Week in Review #2: A finished project for a friend.

So this week I finished up a project for a friend. She saw my dragon that I had done and requested that I did something similar with a picture of another friend. Now realize that I actually just started drawing actual people like this recently. I've always been able to draw people but usually without faces and not cartoony at all. So I'm pretty darned pleased with how she came out. 

First I had to draw her just using basic Strathmore Bristol paper that I bought at Michael's with a 4H Kimberly pencil. I really need to invest in some better drawings pencils at some point but for most of what I do they work well enough.  You'll notice that it's pretty much just the outline of her, no shading or anything. I wanted a clear line version of her because for me it's just easier to color in Illustrator.  

 

So then I took her into Illustrator and did all her color. I started with the base colors on all the parts and built up from there. The hardest parts are getting the different color tones in the correct place so that you don't see any one specific spot but it still makes up the shape of her body and dress naturally. 

I just recently retaught myself Illustrator so I'm really at pretty much the bottom rung of what can be done but I'm gonna keep plugging at it so hopefully I'll get better. I think she came out pretty well considering what a newb I am. The heart was also done in Illustrator.

 And finally brought her into Photoshop and finished her up. A little texture and gradient to make her a bit more snazzy. Divine is actually a burlesque performer so it really needed to have a little zing. It takes awhile to get patterns to look good together without them clashing or overpowering each other but I think I did a pretty good job with her. What do you think?

The Making of Smaug ( 's little brother )

So, I had a friend ask me to draw her something for a Dungeons and Dragon group she's part of over the Christmas holiday. She wanted to give presents to her group in the form of shirts. I haven't ever designed or drawn requests that much before so this was a little daunting just because it's that whole, it's my friend it has be awesome. So needless to say I busted out my drawing paper and pencils and drew a rough sketch:

 Yep that's him, in all  his pencily glory.You'll notice I don't have any shadows or highlight on him but he came out cuter than I'd actually thought he would. 

So then I took it into Illustrator and started doing the basic outline and base colors: 

 

He's pretty damn flat looking, but hey I managed to get a 12 sided die in there! Yeah...I totally Photoshopped one into his hands and then drew over him but if you don't tell I won't.

 And here he is in his final render. The colors are definitely more vibrant than they were. I added highlights and shadows, changed the shape of his glasses so he looked a bit more 1970's groovy, fixed his wings up, and threw some gems into his pile o' gold. The hardest part about doing him was remembering all the areas shadows and highlights should go and making them blend in. It's really funny how something that most people think is a small detail can make or break a picture. 

Anyhow I'm pretty happy with him. I think he's kinda cute.

Little Fiends...yes there is a reason this blog is called Fiendish Glee.

So I called this blog Fiendish Glee and you're probably wondering why at this point? Or maybe not but I'm gonna tell you anyhow.  Oh and for anyone wondering I had to use littlefiends.com for the url because it was bought out by one of those places that you end up having to buy it from? I hate that. But no big. *shrugs* what can you do?

Anyhow Fiendish Glee is something that's been in the works for over a year now. Honestly I'm not really sure how they came to be except that one night I had a dream, seriously not pulling your leg, about Molly who was my very first fiend and I had to draw her. After her came Manny and Mr. Romance, and it seemed to open a flood gate for all these little monsters living in my head.

I wasn't actually planning on doing anything with them. I just kept drawing them. My boyfriend finally looked me in the eye and said um...hello.......what the hell woman? Do something with them they're cool!!! *laughs* I guess I kinda needed that poke to get me going.

So now I'm working on taking them into Illustrator and taking them from rough drawings into something more. The Illustrator part takes a while cause I'm wicked rusty in it but it's getting faster. The only thing I'm having a hellish time with is making backgrounds. I have the worst time thinking of stuff to go with them.

It's not only going to be monsters though. I have a bunny that I've created recently also that's gonna be wearing outfits from various fandoms so be on the lookout for those as well.

So here's a couple of my faves in various forms of completion. At last count I had around 25 of these so I'll post them as I'm going along I think.

Molly the monster, my very first little fiend that kicked it all off.

Mattie the Mummy before and after.

 I've got a couple coming that are based on horror movies, but she's the first.

Slick is a work in progress. I keep changing his colors. And he needs texture, highlights, shadows, etc. He's very loosely based on The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Leave me a comment and let me know which you like.

Have a good one!