Lagomorphosis

Colour Study

2012-01-27T00:06:00.001-07:00

Erzulie

2012-01-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

A quickie WIP for CHOW:

Colour Study

2012-01-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

Colour study from Flickr:

Faces

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Lots of people asking for help on portraits lately, so I've been getting the hankering to do a few. Also, I've been cleaning up the studio and I found my blue leads! Yay blue leads! I love drawing with these things.

Anyway. Portraits from random Flickr and dA photos:

Acid Gummy

2012-01-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

For a "kill someone else's character" thread on CA:

Colour Study

2012-01-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

My own photo:

Colour Study

2012-01-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

From Flickr:

The Saddest Pear

2012-01-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

Colour Study

2012-01-19T16:17:00.004-07:00

From Flickr:

Colour Study

2012-01-18T11:59:00.002-07:00

From Flickr:

Crazy Anime Hair

2012-01-17T22:05:00.002-07:00

I blame Elwell.

So You Want To Be A Wizard - Final

2012-01-16T10:01:00.003-07:00

Done!

So You Want To Be A Wizard - Inks

2012-01-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Next portfolio piece:

Hope to have this one finished today, although I'm not sure the colours are working so well. I want it to look dull and ugly, because the alternate world in the book is ugly and scary, but at the same time I need it to be a good picture. Problematic!

Colour Study

2012-01-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

Colour Study

2012-01-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

On the Farm

2012-01-12T12:04:00.001-07:00

Another B&W piece for the porkfolio:

Colour Study

2012-01-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

From one of my photos from Jasper.

Colour Study

2012-01-09T05:10:00.000-07:00

Colour Study

2012-01-08T01:42:00.004-07:00

Another little colour study.

About half an hour, from a photo I took in Italy.

Thorn WIP

2012-01-07T11:28:00.004-07:00

What I've been working on today:

I started a pic last January loosely inspired by the book The Alphabet of Thorn. The sketch wasn't very good and I abandoned it. I started throwing on some loose colours today when I found some nice reference for candlelight.

I hope it turns out nice. I sure need a few good porkfolio pieces.

Colour Study

2012-01-06T23:27:00.001-07:00

15 minute environment study.

Flapper

2012-01-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

I'm calling this one done:

Flapper WIP

2011-12-29T23:09:00.006-07:00

After all that Christmas craziness and sloth I started this to try and get back into the mood for work.

D&D Sketches

2011-12-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

More D&D sketches. Our group woke up to find humanoids rummaging through our stuff!

Running Away

2011-12-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

A small sketch from the ol' sketchbook.

D&D Sketches

2011-12-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Some sketches from last week's D&D session:

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T23:05:00.001-07:00

Have been too busy with Christmas-related stuff to finish a lot of work lately. This morning, though, it was above zero and my yard was free of hares so I went out to do a bit of painting.

It's kind of brown and disgusting out there but Merry Christmas anyway!

Zombie Shepherd WIP

2011-12-23T23:15:00.002-07:00

I was looking through some of my friend's Pathfinder materials and I really want to play a necromancer cleric now.

Just a WIP. Don't know if I'll ever finish it.

Animal Sketches 13 - Goat Kids

2011-12-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

I love floppy-eared goat breeds.

Animal Sketches 12

2011-12-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

Our with the bears, in with the goats!

Plus a couple of bonus hikers.

The Hike

2011-12-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

The result of all those bear studies:

Animal Sketches 11 - Even More Bears

2011-12-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

Animal Sketches 10 - More Bears

2011-12-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Bear - Rough

2011-12-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

A rough for a b&w illustration.

Animal Sketches 9 - Bears

2011-12-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

More bears!

Animal Sketches 8 - Bears

2011-12-03T12:00:00.001-07:00

Bear sketches from various online photos.

Morgiana Pinup - NSFW - Process

2011-12-02T12:15:00.001-07:00

Since I have to post my process/progress shots for the competition, you might as well see them too:

The Climb WIP

2011-12-01T00:13:00.000-07:00

Still working on this pic:

Morgiana Pinup - NSFW

2011-11-30T12:11:00.002-07:00

Aaand done!

Morgiana Pinup - NSFW

2011-11-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

Inks done, rough colours applied:

Morgiana Pinup - NSFW

2011-11-28T12:08:00.001-07:00

This week's Illustration of the Week topic was "Pinup" and I just had to jump in:

The Climb WIP

2011-11-27T03:32:00.000-07:00

Like a Fire Burning

2011-11-26T10:38:00.001-07:00

The Bath Rough

2011-11-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ghosts

2011-11-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Just sketching. To David Bowie.

Take This With You WIP

2011-11-23T10:31:00.001-07:00

Slowly working on refining:

Animal Sketches 7

2011-11-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Lolbunny

2011-11-21T10:24:00.002-07:00

I'm posting this just because.

First Snow Final

2011-11-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Werepug Sketch

2011-11-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers at night... might find himself a werepug.

First Snow Rough

2011-11-18T11:22:00.003-07:00

Had to get this one out of my system. :)

Bounce Rough

2011-11-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

Another rough sketch that might turn into a children's illustration:

Blender Rough

2011-11-16T00:23:00.001-07:00

A rough for a little story to put into my children's illo porkfolio:

Quickie Portrait 8

2011-11-15T01:55:00.003-07:00

A guy from the "Draw Me" thread on ConceptArt.

I went to the art store and bought a bunch of different filbert brushes on sale. Filbert! It's a great word. The filbert brush is flat and has an oval edge rather than being squared off or coming to a point. I've been playing with a filbert made of hog bristle and I think I really like it. Although I'm not sure I bought the best quality one as it has stray hairs sticking out and it's already lost two.

Take This With You Roughs

2011-11-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

Roughs for a double illustration I'm doing for the old porkfolio:

Quickie Portrait 7

2011-11-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

This had the potential to be pretty good before I totally messed up the neck:

Messing Around

2011-11-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Animals!

Quickie Portrait 6

2011-11-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

This one had unusual lighting I wanted to try but I think I screwed up the tilted features. :P

Quickie Portrait 5

2011-11-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

Quickie Portrait 4

2011-11-09T01:56:00.000-07:00

Quickie Portrait 3

2011-11-08T01:54:00.000-07:00

I used a slightly smaller brush for this one (3/8" rather than 1/2") and took a little longer and it seems to have turned out better.

Animal Sketches 6

2011-11-07T11:50:00.003-07:00

Still going!

Quickie Portrait 2

2011-11-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

So I'm raiding Flickr, Google and dA for these which is not entirely kosher. But I'm pretty sure no one's going to recognize their photos unless I get a LOT better.

Quickie Portrait 1

2011-11-05T21:31:00.018-06:00

So I screwed that last acrylic self-portrait up pretty badly, and I thought I might need some practice. A while back I stumbled on this guy who did little acrylic portraits in his sketchbook using a large brush and very limited palette. Once I tracked the thread down I got some ideas on the palette he was using and did a couple trial runs of my own.

I'm having a lot of trouble controlling the huge brush and getting used to the palette so I guess I'm lucky this turned out as well as it did (which isn't very). But these take only about half an hour to paint so I can easily do a couple a day and improve. I might pick up a brush more similar to the other guy's. I don't know. Can one get more control with filberts or flats?

Animal Sketches 5

2011-11-04T00:55:00.000-06:00

Still going through people's zoo pictures.

Animal Sketches 4

2011-11-03T00:18:00.000-06:00

I Am a Rock - Final

2011-11-02T09:32:00.000-06:00

Someone's building a fortress deep and mighty.

International Self-Portrait Day

2011-11-01T22:19:00.000-06:00

Screwed up the traditionally-painted version so had to re-do it digitally. :P

That was a lot of portrait painting. Gonna have to practice all winter so I can put in a better showing next year! Also, jogging.

If I Was a Vampire

2011-10-30T12:29:00.000-06:00

This week on CHOW it's vampires vs werewolves and your alter ego has to choose a side!

Not only would I totally be a vampire, but I used to LARP one and my last surviving character was a Malkavian.

I Am a Rock

2011-10-29T12:25:00.001-06:00

Animal Sketches 3

2011-10-28T04:11:00.000-06:00

Animal Sketches 2

2011-10-27T04:08:00.000-06:00

More animals from the ol' sketchbook.

Red foxes have oddly long legs. I'm not sure I've ever noticed that before.

Animal Sketches

2011-10-26T16:07:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting off my butt in submitting my portfolio to magazines and publishers. Unfortunately, looking over what I've got I need a few more finished pieces, especially ones featuring animals.

To get in the right mental state I've been doing quick sketches from photos found on various sites.

Titania

2011-10-21T10:40:00.000-06:00

Last time I posted a half-finished CHOW redesign, and this one is an old CHOW I never finished, Titania the Fairy Queen:

I think I'm going to be working on this one for a while, I'm in no rush to finish and I'd like to try for detail

Harajuku Warrior Redux

2011-10-20T22:37:00.000-06:00

I've been noodling around on some old CHOW entries. Here was one of my other designs for the Harajuku Warrior:

Speaking to Fishes

2011-10-19T09:53:00.000-06:00

I was doing some rendering and lighting practice all last week:

I used this wonderful reference photo by Jaymasee.

I had some thoughts of making this into a full illustration (hence the fishies) but since this was all done on the same layer adding a background turned out to be too much of a pain. I'd already spent about 3 extra hours rendering drapery (I just love all those folds. LOVE THEM.) and I didn't want to spend another 6 on coral. Next time!

Anyway! That's why October updates have been slightly scarce. All I have is this and a bunch of unfinished doodles.

Poison Apple

2011-10-11T08:56:00.000-06:00

An experiment!

Futuristic Botanical Garden - Final

2011-10-10T10:54:00.000-06:00

My final entry for Illustration of the Week 6. I expected to do really poorly against the other people (there were only 3 entries this week and one was clearly more professional) but at this point I seem to be in the lead, which is a nice change.

I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with the lighting but I've got James Gurney's book (Color and Light) coming in the mail next week and I'm really looking forward to putting it to good use. And I think I've definitely improved since I started entering in the CHOW competitions three years ago.

University Farm

2011-10-05T17:41:00.000-06:00

Well, I muffed up the perspective and proportions good, but I console myself with the fact that this isn't the worst thing I've ever painted.

And in my defense there was a huge trailer blocking the last third of the barn that wasn't nearly nice enough to paint.

River Valley

2011-10-04T17:35:00.000-06:00

Started this one weekend several weeks ago. Today the weather is finally bad outside to finish some paintings.

This fall has been particularly nice for both colours and weather. The Edmonton river valley, near McKinnon Ravine Park.

Futuristic Botanical Garden

2011-09-28T15:37:00.000-06:00

I've got like... four landscape paintings in progress that I need to finish. In the meantime, though, I'm throwing my hat in the ring for this week's Illustration of the Week topic:

Werewolf Shaman

2011-09-23T11:54:00.000-06:00

Fooling around while waiting for the sun to come out.

Whitemud Ravine

2011-09-22T09:04:00.000-06:00

This was the first painting I worked on when I got back from the Badlands trip. I got out late, though, and had to cut that session short. I finished it up yesterday from some reference photos I took.

Pumpkin Girl and the Candy Thief

2011-09-21T10:17:00.000-06:00

Something based on an old sketch from my sketchbook.

Corner Street Players Final

2011-09-20T10:24:00.002-06:00

Mill Creek Skyscape

2011-09-19T09:52:00.000-06:00

The last time I went out the clouds were just amazing. I had to get this done quick because the wind was whipping them across the sky.

And then I got rained on.

Barcelona Sketches - Cacti

2011-09-17T17:07:00.000-06:00

There is a cactus garden on Montjuic in Barcelona full of nearly every kind of cactus imaginable, just growing outside. It was so great I went there twice.

Corner Street Players

2011-09-16T20:30:00.001-06:00

They were playing a lot of CCR at the pub that night.

Pub Faces

2011-09-15T20:12:00.000-06:00

Imaginary faces I was sketching at the pub.

Beauty

2011-09-14T09:08:00.000-06:00

From Tanith Lee's short story "Wolfland".

Faun

2011-09-13T23:26:00.000-06:00

No new paintings until this week's comic pages are done. But I am trying to do a bit more sketching again. I've gotten out of the habit since I don't spend long hours doing nothing much any more.

I was thinking of joining in on Spike's Sketch Bet but I don't think I have the time right now.

Nature Sanctuary

2011-09-12T14:39:00.000-06:00

The boardwalk trail at the Clifford E. Lee Nature Sanctuary.

I set up at one of the viewing platforms. The view from it wasn't all that good but it WAS shady and since it was a good 30C outside I felt that was for the best.

At one of the other viewing platforms I got a good look at some coots. Very striking birds! If they'd been closer I might have tried sketching them.

Big Lake

2011-09-09T10:11:00.001-06:00

I painted this about two weeks after I came back from the Badlands trip. There is one painting between this one and the previous post, but it's unfinished as I had to cut that session short. I plan to finish it from reference photos the next time there's bad weather on Painting Day.

This was painted at Lois Hole Centennial Park in St. Albert. It was a lovely (if hot) day and I set up at one of the picnic tables.

The trail there is very busy and few people stopped to chat, including a painter who knew some of the ladies who had been at the Badlands workshop. I also saw a great blue heron while I was out there, so the trip was a great success.

Munsen 2

2011-09-08T09:38:00.004-06:00

I should have probably circled around to the other side of town and done some painting there but I was pretty keen to get home. I painted some oats backlit against a dark fence while waiting for the instructor to come back.

So I said my goodbyes and drove home. There was a lot of cool stuff on the way and I'm pretty inspired. I plan to go out one or two times a week and paint in various parks around my home town until the weather turns awful.

Munsen

2011-09-07T09:48:00.001-06:00

Our last day. I checked out of the hotel and we met at this little town on the highway home.

I wanted to paint something slightly less bright than the first set of fields I did (2-3 posts ago), and I think this painting might be a little better than that one.

Dorothy

2011-09-06T09:40:00.007-06:00

We had a late start the next day so that people could wander around town and sleep after the cookout at Dry Island. After lunch we drove out to Dorothy, which is a little ghost town near the Hoodoos. It has one of the few grain elevators still standing in Alberta, a little church and schoolhouse, some shacks and chickens. I didn't quite have time to finish this painting onsite, I did the bottom third back in the studio with the help of photo reference.

I was plagued by bugs all day and it was stupidly hot as usual (better than raining, though) but I think I'd go back and paint there again.

I think my next car is going to be a hatchback. I notice that a number of people paint out of the back of their vehicle and being able to have a canopy that doesn't blow away sounds pretty good. (Although I don't know -- you'd think that the subjects available near roads and parking lots would have been done to death already.)

Dry Island Buffalo Jump 2

2011-09-05T13:57:00.001-06:00

In the afternoon we drove down into the valley looking for shade. Some of us waded in the river for a while cooling our feet, then we reassembled to watch a demo. I wanted to do something a little less literal than the morning's effort, something a little more graphical and cartoony:

I had some thoughts about doing the hills with a heavy black outline but I think I'd like to save that for another subject.

Dry Island Buffalo Jump

2011-09-04T14:44:00.004-06:00

Well, the fields surrounding it anyway. The light wasn't right for painting the valley as it took us about an hour and a half to get out there.

The first acrylic I did at the workshop. The colours are maybe a bit too strong? I like the brilliant sky and clouds (although I muffed up the bottom bit while trying to soften the horizon). Otherwise it's not too bad considering I haven't played with the acrylics for more than a year.

Anyway, it was a lovely (if scorching) day out, and we sat near the valley drop-off listening to the hum of bees and watching hawks soar out of the valley and hang maybe 20 feet above us, riding the air currents. It was my favourite day and I really would like to go back there next summer for some hiking and painting (and if I can convince Neil someday, some canoeing too.)

Horseshoe Canyon 3

2011-09-03T14:08:00.002-06:00

This was the last thing I did in Horseshoe Canyon, a quick exercise in composition. Just to be able to show something for the day that wasn't a total mess.

Horseshoe Canyon 2

2011-09-02T14:14:00.001-06:00

The second watercolour I did in Horseshoe Canyon didn't turn out so well, but I was there anyway so I spent some time doing an ink sketch of the same scene before the shadows buggered off.