#081 Character Sketches (Completed)

Here we go ladies and gentlemen. Character sketches!
I painted these 100% in Painter 11. Sketched 'em up on 100% paper with 100% pencils. I won't go into everything that's wrong with them, because A) you'd be bored, and B) you would begin to think less of my work, which is really the opposite of what I want you to think of my work.
Believe it or not, the entire experience of creating characters from simple descriptions was, to me, completely fascinating, mentally stimulating, and just a great deal of fun.
Now if I can get around to creating my own characters for that graphic novel I've got planned... I will be able to conquer the world!!!

#080 Character Sketch WIP

Okay, rarely do I post twice in the same day (or night), but I couldn't resist showing you guys the underpainting for this baby. So far Corel Painter 11 is blowing me away. To put it another way: IT ROCKS.

#079 Captain Flax, 103rd ESC Battalion

This is Captain Flax of the 103rd ESC Battalion.
If you're wondering what ESC stands for, it's European Space Coalition.
And this guy means business. After leading blazing attacks on dastardly minions of evil on every planet known to humankind, he looks a bit worn and weary. He wears standard issue officer's dress, with newer modified body armor plating. He carries a light automatic ion assault rifle and an armor-penetration cannon, which rests on a folding tripod.
This was my favorite of the character sketches and the most fun. I enjoyed finding references for the clothes, which were inspired by WWI and II battle uniforms.

#078 Old Master of the Woods

Here is one of my character sketches from last week. The description we were given was:

Quiet, Feeble, Old Man, Subdued.

Whether or not I illustrated this properly, that is left for you to decide. I liked the idea of a forest-dwelling hermit who gathers herbs, illuminates manuscripts, drinks tea, converses with trees and woodland creatures, and has a staff that is cut but still lives. He's just a really great guy when you get to know him, even if his snug little hut does smell of body odor and spring garlic.

#077 Dragon Battle Final

"Dragon Battle", 2400 x 1800 px, Photoshop painting.

Well, here's the final painting from last week. I'm not 100% satisfied with it (will I ever be?), but it turned out much better than I expected in the short amount of time I had to make more revisions. I am planning to go back and revise some imperfect areas and resubmit them to my Professor, and before I enter this baby into the Academy of Art Spring Show. Yay! It'll be my first submission ever for it, and I'm kind of excited. It's pretty much one of the first times I'll be able to get my work out there for professionals to see. I don't expect much to come of it just yet, but it will be cool all the same.
So, hope you guys like it. See you next time with some new character designs...

#076 Mini

While I'm toiling away at my dragon battle, which hopefully will be completed soon, you may feast your eyes upon this Morris Mini-Minor color sketch that I did in Corel Painter a few months ago. We'll be exploring Painter 11 more in the next couple of weeks. Enjoy.

#075 Dragon Battle Concept: Color Comp

Here we have the beginnings of some color in our scene. It seems sort of washed out now, because number one, my color layer is set to "Color" mode in Ps, and also because my Photoshop images almost always look worse in a web browser. I'm still learning how to correct this.

One of the almost unanimous comments in class was that the dragon's color and value needs more separation from the desert color and value. And to this, I heartily agree.
So: Right now it is Spring Break and some down time, and possibly a couple of other little side projects, and then, next week: The FINAL.

Prepare yourselves.

#074 Dragon Battle Concept: Value Comp

Another late-night transmission from the old drawing desk tonight.
Here's the aforementioned concept art piece we're working on in class. Right now I'm just working through getting the values right. The above image is a progress shot. I'm still thinking through the value relationships here, trying to place emphasis in the right place using lights/darks, and making sure everything "works". Next I will start laying in the basic color, and then refining that later. At this stage, it's all about getting it right, because you don't want to have to go back and fix anything. There is no turning back here people!!
So, there you have it. Stay tuned for glorious Technicolor!

#073 Dragon Battle Concept (Preliminary Sketches)

Here are some glimpses into my sketchbook from this past week. I'm in the process of creating a piece of concept art for a film of my own conception as another school project. All I can tell you right now is that it involves: space, dragons, nomads, princes, fighting, swords, deserts, volcanoes, lava, and some weird space vehicles.

Sounds interesting, but I think I have bitten off more than I can chew.

#072 Olympic Stamp Progress

Here's a shot of my progress in school this week on an "Olympic Postage Stamp" we're creating. I chose bobsledding because, um, I just chose bobsledding. It's fast and cool. Right? I don't know, I don't really watch the Olympics. But If I had to choose one Olympic sport that I thought was cool, it would probably be Bobsledding. And that's why I chose it. Because it's cool. Right.

Anyway, I wanted to post this because I wanted to prove to you that in reality most of my artwork looks like junk. But hopefully this one will improve slowly but surely. Stay tuned!

#071 Royal Guard

Royal Guard vs. Mech Ink on bristol board, colored in Photoshop 5 x 7.
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The Royal Guard are the stalwart protectors of the Court of Aidelon. They must swear solemnly to defend the Dynasty with their lives, and are dedicated to a life of continual service. Their definitive red capes and gleaming gold armor are unmistakable, and can always be seen solemnly overlooking the Grand Palace. They are completely silent to passersby, and their mechanized armor keeps them perfectly still until the moment of action, like the image above, when it springs to life and becomes a dangerous man/machine combination.
The origins of the Royal Guard is mysterious, but they are said to have descended from monks who landed on the planet, established a monastery and began taming the wild beasts there. An angel was said to have visited the Chief Monk, and given him the task of defending the planet from a coming evil. It is said that the angel forged him a suit of armor, and till the day the monk died, its golden shine never wore off.

#070 Spaceship WIP

Yup. That's what it is. And we duz it cuz spaceships is awesome.
'Nuff said.