Crab Attack . . . Part 8 of the Paint Study!

Hope the new year is great for all of you. Thanks for all the support and love, you guys are the best!

Crab Attack . . . Part 7 of the Paint Study!

      Working on client work and pushing this paint study. Getting ready for the new year, going to change up some of how I work and see how it turns out. Like how this piece is turning out, but going to push it some more. Its Friday and at our house we call it pizza Friday. Going to go have homemade pizza and hang with the family.

Crab Attack . . . Part 6 of the Paint Study!

Going to change things up with my art studies. Got cool things for The Life of Green and Orange, just have to make sure I don't burn myself out. Thanks for the all the support, you guys are awesome!

Crab Attack . . . Part 5 of the Paint Study!

Not much to say today. Just pushing forward...and working on client work!

Crab Attack . . . Part 4 of the Paint Study!

Making some progress and its starting to pull together. Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Had a fun time with the family. My baby daughter and wife got something that they didn't want for Christmas, a nasty cold! 

Crab Attack . . . Part 3 of the Paint Study!

Pushing forward through the holiday. Wanted to put some time in, even if it seemed like I didn't get much done. Some days it has been really hard to get a post up with progress. When other important things in life around you like family, friends, client work, etc. The Life of Green and Orange has helped me in so many ways. There will be some great things to come from this. Not only getting to know some new awesome people, but I also am becoming better focused as an artist. Thanks... 

Crab Attack . . . Part 2 of the Paint Study!

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a awesome day. Got some more done, this is going to be another fun study. Orange is such a brave soul, and always saving Green's butt. Thanks for all the support and love, you guys are so freakin awesome!

Crab Attack . . . Part 1 of the Paint Study!

Orange is to the rescue again, will Green be saved? So I got out some of my son's modeling clay and did this basic form of a crab. Worked pretty well, was able to get a good visual shoot of what I was thinking. Didn't get much done, been getting ready for Christmas. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! 

After The Fall . . . Part 2 paint study!

Pushed this study to get it done, and move on to a new one. I like how it turned out, but Green is really in a mess. Hope he pull out of this... more like pulls together. What will be his fate? Will he pull his nuts and bolts together and survive this awful  fall? We can only hope.... Have a great Christmas Eve Eve!

After The Fall . . . Part 1 paint study!

This is what happens when you get the birds angry... climbing up the cliff too close to their nest. Is this the end of Green?  Will he survive this fatal fall?  Will he become scrap metal?  Doesn't look good, we can only hope for the best for Green. Keep on following to see what Green's fate will be...

Angry Birds . . . Part Seven the final Illustration!

I'm pleased on how this turned out in the end, took way longer than I would have liked. I learned a lot from this one. Would love to hear your comments good and/or bad about this piece. On to a new paint study today with The Life of Green and Orange. This has been really great for me, hope to hear from you!

Angry Birds . . . Part 6 of the Paint Study!

Ok, I need to work on some speed, been too long on this study. So I will finish this today and move onto the next part. These angry birds are kickin my butt, I need to take back control!  Hope green doesn't slip or  get knocked off this cliff, because its a loooong way down....

Angry Birds . . . Part 5 of the Paint Study!

Really pushing this piece, hoping to finish it today and then move on. I like the way this is coming out, so I would like to render out a finished piece. Trying to make theses illustrations enjoyable and exciting for the viewer. I'm learning a lot, it has been really fun doing these paintings with Green and Orange. Truly grateful for  all the awesome support from you guys.... Thanks!

Angry Birds . . . Part 4 of the Paint Study!

Didn't like the visual look of this piece, just wasn't cutting it. So, took some time and pretty much started over.  I brought in the horizon line, changed up the color scheme...really worked on getting the piece to flow together. I like how everything is coming together in the illustration, now if I can just keep going forward with these adjustments. Sometimes things just don't work out the way you plan, but if you keep pushing it things just fall into place. Looking forward to working on this one more...

Angry Birds . . . Part 3 of the Paint Study!

This study has changed a lot from my photo reference. Skull was making the birds nest look too tiny, so it had to go! Even though the idea sounded good it just wasn't going well for this illustration. The main idea was the birds nest and making Green look like he is really up high. Again learning to stay focused on the main idea, and really push it. I just need to remember my reference is to help me paint a good illustration, not there just to copy. Thanks everyone...have a great weekend!

Angry Birds . . . Part 2 of the Paint Study!

Busy day but I still got a hour of paint study in. At the last minute, I committed myself to join the Crimson Daggers Art Challenge. It was fun... should have started it Sunday when they announced it, but pushed to get a piece done. Should be able to post it this weekend. As for the Angry Birds paint study, here is the photo shoot setup. Thanks, and have a great Friday!

Angry Birds . . . Part 1 of the Paint Study!

Looks like Green is gonna get himself into some big trouble? He better hope the birds that belong in this nest don't catch him, or they will be very angry! So here is my new paint study, as usual  I will post a photo of the photo shoot setup tomorrow(day 2). Thanks for taking time to check out my blog, and to the ones that have been following/commenting... you guys ROCK!

Marshmallow Giant . . . Part 5 Final of the Paint Study!

Finished this one up...finally. It was fun bring marshmallows to life, and working on a snow scene. It makes me feel good to hear that you guys are enjoying "The Life of Green and Orange". Bringing life to these characters has also brought fresh life back to me as a artist. Giving me new hope as a freelance artist, I am excited to see where it takes me.  Thanks again for  the comments/support, you guys are truly awesome!

Marshmallow Giant . . . Part 4 of the Paint Study!

Gonna put one more day into this piece and then call it done. Got so many upcoming ideas for these guys. Hope you are enjoying these illustrations, just as much as I am having a blast painting them. Thanks, and have an awesome day!

Marshmallow Giant . . . Part 3 of the Paint Study!

Mostly I focused on the Marshmallow Giant. Gave him back his shapely marshmallow figure, wanting to really illustrate that this thing really is alive and breathing. Hope you don't have nightmares...wait, haven't we seen a giant marshmallow man before? 

Marshmallow Giant . . . Part 2 of the Paint Study!

I'm having way too much fun with these paint studies, hope you are enjoying them as well.  After some thought...I'v gone back to keeping the giant in the perspective of a marshmallow, instead of a snowman. When do we ever get to see a giant marshmallow come to life, right!? Thought this piece was missing a little something, so decided to throw Green into the mix. It helps to visualize the size of this giant of marshmallows, and makes the piece more interesting.  Orange just wouldn't have a heart if he let Green get crushed by this thing, getting marshmallow goo into his gears. Friends don't always agree on things, but this time it looks like these two are in agreement with the pulverizing of this enemy giant.

This study started out with building this awkward marshmallow giant, and then setting up Orange... spearing him. As my mind kept thinking about this study of marshmallows, I got crazy ideas. I needed the look of real snow... we don't have snow yet on the ground here, so I needed a bright idea.  Started out with just a piece of plain white paper, then I thought it need some depth. So, grabbed a bed sheet for the mountains in the background...this helped but needed more of a snow feel.   TOILET PAPER...that's it!  (sometimes it pays to take a bathroom break ...smiley face sideways!).  I set up this scene on my glass desk, used a light underneath to make the white glow like snow. It worked out sooo well, and I didn't have to wait for it to snow outside.

Snow Giant . . . Part 1 of the Paint Study!

Back into some action! Had a bag of gigantic marshmallows, so I made a giant snowman. Orange is always getting himself into dangerous situations. With snow coming, I wanted to do a winter scene paint study. I think this turned out really cool. Tomorrow I'll post the photo shoot scene setup for this study. Check back tomorrow to see how I pulled of the snow effect in this shot. Thanks again for following...have a great weekend!

Fish Head . . . Part 5 Final part of the Paint Study!

I like how this paint study turned out in the end, even though I put more hours into it than I would have liked.  I think it was worth my time, have been learning a lot from these studies....now on to a new one!

Fish Head . . . Part 4 of the Paint Study!

Well I decided to put in another day before I move onto a new paint study, so tomorrow should be the final.  There are some parts I want to render out to my satisfaction. Awesome news Dave and Dan are getting a two page spread in ImageFX magazine to share about the Deathline Challenge.  Dan will be doing a collage of artwork for the artists too. Also they have a team working on a Deathline website for artists to share their work and links to their Deathline blogs. All great things to help us keep up with each other and be accountable.

Fish Head . . . Part 3 of the Paint Study!

 I did remember to save my work this time...had a busy day yesterday,  working on some client projects. Went to a friend's birthday party...Happy Birthday man, had a blast playing Dominion! So got in a little late, but still pushed myself to get some paint study time in before crashing. Hoping to push today and get this study finished to move on to a new one. Thanks again for following, for all the love and support!

Fish Head . . . Part 2 of the Paint Study!

Well it was bound to happen....yesterday my two hour study was going well until the end when I forgot to save my work. An artist's worst nightmare, hours of hard work...LOST!  So from experience, make sure you save your work often. I did save the first half an hour of my study, so all was not lost. As usual... here is a shot from my photo shoot setup. Not much to show, I did use a light under my subject that worked well for lighting. I will be re-doing some of that hard work today, hope to have more to show tomorrow.  Lesson of the day... save often!

Fish Head . . . Part 1 of the Paint Study!

Watched the cat in the hat movie over the weekend with my niece. Got this idea of a gold fish swimming around in Green's head., just thought it would be an interesting paint study. Hope your head doesn't start swimming, as you follow this illustration! Have a great Monday everyone...

Seeker . . . Part Four the final Illustration!

Need to move on to my next paint study, but had way too much fun with this one! I pushed this study past my point of reference, I just wanted to prove to myself that I could start making these paintings really stand out and be more appealing. I wanted to make this illustration look like a book cover, since that is a field I would like to work in someday. Thanks to all for the growing support, it has been much needed for so long and I greatly appreciate it. Please leave me some of your thoughts about this painting. On to my next paint study....

Seeker . . . Part 3 of the Paint Study!

So... I'm going to try to push this study past my photo reference. Got some interesting things to add to this piece, to step it up a notch.  Since this one is going into a fourth part, thought I would show some of my painting process I'v done up to this point. Would like to finish this up today, we shall see...

Seeker . . . Part Two of the Paint Study!

This was a complex scene to setup, and took quite a bit of time. I hope my patience and effort paid off for the shot. Some info about this scene... I used lava rock and fresh moss, used branches (from bridge making) for trees. The cloak is from my original Luke Skywalker action figure, I think it happens to fit Orange very nicely. I was looking for new textures to paint, so I used the cloak and also added in the moss. I enjoy putting in the time/effort to get a good piece. I also wanted to catch some good shadows, and lighting/direction of light... the sun setting. I have been learning a lot from these studies, from the time I started this blog The Life of Green and Orange has my mind bursting with so much more creative energy!

Seeker . . . Part One of The Paint Study!

Ok... so again I setup my own references, do a photo shoot, pick out the one I think would be most interesting/challenging to paint. In my next post I will include a shot of the my scene setup and share a little more about the photo shoot process. Hope you all are enjoying "The Life of Green and Orange". If you have any suggestions on how to make this/my blog more informational/interesting for you, please leave me a comment...  I will see what I can do. Again thanks for all the love...

A bit of fun trivia...Orange borrowed a cloak for this scene from a famous action figure, take a guess at whose it might be?   I will fill you in tomorrow....

Bungee Jump . . . Part Three

Just want to again say thanks to Steve for the bungee jump idea. I am calling this paint study done. This was a cool illustration for me to do, I had fun making the bridge with my young son. A new situation for Green and Orange is coming keep following. Thanks to all who have been stopping by, it has been a great encuragement for me to keep on pushing forward...

Bungee Jump . . . Part Two

     Sorry, but on the day I shot this scene it was raining...so I don't have a shot of my actual setup. The white spot in the photo reference is a raindrop on my camera lens. I shot this scene outside so that I could get the sky and some trees for the backdrop.  The bridge that my son and I built was propped up on two stools. I layed on the ground underneth to get this shot. Thanks for taking the time to check out my progress on these studies.
      You followers who happen to be doing the deathline, I would love to see your progress and follow your blog....please leave me a comment with your link.  Some time ago I did a logo for the band String. The meaning behind their name...A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (NLT Ecclesiastes. 4:12).  Taking this same thought concept and applying it to us as artists... if we stand alone/try to learn on our own, we will mostly fall or give up...but with the strength/support of other artists we will succeed.