Portraits are a great way to practice so many things: Let's start with the facial expression. Only small nuances of change in the eyes or in the edges of a mouth are able to switch the whole facial expression. Painting portraits over and over again helps to get this right. In addition to that a human face or the skull underneath the skin with all it's muscles is a complex geometrical form which results in different areas of light and shadow. Understanding for example where the check- or jawbones lie is therefore essential! The position and size of bones are also defining if a person looks more asian, european etc. And don't forget about the hair! In fact it is the most simple geometric form: A line. Still so many people struggle drawing hair. The reason for this is that the task is to create the illusion of volume and light reflections. Portraits are the best way to train that.
And finally when I do portraits I also paint a part of the clothes. So it is also a nice little excercise to understand the folding of clothes and what light reflections it creates without getting to excessive on that.
In this video you will find my newest portrait. This time I chose yellow as the base color and created everything around it. The green shirt gives a nice contrast without disturbing the whole picture too much. Enjoy watching!
***But before we start:
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This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
In the subscription-only section you will find another video with my audio comments on this piece. In addition to that I will provide a list of materials I used.
Welcome back to the second part of my Koi Fish Triptych. Today I will show you how I create the second Koi. Every fish will be on a seperate piece of paper. The aim is to frame all fishes (once I painted them) and hang it on the wall as one scene. This alone is something I haven't done before but on top of that I am celebrating another “first”.I am going to show you how to paint a Koi via live stream. It was recorded on Sunday 26th, 2020.
I am planning to do more live streams – in case you missed this one – and I will upload these videos on Coil and Cinnamon. So if you want to join me, you will have to grab a piece of paper and fetch your pencil, a black fine marker and watercolors or you can just watch and hang out.
But before we start:
This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
Already my seventh portrait! And I am doing big steps towards where I want to get to. I chose again to make strong outlines and combine watercolors with colored pencils. This is my first portrait with the Fabriano paper, though. What a difference!
It appears to be way easier now to block in the colors and to create a smooth layer of one color tone. I also don't get these patchy edges with this kind of paper anymore. This is my new favourite! One thing I didn't know: This paper has an expiration date (it's not written on the product): Every sheet of paper is covered with a coating which is the reason for these great attributes. So don't waste time to use them. You will see the exact product information in me subscription-only content along another video where I explain to you the single steps I took.
In my video you will see me painting this piece of art.
**But before we start:
**
*This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
*
It's weekend and it's time for another painting. My last artworks were focused on pixelart and pencil drawings. So I wanted to go back to my watercolors + colored pencil combination. I feel kind of an attraction towards creating realistic drawings or paintings but with colors and a sharp black outline. Maybe this will be the my preferred style. Maybe that's who I am. I gotta find out...
So I made a plan: I or better “we” are creating a triptych. The word has it's origin in the greek language and means “three-fold”. It is a work of art which consists of three pieces. And this Koi fish is part one. It will consist of three different Koi fishes. So in the end we will have our own little pond.
In this video you will see how I did the first Koi. The other fishes will be done with the same technique, but I actually want you to participate: I will do a livestream. Details about where or when will be released on my Twitter feed. I'd be glad to meet you there over a glass of whine or water, whatever you prefer. You will also need drawing and painting materials. At the end of the article you will find a list about what material you'll need. I will keep it as simple as possible.
But before we start:
This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
Here are the materials, which I used for the first Koi fish and which we are going to use for the livestream (in the same order like in the video). Remember: You don't have to have all of them. You can already join the party with only pencil and paper. The more materials you have, the longer you can follow my steps during the livestream.
Fabriano Paper 300g/m² 12,5cm x 18cm
(Any type of paper will do the job – one thing: the heavier the paper is, the less wavy it gets.)
Faber Castell Pencil 2B
(Available in any stationery shop.)
Schmincke Watercolors and paint brushes
I am using the daVinci Nr.8 and the Artist's Loft Nr.10
(For the live stream: Just pick any water color you can get.)
Sakura Brushpen FB and MB
(Try to get a thin black marker.)
Faber Castell Colored Pencils
(Any colored pencils is fine.)
Faber Castell Blending stumps
(Thats for the details. Not super duper necessary.)
Caran D'Ache Luminance Pencils
I used the white one for the fish – it is for smooth blendings
(same thing here – for the details – not super necessary.)
See you in the Live Stream!
P.S.: In the subscription area you will find an additional video where I finished the painting with colored pencils!
this article ties in directly into my previous article on making a concept of a mech for a video game. The robot is supposed to be an endboss. Since we have our concept, we now need to create pixel art out of it and make him walk and also explode.
But before we start
*This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
*
In the subscription-only section you will find the second sequence which has been more challenging: The Destruction of the mech. Additionally I am going to show you what equipment I used for this kind of pixel art.
He did an awesome job and I was allowed to take part of it.
My task was to create a kickass level end boss who get's the player sweating. The overall story of the game is that an army of robots occupied the cities and the player has to jump from rooftop to rooftop to push back the evil machines and to save humanity. So it was clear to me that this endboss had to be a robot – or better – a mech. There are certainly some readers out there who know the Mech Warrior Series for sure. This game gave me some inspiration, but I also wanted to give the robot my very own design.
So I started trying out some different shapes of heads and legs until I finally found a result which seems to be really intimidating and also convincing enough for the video game player to see this bot as a real threat.
Find more information about my creative process in the video down below but before we start:
This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
I made a video where I show you how I created these art-/game- pieces. Enjoy watching!
But before we start:
This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
In today's article I will give you an exercise how you can improve your linework. You have to control your linework. You can make it clean, you can make it chaotic. None of them is considered bad or good. You can use them as stylistic tools. But to be able to use them, you have to control them.
This tutorial is very basic, so everybody who draws can do it. I saw this tutorial made by Peter Han: A concept artist and graphic novelist who I admire. His precision, his speed and his knowledge to draw from imagination is mind boggling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3971zJW9VHI
But before we start:
This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter.
Know @NickelNDime? Know NickelNDime.net? Well he programmed a 2D Jump n' Run which is Coil enabled. This game supports the inclusion of new ways of web monetization. When you have subscribed at Coil, you can play as long as you want. But the programmer gets micropayments streamed for every second you play. Cool? Cool!
I thought this way of monetization is revolutionary. And using a video game for this is totally my cup of tea! So when Nick asked me, if I want to design the main character, of course I said “YES” - in fat bold letters.
So he described to me his rough idea of who that person is but gave me all freedom to bring in my creativity. Main inspiration was his name. Chester “Deadeye” Mc Killingsworth. Sounds like a tough guy, likes it really rough guy, chest always so puffed guy. He was also supposed to be some rambo, commando type of guy (good thing my last drawing was Silvester Stallone ). So I wanted to make him look dangerous, but not crazy. His reasoning is trained into silky perfection and he is utterly lethal. I also wanted to find a reason why his nickname is “Deadeye” and I found one: He is wearing green camouflage gear to easily hide in dangerous situations. Part of his gear is his fisher hat. But Chester is also a smoker. So when he smokes a cigarette the fume stays under his fisher hat and you can only see his eyes through the smoke.
In that moment you don't see Chester anymore:
You see Deadeye.
Here is my video about the thought process of creating Chester:
The next video is about how to make him stand, jump, die and run: Run forward without a gun, run forward with a gun and run backward but aming with the gun to the other direction – because you will need all these animations within the game...actually, except the dying. I don't know why I had to draw him lying on the floor. Deadeye will never die...
Good old times. I remember that a lot of movies I liked as a kid were with Silvester Stallone. The Italian Stallion, John Rambo, Judge Dredd and more. His movies reach from 1969 until nowadays (guest role in Guardian's of the Galaxy 2 a.s.o.). Most of the roles were in typical – “punch'em in the face”-movies. And he knows that. I am sure that this is why he made an homage to all his action-movies with the Expandable series. And his role there is the one I picked for my next drawing.
But before we start:
This piece is just one step on my way of mastering art. I change the media and I want to be able to create different styles of art pieces. Follow me on my journey here on Coil and on Twitter!
I found out that Sly exhibits his art pieces in galleries. He paints. I am going to tag him. Maybe he see's this. I'd be super stoked.
I also made an additional video with my own thoughts on the drawing process. I explain the techniques I was using and the challenges I faced. Unlock my bonus content to dive deeper into this kind of art. See you on the other side!
Portrait #8: Woman in Yellow
