Very Cool: Animation Tutorial - Krita

Video Below Commentary

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Hi!

Are you ready to begin a new year? 

I hope you had a GREAT 2018—and 2019 brings you all the best!

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Screen Capture From The Video Below

Whether you are an artist or just a fan of all things creative—today's video may be very interesting to you.

When viewing 2D animation (unless you are already an animator), we sometimes forget the HOURS of time that went into making even a few seconds of action.

The excellent time-lapse video below—made by Ed Tadeo shows his process from the initial "key poses" for two characters, cleaning up original roughs, making placement and timing adjustments, adding inbetweening, details, color, and shading to the characters, and ultimately a background—all with multiple animation tests along the way. 

A Look At Some "Process" Steps From The Video

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If you want a quick over-view—I recommend changing the play-back speed to 1.5X after he shows a look at the final animation in the beginning..

Also—if the music isn't your taste—just hit that mute button.

: )

Tadeo uses Krita software for the animation—and you'll find a link to it below the video. *

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Hope you enjoy this very cool vid.





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* Krita "freeware" drawing/painting and animation software:

https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/

(BTW—I watched an additional review of Krita and it looks like it's a very good "no cost" option for artists and animators)

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Thanks for stopping by!

See you again soon!

A Passing Dog - Digital Painting

Hi!

I hope all is well for you as we wind down another year and that you are going to have a great Christmas and holiday season!

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Recently—I found a very cool photo of a jackal—and was inspired to do a quick digital painting / study of it.

As I worked—I tried out a BUNCH of brushes that came with the software I was using.

I was having trouble getting the the jackal's fur to look right, though—and wondered if I could find any good FREE brushes that I could download to make the job easier.

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Then after searching around a bit for those—I happened upon some excellent tutorials showing how to create your own brushes.

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After some experimenting with those ideas—I made several custom brushes that I began trying out.

One was definitely a "home run"—and IMO allowed me to quickly create more realistic looking fur that was better looking than I'd been making with other brushes I had already.

It's kinda the equivalent of using ratty old brushes in the "real world"—with their bristles sticking this way and that.

I'm sure I'll use these new brushes a LOT—and will now create many more—and in time will get better at using them too.

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Anywho—here's a look at my brand spankin' new Jackal Digital Painting / Photo Study.

As you may notice—I ended up taking some liberties with my painting—and my "jackal" began to look more like a domestic dog—with more of a rounded head and a longer snout.

Click the image to see a larger view.

"A Passing Dog" - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr! - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^  BTW—As I painted—this went through my mind more than once:

Proverbs 26:17

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

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Thanks for stopping by!

See you again soon!

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See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com.

December 2018— Still More Sketches

Hi!

So another year is drawing to a close.  Unbelievable!

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year—and that you are surrounded by people who love ya!

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I just finished scanning some of my latest character concepts from my sketchbook and wanted to share them here with you.

They're in no particular order from the last month or so.

I-Rodney - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I went to a Pizza joint one afternoon for a bite and had fun sketching this after a slice.

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As I've written here before—I use a scribble method to start a LOT of my drawings.

That means I just lightly scribble random squiggles on the page—erase some lines—add a few more until I start to "see" a face or shape jump out at me.

I try not to guide too much whatever happens during that initial process—and I'm often surprised and entertained by the characters that emerge.

Cliff - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ Early one morning—I went out to a Greasy Spoon that's open 24 hours to have some breakfast and sketch afterwards.

I had the place to myself for a while—but after eating—when I started to sketch—the tables around me started to fill up with "regulars."

Even though "Cliff" looks like he's not one of the good guys—he sparked an enjoyable conversation with a couple seated near me.

Prince Nadda - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ Of course this sketch started out as a just scribble one morning at a coffee shop—and this alien/other-worldly guy, with the regal, far-away look in his eyes "appeared" on the page.

I wanted to put him in some kind of background—and his expression combined with some left-over lines from my original scribbles led me to put him on that throne.

Even though this Prince Nadda looks a bit scary—I like his "look" and had fun creating him.

(PS:  Nada in Spanish means nothing)

Arnold Horse-Neigh-Grrr - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ I'm working on a digital painting with a horse featured in it.

Although that one looks more realistic—I drew this horse caricature one day after I'd put in some time working on that painting.

Later—after I added this SUPER muscular body—I decided to call him: Arnold Horse-Neigh-Grrr—after the former Gov-ah-nate-ah of Cal-ee-forn-yah.

: )

Billy - Der Vunder Bison - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ If you've ever read history about the early US west—you'll know MASSIVE herds Buffalo filled the plains—but in a short period of time they were almost completely wiped out.

Billy - Der Vunder Bison's forlorn look might be a result of looking for romance—but not being able to find a Lady Love.

: )

Liz - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ When I lived in L.A. I saw elderly women in Hollywood who looked like they'd moved there when they were young in hopes of becoming a movie star—but time and opportunity had passed them by—yet they still clung on to the youthful "look" and styles of those long gone days.

I think my sketch of Liz comes from that place in my mind.

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The next two drawing are the last I'll share today—and don't really have a story attached to them.

Otto - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

Harv - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr - All Rights Reserved

Well that'll do it.

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my art-world.

Thanks for stopping by!

See you again soon!

God Bless!

Draco! New Digital Painting

Hi!

I just finished a new digital painting and wanted to share it with you.

( Learn more about "digital painting" below. * )

This image started out LONG ago as a quick digital "sketch." I wasn't at all pleased with that rough idea—but something kept drawing < art humor ) me back to it.

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You'll find an early concept sketch—along with the final painting and a "detail" view of it below.

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Over-time—I'd open that sketch in my software and fiddle around with it—trying to refine and improve on it.

I'd move things around, change this or that, and paint a bit—but frustration with those efforts would quickly set in—and I'd move on to other things.

Recently—I was going through my "Works In Progress" files and opened it and was inspired to began work on it yet again.

As I did—I finally felt like I was making some progress—and was able to finish it just today.

I think part of the reason for that creative burst—is that since I made the earliest concept sketches—I've developed more confidence and skill in my digital painting abilities (fully knowing I'm just beginning to scratch the surface with that)—but also because I'm starting to loosen up my painting style a little.

Part of that transformation has come about in part by simply putting in a lot of hours digitally painting various projects—but also by looking through TONS of real world and digital painting masterpieces that people have posted on-line.

Seeing all that amazing art has truly helped.

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Here are a couple of my favorite sites where they post lot of exceptional artwork:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork?sorting=picks < Primarily digital art

http://tvorchestvof.blogspot.com/ < All kinds of mediums - but leans towards mostly traditional painting both old and new.

^^ Please be advised that while these sites have a huge variety of excellent masterworks—there is artistic nudity and arty weirdness on them as well.

: )

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Anywho—without further ado— here's my newest digital painting (along with a "detail" and an early concept sketch).

Draco - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr! -All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ One night after putting in some time working this—I had most of the final layout done including the dragon, sky, and guy on the mountain—but was still refining it.

I went to bed and suddenly "saw" the dragon in my minds-eye—with a border along the left going under its wing.  

As I envisioned that—text from the book of Revelation 12—about the Dragon filled with fury came into my thoughts—and I wondered if I could add that to the border as well.

The next day that was still bubbling around in my thoughts—and I set about seeing if I could incorporate that.

As I worked—I was pleased to find that the border and text aspects came together very quickly.

Although as you can see—I did end up extending the border all the way around the painting—and used only select verses from Chapter 12.

Draco (Detail) - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr! -All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ Here's a look at the painting—without border and text.

Early Concept Sketch  - Copyright 2018 - Jephyr!
All Rights Reserved

^ ^ ^ Finally a look at one of the early ROUGH sketches that started it all.

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So—that's my story about my latest digital painting—and I'm stickin' to it.

: )

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See other Jephyr! digital paintings—as well as links to other artwork at jephyr.com.


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* Digital paintings are created with computer software and a tablet interface.

A stylus used with the tablet acts as a paint-brush, pencil or pen—depending on what tool and options you've selected—and an image can be hand-painted onto a digital canvas in the software just as you would with a tradition medium like oil paint—that can be shared on the Internet or printed out.

After the initial investment of the computer, software, and tablet—there are no other supplies needed.

This means no trips to the art store to purchase paints, brushes, turpenoid, canvases and so-on—and best of all there are no toxic fumes or brushes to clean, etc.

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Thanks for stopping by!

See you again soon!