with or without outline test

waterTest As scheduled

As scheduled, I did a watertest.. going over iredia's water test, The effect isnt so bad, although, Im hoping to add some more colour.. the water seems to be missing something.



The result of this test was suprising, there was many people who loved it! And found it so amazing! Gave me a sense of pride, working on the only two teams doing 2D animation =) It felt as though we were actually getting somewhere! With that said.. Dissertation.. drained our souls with words... =_= ...never again will I write so much in one go... =_=
Heres the reference:

New Nymph Character Sheet

I made a few changes to the character from the original sketch Iredia did.
-The face is now properly proportioned - so that's now a perfect front view.

-The back of the side view and front has also been changed. I felt the back of his head needed to be more round to represent a skull? The shape before seemed a bit o so i made it rounder.

-As discussed, I have given the character a faded water look to give him a slight bit of texture.

-Ive also given him a tint of red..mahogany like texture to his eyes to bring some life out. His legs were drawn with a calligraphy brush, it not only gave a unique texture but also a very unusual shape =O

Forest PanShot Progress

Heres a close up of the level of detail there is in the foreground. In reference to Le Royaume , Howls Moving castle, and the use of filters influenced by Michelle!! The flowers have a total of 5 tones which gives it that paper like realism . I spent a good 3 hours on that one rock. It was a challenge that I brought upon myself to archive a professional skill in digital painting. I feel as though I've stepped up a level in Digital Painting purely through practicing and observing!!^^

Digitally painting tends to make peoples creatively stiff at first, but since I've spent so many hours in these softwares it really shows how fluent my brush strokes have become! Using 3 different painting softwares at once has made me gain more confidence in my skills, and the use of my graphic pen!

I was getting a bit lost in the tones of colours we were using, even with a colour palette, since the forest pan deals with the outdoor lighting it becomes more complex! Especially the forest area, in comparison to the empty-ness infront of the castle. I've discussed this issue with Matt our project leader and it seems as though I'm still on track, so there was nothing to worry about in the first place.

As decided, TEAM SMITTEN will be using a cutout filter for a more unusual style. Its also the border that combines my backgrounds and Michelles backgrounds together as one style. We remain challenging angles within wonky perspectives for a more abstract atmosphere. So the process of our planning is them extended, but the outcome truely outstands our past conceptual pieces. Heres The Forest Pan with different levels of filters, We've decided not to destroy the efforts of foreground detail, and dismiss parts of the sky so that the overall art isn't cluttered with the same filter. By using different levels of the filters, we archive a more 3D, FLESHED out background, instead of a pure paper cut out.

This is not the finished piece.

First Pan shot process...

WORKING ON THE TREES!! Its becoming a pain, but its getting there! since its been a long time since Ive painted trees, I'm having to refresh my memory by going through some tutorials, taking short breaks to research on existing paintings. I ha vent decided HOW I'm going to exactly paint these trees, since there are many styles in doing so. But anyways, here's what the scene looks like so far. I'm trying to get the level of detail in the front layers perfect for that impact shown in the gobelin films. If you look carefully at the bottom left hand side, Its working! I'm filling space up with different tones and more abstract shapes, to convey a populated grassy area =)

Rock Test!!

I've spent a few hours working on painting these damn rocks, good thing is, im actually getting used to painting with no outlines. Something I've always hated, even when I'm painting in fine art lessons. Its been a real pain, but now I've seem to slowly enjoy it =D

Im currently working on the flowers.. and Bushes to fill floor space up =D

Practice..Practice..Practice...

Trying to imitate digital calligraphy is no joke. Having to play with so many settings to try getting these strokes right is really beginning to turn into a pain. However, I believe WE FINALLY HAVE SOME RESULTS!!

Heres a practice I went through to get the grips of painting the narcissus flower. As you can see, I changed the middle of the flower similar to a narcissus flower. Theres a long way to go. But I'm sure we'll get there^^

I've been watching some video's on YouTube on calligraphy. Most of the videos are in Mandarin.. lucky i can understand a some, and actually read some subtitles in TRADITIONAL Chinese^^ The theory and mindset of actually applying the paint goes on very deeply. Its no wonder 9 year olds can paint like geniuses. It becomes an obsession!



Children being trained from young! Then effortlessly shame the rest of the world! How I'd love to go to such a meaningful art school =)

Heres a more in depth study of how people are supposed to apply paint to the massive paint brushes for that authentic effect.



It gets very complicated with the amount of water..ink... paint... n so on... on each PART of the paint brush. And WHERE to add more water ..(above or under) the ink/ paint. and HOW you would then apply this to the silk canvas/ paper. It makes me miss holding a paintbrush.. instead.. I have a stylus and smudgeguard on =) Working like a professional digital artist! (aiming to anywayz.) =D