comps

MMO

Just practicing stuff I don't usually do that much. I also decided to push sketch to a more finished level, which is where I mostly fail. Here is the original sketch:

What would you do differently, guys?
Would be nice to hear your thoughts;)

Cheers,
Kan

Irving the Owl

Not too happy with him but really happy with the way the background turned out.

Samsung Tablet Sketching

One of many doodles I do when cruising London with my Samsung Note 10.1.

comps again

Video Demo #2: Rhino Baboon

Another demo. This time I started from an abstraction, using smudge brush. I zoom in at around 7 min. Available in HD:

Legendary Dragon Advanced Version

Hi guys,

This is the second version of the previous drake. Here I tried going with more oriental colours, which isn't that easy at all;)

Hope you like it,
Kan

Digital Sketching Demo on You Tube

Hi guys,

Here is my first demo, just playing around with faces from head. If you click on the YouTube icon, you will be able to view it in a real hi-res.

Please let me know what do you think and if it's worth doing more.

Thanks for wathcing,
Kan

Legendary Dragon

Old Bot

This must be at least three years old. Done in Painter.

Sci-fi interiors #1

Steps (Drake Droid Rider)

Hey guys,

I thought I might share with you the process of making the latest illustration in hope that you might have different suggestions of how to approach such complex pieces. So, I'll walk you through the steps, in case you care to read:

1. This is one of five thumbnails picked which, strangely, was by far the worst in the bunch.

2. I decided to wash this whole scene with bright sunlight, having some retro-futurism in mind. So far, I am using the standard hard round brush in order to get the composition and design as quick as possible.

3. Picking bright colours will hep sell the idea of a sunny day even better. This time, I grab a textured round brush and paint straight on top of b&w by picking the local value and moving slider to a desired hue/saturation. I know I could have colorised the whole thing but it takes too much time messing around layers, etc. Design wise, I try to make the rider look a bit like an ancient samurai.

4. Boom! The mech takes too much attention and I need to put the character in focus. Ouch! But I've got to do it, so I'm redesigning the mech, while keeping his head as it is, only smaller. Here I used a square brush which has a little bit of texture, it's a great designing tool.

5. Reinforcing the brightness through design elements on the Rider and starting to indicate the background.

6. This is the most time-consuming part of the process: taking care of the mech. I took me a whole day just to design and render his left leg and chest!

7. Dropping in some photo textures and tightening details. I practically never use photo textures but I think that in this case, they really improved my piece. I used some on mech's biceps and hips, and in the background. And while I'm writing this, I feel guilty as if I cheated. Maybe I did a little;)

8. E voila! No, no... There was no such moment. It took me another couple of days to get here. The thing that took most of that time was spent in reiterating Rider's costume. At the end, I pushed more bright values and saturation and called it done.

Please feel free to throw eggs on me if you think I might be doing something wrong in any shape or form. I am quite happy about the fact that I actually spent so much time on a piece without losing focus.

Cheers,

Kan

Drake Droid Rider (Advanced Version)

Another one, this time with even more detail. I think, something's finally breaking in me, that nasty lack of patience and focus. Gotta get in the right set of mind, I suppose...

Drake Droid Rider

Much more detail than usual here. I kind of liked getting into gritty little planes and shapes.

Comps #3

Trying to take on some man made enviros.

I took one of the previous thumbnails and worked it up. I decided not to go for the easy route and make an obvious winter/fog/pale piece but to push myself into an uncharted territory of lush colours and oriental designs.
Fail, for sure, but I can't stick to the same old settings if I want to improve.

EDIT:

Just realised I didn't post the final version, so here it is. You decide which one sucks less:

Hipster Sketch

Strange, how much men one gets to draw as a concept artist. I realise I need to improve with female characters.

Comp practice

Continuing with Min's methods and, although it still feels unnatural to me, I can see a lot of benefits in longer terms. Also, I really like to cheat with custom brushes and spend too much time figuring out stuff from the pile of mess whereas this is a very clean and quick way of putting up comps.

Notice how much stronger I work with the organic shapes (mid and lower right)? I really need to learn to draw properly...

The Mothman

Two years ago, some friends and I made a bunch of fake movie posters for our artbook (Gorilla Artbook). I decided to paint something I would actually love to turn into a film one day.
Made in Corel Painter with 'Loaded Palette Knife' and some touch-ups in Phososhop.

Hope you guys dig,
Kan

 

Another comp & colour excercise, using nothing but lasso tool and the airbrush. As previously mentioned, this method was shown to me by Min Yum, who has mastered it to perfection.

It really is a very fast way to visualise your images, without fighting the textures and edges.

And a woman's arse. Tried to paint it with as few strokes as possible and not get caught in rendering.

Waiting for Homer

I have finally given in to my obsession with 'The Simpsons'. Just tried to portrait a little intimate moment in Marge's life.

Hope you guys like it,
K

New techniques

Spent a week with my fantastic friend Min Yum (link listed on the right) and we talked art and shit, while he was teaching me all kinds of wonderful stuff. The sketches above are the result of it.

Watching Min paint was like watching a freak show.

Also, this is the same image I posted before this entry, but after Min's feedback. He really opened my eyes in regards to using bolder colours. I hope it's stronger now.

Cheers,

K

The (not so) Great Ridge

This started rather well and then got lost as I lost my confidence.
Any thoughts on how to make it better are most welcome!

Seduction

Hi guys,

There is something wrong with the blogger lately, I can't seem to follow new people, the 'FOLLOW' button is missing!? And I havent reached the limit of the blogs I follow.
Also, doesn't it bother you to have to decipher that verification? I took it away once and within 15min I got my arse spammed:(


Anyhow, here is something I did in the meantime. Trying to play with old masters palletes lately, but in this one, I also tried to make it look like an old piece. Sometimes I am just tired of all those flashy concepts...


Hope you like it,
Kan

Pilgrimage

I feel that with every brush stroke I add to this, it gets worse.
Any thoughts, guys?
Cheers

Vampyr

Game of Thrones vibes

Isn't that the best thing ever made for TV? I started watching it recently and I'm hooked.
I tried to bring some of that vibe into this painting, without really any reference to any particular character or location.
Also, I realize that the recent studies of old masters start showing now. Putting lots and lots of colours within the same range of values.
Any feedback is most welcome, guys.

Interior Methods?

Hi,
Interiors are a poorly covered topic in most of the tutorials around and I feel that I struggle very often to bring them to the level of character or outdoor pieces I do. I have tried several different methods like:
- painting on top of a simple 3D geometry
- making a tight drawing, putting colors underneath, then painting over
- making b&w thumbnails, enlarging them, tightening them, colouring
- going straight in with colours a la prima and having spent ages tightening and fixing perspective and proportions

So, what are your thoughts on this guys, what do you find works the best?

Thanks

Practising Sci-Fi shapes

Just trying to get a few more shapes and forms into my brain.

Jedi Pulp

Never painted anything Star Wars related, or at least I can't recall I have. So here is something made to look like one of those sci-fi novels from the 70's.
Hope you guys like it and feel free to throw in some feedback, I find it very useful if I can improve my pieces.
Thanks a bunch.