A step back to take another forward.

I've eaten some tasty humble pie lately.

I'm looking to refine my work towards something a bit more character based.

Below is a painting I did recently. It's clear how I'm improving with each effort. I'm really happy about this and soon I'll be updating here with the work I'll be doing for Andrew Hou's schoolism course: http://schoolism.com/school.php?id=2 !!

First Crit = Thumbs!

So I received my first crit on CArt.org. They said the pose was boring and I should go back to thumbnailing like Lyno did. I took them up and did just that, below is what I came up with. No feedback tho, so I'm gonna have to solo this one it seems.

Second Sketch

Doing a little more shape forming and anatomy. I'm thinking the figure should be more centred... Hmmmm.

Project MTG

I took a random Innistrad card and now i'm doing it over, attempting to up my ante in painting.

Here's the first sketch of Wayne (bows down) Reynold's 'Hamlet Captain'.

The Woman. SHE IS COMPLETED! ]-8D

I think it's fair to say she turned out a LOT more WoWish than I expected.

In anycase it's been a long journey of self discovery and personal artistic triumph. I can't wait to start the next piece! :)

Getting somewhere.

Found some more time to work on this piece today. After much testing I realised pale skinned was the way to go. Not only does it sell 'elf' but it also give a natural glow to the skin that red hues alone can't deliver. I should maybe study pale skin subjects after this. Or maybe a whole lot of different types.

I really love the digital medium. The ability to make changes or multiple copies, or move something over there... it's just amazing.

I'm really enjoying this piece and perhaps it's beginning to show!

Update!

Decided to stick in the jewelry. The hair is all over the place, but I think i'll get there. I'm hoping to render more fantastical elements at the end, but I realise I need to flatten some layers soon and do some overpainting!

Coming along

Update on the cheekah.

All hail liquify!

Amazing the mistakes you can see in a thumnail!

Okay so things are coming along.

I've found some time to do more personal stuff. REALLY trying to bust into my painting.

I've really struggled painting faces, so that's the first thing I'm tackling atm. I found some nice stock art of a beautiful elf. I'm gonna do this and make it fun :)

It's ALIVE!!

The beast... SHE IS COMPLETED!

Chuffed. Never give up, chin up, never surrender, aim for the sky, or in this case... PAINT THE DAMN THING!! :D

17 WIPs and a painting later!

Yeah I worked hard on this.

I'm really surprised with the result, it came out as utopian as I imagined it.

Whip in Progress

Today I refined the buildings more and setup some waterfalls coming out of the base of the 'island'

I added some more clouds but I'm not sure.

My work has a long way to go, but I can't expect to be amazing overnight now can I! :P

I decided (obviously) to make the large island the centre of attention. I've also been working hard getting the buildings to look right (struggling tons).

I've started dropping colour and adding a few layers of clouds as guides for later.

Break Through

I do believe I made a break through today. I added more textures via brushes and then did direct painting over it to pick out the details.

I'm a little worried about my composition right now.

Crack 3

Not much to say, still rendering out. Gonna jump in with rock detail next, or maybe start fleshing out the buildings more?

Skyscape WIP 2

I'm REALLY REALLY struggling with getting this rock to appear. I've decided after much struggle, to go for large shapes and then break them down bit by bit.

Things are still pretty rought atm, but I really need to nail this part as it's very important to the overall piece!

Skyscape WIP

I've decided to give a shot at the new ConceptWorld competition entitled

"Vibrant Sky-Scape"

Below is my first WIP

Sheldon Borenstein is a GOD

His book is gold for drawing the human figure especially women! I'm learning like MAD. I would recommend him over even life drawing classes, there is nothing like it!

I did it!

My first real concept painting finished!

It was hard. It took long. Too long, but that's okay, it was my first time. I realise now the importance of really making an accurate sketch. You can only polish so much before you run into problems that take ages to fix.

I'm proud of this, and I'm proud of myself. Totally DIDN'T intend for her to look asian :P

Hard work over.

It's almost done, just need to add the colours.

The really tough part in finishing up this far has been battling my own self doubt and facing the real pressures of someone telling me I'm no good.

I can do anything. Won't be long now :)

God made the liquify tool for me.

I really came through today, despite so many things changing in my daily routine.

I managed to remove (hopefully most of it) the chipmunk cheek problem and started detailing her upper torso.

I really moved things around until I was happy with the overall balance of the image.

More Updates

Got my Wacom Intuos 4 JOY!!! :D

Le Capi TON! Part 2

Collapsing layers and working more flat has really helped me break away from rigidly painting layer by layer. It also helps me focus on the entirety of the painting.

2D Struggle

I'm painting my first 2D character in Photoshop.

It's my first time not relying on lines to guide my process.

I've never struggled so hard with my art as now.

I can only improve. THANK GOD for that! :)

No.2

The first.

This is it. This is my humble start to something I hope will grow and inspire those that come after. That is my goal, to prove that keeping a record of your progress can result in the most amazing acheivements.