FACEPOCALYPSE

The second ‘speedpainting’ lab I did at Murdoch was a little more structured (sorry 1st lab crew).  I just chose a reference photo I could easily demonstrate a few things with:

• Breaking the image into basic parts/layers. In this case a background (leaves, sky, ground), a layer for the dark tree branches, and a layer for the house.
• Blocking in sections and using masks/selections to paint with crisp shapes where necessary. ie. Focal points that benefit from a clearly defined silhouette. A lot of concept artists don’t do this at all when speedpainting, and I usually save it for when I’m refining the image (if required).
• Using custom brushes and brush modes to give the impression of appropriate textures (grass, leaves, paint, rust etc).
• Creating custom brushes (most of them had minimal prior experience with Photoshop).

Unlike the first class, I also had more time to actually complete my image since I was demoing it to show students while they did the same.

On a whole I was pleased with the class and how the students handled the task. Got some good results in a reasonable timeframe.

Running with the simple landscape trend.

Another minimal collagey style sketch.

I’m quite liking my current routine, or the lack thereof. Woke up early and completed today’s quota of work by lunchtime, then spent the afternoon painting.

I feel like it’s been a productive day.

I met with Little Creatures’ event manager today and have lined up an exhibition for December 22nd (2 months away!) with a handful of other artists. Specific details to come – save the date, it’s a Tuesday.

The theme is ‘Summer’, and I’m liking the thought of doing some semi-abstract, dynamic landscapes. Here’s something I was playing around with today. It could be more dynamic, but I think it’s a nice little test.