Ooog.

I fell asleep waaaay too early in the evening. I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night.
I've got the movie Tekkon Kinkreet playing in the background. Movie is genius.
In the meanwhile, I switched on the laptop and played around with ArtRage... it's been a while. Nothing like
a little digital oil painting... wheeee

more sketches of the past...

it can only push me to move forward. Right? I think... maybe.



The next big change I'd made with the characters in the painting, were the daughters. Originally, as seen in this sketch, I'd only planned on one kid. I had also wanted to attach these giant mechanical wings on their backs to further mimic the look of their beloved crows. That seemed a little much for her... Also, it was a little cliche' to do the whole wings bit. So instead I replaced one of her arms (which she'd lost from a past mission), with a huge blade. The more I looked at it, she no longer fit the crow look. I also tried the split skirt thing to give her a little seductive look... but that would have been another cliche kind of thing. Oh, and I also dropped the gun.

In the end, I stuck with a costume that was consistent with the father's look. I added a large hood to hide their faces in shadows. With their dark black hair it would have blended too much into the color of the robes. So I bled the orange family emblem into the trim and help frame the face of the killers. These assassins wanted you to know who took you down... MUAAAHAHA *cough ahem... yeah. Simplicity. The highly trained killers don't need really fancy outfits. Well, maybe the outfits are made of silk.

The aftermath..

Thanks for everyone who came out to the BLVD Gallery for the Good vs Evil show opening! It was an incredible show with the walls covered with amazing artwork. I'm glad I got to be a part of it. Thanks again to Jamie and Damion!
I truly left the show inspired and ready to work on the next pieces. The one downside was the fact that I had my camera with me, but didn't take any shots. It was literally too crazy that night... at least, that the excuse I'm going to claim. ;) heh
I'll be heading down again to take pictures of all the paintings sometime over the Xmas break. But, in the meanwhile, I thought I'd post some sketches of characters I almost used in the painting...



Here's the character, Bold, and his original appearance.
I chose not to use this sketch in the painting mostly because I didn't think it was dynamic enough. It explains why he's missing a hand, too. I got that bored with the drawring I didn't want to finish it haha. I do like the expression on his face though. I might use the pose later on in another painting... Now that I'm looking at it, I forgot that I wanted to put spurs on the hero's boots in the final painting. I don't know why I added spurs. Kinda cool I guess... retro's in, isn't it? haha



This big dude is Mr Meurtre, father and leader of the Meurtre family of assassins. Again I didn't think his pose was expressive... The thought crossed my mind, that any character can just stand there with a weapon. It works if it's a character study, but I wanted to convey he's a little more on the crazy side. Also, the sword was a little much. I thought having "powers" to control the crows was a little more out of the ordinary... And, out of the ordinary, insane and leader of an assassins all adds up to a pretty evil character. The other change I made was in the outfit. I kept the look of the cloak and dropped the huge gauntlets that also served as 'bird gloves'. I also took the family crest from the front... seemed a little too, "in your face". I made the logo a little more subtle and placed it on the sleeves, stretching it from the biceps to the hand. I think it had to do with something I once heard about tattoos emphasizing an area of strength of a person. For example, a person who's a hell of a kick-boxer would get a dragon inked onto his leg. Anyways, I figured the last thing that the victims would see from the 'hands that killed them' is the Meurtre crest.

So, that's it for now... Next posting will cover the daughters of the clan and the mother that didn't make the final cut.

'til then, Happy Monday!
Cheers
Law

knock knock.

It's friggin showtime!
For the first time in a long time, I sat my buttocks down and worked on a couple of pieces for a show that'll be opening tomorrow night in DT Seattle at the BLVD Gallery.

Check out for more info on the show here:
http://www.blvdart.com/blog/2007/12/good-v-evil-opens-friday-dec-14/

It's a helluva group show featuring numerous artists of incredible talent titled "Good vs Evil".
Each of us were challenged to paint a piece to represent the opposing sides. And, the results I've seen so far have
pretty damn sweet. I'm really looking forward to the opening and seeing the rest.
It's a show not to be missed! Special shout out to Jamie Burton and Damian Hayes for reeling everyone together and holding this event.
Here's the important info:
BLVD Gallery
2316 Second Avenue
Seattle, Wa 98121
DOORS OPEN @ 6pm - 10pm.

And, here's the final(at least for the show,heh) versions of the pieces I did...
I'll even have little prints on sale, too!

Hope you can all come down tomorrow!
Cheers,
Law

Progresso...

It's not just a yummy soup.
Update on a couple of digital paintings I've been working on... almost done. I gotta stop second guessing myself and just finish. In any case, I'm getting happier with the results. It's just hard to tell because I'm so damn tired... haha
One more night... one more night.