Yesterday, I spent about half of the day working on this painting, hoping I would be able to reveal the final piece in today’s weekly website update.

I even forecasted the accomplishment on Twitter.

Alas, I just couldn’t move fast enough.

…and I don’t want to screw it up, so I’m posting an almost-finished WIP today (above).

..and here are some close-ups of the faces:

Hulk is pretty much finished (I may still add some reflected light on the dark side of his face).

Wolverine’s face is about half-way done.  I still need to give his face some more dimension by adding some more extreme darks and lights.  I lost a lot of time yesterday because I discovered the original line drawing to be structurally incorrect.  I had to go and re-draw a lot of Wolverine’s face.  And that’s a really difficult angle to draw!

…other notes? The background needs a little more life.  The sky needs a gradient and some suggestions of clouds. Hulk’s fists need to be finished as well as Wolverine’s body, his cigar and claws.  Lastly, I will add some blood splatter and perhaps some snow swirling around them.

Seeing this piece in a near-complete state, I realize that I have not even come close to achieving the goal that I set forth a few months ago – the goal to work much more loosely, to not finish everything in the image and to let more of the line drawing and under-painting show through…

But, I will keep experimenting and stay focused on that goal.  Perhaps I will be able to bring more looseness and spontaneity into my ‘Wookie Rage’ illustration.

I think one of the keys to achieving that goal is to work more loosely from the very start.  In other words, even the line drawing should be more loose and impressionistic. Its amazing how much of the success of a painting can be credited to concentration and the artist’s state of mind.

Thoughts?  Suggestions? Critiques?  Email me at coatley [at] mac dot com.  You can also find me on Twitter, deviantArt and Facebook.

ALSO:  SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE PODCAST!  I am going to be recording another ‘Listener Mail’ episode this week if the mountain of freelance work doesn’t ruin me first.  It would be great to hear some of your thoughts and questions about the more recent works like Giant Robot Bug, Alien Janitor, Wookie Rage and this Hulk Vs. Wolverine piece!

NEW BLOGS OR PODCASTS AT CHRISOATLEY.COM EVERY MONDAY!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

IN THIS EPISODE::

I recently had the tremendous honor of joining my friends Kevin Cross and Joshua Kemble as a guest on their awesome podcast Big Illustration Party Time.

It is an amazing resource for anyone interested in freelance illustration.

The topic that we discussed was character design so each of us did a ‘homework assignment’ before the episode where we had to design a “hero.”

I came up with an alien janitor in cut-offs.

I did a screen capture of the entire painting and I have split that video into two parts.  The first part, this episode, will be accompanied by a series of audio clips from my guest appearance onBig Illustration Party Time.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

IN THIS EPISODE::

So I’ve received some great feedback from you, my precious audience, and most of you have requested more digital painting tutorials like my on-going Hulk Vs. Wolverine episodes.

So, I’ve decided to begin a new series of tutorials to align with the “Wookie Rage” contest that is happening here on the site.

All you have to do is enter The Wookie Rage Poll, send me an email telling me that you entered the contest and you will have the chance to win one of my original sketches… …one that I did for this painting.

…and don’t worry, Hulk and Wolverine is not going away. I will continue to make those episodes as well.  I just want to get a little more variety happening here on the show.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

IN THIS EPISODE ::

I spent most of the last episode answering some of the great questions that I have received from you, my dear listeners.  And I thank you again for sending them in.

Something that has become apparent in my conversations with you is that almost everyone feels like they are in a period of transition, artistically.  But some of you feel stuck. Some of you feel locked-up.

Whether that feeling is there because of economic reasons, because of an inner-frustration with your perceived level of skill or because you hate your day job, you maintain that characteristically creative drive to move forward.

I called together a few friends and we met for an online conference call to plan an escape from art jail.

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Some of you have asked me about my pitches at Disney.  For those of you that don’t already know, last Wednesday, I pitched three animated TV shows of my own creation at Disney Television Animation.

The pitches went better than I had expected.  I will be going back to the studio in a couple of weeks to pitch the same shows again. That is, after I have addressed some of the very insightful notes that I received. This time I will pitch to the V.P. of Disney Television Animation, so that’s both scary and awesome.

I recently did some visual development for an online role playing game.  The game is another installment in the classic ‘Zork’ franchise called Legends Of Zork.  You can play for free at LegendsOfZork.com

In the image above, the line art is by Greg Brown and the whole project was directed by the remarkable Jim Zubkavich at UDON Entertainment.  Jim also designed all of the characters in the game.

For week’s new podcast episode, I recorded an online conference call that I did with a few friends where we attempted to plan an escape from art-jail. Click here to listen.

Thanks, as always for reading, watching, looking and listening!

New Blogs or Podcasts at ChrisOatley.com EVERY MONDAY!