Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Earth Men Final



This is the final for this chapter. Getting it done was like pulling teeth. There were a lot of things that went wrong during this painting, but I'm very happy to have done it. No fear of failure!

I wanted these guys to have an almost caricatured confidence. They seem in the chapter to be the typical "USA #1!!" Americans. Unfortunately they meet less than hospitable locals who don't care much about them or where they supposedly came from.

I'm going to skip around from now on to three or four more chapters and that will be it. Next!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Down on the Farm



Just having some fun with some painterly aspects of Photoshop CS5 I seldom use. I may start using them more.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Waterhouse Master Studies Acrylic!



I'm gearing up for some new illustrations, and that's what the little Martian Chronicles pieces and old master studies are really for. The temptation to do things in digital is very strong because of the ridiculous speed advantage. Studies like these help.

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Earth Men: Color Thumbnail



Yes, I combined acrylic and digital for this comp.The finished one will be in acrylic only! I want the piece to have a snapshot quality, so I needed to play with depth of field. Instead of fooling around in the dark trying to "blur" in acrylic, I figured I should just blur the damn thing in photoshop. Now I know what edges to lose and soften. Comps in photoshop are infinitely faster than acrylic, but I still like the randomness and, in my mind, superior color that traditional affords.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Digital Rust: Bedouin Digital Quick Paint



I was doing some research for the Martian Chronicles and came across a photo online that reminded me of one of the stories. I don't know who the original photographer was/is, but I simply had to do a quick sketch. Simpler and faster is the mantra with digital (probably everything I suppose.) No time for fussiness.

Friday, April 08, 2011

USA: WTF?



Most of my job is about creating fun fantasy escapism. Film doesn't just have to be babes, guns and robots (not that those are intrinsically bad.) Government shutdown possibilities looming, I ponder this old clip. Kapra was known for his optimism, for better or worse.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Hikers



Quick one in the ole' sketchbook.