Here's the process I use... This took about 3-4 hours to sketch and slap on some values.
It's been a busy week moving to another house, not a palace, but it should be comfortable. As usual, blasted through unpacking in two days and we're now settled - with the exception of hanging art. THAT'S the hard part when you're an artist! : )
I'm playing around with a new project - here's an in-progress with a new critter... Long way to go, and, as usual, experimenting with a few techniques to see what works - and what doesn't.
It's not often I blow my own horn, but I feel like I've earned these bragging rights: my book cover series was 9 on the New York Times Best-Seller Series list!!!!
Think about how often you need to render dirt: forest floor, beach, ocean floor, gardens, race track, rocky shoreline... Here's a fast, easy way to paint - yes - dirt!
Very bizzy couple of weeks: last week I struggled with an illustration for days, while this project almost seemed effortless... Here's a great tip that can be applied to all sorts of repeating things.
Finally finished my Fish Queen! There were a few stumbles, lots of changes, and I tried a couple new techniques (some got tossed out). All good for improving my skills. By next week I'll probably see a dozen things I'd like to change.
Never be afraid to try dramatic changes...
Today was a play-day - just for me - my biggest goal for 2015. Here's the progress so far...
Here's a new piece I just finished. This time I experimented with a more painterly, less layers approach - MUCH less efficient for me.
Experimenting with Astropad on a promo piece of art - an App that lets me run my Mac on my iPad (the circle controls pop-out menu). Captured the screen from my Cintiq, but painting with a Wacom Stylus and FULL Photoshop on my iPad. Lag time is a bit distracting, but I haven't tried connecting via USB yet - this is with a bluetooth/wifi connection. Hmmm. Disadvantage: still need Mac keyboard.
One of my recent projects: Blackbeard! Can see the loose reference to Robert DeNiro? And a wee tip on texture.
Retrospective of 2014 - a very busy year: finished my 100th book cover for Penguin (I'm currently at 112); illustrated a full kid's book; taught a Digital Painting class... Regrets? More time for personal projects, which takes a high priority in 2015.
