I could probably spend another week on this guy, adding more detail and noodling and noodling, but at some point you've got to declare it done, so it's done as it's gonna get for now. There are some things that I'd like to fix/work on, at least for future endeavors. Things like when and where to use the holding lines. I'm not crazy about the lines at the back of the head, which tend to flatten that area out, but I couldn't find a better solution as of yet. It's been some time since I've painted (and I do call this painting...digital painting, at the least) so I'm relearning stuff I hadn't done in many years. It's all a learning process!
8 comments:
nice justin i like what im seeing, complet works
you say its not done but it looks done to me dude
good one justino! as always!
do you use masking tools to color these up? i never got the masking tools right.
any significance to the #'s in the corners or is it just a design element??
Thanks, Jason!
I didn't use any masking tools for this, though it's a technique I'd probably benefit from. Something to practice!
The #'s designate the series of characters...the first one of this series was the toothy skull dude...but at the time I wasn't thinking of a series...so I added the numbering as I went along to the other two. Not sure how many more there will be in this set...it's more free form than the last monsters set where I said from the outset there would be 23 in the series.
WOw- another cool one! They get better and better. ARe you sketching these out first or just doing it all straight in photoshop?
As far as the definition of painting- I don't describe anything as a painting that doesn't use paint. I did a nice pastel of you and Nancy, but I wouldn't describe it as a painting... That's why I think when using the computer, the term "digital" is essential to use before the word "painting"- just to differentiate between 2 different mediums.
I can see these as some sort of trading cards.
Thanks, Dan! I'm doing these all in Photoshop, without any previous sketches. When I first sat down to do this, I didn't intend to do a finished piece .I was just sitting down before dinner to see where the pen took me...I liked the way the head was coming along, so figured I should add a body. I did a bunch of different versions, just sketching on the screen, with more human body types, until I decided to go with the insect style body.
I see what you mean about not calling the pastel a painting - I guess it's a pastel...drawing. I think the paint in the digital realm is just a name to be able to refer to the process in more human/easier to relate to terms. Should a piece be called a Digital Pixel Rearrangement?...I mean there are distinctions in the digital world itself. Not every piece done in Photoshop will or should be called a digital painting. Something could be a photo montage manipulation...I think when the term painting comes in, is tricky, but for me, it's something that shows some sort of working up of the colors, blending them to build up some kind of surface - an act of 'painting'..physically at some point, moving your brush around to build lights and darks or create texures, etc. The brush strokes don't neccesarily have to be seen. But an act that's similar in the process to oil painting does goes on on screen. Things can get muddy on screen just like they do on canvas if you don't handle the tools properly, be they digital or physical.
nice. well said justin.
so do you have a wacom tablet or a cintiq tablet or some other jazzy tablet/pen contraption or are you "painting" with a mouse. i'm asking because i've been debating getting one again. i had a small one when i had a g4 but gave it away when i upgraded to the imac. if so what do you have or have you heard about what's good out there in tablet tools nowadays.
i've found that "painting" with a mouse is a friggin pain in the ass!!
I've got a Wacom tablet that I bought about seven years ago (my second one - I've still got a 12X12 monster from 1995). It's a Graphite, as I remember (I'm at work now)...size is 8X10 (surface drawing area, I think). I'm not that familiar with any of the newer ones that have come out these last few years; I figure the latest ones have greater pressure sensitivity.
I couldn't imagine doing any kind of painting work with a mouse!! I've actually not used a mouse at all for years; I do all my work, including just e-mails and web browsing with the tablet.
I'd save your hand the cramping and pick up a new tablet!
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