Cheetara Painting

[Jason C-M]

going to finish this in oils -- not sure about the anatomy in the spine and hips. All crits welcome (craved).
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/cheet01.jpg

[dogfood]

This is looking very sweet. And I don't know why, but the rib-hip distance seems kind of long (but I have little solid reason for this). It may be that she just needs a little more junk in the trunk. With the position of her right should, her right upper arm does look too long, though.

Really liking the feel, though.

[ilovemytaxidermist]

Most of it looks really well done until you get to the lower region.I think maybe her spine isn't in align with her hips.The way her hips turn looks a little uneasy and probably uncomfortable.Otherwise I'de say it's a great piece.

[Jason C-M]

ooh, you're right about that far arm. I'll need to fix that. And keep toying with the spine/hips.

[deschamps]

Cool Jason. Her left hand and arm look really solid. Though I am not totally sold on what she is doing with her other hand and that she seems to be staring at her fingernails. Great to see new work from you Jason.
-eric

[Jason C-M]

thanks Eric. This'll be the first illo like this I've done in oils, so wish me luck! I think the "looking at the nails" thing will be fine once the eyes are rendered to show they're looking at the viewer. Or so I hope.
I thought I had the spine/hips fixed, but now that I see it onscreen, I'm not sure. Hopefully tomorrow it'll all be clear when I go back to work on it.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/cheet02.jpg

[deschamps]

Nice fixes.

[Barts]

looking very good

[Orcatraz]

I really like this piece so far, I've always loved the Thundercats. I agree with the comments about the hips and waist. Here's a quick paintover. -Link- (http://www.moranconcepts.com/images/Cheetarapaintover.jpg)

Hope you find it helpful. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Keep it up.

[Railey]

Looks better now... This is a nice piece, I like your style. I can't wait to see it in color...




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[Jason C-M]

Thanks orcatraz!

[Jason C-M]

The changes in the hips are just scratched in at this point, which you can't see too well in the photo, but here's where it stands at the end of the day. The clouds might get too white in places - I can't "see" yet. Once I get the colors into the figure I'll know better.

I went into painting the b/g before the tint layer dried enough -- that was a mistake! Made it very tough to work the paint.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/cheet03.jpg

I had planned to put the mutant bad-guys in their flying machines just over the horizon above the river, way in the distance. But now I'm thinking I'll leave them out. Maybe I'll do a digital mockup of them before deciding.

[Dakardaur]

i'm loving this.

[nathonicus]

Hey, this is looking good. I'm interested to see your technique develop, since it looks like we're doing similar stuff as far as taking a line drawing to an oil. I'm not very good at it yet, so it's interesting to compare approaches. I'll be watching this one, keep us posted!

[Jason C-M]

Well, this is a first for me, of sorts. I've always worked more alla prima in oils. I have done layered renderings like this in acrylics, though.

I'm pretty much following DSillustration's process he posted over here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=45901
as after reading it I wanted to give this approach a shot.

[nathonicus]

Well, this is a first for me, of sorts. I've always worked more alla prima in oils. I have done layered renderings like this in acrylics, though.

I'm pretty much following DSillustration's process he posted over here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=45901
as after reading it I wanted to give this approach a shot.

Fatastic! Thanks, I hadn't seen that thread. It looks like you are still working very directly on your background; was it done all in one go? I am very confused over the best method to paint a scene -- it looks like some people paint literally from one corner of the canvas to the next in one go, and others layer the whole thing. Looking forward to reading through the tutorial and seeing this one develop further.

[Jason C-M]

the b/g as you see it there was all done in one go -- but it's not done yet. There'll be some glazes and touch-ups to it.

I am having infinite difficulty with my paint on this. I'm using the same mediums as I have before, and more or less the same consistency of paint, but having a hell of a time getting the brush to lay paint on rather than scrape it off, no matter how gentle a stroke I give it. I think I used a different medium when I did an overall tone glaze -- it's much slicker and glossier than what I've worked on in the past, and that's where most of my trouble is coming in. Plus I'm trying to finish this quickly and the paints are not drying as fast as I want them to (despite the walnut/alkyd medium I'm using.)

Add on to this I had a hell of a headache all day (partly from the oils, I think -- my house is just too small and too poorly ventilated to be painting in oils) so I took the painting outside to dry a bit -- a dust devil came up and imbedded sand, bark, grass, and leaves into the wet oils. Gyaargh!

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/cheet04.jpg
I really want to keep going on this, but I've got some other things that need to take priority. Going to rush through them to get back to this, though.

[nathonicus]

O my god, it's like I'm reading a day from my life! I've got the small apartment with closed windows wintertime oil painting blues, too. I try to go outside and stretch and breathe deeply once or twice an hour, and that helps, plus gives fresh perspective when I come back in. As far as the scraping off the paint goes, I have that trouble sometimes too, and what I seem to have found is that it usually happens when I haven't mixed enough paint and don't have the brush properly loaded.

Your WIP is looking really good - you've got the values in the figure very nicely. No real advice except for to have patience and let this dry before you go at it again so you don't loose the good things you'e got going. Keep at it!

[Jason Rainville]

One thing that I notice (having seen all of these pics for the first time right now) is that in the very first pic she has a nice femenine face, but in the last her face is looking a bit chunky and manly.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I wanted to let you know before you got too too far with this... juuuust in case.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/Cheetara.jpg

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/CheetaraDetail.jpg

[Orcatraz]

Wow that kicks ass. I still would have liked to have seen the hips a little bigger but maybe that’s just me. I'm going to save these steps as a "how to" for the next time I try a painting.

[nathonicus]

Congratulations! Looks very nice. I can't belive you finished so quickly, I'm such a damn slow painter. Anyhow, if you are still going to do touch ups, I have to say I agree with Rhineville that she looks a litle mannish, and softening the chin and jaw might make her a little more feminine looking. Then again, she maybe she's just the strong, silent type. Nice work.

[Death]

This rocks :D. TOTALLY rocks :D. It be kickin' but butt :D.
Keep up the awesomeness :D.

In hopes of some form of pertinent reciprocation...

thunder...

:D.

[Jason C-M]

I was thinking it was finished, but you're right, it's worth going back in and reworking the jaw -- that's an area I always draw to look too masculine to viewers, no matter how right it looks to me. People say "rounder" but my brain just doesn't get how to apply that.

I'm going out of town for a couple days -- touch-ups may need to wait until after I return.

Thanks everybody!

[deschamps]

the figure looks great Jason! The only thing that bothers me is that wall. I can't really figure out if it is a slope from right to left or is supposed to be curving outward. I think the concrete needs some break point lines to help define the perspective.

[poise]

is this one of the Thundercats!?

[Jason C-M]

I think the concrete needs some break point lines to help define the perspective.

Great solution. I'm going to do that.

Yes, Cheetara is from the Thundercats.

While I'm at it, earlier on I had a plan to put the badguys and their flying machines in the pic off in the distance. I've done a digital mockup of that here, and any feedback's appreciated. I kind of like the "eden" feel without the baddies, but maybe the composition's stronger with them?

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/CheetaraSkycutters.jpg

[nathonicus]

I think the baddies in the background don't really add to it since Cheetara is facing the viewer and seems unconcerned with that corner of reality. The composition might be strengthened by reworking the sky in the large section of negative space so that some of the lines of cloud and atmosphere draw the eye more to the figure. Just my two cents. Tell me to shut-up if I'm too mouthy!

[Jason C-M]

Tell me to shut-up if I'm too mouthy!
Never, man. You're taking time to help me out, so there's gratitude right out of the box. Add on the fact that you're making good points and there's no way I'd want you to shut up.

I'm not going to put in the bad-guys.

[Slither Astray]

really really awesome, but it's a shame her mask hides her eyebrows. she misses a bit of expresion because of that

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/Cheetarafinal.jpg

I thought the paint texture was a little strong on the last one, so I changed my lighitng setup -- now I think the paint texture is a little too week. Gotta find a good balance.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/Cheetarafinaldetail.jpg

[Jason C-M]

I kind of want to start a thread for this painting over in "It's finally Finished."

Is that kosher? Anyone know?

[Infinit]

I think THAT will be allright
I love the colour

[nathonicus]

I kind of want to start a thread for this painting over in "It's finally Finished."

Is that kosher? Anyone know?

Yeah, definitely. That way you'll get feedback from people based soley on the finished image and not the entire progress. If you want crits though, go for the critique center. Especially if you ask for punishment, you'll get LOTS of high quality feedback.