Art request: Fancy Goldfish

I got a request from a friend earlier this week for a fancy goldfish. I love painting fish so I was onboard immediately. She was interested in a slightly more graphic styled fish as she was hoping to use it as an oversized laptop sticker. I worked with heavy outlines, bright colors and was lucky enough to find a fairly dramatic reference photo. (However, I did make a few tweaks to the fins for added fish-drama).

"Goldfish, 2011" is a mix of watercolor and india ink on heavy bristol board. Hope you like it Kim!

Thane Krios Speed Painting

I just started playing Mass Effect 2 ( I know, so late to the party) and was inspired by the deadly drell assassin Thane Krios to make a few quick sketches and paintings.

While Thane is very interesting to look at, he was not easy for me to draw. I tended to humanize his alien features subconsciously (excellent example of "drawing what we know") and he looked like a human wearing a Thane costume. After a few more nights sketching his reptilian features I tried another painting.

This time I attacked it quickly, not allowing myself to get caught up in the fine lines (which I would inevitably turn human) and used a reference from the Mass Effect 2 trailer. 45 minutes later I decided to stop and just let it be.

The next Thane image I want to tackle will involve the texturing on his scales. In-game the scales are absolutely gorgeous, distracting even. On many occasions I have found myself circling Thane's head with the camera just watching how the light plays on the scales. Then I realize I have made myself motion-sick and need to go back to chasing down whatever thug I was bringing to justice. (My Shepherd is so Paragon is hurts.)

Bioware did an incredible job with Thane's design and I definitely look forward to sketching more of the assassin.