Rats Sketchbook**ENCOURAGE ME To POST DAILY** (there may be nudies inside)

[rattsang]

after hanging around here for a while doing nuthin ive decided to try and inmprove using a sketch book wish me luck (i'll need it :D)

all comments and crits encouraged and welcome

first post chrome studies without ref. i studied how reflections work then did these with out reff . how could i improve them?

EDit: first pic is a old oil painting ( spooky lol)

[l0stinth0ughts]

try smudging those, maybe itll improve the quality of the drawing. or maybe not, you wont know unless you try. id like to see some more. :rocker:

[rattsang]

some other recent sketches , these where done with ref :)

[rattsang]

try smudging those, maybe itll improve the quality of the drawing. or maybe not, you wont know unless you try. id like to see some more. :rocker:

hi i've never painted metal b4 so im not sure what works- ill give it a go and see what happens :)

[l0stinth0ughts]

hey new updates :) nice, i like them. are these done digital or real paint?

[rattsang]

hey new updates :) nice, i like them. are these done digital or real paint?

thank you , all my work is done in painter ix, although i come from a traditional education in painting.

[l0stinth0ughts]

nice, ive never done anything digital yet. its hard to paint in real life i think. some of my brushes arent good for details, any suggestions?

[rattsang]

yeah painting with real paint is much harder and takes more time and is more expensive.

i checked out your sketchbook but there isn´t any paintings there so i dont know what to suggest.

[Toxdel]

Nice Start on your new sketchbook. The metal rendering is pretty solid. I like the skin tones used on that last piece. I don't know if I'm a big fan of that crazy straw texture thing going on. Its easy to get carried away with texture in painter, maybe play with some of the brushes some more until you get a really solid style which is what it looks like your going for.

keep posting

[rattsang]

Nice Start on your new sketchbook. The metal rendering is pretty solid. I like the skin tones used on that last piece. I don't know if I'm a big fan of that crazy straw texture thing going on. Its easy to get carried away with texture in painter, maybe play with some of the brushes some more until you get a really solid style which is what it looks like your going for.

keep posting

lol yeah i did go a bit made on the random line texture- was just being lazy. i am looking for a style too but i find it hard- when i was painting in oils i was going for photo real but im past that now i'd much prefer a very simple textured style with impact.

[rattsang]

one of my more recent oils- its blah wanna move away from ref and work more painterly

[l0stinth0ughts]

hye nice, i like the blue one, with the girl kneeling. it has its way of saying death is fun to look at lol. oh ya i posted some paintings, just now, take a look and tell me what you think.

[thesadpencil]

nice start, i'm diggin the painterly feel you gave your digi paintings. the last one w/ the blue tone is superb only thing i notice on that one is that the guy laying down, you painted the texture of the jeans on his left leg but not his right. also i think i would lessen up the extreme lines (straw hat texture thing) going on in the second portrait, it works in moderation but when used that much i feel it distracts from the actual painting itself. good stuff though i wanna see some more.

[rattsang]

thanks thesadpencil , that was my blue phase- worked out well for me cause at the time i didnt understand colour properly and it gives a certain impact. know what you mean about the texture , ill lighten upo in future :)

[Toxdel]

I noticed you updated again so I had to stop by and say DAMN!! that oil piece is incredible. I love the emotion in it. The blue seems to greatly effect the mood, cold like death. It'd be cool to get that sort of texture look in painter.

[rattsang]

pretty random chrome shape in color- this chrome will come in handy when i start to draw cars and ship :P

[rattsang]

spent most of today trying to find brushes in painter to do go charcoal stuffs, took alot of tweaking heres the first of many
took about ten mins

[rattsang]

very quick study in painter , concentrating on color and surfaces.

havent posted in 2 weeks as i was out of the country doing a commission and didnt have internet, hope to be bashing stuff out like mad now. also am hoping to join a life drawing group next week fingers crossed :)

[rattsang]

copy of a painting by anders zorn. made in painter using only artists oils, all colours were mixed on the mixer pad from the default painter color set

[rattsang]

another master copy, this time a sargent. done very quickly using only tapering oil brush and again the mixerpad, trying to avoid the color wheel for now to improve my perception of color.

[Suira]

Wow! Muy buenos trabajos la verdad, 5 estrellas de mi parte. ;)

[rattsang]

Wow! Muy buenos trabajos la verdad, 5 estrellas de mi parte. ;)

MUCHOS GRACIAS :hugsmile:

[rattsang]

self-portrait done at break neck speed using just tapered oil brush

[rattsang]

partial VELAZQUES copy done using only the chunky oil pastel in painter and the mixerpad. was done very rapidly trying to suggest detail instead of labouring over it. was fun to do :)

[clunkymonkey]

Some awesome pieces man, I really like this style. Very traditional and precise:) The self-potrait is great.

[rattsang]

clunkymonkey - thanks for the kind words .

heres a life drawing -done from photo :(

trying desperately to improve my line quality, any advise or tips from anyone would be much appreciated. line drawing take me longer than quick paintings, which i find strange as in painting you need to deal with color.

edit: Note to self - need to loosen up the drawing like i did with paintings

[rattsang]

another drawing, trying to be looser and quicker.

[rattsang]

another pose done in 2 passes, 1 for contour, 1 for sensitivity.

[rattsang]

quick head study- no ref

[rattsang]

todays master copy, a rembrandt- as usual done very quickly using only the opaque acrylic brush and mixing colors on the mixer pad.

[rattsang]

this is an oldie, but i thought i'd post it as i sold it today , cash is much needed when your a pennyless chump :steph:

oil and acrylic on canvas and paper

[rattsang]

todays master copy another velazques, done with tapered oil brush and blender bristle for background, about 1 hour.

[windknight]

Hey nice works i love those oil painting you have made, keep it up .

[rattsang]

todays master copy. i spent longer on this one and used 3 or 4 artist oils brushes to get a more painterly feel had loads of fun doing this. i didnt aim to copy it exactly but to maintain the quick gestural strokes. original painting by Cecilia Beaux.

[rattsang]

i havent been slacking off lately, but i have done very little digital work as i have joined circelo bellas artes life drawing in madrid. im now going there 6 hours a day to improve my drawing and on the journey there and back im learning all the muscles and anatomy. i cant scan them as i dont have a scanner yet.

here as some of the better digital stuff ive done in the past few weeks- hopefully ill have time (and energy ) to do a master copy when i get home from life drawing tonite.

rat

[rattsang]

another sargent, tried finishing this one more but i got kinda bored so i rushed it halfway tru. found some interesting uses for artist oil brushed though.

[rattsang]

so an update- ive no internet at the mo so heres what i could pull together for now. more to follow soon. i apologize for the quality i dont have a scanner.

[aussiedeza]

fantastic paint studies mate, don't understand why you haven't got more people looking here but you get stars from me, your going to be awesome.

[rattsang]

fantastic paint studies mate, don't understand why you haven't got more people looking here but you get stars from me, your going to be awesome.

i guess its because altough my technique is ok my stuff isnt very inspiring. i do try to do illistrations but my lack of composition always makes me give up, but i do try one every week. tanks for the kind words.

[Justice Von Brandt]

I really like your paintings, you do a fantastic job on people.

[rattsang]

well no more life drawing for now, but i think i learned alot while it lasted, i should be ok with photos now. ive got broadband again and a scanner so i will update regularly....
started some oil paintings the other day and will post them when done.

well off for a game of squash now, heres some clouds , a study in edges.

[Elz]

Got to say, those clouds look fantastic. :)
Great progress so far, keep posting!

[voraz]

Hi Rattsang, nice stuff. I especially like your traditional stuff, you seem to have some strong paintings, I would like to see more.
cheers

[eminkey2003]

I love that painting of the twisting back shot of the male nude. That's gorgeous. I think you could loosen up in your life drawings and anatomy studies though. It looks like you press too hard half the time, and make scratchy lines the other half.

Sometimes I get too confident though, and I just make swift lines without even checking to see if they're correct.

[rattsang]

I think you could loosen up in your life drawings and anatomy studies though. It looks like you press too hard half the time, and make scratchy lines the other half.


your absolutely correct, though my line quality has improved since then- at the time i was too caught up with anatomy. something that really helped me was seeing Alfonse mucha s drawings in an exhibition in spain - i really soaked in his use of line.

thanks for stopping by :)

[donalfall]

I have seen your sketchbook before. I thought your username was familiar. I WAS in the GMIT but they suck all holy ass, so I'm using the Open University to finish out a degree - Art History and Critique. It's the best way to go. ;) I thought I had commented on your stuff before, but obviously not.

Your master copies are some good work. The old life drawings are looking good as well. I'll pop back. You in Cork/elsewhere? Give me a PM. I'm up in galway but I'm down in Cork 1 or 2 times a month, lived there for a while.

[rattsang]

well its been a while since i uploaded anything here- mainly because im working on 11 oil sketches all at once from photos. soon to be more as i finish some up. will post pics as they're done. well heres a taste dunno if ill do any more on this one and also a life drawing in charcoal (man im a bit rusty- and lacking skills :( )

thanks to everyone for the comments so far you guys are great :)

[rattsang]

did some anatomy work today - studying the arm- man i find this boring and frustrating, but at the same time i know it is very important. did some copies from bridgemans anatomy book and some others with out direct ref. learning from bridgeman chris harts anatomy for comic book artists ( i find the concept of wedging in this also) figure drawing for all its worth by loomis and this website (http://www.visiblebody.com)
what makes the site stand out is the ability to turn off muscles and look around them plus you can click muscles for the name- most helpful.

you may also notice a improvment in my line quality- all thanks to seeing muchas sketches up close and personal at the caxicafourm in madrid :)

[Kvick]

thanks for the advice you gave me in my SB

but damn man, great lifedrawings and paintings. I'm totally fucken envious :P.

no crits I could really think of other than it would be cool to see more imaginary work.

keep this posted :D

[MeTaL-Mike]

hey very nice studies man. love those paintings at the beginning of this page.

[Euphemism]

Your painting skills are fantastic! Bravo! :D It's great to see your work advancing along, esp. the pencil drawings and anatomy studies. I would've suggested for you not to make too many linear drawings (mostly line); you could, even in short studies, use light and shadow effectively and see where joints can join without drawing in a line to make it obvious - let the viewer fill the gap. :)

[rattsang]

Kvick thanks- you have nothing to be envious of. i will be doing imagination stuff very soon.
MeTaL-Mike thanks glad u like em :)
Euphemism i wish my skills were fantastic, last couple of weeks ive been using oils again and the results are terrible to say the least, having real difficulty in mixing on the pallete(the colour picker in painter has made me lazy) thanks for the advise my drawing skills are pretty weak but thankfully im improving.

heres a quick sketch in painter using only the tapered oil brush and a limited pallette taken from mixer pad, not more color picker for me, makes me to bloody lazy. concentrated on feeling of light

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Absolutely great stuff here!!! Blown away by the studies. Can't wait to see those oils you are working on! I would encourage trying to get a model to paint from though rather than photos as you probably know it will train your eye much much better.

Keep up the great work and keep the momentum!

[JesArt]

Wow, dude you are getting there, basically wat Iam trying to do, wow, keep it up dude, very awesome.

[Eclair]

nice works.. your painting are good.. i like your master-copies..
keep going

[rattsang]

well oil sketches were a disaster for the most part. wont bother photographing them and hurting your eyes. seem i still have major color issues, mostly to do with value and lighting keys. i learned some hard lessons and have been spending alot of time studying color (again :( ) heres a quick sketch in painter using only martha dalighs basic round brush and mixing colors form the mixer pad. used a different technique for drawing though. usually i draw in pencil and work up trasparent layers, this time i massed in lights and darks, twas a bit fiddliy but i think it will help my oil painting.

[JailHouseRock]

LOVE the panitings mate, great stuff!

thanks for sharing,

matt,

[rattsang]

another blocked sketch today, quick and simple using same tools as above. trying to limit my values- never realize how important this is until now

[mentler]

Strong
Thread

!5 BONES!

[rattsang]

Strong
Thread

!5 BONES!

wow coming from you that is a real encouragement i am in awe of your anatomy.

gonna try and do more master copies and possibly self portraits- one each a day as well as working on real paintings and some sketches- will try and post everything from now on.

heres todays master copy its zorn one of my faves. posted full size. worked a little differently on this one used soft as well as hard edged brushes
, took quite long as i was mixing colors on the mixer pad instead of using the triangle, has to be done though.

[rattsang]

some loomis head study..... bah has to be done.... now maybe ill do a silhouette.....

[rattsang]

hmmmm got tired and watched jacobs ladder- freaky :O
then did this poo from my bum- will try and do silhouettes everyday now also

i know this is no go but i am now thinking in structure and 3d rather than flat values.

[rattsang]

master copy for today- this was more work than usual - boy do i need practice at texture. concerntrating on texture and multi brushes. Thomas P Anschutz The Farmer and His Son at Harvesting

[thesadpencil]

hey nice sb you got here, i like your figure studies and the painterly quality of your paintings a lot. all those studies are coming along nicely. really just keep on doing what you're doing.

[algenpfleger]

Keep tackling the Loomis stuff man, it pays off big time! :) At least that's what I hear people saying.

[rattsang]

some quick crapy life sketches

[f1guremeout]

#63 || I agree with thesadpencil with his observation to the painterly approach exhibited in your work. Absolutely crisp and flowing throughout, both in color and stroke. The application of medium to the picture plane, noting the evident use of imposto technique in the figures and contrasting their forms against the shaded forest is just great. Its seems so pleasing to see this scene, that viewer gets this aspect of calm and peace the scene seems to exude, as if its summertime in a simpler time long ago.

I would love to see your talents advance even more, already strong stroke technique and confident color contrast choices, really accurate.

[Lakka]

Good work on that study. (#63)

YOur oil paintings have a wierd feeling to them, might be the people acting kind of surreal, yet real, sorry kind of hard to explain being as stupid as I am :asspat:

[rattsang]

YOur oil paintings have a wierd feeling to them, might be the people acting kind of surreal, yet real, sorry kind of hard to explain being as stupid as I am :asspat:


no need to be sorry and actually that was kind of what i was going for- like an uncomfortable reality

[jedininjaman]

I love that painting fantastic colors in it, really great
loomis heads are boring try to do them in ink to get that line quality down. your lines are pretty sketchy try to clean it up
but great work i enjoy it keep it up man and stop by sometime
jedi :)

[rattsang]

some weirdos before bedtime.......

[rattsang]

some more weirdos .... took so long .....aaaaarrrrggghh i suck.

[katinki]

wow - great book! the colours in your paintings are especially beautiful and juicy - but you get that a lot, i'm sure.
those character thumbnail weirdos are comming along nicely, too. good to see you trying something new. i think your designs are still fairly realistic and normal, you could try to make your silhouettes even more extreme to get even more interesting shapes.

keep it on!

[Alabaster]

Hello there, first of all, I like your stuff, especially your faces are wonderful .. and I especially love the compositional work you did at the "rural scene" on the first site. :cheerleader:
Ah yes, before I forget ... I voted for "Illustration/non ref work ... why ?
I can't give you a good answer here, basically you're good at defining scenes, as far as I have seen, your lines are wonderful, you certainly have a feeling for composition and color, but since most of the pictures I've seen were a bit blurry or let's say "rough" I'd say you tend to rush these studies in order to fulfill the mandatory torment of exercising and studying, which every artist has to go through if he or she wants to become better. So, what I want to say with all this blabla is, that you seem to be happy to soon with y our achievements.
The study of Velazquez's gimp is wonderful, but on the other hand, at least to my mind, some of the portraits are too (b)rushed, they are too sketchy and in order to get away from that you should define more details. I hope you don't take this lament too seriously, I really like your work ! ( *whisper* .. but you made a poll and this poll contains this special point with illustrations, I thought you needed some feedback on how your sketches work on me, especially your portraits .. ;):shrug: ). If I'm wrong and you did just wanted to develop a certain style, I apologize.

Well anyway, bottom line, you are quite a talent with those ideas, keep it coming.
Cheers, grrrreeetings from Vienna !

[rattsang]

quick selfportrait for life using mirror
reddered quickly with a conte brush- might spend some more time on this to flesh it out with impasto oils... maybe.

[Jho]

Awesome stuff.
Only improvement suggestion I can think of is the machinery. Maybe try studying engine parts etc. Of course you haven't really shown any real machinery here, so I might be completely wrong about this... But it was all I could think of. Otherwise you are perfect, stop practising...

[donalfall]

I almost forgot about your SB man. We should cross the country sometime and collab or something. I think your line quality and colour work are aces, so I vote for non-ref stuff as your weak point... at least until I see some more. You're doing real well at those master copies. Keep on working.

[rattsang]

some heads some are from photos and others are from my noodle.

[parascytheJack]

hey thanks for visiting my post...wow love your work dude sub'ing it for sure..

[f1guremeout]

72 - 73 || Lovely quick strokes and the use of high contrasting solids lend themselves to the subjects that they depict. Awesome form and intriguing design is happening here. Even for rapid sketches, these find home with fully developed ideations and may lead to something more. My personal liking to the first panel, on 72, with the figure to the far right, in a suit. Something of a 'Corporate Sinister" I like in that depiction. Can't wait to see more.

Happy Sketching!

[rattsang]

yeah thanks for the comments guys no time for individual replies at the moment here a quick study from phot concertrating on resolving space my very weakest point.

[rattsang]

this took far too long- i suck

[rattsang]

been working with conveying light better- cause i suck, heres a recent more successful portrait.

[sinneart]

Nice! I'm feelin it... Just a few crits, though...

Nostril seems a tad too dark - neck area isn't quite caught up with the rest of the image... probably just cos it's a wip..? And finally - I'd throw in a cool colour for the flesh tones to make all those nice warms pop a bit more... I do like that sort of dove grey thing happening around the temple... maybe it could be also applied in other areas, like the jawline (instead of, or maybe just tone down the orange there... I find it a little bit distracting, but thats just me)

Good stuff!

[dark eagle]

Hi there. I'm liking your work here. I'd like to say that you should take that one that took "too long to finish-I suck" and do way more that fit under that category so that whatever your having trouble with should ease it self away.

Your poll, I voted for the line quality bit. Try to get as much into one stroke as you can, instead of making however many stokes to define a chin/jawline try to do it in one.

I like your paintings so far, but most of the ones I've seen are far too blocky for me. Try to actually make those "blocks" of colour relate to each other rather than just be there.

Cyas.

[rattsang]

sinneart- yeah that is just a quick sketch, falws and all.

dark eagle- you were right i didnt pay enough attention to planes and my colors were offf. spent the week studying color and planes, heres some sketches.

[rattsang]

another study of color and planes, i think im finally getting my head around planes .....abit anyway

[rattsang]

so ive been lazy with the sketchbook lately... but not lazy, been doing some work with color and pencils and ive improved alot.... nothing worth posting though. heres a quick sketch in painter.... i find you get a much better "oil" feeling from brushes that aren't the artists oils..........

think ill do some pencil work now .. will update with what ever i do later tonite.

[rattsang]

didnt have much time today to draw or paint as i was building 2 pcs :( here s what i got done in between.......

[rattsang]

life painting not finished yet done from a ref from character designs.com

[rattsang]

quick sketch without ref...... looks like im trying to drop my crutches- wish me luck

[rattsang]

WORKING ON SHAPES, VALUE PATTERN AND CAMERA ANGLES

been studying some massive black videos i purchased recently- wow they are awesome and well worth the money

[rattsang]

life painting about 10 hours i think.............

[Quike Garcia]

Wow, your last 2 life paintings are awesome (#90 & #93) The last one is great, and the onñy thing I can do here is watch and learn..

One question.. Was it worthy the fee for Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid for the life paintings?

[rattsang]

One question.. Was it worthy the fee for Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid for the life paintings?


thank you

of course it is if you use it, it is only 15 euro a month and i was going 6hours a day 6 days a week, now in ireland i pay 7 euro for 2.5 hours a week :(

[Artastic]

Wow. Awesome work and inspiring. I look forward to the day when I can paint like that.

[Quike Garcia]

thank you

of course it is if you use it, it is only 15 euro a month and i was going 6hours a day 6 days a week, now in ireland i pay 7 euro for 2.5 hours a week :(

Damn.. I'll have to save the time to do it :) Thanks a lot!!

Long time without a post here :P

[rattsang]

Quikenobi- yes it has been a while since i posted, although id like to post everyday, most my stuff is sub-par at the moment but i am working away with a fury. definatly go to the circulo it is a great resource- just look at how bad the lighting is in the life drawing im going to now. UUUGGGGHHH.

artastic- i sent you a link to that old color theory, but it is rather old to me now and i know alot more, will be writting a new much improved verion in the near future. thanks for the compliment, work hard and study alot and youll get better every day,

so i brought my tablet along to life drawing this week- the attention i got was surprising, as you can tell the life drawing i go to is shit and the model is lit from about 7 different light sources. i dont mind it to much but for less experienced ppl it must be a nightmare. this one was about 1hour 20 mins done using only the square conte and airbrush.

[sevarenge]

nice sb like the colering alot kip it upp !

my sb:http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=149972

[Quike Garcia]

The best thing is that you've been able to catch greatly the feeling of dull light :)

Great life one :)

[rattsang]

errr yeah a quick portrait

[rattsang]

some studies from ref.......... this ithink will be the turning point, i will be doing as many studies as i can a day of lighting conditions and materials