Spring Robin WIP

[StratoArt]

Spring robin. ArtRage 6. work in progress. It's been a while. I've been away for some time due to layoff and having to move and resettle and getting into a new graphics career. I've mostly been concentrating on traditional oil paintings and drawings, but I've missed using my favorite digital painting software, ArtRage. I just upgraded to ArtRage 6 and I'm really loving what I'm seeing. I've already transferred all my old art supplies that I've collected and installed them.

Here, I'm working on a digital painting of a robin that we see each Spring in a small tree just outside my window. I'm very happy to get back into ArtRage.

Enjoy!

[markw]

Good to see you back with us Dale
That’s got a really nice “real paint” feel to it.
A change in subject from your aircraft, but still flying related I suppose!

[StratoArt]

Thank you! Actually, yes, I've shifted subjects for a bit of time, just so that I don't get stuck into a rut. In reality, in my professional work now, I am a research artist and deal with planes all the time, even creating 3D model mockups and concept art and video production (I wear many artistic hats).

When I get home, often, I just like to look away from the aviation, often to other subjects such as flora and fauna, landscapes and seascapes. Recently, I just finished a traditional oil painting of my cat!! LOL! I know it's not digital, it's oil on canvas, but my point is, that I love the look of traditional mediums and I try to replicate that when I go digital.

[DarkOwnt]

Excellent start. Cant wait to see how the robin turns out!

[StratoArt]

Excellent start. Cant wait to see how the robin turns out!

Thank you! here's an update, working more on the body, feathers and nest.

[Enug]

Even unfinished the bird is beautiful! Of course I just love the cat - lovely rich colours.

[StratoArt]

Even unfinished the bird is beautiful! Of course I just love the cat - lovely rich colours.

Thank you! Slowly getting there

[Somerset]

Hi StratoArt!

I like both of the paintings. The colours and their smooth, creamy look are beautyfull. And the way you focus on the figures and blur the background is verry nice. Magic! There is just a tiny issue I see in the cats fur, where the point is visible where you finished the painting with the Fur-Brush. No big thing.

[StratoArt]

Hi StratoArt!

I like both of the paintings. The colours and their smooth, creamy look are beautyfull. And the way you focus on the figures and blur the background is verry nice. Magic! There is just a tiny issue I see in the cats fur, where the point is visible where you finished the painting with the Fur-Brush. No big thing.

Thanks! But kind of hard to do digitally as that painting of the cat was done as a real traditional oil painting, it's not digital.

I only used it as an example that I work both digital and traditional ways and was amplifying the fact that I like my digital paintings to have similar characteristics as a real oil painting - My oil painting of my cat done with W&N Alkyd fast-drying physical oils and brushes is an example.
Technically speaking, I don't like using specialized "fur" brushes too much. What I try to do if I approach a painting that has fur in it is to emulate a brush that I use traditionally such as: rounds, flats, filberts and rigging and others.

Here's my timelapse of me working on my cat painting - I try to take the same kind of approach with my digital paintings, so I design some of my own brushes to match the ones I use traditionally (rounds, filberts, flats, rigging)

[Somerset]

That's verry interesting. And also suprising. There is this spot on the left side of the cat's chest that looks exactly like a fur-brush at the end of the stroke. Seems that you did that intentional. Maybe just to confuse people like me?

I'm not sure if I like working with fur-brushes. I'm still experimenting with it. But it's an interesting new toy for me. I never painted with oil. Most time I used the airbrush with acrylic colours, made ink-drawings and some mixed-media-experiments before I started digital painting. I love traditional painting, but there is a little Explorer lurking in me sowhere deep inside, always searching for something new. One of my main interests is comic art, focused on graphic novels.

Thanx verry much for the video and the explaination! Really interesting and good work!