I've been sneaking in a little time to paint. I completed a full-color portrait inspired by an Elftowner's photo. The results were for the most part satisfactory, but my habit of extrapolating from reference, rather than following it accurately led to some distortions and flaws in the piece. So I've set it aside, possibly for good. But several days ago I was inspired to attempt another portrait, only this time one based working more closely with the reference. My only copy of Show Magazne has more than it's share of goregeous models to practice from. I found one in a typical pin-up mag pose, looking over her shoulder with long hair and stunning blue eyes. Some slight adjustments to her features could give her a slight Asian-Pacific Islander look, or at least make her look a bit less like the original model. I used a grayish-green base color for the underpainting, and I've been experimenting with different overlays of color. An older version featured the wreckage of a Foss-ish starship, but now, with the simplified sky, and flight jacket, she still reads as a space girl. Some simple details in the background might add to the narrative.
I got yet another rejection e-mail from the folks at Ballistic, this time for Exposé 7. But the idea of them having to wade through over 6,000 entries from around the world makes me appreciate just having been considered. It also tells me to keep pressing forward and improving in areas like narrative, anatomy, and composition.
