Creative Spotlight: Dragonbums

[Aerosteam]

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[table border="1" cellpadding="1"][tr][td]It's Creative Spotlight time, brought to you by The Escapist Creative Society!

Once again we have an audio interview, this time with Christine ([user]Dragonbums[/user]) who is quite the talented illustrator! You can go to her Tumblr here and you can see her favourite artwork she's done here.

Try to catch her streams here and you can view her commission information here

Quite a bit of editing has done in my speech so hopefully no one will notice it...

For those of you who can't view embedded videos in the forums, here is a link to the actual video page. ONLY use this link if you can't see the video here and DO NOT interpret this as telling you to go to my YouTube channel. Because I'm not.

Special thanks to [user]Joratron666[/user] for the chibi character drawings and [user]OutworldSorc[/user] for the great ending music used in the video![/td][/tr][/table]

[table border="1" cellpadding="1"][td]Have a question to ask Dragonbums about any topic, or anything to do with the Creative Spotlight in general? Ask away! Are you creative or know an Escapist who is? Nominate away![/td][/table]

 

[Barbas]

Nice art! My favourite here is the pink flying one. I like the variation between the designs. Your stuff is pretty good too, Joratron! ;D

I totally get where you're coming from, Dragonbums. Who doesn't love animals?

Spoiler

Which of those characters would you choose to be your mascot and carry out your will, Dragon?

 

[Dragonbums]

Nice art! My favourite here is the pink flying one. I like the variation between the designs. Your stuff is pretty good too, Joratron! ;D

I totally get where you're coming from, Dragonbums. Who doesn't love animals?

Spoiler

The pink one was like one of the very first avatars I had for this site. Since then I've just fluctuated between which dragon I liked the most.

Also animals rule and are hecka fun to draw.

 

[Barbas]

Nice art! My favourite here is the pink flying one. I like the variation between the designs. Your stuff is pretty good too, Joratron! ;D

I totally get where you're coming from, Dragonbums. Who doesn't love animals?

Spoiler

The pink one was like one of the very first avatars I had for this site. Since then I've just fluctuated between which dragon I liked the most.

Also animals rule and are hecka fun to draw.

I love its flat and wide head, which puts me in mind of whale sharks and isn't something I often see on dragons (that's another thing I love about them - they're so versatile).

Spoiler: Swim swim hungry.

I also have a request on behalf of the boys and girls (the ones who have listened to what you've said above): are you currently taking requests for commissions?

See, I know this friend...

 

[Dragonbums]

[

I love its flat and wide head, which puts me in mind of whale sharks and isn't something I often see on dragons (that's another thing I love about them - they're so versatile).

I honestly think after watching How To Train Your Dragon and the various designs Chris Sanders and the art team came up for dragons really opened my mind to the endless possibilites in terms of their designs.

I also have a request on behalf of the boys and girls (the ones who have listened to what you've said above): are you currently taking requests for commissions?

See, I know this friend...

Oh yeah! I'm definitely taking commissions.

My price sheet is right here http://fouronillustration.tumblr.com/post/103806022040/so-remember-when-i-said-that-i-was-technically

 

[Dizchu]

Dragonbums you have some mad skills. I am particularly impressed with your choice of colours, a good balance between muted and bright. It's something I've always struggled with myself, I had to redo the background assets for the game I did this year about a dozen times because I couldn't make the colours pop.

Is it something you find easy to do or have you spent a long time refining certain palette choices? Forgive me if I sound like I have no idea what I'm talking about haha.

 

[Dragonbums]

Dragonbums you have some mad skills. I am particularly impressed with your choice of colours, a good balance between muted and bright. It's something I've always struggled with myself, I had to redo the background assets for the game I did this year about a dozen times because I couldn't make the colours pop.

Is it something you find easy to do or have you spent a long time refining certain palette choices? Forgive me if I sound like I have no idea what I'm talking about haha.

Over the summer I did a lot of color studies of really good online artists and observing old art in my spare time. It's interesting just eye dropping and see what colors are being put where.

Something that also helps me tremendously is doing a grayscale value key before adding in any colors what so ever.

If it doesn't look good in black, whites, and greys, than it's not gonna look good when you add some colors to it.

On that note though I wouldn't consider it an easy skill set. It's something I struggled with for a while and eventually- like all things I practiced enough at it until I got comfortable doing it.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The actual colour scientist of the Escapist!

Your art and the way you use colour just sucks you right in.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Nice to see another Creative Spotlight up!

I hope you don't get too many annoying requests because of this interview! =P

Glad that Pokemon sparked another creator.

 

[Barbas]

Dragonbums you have some mad skills. I am particularly impressed with your choice of colours, a good balance between muted and bright. It's something I've always struggled with myself, I had to redo the background assets for the game I did this year about a dozen times because I couldn't make the colours pop.

Is it something you find easy to do or have you spent a long time refining certain palette choices? Forgive me if I sound like I have no idea what I'm talking about haha.

Over the summer I did a lot of color studies of really good online artists and observing old art in my spare time. It's interesting just eye dropping and see what colors are being put where.

Something that also helps me tremendously is doing a grayscale value key before adding in any colors what so ever.

If it doesn't look good in black, whites, and greys, than it's not gonna look good when you add some colors to it.

On that note though I wouldn't consider it an easy skill set. It's something I struggled with for a while and eventually- like all things I practiced enough at it until I got comfortable doing it.

Which artists in particular did you look at? I was also considering getting some software or a tablet to draw with, but didn't have any idea where to begin since it'd be a first for me. Photoshop is one that's always recommended, but I sometimes feel a little discouraged by the prospect of spending all that money and just revert to using a notepad and a few HB pencils instead.

 

[Dragonbums]

Dragonbums you have some mad skills. I am particularly impressed with your choice of colours, a good balance between muted and bright. It's something I've always struggled with myself, I had to redo the background assets for the game I did this year about a dozen times because I couldn't make the colours pop.

Is it something you find easy to do or have you spent a long time refining certain palette choices? Forgive me if I sound like I have no idea what I'm talking about haha.

Over the summer I did a lot of color studies of really good online artists and observing old art in my spare time. It's interesting just eye dropping and see what colors are being put where.

Something that also helps me tremendously is doing a grayscale value key before adding in any colors what so ever.

If it doesn't look good in black, whites, and greys, than it's not gonna look good when you add some colors to it.

On that note though I wouldn't consider it an easy skill set. It's something I struggled with for a while and eventually- like all things I practiced enough at it until I got comfortable doing it.

Which artists in particular did you look at? I was also considering getting some software or a tablet to draw with, but didn't have any idea where to begin since it'd be a first for me. Photoshop is one that's always recommended, but I sometimes feel a little discouraged by the prospect of spending all that money and just revert to using a notepad and a few HB pencils instead.

The online artists I absolutely LOVE looking at are these guys (warning some of them are a mixture of nsfw stuff.)

http://purplekecleon.tumblr.com/ This artists right here is an ENORMOUS inspiration for me when it comes to colors and character designs. Like, she is da queen man.

http://rikose.tumblr.com/

http://rogmont.tumblr.com/

http://dentyou.tumblr.com/

http://mucknagabe.tumblr.com/

As for color studies I tend to look at all sorts of renaissance and Golden Age Illustrator works. My favorites are N.C Wyeth and J.C Lyendecker's work.

 

[Dragonbums]

Nice to see another Creative Spotlight up!

I hope you don't get too many annoying requests because of this interview! =P

Glad that Pokemon sparked another creator.

Nah, it's actually pretty down low here

Besides I got enough request to do in the Five Nights at Freddy's fandom. Not that I wouldn't mind a little break up here and there.

 

[Aerosteam]

The online artists I absolutely LOVE looking at are these guys (warning some of them are a mixture of nsfw stuff.)

http://purplekecleon.tumblr.com/ This artists right here is an ENORMOUS inspiration for me when it comes to colors and character designs. Like, she is da queen man.

http://rikose.tumblr.com/

http://rogmont.tumblr.com/

http://dentyou.tumblr.com/

http://mucknagabe.tumblr.com/

As for color studies I tend to look at all sorts of renaissance and Golden Age Illustrator works. My favorites are N.C Wyeth and J.C Lyendecker's work.

By the way, I was looking to put some of those other artists' work in the video but I probably would need all of their permissions to do so, plus it's your stuff that should be the focus. Also I didn't want to put too much of your work in the video so that anyone who watches the video is more likely to go to your Tumblr to see them instead.

And I've never actually asked an interviewee before, but how did you feel about the video? Anything to improve?

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

I was also considering getting some software or a tablet to draw with, but didn't have any idea where to begin since it'd be a first for me. Photoshop is one that's always recommended, but I sometimes feel a little discouraged by the prospect of spending all that money and just revert to using a notepad and a few HB pencils instead.

Well, there's Krita. This guy's art [http://www.davidrevoy.com/static1/illustration-portfolio] is pretty awesome using nothing but open source software like Krita and MyPaint. Also, Adobe has that subscription thing now, dunno if it's expensive or not though.

 

[Barbas]

I was also considering getting some software or a tablet to draw with, but didn't have any idea where to begin since it'd be a first for me. Photoshop is one that's always recommended, but I sometimes feel a little discouraged by the prospect of spending all that money and just revert to using a notepad and a few HB pencils instead.

Well, there's Krita. This guy's art [http://www.davidrevoy.com/static1/illustration-portfolio] is pretty awesome using nothing but open source software like Krita and MyPaint. Also, Adobe has that subscription thing now, dunno if it's expensive or not though.

I don't understand how they could be so stunning. I assume they don't use a mouse but have a tablet and stylus instead. Those are astonishingly beautiful. Thanks for the recommendations! ^^