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tmbritton
November 12th, 2007, 10:20 PM
Hello all,

I've read this site for a long time and never have posted much. So, I thought that I'd start a sketchbook to hopefully become more active on here.

This post has been edited and the original images removed so that I could put up a decent thumbnail image.

JailHouseRock
November 12th, 2007, 10:32 PM
Some of this is prity cool, dude!
Keep working on anatomy

lol I think you found 'posemaniacs' on my sketchbook, bloody good site ay!

tmbritton
November 13th, 2007, 08:12 PM
JailHouseRock: Thanks for the comment. Hell yes I'm going to continue practicing anatomy.

Here's tonight's batch:

tmbritton
November 14th, 2007, 08:08 PM
These things probably aren't very interesting to look at, but here's some more.

Soon I'll make some good art, with stuff like color and value.

Aveh
November 14th, 2007, 08:10 PM
It's good that you can see the purpose of the tedious and boring aspects of art so when you get to the harder concepts you won't have an issue cranking out studies. A comment about pose maniacs, You don't JUSt have to do gestures from it, you can try and use it to do longer drawings from, try that and you will learn different things. Just a suggestion.

But yeah I'll definately check back when you post some more stuff.

tmbritton
November 14th, 2007, 09:15 PM
Aveh- Thanks for the comment. I did do one drawing from the pose maniacs for a bit longer so I could get all of the muscles down. I'm trying to work now on proportions so that I can pose characters from my head.

Below is a quick value drawing that I did in photoshop based on the warrior sketch above.

tmbritton
November 19th, 2007, 08:11 PM
Hello again,

In case you all were getting worried I did keep up with my drawing the last couple of days, I just didn't get around to scanning it. I'd like to thank my fans for sticking with me.

So, without furthur ado, here are my 30 second gesture drawings from tonight and one longer. I went back to the ball point pen for these.

tmbritton
November 27th, 2007, 08:20 PM
Hello all,

It's been a few days since I posted. Don't worry, I've been drawing. I've just not been scanning. I did this drawing for my parents for Christmas. They seem to like art as presents better than anything I could buy them, even though I have excellent taste in stuff. A few more years of this and I'll fill up their walls.

18" x 24" bogus rough sketch paper. 3 or so hours, referenced from a photo.

tmbritton
December 3rd, 2007, 06:21 PM
Hello all,

I was on a trip for a while so I didn't post anything. However amidst my travels I did come up with a drawing that I don't mind sharing. It's a copy of a classic statue of Neptune. I didn't write down the artist so I forget who it is by. Please pardon my lack of common courtesy.

gkrit
December 3rd, 2007, 06:48 PM
nice work ... i really do like the christmas present :)

studies seem to be going fine also ... keep it up

tmbritton
December 3rd, 2007, 11:51 PM
gkrit: Thanks for stopping in.

Here's something I did tonight. I took a really shitty drawing and did a bit of an Andrew Jones sorta thing to it. I duplicated it, flipped it around, overlayed it over the original, and looked for symmetries that looked like something. What I came up with by doing this was way better than what I had originally drawn. This isn't a finished drawing or anything but I think it's pretty cool to come up with something almost completely at random.

tmbritton
December 6th, 2007, 07:45 PM
Hello

Here's some more 30 second gesture drawings and a character sketch.

I hope you enjoy.

tmbritton
December 7th, 2007, 09:17 AM
Hello,

I printed out the image of the alien armor from above and took some pencil to it to see what it looked like with some tone.

tmbritton
December 11th, 2007, 12:08 AM
I've been playing with Painter a bit recently, testing out brushes, seeing what I like, and trying to get the feel of the wacom so that I feel as comfortable sketching with it as I do pencil. Not quite there yet.

Here's a few painter sketches I came up with the last couple of days.

Thanks for looking, and if anybody has any suggestions as to what are good brushes, let me know.

serval79
December 17th, 2007, 08:46 PM
I am impressed Tom! Hope you continue to make stuff like crazy. The world needs to see it!

tmbritton
December 26th, 2007, 03:03 PM
Hey All,

Been doing a lot of 3d stuff recently so after that I don't really feel like being on the computer much. I'll probably put the 3d stuff up here in a bit. Here's some drawings I've done recently. I've been playing a lot with texture and different photoshop brushes. Of course, I should just be trying to draw well, but the brushes are fun.

tmbritton
December 29th, 2007, 11:35 AM
This is the 3d stuff that I've been working on. I'm preparing this for a portfolio to take to the Workshop in Seattle. I'm hoping to get a job as an environmental artist - texturer. I think this stuff would make better portfolio pieces if they were rendered from a real-time game engine, unfortunately I don't have time to figure that out before the workshop.

Done with Maya and Photoshop. No post-work in photoshop except resizing.

tmbritton
December 30th, 2007, 09:33 PM
Hello

Here's the rest of my 3D project. My idea was to take the same model and texture it to be "good" and "evil." This is the evil batch and the neutral model. I'm pretty sick of the computer right now, so I'm not writing any more.

tmbritton
May 2nd, 2008, 12:03 AM
Hello all,

So I've recently moved from Detroit to Austin. What a nice change. There's so much more here art-wise that it's ridiculous. I've been going to life drawing sessions twice a week for the last month or so and I've began oil painting again. Strangely, after 5 years of neglect these paintings look better than what I was doing before. I guess that I've just seen so much more cool stuff that I like in that time on this site and other places that I've absorbed a little bit.

So, this big dump represents about a month of figure drawing. I'm only uploading the ones that I don't find embarrassing. There's a few more. These are all probably 30 minutes - 1 hour. I believe that they are presented here in chronological order.

Thanks for looking and if anybody has any suggestions for how to improve the life drawing, I'm all ears. I think I know the real answer already: just keep doing it.

tmbritton
May 3rd, 2008, 11:52 PM
Here's a few paintings that I've done this week. I just recently set up a little oil painting easel in a spare room and these are the first paintings that I've done in about five years. Strangely, these are much better than what I was doing back then, despite the neglect.

Thanks for looking. If anybody has any painting suggestions, or suggestion on how to get a decent picture of a painting with a little digital camera, I'd love to hear. I'm still fighting with the medium.

Oh, and yes, I am a naturally very red person.

KarylGilbertson
May 4th, 2008, 12:22 AM
Really nice stuff mate, you're certainly on the right track with the anatomy stuff. I am jealous that you're in a place with regular life-drawing.. I didn't take advantage of that while I had it, and now I'm in a place where there's NONE... so what I'm saying is, take advantage of that!! Soak up the knowledge, and keep it up dude! :)

tmbritton
May 4th, 2008, 11:47 PM
Here's a couple from today. I had to cut the drawings session short today. These are the only drawings that I did.

tmbritton
May 6th, 2008, 09:58 PM
So this last drawing session was kinda frustrating. I couldn't get a decent drawing during any of the longer poses. I think it was because the model was really beautiful so I wanted to make a great drawing of her. But because I was too consciously trying it just wouldn't happen. Kinda the same as talking to beautiful women.

Kind of an interesting encounter outside of the drawing session after it was over. I was loading my car with my stuff and this beat-up faded 90's muscle car pulls up beside me. A guy yells out the window at me "Hey man, you been painting my girlfriend."

Is this guy some kinda jealous boyfriend giving me shit, I thought. I replied very slowly to him, "Charcoal, actually." Even though I spend my time designing web pages, drawing, and painting I still for some reason think of myself like Conan the Barbarian.

"Cool, man" he says and gets out of the car. He's about 4 inches shorter than me, long greasy hair. "Did she tell you about our show?"

"What? No." I say, it seems he's not looking for a fight after all.

He hands me a flier for a band. He's singing and playing guitar while wearing a top hat, red and white striped blazer, looking very circusy and trollish. The model, apparently his girlfriend, is go-go dancing and looking hot. "Friday night," he says, turns and walks into the building.

"I should have been a musician instead of an artist," I think to myself.

shrikant
May 7th, 2008, 02:02 AM
amazing stuff man!
keep it up !

tmbritton
May 10th, 2008, 02:23 PM
Shrikant and Ook- Thanks for stopping by and the encouraging comments.

I finally got around to scanning some sketchbook stuff. Some of this goes back to the Seattle workshop. If anybody who was there is checking out this thread, I'm sure you'll recognize the models. Some of this is short, sub 15 minute life drawings. Some of it is from the imagination. Monsters and whatnot. I'm sure you'll be able to tell.

Thanks for looking.

KidApe
May 13th, 2008, 04:08 AM
I'm digging your figure drawings, keep it up and keep pushing yourself=D Man, that oil painting of the still life with the flask is wonderful.

tmbritton
May 13th, 2008, 10:45 PM
Kidape- thanks for checking my stuff out. See you at the AVAA next weekend.

So here's this weekend's life drawing and a painting study and even a drawing from the imagination.

First up: An oil painting of a chrome utility knife that's kinda batmanesque in design.
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Here's a couple of drawings from Sunday's drawing session:
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Monday we had a couple posing for us. It was much harder than drawing one person, and kinda odd.
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And finally a drawing of a naked chick killing a monster, a subject that is very near to my heart and very personal.

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Thanks for looking, and I am always looking for critiques. Or if you just want to post something and bump my sketchbook back to the top, that's cool too.

The Pariano
May 13th, 2008, 11:14 PM
You have some very nice stuff going on here man. I like that 3d stuff up at the top and these life drawings are good. Yep just keep at it and you'll get where you want to be!

tmbritton
May 14th, 2008, 10:57 PM
Almighty Chris- Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the compliment

Here's a couple of sketches. Playing with older drawings and photoshop and symmetry.

tmbritton
May 17th, 2008, 11:24 PM
Went to a Dr. Sketchy today. It was pretty cool. They had a go-go dancer there to pose and she had all kinds of bizarre go-go dancing outfits. A pack of different colored highlighters would have been appropriate to depict the colors. But, here's some decent ones that came out of it.

KidApe
May 19th, 2008, 11:50 PM
sweetj, love the dynamic pose you have for the warrior chick. Hey, those drawings of the couple turned out nicely.

tmbritton
May 20th, 2008, 11:16 PM
Kidape- Good seeing you again at the AVAA. Thanks for stopping by the sketchbook as well.

Here's some more stuff.

First up, a life drawing from this weekend. 3 or 5 minutes. I liked the goofy pose.
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Another life drawing of the same guy. He wasn't a really muscular dude, just really skinny. I had trouble depicting that, I think due to learning to draw from Marvel comics. 50 minutes or so.
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Another drawing, same guy. I got really into drawing the PVC pipe-sword.
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Drawing from life 10-15 minutes
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Life drawing 10-15 minutes
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Drawing from life, costumed practice. 30 minutes.
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And another naked chick killing a monster. I like these because when I'm sitting around trying to think of something to draw to practice poses from my head, this makes a good stand-by.
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Thanks for looking.

KidApe
May 21st, 2008, 02:28 AM
The goofy pose is nice and readable, you can really tell that the light source is coming from the left of the model. Love the longer pose you rendered, man that facial expression sure adds to the piece. I indeed had trouble drawing this model which was good practice, he had some awesome war like poses =D That pvc pipe-sword is wicked, nice work.

tmbritton
May 29th, 2008, 12:02 AM
Alright, so here's another batch of drawings. I hope you like them.

First up, here's a life drawing. I switched to graphite from charcoal pencil thinking that I might have more control. Maybe. I found some sweet pencils that instead of wood are just graphite all the way through. An they're 9B. Smooth a butte and go on as quick as charcoal. I may have found a new tool for figure drawing.
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Another figure drawing, same session. I was trying to really depict the planes in this one. I've been thinking that my figure drawings were too soft and didn't really convey form well enough so I'm attempting to realign my perceptions and think more three dimensionally. We'll see what develops over a few weeks.
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Drawing poses from my head practice. Some are more successful than others.
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I was playing around with some new materials with this one. I found some stuff called liquid graphite that is pretty cool. It goes on like an inkwash but dries to look like graphite with brush strokes. Not very erasable though. I used this stuff and higgins white ink in this one.
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some dude, not terribly impressive.
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Perspective practice. Figuring out how to do a non-rectangle.
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Decided to try to do some nice drawings for a change.
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tmbritton
June 2nd, 2008, 11:19 PM
Here's some more life drawings from tonight. There's more, but I don't feel like getting the digital camera out right now. These are the two that were done in a sketchbook small enough to fit on my scanner. Anybody out there know where to get a big scanner, at least big enough to fit 11x17 for cheapish?

Anyway, these are both 15 minute drawings, using a charcoal pencil first, then tightening up details with a 9b pencil.

Thanks for taking a look.

KidApe
June 2nd, 2008, 11:31 PM
Wonderful updates man! I do indeed see you keeping the plane changes in mind, looks great. That liquid graphite you showed me is really neat, you used it nicely on that warrior chick. You're getting very good at showing the form of the model, keep it up.

tmbritton
June 8th, 2008, 12:58 PM
Kidape: Thanks for stopping by.

I finally got around to taking pictures of last weeks figure drawing. Just in time to make a new batch today and tomorrow night.

I also scanned a page of my sketch book because I like the werewolf.

tmbritton
June 8th, 2008, 06:44 PM
Here's todays life drawings. They switched models in the middle of the session, which doesn't happen often. Both charcoal. 1 hourish.

KidApe
June 9th, 2008, 01:06 PM
wonderful figurative work, man i really love those faces.

Jamie Romoser
June 9th, 2008, 01:23 PM
Nice life drawings your charcoal pecies are your strongest. Keep it up!

tmbritton
June 9th, 2008, 11:04 PM
Kidape: Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you like the faces, compared to some stuff that I see though, I feel like I'm cartooning in comparison.

OmertA: Thanks for the comment, I agree that my charcoal life drawings are my best too. It's strange, I used to hate charcoal, now I think that my graphite drawings suck in comparison. And I wish I could draw without reference like I can in my life drawings.

Here's a couple of beginning attempts at digital. Jason Chan makes it look so easy. I watched his video and thought, "Oh yeah, I know exactly what he's doing. I can do that." Well, the bug lady is my attempt. I then realized that I had no idea what I was doing, so I went and found a photo of a hot chick to copy. I cheated by color picking. Well, she's hot in the photo, you'll have to take my word for it. I figure maybe some more of these and I'll try painting from my head again.

It just occurred to me that I haven't drawn anything that is not bare breasted for a while. I'm not even a teenager anymore. Draw what you know I guess.:rolleyes:

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KidApe
June 9th, 2008, 11:26 PM
Crazy insect lady=D That painting of the lady is pretty nice, i like the skin tones especially in the cool areas of the skin. Somes muted blues/greens it looks like. It's amazing all teh colors that can be found on/in the human skin. It's both reflective and absorbent of colors, and it looks like you're getting a good feel for that. I hope to see more paintings sir:)

M0RS
June 11th, 2008, 12:04 AM
Tom, your work is off the hook!!

I can really see your understanding of form/proportion from life-drawing showing up in your concepts!

See you Sunday perhaps.

tmbritton
June 11th, 2008, 09:20 PM
Hey all,

Kidape and M0RS: Thanks for stopping by. See you guys at the AVAA. Maybe we could do some kinda Concept Art sketch group thing. It would be a good supplement to the life drawing. Select a theme a week, do a finished illustration, something like that. I'm definitely lacking in finished illustrations.

Here's a couple of life drawings from Monday night. Both about half and hour. I'm posting a digital painting too. A still life, from life. I don't have fruit sitting around my place, but there's plenty of empty beer bottles. Draw what you know! The still life was only about half an hour as well.

Thanks for looking!

KidApe
June 11th, 2008, 09:57 PM
Loving the charcoal drawings, I really enjoy the rendered head and looser body of the figure. Reclining figures are pretty difficult. beer bottles>fruit;) Hey, that quick digi painting looks good. Liking the purple colors on the surface. I second the idea of an activity in which we strive for a completed illustration, I'm rusty on that myself.

tmbritton
June 12th, 2008, 10:23 PM
Kidape: Thanks for stopping by. I figure we could do something similar to one of the weekly challenges here, but in real life. And crit the hell out of everybody's stuff.

Another practice digital painting. Photo referenced. Hour and a half to two hours time. No color picking this time.

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tmbritton
June 15th, 2008, 10:13 PM
Hello All,

Here's today's life drawing. All of them 1/2 hour. I was planning to do digital painting today as well, but I think that I got my morning coffee a bit too late and have had a terrible headache all day.

Kidape and M0RS: It looks like the best way for us to have some kinda sketchgroup on here is to make a sketchbook thread and all post in it. Talk to you guys tomorrow night.

Here's the goods:

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KidApe
June 15th, 2008, 10:20 PM
Lovely portrait painting, really like the blues in the shadows. These figures are getting better and better. On the latest post the model's left hand caught my eye, very nicely done. Liking the rendered faces.

tmbritton
June 16th, 2008, 12:13 AM
Kidape: I'm glad that you can see an improvement. It takes a long time for me to be able to step back and see anything but the mistakes.

I got up the resolve to do a digital painting. This is a copy of the old lady in Caravaggio's Judith Slaying Holofiernes. No color picking. Here's the original:

http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=13153

BeautyGirl1510
June 16th, 2008, 12:37 AM
Very nice life drawings. You captured the poses and feelings really well. And this last one, the Caravaggio copy, is a great start! I'd like to see you finish it more; add some detail. Good start to your sketchbook! :D And thanks for stopping by in mine. ;)

M0RS
June 17th, 2008, 12:16 AM
Your digital stuff is coming along nicely - I too see a whole lot of improvement! I apologize for not offering any criticism but we'll see plenty of that in the challenge thread.

tmbritton
June 18th, 2008, 11:22 PM
Hello all,

Here's my second batch of life drawings from this week as well as my progress in the chicks killing monsters challenge.

BeautyGirl1510: Thanks for stopping by, I've moved on from the Caravaggio, hopefully my next one will be more finished.

M0RS: Oh yeah, I'm sharpening my verbal barbs right now for the criticisms to come up in the challenge thread.

First Up: Life Drawings

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Sketches for the Chicks killing Monsters

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Beginning of my final for the Chicks killing Monsters. I'm gonna have to find some reference for the background. I can't pull that out of my head like figures. I'll probably put a costume on the chick also. Done in Painter.

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KidApe
June 21st, 2008, 03:48 PM
Wicked, love the toothy feel you added to the digital support. I had to find some refs for mine as well. I'm doing pen and ink. I'm still working on it, but will have complete by monday or else...:xpld:

tmbritton
June 22nd, 2008, 12:56 AM
Kidape- The attempt of at painting of this drawing is less than stellar. Maybe tomorrow I can come up with something good.

Here's some more stuff I did tonight. I was playing with the photoshop technique of blacking in silhouettes and using white to bring out the form. I like it. It's a fun way to do things.

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And here's a drawing in my actual sketchbook. A chick with a baseball bat getting the drop on Satan, who's wearing Liefeld pouches and thigh bullets. Yes, I take my art very seriously.
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KidApe
June 22nd, 2008, 01:04 AM
Woot, digital silhouettes are crazy fun=D Success! Oh man, I lol'd at the liefeld puches comment. Is that Hellboy's brother?=D The sketch feels packed with energy.

tmbritton
August 16th, 2008, 10:44 PM
Hey all,

I finally broke down and got an internet connection again. The neighbor's unsecured wireless just wasn't reliable enough for uploading. Two months of life drawings backed up on me. Here's some of the decent ones.

wilkerson
August 17th, 2008, 12:09 AM
I get the sense that you're rushing in most of these drawings.

KidApe
August 17th, 2008, 10:16 PM
Wow, massive posting,hah. Glad to see you got your ol' connection back. I'm def seeing improvements in your figurative work, all the life drawing sessions are really helping out. Yes I finally get to see the still life you've finished! Very nice, I love the form you've given to all those knives. You must tell me how you added the square textures to the painting, I haven't seen that done before.

brentos8
August 17th, 2008, 11:24 PM
nice stuff man, i like that post #37 4th down especailly, the figure has nice balance and weight distribution. i noticed on many of your drawings you sort of leave weight bearing form like the feet un-resolved, which makes the figure seem like its floating and not grounded. I would suggest you focus on grounding the figure and weight distribution/balance, heavier lines in these ares can help suggest weight. otherwise looking good, keep it up.

my sketchbook: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=128243

tmbritton
August 20th, 2008, 08:58 PM
Hello all,

wilkerson: It's true that I'm probably rushing. Most of these are 30 minutes and that's not a whole lot of time for me to do a figure drawing. I'm no Michelangelo, after all.

Kidape: It's good to have the internet connection back. I got a new cell phone and DSL on the same day. My apartment is no longer a black hole from which no communications can emerge.

brentos8: Thanks for stopping by. I can see what you mean about the floating figures. Probably if I defined a ground plane in all of them and put in their cast shadow it would help as well.

I've got a whole new batch of life drawings from this weekend and something else as well.

First up: Life drawings
Edit: Now that I see it on screen the nose on that portrait is way off.

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This is something that I'm working on. I'm trying to figure out how I want to draw a comic. This is too blurry and indistinct I think. I did a charcoal drawing, scanned it and photoshopped. The texture brushes are too obvious as well I think.

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KidApe
August 22nd, 2008, 10:46 PM
Damn man I think you're on to a new art movement with those portable fans,hah. Oh man I'm really liking the gritty look of this comic style you are going for.

tmbritton
August 29th, 2008, 12:56 AM
Kidape: Get a chance to check out the Barber dvd yet?

I switched to a mechanical pencil for this life drawing session to try to tighten up the drawing a bit. It's slower, but more precise than the charcoal pencil. I think the results are ok.

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A buddy of mine just moved in with an editor at DC Comics, so I've been drawing comic book stuff. You know, carpe diem and all. I'm trying to figure out how I'd draw a Batman comic.

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A bit like this, but you know, better is what I'm going for.

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M0RS
August 29th, 2008, 12:11 PM
I think you're going in the right direction with this, Tom, but I can tell you're not totally satisfied so here's my two cents of crits.

The first panel is the strongest in terms of clarity, you're only using 3-4 midrange values here which has a nice pastel quality. Was that intentional? I'm curious if pushing the darks and lights would strengthen it overall though.
The main problem with this panel is that despite the pictorial clarity, batman's silhouette is difficult to see. I'd try reworking the composition so that the vanishing point lands on the window where batman is perched, or until he is more visible. I understand you're trying to be subtle about it, but the viewer shouldn't have to work to decipher the story. Is there a hand on the front figure's shoulder? There's a lot of ambiguity here, remember comics are visual storytelling and telling a clear story with pictures is your biggest priority.

Is the next panel a view of a guard atop a building? Again, the viewer needs more visual information.

3rd Panel. The figure is more successful here however the hand needs work, study hands in that pose. I'd spend a little more time on how the light touches the arms as well.

The final panel is strong. I like the way you're abstracting the background but the pose needs some adjustment. Granted there's not just a single way to execute a flying kick but generally the non-extended hand is tucked back and the outstretched leg is fully extended. The forward hand is generally clinched but that's a personal choice. It also seems like you're changing some proportions to squeeze the figure into the panel. More planning! I know you don't like to use reference but on a complex pose like this I'd recommend it.

In terms of handling, I find the charcoal drawing of batman to be the strongest out of all of these. You might want to consider going back to traditional materials for this since that's what you've worked with longest. Also in general the eye areas of most of the figures could use more attention.

Hope this helps!

tmbritton
August 29th, 2008, 12:40 PM
Yeah, it's really not clear what's going on is it? I'm going to have to go back to layouts for this this. I think I'll have to do a pencil drawing and work with photoshop on top of that. Tighten up. I was trying to avoid scanning, but I find it really difficult to draw with the tablet. Layering on texture I'm fine with, but the drawing is difficult.

M0RS
August 29th, 2008, 12:59 PM
Pencils should help you tighten those edges back up and clarify your forms. Look forward to seeing it!

Btw, do you know when life drawing at daugherty is held?

KidApe
September 2nd, 2008, 12:42 PM
This is a great start Tom, and I think you should continue with this technique to see how just how much it improves.

tmbritton
September 2nd, 2008, 11:36 PM
MORS: Thanks for the great crits man! And no, I don't know about the life drawing at the Daugherty

Kidape: I think I will continue drawing pages like this. I want to get better at the comic book stuff and I want to get better with digital. Kill two birds with one stone.

I've got a bunch of stuff to post tonight. Pages from my sketchbook and some life drawings.

#1 A near-future idea for a guy in a suit. I figure the mandarin collar could come into style with the rising influence of the east.
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#2 What's better than Batman? Batman with a sword.
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#3 Batman with a really long arm. I like the face and torso though.
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#4 Space chick
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#5 Intentionally ridiculous
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#6 Satan and Friends
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Life drawings, the first one was an hour. The rest 1/2 hour
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KidApe
September 3rd, 2008, 12:44 AM
Very nice, are you doing these batman drawings without reference? I do see the improvements in your portraits, looking good.

tmbritton
September 4th, 2008, 11:58 PM
Kidape: Thanks for stopping by. I did have a reference for the sword one. It was of a guy holding a sword. The shot was from the waist up. But I'm not looking at pictures of Batman or anything.

Here's something I did tonight. Anatomy and wacom practice in one. It's referenced from Sarah Simblet's Anatomy for the Artist. The one with all the nude photographs of incredibly attractive people. Maybe 2 - 2 1/2 hours. I think it's a step forward in terms of rendering solid forms digitally.

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KidApe
September 5th, 2008, 12:17 AM
That's the way to do it, seek reference for poses and then use that little information to shape your character. Eventually you'll have to rely on refs less and less, at least that's what i hear,hah.
Wait, are you talking about a pr0n magazine? lol,jk. Man this awesome, doing a digi, color,and anatomy study. Love the dynamic torso and the subtle greens that are in the skin tone. Keep it up.

tmbritton
September 9th, 2008, 12:29 AM
Kidape: Good seeing you at life drawing tonight. That dude had some mad modeling skills. A strap so he could strike really dramatic poses? That's something I've never seen before. And he looked like a samauri.

First up: Life Drawings

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Next: Practice digital, referenced from a still frame of Chinatown. If you haven't seen that movie, I highly recommend it. It may be my favorite movie of all time.

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Last: The best thing about life drawings, at least as messy as I do them, is they get a second life inside Photoshop.

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Thanks for looking.

KidApe
September 10th, 2008, 11:29 AM
Yes indeed that model is on to something with the gestures. He appeared a couple times at ACC but haven't drawn him in like 3 years, was awesome to have him show up on monday. I'm liking the context you got giong on in the chinatown painting. Figure wise to me the head seems a bit small, but it's getting there. Oh wow..so that's what you were talking about when you told me about abstracting the life drawings. Man, these are great for brainstorming ideas. Very cool resources. The conte red one has a great creature torso and the bottom composition reminds me of Giger.

M0RS
September 10th, 2008, 09:42 PM
The digi studies are showing a lot of improvement, color is particularly accurate. I think the girl's arm is a bit long in the chinatown screenie.

Figures are tight too, aside from some proportion issues. Seated chick has too much distance between head and breasts! I feel so silly critting your life drawing because mine has been so crappy but spend more time planning your figures before rendering! Then their proportions will be correct AND your sexy rendering can bespeckle their forms!

tmbritton
September 28th, 2008, 08:51 PM
Hey all,

Been a bit since I updated. Here's a bunch of stuff I've done recently. I've been working on web stuff as well.

First up, drawings from a recent Dr Sketchy:

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Some Recent life drawings:

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A self-portrait I did for a show at the Austin Figurative Gallery. I made some progress shots for the fun of it.

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Thanks for looking!

M0RS
September 28th, 2008, 09:17 PM
Whoa! Great sensitivity to value changes in that portrait, and I love the application of paint. Assuming this is done with oils?

The faces of your figures are looking really crisp too.

tmbritton
September 28th, 2008, 09:37 PM
MORS: It's acrylic. I found a thick gel medium to mix with the acrylic paint that made it transparent and slowed the drying time a bit. This made it possible to glaze over the underpainting. The thickness of the gel gave it a cool texture too.

I uploaded a picture of one of the faces above because I think it came out well.

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tmbritton
September 29th, 2008, 11:18 PM
Here's tonight's life drawings. I think they're more energetic because I was thinking about putting bricks through windows and lighting fires due to the recent financial insecurity. I'll actually take any excuse I can get to put bricks through windows and light fires.

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KidApe
October 1st, 2008, 09:41 AM
Tom, I'm really liking the touch you put into your sp. The soft and subtle shapes of value are a nice choice. I like the hard edge you rendered on the left side of your face. Looks like you were using a limited pallet as well.

tmbritton
October 7th, 2008, 12:15 AM
Kidape: The pallet wasn't really limited. No green or yellow I guess. But it was very earthy-grey and blue. So, limited by outcome, not really by intention.

Glad you guys like it.

Here's my drawings from the last couple of days. I just ate some popcorn and I think I ingested more than my daily allowance of charcoal.

M0RS
October 8th, 2008, 09:17 AM
I like the way you're working subtractively (maybe push/pull) and the energy in these figures.

KidApe
October 9th, 2008, 07:47 PM
Very atmospheric, and painterly. I'm very much liking your new approach to the figure drawings, keep it up.

tmbritton
October 10th, 2008, 11:51 PM
MORS: Yeah, it's a back and forth thing.
Kidape: Thanks, if I kept drawing the same way every time it might get stale.

Here's a painting of a crushed beer can that I did yesterday.

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KidApe
October 12th, 2008, 12:21 AM
your latest painting has some great depth to it, occupying the space very successfully. very cool.

tmbritton
October 12th, 2008, 08:57 PM
Kidape: Thanks!

Here's a couple of paintings from today. Been a while since I painted a model. Used acrylic and a very limited pallet. Just burnt sienna, ultamarine blue, and white.

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tmbritton
October 17th, 2008, 01:11 AM
Hey all,

Here's life drawing from a couple of days ago and a painting wip. I should have the painting done in a few days.
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This is about a couple of hours in. I put down a charcoal drawing, sealed it with non-workable fixative. That worked well. The charcoal really doesn't mix with the paint at all. Glazed over cadmium red, then started working over that.

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Thanks for looking!

M0RS
October 17th, 2008, 11:46 AM
I'm liking the monochrome and how you're working into the folds with varied temperatures.

Your head studies are getting closer to likenesses, which is exciting. I still think you rely a little bit on your conceptual head structure though.

tmbritton
October 19th, 2008, 01:57 AM
Mors: Yeah, I cam definitely agree that I rely on drawing what I think I should see as opposed to what I really see when doing portraits. Sometimes the models are just to far away to see into the shadows. At least for an old man like me. I should probably do some in-depth self portraits where I have time to really get into the business of drawing.

Here's some drawings. First two are sketchbook doodles.
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These drawings are from a Dr. Sketchy that happened tonight. I don't usually get the best drawings at these events. But they are good for getting phone numbers.

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Vigilandus
October 19th, 2008, 04:56 AM
Why the heck are those fast ones so damn scribbly? Construction is the key mate, construction. Pick up a Loomis' Figure Drawing for All it's Worth, many pages are dedicated to using construction.

KidApe
October 20th, 2008, 11:58 PM
Man I'm really enjoying your latest painting. It looks like you've captured some nice energy in it. The gesture seems to have held through which keeps it lively. That, and the brushstrokes used to model the hair, some nice motion in there. I've been wanting to start out a painting with charcoal but I've been hesitant about it. Now that I see yours I think I'll give it a try sometime. So do you notice a difference painting over the fixative, does it feel different?

tmbritton
October 21st, 2008, 12:03 AM
Here's some more scribbly bullshit from the last couple of days.

You know what I was thinking would be cool? If somebody had at some point written a book that broke down the human figure into simplified forms. Maybe a conceptual "mannequin" figure that could be drawn quickly in any pose. Maybe the figure could even be broken into geometric shapes. Like an egg shape for the head and ribcage. Maybe a cube for the pelvis and cylinders for the arms and legs. It would be nice if such a book were written by somebody who knew what he was talking about. Like an illustrator from the 1940s.

Does anybody know if such a thing exists? It could help my hapless floundering with a pencil quite a bit.

tmbritton
October 21st, 2008, 12:08 AM
Kidape: You posted while I was typing. I really didn't notice any difference with the fixative. The charcoal didn't mix with the paint at all. I don't know if there are adhesion problems though. If it starts to flake in 50 years I'll let you know.

M0RS
October 21st, 2008, 02:09 AM
Hahahahaha, I fucking love you Tom.
I rather like the way those gestures are holding together.

tmbritton
October 26th, 2008, 11:58 PM
Hey all,

I have a couple of drawings that I did this afternoon at life drawing. I also finally finished my website: http://www.tmbritton.com. Well, finished as in I will show it to people now. There's still some things to tweak and fix. Now that it's no longer a primary project, I should have more time for drawing.
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tmbritton
October 29th, 2008, 12:22 AM
Hey all,

Here's a couple more drawings from Monday. I think I've also thought of something good to paint, so I should have something up in a couple of days.

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KidApe
October 30th, 2008, 10:35 PM
I'm really liking the level of completion to the heads in these figure drawings. Good contrast as well.

Free Wing Studios
October 31st, 2008, 01:21 AM
Great job Tom, happy halloween!

tmbritton
November 3rd, 2008, 10:49 PM
Kidape: Thanks!
David: Happy Halloween to you.

Here's some drawings from the last couple of days. The model didn't show up to today's figure drawing session, but it ended up being pretty cool anyway. Artists posed and I did some portraits.

Thanks for looking!

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tmbritton
November 5th, 2008, 12:56 AM
Hey all,

Finished a painting. I took some progress shots as well.

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KidApe
November 6th, 2008, 08:21 PM
Whoa, nice and disturbing atmosphere you've captured, I like it. Progress shots are the best! I need to try that charcoal underdrawing sometime cause you are putting it to good use.

kinjura
November 7th, 2008, 05:36 AM
This is a great looking sketchbook. I can see by looking through your material that i need to put more pencils and chalks into my own sketchbook. thanks for the great posts.

Farvus
November 7th, 2008, 05:50 AM
Hey. Nice sketchbook.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=502671&d=1225083443 - This one is awesome!

Keep posting :).

Free Wing Studios
November 10th, 2008, 11:39 AM
Hey Tom,

You got some great portraits out of that session when our model did not show up. Good Job!

David Stein Ferguson
Free Wing Studios
http://freewingstudios.blogspot.com

Come draw with us at A.V.A.A. www.avaaonline.org/programs.html

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=127296

tmbritton
November 13th, 2008, 11:32 PM
Hey! Replies! It's not often that somebody that I don't know in real life stops by.

Kidape: Thanks! See you at drawing

Kinjura: Thanks for stopping by. After looking at your stuff I think that I need to finish more digital stuff.

Farvus: Thanks! I intend to keep posting.

David: Hey, I think that the portrait that I did of you turned out the best. Thanks for sitting still for so long.

Here's some drawings from the last week or so.

First up: Drawing outside. It's actually really hard to do a landscape, especially when you're used to sitting inside and drawing models. It's a lot of information to organize. Eventually I gave up and drew a sculpture.

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Back to the life drawing.

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And I scanned a couple of doodles from my sketchbook. Not sure why, I was just scanning stuff and I thought I'd throw these in.

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tmbritton
November 14th, 2008, 10:13 PM
Hey all,

I was messing around in photoshop and got into some digital painting for a bit last night. Here's the result.

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KidApe
November 17th, 2008, 06:01 PM
I find this last digital painting to read well, and goodjob on setting up the contrasts to work for the foreground/background.

tmbritton
November 17th, 2008, 11:51 PM
Kidape: Thanks! Glad you think it reads well. A girl I work with said she couldn't tell what it was at first.

Here's a bunch of life drawings from the last few days. Two of my regular drawing sessions and a Dr. Sketchy. Back to the basics with these. Graphite on white paper.

If I don't post this stuff as it happens it really builds up one me.

tmbritton
November 19th, 2008, 12:11 AM
Another digital. I figure my major weaknesses right now are environments and digital. Well, anything involving perspective really. So I should pound away at digital environments for a while.

I'm going to look up easy ways to do straight lines with a wacom. The shift key is so unwieldy.

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tmbritton
December 14th, 2008, 11:25 PM
What's with this attachments pending approval thing?

Here's some new stuff. I've been traveling a bit recently, and will again next week, so here's what I've managed to come up with in the time in between.

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KidApe
December 15th, 2008, 08:54 PM
Great updates! Love the cover art, the spiral contained with the eye and the background spiral seem to move in opposite rotations, which I think adds to the dynamism. I very much enjoy your charcoal works, especially the ones approached with mass and "push" and "pull" with the eraser. It's so much fun to work the drawing that way. It was cool to see you bust out the paints, which turned out well working with your limited pallete of gouache colors.Keep it up.

tmbritton
December 28th, 2008, 07:45 PM
Here are a couple that I did over the holiday as gifts. One is gouache painting of a flower on illustration board. The colors are all wonky in the photo. I found out that kids are hard to draw. The more definition that you put in a face, the more it ages it. The photo I was going from was a 1 year old. I think she looks about 5 in my drawing. Drawing cute is hard.

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MrSmithe
December 28th, 2008, 08:32 PM
Love the faces, and shading. Would love to see more work from you.

tmbritton
December 30th, 2008, 01:03 AM
MrSmithe: Thanks for stopping by. If you want to see more work, just keep checking in.

I did these two the last couple of nights. I figure if I’m just sitting around my apartment I might as well be productive, even if it entails staying up a bit too late. The male one is a self-portrait. I don’t think that I really look like that. Kinda interesting how all my self portraits look different.

The reference for the female one was a painting by Sargent (http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=10483). I intended when I started to do a full color attempt to copy it. But it was too late and I started to like the energetic brushstrokes. So I stuck to the one color. It’s still a bit too cartoony for my liking. The eyes especially could use more attention, and the entire face is off centerline. So I need to pay more attention to drawing foremost and energetic brushstrokes second.

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KidApe
January 1st, 2009, 12:30 AM
Sup Tom, happy New Years! I'm liking your modeling that you've done on these two monochromes, and the direction of the brushstrokes that you've painted is very appealing.

tmbritton
January 5th, 2009, 11:03 PM
Kidape: Happy New Year. Thanks for stopping by.

Here's a couple of life drawings from tonight. Had two weeks off due to the holidays. Felt a bit rusty at first, but finally came up with a couple that I'm not embarrassed to show.

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tmbritton
January 7th, 2009, 12:37 AM
Here's something that I came up with tonight. It's a digital copy of a Bougoureau. I think it's a step forward in my handling of the wacom.

I did it in photoshop, no color picking. Although I did use adjustment layers and overlays, so in every other way I cheated. I also did some texture overlays. It's photoshop, why the hell not?

It's not anywhere near the awesomeness of Bougoureau. I an imagine what he'd say if he saw it. At least the modernists left him alone. Now all these geeks with computers insist on turning out crappy copies of his masterpieces.

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tmbritton
January 8th, 2009, 01:52 AM
Hey,

Here's one I did tonight. I'd like to keep going with it, but it's bed time. Still very unfinished.

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tmbritton
January 8th, 2009, 11:55 PM
Here's some more photoshoppery. First one is referenced from a still from Chinatown. I love that movie. The second I took an self portrait, flipped it, layered it, copy merged it and played with layers until I saw something.

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tmbritton
January 10th, 2009, 01:26 AM
Hey all. Here's some more digital practice from photo reference. I think that I need to do more mechanical objects. I can't do a straight line with the tablet.

Sometimes it's fun to get designy with the practice.

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ihatemexies
January 10th, 2009, 02:08 AM
good stuff!

i love the planes in this one

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=540969&d=1229318590

tmbritton
January 11th, 2009, 01:05 AM
ihatemexies: Thanks for stopping by. I'm a bit concerned about the username, but thanks for the compliment.

Here's one I did tonight. I guess I was just being lazy with my lack of backgrounds and straight lines. Pounding away at the wacom is doing some good. I managed to pull off some straight lines and inorganic shapes. Looking at it now, I see some definite value and edge problems. It looks like the elipses are off as well. But it's getting late and I've worked on it at least a few hours.
This is what 3D is for.

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Black Spot
January 11th, 2009, 04:10 AM
An interesting and progressive sketchbook. Thanks for sharing.

tmbritton
January 11th, 2009, 11:19 PM
Black Spot: Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you find it interesting. I thought I was boring people with the volumes of life drawings.

Speaking of volumes of life drawings, here's a few from tonight.

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That's all that I have in me today. It's not even midnight and I'm already sleepy. Early night.

tmbritton
January 12th, 2009, 11:33 PM
Monday Night Life Drawing.

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tmbritton
January 13th, 2009, 11:53 PM
Here's a digital landscape. Photo referenced. Painter and Photoshop.

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tmbritton
January 14th, 2009, 10:32 PM
Painter and Photoshop. It might be time to do some actual art instead of just studies.

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KidApe
January 15th, 2009, 12:19 PM
Hey man, these last two artworks had me thinking that you completed them from start to finish traditionally! Great look, keep it up.

tmbritton
January 17th, 2009, 01:38 AM
Kidape: Adding in a texture photo overlay breaks up the digital appearance. Maybe, I don't know, it might reinforce the digital appearance by being an obvious overlay. Thanks for the compliment

Here's a couple I did tonight. They're both photo referenced. The first is Gloria Swanson and the second is a photo that's been on my computer so long I forget where it comes from. Beautiful photo though. I didn't do it justice.

The first was supposed to just be a quick study. Ended up taking forever because I couldn't get it to look right. On the second one I covered up any parts that didn't get much work with brushstrokes.

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The Ham
January 17th, 2009, 10:39 AM
you can see the infulence of Sargent in your work! personal favorite of mine!
i love the jester piece and the portrait based on one of Sargent's really nice colour you used.
your figures as developing nicely! keep that upf for sure form your first post to your last your understanding of the figure has blatently developed. your scenery work is really nice! keep up your style has a great traditional paintrly style not too many people has that these days

tmbritton
January 19th, 2009, 12:04 AM
The Ham: Thanks for stopping by. I definitely take it as a compliment that you can see a Sargent influence in my stuff. He's one of my favorites. His paintings just look correct, like that's how a painting should be done.

Here's a bunch of stuff. Went to two life drawing sessions today. My brain hurts a bit now.

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2buiart
January 19th, 2009, 09:36 PM
nice studies, gotta dig them life drawings. Your recent digital portrait are sweet, keep them coming

tmbritton
January 19th, 2009, 11:08 PM
2buiart: Thanks for stopping by. Now that I'm addicted to wacom there's nothing I can do but keep the work coming.

Here's tonight's life drawing. I took pictures of some of the shorter ones, which I don't normally do. I guess I liked the energy in some of htem. The times range from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. Last night I think I started seeing rim lights for the first time. They seem to help define form quite a bit.

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ccsears
January 20th, 2009, 12:38 AM
i think there are some good things going on in your life drawings, but i've got two small suggestions--1) in some of the drawings, your shadows have gone really really dark almost to the point where it's hard to see the core of the shadow from the rest of the shadow shape. 2) more "calligraphy" in the lines of your core shadows--thicker, softer, thinner, lost edges, etc. it makes drawing more fun!

Kim_bot
January 20th, 2009, 01:03 AM
Sweet, I saw your thumbnail pic for this thread, and I was like "whoa!" because I did the exact same Bouguereau study a while back. It's really interesting to see his process because all his finished things were really amazing and polished and it's rare to see something of his that's not "done."

So, let's see, you seem to be more of a "painter" than a "drawer"; by that I mean that you seem to focus more on value than on linework. Practice making your lines as confident as your shading, otherwise everything looks good.

tmbritton
January 22nd, 2009, 12:13 AM
ccsears: Yeah, I can see what you mean. I'm not varying the marks much. Maybe I should slow down and get the mark correct the first time instead of rushing through.

Kim_bot: Hey, yeah that Bougoureau paintings is beautiful. I like that it has a really polished face and the rest fades off. Yeah, maybe I need to put more time into the actual sketchbook. Kinda funny how now I look like more of a painter when I started drawing by copying Jim Lee comic books.

Here's tonight's digital practice, from photo reference.

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M0RS
January 22nd, 2009, 12:25 AM
The brushwork in the digitals becoming a nice design element (earlier b/w one particularly).
The structure in your figures is also looking phenomenal.

See you sometime at the AVAA.

Black Spot
January 22nd, 2009, 03:14 PM
Life drawing is never boring to look at. Your digital nude is pretty good. On your last one - don't go too detailed until the rest of the picture has caught up.

tmbritton
January 27th, 2009, 12:46 AM
MORS: Thanks for stopping by. Gotta admit that's fake brushwork. It's just crap layered on top that I'm trying to make look cool.

Black Spot. Thanks for stopping by again. I agree that life drawing is never boring to look at, or do. I think my favorite pieces of art may be Michelangelo figure studies.

So here's some more stuff. Nothing very finished here. Some more life drawing. Pretty lackluster. My general rule seems to be the more attractive the girls the worse the drawings.

Messed around with some watercolors for the first time since high school. For those of you who don't know, that means it's been quite a while. I like them much more than I used to.

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tmbritton
January 28th, 2009, 12:19 AM
Messing around with some new photoshop watercolor brushes and excessive texture overlays. This one was a lot of fun. Kinda threw representation out the window.

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Detroit Represent
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tmbritton
January 29th, 2009, 12:25 AM
Here's a sketch from tonight. Drawn in Painter using the Acrylic captured bristle brush. First bristley brush in painter that worked for me. Then I took it into photoshop and destroyed it.

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Just_Nonplussed
January 29th, 2009, 01:32 PM
really like your latest life drawings and the chow (looks creepy but very solid).
it's great you have it twice a week. how long is it for? i have it once a week for three hours. and did i spot some life models that dressed up in outfits?

try to use less lines with 30sec pose maniacs gestures. try this - look/record, look/record, look/record. focus on essential lines, one at a time. then when you're fast enough, record facial details and musculature. though you might have already tried this, i only looked at page 1 and page 5 of your SB.

Just_Nonplussed
January 29th, 2009, 01:57 PM
Here's some more scribbly bullshit from the last couple of days.

You know what I was thinking would be cool? If somebody had at some point written a book that broke down the human figure into simplified forms. Maybe a conceptual "mannequin" figure that could be drawn quickly in any pose. Maybe the figure could even be broken into geometric shapes. Like an egg shape for the head and ribcage. Maybe a cube for the pelvis and cylinders for the arms and legs. It would be nice if such a book were written by somebody who knew what he was talking about. Like an illustrator from the 1940s.

Does anybody know if such a thing exists? It could help my hapless floundering with a pencil quite a bit.

i've been working a lot on this lately. i've been concerned with it for nearly a year. i used to use loomis constructions and marvel comic constructions, but they weren't very effective for how i wanted to express, so i dumped their ideas and began on a long journey of 'self discovery' to create my own 'puppet' with my own 'rules'.

so with a little help from a book called 'force' by someone called 'michael d. mattesi' (ex-disney i think), and a lot of perseverence and thought on my part, i arrived at something like... 'drawing as language', language of movement. it's difficult to explain, but it's about your own journey.

i'm sure you can use how to draw manga or marvel or loomis, but your own artistic desires take over at some point.
in the end there is no 'magic' formula and if it was that easy then i guess there would be a lot more artists.

feel free to look at my thought processes on creation if it helps. however arrogant that might sound.

tmbritton
January 31st, 2009, 02:14 AM
Just_Nonplussed: Thanks for stopping by. The life drawing is twice a week for three hours. In Austin you could actually find a life drawing session somewhere in town just about every day of the week. Every other Sunday they dress up in costumes.

That paragraph about scribbly bullhshit was actually a snarkey reply to an earlier reply that I didn't think was constructive and kind of a "Captain Obvious" remark.

Here's a digital from tonight. Playing with various brushes, seeing what I could do. Painter and Photoshop.

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tmbritton
February 1st, 2009, 11:06 PM
Hey all, here's a pile of life drawings from today.

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Henchman 21
February 1st, 2009, 11:13 PM
nice life studies! I dig the 20s-30s style girl the most.

M0RS
February 1st, 2009, 11:49 PM
Nice work in that session today (the texture in the muscle shirt was a bitch, I was trying to suggest it but I think you nailed it), good to see you again, man.

KidApe
February 2nd, 2009, 05:03 PM
Hi Tom, it's been much to long since I've stopped by to see your progress, and I see that you've been updating quite a bit! These heavily textured paintings are really showing your style. Your life drawings are becoming stronger and more confident with each session. Keep it up man.

tmbritton
February 3rd, 2009, 12:23 AM
Henchman 21: Hey, thanks for stopping by.

M0RS: Good to see you at the drawing session again as well.

Kidape: Glad to see you on CA.org again. Thanks for the compliments.

Here's another dump of life drawings from tonight as well as a photo manipulation of one.

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tmbritton
February 9th, 2009, 12:32 AM
It's been a few days. Here's some watercolors from a life drawing session. It's fun to just watch them drip down the page. It's a brand new medium. I'm having fun with it.

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Then here's a quick photoshop sketch that I took and layered one of the watercolors and some texture into it.

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KidApe
February 9th, 2009, 10:54 PM
yay, these are some progressive updates. I remember when you finished up the reclining model's portrait on Sunday, and as I saw it from a distance I could see the facial features through the drips. Good stuff. I think your latest artwork has an urban vibe to it because of the street wall textures which is awesome. Keep it up!

tmbritton
February 15th, 2009, 11:04 PM
Kidape: Glad you like the textury stuff. It's a lot of fun to do.

So I did a lot of life drawing today. Since I was scanning that I also scanned some sketches. It turned into a lot of stuff. So here's a big pencil dump.

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Mischeviouslittleelf
February 15th, 2009, 11:26 PM
Hey man, some nice drawings and what not here. Liking the digi stuff as well mate, you could probably try to paint directly into colour, that would be fun to look at^^

-E

KidApe
February 16th, 2009, 12:15 AM
Hell yeah man, today was a great day for art. Those sketches you drew from your imagination turned out pretty well, and they look spiffy with signature.
I'm liking your control of clearly showing the light and shadow pattern on the model. Hey, are you combing graphite and charcoal on the latest drawings, to get the combination of broad strokes and thin lines?

tmbritton
February 16th, 2009, 12:49 AM
Mischeviouslittleelf: Hey, thanks for stopping by. Sometimes I go straight to color with the digitals rather than doing a greyscale drawing and coloring that. The results are definitely better with a directly color painting.

Kidape: Those are all graphite. The broad strokes an 8B pencils without wood. Since it's all graphite you can turn it on the side and use it for broad areas of tone as well as lines.

Here's another reason to scan or photograph the life drawings, besides posterity. You never know what oyu're going to see in them once you start laying them over each other.

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tmbritton
February 16th, 2009, 11:04 PM
Here's some life drawing from tonight. I only thought that one of the longer poses was worth scanning. I also scanned this page of short poses. For some reason I like it. Probably the bending over shot.

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KidApe
February 18th, 2009, 10:05 AM
Morning Tom, those short poses are very well executed and I like the composition of the four figures on one page. As always your use of contrast
in the pencil rendering is very good.

Janos
February 18th, 2009, 10:11 AM
Though I love the last life painting I really think that the background setracts from the image. Its as shaded as teh figure itself. Either make it darker or lighter, like this its just distracting.

Cheers mate

Sublimus
March 2nd, 2009, 02:12 PM
There is some interesting stuff, and some great studies in here.

Keep it up, bro!

tmbritton
March 4th, 2009, 12:14 AM
Kidape: Thanks for stopping by, see you at the AVAA

Janos: Thanks for the feedback. I'll have to pay attention to my focal points, make sure I don't do anything distracting

Sublimus: Absolutely I'll be keeping it up.

Here's one from tonight. I also have a buttload of life drawings to photograph, and even some attempts at quick oil paintings. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow.

Photoshop. I think I should use less textury brush for most of the painting. It makes the unsharpen mask too noisy.

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KidApe
March 5th, 2009, 12:46 AM
Very nice, great use of graphic elements in this last one, and I like the combined pointillism type usage of rendering. Your cool colors are working quite well and I especially like the greens you've used in the shadows of the face.

tmbritton
March 16th, 2009, 03:17 AM
Kidape: Glad you like the graphic elements in the painting. I think I'll continue that, as well as the textures.

Here's my most recent. Got broken up with last night so I figured I could either do art or get drunk. So I did both. Here's the result.

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KidApe
March 16th, 2009, 10:33 AM
Hi Tom, I think this piece is the most powerful one that you've created, and it's a reclining pose!;) You handled the merging of shapes into the light and dark masses of the figure pretty well. All the varying textures throughout the piece really work too. I didn't realize that there were subtle purple accents throughout the figure until until my eye moved through the piece, very nice touch.

tmbritton
March 19th, 2009, 11:44 PM
Kidape: Thanks, glad you like it. I think it's my best digital so far as well.

Here's a couple of paintings from tonight. They're 4 foot by 2 foot. I've never worked that big before. My main brush was a house painting brush. They look much better in person. Something I realized tonight about paintings is that the larger they are the more impressive they look. I took a picture of hte room they're in to give some context to their size.

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JailHouseRock2
March 20th, 2009, 12:10 AM
Hay there Tom, really cool stuff man!

I always enjoy looking though your SB, and your work of late is really interesting.
Love your paintings and your sketches are getting really solid too,

So just keep at it man!
matt

KidApe
March 20th, 2009, 11:49 AM
Hey Tom, it's great to hear that you're working on some large paintings. I'm liking your drips of paint that go over the forms combined with your transparent and loose brushwork. The glazes really bring out the warm reds underneath, especially in the portrait near the side planes and neck area which I think gives it a warm fleshy look=D Keep it up!
Are these done in oils or acrylics?

hunchback
March 20th, 2009, 03:07 PM
those last paintings are ....nice
no really i love to see people that are really loose with there work.

more big paintings please

tmbritton
March 21st, 2009, 02:26 PM
Hey, replies! I no longer get email notifications from this site for some reason.

hunchback: I'm glad you like them. I'm a fan of loose expressive paintings too. I'll have to see about doing more paintings this size. They were really fun.

Kidape: These are acrylic. I did these at the Austin Figurative Gallery. Acryllic is much easier to transport.

JailHouseRock2: Hey, glad you like the sketchbook. I took a look at yours and it's looking really solid as well.

So here's a bunch of life drawings that I just now got around to taking pictures of. I gotta stop letting these build up on me. It takes forever to do a load like this.

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tmbritton
March 23rd, 2009, 12:13 AM
Hey all,

Here's my artistic output for the day. I tried to do some big paintings again. This time I painted on some sort of cardboard, so I think too much of it soaked into the surface. Not sure if these came out as well as the last ones. I'll let somebody else be the judge of that. They're 32 x 40 and I only worked on them for 1/2 hour.

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tmbritton
March 23rd, 2009, 10:42 PM
Hey all,

Did these at the Austin Figurative Gallery tonight. I've been enjoying the acrylic recently. Even though it may not look like it, I've had more control over it recently, and the results have been more satisfactory than oil. There are all 15 minute paintings on the sides of torn-up 12 packs. I also found a corner of my apartment with decent light, so these are actually fairly decent reproductions of the color in the paintings.

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Shadow Stalker
March 23rd, 2009, 10:51 PM
Excellent pencil work.

KidApe
March 23rd, 2009, 11:01 PM
Daaamn, great updates man. It looks like you are really pushing your skills further and further becuase it's paying off in your paintings. The artwork you created on Sunday were massive! A drawing board of equal size to support those cardboard paintings would probably help, some masonite possibly? I think your drips are wonderful accents that complement loose brushwork.
Tom, the accurate and simple execution of the model's face on that last painting is very beautiful. It looks really confident.

tmbritton
March 26th, 2009, 01:33 AM
Shadow Stalker: Thanks! Glad you like.

Kidape: I might have gotten a lucky drip with that face on the last one. I looked, and it was there.

Here's a couple of digitals for the draw from what does everybody look like thread. kelly x and Kidape respectively.

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Black Spot
April 24th, 2009, 02:15 PM
LEGS! You really need to work on them as they are your main weak point.

I also meant to say that you've got some great work here.

Shadow Stalker
October 31st, 2009, 09:26 PM
Excellent work! Nice fluid figures.

Lets see some updates!