So you've already figured out the basics of painting a glowing object, but how can we boost your workflow?
Here are 3 simple methods:
1. Add some simple VFX around the object. I like to take a soft brush or a brush with one hard side + one soft side to add a subtle burst from the cent...
2019-07-07 16:32:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Adding a quick glow effect to an object is easier than it may seem. The most important aspects are...
1. PUT IT ON A DARK BACKGROUND. It's *really* hard to make something glow if it's on a light background. It's a light source! So it should be lighter than whatever it's on.
2. Boost s...
2019-07-07 15:16:21 +0000 UTC View Post
I adore freelancing. I do this entirely fulltime and expect to do this for a significant portion of my career...but there are many underdiscussed downsides other than "instability" and "you have to find health insurance" and "it's hard."
I've learned a lot in the time that I've been f...
2019-06-23 15:54:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Thank you to all of the $5+ Patrons that submitted questions! Please take all of this advice with a grain of salt as always.
If you'd like to submit questions next month, pledge just $5 a month (that's less than 2 Starbucks coffees!!)
~~~~~~~~~
Ghostyj... 2019-06-17 15:31:07 +0000 UTC View Post
I ran a one-time sticker promotion in April and it went splendidly! I have gotten a lot of questions about how to run something like that successfully, so I want to share some of the lessons I learned.
A quick overview on the context of my sticker promotion:
At peak, in late 201...
2019-06-10 16:57:06 +0000 UTC View Post
I worked with the wonderful AD Leesha Hannigan to bring this Cervan Priest to life. I have SO much respect for so many of the 2019-06-03 17:26:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I am a BIG fan of Baby Bestiary and was ecstatic to work with Andreas from Metal Weave Games. I illustrated the rogue-like fox rogue, Velisa, for the 2019-06-03 17:23:49 +0000 UTC View Post
After 10 amazing weeks, I'm soon wrapping up my first long-format intensive course here in Chicago. I focus primarily on developing my students fundamentals and workflow through the lens of stylized concept art.
I developed all of the curriculum personally and put my blood, sweat, and...
2019-06-03 17:09:49 +0000 UTC View Post
I've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes sketching lately, trying to figure out what my next couple of pieces could look like.
I put together the tropical pseudodragon (Artstation) recently and started 2019-06-03 17:01:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Dungeons and Doggies needed some extra hands so I quickly painted up these little object illustrations! Original rough sketches and direction from the amazing April...
2019-06-03 17:01:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Our process for painting angular gems is very similar to that of painting round gems. Just focus on checking your values and building up visual noise SLOWLY at the end! Don't be afraid of the imperfections like bubbles and scratches that make gems interesting. :)
2019-06-02 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
What does junior-level art ACTUALLY look like? It's a question that I've seen many times, so I asked the game dev Twitterverse to share the work they were making when they broke into the industry. 2019-05-31 16:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Update 5/30: All stickers are in the mail!!
Apologizes for the delay on this, I ordered a return stamp over two weeks ago because almost 90 people ordered stickers and it still hasn't come in yet! I just rush ordered return address labels from another site and they should be in asap. Ev...
Painting gems is quick and simple as long as you build up the light carefully!
I make sure to put my highlights (step 3) on their own layer on top so that I can paint underneath them when polishing and adding detail. I make that large highlight blue so it looks like it's reflecting the sky,...
2019-05-28 16:38:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Neglected Lessons is a new post series similar to my Freelance 101 posts, but they are ...
2019-05-24 15:14:19 +0000 UTC View PostHey yall,
I want the rewards in the $5 tier to feel a bit more important, so all tutorials and blog posts like my Freelance 101 series will now be in early access for a few days to $5 patrons before being public.
I found this feature to be very helpful in ...
2019-05-14 16:20:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Update: They are in the mail!
The stickers came in today and they are SO. CUTE.
I'll be working on sending these out in batches over the next week or two! Thank you so much to everyone that became a Patron for these.
If you missed the promotion, I'm planning ...
Thank you to all of the $5+ Patrons that submitted questions! Please take all of this advice with a grain of salt as always.
If you'd like to submit questions next month, pledge just $5 a month (that's less than 2 Starbucks coffees!!)
~~~~~~~~~
Abz asks: ... 2019-05-06 21:39:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Heyo!
I've been on Patreon for a year now, and with the new "founders" update thingie coming, I wanted to compile some quick information about how to make the most of your profile. This will be a bit quick but hopefully it can help some folks trying to jump on-board before May 7.
2019-04-30 16:22:05 +0000 UTC
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A lot of folks ask what my day-to-day routine is like as a self-employed artist that works from home, so I wanted to share a bit about the habits I have in place to keep me focused and healthy. I've slowly built a daily set of actions and decisions to avoid burnout and distraction. It's definitel...
2019-04-29 19:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
WOO! Thank you to everyone that hopped on and got us to the 4th sticker goal over our celebration weekend. We took a vote on what the fourth sticker should be, and I had such a blast putting together this last little cutie...
The jackalope!
2019-04-26 20:52:16 +0000 UTC
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Hey everyone! I was on a panel at a local event at Northwestern University called Progression Mechanics, and we had a really great discussion about shifting tides in the games industry. Tom Eastman from Trinket Studios, Adam Boy...
2019-04-24 18:02:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Thank you THANK YOU thank you THANK YOU everyone that participated in the birthday celebration! I want you folks to understand the numbers of how big of a difference this made:
Update: we have passed over 30 new Patrons!!!
What's up it's my birthday on Sunday!!! The Patreon celebration will come in two parts.
Part one:
I want to do a Big Thanks, so I'm doing Twitter shoutouts all weekend fo...
2019-04-13 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
There's a lot to celebrate in April, so I'm trying out Patreon's Special Offer feature to promote the $5 AMA Asker tier. My birthday's on the 14th! It's tax season, how fun!
A couple of folks asked me to start doing AMAs again and I've been wanting to reintroduce a $5 tier,...
2019-04-09 18:01:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Some of the personal work that I've put together lately! I'll be doing other posts with my commission/client work updates.
Wesley was a recent major addition to my portfolio and I'm SO pleased with how he turned out. I was hoping to put together a full process post for him, but just haven't...
2019-04-02 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I've had SUCH a blast freelancing, and I wanted to share some of the work I created for the awesome upcoming game, Mirador! Sauropod Studio was so fun to work with, and I hope the game really takes off on launch. (This isn't a sponsored post, I swear... I'm just hyped 2019-03-30 17:50:00 +0000 UTC View Post
A lot of folks have been asking for more advice on freelancing, so here are some personality traits that I've found to be essential while you're self-employed in the art world. This stuff is hard! But building these aspects into your professional self can make everything feel a little easier.
... 2019-03-28 16:35:30 +0000 UTC View Post
WHEW.
What a month. Hey everyone! I haven't posted an update in a while so I wanted to drop in and say hi, talk about how GDC went, etc etc etc.
I wasn't planning on going to GDC until January. It's...expensive, exhausting, stressful, anxiety-inducing, and takes a TON of time away fro...
2019-03-27 22:48:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Think about the forms you're painting in 3 plane directions: facing towards the light source, being parallel to the light direction, and facing away from the light source. This makes it much easier to paint believable forms with a clearly-reading light direction.
2019-02-04 19:00:47 +0000 UTC View Post