Hello everyone! These are the latest artworks I’ve shown on my online galleries. Hope you like them!
I have not been able for the life of me to make the
wordpress gallery do as I say (or the entire site for that matter.
Sometimes parts of the design appear floating around, and sometimes they
dissappear. My own website trolls me!). It.just.won’t.obey.me. And
it’s a bit too late right now to get stressed over it, so there. Haha. I
swear I’ve tried. Send help T_T
If you want more frequent
updates, I have a new facebook page where I upload basically everything
since it’s connected to every activity of mine in the internet. I really
enjoy also uploading sketches :) Follow me there!
Refuge is an experiment I wanted to make for a long time. Before I got
into digital art, I was drawing and painting all the time. A custom I had lost but now
fortunately is coming back. I wanted to see if I could mix the two
techniques, and how it would look. This image went through so many
changes and compositions, I lost count. But I’m finally happy with the
result. However, the image is actually meant to be printed in a rather
large size so the details would be appreciated better, but ironically,
the small jpg I upload to the internet doesn’t allow that. So I’m
posting here some details (50% zoom) because I think it’s really worth
it. Hope you like them!
Oh hey, I have a new facebook page (finally) !. Add me there for news,
updates, previews (and some special things I’m going to be releasing!) www.facebook.com/AnaCorrealArtwork
Hello everyone! It’s been a while. Been busy, but since I promised to make a blog post about this, here I go. This post finally marks the start of something I’ve wanted to share for a long time, and that’s little insights, preview and details of my artwork. I’ve been getting great feedback when I said I was going to write a post about the process of The Artificer on my deviantart page, so this is exactly what this is. (Be gentle). This is not a “How To”, but rather an insight on the process of this image.
It actually started only as an exercise, but later developed in an image that spoke enough by itself. Back in June, I spent a lot of time organizing my little studio, and in the process I found really old artworks (watercolor paintings, color drawings, a billion sketches) and materials that were piling dust. Long story short, they made me remember how much I actually love creating images in a variety of media, and, after focusing for so long in digital composition, I found myself craving to be submerged in that old world again.
The creative process differs greatly from that of photo compositing (as people call it), because it’s less technical, less analytic, less slow, and more immediate. When you work with photo illustration, a great deal of it it’s based on cutting the parts you need of different photos, and composing something new (or on top of another photo) to have a result. When you draw or paint, a simple stroke with any media you choose is a composition that can work on its own.
There’s also more “flow”, because it’s a continuous creative movement that places you in a state of complete concentration. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the digital works I’ve done so far and I’m not planning to give that up. Just broaden my spectrum I guess ;)
From this technical dichotomy I ended up reading debates about artists as ‘creators’, or 'producers’ or merely 'translators’ of either some unknown, unseen force, or a deep psychological state that artists of all kinds go into when they’re in the process of creating. That other sense that goes alongside the feeling of accomplishment and flow. I’m not going to go deep into it because it’s an eternal debate, this blog post would be incredibly long and I’m not even entirely sure where I stand myself, but after a series of realizations and re-encounters with an old fascination for art, I decided to pay homage to that feeling, and keep it as a constant reminder, that without the fire that can get extinguished to easily, and a strong sense of curiosity and determination, all of this is meaningless.
So anyway! As always I start sometimes with only just an idea that I start sketching fast. In this case, I came up with an easy composition that wouldn’t take much time, and would allow me to play with brushes and loosen up with the photographic composition part.
That part done, I went and took the stock photos. Though I appreciate to search on stock sites for things I just cannot possibly take a photo of (like I don’t know, an elephant for example), I do prefer to take my own stuff of everything I can, including, and specially the model, because sometimes the pose is so specific, that it would take me forever to look for a model in that same pose and I really don’t like to spend my time on that! I rather just use it to have fun with clothes, makeup, fabric pieces, and such. I even started making my own jewelry because it’s, well, cheaper, and more personalized. More on that later! (you’ll love it :D ). I just think it gives another, deeper dimension to an artwork, in technique and meaning, if an artist in photo composition takes its own photos; you can immediately tell.
They don’t need to be taken with a 6000 dollar camera, but a reflex camera gives you complete control over the settings. Also, a good light source that doesn’t have to be professional either. I like being resourceful. Oh, and I also converted to brushes a bunch of strokes I did some time ago but never played with until now!
Sketch was done, composition was planned, stock photos were taken, and now on to the good stuff.
As you can see first I took the unedited picture and just painted on top on another layer some strokes that tell me where the hair’s supposed to go. After that, I just kept that layer for reference, hid it, and started to cut the model the right way xD the best method I’ve found for selecting, is, whether you want to admit it or not, the pen tool! Yes it will stress you out the first times while you learn how to use it properly, but once you do, it will become your Photoshop’s new best friend. I draw with the pen tool, make a selection with a feather of 0 and then I go to Select>Refine edge. This option went through a beautiful transformation with CS6, but the essentials are the same. I never go above 0.5 in feather (I haaaate over feathered borders), very little radius, I contract some pixels from time to time when it’s needed, and I smooth it. Never overdo it. If the image demands more “refinement” on the edges, use the pen tool again because it’s probably badly selected. I swear it takes less time than any other option on PS and it’s way better.
The hair is another subject that it’s worth a post blog on its own xD haha but anyways, in this case, if you see, I took a lot of photos of my hair (when it was still pretty cold bright red :’[ ) . It consists of A LOT of layers, because the top layer of a section of hair has the little strands of individual hair, and the lower layer is the solid part of the hair (that also contains the color. This technique is so much easier with black hair. Red hair is a pain even on photoshop! haha!). This way, I keep the messy-ness of the hair and keep it realistic (talk about irony). I of course painted strains of hair when this just wasn’t possible. Repeat this a billion times as needed to make the hairdo you want. The rest is just trial and error. I now had the hair and the movement I wanted that would work as a base for the craziness that went after. With my newly made brushes, I began stealing some color from some parts of the model and started painting to make her look as if she was vanishing away.
Once the basic movement and shape was done, I started cutting and adding the hands with the pencils. I placed them on top of the hair, while all the time correcting the color of the overall piece. Same old, same old, fixed lights, shadows, and started another fun part which was painting the hair that covered the hands.
More painting came after, and then I started playing with blurs to give everything more depth. Then more paint. And as a final thing; the sketch originally had some kind of head piece that I intended at first as hair, but I remembered I had this piece of lace I really really liked and hadn’t been yet transformed into a necklace. I placed it there with a little Diopside pendant I had which I actually based the initial sketch on.
And here are some of my favourite details
Hope you enjoyed this first artwork detailed post!
Hello everyone! This is a really quick update with some photos I took of Therion’s concert last June 7th here in Bogotá. It was their 25th anniversary and it was MIND-BLOWING. Last time I saw them was in 2010 and it was already amazing, but this time it was definitely a step further. They played Secret of The Runes in it’s entirety, my favourite album by them! I think I went deaf for two days even though I used ear protection (gotta take care of ‘em ears). It was worth it.
In other art-related news, I’ve been working on some images that are soon to be finished, and a couple of projects that are in the oven. They’re kind of experiments and I don’t know if they’ll ever see the light of day, but keep your fingers crossed ;) I’ve already updated the gallery on this site with a couple of artworks. Hope you like them.
I’m also using Instagram as a quick platform to share quick shots of works in progress, sketches and random stuff. It’s beautiful and quick, so you can look me up in there. My username is anacorreal. If you’re not keen on using instagram, add me on facebook.
Hey everyone! I wanted to update the Live Photography section with the photos I took last Tuesday at Haggard’s concert here in Bogotá :D
Haggard is one of my favourite bands of all time and I saw them for the first time in 2009 at Rock al Parque, the biggest rock festival in all Colombia. This time I had the opportunity to share with them at a bar and take photos of the event. They are all so down to earth, so nice, and incredible musicians. Definitely one of the best concert experiences of my life ♥ .
Hope you like them! :)
Hello everyone! And welcome, finally, to my own personal spot in the world wide web. It’s been long due, but I think you will agree that it’s been worth it ;·) I’ve created my personal portfolio to officially share my artwork and services to everyone, and I have integrated this brand new blog in which I will be posting everything related only to my art, including what’s been going on, insights of artworks, process, inpiration, details, making of’s, and much much more. Remember you can always contact me through the Contact form, and don’t hesitate in commenting. Do subscribe/like/share, all of that fun stuff and enjoy your stay.
See you soon!
