11-62/12-62

I fell behind. I need 2 or 3 to catch up. For various reasons, I just didn't want to do it anymore. I think when you're doing something outside your comfort zone your brain likes to trick you into thinking it's the worst thing ever. For today's study I just picked a picture and went for it, opaque brush so I couldn't noodle or mess around. It went smooth. Sure, it's not even great, but for a rudimentary tool, and trying to do it as quick as possible (while still trying to not 'rush' it) it came out alright. 

The values are okay too. Could've been better, they always can. I think it's also harder to push through when you're not seeing improvement. I'm back at it now, I might stick to an opaque brush. I think if it works with a hard brush, it'll work when you add texture/edges/etc. Of course it's good practice to do those things from the start, but this is a hard topic for me, so it's easier to just simplify it way down. 

Painting people is so much more fun for me, but it's probably just because I'm used to it. 

10-62

Another rushed one today :/
Learning how to do foliage through some tutorials and I wanted to try out what I learnt, but I knew I didn't have much time so I chose a simpler scene. At some point I'm going to have to do a long, detailed one to really get into the nitty gritty of it all. I also need to figure out my brushes better and I need to zoom in! I work way zoomed out, so then I'm not getting any detail in there.

08/09

Couldn't be bothered posting yesterday because I was over it. Still struggling hard.

So  I decided to watch some tutorials. First up was Approaching Studies by Kalen Chock. He set homework for his class so I figured I should do the homework as well.

Couldn't figure out how to do the texture on this one. 

This one's not finished yet. By far the funnest. I'm also working on another one.

 Then I watched the virtual Plein Air video by Timothy Rodriguez. Not gonna lie, I stopped paying attention (A.D.D) and so my study didn't go so well.  I thought it was later than it was, so I rushed... Could've gone for another 30-60mins :/

After my black and white studies, big shapes were a LOT easier, little shapes, not so much. I still haven't figured out a good way to indicate water. I need a focal point, I need more texture in the right areas (though I don't like using texture brushes.. I rationalise that painting on paper would have a lot of texture though, and digital pretty much has zilch). Probably my studies just need a lot of cleaning up, and some more bolder, confident shapes and decisions. I like the sky in the last one, it was really just a lot of indication. And foliage... still suck at foliage.. And rocks! :/ 

First week done

It really feels like I'm going backwards. I didn't get anything out of this one that I wanted to. Maybe I need to simplify further? I tried the process Ryan Lang describes on his blog. But then I deviated in order to blend things. 

Also, trying to record my process.

5-10 min doodle from imagination. Pretty shit, but I feel like I had a clearer picture in my mind of what I wanted than I usually do. So as shit as my studies are, I guess the practice is paying off. I'll finally be able to paint environments! 

Didn't do the other stuff I wanted to do today. Weekends always get in the way! 

Welcome to Sucksville, population: 01

At least failing means you can just let go and mess around. 

If someone could teach me how to paint environments.. 

In other news, I started on this:

Didn't work on the other study yet. Only started working late in the day. Weekend's aren't the best time to work for me. 

05-62

Did a study of a Jeremy Fenske study. His environments are awesome. I saw him at CTN last year and bought a print of his work. The study got off to a bad, slow start because for some reason the opacity of my brushes were set to 46%, so I was switching brushes, checking transfer, turning it up to 100% in transfer, and nothing was happening. Then I saw halfway through almost that it was set to 46% on the brush panel at the top. D'oh! So that used up a lot of energy. 

 

Total fail on todays environment. It looks like a nine year old did it. I think I was intimidated because I don't ever draw architecture/buildings, so that knocked my confidence. It wasn't too hard, I just need to be sure of the perspective next time. And then fix the values cus that thing is baaaad... 

Also copied some Paul Felix trees for fun. 

Also started a study. More about that when it's done. Stock is by Chirinstock on Deviantart. 

04/62

Had fun playing with different brushes today. It looks so mushy though. I need to practice graphic shapes (notan) first probably, to get a stronger read on the composition. I like how the sky came out. Took forever though, and I wasted the morning doing other stuff, so I got nothing done today. :/ 

Worked on this some more and now I don't like it. It's become really static/over rendered. And the rendering isn't even working so, what a waste. It's basically just a study for what I really want to do though, so that's okay. I messed around with it after I realised I didn't like it and added the decoration to her face/head. 

I turned off a layer underneath some of the rendering (before this screenshot - but I didn't take a screenshot then, d'oh). I realised the really brushy, expressive strokes look really awesome with just a bit of detail/rendering on top. I suppose that's how Sargent/other great painters do it, but I was never able to get the hang of it before. I think I want the final piece to look more like that. I'm not a fan of over rendered stuff. 

Day 3. From a google earth street view shot again. I need to do some studies of other landscape painters to get an idea of how to approach environments. The abstract nature of them is fun though, even if I'm shit at it. 

I was so excited for self portrait day, and then I couldn't do one for various reasons. I tried twice, but I'm just gonna have to let it go. I need to learn how to work to a super short deadline, and with major distractions in the background. My 'studio' is in the living room, so I'm at the mercy of whatever's going on behind me. It's real f*ckn pain sometimes. I think it's honestly one of the worst things to try overcome when you're trying to work.

I did this self portrait in anticipation of self portrait day. Wasn't happy with it so turned it into zombie. Happy with it now. I need to work on accuracy, I've become hella lazy. Need to get to life drawing too. 

Day 02/62

Day 02. Water and foliage are the most major areas I need to work on, then values and shapes. 

Tried doing a realistic ootd (outfit of the day). Face is made up, so it's a stylised version of my face. Way harder than I thought it would be, but I'll definitely be trying again. Good practice. 

Less talky, more worky

I need to get better at environments. Going to try do an environment study every day for the rest of the year. Then next year I can start a 365 of trying to come up with my own environment sketches.

Day 01/62.

Study of a still from The Lone Ranger.

Annual Post (ha ha)

Well, I'm shit at updating.
Here's an art dump of some random stuff.

Some studies and then stuff I made for two upcoming cons. One was this past weekend, and the next is Supanova. Bit of a stressful experience, trying to make a bunch of stuff in time. Overall, I think cons aren't for me. It doesn't feel rewarding in the slightest. I don't mind being candid, but I don't want to ramble, this blog is already too wordy. I'll see how Supanova goes, but at this point it's looking like I'd rather spend time on freelance work and gallery work. I'd like to try again with all original work though, but that'll have to be some time next year. So far my best seller is the Catwoman portrait. I had a lot of fun making it, it came together quickest of all the pieces. Experimenting with style, don't think it's quite what I want yet though. 

This year got off to a slow ass start. Looking back, I think I was pretty depressed after coming back from LA. It's taken me this long to recover. It's hard finding the place you feel you belong, and then having to leave. I'll get back there, someday, somehow. It feels like home, except for the shitty coffee (sorry Americans!). One thing I was looking forward to all year, after my Month of Love disaster (too slow, and I couldn't think of anything for the themes), was Month of Fear. Unfortunately, I'm still too slow. I like the topics a whole lot more though, so I'm going to try work through them at my pace. First is 'Secret'.

Made this study sort of thing for it. It's weird as hell making original art. I realised I've been avoiding it like the plague because I was worried about what people would think. But it's time. I just want to make something that matters to me. I have a whole bunch of ideas I want to work on and I'm super excited to start.