Two versions of the same otter. And I guess he has a name now. Might make t-shirts out of this guy.

Finished portrait #8. 2 to go. This is the Weezil. I think the likeness is a bit off, but I like the painting as is and at the very least it helped me learn things to work on for the next one. Thanks, Weez.

I hate cell phones.

Inks and paint for the next portrait. Now I just have to wait for the paint to dry and I can marry the two.

Final version of the seventh painting in the portrait series. First version shows the application of color before lines and the second is the finished painting with inked lines applied. I don't generally let brushstrokes or "canvas" show so much but I liked the energy of them enough that I left them as they were. Hals, who did the original painting, was known for expressive brush strokes so I hope that the colors and energy invoke something of an 'Old Master' feeling. Possibly my favorite thing I've painted.

Crass commercialism:



Now I need to find other things that I enjoy drawing as much as I do these guys. I enjoy drawing them a lot but they make me feel cheap for some reason.

One more distraction before getting back to more useful things.

No idea where this came from. Channeling my inner 70s while home sick. T-shirt design maybe?

Did this one a little later. It amuses me, what can I say?

Color comp for the next in the portrait series. It's based on Fran Hals' painting, "The Mulatto."

Continuing with the portrait series, this is #6, me. Re-used an old image, recropped it and magnified it to 16x20. This is a lousy photo. Ink, acrylic.

Did a lot more drawing yesterday and this morning. Redesigned the characters again using details from the first version. It's getting a lot closer now. This is the sterile, Illustrator version. The final painting will be hand inked.

Redrew the right hand rhino to add some movement to the composition. Then I plunked him down into the background with the first rhino. There's still too much dead space at the top but I will fix that in the final drawing. Coming along...

Quick and dirty background test for the guard duty image made with Illustrator and Photoshop to simulate the painting technique I want to use on the final. What I didn't realize was how the incomplete texture of the sponge will reinforce the idea of snow.

More redesign of the character as well as tweaking of the pose, thanks to a friend's crit. Coming along.

More work on the rhino image. The taller color test showed that the composition won't work in portrait so I went into ArtRage to work on a very loose color test in landscape. These steps help me see where to tighten things up as there's a lot needed.

Color test for one of the sketches. I tried putting in the shadow that there would be on the horn and face behind it, but it made the image too complicated. Simplification is a necessary step for me in all this. Sometimes it's what looks better than what makes actual sense, something I can't make myself do without trying it out first.

WIP: Rhino guard duty.

Pulling from a design I did last year, I'm assembling an illustration I hope to sell at an upcoming con. These are the first sketches and color tests as I learn to use Cel-Vinyl paints.

And then some pose refinement: