FRENDEN @FRENDEN@mastodon.art

I’m seeing a lot of new faces which is rad. Here’s some work to give you an idea of what I like to make.

Hint, monsters. Lots of monsters.

I’m an #illustrator and #visdev fella with a #characterart leaning. I’ve been at it over fifteen years and I’m still learning every day.

A lot of my work is NDA, but here are a few recent doodles and some client work for my #introduction.

I actively try to make BAD things at the silhouette/thumb stage. It's freeing to say, "I'm going to sit down and purposely draw the worst I can."

It's SO anathema to how you're used to working that your brain and muscle memory for mark making kick in and will not LET you make the worst things possible. It's almost impossible to set outrageously bad drawing as a goal.

Do that a few times and you realize that by giving yourself that initial permission -- no, the dictate -- to make awful things, you actually give yourself the freedom to work at your highest level.

Sketching should never be about the quality of work (unless you're doing a study and not just ideation) but rather about making a record of ideas. And rejecting any idea outright is no bueno. Just let whatever comes out come out.

No one ever has to see it but you. Unless, like me, you show everyone your awful thumbs like an idiot.

I was talking with a pal that's down on their work. It was classic impostor syndrome and I suffer from it too.

The only people with blind faith and utmost confidence in their abilities are crazy or dumb. Just say fuck it and make stuff regardless.

You WANT your taste to outstrip your abilities. That's what's gonna motivate you to get better.

The fact you see things you don't like means you have a good eye and standards. That's a good thing! Just...

...note it, move on, and hope to apply any lessons learned to the next piece.

Look at it this way -- are you gonna fucking quit? No. So, if you aren't gonna quit, the faster you let that go the better. It's just fuel.

And I'm in no way perfect about this. I'm just telling you the things I tell myself to work through it.

One of the greatest things about art as vocation is that the skill ceiling is so high.

My taste CONSTANTLY outstrips my ability and I rush to catch up. Over. And over. And over again.

I hope I'm still learning as long as I'm breathing.

Some more recent #art. Rejected client thumbnails and sketchbook leavings.

Insomnia #fridaythe13th #art noodling before bed.

My favorite #digitalart tool is an iPad Pro with a Pencil.

I wrote a long form article about just how freeing it is to be able to create #art from anywhere a while back and it’s held true since, I’m happy to report.

Whether in a coffee shop, on a plane, or on the balcony of a hotel room — I can #draw anywhere with no compromises. And all those places are preferable to art studio house arrest.

http://frenden.com/post/167372727092/clip-studio-paint-the-ipad-pro-art-studio-house

This is my first attempt at After Effects — it was a blast. I want to reuse the fading title and laughing self portrait for some Twitch graphics eventually. This was about two weeks of night-time tinkering to make.

And I kinda just wanna animate all the things I draw now, even if just a little. I keep meaning to check out the new Blender, 2D paper doll tools. Those look great.

I’m seeing a lot of new faces which is rad. Here’s some work to give you an idea of what I like to make.

Hint, monsters. Lots of monsters.

This is the final sketch. This ended up being five minutes of work that could’ve been fifteen without the dark value anchoring the form and making subsequent color choices easier.

This is the same approach I take to line/ink work — fearlessly drop in dense areas of black first and the rest will work itself out. I only wish I’d been smart enough to do the same with painterly/mass work sooner.

Here’s a video sped up 2x to show just how quickly and shoddily you can throw mid-value colors at a piece so long as the blacks are decent to start.

Same process as the earlier barbarian toot but done hastily.

Spotting dense blacks and cast shadows first gives you scaffolding to drop the rest of your mid-value colors in later.

Value reigns over hue and saturation with an iron fist. If it’s right, the other two can be super out-there and work.

It’s not a profound thing, but it bears repeating.

Slimer doodle from about three AM a night ago.

So many new folks. I genuinely like Mastodon, so I hope that keeps happening.

Whew. I just added 200 new brushes to my Clip Studio set. And redid nearly all existing tools to operate better on big files and slow PCs/iOS.

http://store.frenden.com

I'm glad that's out. I've been working at it since last August. Always nice to cross a long term project off the list.

Working on the couch with the iPad Pro and watching Overwatch League.

I've always liked my ninja turtles leaning more towards turtle than ninja.

A favorite #art dexterity and creativity warm-up of mine is to quickly scribble random shapes and then try to make something from it.

#Krita insomnia doodle.

If you use #Krita (4.0+) and want to help me test out some inking tools, you can download them here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2d4frpkctgfei3s/INKERS_v4.bundle?dl=0 …

I'd love feedback on whether or not they load properly, etc.

Don't redistribute. They aren't ready for public consumption.

I'm not sure what started the #2012vs2018 thing, but, sure, I'll bite.

I've been buying a metric assload of traditional art supplies lately. Sometimes it's just so much easier than digital in a way that is intuitive and hard to relate.

You put the thing what makes the mark on the paper and it makes the mark.

I usually don't cross-post, but I think this video demonstrating a new tree branch brush with randomized segments is a bit long for Masto.

https://twitter.com/FRENDEN/status/962103728152211456

CHARACTER CONCEPTING

The best advice I’ve gotten on character design was to start with silhouettes and use a brush bigger than you feel comfortable with.
The big, unwieldy tool helps keep you loose, doesn’t allow you to obsess over small details, and ensures your silhouettes read at distance.

I give myself permission to make really terrible things, heck, I aim for it -- your taste will kick in and restrain those tendencies, but having permission to fail is so freeing.