Hey everyone, it's time for the last update in April!

There's really no way for me to do a recap this month because this was all about the process, not the individual pieces, so let's just see how this thing turned out!

The only thing that needed a little extra work was the light on the figure, I added some on the back and the side of the face closest to the viewer. It looks pretty good!

Thanks for sticking with me this month, I know it was quite the winding path I took to this point, but I'm grateful that was able to stay the course.

Make sure to check back tomorrow to see what the theme will be for next month!

Hey everyone, it's update time!

I know I mentioned yesterday that I'd be starting color tomorrow, but I just couldn't wait! Have a look.

I've got to tweak it just a bit more, and then it'll be finished, check back tomorrow to see how it turns out!

Hey everyone, it's update time.

This one's gonna be short and sweet. Here's the progress since last night.

It looks like just a teeny bit of face work, but it actually took a bit of time to figure out. I still think the expression needs to be polished just a little further. That's what I'll do tomorrow, then the 30th will be color.

Stop by tomorrow to see the latest!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

So this one might look really subtle, but it actually took a lot of time, check it out.

I cleaned up all of the edges of the figure, and painted the background a bit more. I also softened those edges too, and painted over the wing in the background to help it appear to recede into the picture.

I've only got a couple days to get the design fleshed out completely, I think I'll be saving color for the last day.

That's all for tonight, stop by tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's update time again!

I worked on the face and thing wings a bit more this morning, have a look at how they turned out.

I tried to give the face a bit more dimension, since it's been looking a little flat. I also added detail to the wings to make it look like they're actually covered in feathers, I'll probably work in a little more detail on those in the next update too.

Only four days left to finish, I'm feeling good about keeping everything on schedule, and I know I'm gonna like the way this turns out.

Check back tomorrow for something new.

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

Still working on the same piece, surprising, right? It seems like I've actually come up with something I truly like! Check it out.

Tonight I spent some more time fleshing out the musculature of the character's back, detailing the wings, and I even messed with the background a bit. I'm struggling a little bit with the face, I don't really know where I'm going with it right now. I think it's going to be lit from both sides, since there is quite a bit of brightness on the back, maybe I should use some light that contrasts in color for dramatic effect. All that stuff's still a couple days off, so once I get this to a more finished state I'm sure I'll have a decision on that.

Alright, that's all for now. Check back tomorrow for another update!

Hey everyone, it's update time!

Tonight's update will be a whole lot shorter than last night. Here's how the piece is progressing.

I added a little more detail to the wings and back, and fleshed out the face a bit more. I think I want to keep this image looking kind of sketchy, so I've got to find the right balance between rendering and stylizing.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's update time again!

I want to start off by saying this has been one of the toughest things I've ever done, including this whole "post one piece of art a day" thing I'm doing. I'm a serial doodler, I love to sketch, but I never finish anything.

I took a drawing class this semester that really changed my outlook on my own skill, and the merit of the work of others. I also learned what is probably the most important the lesson ever in that class, be it in an artistic capacity, or otherwise; how to finish something. I've completed every assignment for that class, and even though I've hit rough patches, I've worked through them.

For some reason though, I was beginning to think this was something I wouldn't be able to surmount. I've never taken my own idea to a polished and complete state before, it's easy enough to draw something that's in front of you, but this was a whole other animal.

I tried working on the image I posted last night a little more, so that I could throw it up here and then call it a night, but I just couldn't do that. I feel like I've gotten away with that a lot this month and it was really making me feel disappointed in myself.

After repainting the post from last night four different times I decided enough was enough and started over. I sat looking at my screen for a bit and it just appeared to be like a barren wasteland before me, and it echoed how I felt in my mind. My inspiration was dry, I felt like I had nothing left to give. A few minutes passed and then I looked at the painting I posted last night, that's when it hit me. All this time I've been approaching this in a way that wasn't true to my own style, that's why I've been so frustrated. I was trying to work like other people do, and I don't work like other people! This is how I work!

Above is a video I recorded yesterday while I was finishing my final project for my drawing class, after I had my little epiphany I decided to watch that video again. It solidified that previous thought in my brain as the truth, that I had to treat this the same way I did that drawing, and then I'd be fine. So that's just what I have for you here, take a look.

I'm extremely happy with this sketch, I definitely think that with a couple more days worth of work this will be something I'd be ecstatic to include in my portfolio.

Anyway, that's all for this evening. If you made it through all of that text I salute you!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for something new, thanks for reading everyone!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

Last night I shared the fact that I changed my mind about what I'd be doing, I wasn't going the full body route, I'd just be doing a portrait. Check out what I came up with below.

I like the pose, I may flip it to have the wing showing on the other side, but it's shaping up nicely. I want the hands in the picture because they're actually going to glow and be light sources, I thought that would be kind of interesting.

This is all very rough of course, but I'm gonna get it together and have something awesome to show on the 30th. Check back again for something new tomorrow!

Hey everyone, time for another update!

Let's hit the ground running and have a look with what I came up with.

This image is based on the top left thumbnail from last night's post. I was pretty happy with how it was shaping up at first, but as of right now I'm not so happy with it.

The entire focus here is really the creature (character), there's something about it's face and expression that I can't get out of my head. That's why, at the eleventh hour, I've decided to change my mind. I feel like the only way I'm going to be happy with this is if I capture that expression I saw in my mind and make it real and visible for others to see.

Tomorrow is no more changes, tomorrow is the beginning of this finished piece, stay with me till the end everyone! I feel like I'm finally on the right track.

Hey everyone, it's update time again.

Here they are, the final four thumbnails for my composition, ready to see 'em? Have a look.

I think they've all got some merit, I'm really partial to all of them, that means picking one won't be easy. Tomorrow I'll post which one I've chosen, and a more fleshed out version of it.

Check back again to see which one I pick!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

Alright, here it is, my final creature/character design. Check it out!

I'm pretty much in love with it. I have no idea why it took so long to come out, but here it is! Doing that wing study last night really helped me to get the wing shape right, and though the preliminary designs weren't so great, somehow they all lead me here. I'm very thankful for that fact. The armor sprang up thanks to a few fancy scribbles, I was originally inspired by African jewelry, but this ended up with a sort of Indonesian look to it - which I really like!

Now that this is finally completed, I can begin work on what will become my finished original digital painting.

Look forward to a new update tomorrow!

Hey everyone, time for another post!

So yeah, I'm feeling a little burnt out right now, today was not a day for a completed creature concept. Kinda disappointed, I don't know why I'm having trouble with this right now, but I'm just feeling sort of uninspired. I also think it has a lot to do with me not really knowing where to go from here, or maybe it's just that I know where I'm going, but it's not easy so I'm getting discouraged. It really does take a great deal of thought to put something like this together, and I suppose that's a realization I'm happy I made. Every day I draw something I'm learning, even if it's not good, or even if the process is difficult.

Anyway, I did actually do something, though it wasn't what I planned to do. I did try to jump headlong into completing my creature design, and I realized I still didn't have a good grasp of wing anatomy. Here's a quick study I did to try to understand them a bit more.

There ya have it! Drawing a wing correctly's kinda important when you're drawing a bird-like creature, right?

Check back tomorrow for something new! I'm not making any promises as to what it will be because I don't currently think I can keep them! 

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

I'd like to start by saying that I should have taken my own advice yesterday and worked on my character design. Unfortunately I didn't do that, for whatever reason it was impossible for me to get in the zone today. I did do another concept sketch for the final layout of the piece though, take a look.

It's not too bad, though I'm not super happy with the pose. I've still got to figure out the wings, I don't think I've got a great understanding of how they work just yet.

Tomorrow I will definitely have a finished design to post, even if it (almost) kills me, so check back for that!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

Here are a couple more environmental studies.

I tried to focus on rendering some rocks tonight, I really like the formation on the bottom left, I think I'll be incorporating something like that into the final composition.

I should hopefully have a good amount of free time tomorrow, so I really want to focus on actually finishing my character design. That's the only thing that's really holding this whole process up. We're halfway through the month already, so if I can get my design finished quickly I'll have more time to render the final piece.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow, have a good night!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

Last night I mentioned that I should probably be trying to stick to my schedule, so here you are, have some environmental studies!

I just Googled "great plains" and got a couple of cool images to work from, and that was the result. I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out. I'll probably do a few more tomorrow and see if I can squeeze in some character design work to post at a later date.

That's all for tonight, check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

Here's a my current progress for the creature I'm designing, check it out.

It's not too bad, came out lookin' alright. I'm still not sure if I want him to have feathers, maybe I'll go with a more bat-wing like design? I don't want it to look demonic though, I want him too look otherworldly, but not straight up evil. Guess that's something I'll continue to wrestle with until I get this completed.

Today was supposed to be my final day for character designing, but I don't know that it really will be. I'm tempted to just start my finished piece and see how it all goes, but I know that's really not a good idea. I don't really think doing any environmental studies will be exactly essential for me to do what I want, because I can always just look up references and paint from those while working on the final piece.

I suppose I'll just continue this whole thing while still flying by the seat of my pants, make sure to check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, time for another update!

Yesterday I talked about doing some studies and posting them, well here's one of those for ya!

So yeah, that's a chicken, and I drew it. Uhm, this one was pretty weird, but enlightening! For some reason there's next to no useful photo reference on the internet for bird anatomy from the front, which seems completely implausible to me, but is apparently true. The only good reference material I could find was on some website where someone went through the steps of dissecting a chicken they bought from the grocery store!

As strange as this was, it did end up shedding some light on how I'd have to construct my creatures' torso, so I'm happy about that. It was still pretty odd that I had to look at a picked-apart chicken carcass to do this though!

That's all for tonight, expect tomorrow's update to be a little less breast-less (I think).

Hey everyone, it's update time!

Today was a day I did a lot of thinking, so though I don't have something all that impressive to share, I'll post what I've got and explain a bit about it. Have a look.

You may notice this looks a lot like what I shared in my post on the 7th, that's because it has been tweaked a little bit because I wanted to try a different design idea, hooray for working with PSD files!

I decided that giving my creature wings and human arms was something that has been done a million times before, so I thought to look for more inspiration from bird anatomy to try and do something new.

The drawing up there is a preliminary sketch to help me incorporate a bird torso into a human body. Though this is a fantasy image I want it to be grounded somewhere in reality, and the completely glossed-over issue of bird-people anatomy was too glaring for me to ignore. This was abundantly clear after looking over some avian anatomy references I found on Google.

I'm going to try to get a couple studies done tomorrow, then post those either all at once or over the course of the week. This project has changed a whole lot since it started, and I've actually scrapped a few things I've done already simply because they weren't working.

I really think the longest part of the process is going to be getting this creature right, so though it's been slow going I know it's gonna be worth it in the end.

Check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's update time!

Tonight was filled with procrastination, I hemmed and hawed over what I should do, and then I just sketched. This is what I came up with!

I think it looks pretty awesome! Again, I know I really need to finish my character design before I can move further, but this was definitely a fun distraction that got my creative juices flowing. Doing all of those master studies really helped me to learn how to produce a good composition, I feel like the contrast in this image makes the creature really stand out, and that's exactly what I'm trying to do!

Hopefully I'll have a good chunk of time tomorrow that I can set aside for character designing purposes, I don't know if that'll go as planned though! Guess I'll just see.

Check back again tomorrow for another post!

Hey everyone, it's time for an update!

Yesterday I talked about wanting to produce a more refined version of my original concept sketch, and that's exactly what I did, have a look!

I'm really happy with the way this one turned out! It's got a sleek avian look, and you can definitely see how it relates to the original sketch! Hooray for small victories, this was sort of a roundabout thing, but I like where I ended up. Even if it was kinda back where I started!

I'll go on the record here with the fact that I have no idea what I'm going to post tomorrow, I feel like I'm excited to just start working on this thing. I think I've got to nail down the fine details of this guy first though, because he's going to be the main focus of the image.

Check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey everyone, it's update time!

After last nights post I decided to give my creature's facial design another go, here's the result.

I think it's a bit better, it certainly doesn't look like someone wearing a festive feathery mask like yesterday's, so that's good. I tried to make the eyes a bit larger to echo back to the owl study I did, and I think that's okay. I feel like the look overall is a little bit too cartoon like, so I definitely don't feel like this is the final design.

I feel like I'm trying to reinvent the wheel at this point, tomorrow I want to take my original sketch and work directly from it. I don't want to try anything different, I don't want to change anything too drastically, I just want refine it as best as I can.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see how that goes, have a good night!

Hey everyone, it's time for another update!

I mentioned last night I'd be working on my creature a bit more today, and that's exactly what I did. This is a sketch I started on my iPad then worked on a bit in Photoshop, have a look.

It's, uh, I don't like it. But that's not a bad thing! While I was working on this I had a whole bunch of references up, thinking about what sort of things I wanted to incorporate into the design, and I got lost along the way. I think the best part about working this way (actually thinking everything through before I jump into a finished piece) is that I can see why I don't like something, versus just feeling like my drawing is "bad" and wanting to set it on fire. 'Cause the whole 'setting it on fire' thing is usually how I'll feel.

Here's a close up of the face on the original concept sketch I got this whole idea from.

Way different from the image above this one, and I think a lot more unique. I think I was so focused on working from my studies that I forgot the importance of my original sketch. The drawing up top is simply too derivative, and that's why it doesn't work. What I now know I need to focus on is the nuances of avian anatomy, and make sure that's incorporated into the final piece. If I succeed in doing that, then it will still read as a bird without looking like it's Hawkman and Big Bird's love-child (which is kinda what's happening at the top of this post).

So that's all for today, check back tomorrow for something new! 

Hey everyone, it's update time!

After doing some thumbnails yesterday I decided it might be fun to work on some creature design. It's a super basic silhouette, but here it is!

I doodled this on my iPad at work, I think it came out looking pretty cool. I definitely wanted to work the talons into the design somewhere, and they look great on the feet. I also moved one of the toes back to match the feet I drew in the study a few days back.

I'll have the design for the creature finalized sometime soon, so look forward to more updates!

Hey everyone, here's a new update!

I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to do some thumbnail sketches to help pin down the pose I wanted my creature in, well that's exactly what I did today, have a look!

My favorite is the one in the center, I think it's got a very dancerly look to it. I wanted to make sure that no part of the creature was obscured by any other, which was the mistake I made in the thumbnail on the top right. Being conscious of the silhouette of the creature will help the overall image, and it'll make it a lot more easily understandable for the viewer, and that's ultimately what it's all about.

I think tomorrow I'll be working on the creature design a bit more, so I should have something cool to show you then. Have a good night!

Hey everyone, it's update time again!

I know I posted yesterday that there were strict guidelines I was going to adhere to that would enable me to finish this piece on time, but I feel like that completely killed my mojo somehow. I just couldn't get into it today, I think that's because I tried to dictate how all of this was going to go, and apparently I subconsciously had a pretty big problem with that. I'm not really sure how I work just yet, so putting up walls around myself was a bad idea - I'm seeing that now. I'm just going to do my best to create a finished work by the end of the month, and let the process happen as organically as possible.

I was thinking today about some pictures I took last weekend, and one of them jumped out at me as a good reference for this painting, have a look!

Pelicans might not be the most majestic of birds, but I love the look of the wings and feet of this one while it was making a landing. That got me thinking about the pose my creature would be in, and since I have the animal reference here to work from, I wanted a human one to look at as well. I quickly found myself Googling ballet dancers to find what I needed, and I stumbled upon a picture that I did a quick study from.

I think both the photo and my study have a similar grace and power to them, so I'm definitely going to try to bring that into the final composition.

I did another loose sketch of what the image might look like, take a look below.

I think it's alright, I elongated the wings to add a little extra drama, but I think the composition's a little too plain. I'd definitely like to change the angle of view in the final image so that it's not dead-on the subject, that'll help make the image more interesting. I'd love to position the viewer slightly above too, but I don't really know that I'd be able to pull that off! It's worth trying when I do a couple of thumbnails though.

That's all for tonight, check back tomorrow for something new! 

Hey everyone, it's time for an update!

Today's subject is a bit different from the last two days, it's a person! I really like the dark complexion of the creature I drew in the concept sketch, so that inspired me to collect some reference images of Djimon Hounsou, he has the most beautiful features and skin! Here's a quick study I did from one of the photos I found online.

I really want to try and capture that powerful look he has in his posture, but soften the expression to look a bit kinder and incorporate that into the finished creature pose. This study was really fun to do!

Before I end this post tonight, I want to share the timeline I'll be using to keep myself on track for this painting. I mentioned that in an earlier update so I wanted to make sure I followed through! Here's how it's all gonna go.

1. 4/7 - Studies Complete
2. 4/14 - Character Design Complete
3. 4/18 - Environment Studies Complete
4. 4/21 - Thumbnails & Final Composition Complete
5. 4/30 - Final Piece Complete

There you have it, five easy steps! Look forward to another post tomorrow, enjoy what's left of your Saturday evening! 

Hey everyone, here is today's update!

Yesterday it was bird talons, today it's a bird portrait (an owl portrait to be exact), check him out!

Isn't he cute!? I love owls, they're my absolute favorite bird. I think the brow and eye of the creature I'm designing are going to be very heavily influenced by this guy here.

Well, that's all for tonight, don't miss my next study tomorrow!

Hey everyone, time for today's update!

For the next few days I plan on posting studies I've done that will help me to design the final image. Since my character has a decidedly avian look I sketched some bird talons today, check 'em out!

I know I want to combine the look of these talons with human hands, so I drew these to help me get an idea of what they look like.

I'm hoping to figure out how I want to arrange deadlines for each individual part of this piece, so I can make sure I finish on time. I'm thinking I should have it all planned on Saturday, so I'll update that post with dates and goals when I get that all figured out.

Check back tomorrow for something new!

Hey there everyone! It's a new month, so it's time for a new theme!

One of my very good friends tagged me in a post on Facebook a few days back, she made a lovely piece of digital art that she titled "Dreamscape," and invited all of her friends to share with her some art of their own art. In that vein, I've decided to take this month to create a piece of digital art inspired by what she did.

I'm going to create a character, design a setting to place that character in, and create a fully realized digital artwork that could be found within my friend's "Dreamscape." I'm so excited about this!

I did a quick concept sketch in Photoshop for the character I'm going to develop for this painting, take a look!

It's rough since it is a concept, but I was thinking about a being that was avian in nature, and somewhat of a guardian for the "Dreamscape" my friend created.

There you have it! I've got twenty nine days to create a complete digital painting of an original concept I'm creating based in a world my friend thought up! Pretty exciting right? Make sure to check back for more updates! This is going to be an awesome month!