Missing Deadlines

For the past three still lives I've used pretty much completely different methods of starting. First one was an amalgamation of brushes, just getting warmed up. Next, I tried to block everything in with a hard brush and exact colours. Now I tried blocking in with a soft round airbrush and approximate everything, then refine colours, edges, values and drawing as you go along. I think this is the method that saves you the most time in the end. You can leave most of your painting with soft edges and "averaged" colour, but then tighten up the areas of focus, and find a way to guide the eye creatively. The danger here is it's very easy to make the entire painting swim in mud.

I've also been thinking a lot about colour transitions, and trying to make them as efficiently as possible. Highlights, for example, take at least two tones (usually a saturated soft one first, then a dull, bright, hard stroke on top) to pull off. I think ideally you want to simplify the picture down to as few colours as possible, and still retain all the information in the picture. That's where the "skill" comes in.

A-ha!

Thought I wouldn't post today did you? Well you're WRONG.

This is a lot better than the last "night still life" I did. I think back then i couldn't see green. On this one I tried to achieve a realistic look with the highlights, but failed again. Oh well. Some value areas need a bit of work as well. Now that I see it in thumbnail, mistakes become more apparent. Gotta remember to step back!

Can't wait to see what my paintings will look like when I get back to them!

The Waiting Game

I'm a firm believer in number of updates over having things to say so here.

Daily Still Life: Start!

Well, it's time to get back to work, and I figure the only WEI I'm gonna beat Wei Wang at art is to paint from life. That's the wei everyone seems to learn how light works and how to create believable form. So, until Daily Duels gets back on its feet, here come the daily still lives!

Still need to work on values and texture. It's pretty tough, but I figure these will get much easier in about a week.

Then there are these guys:

 

The trouble with that portfolio below is that I'm a lot better than it, both because the 2D works are now almost a month old, and because I did each one in a day. But nevermind that, the project I'm working on right now is gonna kick so much ass, you have no idea. I hope to finish it by Monday.

Unbent, Unbound, Unbroken

I'm back from GDC now and my mind is still trying to straighten itself out. I feel a little empty from having the deadline for such a significant goal pass, and I dearly miss the three days I spent hanging out with professionals. They flew by so fast, and I can't help but feel like I didn't make the most out of the experience. That said, even though 6 weeks was not enough to accomplish my dream, GDC was the best place to spend my birthday week. The questions that have built up over the weeks finally got answered, I met tons of badasses and got a lot of feedback on my portfolio (which you will find below); and most importantly, I know exactly what I need to do to get to where I want to be.

I've been keeping a diary of the things I learned over the last 6 weeks, and I think once I actually accomplish my goal, I will post a very extensive "how to." In the meantime, I'm gonna regroup, clean my room, my mind and my "to do" list, and prepare for the next round.

In addition to the emptiness, I feel a lot more freedom. I'm free from the time and money pressure. Now that daily duels is in hiatus, I have the time to polish my new work. Additionally, a lot of things broke last month, so I had to be very frugal to have enough money to get by. This month I'm swimming in birthday cash.

And without further ado, the best of the last 6 weeks:

This is it

Ladies and gents, I decided to pursue my long-time high school dream. This is my last post until six weeks from now, at which point I will have hopefully achieved it. I'm gonna join the race for that most coveted of the gaming holy grails: concept art job at Blizzard. You can keep up with my progress on DailyDuels.com as I will be pouring my heart and soul into every illustration, catering to the Blizzard aesthetic and, eventually, quality. The best of these will be submitted to their Fan Art Program, aiming to get posted for 5 weeks in a row. Basically, I'm going to paint until it wouldn't make sense for them not to hire me. Hopefully, six weeks will be enough for that.

Why six weeks? GDC.

In the meantime, let me share some parting thoughts with you. Drawing, like any art, is just another magic trick. If the mind of the beholder cannot bridge the gap between his ability and the picture (or art work) he sees before him, he finds it impressive and amusing. The wider the gap is, the more impressed the viewer is (another obvious factor affecting the effect of the work is the viewer's prior experience with art works of the same kind). If the viewer has the ability to create a picture of comparable quality, he/she knows the secret to your magic trick, and no longer finds your work impressive.

The nature of drawing and painting makes us very susceptible to self-inflicted physical damage. Drawing requires a lot of focus in order to make something of merit. This kind of mental commitment often makes it difficult to be aware of your physical state, i.e. posture and possible pain you may experience. Since it requires a lot of time also, you may mess yourself up pretty bad without noticing it. Heed the warning, kids!

Resolutions

As Bobby Chiu put it, it's very important to figure out a strategy for 2011. In my efforts to do so, I've been trying to figure out a lot of introspective questions. Sort of like the influence map on DA, but broader.

Chasing that perfect studio is like chasing a perfect girl - if she actually wants you, you start to wonder if perhaps you can do better. The drama of uncertainty is what keeps the pursuit going.

I'm getting close to the point where my art will need more than just foundation to be good. Things I've been working on recently:

• Values:
• Making things read
• Form rendering
• Drawing:
• Double foreshortening
• Twisting forms
• Big shape relationships
• Flow
• Grasping the air

Continuing with these themes, here are some duels, and prep sketches for upcoming personal illustrations.