Flyers

R3 Jam: Flyers

Here are my avatar and his sweetie, aboard (for the moment) a Flexible Flyer™.

Obviously, thanks & apologies go to Bill Watterson. Now I see why he chose to draw a toboggan for this situation, during those eleven years...

Gnabbist

Towel Boy

Poolside

Just having some fun with glossy surfaces-- and saturated colour, of course. I haven't quite zeroed in on her appearance yet, but this is supposed to be the blue dancer again (Kiara) from my Café Alien pic of this spring.

Dancers at the Café Alien

Emerald: Aliza: Kiara:

Oooh [giggle]-- Me, Doctor? Now there's a shock... Yah, who'da thunk it?

A humble tribute pic, for one of our number who often employs kicky color schemes. I do appreciate getting to view those "women of intense color." (Hmm, no wonder this project dragged on.) So once more (and not often enough)-- thanks neutron!

Now to hope that the extrapolated rear view of the avatar's head is recognizable. Oh, and to another of our rainbow warriors: the 8-ball's there, honest-- it's just hidden behind the blue dancer from this angle. I'll show you the layers sometime. 8^b*

Gnabbist

Two Dancers

Looks like I'm about to get interrupted again-- so here's a little work-in-progress sample to let folks know I'm still alive. 8^b*

These are a couple of supporting characters from an upcoming color pic. I'm finding that working up a fairly finished grayscale "underpainting" is a big help to me in the coloring stage. I have much more experience working in monochrome-- so it makes it easier for me to work out the values, composition, etc. What the heck, an "underpainting plus glazes" approach worked well for classically-trained oil painters for centuries, right?

The initial stage is fairly pencilish, as in the Aliza figure here; I gradually develop it into a monochrome "value painting," as in the more fully-rendered Kiara figure. Color layers for tone are applied "below" the value painting (which I'll occasionally tint to sepia for skintones), and highlights are applied above it.

Gnabbist

Vanessa Looks Back

Vanessa Looks Back - gnvnes1.jpg

Not a nude, but still erotic-- at least to me. 8^D*

A few years ago, I was waiting around for a pair of replacement glasses, enjoying the impressionistic view afforded by myopia and astigmatism, when a young woman strolled by-- in the most incredibly orange and magnificently form-fitting knit dress imaginable. Well, those photons pretty much whacked me upside the visual cortex. Sooner or later, I had to draw her.

With thunderstorms in the area last night, I reverted to using a back-up graphics tablet: cellulose substrate and graphite stylus. (Now if I could just figure out where the dang scrolling controls are!) Anyway, after scanning in the sketch today, I did a quick color test, painting in some solid areas underneath the pencil layer. The Results: "Whoa! This is interesting..."

So, I did a slower color test, and some very minor cleanup of the pencil layer, mostly around the face. I know a lot of folks here enjoy the energy of a still-rough pencil sketch (I sure do)-- so I figured, what the heck, let's post it.

The cropping is due to running off the edges of the paper. If I had been working digitally, I would have just glued more virtual canvas on. In hindsight, I'm glad I couldn't: I rather like the way she divides up the picture plane.

I'll definitely return to this character-- I may even try a more polished version of this image. Purists, don't worry: I use version numbers.

Three more in the to-do queue...

Gnabbist