First Digital Painting + Composition Studies + New Job

Over the past few days I've been trying my best to learn more and more about digital painting (and painting in general). I had always been a bit hesitant to paint on the computer; I once took a comp. art/ graphic design class where I had to work digitally, but I was never taught how to paint on the computer. And whenever I tried teaching myself in the past, I tended to get frustrated with just having to find the buttons, locate the windows, etc.

However, ever since I came to Ringling, I've been introduced to so many resources that I never would have thought were out there. One of them was Ctrl+Paint. It's a great website with tons of tools and tutorials that were a dream come true for a beginners like me. In fact, I've already been through three sections of videos on the site. I then applied what I learned from the site to the painting above.

Now I haven't painted in quite some time, so I'll admit that I was a bit rusty when it came to simplifying values (value was my focus, as supposed to complete and true accuracy). But, using what I learned from Ctrl+Paint, I was shocked that I was able to produce something like this without getting overwhelmed and throwing in the towel. Don't get me wrong--it's not a tank or robot or a massive seaside cliff with beautiful waves crashing on the shore. But it is a bell pepper, and it is a start.

Besides learning how to digitally paint, I have also been researching movies, tv shows, comics, etc., and finding shots that have foreground, middleground, and background. I was surprised to find so many great shots; I've really began noticing the difference between scenes that are shot well and scenes that are shot terribly. However, I've only been concerned with the great ones. Above are three shots from three different movies, tv shows, comics (or M.T.C's, for short) that I love. The first one should be relatively easy; the second one, a little bit tougher; the third one is probably the hardest one. Bonus points if anyone can guess which episode (<~ hint) the third one is from. I'll reveal the answers in the next post.

Lastly, to end this post, I have recently acquired a summer job! I'm now a sales floor team member/ cashier at Target. It's a real eye-opener; I've never had a job where I was working for a well-oiled, efficient company before. It's a bit intimidating and tricky, but it's really nice to be able to analyze what makes a company work, and what doesn't. Plus, it's makes me appreciate the fact I'm able to go to art school and do something that I truly love rather than doing something where I wouldn't find the same amount of fulfillment. And the best part is, I'm making money that I can put towards a (possible) internship and some fabulous art books/supplies.

Well, until next time, I hope you guys are having a fantastic summer. Ciao for now.

NOTE: The green pepper photo does NOT belong to me. Here is the link address to the photo. http://www.clker.com/clipart-72491.html

Bat Designs + Ocean Marketing Article

Recently I've been working on some bat designs just to practice with silhouettes and to research more about the terrifyingly, cute little critters.

It's really fun seeing just how diverse this "flying mammal" community is, and how the way they're built/shaped ties in to where they live/what they eat/what they do, etc. The more research I do, the more interested I become in finding out all I can about them...

Aww, what adorable, big ears!

Oh, look, its like he has his own faux hawk/gladiator helmet. Very cool!

Oh...oh gawd...

Okay, so I would like to research all of them EXCEPT the last one. That one just freaks me out...

The last little bit of this post is well...a bit random. I came across this interesting bit of gaming history on Cracked.com, and couldn't help but research it further. If anyone in the gamer community hasn't heard about this wonderful piece of scandal, they should take 45 minutes of their time to read this article on The Fall of Ocean Marketing. If you want to know how to ruin your life and reputation with just a few emails, this is it.

Anyway, ciao for now.

It's Been Too Long/ Foxhollow Farm Spring Fest

Hey Y'all!

First off, I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I'll admit, I'm pretty bad when it comes to keeping up with my blog; most of the time it's because of school or I'm busy with other things. HOWEVER, I hope on changing that soon, especially now that I have the chance to start the blogging habit this summer.

So to start off I just want to say that my first year was amazing! I got to meet such fabulous people, see incredible art, and never did I experience true art block (except during April, a.k.a. Finals/ Hell Month). But, as soon as I got off of school, I decided to take a break and either read, play videogames, or watch t.v. That lasted about three days before I realized I needed a job. 


Unfortunately, despite businesses needing seasonal employment, some are not ready to hire immediately. Because of that, I have been volunteering at the place my mom works--Foxhollow Farm. It's a nice place where they serve local foods, produce, and meats. The best part is everything is organic, and the beef/chicken is hormone free and grass-fed. Not only that but they even have folk-art classes and mediation classes--and heck, even gardening classes, too!

What they also have is festivals; in particular, the Spring Festival and the Fall Festival. I volunteered at the Spring one where I did face-painting and helped out at the food tents. After about 4:00, my shift ended, so I decided to look around and sketch. I saw that they had let some of the chickens out of their fenced in area, so I drew some sketches of the chickens.

I realized at that moment that I love observing chickens.The way they scratched/dug into the ground was hilarious. Of course though, I soon left after I found out that where they had been pooping was the same place I had been sketching; I know this because one got really close to me and just let himself go right in front of me. I made the right decision to leave after that.

After the chickens, I decided to leave and go on one of the hiking trails located on the farm. It was a longer trip than I thought (probably due to the heat). I made my way down some steep paths, and after I  battled through some plants I arrived at my first waypoint: The Nature Trail Pond.

Okay, it was less pond-like and more Legend of Zelda-mystical-magical lake. I'm serious! It even had it's own stone marker!

Which, to me, was a definite sign that I was getting closer to my destination. I continued further into the woods, and came upon a path with the same rocks that markers were made of.

And then finally, after going through even MORE plants and narrow trails, I arrived to my destination: The Stone Circle!

On the farm, they have all of these stone markers placed around in various spots. However, most of them are placed here, a bit farther away from the main farm complex. As to why, I don't know. All of the stones are hand-carved, and have a variety of symbols on them. In fact, I actually took the time to draw/photograph some of them...

...BUT THEN I COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! There were bees everywhere! Every time I settled down, the bees would start to gather around me and buzz in my ear. I had to leave my sketch unfinished; I couldn't take it anymore!

Luckily, soon after leaving the inner stones and came across the edge of the forest. There, I saw the most bizarre looking bird. I couldn't get a decent picture of it, so I sketched it as best as I could.

It was a cross between a vulture and a female turkey--either way, it was beautiful, yet terrifying.

After I watched it for a bit, I realized that the sun was getting to me and that I should head back home. I made my way back through the woods, got in the car, and drove back home; I was satisfied with how my Saturday had ended.

Portrait Night

I finally took the time to go to Portrait Night again (most of the last semester I would forget or I was just really busy with homework). I thought I was going to be rusty after the break, but it turns out that I've actually improved! Instead of taking 15 min to do a portrait that takes up only a quarter of a page, I can now do full page portraits (huzzah)! I still need to work on shadow shapes, though, but that's something I feel I need to research more before I start just adding shadows willy-nilly.

Anyway, here are the portraits (can you recognize any of the faces below)?

Right after this sketch I decided to use ink just to mess around with lines. They turned out to be a success, especially with the last one.

Lycanthropy or Puberty?

You decide!

Sequential art from my Figure Drawing I class. Used black conte 2B on newsprint.

The sketch that was chosen for my next 2D-Design project. He actually told me that my sketches were excellent and I could choose whichever I wanted. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that.

These two sketches above were considered, but in the end I decided not to use them. They still look really cool on their own, though.