Hey.. a Sketchy Sketches (formerly Sunday Sketches) post!  Remember these?

With a newly rekindled interest in honing my artistic abilities, I’ve started practicing, again, in my preferred environment – Photoshop.  I actually started the above image before my recently posted Clockwork Heart picture, but I wrapped it up today and thought I’d share.  I followed a basic tutorial (found HERE), and while I didn’t quite nail it, it was certainly another step in the learning process.

Personal Critique:

- A few of the highlights look really good, but overall I couldn’t find a good middle-ground between two soft and too hard.  I was doing this half-blind (without an actual reference to look at while I painted), so I went a bit overboard with the highlights at first.  I was able to smudge them into bigger puffs, which ended up working well for some of the parts.

- Because of the issue mentioned above, my cloud felt more fuzzy and at the end of its life than the one in the tutorial, so I brushed out the back of it.. a cloud that’s starting to give way to the winds.

- The shape actually feels decent to me, though the interior bulges feel a bit unnatural and out of place.

- I am proud of the very bottom of the cloud.. I think it turned out really natural and the colors seem to fade out well down there.

Overall, it’s nothing to write home about, but this is how we learn .  Criticisms and thoughts on how to technically improve are very welcomed!

My friend, Danny, recommended Ctrl+Paint as a good resource for tutorials and lessons… but I’ll be sure to share whatever I do next, wherever it’s from .