Version one on the left, and version two on the right. I know these are totally different styles, but what can I do? I started this book about a year ago…and I’ve changed. I’m going to keep changing and I learn more about drawing and painting, light and color, value and composition. Perhaps the day will come when I can start a book and finish it before my style evolves.
This is called a work in progress. I’m determined to give this person some white glasses. Maybe I’ll have time to finish this tomorrow.
Practicing with Rebelle 5
Rebelle 5 is getting its hooks into me. I’ve always told myself that “I can’t” paint, but Rebelle 5 keeps whispering, “Yes. Maybe you can it you just don’t give up when your painting sucks.”
So I keep coming back to Rebelle. The way I see it, if I can just learn to paint a little, I could work faster, get more done, and write more books in the little time I have. I don’t need to paint like a master — I need to paint like a guy who has a story to tell and doesn’t give a damn about being perfect. I just want to be good enough to move on to the next book, and the next book, and the next book.
Climbing the Rebelle 5 learning curve.
A Krita sketch
Color applied above the grayscale layer on a layer set to “color” mode
I had a few minutes today to apply some color to my repentent volcano demon, who’s actually a tiny, very cute tabby cat. One thing about the color mode that I quickly realized — if your grayscale layer sucks, no amount of color can save it. If the values are wrong in the grayscale layer, you can’t make them right in the color layer. Damn! Everything about painting so so finicky. I suppose this is where the long hours of practice make a difference. That’s what I keep hearing. Now I need to find out where to get me some of those “long hours.”
With this session wrapping up in two weeks, I’m a little overwhelmed with tying up loose ends. The event attendants are exhausted, their initial optimism having turned to stark realism, and I’m elated that the end is near. There’s light at the end of the tunnel, and I know that when I emerge into the sun, I’ll have six weeks to work on my book…until the next group of starry-eyed optimists enter the Reality Zone.
Looking back at the last week or so, I can see that I’ve been fooling around with faces. That’s because my goal for the next book is to make all of the animals cuter as the story deals with issues that are not at all cute. It’s going to be exciting, and fun, and maybe even controversial.
I’m still mulling over the idea of signing up for Ahmed Aldoori’s concept art course. I just have to figure out where I’ll find time to do justice to the lessons. That sounds like a lamp cop-out, but the fact is, there are days when I don’t even have time to fart, much less sit quietly by myself for hours at a time and learn how to draw and paint.
Today I watched Ahmed Aldoori’s tutorial called Drawing Daces with Femaie Proportions and was inspired to give it a try. With lots of practice I believe I could do well by following his simple technique. It’s applicable to cute animals and even to evil animals.
Okay…technically, there really are no evil animals, except one — us. We’re the only species that would consciously make decisions that would make Earth unlivable.
