Halas 01

New boy OC as the final project in Krenz's class. Gotta say the idea of a simplified color sketch/color draft is way more revolutionary than it has any right to be 😂

Still so much ahead, but at least much closer now to where I want to be 

Leveling up part 1

Some homework from krenz's lighting & color class. Rethinking so much about approach and process before we even get into color 😵‍💫 I'll be a brand new person when this is through 👶 

Nothing like the feel of paradigm shifts rushing through the head. Been needing this particular one for so long @_@ 

Dren dev 04

 

This is the limit for now. Can't wait for krenz's class in June *_*

Esfir

 

Nice to feel concrete improvement once in a while 😁

Tell me you played Silksong without telling me you played Silksong

😭😭😭

Also just really wanted to take a stab at rendering transparent ice/crystal. Think it turned out aight
 

Black Rabbit Brotherhood

Took a full damn 1.5 years, but somehow finish it I did. So relieved to finally close this one forever

源仲

 

First live action fan art ever maybe??? And jfc is it warranted 😭

Struggled for literally a month to get the likeness down to (only) this degree. I can't tell any more :( 

Dev 03

 

Wanted to go for an action pose I'd been thinking of for years now. Lazied out and decided to stick with cell shading. Further dev certainly needed

Painted Alicia

 

Knew had to paint her since the very first cutscene 😁 Ugh why is this game's art direction so up my alley, even the black/gold art deco thing is straight up my branding 😭😭😭 

 Also took a deep dive into streaming starting with this piece 🤣

Dev 02

Wanted to draw a white ground and borrowed him to stand in. Ended with album cover vibes 😂

Dev 01

 

Started in oekaki, finished in Photoshop. One day I'll figure out what to do with you

Ducky

 

Gift commission for HP and Kelly, for Ducky's sudden passing :(

For once the process was smooth and went without a hitch. If it was for pure digital use I'd have gone with more extreme backlighting, but since it's for print, the bg needed to stay white, and therefore no heavyhanding the darks. Getting mobile game vibes as a result 😅

But, very nice as a confidence booster, like I can def get back into pumping shit out or something 💪

Dren

Time passes so fast once you remove the markers of productivity. Ah well, trying to get better at beating myself up less. There was still work afterall, just none of it ready to show (yet) 😂 At least this model is probably as done as it will ever get. All that's left is the rigging...and, afterwards, the huge looming question of wtf will I even do with it 🤣

On to the next

 

Kinda ridic how much of a struggle this was for a portrait. Or is that...every time? 😂

Line art test

 Well ummm, another first for everything? 😂 For a first shot at making comics (or sequential art of any kind for that matter, besides the one equally amateur shot at storyboarding almost 10 years ago), I think the panel logic most definitely needs a tender edit. But whatever man, the test was for line art. Let's see if this goes anywhere 🤣

Can you hear me?

 It's strange because it feels I work super slowly, super inefficiently, make tons of mistakes, could have streamlined everything so much better overall, and yet...somehow I'm still finding more free time than before? What is constant, though, is the frustration.

More. I need...more.

Romeo, King of Puppets

 "Pity we have to meet like this, though."

This game's aesthetic hits me in the spot so hard 😭😭😭

Avatar Academy

Art test for Nickelodeon's trainee program. Possibly another turning point if this flies 😂

Shadow

 

I'm not actually interested in Marika that much. All along it was just an excuse to draw more of this guy *-*

Update: Got removed from the official ER subreddit because mods marked this (and the last one with Marika) as AI. Guess it's another backhand-compliment-signifier that I've made it??? But if so, where are all my follows? :( :( :( Here's to hoping the appeal goes through and that FromSoft (if they ever actually look) dun also think am just a sham 😭😭😭

 

Update update: omg LOL 

There I have it, the reality check I needed to keep my head out of the clouds. Keep at it Jing, you ain't there yet, just as you always knew 💪

What is a "good picture"?

Translated from a gem found on bilibili, in a note-to-self format.

Before an artist starts, you can bet that they had (1) an idea of the effect they would like to achieve, which for sure was based on (2) an impression of something they saw or experienced. If they were successful in (re)creating that effect/impression, they will think, "this looks good". Any audience who similarly likes the same (2) impression/look will also think, "this looks good". At that point, the piece is a success. It is that simple.

What we mean by (2) is not a specific image, but an established pattern/formula. Therefore, when a picture "does not look good", it simply means it failed to properly match any pattern or formula. Conversely, if any formula/pattern is correctly applied, the picture will  "look good". Furthermore, the same base image can be edited to create multiple looks, each following a different formula, and all of them will "look good".

Some examples of patterns/formulae (screenshots from video): 

 I. Environmental/Atmospheric: dark subject, light background, bright rim light

 

This is prob the most common one in digital art these days and can be seen when atmosphere and mood dictate the piece, e.g. League splash art. Environmental light overrides local colors. Multitudes of looks/moods can be created branching from this basic formula. 

II. Classical: light subject, dark background, bright rim light

 "Classical" in the sense of old timey portraits, e.g. Sargent. Commonly seen in character-centric situations such as character sheets, card illustrations, etc. Local colors remain bright and clear. What if you want to do a daylight scene where the sky is bright? Simply use blue (which, inherent to the hue, has the darkest value of all hues). 

But the above are simply the level 1 basics. At level 2, we can mix and match between the above two broad rules by introducing new lights.

In these more complex lighting scenarios, it becomes mandatory to change up your background to constantly contrast with the subject/foreground. Above the +++ line, we have bright foreground/dark bg. Below the line, things flip to dark fg/bright bg. Bg always needs to serve the fg through contrast.