life an' stuff an' that 15.05.12

[strybjorn]

GO STRAIGHT TO PAGE 11 - DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT £200

Ello all,

First post here, tho i've been loitering for a stupidly long time without posting, or even registering...

in that time i've been spending some time adding odds and sods to my portfolio and here are the results...

Hopefully gonna be updating this on a regular basis as i need to get more cool stuff to show prospective employers.

Always looking for advice and crits - getting a new perspective on stuff is something i'm missing and could really do with to improve my work - so any cool ideas or massive anatomical errors that i cant see, let me know.

cheers

[Kicek]

hi and welcome to the sb section:) ur stuffs looking top so far, esp those pencils, very nice fluid lines. now u just have to keep posting and great things will happen. im watching. c

[Camara]

Good start!!Your rendering is very good!!There is a lack of personality in your characters.

Good work!!Keep posting!

[strybjorn]

after wrestling with photobucket for the best part of an hour, finally managed to upload some stuff that ive sketched over the past couple of days...

some random bio-hazard types, a boring demon stereotype thing, and some strange bionic-beard guy

same deal as before - crits are greatly welcomed

[Enydimon]

You got some nice renderings in both digital and pencil. The only thing is that they look a tiny bit stiff in their pose. Some gesture drawings should loosen that up.

Its not too bad but sometimes you lose the momentum in these pieces. For example, the guy running and shooting, I know that he's moving but his face and his pose aren't quite as dynamic as they could be. You could make it look like hes yelling or huffing for the face and for the pose you could have him more in a mid run kind of thing. The leg toward us, the foot could be shown almost coming down onto the surface. Things like that.

Sorry for the mouth full. I'm not saying you have to do it like that, but I'm just suggesting ways to make it look more dynamic.

[softocean]

Very strong drapery going on here - very nice! It feels like the folds have an outstanding sense of volume.

My sketchbook is here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=71080&page=3)

[strybjorn]

cheers for the responses fellas

Kicek cheers mate - seeing your how your sketch book has developed over all thos pages gives me a warm, fuzzy - makes me hopeful for the progress of my own sketchbook (should i ever make it to 10 pages)

Camara ta for the crit - you're exactly right about the lack of personality - ive spent so long working on my technique i forgot all about all the cool ideas! its something i will definately be working on...

Enydimon cheers - you have a very good point...i think ive got too many pre-conceptions about what concept art is so i just default to making a standing 3/4 character...i think i need to be work a bit harder on interesting, characterful poses...

softocean cheers man - theres still a lot of guesswork going into the cloth textures...doing some more from life should help...

well here's some more stuff from last week - the benefits of having a weekend + bank holiday and a life drawing class...

update of an older piece of work (as seen on post 1) some 40k related stuff, lifedrawing (not gestural tho - will do some more gestural this week) and a quick sketch thats a bit looser than normal.

crits are consumed and devoured to make me better >:D

[BurntUmber]

sweet stuff man. The 40k stuff rocks

[The Curehead]

your sb deserves more attention.
some really sweet pics here,
really love the 40k stuff though the black templar's(servitor?)boots dont fit in with him,they seem alittle too necromunda.
i really like the faces though.
post more please.

[strybjorn]

BurntUmber cheers man

The Curehead cheers mate - much appreciated! yeah, i was intended him to be just an Inquisitorial henchman so i could play a bit hard and fast with his look - tho to be honest i agree with you that the boots dont really look 40kish enough - i guess this proves that i need to be a little more focussed on the whole design...

and for today, heres some more life drawing - tried to be a little looser (cheers Enydimon) and it felt gud - hopefully ill be able to translate it over into all my other drawings

any suggestions? i lvoes the crits :tihi:

[Monika Gruszka]

i'm really impressed! great pencil sketches:) i'd love to see much more from you:)

[BurntUmber]

Man you totally inspired me to draw an inquisitor. Check out my sketch book.

[strybjorn]

just a quick one today as im just about to head of on a much need holiday - hopefully ill have loads of lovely holiday sketches to show you all

crit away! see you all next week!

[GriNGo]

Nice sketchbook bro! That space marine is kicking ass, as well as the imperial guard bastion environment. Keep it up!

[strybjorn]

right, back off my holiday now. rather predictably i didnt get too much sketching done for one reason or another (partly due to sight seeing and partly due to being ill the entire time :dead: )

however i do at least have something to show for my time off other than a much less stressed demeanor and tissues full of mucus

monna-giovanna, GriNGoLoCo cheers for the voices of encouragement :)

crits are gratefully recieved as always

[LauraD]

I enjoy how you've combined ancient symbolism with sci-fi characters. I love that stuff.

[ztazen]

Yeah it really suck to be ill on a holiday :S, hope your all’ right now.
Your art show some nice lines, nice anatomy, nice designs! You have got the basis down now try to go out from the usual stereotypical stuff. You have the skills, have fun with'em.
And your pencils could use some more contrast.

[strybjorn]

LauraD cheers - i really dig sci-fi w/ fantasy stylings too

ztazen thanks for your crits man - i agree with what your saying 100%, i really need to start getting more creative and remember exactly why it was that started to draw in the first place...ive started thinking about some interesting ideas, and just need to commit them to paper now!

oh yeah and i completely intend to get in and comment on your sketchbooks - ive been a bit crap with that stuff recently - hopefully tomorrow morning :)

all the new stuff ive got at the moment is some more life drawing - should have some cool, interesting stuff for show later on in the week so stay tuned!

same deal as before with crits - crits are gud :)

[The Curehead]

hey man great updates,figures are fantastic.
your art is really inspiring
you dont draw eldar by any chance?(man they are fun to draw)
check out my sb if you get a chance,id love some crits

[AnthonyFoti]

really great stuff. They all look fantastic as they are, but could also be developed into really polished pieces if you continue with them(especially the 40k stuff).

[strybjorn]

well, ive been pretty shit on replying to other peoples sketchbooks so apologies straight away with that - im definately going do some criting and replying by the end of the week - and if i dont you have my permission to hit me :)

also, i still havent done much that is really that interesting - again something ill definately be working on... :S

The Curehead cheers mate - glad im inspiring someone even tho im feeling totally uninspired myself :) tbh, i havent really drawn any eldar....dunno why - i guess they just dont get me as excited as the more gothic stuff from 40k - ill defo be heading to your sketchbook man, im slow but i get there in the end :)

AnthonyFoti thanks man - your right they could definately be taken further...i just seem to get to a point and find it difficult to devote any more time to them...i should really try and spend a lot more time on at least 1 piece and see how good i can get it looking....man, so much to do but so little time :)

right, new stuff: more life drawing stuff - the model didnt turn up so we just did head work. i was sat right underneath the models so it gave me a chance to really try some x-treme foreshortening - tuff, but good :)

erm, also some stuff that one of the 3d artists at work needed to make some models from - just some football related guys - a photographer, manager and steward...have to wait and see if he actually makes the models now...

lastly, some random quick scribbles i did in some spare moments at work - i was having a play with making custom brushes and thought id experiment... i found them quite liberating to do, so i may try doing more stuff like this maybe

you know the deal - crits are welcomed with open arms

[strybjorn]

juat a quick one tonite - thought id try and hammer out some properly constructed heads - ive become a bit too lazy with just quickly sketching out heads without understanding them 3dimensionally and could do with understanding the underlying structure a bit better...

crits are welcome

more to come after the w/end hopefully

[FoxinShocks]

Wow, excellent work you've got here! I really love your life drawings, the line weight is just perfect and you've included all the interesting details of the figure. Great stuff. From what I can see your rendering is your weakest point. Not that its bad, just not that strong sometimes... most of your no-ref pictures have this slightly bland front on lighting that shows every little detail but doesn't really enhance the mood at all.

Keep up the good work :D Show me more pretty naked people plz.

[strybjorn]

apologies for not updating my sketchbook in a couple of weeks - ive been trying to find a new house to rent which has been....problematic, as well as having a really lovely bout of food poisoning and was vomiting up all sorts of nice things :dead:

so, yeah, better now and looking forward to drawing more again - the enforced hiatus has really focussed my mind a bit more as i was getting really stale with doing the same old crap - i really recommend it when you feel you arent getting anywhere no matter how much work you put in!

having said that, the heads arent that interesting as they were done before the puke came - this weeks chows the first thing ive done since then tho - gotta colour it tonite/tomorrow - nuttin like a good deadline....:xpld:

[strybjorn]

well, i didnt make the deadline for the chow - which is bad... tho it is nearly done, which is better i guess - ill post it up here in the next day or so (once ive applied the finishing touches)

in the meantime, heres some stuff i did at work, when i should have been doing something more constructive...

ones just a doodle of some smoking pipes....im not sure why, but i must have thought it was a good idea at the time.

the other is some footballers through the ages - fun to do tho ultimately i dont think they will ever be used for anything...which is why ive waited a while before posting them up.

[Dan Valkar]

the runnin' space marine looks good man...and the football players r great...very nice one...keep it up!

[strybjorn]

FoxinShocks cheers man - yeah, my forms and lighting are quite weak and its something im focussing on a bit more in my life drawing sessions - hopefully ill be able to show some of them in the near future...

Dan Valkar thanks mate :)

well, ive finally finished the chow i set about doing - about a week too late and completely bottling out of the female aspect of it - so pretty much a failure on all counts :)

however its the most 'finished' thing ive done and im glad i didnt just throw it into the chow poll half finished as i was seriously considering

still a lot of things i would change, but i reckon its better to fix those on my next piece rather than overly dwell on this one - any feedback or crits on what to fix for next time are greatly welcomed, ill bet some of you will spot stuff i aint even considered

[strybjorn]

just a quick post before i go to bed...

heres some random sketches from my head and mind that i did whilst i was watching telly.

more stuff later...

[strybjorn]

well, its been a while since i last posted any stuff (a month! lame) but ive now moved into a house with a studio space, so hopefully ill be producing a bit more soon (but then, i always say that... slack)

but yeah, heres a couple of things ive kinda been fiddling with in the interim...no explainations, just stuff.

crits are welcomed...

[ajvenema]

yo dude, ur doing good in here, i think a lot of good stuff is gonna land here in the future!
one thing u could work on i think is shading. try to make that a bit more clear, and maybe use the side ofur pencil/graphitestick a bit more, has some nice effects!

[strybjorn]

ajvenema cheers dude, yeah i think i should really work on my lighting of my figures a bit more - its something important, but something i tend forget when im in the middle of drawing...should really think while i draw...

for now, heres some more stuff... hopefully, if im working this attachment manager properly they should all be in order of drawing time....probably about 5secs for the poses, 10secs for the 2 figures, 10mins for the grunt and about an hour for the officer...

crits, as always, are welcome

[The Curehead]

thought i d drop by again,nice updates man.
the running sp for the chow was great too,and the officer is really great.
looking forward to more stuff.:)

[strybjorn]

The Curehead cheers mate, appreciated :)

heres some more random shit...

...more soon

[strybjorn]

mo' stuff:

some anatomy structure stuff, a doodled frenchman and a speedpainted ship scene thing (about 45mins inc. custom brush creation)

crits are greatly appreciated :)

[guggemmaneuver]

good work here... seems like you have good confidence in yr image making ... it shows, keep pressing forward.

one crit i'd have... and this piece (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=219249&stc=1&d=1192540097)kind of demonstrates my point ... Not sure exactly what's up with the faces and heads i'm seeing in your sketchbook...seems like they're all more or less the same head that you know how to draw with very, very little variation (exception being the life drawings... do more of those). its the same face with big features.


do some studies of human skulls... try to get to the point where you can basically draw one without looking at anything for reference. know it the way you know how to draw this one head. Then you can build all different kinds of heads from the basic shape. and besides, skulls are cool. you could get a model or maybe a friend or school near you has a model. this is a very helpful pursuit.
sketch people on the DL, at work, when travelling, when hanging out with friends, whatever, you know... just do it. try to get the likeness... fight for that because the likeness is key. it's gonna end up being the focal point in your images, so the extra fuss over this one part of the figures is gonna be key.


hope this helps. thanks for droppin by the oldé sb
guggem

[smuli]

Nice calm feel of the newest painting and great looking ink soldiers! It might be just how I've gotten used to the eight heads long "ideal" proportions but looking through your sketchbook, you seem to often draw the legs, especially shanks, pretty short. On this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=252802&stc=1&d=1196758663) and this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=222567&stc=1&d=1192988388) it's especially clear (ok, might be in the armour design in that latter one but the short shanks make him look clumsy in my opinion).

Love your line quality on the life drawings. Keep up the good work!

[Flaskpost]

Stuff´s looking great, man! Loving the ink ones!
Keep up the studies!

[strybjorn]

awesome crits fellas!

guggemmaneuver your exactly right! damn, i always had the feeling that something wasnt quite right with my faces but i could never really work out what it was... but it so obvious! ive done some referenced sketches (see below) and i think they prove what you're saying... thanks very much - for you, i pays the beers!

smuli again, excellent crit - this is something i really really hadnt noticed, but now its all i can see! well, life drawing starts again for me next week and that should help me fix myself - thanks again mate!

Flaskpost cheers mate - let the studies slide a little recently in favour of (not very) imaginative stuff - balance is key i think...

more crits are greatfully recieved coz they make me better :)

below = xmas sketches that arent very xmassy

[strybjorn]

some more stuff - lots of (mostly)referenced head studies and some top down ship concepts that i did when i should have been working...

ok here's a quick question for anyone who knows - how can you change the name of your sketchbook....i couldnt see it as an option when i tried to edit my first post to change it - am i missing something or am i just being a twat? cheers in advance - and onto the pics!

as always, crits are greatfully recieved...

[TheGnoll]

whoa man, this is an excellent start for a sketchbook, very good exercise and studies...
can't wait to see how this sketchbook evolves.

To change the name of your sketchbook (the thread title) youhave to "edit" in "advanced mode" the first post of the thread, you should be able to change the title

keep sharing!

ciao

[Matsign]

Hey, very kick ass work going on. The finished pieces look great and very polished. I like the Warhammer 40k stuff. It seems you're doing some design for a mod or something :D The full figure stuff is excellent, good eye you have for poses and natural stance. Ugh, that stuff in ink is hardcore!

Don't stop posting, I'm giving you stars!

[wink_ma]

nice job !

[MattLloyd]

Nice sketchbook, some of your earlier pieces, although technically strong, were feeling a little stiff to me, but its good to see you seem to be shaking that off with your newer work, more gestural studies Im sure will help.

[ajvenema]

wow, u made a lot of progress! keep going like this!

[strybjorn]

TheGnoll cheers mate, and nice one for the assistance on how to change the name – you may have noticed that I haven’t done so yet…im going to try and do it at the same time as I change the little pic that appears next to my sketchbook in the forum…but first I need to come up with a good idea for that…

Matsign thanks a lot mate, I really need to get my act together and start making some more finished pieces – whenever I think about doing it I get The Fear and end up just sketching…I need to get out of my safety zone! The 40k stuff is a bit of a throwback to my previous job and is something im trying to avoid doing any more– i should be coming up with cool ideas, not just re-sketching someone elses designs…

wink_ma thanks wink_ma, I appreciate it

MattLloyd yeah, I completely agree – sometimes I get too focused on getting the structure correct and have to constantly remind myself to relax and just draw…gonna try some more gestures when life drawing starts up again post-crimbo

right, heres some ref-ed sketches that i banged together last nite - im not so hot on my female form so i had to do some research :D
had some family shite to do at the weekend which meant that i couldnt do more work - hopefully ill be remedying that this week...

more soon, crits are welcome

[Muzz 2k7]

Nice work, I like your style :)

13 Yr Old's Sketchbook -->http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112277<--

[The Curehead]

I lik the new studies man,roller blades add class:)

[iceman478]

Love The Pencil Work Really Love It!!!

[strybjorn]

right, back after a few hectic weeks - basically i haven't had time to do much really drawing or art coz i've been having to fill up a portfolio with non-cool stuff :( wish i hadn't bothered now coz it went nowhere, so now i'm re-filling it with cool stuff (which means i gotta start making some cool stuff). but for the moment, here are some studies...

ajvenema, Muzz 2k7, The Curehead, iceman478 cheers fellas, appreciated - i haven't got a lot of time now, but ill be hitting your sketchbooks within the next couple of days hopefully

[strybjorn]

some more shit... i want to get the other 2 ideas turning into final concepts but, y'know, depends if i get distracted with life/better ideas/sketching bollocks :er:

crits, as ever, are loved like a new born puppy :blahblah:

[strybjorn]

heres a tank that i developed from an old load of quick sketches i did (they're prolly on page 1 somewhere if you wanna see them) - bout time i took it somewhere

dunno if im gonna do any more stuff to it tomorrow or leave it as it is - depends if i look at it when i wake up and think it needs something....or if i decide to make it so it looks like it isnt factory fresh... dunno

more stuff tomorrow hopefully (either another iteration of this or something new maybe...)

[Angroc]

Great stuff here.

[Ovad]

Your'e great when it gets to linesketching. keep drawing we love you when you do that :)

[strybjorn]

well, suffice it to say that i had a look at that tank this morning, had a bit of a play around with it and decided that i didnt really want to look at it anymore - i might hit it up later on in the week or something....maybe

instead ive been putting together some stuff for potential character modelling in 3dsmax (thought it was about time i actually did something properly 3d rather than just messing around with it) - its just the roller girl concept i did a couple of weeks ago...we'll see if i actually do make it in 3d or if i'll fail spectacularly with my limited max knowledge...

...ill keep you informed either way :)

crits and stuff is good if you got em


oh and Angroc and Ovad - cheers for you words of support - appreciated!

[strybjorn]

another roller girl - tried to be a bit looser with this one, just polishing a few areas up for focus. failed a bit coz i went too far, but i feel like im getting looser with each new image so ill have to get on and do some more (quicker too)

oh and the 3d model of the previous roller girl is going ok...doing it in my lunch hours at work at the moment so it may be a while before i have anything decent to show for it.

that is all

crits are welcomed

[Warhole]

i like your body studies!
make more of them-it will make a solid foundation for your artwork

[strybjorn]

Warhole cheers man - tho im not too sure which body studies you're referring to, doing more studies is definitely a good thing and i should be doing more of them - hopefully more will be coming soon :)

for now here's my last roller girl... its a bit meh but at least im finishing stuff - and the more i finish the better im gonna get - word!

[strybjorn]

massive dumpage!

some gesture work from life drawing - 30secs each.
some chiaroscuro studies - been looking forward to doing some of these and finally managed it...black and white chalk, 10/15mins each. scales and proportions are a bit off partly due to my photography, and partly due to my drawing :perv:
a measured life drawing from photo, that for some reason photobucket has deemed offensive, so ive uploaded it to the conceptart server instead.
lastly some imagination stuff - just really trying to get a bit faster on these now - less than an hour for all the thumbnails, bout an hour for random gun guy and the other random thumbnails were all done during snatched moments at work...

more soon, hopefully - crits are totally welcome!

[strybjorn]

here's another speed piece...about 30/40mins...more soon...

[strybjorn]

more speed, but ended up spending too much time on it...so not really speed :( prolly about an hour and a half...

[The Curehead]

nice update,I would make the gun a bit more ergonomically designed,even with that strap that would wear a soldier down if he had to traverse more than several feet.It reminds me of one of those leaf blower/sucker guns,you get for a garden.I remember my back being destroyed using one of those once,so I imagine worse for your guns man there.:)

[strybjorn]

The Curehead cheers mate - i was going for a BFG type gun, but im thinking its either too small to be properly oversized, but too big to be realistic...cheers for your crit - much appreciated

another quicky - bout an hour

crits welcome

[The Curehead]

oh right,I used to love the bfg cuz it reminded me of the book.
your speed paints are looking good,they seem to be loosening up in the poses too.I've started doing so speed stuff now,though for me its probably longer than i normally spend in photoshop:O , seems to be really useful though.

[lennon]

Shoot! It all looks f*cking brilliant! You definetly know your stuff (and your pencils particularly), may I say that your lights studies are awesome?
Although if I had to say something constructive (and I have, if not this message would be pointless for you, because I'm sure that you know that you are good), I would say that the only thing that I don't fancy that much is your shadowing technique in photoshop. The bad thing is that I'm not sure why. It's simple and that's good, but there's something that doesn't look as pro as the rest. Perhaps the values are too dark? for example the skin (usaully very light) get's pretty close to 100% black. I don't know if it's that. Perhaps it is the borders, that also get to a 100% black as you draw from a 100% siluete. Anyway, it's not to much of a thing, but I just see that there's something in there that may be improved (I'm just sorry for not being able to say what).
Ok, that's all. Thanks for visiting my sb.

[ajvenema]

ur doing nice!
i really wonder HOW u get those gestures done in 30 secs:)
they look like something i MAYBE could do in like 2 minutes... amazing!

the digis are getting better and better as well!

[strybjorn]

The Curehead cheers dude - ya, speedies are good, wish id been doing more of them rather than stressing the little things ;)

lennon thanks a lot for your crit and compliments - i really appreciate it. you're exactly right, starting off with a black base all the time has caused my work to be very formless in the shadows. im in the process of doing some more digi work starting off with a more neutral base and then adding black and white to pull out the forms....works much better i think... ill post it when im done (soon i hope)

ajvenema thanks man - the gestures are that quick coz im forced to do them by the life drawing instructor :) its taken me about a year to learn how to do proper quick gesture drawings but its one of the most important things to learn i think. i think its more about getting your head right - letting go and just doing it (no matter if it looks crap) and the speed is just a by product... maybe :)

anyway, more stuff - life drawing, very quick doodle of a head and a random fantasy-esque concept...

[strybjorn]

new - future ghurka solidier...colour an' stuff

[The Curehead]

loving the last 2 updates man,the future soldier looks like one of your best so far.keep it up

[Lord Dubu]

That ULtramarine render is nice.

[strybjorn]

back again after a bit of a break...

The Curehead, Lord Dubu cheers for the input fellas :)

right, been trying to post these things up for the past few days but for some reason conceptart.org isnt liking photobucket at the moment - anyone else had any issues with this? keeps saying my photobucket links are invalid :(

anyways, heres some life drawing and my entry for the last chow (#114, the beast)

crits, etc are good for you and me both :D

[MarkWinters]

Killer life drawing. REALLY love that. I think the Chow is drawn and rendered extremely well. My prob with it is that it crosses into creature of the week instead of character of the week. That's just my opinion tho! Great work here!

[strybjorn]

MarkWinters Hi Mark, thanks for the crit! yeah, with the chow i got about half way thru and wondered whether it was anthropomorphic enough for the chow - thought i could get away with it a bit, but looks like i was wrong! ill make sure i focus a bit more next time on fitting the brief properly..

...or maybe i should enter the cow next time :p

right, went life drawing on wednesday night, heres the results:

crits welcome

[Asire]

Loving your SB! The 40 K inspired stuff is nice, and even over 3 pages (your stuff was already great to begin with by the way) the improvement is clear! The future ghurka and all of your life drawing really stands out.

Are you still at school? or do you go to a public life drawing session?

Can't wait to see more!

[mentler]

!5 BONES!

[The Curehead]

loving the mantis great colours.

[Delmar]

These studies and the last colored piece are really great!

Some other rendered stuff appears a little dull to me....e.g the last soldier lacks in contrast and highlights. And his skin shading could use a little more color (e.g reflected red from the cap)...when you just take a darker skin tone color or a darker grey for shadows the face appears a little flat.

Keep em comin!

Cheers

Andi

[Pierce.]

Great job on the CHOW! Nice sketchbook too. I think you could've garnered some more votes if you'd tied the beast to the story a little more. But the illustration is great.

[MarkWinters]

The life drawings are spot on. The fluidity of the lines really leads your eye around. Every thought of working in a different medium? Charcoal maybe?

[Dannelf]

Love your stuff! :D keep it up!

[Asire]

Where's the new stuff? !?! We Want More (chant to fade) :mod:

[strybjorn]

Asire cheers for the compliments man. Yeah, I go to life drawing once a week – its sometimes difficult to see any benefit from doing it, but once you’ve been doing it regularly for a while you cant imagine ever going back. Sorry bout the shit link I stuck in your SB – ill fix it in a sec 

Mentler wow, its really cool to have you drop in mate! Been checking out your work for a few years now and am constantly in awe of your structure work and style. Feel privileged to have bones thrown in my direction by you – much appreciated!

The Curehead cheers mate – you should get involved with the chows man, they’re really good at pushing you forward!

Delmar hello, cheers for the crit! You are spot on with the soldier rendering – it was a bit of an experiment with colourising a greyscale sketch which was…..ok. But im getting the hang of it a bit more now – trying to be less conservative and a bit more bold

Crazy Pills cheers man, yeah looking back on the beast chow it isn’t that clear that he was once a man (and will be again if he can just find a princess to kiss his proboscis) it was interesting to do tho, and good to have a brief to work to (even tho I clearly didn’t follow it closely enough ;) ) cheers for the crit

MarkWinters yeah I used to work in charcoal quite a bit but had real trouble putting the marks where I wanted them, so moved onto a graphite stick – maybe I should used compressed charcoal or black chalk and sand the tips to a point… you had much experience with using charcoal like this?

Dannelf cheers mate, appreciated


as for now, heres my new chow entry - sorry for the lack of other new stuff, had a severe case of real life getting in the way recently :er:

[Hive_minD]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=336455&stc=1&d=1206965052
badass!
Great pencil lines too! Keep going!

Chris

[strybjorn]

Hive_minD cheers mate - ill try :)

and here are some life studies from last nights session...

some anatomy issues there i think, but crit away :D

[The Gurch]

great sketches you make it look easy

[strybjorn]

The Gurch cheers mate - i appreciate the compliment...

some studies - and landscape to practice for some environments i hope to do in the future and a life study using a charcoal pencil (thanks to MarkWinters for suggesting it) - definately going to be using it more in the future!

i also had some rough bridgeman studies i was going to scan in, but it was late and i forgot - hopefully with the next batch (which hopefully wont be another 2 weeks away :s)

crits and stuff are gud...

[strybjorn]

new environment - some sort of shanty town thing...

crits are welcome

[thesadpencil]

very nice sb you got here, i really like your lineart and your character desings are pretty sweet. i really like the last enviro. keep it up.

[strybjorn]

thesadpencil cheers for the response mate, appreciated - i will keep it up!

spent the weekend going through some proper concept progression (doing extensive thumbnailing and stuff). Heres the results, the final set of thumbnails and a more complete illustrated version.

crits and stuff are are very welcome

[strybjorn]

cool, so heres lots of studies from the past month or so that i havent got round to scanning in - some are more recent than others, but none of them are too old...

we've got some lifedrawing gestures (about a minute each i think - after lots and lots of warming up) a load of Bridgeman studies, some bust studies from my local museum (never were lunchtimes better spent), a charcoal lifedrawing and a old uniform study from a b&w photo i googled

a dump this big feels good - biggest in quite a while from me!

any crits and stuff is all good...

[Buckster]

hey man, things are really starting to come together nicely! The anatomy studies are a good initiative. I love the fluent lines in the sketches you've got here, awesome work.

You can really create some neat technical armours and stuff when you set your mind to it.

Try to work some more on focus in you greyscale art.

Keep kicking it!

Cheers

[strybjorn]

Buckster hey dude - thanks for the crit, i appreciate it. Im not sure exactly what you mean by 'more focus' in greyscale tho... do you mean have some parts of the sketch more highly rendered/sharper than other parts to draw the eye? if so you definately have a point, but maybe you didnt mean that...dunno :\

coz i cant seem to get my finger out and do some real work, here are lots more life drawings and studies and stuff...they are fun to do :)

crits and stuff are liked by me...

[Buckster]

that was my point exactly ^^very nice life drawings yet again. Only thing you should think about is not making the shadows too hard or distinct where the form is just turning. I know that these are probably speedies but still.

Keep rocking man

Cheers

[strybjorn]

Buckster cheers for your input man - really helpful! i had been a little concerned that my work was looking too flat and...i dunno, designy or summin... but i think taking greater care of my line weight to denote form and space will really help - its something ive thought about alot recently but youve put it into words and forced me to actually implement it - for you, i buys the beers!

but yeah, anyways, another little life drawing thing - bout an hour

i like crits, i think theyre good!

[Giorge]

Dig the life drawing , but some of them , their like to dramatized , do much falling meat. But they still look great , see ya

[strybjorn]

herro - ive been a slack fuck this past month and have done little to no real drawing... no excuses - its just not acceptable...

so to get back into it heres a couple of life drawsins from last nite and a quick doodley sketch from when i should have been working yesterday

ill be making much more art and posting more regularly...
with less fear!

oh and flamable cheers for the crit man - i appreciate it

[Buckster]

I really enjoy the life drawings man, awesome and fluent lines. Try to translate that fluent confidence into your digital art, it seems like you are trying to control the process much more, getting a little stiff.

Keep it up man, good job
Cheers

[strybjorn]

wow! 2 posts in as many days - and with art in too! fuck that almost sounds prolific!

here are some quicky things - pretty random collection that i got inspired to do after Buckster's awesome crit - its funny that even tho you know yourself what the problem is, sometimes you need someone else to say it before you can come up with a solution - im really glad you keep critting me man - its really helping

of course that means im also going to get off my lazy arse and get critting other people - now!

[Jakers]

some accurate life drawing, it looks nice and I hope you keep it up if you're back into the swing of thigns.

It would be neat to see some rendered that retain a strong focus on linework just to investigate another style...gets you thinking about line weight and focal points as well to highlight the shapes you like. You could also try some pastel (fun to smudge around and play with hard/soft edges)...however your drawings do look great.

A stronger sense of light source in your characters would give them more impact, some cast shadows can go a long long way. The head of the soldier at left looks large and I would bring is back foot forward a tad for balance? Does it feel a bit short, knee or foot placement? see you around!

[strybjorn]

Jakers cheers mate, appreciate the crit...thinking about shadows is definately where ill be heading next i think - i think ive got into bad practices coz the lighting at life drawing is bland with no shadows - its something ill have to focus on i think. also you're spot on about the soldier guy :)

heres some more random studies and bits and pieces and the chow thing from this week...

[strybjorn]

mo stuff, studies and life bits

[strybjorn]

new stuff from lifedrawingwednesdays!

interesting technique of doing a kind of under-drawing with white chalk, then working to an extra level of detail with black chalk...was a very useful good exercise, id recommend it to everyone...

oh and there's a detailed tonal study of an arm in there too :)

[Buckster]

Wow man, awesome progress. I am very impressed and glad that I was able to give you a nudge.

I will not give you any crit this time man, you deserve some candy! o_O

Keep up the splendid work.

Cheers

[strybjorn]

Buckster cheers mate, i appreciate the kind words - just gotta keep making more stuff now!

heres my latest chow - bit of a departure for me, different style - was interesting to do and gives me a different perspective on how to approach creating stuff in the future i think...

crits are warmly appreciated

[smuli]

Nice colours of that CHOW. The pose looks unbalanced though, he'd fall backwards with both knees that bent and there seems to be different perspective on the guy's shoulders and the wall structure behind him. From the figure it looks like the horizon line should be just above him. I really like those horse sketches, they make me want to draw some. Great looking life drawings too, especially with the chalk!

[strybjorn]

geezus, been such a long time since i updated this mofo!

feel such a slacker for letting it go, but luckily in the time off ive managed to get off on a holiday to the sun where i could concentrate on some bridgman studies some life studies from september and some characters for a friends rpg...

ive got loads of stuff hanging around waiting to be scanned or in various states of completion so there will be more updates over the next week or so(including the last chow!)! weeeeeee!

[strybjorn]

heres some more stuff, as promised.

again, more bridgman, more life drawing, and a chow! (its worth saying that the life drawing was done in a new studio, which had a mezzanine so i sat up there to do them - if anyone has the opportunity to do some studies from a really high position then i really recommend it - it really helps you anaylize the form that you're drawing)

crits are always welcome

[Cold]

Solid Concept! Definitely employable :D your head is in a right place, all you need is to be indulged :> and that's really the only hard part>< hehe I also will happy to see more of your work!!

[strybjorn]

Cold cheers man, i really appreciate the kind words! :)

heres some more anatomy stuff i guess, and some other bits and pieces that im doing for random little freelancey type projects and doodles, as well as the WIP sheet for the chow that i forgot to include yesterday...

[strybjorn]

right...some more life drawing and some landscape colour studies stuff that i did just now in my lunch break - im thinking this is gonna be a new start for me, my lunch hours will now involve caning the art and to do stuff i dont normally do and just working my arse off and not be a lazy bastard anymore...

see if i fail, epically...

[Slechtvalk]

Those Bridgman studies really do wonders!

Your lines are really organic with great flow.

These pencil sketches are simply amazing; every one of them! http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/ca_icons/thumbsup.gifhttp://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/ca_icons/thumbsup.gif

Keep em coming!

:scribble:

[Whyto]

Hey man, Richard here from the life drawing classes at the Jam Factory, hi!. Really good stuff dude, I never usually see what you produce in the life drawing classes so its nice to see it posted here. I agree with Slechtvalk, your lines are very organic with great life to them. I also recognise your Stilgar entry, very cool work.

[strybjorn]

so yeah....that new turn didnt go too well...as always life got in the way as it always seems to do - but no excuses, ive got to work man, woooorrrrrkkkkk

Slechtvalk thanks man, really appreciate it. doing studies and bridgmans is all well and good tho, but i need to starting making some real art!!! watch this space...

Whyto hi Rich mate, cheers for hitting my sketchbook with kind words - now you've got to go and start your own sketchbook man!

heres some more lifedrawing work, as well as some little random stoopid doodles of factories and stuff...

crits are awesome

[strybjorn]

some more random bits and pieces - some proper muscle anatomy studies (which really really help - recommended!), some doodles for vehicles, my old eow entry and current idw entry - stuff im not really used to doing, so really good practice really...

oh yeah and an updated version of my old chow i think...

more soon hopefully, crits appreciated.

[kidult]

The studies are definately paying off! keep them up. You could maybe try think more about cast shadows in your work.

[strybjorn]

kidult cheers for the crit man - yeah you're definately right about the shadows - i think i seem to be avoiding them coz im not sure where they go and what they should be doing...hmmm, fear is the mind killer - i will go practice cast shadows :)

heres some more life drawing - hopefully there should be some more creative stuff coming up soon

[wookiedabo]

I adore your life drawings, looks effortless. the eow 99 is great too. man, I gotta get to life classes... anyway, lovely work mate.

[strybjorn]

wookiedabo cheers mate, i appreciate the comment :) get to life drawing asap! its awesome...

here's a study i did in my lunch hour yesterday (doing something productive for a change)

more soon

[Molly]

very nice life studies; the line work and energy throughout - awesome!

Mx

[strybjorn]

man, its been such a long time since i posted anything in my sketchbook....not too good really :(

i have been drawing tho, doing loads of studies and making some real progress i think... but really i want to start a new year on a new page...so therefore, here is some stuff that i did at the turn of the year, before i started my new job.

new stuff should start appearing on page 5 (if all goes to plan) which should be good, hopefully...

Molly thanks for the complimentary comments. Ill have to try and meet up with some of you guys at your sketchmeets - i havent managed to find the time recently, but ill keep an eye on the UK thread and hopefully bowl along at some point

so yeah....heres another life drawing and a concept i was thinking of for a modern war giant....thing :)

crits appreciated

[strybjorn]

ok, its been a while, but having a new job has taken a little more getting used to than i thought...getting there now tho, and ive had a shit load of stuff ready to scan in that i only just got round to sorting out. ill be doing some more scanning over the weekend to get me up to date.

so...yeah - more on monday hopefully

[strybjorn]

moar life drawing stuff as promised...

[wookiedabo]

nice strokes man, I think everything seems a little stunted proportions wise, you need to stretch the limbs and torsos in a couple. solid handling of form tho, I like the bottom image especially. perhaps try to delineate shadowed areas more clearly.

[strybjorn]

wookiedabo cheers man - always appreciate getting a crit from you. i think you could have a point about the stunting - its something ill look into at life drawing tonite... tho i have to say that the bloke that models for us does have a very...distinct set of proportions :)

more stuff now - just some weird doodle that i turned into a more finished illo - all in photochop.

crits are welcome

[strybjorn]

so.....yeah - i have no idea what this is - just a doodle lead somewhere a bit weird... dont even know if im finished with it yet, but im sick of looking at it so im glad to get rid and move onto something else...

[Jamesy]

You have very nice life drawings! I like all the different kinds of strokes and techniques you're using to make some of those. I also like the concept stuff, although the presentation of a lot of them could be more interesting if you messed with the values and compositions more. Overall I think you're headed in the right direction, so keep at it!

[strybjorn]

Jamesy cheers for the crit man - i think you definately have a point...i think ive let values and stuff go a little too much recently in favour of more form...bad move - being rounded is important...

these are just some more studies ive been messing around with inbetween freelancey type stuff

[strybjorn]

more stuff from life drawing last nite

[strybjorn]

heres some stuff thats vaguely more interesting i guess...just done in some lunch hours inbetween internets :/

[strybjorn]

some new stuff, mainly from life drawing last nite (first 2 are 1 min gesture types) apart from the floating head that was from my noggin...

[strybjorn]

heres a new lunchtime doodle...

[wookiedabo]

nice pencils man, a distinct style emerging. Still seem on occasion a bit short and wide, maybe if you really concentrate on going in the complete opposite direction, ya know, long and slender, perhaps you could reach some sort of balance. I like your rendering tho as always.

[strybjorn]

wookiedabo cheers for your input man - i really value it! yeah, i agree i need to start looking at making some longer and thinner stuff - its something im going to take on board and hopefully use next week at life drawing...im thinking potentially something shiele-esque mebbes

this is just some doodles i made up

[jhofferle]

Great stuff. I totally looked at your sketchbook because I just finished the Space Wolf Omnibus.

I ordered the Eisenhorn Omnibus because Abnett is supposed to be really good. I was interested in continuing the Space Wolf series, but I hear it goes downhill after William King stop writing.

I'm a sucker for Warhammer artwork.

[strybjorn]

jhofferle haha, well spotted man! that is indeed where i got this name from - the secret is out! :P

last i heard bill king went mental and ran off to eastern europe, tho i think that was a while ago (when he was still called bill king) - sign of a good writer that...

another quickie from lunch

[strybjorn]

more life drawing from last nite (apart from the rhino...he wasnt there)

...and a couple of doodles

[wookiedabo]

rhino life drawing is definitely something I'd go well out of my way to do... Nice lines man, looking slightly more slender too.

[Hybrid Alpha-11]

Excellent sketchbook.

One thing I have noticed is that you seem to have adopted 40k style proportions for allot of your character concepts, I’m not sure if this is intentional but it is the first thing I thought as soon as I looked at your stuff drawn from the imagination.

By 40k style proportions I mean that GW often distorts the proportions of their art to make them look more like their miniatures. If you’ve spent a lot of time looking at their artwork and figures it can skew your inner eye when working from imagination. This is especially true when working on GW inspired stuff. When I worked for them they explained that it creates a strong visual bond between the artwork and the figures. It’s actually the artwork and stories that sell the figures. So in order to make that connection stronger the artists mimic the proportions of their 28mm miniatures to some extent. This is because a 28mm sculpture can only have so much detail and they can’t really sculpt them anatomically correct or they loose their impact, so it has to be sculpted in such a way that it becomes a caricature that draws the eye to the important parts of the figure. This is why they often have big hands, head, feet and weapons. Even now when they have moved away from the excessive over exaggeration that they used to use a decade ago they’re still caricatures.

Anyway hope that makes sense?

Keep up the great work you’ve inspired me to look up life drawing classes in my area.

[strybjorn]

wookiedabo thanks man - your encouraging words are always....encouraging to me :) i appreciate it

Hybrid Alpha-11 youve got a good point mate - probably something to do with the 3 years i spent at GW as a graphics guy - too much of an influence i guess...im glad you brought it up tho coz its something i need to move away from :) also, glad to hear your sorting out some life drawing - it is awesome! :geek:

more stuff, some life drawing and some other bits...

[strybjorn]

anuvver lunch doodle...

[strybjorn]

some mo characters

[Chaser226]

Hi! Great stuff you've got, however, you should watch your proportions. Your heads are consistently too large relative to the bodies.

[jatherip]

amaaaazing characters and lifedrawing.....but a bit more texture on you surfaces would be cool!
keep practising!

[strybjorn]

Chaser226 cheers for the crit man! you're definately right - i think all my proportions are a bit squat, heads too big, hands too big....gah, its something i really really really need to focus on more!

jatherip cheers dude, another nice crit...i havent really done many still life studies for a while - if i do some more studies of real objects with different textures (like algenpfleger (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114449&page=114) does) then i think that would definitely help :)

in the meantime, heres some more concepty stuff:

[walnut]

There's a great flow in your life drawing stuff which i'm seeing less in the digital pics. Though i jsut notice this because it's a problem i'm dealing with myself. I fyou find the trick to it, could you let me know?

[strybjorn]

walnut damn man, i was hoping someone would tell ME the secret :/ oh well, i guess its just practice (and of course being aware of what to practice) cheers for looking in man

now, more stuff...

[strybjorn]

guess what this is :dur:

v quick little still life while i was on my lunch break (cheers for the idea jatherip)

[strybjorn]

a new concept and some arms (based on hogarth, but not a copy of hogarth if that makes sense - unlike my previous hogarthian efforts)

[JellevdVegt]

hey man, thansk for the post. You are focussing on caracters, and they look great. a tip from me would be that in your traditional stuff you could easily use far more contrast, so more darks! just give a little more depth by darkening some lines (going over the same line more times or pressing harder..) like in post 145 is a good example... btw yur doing great by focusing only on values. another thing, those digi caracters have some sort of armor but look kinda of rubber, if you use far more light values there, it looks a lot more like metal.

greetz

[strybjorn]

Teh Gosu cheers for the crit man - means a lot to me! your points are taken and will be acted upon! :perv:

busy week...not much to show, but heres a wee bit of life and some random characters

[Samuel Gray]

Some great figures you have in here stry. The first thing that popped out to me was that your heads are very angular. The bone mass in the cheeks in all of your figures are a little strong. This may be because you tend to "outline" all of the facial features, especially the outer part of the face. I would attempt to soften some of those edges out and make the eye guess sometimes where things are supposed to be instead of making everything so clear and pronounced. Keep it up!

[strybjorn]

Samuel Gray hey man - thanks for the crit! yeah i can see where you're coming from definately. i think ive tried to focus so much on learning form i keep trying to demonstrate that i know whats supposed to be where regardless of whether i should or not....if that makes sense....bluh, i dunno - cheers anyway mate :)

fucking shit week...shits stopped me from drawing and made me feel shit...all i got to show is this life drawing from last nites session...

gah...

[strybjorn]

lunchtime quick tonal landscape study....every little helps

[strybjorn]

some character concepts for scifi-ish miners - the one on the right is some sort of sonar-bot i guess...

[strybjorn]

lunchtime zombie

luuuuunnnncccchhhhh....

[strybjorn]

sketchbook stuff

[strybjorn]

lunchtime study...portrait from a random found photo...in photoshop

[strybjorn]

hmmm - no updates for a week :(

new update now! :)

4 hour illo (scrammed into 40 mins/every lunchtime this week)

[no87]

great stuff. the metal in the latest looks really nice.

[Badger]

Hi ya stryb, i'm about in the oxford area for a bit and was wondering where you did your life drawing.

Also, lovely work addressing all the materials there!

-B-

[strybjorn]

no87 cheers for the comment man, appreciated...

Badger hey man, yeah, definately come down to life drawing! i havent even looked in my sketchbook all week so didnt see your question til today.

basically, life drawing is at the Jam Factory (http://www.thejamfactoryoxford.com/) which is located just round the corner from the train station (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=jam+factory+oxford&sll=51.75764,-1.255875&sspn=0.026245,0.055017&ie=UTF8&ll=51.753111,-1.268406&spn=0.003281,0.010943&t=h&z=17)

its on both tuesdays and wednesdays, Tutored Class - 6pm - 7.30pm, Untutored Class - 8pm - 9.30pm. All materials supplied for a cost of £7.50 per class. I tend to take the Tuesday classes while a top bloke called Adam takes the wednesdays (that is apart from this coming week when we'll swap over and ill take the wednesday class).

ill pm this info to you too, just in case you dont check back. any questions, gimme a shout.

look forward to seeing you there man (and anyone else who wants to pop along)

[DStraX]

oo man! i love your sketches!

[strybjorn]

DStraX cheers for the comment man :)

been insanely busy this week doing mostly non art related things, but did manage to squeeze some bits out in between.

[DStraX]

hey again :P where do you find your refs for the pencil studies?

Tim

[strybjorn]

DStraX hey man - not sure what refs you mean - in the last post i did the refs were all from life - the woman was from life drawing and the tree and stump thing were from a botanical garden i was in a few weeks ago... much better than any googled photos :D

this one is a quick colour study from a film still....(i think it was transformers, sans robots)

[strybjorn]

more life - taking a few tips from e.m gist

figures still a little on the chunky side - ill have to work harder on that...

[wookiedabo]

nice weight to the smaller full figure drawing man, and they may be a bit chunk but that particular one looks very realistically proportioned. really like the wood drawings too, nice work.

[Badger]

Heyloes ST, i like these. I'm a fan of the chunks btw, they do give a lot more gesture than my wirey crap. Maybe get some more colour back in the book?

Nice to meet you the other day, catch you soon i hope.

[strybjorn]

wookiedabo thanks man - im really trying to get my proportions sorted but i think it'll be a long hard road...unless it just clicks - heres hoping! need to do more sketchbook work like you're doing...

Badger hey man, cheers for the comment - yeah it was good to catch up the other day - let me know when you're next around & we'll sketch :) life drawing is still waiting for you :D

more life drawing :)

[strybjorn]

cool, this is just from some noodling from my lunch hours that ive turned into something more finished....

[strybjorn]

some weekend doodles - mostly practicing light and facets and shit

[strybjorn]

anuvver quicky face study

[strybjorn]

more life drawing

[strybjorn]

again, another stupidly quick doodle, taken on a bit further (about 5 hours further) in pchop

[Badger]

Looking good jon! i like the dryad style thing! nice to see you using colour.
-B-

[strybjorn]

Badger hey man, cheers for the comment - twas good to catch up again the other day...mebbes we should do some colour shit instead of just sketching next time....could get messy tho :s

more tree person shit coz i was really unhappy with the last one...not especially happy with this one either, but i learnt a ton doing it so its all good.....and some more life studies

[strybjorn]

sturdy study

[strybjorn]

been on holiday for a couple of weeks - did some sketches whilst i was there as well as a left over life drawing from before i left...

good to be back, more soon

[strybjorn]

some more lunchtime scribbles

[Sebastian Gromann]

sup' bro! u deserve much more attention ! sketches are looking super good and full of energy ! aswell as your values in the digital works.

just keep pushing maaaaan ! :)

[Teundeboer]

Nice sketchbooks, lots of studies, especially life drawing. Good dedication it seems ^^.
I really like the Chow u did on page 3, and the last tree painting u did really spoke to me.
The tree painting however, the lighting is not that dark, which gives a nice mood. kind of an open forest theme. But the light that shines from that tiny lantern gives out a giant cone of light, which of course helps for secondary lighting, but it doesnt make sense to me.
Why would such a small lantern illuminate such a giant area, and only in a cone-like shape in the front, why wouldnt it shine in the back as well, since that is what lanterns tend to do. But whatever, this was just something i noticed after staring at the piece.
I really like it whatever you decide to do with this comment..

[Badger]

Really nice! Your life drawings still blow me away. Maybe get away from soldier men for a few sketches :)

Studies are sooooliiiid.
-B-

[strybjorn]

SnobbyOo hey man - thanks a lot :D

Teundeboercheers man - you're totally right on the tree thing (and its something i didnt really notice before) - but then there are so many other things wrong with it anyways, i never want to see it again :p cheers for the crit...

Badger cheers buddy - cant get too far away from military shit tho for some reason, maybe i have to keep going til ive done something i actually like :)

anyways, heres some mo' heads (structure & lighting study)

[strybjorn]

quick doodle from lunchtime

[strybjorn]

some life stuff and a fighter

[strybjorn]

some more life studies from last nite - trying to get look at the tone of the subject and get more rendered coz its a real failing...

[Sublimus]

Hey, nice character sketches!

Good amount of detail, good gestures, and solid line work!

[MrChow]

great book, your drawing is very pro

[Badger]

Love the latest drawing mate. How are things? we should get a museum visit going some weekend in nov?

[mariusz]

nice work in post #182 - really great. You should do an animation with this moving shadow.

all the best,
Mariusz

[strybjorn]

Sublimus cheers man - i appreciate the comment

MrChow thanks a lot mate, kind words are gratefully recieved :)

Badger hey badger mate - yeah, im definately up for catching up in Nov (the new ashmolean museum should be open by then) tho we may have to make mid-Nov as im moving house for the first few weeks of it - let me know when you're free man. cheers for the comment too - when you gonna update your s/b?

mariusz thanks buddy - yeah, it was just an exercise really, but making an animation of it could be really informative for myself i think - top idea!

oh yeah, and this week ive tarted up the previous fighter bloke...

[Teundeboer]

Cool studies and nice job on the fighter bloke, I think you should try some variations with the chains on his arms tho. I tried blocking em with my fingers on my screen and it made the pose more dynamic. Since the chains seem heavy but his pose (and his muscle size on his arms) do not reflect this. Reducing the size of the chains or sumthing could add to the pose I think.
Still looks cool, nice design and metallic rendering.

[Turbosnail]

Nice work man!!
Especially like the life drawings and the fighter.

Keep it up mate.

[strybjorn]

Teundeboer cheers man - yeah i can definitely see your point about the size of the chains - little bit ott, something i should think about more in the future. cheers for the crit!

Turbosnail thanks a lot man :)

christ, what a month! between moving house and a million other things drawing has been off the agenda :( which is shit...

so to hopefully kick me back off into the process of drawing again, heres one from life drawing.... more soon hopefully

[strybjorn]

more life drawing and a wee train-commuting sketch...

[strybjorn]

this weeks chow entry - could have spent longer on it, but fuck it...

[strybjorn]

gah, another chow - kinda just a follow-up to the previous one...

[strybjorn]

um...stuff

[strybjorn]

meh...

[Turbosnail]

Hey strybjorn!! Thanks for dropping by my SB.
Awesome SB here my friend!! Keep up the good work.

[strybjorn]

Turbosnail hey man, cheers for coming back - its encouraged me to post some bits ive had sitting on my HD for a while but havent got round to posting...

some studies (doubling as xmas prezzies for relatives) some sketchbook stuff and some train sketches...

more soon

[strybjorn]

more stuff from life drawing and a bit of train sketching

trying to look into form stuff a little better to help with painting...its overdue!

[George Abraham]

People might slip and fall, you left apeal lying around in your thread.

[strybjorn]

zaorr cheers man - no idea what that means but it sounds great :)

this weeks chow

[mariusz]

Top armour design in #198. Awsome!

[strybjorn]

mariusz cheers man - not that happy with the render of it tbh, but i think the concepts ok....dunno

just a quick study - need to do more of these...

[strybjorn]

new study - quick lunchtime affair

[Turbosnail]

Awesome updates strybjorn!! Love the tiger in post #200. Keep pushing yourself my friend!!

[strybjorn]

Turbosnail cheers man - appreciate the support :)

dont think im gonna go any further with this - it would just be a time sink - ive learnt what i wanted to learn from it i think

[Jamie Romoser]

Very beautiful sketchbook your life studies are really eye catching
keep up the awsome work man thanks for the inspiration
till next time
-Jamie

[luke_titley]

Hey man,
Great sketchbook. I've never seen your digital paintings before, they're fantastic.

[jeremygordon89]

awesome studies, I think you're definitely on the right track. Just keep working hard!

[soros]

I love the shading of your non digital sketches. Nice defined forms of the nude figure and the structure of the faces. Post more non digital stuff, please !

[strybjorn]

OmertA thanks a lot man - nice to see im inspiring someone :)

luke_titley hey Luke! good man on getting an account and sorting out a sketchbook! looking forward to seeing loads more work in there over the coming weeks!

jeremyg0rd0n cheers buddy - working hard as we speak :)

soros thanks man - ive got some more trad work ready to post within the next couple of days so keep em peeled for an update is this very SB ;)


updates updates updates - been making a metric-fuck-ton work recently but been too pre-occupied with 'making' rather than 'uploading'

heres a small selection of speedpaintings ive knocked out - more to come... spent about 45 mins on each one, referenced from photos

[strybjorn]

being a dirty little sketchpest, ive been filling sketchbooks full of train studies on my way to work... got loads more of these filling my HD so expect more...

[strybjorn]

mo' speedpaints...

[strybjorn]

more train sketches - i think there may be some stuff from the Ashmoleon museum in there too somewhere...

[strybjorn]

more trains, museum and life drawings...

[strybjorn]

more life drawing and train sketches - maybe i should should be more discerning with what ones make it into my SB...there are quite a lot now

[strybjorn]

its been too long...

big backlog to stuff to post, but for the moment, heres some more speedy stuff

[strybjorn]

more stuff + a rework from an older piece

[smuli]

Everything you post is great! My favourites are those train sketches though. Lots of personality in just a few lines. I bet you've nailed the likeness of those people. The movie sketches look very accurate for 45 minute studies too. Five stars from me. Keep them coming!

[kidult]

you on the right track, keep on going!

[Traveler]

Nice train sketches. Simple yet effective. The ones with a bit more detail are also looking good.

[element1988]

Didnt know what to expect when i click on here, but man what a find, your amazing. Great work makes me wanna draw :)

[strybjorn]

smuli cheers man - much appreciated words of encouragement. i cant recommend doing sketches like these enough - ive found them so helpful!

kidult thanks man, ill try!

Traveler cheers!

element1988 thanks for visiting my SB man - like i say, get a little sketchbook and draw on the train/bus/whenever you can is highly recommended! :)

heres some environments from my noggin...

[strybjorn]

more life and train bits

[strybjorn]

mo stuff

[Loathsome]

Very nice sketches, you have a lot of flow going on in them :) Love it!
By the way, I couldn't help but notice "björn" in your screen name and it got me wondering if you're originally Swedish? I can see you're from the UK though.

[Emil_]

Great texture and colors in your speed paints.
Post more!

[strybjorn]

Loathsome cheers man - not swedish unfortunately, just boring old english...its a username ive had for years and years so im stuck with it now i think...however, i do fucking love sweden and would love to live there! Tak!

Emil_ thunks bud - need to get back into those speeds but with the weather so good outside i end up going off and drawing en plein air a lot during my lunch hours instead of doing speedpaints....maybe wait til the weather is a bit more shit (so next week knowing the british weather :p)

more weirdos from the trains and bars:

[strybjorn]

right! bout time i got back on the wagon and started posting some more art stuff! real life has got in the way for faaar too long - time to clear the backlog...

[strybjorn]

more...

[strybjorn]

and some more...

[strybjorn]

more train sketches and some from the ashmoleon museum too

[strybjorn]

some life drawing stuff using grey oil pastel...bit different for me, good experience tho

[Syle]

Good sketchbook here sketchpest. You have a great fluidity to your pencil work. I especially like your high-contrast sketches, they are quite refreshing. Keep it up!

[Kambei Shimada]

Some real nice sketches. Nice bold lines.

Keep up the good work.

[strybjorn]

first posts of 2011?? mental - cant believe its been so long!

well, since my last post i've moved house/city/job so i've kinda got an excuse... that and taking on some additional logo design work. On the plus side tho, i've set up a new life drawing class in Nottingham so i can get back on the wagon for producing life studies. - here some bits from the first couple of sessions:

[raminafshari]

you are working to hard , i like your sketch book .

[strybjorn]

raminafshari cheers man - gonna just keep on trucking...

heres another life drawing, and an unfinished COW entry...ran out of time...boo

[Falchion]

Fascinating rendering style. Definitely gonna be watching for more.

[luke_titley]

Hi John.
You're life drawings always blow me away.
You're COW entry, although it's solid, the pose is quite stiff. What does your creature do for 90% of the day? Shouldn't it be doing that? Like eating ants or something?

I think posing the character doing something would give that drawing a bit more life.

[strybjorn]

Falchion cheers fella!

luke_titley hey Luke mate! thanks for checking into my SB... you're right about the critter...very static pose, dynamism is a challenge for me, gonna really try and push it in future. btw, whats happened to your sketchbook man? would be really interested to see what art you're up to

more life drawing, and some (long overdue) doodles

[Greip]

Great life drawings! Esp. the first and the last. Interesting helmet design on that character too. :)

[strybjorn]

Greip cheers man - trying to do more creating stuff in addition to just studies and life drawings

speaking of which, heres this weeks chow entry - been a long time since i did a chow, so its good to get back into the groove. this one is like a mongol war criminal or summin

[Dannyphoto]

I love your artistic style, very imaginative and realistic which also show good life drawing skills and proportions. keep posting

[strybjorn]

Dannyphoto cheers man!

just a quick mma colour study...

[strybjorn]

more life drawing bits

[surus]

Thanks for sharing the updates!

[strybjorn]

surus cheers man, need to update more!

doodle turned quick illustration, trying to improve...everything!