shadesofmauve (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadesofmauve) wrote2012-04-30 08:29 pm
shadesofmauve) wrote2012-04-30 08:29 pm
Artz! I does them! (WIP post)
I was inspired by Charlie Bowater's tutorial/watch-me-paint thing floating around Tumblr, and a skin tone bit that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
evilsherbear posted. That, combined with a slight decrease in my stress-level, were just what I needed to pull out the art I abandoned months ago -- and change how I was working on it completely.
It's much, much easier, now.
The tutorials hit that perfect sweet stuff of "Enough new things to try without being overwhelming," and lead direction to a big realization (which, like many epiphanies it left me feeling slightly dumb) -- namely, that if I attempt to paint digitally more like I paint in, well, PAINT, I won't be trying to learn as many new things at once and it'll be much more natural, therefore I'll be better at it. I'm not sure now why I didn't start off that way -- maybe because I thought I'd be frustrated trying to make pixels behave like paint and that I should use the media to it's strengths or something -- but ah well. I was also terrified of opening the rabbit hole that is photoshop brushes, sure it'd be way too complex for me, and I was sick of managing all of my oh-shit-I'm-afraid-I'll-ruin-it-layers.
So I collapsed those damn layers. And I stuck with one brush -- but a much more natural one. And I made a skin tone chart (well, borrowed one for Joker, made one for Rhi, since she wasn't quite represented).
And, well...
I went from this... (sorry about overly saturated colors; artifact of half-assed jpg export)
To this:
The several month gap also made it much easier to notice things like the fact that I had his arm on backwards. There's still a hell of a lot to do (argh, hands! How do I paint open mouths? Will I be able to fit Marvin the Martian on his sock? etc), but I feel like I'm going somewhere. I'm excited to put the deep shadows back in, but I'm going to wait until I've got a rough background so I don't wander of into the wilds of screwed up lighting. Er, don't wander off more than I usually do, anyway.
And I had a lot of fun doing it!
evilsherbear posted. That, combined with a slight decrease in my stress-level, were just what I needed to pull out the art I abandoned months ago -- and change how I was working on it completely.It's much, much easier, now.
The tutorials hit that perfect sweet stuff of "Enough new things to try without being overwhelming," and lead direction to a big realization (which, like many epiphanies it left me feeling slightly dumb) -- namely, that if I attempt to paint digitally more like I paint in, well, PAINT, I won't be trying to learn as many new things at once and it'll be much more natural, therefore I'll be better at it. I'm not sure now why I didn't start off that way -- maybe because I thought I'd be frustrated trying to make pixels behave like paint and that I should use the media to it's strengths or something -- but ah well. I was also terrified of opening the rabbit hole that is photoshop brushes, sure it'd be way too complex for me, and I was sick of managing all of my oh-shit-I'm-afraid-I'll-ruin-it-layers.
So I collapsed those damn layers. And I stuck with one brush -- but a much more natural one. And I made a skin tone chart (well, borrowed one for Joker, made one for Rhi, since she wasn't quite represented).
And, well...
I went from this... (sorry about overly saturated colors; artifact of half-assed jpg export)
To this:
The several month gap also made it much easier to notice things like the fact that I had his arm on backwards. There's still a hell of a lot to do (argh, hands! How do I paint open mouths? Will I be able to fit Marvin the Martian on his sock? etc), but I feel like I'm going somewhere. I'm excited to put the deep shadows back in, but I'm going to wait until I've got a rough background so I don't wander of into the wilds of screwed up lighting. Er, don't wander off more than I usually do, anyway.
And I had a lot of fun doing it!
no subject
Positive: Yay you for not drawing a ~ripped~ Joker. He probably has to keep himself in some degree of shape for various reasons, but he probably wouldn't have a body to match Dude!Shep's.
I'm petite in the sense that I'm short (5'4) and have a pretty compact/sturdy frame--overall, FemShep's limbs are smaller than mine and the recoil from a shotgun would knock me on my ass. I couldn't go round for round with Jimmy (and not just because I don't box).
I have a whole rant brewing about the maleShep model versus the FemShep model (I just need comparison images to really make a point).
no subject
I've got the 'sturdy peasant' build from the waist down and nothin' at all up top. When I saw someone complaining about femShep having beefy thighs I was all o_O "But she's basically me with more boobs." She needs that leg muscle to pound around in full armor with an arsenal on her back.
Huh. Now I want to draw a slightly more scandalous scene just so I have an excuse to draw leg muscle. :P
I see what you mean about the head/neck/body. I think the outline is correct and shading will 'push' her body back, but I'll play with moving it.
And possibly posing my boyfriend. That's always a riot.I want to de-beef Joker's arm (the one he's not leaning on), and in the sketch it was clear he had a tiny bit of a belly, so I want to make sure I capture that. Anyone who's spent a lot of time on crutches should have some arm definition (and you can work with weights around limits), but I figure there aren't really any good ways for him to work on aerobic fitness while deployed -- swimming pools and elliptical trainers aren't exactly standard on a frigate.
EDIT: I totally agree re: Shepard models, but if I rant there I'll be repeating myself, I think. Looking forward to reading it if you make a point-by-point comparison!