Gday! I'm back after a blogging hibernation, and both my roommate and I have decided to split up our collaborative blog and run our own individually. I'm hoping to post daily with artwork, unless I get a stint of NDA work that I can't show. But I will also most likely fill in the gaps with philosophical banter and oddities, so if that's your thing, go on and subscribe. Ill try to make my post titles as elucidating as possible for your feeds ;)
Anyhow I was supposed to get to writing this an hour ago, inspired by the work James Gurney does over at his own blog; Gurney Journey. But I got wrapped up in the ever entertaining controversies of PDA and Tom Cruise, Scientologist! and must admit to them as tonight's primary source of inspiration (sorry James).
Anyhow I was supposed to get to writing this an hour ago, inspired by the work James Gurney does over at his own blog; Gurney Journey. But I got wrapped up in the ever entertaining controversies of PDA and Tom Cruise, Scientologist! and must admit to them as tonight's primary source of inspiration (sorry James).
To start off the blog with some art, here is my entry for Last Man Standing 3, administered under the uncompromising and all encompassing care of Cody 'The Suggestive Guy' Tilson and run on Conceptart.Org (if you havnt seen it, check it out now!)
'Underneath It All'
I began with another painting that eventually lost its way and I felt didn't have a lot going for it.
Due to a topic extension I decided to reconcile my ideas and tackle a new, simpler and more direct painting. Thematically, I wanted to veer toward optimism instead of pessimism, as is often the case for work I dont plan well. Doing the new painting in 2 days (due to the deadline) was refreshing and rewarding and stopped me from getting bogged down in overcomplication.
I found that I still resorted to my usual crutches - a static shot angle, lack of human figures, and indiscriminate rendering - all things that I am working to improve. I also had to make a difficult choice of how much contrast to put in the background, and ended up sticking with my initial intention which was to capture something of the atmospheric, indistinct landscapes of
Due to a topic extension I decided to reconcile my ideas and tackle a new, simpler and more direct painting. Thematically, I wanted to veer toward optimism instead of pessimism, as is often the case for work I dont plan well. Doing the new painting in 2 days (due to the deadline) was refreshing and rewarding and stopped me from getting bogged down in overcomplication.
I found that I still resorted to my usual crutches - a static shot angle, lack of human figures, and indiscriminate rendering - all things that I am working to improve. I also had to make a difficult choice of how much contrast to put in the background, and ended up sticking with my initial intention which was to capture something of the atmospheric, indistinct landscapes of
Millet:
And Innes:
Here is the initial painting, which i dropped:
On the submitted painting, I had a lot of fun and found a happy and flexible medium between rendering and composing, and I am slowly improving my ability to keep decisions open until the end of the painting instead of my usual routine of committing to major decisions past the thumbnail point. I also referenced Whit Brachna's 'Alps' painting for inspiration on how to approach the rocks without a texture overlay. Needless to say his virtuosity in that regard far outweighs my own!
I also enjoyed the initial painting (with the helmeted figure), however the parts I liked most, notably the character and the roof, ended up being stagnated and stripped of their freshness by time and over-rendering. Nevertheless I look at it as 'two learning experiences for the price of one'.
I also enjoyed the initial painting (with the helmeted figure), however the parts I liked most, notably the character and the roof, ended up being stagnated and stripped of their freshness by time and over-rendering. Nevertheless I look at it as 'two learning experiences for the price of one'.