Twiligt

Twilight wasn't as bad as I expected.  But then, I expected it to be really, really, really, really bad.  Done for the Avalanche Blog.

Babby

For some baby announcements featuring our new daughter.  This was my first attempt with the brush I mentioned in the previous post.

Brains

I had this idea of a mad scientist with a malevolent cupcake for a brain and it evolved into this.

I like the above crop better, but in case you'd like to see more of the character:

Here's another monster with a different brain for a work friend who wanted posters for her Halloween party and an earlier design for the painting.  I like both of these monsters a lot better than the one I used, but the faces/horns were awkward when I tried to pose him with the scientist.  I was heavily influenced by Todd Harris's designs on these guys.

Fall

Autumn is my new favorite season. 

- Colors!

- Crisp air

- Crunching leaves

- Football games

- Back to school (this is the same reason why it used to be my least favorite season)

- Fresh vegetables and fruit

- Apple Cider Donuts

- Holidays

The only part I don't like is how short-lived it all is.

Finished

I have a bunch of half-finished images waiting for the day when I'll finally turn my attention back to them.  Today I had a little time at work while waiting for feedback on something, so this was what I did.

Also, something worth sharing

I'm working on a tribute-to-fall picture, and this is why.  We took these pictures on recent drives up nearby canyons.  My wife posted more here if you're interested.

Paint demo from class

I wanted to spend more time on this before posting it, but I'm getting that antsy "been too long since I posted" feeling.  So you get a glimpse of what something looks like when I've spent about an hour on it.  Lines by Joe Olson (link in my sidebar).

The Thinking Artist

Just a sneak preview at some of the stuff I'm working on for the book I (eventually) plan on releasing.  People taking my class will get to see the rest and the explanations that go with it.

I want my book to be about how aspiring concept artists and digital painters can cognitively increase their "talent" level.  Some people are probably born with great talent---but not most of us, including me.  Luckily, I had good opportunities and the audacity to think that nothing could stop me from doing what I saw my peers do.  And with a lot of effort, I learned how to do things I saw other people doing naturally.  Now I want to share what I've learned.

 

The only problem is I want it to be a masterwork, but I'm nowhere near capable of that.  Because I keep recognizing areas where I need to improve, I keep putting off my work on it.  So I hope people waiting for the book are okay with a release date of 2069, when I've finally mastered everything.

Either that or you can convince me that an amateur publication is good enough for now.

Red Panda

A student in my digital painting class wanted to do a red panda for their character design assignment and I did this to show him how I'd make the character appeal to a more specific audience.

I never know how much time to spend on character and environment design in my class---Ryan Woodward and Joe Olson both teach great classes on the subject, but neither class is a prerequisite for mine so I get students with widely differing skill levels.  And I've found a great drawing makes a weak painting look better, while a bad drawing makes a bad painting no matter how much you polish it.  I'm also learning that great painting is all about good design, and the decisions students make in the drawing phase affect how they should reinforce or offset those decisions in the painting phase.  So if you ever take my class, please be patient while I butcher subjects that my class isn't really about anyway.

Let it be known that I'm a man of my word

Months ago, I did a contest of sorts where people submitted line art and I picked a drawing at random to paint.  I finally got around to doing it.  Next time I think I'm going to put a restriction on certain things, like multiple-figure compositions, large inked-in-areas, and art that is supposed to resemble real people (I finally gave up on the last one since I'm not familiar with the band and reference images were hard to find), since those things all made this image take a lot longer than I wanted to spend.  That said, it was fun to work on.