Reflecting.

Boy I can't remember the last time I uploaded so many posts in one week... But I can remember the last time I uploaded a post about being disappointed. I think this is the first.

Two major blows today. The first was seeing my first issue of BEATS come out.. and I wasn't as impressed as I hoped I would be. I guess it was too much to expect that I could make it look sht hot on the first issue I did. Organization, graphical layouts and composition and just plain ol' colour co-ordination all came into play here. I was a little distraught with the final print and the fact that it was 13 days late too. A bit of an anticlimax but you live and learn 'ey?My editor said I shouldn't beat myself up over the issue and that alotta people thought it looked great. However, I myself (as I'm sure all creatives will agree) will always be the first to criticize and put down my own work and I believe now that is what makes you progress. I guess that was one of the good things that came out of today. I reminded myself that I still have much to learn and that I KNOW I can make it. Even though sht may get you down at first you gotta use it as your drive to make sure you can make the next one better. I don't want to ever look at my work and be totally satisfied because once you hit that point, you become complacent.The second blow; the 'Classy Dirty' image I have been working on for g4 lately. If it were a page in a comic or a standalone image I guess it would have worked out... but I don't think it does for the title, 'Classy Dirty'. I think somewhere along the line I just got lost in the illustration, just so hellbent on making it look good but forgetting the title... It's a little too dirty with little class. If I could do a before Illustration that showed him CLASSY, Now that would be neat. If only I had the time.. I guess I would have made the 'Classy' Image in Illustrator rather than have it hand sketched, to show the contrast.... why oh why are good ideas like buses? when you want one, it never shows but then when you don't need it, like, 4 come at once!  I wasn't happy with the original image in my previous blog, so i therefore decided to start again. Anyway, I have added put in the basic four steps as to how I created the image below.****Stage 1:  Inking. After sketching using a 2H pencil, I decided to go for my favorite tool, the biro (0.5). I would have used a traditional dip pen and ink, however the paper was not the quality for this method. I find that the finer the nib, the easier to sketch. The dark blocks were filled in with a fatter nib of the same biro. 

*Stage 2: Detail.Using the 0.5 Biro I started to add detail to the image, much inspired by McFarlane's & Capulio's work from Spawn, to give it that 'dirty' feel.Stage 3: Block Colours:Its been a while since  I last coloured in Photoshop on a hand drawn illustration and it is something I need to brush up on. Here I just put in the basic block colors of the image. I didn't want anything to strong but rather more faded and weak to enhance the feel of 'dirty'.***Stage 4: Brushes, Masks, Layers & Effects.Each section has four separate layers, in total thats about over 100 different layers. Shading was complete using mostly the brush tool, but a few masks were added and some effects were used on the wall and for the fag smoke too.Thats it!! Looking pretty scummy 'ey? I am really considering buying a light pen with my first pay cheque (whenever that will be) and learning how to use it as using a mouse can get quite frustrating...   Now I'll just have to see how it goes. I also realized that illustration is still my passion & I cannot lose sight of it no matter what my job is. It's something that will never be taken away from me and something I will always work to perfect because that is what I do. It's what keeps me occupied and most importantly, I love it.

Another really important lesson I learned today is that I still have much to learn and much to improve upon, and I will. I'm gonna bring BEATS mag up to scratch,- streamline it, simplify it, and make it sweet. For a free mag, I want it to have the impression of a mag you pay for.

Looks like I'm gonna be real busy for the next few weeks.... sleeping at the office all over again hehe. I kinda like it though. Like a little adventure... But I gotta remember to make time for my family, my friends, my girl, and the gym. God I need to get back to the gym!

'Till next time True Believers.

Peace.

L