Working in layers and the life of Trees

I wonder if anyone other than our fellow artists realize the time spent on bringing what we do to life. In an effort to save some of the time I need to devote to other things I've begun braving the pencilless sketch. Well not completely. My first Initial work up is with the pencil tool in painter with a medium grey tone that I then go over with the scratch board tool in black. Bypassing the pencil to paper, then scanning it in saves a lot of time.

My inking can take a few hours to a few days worth of noodling on it. I probably Spent a total of 12 hours inking this tree for OUWANGALAYMAH! My goal is to develop a few deeply detailed views of the tree to use in bits & pieces throughout the different scenes in which it is involved.

I then lift the layer to a watercolor layer and play with shadows using the oil pastel tool with a med grey. this is just to get an idea of what I want to do with form. Just a quick rough in really.

Then a quick test of color. Since the first scene in which the tree really makes an appearance is

at twilight, I've given my self quite a challenge, so again this is just to get an idea of what it will look like, not a finished piece by no means, but just a color test. I'm finding that the more I save each stage of development, I can make adjustments much more easily. But because of this, I sense an external hard drive in my very near future. Any way, More reasons to love digital media. It saves so much time over the struggles I have with physical media.

More Later! Thanks again for having a look!

found a new source of inspiration!

Just to show the benefit of Twittering, from a tweet by the great Bobby Chiu I found chris Oatley's site. what a great source of information and experience! I like to listen to something as I'm scribbling along, and so when I come across these podcasts by artists in the biz I like to glean what I can from what they've shared. So just passing along a like to Chris's site and hoping you find his podcasts as helpful as I am!

http://www.chrisoatley.com/CHRISOATLEY.COM/podcast/podcast.html

Be sure to check out all he's got available there on his site. great links as well to others with the same sharing outlook.

What the world needs.

Ouwangalaymah! the "Tail" of the Name of the Tree

Some times it's a kick in the pants. Sometimes it's an act of kindness, so seldom seen.

And Sometimes, an act of kindness is what it takes to get a needed kick in your pants.

Thanks to my fellow Blogerian Cynthia Narsisi.

For almost a year now, Cynthia has been a tireless Cheerleader, urging me on to accomplish my dreams of telling stories to everyone who'll listen. She blew me away today with an out of the blue blog post about yours truly! I can't believe! Wow! and then I figure she must have been at a loss for something to post about. :o)

But truthfully, I am so stunned and Honored! And so from this kind deed, I was Spurred to spruce up the ole Web site, and share Ouwangalaymah! The Graphic Novel (So far) with the world. Just when you start thinking, nobody is listening a ray of sunshine enters the window.

And along with this most unexpected boost to the morale I have to thank Aja Wells who is also assisting me with her perspective on the stories. How does anybody do this in the dark?

I can't imagine trying to forge ahead without the support of my friends in our Lil critique group. Thank all of you for being who you are!