Update- The Weeks of September 23 and September 30

So, I got a bit distracted with some recent fantastic reads, as well as doing some copywriting work and a general lack of energy. So, while I rather like the Joker/Harley/Batgirl painting I started this previous week, I'm shelving it where it currently is done to, until some time later in October, after my planned break next week. On the plus side, one of the weeks in October should have more than one illustration out, and I might get some work done on a comic idea I have when I'm not relaxing. Though I just got a deal that got me Poser 9 and MangaStudio, so I might just be doing that all next week instead. Cheers, ET

Quickie- "King's Domain"

For a deviantART contest I'm entering, I decided to first take a try at creating the original character Hyde that they have.

Contest is here.

Total Time: Roughly 9.5 hours
Materials: Poser 8, Photoshop CS6

Lycoming County Fair- Airshow Photo Shoot

I got out to the airshow in Lycoming County, PA yesterday. Here are the best shots to come from it:

Super Soldier

This week's painting was focused on the Marvel comics character X-23, a woman cloned from Wolverine who started out in the cartoons and proved popular enough to be put into the comics.

Made from September 9-September 14
Total Time: 7.5 hours
Materials/Programs: Poser 8, Photoshop CS6

The Making of "Super Soldier"

For this week's painting, I'm painting the Marvel comics character X-23.

Step 1: Lineart (1 hour, 40 minutes)

To start off the piece, I worked with the Maria character model in Poser 8 to set up the base pose and anatomy:


From there, I used some references for the X-23 character to design her clothes and hair, all with the round brush and pen tool, with flow and opacity on Pen Pressure control, in Photoshop CS6. The belt is made with the circular marquee, a stroke, and some layer effects, including beveling and inner shadows.

Summer Wrap-Up

Since I start the Fall semester next week, I've decided to make a post cataloguing what I've done over the summer, and how my skill level has improved:

Photo Contest

I've decided to take up actively looking for art contests to enter. For this post, I'm talking about the ArtSchool photography contest. I need 30 votes to get into the finals, and I'm in no way above shameless self-promoting to get them!

To vote, click on the link, which will take you to my page on their site: link

The photos I'm entering are:

Valkyrur

This week's painting, focused on the valkyrur, warrior side to the Alicia Melchiott character from the Valkyria Chronicles video game and anime series.

Made between August 26 to September 2
Total Time: 7.5 hours
Materials/Programs: Wacom Cintiq 15x, Photoshop CS6, Poser 8

Lake Tobias Zoo photography

For the first time in a long time, I had a very fortuitous photo shoot, which gave me plenty of quality photos. Below is thumbnails for all photos I consider contest-quality; click on any to enlarge them.