How I Do A Digital Painting...

My idea for this particular drawing was inspired from a friend of mine, Adam Glendye, who suggested this:

Mark. I want to see you draw a doodle of a rabid emu approaching a massive thunderstorm! (remember that those who have rabies are afraid of water)


So with that brilliant but odd suggestion I began sketching out ideas. Eventually I settled upon the drawing you see below you done with my handy-dandy non-photo blue pencil.

Having scanned and cleaned the drawing in Photoshop I set about blocking the base colors for the final image. Blocking color in basically means just applying a middle grade of a color with no color variations to the image. Nothing too fancy has been done to the image yet.
Finally the fun can begin!! Having blocked in the colors with a basic color makes it easier for me to choose what color I want to start out with. I use the Magic Wand to select the base color and then I go to work on it. Usually (As was the case here) I try to start with the main figure as this is the most important element to the composition.

Everything just kinda progresses from that point until you get your final image. As you can tell some colors changed throughout the piece as I wasn't liking how the color interacted with one another.

Finally..SLAM! BAM! Thanky mam! You get the final image:

Well I hope this view into how I work was informative to you and more importantly COOL as it was for me to do. Adam thanks for the suggestion and I hope you like it.

Nothing Like A Fat Lady In A Tree

This is what happens when you listen to friends for ideas for inspiration. Let me start from the beginning...While driving around Savannah with a good friend of mine Bryan McManus, He saw these great barren trees (It is winter y'know.) buffering the street. He immediately blurted out how these trees would be perfect for a fat lady to sit between their limbs and me being a visual thinker I thought of something to the image you see before you.

As always I tried to stretch my artistic abilities by trying something I might not have tried before. On this particular image i decided to use colored ink on the substantial figure you see perched in the tree. I also tried to layer my watercolor layers up slowly. I think it was overall an effective experimental piece.

Birthday Cards

I have never been one of those guys who goes out and buys a card when I know I can make my own. This is one fine example of what I mean by doing it by hand. Doing this with your own hands makes it more personal and sometimes suffices for both a card and a gift. It's not that I'm cheap or nothing, I just believe it means more i you cater a card for someone special.

Now as to technique, I did this a little different from my normal way by using a crow quill pen for the inking and then the watercolor. I did the lettering with a pen after I had watercolored and inked everything else. This process was slow but well worth it in the end. Hopefully she liked it!!??

This whole process has gotten me thinking...Perhaps I should do "Card" commissions as I have a real knack for this. So..If you know anyone out there who might need a special card that the regular card industry can't provide, send them my way.

Just a taste...

Here is just a taste of my digital painting technique done with the aide of the ol'Mighty Photoshop. This particular image was for my Facebook profile and is part of my series of depicting myself in a witty manner. Examples like: Indiana Mark, Mark Cola....


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Self Facing

This is a New Year with many possibilities at least that is what I keep trying to remind myself when I feel lo about things. Right now I'm working in a retail store for low money which is ok that I have a job but a little bit humbling as I hoped to have a job using my artistic talent. I am lucky though to have a job in these hard economic times, so I'm not complaining.

This image is a play on proportions to my own tried and true face. I hope no one thinks this is how I really look as it just not a true representation of me...or maybe it is!?!

Being Sick

I did ths awhile back on vacation when I inevitably came down with a cold. Doesn't always happen when you least want one!! I tried to use the color in a simpler method by only doing a light, middle and sparse dark ares of color. I like trying different ways to use the watercolors in order to get a better understanding of the effects of color.

Noah"s Ark Mishap

Happy New Year everyone!!

Maybe this year will be the year I finally live my dream as being a paid artist! Well until then (and even when I'm a Big time Artist!) I will keep on drawing.

The above image is self explanatory (I hope?!?) and I did this once again in my handy dandy moleskin sketchbook for fun. I actually started by drawing one giraffe and the image just evolved from there. It amazes me how it just came together...I think the bears are my favorite. Let me know what you think.