Commission: Ana, 2

A continuation of Commission: Ana, 1
As promised in the earlier post, this is stage 3, initial block-in. Working color-by-color.

First, blue:

Then green:

Then more green:

And a little more brown:

At this point I tried to use glazes to modulate the base colors, but it wasn't working the way I had intended. So, instead, I decided to pre-mix my palette (yellow into brown into green into blue) and painting alla prima. These are the result:

I gave them a day to sit, and gave them one more pass. I'm pretty pleased with the way they came out:

Now it just remains to see how the client likes them.

I'm greatly beholden to James Gurney for his idea of Sky Panels, and learned quite a lot in the process of painting these. Thanks Ana!

Commission: Pauline

Thanks to my roommate's relatives, I now have two commissions. This is the second (the first one begins here: Commission: Ana): a single 36" x 48" painting, in acrylic.

Several layers of dark paint, glazed on to create a sense of depth behind the foreground-to-be. Pauline wanted the painting to be pearlescent, with gold paint. Naturally I obliged.

And the final piece:

I have enjoyed working on this piece, and hope Pauline enjoys owning it even more.

Daily Sketch 9-7-11

Today's sketchbook page has thumbnails and titles for possible postcard designs for my up-coming show (10.10.11). I'm starting to get nervous, but in an OMG-I-need-to-get-off-my-tail-and-paint-something kind of way.

Daily Sketch 9-5-11

A new job is a wonderful thing. It does, however, take some getting used to. Especially as far as scheduling is concerned.

Still, some time can be found...

Daily Sketch 8-26-11

At the behest of one of my good friends, a mini expression sheet of...well, it ought to be an Atlas Deer/Barbary Stag. 

Better than the usual melancholic and/or introspective look my character designs usually have. He's right, though, "Aggressive" looks more like plaintive, or possibly agonized...

Daily Sketch 8-18-11

I was able to spend a few hours today in the Natural History Museum on campus, and spent a good deal of time (after photographing everything, of course) drawing these. It was a lot of fun, and I think I've improved immensely. These were done right-to-left, by the way.

Daily Sketch 8-17-11

Done today at work:

 

A scarf- and sweater-wearing badger and a saintly camel pouring fluid scorn (metaphorically) upon the words "Pouring Scorn." I like the way the latter is going, and may end up doing a large painting of it (for my show perhaps). It would be good lettering practice.

The phrase, by the way, stems from my listening to the Redwall book-on-cd (it's been probably a decade since I'd first read the book, maybe longer). It's interesting how our tastes can change as we develop a sense of discernment. I had never noticed how many adverbs the book has in rapid succession, nor how much Mr. Jacques seemed to still be feeling out the world he was creating (a world that is far more solid and confident in itself in such later works as The Long Patrol and Mariel of Redwall). Fascinating from a literary standpoint, and of course the entire series is a wealth of possibilities for illustration. But that is for a later day...