Monster Monday- June 17, 2013

Sorry for posting so late at night, the past week has been a little crazy starting my new job. I got horrible sun burn making it difficult to draw over the weekend. Then I spent the day overhauling the third floor to make what little space I have work. 

Here's more of a fleshed out sketch of the Cockatrice. So far taking the Cockatrice has been one of the easier creatures to design since I had a clear concept of what I wanted from the beginning of the project. Still a few details to work out but getting close to starting the ink drawing of this guy.

The Minotaur's design is done. I flipped the idea of a bull face with a face with some human like features and a body that is heavily inspired by bulls and other cattle. When I do the final drawing, the Minotaur is going to have wider stance since he is a bulky creature and more of a hunch.

After being disappointed with the design I created for the Behemoth, I went back in with new reference. With a cattle inspired body, horns of a giant goat, and legs similar by an elephant, and a rhino horn, the Behemoth is more of what I originally thought.

Stay tuned tomorrow, got some awesome news to share!

Monster Monday- June 10, 2013

More sketches I've created for the Legendary Monster project. I was in an art funk for a while last week but finally sketched my way out of it...today. The project is going to be split into chunks so I can scatter the work in their different phases.

Last week I posted ideas I created in my sketchbook for the Hippocamp. Here's more of a refined idea. The animals I used as inspiration were: horse, seal, fish, and a seahorse.

The Minotaur is another creature for the project. Minotaurs are typically depicted as a bull head on a human body with hoof feet. The face has human characteristics with more of a bull nose and large jaw, it keeps it away from looking like a typical human proportions. I wanted the minotaur to feel strong with a bulky body and large arms. So far I think the design is heading in a good direction.

This is the Behemoth. Though the idea I wanted to get across wasn't realized in this drawing, I decided to post it anyway because sometimes things don't work. I was aiming for a hulking monster with a horn. This drawing looses the large sense of scale I wanted, I think I am going to give him more of an rhino body and add some of the other ideas I had in my sketchbook.

After I feel comfortable with the design of the creature, I draw a bunch of poses till I get one that feels right. Some of the poses may seem obvious to the creatures I've revealed so far, but others will be discussed next week.

Toned Paper Drawings

I had left over pastel paper from the past year, as a break I decided to free draw on them to relax at night.

Here's a goblin that was inspired by the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual 4.0 for the skull cleaver goblin. His armor was fun to draw.

Here's more of a folklore goblin. He journeys through out the garden and is in charge of locking the gate at night to make sure no one way can enter the Fae realm. 

Merfolk that are half human half fish never seemed to make sense to me. People aren't built to be superior swimmers. The Merfolk has human characteristics but I wanted it to feel more aquatic with lots of fins and a slender build. I want to do a more detailed piece with some architecture to show more of the Merfolk culture, but I'll add that to my long list of pieces to create.

Sketches for Legendary Creatures

This week, I thumb nailed out the book. So I know which monsters are paired next to each other. I don't want to reveal the chosen creatures because I'm still debating on a few monsters. I got a bunch of great recommendations of of legendary creatures to research, which is always fun to read about and see old illustrations of.

After compiling a list, I write down a few ideas that I want to influence each creature. 

Here's 2 pages for the Cockatrice. It's a hybrid of a chicken, dragon, and ostrich. I explored different facial ideas, wings, and legs. After sketching I'll create more of a complete drawing.

I haven't started the Cockatrice drawing. So I have the Taraque, which is influenced by lizards, turtles, and ankylosaurus. It's tail is going to be more like an ankylosaurus with a club to bash in skulls. The drawing was done on animation paper used for pencil tests. It's thicker then tracing paper and holds up to much more abuse, but can still have a few layers of paper before its hard to see the original underdrawing.

The next step will be to finish more of the designs, I have about half to do and then need to do finalized drawing designs for the others. Then onto inking! but that's not for a while.

Creating Goblin on Gargoyle

Yesterday I posted my newest illustration of Goblin on Gargoyle and today I am sharing how I created it. 

Most of my illustrations start out as ideas in my sketchbook, personal or client work. I don't like to leave to much open room for major design ideas once I start drawing on the watercolor paper. This is one of many pages from my 2 sketch books I filled last semester. The idea stuck with me for a while.

After creating a small comprehensive drawing of the piece (which I some how lost) I draw on the watercolor paper. I knew that I wanted to have the Goblin in the foreground and not an open background. So I took the basic ink drawing into photoshop and played around with it. 

Here's the ink drawing I used in photoshop with penciled in ideas of where I wanted buildings to be. Drawing naturalistic backgrounds are a lot easier for me to design then structures. But luckily a pesky art history credit needed to get covered last semester and I took an architecture class. Though it was a modern architecture course, I still learned about old and new construction techniques and helped me have an understanding of how to think about structures. 

I am no photoshop wizard and I basically worked under my line drawing to place shapes of buildings and architecture. Spending about an hour in photoshop saved me hours of time drawing by hand. 

After I tape down the watercolor paper, time to pull out the palettes. I work from 3, the 2 on the rights hold color and the 1 on the left is mostly my for mixing colors. Don't forget your color wheel, it may seem elementary to have one, but has proved to be very important. That color wheel is from my color theory class I took 2 years ago.

A progress shot while I am working on the illustration, I like to work on the main focus of the piece first. Then secondary elements. Usually before any rendering happens the whole piece gets layers of washes. 

When all color is done, any part that needs to be white gets a few layers of gouache, I am not very good at keeping the paper white. But it also makes highlights much easier. After scanning and a little photoshop, its ready for the internet.

If you are interested in seeing more progress of pieces while I am working, follow me on twitter, PMCillustration or follow on instagram, paigeconnelly45

Goblin on Gargoyle

I've had this idea of a goblin assassin in my sketchbook for a while now (since the winter). But I knew with all the work on my book and classes that I wouldn't have time to work on it. Luckily I created a list of pieces I wanted to complete and this was on the top. I created this piece with the thought it could be used in a role playing book. It would go well next to a character class/race or maybe even a NPC involved in an adventure to assassinate a party member or ruler of a city.

Soon I'll create a process post of this piece from sketches to painting. My watercolor skills are getting better with each illustration I create.

Monster Monday is evolving

I've been drawing creatures for Monster Monday since Febuary. They have ranged from new creatures to sketches. Ever since I finished The Other People, I've been waiting to create long term project, but not as long as 7 months like I had to create my first book. While I have been conceptualizing work for The Iron Halls, it's quickly becoming a bigger project then what I want right now. So I thought of creating more finalized pieces for Monster Monday and work outside of my comfort zone. I mostly draw humanoid type creatures but for the next few months I am going to do my take on legendary monsters. I've compiled a list of a few creatures but am looking for suggestions on interesting creatures I've missed or have no knowledge of. 

potential monsters

dragon, phoenix, griffin, manticore, sphinx, chimera, hippogriff, cockatrice, harpy, and hippocampus.

Feel free to recommend any legendary monsters I am missing.

I want to get the project done by early August so I can get a few printed copies to bring with me to Illuxcon in September. Onwards to sketching.

Monster Monday- May 27, 2013

Elf Knight

I have many paintings lined up for the next few weeks and wanted to get some of the pieces that are close to done finished. Here is a little practice piece I started a few weeks back at school. Elf armor found it's way into my sketch book after I created a ink drawing for my friend Ginette's birthday. As I have stated before, I don't draw elves often, so it was a nice change. The elf knight was great practice for the larger pieces that I have planned to be working on in the next few weeks. I have a goblin assassin piece and I need to finish The Green Man as well. Plenty to keep busy as I continue the search for a part time summer job.

Monster Monday- May 20, 2013

Forrest Mammoth

A large slow moving creature that wanders in earths forrest protecting it. There are very few mammoths left because they are born from ancient life force. There are mammoths for different landscapes like swamps and mountains. But with out a keen eye, it can be hard to view them.

(Sorry for the late post, I had a busy few days having to head back to school for an award ceremony and gallery opening.)

Gallery Show

Glad to say that the review of my thesis went very well a few weeks ago and my work will be exhibited in the Senior Show. The show runs from May 21-24 at the George Segal Gallery next to Kasser Theater on Montclair State Campus.

Now that classes are done with, I'll have a lot more time to continue working on my portfolio and my next planned book. Follow me on twitter (PMCillustration) or on facebook, click the box in the right corner of the page. to see frequent updates on new pieces as I finish them.

Monster Monday- May 14, 2013

The past week has been busy for me. It's finals time, had to finish an animation and study. While I did a lot of sketching now that 'the other people' is complete, I didn't get a good chance to sit down to create a finished drawing. So here's a sneak peak at a new watercolor I am working on. It's the green man previously posted a while back with fleshed out color and rendering. The scene is going to be when the sun is setting and the woods get dark. I started out rendering the figure to see how far I'll take the background. This piece won't get finished up till I move back to Asbury and get settled in. I have lots of new exciting illustrations planned as well as my next book 'the iron halls'

'The Other People'- Troll page

Trolls are one of my favorite monsters to draw and I wasn't going to leave them out of my book 'The Other People'. I went for a different design then I would normally use to fit into the world I created. The Trolls are known to be great musicians and they express themselves through music. I really enjoyed designing instruments (I played the french horn in high school) and create a larger illustration with a collection of troll musicians.

The Other People printed edition

I received my printed copies of my book over the weekend when I went home for free comic book day. I was very excited to see that the print quality was great, though pricey for the resale so I wasn't able to buy extra copies to sell at Free Comic Book day. Lots of customers were asking for copies and got me thinking I might do a kick starter or indie go-go for people interested in purchasing a copy and allow me to get a bulk order so it will cost less per book. But that's for the future.

Here's some snap shots of the book.

Over the next few weeks I'll post some of the illustrations I've created for the book. But now to get back to painting.

Monster Monday- May 6, 2013

Boogeyman

Over on facebook, I asked for suggestions of monsters to draw. I spent some time in the sketchbook and then decided to create a more finished drawing of the boogeyman. I would like to eventually create a more finished piece with the character and design. Another illustration to add to a long list.

Monster Monday- April 29, 2013

Rock Elemental

Lately I've been drawing lots of rocks. They have interesting forms. This character was created after I started placing faces on the rocks then I thought of other ways of creating the anatomy.

The Hound

At work I have been listening to 'A Song of Ice and Fire' audiobooks while I work. One of my favorite characters is The Hound, I decided to paint a version of how I saw the character.

Green Man

Finished inking this piece a while back and the painting process has already started. It's a green man wondering through the forrest at night. I had a lot of fun designing the character with a leaf beard, tree hand, and log horns. I'm still debating if I want to design a patterned frame as a boarder, I guess I'll figure it out as it get's closer to finial stages.

Monster Monday- April 22, 2013

rocks have been my new favorite element to draw in my sketch book. Thought I might draw some totem like head creatures.

The Other People

I just sent out my first ever completed book to the printer. It's crazy to think that I started sketching ideas in September, dummy book in October, drew pages in November and December, Inked in January, painted from February to mid March, and designed in April. And was a full time student and had a part time job. I even managed to get other paintings and drawings done. 

My book 'The Other People' will soon be available on tablet readers and for PDF downloads. It will be available for download in person (meaning you pay in cash and I send  you a direct email while I'm at the shop) on May 4 for Free Comic Book day at the Comic Book Shop in Wilmington for a low price. Here's a sneak peak at a page of my book