Goblins in progress

In my last post I talked about a Commission I got to do some Fantasy images.

that post > HERE

That Commission is finished and the finals for all 4 of those images are all on my online portfolio

See those Goblins > HERE

I was thinking that this project would be a good time to go into and share my artistic process with how I take an image from start to finish.  There is no need to go into all four of the Goblin images so i'll just talk about one.

Step 1. ink

    Step 1. So after the image is sketched out and inked I scan and clean the image digitally, simple step clearing up smudges and pencil lines just want the ink to be bold and crisp.

( the digital parts of this work is done in PhotoShop)

Step 2. Base Color

    Step 2.  this step is basically me turning my art into a coloring book, just filling in the lines.  But the real important part of this step is that I start breaking areas of colors in the image into there own layers.

The layers at the end of the image

    Creating separate layers is a very helpful tool to have for making quick corrections without effecting other aspects of the whole image, but when working with so many layers its a good idea to ether group them into folders or to at less remember to name them, which sadly sometimes I forget and when trying to fine 1 small light to fix among 30 something layers can get frustrating, so remember doing a little extra work early can save you a lot of extra work later.

Step 3. Light and Shadow 

   Step 3.  Then on separate layers i'll create a shadow and light layer to help give the whole image more sense of shape for each object and to push and pull different object back in the space of the image.  I also want to keep the shade and light layers relatively sharp as to not loose or take away from any of my line work.

Step 4. Splatters!!!

   Step 4.  This next step is still pretty new to me in fact this series is the first time I tried doing it, which is another reason I wanted to talk about it.

Random Ink splatter used for Goblin images

 I did a whole series of semi random ink splatter to add a more striking and designed look to my Goblin images, and in some cases and sense of grittiness.

Step 5. Final

   Step 5. Lastly I finish off the image with final light and shadow layers that make up the mood of the environment, instead of focusing on the individual objects in the image I think of it as a whole.  These layers can help me define a light source or just create a dynamic effect on the environment. Also can tint and unify the image as a whole.

That is usually my step by step process in making mostly all of my images.

Hope you find this helpful!

Goblins on Parade

A while ago i was commissioned to do a series of images. I was given a lot of freedom with this project, with the only guideline being that it had to be “Magic the Gathering” inspired.

I decided to focus on Goblins as a theme to tie them all together as a cohesive series with each piece being separated by the Goblins profession cause hey even a Goblins got to make a living.

The professions, or classes I chose were Warriors, Shaman, Builders, and a Dragon-rider.

After a series of  thumbnails and sketches I came up this these final images and below are the original ink scans.

1. The builders

  The Builders fight by creating all sorts of artifacts and explosives, which they use to cause confusion on the battlefield and with such a large verity of toys in there arsenal they are prepared for any situation.

2. The dragon rider

The dragon rider causes chaos and terror using the incredible force of his pet. How a Goblin trains a dragon is still a mystery.

3. The Shaman

The Shaman harvests the energy of the spirt world, though mostly using its power as a healer, he can unleash extraordinary magic to destroy his enemies.

4. The Warrior

The warriors use there overwhelming numbers to annihilate any that stand in there why, picking up scraps of armor and battered weapons along the way.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

  
        So its that time again, it's Halloween!  A great holiday to embrace your inner monster and partake in some of the holidays best traditions, parties, candies, and making costumes to name a few.

  
       However we can't forget my favorite Halloween past time, yes that is right watching hour after hour, day after day of horror films throughout the entire month of October.
       At the time of writing this blog it is Halloween and sadly even though I would like to to be handing out candy with my lovely girlfriend, I will sadly be stuck and work. But luckily thanks to my girlfriend I have started a new Halloween tradition...

       Pumpkin carving, I can't believe that in all my years, loving Halloween and being an artist I never carved a pumpkin till about three three years ago.  This year we decided to to both do skull pumpkins, hers being more of the "day of the dead" kind and mine more traditional.

Mia's is on the left, mine is on the Right.

 

 

My Pumpkin glowing in the dark.

       Hope you all enjoy your own Halloween routines and have a great time trick-or-treating, or whatever you like doing this season.

BOO!!!

PAINTING WITH A TWIST

Here is a Subject I wanted to talk about for a while now, so hear we go!

PWAT Logo!

        

           For a while now I've been working with this amazing company, Painting with a Twist, or PWAT for short! PWAT is a fun BYOB art studio where people come for a night of drinking and socializing with their friends or strangers all the while being walked through step by step by an instructor, and at the end of the night they get to leave with an amazing painting they made themselves.  I've worked a few parties now and I got to say I love it. Its always a blast, it can be a bit worrisome trying to get people that don't know about panting to get into painting and still enjoying themselves but once they start slinging that paint and singing with the music, you know everything is going good.

Me teaching my first class, and it going well, YAY!

         Teaching painting has always been a passion that I wanted to explore and this is a great introduction into teaching and a chance to learn how to give instructions and create a exciting atmosphere for everyone to learn in.  Beyond teaching there are other great benefits that I personally get from working with PWAT.  One is that I get to work with Acrylics, which i rarely do.  Most importantly I feel is that it gets people who otherwise never have any real interest in art, actually talking and asking questions on it.

       Painting with a Twist is a big franchise and have locations and I would recommend anyone to give it a try, at less once. Its super simple just check the site for the location closest to you and sign up for a class today!

Look up all their locations > HERE
Like us and keep up with us on Facebook > HERE

Hatching a Yoshi

        In my last post I talked about a zombie image I made that was meant to be used for a T-shirt design.    Check out that post > CLICK HERE

        Well that design is not the only image I made for a T-shirt design.  Though not made for a job I did make a Yoshi shirt design image just as a fun project for myself.  Now everyone knows Yoshi, but just in case you've never played a video game here is a brief description of what Yoshi is.  Yoshi is the cute big eyed green dinosaur in the Mario game series.

Yoshi art from 1990 by Nintendo.

      I remember being a young kid playing SNES and spending hours upon hours playing Super Mario World (which happens to be Yoshi's very first game appearance) and man when ever I hit that block with the Yoshi egg my face would just light up. I knew when I hit that egg I was in for a fun time.  Riding my Yoshi, running through the Mushroom Kingdom and eating up goomba's and koopa's, and spitting them out at enemies. (Oh and unlike a lot of others I would never sacrifice my Yoshi for that extra Jump boost, you know who you are).  In short Yoshi is one of my very favorite power ups in video games, cause its not only a power up its also a partner and I think that's just the coolest.


     But one thing I didn't realize as a kid that Yoshi was an actual Dinosaur I mean look and him!!!

Another Yoshi image by Nintendo.

Does that look like a Dinosaur, no not at all when I think Dinosaur I think more...

Image from Jurassic park.

       Oh god, yea that thing, now that is a dinosaur, which finally brings me to my Yoshi image, and my attempt to connect him back to his prehistoric roots.

Now how do you ride that?

      Now that is a Dinosaur and I think a pretty cool T-shirt design.  also a fun detail about the design is like the Yoshi and there many colors, the design is made so that whatever color shirt you pick is the color Yoshi that is hatched, pretty cool right?

Green shirt Yoshi!

Blue shirt Yoshi!

      So that is my tribute to one of my favorite early childhood characters from some of my first experiences playing video games.

Zombies. Roar!

      Zombies are everywhere these day.  Movies, TV, video games, comics, and books all have been swarmed by zombies and why not everyone loves zombies, and right when you think they are getting old and you've become sick of them someone comes up with a way to breath new life into them, and your hooked all over again. Hell one of my favorite "things" is the Song of Ice and Fire books and even it uses zombies as its main antagonist of the series in the form of the White Walkers.  
 (sorry just wanted to bring up Game of Thrones)

      Zombies are also just amazing to see, its always fun looking at zombie make-ups and illustrations. so why talk about zombies, well a while back a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to do a T-shirt design with a undead theme so I jumped at the chance.

Unused zombie design

         I really loved making this image and my friend liked it too but sadly the deal fell through due to a mutual misunderstanding, which is too bad cause I think this would look great on a shirt.

SEE PRETTY SWEET RIGHT?

        

         Just for fun I just can't help but to post a small list of a few zombie films. they're pretty fun so if there is any on this list you haven't seen give them a try.  (this list is in no order)

• Fido - 2006
• Day of the dead - 1985
• Shaun of the dead - 2004 (its a requirement to list this film)
• The Return of the Living Dead - 1985
• Dead Alive (aka Brain Damage) - 1992
• Re-Animator - 1985
• [REC] - 2007
• Slither - 2006
• The Evil Dead - 1981 ( of course that also counts for the sequel and army of darkness)
• Tokyo Zombie - 1999
• ZombieLand - 2009

Hello old friends.

 !! BACK AGAIN !!

     Man, it sure has been a long time since I posted, too long really.  But I’ve  been doodling in my little sketch book and tableting (?) on my little Wacom the whole time and can't wait to show works I’ve done and will do in the future.
 
     So what happened, where have I been? Sad truth is that things got hard and I had to focus more on getting a normal job, with more security then freelance was giving me at the time. But now I’ve gotten nice job and built up some savings, got an amazing part time job as an ART INSTRUCTOR (don't worry I'll be talking all about it on my next entry, which will not take a year to post, promise) and am ready to jump head first back into the art world.

     I’ve got a long list of things I’ve got to do and can't wait to go through them all, but I just wanted to really get back into the routine blogging of where I am and where I'm going. I find it’s a really big motivator for myself. It helps keep me, or any artist, on a schedule like trying to meet a deadline at the same time giving me an avenue to show my work. Most importantly I think it helps me look at myself to better understand who I am as an artist and challenge me to do more and be better.


   To get back into things I redesigned my old resume to send to any in house jobs or any freelance job that requires resumes, which are not that many but it’s always good to have.

I forgot how to spell my name, but lucky for me my little buddy filled it in for me.

      There it is see how cute it is up there! That's not all, I'm planning on creating all new business cards and post cards as leave behinds and mailers. I am making new pieces for my portfolio, looking into ways to get myself out in the public eye more like promotional sites and conventions to attend, and I'm even working on one or two super-secret projects I hope to self-produce. I'm not really sure where I'm going to go I am just planning to throw as many hooks out there and see what fish will bite, well wish me luck and hope you look forward to keeping up with my blog in the future as much as I will writing it!

Fun game if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes point them out to me. Whoever points out the most wins.