Quetzal's 2016 paintings

blocking color... and made the big bad wolf bigger (after all it ate the granny, so it should be huge)
I like the composition, even though my Drink and Draw friends always ask if it is Arya from Game of Thrones... I would have thought that the hood would be clue enough.

Started work on the fur... got nowhere. Went to the library, researched how to paint fur, came back and worked on it... realized that it would take forever, so I spent more time trying to figure out a digital way to do the same painterly technique...eventually found one that I like, using the clone feature in Painter. Finally getting somewhere!

This is excellent so far. The fur is looking spot on, especially that short, stubbly stuff you get on the top of the nose! And even though you haven't worked it up yet I'm also really liking the girl and her expression.

You sound super busy at the moment. What art book are you entering it for? (Are you allowed to say? )

The book is the Calgary Expo Artbook, every year they publish one with art from the convention attendees, so it's big names (guest artists) and members of Artist Alley... the proceeds go to the Make a Wish Foundation, and you get to feel like a rock star when people hunt you down with a book in hand asking for a signature...
This year's theme is Classical Monsters and Fairy Tales.
Last year it was "Time Machine" and this was my entry:

This one is great fun Quetzal and for such a worth while cause (I mean the Make a Wish Foundation not making you feel like a rock star )
It's a great design and excellent penmanship.
I'm sure this years entry will be just as successful but I do think its a shame that at this stage you have lost a little of the aggressive character of the wolfs face compared to you initial sketch. Still, plenty of scope to pull that back in yet.
I wouldn't worry about your Drink and Draw buddies, it may be too much of the former and not enough of the latter that makes them think it's Arya.

whew! really busy week! Anyway, I am on the final push to get red and wolf finished before deadline. I also took time to organize the drawings I want to color for the comic convention, and found that they are more than 25 images! I try not to be discouraged by the amount of work, so I will be repeating to myself "its a good chance to improve workflow" until I believe it.
This wip shows red's face, and the wolfs body. I am tempted to leave her face very close to this, if I over render her then I have to match that level of detail overall... choices, choices.
Another thing I found out this week, writing an artist's statement is like trying to dance tango with the mist...

whew! tough weekend! I did finish "Red Riding Book Club", submitted my final image 8 minutes before the deadline... I really have to stop doing this to myself!

It didn't help that I had another deadline to meet the same weekend, this one for a Master's degree program... I find artist's statements really hard to write. It is very difficult to put into words why I do what I do... I can talk endlessly about technique, or why I moved this or that, but it is really hard to say where all comes from. The best I could do is describe the images I paint as still frames of half remembered fairy tales.

I recently read "A Slip of the Keyboard" a collection of non fiction by Terry Pratchett, and decided to steal a page from his book on how to keep producing creative work: don't stop.


If I am to finish the amount of paintings I want before the convention, I need to work steadily. However, sometimes when I get stuck on an image, I find that letting it rest a bit enables my subconscious to keep at it and come up with a solution... I will try to reconcile the previous two sentences by moving sideways to another image when I get stuck on the first one, or move to work on the background detail when the figure is not coming along. I really hope this method works, I guess this month will tell.
So, while the "New Dawn" is still daunting me with the rock cliff texture, I will start work on "Snow Tiger".

The system seems to be working! That's two down, 20+ to go... Snow Tiger is done.

Well Done for hitting your deadlines!

I like the viewpoint in your Snow Tiger pic. All those perspective lines guide you in to the character to emphasize his significance. Great work on the deep snow of his footprints too.
Stay busy, it seems to be working for you.

thanks for the encouragement, Valence. Now I'm back to work on the "New Dawn Ship", and that is time consuming... it's a lot of texture work, and it demands time and attention to detail. Also, it's mostly textures that are out of my comfort zone, like rocky wet cliffs and backlit sails...
So I will keep at it, and when I need a break will work on the siren. Again, thanks for the support and comments.