Doodle Sessions

I really enjoy my doodle sessions. For me, this is where the real learning happens. I try out techniques, brushes, etc. on these pieces. Many times, an idea for a full painting comes out of these sessions. Here are a few samples.

Ballroom Dancing - Rumba

One of my latest interests is social ballroom dancing. It was something that I'd always wanted to try and I finally took the plunge. I've been taking classes for about six months now and its been a lot of fun. I've always enjoyed dancing, but this has been like discovering a whole new world of movement and music.

One of the first dances that I learned was the Rumba. I've found that I like the slower, smooth Rumba songs best. Here are some of my current Rumba favorites:

• Sway - Michael Buble (Great vocals, performance and arrangement)
• Little Child - Des'ree (Sad subject/lyrics, Great vocals, performance and arrangement.)
• Viente Anos - Buena Vista Social Club (Love the beat and how the voices ride the music.)
• Somos Novios (It's Impossible) - The New 101 Strings Orchestra (Smooth arrangement. Strong voice, passionate delivery.)
• Cuando Pienso En Ti - Jose Feliciano (Classic Jose. Sung with lots of passion and emotion.)
• Te Amo Corazon - Prince (Layered arrangement, R&B/Latin fusion. Love the guy's musical innovation.)
• California Dreamin' - Queen Latifah (This song is pure silk!)
• Besame Mucho - The Hit Crew (Mid tempo, but retaining the smoothness that I like.)
• Whatever Lola Wants - Irene and Her Latin Jazz Band (Throw in some Latin guitar and this old standard works well as a rumba.)

6300

I was the 6,300th artist to pledge support for Drawing Day 08. No big deal other than I think its kind of cool when you get to roll the counter over.

Character Progression

I enjoy coming up with characters. I start doodling and if I'm lucky, the idea for a character will emerge. In this particular case, in the initial sketch, the character started off kind of rounded and soft, which didn't quite go with the condescending look on his face. I decided to make him more angular and played around with some colors. I left it for a couple of weeks, then took another stab at pushing the design. I eventually ended up with the final design.

Drawing Day 2008

I came across a post on the Drawn! blog about an event called "Drawing Day 08."

The description on the site reads as follows:
Drawing Day - June 07, 2008 drop everything and draw Drawing Day is a worldwide drawing event encouraging everyone to drop everything and draw for the sake of art. The internet is an open canvas. Help us create 1 million drawings online this day and boost online art communities.

It seems like a fun idea. I plan on joining in with a few drawings of my own. I participate on some art communities, so I'll be sprinkling my work around the 'net.

Aeon Flux Painting

Back in 2005, I did a couple of fan art paintings of the character, Aeon Flux. I remember wanting to paint her in a semi-realistic fashion, while keeping the “spidery-ness” that the character had on MTV’s Liquid Television. I was surprised to find that I had saved copies of some of the progress stages, so, I thought that I would share them here.

This was the initial sketch.

I’d done some work on the character and was roughing in the foreground and background elements (As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is not how I would approach the painting now.).

The background and foreground elements have been worked into the painting.

Reworking the costume.

The finished painting.

A larger version of the painting can also be viewed on my deviantART account.

Adding Rhythm

One of the areas that I’m working on is incorporating rhythm into my figures. I’m trying to use longer, unbroken, curving strokes so that even static poses portray a sense of motion.

Ron Lemen on Character Design

Sharing some great information that I came across: Tutorial – Head Drawing for Character Design by Ron Lemen. I’ve read some of Ron Lemen’s tutorials in the past and found them to be extremely helpful. He is very good at breaking down techniques and theories. In my opinion, the referenced tutorial is more of a lesson than a tutorial (Which is a VERY good thing.). You’d normally have to pay for the information and explanations Ron provides here. I’ve read through it twice and will read again a few more times. Thanks, Ron, for a great resource.

This gnomish fellow came about while trying out Ron's notes on sketching.

More Digital Sketches

Another set of sketches.

Timed Drawing

One exercise that I use for practice is to do timed drawings without erasing or using undo. This example is a 15 minute drawing. I was trying for John Lennon but I think I wound up with Harry Potter! LOL

From the Digital Sketchbook

You can call it doodling, scribbling or sketching. For me, this is the really fun part of art. No pressure, no noodling, no fussing, just letting go and seeing where the marks lead me. I tend to doodle as much on screen as I do in my paper sketchbooks. Here is a sampling of some of my digital doodles.

Painting Process

This duck example was done a while back as a quick reply to someone asking about my painting technique. It shows:

1. The initial sketch
2. Adding the flats, lights and darks
3. Laying in the background colors
4. Blending, detailing and touch up

I basically use the same process now with the following additions:

After the sketch, I change the background to a neutral color

I give more thought to the background colors, laying in splashes to see how they work with or affect the main color scheme.

To create the background in “Bloodworm,” I started out playing with random brushstrokes and shades of red. I sketched the creature and built up the volume using the background colors plus blues and yellows for shadows and highlights. I added some texturing and called it done.

Books, Books, Books

I can never own too many books. Over the last few years, I’ve managed to build a pretty decent library of art related books. About a year ago, I placed many of them into an electronic catalogue called LibraryThing. LibraryThing allows you to easily catalogue your collection and share the catalogue with others. You can read reviews from others or write your own reviews. You can start book discussion, rate and even swap books.

The widget that you see on the right side of my blog is generated from LibraryThing. It displays random covers from books in my collection.

I’ve found it to be a useful and fun way to keep track of my books.

Greetings (Otherwise known as getting the 1st post done!)

Welcome to the first post on my blog, Digi’s Stylings. This blog will primarily be about digital painting, but stuff relating to my other interests will surface from time to time.

I primarily work in Corel Painter, but I also use Photoshop and Artrage. I like to use references in work process to boost the “realism” factor that I’m after. I use the refs as guides; all of the actual artwork is done freehand.

My work leans towards the genres of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but I’ll pretty much tackle any subject that interests me.

What I plan for future blog posts: Walkthrough’s and “how I work” examples, tips and tricks that I’ve come across, etc.

I've included a couple of sketches to give you a flavor for my work.