Digital painting: some material that's outrageously neglected (I really mean that), speedpaint and impressionism, pastiche and/or just fresh and funny.
Yes, before I have to bury myself into a fortnight of RL work, your randomly appearing magazine No Elves Allowed continues its War on Twee-ness and Cliché inside the Digital Painting gallery. Although, come to think of it, the War on Anything is becoming a cliché by itself. In this issue, you will find
- no people with pointy ears (well, maybe in the spaceships);
- no cutesy manga fillies, dogsies and catsies;
- no pining waifs wandering through the woods.
I've used the term "Digital Painting" liberally in some cases, but you won't mind when you see them. And, because I think just it's too easy simply to drag-and-drop some thumbs from my favourites, I've added some comment.

Outrageously Neglected
*PxlArt
No, it's not a photo. More than 200 hours of painting gives you this great painting with a wonderful mood and razor-sharp detail and... nine faves. Yes, 9. And when I discovered it, it had four or so. That's what happens when you invest your time in your art instead of hanging out in chatrooms and forums. But I hope PxlArt will go on painting, just painting, and please do visit his gallery, for there is more. This one is crying out for a DD, if you ask me.


*jconway
JConway does flying dinosaurs, and what I like about his work is that it's rather un-emphatical; it lacks the 'Hey-look-this-is-me-drawing-a-brontosaurus factor so many palaeontology pics have for me. It would still have been enjoyable if he had drawn plain birds. He's even more in love with his subject than with his own art, and it turns out quite all right.



~DegerardoART
These two are exceptions, in that they're not fully hand-painted, but also involve some 3D-rendering and photomanipulation; they're in the Digital/Miscellaneous gallery. I'm including them anyway for their Old Master grandeur and for the sheer joy of watching them. And somebody please explain to me why these two get 6 and 9 faves, and some totally neglectable Japanese bondage line-art doodle can get 4000. Yes, I'm angry. (Thankfully, the exposure issue is having the attention of DA too, read this: [link] )



Speedpaint and impressionism
~djahal
Yes, this has been featured in another news item, but it has just 29 faves, so I think we should just keep on featuring it until the coin drops with a lot more people. This painting makes you want to paint, it has a nice balance between detail and gusto, and for the rest it speaks for itself.


~artbytheo
Smile: the medium is the message. Well, it made me smile... Sometimes creativity, mood and sheer fun are more important than attention to detail, I think. This is not short of attention with 780 favers, but I had to include it anyway.


~annisahmad
Speedpaint, and a very speedy one at that. Still, I like the Edward Hopper-like light and mood.

And, if you thought the guy's just lazy, try this:


~erenarik
I don't want to feature too many spaceships, but have a quick look at the light and colour in this one. While people should be encouraged to give as much attention to their work as possible, I think DA should have more respect for the speedpaint.


~chrzan666
I'm not sure if something went terribly wrong here (and shame about the watermark), but people should have the guts to do something like this.


~elgian
This does a lot with very little. Included to encourage those of us without the money for Megawumpus Photoshop CS4, and without the patience to spend weeks on one work. It was done in oekaki - oekaki is online painting software, and these programs are free. (More info here: [link])


Pastiche and mock-up
*Idzit
I like pastiche, and this has a sense of humour too. I think this captures the style of 60s commercial painting very well.


~datura-flowers
Another pastiche maybe, it has a Marlboro feel for me. Read the text.


*punchyninja
You'd swear this was a vintage pocket book cover.


Just in
*leventep
I feel sorry for the little guy, as a former guinea pig owner I really do. But this is a funny painting. Not just because of the idea, but also because of the way of painting. Rather like a cartoon should be funny not just because of the text or the idea, but also through draughtsmanship.


~persephoneart
Normally this is the very thing I'd not include in this magazine, and the question if this was a paint-over job wasn't answered by the artist yet, but I'm giving this the benefit of the doubt. It stands out in the artist's gallery, and if people want to paint this good, you should encourage them.


Different artists:




Enjoy.