UPDATE 2/10

[D@niel]

Cool progress on the last one!

[smokenmirrors]

flamable: in due time.

D@niel: thanks!

lil update, havent worked on it much, just another quick session, I think tomorrow Ill knock out more of the design elements and start bringing it all together...

then another alchemy session...

[kischi]

Yes, nice looking forward!!!! The skull is cool.

[Venger]

He's a little slim in the chest area, making him appear really gangly.
Nice eye for detail

[smokenmirrors]

dayyyam, time flies when chronic slackerage hits.. , well no time like the present! Now that Ive comitted to going to REVERIE i have to pull my ish' together and get cranking to fully take advantage of such a kick ass venue. That is I want to be working up a storm all the way up to the event so that Im nice and limber to soak in all the ill'ness! heres a lil update of my supa soulja... and a lil chow action....

[smokenmirrors]

chow update...

[smokenmirrors]

ill probably fool around with color since I still have a day to tweak it... hmm...

[smokenmirrors]

final plus a lil larger for some details...

[smokenmirrors]

chow 149 inspiro warm up.... female sith lord..... just trying to get a feel for the topic... and pushed my alchemy a bit...

[smokenmirrors]

ran out of time finishing this one for the deadline, but Im going to go ahead and push through and finish it... hopefully have it setup by the end of the day....

[smokenmirrors]

update..... i originally started throwing down color right away... but alas got jumbled as I was indecisive with the scheme of things... so i jumped back to grayscale... with which Ill hash out the details and render then throw down the color with impunity...

[monotony]

wow awesome new characterdesigns you have here.
love the supernatural investigator especially.
I just don't think your using the whole value range in the greyscale state. they tend to look very dark. maybe try encorporating some lighter planes and shapes and still keeping the overall dark and intimidating look. just the thoughts I had when I checked your last ones.
oh and btw that centaur kicks serious ass. the details are rad. keep sharing, dude!

[smokenmirrors]

Monotony: thanks for peepin the SB and your right with the darkness... gotta pop the contrast. workin on it fosho.

45min warm up, workin on my lady skillz and getting those forms rounded... (from ref)

[smokenmirrors]

couple more...

[smokenmirrors]

cleaning it up a bit... ive found that by keeping my opacity at 70%, i can get my values just the way I want them. Next step is to drop it to 30% to smooth out the value transitions.... blending if you please...

[Reject-D]

hey dood ive seen your work here for quite some time and you have made alot of progress.. one thing that gets me though is the lack of lighting..
dont forget that lighting is key and that transitions come after you have mastered light.

because everything is so dark its hard to see whats going on.. i recommend before moving on to another character to really go study lighting and how it effects different type of objects. with this last one because it is so dark, its hard to see whats her skin and whats her clothes.. also the lightsabre should be giving off a glare so her legs and arms should be a bit brighter and then get less intense as it moves away from the light source..

heres an examples because i like giving examples hopefully you can see what i mean..
great job keep it up just keep this in mind for further pieces!

its a fast paint over.. please dont get mad if some of the details are lost my focus was mainly on lightening it up a bit to see more detail..

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

Sith lady is looking gooood matey^^

.E

[TheGnoll]

very cool work man, very cool characters and alchemy doodles!

ciao!

[MattGamer]

real nice work, mate. you have structure and
that's a hard thing to accomplish. characters
are sick. :]

oh and see you at the workshop!!! ;]

[smokenmirrors]

Reject-D: thanks for the constructive crit and the visual! And youre definately spot on with some of my work sliding towards the dark value scale.... Im working on it fosho fosho. The sith fem is still a wip so dont worry Ill push it towards a better value range when I polish it off. Thanks for keepin tabs on my progress!

Mischeviouslittleelf: why thankyou!

TheGnoll: coolness is certainly what I try to do.

MattGamer: thanku much and I cant wait for the workshop!

just another lil study for tonight... trying to get my j.c.leyendecker style flowin....

[smokenmirrors]

nother set from ref. (www.characterdesigns.com), messing with thowing down the color over the grayscale.. mix of an initial multiply layer, then overlays then some normal layers with color picking from the build up.... oye!

[smokenmirrors]

nother study compliments of mmaphotography

then some more sith action....now I wanted her to have dark skin and light hair.... and kept on tweaking the lighting with the dark background as I wanted a strip of stylized "space" as in outer space behind her to help with contrast and some style points... but too many things were bugging me... so Im trying an alternative route... hmm.....

[erik-jan v/d schuur]

waahh those acrylics oils that u did are sooo good do more of those please
your traditional work is verry beautiful!
i dont understand why you dont post or make more of those ahh

[Thujon]

Some really nice styles here...

I guess your like Warhammer and forgotten realms alot.... as I do ;-)

Nice sketches!! Good painterly look!!!

[hunchback]

nice, nice.
pen pressure is your friend xD

keep it up

[smokenmirrors]

'ej: traditional action takes time.... impatient I have become since discovery digital... however, sketch action is always on the plate. Hope these doodles suffice.

Thujon: yup. Warhammer and the Black library are always playing images in my head... Read much do i.

hunchback: PEN PRESSURE! yes indeed, funny I didnt realize that ability with the brush setup till recently....

alrighty, so heres a mix of sketches, lil acrylic studies I do during my lunch break at work, some lifedrawings from Dallas (Reverie) ballpoint. And then a lil digi I worked up, also at the workshop amidst all the rampant inspiration going round. Lastly i went ahead and did my lil thunderdome tribute to HOPE (helping other people everywhere) during the professional comp at the end of the workshop. (-2hrs start to finish) It was definately a trip of trips, I wish I had another day or so to meet and greety peeps as I failed miserably to do so.... as I was wrapped up studying all the fresh work going round and then wanting to create my own.... shyste!

[smokenmirrors]

much more of the same....

Ms. Hotness J.Connelly from ref, as well as the K.Watanabe and Bjork. The color Watanabe was from an older SB, but I thought Id resurrect'em as I did another lil grayscale acrylic study recently...

[Reject-D]

wow youve been busy!! great job! these are lookin good! try to do some more color pieces if you can keep it up!

[smokenmirrors]

lil team chow action plus sketches from my new physical SB...

[MGLDyson]

I really like the color palette you've got going on with the zombie on horseback.