2010-04-14 [Hendercrazy]: Hello there! Welcome to my first official art print in progress! :) Thanks to the easiness of the new art uploading feature here on Elftown... I've decided to go ahead and (at least) show some of the various stages of the creation process along the way since I've had a few requests to do so. Updates on my progress might likely be really slow at times... but the image is quite extensively large in size. I'm hoping, however, that the end result of my artistic labor will end up close to the vision I've had brewing in my head. Thanks for looking, being patient and hope you enjoy your stay! :D

2010-04-14 [Paul Doyle]: Sweet! :-D
Keith Parkinson would be proud.

2010-04-14 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks for that comment [Paul Doyle]! :) I'd hope to think that he'd enjoy it. :) Once I complete the art...I'm planning to send his son Nick a signed print to complete my homage to Keith. :)

2010-04-14 [*Phoenix*]: ohhh...me likey!

2010-04-16 [Hendercrazy]: Just started on the color flats. :) Now, the sky won't exactly be clear blue sky once I'm done... but it shows the overall composition and eye flow that the piece will be taking.

2010-04-17 [XxTsomexX]: Ooooh this is gonna be so cooool!! :D

2010-04-17 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks [XxTsomexX]! :D I've got a long way to go to reach the vision sitting in my skull. :P

2010-04-17 [XxTsomexX]: Aww I hate it when a picture gets stuck in your head.

2010-04-17 [Hendercrazy]: Exactly! :P ;)

2010-04-18 [Zab]: Well done, you seem to know just whre to put the lights :) I suppose you will shade it some way or another? Itll be fun to see what technique you'll use :)

2010-04-18 [Hendercrazy]: Hey, thanks for visiting back [Zab]! :) Always a nice surprise. :D Thank you and yes, this piece is in the very early stages of coloring. It's going to become quite dark and evil as it progresses. ;)

2010-04-18 [Zab]: hehe, I'm looking forwrd to that then :P

2010-04-20 [Hendercrazy]: Starting on the background details now. It's here I'll begin the process of establishing the light sources, mood and tone of the overall pic. :) A hint of the nastiness to come! :P

2010-04-20 [Zab]: Oh, I just noticed how good it could look with some sort of fire/energy stream between his hands, to put a contrasting warm/burning light on his chest and frm under his face, contrasting to the cold light of the sky...

Looks good this far, it will probably look great without any contrasting light too.. ;)

(my dog just brought me my shoe, I think she wants me to wak her..xD)

2010-04-20 [Hendercrazy]: There will be some nice contrasting light in this pic... it just won't be coming from the dragon itself this time around. :D

XD Your dog knows what they usually mean, eh? :P

2010-04-21 [Zab]: Will be interesting to see :P

Or she just likes carrying them..O_o xD

2010-04-28 [Hendercrazy]: Started in on the mountain. This part will take quite a bit of time to do... but I'm really enjoying the process! :D

2010-04-28 [XxTsomexX]: It loooks aweeeeesome :D:D:D:D

2010-04-28 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks [XxTsomexX]! :) This is something I've been meaning to do for a looong time. I'm just glad to finally be at it. :D

2010-04-28 [Zab]: Looks good! :)

2010-05-01 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks [Zab]! :) I'm hoping to have this finished up within a few more weeks or so. The black dragon and overall tweaking will be the biggest time consumers. O_O

2010-05-02 [Zab]: heheh, I bet it will :P

2010-05-06 [Hendercrazy]: Alrighty then... kind of got side tracked a bit starting up the Art Wikis of Elftown wiki... but it was something that's been on my mind for a long time now and just needed to be done. :)

Now, gotta get back to work! :D

2010-05-08 [Hendercrazy]: The next worthwhile update will hopefully be sometime late Sunday. We'll see. I'm starting to get into the more involved and time consuming aspects of the pic. :)

2010-05-12 [Hendercrazy]: Ugh. XP Update still coming... just not as worthwhile as I'd hoped. Spending waaaaay too much time on the bloody trees. *fights off image burn of little trees* O_O

2010-05-12 [Hendercrazy]: Have just a bit more work to go with the trees... then the background will be done for now (will be going back to tweak it when I'm ready to finalize everything). Hint... click the actual image for a better, more close and crisp look, into the detail (instead of the ET auto reduction) you're seeing above now. :)

Anyway, then I'll finally get to sink my artistic teeth into the meat and potatoes of the pic... the black dragon!!! Woohoo! Really looking forward to that part! :D

2010-05-13 [Zab]: Lookin good :P

2010-05-16 [Hendercrazy]: Background detail done and now updated. :) Also, I resized the color progression images so they appear in full, crisp detail.

2010-05-17 [Zab]: Waiting for more :)

2010-05-20 [Hendercrazy]: My goal is to have this puppy finished by May 31st. :) So I'll be posting the final update then if all goes well. ;)

2010-05-20 [Nocturnaliss]: That's actually looking pretty damn good. Especially liking the lightning, it's quite realistic.

2010-05-21 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks Issy! :)

2010-05-21 [organicparadox]: linework is flawless, as usual. waiting anxiously for you to start on the dragon before i speak on the colour. so far, the trees look great but look so great they actually make the mountain they are on pale in comparison. possibly some larger shadows from the cloud itself to marry it all together.

also, don't forget focal point. do you want as much detail in the background as you do in the foreground?

no real critiques though. too happy with how its coming out so far to notice the flaws:)

2010-05-21 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks man! :) Yeah, you're totally spot on with the background and such! :P As mentioned earlier... I'll be tweaking it all before I call it a wrap. So I'll get everything in the background shaped up and balanced out. :) As for the dragon... I promise that you that it will be the focal point! :P ;)

2010-05-21 [*Phoenix*]: I noticed from the second-to-last to the last, it got lighter. I like the lighter dragon, but then the sky looks non-stormy...

2010-05-21 [Hendercrazy]: I think it lightened up a bit in that one because I did the watermark differently. Don't let that flat grey base fool you though. It's going to look quite a bit different and much, much darker once it's finally complete. ;D

2010-05-25 [Serwa]: Lookin good man, It's a work in progress, so maybe you still have plans on it, just a little suggestion :) the shade of the trees on that mountain could be much darker, to make the lightningstrike apear more powerfull, since it'll be adding a lot more contrast! (I havnt read any comments, so maybe it already been suggested ;)) Anyways, keep it up, lookin forward to the finished piece!!

2010-05-26 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks brother! :) Yeah, it's been brought up already in the comments like you guessed... but it's all good. :D I'll be tweaking everything before posting the finished version. ;)

2010-05-30 [Hendercrazy]: The way things are looking currently... this puppy is probably gonna take me roughly one more week or so to finish. I've gone in a little bit deeper (now that I'm using my Wacom tablet) than I'd originally planned. The good news is though that I believe the overall image is going to turn out a little better as well. :D

2010-05-30 [Yncke]: Looking forward to that, this drawing is promising to become a really great piece!

2010-05-30 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks [Yncke]! I really hope so... I'm trying hard to start off on the right foot. ;) I have a Keith Parkinson giclee painting sitting nearby as inspiration and motivation. :D

2010-06-07 [Hendercrazy]: Still not quite finished yet. Took a mini break from this to start up the Art Supplies Trove! wiki. :) In a way... I needed the break and it's now going to give me a fresh look at it again tonight when I get back to work. ;D Long live black dragons! \m/ \m/

2010-06-10 [organicparadox]: i have no doubts that you will provide much shock and awe with your final piece. we are blessed to get a glimpse at your process. viva la dragone!~

2010-06-10 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks for the props and faith boost man! :) It means a lot. :D It's not really gonna quite be all that... but I'm certainly ready to get this thing finished and move on to my next piece. Continue learning, growing and building. :)

2010-06-12 [Hendercrazy]: Okay, final scoop on the progression... I'll be posting the final version up on Friday, June 18th, 2010! :D

2010-06-12 [Serwa]: Lookin forward to it! Goodluck!

2010-06-19 [Hendercrazy]: Well, as you can see... I've not updated the final piece as I'd planned to do on Friday. I've had a wacky week of stuff going on and things to do and I'm afraid I didn't quite manage enough time to finish this piece up entirely. So, I'll just post the final when it's completed and not give any more time frames. Thanks for waiting for my surprise posting! :D

2010-06-19 [Serwa]: Hehe, I was just starting to wonder about it!
Take your time bro, no use rushing!
Enjoy your weekend!

2010-06-26 [Hendercrazy]: Yeah, I'm not in a big major rush... but, I did set myself some goals to hit and it'd be awesome if I could at least stick fairly close to them. :) Right now, I'm a falling behind schedule. :P In all sincerity though, part of the reason why I've slowed up (outside of delving into more detail in the pic) is that a good friend of mine is working hard on starting up a business from scratch and he's brought me on board to design his logo. That was time I wasn't accounting for. :\ :)

Nevertheless, in the meantime... I'm thinking about posting one more progression update (minus a few things) just to give you all one more look/step into the direction of it being finished. What do you think? Yays or nays?

2010-07-04 [Hendercrazy]: I've decided to toss out the schedule I was trying to keep with my prints (since I suck with time anyway) and just push my art to levels I've never gone before. Especially in color. So... this means I'll be posting more updates of this piece as I move onward! I'll finally be posting a new update tomorrow on my country's (USA) birthday (Independence Day)... the 4th of July! :D

2010-07-04 [Hendercrazy]: Ahhhhh... an update has arrived! :D Been working tediously on the dragon scales and also decided to show the updated clouds. Now you know why it's been taking so long! Admittedly, while my original intention was to keep this first print more on the simpleton side of things... but my illustrative side has now started to kick in and take over; thanks in part to switching over from mouse to drawing tablet. :P

2010-07-04 [Serwa]: Totally awesome! I really like what you did with it since the last update!

2010-07-05 [Yncke]: I really like the pattern on his skin.

2010-07-05 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks! :D I still have a lot to do with his scales, underbelly and skin. Looking forward to take him from his current flat state to that 3D vibe. ;)

2010-07-05 [Zab]: Neat changes :)

2010-07-14 [Paul Doyle]: Fin Fang Foom's father's brother's nephew's friend's former roommate has a grudge to settle with Foomie! Someone get Thor and Beta Ray Bill on the phone . . .

2010-07-14 [Hendercrazy]: Lol! I knew the geekdom in you would resurface Paul! :D Um... who's Foomie???

2010-07-15 [*Phoenix*]: I still think the background needs to be darker (esp the blue), and I know it's a working in progress, but I thought I'd tell you anyways. :]

2010-07-17 [Hendercrazy]: Thanks for the input [*Phoenix*] :D I actually do agree with you. However, it's currently bright on the screen because it's in RGB color... but when it goes to print in CMYK... it will be somewhat darker and will lose that neon sky blue look. ;)

2010-07-19 [*Phoenix*]: You're welcome. OH! I can totally understand that. We had a problem like that in Yearbook. They used the wrong color scheme. It wasn't fun. -_- Awesomeness. :]