Well, this is a first for me. This time, instead of getting a piece of paper and pencil to start a painting, I've started to draw directly into photoshop with my tablet. Its quite a challenge and takes a little longer than drawing it by hand. But I like it, the drawing stays clean and the digital eraser is quite accurate! ;P The story behind this one is that when an elder warrior of great virtue dies, his spirit is manifested into a small crystal. Priestesses must tend to this crystal like they would an incubating child, and on the first day of spring, these crystals begin to hatch and the spirit is reborn into a mythical gaurdian of the people. Magical and fierce, they will defend their people for a further 1000 years, until the spirit can finally join the stars. So here is the initial sketch. Not much, eh? basically I started with the girl. Then for composition I extended her arm to be raising something up. Didn't know what it was yet, (but I was terribly curious over what it might be), drew her hair and then an egg. Okay, what's inside the egg? A DRAGON! Believe it or not, I first drew a dragon, then erased it thinking it was unoriginal. Then drew in the little critter. But to further the composition, I needed a mature critter to give perspective of what he will become. That was the thought process behind the sketch. Silly, I know. But I sometimes enjoy a more organic approach to a pic, and not just be hit with a blinding light of inspiration. SO have a look, have a laugh and tell me what you think! [img=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/kyleenel/birthofamidnightguardian1.jpg]

*ahem* yeah, so I decided to change the background. Elf in a forest with a dire tiger... *yuck!* So I redrew the background to show in interior of sorts, like a temple or whatever. I still plan to have the pool of water in, and I opted for a colour scheme I don't usually go for: Night time. Its quite challenging, I might say. Plus I needed to make the egg thing glow and that lighting had to be taken into account. So I Roughly painted the colours I needed, applied minor dark areas and also areas where the light hits the various characters. This is quite an important step as it lets you map out your lighting. I then went on to work up the skin, and dress. Man, that dress was ultra fun. So yeah, not much else to say about this step. If you want to know anything specific, just ask and I will explain it. [img=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/kyleenel/birthofamidnightguardian2.jpg]

okayy.. so I reworked her skin a bit, blended the colours a bit more, added some richer tones like red, etc. Then I tackled the egg. I tell you, that gave me a headache! And that little furball was quite a challenge. So this is what it looks like for now. also started attacking the tiger at the back. How come no one told me that fur was so difficult??? Anyways, step 3 in the process.... Same thing, if you need to know something, just ask. [img=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/kyleenel/birthofamidnightguardian3.jpg]

Well, I added the fur texture to the rest of the tiger, worked on the rocks a bit, and added an additional light source comming in from the water. This changes a bit and I am going to have to adjust quite a bit in the picture to accomidate this. I also readjusted the colours to a warmer scheme. [img=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/kyleenel/birthofamidnightguardian4.jpg]

Okay, I know that this isn't really a step forward. Its more of a step back. I took some time out and studied other paintings of fur and techniques of accomplishing fur. I decided to try again and cleared the fur of the main tigers face, and reattempted it. The below right face is the newer face without main shadows or reflected lighting. I think this direction is best! [img=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b11/kyleenel/tigerfaces.jpg] The fur just seems more natural and texturised.