Spectrum Fantastic Live event in Kansas City, MO

I went to Kansas City this past weekend to attend the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3-day conference event to listen to some of my art idols share their experiences about their work, their life and the industry, and to get inspired. I was indeed inspired... and overwhelmed by the amazing collection of talent in the hall. It was a real treat to meet in person some of the artists whose art books grace our library. And, they were all so friendly and willing to share their process! I was especially fortunate to meet and chat with Michael Whelan, James Gurney, Brom and Brian Despain.

Since this would be a boring post without any pictures, I've included some photos below of Kansas City architecture I found interesting, a drawing I did at the life drawing session put on by Spectrum, a picture of Michael Whelan who was kind enough to pose for us, James Gurney's work in-progress of an ogre (he jokingly called it a self-portrait), along with some art treasures we brought home with us.

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Sabrina commission thumbnails

Now that I've moved and my office is less of a disaster zone, I thought I'd attach some thumbnails I completed for my friend's pet portrait commission. It's been on hold for a while for various reasons but I will now be resuming and plan to post pics of the progression.

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Sketch at a café

After the TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival) and some art supply shopping, the hubby and I stopped at a gallery/café across from the AGO. I wanted to try out my new mechanical blue pencil so drew a quick sketch of Victor. He wanted to try out his new brush pen so inked it. Here is the result. I think we make a good team.

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Dog portrait commission - Part 2

Attached are some more steps in the process. Keep in mind I'm not a paid professional - yet! - so my steps aren't necessarily the right way but what I felt comfortable with and still gave me a sense of organized process. In the first image, I painted out the fur, varying from high- to low-tones and not focussing on any specific one. This step put most of the image together with lots of room for refinement. For example, I noticed that the dog's face seemed a little too long so I made some adjustments that better resembled the subject. Although I didn't have a photo of the dog in the pose that you see, I used other photo references to help me place him in a similar manner. One thing I had to be careful about using references in this way is that I started taking different little bits from each photo for the dog and each photo wasn't specific to the dog but just an example of a similar breed.

In the second image, I focused on making the image more like the dog in question. At this point, the only photos I would refer to were of the dog though the poses were different than the one I was painting. I was able to focus on the more specific details about this dog and apply them to this image. Having too many references - especially disparate - can be confusing and distracting. I also took the time to make the fur more realistic. That is, I downplayed each hair and tried to make them less distinct individually and make them more distinct as a group. When we see an animal's fur in life, we don't notice each strand but rather clumps as they're arranged around their body.

In the third image, I started to block in the background. This image needs to be done by Valentine's Day so I had better get back to it!

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Dog portrait commission

I've been commissioned to paint a portrait of a dog so I thought I would post my progress as I've been told that I just don't post often enough. My bad, so here are the first steps in the process...the prep and also the part I dislike the most. I'm having fun painting, though. :)

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Last Dr. Sketchy's (Toronto)

This is from my second and last session at Dr. Sketchy's in Toronto. I'm sad to hear it's over.

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Quorra (Step 2 - Ink)

I just finished step 2 of Quorra. During (digital) inking I noticed areas that needed some changes and I think they help to make her look a little more like the original reference. I also added more of her body to the portrait. I plan on colouring it later.

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