calm
patreon
Illustration #125 + rewards and sketches!
🕑 Added 2025-01-04 00:17:32 +0000 UTCHappy new year! I hope your holidays were nice and relaxing. :) Here's the illustration I worked on in December to keep me in the holiday spirit! Santa's elves have been hard at work this Christmas. πI hope you guys got the presents without stains on them.
I've put all the rewards for this illustration in the attachments here, but you can also get them through these links:
WIP images
Short time lapse video
Long time lapse video
PSD file
Krita file
By the way, now that the attachment size limit is much less restrictive here on Patreon, is it fine if I stop including the external download links in future posts and just use the attachments for sharing rewards? It seems like it should be fine, but there might be benefits to having the external links that I haven't thought about yet, so I just wanna ask.
I hope you'll check out the process this time around! I'm very happy with how smoothly the process went relative to many previous paintings. If you watch the video you'll notice I did the sketch using a method I've only briefly sniffed at in the past but haven't really given a proper try. Basically, I did the sketch using very simple solid lines. They're lines I can't use to render the sketch, so it keeps my focus on just drawing forms. The idea behind it basically falls in line with my other methods of forcing good habits through limitations that I've talked about a bunch in the past. It keeps working really well. π
When I had a sketch I was happy with I started adding colors that establish the color palette and mood of the picture. I only used big soft brushes here until I was happy, and then gradually sharpened the edges to fit the sketch lines. It feels to me like an effective way to start the painting process.
The painting process for this painting has been the most painless I've experienced in a long time, so it's been really good for my motivation and I'm excited to make more pictures!
I've also added some of the sketches I've done to get me into the flow of sketching the way I did. You can probably tell I'm not entirely used to it just yet, lol. There's a lot more room for improvement there, so I hope to practice that a bunch more in the next few months! If you're curious, it was the work of Jadony that nudged me towards wanting to try sketching like this, particularly sketches like these ones. They do a great job of capturing forms using very simple lines, and I hope I can get better at doing the same. For a long time I've felt like drawing hasn't been as strong a part of my skillset as painting is, so this year I hope to put some effort towards equalizing that through practicing doing these types of sketches. Let's see how that goes!
Thanks for supporting me through 2024! I'll try my best to make a bunch of stuff worth supporting in 2025 too. π€
Comments
John Storm
Great as Always. Maybe some scifi stuff in the Future? Whould be nice π
Calm
Thank you, that's really nice to hear! Chasing trends and farming numbers feels kinda depressing lol, so I'll do my best to continue focusing on just creating things I'm genuinely into instead. Hopefully that keeps being sustainable for me for a long time. :)
MarGoran_OW
To be honest, Calm your one of my favorite artists. Your style and consistency speaks to your willingness not to give into the norms of current trends and I hope you continue your designs as much as you physically can.
Calm
I'm glad you like the sketches! And yeah, I wish I could put as much time into it as I used to. It's harder now for health reasons but also because I'm more cautious of burning out. It's a marathon and not a sprint after all. :)
Calm
Hey, welcome! I started working in Krita a few months back. Before that I used to work in Paintstorm Studio for a few years. And before that I used Photoshop.
Calm
Thank you! I'm glad you like them :)
Riz
Hey, im new here, have you been working in krita this whole time or are you just providing the file type
daph
Yeah I can understand that lol, im sure after so long it can be hard to practice just as much every day. I do always lile to see the sketches you post as well, i lile how your art is detailed but also very stylized as well.
Dave Stebbins
Another awesome picture! And I love the sketches; would love to see more like them.
Calm
I've been doing art for about 20 years now! I would have liked to say I'm super good at doing all sorts of studies, but that would be an exaggeration lol. I guess I do a lot of small doodles that I don't share because they're too incomplete or don't make much sense, and maybe that counts, but most of my time doing art goes into the illustrations I share here. :)
Calm
Ohh I see! I guess the thing about the looser sketch style is that the brushes I usually use for it enable my bad habit of rendering forms too early in the sketches instead of just focusing on drawing and designing shapes. So I'm trying to put restrictions on how I sketch that help me lose that habit. The thin solid lines really help me laser focus on just drawing. Once I've developed better habits I can give myself more freedom again. π
daph
How long have you been doing art for? And do you do any practice other then what gets posted on patreon? Happy new year!
Matty Thunders
I completely see what you mean. But I didn't actually mean the fully colored and lighted sketches (which I obviously love) but just the looser sketch style.
Calm
I'm glad you appreciate it, Matty! I do agree that the sketches with color and lighting have some appealing qualities that these are missing, but they're not as good for me as a way to do targeted practice specifically aimed at drawing (as opposed to painting). So I think this will pay off long term and I'll hopefully be able to combine the qualities of both eventually. :)
Calm
Lmao
Calm
Thank you! Very glad to hear you think so. π Sketching like this definitely takes some getting used to for me as well. It'll probably be a good while still before my sketches look the way I'd like them to lol. I just gotta keep at it. :) Happy new year!
Calm
Glad you like it, Griffin!
Calm
Yeah. I think I'll keep updating the post with the archive collection using the external links either way. And I guess I can keep an eye on how many people actually use the links to get an idea of how useful they are to people. :)
Calm
I'll do my best! Happy new year! :)
Calm
Thank you! Happy new year. :)
Calm
It is something I occasionally find inspiration in, so it's not out of the question. Just a bit hard to predict when inspiration for a piece like that will strike. :)
Calm
Thank you, I'm glad you like it, CiarΓ‘n! The holidays have been pretty good! Fortunately managed to dodge the worst of the illnesses running around. Sorry to hear you haven't been as lucky! Get well soon and enjoy the start of the new year. π
Calm
Thanks, Daph!
Calm
Thanks! :)
Matty Thunders
Thanks for including sketches. That kind of stuff is always a treat. But if I'm being honest I really prefer your loser style sketches!
Twelve Seal
Well, this explains the weird stains on this year's presents.
DORN
Dude you're really the best! Like..Fu*k.. I've praised your rendering for years but man, even how you sketch with such hard lines and keep it so clean and effective. You're mindblowing. It reminds me of some asian artists. I've been practicing this type of sketching myself and it's not that easy in my opinion..You really deserve all the success in the world! I really gotta step up my art game when I see this haha. And a happy new year my friend! π
Griffin Barrows
Whoa, super hot (and festive). I like how serious his face is; it's hot, and shows how... super hard he's working to serve it -up-
InkstainedFox
paste it here as the new primary link though.
InkstainedFox
you should probably keep the external archive going just incase/ records.
HamzterHero
Happy New Year! Looking forward to seeing more excellent art from you in 2025 :)
Mrpengui
Happy new year, as always an exelent job on the compotition and contrast ln the shapes.
Minerva
Would love to see more works dedicated to women being given head by men.
CiarΓ‘n
Firstly, I hope you had a great Christmas and very happy New Years! Mine, hasn't started terribly well as I'm down with a flu, so I'm going to keep this comment uncharacteristically short πΉ It's always fun to see the nerdy elf, I'm guessing he's paid a visit to Santa's place and is enjoying some special time with the ladies there π The atmosphere in this piece is lovely, I really like the cold tones coming in from the rear windows and bathing the background in this blue-white glow. The way the scene becomes progressively warmer and more detailed towards the foreground is a great contrast and really makes foreground action pop! I love all of the Christmas decorations, lights, the trees, the presents and the crinkly Santa hats on the characters. The green thigh-highs on the front girl are a particularly fun touch too! She looks particularly sexy with the way her hair swishes to the side while still curling inwards on both sides of her face and framing it. I love the sense of weight and heft to her breast as it hangs and squishes against the present underneath her... speaking of which, I hope the presents under her aren't fragile π The rendering across her whole body is fantastic too, with those bright, white rim-lights accentuating the volumes of her back and butt, with the red-tinted shadows on her undersides giving her even more vibrance and warmth. Our male friend looks great too, the definition of his body is brilliantly done, again, the contrasting dark shadows and bright highlights just really make his features pop! And on both characters, I do really enjoy the hats, with bright pink rim-lights just do such a great job of really defining the folds in the material and I love the way her hat collapses on itself as it bunches up on her back. I'm going to leave it there, still a super long comment by normal peoples standards... but pretty short by mine! πΉ Brilliant work on this piece, it's a tonne of fun, has a beautiful, vibrant atmosphere and I do have a particular fondness for sexy Christmas themed paintings π ππππππππππππππππππππππππ
daph
Man i love your work!
S4lty
Hell of a merry Christmas and a happy New Year set! Hope you got to enjoy every one of them!
