Final version. I like this one a lot better but I don't think I caught the likeness. I'm struggling too much with this one and I think I'm done. There was even one more version I didn't complete. I like the image, just not as a portrait. Still, it's me progressing, so it's ok.

 I used a screen grab from an episode of Portrait Artist of the Year to make another portrait while I wait to be able to corral the next victim. I'm trying to keep things as minimal as possible while retaining likeness. I think there is some, but I would never have chosen this as a pose to work from. It's so dull. Then again, I could work on this more and get more of a likeness. Maybe I will. I already see things I'd change. The sketch, though was totally without tracing, which does make me happy.

 Final version of this one. I wouldn't have wanted him to be my sitter, at least not in this pose. His face is not very distinctive at least in this pose. He's a British actor of some sort; no idea who. I redid the whole thing but kept the original skin tone area which specifically did not match the rest, which I liked. Likeness is really hard with something so minimalist but I really like the simplicity. Guess it's not for every subject. Still, it was fun to play.

 Working on a portrait based on a screen capture from Portrait Artist of the Year. This was one of the sitters. I was having trouble with it when I suddenly just cut down the number of colors I was using and then it came together. Not quite done, I don't think but a lot further along than I thought.

 This is the final. There were minor tweaks done to the shadows, the shoulder and the mouth. It is not perfect, none of my stuff ever is. But I like it. It would look best at full size, which is 16x16 or even bigger. But the experiment did what I wanted it to do and I look forward to doing this again with another subject.

 I put out a call to friends on FB to help me get some portrait practice in. I've done tons of me, but I need to broaden my skills. The process I'd want to employ, were I any kind of professional, is to sit a person down with a video camera recording them and just talk. Later, I can go through and find moments that feel not only very much like THEM but which are a lot more candid, real and not posed. With Nick, there was a moment where he was explaining something animatedly with his hands moving about, though barely in frame. I really liked the addition of at least one hand as it helps to break up and balance the composition. The top is the pencil sketch done in Procreate. The bottom is the 99% finished final. I want to go over it for some final adjustments. The shapes were done in greyscale an then I overlaid a couple layers using colors got from a peach faced lovebird, one of Nick's pets. It made a great palette, I think. I'll post the final later but I'm pretty happy with this one.

 Coming up later in this track is another switch of style, though it was one planned all along. I wanted to capture some of the frenetic energy of the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" song in "Yellow Submarine." It was the only part of the movie animated like this and while it wasn't something I appreciated as a kid, I can find some beauty in it now. And, to be fair, I've been doing portraits in this kind of style for a long time. So I guess it made an impression. Just wanting to do a proof of concept, I took an existing image of Digby, inked it with a technical pen brush and then just kept the brushstrokes as loose as possible, assigning colors after the fact. I got what I wanted. I hope it adds a sense of movement, of dance when its done. Will also likely be looking for inspiration from the "Gotta Dance" sequence of "Singin' in the Rain," which is a part of that film that doesn't fit the rest at all. Time to have some real fun, I think, though the mice were a nice break from the more dreary parts with Silas.

 Finally finished another page. My pacing stinks on this comic. Messed a lot with the colors, so much so that there's almost no reference to the page before. But I want to get some color into this thing and while the mice were flashy, they were in primaries. The background was fun to stitch together and adds enough detail without its being a photo being a problem because of detail. 

 I've not been able to do my actual job in over 18 months. They canceled in-store classes not long after new year last year and since then, I've just been selling stuff. Yesterday, someone asked me to do a painting demo to show customers one of the cool things they could be doing on an iPad. Since I always have mine with me, I was able to use my own brushes and stuff which was fun. Didn't have many takers but I manages a fun little Vincent-like painting in about half an hour.

 This one took three tries. The first sketch was loose and the finished piece didn't work for me. The second one was too literal and felt dead, with nothing special. This one is more distorted and I like it the best. It's based on a French artist I follow on Instagram, Clement Louis. He posted a photo of himself, I grabbed it and decided to play with it. I'm waiting for the takedown notice. :D