Pharaoh Hound

It's about time for a long overdue post. This is a recent commission I worked on and I'm happy with how it turned out. This dog won Westminster multiple times and, unfortunately, recently passed away. His owner misses him dearly and I hope this can bring the good doctor some amount of solace.

On a side note, my friend, Joanna, made a post not too long ago about how difficult it can be to scrap what you're working on and start over to create a more successful piece. All I can say is that it was perfect timing because the painting below was just not working out. Occasionally it's important to fall, so you can learn what not to do next time.

America!

Tonight I added some finishing touches.

Eagles Are Cool

At the end of this week, my mother is holding a fundraiser for her non-profit organization TruJoy. Our goal is to help support the women and families of the capital region who have been affected by breast and/or ovarian cancer. The main attraction is a motorcycle group ride for those who sign up along with food, a bake sale, raffles and a silent auction. I will be submitting this painting to the silent auction.

My usual value study and two color variants. I love the bright yellows in the first one but they seem a bit too intense and clash with the eagle. After I clean up some areas, I'll try to add a hint of them in the second version and see how it looks.

Quick Sketch

Cliche? Yes.
Good practice from some old reference? You bet.

I will probably smooth this out and add some hints of color in the next couple days.

Soccer Jersey

I wanted to try something different with this one and decided to start out in black and white. It felt liberating to be able to focus on values without the distraction of color balance, so I may continue this in the future.

It felt like the grayscale version was too dark, so I played around with the levels in photoshop and then added color.

Finally, I painted in some more details, developed more color, and added the logo.

Steam Tower

Another landscape inspired by a geothermal energy island.

Lava Flows

As of late I have been inspired to work on landscapes. While doing so, I am trying to improve my environments and hopefully make them more interesting. They really are a great source of practice for depth, color, texture, and composition. While looking for inspiration I found some really crazy stuff, finding beauty even in some of the most barren places on earth. This planet truly is amazing and is all too often taken for granted.

Character Idea

Meet a friendly 18th century imp who happens to be a violinist. I have not come up with a concrete name yet, but I have a few ideas.

Mailer

My first go at a mailer/leave behind for promotional purposes. This was fun to make and I got to experiment with some techniques I do not normally use.

Colored Version

Used for a Reporter article involving the discovery of a hellmouth under RIT.

I'm Not Dead

Here's a sketch to prove it.

Update

Still have a bit to add for the finish, but I got fairly far on the house. Just need to do some tweaking to what is already here and add some silhouettes, along with possibly an iron fence.

"Them" Landscape

Another from the King Diamond series. I'd like to work on the house a lot more when I get a chance, but I'm happy with it so far. This was essentially my first go at a digital painting without line art, but it was interesting to switch things up.

I should mention this was also a study of Kevin Keele's style so credits to him as well.

Chester A Arthur

The result of some experimentation with line work and color. This is a refreshing change from the norm, though I definitely need practice as I've found its harder to make a purposeful mess than you think.

The Invisible Guests

First in a series inspired by the King Diamond album "Them". A young King wakes in the night to discover his grandmother consorting with the spirits of Amon.

BRAAAAAAINS!

Reporter work for an article involving (you guessed it) zombie survival.

Scientists WIP

Recent work for class involving an apple, radio and subordinate. After stepping back I kind of want to make the tubes/background using Illustrator. However, the more I paint in photoshop, the more I enjoy it. Lately I've been trying to push myself as far as detail and execution goes. It's nice to see progress from my older work, but I have a lifetime of experience to get under my belt.

Keep an eye out for upcoming King Diamond inspired pieces.