...Is being posted hot on the heels of yesterday's.



ArtRage, then only slightly filtered in Photoshop, mostly for light and shadow.

Oh. Wait. I almost forgot. 15 minutes, total.

So begins Dark December...

Recently I decided that I needed to do at least some minor daily art project for myself for the sake of my sanity. Something that's completely independent of any work or project endeavors. After some of the conversation and feedback I've gotten in a thread elsewhere over the last few days, I decided that I would start today, doing something raw, with complete disclosure of the process. Here it is, staight and to the point, so that anyone can follow it step-by-step with a piece of theirs, if they choose. The changes are subtle in the latter 6 steps-- I may swap the images out with larger, clickable, linked-image versions in the next day or so.

I started off in ArtRage on a 4"x6" 200ppi canvas:



1) 10min Grayscale speedpainting on first layer (not background). This was a mix of the roller, brush, and palette knife tools.
2) Duplicated original layer. Dropped original layer to 40% opacity. Turned duplicate into overlay layer.
3) Created layer under first layer to establish color underpainting, just roller and palette knife. Created layer on top of other layers to establish minor linework with brush.

Then I ported the painting to Photoshop.



4) Duplicated color underpainting layer (still below everything else). Ran it through the watercolor filter, shifted it to a multiply layer, and dropped it to 14% opacity.
5) Selected the whole image, copied it merged, and pasted it on top. Filtered with poster edges, and changed layer opacity to 42%.
6) Pasted same previously selected layer on top. Filtered it with paint daubs, changed layer opacity to 25%.



7) Pasted again. Filtered it with dark strokes, desaturated it, shifted to overlay layer, and dropped opacity to 20%. Erased selectively to start bringing more pop to the image.
8) Pasted again. Filtered it with accented edges. Dropped opacity to 46% Erased much more of the layer, selective, just leaving certain areas that I wanted highlighted.
9) Pasted again. Shifted to multiply layer at 46%. A bit more selective erasing to accentuate the depth.

Finish version:

(Click image for full size.)

Just under 2.5 hours, if that. 12 layers, counting the blank background and the signature layer.

This post marks the return of semi-regular art posting, both here and elsewhere. At this point, I'll be doing an average of at least 5 art-related posts a week. Content, context, and quality of the posts will vary.

I'm currently doing some experimentation, using a mix of ArtRage and Photoshop. Below is a WIP of the first piece, which, at the moment, is qualifying as a speedpainting. When all is said and done, I will post at least a partial step-by-step 'tutorial' on how I did it.


Full-sized piece can be found by clicking here.

Roughly 15-20 minutes, give or take.

( More details here... )

I'll post the finished version tomorrow, potentially the tutorial as well.

P.S. Anyone can feel free to explain to me how to properly utilize "quotes" versus 'quotes', if they'd like. (Read: I'd love to hear what's appropriate for usage where, and what the differences are.)

Here's a quick piece I did before getting a piece I thought was finally suitable for the newsletter piece I posted last.


Much larger version can be found here. I think it looks better at a slightly smaller size than the original though.

5-6 minutes in ArtRage. I liked where it was going, so I kept it. Much like most of my other recent speedpaintings, it started it without any actual concept in my head-- it just came out with the moving about of paint on the digital canvas. I'll likely flesh it out a bit later. For the curious, who find themselves wondering why I often get to a certain point where say I'll come back later, the reasoning usually comes down to either having something in my head go, "hey, stop right there, take a step back, and let your brain wrap around it for a bit", or my having something more immediately necessary to work on. Is there such a thing as waiting too long? I suppose, in some instances. At the same point, one can also gain some clarity in regards to what they want to do with a piece in that time. The other things is that often artists get a "block" just as much as writers do-- it can manifest as a whole, or with individual pieces. In that case, the best thing (for me) to do is to try and push through it with another piece, until ready to come back to the "blocked" piece.

Enjoy.

I've been sitting on this piece for a few weeks, as I did it the morning the internet went off. Given that I hadn't really been able to access the internet my own computer since then until a couple days ago, I thought it would be a good piece to start resuming my art posts with.

One piece, no cut. Resized for your viewing pleasure.

Full-sized version can be found here.

Roughly 15 minutes in ArtRage, done as a quick speedpainting for the first edition of a new gaming newsletter called The Spooky Outhouse (the website doesn't have said newsletter up yet). Chances are good I'll come back and clean it up for a more finished piece down the road at some point.

Enjoy.

First, today's batch of Fives, preview up front with full-sized imagery behind the cut.



( There's a little birdhouse in your soul...  )

...Here's Batch 2 of the Thumb Concepts:



( As with will be standard for the moment-- not nearly the size of the Fives, but still larger under the cut... )

Sorry kids, slept restlessly, and am short on time at the moment. Maybe more later.

First, today's batch of Fives, preview up front with full-sized imagery behind the cut.



( When you're gone... when you're gone, how can I carry on...  )

And now for something completely different.

Awhile back I started doing what some refer to as thumbnail concepts. It's sort of a way to kick-start the imagination process, taking images and somewhat randomly putting them together. Not merging them, but rather, making an amalgamation of them. Take a couple minutes for each one, maybe 5 or 6 to flesh out the ones that stand out a bit more. Out of an hour's time, I'll get at least a handful of pieces that are viable, and if I'm lucky, 3 or 4 that turn out really well. Much like the Fives, these give me a base to start from, but they also give a way to submit quick concepts to people when working on projects. Unless I'm short on time, for the most part these will be a separate series of posts after this.



( Not nearly the size of the Fives, but still larger under the cut... )

If you're good, and I manage to get it completed in a timely manner around today's other tasks, I may have something for you before midnight. Maybe.

More in the progression of Fives.



( Full size versions behind the cut... )

Tomorrow you get something new in addition to these.

Fives. More like 7-8 minutes each.



( Full size versions behind the cut... )

Time to figure out food, then get some design pieces ready to send off to byronsart.

Today's batch of Fives. Since I skipped Sunday, I'm being generous and giving you 10 again.

Ooooo... Lookee... Previews... Shiny... Blah Blah Blah


( Fast Food Nation-Sized pieces behind this line of textual lovin'... Would you like to Super-Size that? )

I'm going to start posting another type of exercise on a daily basis in a addition to these, later this week.

5 more down and dirty Fives, just for you, and your little dog, too. You know what to do from here, and if you don't, I probably can't help you.

( It cuts like a knife... but not all Bryan Adams and stuff...  )

I'm going to wait until Monday for the next batch.

Today's batch of Fives, with one above the cut as a teaser.



( +4 more... )

Maybe I'll post both days this weekend. We'll see.

Short on time today, so I'll keep this brief again. Here's today's batch of Fives, most of which are actually closer to 4 minutes at this point. In a couple batches, you'll see me increase the threshold as I start adding more detail and branching out into other areas.

( Cut, because I care... well, not really... )

Another day, another batch of speedpainting Fives.

( From the Land of Sky Blue Waters... )

You know the spiel. More tomorrow.

Back to the normal batches of Fives... As always, if you're not sure what this is, or want to see the previous, click on the "fives" tag for the entry.

( Make with the clicky... )

More tomorrow.

Since I opted to skip yesterday, given the amount of people who were out of town and/or working festivals, I'm going to give you a double-sized batch today.

A little side note for thos curious-- these aren't intended to be finished pieces, but rather, to exercise my mind's-eye and further hone my skills. Some may turn out lackluster or somewhat craptastic, but occasionally a real gem pops out. No descriptions today-- to quote earthwmn, I'm going to let you play "Rorschach for the modern age".

That being said... ( I'll shut up and start with the art now... )

I'll be back with a normal-sized batch tomorrow.

5x5 raw speeds. You know the drill.

( Scream if you wanna go faster... )

That's all I've got. No clue if anyone will actually see these or not, given the KCRF is going on today, and it's the weekend. So, I may skip tomorrow and wait until Monday for batch 6.

Today I'm doing something different. Rather than give descriptions of what I was doing or what I saw, I'm going to leave things description-free, and let your minds wander. Feel free to volunteer what you see when you look at one of these, should the brain strike. Again, these are all roughly 5 minutes or less.

First one's free:


( The other 4 are behind the textual wall... )

Hmmm... I'm hungry. Guess it's time to figure out something to eat...

If you don't know what this is, click on the 'fives' tag for the entry. You can see more more of an organic evolution, though I've got a deviation in here as well.

( Touch me here, you know I like it... )

More tomorrow. FYI, the pieces get progressively more complex with time.

If this is the first you've seen of this, and you'd like to see the previous batch, just click on the "fives" tag for the entry. Details on behind the "Fives" posts are their as well, though the short version is that these are all roughly 5 minute base speedpaintings.

Today's batch shows where I start to dabble into organic development of pieces, rather than walking in with something specific in mind. As with the previous entry, I've not done any cropping, so there's excess whitespace here and there. However, filesizes are generally smaller than yesterday's.

( Cut so as not to glut your friend page... you know you feel naked without it though...  )

If you have questions, feel free to pop your head in and ask. I'll get to them when I get a chance.

More tomorrow.