Hey everyone look it’s the lovely Scarlett Johansson! That can only mean one thing…ok you got me…two things. Jason has news! And well, ahem… you can figure out the other.
So onto the news!
I’m just going to level with everyone. The following will be nothing more than a shameless borderline pathetic promotion for a buddy of mine. And by buddy I mean charity case, and by charity case I mean he has a bad haircut, like really bad.
So the name of this charity case with a bad haircut is Henry Eudy. I have know Henry since I was like 12 or 13. I remember we would draw Bill the Cat and Garfield battles in …English?…Math? Fuck I don’t really remember what class it was because we were drawing the whole time. Anyway point is I have known him forever and although I hadn’t seen him in years he contacted me last year after finding my website while Googling the word “awesome” and as a result we started sharing ideas again etc.
Which brings me to my point (finally).
Henry is looking to self-publish a book and he wants you to be a part of it! Now remember I have nothing to do with this aside from this shameless promotion so please…please direct all you questions to Henry, via his Deviantart page or email.
Below are all the sorrid details taken from his Deviantart page.
THEME: The anthology will be called “FUGLY ANIMALS” as a playful tribute/mockery of the children’s comics of the Fifties (FUNNY ANIMALS) and will feature all animal based comics. I’m primarily interested in humorous comics but I certainly won’t turn away submissions that are adventure, fantasy or fact based or anything else based for that matter. They just have to be about animals, the characters should be animals. If a few humans show up in supporting roles that’s OK but the primary players should be bestial.
PAGES: I’m intending for the book to be between 24-28 pages long and I’m limiting submissions to a 4 page maximum per story. You may feel free to submit as many stories, gags or strips as you like as long as no individual submission is longer than 4 pages in length.
I’m not setting a particular size requirement or restriction but please be aware that the final book will probably be standard comic book size (about 6.5 inches wide by 10 inches tall) so if your submission can be easily manipulated to fit such a page, then all the better.
SCANS: Submissions should be made through emailing me the pages in TIFF format at at least 300 dpi resolution and in grayscale. Sorry, no color on the interior pages.
The cover, however, will be in color and I will accept submissions in the same format and resolution for the cover and back cover illustrations if you feel you must work with a rainbow of fruit flavor.
WHAT DO YOU GET?: Well as I’ve already said, there is no money to be made here by submitting comics to my anthology. At best you’ll just get to see your work in print and have something to show your stoner friends who, I promise, will not care a bit. Even so, my heart is not so cold as to not offer contributors some small payment for their time behind the pencil. And so, every person who makes the book will receive 3 (count ‘em 3) free copies of the anthology upon its debut. Also if you want to buy more copies later on, I’ll give you a discount.
DEADLINE: The deadline for submissions is Sunday, February 28, 2010. I’ll be happy to receive anything you want to send me before that date but, really and truly, nothing after it. I’m hoping to get the book assembled and printed by the end of April 2010.
So that’s it folks, FUGLY ANIMALS, comics about animals, TIFF files, 300 dpi, grayscale, no more than 4 pages, by the end of February. Got it? Send your stuff to me at; jevacat23@gmail.com and let’s rock this sucker!
So there you have it! All kidding aside Henry is a great guy (minus the haircut) and anyone who signs up for this project will receive 20 cool points from me.
This is probably the longest post that I have ever posted, and by probably I mean it is. Anyway this tutorial was originally supposed to be published in SKETCH! magazine. I was contacted to do a tutorial so I put this together but for some reason it was left on the shelf at SKETCH! and never published. But hey that doesn’t mean I can’t share it now so here it is! Hey if anything you may learn what not to do. So let’s get started.
Programs such as Photoshop and Painter offer a whole new world of tools for artists to explore. But I have also seen this new medium hold people back by hindering both their work flow and ability to learn from their mistakes.
I find too often that people are afraid to simply commit when painting digitally. They spend all their time making tiny adjustments and tweaks while working on a million different layers. Although this may work for some I find that it hinders the creative process and can kill the energy of your work. So in the upcoming steps I hope to offer a new approach to painting digitally.
Before we begin, I should mention that this tutorial was created using Photoshop CS2 and assumes you have an intermediate understanding of the program. I have most all of my brushes set with smoothing, shape dynamics and color dynamics turned on. My pen pressure is turned on and the opacity and size jitter and I used a couple of custom brushes for this piece and pretty much in all my work. If you want a copy of my brush set just make a request here and I will be more than happy to send you my brushes. If I receive a lot of requests then I will just make them available to download.
Ok enough of the tech talk and introduction let’s get to work.
Step 1
First things first, I suggest always starting off with a tight drawing. This can be either a pencil drawing that you have scanned in or something you have drawn digitally. Whichever method you use just be sure that your drawing is accurate with fairly clean lines. It is very important to have a strong foundation to build from; otherwise you will be polishing a turd. Trust me on this because I’ve spent a great deal of time polishing turds and no matter how shiny it is – it’s still a turd.
Step 2
A blank white canvas can be a scary thing. Even with our nice little drawing, all the white is intimidating, its like some sort of a pale demon sucking all the life out of our innocent little drawing. So let’s get rid of it with a splash of color. Create a new layer and set it to multiply. Now pick a very large brush to quickly lay down color. We are looking for big bold sweeps of color, no little brush strokes; we are establishing a mood and vibe. This should take almost no time at all. Just work off of instinct and let it happen.
Since I am painting Phoenix in this tutorial, I lay down a warm base of colors to establish the mood. I put down the digital equivalent of a watercolor wash letting the brush do the work for me. It is important to vary your strokes; I even tap the pen on the tablet as if it was a real brush.
Step 3
Now that all the white gone I can focus on our gal. But before I do, I flatten the layers and save it. My method of digital painting is really just a pseudo watercolor approach. I equate the flattening of layers to a watercolor wash being dry.
So with that in mind, I create a new layer, set it to multiply and use the same method of large brushes to lay down another “wash”. Still sticking with warm colors I lay down green, yellow and brown, which are the base colors of Phoenix.
Step 4
Just like before I flatten the layers, save it then create a new layer set to multiply. I now go in with another wash of color. This time setting some of the values and laying down shadows. When doing this think of the form as simple shapes and planes. Don’t worry too much about staying inside of the lines because you can simply erase any mistakes that are huge, this is one of the luxuries of the digital medium. But really we want to “color” outside the lines so that the figure (in this case Jean) doesn’t look pasted onto the background.
You maybe asking yourself why flatten the layers and create a new multiply layer each time? The answer is because if you didn’t it would destroy all the subtle nuances of the under painting. I want the previous brushstrokes to show through in different spots on the painting. Again I compare it to painting with watercolors. You lay down a wash; let it dry, and repeat. Because if you try to paint everything at once it will become mud lose all depth.
Step 5
You guessed flatten it and save it and create a new layer. Only this time leave the layer set to normal. I am finished with carefree washes for now and it’s time to start defining shapes with opaque colors. At this stage I choose to make some adjustments such as playing with the hair.
As I mentioned earlier my brushes have the opacity set to pen pressure. This means the lighter I press the pen the more transparent the color will be and vice-versa. There is no need to be heavy-handed. I use finesse and try not totally paint over everything I have done. I use the opaque colors to compliment, not dominate.
I first focus on adding color to her face. I add a mild red to her nose and cheeks and a very light blue for the highlights. The contrast of light blue against the warm colors makes the highlight really “pop”. I use this same light blue to add highlights to yellows.
Step 6
I now turn my focus to the greens of her suit. I pick a cool light green and start throwing in highlights. Again using a loose hand and confidence in my decisions. Remember to think in forms and not sweat the details. Not yet anyway.
Step 7
I like the way she looks right now but I have been ignoring the background. Time to correct that oversight. I stare at the background for a bit and look at the piece as a whole. It is always important to step back and look at the piece as a whole. Doing this prevents getting a sort of tunnel vision, which can lead to losing sight of the painting’s goal.
After staring at the back ground for a bit I see what could be turned in an abstract Phoenix. So I decide to pull it out from the chaos of the background. Again with loose strokes I darken the bottom of the background with a deep purple and use an orange and yellow to reinforce the shape of a Phoenix.
Step 8
This is a great time to save my progress. I like to overall look and feel but it seems a little flat and dull. So first thing I want to do is push the values. I will do this by creating a new layer set it to multiply. I then use a warm red to wash over the darks of the green. I also add a highlight here and there.
I use a warm red because it is the compliment of green and when you combine two complimentary colors you will end up with a darker and muted version of the base color by neutralizing it. Doing this will allow for her hair, which contains no green, to pop more since it will be a purer color. Doing this will put more emphasis on her face (the focal point) as well as adding more life and energy to the piece.
Step 9
I flatten the layers save it and create a new layer. However this time I am setting the layer to Color Dodge. This will give my lights a vibrant glow and really make everything hum. I must warn you though don’t overuse this technique or your stuff could have a cheesy look.
Ok so with that being said, I pick a light yellow and bump up the lights of my background, really placing emphasis on my abstract phoenix. I also hit a highlight here and there on the figure.
Step 10
Ladies and Gentlemen: I introduce to you the final step of this tutorial. The most important part of this step is adding a rim light around the figure of Phoenix. This will help add an ethereal feel to the character as well as give her a little more form and volume. After doing that and playing with the hair a bit more I save it and call it done.
I hope that I have given insight into my process by more importantly I hope that I have given you some options and ideas next time you sit down to create a piece of your own. Thank you for taking to time to read my tutorial and please leave a comment, as I plan on doing more tutorials down the road. So your input is valuable on what I should focus on in future tutorials.
**UPDATE WITH BRUSHES! Instead of separating out the 10 brushes I use most I decided to just give you everyone my entire set of brushes. Warning this file is 60mb but I think it’s worth it. The brushes I use most are the palette knives, pastels, and anything with my name on it. Let me know what you think. Thanks all.
Hey guys. I’ve been really busy with the sketch cards that I’m doing for the Marvel 70th anniversary. Unfortunately I’m not allowed to show any of my cards yet but soon…yes soon. Muwahahahahaha.
In the meantime here is a quick 30 minute speedpaint of Ms Marvel. I may come back and finish this sometime but probably no time soon. I have to admit though after doing 60+ sketches in traditional medium (copics, ink etc) going back to digital felt weird.
Hello, hello, hello all my little sexy subscribers! Oh and for those of you who discovered this post through some serendipitous web surfing I encourage you to subscribe, so that you too can be a sexy subscriber.
Now since that is out of the way, I’ll fill you on everything that has been going on lately.
Although normally for news, I would proudly post a picture of the perfectly pulchritudinous Scarlett Johansson, I obviously went a different route this time. I actually had a piece of art that isn’t under some sort of NDA so I elected to post it instead. Hey I’m a promotion whore I can’t help myself, besides Scarlett hasn’t been returning my calls lately. Anyway the art above is a wecent we-imagining of the wancid and wemarkably wepulsive Wicked Witch of the West. I don’t know why I was just talking like Elmer Fudd, so don’t bother asking.
The Marvel sketch cards I’ve been doing have been moving along quite well. So for I have done 50 of the 150 that I signed on to do. I know some artists have complained about doing sketch cards but I have really enjoyed this project. But then again I’m not like most artists, mostly due to my dangerously alluring sea green eyes of mystery and desire.
Remember when I was telling you guys about being offered a teaching position at the Charlotte Art League? No? Come on! Seriously you don’t remember that? Ok ok fine. Well to recap I’ve been going to the Charlotte Art League on Saturdays for a figure drawing class. This class led to one of the heads of CAL asking to me if I would be interested in teaching a figure drawing course at CAL. Pretty cool right? Well is just got a little cooler. I have also been asked to do a 2-day workshop in January! I will have more news on what my workshop will focus on later because quite frankly I haven’t planned anything yet since I was asked to do this just 2 days ago. But in the meantime if you are near the Charlotte area and would like to be a part of the workshop please email me and I will keep you updated and registered ASAP. I can guarantee that my class will take a different approach to some old methods and will be fun. And by fun I mean awesome and by awesome I mean…I should stop now shouldn’t I?
Moving on.
Now for my final announcement!
Drum roll please!
Ahem…
Oh forget it.
My final announcement is that I will be doing commissions from now until the December 20th! Be sure to place your orders now so that you will receive your commission before Christmas. All commissions will be inked and colored with Copic markers on 11 x 14 or 11 x 17 Bristol board. Commissions will start at only $40. I’m only taking 10 commissions so be sure to place your order ASAP. If you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to email me.
That’s it for now folks. See you on the other side, whatever that means.
Hello everyone. My wife and I have been passing a cold back and forth for the last couple days and today is the worse that I have felt so far. So if this post doesn’t make a whole lot of sense I’m totally blaming it on the cough syrup.
Moving on.
As I mentioned before I’m doing a sketch cards for the upcoming Marvel 70th anniversary set and it has been really fun so far. I agreed to do 150 for my first time and so far I have knocked out about 18. Keep in mind I received the cards 5 days ago and I’ve been under the weather. Once I feel 100% I’m sure I’ll be doing around 5 – 8 cards a night. I hope. Oh and since I can’t show any of the cards yet enjoy the warm up doodle/sketch I did last night before getting to the sketch cards. And yes I know Batman isn’t a Marvel character, whenever I do warmups I just do whatever comes to mind.
I’m also doing a tryout for Topps for an upcoming Star Wars set as well as a potential project. This is what I’m really nervous about so everyone wish me luck on this one. And by “wish me luck” I mean send me money, or a copic marker. Hey I’m just sayin’ I mean the holidays are coming up and it’s time you start shopping for the one you love (i.e. me).
Anyway the nyquil is starting to talk to me now. Yes…yes I can see it now. A huge fluffy bed is floating by with little blue birds pulling back the covers as the sun fades behind the clouds winking at me. Ahhhhh….bed time.
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