Told y’all it was back to digital! I am entering a monthly contest they have in one of the groups on DeviantArt, so I need to get hopping on this image. Wish me luck!
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Tag Archives: photoshop
Centrifugal emo
My life is starting to settle down finally. A little art seemed to be in order, so I kicked out a political piece. Because I’d definitely vote for Cap!
All of my paying work is out the door. I’m so happy! Weels have gone by. I am going to have to change my contracts though. Most people don’t want me to display the art anywhere because it’s private. That’s cool, but I think I’m going to get out of the business of hiding my best pieces. I need to, at the very least, be able to display them in my portfolio!
TGIM
Ok, deep breath.
Hey guys! It’s going to be an awesome week for me. I took up the challenge of creating a color image with multiple themes. Since I haven’t done this before, I figured, “why not?”. Yes I’m a dumbass. Oh well…
The themes were a servant, night lights, reflection, perspective and a landscape. So the kid in me figured Silver Surfer on his board looking down on the nightside of earth, staring at our cities. Bam! Combo!
So far, I’d gotten most of the way when I was reminded (well, told) that I needed to finish the digital piece I’d started. Makes sense.
For an added bonus, the hand of Galactus!
After a little more work, it turned out pretty nice. Of course, the talent is the real arbiter of it’s value, but sense I almost never draw background stuff, I was pleasantly surprised. All this while listening to enough Evanescence to kill almost anyone. I worked harder at playing this weekend than my actual job!
Man, I miss work.
TaDaaaaa!
I LOVE to Prey
In the midst of everything I was going through, I had gotten a long way on this picture. It wasn’t until this morning however, that I remembered to post this! I’m definitely off my A game…
As you can see I’ve been blending in my shadows and highlights for this image. The way I usually do this is to take whatever layer of color I’m working on and, using my selection tool (W), I select all of that color. Once you’ve done that, create another layer above your resource layer and press Ctrl+Alt+G. This will create a clipping mask from your selection, allowing you to color or draw at will without bleeped from your parameters! No more line tracing and erasing!
The down arrow next to the layer denotes a clipping mask
My next thing may just be a “me” choice, but it’s worked and I’ll use it until I find a way that works better for me. If all my colors and art agree, I’ll make a copy of the psd file and flatten the image. From there I use the smudge tool to blending and mix in colors. The reason is because it doesn’t give a completely perfect gradation, which looks more realistic to me. I have my own, but my favorite is a tri-point brush I got from an artist named Genzoman(deviantart name).
Well I’m off to work. Hope you have a great day and do your best!
Reality
Well, as much fun as I’ve had in the last few days doing traditional stuff, you just knew I was going to get back to drawing the new fashioned way. My newest muse is a cosplayer named Callie and hopefully some of you recognize her from her page. Her linework was done with a hard edged brush set at 7. The detail lines were done on a separate layer at 4. I didn’t clean up my lines yet; once I get into a zone, certain lines are done over and over until I feel that they look fairly accurate.
Once the lines are done, I grouped all of those layers together and lock them. Believe me, you don’t want to spend ANY time fixing a dumb ass mistake now!
Next I began to add colors. Under a different group, I create a layer for hair. I’ve decided that (a)I’m going to start with muted versions of the final colors for mood and (b)I’ll use colors already in my swatches. If you look really closely, you can pick them all out in the screen grabs.
With the skin, I decided that a little bleed over is good. It will help later to create the effect of her wearing objects, as opposed to them merely sitting on her. What about her eyes and lips, you say?
Stay tuned…
This will be the bottom layer of this group; the next two are above it. Again I pick the flattest color for my fill, allowing me to add a clipping mask to any layer in order to work it.
So clearly there is NO silver on Miss Amazonia in the real image. There won’t be here as well. I’m using the color and mixing it later to create a sheen on the bronze. You’ll like it, trust me.
I’m feeling a little under the weather, so I don’t think I’ll get a lot done today; but believe me, when it’s done I expect to be pleased! Have a fun day!
Keeping it Fake
How much Portishead can you listen to until you need to hear Culture Club? No Wham though, that stuff was too angsty. Oops, did I just date myself?
Seriously, though, I’ve been put in charge of making video graphics at work! Hope I do well…
Hardness
I’m heading on to my next drawing. Because I have to complete a lot of them, I’m getting a lot of practice. With all of the time I’m spending on this, I actually feel more centered and peaceful.
My girlfriend is being pretty understanding, so I try to do nice things for her, like restaurants and stuff. After all, being supportive is important to me. So I fully intend to return the favor.
In fact, since I dedicated myself to drawing, my life has gotten better. I shouldn’t be surprised though.
My art feeds from any negative emotions or experiences in my life. I’ve always known this intellectually. But there was a decade long span in which I didn’t draw. I was angry and hurt.
My wife left me.
I instinctively began drawing after my suicide attempt.
I’ll admit it; I sucked hard at first. But I felt better. But something was missing and it took awhile to get it. Darkness and sadness can’t be allowed to build up or it can overwhelm you. I let my pride in my own resistance blind me to my truth.
…I guess I’m a good person. I just feed on bad emotions. Mine. Yours.
Feed me.
You’ve got the Love
The all or nothing approach is getting to be a bad habit. There’s quite a way to go before this is a finished image, but the results should be worth it. More ideally, all of these images done in this style are beginning to have their own flair. In other words, the more I draw, the more clearly defined my technique becomes.
A friend of mine showed me his brand new Cintiq yesterday. For those not in the know, it’s a digital tablet of sorts, used by artists. So now I have a goal.
Macro oriented
Coming to the end! While everyone else is going to be celebrating the 4th, I’ll be busy finishing up. There isn’t a lot left; make the background shape an actual circle, take some of the length out of her neck. Stuff like that. Plus I edited a 20minute piece at work that I’m proud of. Everyone seems to love my footage and style, so I get to keep working. Yay!
Oh, this? This is the one off version that will have the models name in it. Her poster, after all…
Snacks
I found myself, for the last few weeks, immersed in work. I’m a videographer officially; it’s how I make a living. So whenever I end up on the road, I do what I’m paid to do. However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been thinking about my projects.
Last night I covered a lot of ground on the image I started. When it’s done, the talent will get a poster of it. Awesome, right? Then I have a whole slew of bodybuilders to get going on. Man, I’m not going to have any kind of social life!
Howly Time! 