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1
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2013 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: July 23, 2012, 06:02:24 PM »
It should be noted that the 8 x 10 inches is vertical or portrait oriented. 
2
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2013 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: July 11, 2012, 09:52:07 AM »
Yeah, I'm helping Maggie figure out where to publish this, and it looks like we are going to go back to letting Richard publish it at Cafe Press. Has anyone here ever ordered one of their vertical calendars? Like this one: http://www.cafepress.com/elfquest.188066915
If so, can you measure the actual image space for us?
Treefox and Maggie were interested in these calendar images not only being in panels like a comic, but actually being the usual comics dimensions. It looks like it works reasonable well with the CP vertical calendar (as seen in the link above - those are comics covers). I figure most of you should be at the idea stage at this time, but unless artists don't want to do a vertical format for some reason, plan on something around a comics page dimension.
If so, can you measure the actual image space for us?
Treefox and Maggie were interested in these calendar images not only being in panels like a comic, but actually being the usual comics dimensions. It looks like it works reasonable well with the CP vertical calendar (as seen in the link above - those are comics covers). I figure most of you should be at the idea stage at this time, but unless artists don't want to do a vertical format for some reason, plan on something around a comics page dimension.
3
Art and Elfquest / Re: Calendar Theme Discussion 2013
« on: June 12, 2012, 08:07:45 PM »
Updated my first post so those who are joining us just for the voting can see more detailed descriptions of the theme choices in the first post.
4
The Other Art Gallery / Re: Carol's Non-EQ Gallery
« on: June 01, 2012, 11:27:48 AM »I think I prefer the scaly, articulated armor skin style of dragon, too.
Hmmm... I like both types. There is definitely something visually interesting in taking real life reptiles as inspiration for scaly dragons, as I did above (Bronze is inspired by an armadillo lizard and Green in inspired by a green vine snake). But painting all those scales is a royal PITA! Not to mention it can look very busy visually. There is a lot to be said for the Pern-type dragon model, which I like too. I am not a huge fan of the overly muscled type that appears to be taking over D&D nowadays, though. I like to think that dragons should be able to fly without a TOTAL suspension of disbelief!
An example of why artists should not go crazy with the scaly dragons and make the picture too busy; a crop of my Brass Dragon. I still like the head design very much, but would have toned back the body scales a great deal. But these are some of my first professional fantasy art works, so I can't be too hard on myself.
A crop of my Blue Dragon. One of the problems I had working with gouache alone was overworking things and getting the colors all muddy. So I cropped out the worst of it.
5
Art and Elfquest / Re: Calendar Theme Discussion 2013
« on: June 01, 2012, 10:52:27 AM »
Glad everyone likes this - I thought it would be fun and give everyone a bit of an artistic push. So, are we ready for a poll? Anyone have any other theme ideas to add? Looks like it will be a run-off between only four themes - any other themes people think MUST be on the poll?
Startear: Your concerns about canon can come up no matter what the theme. Unless you are going to copy something by Wendy (which you shouldn't do), everything fan artists draw is conjecture. For the calendar, it just needs to be canon compatible.
Foxeye is well known for drawing unseen scenes for the calendar - not just the one Afke showed above, but there is also a beautiful one of Savah and Yurek. Eregyrn drew Cutter and Ember using the Palace to commune with Bearclaw and Joyleaf (also never shown). Most of the art for the calendar is like this. The Lorraine Reyes mini-comic I mentioned is also not specifically canon, but no one would doubt that the characters are totally in character.
I found Lorraine's panels online here, but it is longer than I remember. Still, it is a fairly good example anyway:
http://aerie.geofront.com/EQsub.html
Startear: Your concerns about canon can come up no matter what the theme. Unless you are going to copy something by Wendy (which you shouldn't do), everything fan artists draw is conjecture. For the calendar, it just needs to be canon compatible.
Foxeye is well known for drawing unseen scenes for the calendar - not just the one Afke showed above, but there is also a beautiful one of Savah and Yurek. Eregyrn drew Cutter and Ember using the Palace to commune with Bearclaw and Joyleaf (also never shown). Most of the art for the calendar is like this. The Lorraine Reyes mini-comic I mentioned is also not specifically canon, but no one would doubt that the characters are totally in character.
I found Lorraine's panels online here, but it is longer than I remember. Still, it is a fairly good example anyway:
http://aerie.geofront.com/EQsub.html
6
The Other Art Gallery / Re: Carol's Non-EQ Gallery
« on: May 27, 2012, 05:39:15 PM »
Thanks for the comments, guys. I just figured out where all the rest of my Fafhrd and Grey Mouser art went. See, the adventures of these two scoundrels always included a fair amount of swordplay and indulging in the pleasures of the fairer sex. All the art I did on those two subjects was bought for the personal collection of the editor. So I was left with the "tamer" pics. Startear, I'm glad the personality of the cat came through. In the story, she just invites herself on the adventure.
Here are a couple even older pics, done for Dragon Magazine if I remember correctly. These are all gouache. I don't like using that technique anymore because I think it leaves a sort of chalky texture and I like the glowing transparency of the watercolor. But these two are the best of my dragon series (which included most of the other D&D dragon species). This is really early D&D, before they standardized the look of the different dragon types.
Bronze Dragon
Green Dragon
So I was left with the "tamer" pics. Startear, I'm glad the personality of the cat came through. In the story, she just invites herself on the adventure.Here are a couple even older pics, done for Dragon Magazine if I remember correctly. These are all gouache. I don't like using that technique anymore because I think it leaves a sort of chalky texture and I like the glowing transparency of the watercolor. But these two are the best of my dragon series (which included most of the other D&D dragon species). This is really early D&D, before they standardized the look of the different dragon types.
Bronze Dragon
Green Dragon
7
Art and Elfquest / Re: Calendar Theme Discussion 2013
« on: May 27, 2012, 11:46:30 AM »
Okay guys, those in school (or teaching) should be on summer break by now or close to it - so let's get this theme discussion rocking! We've got to come up with a slate for voting so artists have the summer to plan their entries (who am I kidding - I've never had entries submitted before October LOL).
So far no one has contributed a new theme (please feel free to), but we've got some votes for having a couple previous ones back for another round:
Contrasts - 4 votes (definitely on the slate)
Teachers and Leaders - 1 vote
Courage - 1 vote
Rogues and Wildcards - 1 vote
Otherness - 2 votes (on the slate)
EQ Goes to the Movies - 2 votes (on the slate)
Maggie and I were chatting a bit and she expressed a wish for a theme that was "actiony" and involved storytelling. I agreed, especially as a change of pace after all the pinups, which were mostly character studies. Of course, any theme can be interpreted in a narrative action-packed way, but some themes demand it. As far as the theme listed above, I think Choices and Courage both require storytelling and likely Otherness would too. But in our chatting, I was commenting to Maggie that illustration is by definition storytelling, and I love our local illustration art gallery, called "Every Picture Tells a Story." So I got to thinking, what would a theme by that title be like? Here's my idea:
Every Picture Tells a Story
Elfquest is a comic - comics mean telling a story with art (maybe words, too) in panels. Why haven't we done that for a calendar!?
So.... each entry would be a single image made up of at least three, but probably no more than six panels. They can be arranged anyway you like but the total image must conform to the usual calendar size (or whatever size is chosen).
The story: any theme you like because the theme is telling a story! What kind of story - well, it doesn't have to be (and probably shouldn't be) too complicated. Just a little interaction between characters: something funny or sweet or violent or action-packed. An example would be Lorraine's submission to Warp for the Wild Hunt job (that was published wasn't it? I don't think I just saw that in person) - a single page with three panels (I think it was): Ember being thoughtful but someone's boots sneaking up along a branch behind her - then Skywise summersaults out of the tree and lands in front of her - her reaction.
An example from our own gallery here by Eregyrn (love this one):
http://www.elfquestfanart.com/index.php?action=media;sa=item;in=2665
What do you think - anyone interested?
So far no one has contributed a new theme (please feel free to), but we've got some votes for having a couple previous ones back for another round:
Contrasts - 4 votes (definitely on the slate)
Teachers and Leaders - 1 vote
Courage - 1 vote
Rogues and Wildcards - 1 vote
Otherness - 2 votes (on the slate)
EQ Goes to the Movies - 2 votes (on the slate)
Maggie and I were chatting a bit and she expressed a wish for a theme that was "actiony" and involved storytelling. I agreed, especially as a change of pace after all the pinups, which were mostly character studies. Of course, any theme can be interpreted in a narrative action-packed way, but some themes demand it. As far as the theme listed above, I think Choices and Courage both require storytelling and likely Otherness would too. But in our chatting, I was commenting to Maggie that illustration is by definition storytelling, and I love our local illustration art gallery, called "Every Picture Tells a Story." So I got to thinking, what would a theme by that title be like? Here's my idea:
Every Picture Tells a Story
Elfquest is a comic - comics mean telling a story with art (maybe words, too) in panels. Why haven't we done that for a calendar!?
So.... each entry would be a single image made up of at least three, but probably no more than six panels. They can be arranged anyway you like but the total image must conform to the usual calendar size (or whatever size is chosen).The story: any theme you like because the theme is telling a story! What kind of story - well, it doesn't have to be (and probably shouldn't be) too complicated. Just a little interaction between characters: something funny or sweet or violent or action-packed. An example would be Lorraine's submission to Warp for the Wild Hunt job (that was published wasn't it? I don't think I just saw that in person) - a single page with three panels (I think it was): Ember being thoughtful but someone's boots sneaking up along a branch behind her - then Skywise summersaults out of the tree and lands in front of her - her reaction.
An example from our own gallery here by Eregyrn (love this one):
http://www.elfquestfanart.com/index.php?action=media;sa=item;in=2665
What do you think - anyone interested?
8
Art and Elfquest / Calendar Theme Discussion 2013
« on: May 09, 2012, 05:56:35 PM »
Editing this first post for those who are just joining us for the voting! See below for more detailed descriptions of the theme choices
Its that time of year again! Even though I have officially retired from running the Calendar Contest, Maggie asked if I would do the honors and start off the theme discussion for the 2013 calendar. I think what has been decided is that even though we have a weekly planner calendar all the way until the end of 2014, those here are still interested in a 12 month calendar to go along with it.
So let's get talking about a theme!
To get you started thinking about themes, here are the past ones:
Past Themes:
2012 Pinups
2011 Hidden Moments
2010 Finding One's Place
2009 The Magic of Elfquest
2008 Favorite Moments
2007 Home and Family
2006 Elf Art Through the Ages (Art History with an Elfin twist)
2005 Beloved Dead
2004 Then and Now
2003 Celebrations
2002 no theme
Themes on the current ballot:
Contrasts: Day & Night, Young & Old, Good & Evil, Warriors & Healers, Starsong & Wolfsong - the Elfquest saga offers many studies in contrasts.
Elfquest Goes to the Movies: Very much like Elfquest through the Ages, except our favorite elves do Hollywood; iconic movie characters and/or movie posters or scenes. (This would be an awesome theme to have if and when an EQ movie comes out)
Every Picture Tells a Story
Elfquest is a comic - comics mean telling a story with art (maybe words, too) in panels. Why haven't we done that for a calendar!? So.... each entry would be a single image made up of at least three, but probably no more than six panels. They can be arranged anyway you like but the total image must conform to the usual calendar size (or whatever size is chosen). The story: any theme you like because the theme is telling a story! What kind of story - well, it doesn't have to be (and probably shouldn't be) too complicated. Just a little interaction between characters: something funny or sweet or violent or action-packed.
Otherness, inter-species relations: When the High Ones crashed on the WOTM, they were forced to relate to other species in a way they never dreamt of before. Humans, Trolls, Preservers, Bond Beasts, the Neverending. Throughout their history, the relationships have ranged from enemies, hunter/prey, to god/worshipper, to friend, and many in between.
Teachers and Leaders: A tribute to those who provide(d) guidance.
Its that time of year again! Even though I have officially retired from running the Calendar Contest, Maggie asked if I would do the honors and start off the theme discussion for the 2013 calendar. I think what has been decided is that even though we have a weekly planner calendar all the way until the end of 2014, those here are still interested in a 12 month calendar to go along with it.
So let's get talking about a theme!
To get you started thinking about themes, here are the past ones:
Past Themes:
2012 Pinups
2011 Hidden Moments
2010 Finding One's Place
2009 The Magic of Elfquest
2008 Favorite Moments
2007 Home and Family
2006 Elf Art Through the Ages (Art History with an Elfin twist)
2005 Beloved Dead
2004 Then and Now
2003 Celebrations
2002 no theme
Themes on the current ballot:
Contrasts: Day & Night, Young & Old, Good & Evil, Warriors & Healers, Starsong & Wolfsong - the Elfquest saga offers many studies in contrasts.
Elfquest Goes to the Movies: Very much like Elfquest through the Ages, except our favorite elves do Hollywood; iconic movie characters and/or movie posters or scenes. (This would be an awesome theme to have if and when an EQ movie comes out)
Every Picture Tells a Story
Elfquest is a comic - comics mean telling a story with art (maybe words, too) in panels. Why haven't we done that for a calendar!?
So.... each entry would be a single image made up of at least three, but probably no more than six panels. They can be arranged anyway you like but the total image must conform to the usual calendar size (or whatever size is chosen). The story: any theme you like because the theme is telling a story! What kind of story - well, it doesn't have to be (and probably shouldn't be) too complicated. Just a little interaction between characters: something funny or sweet or violent or action-packed. Otherness, inter-species relations: When the High Ones crashed on the WOTM, they were forced to relate to other species in a way they never dreamt of before. Humans, Trolls, Preservers, Bond Beasts, the Neverending. Throughout their history, the relationships have ranged from enemies, hunter/prey, to god/worshipper, to friend, and many in between.
Teachers and Leaders: A tribute to those who provide(d) guidance.
9
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: April 11, 2012, 05:59:37 PM »
It is official: the Weekly Pinup Calendars are DONE! All pinup and bonus art is in place, intro blurbs written, and everything proofread. Foxeye should have everything for 2014 posted tonight. She will also see if she can post the intro pages in addition to the covers. Foxeye will post when all three calendars are available for purchase at Lulu.
I will also officially announce it here (though I expect most people know already): After six years it is time for me to pass the calendar torch to the next group of dedicated organizers and formatters. I'll be around to give advice and be calendar judge (if the organizers want to have a judging panel), but I will follow my long-time collaborator and co-conspirator, Foxeye, into retirement from actually running things.
A big thank you to all the artist who throughout the years have made the calendars such a fun and successful project. In the time I've been involved, I've seen many of you grow from hesitant noobs to confident and capable artists. I have always enjoyed seeing what you came up with and how much you grow every year and still look forward to seeing what you do in the future.
I will also officially announce it here (though I expect most people know already): After six years it is time for me to pass the calendar torch to the next group of dedicated organizers and formatters. I'll be around to give advice and be calendar judge (if the organizers want to have a judging panel), but I will follow my long-time collaborator and co-conspirator, Foxeye, into retirement from actually running things.
A big thank you to all the artist who throughout the years have made the calendars such a fun and successful project. In the time I've been involved, I've seen many of you grow from hesitant noobs to confident and capable artists. I have always enjoyed seeing what you came up with and how much you grow every year and still look forward to seeing what you do in the future.
10
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: February 29, 2012, 09:50:21 AM »
Yes, bonus art should be posted, Startear.
I am not yet done tweaking the calendar. I am waiting on the last pinups to come in, because almost all of them are characters who don't appear anywhere else in the three calendars. If those really don't come in at all, some of the so-far unused pinups in the gallery will be made full pinups, some are already in the line-up as grid art but on a page that is still missing its pinup.
Like Foxeye said, we just wanted everyone to have a chance to enjoy what we've got so far before the handoff tonight. There are still more calendar pages coming and there may even be some tweaks to what has already been posted.
I am not yet done tweaking the calendar. I am waiting on the last pinups to come in, because almost all of them are characters who don't appear anywhere else in the three calendars. If those really don't come in at all, some of the so-far unused pinups in the gallery will be made full pinups, some are already in the line-up as grid art but on a page that is still missing its pinup.
Like Foxeye said, we just wanted everyone to have a chance to enjoy what we've got so far before the handoff tonight. There are still more calendar pages coming and there may even be some tweaks to what has already been posted.
11
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: February 15, 2012, 09:11:44 PM »
Hey guys, you think we can have all the art for 2014 in by the end of this weekend? Please? 
12
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: February 05, 2012, 10:05:19 AM »
And she is lovely!
Whew... sorry to be absent from the project this week, everyone. The start of the semester is always so busy - I check my email thinking to take care of calendar business and my inbox is stuffed with 30 emails from students who want to add a class that only has room for 20 and is already full anyway. Budget cuts are the worst.
So... back to calendar business. If you've emailed me this week, I haven't forgotten you! I'll try to respond to everyone today or tomorrow. I've got the last calendar formatted, I just need to plop in the art as it comes in and maybe rearrange so the pinup order looks good and varied.
I will be working on this last calendar in ernest starting tomorrow (Monday). So please everyone - if you can't get your art in today, try to get it to me this week at least! There is no back up plan - no calendar until all the art comes in.
Whew... sorry to be absent from the project this week, everyone. The start of the semester is always so busy - I check my email thinking to take care of calendar business and my inbox is stuffed with 30 emails from students who want to add a class that only has room for 20 and is already full anyway. Budget cuts are the worst.
So... back to calendar business. If you've emailed me this week, I haven't forgotten you! I'll try to respond to everyone today or tomorrow. I've got the last calendar formatted, I just need to plop in the art as it comes in and maybe rearrange so the pinup order looks good and varied.
I will be working on this last calendar in ernest starting tomorrow (Monday). So please everyone - if you can't get your art in today, try to get it to me this week at least! There is no back up plan - no calendar until all the art comes in.
13
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: January 31, 2012, 12:39:22 PM »
You'll get her done!
Mainly because there is no way I can enforce this last deadline. The calendar can't be formatted and published until all the last pinups are in. That is the facts, ma'am. I have no later years to draw from and shuffle around if artists don't get pinups done on time. We'll have enough pinups if everyone gets the ones done that they said, but if they are late I just have to wait for them.
I really do hope everyone comes through. Some of you improved so much as you were working on this project, so the 2014 gallery really has some wonderful stuff in it.
Mainly because there is no way I can enforce this last deadline. The calendar can't be formatted and published until all the last pinups are in. That is the facts, ma'am. I have no later years to draw from and shuffle around if artists don't get pinups done on time. We'll have enough pinups if everyone gets the ones done that they said, but if they are late I just have to wait for them.
I really do hope everyone comes through. Some of you improved so much as you were working on this project, so the 2014 gallery really has some wonderful stuff in it.
14
Art and Elfquest / Re: [Tools of the Trade] - Figure blocking / sketching
« on: January 30, 2012, 01:09:34 PM »
Oh, it is a real high tech method. Not.
I sketch on vellum, which is like a heavier tracing paper. Erases easily and doesn't get torn up. If the sketch gets too smudgy and dirty, another sheet of vellum can be laid over it and ya keep going. The vellum is why the scans above look smudgier than they really are - it often scans grey and I didn't do any correcting in PS.
There are two ways I transfer the drawing to the board, both extremely low tech and old school. If the drawing has a lot of detail to be transfered, I use a home made "carbon paper" method. I've got some sheets of vellum that I've covered in graphite. I have a chunk of soft graphite about the size and shape of a pink pearl eraser - a neat tool for shading large life drawing sketches, too - I just completely covered a few sheets of vellum with it. Put that on the illo board, the sketch on top of that, trace your outlines and voila! Drawing transfered. The sketch MUST be taped to the illo board while doing this. The home made carbon paper can be recharged and reused multiple times but is rather messy to store.
The pinups weren't very complicated, so I used an even simpler method for them. Flip the sketch on vellum over, trace drawing with a 6b pencil on the backside. Put sketch on illo board and use a burnisher to transfer the tracing to the board. You can also draw re-trace your sketch on the correct side with a hard pencil (I use a 7H) to transfer that 6B pencil to the board.
See, I TOLD you guys I am an old school illustrator!
I sketch on vellum, which is like a heavier tracing paper. Erases easily and doesn't get torn up. If the sketch gets too smudgy and dirty, another sheet of vellum can be laid over it and ya keep going. The vellum is why the scans above look smudgier than they really are - it often scans grey and I didn't do any correcting in PS.
There are two ways I transfer the drawing to the board, both extremely low tech and old school. If the drawing has a lot of detail to be transfered, I use a home made "carbon paper" method. I've got some sheets of vellum that I've covered in graphite. I have a chunk of soft graphite about the size and shape of a pink pearl eraser - a neat tool for shading large life drawing sketches, too - I just completely covered a few sheets of vellum with it. Put that on the illo board, the sketch on top of that, trace your outlines and voila! Drawing transfered. The sketch MUST be taped to the illo board while doing this. The home made carbon paper can be recharged and reused multiple times but is rather messy to store.
The pinups weren't very complicated, so I used an even simpler method for them. Flip the sketch on vellum over, trace drawing with a 6b pencil on the backside. Put sketch on illo board and use a burnisher to transfer the tracing to the board. You can also draw re-trace your sketch on the correct side with a hard pencil (I use a 7H) to transfer that 6B pencil to the board.
See, I TOLD you guys I am an old school illustrator!
15
Art and Elfquest / Re: [Tools of the Trade] - Figure blocking / sketching
« on: January 30, 2012, 12:34:34 PM »
I consider sketches like these to be disposable, so I am not careful. They are meant to get the idea down so it can be transfered to the illustration board and painted. If I am doing a drawing that will be in pencil in its final form, THEN I am careful and lay another piece of paper over it to protect already drawn parts.
I have a non-photo blue pencil that hardly sees the light of day, but that is because I have a phobia about inking. LOL My "inked" work is often just Photoshop darkened pencils (as it was for IABB). I think I only have two pics in my gallery that are actual real ink. But yes, non-photo blue is a wonderful sketching tool for those who inking their sketches.
I have a non-photo blue pencil that hardly sees the light of day, but that is because I have a phobia about inking. LOL My "inked" work is often just Photoshop darkened pencils (as it was for IABB). I think I only have two pics in my gallery that are actual real ink. But yes, non-photo blue is a wonderful sketching tool for those who inking their sketches.
16
Art and Elfquest / Re: [Tools of the Trade] - Figure blocking / sketching
« on: January 30, 2012, 12:14:50 PM »
Rough sketches NEED to be messy and intuitive. If you start out with a tight drawing right from the start, there is no "wiggle room," no way to correct things and let them evolve. Yes, I am a messy sketcher, but all the other artists I know in Real Life are just as messy. Now, my tiny thumbnails are often incomprehensible to anyone but myself since sometimes they are just a series of swoops, lines, and ovals. They would only make sense if you saw them with the final piece so you could tell what those swoops and ovals were shorthand for.
This link is to the Lackadaisy web comic site, drawn by Tracy Butler. I have nothing but admiration for her as an artist - wow, she is like Wendy in her mastery of expression and body language. But this link shows her blocking and sketching - just as scribbly and messy as mine! (though not as smudged - yes, I do have an abnormal amount of smudging on sketches that I am not careful with).
http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=356
This link is to the Lackadaisy web comic site, drawn by Tracy Butler. I have nothing but admiration for her as an artist - wow, she is like Wendy in her mastery of expression and body language. But this link shows her blocking and sketching - just as scribbly and messy as mine! (though not as smudged - yes, I do have an abnormal amount of smudging on sketches that I am not careful with).
http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=356
17
Art and Elfquest / Re: [Tools of the Trade] - Figure blocking / sketching
« on: January 29, 2012, 08:08:18 PM »
Once again, I mostly forgot to take scans as I was blocking out this year's calendar pics. 
But I did get a couple, so maybe it will be helpful to others.
Stage 1: Tiny, scribbly thumbnails - no scans because I always throw those away and I forgot to save them for this thread. Most of the time, they are done in the margins of faculty meeting agendas and stuff like that. When I say tiny, I am taking about 2 x 3 inches. It is at this stage where I have the movement lines for the whole composition.
Stage 2: Full size rough sketch. This starts out almost as rough as the tiny scribbly stage, but bigger. Note that I already had started to refine his torso before remembering that I needed to do a scan at the rough stage. This pinup is a bit atypical for me in that there wasn't any background to rough in; I usually consider the background to be much more than an afterthought. I also didn't include any sweeping compositional movement lines here and I almost always do.
Stage 3: Refining the sketch.
Stage 4: Finished sketch. Well... I don't have a scan of that. I actually transfered the above sketch to the illustration board at that point and finished the refining process there. Then I forgot to scan it before I started painting.
Stage 5, etc: Painting. I didn't scan any of that, but that is also not what this thread is about. However here is the finished pinup. You can see that I changed his hands and arms a bit between stage 3 and 4. I often don't have the details completely worked out by the time I start painting - I like to let it evolve on the board a bit so it doesn't get boring.
But I did get a couple, so maybe it will be helpful to others.Stage 1: Tiny, scribbly thumbnails - no scans because I always throw those away and I forgot to save them for this thread. Most of the time, they are done in the margins of faculty meeting agendas and stuff like that. When I say tiny, I am taking about 2 x 3 inches. It is at this stage where I have the movement lines for the whole composition.
Stage 2: Full size rough sketch. This starts out almost as rough as the tiny scribbly stage, but bigger. Note that I already had started to refine his torso before remembering that I needed to do a scan at the rough stage. This pinup is a bit atypical for me in that there wasn't any background to rough in; I usually consider the background to be much more than an afterthought. I also didn't include any sweeping compositional movement lines here and I almost always do.
Stage 3: Refining the sketch.
Stage 4: Finished sketch. Well... I don't have a scan of that. I actually transfered the above sketch to the illustration board at that point and finished the refining process there. Then I forgot to scan it before I started painting.
Stage 5, etc: Painting. I didn't scan any of that, but that is also not what this thread is about. However here is the finished pinup. You can see that I changed his hands and arms a bit between stage 3 and 4. I often don't have the details completely worked out by the time I start painting - I like to let it evolve on the board a bit so it doesn't get boring.
18
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 & 2013 Pin-Up Planner for Sale
« on: January 29, 2012, 05:54:08 PM »
Yep, Foxy, I was afraid that might happen. You see, I've been noticing as I format the calendars, when I pick a color for the titles I usually try to pick it somewhere off the pinup. But often times Photoshop will warn me that the color I am picking is "out of gamut for printing." What this means is that color is not able to be replicated by any printing process. Many, many of the digitally done pinups had colors out of gamut for printing. So they are not going to look just like they appear on a computer screen, which after all is glowing, backlit color that can't be replicated by printing, which is a reflective media.
Not being a digital artist I am not sure, but I would think that professional artists creating art digitally would always check to make sure their palette is in gamut if they are creating something that will be printed.
Not being a digital artist I am not sure, but I would think that professional artists creating art digitally would always check to make sure their palette is in gamut if they are creating something that will be printed.
19
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: January 29, 2012, 05:21:03 PM »
Okay, trying to get caught up here.
I've updated the bonus art list with Amberfox drawing Haze and Farbright and maybe Bowki. Wildfire's definitely drawing Haken. Startear, I had to search around, but I did have your bonus art of Minyah - so sorry, it was the first I received when this project started to include bonus art and it never got in the right folder! I'll try to figure out how to include it in this last calendar, okay?
A word on how I put together the composition, for these pinups and any drawing with multiple elements. I NEVER draw the elements separately and then try to resize, rotate, etc to get them to fit. I think of it as a total composition right from the start. Lots of small scribbly thumbnails to get everything working together and in proportion FIRST - no details, just blocked in figures and other elements. Once I've got that stage looking okay, I'll move on to a full size pencil sketch, starting rough and refining it. Once at that stage, occasionally I'll pull a pose out by tracing it and refine it separately, but how it fits in the composition at that point is a done deal.
I do traditional media (watercolor) and have been painting these pinups on a 12 x 12 board, but with the border I left they are about 11 x 11 inches.
I've updated the bonus art list with Amberfox drawing Haze and Farbright and maybe Bowki. Wildfire's definitely drawing Haken. Startear, I had to search around, but I did have your bonus art of Minyah - so sorry, it was the first I received when this project started to include bonus art and it never got in the right folder! I'll try to figure out how to include it in this last calendar, okay?
A word on how I put together the composition, for these pinups and any drawing with multiple elements. I NEVER draw the elements separately and then try to resize, rotate, etc to get them to fit. I think of it as a total composition right from the start. Lots of small scribbly thumbnails to get everything working together and in proportion FIRST - no details, just blocked in figures and other elements. Once I've got that stage looking okay, I'll move on to a full size pencil sketch, starting rough and refining it. Once at that stage, occasionally I'll pull a pose out by tracing it and refine it separately, but how it fits in the composition at that point is a done deal.
I do traditional media (watercolor) and have been painting these pinups on a 12 x 12 board, but with the border I left they are about 11 x 11 inches.
20
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: January 25, 2012, 10:06:37 AM »
Remember, I've got a separate bonus art list going in "Reply #3" of this thread. It overlaps a little with the master list if the character has yet to be drawn at all, but I do need bonus art of lots of characters who already have pinups. Check the list!
21
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: January 25, 2012, 09:57:26 AM »
Well, heck... we've got Amberfox, Branchscamper, and Wildfire all wanting to draw Haken! LOL Do you want to wrestle for it? I think Wildfire was the first to ask me, so I'll put her down tentatively unless you work something out between yourselves.
Yeah, I'm likely to be a little slow updating here for a bit, since the start of the semester is crazy for teachers as well as you who are students.
I think Wildfire was the first to ask me, so I'll put her down tentatively unless you work something out between yourselves.Yeah, I'm likely to be a little slow updating here for a bit, since the start of the semester is crazy for teachers as well as you who are students.
22
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: January 22, 2012, 03:27:14 PM »
Those who would like to do single pose characters for the calendar, I've once again hijacked the third post in this thread - for keeping track of who has signed up for bonus art this time.
I've pretty much tapped out the galleries here for art easily converted into art for the calendar grid, so there are more characters needing love this time. Just remember to sign up for bonus art too, instead of just doing it and then sending it to me. For the first two calendars I could "shelve" art for a following year, but this will be the last year so I don't want artists excluded because they did a duplicate.
I've pretty much tapped out the galleries here for art easily converted into art for the calendar grid, so there are more characters needing love this time. Just remember to sign up for bonus art too, instead of just doing it and then sending it to me. For the first two calendars I could "shelve" art for a following year, but this will be the last year so I don't want artists excluded because they did a duplicate.
23
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Fan Calendar Guidelines
« on: January 21, 2012, 04:31:05 PM »
I think I need to take a break from formatting these calendars, because I am starting to see pinups in my dreams!
I updated the character list in the second post on this thread. Everyone is now color coded as to what year they are in. For 2014 we have maroon-brown for those that are done and red for those who are still in progress. Yellow means that character still needs an artist, if that artist can get a pinup or bonus art done in two weeks!
So, everything for 2014 needs to be to me by Feb 4 or 5th. I can't believe the sheer amount of creativity displayed in this project, but this is the home stretch now! So far we are only half way there to a 2014 calendar!
I updated the character list in the second post on this thread. Everyone is now color coded as to what year they are in. For 2014 we have maroon-brown for those that are done and red for those who are still in progress. Yellow means that character still needs an artist, if that artist can get a pinup or bonus art done in two weeks!
So, everything for 2014 needs to be to me by Feb 4 or 5th. I can't believe the sheer amount of creativity displayed in this project, but this is the home stretch now! So far we are only half way there to a 2014 calendar!
24
Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Pin-Up Planner for Sale - Got Mine!
« on: January 14, 2012, 01:13:09 PM »
Oh.. and if the printing is shifted slightly to the red, then my already somewhat orange-skinned Skywise probably looks like the Palace gave him a sun burn. So he will go quite well with your radioactive Ember. LOL
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Art and Elfquest / Re: 2012 Pin-Up Planner for Sale - Got Mine!
« on: January 14, 2012, 01:06:25 PM »
OOoo yeah! Good job Foxy! You rock!
I'll probably wait to buy all three at once, one set for me and then another set to send as a gift from us to Wendy. Yay!
Oh... someone needs to have Richard post the link to Lulu on his Facebook page. There were a few on there wondering where they could buy it when we posted the link to the online version.
Well... off to post the info on EQ.com - not that anyone there seems all that interested.
I'll probably wait to buy all three at once, one set for me and then another set to send as a gift from us to Wendy.
Yay!Oh... someone needs to have Richard post the link to Lulu on his Facebook page. There were a few on there wondering where they could buy it when we posted the link to the online version.
Well... off to post the info on EQ.com - not that anyone there seems all that interested.