The Work Continues

So, the last few days I have been mostly working on backgrounds, experimenting with new techniques and brushes in Photoshop, and watching Mad Men. ;D

I had a rather severe crisis of faith (in myself) a few days ago. I was really struggling to paint, and I've really been pushing myself on that front. Ultimately, I had to discard a character design that I'd spent the larger part of a day working on, simply because it did not meet the standards I had set for myself and this portfolio. It was a frustrating way to realize that I simply have to accept that there are some things I can do right now and some things I can not: namely, paint a character from the ground up without a lot of pencil lineart to hold my work together.

But as a result I realized that my pencil work is my strength - not a limitation or a weakness. And as such I have begun working on several backgrounds that I sketched up in pencil. They are all in various states of completion, and you can see how I block some of them out before going into more detail.

This is the most complete work I have. This started as an A4 sketch, and now I am nearing completion. Most of what is left is detail work: rocks, dead shrubbery, and some shading on the snow. :)

You may remember this piece. Due to my frustration with painting, I had not returned to it as I realized it was quite flat, and would need a lot of shadow...work I was not eager to perform. Luckily someone suggested tweaking it to a night scene and now I am incredibly keen to finish it. It will include hard light from a full moon in the gap between the trees, large and dark patches of shadow and the house will have some warm oranges spilling out of it to make it the focal point. Gonna be AWESOME!

This is a piece I've just started on. This is a fairly old idea: it began with a fantasy city that I drew a year or more ago, and now I have a sci-fi one with a star destroyer coming in to dock. :D This will have a lot of green in it and some nice lights from the city when its done.

And last as a matter of interest is this dramatic Maya temple I blocked out last night when I was too exhausted to do anything more complicated. This is how they all begin at the moment: a sketch with a few primary tones to base everything on. This will be pretty fun (and kinda nightmarish at the same time) to light, with the lightning and fires on each pillar, not to mention the man carrying a torch.

That's all for now! :)