How I make my art!
My paintings are hand sketched and painted, each stroke of the brush is my own, just as with traditional painting. I work from a lot of reference pictures and still life set ups and aim for a balance between a realistic and painterly style. I use Photoshop CS6, a Wacom Bamboo tablet with my desktop computer, and a standalone Cintiq Companion 2 to create my artwork.
Time lapse of Painting of an origami fish still life. 20+ hours, photoshop.
This painting started with a still life set up of an origami fish a friend of mine had made in high school. I created a shadow box, set up the lighting and had the fish clipped to a letter holder. I was taking an oil painting class at the time, so I started this painting in a similar fashion, blocking in the basic colors and shadows with a soft, basic brush then working up the details. This project was all about creating a 3 dimensional affect on the flat surface of the drawing. Colors were especially important; the fish was made out of white printer paper, but nothing in this picture is white. It was an interesting feat with a lot of learning involved. I especially enjoyed the controlled setup.
Time Lapse WIP. Photoshop
Many times reference or texture pictures are necessary. This particular tree needed some bark. I dig through my collection of reference pictures I've taken over the years with my camera and find the perfect bark with just the right amount of roughness. I overlay and warp it to match the shape of the figure, then hand paint on top of it to create the effect that I want. The stock photo creates a basis on which to build up my own texture and details.