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.