Let me Throw my Art at You

Hello scribes! It occurred to me today that I've been a member here for like...four years? But I've never posted much of my artwork. That's a blessing considering my early work, but now I feel pretty confident in my skills. My tablet's on its way out so I probably won't be posting regularly until I get my new one, but I have a couple of older pieces that are pretty cool.

Here's a recent sketch of Tomrin, the main character of my epic fantasy project. I've posted a picture or two of him before, but his design has changed a lot over the years.

 

Here's another I'm pretty happy with--a concept sketch for the merfolk in my urban fantasy project, Sea Glass.

 

Thank you, Sheila!

You hit the bullseye--Tomrin is 19, outgoing and adventurous, and if he existed in our world he'd probably be Pakistani. His people migrated northwards from a desert climate and settled a temperate coastal region, creating an empire that expands into the colder, mountainous north (where Tomrin was born). I agree that some contrasting colors would look good with this outfit, maybe some burnt orange or red-brown. I've used the same color palette for his clothes for a long time and i think it's time to mix it up a bit.

 

Thanks, Nim! Experimental Era Disney and other 2D animation of the late 90s/early 2000s were what I was exposed to early on, and my style still takes a lot of influence from that era. Dreamworks animation especially.

Aha, Tornin makes another surprise appearance! I find myself almost typing his name a lot when I mean Tomrin.

 

Hey Dragon! It's awesome that you're expanding your horizons with your art, and I wish you best of luck! I have on-again-off-again phases too...Art is more of a cycle than a linear process, and each time you go through a cycle you come out better than before.

I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil, but I didn't really start in earnest until I was about 11-12. I took an interest in figure drawing and began focusing on developing in that direction. It's taken me about 8-9 years in all to get to the point where I am today, though the last 2-3 years I've had more of a focus on refining my personal style.

I also learned color theory and lighting principles a little late, since a lot of my early stuff was either flat inked lines or pencil sketches. I hated colored pencils and watercolors, and I couldn't afford nice markers, so I left all my earlier art uncolored.

In the last 3 years or so I've also taught myself digital art from scratch. A lot of artists my age started using tablets earlier but it just wasn't affordable for me. This has also been a huge learning curve, and I'm starting to see a pretty distinct improvement in my digital pieces, even compared to ones from this summer.

So yeah, art is a neverending process! I'm still in the process of developing my skills, and every time I create something new I learn a little more. Just have fun and try new things!

 

Today I was revising The Lute Player, my top scribe xii story, and I was doodling some characters from it. Here's Ame-Tuvan, the princess of Phenajj. I got an Intuos recently to replace my dying Bamboo, and it's amazing!

 

Whew, I haven't posted anything in so long!

My art hit a wall recently with regards to my lineart style--I like my hard, crisp lines but they were just too hard on my hands and wrists (I have some not-insignificant tissue damage that causes pain/shaking). I started experimenting with the brush tool in Paint Tool SAI and it's a godsend. Enough definition to look polished, but it allows me to pull lines in a loose, organic style I've found is hard to capture digitally.

Anyway, these two are both of Dante, the main character of my novella WIP, Sea Glass. He starts life as a mercreature but during the course of the story becomes human, which causes a cascade event of magical disturbances as the land and sea are thrown out of balance. I enjoy creature design and I think a lot of the variations on merfolk in media don't live up to the potential of the mythos--where are all the alien, animalistic merfolk that are adapted to a completely different environment than us, and don't look or act human in the slightest? There are so many stories to be told about the things that live in the deep.

 

Thanks, Ban! I'm considering taking on cover commissions, and in the meantime I'm working on an illustration for a friend's sci-fi novel. With more time on my hands now that school's out for the summer, I'd have more time for commission work.

 

It's been a minute since I updated this thread. This semester kicked my ass, so I haven't been doing much personal work. Here's a quick character concept I turned out today--I'm in the middle of reviving and updating an old project (Arilisee), and this guy's look needed an overhaul. This is Ariahd, a sorcerer and court painter who is definitely not secretly a dragon.

 

Thanks! I was definitely going for a comfortable look--Ariahd's not a big fan of stiff, ornate clothes that are hard to move in.