Time lapse of the oil painting process as well as discussion of the project on painting this Savage Sword of Conan cover. In addition to the background and challenges of this piece, I note some things I might keep in mind in the future
That was really amazing. Oil work is so fascinating. It's a true exercise in patience as you really have to trust the process and have vision for the final product to come together. I can't wait to grab this cover. Also, your horseback sketch is quite cool as well. I hope that gets a chance to be completed for a future project. The energy was epic! Thank you for sharing.
Using a projecting device to transfer the initial drawing to the canvas is a time-tested method, that very few people actually show. I think it's reassuring for upcoming artists to see, that it's not 'cheating', but just another pragmatic working step. Thanks so much, David!
Nice to hear your thought process into making this cover, Dave. I do like the two figure action scene, nothing stopping you from painting it in the future ;) I do agree with you regarding the muscular appearance of men in the 70's looking more natural (my preference also), today some body builders look almost deformed and distorted. Looking forward to more videos from you.
You can use current bodybuilders for this kind of referencing as long as you look in the Men's Physique or Classic Physique categories, since they're smaller and more like the late 60's and 70's standard, although probably more shredded.
@@dvpalumboquick question for you, besides for the underpainting, were you always working wet on wet, or there was some drying time in between some colors?
@@yvesnarbonne6688 there's a couple pauses on this one. The initial tonal ground and drawing, then coming back to add a color and tonal wash (the video dips to black when this is done) then coming back for the final layers which are in two sessions. The first session blocks a lot in and the second session picks up around 3:45 when the camera pulls in a bit closer. The bulk of the painting happens in that final session though.
Looks fantastic! I just finished reading a book about fantasy art from then till now and I think it's great to see, that artists still use traditional painting methods. I'm absolutely not saying that digital art is "no real art" but for my taste traditional work has so much more feeling and character to it. Especially in times when we are flooded by ai generated stuff
Beautiful piece. You mentioned that you think you made Conan to large, I personally like the look you gave him. I think a bulky/stocky build fits Conan’s character more then a more lean and ripped look. When I imagine Conan I think of him looking more like a labourer on a building site. Someone who’s physicality comes from the work they do rather then it being a deliberate effort in the gym to look a certain way. If that makes sense.
@@SuperACE121212 ha, you know, I'd never researched it, just figured it's a simple and functional feature, but I can't find evidence of ancient belt loops. But Conan WAS smarter than people give him credit for...
I enjoyed your presentation. Your approach is instructive and impressive. I’m curious how long the actual painting took. Also did you have props for the backgrounds, ie the eye, the column behind Conan as well as the axe and so forth. I think your piece has an unforced life to it. And it’s own look. Few people other than Frazetta have I thought did Conan justice. Were you going in familiar with others who tackled Conan. If so, with regards to painting, who were your favorites if any. I’ve liked SANJULIAN, and the few John Buscema ones for Marvel. A couple early BORIS ones were okay…but not really favorites. Though he did about 6 RED SONJA paperback covers that were sensational. My favorite who did a few Barbarian type covers, but not Conan is ENRICH…I was never a fan of Bob Larkin’s or Joe Jusko’s. A paperback cover of KING KULL by LOU FECK though I loved. Buscema’s second cover for Marvel is a favorite of mine too. Anyway, thanks for sharing. Well done.
Frazetta was definitely the guy for me on Conan, but Boris and Sanjulian also totally amazing. As far as background, I had a simple 3d reference for the structure though I kind of wonder why I bothered since there's not much to see. I winged it on the eye in the sketch and then used that as a reference to essentially wing it again in the final
@@dvpalumbo Yeah, I believe these were Marvel's "The Savage Sword of Conan" comics that were around my time too in the 80's. Issue one was in 1975 up to 1995, with 235 issues in total. Most of the art in those are fantastic, and some great covers by Boris too. I'm using these as study material for my own attempts at comic inking... I have a long way to go :D
@@dvpalumbo yes they were the Marvel ones..Magazine sized. Some great artwork. I bought all the Omnibus versions that Marvel released the last few years and hopefully Titan will be finishing.
