Thursday, January 30, 2014

Week 5 Something-Or-Other

I don't know what you expect from me as far as witty titles considering I haven't had any coffee yet.

This week is all about testing the waters with an anime that I've been into for a while but haven't done fan art of yet. (The crossover art I did last year doesn't count). "Attack on Titan" (AKA Shingeki no Kyojin) is pretty popular right now and I usually think the popular shows are utter crap. This one's different and has so many awesome characters that I have been thoroughly sucked in and need to draw some of them.

To ready myself, I decided some practice was in order for my character of choice, Hanji. Looking at the first two not so great sketches makes me very glad I did. There's also a couple of Levi who won't be in this drawing but I wanted to try him out anyway.


Monday, January 27, 2014

Week 4: A Little Bit of Patience

At some point today, probably while working on that metal cylinder, I was convinced that I would never finish this thing. But finished it is and relieved I am. One of my possible ideas for Week 5 was just a setting/background study but after this thing you can forget that. I'll do something more relaxing and save the environment study for later.

So even though it did take me a whole week to do, it's a relief to be finished before Wednesday because I have a day to relax and decide what to do next.

This actually turned out nicely and I'm considering selling art prints of it.

Oh, and as a bonus here's a screencap of just the background:

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Week 4.4

I'm just kind of trudging through most things today, including drawing. I finally decided to take a break after I finished shading her clothing. I know her pants at least need more contrast and I'm sure her hair needs work but I'm too distracted by other things to worry about it. Hopefully I'll finish it up tomorrow.


Saturday, January 25, 2014

Week 4 Got Lost on the Way

On Wednesday, the day originally intended for starting the drawing, I filled in the flat colors on Bit. Then I neglected it on Thursday and Friday and did a little bit of shading and highlighting today, but don't have a preview of that version saved.

The flat color version looks nice, however, so I might as well share it. It would be nice to have this all finished tomorrow and be able to start early again. I'm going on a trip in about two weeks so being ahead would be awesome.


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Week 4.2 - Two For One

The inking was quite the labor-intensive step since I was being super-finicky with it all. It certainly paid off though, and to make sure everyone can see all my hard work clearly, I'll post the inked version before I pasted it onto the background that I drew last night.

The background's pretty simple right now and I'm okay with it. I'll poke around online later tonight and see if I can't find any good splatter brushes for SAI to dirty it up with. I also need to figure out a lighting source. Originally she was going to be at the front end of the alley way with a light affixed to the right building but now I gotta figure something else out.

I'm hungry.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Week 4 Catches the Worm

Since I had the motivation to do some concept sketches yesterday and the time to start the actual drawing today I figured "why not?" It's a two-day head start which I think this drawing will seriously need in order to be finished on time.

My sketches on paper are strong, but my backgrounds are better when I do them digitally. However, when I try to combine a traditional drawing with a digital background, it looks terrible. So, let's take a step out of the traditional media part and just do the base sketch on paper and then ink and do everything else with Paint Tool SAI.

I plan to start the background later tonight, but I won't ink Bit until I've had more time to look over the sketch and find any glaring anatomy errors.


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Week 3 Employs the KISS Method

KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid, or Keep It Super Simple if you want to be polite. It doesn't necessarily refer to the fact that I would totally be okay with kissing this guy. Well, I would if he hadn't just been smoking. Cigarettes are disgusting, yet sometimes I think they add a lot to a drawing. Maybe it's a morbid fascination.

As I worked on this and became more and more involved with the sketching phase, I realized that erasing the sketch lines and trying to color it would just take away from what's there. Part of being an artist is knowing when to stop and not over-work something, so that was my route this time.


Thursday, January 16, 2014

Week 3.2

Today I went through painstaking steps to adjust his legs and anything else that needed work. A lot of the time I'll realize some anatomy is off when I've already started coloring and it's too late to fix it. I checked a lot of sources this time so we should be avoiding that.

I haven't inked his face yet because I'm paranoid about screwing up. Too many times I've quickly drawn and inked a face and it looked... awful. I guess you could compare it to the feeling Spongebob Squarepants had when he was prepping himself to pain Mr. Krabbs' house around all his expensive wall hangings and spent hours mentally prepping himself for it. And then it turned out to be really easy.


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Week 3 Is Sketchy

For a while last week my mind was set on one certain thing, and then it changed over to doing fan art again. Indulgent fan art at that because I think I earned it. I also noticed I haven't done any traditional media art lately so it was time to fix that, too. My method of coloring, however, is still up for debate.

Since I haven't drawn him in a while, it's Ivan Braginsky of the anime Axis Powers Hetalia. The idea is that he's in a hotel room (or other bed room) in the middle of changing out of his suit after a long, stressful meeting.

I realize his legs need work, but I've spent the last hour trying to figure out why his face won't cooperate with me.


Monday, January 13, 2014

Week 2: Being Badgered

Haha I posted this without writing anything. Oops!

This was a great experience and lots of fun. The outcome makes me happy too, so I hope that my client enjoys it.


Friday, January 10, 2014

Week 2.3

It's a good thing I've made so much progress on this in such a short amount of time because I'm catching the cold that's been going around and that I have somehow dodged for several weeks. I want this drawing to be as awesome as I can personally make it. So far, not so bad.

I'm weening myself of the "blur/smudge tool" little by little. It's not easy. I like my little digital crutch.


Thursday, January 9, 2014

Week 2.2

I actually accomplished a lot last night while subjecting myself to the emotional masochism that is Downton Abbey. It's an interesting experience to watch that while working on a silly caricature of someone as a badger.

As was my goal, most of the background is done already. Saving the fun parts for last, you know. Though I don't like the thick lines in the background. I'll try to find a way to phase them out.




Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Week 2: COMMISSIOOOOOOONS. COMMISSIONS!

If you read that title in the tune of "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof then I don't know if you should be proud that you understood the reference or terrified that your brain is on the same wave length as mine. If it's the latter you have my deepest apologies.

Not long ago a friend's mom (whom I also consider my friend) commissioned me for a detailed piece that's a fun tribute to her late second husband.  I'm pretty honored to be part of it and looking forward to the challenges it will present, such as drawing a convincing car.

A lot of this is based on a running joke with them and when it comes down to it, I'll be doing a caricature of him similar to the badger in these commercials. They're pretty darn funny, actually.


Sunday, January 5, 2014

Week One

This took a pleasantly short amount of time to finish after the blog entry I made yesterday. Time flies when you're watching Downton Abbey (though not necessarily having "fun"). I looked at it again this morning to make sure that everything was in order and I'm still okay with it enough to post it as finished.

I plan to start Week 2 today even though it technically doesn't start until the 7th. Might as well work ahead while I can.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Week 1: Growing Shadows

At first I thought the highlights and shadows would be obnoxious and tedious. They have been difficult, but enjoyably so. I've actually done his pants since this, and fixed his legs so they were more even.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Week 1: Mountain Man

After I thought about it, a torch made more sense than an ice pick. It will offer a lot more opportunity for dramatic lighting and a challenge. His facial expression is odd, so I'll fix it tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Week 1: New Beginnings

Ah, January 1st. It's the day of the year where bloggers and Facebook users write about the value of a clean slate and either wax poetic about or bid a relieved farewell to the year behind. I'm personally okay with 2013 being hit in the rear with the door on the way out.

So here's to Weekly Art the 4th. It's hard to believe that it was really four years ago today that I sat in my studio apartment in Moscow, Idaho, and set out for the adventure of finishing 52 works of art in as many weeks. If I don't succeed, it's okay. I'll dust myself off and try for 2015. If I do succeed, I'll be proud and then attempt for two years in a row.

With that sentimentalism out of the way, let's dive right in.

I had the pleasure of seeing Disney's "Frozen" recently and am going to see it again this week. I'm just as excited this time, if not more so. I love all of the main characters, even the ones I thought I would hate. Predictably, Kristoff is my favorite.

Since I want to start this year off well with a proper background, I made myself finish it in one sitting so I can do the fun part tomorrow.