Friday, November 30, 2007

Mess



I love scribbling...and letting them remain scribbles :-).

Tiger Warrior - Finish



Atmosphere! I was inspired by Anthony Ermio's work for the background. I lit my tiger, but it may be a greater challenge to next time work with a flat-light environment, for a snowy scene (like Anthony's). Since it's winter, and I miss the snow and mountains (hello, sunny california!), I might do a number of these cold-feeling drawings. I don't know...something about them appeals to me.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Tiger Warrior Work-in-Progress




Hey all. I've been working on my painting/rendering skills with Photoshop, and taking a rough, messy sketch all the way to finish. I thought of my favorite "Magic: The Gathering" card from way back when, an anthro tiger-man named "Jedit Ojanen," and thought I'd make my own version of him (special thanks to Jehan Choo!), so here's the work-in-prog. I've still got more rendering to do on his hands, legs, weapon, and whatever else I'll add to him. I'm not sure about the background yet...maybe something snowy/misty?

Monday, November 19, 2007

Winter Ad




Hey all. I thought I'd make a new Christmas/Winter themed girl, and advertisement for Craigslist. This is the first time I've used Illustrator for one of my girls, and I really like the way the linework came out. It was just a lot easier, less time-consuming, and more consistent. I switched back and forth between the programs--illustrator for line, Photoshop for color. Not a bad deal. Here's the original, and the ad. --L

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Fiddles...


A night of listlessness results in...

I know my fiddlage with photos I take is no great feat of retouching genius, and it's borderline artistic, but it's fun. It's FUN! to do on a night when you're a little bored and uninspired. FUN I TELL YOU! And hey, it does explore some tools in Photoshop that I haven't used, or don't use on a regular basis. :-)

Monday, November 12, 2007

Bankrollin' Along...


Here's a sketch...I'm enjoying messy color sketches like this, since so much of the work I do professionally is ultra-clean vector or tediously hand-lined stuff. I've been working on a set of 10 caricatures that I will post up here soon (my faves anyway), since I retain the rights to them. It'll be nice to be able to post work on the website without having to wait for the go-ahead!

Monday, November 05, 2007

The O-Zoo




I dashed away to the O-Zoo today, to draw from life for the first time in a LONG time. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and I had a great time hanging out with Ian, drawing elands, and making business deals :-). Here's a page of sketches, and a highly retouched photo :-)

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Photo Retouching


I've been retouching and fiddling with some photos, just to see what I can turn them into. I don't have access to any high-fashion, couture-type photos, so I have to work with what I have already, which are pictures of, well, me :-). I like experimenting with filters, correction tools, cropping...perhaps I'll start collecting these into little "before and afters" like this one, and set up some kind of spot for them on my site...maybe get some photo gigs, eh?

Cleanliness


I'm still getting the hang of Illustrator...I felt compelled to do something, and experiment more, although I did not feel compelled to do more tutorials, so what we have here is just more exploration. I like the work that has all the shapes and whatnot piled onto it, but it seems so overdone...I want to try something new, or take it in a new direction, or even take it backwards, and be more simple than all that. We like our senses to be bombarded these days, though, so maybe I should try it before I veer away from it. Perhaps it's just a matter of building up your components over time, and then combining them (like Marguerite Sauvage, or Barron Story). "Bits." They're all just high-tech "bits" pieces. Worth a shot. I'll be adding to this one, then...

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Snow Bride


Today I walked about in my little town, looked at antiques, thought about Christmas...ended up in a bookstore, perusing a "Bride" magazine,and looking at the lovely dresses. I suppose that's the starting point for this painting, which is a combination of thoughts and feelings about winter, beauty, being most uninspired as of late, a little listless, looking for something...I like the way snow gathers on fur...