eldritch48's sketchbook

[eldritch48]

Please jump to the last page, the stuff at the beginning sucks, but I am improving, I swear :)

[eldritch48]

Hey everyone, I'm brand new to the site, brand new to digital painting, and brand new to analog painting! I do have a background in photography and 3D stuff in Vue and Poser.

Anys, here's my first sketch :)


...and a quick speed painting from this afternoon.

[DocEvilTitanium]

I really like the first picture you posted. It reminds me a lot of the Tomb Raider movie for some reasson, maybe its just because of the statue in the bacground? :)

I dont know, it just works very well together and I like the waterfall you put into the picture.

Keep up the good bacgrounds, I know theyre really hard to make.

[eldritch48]

Thank you! I want to become a matte painter, so you will definitely see more landscape concepts.

[eldritch48]

Just a quick update today, was pretty busy teaching classes, but I did get time for some anatomy sketching which I am too lazy to scan, and this one speedpainting that I did based on the idea from the Feb issue of "2D Artist"

[eldritch48]

Was busy over the weekend, so I didn't get a chance to post. Here's something I did yesterday.

[eldritch48]

Just trying to keep up with my speed paintings.

Time: 45mins

[Lotet]

less custom brushes and more lines whould be really good for you, theres not realu understanding in shapes.

though the last forrest is pretty good.

[eldritch48]

less custom brushes and more lines whould be really good for you, theres not realu understanding in shapes.

though the last forrest is pretty good.

*nod* Thanks for your comments :) I'm trying to work more with the regular brushes, although custom ones work really well for leaves on trees! I'm glad you think the forest shows improvement, that's all I can hope for.

[eldritch48]

So, after doing this picture, I really realized that I need to work on shadows and lighting a lot...not really sure how to begin, maybe just some value sketches?

Here's another quick landscape.

[eldritch48]

This took about 2 hours with a reference, 'cause I'm slow. Close-up mountains are definitely a skill I need to improve!

[Morgoth_AR]

Hey, really nice stuff in this thread. Your first one is awesome. On your last piece, one thing I would suggest is that you use less of the custom brushes, and more of your own texture-making with the hard brush. Or at least break up the patterns a bit. You can tell on the right part of the water and the grass in front, that you used the same brush over and over. You should do some texture studies with just the hard brush.

[eldritch48]

Another painting. Tried to work on landscaping without custom brushes. Started with a value sketch and then colorized it.

[eldritch48]

I was feeling artistic at work this afternoon, and things were slow, so I thought I'd try to do some perspective practice.

[eldritch48]

I took the first sketch from this page and made a matte painting out of it.

[eldritch48]

This one is 99% photo-editing. Here's the painting and the source.

[eldritch48]

Another matte painting and source.

[eldritch48]

Here are two more, a day-to-night conversion and another invisible matte.

[eldritch48]

Continuing with my Japanese castle theme:

Matsuyama-jo:

[eldritch48]

Here's another one based on the riverside in the town I live in.

[amordecosmos]

They are very realistic. My favorite is the first picture.

[eldritch48]

Based on Rainart's DVD.

[eldritch48]

Today, I continued with the same technique, only this time for an industrial complex.

[eldritch48]

Feel pretty good about this one. Spent about 6 hours on it, which is probably a long time for what it is, but I felt like I finally *saw* things that needed to be done to it, so it took a bit longer than usual.

[eldritch48]

Just some quick studies of robot bodies.

[eldritch48]

Really enjoying doing these robot thumbnails, so I did two more, and added some internal definition. The original body sources were two characters from Poser that I blocked out to make humanoids, and then warped considerably.

[eldritch48]

A quick landscape speedpainting.

[eldritch48]

Kinda been in a swampland sort of mood these last couple of days.

[eldritch48]

Another matte painting concept sketch...loosely based on a MTG red land.

[eldritch48]

Nothing creepier than an abandoned amusement park. I think it's the contrast between life and death, fun and decay...*shrug*

[eldritch48]

Another sketch using a MTG land as a source - mostly painting practice for me. Source of inspiration was by John Avon.

[eldritch48]

Playing with creating my own shadows on buildings.

[eldritch48]

Been a while, I've had the worst case of allergies any human being should be forced to endure. Gotta love Spring!

[eldritch48]

Practice with freehand painting and perspective. Trying to get a little more loose, and move away from the "photoshop" look.

[eldritch48]

Nothing for 2 weeks, then 3 in 1 day!

[eldritch48]

Experimenting with the Ryan Church method of speed painting.

[eldritch48]

Took an extended vacation in Shanghai, but I'm back now. Been doing a lot of pencil sketches, and I haven't had a chance to scan any of them, but here are two things I did in Painter X.

[Surion]

Hey man! your work is really nice.
Keep it up!

[eldritch48]

Here are some of the pencil sketches I did today.

[eldritch48]

Here are a couple more pencil thumbnail sketches from this week. The first one came from my head, the 2nd page was my first attempt at "life" drawing, and came from around the yard of my school.

[eldritch48]

Got the art tip pen for my wacom, and I played around with something in color :)

[eldritch48]

Just a couple more quick studies

[eldritch48]

I'm going to paint at least one tree scene every day this week...here's the first one.

[eldritch48]

Different kind of tree, different kind of atmosphere.

[eldritch48]

Going for a more "cartoon" style with this one. Started by sketching on paper, then scanned and painted.

[eldritch48]

Here's the next sketch from tree week.

[nickmarshallvfx]

Hey Eldritch, good to see you here. I think you really need to work on your lighting. Try painting one tree on its own, dont worry about the environment around it just paint one tree, pick and light source, and see how well you can paint it. Look at reference too to help you out and see what sort of forms regularly appear on trees.

Nick

[eldritch48]

Sounds good, I'll give it a shot :)

[eldritch48]

I worked ahead of schedule a bit on this, although it is *technically* 12:01am ATM ;)

Just the tree.

[nickmarshallvfx]

Looks easily the best tree you have painted from here, congrats.
Now its just a case of putting things together and making sure that when you do the environment with the tree you dont forget about all those things like light and texture, and looking at the refs has massively improved the form of the tree.
Keep up the good work mate!

Nick

[eldritch48]

Probably my last entry in tree week.

[eldritch48]

Here are two landscape speed paintings I did this week.

[eldritch48]

From the "Matte Painting Bob Ross Style" thread on mattepainter.org, I thought I'd follow along myself for practice. I can't claim the composition on this one as being unique, but the execution is all mine :)

[Giorge]

nice ideas , but one thing though , you should try to blend some of the stuff into the image , cuz like this they look to harsh to many hard edges , do that and your are one step closer to a good looking environment

[eldritch48]

Quick (90 min) speed concept sketch. Feel like I'm starting to see a little improvement ;) I'm pretty damned impatient, which doesn't work so well with learning to paint, but I think I'm starting to be able to relax into it more.

[eldritch48]

Taking a step back, trying to work on some distance shots and keep perspective.

[eldritch48]

No reference photo for this one.

[eldritch48]

Not entirely happy with this one, but I'm not sure what to do to "fix" it. I was playing with a darker palette.

Posting this more as a record than to try to "show off" or any such thing.

[eldritch48]

Bit of CGI, bit of painting.

[eldritch48]

another speed painting landscape.

[eldritch48]

Here are two pencil sketches I've done in the last couple of days.

[Verehin]

mmm nice...try to use more interesting brushes

[eldritch48]

mmm nice...try to use more interesting brushes

Well, the last 2 were done with straight pencil. I'm actually trying to avoid using "interesting" brushes to improve my straight painting ability. I see a lot of people using brushes as a crutch instead of learning to paint properly first.

[eldritch48]

Here's a pencil sketch of the Chinese Garden in Naha, Okinawa.

[BadGeometry]

For your pencil sketches, one book I highly recommend you to look at is Dynamic Light and Shade by Hogarth. I wouldn't say it's specifically aimed at environments, but a good deal of the book's examples are environments, so it'll be a great reference for you.

Keep practicing with pencil sketches. I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but go to parks, subways, wherever and draw what you see. Also, take a little more time to put some more detail in your sketches. Even if you just do something quick, pick a section from what you have (for example, the tower in the Chinese garden drawing you posted) and flesh it out some more.

Keep posting man. Practice makes perfect!

[eldritch48]

Today's 20 minute pencil sketch

[eldritch48]

The Korean DMZ

[eldritch48]

Well, I've been doing a ton of pencil sketches, but I've also been moving back from Japan to the US, so I haven't had access to a scanner to post anything - still don't in fact :(

I did do a fairly simple painting in Corel Painter X this morning, so I thought I'd share that.

[eldritch48]

Playing with digital watercolour in Corel Painter X

[eldritch48]

The more I looked at the thing I just did, the more I realized I didn't challenge myself enough...so I tried another one. I'll leave the last one up as a measure of progress, but I'm much happier with this one.

Hopefully the same thing will happen with this one tomorrow ;)

[eldritch48]

Finally got my scanner back up and running after getting back from Japan.

Here's a quick sketch I did of the coast of Maine (Acadia National Park)

[eldritch48]

Here's a photoshop painting:

[eldritch48]

I'm doing these every day, even when I don't get a chance to scan them. I feel like I'm showing some improvement, hopefully you do as well (whoever you are!)

[eldritch48]

Pencil sketches.

[eldritch48]

I've been busy working on stuff for the Landscape Concept Art class on CGS. Here's my final project from the class.

[eldritch48]

The steampunk ride of Paul Revere.

[Samuel Gray]

hey man some cool perspectives you have on the last one. one thing i noticed right off though on most of your paintings is that you try to put alot of effects and last second squibbles to make things look good where you can go back and take your time to make them more believable. and also try to pick one or more lightsources and apply the reflections to all of the objects in the picture. some figures seem like they were just pasted in there and dont belong. keep it up man.

[eldritch48]

This is from Week #1 of the CG Society Figure Painting Class taught by Don Seegmiller. Definitely outside of my comfort zone (whatever that is!)

Based on a photo I took back in 2005.

[eldritch48]

One of my friends here in Vancouver was getting on my ass about not posting like I should be...so I'm making a resolution to try and show more of my progress.

[eldritch48]

Here's some from life drawing tonight.

[eldritch48]

Another little something.

[eldritch48]

Being a fair and honest assessment of my sketchbook ;0

I keep telling myself I'll get better with practice.

[eldritch48]

another marker landscape.

[eldritch48]

I'm almost too embarrassed to post this, but it's the random doodling I've been doing today in between working on my matte painting class and my figure painting class...neither of which have anything nearing "finished", so I don't really want to post that stuff.

[eldritch48]

From the Vancouver Sketch Group, topic "Miniaturized Jungle Queen".

[eldritch48]

just a little chibi.

[IanE]

I smell improvement. Those matte paintings are confusing, which is good, it means they're working!

Anatomy... not working so much! Get that mileage in - we all struggle with it!

[eldritch48]

I smell improvement. Those matte paintings are confusing, which is good, it means they're working!

Anatomy... not working so much! Get that mileage in - we all struggle with it!

Thanks for taking time to comment. I agree, anatomy needs work. It's one reason why I'm trying to be good about posting every day, to make sure I put the discipline in. I will say I'm better than I was a month ago, so it's all just a matter of time and effort.

[IanE]

On that note, I'll recommend you a couple of books that were recommended to me a long time ago.

Constructive Anatomy (http://www.amazon.com/Constructive-Anatomy-Dover-Books-Instruction/dp/0486211045/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237096791&sr=8-2) by George Bridgman

Figure Drawing for All It's Worth (http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/) by Andrew Loomis

Also be sure to check out Mentler's threads on here... the guy's a modern day da Vinci. Give him a quick search!

[eldritch48]

Here are some life drawing pictures from tonight's Dr. Sketchy's.

[eldritch48]

Here's something from my session @ Emily Carr tonight.

[eldritch48]

Spent the day working on matte painting and figure painting, so no sketches to upload :( Here's the "final" value study for my figure painting - I'm going to add more detail as I colorize it, but it's fairly representational.

Tomorrow - Sketches for sure!

[eldritch48]

today was practice for profiles of heads.

[eldritch48]

Picture from today's sketch group, theme "Monsters attacking a city."

[AlexTooth]

Hi nice so far!

Couple of crits, some of the pictures are too big - even on my 24" monitor I can't look at them properly!

Other thing is practice more anatomy ever day I would, like gestures poses on posemaniacs, and Loomis, that kind of thing.

Anyway, keep it up - there's some really nice stuff in here, it's just a case of getting it all more consistent, which of course happens with practice :)

Good job!

[Cacodaemonia]

The lighting in the figure painting looks pretty good. :) She definitely needs more detail in her hair, though.

I like all the different face and nose shapes you're experimenting with.

[kinjura]

Great sketchbook! I don't care if you just started or not, I love when I find other people who are as in love with environments as I am. I'm new to that sort of thing myself, but it doesn't make it any less fun. Your mattes are awesome. I was checking them out and thought to myself, "I wish he'd change one of these to a night scene"; then you did. Big smiles :)

[eldritch48]

Here's a practice figure. Started with the rough form on paper, then drew the details on tracing paper and scanned that.

[eldritch48]

Here's the next step on my forest witch figure painting from before.

[eldritch48]

From tonight's life drawing...I know I got his eyes too big, but otherwise, I kinda like these.

[Cacodaemonia]

Regarding this image http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=626688&stc=1&d=1237787291 - I think you need to work more on gesture drawings and getting down the anatomy of the figure. The character seems very stiff, and his upper arms are much shorter than his forearms.

The forest witch is looking very nice. I like the sense of depth in the image. The grey-green mossy stuff stands out a bit too much, though. Maybe try adding some shading to it. :)

[eldritch48]

The latest incarnation of the forest witch, after some suggestions from friends more skilled than I on hair painting.

[Jaytea]

I'm really liking your matte paintings and environments; both CG and sketches. Very nice; keep it up!

Critiques~
Keep working on your people. : D Work on forms instead of sketching back and forth for a 'perfect outline'. Loosen up and sketch big forms and gestures, and take a look at anatomy books for different views of the head. I had the same problem; I would shade what I saw in a reference, but I couldn't apply the idea of forms to my sketches to build poses of my own, and even now I'm a long way from being good at that. :] Keep it up, man~

[eldritch48]

Some friends of mine encouraged me to work on something for DWIV..here are some exploratory sketches for my Norm Stalker character - the Aztec Jaguar Hunter - Basically, an Aztec ninja :)

[eldritch48]

more exploration of the Norm Stalker

[eldritch48]

Got my computer back from the mac store last night, back in business :)

Today's scan from the Vancouver Sketch Group, topic was "Tibetan Giant Killer"

[eldritch48]

Life drawing today was all short (30sec - 5min) poses, and I mostly used it for drawing matchstick men to get gestures down.

Here's the initial sketch for my next matte painting for the CG Society class.

[eldritch48]

I've been playing around with Alchemy, and man, I'm finding it very inspiring!

Here's the original thing I created in Alchemy, and then what I did with it in Photoshop.

[Cacodaemonia]

Cool Alchemy sketch! I'd like to see you incorporate more of those intricate squiggly lines into the design. :)

[eldritch48]

Here's another quick alchemy scribble in the initial stages of being turned into a demon lord.

[eldritch48]

Finished 3D concept for my next matte painting. Done in Vue, no postwork.

[eldritch48]

Another Alchemy sketch reworked in photoshop. Still definitely at the conceptual stage.

[eldritch48]

Finding shapes in Alchemy and working them into characters. This guy is a work in progress, hope to get some colour and more definition in him this weekend in between Emerald City Comicon.

[Cacodaemonia]

This latest one is especially cool. :) Love all those details!

[eldritch48]

20 minute life drawing today.

[eldritch48]

Here's the next pass at my demon lord from Alchemy. He's looking more "mech-like" now, but I'm hoping to make the demon shine through when I get to more texturing.

[eldritch48]

Here's the next level on my demon lord concept.

[eldritch48]

Moon Farming, from the Vancouver Sketch Group meeting today.

[eldritch48]

15 minute life drawing @ Dr. Sketchy's last night.

[eldritch48]

One hour speedpainting practice to work on forms of non-human objects.

[Cacodaemonia]

That bug looks great! You just need to add shadows underneath it. :)

[eldritch48]

This time, the American Cockroach.

[eldritch48]

From today's Vancouver Sketchgroup, "Little Red Riding Hood"

[eldritch48]

Two 10-minute life drawings from today.

[eldritch48]

An hour spent this morning drawing heads from an art book.

[eldritch48]

Today's bug was painted based on a photo by Igor Siwanowicz that was posted on photo.net: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7399662

[2100]

Ooo, great color on the kaze castle, Seth! You should do that when you watercolor... :P Your environments are improving steadily, but we gotta sit down and discuss your figures one of these days.

[eldritch48]

Here are my 12 heads for today.

[eldritch48]

Ooo, great color on the kaze castle, Seth! You should do that when you watercolor... :P Your environments are improving steadily, but we gotta sit down and discuss your figures one of these days.

Thanks dude :) You coming to Grind this afternoon?

[eldritch48]

Today's 1-hour bug

[eldritch48]

Nothing complex, just practicing washes.

[eldritch48]

Here's the next in the bug series.

[eldritch48]

Here are my 12 head sketches from today.

[Cacodaemonia]

These last two bugs look really awesome! :D You should try the techniques you use when painting insects to paint a human figure or portrait as well. But don't think of it as a human. Just think of it as shapes and shadows, like the insects. :)

[eldritch48]

These last two bugs look really awesome! :D You should try the techniques you use when painting insects to paint a human figure or portrait as well. But don't think of it as a human. Just think of it as shapes and shadows, like the insects. :)

That's the plan :) This week I'm doing bugs, next week I think I'm going to try for guys in armor, and then I'm going to try people again.

[Cacodaemonia]

That sounds like an awesome plan. :D

[DStraX]

bugs are looking realy great :D

[eldritch48]

Today's 1-hour speedpainting bug. Starting to really like doing these :)

[eldritch48]

Today I tried to draw Capt. Jacob Merryweather from my old CGI comic, "Steamcrows"

[Twelve]

Hi, Nice stuff. Your bugs look great. Especially the last one, the wasp. That image is great :) Keep pounding away at your anatomy work. Good stuff here.

[eldritch48]

Here's the final(?) version of my 2nd matte painting from class.

[eldritch48]

Two more from yesterday @ the Vancouver Sketch Group.

[eldritch48]

1.5 hours, first of the week's theme of "dudes in armor"

[eldritch48]

Here are more head studies, and tonight's watercolour painting.

[eldritch48]

Some heads done in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

[eldritch48]

Here's the 2nd armor painting...just about 1.5 hours.

[eldritch48]

Random big lizard.

[eldritch48]

This one without reference, in pencil @ dinner.

[Cacodaemonia]

Sorry I haven't commented recently - been busy! D:

The first armor dude looks good. :) I think his shield could do with some shading, though - it looks very flat.

The watercolor landscape is very nice. Love the subtle, earthy tones, though the tree on the right looks funny.

What does 'Sesu' mean in your signature?

Second armor guy looks very good, but push the contrast more! Armor is very shiiiiny. :D

The lizards look cute - keep practicing them. :)

[eldritch48]

Man! The spring 'ick' came around and bit me in the ass! 104 degree fever, chills, massive sore throat...thank gods for antibiotics!

Oh, the "Sesu" is how you say my name in Japanese, I got used to signing it that way when I lived there, and thought it looked pretty cool so I kept doing it ;)

Here are two updates, the first from last Saturday's Vancouver sketchgroup, topic "Erotic, Dragon, Woman", and the 2nd from tonight's Artery draw jam, topic "Urban Goblin."

Enjoy!

[eldritch48]

Sketch from yesterday's Vancouver sketchgroup, topic was "Industrial Zombies"

[eldritch48]

Apologies, I would post more from yesterday's life drawing but I left my pad at the studio...so here's just a really quick thing I did today.

[eldritch48]

Character and clothing studies for my modern fantasy project.

[eldritch48]

Goblin Commander concept sketch

[eldritch48]

Today's pencil sketches:

[2100]

great progress as usual! I'm noticing that you're drawing the pelvis too low or too small. And regarding muscles, figure out where the tendons/ligaments attach on the muscle/bones, that should help you a lot more than me nit-picking your current drawings.

[eldritch48]

Nothing serious today, but I did mess around a bit.

[eldritch48]

Superhero from today's coffee shop sketchgroup.

[eldritch48]

Another superhero.

[eldritch48]

Here's a werewolf I was working on this morning for about 45 mins.

[eldritch48]

Couple of pencil sketches from today.

[Cacodaemonia]

The werewolf's arms look strange. I think his right (on our left) shoulder is much larger than the other shoulder, the bicep seems a bit too small, and both the forearms are verrrrry long.

I like the two portraits. The arms on the last one are way skinny, though. And it looks like maybe she doesn't have a neck?

[eldritch48]

More heads, 1 done in Sketchbook Pro from imagination, the rest in pencil based on photos.

[eldritch48]

...and two more....

[eldritch48]

Just a little something I was playing with this afternoon - Started in Sketchbook Pro and then coloured in PS.

[eldritch48]

Two more heads.

[eldritch48]

Sketch from tonight's Artery Draw Jam.

[eldritch48]

Two sketches from this weekend down in Seattle.

[eldritch48]

Recovering from hernia surgery, so I didn't draw that much over the last two days, but I did play around a bit today.

[Cacodaemonia]

You've been busy! I really like the guy in this last one. Did you use a reference or anything?

Hope you're feeling better. :)

[eldritch48]

Yeah, he was referenced from an illustration - basically copied. I find it's easier to draw illustrations over photos and life....the top two were based on photos, although changed some.

Thanks for the good wishes :) My surgery was yesterday, and I'm already feeling a lot better, hopefully I'll be back up to full speed soon :)

[eldritch48]

two more sketches - the Dr. McCoy using reference from a Star Trek mag, the girl using a generic female reference picture and then drawing the clothes my self. Had to rotate the girl a bit, so her levels were adjusted in photoshop.

[eldritch48]

Did another Star Trek face, this one a little bigger.

[SaiVix]

Hey man. I just finished looking through your pages. There is something that I must say. It may sound bad, but I assure you its meant to help you improve.

It looks like your is running backwards on the improvement scale. Your beginning pictures tells me that you have a knack for color theory and perspective. Your middle drawings (mainly the beetles) shows me that you have great observational skills. But, these last entries are not putting them all together. I know you can do better with the portraits.

What is the difference between your current drawings and your beetle drawings? Its really taking out the skill level that I know you possess.

[eldritch48]

Hey man. I just finished looking through your pages. There is something that I must say. It may sound bad, but I assure you its meant to help you improve.

It looks like your is running backwards on the improvement scale. Your beginning pictures tells me that you have a knack for color theory and perspective. Your middle drawings (mainly the beetles) shows me that you have great observational skills. But, these last entries are not putting them all together. I know you can do better with the portraits.

What is the difference between your current drawings and your beetle drawings? Its really taking out the skill level that I know you possess.

Well, one difference is that I'm doing it with pencil instead of with photoshop, so there's less chance to undo, and far less tool choices....also, with the beetle paintings I often traced out the basic forms, since I was more working on lighting and showing shapes than I was forms.

Now I'm working on things that I'm not as comfortable with, with a toolset that isn't as forgiving ;) It's not all about the end result with these, they are educational exercises mostly.

I'm sorry you don't like the pencil sketches as much - I will go back to doing more in photoshop, but as I think it's intrinsically an easier system that doesn't require as much skill, I'm working on the harder stuff first :)

Thanks for looking though, and taking the time to comment. I'm not trying to be defensive, just explaining where I'm coming from.

[Jamie Romoser]

Seeing alot of improvement in your last post.
keep drawing -Omerta

[eldritch48]

Seeing alot of improvement in your last post.
keep drawing -Omerta

Thanks :) I sometimes feel like I'm stabbing at this in the dark - I don't know what I *should* be doing except drawing and painting, so that's what I'm doing....more drawing than painting lately, mostly 'cause I feel I need more work at it, and 'cause I've been spending my photoshop time working on a matte painting challenge instead of more concept-y things.

I am *always* open to constructive criticism, or even just your opinions :)

[Philipp Scherer]

one word: improvement! your faces get better.
one advice: read loomis "fun with a pencil" and "heads and hands" i haven´t finished them yet, but they are very helpful.
keep it up ;)

[SaiVix]

I'm sorry you don't like the pencil sketches as much - I will go back to doing more in photoshop, but as I think it's intrinsically an easier system that doesn't require as much skill, I'm working on the harder stuff first :)



No no no no. I think you are doing great. I like that you are challenging yourself. That is something we all need to be doing, even the greats. Its not that I don't like your pencils. Its that I don't think you are focusing on it as much as you should be.

I understand that drawing digitally can be quite easier than traditional drawing. But, that doesn't mean that you can slack on in. If tracing your pictures will help you out, I think you should get some tracing paper. If, you are having trouble with erasing and doing over, try drawing in more guidelines and guide-"shades", or even drawing with a 2h pencil (or just draw lighter).

The beginning process is the most important part. I learned this a long time ago. But, its only now that I am applying it to my drawings. I spend the majority of the time that I draw, making sure my measurements are correct. With an 2 hour drawing, 1hr 15 minutes of that is focused on the sketch and planning (includes erasing and remapping).

So, in short; I really like how you are making yourself progress. With all these trial and errors, it will make you a monster when all of these come together. Focus on the beginning as much as you are focusing on the "drawing" itself. Have fun. :)

[eldritch48]

Here's Spock, attempt #2...well, it's a different pose too, but anyway :)

More attempt to nail the anatomy of the face better, I think it's an improvement.

[eldritch48]

Grr...why is it I never notice until I've scanned the damned thing that there's a problem? In this case, the blasted ear is too low :(

[eldritch48]

Woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep...so here's another face.

[eldritch48]

Just a quick update, family is visiting and sketching time is scarce.

[eldritch48]

Kinda been feeling the urge to do an environment, so I spent some time on one today...loosely based on an Alan Lee sketch.

[yoonate]

wow NICE clean up jobs. i see hardly ANY repeats with clone stamp if thats what your useing i didnt take time to read. keep it going!

[Cacodaemonia]

The upper area looks really good, perspective-wise. :) The lower portion looks kind of bent, though. Also, maybe try adding more contrast to the foreground, since that's closer.

[yoonate]

agreed however...perspective! try working bigger perhaps its a much more natural feel and you can step back and gander and see flaws

[eldritch48]

Yeah, I was freehanding it, if I wanted to do anything with it, I'd go back and put in a horizon line and tighten down the perspective a *lot* :)

[eldritch48]

I meant to add, often when I do pay close attention to perspective, I focus too much on the mechanics, and my drawings look dead and cold. I was trying to play a little looser in this one to keep some energy.

[eldritch48]

Here's the sketch from today's Vancouver Sketch Group, topic was "Film Noir Star Trek"

[Cacodaemonia]

The bg looks good. :) Definitely Star Trek-ish.

[eldritch48]

Here are two 5-min sketches from today's life drawing session. These were done in Sketchbook Pro, this was the first time I've taken my laptop to a life drawing, and it was quite educational :)

[eldritch48]

Two picts from life drawing @ Emily Carr tonight.

[eldritch48]

E.S.W.A.T. Agent.


Sketchbook Pro.

[eldritch48]

Quick sketch I did this morning while waiting for my wife at the gym. Wish I'd had some more references, but it's ok ;)

[eldritch48]

A cloaked woman.

[eldritch48]

Been busy matte painting this last week, but here's two pictures from sketch group today.

[eldritch48]

Just a quick knight before I say 'good night'

[eldritch48]

Off to Crater Lake tomorrow for 3 days of hiking, photography and painting...here's something I was practicing with today after matte painting.

[DKHutcheson]

Did you reference that last one from somewhere? The anatomy is all wonky.

I like that helicopter design. : )

[eldritch48]

Did you reference that last one from somewhere? The anatomy is all wonky.

I like that helicopter design. : )

Yeah, the right leg looks off...it's supposed to be foreshortened and slightly pointed at the viewer, but it's hard to tell that...more practice needed :)

Glad you like the 'copter...it's unfly-able, but a fun design :)

[sandeepbarot]

good work

[eldritch48]

Been a crazy week of hiking through Crater Lake, matte painting and family crisis...but here's a sketch I did yesterday at the Vancouver Sketch Group - Cyber-Fish!

[eldritch48]

Three drawings from tonight...one form, and 2 "finished".

[eldritch48]

"http://orkut.vidpoke.com/_img/Video-Poke_06.gif (http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Application.aspx?appId=173764702012)
"
i liked ur sketches...but i guess a lil more practice

Oh yeah, more practice is definitely needed! I'm at the barest beginning of my journey, believe me :)

[eldritch48]

Pictures from tonight's life drawing @ Emily Carr:

[DKHutcheson]

How long did you spend on those, they look very hurried. I think you should spend a bit more time studying the form before you draw it.

The cyber-fish thing is a cute idea.

[eldritch48]

How long did you spend on those, they look very hurried. I think you should spend a bit more time studying the form before you draw it.

The cyber-fish thing is a cute idea.

They were 5 minute poses.

[eldritch48]

Air Marshall. Not entirely happy with how the pose reads, but I'd rather start work on another one than noodle more with this one ;)

[eldritch48]

Trying to practice clothing and posing.

[eldritch48]

Just today's figure...realized as I scanned it that his right arm is way too small...*sigh*

[DKHutcheson]

He also has no ears or much of a neck. And his right pec is a lot smaller than his left. And, unless I'm wrong, he should have more of a waist, but, otherwise, it looks fine. : > He's got great expression.

[eldritch48]

Today's sketch from the Vancouver Sketch Group...topic was "Smooth Criminal"

[eldritch48]

A late-night coffeeshop drawing of a swordswoman, and some hand studies.

[eldritch48]

Just a "mock-ccg" concept.

[eldritch48]

Been drawing a lot, but nothing terribly interesting...did a fair number of anatomy studies today, as well as a guy...and I'm posting up my sketch from Saturday's Vancouver Sketchgroup's topic "Underdog".

[eldritch48]

Here's the concept for my next matte painting.

[eldritch48]

another quick sketch and some studies.

[eldritch48]

Today's sketchgroup topic, "Rooftops" and some photo and anatomy studies.

[eldritch48]

Went to a coffee shop and did some sketching with friends today after I finished working on my matte painting...

[Cacodaemonia]

That 3-point perspective "rooftops" drawing looks pretty good. :) Only thing I noticed is that the clock looks funny. Maybe try tilting it back more?

[eldritch48]

Some sketches from last night...character concepts for the Saturday sketch topic.

[eldritch48]

Sketch from today's Vancouver Sketch Group. Time: about an hour and a half.

[eldritch48]

Back from San Diego Comicon, it was amazingly fun, met a bunch of artists, watched a bunch of demos, had a great time. Now, I'm feeling the results of a week of very little drawing and a lot of inspiration - which is to say, I feel bad about my stuff :) Here are some faces, I was trying to do a bit of inking on top of my pencils, with varied success.

[eldritch48]

More inking today.

[eldritch48]

I know it's been a while, I've been busy drawing and trying to level up a bit.

[RickyS]

I guess your other drawings are too old to comment on, but your new drawing is AWESOME! Huge improvement. One thing to watch out for is the feet. Their persepctives are off, but otherwise nice design.

[Riley Stark]

You can definitely see a big improvement as you flip through your older stuff and get to the new stuff! Keep it up! Look forward to seeing some more from you. ^_^

[eldritch48]

Working on a concept for a teen character, here are 4 faces playing around with some ideas. Given that I live in Vancouver, B.C. and Canada just won Gold in hockey, I don't think I'll get a lot more done today ;)

[Benjy]

The soldier from #226 looks great. Some definite improvement there. Try using some harder pencils and introducing some more contrast to your sketches.

[RickyS]

Nice character concepts! I agree with Benjy though, it would help if you darkened the lines a bit like what you did in the previous drawing, unless you're not done with these. It's kind of hard to see the sketches clearly. Also this is a problem I have too, but it would be better if you mixed up the facial features when you're making a character design. These characters all have the same faces with different clothes and hats. Try to experiment more with the shape of eyes, mouths, chin shapes, hair, etc to come up with different personalities and maybe you'll come up with something better than you originally though of. Just a suggestion. :)

I live in Canada too, the hockey game was awesome! Guess there must be crazy parties in Vancouver now. :O

[eldritch48]

A'ight, the closing ceremonies were kinda lame, and I have to be at work at 6:00am tomorrow, so I came home and did a bit more drawing. Trying to vary things up a bit more, and I went over my pre-sketch orange pencil with a 2B.

[strawhat]

Nice sketchbook! It'll be interesting to see what approach you'll take if/when you do more matt paintings in the future. That'll be an interesting comparison to the ones in the first two pages. And yeah, using a three value structure with the line will really pop your drawings.

[ceriously]

Hey! I'm really loving the sketch in #226. Cool design & clean lines. Regarding the newest faces, I think you might be using too simple a guide for the faces right now. I can see you're doing the whole circle thing with basic guidelines for position of features, but I don't think you're actually thinking about how these featues fit into the face. I just mean that the faces appear quite flat, even in the case of the guy with the big cheeks. I think you might wanna consider the planes of the face a bit more, thinking about the actual 3D shape of the eyes and nose, etc. as well. I think self portraits are quite useful for this because you can really focus on how everything fits in.

Your designs are cool, though. I like design 3 in #229.

Er, your sketchbook isn't in my signature yet but I'm just about to add it now. :D

[RickyS]

It looks better with the darker lines. The variety of faces is nice too! I agree with ceriously though. It would help you a lot if you did photo studies of real faces, self portrait studies from life and Loomis head studies.

[eldritch48]

Not happy with his face or his feet, but I'm reasonably pleased with his outfit.

[Riley Stark]

Cool concept.

I don't think the feet came out too terrible.. I think the thing that's making the one on our right look off is the fact that the kneepad is still facing us instead of being turned to the side like the foot is. I think it's making the foot look more off than it actually is as a result.

[eldritch48]

1-10 minute poses.

[eldritch48]

Here's photo I took of my drawing this morning.

[RickyS]

I like the latest life drawing! The head is nice and that's a hard angle too, good job.

As for the character from yesterday, I think for later characters it would help if you put markings down to align the feet. The problem is the right foot is too short, but if you had a guidline to align the feet this problem could be avoided. As for the left foot, intrinsik already pointed it out, but it's the same problem as the previous character from Feb 28, so you should work on solving this problem.

[eldritch48]

I spent most of my art time today doing oil painting for class, but I did complete my daily 20 gesture drawings. Here are 4 faces from those.

[strawhat]

Nice updates. I really like the figure in the previous page. As for the heads, there are nice variations all around. May be the eyes in 16th are a little too close? (Not sure)

I really gotta do more Loomis.

[ceriously]

Hey. Cheers for the kick. I'll post something later. :P The new faces look quite a bit better, I think. Could still push a little further. I'm not sure if this is a legitimate method or not, but one thing I think is good for checking whether you've got the form down is turning the picture upside down. I always do this when I draw a face because then you can see if the brow is sinking into the eye sockets, whether the nose is 'lifting' out a little, etc. I guess it's more useful if you've rendered the drawing; but still, it's something to keep in mind I suppose. I think it would also be quite useful for you to look at a skull if you can get your hands on one. Otherwise, I really like the life drawing! And I hope we can see the oil paintings you're doing for class. :)

[eldritch48]

Here are 3 things I did today hanging with my sketchgroup.

[RickyS]

Your heads are improving! Something to keep in mind is the proportion of the eyes on the face. You draw eyes a bit large and too close together. There should be one eye width in between both eyes and approx one eye width on both sides of the face, so the width of the face is 5 eye widths. If you fix this your faces will look awesome.

It's also nice you drew a body shot, but you should really do some anatomy and figure studies! Read the Loomis book (http://www.fineart.sk/index.php?cat=12), do tons of studies and then you'll improve.

[eldritch48]

Couple of faces, and then life drawing 2 and 10 minute poses.

[Riley Stark]

Really nice figure studies! I especially like the first two, but I can't quite put my finger on why I like them best. Like Ricky said, watch your proportions around the eyes, but you're definitely on a great start!

[RickyS]

These heads are way better and I agree with intrinsik. The first figure is good because you captured the gesture well. Try to capture the same feeling in your longer poses too. The last one is pretty good though.

[strawhat]

The latest figures look so good! They appear very busy and they are clear. The Heads are improving. Keep it going :)

[Metal Fingers]

your heads are definitely improving, try and be more direct with your line application when doing the figures, it helps by starting out with a reaaaaaaal light gesture to block in structure and such and then proceed with assembling the form. Straight lines can really help accentuate certain body parts too. Keep up the studies though! Cheers.