A Break, Not Broken

Hey everyone, I don't have any art for you this evening but I do want to discuss my plans for the future of this blog.

I've posted a lot of artwork here, I've made a ton of discoveries through the work I've done, and it has been really fun! I also feel like that it has become a habit that's starting to be unproductive. Instead of focusing on the work I need to be doing to get better, I've condemned myself to throwing up a post here each day and calling it progress.

I know I mentioned before that I wanted to start doing something different, and I think that "something different" is going to be taking a step back for a bit. I'm not giving up on this blog, but I need to reevaluate my approach to improving as an artist.

This might be my last post for awhile, or it might be my last post for the next few days. I just want to make sure that I really start putting more work in so that I can get better, and if I've got something to share you'll be able to find it here!

Thanks for sticking with me, I'm sure I'll see you all soon!

Rats, er, mice!

Last night I decided I was going to do something different, and tonight I did just that! While these aren't the most impressive things I've ever drawn, they were fun! Check it out.

I drew the sketch at the top right first, but I couldn't quite use my tablet to create lines that looked the way I wanted, so I decided to switch it up. The next mouse I drew was the one on the center-left. Instead of working from a line drawing I decided to block in the mouses' shape first with a medium grey. I then added in some darker tones to help define its body a bit better, at that point I decided to start again because its pose wasn't really working for me. My final doodle was the largest mouse in the image. I followed the same steps that I used on the second mouse, but added more in the way of value and detail. This was a fun little exercise that helped me to develop a plan of attack for digital studies. It also made me realize my digital sketching technique could use some work. Guess I'll have to figure out some drills I can do to improve!

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

A Beautiful Failure

Last evening I started the painting I'll be sharing with you now, but about halfway into the process I began listening to something titled "Why Your Drawings Suck" on YouTube. Let me just say that it was more than illuminating. Before I get into the details though, I'm going to let you see the image I was working on. Check it out!

In the interest of full disclosure I did kind of give up on this about three quarters of the way through, but there's a reason behind that! And that reason is; this sucks. It sucks. This is sucky art. I don't expect everyone that might be reading this also has the time to watch a twenty six minute long video, so let me summarize it to qualify my previous statement. The artist that created that video listed several factors that contribute to "art that sucks," I'm gonna put those below.

• Line Dependency
• Lack of References
• Technique
• Confidence
• Not Drawing Enough
• Community

Now, let me go ahead and use these bullet points to tell you why this piece sucks. I didn't use any references, I haven't been drawing enough, and I have no real community around me to critique my work. I think I can say with confidence that I have some confidence in my ability (technique), and I've never used lines as a crutch, so that checks three out of six off that list. I feel like I'd be in a much worse situation if I were struggling in other areas, so if these are the problems I have, I'm not to bummed about it.

It's really kind of crazy but I included this in my blog yesterday, and this was before I started listening to that video, "It's impossible to draw what you imagine to if you can't realize what's in front of you". That's my problem in a nutshell, and listening to Istebrak (the creator of that video) confirmed that for me. I really need to start doing more studies, use references when I have a solid concept that I want to realize, and get involved with more artists.

I find it easy for me to forget that when you're at a computer you have access to almost all of the information in the world, along with the people that share it. I so frequently use it to browse the same websites, talk to the same people through social media, and do the same stuff! For that reason I think it's time to do something different, to start being really serious about turning my passion into a career. So that's what I intend to do.

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

Study, study, study

Sometimes it's nice to take a break from drawing imaginatively and draw from life! That's just what I did today, take a look!

To be fair, only one of these things was actually drawn from life (the sketch on the left), but it was a fun exercise! The drawing on the right side of the page was done from a picture I found of a pomegranate online. They're really a very beautiful fruit, I can see why they wound up in old masters' paintings. I used to think drawings like these were pointless, but now I realize the value of them. It's impossible to draw what you imagine to if you can't realize what's in front of you!

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

どうもありがとう!

I was lucky enough to have some down-time at work today so I thought I'd use that to my advantage and start on my post for tonight. Here's how it turned out!

It's some kind of robot! Neat, right? I created this on my iPad in about an hour and had a lot of fun doing so! I must admit that I've been feeling a bit burnt-out lately, so I haven't been able to put a ton of effort into my art. I'll still be posting every day though, I'd be crazy to ruin a more than year long streak!

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

Daren't Disparage Doodles

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Triple D! No, wait, that's not right. I drew something, you should totally look at it.

So I just started scribbling in some orange on a grey background and out popped this! It kind of looks like a Jawa from Star Wars which is totally cool with me. Last night's piece got me interested in playing around with color a bit, so that's why I went with some warmer tones here.

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

Blue

I didn't get around to painting today, but I did create a fun portrait in Photoshop, check it out!

I wanted to use some analogous colors in this piece and I think doing so made it a little more interesting. I don't draw a lot of faces, so I thought this might be some good practice!

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

Real Paint

Today I got to sit down with a good friend, put a real paintbrush to canvas, and paint! It was a lot of fun. While what I worked on isn't finished yet, I wanted to share with you what work I did, check it out!

It might not look like too much at the moment, but I think it's coming along nicely. I was inspired to paint a scene I captured in a photograph earlier this week, and that's the beginnings of it above! I'll be sharing that photo once I post the finished piece, I think it'll be a little more fun that way! 

Here's another look at my painting along with the palette I mixed my colors on.

As a quick note, I was really surprised at how dark the paint dried! These pictures were taken just a few moments apart but the painting actually ended up drying a little bit darker than it looks in the second photo! I felt this was worth mentioning because it's something I'm definitely going be mindful of when mixing colors in the future.

This was a really enjoyable change from what I've been doing lately, and I hope to paint a bit more tomorrow. Make sure to stop by then!

What is this? I don't even!

Hello! It's about to get very weird up in here, check it out!

Sometimes you draw things and go, "wow, this is cool!". Other times you draw things and say, "what the hell is that!?", this is one of those times. Uhm, yeah. So he's some kind of DeVito-esque creature with boxing gloves for hands and an unfortunate taste in swimwear and hairstyles. I really don't know how this happened, but it did, so it's here.

That's all for this post, stop by for something new tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be less unnerving.

Grey Gardens

I must confess I've been feeling a little artistically challenged these last few days. I've got time, resources, and space to create, but it's just not really happening. I keep starting pieces and then abandoning them for some reason. I've got two such images to share with you this evening, take a look.

This character, and his location for that matter, are pretty reminiscent of what I already created here. Looking at this critically now I'm realizing a small part of why I've been frustrated with my work lately. I keep forgetting about the story! I'm not asking important questions like, "who is this character?", "what is he doing there?", "what is he looking at?", and so on. I feel like I'm drawing for the sake of it, which is definitely not my goal. If anything it's counterproductive! Here's another sketch I started this evening.

I think there's a lot more going on here as far as story goes, but I feel like I needed to develop this character's story further before I tried to convey it in a drawing.

I don't really know what the future holds for this blog at the moment. Last year it was a way for me to draw more, and to commit to improving, but I feel like my art's kind of stagnating right now. I don't know if I'm wrestling with artists block or what, but I feel like I've got to do something different.

Maybe I need a break?

Sthrowback Sunday

I've started a lot of cool pieces this year, but I haven't actually finished any but one. In light of that fact I decided to work a little more on something I've shared here previously, check it out!

I posted the beginnings of this back on January 20th, but I haven't gotten to work on it since. I think it's turning out really nicely! I wanted the robot to look a little goofy, and I think his face matches that description nicely, haha! I was also able to add a little more detail into the foreground, background, and sky. One finishing touch I added was to brighten the image up overall through a levels adjustment layer in Photoshop. I did this because while the original image looked nice on my computer monitor, I viewed it on another computer screen and found it to be a bit too dark. Making that adjustment also added a little more contrast into the image, which is always a good thing!

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

Baby Steps

Hey everyone, got another late night update for ya! Take a look!

You might remember this from it's original post here. I felt like it needed a little more love so I worked on it a bit more tonight. It's not a huge jump in progress, but I think it's looking pretty good. I've still got some more work ahead of me here, so check back for more sometime soon!

That's all for this post, see you tomorrow!

Negative Mojo

I was so excited to leave work today and create some cool new art, unfortunately that proved a bit more difficult than I had initially anticipated. After working on a total of four new pieces that I couldn't even bring myself to post here, I decided to go back and work on something I had already started. And here it is!

This piece was originally posted on January 27th, but I haven't worked on it since. Tonight I added a bit more detail into the lower back and legs. It was mostly just smoothing out the transitions between colors. The hardest part I have ahead of me will be getting the musculature in the upper back, arms, and lower legs completely rendered. That's going to require some references, so I'll be saving that work for another night!

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

Golden

So I think I'm having a moment with the color yellow right now, I'm kind of in love with it. Here's what I've got for ya!

The warmth of the yellow shinning through everything that's on top is just so beautiful! I began this piece by sketching with a warm brown color. It seemed to really work with the golden yellow so I didn't end up using any black in this piece, just a medium brown. I might give this painting style and color palette another go sometime since this turned out so nicely!

Well, that's all for this post. Check back tomorrow for something new!

Mermaid Alien Realness

I think that's a pretty self explanatory title, right? Let's see how this turned out!

I think she's really pretty! Granted she has giant iris-less eyes and extremely wide lips, but that's because I didn't want her to appear very human. I think the colors turned out nicely, there's a good balance between warm and cool tones in the piece. I can't wait to spend some more time on this and finish it up!

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

Beware of the Shrubbery

For some reason I thought drawing a plant woman with vines for arms sounded cool, so that's what I tried to do. Check it out!

It's okay looking, but I just couldn't quite get her face right. The color's rather odd and I didn't define her features all that well. Since I couldn't figure out what I wanted her to look like I thought trying to create a character sketch might help, so here's how that turned out.

I think the concept here is pretty cool, but she definitely looks like she belongs in water and not above ground. Creepy seaweed women are interesting too though, haha! Obviously both of these need a lot more work, but I sadly didn't have time for that today.

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

Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)

I worked really hard on my art today, I gave it my all, and I think all I managed to do was polish a turd. And here it is!

To be fair, I think my feelings need a bit of backstory. I finally watched Evangelion 3.33 yesterday, and I kind of didn't like it. I might have actually hated it, which is saying something because I'm a pretty big fan of the series. The color palette and imagery were pretty fresh in my mind though, so I wanted to paint something reminiscent of the movie, and this is what I came with. It's alright I guess, and that's about all I can say.

Check back tomorrow for something new, see you then!

Quickie

Hey everyone, got something new for ya! Check it out!

I wanted to make something a little dark and grungy looking, and I think I achieved that here. I kept the palette a bit muted to help the mood.

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

The flame's still burning

I didn't have too much time this evening to come up with something new, so I thought I'd revisit something I liked that deserved a bit more work. Take a look!

It's not a huge jump in progress from where I last left off, but I think it's shaping up nicely. I really like the detail in the head-branches. Adding that charred texture, along with the glow of the wood burning from within, really turned out great! I also brightened up the flames in the background to add some more contrast to the image.

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

And Now for Something Completely Different

I've been kind of all over the map stylistically this month, and it's only the fifth! I suppose that's not a bad thing though. I did a doodle at work today that turned into something really cool, so I decided to finish it up in Photoshop. Check it out!

It's a little strange, I know, but I think it's pretty awesome! I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on it, but I'm mostly happy with how it came out. The majority of the image's visual punch comes from the sampled textures overlaid on top of my paint-work. And that's something I'm not super excited about, obvious photo-textures are a digital-art pet peeve of mine. At the very least the textures I used were taken by me, so that's good I guess. Hooray for not violating the intellectual property of other artists! Another nitpick I have is with the character, he's a pretty cool looking dude, but he's a little to dark in value to be appreciated. So that's something to work on another time. This is another cool character I'd like to revisit, so keep your eyes peeled for him again!

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

Bad Grandma

Story time! I'm currently working as a customer service representative in a call center. I help people order products on the telephone, and I also help them with issues they might have with products they've ordered. Today I encountered an older woman that wanted to ask me when the handbag she purchased might be arriving. I let her know she should be receiving it in a day or so and she was delighted! Without skipping a beat she told me that she was really excited to get the bag because "it'll be perfect for me to carry my firearm in!". I kept the conversation light as I helped her with a few more things, then we parted ways. I couldn't help but let my imagination wander a bit after I spoke with her, because what she shared was so out of left field, and it made me think of what she might be like in person. So that's what I've created for you tonight! Check it out!

I can't look at this without chuckling, it's kind of amazing. It's obviously a bit of a caricature, and I turned her into a vigilante of sorts (that's what was floating in my mind while painting), but it's totally awesome! She's constructed like a cartoon character, just a bunch of really simple shapes, but she's painted in a realistic style. I think that ended up giving her a really cool look. This piece was a lot of fun to do, and I think I created a character I'd like to explore a little more. Who knows, she might end up in a comic!

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

Cold shoulder - I mean hand

I came up with what I thought was a super cool idea while I was at work today and sketched it out. This is the digital version, check it out!

It's, uhm, okay. I really wanted the hand to look kind of frozen and cold, but I think the colors aren't really helping. Maybe I need to add some white in there? Perhaps a little snow flurry in the background? It needs some work, but that'll be for another night!

That's all for this post, check back tomorrow!

You Can (Not) Redo

Today marks the Blu-ray release of the newest movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series! Since I'm a huge fan I decided a little fan-art was in order. Check it out!

Evangelion has always been a huge inspiration to me artistically, the mechanical design in the series has always blown me away. If you're familiar with the show you'll see I didn't draw any one of the Eva Units in particular, it was just sort of Eva inspired. This was a really fun little piece to work on, and I'm so excited to see the new movie! That's gonna wait 'till the weekend though, I'll be watching the first two films with friends, then we'll all be seeing the new movie for the first time!

Thought I'd include a process gif to show you how it came together, have a look!

Well, that's all for this post! Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for something new!

Throwback

I finished last month strong, and I planned on starting off this month just the same way. This piece packs a real punch, check it out!

This is definitely one of the most action-packed images I've ever created, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out! I've got a bit more work to put in before I call it finished, but it's looking seriously good already. I got to looking at some of Frank Frazetta's art recently, and that ever so slightly influenced my last post. This piece references the themes in his work pretty heavily though, haha! There are worse things one could do than to channel the prolific talent that was Frazetta, so I suppose I'm doing alright.

That's all for this post, hopefully I can keep on impressing (if that's indeed what I'm already doing). Stop by tomorrow for something new!