From Scratch 001

The armor is not exactly what I had in mind, so I'm still looking at references. There are lots of historical armor and fictional that I have to sort, plus I want it to look "in-character". From the pencil sketches, which I will scan and post, I'm falling in love with the metal workers and craftsman who have made such intricately detailed ceremonial and battle armor that kings and knights have donned through the ages. There are cultural styles that need to be incorporated so it's really a slow process.

[ To view the complete post click the title or just click the image for a bigger view ]

This project was supposed to be a commercial one, but that is going nowhere so, I'm making this my own. Makes staying at home enjoyable.

For purposes of sharing this with others who might want to know:

PsD is A3 = 27.9cm x 43.2cm [11in x 17in] @ 240dpi

(or you could jack it up to 300dpi for print)

Since uploading for web viewing means you have to shave off some pixels, I usually process by using the Save-For-Web on the tools menu. The image is now @ 72dpi.

Coloring 001

I was sketching characters for a band I heard -  The Roxymorrons - and was really trying to get that feel to it. But after 6 revisions I stopped and decided to practice my coloring using brush presets on Photoshop (natural brushes 1 & 2) with my Flex WSeries graphics tablet. Being a painting noob that I am, this has become another "track my progress" thing. 

Still have a lot to get used to.

But since I have nothing better to do than wrack my brains for ideas on the character designs, might as well clear the head with coloring this very old work. This pairs with the blue angel several posts ago. But I will have to finish this in a different way. A bit more refined. A contrast to the blocky illustration, but it's where the fun is.

On a different note, if you happen to see The Roxymorrons on the bill. look at the skinny, tall guy with the baby face and Jedi hair - that's Paul Bernardo - I work with him, and in addition to wielding mean guitar licks, he's a very good 3D artist.

Sketch A Day 206

Sabinah will have to rest for a while. Not only do I need to write a back story for her, I really need to do some moneymaking gig. We all need a little extra source to get through this life. But that doesn't mean she'll be gone for long. She's really a support character for Chicken Wings, one of my own stories.

Sketch A Day 205

These blog posts may have to take a step back.

Because I'm doing this:

which, may take most of my time when I'm here at home.

Excited of this project because:

1. I get to do what I've always wanted - a complete portrait of a character.

2. This will have to be finished in color and effects.

3. I'm a sucker for elementals. With nice looking buns.

Sketch A Day 203

Some more details are going to have to be added before I proceed with refining the lines, along with searching for the right references with jewelry, clothing, etc.

Drawing and illustrating is a constant learning process, at least for me. I often need my details to be from real things. A car needs to look look like a car, not just a box with wheels. The first Sketch A day series was just me getting the hang of using a tablet and the brush presets with Photoshop. This time, it's really the grunt work, nit-picking details,  anatomical liberties, shadows and all those things an artist considers before getting down with the final phase.

Sketch A Day 202

Some clothing catalogue can be very handy for reference with sketching the clothes. And then there's the environment to think of, the stuff she throws around, and boy am I so into this right now, my CD player is set up to play Joe Satriani's music to get me going.

Sketch A Day 201

Looks like the ol' mojo is back. Let's see what this turns out.

Made some adjustments with my tablet. Before, I attached it to a piece of rubber mat, but a friend pointed out the pen is hard to control. My fault, I was thinking of having something to absorb shock. So I took the rubber bottom out, and taped it to my table, where I do stuff. It does feel more responsive now.

See? Old dogs can learn from young ones. Thanks to Paul Bernardo for that piece of observation.