Got the pre-paint jitters...

[Franc Kaiser]

First off, I approached this project expecting to use a blade to scratch most of the fine detail in. Turns out the paper substrate I used is either too soft, or grabs the paint so well that scratching was not an option without damaging the paper. I had to use erasers to the best of my ability and forget about all of the fine detail. I know there are other ways to get there, but I went into this planning on that and decided screw it, I'll just do the best I can with what I have and hope it doesn't suck.

With that said, here we go. This is Lars.

The reference:
View attachment 63860

The map:
View attachment 63861

And finally, 3 hours worth of work so far:
View attachment 63862

Please let me know what you think.

So there you go. There's no reason to postpone it any further as it looks great already! You will hit those "screw it, I will do it my way" a few more times in the future (I experience almost in every painting I do).

 

[Franc Kaiser]

Thank you Franc, I appreciate that!

I think I just needed to say it out loud to realize that I'm procrastinating for no good reason. The end result will be whatever it is, and I will hopefully learn from it. All said and done, I hope to have something worthy of posting soon.

That's what we're all here for. We all need to voice our concerns and doubts somehow. This forum help me in so many instances and is a great catalyst for all our creative processes.

 

[Karl Becker]

Thank you for the kind words, Franc!

 

[Karl Becker]

Of course,all of the crap I ran into starting this work is just going to spawn more questions. I hope you all are good with that.

 

[JackEb]

Of course,all of the crap I ran into starting this work is just going to spawn more questions. I hope you all are good with that.

"questions questions so many questions''. A Dark Crystal (Movie) reference
seriously though, fire away with any Q's you may have.

If you are working on an absorbent paper then erasing is going to be a challenge, but not impossible.
start with the lightest shade, lots of fine little lines to imitate fur, gradually get darker when needed.

For what its worth, I always start with eyes... if the eyes aint right then the whole thing will look off.

 

[Karl Becker]

I'm not sure even the Skeksis could have helped me. The challenging part I figured out.

Thank you for the input!

 

[JackEb]

 

[AndreZA]

I hate a blank canvas. It is very intimidating for me. Unless I have to do a piece, the blank canvas can be on my desk for days before I start. And one day I'll just start and all will be forgotten.

 

[Karl Becker]

For what its worth, I always start with eyes... if the eyes aint right then the whole thing will look off.

That's kinda why I chose a reference with closed eyes. I didn't want to complicate things even more on this one. Baby steps.

 

[Karl Becker]

The encouraging thing is even though things are not working out as planned, I don't think it looks horrible. That's reason enough for me to at least finish it and move forward. Now that I'm back to work, I just need to find the time to do that.

 

[JackEb]

Even if it gets to a point where you think you’ve totally stuffed it up use it as a learning exercise, try ‘fixing’ whatever is wrong, try different techniques on different areas like trying different ways to do the fur on different areas to see what you like the look of when it’s done etc

 

[Karl Becker]

Even if it gets to a point where you think you’ve totally stuffed it up use it as a learning exercise, try ‘fixing’ whatever is wrong, try different techniques on different areas like trying different ways to do the fur on different areas to see what you like the look of when it’s done etc

Great minds...

I picked up a couple of cheap paint brushes today that I'm going to dismember to see if I can get the effect I was going for. Not sure if I want to try switching modes mid-painting, but I will try them out on another test sheet and see what happens.

 

[JackEb]

always always always have a bit of paper alongside what you are working on so you can test before attacking the main piece.
my problem is my test page looks brilliant and exactly what I want, but when I turn to my project, the pressure is on and I stuff it up

Fan shaped hairy brushes work well for fur too.

 

[Squishy]

I find a surface waiting for paint to be very intimidating. I can overthink about starting for ages before I finally get started. Lightly mapping out, or sketching in some lines with the airbrush usually is enough to stop that space being so empty and scary .

 

[Karl Becker]

I find a surface waiting for paint to be very intimidating. I can overthink about starting for ages before I finally get started. Lightly mapping out, or sketching in some lines with the airbrush usually is enough to stop that space being so empty and scary .

Wise words. Thank you.

 

[Squishy]

Wise words. Thank you.

Not only a pure little innocent flower with an unblemished soul, and generally an all round Saint, I am also basically a female Confucious. My beard game isn't quite as strong as his, but other than that, taught him everything he knew.

 

[Karl Becker]

Well, I got some more brush time in today. It's slow going, but it's progress. Just going slow and easy, trying not to make any mistakes I can't recover from.

This was where I stopped last time:



And this is today:

 

[JackEb]

Slow and steady is the way to go

 

[SiRoxx]

Well, I got some more brush time in today. It's slow going, but it's progress. Just going slow and easy, trying not to make any mistakes I can't recover from.

This was where I stopped last time:

View attachment 64003

And this is today:

View attachment 64002

Looking good Buddy! Practice also improves the ability to recover from screwups. That’s never a bad thing either.
Although it can be annoying as hell LOL.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Karl Becker]

Thanks!

Just following the advice I was given. Painting what I see, one little shape at a time.