Blue Skies Ahead

[catukas]

Keep up the good work

[blue skies]

More of Adva, a personal character I may be implementing in a project soon.

Continuing anatomy studies as well... just haven't gotten to a scanner yet.

[blue skies]

Just some concepts for a personal project.

[Pomadillo]

I am not an expert on environments by any means, but in my opinion it looks as if you have already improved. I like how you handled the sky especially, although the tree in the foreground looks a little weird. It looks as if the furthest left leaves are making a bit of tangent with the rock-face, and taking away some of the depth.

[blue skies]

Just some simple sketches.. trying to figure out an outfit for the girl in my previous post, and trying to get accustomed to blocking stuff out without line work. I'll probably do some more and then take three or so and work them up nicer later. If I can manage to find three I like.

Even after just a week or so of a few anatomy sketches every day, I already feel like I'm improving. Even with just a simple little pose sketch like this, I feel much more confident in my drawing. And my legs are noticeably less awful than usual.

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@Pomadillo - Hmm. That's supposed to be sort of a vine climbing up over the rock, but I do see what you mean.. I'll endeavour to find some better way of working that out. Thanks!

[blue skies]

Work has had me too beat to do much lately... but I'm back on the horse!

WIP for today. Anatomically, I'm already noticing that her face is too skinny (and that I need to take that eyebrow down a notch. ). Iunno, I like head scarves.

Crits and comments welcome!

[kevin_]

cool sb! like your style, but maybe you could use some more saturation and contrast? anyways keep it up!

[blue skies]

Something about the eyes is still bugging me, but I can't figure it out.


@ kevin_ : Yeah, I've gotten the contrast comment alot. I'm working on it.

[blue skies]

Just when you think you're getting back in the game... food poisoning.

Here's some things I painted pretty quick a couple days ago. Trying to get in the habit of speeding up my workflow and leaving things rough instead of polishing them all up. Can always do that later.

[Zaphk]

Thanks for the visit!
Ohh nice concepts and style, your ladies are lovely

[Lagarto]

nice sketches! the colors on that last environment look too light. that last portrait looks amazing, but be careful with the size of the features of the face, they look bigger than they should.
keep it up!

[blue skies]

Painting quick thumbnails of landscapes for beginner's practice. :] I've purposely (and successfully, for the first time ever) kept myself zoomed pretty far out the entire time I was painting these.. trying to work on getting the big shapes and colours first without bogging down in details.
(Reference images pulled from one of those top 30 best landscape picturewhatever sites one always runs into on the internet)

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@zaphk - Thanks! And thanks for the visit back!

@Lagarto - Thanks for the visit and comment! I'm always having problems getting features to take up the correct amount of room on the face.. Seems to be an eternal struggle for me.

[blue skies]

Another WIP. Trying to figure out how to deal with complicated knotted fabric... it's hard. D:

[blue skies]

Doot do doo doot doo..

[blue skies]

A couple quick drawings I did tonight just to relax. Revisiting an old character of mine.

[blue skies]

I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm just not going to get around to scanning these. So I just took pictures... which pains me so. So sorry about the crappy quality.

These are a few weeks old, at the end of my old sketchbook. I've got quite a bit more in my new sketchbook, but I don't want to dumppost it all at once.

Also, a cloud study.

[Shiftshaper]

Awesome stuff, I really enjoy seeing the refined shapes you make with your figures, and I'm a fan of of the pastel colour palette you use, the blocky way you fill in shapes is very reminiscent of the style of using gouache. Do you do traditional media? I think you might want to try gouache, it's tricky to get a handle of at first but the way you make your colour, i think you'd be a natural!

[blue skies]

More couple week old sketches from my sketchbook, as well as environment thumbs, cause... it's about time. And a little fantasy icy sorceress sketch to take a break from the environments.


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@shiftshaper - So many compliments! Thanks! And actually.. it's funny you say that. Because I had always wanted to try gouache (dunno if you're familiar with Duffzilla, but he does great work with it), but my first introduction to it ended up being in colour theory class, painting.. coloured squares. So it killed it a little bit for me, and I've never tried to do anything my style with it, even though I have some around. But since you bring it up, I think I may just have to dig it out and give it another try.

Thanks a bunch!

[blue skies]

Wow.. more than three months since I last posted. Which, coincidentally, is almost the exact length of the school quarter that just ended. I'm super excited to be able to do more studies and sketches and practice in general, assuming I ever get a day off from work... but first I'd better catch up I guess. It's a fair amount of stuff, so I don't want to put it all in one post. First up then- the random stuff! (Later stuff is all part of the same project, so I'll post that separately.)

[blue skies]

Work from class this quarter- environments for Riak, my personal muse project. Really my first proper foray into the environment process..I know there's so many more things to explore, but hey, start somewhere. I was pleasantlyish surprised that I managed to do this okay on them..

[BlackDelphin]

Environments look really good! Is there a class or project here on cA? I'd love to read about it

Your overall sketchbook is really nice, I like the variation in colour that you're using, and the subjects
havew these little or larger details that make them unique in their way. For some of your portraits, like
#44 or @39, where did you get the reference?

As for miss #38, i think the direction of the nose and the mouth are the problem.
I don't know your reference, but I'm guessing here. I took the liberty of painting over her
to check if it would make the weird angle less weirder. I think that was the problem.

Keep posting, I want to see more

[lionheartGFX]

wow! great style and a very pace of practice, i really admire your creativity and your landscapes are really really good, they feel so varied and pretty to look at everything feels like it works, i tried to find something to critique but really your apporoach to the whole craft is the right one so really theres no need.

if anything you could read a bit about drapery and the anatomy of the folds and how clothes depicts the movements of the body.

wish you te best and keep posting updates! me likey what i see

[blue skies]

Bahh... too long between posts. Got stuck in a bit of a Walking Dead binge for a few days there.

Firstly, an in-progress landscape that I'm working on for my brother's Christmas present. It's referenced from a picture he took in Glacier National Park, Montana, which is very near where I call home.

Secondly, a new character development process I'm fiddling with. My colouring is getting way messy.

And thirdly, just felt like doing something different and low stress tonight.

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@ BlackDelphin - Thanks! If you're interested in the project these are for, I have a section for it on my portfolio: http://capsizebeautiful.wix.com/noth...#!gallery/ckiy . I'm having a bit of a creative crisis with it right now, so there isn't alot of super detailed info, but all of the stuff is in one place with some descriptions.

Thanks for the paintover.. I think you're completely right. It was one of those sorts of things that I was looking at for ages, unable to pinpoint exactly how to fix the issue.

As for references, generally they're just images that I run into and see something interesting in, and try to take in a new direction. They're pretty much always intended to be really quick speedpaints for study (39 in particular was a light study), and then I get carried away.


@ lionheartGFX - Thank you! Always nice to hear such encouraging words. And yes... I definitely need to work on drapery. And I want to.. but I'm also horrified of it. XD Soon, soon.

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[blue skies]

Catching up.

[blue skies]

Catching up, as usual. It seems that I do all of my posting on here in bursts, generally when I'm on some sort of break from school (spring, currently). And I suppose that's okay, as long as I don't stop drawing in between.

Old stuff:

A re-do of the girl that's sort of become my blog mascot:



A semi-self portrait:



Iunno:



A half-hearted Shyvana sketch that I quit on halfway through:

[Betty86]

nice SB, really diggin enviro studies keep it up!

[blue skies]

@Betty86 - Thanks! I really need to do some more of those...

Trying out a new brush here - really loving it. It forces me to be more committed to my strokes, instead of lightly dancing all around the form and never really getting in on there.





Figure studies from the figure drawing tool at pixelovely:



Annnnd some quick concept sketches for something I'm working on now:

[blue skies]

Quick sketches for the night. Not too pleased with the second one. Meh.

[blue skies]

Extremely rough sketches... planning on finishing these up properly when I've got some time. Have to draw other stuff now though.
I like to call these "cultural mishmashes."

[blue skies]

Must.. reach... 3 pages...

Some underwater concepts I've done recently for the project I'm currently working on. They're just backgrounds for a side scrolling game, so nothing too amazing composition wise.