Dawn!
This is the second fantasy illustration in a story telling series. This is the second full illustration I have done in Photoshop and yes, you can say I bit off more than I could chew..

Self critique:

What did I learn?

I need to work on:
-Overall consistency. I think that is true for most digital illustrators because the tools are so varied and there are so many choices.

-Getting better at color mixing, badly, badly needed here, too much black over all!

-Better management of files, organizing, layering, etc

-Push for better lighting

-Getting to know my digital brushes, picking my favorite ones and using them for better overall consistency

-Work more abstractly first, before the form

It was only towards the very end I felt I was finally painting a little in Photoshop. When I first began the color/value lay out on this, looking back on it I should have layed everything out in pure color-not a gray scale layout. Color should have been addressed first, because there is too much black, not enough warms and cools playing off each other. I learned this while painting the small plein aire color sketches in Tahoe (see earlier posts)

Updates while on vacation. When i can, I try to work on my file while on my laptop. Dragons filling out nicely. Top head textures are from the King Cheetah, neck and cheek textures from a mackerel.

At 6:23. It's blistering here. I took a break to jump in the pool with Greg and Sienna. Running off to Mission Viejo for a birthday party....

Updates for Archer Illustration

Completely reworking the Archer illustration. Went back to the drawing board, creating better silohuettes, balancing values, telling the story with light. This is the underpainting.

Furious!

For a parent, nothing is more scarier than a child being kidnapped. Rue-an wants her child back, but Wee-bit wants her freedom because soon she will grow old and die. Furious! could either be Rue-an or Wee-Bit. Who will win?

The final illustration. Big thanks for my husband, Greg, who believes in me like no other, Greg Manchess, who gave valuable critiques thru email and who put up with me at Comic Con, answering relentless questions about painting for nearly 2 hours, (I was amazed that he did not kick me out of his booth) and also Dwight Wanhala who is my go to guy when I have questions about props. Also big thanks to James Gurney, whose blog has inspired me to work this way. I just met him last weekend and his seminar was very informative and inspiring.

Check out his new book called Imaginative Realism.

I ad the striping to the dragon and like it. Then I begin to flesh out my illustration.