Mother's Day and Livestream

I disappeared for a while, I know. Part of that was Spring Break last week, and this week I've been all over Dragon Age 2. It's been a lot of fun. But there are a couple updates to make.

I've started a new painting. It's a Mother's Day gift for my grandma, commissioned by my mom. We've still got a while before Mother's Day comes around, but I wanted to get the brunt of it done last week while I was babysitting. Ignore the hair blob. It's just a placeholder. It's not even the right color. I think I have more work to do with the face and eyes, too. For some reason it just feels very unnatural. Give me some time; I'll work it out. Most likely, it's because I've had to fill in a lot of details from my own imagination because I'm working from a blurry black and white photograph.

Also, I have a Livestream account and this painting was the first (successful) test. So you can watch the process of the whole thing here, if you've got six hours laying around. And if you don't, you can skip around. I apologize for the Pokemon and conversations with an 8 year old going on in the background... like I said, I was babysitting at the time, and I didn't realize when it was on screen view it would still record audio. And again, it's unfinished. Expect more later.

Speedpainting: Dia Frampton

Tonight as I was browsing I came across some fantastic concert pictures of Meg and Dia in concert. In the face of an unfinished presentation for class first thing in the morning, I knew I had to at least give a whirl at a quick painting.

Ultimately, everything went better than expected. To date, every painting I have ever attempted without laying down a sketch first has resulted in disaster. This painting began to head south once I tried painting her other eye which was half hidden in shadows and hair, so I cropped it in real close to what I had finished and called it done. That means this picture is significantly smaller than what I'm used to producing, but oh well. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I think I'd like to experiment further with alternative color schemes. They're just so expressive and fun.

Also, Blogspot won't upload my picture for whatever reason, so you're going to have to deal with a small thumbnail. If you click on it you can see the full size. Enjoy!

Amanali Mahariel.

Elfelfelfelfdalish.

So, continuing my Grey Wardens project, here's number 4 out of 7 (that last number is subject to change... depending on how much fun I have with this). Honestly, I don't love the picture. I think the composition is boring, and I really didn't capture the smirky goodness the way that I hoped to. Instead it just looks like... a weird studio portrait. Y'know. Of an elf with tattoos on her face.

Speaking of the tattoos! They're just so much fun to paint. That's why all of my characters have facial tattoos. IMHO most of them are pretty ugly in game, but with this style of art they look great and they're my favorite part of the drawing process.

Other things. I'm proud of the shirt and the shading, and I'll bet you didn't even notice it. I was worried about how I would pull off the hair style with the weird little pieces. With any other color that would be easy, but black obscures form. So. I didn't quite use black, but almost black. That way I could include some subtle shadows. Did I mention the tattoos were fun?

Stock reference. ZOMG Star Trek to Dragon Age. Who knew?

Other Wardens: Apollo Cousland, Rhea Amell (black and white), and Skadi Aeducan.

Apollo Cousland and an update on Rhea.

Well! Yesterday I drew Apollo Cousland (his dog is named Husker- hur, hur, hur), which means I'm on track for drawing one Grey Warden a day. 6 1/2 hours on this one, so not as fast as I would like, but still.

Muscles. Interesting challenge, and I think I did alright with it. Hair was also a challenge, since it was largely without a reference. I'm happy with the shading, not as happy with the braid. But I couldn't figure out how to make it look better. :/

A bit about Apollo: Very much your typical budding lordling. Charismatic and talented in many different fields, he comes across to most as an exemplary human being. However, being raised faithful to the Chantry he has an inherent distrust for magic. He also loathes the lower classes, and often exhibits cruelty or a snide attitude towards them. Even though ultimately he will do the right thing (and be seen by many people doing it, of course) he will occasionally fight dirty to get his way.

I've sort of shipped him and Rhea in my mind.

These are the references for the head and the body.



Also. The night after I drew Rhea I realized to my everlasting horror that she was supposed to be black and I forgot. So. I fixed it yesterday. Allow me to present: what Rhea REALLY looks like! XD



Other finished Grey Wardens: white Rhea Amell, Skadi Aeducan, and Amanali Mahariel.

Rhea Amell

I have a problem. Every time I start a piece I think it'll take me two or three hours. No. It doesn't turned out that way. Seven hours on this today. Sigh.

Anyway. This is another Dragon Age fan art, my human mage Grey Warden. I've kind of been on a Warden-making spree the past couple of days, and it's really been a lot of fun. Naturally, I want to eventually draw all of them, just for the pride of it. 4 out of 7 done (the others being Skadi Aeducan, Apollo Cousland, and Amanali Mahariel). I'd like to hope I can do them all this week, but considering the amount of time this one alone took, that's not a very realistic goal. Still, we'll see.

This was an unusual approach for me, and honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I started it as a drawing, but wanted it to be more than just grayscale, so I added color. I didn't want it to turn into a painting, so I did the next best thing: a poor attempt at cell shading. I'm brand-spanking-new to the technique, so if anyone would like to give me critique or pointers, I would be grateful. Obviously, the hair went a little overboard. Still, I'm happy with the way it turned out. And the eyes and teeth are just plain painted. Other than that... yeah. Not sure what else to say. Help plz.

Reference image.

(The following may not make much sense if you haven't played the game.) A little bit about Rhea Amell: angry Chantry-hater sums it up pretty well. She's always resented her captivity within the Circle and believes that magic should be free in all its forms- including Blood Magic. Naturally, she has trouble getting along with anyone who frequently exerts their faith in the Maker. She's not afraid of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, and has a lot of compassion for underdogs who live by that same code. She was thrilled to join the Wardens for the chance to live free of the Chantry, and is fiercely loyal to her new calling.

Watch for more Wardens. <3