Color and Design

Color and Design was taught entirely in gouache. Apparently our school is the leading consumer of gouache in the nation. I could totally believe that.

The class' three major projects:

1. Posterized self-portrait using analogous colors (I chose red-orange and blue-green)


2. Piece relating to your major (illustration was pretty much free-reign) using a limited palette (red-orange/blue-green again)


3. Mandala with center focal point and split-analogous palette. I used Winsor&Newton's gold ink (microglitter-type) for the keyhole and key outline.



All in all I learned a lot from this class, and I wish I had taken it earlier in my school career. Hopefully the work I do from now on will be a bit more color-coordinated. I'm glad I got to work with traditional media painting since I'd only done digital up until now. Though this was more like vector art than anything, since we could only use flat colors and not mix or create a gradient effect. I'm taking oil painting this upcoming semester so I'll get a lot of practice with traditional painting and mixing very soon. :)

edit: The first portrait was accepted for AAU's Spring Show 2010.

Children's Book Final

lineart

final

That was fun. :D
My first time trying to achieve atmospheric perspective... it was tough. Gotta practice CG techniques more! Or painting techniques in general. Being forced to watercolor for my earlier pieces did help me see color significantly better.

I'm sad this class is over, all my classmates were awesome artists and it was inspiring being able to work with upperclassmen~ Matt Faulkner is an awesome awesome teacher. The class flowed really nicely and we got great tips on not only art but the children's book industry in general. I hope I get him as an instructor again~!

lineart in lead pencil
color in Photoshop

p.s. Also, I made it into AAU's 2009 Spring Show! :) Exciting~~~!

The Young King: lineart

detail

... before I watercolor them to death.

The Young King

Three roughs and a color mock-up for Oscar Wilde's "The Young King."

Planning to do final watercolor pieces for the first two roughs. The color test is for the cover with room for title/author text, and the second is an inside spread. They'll be the same size as the previous one, 8.5x22", except now I have two pieces due in two weeks. Uh, to add to the stress, I'm trying to do a few fanart CGs for Sakura-con next week... Priorities are kinda fighting each other right now.

Clothed figure classwork

wk 1, 10 min

wk 2, 20 min

wk 4, 20 min

wk 5, 5 min

wk 5, 10 min

wk 5, 40 min

wk 6, 20 min

wk 6, 20 min

I'm really enjoying clothed figure, I think it's easier to render than nude figure drawing. Still need to get faster, though, and work on lower body.

In-class drawings
3B charcoal pencil on newsprint

Stone Maiden Final

OK, I admit it turned out better than I expected, for all the panic I put myself through beforehand. But I got a C for the final grade because it ended up looking a lot better vertically... which is not a children's book format. :P Oh well, lesson learned.

Pencil, watercolor and watercolor ink on watercolor paper

Final lineart

Before I mess it up with my horrid watercoloring...

I'm gonna stick roses in at the bottom and on the vines on the girls. But lineart is finished for the most part. Due in four days oh god.

Size 8.5x22", lead pencil on Arches 140ib. cold press watercolor paper

Story Roughs

Our first assignment for Children's Book Illustration was 12 roughs. Here are the most successful ones~







I got a good review but I need to make my style less "anime." I get that a lot. This change is going to be time-consuming and difficult, but for the sake of my grade (and I really do like and respect my teacher), I'll try.

I'll be uploading progress shots as I go.