The start of something new

First things first, what the fudge is "Sixty Minutes Showcase"? Well it's a blog obviously and it will show you certain things. But what?

I am a student Communication and Multimedia Design and I am focusing on the artistic fields, like 2D animation and illustrations. But to get better you need to practice, a lot!

Recently I got some great tips from Jacko, a member of Frack (www.frack.nl). He told me that artists have to come up with ideas quite fast (within an hour sometimes) and that it is a great way to develop drawing qualities. So I took his advice and starting on the 12th of March, I will produce at least 5 drawings a week. I will criticize my own drawings, but feedback and tips are always welcome.

So after this introduction, my first 60 minute drawing is shown (but didn't you say you would start next week?!). The day I talked with Jacko, I was motivated to the bone, so I started straightaway with a drawing. I wrote down a sentence without thinking of an image and when the 60 minutes started, I started with a small sketch to decide on the composition. My first mission was to create a creature in the forest. I kept it a bit vague and imagined what my imaginative boss would like to see.
For me it was important to show the creature in his natural habitat. What would be his living space? Is that a house made of wood, is it a intelligent being that creates bricks? I asked myself such things while I was sketching.

After the quick sketch it was time for a bigger and cleaner sketch. This would determine the light source for me and such. (sorry about the brown, sometimes I tend to work on the wrong layer ^^; )

As you can see, it is a creature living besides a river. I thought of the creature as a being who likes fish and the most ideal place is to live besides something that has that kind of food.
Another fact is that the creature is a non-existent one (is it?) It's a mixture between some kind of bear, owl, human and a deer.

And after the happy working with blacks and whites, I wanted to splash some colors on it! HA! And I smashed some colors! 

I wanted the mood to be a bit natural, really forest like, so I picked greens, browns and some blues. 

The first colored layer was filled with a dark green. It was a calm, quite cool color. 

When that thing was added, the painting part started. Trees, grass and finally the creature. 

Just adding some details there, o wait, just a few minutes left, well, then I have to add that... and that... O shoot! I forgot something and.... Time's up! 

And here you see the final result of my first 60 minute drawing.