The Grendel for LABMASU

I just finished this piece for LABMASU ( Italian Gaming Company ) today. Sketched the creature on paper using Staetdtler 4B pencil early yesterday. I got a couple of miniature model photos and a ton of description as guide. Me and the client went through the details and revisions of the sketch until I got the look of how he imagined the creature should look like. It was actually fun getting revisions online and showing the revisions right there and then.



Once the client has approved the pencil drawing ( much like all my other commissioned ART pieces ), I then scanned my drawing and colored it in Photoshop. Other than the fact that I am not too good with Photoshop ( old artist ), I really like that my pencil strokes show through the digitally colored piece.



The combination of my rough pencil strokes and the smooth transitions of digital painting, gives my piece a HYBRID Digital and traditional ART feel to it.



This will be a series of three ( 3 ) ART pieces for LABMASU. Next piece would be a Viking guy with a harpoon. Excited to produce the third piece, as it will be a battle between this creature and the Viking guy!



Anyways, thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! CIAO!

Producing ART as Yourself is Most Fulfilling

Producing ART ( or anything craft or skill related ) as Yourself is Most Fulfilling.



As I've said before, I am average in both Digital and Traditional Art.  And like most artists, I do have a day job, to pay the bills. But I have been focused on my craft the past week. And have been producing ART for clients ( hopefully happy clients ) like a popcorn vendor.



I was known as DC23 when I used to do Gunpla, but have been using my real name as an artist for a while now. What makes me so happy today, is the feeling that everything you do and produce, is credited directly to your hard work and skills. And you get to spread your real name in the process.



Unlike the usual day job, where you learn to work as a team and  give everything you can for a company. Producing ART for people as YOURSELF is so much more fulfilling! People appreciate what you do and in return, they get to know you by your real or pseudo name ( unlike the day job where they just get to know the company or your team ).



I am pretty sure, any artist would relate to the fulfillment of doing what you love to do. And getting paid for it,  as a bonus!



Spreading your ART is the name of the game. Sharing your passion for any craft is the extreme fulfillment. And establishing yourself versus establishing others is the greatest reward!



I hope young aspiring artists get to read this short post. Get a day job if you need one, but continue to hone your craft and skills... coz NO ONE can take them away from you. People driven by their passion will always succeed. Always.



Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! CIAO!

DON SURATOS Digital Prints at Flicker

I could actually blog and will still do, every Digital Print that we will be releasing. But my partner in crime from the US, Devonian Maher, decided to put up a Flicker page of all the available Digital Prints at the moment. Most ( all atm ) of the available ART as of now are inspired from characters designed and produced by Privateer Press



Saw it initially in my phone in Flicker mobile mode, but then again I was overwhelmed when I saw it on my computer. I think I never had a Flicker account before. I really like seeing all my ART in one page. Awesome stuff. I should start printing my ART to put on my own wall soon! LOL



Anyways, the Flicker page is... DON SURATOS Digital Prints



Hope you check it out and snag a few copies for you or your friend. Each Digital Print would only be available in limited numbers ( 50 - 75 ), depending on the demand. Do contact the email below for further inquiries...

Cutthroatcure@gmail.com

Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next update guys! CIAO! 

Will do Character Designs for LABMASU soon!

LABMASU is a new  company who produces scenario based games with cards and miniatures. They just gave me the opportunity to DESIGN a couple of characters for them. I will need to design them for 3D printing and would also need to produce some illustrations for the rule book and cards.



I have done a couple of character design work for my day job, but you don't get much credit when doing it for your day job ( as usual ). I also sketch various characters out of imagination once in a while, but have yet to do something that would have my name in game cards and booklets!



This is totally insane stuff as I am not drawing something established or designed already, but I will actually be responsible for the birth of new characters for a game! LABMASU will be sending me the descriptions for the characters soon, and I will have to produce sketches of them from my imagination.



Totally excited for this project! Albeit I am juggling various drawing and painting projects atm. Looking forward to sharing to you some of my initial character design sketches at my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts very soon!



Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! CIAO!

LUCANT001 available as 8x10 prints

This Father Lucant ARTwork is now available as an 8x10 print ( Frame is optional ). I have partnered with Devonian Maher from the States in producing this piece into much affordable digital prints. The original line art will never be produced as digital prints tho.



NOT producing the line art ( below ) would ensure that the client who commissioned me this piece will own a one off. The line art will remain as a one and only ARTwork.

The digitally colored version will be available for a very limited run of 50 copies only. We are selling the 8x10 prints at 20 USD each. It will be numbered at the back and will be printed on thick card stock. A black picture frame is optional as an additional 10USD option.



Email me anytime for original line art pieces at donc0023@yahoo.com . However, ALL inquiries regarding orders for the digital prints should be emailed to Dev at...

Cutthroatcure@gmail.com

Appreciation for Traditional ART is very Good these Days!

I am currently working on a handful of commissioned ART at the moment. A few Warmachine Warlocks and a couple of Warhammers. So much ART to do in the next few weeks or months. I also just got commissioned to do 6 more Warmachine Warlocks ( check PrivateerPress.com ), so stay tuned guys!



Although I am a digital artist / visual effects artist at my day job, I do like the trend that the appreciation for traditional ART is pretty good. Both Traditional and Digital ART takes skills, talent and time to do, but a few people tend to dismiss Digital Art as mass produced art, done by computer operators. I obviously beg to disagree, but I would need another post for that.



Anyways, I am really enjoying producing these ARTworks for my clients. Albeit I do ride my "Artist Mood" whenever I do one. Thus It could take me a day to a few days to produce each ART. I hope this trend of Traditional ART appreciation continues, as I am looking forward to producing a ton more in years to come.



The hardest part of producing Traditional ART is shipping them to clients tho. Sometimes, much like anything that you spent hours in producing, ART is difficult to let go! LOL



Anyways, will share more ARTworks to you very soon! Hope you like this post and the photos of Father Lucant in progress. Should finish this piece soon! Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! CIAO!

Digital PRINTS will be on SALE soon!

I am currently partnering with a friend from the United States and we will be selling some Digital Prints of my artworks soon. We are still looking for ways to make it more cost efficient and finding better ways to deliver them to our potential clients. We hope to provide you the best prints possible as soon as we sort out the details.



Do hit me anytime at donc0023@yahoo.com for any further inquiries. Stay tuned as we post artworks available as Digital Prints, here, at Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.



As always, thanks a ton for dropping by! Until next post guys! CIAO!

Digital ART versus Traditional ART

I have been an artist since grade school. I am one of those little kids who rather draw than write in their notebooks, during classes. Have always been in the top 10 of my class tho, as my parents are teachers in the same school, and they will kill me if I have really bad grades.



My drawing skills could have been better tho. I took up Advertising back in College and have been doing Post Production ( Visual Effects, Color Grading and Compositing ) since after College. I should have sparingly focused on my drawing as that was 15 years of Post Production work.  My greatest regret in my adult life is NOT HAVING a SMALL SKETCHPAD during idle times. Well, It's not too late to do that, I guess.

Below is my scanned drawing. I used a Brush Pen and some Technical Pens on Paper.

Below is the sand drawing colored in Adobe Photoshop.

I am average in both, but let me share my thoughts on Digital Art and Traditional Art.



Younger artists these days are so darn good in digital drawing and painting. They have access to all sort of softwares and tools to produce their masterpieces. These young digital artists are so good with their craft, they treat their computer screens like paper!



Digital Art is very versatile and you could Command-Z ( undo ) many many times during work. It gives you so many options and you could produce a wide range of effects. Digital Art also could be easily reproduced.



NEVER ever call a Digital Artist a Computer Operator tho. Artists in general are too passionate with their craft and have taken years to master it. Calling them operators is like asking for a Death Sentence. It would be the dumbest thing to say if you ask me.



Traditional Art on the other hand is a tad bit limited to the paints and tools that you have. It takes longer to do and is a ton messier. There are no UNDOs in traditional art and you create unique one of a kind pieces. Traditional Art pieces usually have more value ( selling-wise ) than Digital Art.



However, I am more of a traditional artist when it comes to drawing, but would prefer to color my pieces digitally. I simply lack the digital drawing skills to create art in my computer, but would like to maintain a clean workspace. Basically, I draw my stuff on paper, scan them and color them. I do use markers and the occasional watercolors, whenever my clients want them fully colored but completely traditional.



Anyways, I would highly recommend younger artists to always carry a small sketchpad anywhere. Traditional pencil drawings in a sketchpad are always fun to flip around than having them in iPads. Besides, you could always scan them later to make them digital.



Hope you like this post. Do hit me at donc0023@yahoo.com for any inquiries. Until next post guys!

Some Pen and Ink Illustrations I recently finished

I started doing WarmaHordes Pen and Ink illustrations since last year. Will be working on a few more and have actually finished a handful the past month. I should finish a few within the week and will immediately post them here.



Posted here are Trollbloods illustrations and a few others. You can contact me at donc0023@yahoo.com for inquiries regarding my illustrations. Standard size would be 8x10 Ink paper and the ARTworks ship in plastic tubes.



Anyways, hope you like what I posted so far. Until next post guys! CIAO!

Work SMART, NOT Work Hard

The past few weeks has been one of the most challenging of my adult life. So many realizations and I also got to know the true value of the people around me. Saying that the past few weeks were life changing weeks is an understatement. A major understatement.



I cannot share details about my struggles the past few weeks, other than a few bullet points I could share to kids or younger people. Feel free to disagree, but below are life lessons I learned in the past few weeks...

• Always stay CALM. Calmness will help you through everything. A level headed mind will let you sort through the situation much better, than a mind in chaos.


• Hear your thoughts but also listen to your heart. Our mind will almost always tell us the correct things to do. But our heart will tell us the right things to do.


• Learn to DISCERN well. Everybody have there own motives, good or bad. It is natural for people to push what they want. May it be driven out of jealousy or passion. 


• Beware of SELF-RIGHTEOUS  people. These people are either too dumb to weigh options, or too hurt in life, to think and decide well.


• Beware of INSECURE people. These people are usually under-achieving people or people without REAL VALUE to other people. They are mostly concerned of what other people think of themselves, as they usually lack the confidence of others. 


• Always see the POSITIVE in every situation. Always amplify the GOOD and ignore the DUMB.


• Lastly, work SMART, NOT work hard. Pace yourself, give a little more than expected but never too much. NOT everyone will appreciate your hard work. In fact, a few might even find your passion, too much. A few might think that your drive makes them look DUMB and LAZY. 

So that's basically it! I hope a few will find this helpful. Now let's go back to our normal programming! See you again soon! Just enjoy anything that you do! CIAO! 

MORE BLOGGING Coming Soon!

So it has been almost a year since I last posted something here. It has been a very CRAZY year for me so far. Crazy up and down stuff. So much realization and so much appreciation for all the blessings. Don't want to get dragging with life lessons and such, for my first post, so just wanted to say I AM BACK!



Will be posting a ton of stuff from now on. I just got meself a nice 27 inch iMAC for all the stuff I have to do at home. I will be posting all my projects here in my blog for documentation. I will post some miniature painting stuffs, illustrations, drawings and other ART and CRAZY stuff! This little space will be so active again.



Will never post about my day job tho. Posts will be mostly focused on my hobby and various commissioned works. I might also get back to painting Gunpla, mainly to test some cool acrylics paints for Acrylicos Vallejo.



Anyways, hope to share a lot the next few from now on! See you more guys!