Speed Challenges and Inspirations

I've been keeping up with some online speed challenges and playing with some different styles. Here are a few:

Video: Speed Painting of Dragons Layer

Challenge: Snow Covered Landscape

Challenge: Mythical Creatures: Elves (Tolkien)
Inspiration for style: Pascal Campion

Challenge: Dragon

Just finished hanging this collection at the Manx, on Elgin Street. It's there until the end of December. Most pieces are pyrography and acrylic on birch, except for the puppies, they are on spalted maple. I picked up these glass eyes in Paris last month, they've been fun to play with. 

for a girls room

peep hole

landing

batting, 2

feeding

kit in a bowl, 2

kit in a bowl, 3

Here are a few 2 minute costume sketches I did in life drawing class for Introduction to Concept Art this year. 

Great class! Really cemented my commitment to continue field sketching and life drawing. 

 Life drawing is like meditation; you can't go into it thinking too much about the outcome, it's about the state of mind.

 You have to do it for you (to become a better artist) not for the drawing.

And you have to have a completely different attitude to paper.

Because a lot of what you will do is a complete waste of space, at least, for a while

I am trying to stay in the habit of field sketching and life drawing. It should be a way of life for artists. Heck, people. It's good for your brain! 

Here's a few traditional pieces. Some of these will be available through my Etsy shop, Animalier, as prints when I have it up and running. Most of these were done for a show at Trio Lounge this past year. I'll have all new stuff up at the Manx Pub in December.

This piece was a commission for my friend's nursery. It was a lot of fun. I really love doing things for kids. Somehow, it's very liberating.

These are some sketches from the Barcelona Zoo. 

The hyenas were by far the best subjects. They sleep in contorted piles. It is a dead sleep.

This piece was a labour of love. Actually, it was homework, but the assignment was to do whatever I wanted.

Two characters for 80's themed movie genere

Final alien in collage/paint assignment

Cover of the 2010-11 collection of student artwork for Pre-Animation and Illustration (where I gots some mad skillz) 

Progression of space pirate. At each of step I roughed out at least five options, these are the ones that stuck and the different ways I looked at them before colour.

Here she is with her steed.

Another homework assignment for life drawing. From photo and mirror, painted in Photoshop. I added skin texture as a final step. Used painting masks to keep edges looking clean but painterly. Learned that from Matt Kohr: http://www.ctrlpaint.com/alternative-masking-pt-2/