method progress

So since I have been doing everything with a black and white underdrawing, I feel my overall look has improved A LOT. I think I am now drawing the way I draw naturally, on paper.

I still need to do my sketching with pencil and paper, but the coloring goes much much faster now and maintains the look of the original sketch almost perfectly every time. (provided I had a good sketch to begin with). The other thing that's great about this method is that I have a choice halfway through to either be done, and be satisfied with a black and white drawing, or I can continue with overlaying the colors and having a finished colored piece.

Here's a WIP shot of something I started today (about 2 hours ago)

Also trying to do more exciting subjects and composition. Here's SEG (Space Explorer Girl) in action, shooting some tentacles or some nonsense. So this piece will hopefully feature an interesting comp, using a different perspective and some cropping, more dynamic lighting with higher contrast, and maybe some nice colors, if I decide to color it. (I probably will).

The amount of background detail I include will depend on my patience and how the figure and beast turn out. It may or may not need a lot of detail.

Patience is another thing I have to work on.  It is usually limited and I tend to be "done" with drawings before I am actually satisfied them. Then I feel crappy and go "bleehhh, I'm a bad artist, boohoo..." So I need to stop doing that.

I think I have to shorten that arm....

Cteno II -Actual Progress!

After kicking my work rooms ass , and turning it into a much more organized and productive space, I was able to sit down and spend a couple hours on my Cteno sculpture.

Here's how it's looking now!

Obviously there are still some wires sticking out, as her tail is not fully formed yet. But the main components are there.  I am trying sculpted eyelashes for this one, we'll see how it turns out.

I am pretty happy with my progress. The first sculpture was about to stand alone, but this one is going to need a base. Haven't quite figured out what I'm going to be using, but I have a couple ideas.

I'm excited to finish it, and I'm already considering doing another sculpture in a larger size. I'm really tempted to do another Cteno, but honestly, I'm starting to creep myself out...

She's just so fun to sculpt! so gooey.

creative outlets

So, I have decided to take a cue from some other artists online, and have created a tumblr account. I don't know how well I will be able to juggle all these blogs and accounts, but each one serves a different purpose. This blog will remain a place for me to spew my thoughts and processes, works in progress, sketches, etc.  The tumblr is more for random stuff, short comics, photos, and whatever else.  It also allows people to ask me questions which I will try to answer with a drawing or comic. The idea is that it will improve my speed and creative thinking. And give me something else to do when I'm art blocked, or just bored.  And unlike the blog here, it's more social, so I might have the opportunity to interact with other artists.

In other news, I did a complete overhaul on my work room! I DID get a couple things from IKEA, mostly for organizing.  I have a couple more things to do, but when I'm finished I may post some "before" and "after" photos.  It's a pretty serious difference, and I'm hoping it will be a pretty serious improvement in my productivity.

a good workspace is important!

So, since my last 'work in progress' shot of my sculpture that I posted.....nothing has progressed. I blame my workspace!

First of all, I share it with the cats' litter box, and we keep it clean, so that's not a problem, it's just really distracting when they come in and use it. Very noisy and awkward.

Then, there is the clutter issue. The room also doubles as a storage closet, so alongside my work table there is also,

a vacuum cleaner
unused aquarium supplies
chests of toys/action figures
the display boxes for the toys and action figures
an old wooden easel
a rarely used exercise machine
our old dining room table and chairs

aaaaand various other small collections of stuff we never use, but don't feel the need to throw out.

 The plan is to condense some of the clutter and store it away somewhere I can't see it, then move the furniture around to give me the most productive workspace. Hopefully if it all works out, I will be able to work in there for more than 25 minutes at a time.  Then I can actually get things done, and maybe even start taking sculpture commissions!

This calls for a trip to IKEA.

sculpture in progress

this is my half-finished Cteno II. "Complete" with wire armature sticking out of her butt.

She currently has no hair or tail and she's still covered in fingerprints and nail marks, but she's pretty cute so far. I think so anyway.
I might work on this tonight. Or I might crash on the couch with a bottle of white wine. I'm celebrating.....Thursday. JOIN ME! Go, Thursday!

current WIP

busy bee

I have been so caught up with Christmas and work, and other distractions, that I haven't been doing much art these past few weeks. Now that the holiday is over, I can get back to business.

I FINALLY finished my commission prize for the second place winner of the contest I helped judge last month, ....two months ago....anyway, I think it turned out nice, even though it took me forever.

I have another commission I need to work on, and I have to finish my second sculpture of Cteno, which will most likely go up for auction.

I have been working more with my new technique involving a grayscale underdrawing.

It helps me a lot with maintaining the style of my original sketch, and with keeping a good amount of contrast, which I tend to lose when I color more traditionally. I used to work almost exclusively in pencil, so all of my drawings were black and white when I was a teenager. It's kinda what I'm used to even though I've been using photoshop for several years now. I like this new technique because it allows me to work more easily with my paper sketches, and with a method of shading that I am more comfortable with. I think there is definitely room for improvement, but I am going to stick with it for now.