Watercolour practice

Hi there,

Just as I promised, here's some work I've been doing in watercolours. It had been a while since I last used them, so I thought I'd do some quick practice pieces.

The concept for this piece started with a desire to draw a girl wearing seifuku. Playing around with some shapes in the background, it started to remind me of a shrine erected after a war. So I decided the girl could be part of an naval honour guard to keep watch over the navy's archives. I decided to give her a trident as a pole-arm. It is great weapon for guards and the connections it has with Poseidon, Greek god of the sea.

Inspired by my friend Levene's 'Animal in a day' artworks I decided to try doing concept art without a background and much less concern on a narrative. Instead, just picking a couple of words and trying to put them into one character design. I often try to put too much thought into an artwork, so this a great way to practice coming up with a concept quickly.

An update on where I'm currently at

Hi there,

So it's been a bit since I've posted something, but I thought to myself: "Today that will change" And so it has. I guess it's also time for some navigation and introductions on my part.

My name is Reiko and I recently completed my Bachelor Degree in Illustration. The main focus I want to take with my illustration is the production of concept art for the video game or movie industries. Unfortunately, looking into the skills I require to work in these industries, I've decided that I am not ready to take on such a challenging career...yet. I personally think I've got a good imagination for this work, but a major lack of technical skills to produce work quickly and up to a professional standard. So to remedy my problem I'm spending my days teaching myself all that I can.

I've been spending lots of time working on my anatomy skills using a book by Andrew Loomis, called 'Figure drawing, for all it's worth.' I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to be able to draw a realistic human figure without the need for a model. You'll find some of my drawings from life (separate from my anatomy studies) in the sketchbook section.

Aside from anatomy I've also been working on perspective and 3D construction. Trying to draw an object not just how I see it but actually all the building blocks used to create an object, referred to as a draw-through. Eventually when I get a lot better at this I'll be able to draw the same object from multiple angles without moving the object, a precursor to imagining a concept in 3D.

I've also done a couple of painting practices (these are copied off photos) in PS. Most people imagine things as defined by line - Doing these paintings will eventually help me understand form as opposed to understanding things in line. This, combined with anatomy and technical drawing will allow me to create accurate and believable concepts. I'll take a moment to plug another artist, the one for which I discovered what I needed to do to get where I want to be. I talk of Feng Zhu. Aside from his amazing concept art and running a dedicated entertainment design school in Singapore, he also spends his free time providing detailed tutorials on concept art, digital painting and information on the industry. He has also produced a couple on portfolio preparation, specifically episode 19 and 20. These two videos have provided a starting step on how I can improve my skills, which without them I would be lost on how to proceed. All of his tutes can be found on his school's Youtube channel

Now for the sections I haven't mentioned. In the concept art section you'll find artwork devoted to bringing out a idea, be that a environment, character or vehicle...or maybe all 3.

In the Illustration section you'll find artwork that is more of an about expression rather than concept. Though because of my desire to work on concept art, much of my illustrations would be concept art too!

Well that's it from me for now, sorry it was such a large slab of writing, more images in the next post, I promise!