Blizzard Speedpaint: Knowing when to quit

Remember this picture that I speedpainted awhile ago?

Well, I did say I was going to return to it and finish it.  And I diiid...

Let's just that speedpainting this really taught me a lot.  Even if the final product is mediocre at best.

Environments are one of my weakest points.  Of course, as a growing artist I have to recognize this and, instead of shying away from them, only work on them all the harder.  As I have been trying to do... with, well, results.  Of some kind.

But hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere!  And now I know things like looking at reference pictures.  (Can we just say I was testing out brushes and that's why I didn't bother to look at a reference?  Yeah let's go with that.)  But it's okay, because I'm learning.  And that's what sketching is for!  And next time will be a whole lot better!  :)  So here's to more environments and better painting!

Also I'm trying to work without textures (besides just brushes).  For someone that abuses textures, that's no easy task!  But I'm getting there.  :)  This might have been a kind of difficult picture, but it didn't start strong, so it's no surprise that it ended on a disappointing note.  So finally you just have to throw up your hands (or tablet pen) and say, "You know what?  I've done my best.  Time to move on and try again!"

And try I will!

Behind-the-scenes on "stars from my heart"

As a sort of celebration to finally getting my Photoshop CS2 installed on my beautiful desktop (<3), I decided to work on a painting I thought of last night while listening to "Cosmic Love" by Florence + the Machine.  When I finally made myself stop, it was about two hours; a pretty solid speedpaint.  (I saw "finally stop" because this was one of those pictures I feel like I could have kept tweaking for hours if I'd have let myself).
Here is a first "final" version I completed, then a second finished version I completed after tweaking:

Now, I want to address some of the thought process that went into this painting.  I had an initial idea in my  head, and normally I probably would have just plowed into it.  However, I thought better of it.  Recently, I've been reading the newsletters from Disney Visual Development Artist/Character Designer Chris Oatley.  One of his recent newsletters talked about the "The Starting Buzz"--something I'm sure every artist has felt.  "The Starting Buzz" is when you get an idea for a picture and are so excited you just leap right into it, only to find shortly that you just lose interest.

I am definitely a guilty of practicing this.  After reading Chris's newsletter, I really took a look at my art process and decided to make some changes.  What I'm going to talk about here is my decision to take more time in "pre-production," the beginning of the drawing process when you figure out things like composition, maybe some basic colors, etc.

It took me several tries to figure out exactly how I wanted to frame "stars from my heart."  When I was finally pleased with the composition and started laying down some base colors and values, I'll admit I almost lost faith.  I was having trouble seeing the finished product and felt like I wasn't making progress.   Once that happened, I actually decided to slap some drastic colors and textures onto the picture, just to sort of make a big leap and see something new.  And you know what?  It really helped!  It kind of refreshed the picture for me, and I carried on.

Two hours later, and I had what you see on the screen.  I'm not saying it's perfect--far from, of course--but it was a joy to draw and I really felt like I learned a lot during the process.

So remember, guys: Pre-production is one of the most important--if not the most important--part of the drawing process!  Don't plow through it--embrace it!  :)  I really think it makes the end product much more satisfying!

A Year with Frog and Toad: Make-up sketches

I'm make-up chief for my college's production of the musical "A Year with Frog and Toad," based on the books of the same characters.  The musical looks really cute and fun, so I'm really excited to work on it.  :)  I really enjoy doing stage make-up, so I jumped on the opportunity to be make-up chief.

Obviously, all the characters in the show are animals.  The show is more interpretive, however; I don't think characters will be dancing around with tails and stuff like that.  Because the show is so colorful, though, I really wanted to see if I could have a bit of fun with the make-up.  (I also don't want to freak the kids out, though, so I don't want to have the make-up be too drastic.)

Here are some highlights from my prelim sketches.  Keep in mind that these are a first pass and definitely not final.  I'm going to be buying the make-up next week while I'm on Easter break and experimenting on myself, so I'll have a better feel for what looks good and such.  I'm going to kidnap some guys as well, because I'm not sure how colored make-up looks on a guy versus a girl, since people are more used to seeing make-up on girls (and again, I don't want this to look weird; I want it to be fun).

The first unlabeled one is Turtle; the second unlabeled is Mother Frog.

more doodles

Some sketches I had lying around!  Most of these are from March, but there are some from February as well.  :)  I'm particularly fond of the fruit in the glass bowl, myself.  Click to view fullsize.  Enjoy!

Notebook Sketches

I recently compiled the sketches I've done in my AmLit and CivLit notebooks for fun.  Normally I don't show these to anyone--I won't even say I doodle them for myself, because honestly I doodle in class just to give my hands something to do when I'm not taking notes.  It keeps my hands preoccupied and helps me pay attention.  But why not?  Enjoy!  :)

Colored Sketches

Here are some more pictures from my tumblr blog--this time, colored sketches!  This will be the last "from tumblr" post.  After this, new stuff!  Yaay!  =D  Also, if you're wondering about all the Pokemon doodles--I was doing a "favorite Pokemon from each type" meme, which I plan on continuing when I get the time.  :)

Old Sketches

Hey, all!  Welcome to my new sketch blog, Flock of Flamingos!  :)  I hope you enjoy your time here.  First things first--I'm going to post sketches that I have already posted on my tumblr.  I have since left tumblr to opt for here, but for the sake of recording I'd like to repost here some of what I had previously posted there.  New stuff will come soon!