Sumo Stable (Hi-Res)

"Remember, it's not all about sheer size. Balance and low center of gravity is important in this sport, and that starts in your stance! Follow my lead... Don't lean back too far-- there you go, you're getting it! Now..."

A painting for fatdragonfriend of FA, or DraenethDragon of Twitter!

SUMO. So happy to get to paint some softer men again. And of one of my favorite sports, though I haven't gotten to watch it live in a while. I should get back to that again. 

Anyways, this one was fun! I hit a few snags in it, trying to find a way to speed up my process and make the painting process a little more fun, rather than slow rendering all the time. I think it worked... Alright, for the most part. I had to redo a few parts a few times, admittedly, but there's potential here while still feeling like a "Deriaz piece".

Enjoy, ya'll! Thank you again to Draeneth for letting me with with you!! <3

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Whoof.

Been a rough month. Not just in the painting process, but in general mood. Depression hit me like a semi-truck for the past week and a half, and I've only just had the energy to move and work again as of a few days ago. Luckily, I had this one nearly done, so it just needed some clean-up, so I didn't need to go from 0 to 100 instantly.

What I'm trying to do, as sort of explained above, is stop rendering everything so meticulously. Not just because I want to speed things up and make images feel a little more fun to play around in, but also admittedly it's because of AI. It's hard to find the energy to paint out every little detail when AI is doing the stuff I wanted to do in a micro-fraction of the time. So, rather than try to go realistic... I should go fun.

Which begs to question why my brain doesn't equate "realism" in painting to "fun", even though I adore realism as my favorite style, up there with romanticism. But there's a sort of... I'm not sure of the word. Confidence? Acceptance? Peace? In looking to old renaissance art, seeing the skill and nuance in depicting what they see, yet the confidence of artists like Sargent, Caravaggio, Gérôme, and how they handle edges, textures, shape...

I think I need to do that more. Sure, "Deriaz, AI will be able to do that soon, too", you might say, but... If AI is going to be able to do everything, everywhere, eventually, I'm not sure why I'm stressing over trying to make everything pristine and perfect. Sometimes I just have to accept it being nice to me. And, well, the client, of course. Perfect example are the legs in this piece -- sure, the anatomy is a bit off, and for figures of this size, the fat and muscle would probably rest a little differently... But I'm really, really happy with those legs. They were so nice to paint.

Not everything worked, of course. The faces gave me trouble. Deriaz is still a pain to paint at times, mostly because I never paint him, and I really need to sit down and settle his design and methods. My colors here feel a bit too wild. But it all still works, I'm still very happy with it. 

So. I know what to do, what to change, what to move forward with. Screw you, AI. I'm gonna just try and be happier with painting. Maybe things will get a little messier, but hopefully in the end, it will be worth it.

Thanks, ya'll. Sorry for the slow update here. I have a convention I'm leaving to this weekend, and then will be back in early July. If I am slow to respond to anyone, that is why, and I will get back to you ASAP!!

Love you all. Thank you again. <3 I cannot do this without you, seriously. Stay safe.