Art by Erika Taguchi-Newton

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Must sketch! 9.28.09

Another 3/4 portrait for this day's sketch.

Mine:

The eye pupil ended up being a little off. Looks like she's looking at 2 different things.

Lina's:


Dean's:


Reference from deviant-caroline:

Monday, September 28, 2009

Must sketch! 9.25.09

This post was suppose to be Friday, but things have been hectic. It's only a few weeks away from the wedding. Plus I'm trying to get a painting done for a Halloween show. So, yes, hectic... Friday's reference was a simple portrait. Since we've been doing bunch of full figure poses, thought it would be a nice change.

Mine:


Lina's:


Dean's:


Photo reference by skyleaf-stock:

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Must sketch! 9.23.09

Yesterday was a bit of an odd day for everyone so the sketches might be coming in slowly. Or not... No worries, that's ok. This is suppose to be fun! I couldn't resist choosing yesterday's reference, I'm a sucker for warrior women poses. We need more Xenas, Red Sonjas, Sorshas! (Yes, I own couple of swords and a bow). This pose has a crazy fore-shortening going on with the thigh/knee - awesome challenge.

Mine:

Don't know what happened but I ended up turning it into a cartoon style. I guess animation, my first love, was on my mind yesterday.

Hopefully more sketches to come...

Reference is from senshistock:


UPDATE 9.25.09:
Lina's:


UPDATE 10.2.09:
Dean's:

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Must sketch! 9.21.09

I like to apologize to the contributing artists for the reference photo I selected. It is very blurry, but I think it's such an awesome pose it was worth the eye strain.

Me:


Lina's:


Dean's:


Reference is from sitara-leotastock:

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Must sketch! 9.18.09

Another artist buddy joined in on today's Must Sketch project! It's so cool to see the differences in our styles and how we look at the subject. Reviewing these differences is making me really analyze my sketching technique.

Mine:

I think I made her bangs a little too puffy.

Lina's:


Dean's:


Today's reference is from octoberjoy:


(I started Must sketch! project so I would force myself to sketch for no other reason than to just sketch... maybe I should have called it "Just sketch! project". If you are reading these posts, critiques are always welcome.)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Must sketch! 9.16.09



Today's reference is from mrsdollaway-stock

I recruited my friend to join me. Here's Lina's:


Very nice detailing on the corset!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Must sketch! 9.14.09



The reference for this sketch is by amliel.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Must sketch! 9.11.09

I've been doing some spring cleaning (in the fall), and came across some old sketches. I realized that my current sketching exercises are really lacking. The sketching I do now is to plan a final piece. I have forgotten to sketch just to sketch. And the consequence of that is that my current sketches are stiff and lifeless. So I'm taking a cue from a fellow Floridian illustrator (Emma's Daily Sketchbook) and post sketches up every other day. (She does it daily - she's superhuman!) My plan is to take a Deviant Art stock photo of that day, and sketch! The sketches may not be pretty some days but this must be done.

And I'd love some critiques and advise on good sketching techniques. Thanks!

Today's sketch is from faestock:



Critiquing myself, the face ended up terribly skewed. I'm starting to think I have a dominant eye...

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Night and 'Leth

Night

This is a piece I'd done few years ago. It was black & white watercolor, and I just updated by colorizing in Painter. I like the effect very much. I will have to experiment some more.

These are characters from a story I've been developing on and off since high school. Maybe it's on again...

I am also posting this for Illustration Friday theme - "Strong".

BTW - that's my fiance modeling for me, isn't he burly-licious! :)

Monday, September 7, 2009

Curiosity Update - Painter experiment

My good friend Dean convinced me to keep going on this piece. It's got great elements to practice in Painter - the beard, books, colored glass, etc. I just finished detailing the old man's face and shirt, and about to start on the beard. I'm enjoying all the different light sources - the yellow from the window, the blue reflective light from the jar, and some soft warm light source in front/left of the figures that you can't see. Maybe candles or lanterns. Got to keep in mind that there's also reflective light coming off the table.

WIP - Curiosity (Closeup)

Note to self on painting beard - remember that there is a face underneath it, and that it's not just a nest of brush strokes. It has peaks and valleys, just like hair on top of the head, just more bristly. Ignore the urge to start painting the strands and highlights, get the shapes first. Think about how it would look if the beard was sculpted.

WIP - Curiosity (Flip correction)

Something was bugging me about the boy. Flipping the artwork helps me see my problem areas. In this case, the crown of his head wasn't high enough. I really should flip artwork earlier in the process.

Dean also suggested I post my progress, so I will try.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Curiosity - My first attempt at Painter

WIP Curiosity

I decided to finally try out Painter and do a digital painting. Not quite what I had in my head, but it was a good practice piece. It's not complete but I'm going to move on. This is really not what I wanted to do. I didn't really mean for it to come out so "realistic", but instinctively I always want to achieve realism. As a teenager, my goal was photo-realism. But I find my realistic style so boring that I now fight with myself. This time I was paying too much attention to how the software works that I didn't put up much of a fight. It didn't help that I ended up relying of photo references so much. Oh well, tomorrow is another battle!

This piece is also for Illustration Friday theme - Magnify. I really enjoyed painting the magnified eye through the glass.

(Elderly man reference)