Cool Illustration Blogs and the Process of Making Illustrations

I do not know if anyone has checked this out yet, but it really is cool:

http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/

I know it has mostly fantasy art, but it is cool to see the process from thumb to finish. It is kind of a group version of James Gurney's blog.

I admit, I never really scan or post my thumbnails-I usually throw them away. My studio is a sea of paper as it is. Do you guys archive your whole process?

Here is a sketch from my earlier painting post:

And here are some unused cartoon concepts for an aspect to a book I am painting now (the rest of the art is realistic):

Final Illustration-Personal Piece

Here is the final image!

You may notice that the background changed quite a bit. I actually spent many hours working on a forest background but scrapped it when it was battling with the foreground.

I guess it is true that less is more... That is an advantage with digital-the background can be its own layer. I want to experiment more in Painter but it is a slow process. I secretly painted the crow by hand.

The design of the dress is inspired by the late 1700s (with modern touches.) Think Marie Antoinette pre-Bastille...

Work in Progress

Here is a picture I sketched the other day. I wanted to paint something gothic and fancy. Sketching a greyhound was interesting. Their physique is very horselike but they seem to bound almost like rabbits. I love seeing the movement.

I am attempting to paint this digitally. Wish me luck...

Another Personal Piece

This is an image colored completely in Photoshop and Painter over a pencil sketch. There are pros and cons to working this way.

I find acrylic painting to be much faster and spontaneous (and less tight). (This took a heck of a lot longer than two hours). A fusion still seems like the best route.

I love the feel of paint and I love the undo function once you are working digitally. Painter does have some awesome brushes...

Tea with Friends and a Turtle

Here is an image that started out as a quick doodle and I finished it in Photoshop. It was an excuse to play with the Cintiq and it got a little out of hand.

The turtle is very loosely based on a Galapagos turtle. I was also inspired by tribal decoration in Africa using plants and flowers.

I need to do more experimentation with Painter now that my system is a LOT faster. It was clunky on my old computer.

Elliott Ness Illustration Video

This is a process video of an illustration I finished a few months ago for Inside Business Magazine. I work primarily in Painter and Photoshop with an Intuos III Wacom tablet. I compose dozens of layers while slowly building form and color, similar to the way I used to work with acrylics. I actually find that the digital process allows me greater control over the finished look compared to my acrylics and oils. The biggest downside is that I don't have an original painting when I'm done.