• 20240708

    More Coverdesign render-practice

  • 20240705

  • 20240704

    Another practice-piece. Doesn’t look like much, but it took me quite a while to get to grips with it. I knew I need to practice rendering different materials in this new technique, so a lot of time was spent on drawing the dough. I tried a lot of custom-brushes and other shortcuts I could think of but none of them worked the way I hoped they would. So I drew it all manually. Of course barely any of that is visible in the end with the way I applied the gradient map.

    In general I need to revise the workflow. I render the image with digital pencils in black and white first, and then apply gradient maps in the end. I spend a lot of time on texture/details that I crunch away in the gradient map anyways, so for one of the next practice pieces I’ll likely have the gradient map on top right from the beginning.

    As a backstory for this practice piece I imagined a Guy Ritchie-like staged story of a family learning after her death, that their kind loving grandma in actuality was a crazy conspiracist prepper.

  • OMA meets Hieroglyphics

  • 20240624

    This image is based on the first book “Mageling” out of the “Millenial Mage”-series by J.L.Mullins. The first 7 books of the series are available on Kindle unlimited, all further chapters until now are still up on Royal Road. Audiobooks are available on audible as well.

    My initial idea doodle already had everything in it that you see now. The elements, the overall composition, the gold-material and simple foreground-background-seperation. However i struggled quite a bit with the execution, and learned (hopefully). I try to work organized and compartmentalized, especially with this new style I’m trying to establish a specific workflow to aid the idea of consistency. While I was working on this though, I felt limited by that workflow all the time and I feel like I lost roughness and expression in the end, due to it. As I gain confidence in the process I’ll likely also feel more comfortable deviating from it. I’m trying to stay positive, but since I have an idea of what the image could have been like I fixate on the shortcomigs.

  • Reinterpretation/Cover

    Now it’s a good song.

  • 20240617 – Portfolio – Book cover

    Since I started my career as a freelance illustrator, I’ve found that my ability to adapt to various art styles and to adjust to preexisting artwork was a significant advantage. It has allowed me to contribute to a variety of projects across multiple markets without being tied down to a single niche. However, after more than two decades of this approach and quite a bit of introspection, I want to change what I do and how I do it.
    In the coming year, I will focus on developing a “consistent” style of my own.

    As is obvious from all the image posts here on the blog, I enjoy experimenting, exploring and trying new things – in the realm of handcrafted digital illustration. The thought of committing to one particular style is a bit intimidating for several reasons. It could become boring rather quickly, maybe it’s not original enough, maybe people won’t like it and maybe there’s no market for it. It’s a complete shift in how I approach getting work. It’s a bit daunting.

    The most recent experiments and a retrospective ook through the years helped me find a starting point for the style that I’m eager to explore further. After all, I like graphic design, flat graphics, and abstraction, but I also enjoy realism, figurative illustration, and play between light and shadow. I appreciate the artificial look of digital art as much as I do organic textures. And I hate spending hours and hours rendering.

    The two artworks that follow are the first results of some focused experimentation. They’re but the first steps in this new style.

    I’ve also set a “sink or swim” deadline for myself. Within the next year, I must find work exclusively in this new style. If I don’t see any indication that this is a viable path longer term, then I’ll pursue a complete career change by summer next year.(Ausbildungsjahresbeginn 2025, Studienbeginn Sommersemester 2025)

    Doing these focused experiments yielded one big surprise for me. I went in 100% expecting to decide on a ink-lineart-based style, but that’s not what resonated the most with me in the end.

    I’ll create at least three more artworks in this style and then that’s going to be the starting point for a new portfolio.

  • 20240609

  • 20240608

  • 20240606