Reflection Part 1.5

  In my Reflecion Part 1, I didn't really include anything about the digital painting aspect of my project, so I will talk about that here. I didn't really have any experience with digital painting or character design before this project, so that was pretty intimidating. I had a lot to learn on the subject, and I still do. I started out watching tutorials, but that wasn't the best method at that point because I had absoltely no idea what I was doing. This caused me to go back to the extreme basics: I decided to figure out what program I was sing. I was considering Illustrator as a potential medium for this project until I actually used it. Although Illustrator is a great program, it isn't the right choice for this type of project. That is when I really started looking at digital painting.

The Apple

     Instead of starting with the absolute basics at this stage, like I should have, I decided to try jumping right into the digital painting experience by trying to paint an apple, using a real apple as reference. The results are to the right. As you can see, my blending techniques weren't very good at this stage, but it turned out alright for my very first try. I believed that I had done pretty well at the time, but looking back on it, it was pretty clearly not the best I could have done. I continued tomove forward at this point by watching some tutorials on blending and techniques to create a professional feel. These helped quite a bit, but I didn't apply them. I began to look at what my plan was compositionally.

My Corkboard

     I had a general idea of my plan for my final piece of digital artwork, but I didn't really know what it was going to look like in any sort of detail. To organize my ideas, I created a digital corkboard using Padlet and filled it with relevant reference pictures and notations. A snapshot of the corkboard is to the left. This was a useful tool to have because it helped me figure out what I wanted to include in the picture and how they might all fit together. It greatly improved my organization of the ideas that I had. I continued to watch digital painting tutorials at this point as well.

The Grey Scale

     Around this point, I realized that I had skipped an important step in my digital painting quest, and that was learning how to digitally paint. I took a few steps back and made a basic grey scale. This turned out pretty well, if a bit patchy. I am now working on the basics of color blending. I also went back to the apple and applied the blending skills that I've learned to it. It isn't anywhere near finished, but it is beginning to shape up. I am working more on the basics and the general sketches of what the final piece will look like compositionally. I'm excited for how it might turn out.

The New Apple

     I do have some major concerns with this project. Because I began the learning process a bit out of order, it lost me a bit of time. I'm worried about whether or not I'll finish. I'm also worried about my drawing skills and if they're good enough to facilitate such a process as digital painting. I am, however, hopeful that these little kinks will work themselves out with time and a bit of pract