Click artwork to see a full sized version.
Yesterday I had terrible artist block and it took me about 4 hours of frustration staring a image just to be unsatisfied to just to start over. Finally a hour before I needed to go to bed, this wild silly image appeared (yes that was a Pokemon reference, I’ve had too much caffeine). I envisioned this little bear fishing on a boat, minding his own business when suddenly a octopus attacks from behind. I’m getting more comfortable with value painting as in the past I created my artwork mostly in line like a comic strip. The reason I have been avoiding color in my value paintings is that color has little effect on value. Don’t believe me? Here’s proof. I want to make sure I understand value %100 before even attempting color in this format. That’s why many professional concept artists put a desaturation layer on top of their paintings to check their color values!
Name of Painting: Who’s Catching Who? (Giant Octopus Attacks Fisherman from Behind)
Copyright 2013 Maugryph
Painted in Autodesk Sketchbook 6
This value painting took about 3 hours
January 30, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Hey, thanks for the like. I like your works too, don’t mind me following you
January 30, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Thanks Irenalie for following my blog
January 31, 2013 at 8:40 am
You’re welcome
looking forward to the comic heheh..
February 4, 2013 at 11:10 pm
sure. thank you
January 30, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Your artwork is really special. Thanks for visiting and the like of my post “Freezing Drizzle Lands”.
January 30, 2013 at 9:10 pm
Thank you so much Iamrcc. I do enjoy your photo blog.
January 31, 2013 at 12:02 am
That is a fantastic, beautifully executed scene… Have you thought about maybe selling prints?
February 4, 2013 at 11:10 pm
Thank you so much Killaties
Prints are for sale on my deviant art account if your interested http://fav.me/p32017736. But that’s a good point, I forget to upload the links of my shop to my blog.
February 3, 2013 at 10:04 pm
Again, very good values! Funny as heck, and good storytelling. It’ what art reps and art directors look for. You trying to get into movie or video game production? Illustratively, it can pan off in that direction.
February 5, 2013 at 2:43 am
Thank you so much. Yes I am very inspired by concept artists and designers that make production art for games and movies. I’ve always love how bold and readable concept art is, and how it tells a story to the viewer so clearly. I’ve been doing this in hopes that I improve my skills as illustrator. I want to paint stories, in a sense. Roger Dean’s album art is also a inspiration to me.
February 4, 2013 at 3:11 am
First time visitor and no art expert, but I was struck by the dramatic style of your work. The bear in the boat reminded me of one of Scarry’s animals, because of the clothes, hat and his facial expression, whereas the looming octopus reminded me of 1950s horror film posters. I liked the two together in this, it is atmospheric, ominous, though perhaps could be more so if the octopus was a little darker, depends how much foreboding you were aiming for.
Interesting what you said about value, it challenged me to learn a bit. It turns out value was better known to me as tone and I agree it is worth getting right this way before layering in colour. Will come back and learn some more no doubt.
February 5, 2013 at 2:28 am
Thank you GrowTigger. Thank for the input about the octopus, He needs a bit more refinement. I will fix it when i color it in the future. My mind was blown when a concept artist taught to me about value/tone and how it effects color (instead of the other way around). It was a game changer for me and I have been improving substantially since then. Also learning about the importance of core shadows and bounce lighting and how they effect forms was a revelation as well. It boggles my mind is that these where never mention in any art books i purchased throughout the years. I learned more from going to forums and watching video tutorials then in the art classes I had taken! I just begun to start drawing by thinking in forms, values and perspective. I was more of a cartoonist in the past that painted mostly in line and flat colors.