The refinery is done

Well, this part is done, finally. The major structures are finished and little details are painted in. I even used some atmospheric perspective to knock it back in the distance a bit, so the foreground objects stand out. I hope I don't have to paint something like this again. Too much work for something that really is just background filler. I probably should have figured out a quicker way to do this. But at least it looks cool, right?

Working on the whole image

Here you can see a view of the entire image. I'm working at 300 PPI and the size is 12"x9." It's a pretty big image, but the complexity of the refinery portion really bogs Photoshop down. I'm using lots of vector Shape layers to create the tangles system of pipes and structural elements. Also included is a detailed shot of the refinery itself. Because the view is from overhead, I'm using 3-point perspective. A separate Shape layer contains thin vector lines going to each vanishing point. Because they are comprised of vectors, I can reposition them as I need. All I can say is that painting a refinery (or whatever this is) is a lot harder and more time-consuming than I had expected. This part of the illustration may end up taking the most time, but ironically, it's not really that important. It just hast to be there. The important stuff will be in the foreground and is yet to be done.

New illustration

Well, I'm back to work on a big project. As is not too uncommon, it's probably a bit too big for the time and budget allowed. Here is a detail. I'll post more as it goes along. Yes, it's another offshore platform. They can be fun to do, but I didn't have great source photos for this one and I was trying to hurry the project along, so it's a bit loose. I like how it turned out, but I had to change some color and details on request of the client. Sometimes the final can't look too much like the source material. I'm posting this version because I like it better. If you are curious as to how it's done, I have already posted a tutorial on the last offshore platform image I did. The same techniques apply here, so you can just refer back to it.

Click here to see my tutorial based on a similar image.

What's going on now

Just a quick note to let everyone know what I've been up to lately. Last month, I started doing some work for Cogent Legal in Oakland, a firm specializing in graphics and animation for litigation. I worked on one project, but since someone is always suing someone else, let's hope that more come in! I also was interviewed for a podcast about photography and digital editing. When the interview is online, I will post a link.

New bridge illustration

Much of my time lately has been taken up with teaching for the College of Marin in Novato and Napa Valley College in Napa, but I do have some time for freelance work. For the past few weeks, I've been trying to finish up a new digital painting of the Ambassador Bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan with Windsor in Canada. This was a challenging illustration because of the size of the image, all of the detail it needed, and the lack of good source material for the entire scene. Unlike many bridge 'portraits' I have done in the past, this one is really in the background and the surrounding landscape and buildings have more emphasis. It's not as detailed as I would have liked, so out of necessity it ended up being a bit looser than many of my other images.

Click here for a larger, full-length image.

What I'm doing now

It has been a while since my last post, so I thought I should give everyone an update. Unusual for me, I am not teaching this summer. State budgetary problems may have something to do with that. So I am concentrating on freelance and self promotion. I also figured it was time to gain some new skills, so I am currently taking an online class in Nuke. This program is node-based compositing software often used for special effects in the film industry, which is something I am very interested in, especially for matte painting. It's very complicated, but it can do some amazing things.

Winner in an art contest

Recently, I entered a few images of mine at Anything Goes, the latest art competition at Exhibitions Without Walls. To my surprise, one of them was picked as best in show. Another surprise was the image that was chosen (the cow at the left). The original image was done as part of a promotional piece for Ninetimes, and I adapted it for the show. I do like it, but I never thought it was one of my best illustrations. However, I guess it fit the theme of the contest better than other images I submitted. Anyway, it's nice to win something again. I'm trying to promote myself more to new markets, so maybe this will help. I just hope they like diving cows.

Click here to see the contest results.
Click here to see the cow animated at the Ninetimes website.