Speedpaint 26 - Aunt Carol

This started out with the intention of being a speed paint, but became a "slow paint" when I realized that I'd need to be more meticulous to get an accurate likeness. I've been picking away at it slowly for about the last week. I believe I put about five or six hours into it total. It's a Christmas present for my Aunt Carol, of her and her new boyfriend (reffed from a photo). She wanted it 8.5"x11" size, which also made it more time-consuming (previous speed paints were done 4"x6").

The most difficult part of the picture was probably the hand. I don't usually have too much trouble drawing hands, but attempting to depict one with color and volume without the help of an underdrawing or lineart...very frustrating. It went through a couple revisions.

It's probably obvious that realistic painted portraits are not my area of expertise (this is my first attempt since...high school, I think?) but hopefully Aunt Carol likes it.

Speedpaint 25 - Tiger 2

I downloaded some new texture brushes the other day. Thought I'd do a close-up of a tiger to figure out some fur painting techniques. Haven't figured out a technique that works yet, but it's a start. I'll keep working at it.

This time I painted the figure before the background. I wanted to put all my time and effort into the tiger since he was the primary focus of the composition. I used less saturated colors on the background to try to get the tiger to "pop" more.

Photoshop CS3, 59 minutes.

Speedpaint 24 - Tiger

For this speedpaint, I tried a different approach. As always, I work from back to front, blocking in the background before moving onto the figure. The difference is that this time, I started with the lightest colors and built up to the darkest shades (sort of like using watercolors), whereas in previous pieces, I started with my darkest colors first, and worked up to my lightest colors. As a result, the finished piece has a slightly more pastel color palette.

Photoshop CS3, 45 minutes.

Speedpaint 23 - Komodo Dragon

Finding a method for quickly painting reptilian scales proved difficult, so this is yesterday and today's speed paint. I did the background and basic body structure on the Komodo dragon yesterday, and then some retouching and scale texture today. I believe in total it took about an hour and a half. I'm not quite satisfied with the results, but that's not the point of these exercises. It's to expose myself to new challenges.

I think I'm in a rut with the greens and browns. I'll try to work some different colors into the next one.

Speedpaint 22 - Crow on Turquoise

New speedpainting. Going to try to get back into the habit of doing one a day again. :)

It was my birthday on the 9th. I turned 28. I went to Animal Kingdom to celebrate, where I encountered this crow. It looks like he's standing on water, but it's actually a solid object that's been painted to look like water.

Photoshop CS3, 1 hour, 9 minutes
Soundtrack: Joe Hisaishi - Studio Ghibli Concert 2008; Ghibli to Issho

Draw Furries: New Book!

I'm proud to announce the upcoming release of Draw Furries - How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals written and illustrated by me and Jared Hodges, published by Impact Books!



In a nutshell, Draw Furries goes over drawing anthropomorphic and animal characters. It's 128 full-color pages, covering step-by-step anatomy, poses, and species-specific details (wings, tails, eyes...) for feline, canine, equine, rodent and avian characters, plus coloring and backgrounds! The book also includes a bonus guest gallery featuring art by the very talented Bara-chan, Kelly Hamilton, CookingPeach aka Miu, and Makime!

Here's some sample spreads from the book:




The book comes out the beginning of December!

Illustration Friday "Flying"

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

Domo: The Manga - out in stores tomorrow!

The Domo: The Manga book I worked on is coming out tomorrow. It should be available in bookstores nationwide in the manga/graphic novel section! It's a full-color graphic novel published by Tokyopop involving that lovable brown monster guy with the big mouth! All the stories are lighthearted and fun, perfect for kids and great for fans of Domo and/or funny animal stories.

Two chapters in the book were done by me and Jared Hodges (pencils = me, Jared = colors).

Etsy!

I opened up an Etsy shop here! Come browse around! :)

More prints and sketches to come. Want to see something added there? Comic pages? Original drawings? Particular print? Let me know!