The Baby Sitter

I've been sort of pottering about of late, interms of what and how I've been working. I needed to do something that would anchor down for a while, whilst also being something that would help strengthen my portfolio. I hope this picture will do just that for me, as it definitely kept me anchored for a while!

On an arty farty note* I wanted to try and capture both the protective responsibility and the sheer exhaustion that comes with looking after kids, in the cat's face

p.s) I know Leopards don't really look like this... get off my back will ya!

The Baby Sitter:

Leave Your Line Work At The Door!

First time I've ever not used line work...big step for me! I aslo held back (though I nearly needed to be restrained) from adding to much detail. I knew from the initial sketch of this piece where I wanted it to go and all in all, I think I've got it there.

Tried to treat the whole piece as an editorial brief:

Beauty And The Beast's :

Enter Six Hard Mercenaries For Hire...pt2

I was suppose to have finished these Chaos Engine characters age's ago, but I've been right off the boil of late and for the last month I haven't had the stomach for working (or much else) Anyhow, before I crack on with some portfolio illustrations. I thought I'd ease myself back into working by finishing one of these Chaos Engine character's. The Navvie was always my fave, so it was always him who would receive a first lick of digital paint.

Looking over my blog though, I realise there has been a bit of a beard/soup collecter fetish going on of late. Maybe I'll paint up the Thug just to balance out the abundance of man fuzz!

(For those unfamiliar with the Chaos Engine, above are the 6 in game character's in all there glory. These fantastic character's were designed and (pixel) painted by the fantastic Dan Malone. Dan's pixel work was and still is, the best I've ever seen, no one else could ever achieve so much from so little. The in game graphics and these character portrait's by Dan are still among my favourite images ever )

(Above: my humble version of the Navvie)

(Above: Thug)

Character Design (quick process)

Here is a very quick and shamefully rough process of how I approach painting a character within Photoshop.

All the layers used are normal layers except for a Colour Dodge Layer added at the tail end of the image and a Channel Mixer Layer which is set up at the beginning (this is set to monochromatic and therefore allows me to constantly check my image in a black and white state. This way I can constantly see my values clearly and easily) Oh yer, the pencil sketch layer is set to Multiply.

I normally work with just 2 or 3 layers, but I had no idea what colour to do this guy's clothing, so I put each piece on a fresh layer, just to make it easier to adjust.

(Original Coloured Pencil sketch)

(A Crummy Animation Of The Process)

(80% done)

(Finished: Womack The Nomad)

(any reference to my friend Paul Richards are totally coincidental :) 

Enter Six Hard Mercenaries For Hire...

Think this is going to be my last bit of geeky/fantasy work for a while, as I want to concentrate on a couple of proper illustrations. But, what better way to go out than on a bit of fan art!
Myself and my friend Wayne are huge Chaos Engine fan's and recently Wayne set up a fan page for the artist from that game (and numerous others) Dan Malone.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=pa.177114695677685

Being part of this fan page he set off a chain reaction of nostalgia, that is now running through my geek fueled viens! Therefore I thought I'd take on the challenge of painting up all six of the lead character's from the Chaos Engine. I did the same challenge a few years ago and part of the draw with this new challenge is to be able to compare how my style and skill levels have changed in the 2 years since.

The grayscale Navvie piece at the top is only 40% finished. And yes, I have another 2 characters to draw, but I think I want to get one character fully finished so I then know what direction I'm taking them all in.

What's that...a bit of professionalism...yep :)

Ok, ok It's basically the same image as yesterday. But looking at it late last night, I saw the potential for it to become part of my Blogs banner. So, after many, many month's of bareness (and sheer laziness) I have finally given this Blog a proper title!

Conversation with self:


"So, you think this new and more professional Blog title will now make people start following you then?"

"Your having a laugh ain't ya. People wouldn't follow me if I was the lead in a Conga line!"

A Wizard, with armour....Erm!

This was done for my friend's over in the Drawing Guild

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_135896133151193

The brief was a Wizard with a pointy hat and armour...Yer, I kind'a bypassed that last one, soz!
Sketched and paint all today and was a nice little exercise to do.

P.s) I know this and the last post both have fly's in them, it's no fetish I swear!

Nobody Likes A Fly, Not Even Shit!

Done simply for the fact that I hate Flies. Especially the (soft bastard) ones, that brake into your room through the open window...and then when it's time to go... suddenly forget how they got in!

Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead......well, uni has finished!

Ok, uni is finally over (big smile) and what a waste of time it was!!! But, I've wasted 3years on the bastard, so I'm not going to waste any more of my time by ripping the place to piece's.

Anyway, this is my first piece of work since escaping the clutch's of university and my first real (digital/fully finished) piece of work since my Grendal image, which was month's ago. The brake away has done me the world of good, though having so much time away from the computer/photoshop has made me very rusty and the first 2 sessions on this picture were tough going!

The Escape:

Sketch/Paint Dump!!!

Still choker blok with uni work at the moment, so I'm just uploading these collection of sketchs and quick paint up's.

I Mean You No Harm!

Really bizzy with my final years project for uni at the mo. But I enjoyed doing this little sketch and thought I'd upload it.
(Yes, I love Big Trouble In Little China :)

Yes, I love my IPad 2 (maybe more than I should)

Not been able to focused on anything of late, maybe having picked up a IPad 2 whilst over in New York has something to do with it...

Speed Painting Pt2

Okay, after having a artistic brake through yesterday. I thought I'd try the process again and see if it was all a fluke (or had I actually lernt something)
I confess this image didn't run as quick as the previous one, but I did pretty much manage to follow on from yesterdays brake through. All in all, I'm happy that I can move on in this manner and hopefully develop it much further and all the while gain more pace with it.

P.S I have no idea why I've painted these porky little fellows (maybe I'm due a bacon butty...Umh...bacon)

(Amended)

Speed Painting Pt1

Never really feel like I have the skill's with which to speed paint. I know that may seem like a strange thing to say (after all, speed painting on face value seems an like a much easier method of painting, no real detail, loose and suggestive markings, at times even child like!!!)  However, I honestly feel you need a certain collection of skills and approach to achieve such a quick and understated painting.

 In the past, I've found that I've not had the patience and visual understanding to work within this carefree manor. I get over focused and instantly start thinking about the minor detail's and the overall presentation. Today, those worries and barriers were no where to be seen. I approached this painting head on and to my surprise I didn't get to my usual 20minutes barrier, with which I would normally lose all focus,speed and revert back to type. Amazingly, I had totally artistic belief and foresight throughout the whole process and had the piece finished within 50minutes. Now I know the image below is no Mona Lisa, but for me the speed with which it was done and the approach that was taken were both a real stepping stone for me. I hope I can continue working and developing this approach, so that my portfolio will eventually contain a nice balance between loose work and more detailed and time consuming work.

Oink...Oink

(amended)

KILL DA WABBIT, KILL DA WABBIT

A little up the wall at the mo with working on my final university project. So I did this for a little fun.