This category is reserved for the characters I draw, paint, or originally design
Every single time I post an update for this Photoshop painting, I change the sky in the background. I just can’t get those clouds to look exactly how I want them to. It’s not frustrating as of yet. Nothing like that. I’ll just have to keep messing around with it until I get it right. I also added a lot more rain, but I’m not sure if that was a good move or not. All I know is that the background looks separated from the rest of the image, and that’s no good.
Now it’s all starting to come together… I don’t think there’s been a project that I’ve worked on during the past year where I’ve learned more than I have with this one. Since the start of this Horizon piece, I’ve built up a bunch of new techniques (and learned some valuable lessons) that I will most definitely be using in future projects. Building layers upon layers, blending with the mixer brush in subtle ways that I haven’t tried previously, etc.
Only worked on this for about an hour today as time just flew by faster than I anticipated and I have other things to do today. Even so, I was able to paint a nice background sky, a mound for the lovely Horizon protagonist to stand on, and I connected the mech creature’s head to the rest of it’s body. I also removed the black outline from the creature, and I’m shocked at how much better it’s looking this way.
Hey there. A few days ago (maybe it was a week ago actually) I got a newsletter from Crystal Moody about how being creative and making things is oftentimes hard work. Yesterday, I mentioned how my favorite part about creating art is the discovery aspect of creating my art. Once that first bit of discovery is out of the way, it’s time to get to work. You already know what you have to do, and you know it’s going to take you oh so many hours to finish it, you just have to get to it and work.
Art, for me, is all about discovery. All my life I’ve created simple art projects for myself that I could finish in less than an hour. It wasn’t until I started this Year of Creative Habits challenge that I was able to occasionally try my hand at projects that take several days and many hours to complete. Oftentimes I’ve had to kind of force myself to finish these projects. Gather up some patience. Really though, the reason I have trouble sticking with projects and holding onto that enthusiasm is once I get the basic structure of my idea down on paper, there it is. I’ve already figured out, usually within that first hour, exactly what I’m going to do with the rest of it. I’ve already discovered all there is.
For today’s work I worked a little bit on the winged creature, and then completely finished the female protagonist. Working on this project makes me realize how good I can be with the mixer brush in Photoshop. Sure, I’m trying to replicate a piece of artwork that already exists (from the video game Horizon: Zero Dawn) but I’m just using it as a rough guide so I keep everything in proportion. It’s kind of like coloring in a coloring book, except all you have is that black outline, and you’re filling it in how you see fit.
Doooooone! Though there are some books there that don’t quite look like they’re on the perfect angle. Despite that, and when you consider that I’ve never done something this detailed before, or used the specific tools I did in this way, I’m quite satisfied with the finished version! When I finish a piece of artwork I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I was truly satisfied with it. There seems to always be minor things to nitpick. Today though, the gripes are extremely minor (at this time, anyways) and I couldn’t be happier with it.
