Page 38: Betty Burro Finds Buddy's Family

On page 38 Betty Burro has found Buddy’s family. To create the background image of a thousand butterfly faces, I created a brush of a single face. The brush has randomized size, opacity, and angle to give it a less static appearance. I usually prefer to paint everything by hand, but in the interest of time, a brush served me well. My concern with this picture is that Betty’s appearance evolves each time I paint her. Before I publish this book I’ll have to make color corrections for earlier version of her hair and clothing. If I can remember back to February (5 months ago), I recall that her hair was punky pink. My favorite feature in this painting is Betty’s hand. If her hand seems a touch manly it’s because I used my own manly hand as a model.

Al Fresco Art Club Challenge -- Draw a Landscape

Palenque, a Mayan Temple (800 CE)

Today’s art club challenge was directed at my weakness — drawing landscapes. In the past I didn’t spend time on them, but now that my new book takes place in the the jungles and mountains of Mexico, I want to have convincing landscapes to help keep the story visually exciting. I’ve avoided landscapes for too long, and now I have to confront them head on.

While looking for landscape tutorials, I found a really great one on the Clip Studio Paint Tips web site. The artist explains every step of the drawing process and describes his thinking for every move. Impressive! The article is available here: Professional illustration process: Seiji YOSHIDA.