Troll, Digital Corrections

Well, here's the final, final, final... finally.

This one has been cropped to the final size and scanned in, rather than the snapshot from before. In an endeavor to keep on growing I've also taken this into Photoshop for some minor adjustments. Can you spot them before you read on?

After living with the painting for a little while, it became time to scan it and get digital. Those who may know my previous work, will know that I am a bit of a "Ned Ludite," and have pushed off the computer for some time.

Having read others' posts and listened to some arguments regarding the computer and it's place in the illustration process. I think that the argument that really sold me on it was the fact that in today's world, illustrations are ultimately digital at some point. That being the case, why then give away what control you as the illustrator have in that process. When one scans their own piece, you are able to modulate the colors (and hope that the recipients computer monitor is calibrated something similar to yours!,) and make any final adjustments before sending it off, i.e. Digital Corrections.

For those of you at home who've been playing along and tried to spot the changes, I'll point some out for you. Firstly, and most importantly, there is the elf's face. I was really disatisfied with how the painting turned out, and wanted her to be more ingaged with the troll. So, I've changed her eye as well as tried to build a bit more structure under her face. This being the first real attempt, I am not totally convinced just yet. It's a good start, but there is certainly room to grow.

Other changes are way more subtle. I've tried to accent the top of the Troll's head to pop it away from the cave wall. Of course there was the clean up from the muliple scans, edges needed to be made invisible, and there were actually some cat hairs that mysteriously appeared (he said as he casts a sideways glance at the peacefully sleeping cat.) That's about it.

Troll painting... Done.

PS: there are a whopping 8 posts that chronicle the creation of this piece, to see the first moves check out Post #1: Fantasy Series
to see the previous post about this image go to Post #7: Troll, The End

Figure Drawing Friday

A few weeks of figure drawing have gone by without any posts of the drawings. I don't know if any of these will throw the Art world on it's ear, but the function of art was definitely served here. That is Art as a verb. The following drawings are, to me, more about my experience at that time. Read what you will.

I have to say that the past few weeks have been pretty intense, and of course it shows up in the drawings. These are a far cry from sensitive light watercolors. I brought out the charcoal, just to keep the drawings skills sharp, and look for my elusive 'black'. 

This is a series of 5 minute warm-ups on one page. I guess sometimes good drawings happen when we're not looking, or is it especially when we are looking? The main drawing here really benefits from the previous work on the page. I like the economy of line here.

I really started to feel for the model here. She was really putting her energies into a 'Spring' theme, light music, little garlands, etc., and I was charging into a more physical, agitated state. Here she was the water giver. If you know your Major Arcana, she reminded me of the Star card. 

This was one of the final drawings from that session. You can see that the actual drawing moved on the page quite a bit through corrections and wiping out. I've totally departed from the vibrant, hopeful, spring theme of the session, and moved into a Frances Bacon state of mind.

This session and the next session I will post soon, are more to me like going to the gym and working out on a punching bag more than a ontological search for ethereal beauty. I guess some days are like that.

Troll, The End

This could very well be the end for this painting. It's been really great blogging this, in that I was able to reflect on all the choices that brought it here. A big thanks goes out to Randy, Jenny, and Paris, for their critical eyes. Sometimes we get by with a little help from our friends.

PS: there are a whopping 8 posts that chronicle the creation of this piece, to see the final moves check out Post #8: Troll, Digital Corrections
to see the previous post about this image go to Post #6: Troll, rolling along