Sunday, January 9, 2011

Hi! I've been busy working I promise! I just haven't been posting...so technically I have been doing "something" a day. Not a complete piece a day, but something.

I recently started a new job, and on top of my tutoring, the free time I have allotted to work on things for myself has dwindled considerably. That and I'm working on an animated music video. So, I am technically animating and things, but, its not something I can post on this blog.

As much as I would like to show you guys my light painting experiments, I think I'll hold off on those until the music video is complete. Instead, I'd like to present the newest background I am working on!





I am also doing backgrounds/artwork for a short flash game my friends and I are working on. I'm still fishing around. I made this sketch, and thought, it would work! However, as I started working on it, a certain style of background kept nagging at me in the background, so I decided to turn this sketch into a "one a day" assignment instead.

Shout out to to the ANIMATIONBACKGROUNDS blog where I found some phenomenal pieces from Winnie the Poo! I love the light watercolor washes detailed with inkwork on top! It feels so gentle and innocent, I LOVE it! So this is the style I've been trying to emulate here. I think I've been successful in capturing the "watercolor" look. Its still *obviously* digital, but allowing the white to see through and keeping my colors a little toned down and washy, I think that was the trick.

The pine tree on the right doesn't have that transparent quality that watorcolor needs...so I might redo it. Although I'm really happy with how it turned out...i think it stands out from the rest of the piece a little too much. It looks like its made of a different material. Winnie the Poo had no pines (as far as I can remember), so maybe i'll fish around for a watercolored pine tree as a source instead.

Definitely different from muramasa, which is very dramatic and heavy handed. I'm enjoying this particular style. I don't think its all that much faster, to be honest. Whereas in watercolor you can do much bigger and broader strokes, you have to be a lot more careful and selective with them. Remember, simpler doesn't mean easier!

Any comments, and critiques (except for on the anatomy of the house! Its meant to look a little stupid) are welcome!.

2 comments:

Tori said...

Hey Rachel!
I looove this background so far--- and I love the winnie the pooh reference for it :D How is the cintiq workin out? did you use a scan of a pencil drawing for this background, or did you do it all with the cintiq? i can't wait to see it in the end :-)

J. Mendiola said...

Fan brush? Hmmmm.....