Keith_v's Fan Art

[keith_v]

Some commissioned work I got done recently...

 

[spider_rob]

Some commissioned work I got done recently...

Damn, really nice coloring and lighting! Almost looks 3D!

 

[keith_v]

Damn, really nice coloring and lighting! Almost looks 3D!

Thanks! I was going to keep the pics with just the softer, David Fincher-type orange lighting, but once I started throwing in that blue light from the side, it really helped the picture pop. The hardest part about this pic was deciding where the light source would be.

 

[keith_v]

Got a few new things. The first is was a character design for the weekly contest on conceptart.org (I won't make the deadline so I'll just finish it when I find the time) and the other is a 50's style Superman redesign.

 

[keith_v]

Here's a new piece I'm working on. The concept is a blind princess. I'll add her jewelry when I paint it.

 

[Alex_Spider]

Outstanding!

 

[keith_v]

Outstanding!

Thanks!

Here's a small update on the pic so far. I wanted to have it done by tonight, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen.

 

[webhead9707]

Keith, first off, that's incredible. But I'd like to ask, do you do most shading when doing the actual image, or when coloring it?

 

[keith_v]

Keith, first off, that's incredible. But I'd like to ask, do you do most shading when doing the actual image, or when coloring it?

Thanks! I shade it before I color. I have a pretty involved and unusual process. I'll do a full tutorial on this princess pic when I'm done, but here's a quick rundown of what I do:

1. character thumbnails and sketches
2. sculpt character pose
3. print out rendered pose, sketch out character directly on printout
4. scan in character sketch and begin tweaking in photoshop, fix areas, adjust areas, etc
5. print out adjusted character sketch and shade with pencil using photo references or out of my head
6. scan in pencil drawing, smooth out digitally, and colorize

You'll notice that a lot of the shading in the color is different from the black and white pencil drawing, and the reason for that is because I switched to a better reference for the colored version. It's much better to find one reference and stick to that for the both the pencils and the color. This way, there's fewer areas that have to be repainted.

I also didn't go over my process of how I light my images. The photo references I only use for ambient light. I always add my own light to the scene to get the dramatic effect I want. I'll cover that later on, since it's actually easier to show than to describe.

 

[webhead9707]

You're welcome. and wow! thanks for all that info!

 

[keith_v]

A painting I just finished...

 

[webhead9707]

Oh My Gosh.. I love it. haha

 

[keith_v]

Oh My Gosh.. I love it. haha

Thanks!

Here's a small update on my Princess pic. The lighting still has a ways to go but I have a light direction I'm happy with.

 

[keith_v]

Here's a WIP of my Spawn redesign. I wanted to have it done by today, but I'm gonna really go all out and play around with it. I might change the light too, maybe a spotlight overhead instead of the sunset look.

 

[Buford The Sly]

You ever watch or read Game of Thrones, Keith? There's a wealth of material there that would suit your style.

 

[keith_v]

You ever watch or read Game of Thrones, Keith? There's a wealth of material there that would suit your style.

Lol yeah, I watched the show. I'm avoiding the novels so I don't get the show spoiled since I hear they follow the book's plot very closely. I had to laugh when I saw your comment in the other thread about my take on the white walkers, cause my brother has been saying I should draw them for months. I've actually started sketching out an illustration depicting the death of the Mad King's son by Robert, right as he is about to crush his chest with the war hammer. I've only seen a few pieces of artwork depicting that scene online and none of them really blew my away so I've been wanting to tackle that.

 

[Castiel]

Jesus dude, some crazy nice stuff on this page alone!

 

[Buford The Sly]

Lol yeah, I watched the show. I'm avoiding the novels so I don't get the show spoiled since I hear they follow the book's plot very closely. I had to laugh when I saw your comment in the other thread about my take on the white walkers, cause my brother has been saying I should draw them for months. I've actually started sketching out an illustration depicting the death of the Mad King's son by Robert, right as he is about to crush his chest with the war hammer. I've only seen a few pieces of artwork depicting that scene online and none of them really blew my away so I've been wanting to tackle that.

That would be awesome. Looking forward to seeing that. I just thought the book descriptions (of the white walkers/Others) would be right up your alley. I've never seen any artist attempt them with their rumored "ice spiders". Since you've done some wicked looking spiders I thought that'd be something the fans of these books have never seen done. Forgive me for posting someone elses work in your thread but this is my favorite rendition of the Others.

Spoiler

Very alien like. They went a little more "Predator" in the show. Glad you like the show.

 

[keith_v]

Jesus dude, some crazy nice stuff on this page alone!

Thanks!

That would be awesome. Looking forward to seeing that. I just thought the book descriptions (of the white walkers/Others) would be right up your alley. I've never seen any artist attempt them with their rumored "ice spiders". Since you've done some wicked looking spiders I though that'd be something the fans of these books have never seen done. Forgive me for posting someone elses work in your thread but this is my favorite rendition of the Others.

Spoiler

Very alien like. They went a little more "Predator" in the show. Glad you like the show.

Yeah, I'd like to try the white walkers, but I think it's one of those things where I liked how they were portrayed in the show so if I did try my own design, I'd be imitating them. The ice spiders could be fun, though.

Meanwhile, here's a piece I just finished. This started out as a sketch in one of my school notebooks...

 

[spider_rob]

Here's a WIP of my Spawn redesign. I wanted to have it done by today, but I'm gonna really go all out and play around with it. I might change the light too, maybe a spotlight overhead instead of the sunset look.

wow, looks really good!

 

[Buford The Sly]

Thanks!



Yeah, I'd like to try the white walkers, but I think it's one of those things where I liked how they were portrayed in the show so if I did try my own design, I'd be imitating them. The ice spiders could be fun, though.

Meanwhile, here's a piece I just finished. This started out as a sketch in one of my school notebooks...

That is not something I'd like to run into. That's really cool.
RE: White Walkers - I liked the shows version of them as well. Without giving too much away, they ride half decayed/frozen dead animals (horses, bears, elk) too.

 

[spider_rob]

That is not something I'd like to run into. That's really cool.
RE: White Walkers - I liked the shows version of them as well. Without giving too much away, they ride half decayed/frozen dead animals (horses, bears, elk) too.

I hated the show's version. Couldn't tell them apart from the wights. They both looked like homeless people.

I always pictured the White Walkers as cold, elegant killers. In the books they stride over the snow without leaving a trace. They were basically barbarians in the show.

Here's my version:

Spoiler

 

[keith_v]

It looks like everyone pictures the White Walkers as almost ghostly and alien-like. Hopefully I'll get the time to do my own version soon. In the meantime, I've put all my own pieces on hold and started working on a book. It's going to be an instructional guide on digital painting. I had been planning on doing one about creature design, but I noticed how many people paint digitally without any solid knowledge of how to use the features the software offers, and this even extends to college professors. The book is based around a painting technique I've been using that doesn't rely much on photo references or life observation. Its almost all about the shape and volume or the object you're painting. I'm about halfway through the first painting, and I'm hoping to have a proposal ready to send out by Thanksgiving. I would've liked to use the blind queen painting in it, but I relied heavily on photo refs for that.

Anyway, here are some Halloween mask designs I did a while ago. There are 6 of them, but these 2 are the best of the bunch.

 

[Buford The Sly]

It looks like everyone pictures the White Walkers as almost ghostly and alien-like. Hopefully I'll get the time to do my own version soon. In the meantime, I've put all my own pieces on hold and started working on a book. It's going to be an instructional guide on digital painting. I had been planning on doing one about creature design, but I noticed how many people paint digitally without any solid knowledge of how to use the features the software offers, and this even extends to college professors. The book is based around a painting technique I've been using that doesn't rely much on photo references or life observation. Its almost all about the shape and volume or the object you're painting. I'm about halfway through the first painting, and I'm hoping to have a proposal ready to send out by Thanksgiving. I would've liked to use the blind queen painting in it, but I relied heavily on photo refs for that.

Anyway, here are some Halloween mask designs I did a while ago. There are 6 of them, but these 2 are the best of the bunch.

Nice!

 

[keith_v]

Nice!

Thanks!


I just realized I never posted this. Did this for the intro page to my website. I'm not crazy about how the wood texture came out, but everything else was decent. Now that I look at it, the desk could have used a lot more clutter.