So one of my goals last year was to put together a portfolio I wouldn't be shy to show to people and actually advertise. I completed that goal, and I've continued to make new portfolio pieces this year as well (though pregnancy has slowed that down somewhat.) I like what I have in my portfolio. But the entire thing is done completely in Illustrator, and while I love the textures and happy accidents I've been able to incorporate into such a digital-looking program, I feel like I'm really leaning on what is familiar. That isn't a bad thing, but I really want to get another set of quality images created--using Photoshop rather than Illustrator. That is the goal for this year. (And maybe next year, seeing as how the other goal for this year is to birth a baby and, you know, keep it alive and not go crazy.) Awhile back the extremely popular digital artist Loish ran a kickstarter campaign which I supported. One of the rewards I received for backing was a video tutorial showing her process of painting a character in Photoshop. I watched it and felt that I really got a lot out of it. I especially liked the way her color scheme is kind of found organically through the process of painting, by using different color tools at various points in the process. So I decided to do a quick character painting in Photoshop to try out some of her methods. Digital painting is still something I'm really insecure in, but I believe that some of Loish's tricks and methods are definitely going to find their way into my digital painting process. I especially love how she uses an unusual color for her drawing lines and uses that to choose colors she adds later. Her colorful outlines make me think of a Wayne Thiebaud painting, whose work I also love. This only represents a few hours of work and I certainly don't feel like it is portfolio quality yet. However I feel like it was a great learning piece and it was a great opportunity to try out Loish's technique. I'm so glad I supported her kickstarter campaign! Since I was in unfamiliar Photoshop territory, I went for a familiar character. I have no idea how many times I've drawn Attolia, but she has kind of become a default for me. I imagine this as being from a specific scene in The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. If you can guess which one you get a gold star ;-)
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One of my favorite classes I took as an Illustration major was Head Painting, taught by Chris Thornock. Its funny though, because I never thought I'd really love portrait painting, mostly because I always struggled to get a good likeness when I draw.
Well, painting and drawing are not the same. I feel like paint is more fluid (well, physically, but I also mean in how I use it) and that its easier for me to think in shapes instead of lines. I found that, working in paint, I could get a good likeness as often as not. And that portrait painting was actually, you know... fun. Who knew? I want to get back into the habit of portrait painting, because it's been awhile and I know I'm losing alot of the skills and habits I developed. Thats why I did that painting of Richard a couple weeks ago. I need to get back to that. I just grabbed a bunch of random photos I took of work from that class. In no particular order: I think I'll still come back to refine this picture more, but here is how it looks so far. Day 1: Day 2: Yes, I did wipe it all off and start over. Day 3: |
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