Commission piece!

Hello! Sorry I haven't got to making the videos just yet. Been trying to just get my more important work outta the way before I start making em. I should have time for them in the next few days though.

So other than that I've been getting back into skateboarding. Trying to spend at least 30 min- hour a day skating around. I spent a good 5-6 years skating before I really got into art and have always loved it. Its weird how I approach it now since art really took over my life/work... When I used to skateboard it was always hit or miss when approaching new tricks, constant trial and error. After hours of repetition day in and day out the moves would become second nature to me. But now that I've started again I have a new way of approaching learning tricks.

Once I became serious about art I started really analyzing what it is about my anatomy/lighting/edges that's really messed up. I started looking at my pieces with a critical eye, focusing on my weaknesses most. I'm still looking at each piece I do very critically so that I can move forward. What I find now that I've taken up skateboardin again is that I'm really looking at what works and what doesn't. I'm focusing on the placement of my feet and the amount of force I use for each trick. Now that I have that discipline from forcing myself to improve at art I'm finding that every trick I try is just a series of steps. Analyzing what works and what doesn't. I've been able to pull off things I had so much trouble with before. When I was younger it was always try really hard until I get either extremely frustrated or just really tired. Now I can really take a step back and figure how I can control the motion of the board.

What I'm trying to say is that its really easy to think lazily about something. Its very easy to just keep painting what you know and just shooting in the dark for answers on how to correct problems you're having. But you can cut time in half if you just sit back and really look at what it is you want to be doing. If you're not painting the way you want to paint then look at what it is about the pros you really admire. What skills do they possess that you don't, what might they have a better grasp of, a broader knowledge of. Its up to you to really look at yourself and take steps to fixing these issues. Its all about the fundamentals in art, skateboarding, or whatever it is you wish you were great at. There are steps along the way you gotta take to grow and you have to have the discipline to realize what the next steps are to reaching those goals. I'm nowhere near my goal as an artist, but I can feel that if I keep going on pushing myself I'll make it no problem. Its just a matter of looking at my work with a critical eye and knowing where I wanna take it. Then the only thing left is to sit down and start making moves in that direction!

Heres a commission I did, a little off topic from what I usually do! But I gotta post something on here :D!



Some Metal Church for you as well :D!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Just wanted to update and let you dudes know I've gone through the list and have a pretty good idea what I want to cover next. I'm gonna try and make the next one fit the frame better haha and have some more focus on what layers and whatnot I'm using. Should be good!

So yea, look for that pretty soon! I'm almost not extremely busy so things should be moving smoothly :).

Other than that I did a pretty quick goblin dude for filler. Didn't wanna post without any art D:.



I know this isn't metal but I was listenin to it while I did the above image :)

Video Suggestions?

Well, I've been thinking a lot about what tutorial videos I could make... and I was having trouble coming up with anything very interesting. But since I've been into my own process so long I've probably lost sight of what I used to wish I knew. So I'm hoping that whoever checks out this blog has some questions about my process!

Just post a comment asking me what you'd like to see and I'll get to making a list of videos to make.

Thanks and look forward to hearing your suggestions!

Tormentor!

Grayscale to Color Video Tutorial

Hey everyone! I get a lot of questions about how I color my images annndd today I can hopefully address some of those. The video below is just somethin quick I made to show a basic process of adjusting the color on a grayscale image. This technique isn't for everybody... Mostly because you gotta be used to drawing straight grayscale and getting your values to a certain point. If you don't have much value range this approach doesn't work so well. But take from it what you can! I'm gonna get some sleep :D!

I've been looking at microphones online and found a few that seemed alright... As well as some decent editing program haha. I'd like to get more into making tutorials but just don't want to release a ton of crap quality ones. Hope you get somethin outta it at least :)!



and heres some metal... Slammer!

New Video Process!

Stayed up a little later so that I could do something for myself. I have a lot of work left to do this week... A LOT! But I'll be able to get it all done easy enough. Gets rough though when my mind tries to tell me theres no time haha. I keep having to go through the steps of each piece in my head so that I don't go crazy thinking of them all at once! Wont take as long as usual at least now that I'm hangin up here by myself. I've been eatin bad and missin all physical activities hahaha, not good for the mind or body! I'm hoping that I'll be able to sleep 6 hours and have a really productive day tomorrow. Just gonna have to wait and see! Right about now I'm ready for bed though!

So heres a video process I made for a speed paint I did tonight. Took around 2 hours and came together pretty quick. Added a Tiffany cover because it made me laugh and think of the image. When I saw it in my mind it was super polished and awesome... Maybe in a couple weeks when I'm no longer in debt I'll be able to make more polished images!





Heres some metal since I didn't add any to the video! Always thought Ozzy said "blood will flow like wine tonight" not "love will flow"... I would've made it blood.

Quick Work - Team Chow!

I'm all alone this week! Gah, my girlfriend just left with her family to travel across europe for 10 days(2 days per country! haha, doesnt sound too relaxing). I can't wait to take some time off and travel :), only I'd rather sit in one spot and take in the culture and whatnot.

So anyways, since I'm alone this week I plan on really digging into my work. I got a lot of client deadlines looming! But I'm not stressed... I'm focusing on the steps I need to take to finish each piece rather than looking at the whole deal as one mass. I find that this helps me keep calm in the wake of a ton of deadlines haha. Stress doesn't help, thats for sure!

When I'm going through the steps I'm constantly asking myself what I know about composition and how to make things pop. How light falls and how to bring focus to one central part of my image. If I get caught up thinking about what other art it needs to resemble(previous work for the same company), or what I think theyre looking for, it ends up terrible. The main thing I'm trying to do is apply the basics of what makes a good image and what my strengths are.

Thats not to say I can't break away and do something different to learn... But when I do client work I have to realize that they hired me based on my personal work... Not on the fact that they think I can mimic another artist. I used to always try to be what I thought they wanted rather than what I was. Which I believe is true for most people starting out. It seems like when you do things like fantasy illustration it is exactly what you love... But its not exactly you.

In my work I always try to make my characters have a attitude about them. I often make them screaming and freakin out with drool flyin haha. Thats because I love metal and I love speed/intensity. Tense muscles and fast moving pissed off creatures. So when I approach a character thinking about exactly what it is I enjoy most it often comes out super quick. I never try and force myself to draw something I dont have any attention towards.

This of course changes when I do studies and all that. And from time to time I'm forced to draw something I have no appreciation for in my client work. Even though I don't really like certain aspects of it I do try to apply an attitude or body language thats along the lines of my own art. Anything and everything I can do to make the process as enjoyable as possible will lend itself to the piece. Its always best to just really pin point what it is about life that you truly enjoy most... Because it'll really come through in your art and seperate you from the crowd.

Whoa, huge tangent! But I figured I'd get that off my chest.

heres more work done for the team chow! Just a really quick sketch of the previous bird character.

All Caught up!

Lately I've been really focused on my art and how I spend my time. Also on whats important and what gives me more energy. I find that if I do the studies in the morning, work til around lunch then go out and do whatever for a little bit I can come back to my art with a much better mindset(and a more confident mindset). I know thats kinda common sense but sometimes its really hard to wrap your mind around it when you feel like  your schedule wont allow time off... Not that I'm going out for hours, but just down the road for a hike or a swim. I used to just go all in totally focused on my goal and would do nothing but. Now that I'm really paying attention to the results I can see how my mind really approaches art and how a healthy mind creates.

Also as I do this I can see how much more I get done with a fresh energized mind as opposed to sitting all day staring at a piece. But its hard to force yourself to know when its time to quit hanging out and go all into work. Going out always puts my mind into active mode haha, constantly thinking about how I should skateboard more and all this. I'm really trying to just switch that part of myself off as soon as I sit down to avoid distraction. Mainly though my focus has been on keeping my inspiration and really trying to find out how to recreate that feeling all the time. So this routine works for creating that inspiration for now... Hopefully it'll continue on!

So heres some quick concepts I've been doing for the team CHOW over on conceptart.org.

(click to enlarge)







Some Thrash classic !

Heavy metal maniac!

Studies!

Slowly but surely I'm getting back into my old ways! I can feel my motivation coming back full force after these last few days of work... Been studying anatomy in the morning and painting either a study or a personal piece after freelance. Overall I feel I'm really learning a lot now, mostly about texture within my own personal pieces... and how there isn't enough! The skeleton dude I painted last night was textured but was my first attempt with all the brushes i got. So hopefully I can keep on applying it and eventually start to really take advantage of my brushes :D!

Painted some homeless guy from a photo I found on pbase.com. Awesome site for refs :)!



Leave me in hell!

Gotta keep current!

Trying to maintain an online presence! Its pretttty important to keep current on all the art sites and hopefully be known for doing something. So I'm trying to follow my own advice whether I'm busy or not!

Just did a skeleton painting tonight! Around 2 hours as I'm trying to just focus on implying things...

(click to view the not cut off version haha)



Annnnddd still revistin my old favorites!

Study Time!

So after my last post I've been determined to get back into regular studies... So instead of browsing the internet and talking between waiting for feedback I'm gonna do photo studies :). Having a lot of fun trying to take a painterly approach rather than copy them perfectly. Plan on doing all of them like this from now on...

Other than that I'm just finishing up some client work for a deadline. Was hoping to have everything done by today but I think the AD forgot to send me some feedback on a piece. So yea, I guess I get an extra day or so to work on that stuff... Would much rather have finished so I could go see the sun! haha oh well.

But yea, getting back into studies has made my mood totally turn around! I feel awesome and am really looking forward to doing some everyday! Plus I'm flying through my work and dont feel like a slob hahaha.

Heres the study from photo - around an hour



Goin back to my old favorites lately :D!

Into the fire!

Got a ton of work done today and I feel way too good right now. I made a decision the other day that I was done bullshitting myself. As in I always think back to a few months ago(more like 4 months ago) when I used to study every morning. Since then I have received better and better work and have been filling out my schedule. In my mind I think I can't make time for both, I sometimes tell myself that so much that I actually believe it haha. When I really just sat down and thought through it all I realized what I'd really been doing... Which is slowing my life down to a halt. Not that I don't think I have improved but the fact that I could have been making crazy progress had I never just stopped. Today was the first day in a long time that I did loomis studies in the morning. Afterwards I felt great! So much so that I got more work done than the days I jumped right into client work.  Before today I'd been telling myself this was something I had to do, so when I didn't I felt really crappy. Its weird, I've been telling myself how I had no time but because I hadn't done it I was just killing my drive. The feeling that I'm not improving and watching everybody else improve was what was killing my motivation. But all of that is officially over now! Never will I screw up like this again :D! Its all about the fundamentals now...

Anyways, I'm energized and ready to really push myself harder than ever.

Heres a Goblin dude from tonight :D!



this is how i feel now -