Forest Depths

January 26, 2010, 9:04 pm

It's finished. This is what I've been working on for the last few days. This picture was made with Photoshop, in high res from beginning to end.
This started as a sketch for one of those daily challenges, but like before, it was a good enough sketch that I decided to put a bit more time into it. I'm glad I did. I'm quite satisfied with the result. Those deer were a lot of fun to put in there.

I think this may be my best picture yet, as far as technique goes.
The colors were a lot of fun to work with, too.

Process: [link]

↧

Forest Depths -Process-

January 27, 2010, 5:57 am

≫ Next: A New Dawn

≪ Previous: Forest Depths

This is a bit of the process behind my Forest Depths picture. [link]
Program: Photoshop Elements
I used a few brushes by

I don't have any layers with earlier sketches than the top line art layer. I probably deleted them, or used them for different things later. After the line art, I filled in the major areas with shades of gray. I made the shades of gray get lighter as they go back, to indicate depth.

I included two steps showing how I did the texture on the dragon. I drew the larger and more important scales. Then, I made some smaller brush strokes to add texture to the remaining area.

Another notable step is the first one where colors show up. I just did a solid layer fill with a shade of green. The blending mode of that layer was set to "Difference". This gave me some colors, but inverted the image in a strange manner.
I put a merged copy of the black and white portion of the drawing just above this layer, and set it to "Luminosity", so then those colors would be applied to my grayscale work properly.
That process was very quick, and ended up mapping pinks to the lighter parts of the picture, and greens to the darker parts. Adjusting the shade of green on the "Difference" layer allowed me to change the balance between the two colors.
Doing that definitly helped me get a start on the coloring.
I did some more traditional coloring after that.

Finally, near the end, I added some more colored lighting effects. These layers have a pinkish shade to them, so they help make that warm light seem more real, and not just like a color fill.

↧

A New Dawn

February 3, 2010, 5:36 pm

≫ Next: A New Dawn -Process-

≪ Previous: Forest Depths -Process-

It's my half of an art trade with

I have a feeling that DA might mess with the saturation of the image a bit, so I may upload a few quick edits, to try and get things right... I don't exactly have the best track record with art trades, so I'm hoping that it works out well this time.

I tried some of the techniques that I used in my last picture, to try and refine the style a bit... There is more line art in this picture again, and it is more noticeable this time. That is mainly because of the lighting, and the details I wanted to show. That makes the picture a bit less realistic, but I hope that the added awesomeness makes up for that a bit.

↧

A New Dawn -Process-

February 8, 2010, 6:46 pm

≫ Next: A Wish for the Sky

≪ Previous: A New Dawn

Progress Reel, for Zeimyth.

I didn't make this as I was working. I just turned off layers and took screenshots, so the accuracy is a bit lower than my progress reel for Forest Depths.

Anyway, here is a rough overview of the process I used on this picture. The final result is here: [link]

1) Line art
It's line art. It didn't start as fully formed as this. I went back to this layer several times while working on the picture.

2) Grayscale Fills
This part is important, because it is the foundation for all the shading in the picture. I factored in atmospheric effects by making the foreground darker.

3) Gradients
I cheat.
The plants and things in the foreground were frustrating, so I decided to throw some gradients on, and use them as a base for the rest of the shading.

4) Actual Shading!
I did the shading here by sampling bright and dark shades from the gradients in the last step. Those looked fine, so these do, too. This step and the next one took up most of the time I spent working on the picture.

5) More shading, and markings.
A bit more lighting and some of the background low are included in this step.

6) Lighting
I balanced out the picture a bit. Some places seemed a bit too light, or a bit too dark, I though. So, I fixed those issues here, besides adding the lighting, that is.

7) Gradient Map
I had to give a gradient map a try, after the bit of advice from Cryslara, on my last picture. It basically maps colors to certain brightness levels.
If you haven't seen her art, check it out. She's awesome. And helpful, too.

8) Coloring
I did a bit of coloring myself here. I used a shade of green on the leaves of the tree, and added in those browns. Also, there is a bit of blue in the lower left corner I added in to balance the colors out a bit, and smooth out some of the edges that the brown introduced.
All colors I used in this step were sampled from different parts of the picture.

9) Finishing Touches
I modified the lighting and saturation a bit here. The upper lighting layer also throws off the relationship between color and brightness a bit, and I think the darker shadows help make the picture more dynamic, too.

↧

A Wish for the Sky

February 20, 2010, 4:17 pm

≫ Next: Forest Depths -Lines-

≪ Previous: A New Dawn -Process-

It's been a while since I've uploaded anything... I've been having a tough time getting sketches to look right, and there are some other projects I'm working on right now. I finally got a sketch to turn out well, though.

It's a bit of fan art. It's a merchant in Avernum just thinking about how he will probably never get to see the sky again...
In those games, some people are exiled into the cave system known as Avernum. They build cities, and some of the exiled mages engineer flora or fauna to make the caves more livable, like bio-luminescent fungi, for lighting, hence the green glow.
Anyway, the Avernum series of games is made by Spiderweb Software, and I've enjoyed them for a while. [link]

This picture was a challenge, because of the background, but I think it turned out decently in the end. Also, the human there may have the least awkward face I've drawn from that angle.

Coloring it was a lot of fun, though.

I'll probably do some more art closer to those digital painting pieces again, and take a break from the heavy line art.
Comments and criticism are always welcome.

↧

Forest Depths -Lines-

March 12, 2010, 9:57 pm

≫ Next: Golden Night

≪ Previous: A Wish for the Sky

I'll upload some line art, for people to color.
It will be fun, and interesting to see what other people do with these when I put them up. Maybe I'll even learn a few coloring tricks.

I'll put these line art pieces in my scraps area, so they won't take up space in my main gallery. I'll make sure to post a journal about these, after I get a few up.

Anyway, I'll start with the line art from my Forest Depths picture: [link]

If you color this, please leave a comment or note, so I can see how it turned out. Citing me as the source of the line art would be nice, too.

↧

Golden Night

March 14, 2010, 8:05 am

≫ Next: Kiriban, Line Art, and Geocaching

≪ Previous: Forest Depths -Lines-

It's time for some new art again. I can't think of a good title for the picture, this time.

Anyway, this was a fun one to work on. I spent quite a while on it, with the large canvas size, and all. The downloadable version is 2400x1200.

The clouds gave me quite a bit of trouble early on, but I think they turned out well. I started with a normal night scene, with lots of blues and cool colors, but after playing around with the colors a bit, I found that it looked really awesome with some warm colors, so I decided to use a mix of them in the end. I think this is the best color combination that I've found.

I may update this to mess with the brightness and saturation. On one monitor, this looks great, but on another it was way to dark and oversaturated. I think I've fixed that, so that it looks good on multiple monitors.

Comments and criticism are always welcome.

Featured by

!
Huzzah!

↧

Kiriban, Line Art, and Geocaching

March 14, 2010, 8:50 pm

≫ Next: Crose -Kiriban 10,000-

≪ Previous: Golden Night

↧

Crose -Kiriban 10,000-

March 30, 2010, 4:55 pm

≫ Next: Pastel Sky -Speedpaint-

≪ Previous: Kiriban, Line Art, and Geocaching

Kiriban prize Finished!
For

Congratulations!

This picture was a difficult one to work on in a few ways, so it took quite a while. The original sketch doesn't resemble the finished picture much.

I had fun with the colors and clouds. I wanted to try drawing some clouds again, after my last picture.

The texture was the part of the picture that I had the most difficulty with, because it overpowered the other details, when I made it too heavy. The parts that I had the most fun with were the mane, clouds, and the birds. Those birds added a lot of life to the setting, and I'm rather proud of how the sun shining through the clouds looks.

Edit: Improved lighting and cropped off a bit of the empty canvas

↧

Pastel Sky -Speedpaint-

April 6, 2010, 9:36 pm

≫ Next: Showdown -speedpaint-

≪ Previous: Crose -Kiriban 10,000-

I made a few oekaki speedpaints today. Mostly using some strong silhouettes, to get a feel for the shapes.
This is the first one. It's just a bit of scenery with a fawn.
I think it was a good exercise, and the colors were rather interesting to use, as well.

↧

Showdown -speedpaint-

April 6, 2010, 10:05 pm

≫ Next: Anime Detour 2010!

≪ Previous: Pastel Sky -Speedpaint-

Another speedpaint. This time, I forgot what I was going to draw partway through... So, I ended up with some pokemon fanart.
Lucario and Giratina.

It's fairly typical, but it was a fun picture to draw. The angle was a bit difficult, but I like the atmosphere in the finished picture.

↧

Anime Detour 2010!

April 22, 2010, 12:14 pm

≫ Next: Guilmon Costume 2.0

≪ Previous: Showdown -speedpaint-

↧

Guilmon Costume 2.0

April 25, 2010, 4:31 pm

≫ Next: Papercraft Umbreon

≪ Previous: Anime Detour 2010!

This is a small collage of three pictures of the new version of my Guilmon costume. I improved the shape to the belly piece, and completely remade head with better perspective and an articulated jaw. It looks much better than the first version, and it is much more comfortable to wear.

The jaw opens wider than what is shown in any of these pictures, too. I didn't have a good one of that, though. I might have to take one some time.

This has been worn at Anime Detour 2010, Sogen Con 2010 and ACEN 2011.
It was an awesome convention.

The Takato cosplay was done by

Thank you for walking around the con with me and joining in with the Digimon Tamers cosplay.
Other pictures people have taken of this costume:

[link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]

This costume was originally inspired by

She's awesome!

↧

Papercraft Umbreon

April 27, 2010, 10:12 pm

≫ Next: Respite

≪ Previous: Guilmon Costume 2.0

This is a little papercraft Umbreon I put together earlier today.

I found out about Pepakura Designer, and some really interesting uses for Papercraft at Anime Detour, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
This is my first attempt. I'll probably assemble some more models, from time to time. If I do, I'll upload the picture as a scrap like this, because I don't think I'm really making original art of my own here. Just putting together something neat.

If I do some modeling, and make an original papercraft sculpture, or use this technique in cosplay, it'll definitely go in my gallery.

I did not make the model. I just assembled it. The model can be downloaded here: [link]
To see that, you'll need Pepakura Viewer, which can be downloaded free here: [link]
Then, you can print up the pattern, and make a paper Umbreon of your own.

Now I'm tempted to build my entire pokemon team.

↧

Respite

May 3, 2010, 8:24 pm

≫ Next: Thunderbird Returns

≪ Previous: Papercraft Umbreon

Have some art.
I hate picking titles sometimes.

The background and setting were inspired by some of the scenery I came across when I went geocaching a while back. There was a rather fast moving river, and some neat rocks with easily visible strata. I'm quite happy with how those trees turned out as well.

The color scheme was a lot of fun, too. I spent more time on this color scheme than several of the others that I've made lately.

I'll probably follow this up with some quicker speedpaints.

Right now, it's like I have all sorts of ideas, and not enough time to draw them all adequately.

I may re-upload this in a minute if DA's viewer over-saturates my image, or if I find details that need to be fixed.

↧

Thunderbird Returns

May 11, 2010, 2:53 pm

≫ Next: Authority

≪ Previous: Respite

A Thunderbird returns home, with a nice buildup of static electricity for the young ones.

It's actually another speedpaint. I was trying out some of the painting techniques from this walkthrough: [link]
It was a lot of fun.

I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and it only took me three hours. That seems like no time at all. Also, those are probably the best feathered wings I've drawn so far.
That walkthrough really helped streamline my speedpaint process. I'll have to try working in some more lighting and color into the next one.

Comments and criticism are always welcome.

↧

Authority

May 29, 2010, 8:39 pm

≫ Next: Continued Quest for Improvement

≪ Previous: Thunderbird Returns

A hunter runs into something unexpected, and he isn't exactly given a warm reception. Actually, it's probably about time for him to start running.

This picture probably set a new time record for me. I've been putting in extra effort, to make this one my new best.
I'm rather proud of the result, especially in terms of anatomy, and that grass. I also tried to give the mother dragon a rather impressive and commanding pose.
Overall, I'm rather satisfied with the result.

I always appreciate comments and criticism. I'm constantly looking for new ways to improve my art.

Edit: Added a few more shadows. I think it's more dramatic now.

Edit: Reworked the textures, and added some rimlights, from the advice by

Thank you.

↧

Continued Quest for Improvement

May 30, 2010, 6:12 am

≫ Next: Stargazing

≪ Previous: Authority

↧

Stargazing

June 17, 2010, 3:04 pm

≫ Next: Stargazing -Process-

≪ Previous: Continued Quest for Improvement

It seems I have trouble speedpainting in Photoshop. Mainly because I get distracted, and keep improving a picture until it's no longer a speedpaint.

I spent quite a while fiddling around with the colors and composition on this picture. It looks fairly quick, but I think I must have went through at least three different backgrounds. And at least as many color schemes.

I tried adding buildings, trees, clouds to add a bit more shape to the sky. In the end, I removed all those things, and decided to go for a clear night sky.

As usual, I'll upload minor edits if I decide to improve anything.

Process Reel: [link]

Minor edit: slight color change.

↧

Stargazing -Process-

June 20, 2010, 9:12 am

≫ Next: Panorama

≪ Previous: Stargazing

I've been asked about how I made that last picture [link] , so I made a rather large process reel from the layers in my image. I didn't save some of the other backgrounds that I attempted, but this may help illustrate the process behind this picture. I also included the main times where I added color to the picture to see how it looked.

Toward the end, I fixed up the starts using the method in this tutorial: [link]

I'll do my best to answer any questions. Hopefully, some people will find this helpful.

↧

Latest Images