Week One: In the Manner Of...

Alphonse Mucha, a name rightfully associated with the Art Nouveau movement. The picture above is one of his many illustrations with a distinct style that nearly everyone has seen at least once. It also happens to be one of my favorite styles, and one I've been hoping to imitate since last September. The very idea is a truly intimidating one, but it still couldn't hurt to at least make an attempt. The best way to learn is from the masters, after all.

While my own attempt won't be nearly so detailed due to the limits of my patience, time, and what I'm willing to attempt on paper (more on that later), the over-all feel should be doable. This is what I accomplished yesterday, and it's already clear that the background will drive me quite insane.

Like last year, the character of my first Weekly Art is my half-alien named Bit. This is a pose I worked out in a sketchbook last September, though I used this stock photo to assist with her neck and shoulders - a common problem area for me. Today the plan is to work on the background and return to the actual character tomorrow.

And now, more on my computer. See, the computer that I us for digital art is, to the say the least, a fossil. It's four years old, was bought running Vista and now runs Windows 7 (and has since September). Unfortunately, my computer's physical ability is to support about 1 Gigabyte of memory where Windows 7 requires 4 Gigs to run smoothly. Graphic-intensive programs do not fare well. So until I miraculously manage to save at least $400 for a new laptop, most of the Weekly Art will be traditional media.

Background music: Mixed CD

PS: Google Chrome doesn't seem to like Blogger as much as Firefox does.