Happy Halloween!

Did this quick painting from an earlier sketch. iPad + Procreate, Sensu Brush stylus.

Another Blog

I've joined a sketch club of sorts, a blog called Game Art Buddies with Jim Rice. It's been good motivation! Monthly themes, and this one is of course Halloween. Here are my sketches so far, paintings to come:

Robot head sketch

Inspired by the incredible Anthony Jones! Didn't use a very good method, next one will be better. Here are a few images I saved along the way. Done in Photoshop CS5 on a Cintiq 21UX, about 2.5 hrs. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Photoshop Painting Demo from Class

I did a Photoshop painting class/demo showing a lot of the basic techniques I use to paint quickly. I started out with some reference collecting, then a quick layout and color key before I demonstrated creating the final painting in the class.

I made this custom brush shape to paint the mountains.

Reference gathered from internet sources.

Quick layout

Color key, working with as large a brush as possible.

Final painting done in Photoshop CS5 on an Intuos 3 tablet, about 2 hrs.

Sketch and color correction

Here's a quick iPad sketch I did of the wife at Chik-fil-A while the kids played. Sensu FTW!

 

Unsatisfied with the color, I did some color correction in Photoforge. I blame the bad lighting, but I need to work on it!

 

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Portrait Practice

I have been feeling the need to paint more people, particularly to study skin tones and proper color and lighting. I did this one from a reference photo, but I can't say that I like the color results...the skin feels too pale and chalky. Still, it was a good learning experience. I think next time I'll spend less time on the drawing!

30 min drawing in Procreate on iPad, Sensu brush stylus

1.5 hr painting in Procreate on iPad, Sensu brush stylus

iPad Sketch Practice

Fountain at Tiburon
2 hrs, Sensu brush and Procreate on iPad

Not the best composition, but a good exercise and I feel like I'm getting a better handle on the painting app Procreate. It started raining shortly after I started this one out in front of the office, so I did a quick block-in and finished it finally tonight.

A week into using my Portenzo custom case for the iPad, and I'm still loving it! It looks great and feels very sturdy. The IntelliStand feature is amazing, the magnets that hold it in place when upright and closed are sufficiently strong while not being overbearing. I love having the stylus holder for storing my Sensu brush, the one critique I could offer is perhaps making two elastic straps to hold the stylus in instead of just the one. The reason for this is the loop is fastened at an offset to the back of the maple plywood interior piece, which I'm assuming is because of the thickness (actually, thin-ness) of the piece. When the IntelliStand is being set up, the elastic loop twists under the weight of the stylus and it falls out of the holder, but can be replaced in it once the stand is stationary. This is a minor design improvement that I don't feel degrades the quality of this product, and I'm sure production costs could be a consideration.

I'm really glad I put the time into researching and discovering these great accessories to my iPad sketchbook! I find myself unable to paint on the iPad without my Sensu brush. Sometimes I want a normal stylus is for drawing, but painting is all Sensu! If you want to paint on your iPad, go check out this great product! I wrote more about using the Sensu here.