Speedpaint 21 - Ducklets

I encountered this Muscovy duck and her newly hatched ducklings yesterday and thought they'd make for great subject matter for a new, long overdue, speed painting. :)

Photoshop CS3, 1 hour
Soundtrack: Grandia OST

Speedpaint 20 - Momoko

Tribute to Momoko. She loved to play in packing peanuts.

Photoshop CS3, 56 minutes.
Soundtrack: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Speedpaint 18 and 19 - Sea Lion and Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret found wandering around at Sea World.

Photoshop CS3, 35 minutes.
Soundtrack: FINAL FANTASY SONG BOOK mahoroba





California Sea Lion at NY Central Park Zoo.

Photoshop CS3, 35 minutes.
Soundtrack: Seiken Densetsu 2 OST (sorry about the constant clicking noise - livestream kept refreshing a banner for some reason)

Speedpaint 16 and 17 - Monkey and 4th of July

This is a Snow monkey aka Japanese Macaque from the Central Park Zoo in NYC.

Photoshop CS3, 46 minutes.
Soundtrack: Donkey Kong Country 1 OST






This speed paint is incomplete. The scene I was working on was filled with wall-to-wall people (it was taken at Crane's Roost this year on the Fourth of July). My meticulous approach to the human figures, and all the color variation in clothing slowed me down immensely. After an hour, I still had a great deal of the scene left to do, and I had lots of work to do that day, so I called it quits.

Photoshop CS3, 53 minutes.
Soundtrack: Chrono Cross OST

Speedpaint 15 - Tiki

This is my parent's cat, Tiki. I wasn't quite able to capture her likeness or the blanket texture, but given the time limit, I think it's a satisfactory first attempt. Tiki, by the way, is not a particularly cuddly cat. Don't be fooled by her cute sleeping pose. :)

Photoshop CS3, 57 minutes.
Soundtrack: ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi' NANA and OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (from Nana)

Speedpaint 14 - Goat

I love goats! :)

Photoshop CS3, 1 hour, 9 minutes.
Soundtrack: Music from Earthbound (Mother 2)

Speedpaint 13 - Still Life

This one was loaded with details, so I broke it up into two sessions. Yesterday morning, I painted the background using a soft round brush to give everything a soft focus, and today I came back to finish the foreground details using my standard detailer brush (hardness at 100% and a hint of noise texture) and a bit of the airbrush.

Part 1:
Photoshop CS3, 48 minutes.

Soundtrack: Brazil Classics, Vol. 1: Beleza Tropical (a favorite from my childhood)


Part 2:
Photoshop CS3, 47 minutes.
Soundtrack: Juuni Kokki OST

Speedpaint 12 - Hotel

Photoshop CS3, 1 hour, 13 minutes.
Soundtrack: EVO- Symphony (Arranged Synth)

This speedpaint has the longest running time yet. I'm not sure if it's because I'm unconsciously getting more meticulous in my buildup, or if it's because of all sharp angles and details found in manmade structures. In any case, it took awhile, and that's with me rushing through the second column to finish it. Something interesting to note on this one is that I decided to do a line drawing at the beginning rather than jumping right into colors. I found I was making a lot mistakes with proportions on some of the previous speedpaints. Doing a drawing first helped reduce errors, because it allowed me to get a feel for the entire picture and quickly make adjustments to the spacing of objects.

Regarding the soundtrack, it comes from a little known SNES game called E.V.O.: Search for Eden. You start off as a humble fish, and as you eat and fight your way through stages, your character evolves. It's really a wonderful simulation of evolution in a platforming game. And if the music sounds reminiscent of Dragon Quest, it's because it's by Dragon Quest composer, Koichi Sugiyama. :)

Here's the painting demo video:

Speedpaint 9 and 10 - Stairway and Dog

Speedpaint 10 - Dog
Photoshop CS3, 53 minutes.
Soundtrack: Square Enix Battle Tracks Vol.1

A friend's dog. I believe he's a Shiba inu, very handsome dog. Painting the short hair texture was a new challenge.





Speedpaint 9 - Stairway
Photoshop CS3, 34 minutes.
Soundtrack: drammatica -The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura-

A stairway at the UCF arena.

Speedpaint 6 - Ducks on the Water

Photoshop CS3, 44 minutes.
Soundtrack: Genso Suikoden Vocal Collection ~Faraway Star Echoes Of Love~

Speed Painting - Charly the Shih Tzu

I was thinking about how it's a good idea for artists to practice painting techniques by doing speed paintings from photos or life.

When I'm painting illustrations, I'll sometimes have photos to help with the general feel, but I rarely have direct reference, so shadows and highlights come from my preexisting knowledge. This is certainly limiting my artistic growth, so I'm going to take my own advice and start doing some small practice paintings to improve my speed and technique.

Tonight, I intended to practice foliage but I came across this cute photo I'd taken of Charly, Natalia's adorable Shih Tzu, and decided to paint him instead. :)

Photoshop CS3, 45 minutes.

Watch me create the piece on youtube: