Finishing Up (various odds n' ends)

Sorry it's been a while.. had to wrap up the fourth issue of 30days which ate up last week.  You wouldn't know it from my lack of posts, but gaining traction, work wise.

I think moving to a new studio, while chaotic, DID result in me rethinking a more intuitive my studio space... what to grab, and what's a waste of space.

Shelves so deep i never reach into the backs, until we started packing... . discovering old dusty paints tubes, cloth, and old brushes i totally forgot i even HAD!

The new studio SEEMS like it's my 'right brain' that's figuring my work space... but it's not really, is it?  I sorta have to discover where things go unconsciously... AS i work.... you know what i mean?

Better finish of those two pieces i started last post.. Chibi Dana and maybe the Fantasy Dana one...

Okay, better use up these Cotman watercolors before they dry up. Only a handful left..

I may seem eclectic, but i fall into the same old tools, but this little tool throws down some smeared textures...

I promised myself i was going to not overpower the background here.. to something subtle looking but my it seems like my garish palate just seem to always overpower whatever i try..

i'm going for a contrast, a soft brushy-wet-in-wet wash on the left,

then have a really sharp angel almost spray painted graffiti like texture on the left... attack the paper with  some rough fat brush strokes..

This is a cheap 'make up' brush my wife had lying that around i fell into using as a watercolor brush.

..these Steadtler Mars graphic 3000 'half pen, half brushes' make a frosty cool blue when you throw water over them.

Okay, now if i was RESTRAINED.... i just leave it at this. Butwhile i keep TRYING fumble towards a subtler application of color, 

i catch myself keep lapsing into more extreme colors.. and speaking of crude colors.. this is partly the old dragging the razor across a surface trick, 

and partly the stamp pad trick. 

adding a few pen makes to mix it up.. this will get a lot messier once we're finished. 

hopefully it'll make this child version of Dana pop nicely. 

i guess everyone turns their paper upside down or on it's side... when drawing-paiting something. 

maybe its partly a hand drawn habit?... not turning a drawing around is even needed when drawing digitally, is it? 

Another watercolor brush, some colored pencils to the log... 

then a regular winsor brush caps dropped in for some color up top again.. quite an ugly mess up that poor little girl has to sit under,  isn't it? 

Okay, let's hop back over to the right side now.. again, temped to just LEAVE it like this. 

I always like  to say knowing when to talk away is what can save or ruin a painting. 

but i obviously don't follow my own advice do i?  The pink poppette little girl still isn't popping enough is she? 

...meanwhile while i over-analyze it(like i do everything),  i'd better add some washes to those mushrooms. 

you know what, screw it.  let's set it aside and dig into the chibi one.. I was trying not to add to much white out to her eyes, but TOO late!! Oh well. 

let's see if i can't keep her colors nice and light, not necessarily opaque looking.. 

just bright and cheery.. start with her eyes. 

now... i did toy with the idea of finishing this in photoshop, but so much manga as that slick look to it. 

I like that look,  and a lot of other artists really pull it off much better than me, but i may as well play to my strengths.. thus, i like this flawed organic, hand drawn look. 

Let's throw in some rosy cheeks.. don't wanna go too heavy here. 

Kinda disturbing, isn't it? sorta looks like old 60's drunk underground comic artists mangled some manga. also the blue-gray brush i used is bleeding a little into her flesh.. yikes.. sorta looks like bruises. 

Should i can go back in with with some acrylic skin tones so she's less blue?

i wonder ... or maybe i've just been staring at it too long? 

- okay, back to the first one again.. i dripped some color down from the top.. sorta bold, or a reeeely big mistake. Heck, too late to sweat it now.  

hey, at least i avoided dripping right over Dana and the little girls face, eh? 

Sick of second guessing myself, i actually DON'T when i draw, my mind just chases in circles... far after my hands have their way with the bristol and paint. lol 

hopefully it won't suck when i look this fresh in the morning. but like i always say, my fans are a better judge than me.

the artists opinions (or mine) should be limited to the picture frame.