I do sketch quite often, but not usually with the intention of displaying them in public. I tend to be quite loose or experimental e.g. when testing out my own brush presets.
So - I’m not sure exactly how this will work out, but I figured I should give it a go.
To start off - Here’s a bunch of ideation thumbnails I did last week for the monthly contest:
I usually find painting like this quite therapeutic since I habitually turn full pieces into a ordeal. These took less than 2 hours in total according to the document details in Krita.
I haven’t started a full piece for this yet, so I’m doubtful I’ll make the deadline now.
I’ll have a think about what else I should put in here. I thought I might do a separate one for studies from life, or I could just stick everything in here… What do you think?
Almost - I wasn’t sure if that one would be readable, but you seem to get the idea. It’s a tiny person (some kind of faeryfolk) riding on a leaf. Same with the two directly above it - gliding with a leaf, and riding on a squirrel.
Thanks dude! I might still have a go if I can find time tonight. I’ve got a rough idea what I might do and had a look through my photo archives for references. If I keep it quite loose and painterly it might work out. Maybe…
As with the last lot - these are a combination of ideation, composition and value study. It’s a bit of a mixed bag as some are variations on a single concept.
The entry I posted for this ^ was painted directly on the last thumbnail, but I changed it a lot in the process. I think I was too ambitious with it in the end - I quite like the top right one as a simpler more focused interpretation of the same idea.
These are the thumbs I already posted for the Sinister/Serene theme I set in June. I messed up the entry piece I was working on - it was similar to the second thumbnail, but the composition was too flat, and far off what I wanted. I tried to start again from scratch with only hours left, but that didn’t amount to much. Then I went back to the original to see if I could save it. I failed, so I was a bit grumpy after that…
Hmm… this is starting to read like a chronicle of my own ineptitude!
I like experimenting in Krita - seeing how I can push the boundaries of the brush engines, or using other tricks like with the layered impasto. After playing a bit in Rebelle last weekend I had ideas around trying to emulate watercolour in Krita.
I played around with the brush creator to make a spreading dab brush - similar to one I demoed a couple of years ago, but with more dynamic behaviour. I coupled that with layer effects to try and get as much of the look and behaviour as I could.
It’s still not very practical for general use - but it was an interesting experiment. I managed to emulate to varying degrees - spreading, movement, pigmented edge and granulation. Sorry I don’t have a video this time - I’m not set up for that at the moment.
@Mythmaker Could you share the brush presets and brush tips for that experiment?
It may not be ‘very practical’ but it could be interesting and useful for someone and for further development.
Yeah; I don’t mean to imply this is just a throwaway experiment. To clarify - It’s still my intent to create a brush bundle, and that will likely feature several modules covering different types. That would include a group for more experimental stuff like this.
I’ve already put a lot of work into it - making huge numbers of brush tips using natural media. I have an extensive library of custom presets - particularly lightness brushes which I’ve done a lot of experiments with since testing for the colour smudge engine last year.
I’ll probably release it as modules in phases, rather than wait till every part is ready. I just need to make a point of sitting with it for long enough to get it done.
I do testing like this often; trying to figure things out so I can iterate and improve. My art folders are littered with abstracts like this as I doodle to feel out presets - it’s just you don’t normally get to see them!
This is the pic I did for the Halloween art party. It was a bit last minute - I spent a chunk of painting time in October trying to refine the autumn journey contest picture. Then I had a go at the dragon contest theme I set for the month - but I didn’t get far enough with it. So that left me with just a couple of days to do this.
I think I used mostly very basic brushes for this i.e. Basic-1 and 2. I don’t think I used any blending or colour-smudge brushes. It was mostly painted in greyscale then colourised very quickly.
This is a quick scribble I did for this month’s contest theme (a shelter from the cold).
I did a single 10-minute thumbnail the night before the deadline, then I did a 20-minute paintover in the last half-hour before the deadline. I quite like it as a quick scribble, but didn’t feel it was enough to be worth posting in the contest - I just wanted to participate in some way.
It’s meant to be a cloaked mouse sheltering from rain in the undergrowth. It would have take more thought and time to effectively communicate the context/narrative.
What do you think?
not to worry, there are infinitely many good ideas!
