Mcknik

somethin'

Snowy

Speedpaint - 30 min
(this one was a redo of an old painting that I really like, but felt I could do much better now, whenever I feel out of ideas I go back to sketches and paintings that I did a while back and try to revamp them, it usually gets the creative wheels a turnin')

mountain crevass

speedpaint - 40 min

New Character

Here's some ideas for a new character, which one(s) do you guys like best?

COLLABORATION!!!

Hey everybody. This painting was a collaboration between me and my good friend Mike Burdick. The original idea was Mike's, the final painting was done by me. This is a character named Johnny 2x4, he's waiting in ambush in a subway staircase, his friends are across the street in an opposite subway fighting some dudes.

Torgo

Here's some more for the same character, there's also some references in this one, more less putting my friends in there. See if you can spot em'.

Here's some studies for an upcoming character. There's some pretty blatant references in there, see if you can find em'.

Updated Linker

Slightly changed

Linker

Here's one I've been working on sporadically, I pretty happy with it so far, but there's always things to go back to.

Sith Chicka

This sexy vixen was an idea I had for a side project I'm workin on, and then she just sort of turned into a light saber wielding badass...

New one

Hey everybody, I hope all is well. This piece is another revamp like the last post, it's still in progress to a degree, but mostly just small tweaks here and there, since it's a fairly intricate image that is meant to be viewed on larger scale I included a close up crop of the figures in the piece, I think they'll read better at this scale. Well let me know what you think, thanks guys.

Robinhood

This one is a redo of one of the first digital paintings I ever attempted. It's subject is supposed to be robinhood at the end of a log bridge, over a river. I start with a sketch straight on trusty old wacom. Next I add value, this is a technique I've been using lately where I do an entire piece in gray tones, then add color with an overlay layer. After getting the value as good as i could I did a couple of overlay layers to establish the color ( I used some quick color comps to establish the look i wanted). The final touch was to go in with a normal layer and touch up colors and values, really just put the finishing touches in.

Giant tree place, thing

This is for a project I'm workin on with some friends, let me know whatcha think.

Robot Guard

This was a very spontaneous painting based off a sketch I did using the alchemy program, I exported the drawing into photoshop and this is the result.

The Submariner

Yup that's right I did a painting of Namor. This one I wanted to do a semi realistic painting of my person, but from my head without reference. So here's the process.

rip

here's 2 versions of the same image which one do you like better?

Vamp chick

Quick silos

here's some really quick sketches, they're all based on the same original sketch,just trying to develop interesting outlines.

TAG

Hey guys my friend and fellow artist Jeremy tagged me, http://jeremymelton004.blogspot.com/, so now it's your turn. Now I'm gonna tag 7 friends and continue this viscous cycle.


and they are...


Dave Swartz

http://fanboyillustration.blogspot.com/


Carl B
http://demonhand.blogspot.com/


Dave Chow
http://davechowillustrations.blogspot.com/


Alex Clare
http://alexandertheart.blogspot.com/


Mike Burdick
http://michaeleugeneburdick.blogspot.com/


Wesley Eggebrecht
http://www.artbywesley.com/

Jillian Pulford
http://jillianevelyn.blogspot.com/



Here are the game rules

1. You must link to the individual who tagged you and post the rules of TAG (which you are currently reading).


2. Post 7 random facts about yourself


3. Tag 7 friends and link to them and


4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a nice little message on their blog.


Here are my 7 facts


-I love Detroit.


-Good pizza is sure-fire cure for any ill.


-Alfred Hitchcock is a genius.


-My friends are very important to me.


-I like fresh snow.


-I thoroughly enjoy nostalgic highway drives in the fall.


-Art makes life tolerable.


Well thats it, have fun.

Cancel that last one...

I rushed that last one straight to hell and back, I shouldn't have posted it so quickly, but I guess I was excited about the sketch. Here's a finished version.

New Sketches

I'm going to paint these soon (hopefully), I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm also working on some character spreads but those'll have to wait till I've developed them more before they get posted.

finish

here's the final of that last image

speedy paint

This one is from a sketch I did along with the last painting I posted. its a speed painting maybe 30 minutes or so, I'll post the final as soon as its finished.

finish

rocket test speed painting

Lately I've been struggling with my work. I've come to realize, or in the least accept, that I need to put more detail into my paintings, at least in the context of seeking employment within the entertainment industry. The problem is that I would do thumbnails, color comps, all the usual shit, and then I would come to the point of a finished sketch, here is where the issue presented itself. I, for quite a while, was trying to add as much detail to a piece at this point in the process as I could. The struggle occurred because, for me, I would be come very subconsciously attached to this drawing and the painting step would consistently turn into coloring in the lines, I suppose I was apprehensive about breaking the boundaries and parameters I'd set in the drawing.

So I've put off painting anything for more than a month now. Finally, I feel I may have found a solution. I'm going to begin painting straight from the thumbnail stage, still doing comps and value studies, but avoiding a torqued to hell drawing. I'll go to a very quick "speed painting" and then continue to work out the detail throughout the painting process. I hope, and I emphasize the word "hope", that this will allow my paintings to achieve a believable level of complexity while still maintaining the feeling freedom and randomness that I admire in great paintings.

So this piece is my first concoction of this new experiment. It's still in the speed paint stage, but I feeling good about it. It's based off of a sketch that I did during my self-imposed painting exile, and there are also a few other drawings of similar subject matter that I'm gonna work with. -Gasp-

If you actually took the time to read this I'm grateful and surprised.
(unfortunately it seems as if the blogging frenzy that once was has greatly subsided)

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this, whether it's a similar problem, advice, or just a comment.

-Ryan

Sketches

Here's some sketch book pages I've been working on.

Bridge Revamp

Yeah I've been workin on this one for a few days, more or less i wanted to make up for the awful bridge image i posted a few weeks back. This was influenced a lot by syd mead.

ronin front view

This is a front view of a character i'm developing, his character traits where co developed me and Mr. C. Antoin. Basically he's a heroic asshole, everyone hates him but he's good at heart. Here's some of the statements that we came up with to describe is persona:
-gets laid a lot
-of asian lineage, but has travel everywhere, sort of a self-imposed exile, due to his hatred of every person and culture he encounters
-homewrecker
- subsequently he has hoards of illegitimate children
-jerk
-good fighter
-doesn't have manners
-can't decently interact with other human beings

I also felt that this guy would fit within the the last landscape I posted, maybe they're intertwined.

asian bridge

Queen pre-infection

Immigrant

Here ya go same story as the last few. I have sketches of the main character, but I'm still developing some variant costumes so hopefully I can post those soon.

Alien Landscape

Here's an alien planet from my Alice story

Queen Revised

Queen portrait

This ones a portrait of the central character from the previous post

queen sketches

I'm workin on a new idea. Think Alice in Wonderland/2001 A Space Odyssey. This some sketch work for the queen character.

Spidey cover

Gun+Girl=GunGirl

Landscape

uugh..

I can't figure out why blogger keeps uploading the color so wrong, anyways i did this piece because I couldn't sleep...at least the drawing is right

Katana

I'm Not Dead...yet

new piece, though I can proudly say this is not for thesis, because I'M DONE WITH THESIS.

NEW PAINTINGS!

here's the character study...

and here's the painting.

Threshold

Here's another one let me know what you think

Dude

Urchin

I know its been a while, I've been trying to work on the way I approach digital painting. Here it is, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

texture tests

#3
This was the last one i did, with this piece I tried to establish texture by making more or less randomly selected areas, then filling them with values and colors to make forms. So far this is my favorite technique, but I also like incorporating the textured brushes as well.