More sketchbook stuff.

So here are a bunch of sketches from Dr. Sketchy's sessions and some studies. Finally got around to scanning this stuff.

A lot of them are quick 1 or 2 minute poses. Some others are 5 minutes. I think there might be a 10 somewhere too. I'm trying to approach these a bit differently as I go. Some are more movement oriented, some more abstract, and some more carefully measured. I don't like being dictated by just one way of observing - it's more fun that way.

Dojo

So here is a little quick piece I started on my Nintendo DS, on a program called Colors, which is awesome. It's pretty much like a mega-reduced photoshop. Great for quick ideas or studies. Anyway, I took it onto full-fledged photoshop and finished it there. Once again I am focusing more on color than anything else. I find that I need to do this every now and then, for some reason. I do some tightly rendered piece, and then move back to a completely loose, quick one. For this piece in particular, I had very specific colors in mind from the very beginning. I wanted to use red and green as the main colors by using mostly purple and blue to give them more importance. Red and green tend to work the best for me as complementaries. Here are the wip's.

Awoken

So here is another piece I did recently. I think of it as some sort of undead catacombs ruler. It started as a concept for a friend of mine that's modeler at Firaxis (where I work). I then realized the spectrum deadline was approaching, so I decided to finish it in time to submit it. What ensued was a crazy-ass couple of days where I didn't get enough sleep, seeing as how I also had to prepare for teaching a class that same deadline day. I may get back into it, I may not. Here are some wip's:


And Done. Added spirits coming out of his staff of souls, drapery in the background, and there you have it.

Resolved a staff idea, added an aged carpet, and put some splatter here and there to give it more of a sense of history. I wanted this place to feel like it's not been cared for much, since it's in a dungeon sort of environment.


I then focused on the background. I wanted it to have hard, sharp shapes to emphasize the character of this guy. I also tried to come up with a staff idea, but it sucked, since I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be a head on the end or not (stupid idea).


For the modeler's sake, I kept the robe on a layer and clarified the armor some.





I then moved onto fleshing out some of the main shapes I wanted, especially in his armor.


I wanted a "creepy ruler" sort of figure. A throne seemed like a fitting idea. God ol' red and green complementary palette.

Volcanic Range Hellguard

I'm trying out making a magic the gathering-like illustration. I guess it went from a "Death" sort of creature to more of a "Fire" one... Scroll down for the earlier stages.
I was thinking this guy could be a sort of guardian in a volcanic mountain area. Maybe there are several of these dudes spread out over the land, standing watch for incoming enemies.
Not yet done with this one... I'll post the final image once it's finished.

w.i.p. 6 - I think I'm done. I added some flames to his weapon after someone pointed out it didn't look threatening enough. Hopefully it's not too distracting. I added some detail to the face and tweaked a couple of things here and there. I'll leave it be for now and maybe make adjustments down the road. Hope you like it!


w.i.p. 5 - Darkened the sky and worked on some of the guard's armor and body. I think I am almost there.


w.i.p. 4 - Enhanced the contrast in some areas, especially in the head, since it's a focal point. The brightness of the hand gripping his weapon was too distracting, so I covered it with armor. Kept polishing areas.


w.i.p. 3 - added a bit more color into the composition and vignetted it a bit so the eye would focus more on the figure and not wander off. He looked like he had no purpose, so I gave him some sort of weapon; that way he looks more like he's standing guard or something. I also built up the rocks.


w.i.p. 2 - The guy looked like he was tripping over, so I changed his pose. I also made him a "fire" guy instead of a "death" guy (or whatever). I flip the canvas periodically to see mistakes and have a fresh eye on the piece.


w.i.p. 1 - I started by quickly sketching a line composition and painting over it, keeping the basic colos in mind.

Dr. Sketchy's

These are some drawings from a "Dr. Sketchy's" session. They bring in cabaret models that use all sorts of interesting attire. These are some of the more intelligible sketches.

Copies

Some master copies from paintings and sculpture. The First one is Greuze. The others are from Italian and French sculpture.

Unruly Lines

Here are more sketches. I often like to let the lines flow freely; it is quite liberating.