Babydoll Study Update

This was a very rewarding process. I have learned a huge amount about color and light in this painting and I'm very pleased with my final outcome. Maybe not exactly like the photo, but pretty durn close.

Challenge Accepted

Get over here! (que Mortal Kombat music)
It may be that today is my 37th birthday or that I just lost site of the goal, but I believe I mentioned below that as I lumbered through this past decade something didn't click. I began to coast as an artist and, even though these past couple years I have been reading practically every Art Blog, Forum, and eMagazine I could get my grubby fingers on, for some reason I refused to put all that knowledge into action. The whole thing reminds me of several opportunities I chose to pass up as a young man in order to go back to college and hang out with my friends. I wasn't so much concerned with actually going to class back then, though reality eventually set in for me and I did well in the end, but instead I focused on what immediate returns I could get for my time and energy spent. Reading that you might think to yourself, "Hmm...that sounds oddly like what's happening to you now, Scott.", and well, you would be mostly correct about that. The only difference this time is that I only dropped the ball in one arena and in life all around. Still, I dropped the ball.
I can be hard on myself at times, and this is one of those times, but I'm not about beating myself up and working myself into a stupor to wallow in self pity and low self-esteem. Instead I'm looking hard at where I am professionally and where I want to be instead. Then, I'm considering what do I need to do to get there. Fortunately, the answer if fairly easy this time. I want to be over there, painting book covers, movie posters, and commercial art. I want to create awe-inspiring fantasy and science-fiction paintings that make people ask me how I did it or where the idea came from. I want this spark in my belly to ignite into a flame so bright that others want to know what drives me to do what I do. And you know what? I think I just stepped up to the challenge of all that and more. As I've told my wife, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. It's time to do something and stop saying 'one day', or 'I wish'. No one will hand you a free ride with no evidence you are worth the risk, but many people will invest in you if you can show what you can do.

This is a Work In Progress I started 8.3.11 that I plan to finish on 8.4.11. It's a study to see if I could bite off photo realism, and I think I'm moving in the right direction.

Working to find 'The Edge'

Many of you know, especially if you are an artist, that being competitive in today's market is not just competing against the local guys (or gals), but rather within the world market. It's just as easy to hire out an artist, illustrator, graphic designer in Texas (my new home as of a month ago) than it is to hire one from somewhere in Canada, China, Russia, etc. All the artist and employer need is a means to communicate via the web and it's a done deal. So what does it take to hang tough and get off the porch? (Yeah, I like mixed metaphors, deal.)

Well, for me so far, it's just a matter of finally admitting to myself that I'm just not as good as I would like to be. I've managed to get a lot of small press jobs. I've done many interiors and several book covers now, but every time I turn around there's ten more, younger, edgier artists out there licking up the jobs that I want. So what do I do? Take a hard look in the mirror. Take a hard look at my work. And take a hard look at the artwork of the artist who are getting hired more frequently for the big boys. What did I find? Well, to be honest, I couldn't help but recall words from long ago ringing in my ears. Words from instructors and artistic friends who had tried to help me onto a path of being a better artist well over a decade ago, but quite frankly I was too lazy and arrogant to listen.
That stings more than a bit. But you know what? It's the kind of sting like the soreness the day after a hard workout. It's the kind of sting that says, yeah, better late than never, and ok, this is possible. So here I am continuing this hard look at all these things and realizing it's just a matter of putting in the time, doing the work, and being bold. Here are some steps I've taken recently. The move to Texas slowed me down a bit, but at the moment I'm working on some pieces to further my progress and I'm moving away from the comic book looking stuff (not that I'm turning down work like that though!) into more of a painterly style, which I utterly love, btw. As always, critiques and comments are welcome. Thanks!

Learning to Paint...again.

When I was at University there were a great many things I was supposed to be doing and for various reasons just didn't manage to get them accomplished. One of those things was to actually learn Color Theory, how to paint (in general), how light works in your composition/painting, and various other things. In a nutshell, I was lazy. I was a good artist with anything I could hold like a pencil (pencils, inks, chalk, charcoals, etc.) and I was cocky. I'd had people tell me for years how great I was and not only did I let it go to my head, but I stopped trying to learn and grow as an artist. Essentially, and sadly, I peaked at 19.
Now, before you go hating on me too much, hear this part. I've paid for my sins in spades. I've spent the last 12 years doing exactly what you might expect a guy like me would have done. I continued to rest on my laurels and have only really worked part-time as an artist until 2008 when I made the leap of faith to go for it and make art my sole income. I can honestly say it's been a struggle and it's really, truly challenged my ego and sense of worth. Why? Because I had to swallow my pride and return to those lessons I should have learned all those years ago.
So hear I am trying to remember what I learned and trying to make use of any and every resource I can get my hands on to capture what it is to be a painter. Again, it's a great thing to have my biggest fan at home. I've started to collect art books, anatomy and otherwise, and I've taken many hours of tutorials and instructional training online as well. The internet is a wonderful thing for this sort of thing.
To make things even more difficult (I do love a solid, uphill challenge) I'm not only learning to paint, but primarily digital painting since my wonderful wife got me Corel Painter 11 for Christmas along with a new graphics tablet and I already use Photoshop CS4 for everything. So, here I am. I think I'm making some progress, but some recently downloaded .pdfs from a couple different sources (yes, they were legal downloads) have helped solidify the next steps for me. At the moment I'm focusing heavily on Composition, Light, Values and Tonal Qualities, Anatomy, some specific PS tricks, Mood, Emotion, Setting, and Feel, and of course, Color. That's a tall order in truth, but one I plan to devour and go on back to Humble City for another hard look at what's next.


Praying Dwarf
This is the current results of my attempt to learn to paint. This image was started as a pencil sketch, then scanned and underpainted in Painter, and then finished in Photoshop. I'm not 100% that it's finished as I feel there are things that could be improved, but I'd like to get some feedback and let it sit for a bit before going back to it. I'm just too close to it right now to make any solid decisions.










This image was a commission so the style was pretty specific. I was to emulate pulp era art as best I could, but still make it appealing to a modern audience. Sure. No problem. This image was also one of the first images I have made heavy use of reference material on since, well, forever. I've never been huge on reference, but I'm learning I should be. This image also marks the very first time I took the risk of a serious departure from my normal (old) palette of colors (which needs to be thrown out entirely) and started making some risky and (for me) unusual color choices.








I did this one around the time of the one above, but before the above dwarf image, and caught myself leaning hard on my pencil/ink background. It was a commission and the client was pleased with the result, so that skillset got me through the project, but I still look on this and see a more comic book-like style that I would like to be able to move away from.
There is still one other image between this one and the dwarf image above, but I cannot show it just yet. In looking at those three images I can see a serious transition happening. It's odd that it's so noticeable.








This was yet another commission, but was specifically supposed to be a comic book-ish style. Still, I fought the urge to push the realism-like vibe that I'm feeling these days in working on this. I am pleased with how it turned out though. This piece moves even further back in time and was done before the above image.













Now for something a bit different. This is my first ever speed painting. I know. It seems like every digital artist makes this a regular practice, right? Well, I'm still learning. Still, I think I have about 2, maybe 3 hours in this one. It's enough of a sketch to get the idea of the place, but far from a finished piece. I have a long, long way to go before I feel confident and relaxed enough to really create what's in my mind's eye, but I'm getting closer I think.