Practice Infinitum

[nphill19]

What, what, another update for my portfolio. Added more elements, rivets, armor stucture, a new face, polished hand. Gotta make that portfolio something gewd.

[nphill19]

Bam! Last revision, starting new fresh stuff tonight. Feeling good!

[nphill19]

Trying for a more card art feel, so much green hahaha. Was a lot of fun to paint though, and I mean come on, who doesn't love a spirit bear?

[nphill19]

Most recent painting I can share, portrait sketch of my fallen angel character Cestra. It's been awhile, and I've been very very busy. Went to Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in May, and just moved to San Diego from Atlanta last week. I've just secured an apartment (not living in airbnb anymore whoooooo) and am looking for jobs now before I start summer classes at Watt's Atelier! 

I hope I'll have more good news soon, and more art!

[Ursula Dorada]

Hey Nphill!
Good to have you back :D

This last portraits are very nice. And yeah, moving does take a lot of time x_x
And you're going to be attending Watts? Whoa awesome :D Enjoy it and kick some ass!
How did you like Spectrum Live? It's one of those I'd love to attend at some point :)

If I can recommend you to study something before you start Watts, do a couple of value studies - not only portraits, but full scenes ones. You will see how you micro-manage your values to make everything feel in place and it will help your future scenes quite a bit :)

Looking forward to see what you come up with in Watts, please keep us posted! :D

[nphill19]

Hey Nphill!
Good to have you back :D

This last portraits are very nice. And yeah, moving does take a lot of time x_x
And you're going to be attending Watts? Whoa awesome :D Enjoy it and kick some ass!
How did you like Spectrum Live? It's one of those I'd love to attend at some point :)

If I can recommend you to study something before you start Watts, do a couple of value studies - not only portraits, but full scenes ones. You will see how you micro-manage your values to make everything feel in place and it will help your future scenes quite a bit :)

Looking forward to see what you come up with in Watts, please keep us posted! :D

Haha it really does! I'm really looking forward to Watt's! 

As far as Spectrum Live, I've been twice and loved it both times. I just visited the first and had a table the second, both are different feeling. I've never felt so at home, I'll be going every year. Awesome art, awesome ceremony for the awards, and drinks every night with every tier of artist doing what I love? Hell yeah sign me up! haha. You should absolutely go next year.

Value studies, oh my treacherous friend, I really need to do more of them, and haven't done a full scene in quite a while. Thanks for the wake up call! :D

[nphill19]

WIP WIP WIP whooooooooo

[nphill19]

Did an art test for Warhammer, didn't get the gig but I had fun and got to paint something outside my comfort zone.

[Bookend]

You've got some reallyy fantastic pieces, I've gotta say. Your studies are da bomb. You're well on your way, and congratulations on making it to the atelier!

My only comment is observational. A lot of your imagination work seems a little ... Colour saturated. It's as if realism meets World of Warcraft meets cartoons.

My favourite of your pieces has to be the one where you went all-in, and got professional advice, for sure. That angel. Wow. I could see you really applying value and pushing it to the limit. I think that you could push all of your other coloured pieces to that level, too. You're definitely going in the right direction. I'm excited to see how you progress, man.

Keep at it!

[nphill19]

You've got some reallyy fantastic pieces, I've gotta say.  Your studies are da bomb.  You're well on your way, and congratulations on making it to the atelier!

My only comment is observational.  A lot of your imagination work seems a little ... Colour saturated.  It's as if realism meets World of Warcraft meets cartoons.  

My favourite of your pieces has to be the one where you went all-in, and got professional advice, for sure.  That angel.  Wow.  I could see you really applying value and pushing it to the limit.  I think that you could push all of your other coloured pieces to that level, too.  You're definitely going in the right direction.  I'm excited to see how you progress, man.

Keep at it!

Hey Bookend, thanks for the kind words! I think some of the oversaturation might come from a strong desire to want to avoid mude, and a heavy love affair with the dodge tool. I am definitely still working on resolving my struggling relationship with color lol. 

Here some stuff from the first 2 weeks at Watt's: 


And some imagination play and photo study/interpretation. 


The righteous sorcerer relaxing in the Abyss of Souls. 

[Bookend]

Oh wow, sweet work so far. Exciting to see how it's already made a big impact on your work! Stay encouraged, man.

[nphill19]

Thanks Book!!


Here's to another week!

 Also, started through Loomis's head and hands again, because the atelier has a reading list and I reeeally ought to work through some accessory studies to get all the practice I can. 



These are some color "playtime" imaginations, just warming up and trying to experiment with colors in a "okay to fail" way. 

[ZombieChinchilla]

Nice stuff so far! Your heads are looking good, keep doing them, and try focusing more on the neck and shoulders. Keep going!

[nphill19]

Thanks Zombie,  I'll get more of that soon!

[Rhasdra]

Wow! Really nice work dude!

You've got some pretty complex scenes. That's great! But I think you should think more about a hierarchy on your images. There are too many elements fighting for attention!

You can achieve this hierarchy by a lot of different ways... Edge control, contrast, lighting... But I think the one that will help you the most is minding about your edges... Try using more soft edges on the elements that are not crucial to your piece!

Keep working hard! Good luck! :DD

[nphill19]

Wow! Really nice work dude!

You've got some pretty complex scenes. That's great! But I think you should think more about a hierarchy on your images. There are too many elements fighting for attention!

You can achieve this hierarchy by a lot of different ways... Edge control, contrast, lighting... But I think the one that will help you the most is minding about your edges... Try using more soft edges on the elements that are not crucial to your piece!

Keep working hard! Good luck! :DD

 Hey thanks Rhasdra!

Edge quality is definitely something to keep in mind thanks for reminding me. Did you see a specific piece recently for example where it would have been good to use your advice or did you mean in general..?

[nphill19]

New character piece. Time to remake the ol' portfolio and get mo betta.

[Bookend]

Wow, that's really good character piece. I think that the anatomy is a bit off though. For some reason, this looks more like a teenager than a man. I'm not sure if that was your intention! I love the pose and the idea it invokes though! Keep working hard. Get that portfolio up to tip top

[nphill19]

Wow, that's really good character piece.  I think that the anatomy is a bit off though.  For some reason, this looks more like a teenager than a man.  I'm not sure if that was your intention!  I love the pose and the idea it invokes though!  Keep working hard.  Get that portfolio up to tip top

Probably a bit of subconscious planning. He's my younger brother, not yet 20? So, that's why I'm sure. Hahaha, crazy how that comes through! Thanks Book!

[meat]

It's always "okay to fail" unless it's paid client work that will affect your reputation... hard to remember tho! GOtta push it far out before knowing what to rein back and where to harmonize it in a more unique way 'cos nobody else dared to push that far :)