Vantage Point...of View

Hey guys! So after some great advice and direction, I decided to work back into this pretty heavily. I really felt like the previous iteration had non-cohesive elements that just kind of bounced you around rather than guide you. While this piece is still about 7 hrs from being done, I still wanted to toss it out here for review. Being a stay at home dad in the South, I don't get very much feedback at all on my work. My thanks to all of you guys who are already pushing me to do better and giving me forum for discussion.

Oh, and this week's study is about half done and will be up in the next few days. I have been delayed because the girls brought a head cold home from day-school and the whole family has been down with it. There is nothing more pathetic than snotty, coughing, tired 19mos old twins.

A poorly done Poorly Casanova

So here is this week's Master Study. Poorly Casanova as promised. I had soooo much fun with this one. This really is the direction I want to take my personal work while developing more commercial fantasy styles. Artists like Hale, Foster and even Fortune have such an emotional energy to their work that I can't get enough. The study took 20 minutes of drawing, and 1.5 hours of painting on 8x10 canvas. Again, rather than striving for exact detail, I wanted to capture the color resonance of the work. A good call as the original is a whopping 38x70!!! I call this one a success.

Vantage Point

Hey guys! I finally scanned this bad boy in, to moderate success, and thought I would post up a pic. This is my first piece to actually spend real time on the details. I know that sounds asinine, and it is, but for the most part I tend to just focus on what I want to and be damned with the rest. This really shows in the full body of my work, but I am really pleased with how this one turned out. There are still areas that could be worked further, but then again, there always are. I could really use some criticism and tips here, so don't hold back please. I am all too aware of its strengths and weaknesses. Thanks!

Master Studies

So after Adopting Dave Rapoza's (Crimson Daggers) weekly schedule concept, I decided to finally start cranking out my Master Studies. I am choosing specific areas of works that are either influential to me or have an art lesson I wish to learn embedded within them. Then I divide that quantity by a couple thousand and do one a week. The first one is Michael Whelan's Cover for Changeling Sea. I don't really want to put more than 2-4 hours in each of these ( I think this one came in at around 3.5), but I am sure I will break that rule as I go along. For the time being these will all be 8x10 and intended to capture specific elements of the painting. For Changeling, I really wanted to work on the drastic contrast of rimmed highlights. I was less concerned about the accuracy of clothing and hair, but going more for a deeper understanding of the light.

Next week's image will be Phil Hale's Poorly Casanova.

Rust

So it has been a few days now. I finished this several days ago, but had to wait for it to dry. I am trying to slow down with my work output and increase the level of detail per piece. My next work, "Vantage Point", has about 10-12 hours clocked already with only 25% completed. All of this time has been on rocks and fabric. I'll post a pic soon in progress.

This piece is for the latest ArtOrder Challenge:

"A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust"
~ James Stephens
Irish poet and storyteller, 1882-1950
http://artorder.blogspot.com/2010/01/catching-up-and-new-challenge.html

Creature Retread: Devil Assassin

So I did this piece for one of Art Order's Challenges. The first draft went awry on Hardboard (thanks for the tips Aaron & Mark), so I did this version on Illustration Board. I don't really plan on doing card art or Role-Playing work, but I have really wanted to push myself to try more variety. I tend not to think in the dramatic frame of mind necessary for most character-based illustration, and this was no exception. The figure is stiff and the angles not very dynamic. I struggled with the fixed rules of what the character had to display and I felt this hampered the normal flow of my work.

That said, I still found this process rewarding. As an unpaid illustrator of...my head I have to play all of the instruments in the orchestra and conduct at the same time. I don't always have fixed goals or requirements for my art and that can be taxing. Having to adhere to someone's strict guidelines does leave out quite a bit of guesswork providing a check list of sorts to determine "success". I get tired of asking : Do you like it? Instead, I look forward to asking?: Did you receive it? My developing style will speak for itself and help me stay focused on the task at hand.

Today's Lesson: Push Yourself. Expand beyond what you know you are capable of, and you will always have a comfortable place to retreat to. Well, mostly anyway.

Promises

So here is the piece I mentioned a few days ago. It went from a stale lump of crustiness, to something that I really like. When my new website goes live I will have a better representation of it. But in the meantime, I hope you like it.