Category Archives: drawing tablet
Painting A Dragon In Photoshop Part one…
New youtube demo painting the recent sketch (see older post below)…
Fantasy Art Vol.2
Imagine Publishing have just released their second volume of digital art, what a brilliant magazine. I have a tutorial in amongst some other incredible art… well worth a look, on the magazine stands now!
Mischief…
Today’s doodle. Have so much work on the go, I’m afraid I’ll probably only be sketching these quickies for a spell….
in the meantime though… here’s a work-in-progress I’ve had on the go for a while, I’d like to get back onto this at some point….
Horned Horsey On A Hilltop…
Just found this on one of my hard drives, I’ve a feeling I posted the line art for this a year or two ago, but I haven’t posted this version, it’s been coloured in photoshop, an early effort to make my digital art look more traditional, I’m not a huge fan of that overly ‘digital’ look…
Freefall….
I started this one as sky-sketching practise, my skies are sorely lacking in my work and I feel I need to get doodling regularly to improve them, I added the figure as an afterthought….
Mermaid…
Haven’t had much time for sketching around all the commissions I have on the go at the moment, but I did manage to find the time to sketch this up for an old school pal….
Speedy Sketchings….
My art, due to the high level of detail I’m having to put into current projects, is beginning to stiffen up… So in order to get over this, I’m going to sketch myself senseless every morning before I begin my commissioned work. Here’re a couple of colour doodles I painted today (photoshop)….
Colouring Witches in Photoshop…
I thought I’d splash some colour over the old witch (see last post). here’s the youtube video:
Another interior illustration….
This is one of the interior illustrations for a little book I’ve written and have on the go in between other jobs. Merging both watercolour and digital mediums here, see earlier posts for more art from this story….
Dragon- pencils to colour….
Still not much else I can post up at the moment and I’m not the type to blog all about the ins and outs of my life, soooo, here’s a recent illustration outlining how I get from pencils to coloured illustration. I must admit however, in this particular instance I’m rather more fond of the inked piece than I am of the finished article…..
*click for a larger view*
Inks to colour….
This is a recent illustration briefly showing a before-and-after of a piece of line art. care must be taken to not over-detail the drawing to allow space for the colour without cluttering the image up. I enjoy working in this style immensely.
Inking On The PC…
I just found this in my files, thought I’d post it here, hope it’s helpful. I don’t ink on the PC often, but this is how I went about producing this illustration (originally published in The Official Corel Painter Magazine)….
I inked the image over the top of the sketch in a seperate layer using Corel Painter, then deleted the sketch layer when I was happy the illustration was finished. I haven’t gone too in detail with the technical aspects here but I’m very happy to answer any questions anyone may have.
*click on image for a larger view*
Website’s Shop now up and running…..
I’ve been working hard on the website lately, giving it a general tidy and I’ve now added a shop section to it where prints of my art, and originals can now be purchased. Here’s the link:
Owl….
I LOVE painting birds, and I think the owl is just about my favourite of them all. Here’s one I sketched up last night in watercolour, finished off digitally…..
Step by Step….
I’m often asked how I produce my images and whether or not I follow a set of procedures. I guess the answer is yes, I do work similarly every time I create an image, although each image has it’s own set of problems and triumphs….here’re a few I managed to capture as I moved through the image. All were painted digitally and follow along the same lines as far as ‘rules’ are concerned.
1) thumbnail sketch 2) finished drawing 3)laying down local colours 4)working through the details…
for those interested….Videos of me working can be found on my youtube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/thatspaceinbetween?feature=mhum#p/u
Treant
New art for my personal project….
Peeping… coloured…
I’ve got so much on the go at the moment, I don’t know which way is up. I started this illustration the other night and fully intended to paint it with watercolour (which I still will…eventually) but I needed something to wind down with last night so I coloured this digitally instead.
The Queen…
I found a half hour gap in my busy work schedule today… Thought I’d just scratch some tonal stuff into last week’s sketch.
Elf- Coloured…
Just laid some colour down over this drawing from the other night….
and here’s some cover art I painted for a Young Adult book recently entitled ‘Ele mental’ written by Steven O’Connor, for Murdoch Books first YA title.
and here’s an older watercolour sketch…..
The Old Ones…..
I played around with the oil painting I posted yesterday digitally, someone mentioned they saw faces in the rocks, I picked up on this and ran with it….
I’ve also been tinkering away with this:
and here’s a new one I finished a few days ago….
New stuff….
I’m absolutely totally and utterly busy right now…. (enough of an excuse to do some sketching for myself-(laughs)). here’s a little warmup drawing from this morning and an update of the image I’ve had on the go for the past few days…..
and here’s an old sketch from a few years ago….
Tender moments….
A quick sketch I drew up after finishing the cover this afternoon….
Here’s the drawing before I added the colour. I rather like this image, I may just tinker with it some more when I get a spare minute….
Finished Cover Art….
This was a great job to work on after such a long break away from the drawing board… It’s a cover for a book the wonderfully talented Sally Odgers is putting together, such an honour to be asked to paint this…..As you may have noticed from the WIP posted yesterday, I reversed the image as I went and settled on the lassie facing inwards, far more intimate IMO….
Cover WIP…
Here’s a WIP for a cover I’m currently working on…..
Loosening Up….
I’ve got so much work to do, but I’ve just gotten back from holidaying in New Zealand and I’m not in ‘work’ mode yet. I need to loosen up and myself in gently. Here’s the first sketchy thingy I’ve done to aid me in my plight…
Dryad WIP…
I’ve tinkered around a little more with this painting. I may even get to finish this one at some point. I’m loving painting these beautiful tree ladies. (trees….pretty women…my favourite subjects).
Last night’s sketching before bedtime…
I’ve been wanting to splash some colour over this sketch for a little while. It’s not exactly what i had in mind and I’ll probably do this properly one day, but here’s what I came up with…
Owl Mistress WIP….
Another one of the many images I currently have on the go….
The model is the beautiful:
http://elandria.deviantart.com
Gnomes…
I haven’t done any drawing or painting for days and days. I needed a fair bit of warming up time today, here’re the little sketches I managed to get in before starting work.
Leafy Lady update…
Spent a little more time scratching away at this one in my warmup time before work today…
Latest Painting-’Waterfall’
I’ve been scratching away at this one for a little while and I’m happy to leave it for a bit as it is…..
new sample art….
I had to produce a sample piece of work for a potential project over the last day or so, this is what I came up with. I’d love to have had a little more time to spend on it but I’m glad I got it to this level in such a short space of time.
Peekaboo…. Coloured
I had a few hours spare and wanted to colour the line art from the other day- here’s the result. funfunfun.
Dinosaurs…
Yesterday’s drawing with colour added via photoshop….
Cinderella…
from last year. Not sure if I’ve posted this yet. Apologies to anyone who’s already seen it….”you will go to the ball…”
Huddled…
Last night’s sketch. This little fellow came through to say (a shy) hello.
Up And Away-colour
Here’s the drawing from earlier with a hasty splash of pixel colour.
Out on a limb….
Another recent drawing quickly coloured. I finished working on the book for the day and wanted to wind down.
Sleeping fairy….
I’ve been rifling through my files and came across this illustration. It’s a couple of years old (I think). Anyway, here it is, in keeping with the other image I posted tonight. My blog doesn’t really stay on one theme for long does it?…. (Digital drawing- photoshop CS3)
Healing Room sketch….
The third sketch of the night…. Now I’m beat and want some sleep. I’m off to bed.
Portal
I didn’t really have a plan with this sketch, it just came through and I went with it. It may (or may not) be based on dreams I’ve had for a few years.
Coastline sketch….
I just finished work for the day and wanted to do something to loosen me up after drawing and painting in a rather controlled style. This is what I came up with:
Finished Cover Art…
After being up very late last night and an early start this morning, the cover for the book’s now finished. just going to go through the interior illustrations and tidy up any loose areas.
Colouring The Cover…WIP
I’ve been scribbling away at coloring the line art for the cover of the Children’s picture book I’m currently working on. I’m enjoying it immensely. After a rather time-consuming false start, this one actually seems to be flowing rather well.
Wardrobe…
This image is an old one. I’ve spent a little while tidying it up this morning as I’ve always rather liked it, not quite sure if it’s finished yet, but here it is as it stands…
Illustration #16 finished….
I’ve coloured this illustration for the picture book I’m working on this morning. It veritably flew out of me…ON A MONDAY! Onto the next one after I’ve had some well-earned lunch.
Crescent Moon-coloured
I’m just about to start work on the last couple of images for the picture book I’m working on. It’s Monday and I needed a warmup so I coloured last night’s ‘Broomstick Babe’. 45 mins photoshop. (Have I ever mentioned how much I love this program!?)
Digital preliminary-The Clearing…
I’ve enjoyed the holiday season, but I’m absolutely nowhere near ready to get down to doing any of my illustrative work. I’ve been using the narrow time slots to instead, work on this unfinished painting that I’ve been looking at every day for months. I’ve decided to have a play with it in Photoshop and iron out any kinks and play around with colour/values etc. I rather like how it’s turned out, but there’ll be a lot more work on the oil version yet.
Oil/digital.
The model is the lovely:
[link]
newest picture book illo…..
I didn’t manage to get a whole lot of art done over the yooltide break, but I did manage to finish this illustration off for the book. Just two more and the cover to go before I get onto my next project (which is vastly different in tone to this one).
Little Red Riding Hood…
I’ve been interested in illustrating this story for a very long time. Every now and again, in my quiet moments, I like to have a bit of a play with scenes from the story. here’s tonight’s effort. For those interested, I’ve added steps I took to produce the image. Sorry I don’t have time to go into too much detail, however, should anyone have any questions I’d be happy to answer them. (Medium-digital).
TitlePage Illustration….
I’ve been wanting to get that ‘traditional’ look with my illustrations on the PC for quite some time. I’ve been playing with different brushes and textures in phoshop for a little while and am slowly getting the work to look as I picture it in my head. I’m fairly pleased with the way this little drawing looks when it’s coloured. this’ll be cropped and used for the title page of the book I’m currently working on.
Hope everybody had a lovely Christmas!
Cuddles….
I’m getting close to finishing the book I’m working on. I’m having a greattime with this book, it’s a little on the ‘cute’ side, but that’s allright. Nothing wrong with ‘cute’. Here’s the latest image. I’ve enclosed the preliminary line art also:
Aaron goes abstract…
We had an incredibly powerful storm here today. Heres’a little scribble in honour of said storm. It’s a wee bit on the abstract side for me eh?
The Gypsy….
A new drawing for a book I’ll be spending more time on next year. I’m working in silhouettes for the book, which pleases me no end, it’s always a challenge to convey emotion in an image without the usual amount of detail.
Broomstick Beauty….
Here’s yesterday’s drawing with some coloured splashed over it…funfunfun.
Latest Picture Book Illustration….
Here’s the 8th illustration for the picture book I’m working on…..
more puppy pics….
Here’s my most recent illustration for the puppy picture book I’m working on…. Rather an interesting format to work with, the pages being landscape rather than portrait. I’ve done one other book in this manner and in all honesty, I’m still getting to grips with it.
(line art coloured in photoshop).
TV SKETCHING….
Here’s today’s sketch. Drawn in front of the telly. he’s the character from my last picture book. His name’s Ponkidoodle and he’s a whole heap of fun to draw. Below is one of the interior illustrations from the book….
yesterday’s drawing coloured….
Here’s the finished art for a drawing for a children’s picture book I’m working on that I posted yesterday. (coloured in photoshop).
Puppies…..
Here’s the latest page for the picture book I’m working on. these are the painted versions of the puppies I drew yesterday. (see yesterday’s post…) (line art coloured in photoshop)
New Picture Book Illustration…
After a false start, I’ve repainted this image and am far happier with it. I’d recently completed two books that required approximately 140 illustrations. It was hard work and left me a tad ‘burnt out’. Getting started straight away on a new image in a totally different type of book was kind of what the doctor ordered, but in reality, I should have taken a bit of a break. No matter, the other served as a rough for this one:
A Sleeping Beauty (updated)…
here’s an older digital (photoshop/painter) image that I’ve recently added to, I may get to finish this one day…… the model is the very lovely:
sitara-leotastock.deviantart.com
This Year’s Christmas Card….
Here’s this year’s Christmas card. I finally managed to get one done in between all the work I’ve had to do lately. the wife’s been on at me for ages to do it, so I did. I must admit, I’m fairly happy with the way it turned out…. Considering I only spent 3 or so hours on it. (touch-up work in photoshop and painter).
more elves…
I had a commission from the Official Corel Painter magazine a few months ago. It was a tutorial on how to produce an image in the style of the great Arthur Rackhma-digitally. I sketched the image on a piece of paper then scanned it in and inked it digitally (results here) then coloured it digitally also. I’m not sure if the finished ’dinks’ (digital inks?) look entirely natural, but it was a real challenge to try and get that look using my wacom tablet instead of my trusty inking pens. It was a great gig though, , I’d love more of this kind of work.
