Lane's Sketchbook

[Greenhouse]

Oh Lane, what a talent you are! I'm just amazed by your art! The colors, the light and the concepts are utterly beautiful! Thanks also for the tutorials!

[ja1307]

Truly inspirational work mr, the way you control your colours and values is outstanding.You actually make still life painting look very sexy and cool, great painterly quality to your work.Checked out your blog too and saw some of your other illustrations.Man you really get a lot of of emotional intensity in your work which i am always a huge fan of, even your environment have a strong emotional rawness to them. Truly great work.

[siiilon]

really inspiring work Lane

[asa]

awesome works

[FalconessN]

Really love your work!!

[jdavisillustration]

Thankyou for your animated posts, they are super informative! Im a huge fan of watching the decisions people make during illustration and your workflow is very entertaining to watch!

[wreck]

Love your colors man, very nice natural hues in your pieces.

[Kambei Shimada]

Love the way you draw/paint figures.

[Lane.]

Thanks guys, MUCH appreciated!

here's a warm-up sketch/study:

[Lane.]

As daughter of the royal ambassador, Ariandra was required to wear body armor while traveling in foreign territory. For several months she endured the traditional plate carapace. It was oversized and bulky in a way that made her look far too much like a palace guard, or as Ariandra lamented, a “bumbling brute.”

Seeing her anguish, Ariandra's father ordered the services of the kingdom's most famed tailor to design a custom outfit. It was to be both protective and fashionable.

Finally she would be seen in public, and was eager to peruse the foreign bazaars in style.

Process:

[Shadow Stalker]

Awesome character. I love the mood, the pose, the design. Everything. Thanks for sharing!

[The1CalledTess]

your work is so incredible. I love the last one

[Jenny Jacobs]

The colors and values in that last one are very nice. I love how you put the lighting on the armor since that is the defining part of the character design.

[Vinicam]

Amazing mood in all the pieces. I don't know how I never saw this sketchbook before, but I'll sure now miss it anymore!

[Meps]

Good to see you back!

Your recent work is looking great, as usual--great brush stroke economy. I particularly like the way you handled the rug in post 250; it reads as being much more intricate than it actually is. Great structure of temperatures, too! The purples work really well with the warmer colors in the robe and armor. Looking forward to more!

[isokarhu]

Absolutely wonderful work.

Ariandra's outfit is pretty, but she had better watch out for low attacks...

[Matt-Radway]

Love the lighting/pose combination on that character, it all works so well

Also that process gif blew my mind : O

[isokarhu]

By the way, I'm wondering how you went about learning what you know about light, color, composition, etc.
Are you self-taught?
Do you have any books that you would recommend for someone looking to learn the fundamentals?
I'm concerned more right now with learning light/color (painting stuff) than form/anatomy.
Thank you in advance for your help and as well for your contribution to the wonderful visual art we have in this community and this world.

[Lane.]

Thanks guys!

isokarhu- Those subjects require inquisitive study of reality and master paintings. (Do that often!) Thankfully color and light have predictable patterns, and once understood, can be convincingly reproduced from imagination. I highly recommend this Gnomon DVD which explores the subject: http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/sto...r#.UJCBSMXA_E0 There is also the great book from James Gurney: http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Gu...olor+and+light

The more I study composition the more I find it to be a rather subjective... subject. So often I see great works that defy many of the conventional rules. If it works well, it is done well. Composition and a good color sense are things that you will grow an eye for as you study. It will become instinctive. With that said, I highly recommend this book for studying strong, designed composition: http://www.amazon.com/Framed-Ink-Dra.../dp/1933492953

Just remember that no amount of books or lectures will help you unless you are constantly putting the ideas to practice. I like to have master works open for reference while I am painting. I'm not copying, but studying how the masters solved similar problems.

---


This is a recent study/practice painting:

reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerag...in/photostream

[Izzual]

I really love the way you're playing with colors, very inspiring and impressive stuff ! Hoping to get to this kind of level someday!

[Lane.]

doodads

[takashmen]

nice style
a bit chalky but still giving full information

waiting for more (subscribed)

[Lane.]

Red



...

Process:

[bobtail]

Really beautiful, inspirational work . The process gifs you're including are amazing too - so useful to learn from, thank you!!

[Natzetta]

stunning pictures you got here! very good control over textures.

[PeteJ]

Really, Really, love your last painting of the girl with the crossbow.

[Gpozzo]

Great updates man... i'm loving this one: http://bit.ly/TAzQNp, the last one is great, keep posting, i'll keep an eye

[johnny24]

when i think i have done something quite good i look to works like your and i just wanna cry...lol

[Oakart]

Ooh, I just love the last painting.

Thanks for linking to the gnomon color theory dvd and book, I will have to buy them now.

[n1frit]

Realy awesome works! Inspire me each time i come here! Thank you a lot!