XnView - Image Editor

This is a free open-source image editor that I have used for a long time.  It works on all the major platforms (Windows, Linux and Mac) and is very light weight consuming very little resources.  XnView will not replace Painter or Photoshop but can be used for quick editing, batch editing and converting along with many other features.

XnView can be download from http://www.xnview.com/en/

In this short tutorial I cover how I use XnView, which is mainly to browse and organize my images and copy / cut thumbnails from full page scans allowing me to keep what I like.

-Steve

Caveman

Another one from my travel sketchbook.  he started out as a doodle and morphed into a rough design sketch. As my normal workflow lately; I started this with my Pentel Mechanical pencil and then added value with Charcoal at a later date.

Cleaning a Sketch with Corel Painter

I thought it would be beneficial to show how I clean up sketches before posting to my Blog.  Here I used my Caveman sketch [from my 5x7 sketchbook] as an example in Corel Painter. One can also use Photoshop or a free painting suites such as Krita to accomplish the same.

-Steve

LINK: https://youtu.be/VY66Tm_GclY

Sketchbooks...Which ones I use and why.

Just my thoughts on sketchbooks and which ones I like and use for travel / ideas, design and finials.  I believe sketching is fundamental to art. It is a good practice to sketch everyday even if it is just doodles.  I design better and my imagination flows easier when I draw regularly.  With practice one becomes better.

-Steve

LINK: https://youtu.be/NAzjFgyTZA4

Working with Vine Charcoal ...Value Sketching

Here I demonstrate how I use vine charcoal to do a value sketch which helps me to visualize a new character. It is a great approach to opening up one's imagination.

 I had to do a voice-over since the original audio contained too much noise.

-Steve

LINK: https://youtu.be/gSZdFenNlC8

Pastel Over Pencil

 

 James Gurney the author of "Dinotopia" covered Eugene Burnand's portraits that he did of World War 1 Legionnaires. His original post can be found HERE. The portraits were drawn in carbon and then colored in pastel and that combination and the realism that Eugene captured is brilliant.