Ray's Sketchbook! Painting for the fun of it 7Oct08

[Ray Styles]

Hi all

been meaning to start one of these for a while now. Hopefully it'll be an incentive to actually do some stuff outside of work. At least, that's the plan.

Anyway, onto the work. This is a pic of a werewolf that started as the sketch. I then took it into PS and started on the tones, having been looking at some of Carlos Huarte's work. Then, finally, I slapped on some colour over the top.

I used to paint with colour straight off, but it's not my strongest point. So I decided to try some other techniques.

As for the subject, this is from one of those personal projects that I've had on the back burner for years but has never got off the ground. Not big into mythological stuff, but for some reason werewolves appeal to me. Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a hairy bugger myself. :confident

Hope you like.

More to come, hopefully

RS

www.raystyles.org

[Ray Styles]

This is a sketch for a mix CD cover I'm doing. the aim is do it in a style similar to the Stormtroopers piece on my website, ie Frank Millerish. There is also an image in the Art of Metal Gear Solis 2 which I quite fancy.

As for the sketch itself, I feel it's nearly where I want it. The only spot that's troubling me is the figure n the foreground's left hand. Not quite right yet.

Anyway, take a look.

RS

www.raystyles.org

[Camara]

The rendering of the first one is very good!Maybe a little "metallic".The edges are very sharp,seems cut and paste.Anyway,is a very good piece and a promising beginning!

[Morham]

Wow that Werewolf is awesome, loving the sideburns :P

As to the fencer sketch its got a great dynamic to it, and I see what you mean about the hand not quite being there...I don't know if its just me but the little finger on the sword hand of the Foreground figure looks odd to me too. Great sense of movement though and cool perspective :)

[ChaoticKnight]

Nice fencing pics!!! I gotta go to my schools fencing club and do some life drawigns there, thats a great dynamic sport. The wolverine-looking-dude is pretty awesome, although I like the sketch better than the finished product. Theres still a bit too many blurred brushes in the final.

[.:J/A\X:.]

Cool wolfman guy. He has big feet =D

The fencing sketch is nice too!

[Tmza]

Characters anatomy and colours are awesome. One thing bothers me though: You covered some nice little details with black in final redering, that show up in BW image. Crotch area and those ragged pants should catch some reflected light despite that they are in shadow area. And as mentioned above - feather those edges.

[Kfeeras]

the werewolf is great!!!! keep up!!!!

[Ray Styles]

Thanks for all your comments.

Camara - I see what you're saying about the edges. Definitely need to try some softer brushes for the mask.

Morham - Thanks for that. Pretty pleased with the perspective too. I think I got the hand beat on this next rendition.

ChaoticKnight - Wow, you got a fencing school you can visit? Get down there, man! Yeah, I think the sketch hit the nail on the head. The B&W one is close and the colour is a little more distant. Keep on keeping on!

JAX - Cheers, mate. Yeah, his hair is hiding his big granny ankles :)

Tmza - Thanks. You could be right there. There's a bit of a black hole around his crotch in the colour one.

Kfeeras - Cheers, bud.

I've spent a bit of time on the update of the fencing pic sorting out trouble spots like the hand and refining some of the folds and shadows on the torsos. then I've cross hatched in the shaded areas. Next up is throwing it into PS.

RS

www.raystyles.org

[Ray Styles]

Here's the first steps into rendering the fencers out. Hope you like!

RS

www.raystyles.org

[Ray Styles]

Here's a little sketch that fell out of my pencil while watching Bourne Supremacy.

RS

www.raystyles.org

[Arne S.]

hey, good drawings. you have some cool rendering-style/technique. i´d love to see comicpages in the style of your last post.

[The Whistler]

Oh my god, I love your fencing sketch.... And the wolfie isn't bad either :) Looked a bit too hairy to me when you shetched him but it came out great when you colored it...

Cheers!

[Autumnal Dream]

Man that's great! :D
All of your works are beautyful and I'm looking for the finished fencing-scene! :)
Greets - Jul

[openanewworld]

cool stuff I like that guy's arms

[Ray Styles]

Hi all

thanks for all your words. I'm doing my best to keep the drawings going. Had a bit of a trip back to the Uk a while back and that knocked me out for a couple weeks, but back on the wagon now. And on to the drawings....

These are a couple designs I'm playing with at the moment. They are part of something bigger that I'm trying to get off the ground. More later, hopefully. A new scanner as well :[

RS

www.raystyles.org

[HanRa]

i'm very impressed by that first one... i cant believe what you made out of that pretty unspectacular sketch! cool

[Ray Styles]

Thanks mate.

Here are a couple of characters I've been working on for a project of mine. With the colour versions I've been trying out different ideas, basically to see what technique offers the best bang for buck in respect to time vs quality. The last one is the result of looking at a Metal Gear Solid art book. I hope you like what you see.

[Ray Styles]

Here's the above illustration at the thumbnail stage. I used to draw the drawing straight off, but thumbnails are so useful for getting ideas down quickly, as well as checking the pose and sillouette with a bit of perspective. Sounds obvious, but it is always so tempting to go straight into the drawing without doing it.

At this stage, for example, i could see that his right shoulder was a bit low and as a result he looks to be slouching. I strengthened it in the next pic so he looks to have a much more upright posture which, to my mind, suits the fact that he is a police officer of the victorian era.

Next is the above illustration in traditional pen. This is the stage before I ink over it again, reinforcing lines. I kinda like this one at this stage. The creases in his sleeves kinda remind me of the way Eduardo Risso does them in 100 Bullets, even if i do say so myself. I'll post up the next iteration when it's done.

RS

www.raystyles.org

[Ray Styles]

Hi all

Just a couple quick sketches i knocked up over easter of a some age old designs.

RS

www.raystyles.org

[kidult]

Great stuff here like the pencils! The last update is nice too - the head in the 2nd one looks a bit small or it might be the helmet.

[Nibras]

aweasome stuff man really great i love all you sketches thier like amazing.
Really can't wait to see more

[RandAlThor]

Cool update dude. Im liking your experimenting with different styles, they are all reading very well, yet still show your own style as well. Keep it up dude and dont wait so long between posts, lol ;-)

[Ashab]

some lovely work and clean lines mister

[Ray Styles]

Hi all

Kidult - Cheers, friend. Yeah, the head might be a bit small. The shoulders are a bit too small on the other as well. Such is the nature of the quick sketch i suppose. Just wanted to knock something out, without getting too hung up on things (as usually happens :( ).

lilnebo - Thanks. Hope you like the new additions.

RandAlThor - Much obliged. As you say, I'm trying out various styles in an attempt to see which one would be most suitable were I to actually produce a comic. Bang for buck is what I'm after, the best balance between quality and practicality/speed.

Ashab - Thanks a lot, mate. the clean lines look is my default position to illustration. I find it quite difficult to loosen up. Or, to be precise, allow myself to leave something in a more unfinished state and not clean it up.

Here's a page of late night sketching. Once more it's the Werewolves, but a bit more stylised this time. Quite fond of the big forearms and hands. Not exactly wolf like, but still....

[Ray Styles]

Got inspired by a Bobby Chiu vid. What a champ! So just painted for the fun of it. Crits welcome.