Painting in the fire here I avoid any real reference material for flames or anything like that.  I've never really understood modern painters continuing with photo realism.  Now that we can take and print a photo in literally seconds, why would anyone bother spending hours on a picture that looks exactly like a photograph (shrug). 

I did however print out some shots of sloths speeding their way up tree trunks.  I didn't really capture the unique qualities of greasy sloth hair.  I think it's a unique window into my psychy that I picture all monkeys/primates wearing a fez and a little vest.

Tinman and the Flying Sloth

Pencils for the Tinman and the Sloth.  I'm kinda obsessed with constructing the Tinman from different kinds of metal bits and pieces.  'Course a Tinman made from a potbellied stove is not technically a Tinman but...

Jackelope Green Tea #3

Starting to really build up contrast with the opaque gouache, I had to bust out some reference for the desert stuff.  Yay, for the Internet.  At this point I was still fairly uncertain which way to go with the Jakelope's pipe smoke and tea steam.  The steam from the tea has a kind of ribbon candy look to it, and I'm going with a more solid opaque approach.

Adding finishing touches and all the cactus prickers.  Clearly visible here is my empty chocolate milk glasses clearly indicating it is time for bed.

Jackelope Green Tea #2

About 1 hour into the picture at this point.  I continue to paint in between playing with my daughter and obsessively restarting her favourite TV programs on the DVR.  It is just me or do most children's shows seem to have some kind of creepy back story going on?

Jackelope Green Tea



I am continueing to experiment with the tea dyed watercolor paper.  I am still not certain it is worth the effort but starting with a off white background gives me a more overall rustic look.  The tea thing also goes along with my theme of The Jackelope drinking different kinds of tea.  This is my initial pencils on the watercolor paper.

Laying in my first colors with the transparent watercolors. This will be the foundation for my opaque gouache layers. 

Bigfoot Coffee Break Final

Utilizing colored pencils I fix up my coffee steam and add some finishing touches to the hands and feet. This is the point were one could tinker with it endlessly and it is important to know when to call it a day.

Finishing touches

Here I am expanding beyond the drawn image and adding more leaves and foliage, I had originally intended to add only some painterly touches and finish off the piece with some thick black lines in my standard cartoony fashion. I started to enjoy the overall painterly quality and decided to make it more like a real painting. 6 hours in and I have no idea what to do with the coffee cup.I have decided to tie in the cup with the Bigfoot's eye and make them similar, I lifted the cups decoration from a standard New York paper coffee cup, and attempted to add a steam effect that is not quite getting it done. This is the point were painting in photo shop seems like a much more convenient process.