WIP: Jeanette

It has been too long since my last post :/ I've been busy with random events in life. Anyway.... I have started the tentacles! This is going to take forever. I tried working on them at home, but I don't have a desk so I was hunched over trying to work on it and it was literally killing me. So I'm up at the local coffee shop today hoping that I can get pretty far with it today. Fingers crossed! 

WIP: Jeanette

When I first started getting into drawing these creature things, Jeanette was the first one. I never finished her sketch, but I did turn her into a final piece on wood. Anyway though, I love her. So I have recycled her (as I have with other creatures) for another deck piece. 

Once again, I started painting before I took a picture of the sketch on the deck. You can barely see it and its really rough, but its there. When I did Ralf (the blue elephant with human feet) I put too much detail in the sketch and the pen was kind of a struggle to cover up. So I made an effort to only get the basic shape of what I'm going for. 

Originally, I thought it'd be cool to have something that looked like blown bubblegum. Julia Randall's series Blown (its beautiful) is where the inspiration sorta came from. Anyway, once I started painting I used more reds than pinks and the images began to look more like odd organs or something. Rather than scrapping it or changing it, I just kind of went with it. And frankly, I pretty happy with it thus far.

Beginning of Jeanette and more progression on the organ things:

Close up of lips:

Final: Charles

Finished this up yesterday. Didn't expect to get him done as quickly as I did, but I'm happy with how he turned out. 

Close ups

WIP: Charles

I keep forgetting to take photos of the sketch on the board before I start painting. But this is what I've got so far. The green image was inspired from deer intestines. I was flipping through my phone for inspiration on what kind of design to put around the board and I had an image of deer intestines.

Beginning Stages

Top

Middle

Bottom

This might be finished. I didn't expect to get as far as I did today. But I think this might be it. I'll upload final images later. 

Final: Ralf

Finished! I think anyway... 

Close ups

WIP: Ralf

Well he is pretty much finished. All I have left to do with him is to put a layer of some kind of varnish over it to keep the paint from chipping. But this is what the rest of Ralf's body looks like and then the bottom of the deck. I'll upload final images of the entire board with close ups soon. 

Ralf 

Bottom of Deck

WIP: Ralf

My boards finally came! Pretty stoked about it! I was hoping that when I ordered blank boards that, that would mean they were just the wood boards, however there is a clear coat of something to give it that shine. Which I guess (or I think anyway) I can work around it. I'll probably have to buy some kind of varnish and go over again once I'm finished. 

Anyway, I went out and bought some paint. I just got this Craft Smart Acrylic Gloss Paint. It was around $1.29 or something. Then I drew up my image and then started painting. Pretty simple.  

After I started painting, I was pretty bummed that the paint wasn't working as I had hoped. I thought it would have been thicker. Its kind of like nail polish, where you have to use a few layers in order to get full coverage. It isn't bad, but it isn't great either. 

You can clearly see that in the purple bubbles, but in Ralf, I was decently patient and gave him time to dry up some before adding more color. So he's fairly solid in color. 

Top half

Middle

More Sketches

So those new skate decks are suppose to come today, however, it is now 7pm (Ohio time) and they still have no arrived... I am more than disappointed about it. However, I have done both of these sketches recently. 

This top image is Ralf. His sketch is pretty much done and I think I know completely what I want to do with the board. I'm thinking some kind of bubble background and then his name on the side of it... This is what I'm thinking anyway. 

And this one does not currently have a name. The face area is weird still. I want it to kind of look like skin over a skull with no eyes or nose. I plan to try and just shade it so it looks that way. So we'll see how that turns out. However, I have yet to figure out how the rest of the board is going to turn out. It may just be a simple one like the Timothy Deck. Have a solid colored background and then throw this guy in. 

Beginning: Untitled

So I just recently ordered ten skate decks and I am so excited for them to get here so I can get to work. Till then I am trying to be sketching and working on other jobs. This is the sketch I have come up with for my next design. I have yet to name this one, but something will come up. 

I have a few things I am still debating about. 

1. should this design be carved or painted? I really feel like some vibrant color and heavy lines will make it pop. However, I really want to stain a board and carve it. I feel that with the symmetry it would be pretty cool as a carved piece. I guess technically I could do both, but that'll probably just get messy. I want to be sure to do whatever will enhance the design the best, so I'll keep my options open for now. I've got a few days till those boards come anyway.

and 2. Does this guy needs a body? Right now its just a head, but I'm pretty okay with that. I don't feel any real need to add a body to it. I tried some when sketching but I kind of just like it they way it is. Maybe throw in some more design effects within the ears but nothing extreme.