Painting Tidbits

One of the wallpapers I use on my computer is a really nice, Ghibli-esque digital painting of Outset Island -- I was recently inspired to try my hand at recreating it in acrylic.

One technique I am beginning to get more comfortable with is color blending -- specifically, using a palette knife and color theory to mix up the colors that I want to use on the palette, rather than trying to do so with the brush.

With this painting, I began be masking off the horizon, and blocking in the sky. I really like how my clouds came out! After painting a white base and shading in some greys, I used a veeery light blue across the bottoms of the clouds to suggest reflected light from the water, and also unify the composition a bit.

Next, it was time for the ocean, and then the rocky background.

I was inspired to paint this recreation of another wallpaper I use on my laptop. I don't know the original artist, but I'm absolutely in love with the gorgeous, vibrant colors used, so I set out to try my hand at a version using acrylics. (The last picture included here is the original, digital art)

As you can see, the first picture I have is pretty far into the creation. I often have this problem when I'm flowing on a project...

It's a lot like photography, another hobby that I enjoy greatly. Sometimes, I'm so engrossed in enjoying the present that I don't want to step away to document it.

But, the silver lining is that you can always tell I had a blast working on a project when I struggle to find pictures halfway through it!

This 3D print to paint project was for a Halloween costume (now just wall art). If you don't recognize it, the mask comes from a character in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I found a model for the mask online, and printed it out in two halves, which I then glued together.

The only challenge with the painting was the masking (ha). After doing the white sections, I masked them off and did the blue section next.

I wasn't able to get a very clean line between the colors, despite all my masking efforts, but thankfully I was able to "hide the crimes" effectively: a black wash in all the crevices achieved a more weathered look, and hid up all my painting lines.

I'm fairly new to watercolors, or at least it feels that way. It seems like I'm still figuring out how to work with the medium and achieve results that I'm happy with.

But, enjoy some of the good ones here! I'm hoping to break through one of these days.

(I've also included some of my references, where applicable)

I painted my cat.

I mean, I painted a picture of my cat. Lincoln wasn't harmed in the making of this.

Now that we have a second cat, I've got to get working on another painting so she doesn't get jealous!

My first foray into painting miniatures. As it turns out, it's really fun! But very time consuming.

Getting small details like the orange highlights on the chest and eyes were extremely delicate; I think I used about two hairs on the paintbrush to dot these in.

(Again, apologies for the lack of mid-process pics -- I was completely in the zone!)