KalaaLog

I have been on some reorganizing tasks here at KalaaLog.com. Most of it revolves around the tutorials posted here.

Top tutorials

Checking the site statistics, it looks like there are two tutorials that have a lot of visits, mostly due to other sites linking to the tutorials. The top tutorial posts have been in both the vector as well as digital painting topics.

1. Illustrate Hibiscus Flower
2. Painting A Peacock

Most notable site is the Inkscape Tutorials blog, that regularly links to vector or illustration related tutorials here. Thanks Ryan, for the link love. I urge those interested in Inkscape to have a look at that blog - it regularly posts links to great Inkscape related tutorials.

Tutorial Index

The tutorial index page (the link the navigation bar above), has been updated to link to all the different tutorials posted here. I have tried to organize it under broad categories like illustration, painting and general sketching tutorials. From the last update, 40 new links have been added to the lists.

Tags

As can be seen on the tutorials page, the number of tutorials has grown quite large. It might soon be harder to search for a specific set of tutorials. This is the reason, and also due to reader request, I went through each and every tutorial posted here and tagged them as either ‘vector’ or ‘painting’, and also as either ‘beginner’, ‘intermediate’, or ‘advanced’. You can browse the tutorials using the tag cloud (on the right hand sidebar), or by directly putting in /tag at the end of http://kalaalog.com URL. If you are adventurous, then you can use plus (+) and comma (-) to apply AND or OR respectively.

Here are some examples:

• http://kalaalog.com/tag/advanced/ - This lists all the tutorials tagged as ‘advanced’
• http://kalaalog.com/tag/vector/ - This lists all the tutorials tagged as ‘vector’
• http://kalaalog.com/tag/video+intermediate+painting/ - List of intermediate level painting video tutorials

The tags, categories and the search should make it easier to zero in on a particular tutorial. But I am still trying to find some easier way to explore the tutorials. It may involve making use of external tagging/bookmarking services like del.icio.us or ma.gnolia.com so that readers can themselves tag it as they see fit.

Any suggestions are welcome - use the comment area below!

• Software: GIMP (or Photoshop)
• Level: Advanced
• Subject: Anwun (Assassin woman)

This final part of the three part series, we look at the detailing and dark shadow application of the character painting of Anwun.

Details

Still on the Painting layer, and still using magic wand + Flats layer to do a selection, I paint the eyes, lips and details of the hair.

There are some jagged edges, which I correct - without doing the area selection. After that, I refer to the color palette I had consturcted earlier and start putting in the highlights.

After that, I put a semi-interesting background on a separate layer.
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• Software: GIMP (or Photoshop)
• Level: Advanced
• Subject: Anwun (Assassin woman)

The last part, we had left at the lineart of the character, Anwun. In this part, you will look at the basic coloring. The details would be covered in the next part.

Color Palette

The color palette was decided upon even before any part of this character was painted. I am doing this to have a uniform theme for the series of painting I am going to do. For the next set of characters, I would be extending the same palette.

Flats and Basic Coloring

The complementary color for each area is used to fill in and create the flats.

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• Software: GIMP (or Photoshop)
• Level: Advanced
• Subject: Anwun (Assassin woman)

After I did the painting, Slice for Demon Trio project, I gained a bit of confidence in terms of depicting human anatomy. Hence, I decided to undertake another project, titled Women of the Assassin Order. The background for this can be related to the Armem Enlom character from the Chaos And Order universe.

So for the first of this series, the character would be a lady assassin of the Oro Order - an assassin guild. She has passed the rite of passage of the assassin order and has several successful jobs under her belt.

Concept

As not much has been fleshed out in terms of back story, there is quite a bit of freedom in terms of concept.

The first of the study skethces is very rough, and I pretty much explore the different versions of face. Since I am still practicing anatomy, I make sure that I use enough guides to keep everything in proportion.

After I am confident with the subject, I move on to give her a more dramatized pose.
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