Rough patch

 I've been doing a ton of modeling and rigging in Blender recently but haven't really been drawing much. I average about 35 hours a week in Blender which has been great and all but it's getting pretty exhausting learning so much. Also, my diet and sleep has been awful recently. Drawing this was a lot of effort but that's also because I'm really rusty.

Definitely came to the conclusion that I need to learn 3D no matter where my art direction goes. Even for 2D, it will be really nice to have a reference that is almost infinitely adjustable. Once you properly model and rig it, you can get infinite variations in realistic posing, lighting, angles, proportions, etc etc..

But... still.. that's no excuse for the lack of blog posts, I've decided I'll get back on that. Just don't expect a ton of high effort 2D stuff.

Have some soul...

 

Made in 1 hour with a flat rectangle brush, except for the iris'.

This was me experimenting with more painting techniques, and I can definitely see the appeal. From the start, it was much more relaxing than having to worry about contours and line quality. I realized this about 5 minutes in, and that's where I made up my mind to paint something relaxing as well.

An hour might sound a little crazy, but I think a good 10-15 minutes of that was me finding which layer I drew a shape on. This piece was roughly 50-60 layers or so... but that was what I was experimenting with after all. Also, I was enjoying it. I don't really do this kind of subject matter but always admired artists that did (especially if they were novice), I think it's endearing.

The best thing I learned from this, was how much impact painting in a simple shape could make compared to several lines. The basket for example: even with that super simple hand, I could paint in the handle and base, and you could instantly tell that was a basket -- maybe 5 seconds. You could also do the same with a pencil, but the sheer space that the shape takes up along with it's color, instantly communicates what it's supposed to be -- while feeling its full effect composition wise. You have to be more careful with a pencil, or it would look something like a thorny or hairy basket.

How do painters do this

 Tried my hand at the "a la prima" technique again. No sketch, no reference, just going in with a paintbrush. I think I need a size pressure along with a fixed rotation mechanic, where I just paint in a direction and it rotates the brush to that orientation, and it keeps it there until I let go.

 Overall, I think there's something to gain (or at least learn) something from this technique. I think it's worth it if you plan on doing a painting without lines anyways, saves you from having to do lines anyways since you're just going to have edges. Maybe I can integrate it with a line-art based approach too, but we'll see.

I'm gonna Nightreign everywhere

 

A 30 minute sketch of Duchess from the new Elden Ring game that dropped 4 days ago. I've literally been doing nothing but playing this game ever since it released. Haven't done something like this since the first Elden Ring from 3 years ago.

So far, my most played would be Revenant, then Duchess, Executor, and Wylder. I don't really like the slow and tanky kind of characters, so they fit the playstyles I like. Speaking of which, my friend's expedition is about to finish, so I should probably get back at it.

"Sphere Test" #497

 

 

I've been spending a ton of time with my layer stack (again), and finally came up with something that I think suits my rendering style... I know I'm sort of obsessed at this point with "3d engine" painting realism but I don't know why, guess I'm just fascinated by it.

Drawing too much

 

I know I haven't been active but the burnout is real... let's see if I can get the tomorrow post in, that will get things going.

Blender is now a DLC

 5 minute sketch, I know not great if you take into account my absence... but a post none the less!

I've been doing a TON of Blender with some Krita on the side. Best part is, is that they're both on Steam, so I can track my hours for the past two weeks. I'm clocking in about 40 hours a week on Blender and Krita, so I'm doing pretty ok for my standards, although it could be higher. And yes, I close the programs when I'm not using them, no afk hours ;)