Just a quick update with a quick sketch. Trying to get back into character design so i'm reading gormenghast and sketching the characters as i go. I like the main picture of her, she apparently has constantly smouldering eyes and a unkept apperance with puty lips....so, to summerise, she's sullen i think.

Links to helpful illustration sites

I need to practise my anatomy and background drawing. Oh the shame, i've fallen from the beaten path to art success and haven't laid the groundwork properly. But no more! Its time to get serious! I'm going to crack open my old anatomy books, find the great masters, read the tutorials, get feedback and focus on this like theres no tomorrow!

To start with here are some links ( ok, let me procrastinate a little, at least its somewhat helpful to the cause)
1st the major art magazines
ImagineFX
ComputerArts
Digital Arts

2nd major art forums
GFXartist
conceptart
Sketch Tavern

3rd Illustration Sites
Illustration Friday
Drawn
3x3
It's nice that
eye candy
aoi
ycn

Andrew Loomis sites
fineart online resource
downloadable books

Illustration using watercolour and photoshop.

This is my new personal piece, done with watercolours and photoshop. Its been on the back burned for a while and i wasn't sure where i wanted t go with t, i'm still not entirely sure its finished but i'm happy with the result at the moment. :)
I've titled it warm thoughts because thats what it looks like shes having. I hate titles, they tend to restrict what the viewer tries to see in the piece. I could call it moonbathing at noon and now its totally different. Maybe i'll start using code instead.

Portrait of a man in suit with waistcoat

Portrait of a man in suit with waistcoat, originally uploaded by Powerhouse Museum Collection.

Soon he thought, soon they will be here. Sighing, he started to mentally count if he had enough teacups for them all.
Theres always plenty of tea, but never enough cups.

Enchanting Girl

Enchanting Girl, originally uploaded by Wicked Halo.

We all need to try and kiss the moon. As she's focusing on her dream, she doesn't see the vampire sneak up behind her to give her his kind of kiss!

Getting into the digital world.....

....it takes some getting used to!
I'm finding some wonderful sites to help me get my work out into the world however so i know that in the long run, putting in the effort now to set up a strong foundation of site networks will pay off!
The most recent one i've found is issuu.com
Its an online publishing site where you can upload the contents of the book you would like to publish and people can view it online. A lot of magazines are using it ( something which is wonderful for people short on the pennies! ) and i think it could become a very useful tool to judge how well a book could do. Upload, link to the site through your other social sites and hopefully get some views and feedback. It's worth a shot. :D

I have also started twittering and i have realised something....Stephen Fry uses it an aweful lot! Which i find wonderful, as does Neil Gaiman! I need to source out a few other favourite 'celeb's of mine but i really enjoy reading what other artists are writing and take comfort and inspiration from their comments. I can see how it could become stalker central, but so long as your careful and don't get sucked into the idea that any info you write is 'safe' because you can't physically see other people writing it so it can feel like your just muttering to yourself. I think if you can realise that, then it can be another very useful tool for contacting other interesting people.