A week ago, I lost my job due to the company's financial problems. It really sucks when something this life changing just comes out of nowhere and grabs you by surprise. I've been kind of struggling with it every day and not knowing what I should do next.
For now, I sketched this out really roughly today and then cleaned it up at the request of a friend (who said he'd buy it if I finished, yay!). For me, it's about trying to let go, and seek a new path.
Here's a simple study I did tonight. I'm trying to start incorporating more textures and better compositions in my work. Here, i placed the figure off-center and used a generic texture brush to place some grunge. I'll keep working at it!
I've taken quite a lot of my free time these past couple of weeks working on two large projects. Luckily, I was able to finish one of them! The other still has a way to go, but I'm going to need to do some smaller things before I continue with it. Large paintings really take a lot out of me. I get into this mode where I don't want to do anything but work on it, even if I'm struggling, tired, frustrated, or have errands to run ;). I can sleep peacefully tonight, though, and thank goodness tomorrow is Monday so that I can calm myself down while at work and just take it easy without having to think about personal things!
I've had this idea in my head for a while about angels, and how they are usually depicted as humanoid characters. In my dreams, however, I've always been envisioning them as being made up of feathers, large and small, that cascade over their body. They live amongst the clouds, the stars, and the heavens, and I feel as though they should be a bit more ethereal and magical. I don't often think of them as having a gender, as they are celestial beings, and for this painting it was very important to me to try and capture an androgynous look. This was rather difficult, because I also envision angels without nipples or navels (because they aren't born, they're created), and the absence of breasts automatically gave him/her a masculine feel. I tried to slender out the arms, curve up the body, and make the face more female than male to try and counter this effect. I'm okay with how it turned out.
I had a really hard time with the wings for about 3 days straight. I tried so many different versions, but I'm glad my boyfriend talked me into keeping my original vision (even if the anatomy might not make a lot of sense).
Anyway, if it wasn't obvious, this lovely angel is a Summoner, one who brings forth the Night and Day.
And also, for the first time ever... a video of my process! It's complete with my wing struggle steps, as well as a number from the AIR TV Original Soundtrack (the instrumentals were a charm to listen to while painting this!)
Rough photo study of Arya Stark. I was trying to render out fabric quickly, but feel like I can do a better job if I take my time. I'll have to figure out a good balance :) Overall, it was a nice, fun study.. although I'm not proud of how the clothing came out.
Friday, June 21, 2013
I'm going to start posting a weekly sketchdump, with the plan to sketch a little bit each day and see how much I can improve by the end of the year.
These are pretty rough and some have very little detail, but I like the flowing freedom of doing gesture drawings:
I've been wanting to work on my lighting and fabric capabilities, and realized while watching the third season of Game of Thrones just how much I loved the "look" of it as a whole. The costumes are great, the lighting, the emotions, as well as the landscapes. It was then I decided that taking the time to study some screencaps might be good for me, especially when it comes to trying to tackle armor.
The first one I chose was of Daenerys. I loved her pose in this photo and wanted to mimic it in my own style. I wasn't going for a direct copy, but more to observe the colors and the overall feel of the image. There are some anatomy mistakes that really bother me, as well as the rendering on the rocks. I spent about 4-5 hours on it and felt that I got what I wanted from this lesson. I'll be looking forward to doing more in the near future!
Welcome to my firstsecondthird sketch blog! I've finally found a setup that I'm kind-of, sort-of happy with and believe I'll be able to keep everything of mine in one place.
This blog will be about sketches, doodles, ideas, concepts, and various other pieces that won't make it into professional galleries. It'll also be a first look into my head before works are finished.
So, cheers! And thanks for joining me on my ride to success and world domination.
