Tess And The Dragon 2

 

Hey dudes! I'm still digging through a lot of older sketchbook work to share with you, but I wanted to take this week to play a bit with a limited pallet. I've got a few personal projects around the corner where it's a skill that will hopefully come in handy. This image came from a life drawing session, but I added the dragon afterwards as I've given up taking mescaline while I draw. 

Recently, this image was used to promote the FIVE HOUR life drawing sessions I'm facilitating at BAYArts. next week. I had to add a quick black bikini top to it just like the biker magazines I used to stare at behind the corner in the grocery store growing up. Every so often they'd miss an edit and encourage me to start saving for a motorcycle.  

I never got that bike, but starting next week I'll have 5 hours to stare at naked people without sneaking around. 

Your Pal,

Randy Crider

Original Recipe

Wizards...dragons and damsels.

Yes...I know it's Sunday. Since I missed my Friday....and me being a self proclaimed Reverend...what better day to post?

This was a piece I did for a client a few months back. Her husband is an attorney who wants to be a writer. Like most of us creative types, he struggles with uncertainty and self doubt. To help keep him motivated she asked me to flesh out his characters so he could have it to look at when those moments occur. A noble concept indeed. I have both Craig and Mr. Crider to thank for the color help. Since I work so much with black and white...the thought of doing color...at times causes me to hyperventilate.

So...here's some shots of my inking progress.

I start with outlining most of the piece just to wrap my mind around the line weights needed to create my foreground, midground and background.

Then I begin laying in my solid blacks...or spotting them as some call it. This I do to create patterns to help lead my viewer around. Something I more typically do in comic pages to lead the reader. I then work on textures, such as the grass...the rock formations..the details in her armor and the scales of the dragon. I keep in mind at each point what is closest...and what is further away. I work a lot in brush, usually when doing clothing...hair and at times the forms and shapes of the body. 

This being the finished results before I begin laying color. In most cases, such as this, I work in a combo of marker, acrylics and colored pencil.