Friday, December 31, 2010

Let's start 2011 with ...

A failed attempt to use watercolour properly! XD

I bought 2 bottles of liquid watercolours 3 days ago and just had a chance to try it few hours ago. In my head I was imagining a beautiful sepia illustration as a finished result (btw.. the 2 colours that I bought was yellow (orange-ish) and dark brown).. but it ended with a crazy ugly result.. As an attempt to fix my failure, I quickly scanned and brought the abominable work into photoshop and patched it to death.. in the end I wasn't too happy with it (I even signed it as my first 2011 work.. blargh).

So.. anyway.. I'm uploading this image as the start of my 2011.. I hope by the end of 2011, I can make a decent improvement with this crazy medium - and my overall work.

and yes.. he's the Red Croc from my previous posts. He'll be back :D

Medium: Watercolour & lots of digital manipulations..


I hope you have a fantastic new year! Happy 2011! :D

20 comments:

TJ Lubrano said...

Loove the bird! Looks so sophisticated ^_^.

Watercolor is tricky, but so much fun in the end :D! And you know, with practive you can only get better and better!

Wish you lots of luck & Happy New Year!!!

Unknown said...

I like it :) Have you ever tried watercolor over one of your pencil renderings sort of like Alan Lee ? That might be cool . Looking forward to your magic in 2011 sir -cheers!

Gabby Zapata said...

This is still wonderful, Charles! Don't be so hard on yourself! Your work is beautiful and full of awesome!! :D Happy New Years!!

Jez Tuya said...

hahah I love this! You're awesome bro :D and Happy New Year!

Ted Blackman said...

What a great theme for a painting, and such a proud little bird.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, SIR!

Charles Santoso said...

TJ Lubrano: Thank you :D will definitely practice more :) Happy new year to you too!

Scott: Thanks, man! Yes, I did have a pencil rendering underneath the watercolours.. all gone hahaha.. definitely have to try different technique with this medium :)

Gabby: Thanks a lot for always giving kind words, Gabby. Appreciate it.

Jez: Cheers, Jez! :D Thanks heaps

Ted: Thanks, Ted! :) btw.. guys, go visit Ted's blog for some seriously funny stuff! :D

Malgorzata Arska said...

wonderfull !!!
Happy new year :)
hope to see more your superb amazing works !

Unknown said...

Happy New Year Charles!

uhh, this is very interesting work I don't think I've seen you do watercolor yet :) Its a very interesting piece though :) I like the blend of colors on the bottom. I think it would've looked nicer if the lower part of the crocodile had more of the water tint since its underwater :) I love the owl standing on its head LOL

Anonymous said...

fantastic!!!!

Unknown said...

Haha, I love this one !
Happy New Year Charles!

Lee White Illustration said...

Hey man, this looks pretty good! how much digital manip. did you do?

Watercolor is a bitch! Here's a quick way to break it down: try thinking of it in just three layers, lights, meds, and darks. Lay it down in that order. With the light layer, you can slop paint all over the place, let the "wet into wet" happen and have fun without being too critical. The medium layer is still pretty loose, but a bit more controlled than the first. This layer is basically local color only without the influence of to much light.

Then, the last dark layer you are simply painting shadows. You can drop interesting colors into the wet paint here, but you need to control the edges carefully. Let shapes in the shadows bleed together, but hold that hard line where it meets the light.
Watercolor is at it's best when there are soft and hard edges. Watch out for "paint by numbers" effect of simply filling things in.

Hope that helps some. I'm still struggling with it too, so fight the good fight!! We'll all get there someday! : )

-Lee

www.leewhiteillustration.com

Charles Santoso said...

Malgorzata Arska: Thank you! Have a great new year to you too :D

Carrie: Thanks, Carrie. The bird is an Egyptian Plover btw hehehe :)

Griselda: Thank you!! :D

Ben Basso: Happy new year to you too, Ben! Thanks!

Lee: Thanks, man! wow! I really appreciate your tips here, Lee. Hope the next one will be better :D yeap.. definitely will fight a good fight! woohoo!

Btw.. regarding the digital manipulation for this image .. it was A LOT! I did the original image in only 2 colours before haha.. *slapping myself in the face*

Emmanuel Briand said...

SUPER BLOG

James O'Shea said...

beautiful stuff, Charles!

Patrick Awa said...

Happy New Year, Charles!

Pretty neat to see your water color work at the beginning of the year.
Interesting use of color combination with reddish brown and aqua blue.

Pat said...

I'm sure you'll improve in your work as you've been doing because you keep it intense and practice practice practice. Good for you! :)
Happy New Year Charles, and may the lines go with you

Giuseppe Bianco said...

You are quite talented with a great imagination.

Charles Santoso said...

Thanks a lot for the encouragements, guys. :D

Roberto Cruz said...

Hello! how nice blog! that good drawings!

Cécile said...

I actually really like that one Charles ! Nice colors and design !! Keep going like that in 2011 and it'll be stunning :)

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