Dani's Sketchbook

[thespianmonsalvo]

Hi! I'm a student at a video game school in Plano, TX, (specializing in concept art) and I've decided to start a sketchbook here. I'll be posting pretty much everything I'm drawing or painting here, so enjoy and please give me feedback and critiques because I need them to improve. :D

Here's some stuff I did in my life drawing class:

These are all 3-5 minute sketches.

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These are longer - ususally around 1-3 hours.

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Thanks for looking!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Some quick concepts - about 30 minutes each.

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[thespianmonsalvo]

This was a portrait that was created for a final project. Worked on this for 200+ hours in Photoshop. Taken from a reference photo of Masi Oka.

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[jonnyj326]

wow! 200+ hours! it's very photorealistic.

[Lakka]

I dig the shapes in #2

Good job on that Masi Oka portrait, those hours seem to have payed off! :)

[thespianmonsalvo]

jonnyj326: Yeah, it was basically all I did for one whole school term.

Lakka: Thank you very much! :D

[D@niel]

Great start, keep it up!:)

[thespianmonsalvo]

D@aniel - Thank you very much!

This is a concept for a character that I'm currently modeling in class.

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[thespianmonsalvo]

Some quick sketches I did recently. Trying to just keep drawing and painting every day in my spare time.

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[thespianmonsalvo]

This was a speed painting I did recently. Some reference photos used. 30 minutes.

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And this was another 30 minute speed painting.

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[thespianmonsalvo]

Speed painting for today. 30 minutes. Used a reference photo.

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Thanks for looking! :D

[thespianmonsalvo]

Painting of the day. Photo used for reference.

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Thanks for looking!

[nickmarshallvfx]

Good stuff, keep it up!

Nick

[corza334]

Great figure studies, that portrait of Masi Oka is insane! Only realised it was a paint when I read the description, 200+ hours - thats commitment :O
Anyway, keep it up! Looking forward to updates :)

[cout<mecha]

Nice stuff. Looks like you are getting some really good skills. And like your character designs thus far.

[thespianmonsalvo]

Wow, thanks for all the great comments so far, everyone! I'll keep posting as soon as I get more stuff done. :D

[thespianmonsalvo]

Here is some stuff I did yesterday for a tabletop RPG we're creating for a school project.

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Thanks for looking!

[smuli]

Good job with the figures and PS colouring! With PS, working with a bigger brush would make things easier and do good to the look of your paintings though. First block with base colours using a brush that looks way too large and go on from that. That female nude seems to have a pretty inconsistent lighting too. You could benefit from trying to think about the figure as a set of planes like loomis teaches (link (http://fineart.sk/index.php?s=56&cat=12), link (http://fineart.sk/show.php?w=946)) and you'll get the light, midtone and shadow in the right places. Pen work and hatching looks great. Keep at it! :)

[thespianmonsalvo]

Thanks for the feedback, Smuli. I'll look over the Loomis stuff and practice that to get consistent lighting. I'll also start working w/a large brush to start with. That's typically what I'll do and then go in after the initial colors are laid down to add some detail.

[thespianmonsalvo]

A painting I did in class today. We got to paint directly onto our tablets with a model in front of us, which I thought was really cool.

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And this is a concept for a new game we're working on for another school project. It's a masked angel.

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Thanks for looking!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Another character concept for my new project. This is of a demon class.

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Thanks for looking!

[Xinga]

Good sense of human anatomy :) Good pictures, keep it up!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Xinga, thank you!

Here is another concept for the game I'm working on. This is for a heavy demon class.

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Thanks for looking!

[thespianmonsalvo]

And this is another angel class concept.

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Thanks again!

[thespianmonsalvo]

This is an in-class painting from a model. This took an hour and was a new technique I used in which I started with a black canvas and erased where I wanted it to be white.

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Thanks for looking!

[thespianmonsalvo]

This is a weapon concept for a project I'm working on. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Not sure about colors yet.

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[thespianmonsalvo]

I know I haven't updated in a while, so here's a bunch of stuff I've been working on for my DFS. The theme is Sci Fi Incan, and there's some creature concepts, some environment speedpaintings, some character costume mockups, and some vehicle thumbnails, and a weapon modelsheet. Enjoy!
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[thespianmonsalvo]

Still messing around with this enviro. Experimenting mostly, but I think I have an idea of where I want to go with this.

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Thanks for looking!

[amlejo9]

Your doing great. You have come a long way. The Machu Picchu Weapon is amazing. The environment is getting stronger from your first example to this last one. The only thing I could say to work on is clean lines. It can help make pieces look stonger, and you really want things to stand out when you put this into a portfolio.

amy

[thespianmonsalvo]

I worked a few more hours on my environment. I plan on working most of this weekend on this piece. Thanks for looking!

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[andrea w]

Hey, thanks for stopping by my sketchbook!

I love the whole sc-fi+inca culture project idea and you're dishing out some sweet concepts for it! Among all of them the stripey llama creature really pops out (because it's fuzzy and slightly grumpy looking with lovely, natural colours and great brushwork), along with the third vehicle (because the design kind of makes it look like this giant insect, and because the metal is so beautifully rendered). One thing that hits me about the environment WIP is the perspective of the face on the arch. You might wish to turn it somewhat away from us to the right in order to make it line up with its foundation; the viewer seems to be standing slightly to the left of the arch while the face is turned directly towards us. Great work though, can't wait to see it finished!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Andrea w - thanks for the crit! I didn't notice the face in the gateway before but now that you mention it, you're right. I'll shift in when I work on the piece this weekend.

[M0RS]

Your concepts are so crisp and sexy!
I also really enjoy where your environment is headed. Some things I think might help.
Keep in mind, detail in the foreground and limited information in the background helps imply space. Also possibly exaggerating the atmospheric perspective a bit, behind the arch might help those mountains recede even more.
Your figures do a great job of suggesting scale but they don't seem to be doing anything specific. A minor quibble.
Hope I don't come off as too critical because I dig the work.

[Nightblue]

Great SB! Your character concepts are very fresh. Loving the creature silhouette designs and the weapon designs for your DFS also. Watch out for muddy colors when you are using soft brushes. I love the geometric graphic feel and cleanliness of some of your pieces. Keep up the good work!

[thespianmonsalvo]

NightBlue - Thanks for checking out my SB and for the feeback. :D

M0RS - Thanks for the crit - I'll try what you suggested with the atmospheric perspective.

[thespianmonsalvo]

Here's some older stuff that I never uploaded before.

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[basementPicasso]

Nice colour sense - particularly in that last piece - some beautiful colours in there. Look forward to seeing more.

[Chermilla]

Hi there.
You've got some nice pieces amongst this lot so far, I think your weapon design piece is really good. Also, the strongest images for me were of the vibrant costume designs on page 1. The guys with the bird like masks, really nice work, keep it up! :)

C

[thespianmonsalvo]

Here's an update on the environment I'm working on. There's been a ton of changes in these last few days. I'm adding skyscrapers in the city and more detail on the gate and huge ground tiles underneath the gate. There will be a river and bridges crossing it. Lots of stuff. I want it to look busy but not too metropolitan.

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[Novbert]

Thanx for visiting my sketchbook. Some really nice things are going on here too.
I really dig the life drawing figure studies, that 200 hours photoreal suff (man, you must be crazy ;)), and the weapon concepts - the designs are really solid. Creature concepts are also nice.
Some suggestions: When using photoshop use LARGE and hard bruses first, and refine the picture as you progress. (It is said that one should set the brush size to the largest one can imagine, then one should double the size before working with it :P).

[remmy]

Thanks for visiting my sketchbook, some solid work here. Great ideas and I really like your studies as well. At the moment your should focus on getting those proportions steady and maybe look at doing some prospective studies, they'll really boost your environments.
Keep up the good work, I'll keep an eye on you :D

[duck_king]

Hi Dani, thanks for visiting my SB and for the comments.
You are right my anatomy is weak, I've been learning from reference photos as of late, but I've foudn that I've really noticed anatomy more since I've been learning to paint digitally.
N e ways cool sketchbook u gots man, love the concepts and your life drawing stuff is right on track too. I think it's great that you know what you are aiming for, as I am also doing a games course, however I'm still a bit unsure of what I will be aiming to be once I graduate.
Keep up the good work.
duck_king

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

Hey, hey, hey! These last ones show much improvement, wonderful atmosphere and they get tighter. Your figures are coming along quite well too but your faces semm to need more life. :)
200 hours! :O
Wow. While the result looks good and I'm sounding like an asshole now I actually think that 200 1 hour portraits might have helped more too grasp the anatomy and skintone variances, etc. better. ;)
I know, it was for a school project, so there probably wasn't much choice.

It just seems you rather hide faces alittle. Go! Conquer them! :D

Your creatures and weapons look fab though. Just a little blackish?
Also, I think Elwell's edges tutorials in th tutorials tips and tricks section is a must read, if you haven't already.

[thespianmonsalvo]

Some quick sketches - some birds from a trip to the aviary, a weird cherub/buddha character, and a quick pose of the character for my DFS project I'm working on.

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[thespianmonsalvo]

Some older stuff.

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Thanks for looking!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Sorry those files are gigantic! Oops.

[DragonSnail]

Nice SB, good improvements from first post to last! That 200+ hour portrait really stood out (I would have given up long ago), and the city portal image is coming along really nicely. These last sketches are really nice too - did you use refs for them? Oh and those angel sketches reminds me of Neon Genesis Evangelion; I think its the third eye on the forehead that does it. Anyway, good work, keep it up! :)

[Nightblue]

The life drawings are very nice, especially the first one. The varying yet fluid lines really give the skin life. The drawing would be even better if you take the same sensitivity to the hair and the fabric.

[Gliederpuppe]

Thank you for your contribution, I hope I will fast experienced.
your sketches are very good I liked best at the beginning =)


mfg Gliederpuppe

[The Ham]

love the last piece the environment one. strange picture obviously has a cool story too it. love the hiro sketch too . spot on!

[thespianmonsalvo]

DragonSnail - Thank you! I used references for some of the images - most were from imagination, though.

Nightblue - Yeah, faces are my weak point. I'll try to keep what you've said in mind.

Gliederpuppe - You're welcome and thank you, too!

The Ham - Thank you!

[the ANGRY filipino]

200+ hours! wow! thats dedication man!Respect!
That portrait looks really good!
And I agree, definitely some inspiring improvement here!
keep on drawing and posting!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Here's the modelsheet for my character for my DFS project. Got most of the linework done today - I noticed a couple things that need changing, but now I mostly just need to render out the views in color.

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[Darlene]

Cheeee!!! :D :D

Thanks so much for visiting my sketchbook! In gratitude I have come to visit yours as well. :) You have so many ideas and concepts, plus a great quality of work! Don't give up, you're doing so good. :) Just be persistent!

[Jacfat]

Hey thanks so much for the words of encouragement and for stopping by my sketchbook. Your drawing is getting better and better so keep it up. Can I suggest you work on having a greater range of contrast in the pencil work to give your work more depth. And have you seen markos dvd its an awesome help for pencil work and really wise words of encouragement.

[thespianmonsalvo]

Darlene - Thank you so much for checking our my sketchbook and for the words of encouragement!

Jacfat - Thank you! I've been meaning to check out Marko's DVD, I'll probably order in in these next couple weeks. I keep hearing great things about it.

[SaiVix]

Hey thanks for the crits man! You were the only one to point out that I draw big arms. I didn't even realize it, until you said it. I will always continue practicing my tonal and anatomy studies... Unfortunately, those are harder than I thought it would be. But, the stomachs are stylized... I was told not to stylize when I am studying, but I just don't like the tummies on these models, and references.. I like a little roundness to them. But, if it is really throwing people off, then I might as well not do that anymore..

Anyways. Your concepts are amazing. I especially like your weapon designs. The visual art in this project is really nice to look at. What is the end result of all this?

[The Whistler]

Hey :)

Improvement from the first page but watch that character modelsheet, in your profiles the head seems to be wider than her butt, and the legs seem a bit short.

I think you should do more pencil sketches since it seems to me like that's working out the for you at the time, and once you ace the pencils it'll be easier to color since you won't have to fix things later on. Anyways, keep up the good work! :)

[thespianmonsalvo]

SaiVix - Thank you very much!

The Whistler - thank you for the crit. I double-checked my modelsheet and changed some of the issues that you mentioned.

So here's an updated modelsheet of my character as well as the "final" of the exterior environment. I still want to do some more detail in it during the week break I get after this term, but this will have to do for now as far as the class grade is concerned.

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Thank you for looking! :D

[thespianmonsalvo]

Another enviro piece for my DFS project. This is in a very early stage still. I plan on getting it closer to finished this weekend.

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[Jasper_]

Hey man you've got some pretty good stuff going on here. I think you should keep doing as many studies as you can, especially figure and anatomy, and definately try some environment studies from photo ref. If you really buckle down on that stuff I think you will see your imaginative work improve dramatically.

[thespianmonsalvo]

This is pretty close to "finished" now. I might do a little more, but I wanted to keep it very loose. It's meant to echo the other environment that I did earlier. It's the other side of the city that you can see in the distance, only this is the side that has been taken over by the Jungle.

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Thanks for looking!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Quick speedie - no reference used.

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Thanks for looking!

[Peetaer]

Promising stuff here. All I can say right now is keep going and push yourself, especially if its in areas that make you feel uncomfortable.

[remmy]

Great character progress from your DFS. Really like those charcoal sketches as well. keep up the good work.

[thespianmonsalvo]

Another quick face study.
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Thanks for looking!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Sketches for today. :)

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Thanks for looking!

[crabbyclem]

good progress,

There are a few googly-eye faces...it's tricky to place the eyes right on the face. I'm still having problems with that, but since you're sketching in photoshop try flipping canvas horizontal and cut/paste an eye to move it around. Easy fix! Keep posting!

[thespianmonsalvo]

crabbyclem - thank you for the feedback. I'm trying to improve my faces now and that's one of the things I'm really working on currently. I'll try flipping it in photoshop to double-check my work.

Just some more sketches and a character I'm concepting out now.

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Thanks for looking!

[future-fiction]

I love your life drawings, especially the male figures.

[DeeLock]

Thanks for checking out my sketchbook :D

I think you should be making better decisions about color in your paintings.

I agree with Pyroclasm00 in that you should be doing as many studies as possible especially in your environments.

Best of luck!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Thanks for the feeback, future-fiction and DeeLock

Today's progress on a painting.

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Thanks for looking!

[Fraz]

I like your anatomy studies, however there aren't enough of them!
Your speedpainted faces are nice, and there is some good improvement in them.
In:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=518343&d=1226617368
The character looks very off balance. I know you tried to correct this by bending the back, however I feel that you need to reposition the legs by bending them a more.

Keep it up!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Fraz - thanks for the feedback. I'll address that and mess around more with the leg placement.

[remmy]

Nice studies and sketches. That rabbit chick needs to be brought forward in perspective and by that I mean the right side needs to be closer to her centre. Try and make the lighting match up with her position, make an arrow or a little circle were the main source of light is to help you better determine were light and shade is. If there is multiple sources eg. reflections just make more indicators.

Coming along real nice :D

[bharat]

gooodd......

[thespianmonsalvo]

remmy - thanks for the tips.
bharat - thanks

It's been a long time since my last update - so without further ado, here's more stuff!

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Thanks for looking!

[Artangela]

Wow Dani! Long time no see :)
Really lovely environment you have with that bedroom piece you posted last. Very nice indeed!
I hope things are going well for you at the Guildhall, getting so close to being finished!

-Angela

[thespianmonsalvo]

Artangela - Thank you! And, yes, things are going well and I'm so excited to graduate soon!

[thespianmonsalvo]

Latest update. :)

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[thespianmonsalvo]

A quicker mood painting of a snowy environment.

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[FAST ART]

so your concepts not bad.. are you doin your environment from imagination?.. i would say you do.. and i think you have to watch how the light and the colour in real life works.. it would push you really further.. just make speedpainting from things you see when you looking out of your window or stuff like that.. its the best way to learn how to make speedpaintings from imagination that have a real atmosphere..

keep on painting and drawing ;)

[thespianmonsalvo]

FAST ART - thank you for your feedback. I'll try what you suggested to work on getting realistic lighting in my speed paintings.

[thespianmonsalvo]

Here's the design for a huge banner that will be advertising my final team game project that I'm working on. The game is called "Leviathan", and I'm really excited about it. This banner really pushed my colors out of my comfort zone, so I think it was a really great experience for me since I've needed to do that for a while. I hope to get back to more frequent updating of this sketchbook, so thanks for looking!

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[Artangela]

Daniiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!! It's been way too long since I've seen you! I'm hoping to be able to come to you guys' final exhibition though in May.

The city in this last one is looking so kickass!! Some of the architecture on the buildings in the front look a bit mushy and could use some straight lines but I'm loving the smoky/fog thing you've got going on and the luscious lighting, I was always crap at architecture and perspective :).

As far as the flying guy goes, the pose of his body seems a little stiff to me like it could be a little more fluid in the bottom half. I also kind of want to see a little more texture to his skin and see it kind of wrapping around the different contours of the body... though I know that can be time consuming and in all honesty this is probably a finished piece due to time constraints, right? ;) Nice job on the little force field things, they read very well. The only other thing is that because of the varying directions and line quality of the marks on the wing, they kind of look like hairs to me or a toothbrush sort of texture instead of wings or fins or something. You might also try experimenting with some harder edge brushes instead of the softer ones, that's something I'm working on right now too. It's wonderful to see how far you've come though and I wish you all the best!

[corza334]

Wow! you've gotten sooo much better =]