Concept Art Update

Latest update of the concept art I'm painting for the upcoming online game "Operation: Terraform":

Operation: Terraform Concept Art WIP

Concept Art for Dawn RPG - Belemar WIP

Latest WIP of the environment concept I'm painting for the computer RPG Dawn:

Belemar Mountains Concept Art, 2011 (digital)

Work In Progress - Mountain Environment Concept Art WIP

Start of another concept piece for the Dawn RPG-project: (ArtRage3)

Work In Progress - Silver Forest Concept Art WIP

Just realized that I haven't posted the latest WIP of my Silver Forest concept art for the Dawn RPG project. Here it is: (ArtRage3)

Silver Forest Concept Art - WIP, 2010

Work In Progress - Royo Masterstudy

Lately I have been working on a master study from a painting by Luis Royo. Here is the latest version:

Work In Progress - Frazetta Tribute Drawing

This is a pencil study of Frazetta's original Atlan painting I've been working on. It's done as a tribute to the fantasy art grandmaster for the latest drawjam at the great site CGHub:

Frank Frazetta (1928 - 2010)

Work In Progress - Battle Tide (WiP2)

An update on the piece from the previous post:

Work In Progress - Battle Tide

Yesterday I joined another online art challenge. The theme is "Battle Tide" and here's a first draft:

Work In Progress - Sunrise Kata (WiP3)

Here's the next WiP for the "Far East"-challenge at ImagineFX:

(ArtRage3)

Work In Progress - Kata

Yesterday I joined another online art challenge. Here is one of the first WiPs. Theme "The far east":

(ArtRage3)

Work In Progress - Naiad, (Wip 8)

WiP 8 of the Naiad I'm working on:

Work In Progress - Naiad, (Minitutorial part 2, WiP 4 and 5)

Have kept working on my Naiad and will continue the little tutorial I published along with WiP 1 to 3 in a recent post. First I tried to apply roughly the general shape and feel of water, that I would later spread out using the palette knife. This led to a chaotic stage of the process:

Then I changed my mind and decided that the water would follow the oval shapes of the underlying structure. This meant that it would be painted more like ripples. Here is the latest version:

 

Since this I've been thinking whether I should change the direction of the water. Since the nymph is supposed to be a part of the element, maybe it would be better to have the water flowing in the direction of the flow and planes of the figure? It probably would.

To paint an image like this is a process taking part subconsciously and in the mind as well as on the canvas. It's a process of solving one visual problem after another, an internal journey and exploration of ideas, concepts and designs. This is what makes it so endlessly fascinating and inspiring.

Work in Progress - Naiad (mini-tutorial, WiP 1-3)

Thus it became a new decade. New decade means new year. New year means new month and new month...means a new MyFX Monthly Challenge over at the ImagineFX forum! The theme for January is "Hiding in plain sight".

Posting the first three WiPs, this post is a very brief tutorial on the workflow I've used in the beginning phase of painting this image.

Since I really enjoy figurative painting and need to continually practice this challenging but oh so fascinating subject, I decided to paint a Naiad (water nymph). The idea is for her to be almost one with her related element (water). For this I used ArtRage3 and the oil paint tool.

Working from a photo reference of a female in a dress, I began by very roughly applying midtone to a colored background, as well as a dark and a light tone. Doing this I tried to capture the flow of the figure and her dress.

I also started to think about the underlying structure of the composition, as taught in the ArtTrek series  on design and composition by Charles Bernard The dominating shape of this image will be the circle or oval.

Naiad - 1st WiP

I then began working on improving the basic outline and form of the shade. Mostly in the face and on the upper right arm. For this I used the palette knife tool. I just love to first block in the colour roughly and then moving it around to its proper places using the palette knife.

Naiad - 2nd WiP

I kept defining the outline and basic tones of the figure working in much the same way. Also decided that some parts of the figure should "float" and mix with the surrounding water. I also decided to change one of the underlying shapes somewhat.

In order to apply more detail I zoom in on the painting. Since I plan for the final version to be 600x800, I'm working with a 1200x1600 sized canvas. I then know that if a detail seems alright when working at 75% of the canvas size, it will also work when I finally make the finished image half as big.

Naiad - WiP3

So far I think this piece is off to a rather good start. The next important decision is whether to stick to purely monochromatic or if I should introduce other colors, perhaps moving in a more expressive direction. We'll see where I'll take it from here.

Work In Progress - Free Eagle Tattoo Design (WiP2)

Perhaps some of you are wondering what happened to that free eagle design I began drawing. Fear not, I have not forgotten about it. Last night I kept working on it, but I'm not quite ready to consider it finished yet. Thought I'd show you the progress from last time though. Hope to snart post the finished version.

(Done in ArtRage 3)

Work In Progress - Free Eagle Design Coming Up

I have begun drawing another tattoo/graphic design in ArtRage3. This time it's an eagle drawn from photo ref. Here is how far I've come:

Work In Progress - Good Vs Evil (WiP 4)

Monday, new week and finally the grey clouds have parted. White snowflakes slowly fall to the ground and yesterday me and my son built the first snowman of the year.

No snowman, but at least a shoe-throwing Cinderella is what I have to offer in my latest digital piece. Here's an update of it.

Have yourself a great week hopefully enriched by innumerable snow crystals!

(Done in ArtRage so far)

Good Vs Evil - Work in progress (WiP4)

Work In Progress - Frazetta Female Master Study

Woke up without fever this morning. Felt like returning to one of my beloved Frazetta art books and started drawing another master study. This time a female about to be attacked by a lion.

(mechanical 0.7 HB pencil on standard office paper)

Work In Progress - Landscape with Tree Update (WiP3)

Have continued drawing my Landscape with tree piece. Here is the latest update. Decided that there was just too much leaves. Also did the same "Rackham game" I did in my last finished fantasy work, Moonrise. That is, I hid a face somewhere in the picture. Can you find it?

Landscape with Tree - Work in Progress (WiP3), 2009

Work In Progress - Good Vs Evil (WiP 3)

Have added some more color to my latest digital project. Used the oil paint tool in ArtRage set to a 20% size. Not quite happy with the look of the pages in the book that the characters are standing on. Probably will use the palette knife to spread the scattered darker colors.

Since there are so many characters in this composition I'll try to make the background rather simple. Otherwise the overall impression will be too cluttered. Which I feel it is at the moment:

Work In Progress - Good Vs Evil

Here's a little update on the Good Vs Evil piece I'm doing for the December challenge at ImagineFX. Done in ArtRage 2.5 this far.

Have made a new transparent layer and begun adding some thicker color using the oil paint tool (thinner 50%). Only had time for parts of the background and some of the characters this far though.

How many fairy tales can you find? (it's supposed to be more than 5 there).