CraftyArtWorld has updated the gallery section to include a portfolio of some of Artist Anika's best and/or favorite peices (with a few exceptions excluded due to mature content). In celebration of this new addition, I've created a special graphic just for the portfolio. It is designed to match the colors and layout of all the other graphics of this site:
I hope everyone enjoys the new graphic (which has been added to the CraftyArtWorld homepage) and portfolio. If you are a frequent visitor here and have a favorite piece of artwork that you feel should be shown in the portfolio, feel free to leave a comment and let me know. If you are a first time viewer...well, I hope you enjoy the art anyway. As always, constructive criticism and outright praise is welcome and encourages: Note the little comment box at the bottom of the portfolio. Hint Hint. Nudge Nudge.
I give you, Severus Snape of The Half-Blood Prince. Click to enlarge.
I'd like to thank everyone who I annoyed into giving me feedback: particularly Jonathan and my fiance (my fiance for putting up with me the most and Jonathan for helping me the most). I've darkened Severus' cheek and jaw and lightened the other areas of his face to make him look younger. I also darkened the highlights in the hair and widened the shoulders. Plus adding a background.
I'm not going to explain the background that I chose to do, as I don't want to give anything away to any sad little person who hasn't read the book or seen the movie. However, I will share my reference shots below for anyone who is interested.
This image was found in a Google Image search. Not sure who the original owner or artist of this Dark Mark was, but Google pulled the image from someone's MySpace page (which really means the original image could have come from anywhere). If anyone happens to know the artist, I'd love to know. In the meantime, the MySpace page it was pulled from belongs to Bannanas In Pajamas.
This image was actually one of the chapter images from the actual book. I'm sure I could look up the artist, but I'm too lazy. If you're curious, do your own Googling. Just know it isn't mine.
If you'd like to see the reference shot of Severus, check out my previous two blog posts.
P.S. Below is a gallery of the products used to create this sketch, along with a description of how and why each were used.
Hm. He's coming along, but there are still some problems with him that I'm not sure about. His shoulders don't appear wide enough, he still looks too old, and his forehead is too short. Also, I need to touch up the shading on his robes and hair (the highlights are too bright and make his hair look like it's greying). Jaw needs some more definition too.
I'm gonna sleep on it and hopefully will be able to better it tomorrow.
P.S. Any ideas on a background would be greatly appreciated. Not sure what I'll do with it yet.
Second in-progress shot of my Severus Snape portrait. He's coming along nicely, if I do say so myself. Tomorrow, I'll be starting the hardest part of the portrait. Skin tones are somewhat simpler for me to shade, as I've had a lot of practice with them. However, black hair is another issue altogether for me.
I have major issues with using black in a drawing; have never really gotten the hang of proper shading with it. And Severus, of course, has black hair on top of a black cloak on top of a black vest-thingy....basically, a lot of black on black. That's where things are going to get interesting for me.
We'll just have to see how it goes. Can't get better at it if I don't practice.
In the meantime, check out the progress so far:
P.S. Yes, I realize this picture is too chubby. I need to fix his neck and jawline (as well as the one cheek which is furthest from us). That is also on my list of things to do with him tomorrow.
Buzz it!
