Category: Demonstration

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And your little dog, too!

I’m working on my next DVD for PhotoshopCAFE! This time, I’ll be teaching the brush and composition techniques I use for painting animals.  Even though MY paintings of animals have a whimsical and caricature quality to them, I realize that not everybody is into that style.  So for this DVD, in order to appeal to a wider audience, I’ll be painting a more traditional looking animal portrait.  The painting techniques are exactly the same, but without the cartoon and exaggerated features evident in the animals in my Totem wildlife series.

Meet Don Diego, a wonderful little fella who belongs to Scott and Pat Wendt, the owners of Bluestem Books in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Pat is a good friend of mine and she is a very talented photographer.   Anybody who knows Pat and Scott knows Don Diego, and from the first time I saw him, I wanted to paint him.  Fortunately, Pat has graciously allowed me to use Don Diego’s likeness for this DVD, and I’m thrilled about it.

Now, this photo you see here, taken by Pat Wendt,  is not the one I’ll be using for the DVD.  Pat provided me with a great reference photo to use, and I’ll reveal that in the DVD itself.  Unlike many other Photoshop painting DVD’s on the market, this is not going to teach you to ‘photo-paint,’ which involves manipulating or painting over a photo.  Everything I paint begins with a blank canvas in Photoshop and no photo is ever part of the finished painting.  I’ve been accused of photo manipulation in the past, and while that’s sort of a compliment (even though the accusation is never meant as one), I’m looking forward to showing a complete painting from start to finish, to finally put that to rest.  But you still need a good reference photo to work from (or a VERY patient pup), and that’s where Pat’s skills as a photographer come in, not to mention a handsome little subject like Don Diego.

Because of the length of time it takes to complete these paintings, much of the DVD playback will be at an increased speed, with my narration.  Trust me, you’d get bored of watching 15-20 hours of painting.  But the crucial steps will all be in real time.  I’m pleased with the DVD I recorded on cartooning, but I’m REALLY looking forward to this one on painting.  This is the work that excites me as an artist, and I’m hoping it comes through on the DVD.

 

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A DVD in the hand

My DVD’s arrived in the mail this week, some of my promotional copies from PhotoshopCAFE.

While it seems like quite awhile ago that I finished the challenging task of recording my first training DVD, it really hasn’t been that long at all.  At the time I was working on this project, it felt like a monstrous undertaking.  In retrospect, I wouldn’t change the experience, because I can now look back on it with a great sense of accomplishment.  Holding the finished product in my hand is made all that much sweeter because of the difficulty and stress I went through recording it.  Many times during the process, I thought to myself, “there is no way I’m going to finish this, and if I do, it’s going to be an incoherent mess.”

I’m now working on my second DVD for PhotoshopCAFE, and while it will still be a challenge,  I find myself without any of the anxiety I felt while working on the first one.  Without challenges forcing you to step out of your routine, there is no growth.  Even though I already knew that, it would appear that I need to be reminded of it once in awhile.  This DVD did just that, and I’m grateful for the lesson.

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Now Available at PhotoshopCAFE!


While the hard copy of my first DVD will be making its debut at Photoshop World this coming week in Orlando, it is now available for purchase as a download from PhotoshopCAFE. The hard copy will be available in the next couple of weeks.

This is a little surreal, having my own training DVD, but part of the natural evolution of being an artist. ‘Learn it, do it, teach it’ is a fairly common saying, and it does tend to bring things full circle. While I will always have more to learn, and will never be finished working to make myself a better artist, it’s been an interesting experience teaching a little of what I’ve learned so far.

This was a huge undertaking for me, and I wondered if I’d ever get it done, but I’m very pleased with the result, and already planning my next title. By all accounts, the second one should be a lot easier.

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Coming Soon: My First Training DVD


Regular readers will know that I’ve been working on a DVD for PhotoshopCAFE for a number of months, now. With a final push through a very busy week, I managed to get everything finished this past weekend. The final editing days were difficult, but I managed to meet deadline, and the DVD is now in production.

Entitled ‘Cartoon Illustration Techniques in Photoshop,’ I recorded over 4.5 hours of training, taking the viewer through the entire process I use to turn a sketch into the finished image you see above. The majority of the lessons are done in real time, so I’m actually working while talking, and only a couple of painting sessions are sped up and narrated. This is the process I use every day when drawing my syndicated editorial cartoons and when creating cartoon illustrations in the same style.

This is my first DVD for PhotoshopCAFE with plans to record more on other techniques in the near future. It will be available for purchase online and at the PhotoshopCAFE booth at Photoshop World in Orlando next week. As soon as it’s available, I’ll be posting links.

While the entire process was difficult, and more than a little frustrating at times, I learned a LOT about audio and video recording, had incredible support from Colin Smith at PhotoshopCAFE, and am pleased with the result. My intention at the beginning of this was to record the DVD I would have liked to have had when I was first starting out cartooning in Photoshop and I think I achieved that.

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iPad Cartooning: An Ongoing Experiment


Having done some finger painting on the iPad, I thought I’d be happy just continuing to do that. I was getting pretty decent results, having a fair bit of fun, and didn’t feel I was really lacking in any tools that would allow me to create the images I wanted.

I had heard the Pogo Stylus was a compromise at best, and many were using it simply because they couldn’t find anything better. I bought the Dagi Stylus after reading a good review, but it ended up scratching my screen in three places on the first day so I stopped using that right away. The scratches, by the way, are not obvious. I’d have to point them out to anyone wanting to see them. No real harm done, but enough that I wouldn’t use that pen again. I’d almost given up on finding a stylus, until I started hearing really good reviews about the Targus stylus (also sold as the Griffin stylus).

Since it was less than $20, I figured I’d give it a shot. Ordered one from Best Buy, with low expectations. I’m happy to report that I LOVE this pen. It works so well on the iPad screen. The rubber tip looks like it might have the consistency of a pencil eraser, but it actually has a fair bit of give, slides nicely over the screen and doesn’t require a great deal of pressure to activate the drawing apps.

You’ll notice that I’m wearing a glove on my drawing hand. While you can buy pre-fab gloves for this sort of screen work that look nice and pretty, I just bought a pair of glove liners from a local sports store. I cut the thumb, index, and middle fingers from the gloves, so that I can still use my fingers to activate the app features, such as tool presets, zooming, panning, etc. But by keeping the last two fingers on the glove, I can rest my hand on the screen while drawing, without the heel of my hand activating anything on the app. Works very well and as an added bonus, it cleans the screen as you draw.

It should be noted that I do NOT have a screen protector. I tried a couple when I first got my iPad and hated them. The installation was incredibly frustrating, and once I did get one applied well, I didn’t like how it made my images look or the feel of the screen so I removed it many months ago. It is my understanding that a screen protector will seriously decrease the effectiveness of some of these stylus pens, so be warned that if you have one on your iPad, your experience may not be as good as mine.

I do have the Apple case on my iPad at all times, and those three little scratches on the screen made by the Dagi stylus are the only ones I’ve ever had. Since I use the iPad every day, and have been using the Targus stylus quite a bit as well, I’m not worried about getting any more scratches at all, so I won’t replace the screen protector.

The app I used for this cartoon is ArtStudio. I also use Sketchbook Pro and like them both. While I will still do some finger painting for large brush painting, and less precise work, I am definitely going to continue to keep using the Targus as it’s a great addition to my iPad workflow.

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Thank you for continuing to hold…


Lately, I’ve been working on my training DVD for PhotoshopCAFE, entitled Cartoon Illustration Techniques in Photoshop. It has been a steep learning curve with regard to the audio and video software and hardware. Even though I had an animated editorial cartoon for about five months a few years back, this has proven to require a very different set of skills.

I’ve had a number of false starts and have had to rewrite session scripts when I realized that I had forgotten to talk about crucial steps. I’ve also had more than a few sleepless nights trying to make sure that everything I talk about is going to be coherent.

Worst of all, fitting this very large project into my already heavy workload has been challenging and this has taken far longer than I had intended it to. But, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and thankfully, it doesn’t appear to be a train. As in all things new and difficult, I’ve no doubt that I’ll come out the other side better for the experience with another set of skills to add to my repertoire. I’ll also be in need of a little time off.

So for those who’ve been asking when the DVD will be done, I plan to be able to make that announcement very soon, and thanks for your patience.

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Final Painting Demo of the Year


Last Saturday, I was painting in Banff, but this Saturday, I’ll be in Canmore again for the final painting demo of the year. Still working on the Owl and the Bighorn Sheep, and they’re really starting to come alive. I’m working on the fine details of both paintings and while they won’t be done ’til January, they’re awfully close. Probably another five or six hours left on each.

If you happen to be in the area on Saturday the 18th, and would like to see some digital painting, ask some questions, or just stop by to say Hello, I’ll be at Two Wolves Trading Company from 11-3.

Hope to see you there!

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Painting Demo Prep


A couple of half finished paintings I’ll be working on today at Editions Gallery in Banff. This morning, I’m taking an hour to do my prep.

The prep work for one of these sessions is fairly easy, just making sure I have all of the pieces I need. For hardware, it’s my laptop, Cintiq, spare Intuos4 tablet, iPad, secondary display monitor, connection cords, power cords, and extension cords. For software, it’s having the working files for the paintings, the reference photos to paint from, the Photoshop brush set for live painting and making sure that it’s all working well. Finally, I need to bring any surplus canvas and paper prints to have on hand if the event generates any extra sales.

I’ve done 6 or 7 of these now, and each one gets easier. What’s the difference between the first one and the one I’m doing today? Well first of all, I was incredibly nervous the first time, and today, no nerves at all. As in all things, the hardest part is usually taking the first step. At this point, it honestly just feels like going to a part-time job.

In the beginning, I was disappointed if these live sessions didn’t result in sales, but that’s no longer the case. The paintings are selling well now without the demos, so the goal from these appearances is just to generate interest and provide a little education. While somebody may not buy a painting today, they may see one a month from now and remember that they saw me working on something similar. Sometimes having a connection to a painting, having a story to tell about it, makes the image more desirable.

There’s a lot more I need to learn about the publicity and sales aspects of these paintings, and I imagine that will always be the case. So I’ve chosen to keep doing these painting demos on a regular basis, and just consider it ‘on-the-job’ training.

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Another Painting Demo in Banff


The Bow Valley is usually quite busy this time of year. Whether it’s folks visiting for skiing or other winter activities, shopping for the holidays, or just taking a break from the city and coming out to see the fresh snow on the mountains, there are plenty of people milling about Banff and Canmore on the weekends.

With that in mind, I’m going to be doing a couple more painting demos before the year closes out. This Saturday, December 11th, I’ll be at Editions Gallery in The Cascade Plaza in Banff from 12-2, 3-5, and 6-8, working on the Bighorn Sheep and Great Horned Owl paintings that I currently have on the go.

If you’re in the area, stop by and watch a little digital painting, ask a few questions, or just say Hello.

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Painting Demo


Today and tomorrow, I’ll be doing another painting demo at Two Wolves Trading Co., as mentioned in a post earlier this week.

The images you see here are what I’ll be starting with. At this point both of them are still at 72 ppi, which is only web quality. I still consider these both quite rough. I usually don’t blow an image up to 300 ppi until I’ve got ‘the bones’ of the image done, which I’m pretty sure I’ve got for the bighorn sheep, but not quite for the great horned owl. There are still some structural issues I’m not quite happy with, but that will come with a little more time.

The reason I start at 72ppi is that I even though I have a fast computer, Photoshop doesn’t always do well with really quick sweeping brush strokes when it comes to a large size image with a high resolution. With painting at a lower resolution, I can move the pen/brush as fast as I want without any lag. Lately I’ve found a lot of good results with painting very fast in the beginning at low resolution. It gets to a point where I’m not thinking too much while I’m doing it, and if you ask anybody that knows me well, they’ll tell you I almost always think too much. At this size, I’m just throwing colour and brush strokes around, figuring out what’s going to work and what’s not.

The other reason I start with images at this stage when I do painting demos is that people don’t want to see the first blobs of paint and then be told that eventually it will look like a bighorn sheep or an owl. They want to be able to see the animal I’m working on.

A little different method this time around. I’ll be using my new Cintiq tablet, which means I’ll be painting right on the screen. Another great use I’ve found for my iPad is using it to store my photo reference. Great screen quality, and I can flip through the different images I’m using quite easily.

If you’re around Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore today (across the parking lot from Safeway beside Starbucks) between 2-4 or tomorrow between 12-2, stop in, ask questions or just watch. I’m able to talk and paint at the same time.