Cad & Cadder (Hi-Res)

This is the hi res (~4K tall) version! Thank you for your additional support. <3

A piece for Cad_wing of Twitter! This Wing comes in two flavors -- psychic perfection, or psychic perfection but now also hulking and looming over you.

This was a really fun one! Had a few problems, mostly in the faces, but I like where it went, and I'm really happy with the color. Though this piece did teach me, as well as some guidance from Jonathan Vair, that I gotta change up my process a little bit. So currently working on that in the background...! But for this piece? Cad is a treat to work for, and I'm always happy to draw his fantastic guy. This hits a bunch of my favorite notes. :love:

Thank you again to Cad for trusting me with your guy, and letting me work with you!! And I hope ya'll enjoy. c:

---

Whoof. This one started strong and then I snagged, hard.

I've come to the realization that... I think I'm going about some of this wrong. I keep wanting to render out everything nice and neatly, to emulate some of my favorite artists that I've seen doing things for D&D, for Magic the Gathering, for various games. That nice, clean, crisp style, but... Over time, I've kind of grown to want more meat in what I'm doing.

So at one point, trying to smooth out and render out the bigger Cad here, near the end of the piece, I think I slammed into a wall. And it was only by talking with Jonathan Vair that I realized... I want texture and chunkiness. You can see some of it that was coming into the piece near the end, specifically in the wings or in some spots on bigger Cad's shoulders and chest.

I think that chunky look, coupled with some very nice rendering over top of it, could look really cool. And it would combine the best of both worlds -- my love for little details, while also respect for people who can let chaos speak for them, to let the viewer fill in some of the gaps. I've spent a lot of my education and career in the arts treying to render out everything exactly, from life drawing to gesture to oil painting and into furry. I think I want to break out of it a bit.

I've been playing around in some other programs, specifically Krita and Clip Studio, as well as with some of Painter's settings, and even some of my tablet's own software. I really want to make this change. It might be a little rocky at first, but I think it's worth it in the long haul for me to just... Stop trying to emulate what I see as perfect, and just start rendering what I see how I want. I think it makes for better art. Again, for example, here in the wings -- normally I would try and render out all the little small feathers but... I really like the scratchy, quick look in some spots, with a few small rendered ones to imply the layering and lighting. I really think this could look good with some work.

The catch is, it's going to need work. It's not a night and day switch. But I really want to try. I hope you guys and gals will trust me with it.

I think that's all I gots to say for today on the matter of art and me. Things are pretty plain otherwise -- just getting through the days, working when I can. Remember to get your booster if you can, keep wearing a mask, stay safe out there. Love you guys. Cheers. <3