FrozenDeath

Merry Christmas everyone!

Suichi wanted ribbons. I got something started but this naked girl kept getting in the way. Anyway, here's a teaser:



Didn't make it for Xmas, but it's coming along nicely.

Errr...Ooops! Sorry man, I think I deleted it. I cleaned out some of the broadcasts that were less cohesive. That one ended up being a more freeform discussion--I didn't actually get that much work done on the piece.

One thing that is really interesting and revealing about color--take a photo of somebody and use the color picker in the graphics app you use to pull out different tones. Try to get a range of three or four different tones from the picture (highlights, midtones, etc.).

When you actually look at these colors apart from the picture, it's surprising how bold they are. I find they often don't look like anything I'd ever use to paint skin.

Thanks Eddy!

No I don't have anything saved, I just approximate what I think the appropriate base skintone will be when I'm establishing the overall color for the scene. Then if it turns out to be brightly lit, as in strong sunlight, I either brighten the overall tone through highlights or just ramp up the value of the base tone if it becomes too dark for the scene.

I do a lot of adjustment to the tones of things as I develop the picture, but I always try to have some tonal contrast between the base skin tones and the surrounding environment in order to push the character out of the background.

Here's a new drawing done for the book using Art Rage's pen tool and a little shading in Photoshop:



Gonna do some more of these for the book while experimenting with a more inked look than I usually do.

Hey guys,

I just put a little demo of the new version of ArtRage that was released:

http://www.livestream.com/bwbabble/v...c-ad401f1e030b

This program is a very cheap alternative to things like Photoshop and Painter. I upgraded based on the improvements they've made to the ink pen tool. I think it might be one of the best options right now for simulating comic book inking.

Of course, everything you'll see in the demo is out there in different programs on the market. For example, I know Illustrator has a line smoothing function. But the combination of things in this package is attractive, especially at this price point.
Check it out!

welcome back!

I think I should be able to make it.

Will be starting up in about 45 minutes.

Thanks guys!

Tonight is another Livestream, the usual time: 10:15 est
The channel is www.livestream.com/bwbabble

Going to be working on Chris' piece--refining the drawing and coloring.

Here is the larger version in my gallery.

I had a friend of mine do linework of my rad/pain corruptor Terada:


He did a great job and his prices are very good. Also, he's a traditional artist so he drew and inked it on paper, which he's mailing to me. The color is something I slapped on in Photoshop this morning. So if you're thinking about a commission, definitely check him out:

http://13th-letter.deviantart.com/journal/26655453/

Yes, I'm still planning on a landscape oriented 11" x 17" with the sketched out part in the center and two smaller panels on either side. Haven't decided the content for the side panels yet.

Gonna call this one done for now. Larger image on my deviant page.



This Thursday for the Livestream I'm going to be working on coloring a sketch for the book. I've started on Christopher Robin's. If that one is done by the time I do the livestream, I'll start on something else. If anyone has any requests which one I should do next lemme know.

Bob Marley
Buffalo Soldier

Here's mine:

I think I ****ed your girlfriend once
Once or twice...I don't remember
Then I ****ed all your friend's girlfriends
Now they hate you

Very nice!

I think I'll join this one too. Hopefully the challenges won't hinge too much on doing signature cox heroes and villains.

Reminder: Livestream tonight at 10:15 pm est.

I'm game. Battlewraith.deviantart.com

Hey guys, just a reminder that I'll be doing a livestream tomorrow night.
Also, I've started laying down some color on Foo's piece. Here's a wip:

Again, copying to learn is a mainstay of traditional art instruction. But generally, you do a replication of the existing work where you replicate it as precisely as possible in order to learn technique. At which point you designate it as a study. The main art school in Florence is filled with thesis projects where the students replicated famous sculptures.
But these studies are exact replications . The degree to which they resemble the original is the objective standard for how well the student has mastered the technique.

This isn't the same thing as a paintover, where you use some aspects of a work and change others to suit your goal.

After you check out that slideshow, read the justification written by the religious group:
http://xfamily.org/index.php/Which_C...the_Artwork%3F

Specifically the "copying art is not new" part. Notice that one of the justifications they make for the wholesale theft of other people's art is--use of reference.

Culturally speaking, copying other people wasn't an issue until the development of print and the eventual establishment of copyright law. Shakespeare lifted from tons of other people, as well as incorporating the improv of his actors. When you look at the work of an old master, you're generally looking at the work of a team--attributed to the master.

Copyright was developed so that creators could be rewarded for their efforts without the work just being stolen and copied for someone else's gain. This discussion got shifted on to whether its right or wrong to use reference, which is silly. Of course it a good thing to use reference. The issue is copying, and or stealing.

Let's say I do a still life of an apple. When I draw the apple, I represent the apple visually based on my individual undertanding and artistic ability. If someone comes along and literally copies my drawing, they aren't just copying an image of the apple. They are copying my decisions about how to voice things (what kind of lines to use, where to put them, etc.). Could somebody use my apple as reference without ripping off my image? Yeah I suppose, but why do it? Get an apple, or photo ref of an apple. Copying another artist, in the best possible light, is like having someone else predigest your food. In a harsher light, it's stealing. You're using their solutions and directly adapting them for your problems.

What about photography? Is it ok to use photo-ref from sources that weren't intended to be stock. I think yes if you are using them the way you should use ref: to understand the forms you are trying to represent. I would use photo ref to do a celebrity likeness, for instance. But to understand the person's physiology, not to copy. If I need to make a character look like someone, I'll gather a bunch of photos from different angles and use them to help me realize the image I have in my head.

Borrowed interest is a useful concept to think about in this regard. Say you find a photo that has a hot woman, in hot clothes, in a hot pose, and professionally lit and shot. So you use it as ref for a picture of your superhero. How much does it look like the original? How much of the coolness factor stems from the original? If someone can look at it and immediately reference the source image, I would consider that a failure.

There is a lot of grey area to this. Sometimes its unclear on whether something is theft or copyright infringement until it goes to court. But if artists take a hard line stance on this, they help protect themselves and other artists. Generally when people consider doing something dodgy they look around to see what others are doing. The less permissive the community is, the less likely they are to lift.