beetles to clean the rotting flesh off animal bones, which will later be processed and categorized...

After the tour we went back to Peggy's studio to ask her a few questions. She showed us some blown up images from her sketchbook and explained the importance of the drafting stage.

It was inspiring to meet a woman so passionate about capturing nature

We spent the rest of the afternoon sketching in the taxidermy wing. Although I've visited that section of the museum in the past, it never occurred to me how much effort goes into building those displays. They are really works of art in their own right. A taxidermist must build, stuff, and pose the animals in a believable stance, a muralist must paint a background that fits the creature's natural habitat, and a diorama artist must decorate the display case to match the mural. What a team effort!

Here's what I drew:

I think I see the the beginnings of a roaring dragon and a retold alien...

Overall, it was a great day and a great opportunity. I have to thank Kat for organizing it, and Peggy Macnamara for hosting and inspiring us. I hope we can do it again soon!

Catch what Kat thought about the Museum Trip here.

Ponderous Pondering

2011-01-10T12:40:00.000-08:00

So....my mind has been churning some thoughts around as I take tea and scones with the Royal Court of Dust Bunnies. Thoughts focused less on stately affairs of dealing with the dreaded vacuum-monster and more along the lines of art and the makings of.

Bobbistock @ DA

Such as some foes of mine, including male anatomy. Yes, one of the banes of my existence as an artist, and one I will have to tackle in my pursuit of becoming a serious illustrator. Thus, I have made it a goal to focus on spending time studying the male species...purely for artistic reasons mind you now...

Eirian-stok @ DA

And children. Children are not something I have ever drawn, as I have come to realize in the recent holding of my friend's baby a few days ago. Their proportions are not the same as an adult's, and I feel that I must look into studying children in my art now as well. I even suspect it may come in useful when I try to tackle gnomes and such...

R3ndybl4ck @ DA

And composition and working in grey tones. Which also means illustrating scenes as opposed to single character vignettes. But using shapes, angles, and other elements to create an interesting composition that ties in all the bits in pieces peaceably. Not to mention that I have been using grey tones a lot more in my work to help push tonality otherwise obscured by color.

Thoum @ DA

And lighting....because it's one of the main things that makes a piece. Understanding light and dark, and the way the objects are effected by, or effect light and shadow.

Lots of stuff to study on, but integral as breathing air. In addition, I've also given thought to structure offered when I was in school. Working on 2 projects in 2 weeks meant that in school I made a total of around 4 pieces a month (give or take). That means a lot of art. Sure I am not in school now but it doesn't mean I should stop working that way.....and it doesn't mean getting back into the say of things that I shouldn't spend more time working on pieces as opposed to getting them done by a certain time.

So I've made a list of projects I plan to work on this year for exercises as well as for portfolio. And of course I still have a few projects to finish up as it is ( Like the Star Wars screen, the Faithless cover, ect...)

And a return to watercolor media! This Friday I have invited a few people to venture to the Chicago Field Museum with me for a day of drawing and painting (possibly), as well as the chance to meet artist in residence Peggy Macnamara, who will be giving us a private tour of her studio. Check her work at http://web.me.com/carmcowan/peggymacnamara/Home.html

So, lots of work to be done, and hopefully a little fun to be had too. Looking forward to Friday!

Ending The Year With A Bang....And Starting The New Year Riding The Blast

2011-01-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Chimera (Adam), Taylor (Erin), and Jynx (Me!)

So it's the first blog post of the new year. You might be wondering a few things such as, am I still working on the Star Wars screen, what projects do I have planned, do I have a New Year's Resolution....Why is that man dressed in drag?

I do have a lot of work to do on some past projects that I will continue to work on. I also have grand schemes to pick up my paint brush again and am greatly looking forward to a trip to the Chicago Field Museum on the 14th of the month. In addition to that there are already a few other things I would love to attend, including the Frazetta Tribute show at the Provocateur Gallery in Chicago which will be opening the same weekend as C2E2.

Other than that all there is to do is grow and expand this dust bunny dream of being a professional illustrator into a grand and mighty empire. Lots of studies, some writing, and more conventions. Huzah!

As for the question you guys are probably frothing at the mouth for me to answer....why is that man dressed in drag? Well, Verne Con was New Year's weekend, one of may small cons hosted by the game group GB7. Our special event night, which was Saturday, called for some role playing among the members....so some of us chose to dress the part. Adam, after much talk in our group chat, decided to dress up as his 'Jedi' character Chimera. There were a lot of laughs, and we'll see if we can't talk him into donning the wig and get up again in time for Gen Con 2011.

Anyways....a lot of fun was had, a lot of interesting things occurred in game....which may or may not include the adoption of up to 3 children into Jynx's already jurry rigged family. Speaking of which....I did some sketches while at the con inspired by some of the events that transpired. Will post those up soon.

-Happy New Year

Silly Me....Verne Con Is Coming

2010-12-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

So the year is coming to an end and I have one last convention to attend..or is that one premier convention for next year? In either case I will have fun I think.

So I made a new player card as you can see above.

And decided to reuse it as a GM warning to my players.

And just what the heck is this!?! A t-shirt....
Oh, for what? A special event that Jynx plans on holding at our next big shin dig....will you need armor? No. But you will probably need some soap.

Here's looking to a happy new year!

Star Wars GM Screen: Round 3 WIP

2010-12-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

So as the year is soon to be over with...what a better way to end it than with something epic? What kind of epic? The Sta Wars kind of epic.

Earlier in the year I was asked by member of SparkForce 7 to undergo this project of creating a game master's screen for the campaign. And after two disasters with traditional media I have moved on to round three of this massive project.

Pencil Layout With Place Holder Figures

Above is the clean sketch based off the original pencil concept. Originally I came up with six design lay outs, and this piece has evolved in time to get where it is. I made some changes to the composition, and included type placement and our guild logo (which I also designed) in the layout. This is currently drawn to size in Photoshop and is 11x34 inches horizontal.

Finished Pencil

And the best part.....finishing up the penciled in characters tonight after working for two weeks on the pencil. I will be doing a grey tone study of this and also exploring some color studies this time around. Color studies aren't something that I have been doing a lot of lately since I like to use certain pallets but for this piece it will be necessary for me to do.

Why? Because it's a large piece and there is a lot going on. I have to consider the light of the sabers as well as the overall color flow of the piece, and what might be an issue....the white of the stormtroopers on the right and the lack of white on the the left might make it too weighed down on one side.

I am using a lot of reference images gathered from the 501st website, as well as from some other Star Wars picture references I have gathered (mostly for the troopers and the hallway), as well as some old character designs that have been sitting around in my sketch book for the past few years.

Looking forward to rendering this piece in the new year! It is very much inspired by a hero of mine, Mr. Tommy Lee Edwards and some of his artwork and layouts. Check his work out at http://tommyleeedwards.com/portfolio/

Holiday Challenge Collaboration: WIP

2010-12-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

So the AO Holiday Challenge is due on the 20th of the month, only a few days away. Originally I was doing an elf pin-up but after awhile I kinda lost steam on it. So one of the other members offered to do a collaboration. We'd both do pencils and swap.

Lake Hurwitz sent me this fantastic pencil he did for me to render up. You can check out his work here http://www.demonui.com/

I was looking at this piece and was really thinking about how much I wanted to paint it in watercolor because there are some excellent effects you can do with salt and alcohol. The only issue with that was not having a scanner to scan and submit a final in time.

What to do....what to do? Well...to be honest I didn't know. But then I came up with the idea of sampling areas of art I already had scanned and adjusting those areas in Photoshop. The end result can be seen above. All together I used about a dozen pieces of other art I already had scanned in )by that I mean like, square inch samples).

Once that was done I started in on the figure. Lake sent me some ref to use but aside from that I also pulled some of my own ref such as what a winter lake would look like, snow, and even a creepy photo of a little drowned girl (which thankfully was not real). The picture of the drowned girl actually set the pallet for me. I was afraid of it being too blue.

So I kept on going. One of the hard things was figuring out how to work with traditional scanned media and digital as they have totally different looks and feels. Another is keeping in mind that the largest size according to the spec in the challenge is no larger than 7 inches. Which means this piece is gonna be small in the end.

I've been working a lot digitally lately which is both nice and kinda sucky. It's nice because I can keep looking at my piece in grey tone to see where I need to work, and also because I can use the histogram to the same end (thanks for that tip Lake). But it's not the same as spreading paint around on paper....especially with salt and alcohol.

And here's a bit of a close up of the figure himself that was rendered. I've still got some time left to work on this as it's not due until the 20th and I am hoping for some constructive feedback. Right now I am afraid that the figure might be a bit lost in the overall picture.

Anyways...gonna take a break for now and see what some folks have to say.

Another Self Portrait And Other Things

2010-12-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Cleaned up sketch of me as Little Red

So, with the delve turned in I am not in any rush to get anything else done, though I do still have some projects to work on. For one, the other Self Portrait I did and now possibly the one above. No idea what I would do with either piece, now that I think about it.

Also the Faithless cover I started to render which needs finishing and a Holiday Challenge piece on AO due in on the 20th of this month. I won't be working on my own pencil for that one anymore (the elf girl pin-up) since I wasn't feeling it anymore. Besides, a friend opted to do a collaborative so we swapped our art.

Modification needs to be done to the Knights of the Dragon piece...an easy fix to make the mitre the cleric is wearing taller. I also started out a new digital version of the Star Wars game screen since the first two traditional ones got ruined. One would think I would know how to draw stormtroopers by now, but it's been nothing but trouble this time around though I think the composition is a lot better. The background certainly is! I'll be sure to post that process soon.

Umm...still looking for some work, but working on art and improving myself. I started to do studies again, mainly in my sketchbook of tonal value studies and anatomy, but some have been in PS.

Working on the Dungeon Delve and getting feedback from some people pointed out I need to work on some areas like lighting, structure, composition, and the like. So I have to start really pushing myself on those things. And picking up ye olde paintbrush and watercolors once again (if only to play with salt).

So ermm....that's about it for now I suppose?

Dungeon Delve

2010-12-13T18:29:00.000-08:00

OMG! It's turned in! (I think....I think that means I is done, no?)

Faithless Cover: WIP

2010-12-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

Working on other projects between my dungeon delve piece and the pin-up piece (which I am considering redoing in a less comic fashion). A couple days ago my friend Jim Vargas asked me if I wouldn't mind being his booth babe at an upcoming convention. I have to dress up as his main comic book character Alish, who is an angel hybrid bounty hunter (what a mouth full!).

So I took a look at his work and thought his character was pretty cool. And then....he asked if I wouldn't mind doing my own spin of her.

Which lead to a late night doodle (or early morning) of a steampunk version of Alish which had really no purpose in life other than being a neat doodlie. But I liked my sketch so much and wanted to do do something more with it, perhaps a portfolio piece. So....I decided to design a cover with her (as seen above).

I used a copy of a cover that Jim did for the layout and tweaked it around a bit to fit my art a bit better.

When that was done I focused on the actual artwork in laying in some grey tones. I like to use a slightly warm tinted grey in my work. This is working in favor of my plans to use violets as my darks in the color version.

On a side note, I'm only just now learning through trial and error how to paint over my greytones. It's hard to do without the colors being so saturated but a friend suggested going slow into the colors like I would do traditional washes. So I am taking that bit of advice.

I am a huge fan of pallets with violet, sienna, and yellow. I am still aware of Alish's character concept and the colors of her clothing: red corset, blue skirt. Since I am making this slightly steampunk I am planing on the metal bits to be brass and copper as opposed to the gold and silver scheme that Jim uses for her.

Something I am hoping to convey in this as I go along is some atmosphere with the lighting. Working on the delve piece it's a struggle to use atmosphere for me, and I am thankful that someone has been helping me out with that piece. (Cough cough Diego cough)

Right now the image as stands is just the first color wash and I still have a ways to go on this, and then some with the treatment of the actual cover layout and type.

Dungeon Delve: WIP Am I There Yet?

2010-12-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Here's my delve piece for the AO Challenge. Working digitally has been more of a struggle I think than learning watercolor. It's nice to work with grey tones more easily but it was a challenge to paint on top of that. There are some things about this I really like and some things I don't really care for.

Not certain yet if I will turn this in just yet. The due date is next weekend.

Added a few highlights.....

I think....I am almost done...

Ok....so I lied. I needed to do something with those pure blacks and the lack of atmosphere so....a buddy of mine is kinda helping me figure this out. Sigh.....I just want it to be done and look nice. Why does it have to be so har!?!

Getting schooled by my friend Diego in atmosphere. He did a paint over of this that I have been looking at and using as a tool to help me figure some things out. His is super bright though....a little too much so for my taste, and very blue and yellow. While it's cool and a great tool for me to work with it's just not my cup of tea.

I like my lighting and the the head in the foreground. He thinks this is too dark but I like how it has darkness to it. I still need to work on the background. And fix her knee....it got super big somehow in my rendering.

As for flipping it...I like it better this way.

Holiday Challenge

2010-12-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

Jon posted a short challenge over on AO due in on the 20th of December. It's a play off one of the previous challenges with a holiday twist. I really liked my elf girl pin-up I did for his D&D Pin-Up Challenge and thought about taking the time to revisit that concept for this challenge.

It's nice to work on alongside the Dungeon Delve piece which I am still coloring in, and it should be done soon.

All done inking.....now to color it in (I should make a coloring book, no?)

Ok, at this point I think I need to start pauing more attention to my Dungeon Delve piece.....

Reon's Reflections

2010-12-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

Log Entry 0745:

Barab I. It's not Kalandis, but at times it reminds me very much of my home world with it's pagoda like structures and rustic atmosphere. Really the big difference, Barabels aside, is that life here is underground in high ceilinged caverns instead of out in the open sweeping vistas tucked away between mountains and the sea. And much like my home world Barab's culture is steeped in tradition, and the denizens carry themselves with honor.

It's good to have a place here, a second home. I was hoping that ChiChi would be here as well with me, our apartments aren't the same when he is still away on mission...or causing mischief on his own.

Xakon's gardens are a good distraction. The peace and solitude here are a nice change from being in field or under fire. I'm glad for the tea house pagoda, the fish pond, the imported vegetation...the Kalandian Blood Lillies. The mix of herbal Barab teas have a subtle aroma that mix in with all the other scents, a relaxing therapeutic remedy good for the body, mind, and soul.

It's already time for a new year. At home they will be celebrating the Festival of Lights. I can imagine it in my mind. The colored lanterns hovering in lines along the streets, the smell of spiced meats and fresh fruits. The resonating hum of gongs lightly struck and the rising sound of prayer chants rising into the night sky. A time of year for reflection before starting out fresh. Of prayers and thoughts of all we have lost and left behind.

-Reon

*I started this piece out much larger than it turned out, but as I was working on it I realized I was focusing a lot more on Reon (aka Jynx, my grenade wielding woman)and the line work bleeding out from around her. I'm pleased with this piece even if it doesn't necessarily reflect the Star Wars universe.

Illustrated in photoshop

traeH yM ekorB uoY: WIP

2010-11-28T21:12:00.000-08:00

Started a self portrait today in photoshop. I have an old ref I used and tweeked a little bit, then added the moon jellies in (I like jelllies).

Droped a grey layer onto and worked directly on it to start getting some values down. Using a watercolor brush in photoshop.

Just about done for now, keep going later on.

Starting to add some color to this piece. I like it and I don't. Still using a watercolor brush. I like some of the strokes that show through cause it reminds me a little of actual traditional work (like when you dry brush in watercolors) but at the same time I don't like it.

I might do two versions of this, one a continuation of the process I've already started, and one just flat colors over my line work. We'll see what happens.

Sketching With Raven: Study 1

2010-11-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

So, I ought to have posted this sooner. The sketch I was doing as a man study of that beef cake picture for Raven is now up. I guess for a study it's ok. Drawing men is out of my comfort zone as well as rendering on the computer but some things I have to get over.

So, here's one of what is going to be a line of studies.

What Did You Think I meant!?! WIP

2010-11-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

So, I was going to enter into a Pokemon challenge over at http://cghub.com/ and I even did a sketch and posted one BUT then I saw that there was a pin-up challenge going on as well and....well....pokemon vs pin-up....pin-up won.

Step 1 Pencil

Since the pin-up challenge is due on the 28th of this month and I am working on other projects I decided to recycle and image I already had. Remember the one I did for the t-shirt challenge last month? I took that image and revamped it, doing a light pencil in photoshop.

Step 2 Ink

When that was done I started to digitally ink the piece in. Let me say here and now that I don't like how inking on the computer turns out for me, but it's something I need to practice on more. Anyways...I did the above piece which reminded me a lot of a coloring book page....a naughty one.

Step 3 Colors

And then I started to color it, starting with the skin tone and the colors I normally use when I am doodling Jynx....pink and black. I use flat colors and a round brush set at a light opacity, as well as one of the watercolor brushes set to a light opacity as well.

Finished!

And the finished piece. I started this at....oh...2p.m. today and finished it at 11p.m. A quick turn around piece. It feels good just to get a piece out even if I don't think it's as great as it could be. Sometimes just getting it done is the reward. Anyways...ta da! Nothing else to say about it really....

First Day Jitters: A Process

2010-11-18T23:45:00.000-08:00

It occurs to me at odd hours of the night how much I enjoy process work and how I find it to be relaxing. Don't ask me why, it just does.

I need to think about something that is not related to my Dungeon Delve piece or my Knights of The Dragon, so I was looking through my work and found this process piece that hasn't been explored yet. So I will post it here now to show you how I think and how I recycle my art.

Stage 1 Thumbnails

First of all....this piece was done in my Editorial Illustration class and was assigned by one of my favorite instructors Rich Kryczka. We were given a few ideas to work with (I can't recall since this was a while ago) and I did a couple of thumbnails in my sketchbook. Obviously I stuck with the one at the top left (I hate it when I pick the first thumbnail I did, which happens a lot more than you would think).

Stage 2 Pencil Rough

Stage two was to clarify that idea a bit. I drew this kinda freaky looking pencil to be approved by Rich before moving onto the final pencil stage. We are given 2 weeks to finish a piece from start to finish in class.

Stage 3 Pencil Final

I sat down with Rich and was ready to go! One stage that is missing (thought I couldn't count huh?) is the color composition stage. Normally I don't do these as often as I should anymore unless a client request seeing a sample pallet, or I am having issues thinking in terms of color. I xeroxed the pencil above at 20% and did 3-4 color combinations.

Stage 5 Finished Illustration

Moving along to the finished illustration. During the color stage it was actually pointed out that the tension wasn't coming off the way I wanted, so we changed the backpack's expression to help convey what I was after. I did the final image on arches hot press watercolor paper 140 lbs. Dimensions are 8.5x11 inches, in watercolor, ink, and colored pencils.

Bonus Stage Design Layout

But wait! There's more!!! To show how an illustration like this was intended to be used I found an article online and copied it into a page layout format. While I need to work on placement of type (as in those paragraphs are horrible) it shows how my image works in relation to an actual page layout. I sampled colors from the image to use in the type.

Bonus Stage Working Type

And made another page to show how I can keep tying things in with color. It was a fun piece to work on and while normally someone else would be creating the page layout it shows that I can, and that this piece could very well fit into something like Family Circle without too much of a problem (but for that type).

Anyways....wasn't that magical!?!

Dungeon Delve: WIP

2010-11-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

Jon posted a challenge over on Art Order for a Dungeon Delve, depicting a lost and weary traveler inside of some kind of dungeon or space. I've been working on this for weeks and it's been proving to be a difficult challenge for me.

Above is one of my original sketches. I did a bunch to try to figure out what I was going to do but this is the one that I settled on because I liked it the most. The original character was a bard....I didn't have a race in mind really but I was juggling between an elf and a gnome.

After a while I did a grey tone comp to see what I was really working with, changing up the composition a little bit. I really like how this turned out but there are a lot of issues with the anatomy of my figure and not any detail shows through.

I decided at this point I wanted to do a gnome, which proved to be a lot more difficult than I imagined. Their proportions are different and I kept drawing more accurate proportions for a human and 'tooning' the image the way I do with my pin ups sometimes. In the end I began to really hate what I was doing so I decided to leave it alone and come back to it.

After taking a break for a day or two and working on my other dungeon piece (Knights of The Dragon), I came back to this. I got my sister to shoot some reference photos of me to help me out with the anatomy and scraped the idea to make my bard a gnome for the sake of getting out a piece I could be happy with. Don't worry....I will do a gnome piece in the future just to prove to myself that I can.

While I like this sketch a lot more I need to push it still. I am not happy with the perspective here and am not sure how I feel about the angel head in the foreground.

I showed the composition around and made a few changes to the scene, keeping my figure the same. I changed the head in the foreground and the angels in the background. I do plan to get fairly dark with this piece....once I am happy with my sketch I will render a grey tone and then go into color. I have my pallet selected already....keeping it simple.

Quick grey tone comp to figure out my lighting....I want this to be dark. I'm not sold on my water just yet and think I need some rim light (reflected light) to pop my lost bard out a bit more.

Well....it couldn't last forever I suppose. Man, I really hate coloring digitally....at least over grey tone. I am thinking of going back to the original pencil before the grey tone and building up my colors like I would in watercolor cause working dark to light here is really messing me up. And look at that pallet! What the heck am I thinking!?!

I am finding it very VERY hard to paint over a grey tone drawing. I got so frustrated that I copied my image and started rendering over white. It's going better a bit, I still have my grey tone up to look at but I am still feeling frustrated with my piece and am thinking of adjusting the pallet a bit to the one I tend to use a bit more: violet, sienna, and a bit of yellow.

Below are some of the 'references' that I am using on this piece. I have a mood board set up of images to help me out with what it is I plan to do. (A mood board is like a collage of images that carries a vibe to it.)

Some things I am looking at are form and surface texture I plan to use....statues have some great things going on with them in age and weather....

Picture of some weird dorkwad in her pj's trying not to laugh at herself....

I put these images up (above and below) because I didn't realize how useful they would ever be. The above was a study I did of white on white but I am looking at the way that light effects the stone. The bottom image is a pic I took and painted a doodle of for no reason, but I find I keep looking at both the picture and the watercolor I did while rendering my current piece.

Knights Of The Dragon: WIP Pencils

2010-11-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have round about two weeks to paint this up for a friend. Here's a look at how the Dungeons & Dragons game screen is coming along so far.

Working on 140lb hot press arches watercolor paper at 11x17inches. Right now I am still laying in some of the pencil work though I am going to leave it looser than I normally do since once I start putting the paint down the pencil lines will disappear. I left room for type at the bottom which is blocked in in pencil at the moment but will be done digitally.

A look at the right hand panel. I still have quite a few zombies and what not to add in here. Painting in the armor is going to one challenge for me since it's something I tend to stay away from. This piece is chalk full of things that are outside of my comfort zone.

And the left hand panel. This has actually been harder of the two sides to draw in for me perhaps because of the focus on the guys in armor. I plan to let a lot of the paint do the beefy part of the work for me. So....keeps your fingers crossed cause I'm gonna need all the luck I can get.

Painting For The Sake Of It

2010-11-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

I came across of a bit of scrap watercolor paper today....

And a photograph I took last summer of the fountain outside of the Art Institute of Chicago....

And before I knew it the two became one, merged together in pen and paint...

For no particular reason at all....

A painting emerged.....

And this is what it was in the end.....

And also, in the beginning before one art became another.

Welcome To The Land Of Dust Bunnies

2010-11-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

Cleaned up the room a bit today since it was getting cluttered. I've been working a lot in the living room of the house but find that there are way too many distractions down there to get any real work done so I am relocating back to the room/ studio.

Can you guess what my favorite color is?

So, this is where some of the magic happens, though I need to get better lighting. This is the main art corner of the room where most of the good stuff happens. Yes, that is a rapier hanging on the wall...

Where I work digitally

It's nice to have a computer station right next to where I do the real painting so that I can just gance back and forth while I work if I am using reference materials.

Boba keeps me on my toes

I am a HUGE Star Wars nut....I have Boba and Han on opposite sides of the computer and yes....a dragon duckie lurking back there.

A more traditional desk

My main desk and the easel I only use on rare alignments of the planets.

Some of the ol' studies

Getting ready to hang some of these up on the wall for reference in the future. I learned a lot from these in their imperfections.

So....that's about it for now I guess.....back to work.

Wing Woman: WIP

2010-10-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

A friend recommended me to an online pin up place called Not Your Father's Pin-Ups. Right now they are taking in designs for a calendar and I saw that there weren't any sci-fi entries so I decided to doodle one up.

Just finished inking this in traditionally, it's been a while and I had to use a brush I'm not used to on account of not finding my rigger. Still working out the background.

Doodling

2010-10-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

So, my hand has been hurting since I have overindulged in working on my wacom tablet so I decided to take a break from working....but....that didn't seem to last very long. I picked up my moleskin and started to doodle away, realizing that for once in my life I have completed an entire sketchbook and left no pages blank!

"I'll be damned if I don't come off so sweet I make sugar taste like salt" -Sistine

Some of the 'other' things I have been up to include coming up with a character for a Shadowrun game my friend is starting up next month. I wrote up a description and sent it to him and I think that since that was kinda fresh on my mind I wound up doing a sketch of a lady that kinda looks like my character to be. It's gonna be different to play the 'face' of the group for a change instead of the loose cannon.

This one kinda happened cause I was thinking about winter coming along here in Chicago. The weather had been really nice lately, hopefully it lasts a while longer. And since I haven't been doing a lot of painting I busted out the ol' pallet and brush and threw some color on just for some fun. It felt GREAT!

I mentioned earlier that I had proposed doing a study from an old master. Toulouse Lautrec is perhaps my favorite 'old school' artists so I chose one of his pieces to try out in watercolor. This is gonna be hard with mimicking all those brush strokes, but there is a challenge in that. I chose this partly because of the colors too, it has a pallet that I tend to enjoy employing often.

And while looking for an image to use I stumbled upon this lovely portrait of his model Suzanne. I really love the way that it looks and thought it would be kinda fun to work with the same model as Lautrec but in my own manner of painting.

Using good ol' BIC pen I did some sketching in my moleskin and laid out the images that I plan to go in and paint. The above one I plan to try to copy as close to Lautrec's work as I can while the one below I plan to just paint the way I normally do. Who knows, perhaps I will see a bit of a change due to working on the one above influence the one below.

But to be honest, I have no real idea when I will actually set paint to paper. I left the ArtOrder challenge I started open since people have more important things to do like paid projects, and I have piled up a ton of busy work for myself. I still need to finish up the sketch with Raven Mimura, the four horsemen, and the D&D screen for example. But, having this ready to paint and just kinda out there waiting has me geared up and ready to finish everything else so I can start to paint these ones in! Nothing like a little motivation =}

Oh, I also made some sugar skulls but....well they got flat super quick. My stormtrooper skull didn't come out according to plan ={. My favorite are the pin up heads. These were an early Dia de Los Muetros thing....super sugary sweet. They gave me a belly ache!

A Blast From The Past! WIP on Brom's Call For Entries Angel

2010-10-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a trip down memory lane, sparked by some kick ass artists from http://artorder.ning.com/.

We were chatting about learning from old master's works and it reminded me of one of the college projects I did while at the Academy. In my watercolor 201 class with Mr. Mat Barber Kennedy he had his first year painters do a piece after another artist. He did open this up to more modern artists as well.

Mat Barber Kennedy

The important thing was that the artwork wasn't done in watercolor, ink, or gouache but in a medium we hadn't used before. Mainly that meant oils or acrylics but I think that some people tried to copy digital medium as well. I had several pieces to choose from but in the end I settled for one by Gerald Brom, out of one of the Spectrum books.

Mr. Kennedy approved the choice and helped me to scale the piece to fit the paper size I was working on, which was a dull sheet of arches hot press watercolor paper 140lbs. Approximately 20x30 inches I believe. I don't do well with grids so most of it was eyeballed onto the paper.

Spectrum's Call For Entries by Gerald Brom

Once the drawing was laid out I did something I normally despise, and that is applying a layer of frisket or artists' masking fluid to the painting. It is a thin bit of laytex that keeps paint off areas you don't want to paint and is easily removed. I tend to not like it because it leaves you with gritty edges that take time to smooth or color match to perfection.

My pallet consisted of Windsor & Newton permanent rose, yellow ochre, cadmium red, windsor violet, and a touch of cobalt blue traded by my friend Kevin for some Hooker Green! Yay! Sharing is caring!

The rare use of frisket aka mask media

I worked up the background and removed the frisket, then started to detail the character. I had a few copies of the piece by Brom at my work table, and referenced it often. This is one of my earliest watercolor pieces and I learned a lot from it and also really saw how much I had learned not just from Mr. Kennedy but from my peers also.

After Brom

I never did finish this piece. It was the last project of the semester and I think I stayed an additional hour or two after class before throwing in the towel. All in all copying from someone else was a great lesson learned, especially in a different medium. I have done a few others like this, one being by fantasy watercolorist Paul Bonner to really see what I can do with the medium.

YOU should try it!

Four Horsemen: WIP

2010-10-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

For CGHub's challenge, the Four Horsemen. My rendition is of them as almost historical figures. Conquest is a Legionaire, War is a Red Coat, Death is a Nazi Solider, Famine is a Spanish Conquistador.

I blocked some type in of phrases I want to at least in part add into the image...kinda like when I added type into that watercolor mixed media portrait I did a few months ago. Things are pretty loose right now, there are still some things to add in before I start to render.

Started to add some color to get a feel for this. Actually, I rather like the way the horses mimic watercolor. Hopefully the rest of the piece stays as coherent.

Still working on it....actually, this is the first time I've gotten as many compliments on CGhub for one of my entries. Now I really HAVE to finish it.

Quick update. Dropped this image into grey tone to get a better sense of where this headed. I've been doing this a lot to see where I am lacking in tone since color saturation can look like there is tone when in reality it doesn't exist.

Anyways, the tab;et's been acting kinda weird despite reinstalling the drivers and resetting my pref's. No idea what's up with it. This is Due on Halloween and I still have a ways to go.

Right, so...the tablet seems to be working once more finally. And been talking about this piece with some friends. Lucas suggested, among a few others, to just drop it into grey tone and finish the render, then add a photo filter and some color to it. So with only a few days left that is the plan. Fingers crossed!

Still going.....

Just....Sketching

2010-10-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes frustration really hits you out of no where and lingers for far longer than you can imagine. Right now I feel awkward about my artwork and where it is going as of late. Been looking through my sketchbooks from high school all the way up to the last plain air watercolor studies I did in college.

Sometimes it's helpful to do things like that, see how much you have improved over the years, see where your struggles have shifted. See where you finally got courage to do new things. And see what it was that you loved to do the most.

For me it was free pen sketches in my sketch book, on rolls of receipt paper from when I was waiting tables, on napkins at bars. Just sketches that you let flow out of you.

Here's one I did today. It's not perfect, it didn't have to be. I did it on the computer...sad to say I miss my watercolor block and actual painting. I just haven't gotten into the mood to pick up an actual brush and spread it around on paper.

I know I'm very dependent on line but, well, it's kinda something I enjoy, the sketching that I do, more than anything else. Lately I feel so anxious, and awkward about all the art I am making for one reason or another. Even now I keep thinking that I was able to do this drawing yet I haven't been able to get into the sketch I am doing with Raven at all, or the D&D screen I need to finish in the next couple of weeks.

Guess....I'm just feeling like I am losing myself more and more these days with what it is I want anymore, or what it is I do. I thought I knew but....now I'm not so sure. I question things all the time, which is no good, and those sorts of things I think show through in what I am doing. People say to follow your heart and do what you love the best, but what if you don't want that to be your down and dirty work?

For along time I have struggled to pull the way I draw together with the way I paint. Just like the levels of doneness when I draw...cartoony or realistic.....I seem to fall into an area where it doesn't look right. Like I need to be at one end or the other....I just can't seem to compromise.

I'm not sure how I feel about working digitally....I think it's one reason I keep using it. I like sketching digitally to a point, but I don't really like coloring I think. Some things are nice about it. In the colored version of this I like the rendering in the face and parts of the veil because it almost reminds me of a wash of colors. But...it's still not the same. I want to print this out and color her by hand, but no scanner at the moment or printer.

Thinking about just doing some personal pieces during the spare time I have, between my other little projects I have going on. Just let it out, see what happens, and try not to really think about it's application so much, or anything of the like. This image certainly was unexpected, not something I ever have rendered before...

Anyways, I'm just caught up in the madness of my own self right now. I'm not too happy with a lot of things I am working on, and I dunno what is gonna happen in the short term or the long run, but I don't think I will be able to put my art aside irregardless of how much it hurts to think about what I am doing about it.

BTW...That is me.

Sketching with Raven....And some Frustrations

2010-10-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't tinkered around much on any of my projects lately. My hand has been hurting a lot, I am guessing it has something to do with my recent use of the wacom tablet a lot more than I am used to.

Regardless, Raven Mimura has been working on helping me to figure out men in my artwork, starting with what will be a series of exercises. This one is the first. I started to add some color to the rough sketch, keeping in ming what he had said about making sure I don't soften up the edges but....

While this doesn't look like one of my ladies, I don't think I am doing a god job on this exercise at all. Some people pointed out that some things are wrong with the drawing, like the perspective of the horns. And also that I lack any lighting.

I would think that spending 5 years in college I would know better by now but I guess I don't.

A fellow artist over on ArtOrder took a look at where I am at right now and did a paint over of the image to show me what I am lacking right now.

Paint Over done by Lake Hurwitz

I can clearly see what he means by his representation of what it is I am lacking. I also see how someone else approaches a piece...which kinda leads me to question what it is I am doing.

Aside from that a couple of other things have kind of bummed me out lately. It's a bit hard to get into any of the projects that I have started to work on at all, since I can see in my own work how some of the frustrations are showing up. Right now in my sketch I keep thinking that adding color tones in doesn't really do much to help out or mask things, I am aware I need to go in and fix things.

I have a bad tendency to over scrutinize when I start to step out of the pencil stage. Thinking back on my watercolor advanced course, maybe I just need to treat this as a gesture and not as a drawing I am really going to take to finish.

I dunno, I'm feeling a bit lost at the moment. I think I need to sleep on it, have a cup of tea, and massage my hand, then have another go at this.

Knights of The Dragon: Dungeon Master's Screen WIP

2010-10-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, a friend of mine commissioned me a few months ago to do a two panel screen to be used as a dungeon's master screen for an ongoing RPG campaign. In between working on other projects I have been tinkering around a lot with some concepts and am starting to get antsy since he wants this before Thanksgiving weekend (which is only a few weeks away).

This concept has been a hassle since the is so much in it and one of the biggest issues was that the right side and left side actions were competing for focus, and everything kept pointing out of the corners and leading the viewer's eyes out of the chaos of the piece.

Here is the description of the piece I was given.

We would be looking for at least 2 full-color panels of a 4-panel screen, 8.5" X 11" (we will likely put city/county maps on the outermost panels, although depending upon what your feedback, that might change).
These two panels will be 'busy'.
On the left hand panel, a band of six torch-bearing & weapon wielding youthful adventurers (the typical generic lot: halfling rogue, half-orc barbarian, dwarven fighter, elven ranger, human cleric, gnome sorcerer; or some variation on that theme) descend a flight of stone stairs into a crypt. Pulling themselves up through the stone floor of the crypt to confront them are zombies and skeletons (in some cases all you can see are their heads & hands, others are emerged to the torso, others are pulling their trailing foot free).
On the opposing panel, a late-middle aged human cleric of St. Cuthbert in full plate & towering, light-emitting mitre; and a chainmail-wearing paladin in his prime, also of St. Cuthbert; square off against a greater mummy, at least 4 lesser mummies, and a horde of zombies & skeletons.

So the size of a two panel piece is 11x17 inches. After a lot of tinkering I looked at this as a book jacket piece, where the front and back would have to make sense if seen at the same time.

The issue that I am running into now is there is no room for the type and there aren't really any monsters left in the piece at all. It's been nothing short of frustrating, and it seems that no matter what I do something is wrong. I had to chop out a lot of what was originally asked for because I couldn't fit everything in and have it not be something you automatically wanted to avert your eyes from.

Of the sketches, this is the closest to something workable I have.

Artist Challenge: Exercise One WIP

2010-10-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

So, I have a weakness for men. No, it's not quite what you think though I do enjoy their company and just about everything else about them. What I mean is that I have a weakness when it comes to depicting men in my artwork. They have a tendency to come out feminine without a good reference, and even with one I seem to soften them up quite a bit.

At Gen Con this past Summer I had the pleasure of speaking to an artist I have admired for quite some time now, and recently he offered up a challenge to kick my butt into gear when it came to drawing dudes. Of course I accepted!

I got an email today of a reference photo that he chose since he has a better eye for things. This is it:

Yumm.....I mean, ok. Moving on.

This is the pic he chose cause he is a manly man. He told me to try to focus in on a profile here so this is what happened.

In Photoshop with my tablet (sigh, which seems to be best buddies with my travel pallet now) I began a sketch of a profile. Part of the challenge here is to keep away from my love of curved lines, and to play around a bit. He told me to try making the man candy into a zombie, pirate, or something else that was rougher and less....cheesecake.

With the line work down I kept going just like if this were something in my sketchbook. I thickened and darkened up my lines knowing that I was probably going to try putting this piece in something close to greyscale.

Ok, so this is now 20-30 minutes into the exercise and I am deciding to pause here so that I can get some feedback from the artist. Actually, I have to admit looking at this now that I haven't done this kind of thing since oh...I dunno, some time in college. Actually my first year meeting the artist at Gen Con he mentioned dropping art into greyscale to see how it was coming. Invaluable advice I have been following since then though I don't tend to do it this early on.

I like that this reminds me of a marker comp I might have done with traditional markers on cheap watercolor paper with some colored pencil for highlights. So far in this has been fun. And as for the time spent, well, I think that is force of habit for me really. I am used to getting roughs our quick...it's what I am trained for =]

So, stay tuned for more details on how this piece come out!

It's Good To Be A Princess: WIP

2010-10-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

Working out some ideas for T-Shirts to sell in the future at conventions. I came up with an idea for a cool Princess t-shirt, using Leia, Dejah, and Xena (all kick butt princesses!). It's cool to work with iconic figures that I haven't tried to draw ever before. Here's a sneak peek at the design so far.

They aren't old enough to realize how kick butt these ladies are....well...maybe they know Leia.....but I am hoping that my friend's two daughters will wear a shirt for me cause that would be rad! Yeah...can't wait to wear one myself!

Jynx: Tattoo Sleeve?

2010-10-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

"What did you think I meant when I said blow job!?!"

So, I started doodling Jynx at close to midnight cause I had a thought that she would be a flippin' sweet tattoo sleeve! Not that I can afford that at the moment, but some day it will become a reality. Right now I'm just working out some compositions. I really like the way this sketch is looking thought I think I need to add another trooper helmet and do something about the symbol behind her.

Jon posted up a t-shirt challenge on ArtOrder....I already use Jynx as my mascot and have been wanting to paint her onto a button up shirt I have (like a greaser would wear) and a jacket I have. So I figured why not also make her into something that could be tattoo art or even a temp tattoo or sticker?

I still have some clean up to the lines to do and some other work too. I want to put some type in but am not sure about it yet.

CGHub Challenge WIP: The Vaudevillains

2010-09-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

So, despite still having commission #3 to finish up for Cyptic Strudio I decided to enter....or try to enter, into another CGHyb challenge. The premise is a weird freak show of sorts. There was a comment about Siamese twins with a chainsaw and a wolf man, but I asked if we had to include those and was told not really.

My idea is inspired by Alfons Mucha. I looked at some of his work as well as some old posters from Barnum and Bailey, and some freak shows and vaudeville posters from way back when. It kinda hit me to try out a twist on a theme, so I went with fairy tale maidens. But instead of being the damsels in distress they are more like the femme fatals I love so much in old pulp fiction stories.

I started the sketch out in Photoshop. After finishing the last piece in this media I decided why not try it out again and do things a little differently? Besides, I am still painting a lot for the other commissions I have.

This is where I am at the end of the day. Line work on the computer is as tedious as it is by hand and while it's not perfect I am pretty happy with where it is going. This piece is all sorts of outside my comfort zone, using multiple figures, a designed composition, and type. But it's a great exercise. The challenge is for an illustration, and that has been left open to anything from a card to a book cover, which is why I chose a poster.

I still want to add in some type to suggest a little bit more that this is a poster for a freak show talent. The ladies are all insane cougars of course....of course. The Fire eater is supposed to be like a Cinderella (I keep thinking this stupid phrase 'Cinderella dressed in chrome, burned her lover to his bones). The lady in the bottom left is Snow White and is going to be a cross between a vamp and an albino (researching freak shows it seemed that any oddity made it into the show). The woman in the center was going to be the Bloody Belle, but that became an issue since Little Red is leaning towards her. So I changed the middle figure up to being the Bearded Belle instead. Little Red is leaning in and is gonna be like a cannibal or Lizzie Borden (on account of the ax behind her back), and the last figure is going to be a take of the frog princess, or little mermaid.

There are some details that need to be added in still, some decorative flowers and what not before I start to color it in. So far I am happy with this piece. The due date is the 7th of October...only one week! But...I know I can get this done. It'll be a nice piece in my portfolio.

Ok, it's super late now. I just wanted to post up one more progress pic before I hit the sack. I started to color the image in (sometimes it helps me work out last minute kinks. Right now I am liking the color scheme and can see how my original idea for a color layout is going to work. However I think it needs more of a creepy feel to it so I plan to add in some darker colors here and there, perhaps some wear and tear once I am done. Kinda like aging a piece.

Already I can see a big difference as opposed to my tata piece I just finished. I am using a lot of airbrush in photoshop to get the feel I want from the old fashioned posters. I think it's appropriate for this type of image.

I am also noticing the type is disappearing. I kinda figured it would....not gonna say what I plan to do with it just yet. It's fun working on this and I am surprised I have as much of it done as I already do.

Well...time to get some sleep. Yawn.

Day three (ok day 2 and a half really). Been working for about an hour or so on this now along with doing some other things. I'm still liking how this piece is coming along. Still need to add some creepiness to the ladies. Right now the bearded lady with her five o'clock shadow is creeping me out the most. I think she looks like Jesus in drag giving me a sultry glance over the top of that fan, which makes working on Red Ridding Hood hard.

I've been thinking a lot more about the type and searching out some reference materials for flowers to add into the bottom two corners. I still want to add in some roses on the lower left near Snow White, and some water plants on the lower left by the Frog Princess.

Not a lot of other people getting in on this challenge on CGHub so far, probably due to the shorted deadline this time around. I'm gonna just keep updating this post in particular....I like it this way and it's my blog so I can do whatever I want! =p

Day three. I haven't spent to much time working on this piece over the weekend. And I am a little flustered to find that some of my custom brushes have gone AWOL. I blame the gremlins....

That aside...this piece is looking awfully bright and chipper. I think it has a lot to do with the colors and the fact that my villainesses don't look so...wicked. Little Red and Snow White look a little more macabre than the others but that has to do with the blood I think. I might have to go in and add some weapons...but I wanted them to be like the cougars of the carnival. O well, you win some you lose some. Overall I am pretty happy that I was able to do something outside of my comfort zone even if I am falling a bit flat.

O Snipe!

2010-09-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

2010 TaTa Gala Entry

Yay! I just finished Jynx for her tatagala.org entry! It's been a blast to do this piece though I am sure that in a few months I will hate it. It's different to work on the computer as I mentioned a few times. But, I think I did a pretty descent job. Now....to send her off! Wish us luck!

-Kat/Jynx

O Snipe: Progress

2010-09-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

So, I received an email from the TaTa Gala organizers that the deadline has been pushed back to the 16th of October....which rocks since I had to put that aside to work on some other things. So here's an update of the progress. I've decided not to submit in two pieces, for the sake of time and dealing with other commitments. Oh well, all's fare in art and work....right?

I've still got a bit of work to do on this piece before I submit it into the gala. I have to admit I am feeling rather nervous about entering the piece in....but I'm gonna do it anyways. I am really enjoying how this piece is coming along, especially since it's a digital piece. I still like my watercolors and can tell this is going to be one of those great learning pieces I look back on in a few months and see how far I've come.

Wish me luck!

Influence Map

2010-09-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

This is my influence map. A friend of mine suggested I make one when I have some down time. It was fun, and neat to see where my interests still lie and what is new after the last few years. And no, this isn't all of my influences but it's pretty close.

1) Jamie Hewlett

2) Norman Rockwell

3) Adam Hughes

4) Toulouse Lautrec

5) RK Post

6) Alfonso Azpiri

7) The Rockin' Jellybean

8) Echo Chenrick

9) Raven Mimura

10) Arthur Suydam

11) Iain McCaig

12) Dean Yeagle

13) Massimiliano Frazzeto

14) John Howe

15) Tommy Lee Edwards

16) Luis Royo

17) Joshua Middleton

18) Jon Foster

19) Barbucci & Canepa

It's MADNESS! (aka The Gremlins Attacked My Computer!)

2010-09-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

So...I know you aren't supposed to feed them after midnight, but I was tired and wasn't paying attention to the time at all. What happened? I was having some issues with my internet all this last week: something something about my wireless router. I dunno cause I am not a computer nerd.

Anyways, I finally got it back and saw an email from Fred Hicks, the art director at Hero Games. What for? Well, seems that I was commissioned to do work on 5 characters for Villains #2....but I never got the email. Not even in my spam. I suppose things like this happen.

He was wondering why I missed the deadline of Sep 19th. Yeah....not good at all.

Consequently we spoke over email about the situation. I told him I had info on book #1 and #3, and thought it was odd I wasn't assigned on book #2. I guess it's cause I was, and the gremlins decided to eat that particular email. I had submitted pencils in for work on #3, so it did strike him as a little odd I hadn't done anything with #2.

So, I spent all morning toiling away over pencils to send in and am currently and anxiously awaiting approval. Looks like a busy week for me now with a rush commission....I think I can finish all five characters in a day or two....shooting for one day. I am hoping any adjustments to the pencils will not be needed (or if so quick fixes).

I've never been so anxious about an assignment before. I feel horrible but all I can really do is get it done. I mean, the world needs more foxy lady villains to rule it, right?

On the downside, that means putting my TaTa Gala pieces on hold while I am waiting to finish up this commission, and I also noticed that I still need to work on the GM screen for the D&D game group, which they want by November.

So, lots of coffee, listening to some laid back classical music, and trying to destress.....what I wouldn't do to kick back and shoot some zombies right now.

O Snipe! (aka: a process of the Jynxie piece for the TaTa Gala)

2010-09-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hey, so here's an update on the TaTa Gala piece I am working on of my Star Wars Character Jynx (who I understand introduced herself earlier on here).

Originally I wanted to do this piece traditionally with watercolors, but.....I have six commissions I am working on and they not only take up my desk, but a fair amount of my watercolor paper. So I am using photoshop and my wacom tablet for this, which I suppose is a challenge in and of itself. I did some preliminary sketches before hand on tracing paper in order to come up with a position I like.

Ok, I got the pencil mostly done. What I mean by that is that I have my figure drawn into the space I was planing to use, however I would like to add in something more to the background...say, a brick wall with some murder holes and maybe some graffiti? I do have to say that something I enjoy about working in photoshop is that I tend to stay in the 'sketchbook' mindset of things. This looks like a sketch I would do in my sketchbook, still a little loose, mimicking my love for ball point pens, yet at the same time kinda like a final pencil. Only difference is that if I choose to shade in where I plan to go dark, it won't mess up my watercolors when I take it to the color stage.

I like to start with the hardest thing when it comes to rendering on the computer, and for me that is the skin tone of the figure. I struggle in watercolor as well, but I find that because I am more confidant in allowing the paint and water to add to my piece that it works out well. No so true on the computer, as things are too calculated, so I start here.

Once I start to get frustrated with the skin tones, I let myself move on as a kind of break. I move onto one of my favorite parts to color in on Jynxie...her hair! Doing this also allows me to think about the rest of the image. I know that I use a lot of pink and black for this character because that is kinda iconic for her. I did consider knocking out the striped pants in favor of a military green color to set off the pink, but decided against it. Also, now that I have the hair done it helps me see where I need to emphasize my darks and my lights for the future.

My hand is killing me right now from working with the tablet, so I am going to stop working for a while. I added in a splash more color. With the pinks, I tend to not use the same color over and over again. Something I like about traditional is that once you stop and come back the next day it may not be the same colors as the day before (at least, not if you mix colors in your pallet like I do). I know how to color match traditionally and understand the value of it, but I also like for a little variety....especially since Jynx wears so much pink.

I still have a ways to go on this piece, but so far I am enjoying the work as it moves along.

Ok, it's technically 9/9/2010 and I am adding two more pieces to this blog post concerning Jynx. I started to go into more detail in the rendering. One thing I learned in school about black was not to go with a pure tone unless I need to (which I find is almost never). I added some colors into the black and used black that had a little bit of a hue to it. I also noticed that I am having some issues with tonality.

So I copied the image and lowered the saturation of the color all the way down to get it into greyscale. I know there is a setting to do this, but I like to play with the adjustment layer here. Greyscale helps me think more clearly about tonality since color saturation can throw me off. So I see some areas I want to go into and adjust.

TATA GALA

2010-09-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's the newsflash. I dropped out of the CGHub robot challenge to pursue some other boobtacular event. There is a call for entries to the 2010 TaTa Gala art show, raising money for breast cancer research. I took a look at the site, this is their 4th year of hosting such an event.

And I decided I wanted in. I am working on two pieces to submit into consideration for the show, both are pin ups, of Course.

So, image one is of Jynx, who has agreed to show her boobies for the cause. I had three similar sketches done of her before moving along to fleshing out a pencil. It's still a WIP but it's getting there pretty quickly. The other image is a little more troublesome, and is of a cow girl with type in the back. I've been struggling with lassoing that composition together but I think I have had an epiphany this morning in regards to it.

So, here's the link to the event http://tatagala.org/

And now, here's a peeksy at Jynxie!

Bad pic I know, apologies. She's gonna be in a sniper's scope seeing her strap to her top was shot off. I still have a ways to go, will post more when I get a chance but....ttfn!

Things I Am Up To

2010-08-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Yep....school's over and I am expected to be working on my career from here on out. It's rather daunting....who wants to work? Waking up to a 9-5 job, spilling hot coffee on your lap during the commute, cranky bosses with jelly donut stained ties, heading home late.....

Hmmn....well, how about waking up, worrying about getting freelance work over morning coffee and fighting with the dog to not eat your mail (unless it's bills), and spending all day working on your artwork till it makes you go nutty in the head?

Ah, that sounds about right. So....I am working on some freelance illustration work once again for Hero Games. Another commission for some villainous ladies. I rather enjoy these commissions....I like the pin up work style even if I do find it a little bit mundane in comparison to some of my 'fine art' pieces. Some day I will discover a way to reconcile the way that I paint 'fine art' as opposed to my illustrations. That is the day I will be very happy (at least in theory).

Some other things to work on: some character sketches for my game group members. Poor Tim has waited so patiently for his character sketch of Mathias....that is on the list of things to do. Another friend of mine from the group wants his new character done as well, Velen. Both are playboy characters but totally opposite in many ways.

Which reminds me, there is a small gaming convention towards the end of September that I will be running events at (at least, I volunteered to), and hopefully playing in events as well. Just a small little convention, nothing too fancy.

Hmmmnnnn.....what else? A GM screen for Matt.....a much simpler one than the last, this being a two panel spread that will be 11x17 inches horizontal of a D&D scene. It'll give me a chance to get some good painting done, and be a nice portfolio piece in addition to that. Unfortunately, the first screen I did was ruined while transporting it, which sucks cause I spent so much time working on it. So, back tot eh drawing board on that one, sadly. This time, I think I will take my former instructor's advice and scale it down instead of working on it to size. Maybe it will go over smoother this time. One can hope.

I am getting involved a little bit more in the online challenges on CGHub's website. It gives me a chance to futz around with my photoshop skills a little bit more, which need development. Sadly....or perhaps not, I enjoy traditional media a lot more than a plastic pen and tablet. Things just apply smoother and don't look....well....so digital. No happy little accidents on the computer, not with CtrlAltDelete around anyways. Or should I say Command Z? Someone needs to make that into a shirt.

Mia's Best Friend

I missed out on the last online challenge to create a super villain. I can't tell you how much that sucks, but I spent too long on doodling my idea and never got around to finishing it. I may still do the final anyways, a bit of collage. It was for The Scarlet Curse (didn't say it had to be a good villain....besides, nothing else strikes as much fear in my mind...well, spiders do...and clowns, but who wants to draw those?).

Right, focus! So, this current challenge is for robots. No, that is not something that I would normally do. Robots are clunky, and not interesting in my opinion. So it's a good thing to tackle I suppose, since it's not something that I would do.

My composition is up above, I am titling the piece as Mia's Best Friend. I dunno much about Mia yet, I just liked the feel of it as a title. She's taking a stroll across a fallen tree in the middle of the woods, dressed in a servo suit that controls the movements of the giant mech following suit after her.

While I was at Gen Con I came across a cute little battle mech display (by cute and little I mean it was bigger than me) and thought it would be cool to have a giant teddy bear mech. So, it seemed natural to pounce on the chance to live out that dream. The teddy mech is a cross between a huge teddy bear, influenced by the teddy scares (macabre care bear toys), and a stormtrooper. I just can't break away from star wars.

This is an interesting piece to do in my own opinion as it includes the mech, warped perspective, and background, with the female figure being small and less important. I hope this piece turns out well, even if it doesn't it'll be a learning experience I am sure.

Deadline is Sep 12th.....so I need to get cracking. I am working on it in photoshop, but really want to do it traditionally. It's hard not having a working scanner at home....and I will have to wait to use the school ones....so....100% digital...?

Surprise!

2010-08-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Surprised! My family threw me a surprise graduation party this weekend. It was very unexpected to say the least, and I had no idea whatsoever about it (though no one seems to believe me on that).

I got to see my best friend in the whole wide world, Laddaphone! It's been a while since we hung out, since being in school in the city and working always got in the way. That was one of the best surprised of the day!

The cake was delicious, half vanilla and half chocolate. I wound up cutting and serving it somehow (sniffle, and I didn't even get a piece of the chocolate side!). My niece found an early picture I was working on for promotional material at the end of the semester and had my sister put it on the cake as an edible print out. I didn't know they could do things like that....makes me consider edible print out of artwork to sell at conventions. How awesome would that be!?!

Look! It's Jynxie/me on the cake! I was delicious...I mean...my art was delicious!

So, I am the first in the family to graduate from college with a degree. There were a ton of people that came in to town for my party, which was very awesome. Some aunts and cousins flew in from Texas, my oldest sister from Vegas. I actually thought the get together was for my oldest sister Valarie, but I was wrong.

My entire family (well, my sisters and parents). From left to right my sister Val (oldest), Joann (one of the twins), my daddy, me, my mom, Joanna (the other twin), and Tina (second oldest). Art runs in our veins on my dad's side of the tree, we are all very artistic, I'm just the only one that pursued it.

Thanks for the party, spending some time with me, cooking (mmm...some great menudo, carnitas, chiles, and a bunch of other stuff), and just messing around.

Sweet Sweet Graduation

2010-08-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Well....today marks the very last day of my school tenure. No more waking up early to catch the train into Chicago, walking through snowy streets on days when most businesses and schools have been given a snow day (God bless the Academy, they don't believe in snow days). No more lugging a portfolio up six flights of stairs.

I'll miss some things, and some days I'll miss everything about the Academy, but it's time to go on to new things. Up next? Well, another commission from Hero Games for more character designs, a GM screen for Dungeons and Dragons campaign run by Game Base 7, a possible magazine cover....I guess things aren't so bad testing the waters of adulthood.

Chicago Comic Con (aka Wizard World Chicago) is taking place this weekend but with school at an end, and two main conventions under my belt.......I am too broke and tired to go to this con.

Gen Con 2010 Wrap Up

2010-08-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Another year has come and gone as far as the big convention goes, Gen Con Indy for those of us out in the midwest. It was fun to hang out with friends and spend a little time gaming and hanging out in general. I didn't get in a lot of gaming this year, and it was my first time running slots as a GM at this convention. I was pretty nervous since we get such a large crowd but a little nip before the slot began and good players made it a great experience.

Day 1 Fist GM Slot

I ran my first slot on Thursday night. We got in on Wednesday night and checked in at the hotel. It was nice our games were in our hotel so we didn't have far to walk or too early to get up. It was a blast to run the games I did for the players at my tables, I just hope they didn't mind a new GM to the campaign.

Day 3 GM slot

It got easier to GM as the days went on, I have to say that smaller tables were easier to handle than the full ones.

Sparks Interactive Mission Report

Every major con we do something called an interactive, where we get a bunch of smaller missions together to add up the success of one larger goal overall. Our tables were all at Sullust (this is a Star Wars Campaign) this year trying to recruit them to joining the Rebellion. The mission was a success and we all had fun. Here I am up on a fellow player's shoulders giving out a synopsis of the events that went down at our table. It was fun. No blowing stuff up for Jynx (sniffle) but it was fun nevertheless. We had a great GM, great players, and a little bit of moonshine thrown into the mix.

Jerry Grayson is Awesome!

David Moore of The Game Master Show introduced me to Game Developer Jerry Grayson. I was a bit surprised walking up into the hotel room after my first GM even tot find a bunch of people in the room. But they were all really cool. Jerry's current project is Hellas, a Greeks in Space game campaign that is pretty epic, just like Jerry.

Raven Mimura one of my Fav artists

Friday was the only day I was able to get into the Great Hall at the convention center, and I had my portfolio review by Wizards of The Coast art director Jon Schinddehette that morning. He was very honest about my portfolio and gave some great advice as to where I ought to place my considerations for the future.

I also walked the alley for a bit to speak with other artists and get other critiques on my work. Raven Mimura has been a favorite of mine for a while and I got to meet him for the first time face to face last year at the convention. He remembered me this time around and took some time out to go over my work and offer up advice.

Daphne

Here's one of Raven's pieces that I adore. I find it funny that he admits to struggling with the female form since I have the opposite problem. Raven's always a favorite to talk to and is pretty open.

Aaron Miller's table

And I had the pleasure of meeting up with a school alum at the convention, Aaron Miller. He hangs out at the Pallet and Chisel in Chicago, and I plan to find some way to hang out up there with him some time after graduation. Aaron was pretty cool, and like most of the artist I met at the convention he was pretty open to talk. Most seem to know one another really well, and I hope to have my own table next year.

Welp, six days left till school is all over and I got some things that need doing before then. All in all the con was a lot of fun if a lot more laid back than it's been, likely due to the economy and all. But things seem to be picking back up again.

Gen Con A Go Go!

2010-08-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

So, Gen Con Indy is coming up this week, and Wed morning we set out in quest of good gaming, good company, and drunken debauchery! With my latest commission turned in and my school tenure coming to a close, I can't think of a more perfect situation right now than the convention.

It's my fifth or sixth year going now, not to stake claim in the artist alley (not yet), though I do plan to have a portfolio review there and meet up with as many people as I can between game events. And maybe celebrate graduation a little early.

Last year I spoke with artists such as Larry Elmore, Michael Monte Moore, and Raven Mimura to name a few. This year I hope to add to that list people such as Jeff Himmelman, and American Academy of Art alumni Aaron Miller.

Looks like things are going to be pretty laid back during the convention, no early morning events (unless I plan on playing any), and I am only running one game module a day so it seems. That leaves me plenty of time to wander around the convention hall, maybe try out a few new things, and something else I have been considering: walking the city around the convention center and our hotel and doing some quick sketch paintings.

Ok, so as much as I am looking forward to the break the convention will offer, and as much as I can't wait to finally get my degree there's still a big part of me that is really going to miss school. No, not the homework assignments or the commute, but the atmosphere and all the people I have come to meet in my time there. My teacher's been trying to get me to loosen up my approach to painting and do things naturally instead of what is expected....and since I will be missing a few days of study work in his class I think some nice speed paintings will impress him when I get back.

Anyways, it will be a nice departure from plaster casts, and nude models for a while and delve deep into the heart of another time and space that is not Chicago, nor really quite Indianapolis.....but the Land of the Geek. I embrace my inner geek. Art geek, gamer geek, whatever. People will be clad in all sorts of costumes and walking around the heart of the city and it's social hubs full of 'mundanes' who have little to nothing to do with convention days, offering up a nice juxtapose between the norm and the strange.

Things are packed, and tomorrow after school I will head out to my friend's place to crash the night before we head out to the Land of Geek. I look forward to slipping into a pair of Jynx's boots and blowing up stuff in the Star Wars Galaxy. To each their own. See you when I get back!

And Now, A Word From The Peanut Gallery....

2010-07-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hello! This is Jynx, a figment of Kat's imagination. She's finally letting me have a word on her blog and it's about time! I do all the gritty work for her after all!

I started out as a fictional character in an ongoing Star Wars D6 campaign as a special forces operative for the Rebellion. Since then I've worked my way up to Lt. Colonel.....I am guessing it's for my ability to patch up people after blowing them into pieces. Well, what did you think!?! I'm a demolitions ~~engineer~~ extraodinaire! (Ask around, it's true!)

In addition to all my duties to the Rebellion I help Kat out by acting as her muse, inner voice, and that annoying voice in the back of her head that tells her it is late and she ought to get some sleep! I am her ambassador at the game table, letting her get into my shoes in order to better experience life in the Star Wars universe. Taking that one step further........she also likes to torture me by making me act, do, and wear odds and ends in the weirdest places when she is struggling though a project.

But it's all good cause in the end we need one another. Without her I wouldn't exist...at least, I don't think I would. And without me...well, without me she'd have no way to blow off any steam when she got frustrated and had to work through a project (now the pun is intended).

Right now she's sleeping tight with her face in her paint palette and a lung full of knock out gas....er...I mean....

Well, it's been a real slice, but I gotta go. Besides, I think she's coming to!

Anyways, remember any of the awesomeness you see come of Kat has me to thank too...

'Behind every good artists is a grenade wielding poster child'-Jynx

Villainous Me!

2010-07-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, I mentioned before that I met Fred Hicks or Hero Games at Origins a few weeks ago. After looking at some of my work I got my first freelance commission! WOOT!!!

Currently I am working on 6 villain designs for their Villains game book....and they are all of ladies!!!

This couldn't have been any more up my alley and I know I am lucky to land this as my first career job even if it's only freelance! I am so excited and already have a million sketches done in just a few short hours after getting the specs in. Tomorrow I will clean up the pencils on all six hopefully so that on Monday I will be able to scan them in and send them off for approval before moving onto the finished pieces.

So excited! Post my work as soon as I get the ok to do so which probably won't be until after they are published but that's no worry!

Welp, back to the sketchbook to clean up these ladies!

Some Watercolor Ladies

2010-07-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

Some days you just need to not care about the technical aspects of life and art and just spread paint around on paper like you did as a kid. Here are some doodlies I did this morning while watching some belly dancers. They are loose gesture drawings that I then went over in paint later, keeping things really loose.

Watercolor class is nice and all but a lot of times it gets really frustrating, you feel that you fall short of your expectations....and the instructors. So I guess sometimes you just have to paint it out. Art's about figuring things out after all, and I would rather be frustrated in these pursuits than on actual illustration pieces that have more work involved.

Designing Your Portfolio: Vexations From An Artist Who's Been There & Done It

2010-07-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of things you have to do yourself in order to get it right, and building up a portfolio is one of those things. It's hard work, mind numbing, and very tedious, but well worth doing in the end.

I am fortunate enough (though more often than not I feel it is unfortunate) to have a class dedicated to building up a personal brand, portfolio, and website among other promotional things such as business cards, postcards, and learning about resumes and such. And fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of networking to get critiques from professionals in the field about the process of making a portfolio.

A few things that are key is that it should look professional, be unique to you (express your voice), and consist of around 15 pieces that look polished and focus on what it is you like to do. One thing that has helped me to think about my own portfolio process has been WoTC Senior Art Director's blog artorder.blogspot..com. In addition there is a very awesome art community to be found there for help on such topics as this.

But, to the main business.....

For me, a vital part of my art has come from gaming. I wasn't fond of it to start and it took years to get me to sit down at a game table to play anything at all. But eventually it grew on me......or rather, out of me. I created a character that really stuck and has become an integral part of my life, my sweet little demolitions engineer, Jynx. She can blow up things in a fictional sense when I would love to do it in real life......things like homework assignments, creepy clowns, and the Easter Bunny (<---he is EVIL!).

So when it came time to branding our artwork and tying that unique identity into our presentations it was very clear that Jynx had to be a part of that (she threatened to blow up all my hard work if I didn't).

The above image is the introduction page of my process portfolio. I wanted to mimic the feel for the process as is seen in my sketchbook, so I scanned in pages of my moleskin sketchbook to create a template. From there I added the image of Jynx scribbling what I came up with for a tagline (and the title of this blog) 'Madness to the Method. It felt appropriate to use this as a tagline as anyone who has seen my sketchbook can tell you it is quite messy in there. Yet from the madness come some pretty cool pieces in the end.

Surprisingly a lot of non artists don't realize how stressful our line of work is, and how much junk we have in our minds.

To set the feeling off I added some early sketches of my character in the background, ghosting them to make them look more sketchy, and finally adding in my name and information. This is important in case for whatever reason your portfolio gets separated from you. (I also tore the edges of the paper where the binding would be so that once placed into a portfolio book they would look like real pages torn out of a book).

With the intro page out of the way I am free to begin to plot out the interior pages of my process portfolio. While I did feature the final pieces in this portfolio, it is really more about how I got to the finished piece rather than the finished piece itself (though it is still important). A process portfolio can be an important tool to take with on interviews to clients so that they can get a feel for how you work. It can also help to open you up to conversing about your line of work and what it is that you love to do.

For me this is true. At Origins Convention 2010 only a few weeks ago I took a few of my process portfolio pages with me to show. I didn't have a complete portfolio together at this time, and I didn't even have them in a nice folder at all since I was still in the process of putting it together, yet it was able to help me not only get my foot in the door, but work as well. (Well, and my friend David helped too since he introduced me to the art director who then took a look at my stuff).

While I didn't have a complete portfolio with me I was still able to confidently talk about what work I did have to show. And I was also able to get critiques from other artists on putting a portfolio together.

The above pages are facing pages, one that shows my process and the the other that shows the final piece. A process portfolio will be more useful in a commercial sense so that companies can see how you work. But it can also be useful for concept work, since process work is also vital to this field.

With the process portfolio done and out of the way it is time to move ahead to the finished portfolio. Here I have moved away from the sketchbook feel because this is more integral to polished work. The design reflects another type of professional branding that I used on the written side of things. The design follows suit with my design resume (that means that it is my resume that has been dressed up a lot nicer to be handed out once I have already gotten an interview). Again, this is an introduction page to my portfolio and it is important to put your information here in case you lose your portfolio but also to remind the person looking at it who you are.

I switched to black out of necessity I will admit here. One of the pieces featured in my finished portfolio looked so out of place on a white background that I decided to use a black background instead.

Here is the same piece from my process portfolio modified to fit into my finished portfolio. There is a big difference in how the piece looks now with a cleaner and simpler design than in the first portfolio.

With this I made a template once again that has the title of the piece, what it's application would be, the original dimensions, and the media used. These are tidbits for the person looking at it which might strike up questions about the piece during a review or interview.

The finished portfolio pieces should all look polished and as though they are already published. While the majority of the work in this is student work that isn't mentioned in the portfolio. Instead I use applications of what the pieces intended use would suit.

Making a portfolio is by no means an easy task, and each one is different. Also, I am not happy with the final result of my own portfolio because I am always striving to do better, but with that in mind I also know that in the next few years my portfolio will go through a metamorphosis. I am not sure if I will ever be happy with it, really, but I don't hate it either. I merely see there is room for improvement, just no way of getting there yet.

But some day.....

And of course, the most important thing is that if my unfinished process portfolio and my own confidence in what it is that I do was able to help me get my foot in the door then I have already accomplished something.

So for anyone struggling with putting one of these together:

Yes, they are a pain in the ass and you will want to veg out on the couch with a beer and not pay any attention to it, hoping that some magical elf will come in and make it for you.

No, you probably won't be happy with the first couple ones that you produce, but it's magic in the making!

Get feed back. I know it's scary to open up and show people what you are working on, not to mention talking about it. But that's the thing, you need to show people and talk to them or else why bother in the first place?

One thing I have observed in my own experiences is that while commercial illustrators (like ad people) will hoard their secrets like a dragon does a coin that most artists out there will give you some scraps. I am not saying all commercial illustrators are so with holding (a fair share of them aren't), merely that it is my experience that professionals in the field(s) I am pursuing are and have been willing to share information and opinions when asked.

Worse thing comes to worse is they ignore you or turn you away.

Take what crits you get with a grain of salt and always be polite about it. Remember, that you aren't the only one getting help when you ask questions. A lot of times that I have asked for advice it spurred the artist or art director to considering something else that had nothing to do with me at all. Nurture relationships the same way you do your art or children (<---no I don't have any kids of my own).

You will have late nights up tending to the needs of your art, spend hours fussing over it, get angry and send it to the corner, feel guilty and apologize to it later, snuggle up with it late at night. Like all good things, they happen over time. I won't say anything about patience, since I never seem to have any of it to be honest, but you will get through some how.

And no matter what, don't do anything that isn't you or what you like. Why risk getting stuck in a place like that for the rest of your life?

Hope this has been helpful.