These are the three Life and Death comps that were due to be judged by Rusty on Monday the 17th. I didn't really find it hard to come up with three ideas for this, As it was a fairly loose problem to solve. Out of the ideas the bomb was definitely my favourite, and also coincidentally came out the best when I illustrated it. Rusty also gave his Stamp of approval on the bomb which is good.

The cocoon idea was cool I thought, but it didn't get illustrated well. The melting wax candle would have been interesting to paint, as I'm sure I could have created some interesting visuals in Sai, But I'm in love with the Bomb. I based it off the cartoon style 'Looney tunes' bombs (http://gestaltist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Bugs_taz_bomb.jpg) same with the comical explosion marks.

Smokin' Aces update

This is the progress Ive made so far on my number 5 illustration which is due in on Monday. Rusty gave me some good advice on what to change and touch up, but otherwise I think its looking good. Once I get some more definition on the Hand and fix some of the perspective issues with the poker chips we will almost be done.

Alan managed to ask me if the hand holding the cards was African-American because the he was gambling. What racism!

Smokin' Aces

Here are two comps for the 5 illustration. The idea is having five aces in as your hand in poker, So you can't lose. Rusty liked the idea, Gave it a stamp of approval, But said to change the had with the cards over to the left and add some more piles of chips, to emphasize the winning steak with the hand.

I like the idea, and I'm enjoying illustrating it in Sai with the Wacom tablet.

He looks this weird in real pictures.

So... Its been a month or two since I've been here (seems a long time) And I've already forgotten what one of my best friends back home looks like.


NOT GOOD.


For being a memory portrait this didn't turn out too horrible. I mean, the eyes are kinda off (That seems to be something I regularly struggle with) But apart from that Its alright. I used a water color wash and line art for this, which seems to have gone done out. his hair and shirt could have used some more definition as well as some more realistic looking eyes.

Pretty flowers

These were two water color illustrations done in Class under rusty's watchful eye. I liked the first one I did, I think though it could do with some heavier red lines for definition. I thought the deep green background helped bring out the foreground a little more. As for the second version I did....Well It looks like its decaying or something. I thought the gold and blue would go well together, but apparently they didn't.

It's spelled 'Colour'... Just saying.

Again, these were done with the wacom tablet and colored in Photoshop CS5. I found it cool and frustrating adding color in Photoshop. It was really hard to get some colors to believably blend together. Ive since started using Paint Tool Sai which I enjoy a lot more. I really just tried some different approaches with each piece, trying to see what I could accomplish with each. I also went for a very different color scheme with each.

I personally liked the Eye the most. I left the rest of it uncolored as I liked how much it made the iris stand out. Rusty commented that I must be 'getting the hang of it' when he seen the flower. 

That means he likes it.

Wacom Goodness

I really enjoyed working with the Wacom tablet to do these digital illustrations. It was nice to be able to zoom in to work on pesky bits, and to take a few steps back when somethings gone wrong. I actually liked all of these except the bottom one... It went kinda crapish. The trees fairly messy, But I was really just experimenting with what I could do. I really like the Landscape rocky spires, I think the crossed line shading worked well on it. Also the sharp details and being able to finally get those damned stones under the water correct!

I also liked the Coke can, But I think the beads of condensation on its surface really didn't come across too well... Looks kinda like it has warts.