CAVEMAN IN CYBERSPACE!

So I got to thinking about my process after finishing the latest pic of the colored Predator. My process has evolved over the last year in a way that allows me to be able to share my artwork with you. About a year ago I made it a point to get my artwork online. I've wanted to do more with my artwork and I figured being able to float my pics out there in cyberspace was an important step. 

That said, I am not a huge fan of computers and technology in general. But it is a necessary evil. So in order for me to get this stuff out there to you, my process has changed a bit. I started to ink again and I came back around to digital coloring. I used to work primarily in pencil and watercolor so that's a big jump in my world.

What I do is very low tech and a no-brainer. I like to keep it simple. Most all of what I do is through Photoshop. Illustrator frustrates me. Not sure why, and I know you can do fantastic things with it. I do all my coloring with a mouse on a PC. With everything that's out there, that's pretty close to crushing berries and using a stick to paint on a cave wall. I have fumbled my way through most of this with the assist of a long time friend and graphic designer (Roger over @ http://www.heyroger.com/) , watching tutorials online and dumb luck.

So with that, my process goes kinda like this...

I start with a pencil drawing on paper. Yeah, even my pencils are pretty simple. I'm all about the lines! This stage takes maybe about a half hour.

Pencil Drawing

I scan my drawing and print it out. Then I go over in ink again creating the basic line art using pens and markers. Eh, maybe another half hour.

Inked Line Art

 Then I go ahead and ink it some more and I get this swell picture. Um, this is probably one of the more details images I've done, so this was maybe another hour.

Detail Inks

 After I get this puppy scanned into the computer I go ahead and digitize it and clean it up. This takes very little time for the most part depending how much clean up is needed. Maybe fifteen minutes or so.

Digitized Image

 From there it's time to color in Photoshop. This is the time consuming part. Like most pics, I never know how much time it will take until I get to the end. This one was a good six to eight hours.

Again, I'm no Michelangelo of computer coloring but I can get by. Still lots to learn but I'm happy with most of what I've learned. There are a lot of different ways to color on the computer. I'd suggest you check around various tutorials online, go to school, or find someone who knows how and see what works that person. Like any medium there are many approaches and you'll find what works for you.

Digital Coloring

SO, that's that! That's how I do what I do. No rocket engines being built or anything crazy. Maybe some of this is helpful or on some level interesting. While I may not have advanced technology or new techniques on how to use computers to color pictures, it's all been kinda uncharted territory for me. Until the next step in my creative evolution (as long as that doesn't involve growing a flipper or a tail) this is how I roll. Hope you dig.

BLOODY-KILLER-FROG-CRAB-FACED SPACEMAN!

Tried a few times to color this pic. It's one of my favorites. I could never get the right colors. I was up late fooling around with throwing random colors into the piece and came up with this. I had no specific idea of where I was going. I really liked the orange. Was really random. The blood was the best part.

PREDATOR

ANIMATRONIC DINOSAUR EATS MAN ON THRILL RIDE?

Big red dinosaur. I remember the first time I went on the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom. I think then it was Countdown to Extinction. So you ride in this jeep back in time trying to catch some dinosaur. Toward the end of the ride this giant full size animatronic Carnotaur comes straight at you. I knew it wasn't real. New it was a big robot possessed by Disney magic. Damn if that thing didn't scare the crap out of me. It's not every day you give thought to how horrible it would be to be eaten alive by something. You have a cup of coffee. You drive to work. You watch TV. But nowhere in the normal routine of a day do you wonder about being eaten alive by a dinosaur. Every time I have been on this ride it does just that.

CARNOTAUR

DARTH MAUL RETURNS...again

Got colored away with the blue coloring this picture. Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

DARTH MAUL

DARTH MAUL RETURNS

I remember all the hype when Episode 1 came out. I remember racing to a friends place after work to see the premier of the trailer on MTV. When I saw Darth Maul I was blown away. If you have never seen Episode 1 the trailer is amazing. Everyone wondered who the tattoo-faced evil horned guy with the double-bladed Lightsaber was. He was here and gone before we even got to know him. We loved you Darth Maul.

I always thought it would have been awesome to keep Maul through all the prequels and Anakin kill him in the third movie. How do you create such an iconic character and just kill him? I always thought Dooku was this boring old geezer. Yeah, he was Yoda's student and Qui-Gon's master (and Obi-Wan was his student who was Anakin's master). That part of the story is cool in this dysfunctional extended family thing and it all makes sense. Dooku fits in with all the politics and the head games that follow. And I have learned to appreciate Dooku in the cartoon series.

Really though? George couldn't have found a way to keep Maul in the mix?

So we have the Clone Wars television series. Now, Darth Maul is coming back! Somehow and someway they have managed to figure a way to make this work. Not sure how yet, but clearly the bad guys have a different view of and way of dealing with, death than the good guys. Darth Sidious even says his master, Darth  Plagueis, could "save people from death." I mean if General Grievous is a cyborg with essentially a brain, heart and lungs, and Vader is a little more than that, why can't they resurrect Darth Maul?  A lot of people have a hard time with this. The only thing I have a hard time with is people complained they killed him and now they complain he's coming back. I don't care if he's a clone, a cyborg, a ghost, a fake, a twin, a lollipop, a topper for your soda, (Was it Pizza Hut or Taco Bell that had those?) or it was all just a dream. Darth Maul is back! It's all good to me. Just as long as he doesn't jump up and shout "YIPPIE!" when he realizes he's still alive.

That said, there were lots of concepts of Darth Maul. This pic is nothing special but I always thought this version was pretty cool.

DARTH MAUL