Pig final

I have decided to stop on this illustration as I want to explore a different way of coloring. For the last three illustrations, I used a lot of "Mulitply" in Photoshop to get my shadows, which, if you are not careful, tends to build up very quickly. I want to explore just coloring with darker colors, as you would with traditional media. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Pig in progress

Ball player

Boy pulling Christmas tree - Final

After looking at this, I was not digging the outline, and was ready to give up on doing it digitally. However, something inside me said to give it one more go, and below is the final result, which I am extremely happy with. Went sans outline, using shading to give it dimension, which I like a lot better. I also decided to turn his frown upside down. That came from a story idea, but as a stand alone illustration, it is not obvious why he is sad while pulling a Christmas tree.

Anyway, if you are in the area, leave me a note and let me know what you think!

Progress

a quick update on yesterday's post... My plan is to do this illustration in different mediums to see how each turns out. If it isn't obvious, this is digital.

Portfolio or bust

There comes a point where you have to stop practicing and start producing. While I still feel I have a ways to go to get my "style" developed, I feel it necessary to begin producing some completed illustrations so that I can get a feel for how I need to work, and how a completed illustration from me would look (i.e worthy of submission to an AD or agent). Below is the beginnings of what is to be my first portfolio piece. Whether I deem it worthy at them end remains to be seen, but I feel I have to have the goal in mind to keep me in the mindset of producing the best work I can at this moment. Check back to see how it turns out.

Little girl

Here is an attempt to get consistency in a character. I think I did pretty good. Still need to work on hands, hair, and feet, though.

I wonder, too, if I get too caught up in proper anatomy. I see these same characteristics in others illustrations (no neck, "rubber" arms, and odd joints in the legs/hips), but am I doing them in a way that still looks OK. Or am I being too critical/picky?

Sketches, PiBoIdMo final

Well, it is official. I made it thru PiBoIdMo with 30 ideas! It was a lot of fun and it kept me focused not only on written ideas, but gave me another reason to stick with practicing my illustration skills. If you are an illustrator, I encourage you to participate next year, even if you never intend to write. Many of the posts offer insight that could easily apply to illustration.

Below are some of my recent sketches. I think I mentioned this before, but I have found that the less I focus on getting things perfect, the better my drawings turn out. I also found a really good video tutorial on drawing children at this link. Was a big help! You can see how I used some of his methods in the sketches in the first image.