Testing a New App

I downloaded a new app for my Mac the other day and finally tried it out.  I love the expressive line quality you get with this program, it has a simplified, design-y look.  However, its hard to control the brushes and there isn't nearly as must variety and customization that you get in either Photoshop or Corel Painter.  But I am still excited to see what kind of illustrations/designs I can produce with it.  So I present the first attempt at using Livebrush (with some new Photoshop brushes as well):

The downside to my week so far:  Photoshop has been crashing A LOT on my Mac lately.  I'm not sure why this is.  I'll probably have to connect with some computer experts and figure out what is causing it.  Hopefully it is a easy fix.  

Playing around with video making

Finally got around to downloading Screenium on my Mac.  So now I can explore making videos of my digital painting (I think its cool to watch.. they make it look so easy).  This is my first try at it so be gentle!

Resume Designs

I am brainstorming designs/illustrations to use on my resume.  As an artist mine is.. really boring.  So I decided to spice things up.  Here's one I just whipped out today to get the creative juices goin'.

Also downloaded a BUNCH of new brushes.  I messed around with the effects on photoshop and tested the new brushes out.  So far I am loooving it! The splatters and patterns create such a great texture and I can easily customize them to make them my own.

Urban Arts Academy Mural Project

Life in the twin cities has been a crazy adventure since I've graduated and moved here.  Met a lot of cool new peeps and getting involved in some art-related internships.  One of my most recent projects was the mural I created and directed at UUA.  While I didn't do it alone (the little kiddies were a big part of this project) it felt great to get creative and messy again.  Check it out!

Digital Paintings/Illustrations

 "Self Portrait"

 "Sexy Assassin"  Inspired by Frank Miller's work

 "Patterns" (Cause the pattern brush is awesome!)

 "Hunter" Love using the eraser tool as well, another Frank Miller inspired piece

 "Dreamscape: V3"

**Go to My Works link to view more!**

Building Your Own City

For Thanksgiving, I traveled to the twin cities to visit my sister.  During the weekend I spent there, my sister took me to St. Anthony Park where it had a great view of the city.  I took my photographs of the cityscape as we explored the park.  I planned to use these photos as reference material for the city I'm constructing for the graphic novel later.

Developing this city where my story takes place has been a challenge because I haven't been able to put much time into that aspect of the graphic novel yet.  It is also challenging because I'm completely inventing it.  It was recommended to me during my BFA critique that I draw from what I know.  In addition to these photos, I also explored Broadway in Fargo and took pictures of the older structures there.  The city plays a big role in the story.  However, this semester I have been focusing mainly on drawing and developing my characters.  I have learned that a lot of work goes into rendering and creating characters for a story.  It has been taking me longer than expected to reach where I am with them currently.  The characters need to fit the mood of the story and the settings they are in.  The next stage of developing my graphic novel will involve more cityscape studies and more in-depth ideas for how I want it to look.  When I returned from my trip I did some quick pen studies of the city using these photographs.

 

 

 

 

I have a rough idea of how I want this city to look but nothing too specific yet.  In the story, the city is undergoing major changes and most of it is being rebuilt.  There is the new part of the city where most of the beginning characters are from and the old abandoned parts (but you later discover people still live there).  I'm going to be working with the old verses the new in my storyline.

Playing With Markers

This semester I've been experimenting with Faber-Castell's big brush markers in my figure drawings rather than ink washes (which I used to create value in most of my previous work).  These markers come in a variety of color sets such as:  cold greys, warm greys, skin tones, classic, basic, and pastels.  I have been using the large brush markers rather than the small ones for my bigger studies since the small ones wear out so fast.  I started using them mostly in my drawing co op studies to illustrate contrast and light more on the figure and to have looser line mark making with ink.  The ink mimics that of an ink wash, but is more controllable.  I can also build up contrast with crosshatching.

I plan to purchase the warm grey set next and experiment with those.  I also need to order replacement markers for my current cold grey set.  After about six or seven large figure studies (and a few small storyboard layouts) the markers begin to wear out.  My lightest grey value is no longer usable.

In many of my character sketches I hadn't reached the point of using contrast with the figure.  Drawing co op has been helping me both understand the lights and shadows on the figure and studying the human anatomy more in-depth.  The markers initially offered me a quick way of illustrating value studies with my characters, settings, and storyboards.  Now I aim to utilize this medium more in finished works in the future since I am beginning to feel comfortable with handling them and how my mark making determines the form of the figure.  I have been trying to incorporate more variety with how I render the shadows on the figure.      

Eventually, I plan to experiment with both ink washes and markers.  I like the spontaneity of ink washes that you can't accomplish as well with the markers.  However, I like the expressive brush line quality you get with the large brush markers.  I would like to combine these two methods in future studies.