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Cheers @jazzabel. I'm really awful at following written instructions, (which is why I tend to trial and error so much) so I'll have a look on Youtube and see if someone has a tutorial that will talk me through the basics. Like I say, I have an awareness of the benefits of RAW but between one thing and another haven't really followed through on it. I think that's the consideration I need to go with now in order to improve.

The shooting from the hip sounds fascinating. I've been using my bridge camera a lot of late. I might maybe take my SLR to Pride later in the week and give it a go.

 

There's a bit of a story behind this pic.

When I was a kid, I used to frequent the Ulster museum. I loved looking at all the exhibits; the T-Rex skull, the huge Polynesian dug-out canoe, the Samurai armor, the treasure of the Spanish Galleon, The Girona. I could have marveled for hours at the phosphorescent rocks and minerals, and empathised with the poor inanimate creatures forever in thrall to their taxidermied natures. The Mummy particularly fascinated me. Blackened with age she lay stiff in her sarcophagus, her mummified cat in a pot alongside.

Most kids were scared of her, but not me. No. I was scared of the big, bad...

...fish.

Seriously, I was petrified of it for reasons I've long since forgotten. I was at the museum recently and took a good look and a few pics. Not scary at all, just a big, dead preserved fish. It looked so pale and pasty, I felt that childhood bubble burst...

... so I thought I'd give it a bit of a make-over. ​

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I'm starting to worry I'm monopolising this thread. As most of you who have had any dealings with me know, I have Bi Polar. It's not so bad, I've learned to cope with it, but insomnia is, and always has been, a huge problem.

When I become manic, my writing usually grinds to a halt and I turn to other means to pass the time until it passes. (Like giving dead coelacanths make-overs. Seriously...what was I thinking?)

I've often found it weird that although my language centres, and particularly my recall of vocab get suppressed when manic, my ability to draw remains wholly unaffected—that is, as long as I can keep my ass in one place long enough to see a piece through to the end. I'm bang in the middle of a turn atm, sleep has been alluding me, so I've been pretty productive in the art department. I suppose it's my way of keeping my eye on the ball and myself occupied, so I don't end up inadvertently draining my bank account or doing something worse. Digital painting costs nowt. (Not to mention the fact I don't have to clean up after myself either.)

I took it into my head to start a GOT character set, the night before last. I'm taking each character as they come... just going with my knowledge of them and letting that dictate the style of the piece. They will not be a matching set... in my present state that's pretty much nigh-on impossible. I'm currently working on Brienne of Tarth. Next up will be The Red Viper of Dorne. (The HBO costume department really outdid themselves there. His Sunspear frock coat alone has fired up my enthusiasm, as if the man himself wasn't enough.) I might even kill two birds with one stone and do one of him and Ellaria Sand together.

Both of these were done on the down from yet another night without sleep. The first... Jaqen H'ghar:

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The second is a bit more run-of-the-mill, and needs no introduction.



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She's still a tad unfinished but I wanna wait until I have a better control of the fine motor skills to add the finishing touches. I'm a bit knackered right now. Brienne is proving to be harder than I thought. (Gwendoline Christie is waay too pretty, so I'm trying to fugly her up a tad, in keeping with the books.)

 

It's not possible to monopolize a gallery thread.

 

@obsidian_cicatrix Those are very cool.

I'm looking forward to this one!

 

@KaTrian I'm getting the strongest feeling that she is the one I'll have to keep going back to. Dany was a cinch. Dragon fire... check... young and pretty... check... juxtaposition of ice theme (the blue in her dress) ...check... subtly exultant expression at the sight of destruction... check.

I'm only in the opening stages of Brienne right now... I've got the background layer done, but I really wanna do her character justice. Also... I LOVE painting armour, so I've got a little sidetracked by my transparencies of that. The lighting is gonna play a huge part. The plan is to use the lighting of her gorget to throw up enough light to cause a halo effect. (St. Brienne... lol.)




@GingerCoffee.. Ta for that. I mean... I love doing what I do, but I'm not so sure I should be inflicting my efforts on the rest of you. I know this thread in meant for that purpose, but still.

Just for the record... anything I do post on here can be used without accreditation, as long as it's not falsely claimed to be the work of someone other than me. The only time I worry about copyright is when I take on a one-off, private commission. And that is for the benefit of the buyer, not me. These are the equivalent of doodles.

 

Am I the only one who thinks a baby faced girl ,with big doe eyes and obviously bleached hair, who leads armies and dragons in a medieval-esque world looks absolutely ridiculuous?

 

@123456789 Nope, not for a second... but that in some ways is to the characters' benefit, I think. It's easier to put down her bad decisions to childish naivety, rather than the fact that, when it comes right down to it, she is as grasping as her late brother.

 

You mean the near-white blonde hair with dark roots ... is FAKE!

 

They all look wonderful @obsidian_cicatrix! I love all the art you post and always look forward to more. Us creative types all get a bit bipolar from time to time, it's the nature of the beast. Enjoy the inspiration and I hope your mood settles soon

@123456789 : Well I don't. I found this one quite believable

 

Yeah, I catch my neighbors down the street doing that all the time.

 

She leads dragons because she brought them up and she leads armies because she has dragons. Whatever you suppose based on her outlook she is definitely not that innocent and naive. She's not joking, she has ordered the crucifixion of hundreds of people.

Just think about this : she spent hours in the middle of a big fire and all of her clothes were burnt but she was not hurt. In addition she has three badass dragons. It is not a good idea to make her angry because if she sends her dragons after you than you are in REALLY BIG trouble. Those beasts seem to be equivalent of having three Apache helicopters in that medieval setting

 

@obsidian_cicatrix, really looking forward to the finished Brienne; she was my favorite GoT character and that background layer is already very promising.

 

I don't think she was an appropriate choice of casting for the role -_-

HBO agrees with me too, because she was not their first choice. I could never watch a show set in medieval times where a character has clear bleached hair, and worse, that hair is supposed to be naturally silver.

Jon snow is almost as bad(his hair isn't bleached). He has the same innocent baby face and the same invisible charm that she does. It's Mr. and Ms. Bella from twilight.

 

@obsidian_cicatrix, you're really talented! Those look awesome.

 

@thirdwind Thank you so much. I've haven't been at it that long, my background being in actual pen and ink, and acrylic. I was a bit baffled at first but it's getting easier. Doesn't help that I can't take in the contents of an instruction guide for love nor money. Thank goodness for Youtube and those who are happy to share their methods, otherwise I'd still be drawing stick men with my stylus.

 

Here I go again... If I could put out chapters at the rate I put out pics, I'd be happier, but when the piper calls the tune...

Anyhoo... I'll give a bit of background just so I can say I wrote something today.

My GOT character set is coming along nicely. Brienne is still in the works, and Ned's decapitation is about 38 layers in. My friends seem to like my efforts. One of them has been walking to work this past week. One morning, he had to don his big puffy winter parka with the hood as it was chucking it down. Another non pc mate spotted him, and took the mick calling him 'Sam the Slayer,' (GOT character.) because the puffiness of his coat added to his rotundness. Then that morphed into 'Kris the Killer.' My poor put upon friend mentioned it—he is well used to it—and I wondered if I could possibly mock something up. He gave me a selfie he took that very morning, and I got to work. Have to say, I had a blast. I rarely do portraits of people I know, never mind play fancy dress with them.

I was working from this:

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And here's how it ended up... I think he'll approve. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. ​

I'd be pouting if I was North 'o the Wall too. Brrr! ​

 

That is ace! :O

 

Ta, @Lemex. It was fun. Eagle-eyes will notice the inconsistent shadow on the left hand side of his face... I actually removed it, then reapplied it. He looked so much more depressed with it there.

 

That looks awesome @obsidian_cicatrix you really gave the character life. I'm sure your friend will approve

 

My doggie turned two years old this weekend! So we had a photo sesh in the garden, managed to snap a few vegetables and such.

 

Lovely pics @jazzabel. That's a happy looking mutt.

I came away from a friend's house yesterday with basket of tomatoes, a dozen fresh eggs, and the sincere wish to be a bit more self sufficient. At least I can now get my balcony meshed off, and think about next year, even if that only amounts to herbs, tomatoes and strawberries.

 

@obsidian_cicatrix : I'll have you know he is a purebred cattle dog. But you are right, they're all a "Heinz 57" He's a very happy-go-lucky chap, used to be a moody teenager but now he's settled down a lot. Incredibly cuddly too.

I feel for you I was in that situation for ten years, North-West facing garden, 2 x 2, all tiled up, so small and shady, all I ever managed to grow was the herbs. Kept trying to grow tomatoes in grow bags but all I ever ended up with was green tomato chutney for winter. Tasty stuff, though

 

Ooops... sorry @jazzabel.... I call all dogs mutts regardless of their breeding. He looks like a dog you could have a good wrestle with.

My friend's tomatoes have gone into overdrive.... there is no way her family will be able to eat them all, so I have a feeling I could be making a huge pot of tomato soup very soon. Waste not, want not, and all that. Though chutney's not a bad idea either. Guess it depends on the firmness of them when I get them. It's got a bit cooler these last few days so they might be ok to stay on the vine a little longer.

 

@obsidian_cicatrix : Haha, indeed, he loves to wrestle I was joking, cattle dogs are made up of about six or seven different breeds, they are the ultimate mutts Very ballsy and hands-on dogs, and they don't smell at all, which is always a bonus in my house. They malt like you wouldn't believe twice a year, though...

I'm bracing myself for the tomato onslaught too. This year's garden was just a test, I never had something so big to work with before, and I wanted to know what works, what doesn't, how much of what to grow, when etc. I'll definitely have early and late crop tomatoes next year, succession planting of everything else, so I don't get more then we can eat at once and then nothing. Like at the moment, I'm eating a cucumber a day, and still have loads to give away. With tomatoes, just make tomato sauce or passata, even just a couple of bottles at the time, it'll accumulate for winter.