Category Archives: works in progress
Painting Piglets…
It’s Monday morning here, and I don’t have time today to add a commentary, but I thought it’d be nice to show the progress shots of this illustration, of course, if anyone has any questions they’d like me to address, please feel free to ask…
Lucy and Tumnus…
I’m currently working on a Narnia painting of Lucy and Mr. Tumnus. I’ve met a few challenges along t way with this one and thought I’d post it as it’s not always plain sailing and sometimes it’s necessary to change track…
One of many rough thumbnails I made to sort out the scene I wanted to go with.
I popped the thumbnail into photoshop and layed a quick colour layer over it to give me some idea as to where I was going colour-wise. This part of the process took approx. 15 mins.
Just refining the drawing a little here. As you can see, little changes here and there creep in as I have more ideas along the way…
Along the way, I showed my wife, who (in no uncertain terms (as is her style)) suggested I should make the scene more intimate. I must have been thinking as a cinematographer with that early version… I set about redrawing the scene with a closer view. (much better) Next, I traced the drawing then laid it onto the watercolour paper (Arches hot Press 300gsm)…
The next step was to strengthen the lines. I used sepia gouache with a small-ish brush to acieve this (probably a 0 or 5/0). When the line work was complete, I added some tonal washes to show areas of light and shade. Taking care not to go too strong with the colour as the whole scene will be painted with predominantly cool hues.
So, this is where it stands at the moment. I’ve laid in some washes with both cerulean and pthalo blue. The highlights were made with white gouache. Not being too fussy at this point, keeping it loose, but controlled. I’ll work on the figures next and have a look at how it all sits together before I proceed. I’ll post the completed art as soon as it’s ready.
A Mothers Love….
This recent colour study is for my beautiful wife Katrina, who’s unswerving devotion to her family fills me with love and hope.
One, Two, Three…
Recent art. I don’t hide the fact that I like drawing trees. Here’s the sketch, the line art and the finished painting…
Painting A Dragon In Photoshop Part two….
Painting A Dragon In Photoshop Part one…
New youtube demo painting the recent sketch (see older post below)…
NEW WEBSITE AT LAST!!!
So, at last I have a new website. I’ve spent the last few days on this and not much else, I’ve been wanting something a little more managable for quite a while and took time out of what I was doing to (finally) make sure I represented myself and my art properly. Here’s the link:
Feel free to let me know what you think….
A Little Progress…
It’s late and I’m about to go to bed, very tired (yawn)… I’ve been tinkering away at this to wind down after a very long day, it’s still very much a work-in-progress, anyway, here it is as it stands….
Recent illustrations…
Dusting of a couple of Pirate illustrations that haven’t seen the light of day for one reason or another, I thought it’d be nice to give them an airing….
Perched.
Today’s warmup drawing, I added the inks as an afterthought as I liked the sketch so much….
Here’s the original quick pencil sketch…
Stepping Out….
I’ve been feeling the urge to get out the watercolours for the past few weeks, unfortunatley, due to the commisions I have on the go, this hasn’t been possible. As it was Sunday yesterday, I thought I’d do a little something for myself…. Here’s the finished image…
… And here’s the line art before I added the paint…
Violin…
I’ve been a reading a lot of Charles De Lint’s books lately, guess it’s coming out in my doodles…
model, the wonderful:
A dab here and a dab there….
I’ve been working on this one on and off for two years or more… here’s how it looks right now. I originally started it in oils but (due to time constraints) have been working on it digitally- I hope to finish it before the world ends….
model- the wonderful:
elandria.deviantart.com
Swan Rider Painting…Update.
I started this one a month or so ago, and due to the illustration work I’m currently involved with, I haven’t completed it, but I did do a session earlier this week, here’s how the painting’s looking so far… (See earlier posts for the previous version.)
figure model, the beautiful:
sitara-leotastock.deviantart.com
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….
Old Dwarf Portrait…
Regular Rembrandt aren’t I (laughs)… I wanted to have a bit of a play with lighting on this one. I’ve been looking over my work and although (maybe) some of it has a certain amount of mood and atmosphere, I’ve come to the realisation that much of it is lacking in different lighting effects… I’ll be rectifying that in future works.
Long Dress…
Recent watercolour painting. I haven’t finished this as I’ve reached a bit of a ‘stand-off’ with it. I’ve been playing a little in photoshop to see if I can rectify some of the lighting issues etc… This is what I have so far….
model:
Meet and Greet….
I did a demo, meet and greet at the local bookshop yesterday. It was wonderful to see people who had an interest in my art. Signing prints and greetings cards and copies of my art book is a cool part part of doing what I do.
This is what I managed to produce in that time, I’ll finish this off when I’m less busy and will post it when it’s done… (medium- acrylic)
model:
http://sitara-leotastock.deviantart.com
Here’s the cover to the book I was promoting, available from Amazon.com:
link to model on front cover:
Red…In Sepia.
I’ve decided to give sepia watercolour a try instead of using indian ink. I’ve been feeling for some time that my inked lines are a bit static and I feel this is largely due to the fact that I use drawing pens. I love using a brush and the variety of line and control it gives me made me think ‘Why not use it instead of inking the way you have Aaron?” obvious right?…nope. Took me ages to get to this point. I’m a wee bit on the slow side, the penny drops in slow-mo for my Taurean brain (insert laughs). Anyway… here’s my first attempt. I sat down in front of the TV til’ the early AM playing and I rather like the results so I’ll take this further, maybe attempt to create more elaborate, more intricate lines.
Protector…sketch
…Been playing with this sketch for a night or two. With my colour work, I’ve been almost exclusively digital for a few years now but it’s my intention to get my traditional media chops up and move as much back into using ‘real’ paint for projects as I can, I enjoy using watercolours immensely but don’t have the necessary skills to knock the digital colouring on the head so I’ll be doing more and more of these doodles and we’ll see how I go….
the model is the lovely:
Mermaid WIP
Currently on the easel (acrylic). See earlier posts here for youtube progress videos.
Naiad
A little illustration I currently have on the go, Up to the inking stage so far, I’ll be splashing watercolours over it very soon…..
Latest Demo….
Part FIVE of my latest painting demo:
my newest youtube demo video…..
part FOUR of my latest youtube demo, ‘painting a mermaid in acrylic on canvas’:
new youtube videos…
I’ve just started working on a canvas here… We had a storm overhead for a while and I needed to do something that didn’t involve working on the computer so I painted this and recorded it as I went, I’ll add more as I go…
here’s part one:
And part two:
last Night’s Telly Doodlings….
More scribblings from in front of the TV last night… needed something to take my mind away from all the carnage raging through Queensland. Thankfully, we’re having a day of sun here in brisbane so hopefully the rivers and water systems’ll settle down and give people a much-needed break. I’m sending out as much love and best wishes as I can to all those victims and rescue workers trying to make sense of this craziness.
On the go…
I started this one a while ago, I do a little to it every now and again, here’s where it stands right now, still a fair bit to do……
Cauldren… coloured sketch
I posted the line art for this before Christmas (see below somewhere…). a few days later I got out the watercolours and splashed some pigments around:
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….
Leaves In Watercolour…. (still at it)….
I’ve been working on this watercolour for maybe 7-8 months on and off, a little here and a little there around commissioned work, The hard work is starting to pay off and I can (at last) see results, only another 6 months or so to go (hehe).
Scribbling Til’ Something Appears….
Funny little sketch this one… I’d liked the background for a little while. I painted it in watercolour but it didn’t really have a purpose, it was one of those ‘just because’ sketches….. I threw it into my scanner, worked on it a little in photoshop and decided it still didn’t have a purpose and the it hit me, it needed a figure. I pilfered an elf from another pointless image and threw him over the top, worked on the image a little more and now have a pointless image with a figure in it (hehe).
leaves and polar bears…
I’ve been working on this painting on and off for a fair while now (see earlier posts), I can only sit and look at it in short busts, progress IS being made, albeit very slow progress…
below is a quick watercolour sketch I did for a book proposal, this one was rejected, but I still rather like it…
Painting Unicorns in watercolour video (part three)
Here’s part three of the Painting Unicorns video:
Painting a Unicorn in Watercolour Videos up on Youtube…..
My first ACEO….
I’ve seen these things everywhere and thought I’d have a little go. I think I’ll do more, very enjoyable to get the watercolours out and have a play. The finished size for an ACEO card is 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″. A little smaller than I’m used to but at least I had a good light to work with.
Also, here’s a painting I finished recently (medium- watercolour). The WIP was recorded in stages and uploaded to youtube, here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/thatspaceinbetween
The videos can also be seen here a few posts ago….
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*
Waterfall sketch…
I can’t post what I’m working on right now so I thought I’d post a recent sketch. Part of an old drawing I cropped and coloured in photoshop…
Of Dragons….
I’m working on a little thingy right now… sketched up some conceptual stuff for the dragon in the story last night….
Here’s how it sat within the drawing once I’d made my mind up…. (I’ll post the finished art once I’ve drawn/painted it up properly)
Painting Koalas in watercolour part three
Koalas in watercolour video part two
new video…. Koalas in watercolour (part one)
Watercolour Demo- Elf and Mushrooms
Watercolours….
I adore watercolour, but for the past 4 years or so, I’ve been so busy working on my illustrations digitally that I haven’t really had much to do with them. Not a day went by when I didn’t see them sitting on my shelf, staring down at me. I’ve been having a play with them for the past week and have come to realise that I simply have to do more, maybe even get into them full-time? who knows….. here’s a little painting I did for the sake of it last night, I’ll shortly be painting up ten or more new illustration samples for my portfolio, I will of course, post them here.
Here’s the line art before painting:
Step-by-step ‘Wizard’.
I’m enjoying documenting my working process lately, it somehow helps me to cement the way I work and makes the creation of each image easier and easier. This one was a quickie I worked on over the weekend, I’ve been wanting to get back into using traditional media as much as possible so I took out the watercolours and painted away…..
Materials used: Arches 300gsm hot press watercolour paper, art spectrum, Daler Rowney, Winsor & Newton and Schminke artists quality watercolours, Art Spectrum white gouache for highlights and my wife’s hairdryer to dry between coats (speeds up the whole process)
Here’s my studio space setup for this painting:
step one
this is the sketch I’ve decided upon. it’s not drawn too tightly but there’s enough info to carry an ink line over the top, (I like to draw with the ink pens a little for a slightly ‘looser’, more spontaneous look.
step two
inking over the lines with generic drawing pens (using a .1 and a .3mm tip) paying particular attention to the main elements of the drawing, remembering at all times we’re painting over the top, so not becoming too bogged down with unnecessary cross-hatching etc. this is a very important step in the process.
step three
Using artists quality watercolours (I’ve chosen tubes rather than pans for this) we begin to lay down flat colours and a little texture for the cave wall. (the texture effect is achieved by dropping clean water into the wet paint, the water causes the paint to disperse).
step four
Moving throughout the whole image, never settling on any one particular area, we’re playing with the ‘form’ of each element within the image. We also lay in some colour inside the cave to give the illustration of depth.
step five
Still working on strengthening form, laying in colour washes and generally keeping a balance of warm and cool colours for harmony.
step six
Here we get down to makindarkening and strengthening the illustration. this is achieved by building up wash after wash of colour washes, all the while building them up and paying particular attention to tonal balance. We’d like our figure to stand out but not dominate the illustration.
step seven
This is my favourite part- getting into the details. More work is done tonally to achieve the look of the cracks and craters in the cave wall, a wash is laid over the entire wall to bring everything into balance, this in turn enables the eye to settle upon the main element of the painting- our wizard. For the details, I’ve mixed a little local colour with white gouache to add touches to the rocks and ground floor and pure white gouache was used on areas such as the hair on the wizard’s face and the trim of his cloak.
Sketching a dragon- youtube demo….
Demo….
here’s a video I’ve just put up on youtube, this is a first for me, but expect a few more……
here’s the finished art based on the drawing:
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
My Art Book Now Available…
I’m very pleased to announce that my book ‘That Space In Between’ (A collection of my personal drawings and sketches) is now available to purchase from Amazon.com. Her’s the link:
(Cover art below)
Works On The Go….
As usual, plenty of things on the drawing board (and scattered around the studio), here’re a couple of things I’m currently working on, the top one’s an acrylic/oil version of an earlier digital painting and teh bottom one’s an image for a 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.
Peekaboo…..
This image had been hauting me all day yesterday, I waas up all night…I had to draw it… I’ll colour this with watercolour at some point….(maybe).
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.
Thorns….
No wonder the little feller’s looking grumpy. That doesn’t look like a particularly comfortable place to park yer bum does it….?
Contemplation….
Yesterday’s telly sketching. Just can’t stop scribbling away at old trees and roots and things at the moment….
Wren and Friend…
Last night’s telly sketching. I seem to enjoy these sketches much more than my commissioned stuff at the moment. Maybe it’s because there’s no pressure or rules attached….
Roots
I spent yesterday afternoon in the rainforest with my son and came back with all kinds of inspiration. I love old roots curling and twirling around rocks and into the ground… just had to draw some as i was winding down after finishing my quota of work today….
Swan Rider Sketch….
Last night’s sketching in front of the telly….
Finn- watercolour WIP….
I’m currently painting a watercolour of my son (at my wife’s constant request)…I’m rather pleased with how it’s going so far and enjoying it immensely- there’s something VERY satisfying about painting in watercolours.
Tonight’s scribbling…
I’m currently working on a YA cover. I took a break to have dinner and came back with little enthusiasm. I usually draw my way out of these slumps. This is what I drew tonight…
WIP…….
something I’m tinkering with in quiet moments….
Telly Sketching
My wife was watching her crime shows on TV last night so I thought I’d get the drawing pad and pens out and do a little drawing:
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….
Cover WIP…
Here’s a WIP for a cover I’m currently working on…..
