Week One: Perhaps Just Inspired By...

This was finished two days ago, but the cat is sitting on my lap finally forcing me to be still and focus long enough to update.

In the end, there's not a whole lot about this that still screams "Mucha", but there are enough similar elements to at least still claim that it was inspired by him. All that aside, it turned out nicely. It's also considerably brighter and more colorful than most of my work.

To my credit, however, yesterday was spent taking down Christmas decorations, shopping for some necessities, and cleaning my entire house aside from the dishes that I'm putting off for as long as possible.

Background noise: Scrubs

Week One: Progress Two

Maybe it was the built up congestion and over-all tiredness of last night, but for some reason this picture looks better today than it did before bed. The colors I've started with are still iffy and the hibiscus flowers are too tropical-looking, but they can still be fixed easily.

The symbols in the crescent aren't Astrology symbols, but I found them on this website, which shows them as what people claiming to be abducted by aliens were supposedly shown. Whether they're real or not, filling the circles with actual symbols rather than making them up seemed like a better idea.

Also, yes, the cigarette holder is backwards. The reason is simply because I didn't want any of the picture to break the frame. If I did it on one side, I'd feel the need to do it on the other and there's no detail that needs to. So backwards it is.

Today I'll be coloring in the background and attempting to draw dreadlocks in a Mucha-like manner. That should be... interesting.

Background noise: Shaun the Sheep via Netflix instant play. Hush, it's cute.

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.