When Demos go Average

Well, today I struggled. My demo was very average. Though i told them that I would post it anyway.

Good News

I recently took an honorable mention in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator competition with the image below. The theme was discovery.

Finished

I finished my Journey Begins Image way before the scheduled deadline. Here it is. I think I'll start another.

Good Bye

My son comes home and sees me working on the image below that I have posted in previous stages. It's still not finished. He asks why the mice are leaving their mommy and daddy. I told him that all young ones leave their mommy and daddy when they get older. Wow was that a mistake. He thought he would have to leave us some time soon and he repeated over and over that he will never leave us. After some time explaining without him understanding, I just said, Jared, you're going to live with daddy forever. It's quiet now. And here I thought this was a cute painting so far.

Another Marilyn

Update

CGTALK WIP

CGTalk recently announced their new Work in Progress Competition. The theme is, the journey begins. Here is my initial comped up image. The foreground and the BG have not yet been developed. i will post more development on this as I have time.

Scary Guy

A sketch during a faculty meeting. What was I thinking?

The Hit

Marilyn Project

Wow, that was fast. I turned it in and within two days it's on Amazon
I had the fun opportunity to work with an old friend from school. She is one of the best entertainment designers I know. Psst - she did the Star Wars boxed set, among many other things. She's also a KeyArt award winner. Cheryl recently opened her own studio Menagerie Creative. I get to repaint some old movie standards or make new paintings that look like old movie posters for her. There are four more Marilyn titles coming soon. Cheryl does all the great layout and design work, then tells me what to paint.

Another Arrgh

New San Fran

Just a sketch that I doodle up, not sure if I'll finish it.

Victory

We have victory. Got the little 62 up and running. Just about a whole clutch replacement and several other items, now maybe I'll get my weekends free again. Drove it all over and boy was it fun.

Bad Guys

Mini Run

I just finished a bunch of paintings for work and wanted to just paint a little something for me this evening.

The Discovery

I had a small bit of time to take this image a bit farther

St Angeles Run

Beautiful day despite the rain. Only about twelve Minis showed up for this one. I think the rain kept the big crowd away.

Block-in Demo

This weeks Block-n Demo. I think I may finish this one.

Painting Process

I get asked now and again about my digital painting process. The following image is from a competition on cgtalk. Done in Painter

1. I develop a rough sketch to set the composition.
2. I block in my darks in Painter using digital watercolor (simple water brush). When I'm done in digital watercolor, I make sure I dry it, (under the layers menu). I'm working out my general shapes and then I'll get more specific. This is quick.
3. I start to bring back some light to set the mood. Starting to paint opaquely with digital airbrush.
4. Playing with contrast, lights vs. darks, warms vs. cools Adding more props for story. I get a natural painting look by using digital acrylic and or digital oil with my special custom brushes.
5. Finally the detail, this is where I slow down a bit. I DO NOT work in layers. I paint it on one digital layer, just like I paint traditionally.
6. Close-up

Give Them Sugar

On Sunday evening my wife was talking with several of the neighborhood moms. Their kids go to the public school in our area. The moms were discussing how wonderful it was that the district was promoting a sugar-free Valentine’s Day. When she told me about the conversation, I laughed. Being in education, I’m amazed at what PC has done to children. I say, give them sugar.

I spent part of yesterday helping out in my son’s class for their Valentine’s party. He goes to a private school. They had a great time passing out candy to each other and having giant, and I mean giant, Ice Cream Sundays. So what if we ran about a bit more when we got home. At least he wasn’t running to the bathroom every few minutes because he got granola bars instead.