Castle Town Ruins work in progress

 I want to document how I approached this in case I feel like revisiting the process.

Original sketch in pencil

First, map out the values. Keep everything as simple as possible and resist the urge to add detail.

Next, map out the hues. I referred to the in-game screenshots, yellow and magenta. Much like with the values, this should be as simple as possible. The hue should cover the entire shape to account for its space and mass.

Combining the hue layer with the value layer gave me the shades of yellow and magenta that I wanted. It is such a dark shade of yellow it is essentially a sickly green.

Underpainting: Circular rainbow prism pattern underneath (going for that Erin Hanson look)

Then, I painted OVER the sketch for optimized coverage. The base colors were sourced from combining the hues and values mentioned above. This is how I would approach it if it were a physical painting.

Just for funsies, I moved the painting layer under the sketch to get the lines back. The result surprised me! This is something you can’t do with traditional. I would have to go over the drawing again to keep the lines.

Where do I want to go from here?

I want it to look like Van Gogh, but I also want to keep the grungy, cartoonish N64 graphics that I accidentally ended up with. Spooky, stylized, and colorful.

Here is the original color scheme I would have used. It doesn't excite me that much, although I do like the overall mood. I am hoping to combine this with my more prefered version of the colors.

I learned something important from adding touch-ups to old artworks: only make small changes. They will add up over time while still honoring the spirit of the original. The goal is to keep the foundation that made the picture special in the first place. 

No color filters. 

No lowering layer transparency or it will become muddy and lose focus. 

Make every decision meaningful and intentional.

Ghost Trick tribute update

Original post here

A few weeks ago I started a sketch featuring all the characters but progress has stalled, mostly because part of me isn’t happy with it. 

Good news: I found the lost alternate version. Quite ironically, the version I uploaded to Deviantart was the actual “alternate” version. It was always meant to be in night-vision. Luckily I found the superior version stashed away in a folder full of slight alternate files that I couldn’t bring myself to ever delete. Sometimes hoarding is a good thing.

I’m not sure if I will still pursue the new sketch, but in the meantime I have taken to touching up the original artwork from 2011. All it took was a few edits to make a much more compelling image. 

Now, my idea is to draw another sketch referencing the touched up image. Essentially, an updated remake of the original, but still with the flair of new inspiration, seen above.

Kitties

Picking out the main colors for each family cat.

Nikki: Orange yellow, cream yellow
Molly: Cream yellow, orange yellow, ultramarine
Zoey: Sepia

Dante: Prussian blue

Beatrice: Yellow ochre, prussian blue

Walter: pale lavender, cream yellow

These might be wrong. I forgot. Lol

OC gouache practice

Left: Herrington the scottish fold (pale pink, cream yellow)

Right: Emily (primary magenta, light apricot)

Weston the scottish fold (deep yellow, light apricot (?))

Some gouache practice featuring my OCs. I have taken much interest in choosing colors for each character. These OCs have been around for a long time but until now I haven't considered them very distinct from one another. 

Goals:

• More cartoon-style, less anime (aiming for a 50/50 hybrid, with a hearty helping of vintage aesthetic)
• Give each character a distinct silhouette - they should be recognizable even if they were bald and naked.
• Each character gets a different skin tone. This is mixed with their hair color to create a cohesive color scheme. I put the last goal into practice for these paintings.

Memories of Zelda 64

I randomly felt like playing Zelda 64 and picked up right after opening the Door of Time. This was such a huge moment in my childhood, especially after being stuck on Jabu-Jabu for weeks despite using a walkthrough (yeah I wasn't that smart). The feeling of exiting the Temple of Time for the first time as grown-up Link and seeing what is left of Hyrule. It was an intense moment. I have so much to say about this game and what it meant to me, but I'll save it for another time.

Anyway, I felt an impulsive urge to start sketching the scene on my TV. Eventually I got so carried away I ended up drawing the tv, and the furniture it sits on. I'm hoping to color this at some point, but the joy of drawing was a fulfilling experience in itself.

Snowy owl

An experimental owl painting using gouache. I'm aiming for something believable, but stylized. I love adding abstractions and patterns. And sparkles! 

Ammonite Dante

Materials used:

• Bristol paper
• Acrylic gouache
• Metallic watercolors
• Gelly roll for fine details
• Posca for the highlights
• Sparkly glitter

This was a practice painting but I am so in love with the result. I recently invested in a small watercolor block for my more finished pieces. I am very interested in doing another version of this idea. Any excuse to draw this handsome lad!