Run from the darkness, Run to the new year

Time for a new start.

OwlBear

Another creature from my brother's D&D Monster Handbook, the owlbear.

Practicing anatomy

I was trying to draw a Bone Demon from my brother's D&D guide, but it turned into more of a study of human anatomy.  I'm really surprised and happy with how easy it was to draw the legs, even though the hips are too uneven and not quite right.  The curves and especially the calves and feet came out much better than I usually do, and I feel proud about it.

Proportionally, the legs are too long compared to the body, and the right hand is backwards, and the skull is bizarrely deformed.  I'll try to do better next time.  :)

Perspective experiment

Wolves are one of my favorite animals to draw.  I thought I would practice my skills of perspective with a wolf scene.  One of the rules of perspective is that objects get smaller as they get farther away; also, if two objects are the same height and on a level plane, the horizan line will touch them in the same place.

That is why all three of the wolves' heads are on the same height (the wolf in the background's head would be at the same height, but he's stretching his neck down), and the same distance from the horizan line.  I also experimented with the trees and grass, giving them less detail as they grew further from the viewer.

The small tree whose top touches the clouds is a re-draw; my first attempt was pretty lazy and scribbly and my brother said it could be better.  He also said the birch trees looked weird, like they had been "squeezed," but I was too lazy to change them.

I colored over the black outlines of the wolves with shades of gray, which gave it a more professional and interested look that I am definitely going to experiement with more in the future.  I didn't realize that the black lines I used were dragging things down.



First Entry :D

Welcome to the first post on my art blog.  I am mainly planning to use it to write out any thoughts I get on art, either technique or philosophy, and share resources that have helped me.  It's a record for myself and maybe fun reading for other people.  To start with for my first picture:

It is called "Reaching for Pear," and like all my digital art I drew it with the free sketcher program at artgrounds dot com.  Usually when I draw digitally I spend a lot of time with the lineart and then slap some colors on carelessly.  This is because I struggle with understanding color theory.

This time I wanted to try harder and make something really dramatic in coloring that I would be proud of.  I used a limited palette of greens and brown-reds, and used classical lighting of one third shadow, one third light and one third mixed in the middle.

The reds and greens work to make a complementary palette, and I used the reds for adding accents on the body.  Something that's difficult for me is making stark contrasts in color, and I did it carefully this time.  I did a little point of red on the end of the cigarette, and on one of the eyes, trying to make it stand out and look bold and dramatic.

I love the way the colors mixed delicately with the pair, and I also like how the background blended together when I used the water tool, though if I did it again I would mix it less to leave more dramatic, though still slightly blended, transitions.