I was on an unplanned week hiatus, and only recently came up with my 30th day drawing challenge (theme: anything steampunk). I was doing some research on steampunk objects and art and initially decided to do something like an interior vignette--(Note 1: I am a lot more comfortable with doing interiors being an ID graduate and licensee) (Note 2: an interior vignette complete with steampunk-style furniture and whatnot) but decided on a totally different track. I wanted to do a steampunk airship. For some reason, I was immediately attracted to the idea because I have a little obsession with balloons and balloon art. It's my first time doing a blimp / airship concept though, so I searched immediately for references. Some references led me searching for anatomies of a ship. Since I wanted to understand the forms and shapes better, I looked through the Google Sketchup 3D Warehouse for pirate ship models. Eventually ended up downloading models based on Pirates of the Carribean ships (Dutchman, etc). As for the blimp/airship concept, the references were a whole lot. It's a popular subject in steampunk digital paintings. Plus it's pretty close to what you'd see on Final Fantasy game art (though FF art is not necessarily steampunk). I also Google-searched industrial blimps (as Steampunk is essentially inspired by 19th century technology) to simulate the design. The following sketches are what I initially came up with as studies prior to the digital painting process: It took me a few days to finally get an idea down using Photoshop. I wanted to emulate the concept I developed from the initial sketches. I wanted a good background, so I started out with sky and clouds in a stormy/rainy setting, experimenting with different brushes such as the Soft Round and Watercolor tips. During this process, I was watching tutorial videos by Matt Kohr and Cubebrush's Marc Brunet as well. It's fun to learn as you paint so that you can definitely apply the concepts they teach as well as pick up some techniques from their process. The second image is the work in progress. I spent a lot of time getting the blimp right with all the shades and textures. It was my first time creating a custom brush from a rust-like photo-realistic texture. I followed some of Marc Brunet's tips for creating brushes from textures and used them on the blimp's hulking metal form. The rusted metal effect was so cool. It's a very subtle effect but the texture does wonders for the painting. I used it with a mix of colors like rust-red and shades of brown. It was a fun process painting the details on the ship as well. The gold metallic-looking texture was initially a challenge, albeit a fun one. I had the most fun detailing the frontmost part of the blimp with an ornamental finial using reference photos. The initial plan was to paint in the mass of the ship underneath, but here I was getting carried away with the fun of detailing. It's not yet my strong suit, but... I'm pretty stoked about it. I think I'm slowly getting the hang of switching between the hard round and soft round brushes, in tandem with the eraser tool (Neat tip from Matt Kohr's video). The final image has a bit of a dramatic flair. There were several changes I made during the process workflow after observing the artwork with "fresher eyes". For one thing, I figured that the blimp looked too flat and untrue to its shape. Since the form is a bit cylindrical, I adjusted the shadows following what I learned recently from Matt Kohr's videos on light and shadow. He explains that the first step in determining your shadow is to imagine a "terminator line" from where the light is hitting an object. I love how he teaches in a really scientific way (but I digress). Used a lot of dodge-and-burn tools as well to increase the overall contrast.
The ship was a lot easier to deal with, having sketched a few studies for familiarization. It was a matter of painting the basic shapes and tone values before anything else. It's a lot less detailed than the ship models I used for studies, but I'm happy with it all the same. The wood texture was simulated by custom brush (I had a lot of fun with this) and the finial/ornamentation for the gold trims were inspired by the finial I used for the blimp. In a nutshell, it took quite a few days to do this but I'm really happy that I trusted the process. The result is far better than I could ever imagine, and the final piece is pretty close to what I had in mind. Thus concludes my 30-day drawing challenge! Looking forward to more paintings and sketches in the near future!
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It's the first time in a long time that I tried rendering an interior space again. This is an old Arch10 plate with instructions to design a personal workspace. I was in first year when we first did this plate, and the requirements were as follows: 1. Submission / Presentation : Box Sketch Model, Concept Sheet, Schematic and Final Drawings 2. Parameters: You will be designing your own personal workspace. The space allocated to you is a 2.0m wide x 3.0m deep x 4.0m high space (clear dimensions). You can assume that each of these spaces is a uniform space allocated to individual students in a hypothetical structure built to house student workspaces. You are allowed to design the interior of the space allocated to you. It is to be used primarily for your individual work/study as an architecture/interior design student. It is not to be used for entertaining guests, holding parties or other forms of recreational activities. Since you are surrounded on both sides and on floors above and below with other workspaces, noise should be kept to a minimum. Cooking will not be allowed other than utilizing a microwave oven. There are bathrooms provided on every floor, so individual bathrooms in the workspaces are not allowed. I wrote a concept paper shortly after re-reading these instructions, and I quickly made the decision to adjust the workspace according to my needs as an interior design graduate / freelancer. There are some guide questions that came along with the parameters, such as the following: 1. What motivates you? My motivations usually arise from constant inspiration and most importantly, a passion for what I do. Passion, or doing what you love, is a value that is found innately within oneself rather than taught at school. Passion pushes one towards a willingness and drive to create and to express, creativity being one of the prime principles in this line of work. For me, getting into interior design was a fresh experience—my only background having been my previous experience of knowing how to draw. Little did I know that going into interior design would not only be about recognizing the language of line, form and function but formulating a deeper understanding of people’s lifestyles and personality, and the impact that interiors create on people’s consciousness and recollection. Having had experience in the field for four years running, passion is still the prime motivation for my work. I find inspiration in books, magazines, websites and basically just about anything with a strong visualization. 2. What are your likes and dislikes? My likes in terms of a suitable and conducive workspace include the following:
Dislikes:
3. What does introspection mean and how do you think it relates to your work? Examination and observation of one’s mental and emotional processes. In relation to my work, introspection grounds me and provides me with clarity—clarity being a clear and precise direction to work. Sometimes the results of your work can become different due to a change in approach. Introspection helps one reflect on the results that arise from the belief system and attitudes employed while accomplishing work. It is always important to reflect every once in a while and contemplate how excellent results can amount from a systematic and problem-solving approach. Above picture shows my visualization of the space. As the space is really small but with a high ceiling, it was practical to add a mezzanine area so as to maximize the total floorspace. Here I designated the ground floor as the main work area while the mezzanine floor houses the sleeping area.
For the ground floor, the first consideration in the space given is height. I established the minimum ceiling height allowable. To make the space seem airy, the presence of large windows was another main architectural consideration. The daybed space by the window is a temporary break area for reading, (like a small reading nook) and additional storage space for items. The work area features a built-in cantilevered table top with drawers and shelving. The mini-library resource adjacent to the workspace is a special haven for books and magazines to consult and read during free time or when boredom strikes. As much as I would have liked to extend the bookcase all the way to the mezzanine, it would not have been practical for height and reachability constraints. A metal finished ladder leads to the mezzanine, featuring a single bed with a wingback headboard, and a dresser which doubles as a night stand for clothes storage and such. As for architectural features, I wanted to place an architectural window extending its structural members partially adjacent to the drop ceiling. Wouldn't it be fun to have a view of the night sky studded with pinpricks of starlight as you are lying in bed? I imagine that would be an amazing experience. A glass railing acts as an added security measure, and is a good view of the focal inspiration artwork above the bookcase. The artwork unites the color scheme throughout the whole space (and purple is my favorite color no doubt about it). Both floors are finished in interlocking vinyl planks (joined by tongue-and-groove). The walls are finished in brick-simulated wallpaper / sticker for easy installation and maintenance. Anyways, that's about it, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out and most importantly, I had a lot of fun re-doing an old plate. (Trust me, the one I did in first year was horrible. No kidding. Passed with a 2.0 grade haha). I'd live in a small studio pseudo-workplace like this any day! This marks another milestone!Yes, it does! Because it's the first human figure drawing and painting I've done and colored digitally. Talk about awesome! I was so psyched about this one as it was a new experience not painting in black and white or gradients of grey. So as usual, I started out with the basic lines and overall composition. I used a dark background since I thought Harley's silhouette would stand out best given the offset. This drawing was pretty sketchy and meant for the basic blocking. Once I had the lines sketched out, I got into the immediate focal point of the painting, being Harley's face. The main challenge was getting the facial features in a similar fashion to Margot Robbie, as Margot is stunningly pretty. I did the eyes and eyebrows first as they stood out to me the most, followed by the skin tone shading (I was so excited about this because it's my first time using colored tints and shades to mark the features and contours of the face). It wasn't as tough as I initially thought to blend the skin and tonal values of Harley's face. I just had to make sure that (1) I was using a Soft Round brush and (2) the tonal values of the areas nearest to where I was painting had to create a soft blend. I used the same technique when it came to fleshing out the details of the face, simulating Margot's smile lines and the natural glow. Forming the lips was quite a challenge, I couldn't get the right shade of red initially. And Harley's red lips, well, they stand out. The exact shade stands somewhere in between bright red, deep red orange and crimson. It was fun to render Harley's hair. Granted, there weren't just two shades of blue and red/pink. There were parts of her hair that looked like pink and blue cotton candy. And the platinum blond tint of her hair was so much fun. While shading and rendering this, a great tip I learned was subtle blending. Sometimes, to get a shade/shadow for instance, we tend to mix black or dark brown to the existing color palette. However, I realized that it is much more realistic to get the color a few steps above or below the original pigment to create a more subtle transition as well as to emphasize either highlight or shadow. Turns out drawing/painting Harley proved to be great practice for this new learning. As per usual, my biggest challenge has always been the finer details and accessories. Rendering the ring and her golden neck collar were the hardest parts of the painting. I couldn't really get the word "Puddin" to look natural, so I did the best I could. It's probably the weak link in the painting. After painting in the rest of the details, I merged all of the layers and did an overall lighting levels and curves adjustment to get the best contrast and lighting.
Shifting from grays to color was a pretty big transition for me. For one thing, I wasn't used to handling a variety of colors all at the same time. I was constantly worried that the shadows and highlights would look too harsh or too dark against the main colors. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised at the result of this particular painting because making the transition from greyscale to colored took some guts and trust. Trust in myself, for the most part. On any other day I might have chickened out of doing it, but now that I'm getting to where I want to be creatively, the great thing is that I'm building more trust and confidence in myself. And that's what this painting reminds me of--the fact that I chose courage and trust in pursuing my passion rather than to submit to the fear of failure. And if anything, the values I'm applying to drawing and digital painting are definitely worth it. |
Nonsensical whimHi, I'm Ashley. This is my blog on journey towards discovering art and documenting my learning experiences. (Particularly Photoshop, Digital Painting, Sketchup/V-ray, Interior Design, fun tutorials I've discovered and the like). wordpress:TUMBLR:Archives
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