pig pile finished 04/13/03

[foster]

this is one that i have been showing the progress on from start to finish over in the works in progress area.

it is done now, well for now. i always like to go back in and fix things after it has been out of my sight for a while.

photoshop and painter.

the background texture came from the photo ref i used in the beginning. all other figure ref was me, yep even the girl.

jon

[thomasaurus]

Well worth all the work!

[oglzogl]

Very nice.. and great to see your progress. Thanks!

Beautiful work!

Only thing that I don't get is the thing on the man in the foregrounds left forearm. Is it a band aid? Or a fried egg (;))?

Like I said, great job!

-- Looking at this some more I really am liking what you did with the background. It seems sort of flat.. but the way you have used the lights gives it nice depth. I really like that. You can tell there is perspective on the wall, but it is also flatened out. I like it all, but I just have been noticing that part.

[Swedish Chef]

That's pretty sweet, man. Skip Liepke fan, are we? :)

[Gezstar]

This is wicked - you somehow managed to have a high level of finish without sacrificing any dynamism or energy... like oglzogl, I really like the semi-abstract background - it adds to the dizzying effect of the action.

[foster]

well i am just siting here waiting for a friend to call so we can walk out dogs. i have a regular zoo around here of three dogs and two cats (who knows what is living in the basement)!

thanks for following along on this one everyone. as i said from the beginning it was at least as much for me as for you.

swedish chef, i am a fan of liepke. funny though, i have not thought about him or his work for some time now, must be sneaking in under the wire.

for those of you who are not familiar, look up malcolm liepke (malcolm is the name he uses now). you will be nicely surprised.

oglzogl, it is a tattoo of a a fried egg. this character was very thoroughly designed by dave dorman done to band aids and tattoos. it reads "death before breakfast"!

thanks jnorish, i am reasonably happy with the results.

gezstar, thanks you and many complements to you and your work. i very much liked you site. i will send you and email back soon.

boehmke, i hope you have jumped over to this thread for the finish. you are right about changes in the work. it is both because it is digital and because i have felt a need to progress. i must add though that working in painter seven allows me to experiment more than in tradition paint and in much less time. thus i have made maybe a more pronounced change in a shorter time and it is easier to see. i am not sure i will ever be able to go back to painting traditionally. i sure would like to be able to take what i have learned here and apply it to my oil painting!

jon

[ShawnYe]

Man this is sweet. I really like how you choose to render and leave things behind to a minium detail but in the same way suggest something and let the viewer interprete what he sees.
Thanks for sharing the progress, much to learn from it!

[chukw]

Nice Iguana!

[John P.]

Great piece as usual. Thanks for sharing the WIP; it's nice to see that even pieces like this and the work people like you do also have more humble beginnings. :)

Looking at the close up in the other thread I noticed you used brushes(I'm thinking especially of the right arm of the guy with the tattoo) I wouldn't have considered using 'cause I would've thought it just wouldn't work, but then when you look at the normal size version, it looks very good and painterly.

So I've learned something from that too. :)

Thanks.

[khangle81]

awesome :)

[TARGETE]

As usual Jon you keep hammering these out and their looking good man your the master of textures and dynamics. When will this project or book be completed? would love to check it out.

J.P.

[RudeCorleone]

very nice painting

[JohnM]

Foster has been assimilated! whoop! That's great man- digi-painting (for me) has become really the only way to go for any kind of illustration. Don't get me wrong I love getting dirty in the studio, but when doing illo's there are sooo many times where I wish I would have done a layout differently when I see the final piece (or where it's been demanded by an AD) - it's unbelievably "freeing" to be able to snip the composition here and there in the final piece without much headache- doing variations is a snap and you get to be a hell of a lot more playful throughout the life of the piece. I remember doing boards where the only fun part was the layout and the underpainting (which took foreva') then it was a meticulous dash to finish it- painting by numbers trying not to f--k it up...digi-painting for me is fun all the way through because there are no rules to live by- it's just doodlin'...and doodlin' is fun.

Viva la revolution!

JMueller

[MindCandyMan]

Hey Jon the final version looks awesome man. Dave Dorman must be really pleased with these illustrations you have been pumping out. They are looking fantastic. Don't let the dogs get away hehe. Great work man and seeing the process is even better. Thanks.

[KayCustomz]

looks like a dream team :D nice

[LEN]

I have no crits , since this is such a fantastic piece, I do have a few questions if you don't mind.

Where have you been published (I swear I've seen you befor)

And is this for Dave Dormans Rail?

[cos]

Awesome piece Foster, your handle of textures blows me away every time. So rough yet pulls together amazingly.

I totally missed your thread in the w i p section (due to just being a finally finished and sketches and doodles junkie), class of you to go through all that.

Off to study the progression of the image.

[dbclemons]

A very strong painting, foster. I like the twisting, snake-like composition.

I have some quick observations to share with you about it, if I may.

I'm not too fond of how you've made the gun flare. The glow looks more like a light than a flash of a gun to me. Compare it to the oval light above it, for instance. They look too similar.

There's a lighting change between the two top characters and the guy below. Ordinarily I'd say, so what, artistic license, but in this case I think it makes the bottom fellow look cropped in, as though he doesn't really belong in the same scene. I'd recommend adding a bit of light either to his right side, or a bottom light to the other two characters behind him.

It took me a while to figure out the pose of the large center character, and I didn't really recognize he raised left arm right off. I'm not saying that's bad, it's just not real clear. Maybe consider lighting his left shoulder? Just a thought.

All small quibbles. Overall it's a good one.

-David

[el coro]

as always, outstanding. mister foster, you are truly the shit. you never cease to amaze me. do you actually have a pair of those goggles?

[scout v]

amazing work , the process is inspiring too ,
thanks for sharing it

[black_fish]

Awesome piece, very moody, and a lot of 'texture' in the paint. Like that.

Just one thing bothers me: the lighting on the girl and the guy in the background seems to be coming from the oposite direction thatn the lighting on th foreground figure. Is it some kind of double lighting or something I don't get? ;)

Oh and the composition is excellent.
I got your book over a month ago. Still going through it and burning holes in the images with my eyes :)

[hed|lamb]

I love the skin tones of the fore-figure and the textures throughout the image. Wonderful piece of art.

[davi]

i loveeeeeeeee ittttttttttttttt

[Tedsuo]

I also learned a lot from seeing your brush strokes up close. They tend to be much harsher than I thought, even in the soft areas. Everything I do comes out fuzzy unless I run a sharpen filter on it; I think this is why.

Thanks for sharing!

[foster]

to all that wrote in on this piece thank you for sharing your thoughts. you don't have to take the time to write but when you do it goes straight to the heart of the artist. thanks!

to those that had specific questions i have written a little more bellow.

john p. it is one thing i have learned from using the computer, to go ahead and experiment. if it does not work, do it again. i think that is how i have found some of my favorite brushes and methods.

targete, thanks, great to hear this from you. they are soliciting the book in a month so it should be out (possibley) by august (fingers crossed). when is your book do out?

johnm, hey big man (i can not help it when ever i think of you i get this image epic image of the man who bare handedly sculpted part of the industry)! we are drinking the same beer when it comes to our work and what gets it done. but it sure is nice to hear it reiterated so clearly. thanks.

hi len, well i have been published by dc comics, dark horse comics, wotc, tor books, del ray books and other places as well, but most people come across my work in the spectrum annuals.

dbclemons, thanks for your insights. i must admit that i was not that interested in the gun blast and it shows. do you have suggestions? i was afraid that the lighting scenario would bug some people. yes i wanted two different light directions to set them apart a little. i had hoped that the suggestion of multiple lights in the background would give the piece a foundation to make the situation believable. i like it but i have been known to be wrong, ask jason.

el coro, thanks but i must add, you are the shit! you have been kicking some sketch book butt and to add to your already over the top industriousness you throw in a tremendous oil painting now and then! you are the shit! i do have a pare of german work shop goggle that make for good reference, plus they make me look really cool when working on the table saw.

black_fish, well you are now the second to mention the lighting. i will have to look closer at these kinds of decisions in the future. i am glad you like the book. every time i hear this it makes me feel, i don't know, more authentic?!

jon

[dbclemons]

Originally posted by foster
dbclemons, thanks for your insights. i must admit that i was not that interested in the gun blast and it shows. do you have suggestions? ...
jon

Gun flare is a tough thing to pull off. I spent some time on this myself making special effects for a game project recently, and although I researched it alot by viewing videotapes of actual gunfire, I had a hard time convincing my art director of the results. Seems he had in mind the kind of "comic-book" look with a broad yellow flame, but that's not what it looks like. It's white, similar to what you have going here, but the falloff is sharper and brighter, and there's often a bit of smoke. I wouldn't sweat it too much, but you might want to look at some movies, or watch the Iraq news for that sort of thing. ;)

-David

[dbclemons]

Here's an image I found on the net that is like what I've been talking about. Probably a larger effect than what you'd want, but ...

http://members.tripod.com/~FabKid/trade8_6.jpg

(dang, I hate Tripod. Copy/paste that link to see it)

Also, while I'm being picky ;) a shoulder harness looks a bit different than what you've got here. The guns fit in like they're shooting behind the guy, not down like a belt holster. For example:

http://www.galls.com/shop/viewProductDetail.jsp?item=BH036

I am in no way a gun person, but I am a bit anal about details.

-David

[foster]

dbclemons, thanks for the links. i did not get an image with the first one and as for the second dave dorman has already designed the holster. details are nice but variations exist. the holster you showed is of a different type.

jon

[Jason Manley]

Originally posted by foster

i had hoped that the suggestion of multiple lights in the background would give the piece a foundation to make the situation believable. i like it but i have been known to be wrong, ask jason.


jon


oh man...ahhahahahah

i like multiple light sources in images. I am humble in my skillz compared to you jon.


j

[nardfrog]

Your shit is soo gritty - i love it. those characters got you lookin every which way!

great piece. If i sent you a check would you sign a book for me? (the check would pay for the book)
that would be so cool.

tyler