At Bay Sketch to Final

It's pretty difficult as an artist to feel like I'm good enough or being productive enough. I find that it's a constant balancing act to keep that river of self doubt at bay. The best I can ever hope to do is keep it pinned down, and keep moving forward. 

Here is the color final. Florence Welch in all her glory.

I always do a black and white image and add color digitally. A little easier to control dramatic lighting that way.

And here's the black and white sketch I started with. I sculpted a mini version of the bird and took some photos of it in water to get the basic shape and lighting. I know a bit a about human anatomy, but it's a little different on birds!

The Golden Arrow

I still don't consider myself very good with color- especially digital color despite how often I use it. But I came out of this was super pleased with everything about it. It was good for morale at the time- I was between semesters trying to keep up with making things, and moving out of my apartment on top of that. For that reason, it's also a pretty nostalgic piece for me. 

Florence + The Machine

This was a summer break project, and one that kind of set the tone for a TON of more recent work. Using parallel lines like this makes it easier to get even values with dye based ink, which soaks in pretty fast and can't be moved much once its down.