This afternoon I masked out the image and airbrushed the background. I started with a mix of gray and turquoise acrylics, covering most of the board, with emphasis on the center horizon. Next, I sprayed just gray over the center and up to the top. I followed that with blue, most heavily just above the center. Next, indigo at the top only (and the shadow toward the bottom). After that, I mixed the turquoise and gray again, this time darker, and created some angled lines to add interest and design. Finally, I airbrushed the entire board with a mix of pearl and green ‘sparkles’. Overall, the color is more mute than originally intended, but I think it’ll just make the character stand out all the better…
work progress – background airbrushed
New concept designed and ready
I once again spent the last few days going over photos, hoping to find something to entice my next painting. I had a few concepts in mind, but was having trouble finding poses that would fit properly. I kept returning to this one photo of Mackenzie, but it took a while to find what I wanted to do with it. Not having much luck designing within Photoshop, I took the photo and hand drew the pose on paper, then played with it that way. Even with a tablet and pen, I still don’t feel as natural drawing in Photoshop, so using actual paper and pencil works better. It might even tap into a different part of my mind, because it wasn’t long before this concept started forming. It’s not often I can free flow an idea without having any preconceived notion what it should be. Even with it ready now, I’m not sure what it really is (sci-fi, cyber-punk, steam-punk, video game fantasy, anime?). I like the look, and the colors will be fun, so I’m going to go forward without it being fully explained…
model – Mackenzie
