Posts made by Thomas_A

Wow, you all are amazing! Thanks SO much, for the suggestions, taking the time to find reference images, and for the redraw. I'll take it all into consideration and have another go when I get the chance (busy work week ahead). It's a little discouraging to struggle so much over one picture, but it's been a good learning experience, too.

Also, just for kicks, I tried doing three thumbnails last night in all ink - about 90% black with white highlights. Everything looked great except for Gollum. Anytime I shadowed him, he just blended into the background.

Hi everybody! I'm Thomas, a 41 y/o HS history teacher. I've been doodling since I was a kid, but just started taking it seriously a year or two ago when I was struggling with teacher burnout. I enjoy it so much that I've begun a deliberate, paced plan to raise myself to a professional level in four years. I subscribed to SVS about the same time I discovered Jake Parker's YouTube videos, which helped me realize that becoming an artist was a feasible move. I recently re-subscribed and discovered this forum. I've really enjoyed looking at everyone's art!

Top five favorite artists:
Jake Parker (inks and style)
Ben Hatke (inks and style)
Ian McQue (color and light, digital)
David Diez (inks and style)
Awaisha Miller (color and light, watercolors)

These are more recent artists. The first picture I ever put in a frame was a city-scape by Masamune Shirow from Appleseed.

I'm trying to watercolor a cave that has a pool of water, including a surface and subsurface. I can't really find any good reference photos and I'm pretty new to watercolors. I've attached some thumbnails that I've been practicing on so you can see what I'm doing. The first one is Copic grays. The other two are (mostly) watercolors. Any suggestions?