Baby Avalon and new digital illustrations

I'm Back....
It’s been over a month since my last blog entry here. I’ve been busy in the studio with portfolio imagery, more Fantasy Clip Inks sets, art for The Mutant Epoch RPG and numerous client jobs, but most importantly is the joyous arrival of Avalon McAusland, our new baby girl.

Princess Avalon is a great baby, sunny and easy going, willing to smile and sleeps much of the night. Mom and baby are doing great, while the rest of the kids coo over her and compete for her attention.

I am actually getting more time in the studio than I expected after the arrival of a new baby, due only to the fact that my wife, Brooke, is able to be a full time mom right now and encourages me to get to work, going so far as to allow me to work late into the evening to meet deadlines and update my sites.

As you can see I have produced some new fantasy images. These shown here are entirely digital paintings, built over an underlying pencil sketch which I scanned in as RGB at 300 or 600 dpi. Clicking on any of these will take you to a larger view on my web site at www.mcauslandstudios.com . I have to say that while digital painting is potentially faster and offers far more options, it can be somewhat harder on the hand, and is akin to inking with a technical pen more than painting with real brushes. An artist friend of mine, Fraser Hallett, pointed out that I may be using too small of a Wacom tablet, thus forcing me to make smaller marks with the pen tool. The tablet is 8 x 8” in total size with only an effective 3.5 x 5” sensitive or working area, so perhaps he has a point. I will definitely look into getting a larger table in the months ahead.

Besides the fantasy digital paintings shown here I have also produced numerous images for scholastic books Canada, as well as an illustration of the 2008 YM-YWCA dream home lottery house. While I might not be able to paint faster digitally than when using acrylics on these jobs, the ability to change a specific colour or move something certainly allows more flexibility, and time savings when dealing with editorial changes… so again, another benefit of going digital.

When I’ve had enough of emails, digital art, web design and other work on the computer, I love to move away from it and sit at my light table and do some inking, especially with a brush. There is something magical and ‘old-world-masterish’ about working by hand on real paper, something appealing and nourishing. Holding up a finished image to the light and seeing an original is so gratifying that I am certain I will never go completely digital, and, for some specific projects, may in fact make a return to oils and acrylics. When the weather warms up a bit outside I will be able to open the windows at either end of my studio and try my hand at some oil painting on canvas or masonite, so expect to see some experimental imagery in the near future.

To close, it is clear to me that creative balance is essential for artistic growth, inspiration, fun and steady work output. By this I mean in order to spend long hours in the studio, day after day, week after week, I need to mix up my mediums, experiment with various techniques, and break away from popular fads, old styles, bad habits and the comfortable.

WM