Rainy Day

I think one of the most important things that an artist (or really anyone) should do is to know what his or her shortcomings are, and always seek to improve them.

Personally, one thing I'm not super confident about is my use of color. I feel the most at home with my pieces during the first stages where I'm making the line drawing. Working out the composition and the anatomy, capturing the action and the emotion... all of that is what I enjoy the most. And then comes time to finish the piece, and I usually feel a little lost.

It's my own fault. I spent the first 18 years of my life doing nothing but pencil drawings. Linework is all I ever practiced in.

So now I want to work on that. I noticed that the art I've really been drawn to the most lately has been digital paintings. That is something I've never really done, and I really respect people who can do it. I want to experiment with it a little. I think adding some softer, more highly rendered touches to my line drawings could really improve them. The question is finding the right level. How much is too much, how little is too little? I don't want my own work to stop looking like it's mine, after all! I want it to evolve, and become something better.

I'm starting a series in pursuit of developing this skill and finding the right way to use it. In this one I worked up the skin, boots and umbrella, but I somehow like it better with the coat and leggings left the same color as the background, with just some simple touches to indicate volume. What do you guys think?