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Just a touch over 2 hrs. ArtRage and Photoshop, with initial pencils for character done in Sketchbook. Background is all personal custom PS brushes, touched up slightly with light/shadow.

I’m testing out some new technique theories, as well as the concept of a “microscene” for a type of art commission. So, while I could have put more time in it, I really didn’t want to invest more than a couple hours, as a high detail piece wasn’t the intention.

Not in a horribly textual mood at the moment, so I’ll leave it brief rather than letting your eyes bleed from the ramble. ;)

2.5ish hour speedpainting, a mix of ArtRage 3 and Photoshop CS4:

Working with the same methods that I used with the 2 previous pieces, trying to flesh them out a bit. While it took a bit more time than I initially planned on investing, I learned some new things, so it was worthwhile.

One of the other differences between Photoshop CS4 and ArtRage 3 Studio Pro is the blend mode layer options. While there are some that are the same, and others that are simply named differently, at the same point there are at least a couple in ArtRage that are unique to that program, at least when compared to Photoshop. When exported to .PSD file, those layers are reinterpreted to the closest approximation in Photoshop.

Also, whereas previously, I generally did my edge clean up erasing via a soild, hard eraser tool, I had an idea to try something different iwth this one– I used a very fine, soft/blurred edge eraser tool. This helps soften the outside of an image, so it’s not quite so stark, especially if you’re wanting to integrate it into a larger piece or such. In turn, it also helps tackle digital pixelation a bit better– the selection tools, whether magic wand (which is in both), or layer content selection (only in ArtRage), almost always leave a hard, jaggy, pixelated edge. So using the fine, blurred eraser allows for one to really clean that up, while still keeping concise detail.

I’m shifting gears this morning, doing a trial stab at coloring another Savage Mojo artist’s pencil work. The trade off to coloring scanned pencils is that one often has to contend with trying to clean things up a bit. There are ways of doing this, but much of it depends on what methodology one wants to take, and what one’s comfortable with. It’s a pretty safe bet that you’ll see me posting my observations on that process here at a later point.

And to the 6 of you that actually might have read this, have a good morning. ;)

2hr speedpainting, mostly ArtRage 3 Studio Pro w/a little Photoshop CS4 for cleanup.

Took a bit longer than intended, but much of that was playing around with a more refined method of the process that I used for “Francesca Gorgonatrix“. Working on getting a bit more comfortable with it.

With these, I’m using ArtRage’s pencil tool for the linework, at least for the moment, as I don’t want the lines to get so overt that the colors are muted. I may change that, but I’m not sure yet. Currently, I’m trying to re-build the settings that I had previously in ArtRage’s ink tool, as I accidentally reset it without thinking, and without saving it as a custom brush. Oops. Chalk another one up to learning experience.

Colors started off with the paint roller tool, eventually to be rounded out with various layer blend modes and opacities, many of which used selective erasing to make things “pop” more. It’s rather like sculpting, and/or painting models, really, in that you take that mindset, and apply it to a 2D environment.

I then added filtration into the mix via Photoshop, doing the same with a handful of filtered layers as I did with the initial coloring layers. This also helped bring the linework closer to an inked look. While some may prefer the linework to look more concise, I actually like the slightly rough look for this. Still, there were certain parts that I tackled with the smudge tool, to clean it up a bit.

Finally, I went back into ArtRage, and did a couple minor details for touch-up. One thing I really like about ArtRage, that Photoshop surprisingly doesn’t have, is the ability to “select layer contents”. This allows for the complete selection of layer contents, without the inaccuracies that can often come with the magic wand tool (which ArtRage has as well).

Time to round this entry out, and work up a few pared down x-posts of it for other places.

Had to clean the palate a bit after the last one, given the unsatisfactory taste it left in my mouth. Or something.

This started off as intent for something else, but this is what flowed out. So, rather than fight it, I went with it. Might even flesh it out more later, or consider doing a series of these. Hell, I’m actually debating doing a slightly cleaned up version of these as cheap digital commissions.

20-25 minute speedpainting, strictly ArtRage 3 Pro:

This is a great example of where I’m experimenting, and where I don’t like where the piece is. It’s also a very good example of when one has decided that they’re done fucking with something, and that they’re walking away from it.

With this piece, I’m going to take a few moments to give you insight to my mindset on it.

Overall, I just don’t care for the piece. I played with it a bit, messed around with some basic layer manipulation, a bit of distortion, etc. However, it just didn’t get to a point where I started to like it. That alone can often end up being the death knell for working on something, especially when it’s an artist working with their creativity. Some will overwork it and overwork it. Others will (often just half-heartedly) go through the motions, hoping that something will eventually come out of it. And then there are times like this one, where it’s just done.

Don’t get me wrong, the piece does have it’s strong points. It’s got a somewhat balanced aesthetic to it. The colors, in several spots, are very lush, and contrast with each other in a good way. There are some parts of the creature’s face that I like, but some of that is also where visual matrixing is filling in the blanks in my mind’s eye.

Am I completely done with it? Who knows. I might come back in a week, a month, a year, or whatnot, and decide to start noodling about with it again. Perhaps I’ll use it as a template for a new piece, or perhaps I’ll even integrate it into another piece via some form of blend layer. Only time will tell.

(Also using this as a test to see if it’s worth posting art to Flickr or not.)

Posting resumes with regularity now. Thanks for your patience. I promise it will have been worth your while.

First, I start of with something abstract, running a bit with the method/technique that I’ve used in the recent, mostly abstract pieces I’ve posted.

13 minutes.

I actually like where this is going (the dragon shape is damn near what you see here, less than a minute a couple dozen strokes into it), so it gets fleshed out a bit.

Next, I pop on some crude arms (didn’t like them for the above piece), and then place a lower-opacity copy of the whole image on top of itself, scaling it up and rotating it a bit. Once I hit the right opacity, I dropped it down into one layer, and started working with duplicate layers in varied opacities, blend modes, selective palette knife use, and selective erasing.

10 minutes (from the previous piece into this).

I like this. I know I’m not where I want to be with it yet, but it’s worth saving both as a step and as a potential rough for a more complete piece.

Now, In order to give it more perceived depth and detail, I create a separate piece.

7 minutes.

It’s fairly abstract, but has an industrial tech flair of sorts, and is dynamic enough that I think it will make for an interesting overlay with the previous piece. More layer duplication/manipulation occurs, and then I do exactly that. Finally, I have this:

4 minutes.

I have a pretty good idea of where I’m going with this, but I’m waiting to get my current batch of contract work done before tackling a finished piece out of it. Total process time from start until the end of the 4th piece? 34 minutes. Which brings us to the separate point to be made here– if you’re familiar enough and comfortable enough with the medium(s) you use, you can do exercises of a faster nature like this as well. The above shows that you can take something seemingly quick, abstract, and/or simple, and turn it into a building block for a larger, more complex piece.

All strictly ArtRage 3. Roller, palette knife, and eraser tools. Layer play.

15min.

10min.

17min.

15min.

13min. There always seems to be a least favorite for me in these batches. This happens to be the one for this batch.

45min.

1hr.

30min.

40min.

30ish min. No clue what the fuck this is. Don’t like it, but as stated previously, it’s good to show work we don’t like on occasion as well.

I’m having a not-so-stellar morning, so I’m keeping my words brief (you may all breathe a sigh of relief now).