Groover Mcnab's sketchbook // floaty fishyhead 7.22 //

[Groover McNab]

*For the love of everything you hold dear, Please view the last couple of pages! The first couple ones are crap!*


Hey all. Decided to start my own sketchbook here to motivate me to draw everyday.

This first batch is some of my recent stuff from this week. The first 4 from life drawing class and the last one was one I did at home. Any crits or comments would be appreciated.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook01.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook02.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook03.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook04.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook05.jpg

[roger]

Good to see you starting a sketchbook here! :)

I really like the life drawings you've posted and the last guy is cool too, although I think the proportions are a little bit off.

[Groover McNab]

Thanks roger. The life drawings were done in pencil, unfortunately the longest our models pose is 20 minutes so these are so unfinished, but it is a sketchbook after all :) . Been really busy and haven't been able to get going on the self portraits again, but I figure I can always take some time to sketch.

Here's one from today

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook06.jpg

[Groover McNab]

Some new ones from the past couple days. The ones on notebook paper were doodles I was doing while I was at a meeting at work :D

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook07.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook08.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook09.jpg

[Groover McNab]

some new stuff and some old stuff, more to be scanned in, just don't have time today :(

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook10.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook11.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook12.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook13.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketchbook14.jpg

[Groover McNab]

started to color one of the sketches. might come back to it.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/critter-inprogress.JPG

[Groover McNab]

merry christmas!

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/robotboy.jpg

more sketches coming, just have to scan em...

[PeggyChung]

hey Groover mcNab, nice stuff, i was looking through your TD stuff and i liked it, great that u have a sketchbook too :D come on, update!

[Groover McNab]

Thanks. Been kinda busy. Should have a massive (semi-massive?) update next week...

[Groover McNab]

Had some time to scan in some older sketches, and some more recent life drawings. Crits greatly appreciated.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_01.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_02.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_03.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_04.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_05.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_06.jpg

[Groover McNab]

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_07.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_08.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_09.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_10.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_11.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_12.jpg

[Groover McNab]

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_13.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_14.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_15.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_16.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_17.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_18.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_19.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_20.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_21.jpg

[Groover McNab]

This was from tonights life drawing class, I kinda liked where it was going but 15 minutes wasn't enough time :(

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_22.jpg

[Groover McNab]

Another one from tonight, not too thrilled with the way this one came out...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_23.jpg

[MindCandyMan]

I love these they are great...I especially like the pen life drawings...awesome marks man...really cool.

[Groover McNab]

Thanks MCM. When I can't get anything going in life drawing class, it usually helps to switch mediums (at least for me) to get in gear, that's the reason for these particular pen drawings. Glad you like em!

[steak-tron]

groover, these some good sketches you got goin' on. I like the line quality and the moody characters. Those figures are lookin' good too - just check the proportions on the arms. Other than that you have a good handle on anatomy and structure.
nice work

[Groover McNab]

Thanks steak-tron! I'll definitely watch for the arms next time, I've been drawing HUGE heads lately too, another thing I need to watch out for.

Anyway, I'm glad you like these and thanks for the crits. Your sketchbook looks great, so that means a lot.

Should be updating with some new ones really soon.

[insane visions]

youre showing lots of potential keep drawing..thanks for the positive comment...

[Groover McNab]

insane visions - Thanks for commenting on my sketchbook. It means a lot, your sketches awesome!

[Groover McNab]

Had time to scan in some new stuff.


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_24.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_25.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_26.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_27.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_28.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_29.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_30.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_31.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_32.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_33.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_34.jpg

[insane visions]

very nice pen sketches....pens could be your bestfriend or your worst enemy...tame the mudderfukking pen...

[Groover McNab]

insane visions - Thanks. I reallly enjoy doing pen sketches, although I think I'm a long way from taming that mudderfukker :D , but I'm defintely working on it...

This last week has kinda been a struggle for me, here's a crap drawing from life drawing class
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_35.jpg

I was at the Norton Simon museum in Pasadena last week. Tried to sketch some stuff while in there, they all look funky when flipped :(
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_36.jpg

Just messing around in photoshop w/o ref
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_37.jpg
The original sketches for these were done in class and about a week after I tried to paint over them, http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_38.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_39.jpg

[Jeff Gran]

never seen your book till now. I like the pen life drawings for sure. i wouldn't have the discipline to keep some areas open and white like you do...they look good. I like your conceptual stuff the best. some of it gets a bit muddled, it would be nice to see you concentrate on some stuff intended for presentation, like the inked pencil sketches. your recent paintings look cool, but in my humble opinion the purples and blues are a bit overdone.

[Groover McNab]

Jeff Gran - Thanks. Glad you like em. I do think the colors are oversaturated, part of it is intentional and going for a style, and another part of it is that I don't do a lot of painting and I still don't really know what I'm doing, especially with skintones. Hopefully I'll get my act together soon :D

I always doodle whenever we have a long meeting at work, so I thought I'd post some of that.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_41.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_40.jpg

[dagreengo]

Wow, I saw your sketchbook at the top of the page, and I decided to peek in. Your work is really impressive, my favourite are the pen sketches, they're really dynamic and attractive. But What really impresses me is that you've been experimenting with all kinds of media, and really seem to be succeeding in all cases. Keep up the great work!

[Groover McNab]

dagreengo - Thanks a lot. Not sure if I'm really succeeding with some of these, but I definitely will keep trying.

Just tried to freestyle today in photoshop, although I use it a lot since I'm a graphic designer I haven't really used the program much for painting (mostly use painter) but I'm trying to learn. So I didn't really have anything specific in mind, but this was the result. No ref, I'm sure I'm off on anatomy but I enjoyed playing around.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_42.jpg

[S.C. Watson]

Hey Groover,

Wow.

Some really nice work here. I especially like your life drawing excercises. Those are fantastic.

<terminator voice>
:cool: I'll be back.
</voice>

Cheers,
~Oreg.

[artkitty]

I like the figure drawings, nice tones and the sketcy pen stuff is great. In fact as far was what you've posted I prefer the looser, sketchier stuff- something is lost when you refine it more.
Also the digital colors seem muddy- try working with more opacity and bigger brushes. Start big and work down to details.

[Groover McNab]

Oregano - Thanks a lot! Feel free to drop by anytime :D

artkitty - Thanks for the comments and crits. I think you're right about the muddiness of the digital stuff, I'm still figuring out what the heck I'm doing as far as skintones and stuff. Doesn't help that I haven't done much traditional painting, I hope to remedy that soon.

Well this is a new batch of sketches. Another tough night in life drawing class...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_43.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_44.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_45.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_46.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_47.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_48.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_49.jpg

[Groover McNab]

Some new digital studies I did from magazine refs. Done in photoshop. Trying to get practice with skintones.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_50.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_51.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_52.jpg

[Jushra]

awesome work man. your studies are great. right now i'm serving in Iraq, so my choice of reference is...limited. funny how i can find time to do artwork though...

[Groover McNab]

Hey thanks a lot! I guess if you love art you'll find time wherever you are. Take care.

[Groover McNab]

Some stuff from life drawing class tonight. Actually had an OK drawing night, been having real bad nights the past few weeks. Anyway, here they are.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_53.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_54.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_55.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_56.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_57.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_58.jpg

[Groover McNab]

A friend asked me to do a tutorial of how I did those studies so I did a quick tutorial for him (ignore the type-os). I'm actually a little embarassed posting this cuz I don't think I'm good enough to be posting tutorials, but he said it helped him and it might help other guys so here it is.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial01.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial02.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial03.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial04.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial05.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial06.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial07.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial08.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial09.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial10.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial11.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sabattri_tutorial12.jpg

[nfxsux]

awesome! Thanks for the tutorial. Its VERY helpful, i wish more people would do things like this. I like how you laid out everything :)

word to tha mutha

[Groover McNab]

Hehe. Thanks buddy! I'll be sending the word out to the Mutha.

[Main Loop]

hey that is a pretty nice tutorial... you know of course that magazine photos kill color temperature in the skin though.. the reason's because they deliberately try to get rid of the reflected color of the surrounding atmosphere.. that and the limitations of photography.. to really learn how to compensate for that, you gotta do a lot of painting from life, so it doesnt look like it was done from photos.. nice work.. shadows could use more refining.. soften shadow edges.. you want more "texture" in the light side than shadow to give more turn to the form..

[elboy]

hey, nice sketchbook. one might even say it's groovy..... mcnab...
then somewhat might hit that person (rightly so).
I (like others, apparently), like the pen drawings. And I can see improvement from your first figures to your later ones. It's cool how that happens. same deal w/ the digi painting. improvement can be seen. I likes the figures. good stuff.

[Groover McNab]

Main Loop - Thanks man. You're right about the color temperature in magazines. Haven't been fortunate enough to do any life painting yet, I hope to do that real soon. Like I said in a previous post, I was kinda hesitant to post that tutorial since I haven't really painted with 'real' paint all that much and I definitely don't want to encourage any bad/wrong habits that I may be doing with these digital studies. Thanks a lot for the feedback!

elboy - Hey thanks for checking in dude. Don't worry I wont hit you :p

Here's some new stuff

reworked oldie...
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_59.jpg
made a little sequence...
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_60.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_61.jpg

doodling in photoshop
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_62.jpg

more stuff coming soon, but right now I gotta go to bed.

[steak-tron]

nice sequence dude. that chinese farming droid is the shit. I really like those figure drawing a few back too. It looks like your cutting into the paper with the charcoal to get just the right marks.

great stuff man. looking forward to hanging out.
-:cyclops:

[Summer Pudding]

great values on your life drawings

[Groover McNab]

steak-tron - Thanks man. Glad you like 'em. It's funny cuz I didn't really have a good description for the last sketch except that he looked a bit too much like orco, but "chinese farming droid" is perfect! hehe.

Summer Pudding - Hey thanks a lot for checking in man. I've seen a little of your works and it's awesome.

Here's some new crap.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_63.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_64.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_65.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_66.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_67.jpg

[character]

hey great stuff groover. i enjoyed going through the thread and can't wait to see more. great pencil and pen work. outstanding

[insane visions]

nice stuff....had fun browsing your thread

[S.C. Watson]

Hey Groover,

Some really cool stuff here. I think I said before I enjoy your life studies. I wish I had that option here (literally stuck on an island with no life drawing classes. sucks :mad: ) Ohwell, I can always enjoy them vicariously through your work!

Cheers,
~Oreg.

[Groover McNab]

character - Thanks a lot man! Drop by anytime.

insane visions - Always great to hear from you! Your sketchbook is right up there with the best of em! Just haven't posted in yours in a while cuz all I can think to say when I look at your stuff is "awesome", "damn", "shit, that's badass". So that should cover me for a while eh? :D

Oregano - Thanks man! Glad you like the life studies. I hope to keep it going this summer too. It'll be an hour drive though (to Santa Barbara) to take a class :mad:. My friend had this idea to get together with other artists and just pitch in for a model. Fortunately they offer a class in SB which will be way cheaper, but maybe that's something you can consider doing.

So I realized I haven't been messing with painter that much, so here's a couple experiments.


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_68.jpg http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_69.jpg

[roger]

Hey Groover, very nice stuff you've got here. I'm really enjoying your life drawings too, I especially like the one of the woman with a hat.

On your photoshop paintings/sketches the default round brush is too visible I think, why don't you try with another brush or maybe making more pases with the same one at a lower transparency to blend it better? Just a thought, hope you don't mind me ranting. :)

[sOltan]

Grooby, first time visiting your thread. very generous in figure studies. i haven't done much of that yet... oh crap, i gotta get serious on it! the charcoal figures are to the point, were you short of charcoal? hey you work well with digital painting, keep up!

[Groover McNab]

roger - Hey thanks! Please feel free to give out crits any time you like, I'm actually a little disappointed at the amount of crits I get, I really wish I would get more. Anyway, I sincerely appreciate the crit, I agree that the pshop sketches could look smoother.

sOltan - Thanks! I'm not sure what you mean by

"the charcoal figures are to the point, were you short of charcoal?" :D
but thanks for dropping by.

Here's another painter sketch. Damn, I don't know what I'm doing with skintones, especially when I don't use ref....


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_70.jpg

[sOltan]

Groovy, i was enjoying how you used few touches of charcoal for shading where necessary,

[TheDayTripper]

Great stuff. Love the line work.

[lupicani]

ohhh man very nice progression. I enjoyed seeing your work move forward in only two pages!! also your painter and phototshop pieces are excellent as well i love it when you can see someoone falling for a program!!
Crit on your sketches. Less actual outlining of faces would make them "pop" more and use value instead. Try also an over all wash on top of your line work and then painting into it. Reccomend an burnt umber or sienna, prussian blue or deep orange tonalities. But you're really lossening up and becoming more dynamic with your figures. Alos your hands seem much more confidently excicuted.

[Groover McNab]

sOltan - Gotcha. :D

TheDayTripper - Thanks!

lupicani - Thanks man! Especially for the crits.

Speaking of crits, I'm sure this next one deserves its share. Messed it up like crazy. I kinda like it enough that I might try to save it and make it a finished drawing tho.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_71.jpg

[elboy]

these last few dumps are looking nice! I really like the figure drawings. As far as this last one goes, it's a little hard to make out details. I might even use the word blurry(fuzzy?), but it's not finished, so it's not really fair for me to say that. It's looking good so far. I'm looking forward to seeing your stuff in person. awwwwww yea~.

[aum]

Good job mate, love to see your progress, keep it up!

[dakoscwash]

Wow man. You have really progressed since the beginning of this thread. Love your life studies and I'm digging the digital paintings. Keep up the good work.

[Groover McNab]

elboy - thanks again dude. yeah for that last one i was using the feathering oils brush a little too much. that's a really great crit though, I think I'm relying too much on blurring/fuzzy edges right now cuz I can't see the right colors just yet to just use an opaque brush :( . I'm working on it though .

aum - thanks man. cool avatar :D

dakoscwash - thanks man. took a peek at your sketchbook and i have to say it was great seeing your improvement throughout.

ok, just had time to do one today. need to go to bed. more fooling around with painter.



http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_72.jpg

[obid619]

cool stuff groover. I like how the light bounces off your pic's :chug:

[Summer Pudding]

In your colour pictures, I think you need to look at your highlights. The absence of sharp, convincing highlights makes them appear too flat. I've seen many artists who seamlessly blend their highlights, midtones and dark areas in the belief that this makes the subject appear more three dimensional. This is never a good idea in my opinion. Find the areas that need highlights, and apply them boldly, with minimal blending with the surrounding midtones. Similarly, the boundaries of your shadows could be more distinct.

[Groover McNab]

Summer Pudding - That is a great crit! I do find myself blending things too much. Right now I think it's because of my inexperience and lack of confidence with painting. Since I don't have a good eye yet for picking the right colors to apply boldly I end up using the feathering brushes to blend things a lot. Definitely something I need to work on. Thanks.

[MindCandyMan]

There is some really cool experimentation going on in this thread. I especially like how you simplify the figures to what looks like a couple strokes...very cool man!

[van]

Dude! Yah! Keep going. I am loving the progression!

[zao75231]

dude, i like your life drawing sketches alot, i'm more into peoples life drawings more than anything...now lets talk about your coloring...j/k great stuff, keep 'em coming!

[Groover McNab]

obid - Thanks man! Sorry I missed your post the last time. I usually try my best to acknowledge everyone, I appreciate anyone taking the time to look at my book.

MCM - Thanks! Always good to hear from you. The thing I'm struggling with is trying to simplify the figures when I'm drawing from my head, I'm much more confident drawing from a live model than I am at just making stuff up at this point. It's something I'm trying to work on a lot lately.

van - My progression is actually going a lot slower than I would like, but that's probably how all aspiring artists feel. Thanks for dropping by!

zao - Thanks! Feel free to talk about my coloring all you want, I know it sucks :p

Anyway, on to the pics. Gonna post the progression of this piece as I go through out the day, starting with this one (sorry it's a little farther along, but I didn't think of posting it till I got to this point)

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_73.jpg

[van]

Originally posted by Groover McNab

van - My progression is actually going a lot slower than I would like, but that's probably how all aspiring artists feel. Thanks for dropping by!

Preaching to the choir, man...preaching to the choir. :) Can't wait to see where this last one goes...looks great so far.

[Groover McNab]

Damn I am slow! Hand took me forever. Anyway, here you go van, the next one...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_74.jpg

[van]

It was worth it...the hand looks pretty damn good. I really like the lines going over the body, etc. I am not sure where you are going with it....but I like it. :)

[digitalgannon]

ur latest work is super cool- And i love your sense of volume and shading of most of your graphite sketches. Nice digital coloring too! Keep posting all i'll keep studying..

[Groover McNab]

van - thanks again man. actually broke down and used reference for the hand, I originally tried to make this drawing w/o any refs at all, then I remembered I suck at drawing hands. hehehe.

digitalgannon - thanks, hopefully it'll look even cooler by the time i'm done.

ok last update before dinner. i'd actually prefer to stay and work on this but some folks arrived from outta town.
:(
Gonna try to finish it later tonight though.


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_75.jpg

[lupicani]

nice,
try moving the horn, the one on the other side of the head closests to the foreground. Over more twords the left at an angle like a cows horn would look. Keep it in relation to where you have it anatomically on the side viewing the audience. It wil help to" pop" the figure and convincing suchness.
agian...Nice :)

[Groover McNab]

lupicani - thanks for the crit. I think I'm gonna leave it alone for a day or two and re-evaluate it and I might just try out what you said. for now here's the really close to finished piece (bg is kinda bleh). Might re-do the arm too, i'm not quite happy with it.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_76.jpg

Detail

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_77.jpg

[van]

WHat brushes are you using? (Looking great, btw)

[Groover McNab]

van - mostly the oil brushes in painter 8 (fine feathering, details oil, flat oils) and the regular round brush and airbrush in photoshop for some details.

[van]

Originally posted by Groover McNab
van - mostly the oil brushes in painter 8 (fine feathering, details oil, flat oils) and the regular round brush and airbrush in photoshop for some details.

*sigh* Whenever I use the oils in painter I always seem to end up with a gloppy mess of crap. I dont know how you guys do it.

[Groover McNab]

van - trust me, i've done my fair share of gloppy messes of crap. actually I still do

[Groover McNab]

all I had time for today :mad:

i'll be posting the progression of this one also.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_78.jpg

[van]

Cool start. Cant wait to see some more. Ugh, My seascape WIP is not coming along well.

[Yina]

cool painter works!

[chudzta]

Dcent stuff. Visible Progression.. keep it up yo - ry

[Groover McNab]

van, Yina, chudtza - thanks.

Here's my progress for the night, still needs a lot of damn work. but me is sleepy...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_79.jpg

[Groover McNab]

dammit, i wanna keep working on it, but like most people, I gotta work tomorrow.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_80.jpg

[van]

It's fleshing out rather nicely. :)

[Groover McNab]

thanks van. a lot of things about it aren't working for me though. as i look at it more, i think i wanna head in a different direction. except i can't take that direction until i get home from work :(

[S.C. Watson]

Hey Groover,

Take the time at work to think the picture over and decide what it is that you don't like (if you haven't already).

I sometimes will take sort of a mental snapshot, if you will, of the piece that I am working on and rebuild it in my head until it works the way I want. Then I go back to the actual piece and rework it.

*most* of the time this works. Other times I create a total abomination :D

Speaking of work, time for me to get back to it!

Cheers,
~Oreg.

EDIT: I like the poses. They have a really cool disinterested feel to me that I like. I think what would really make this jump is to warm up the background (sort of sepia tone) and create a more stark lighting source.

Just an idea. ~O

[Groover McNab]

Thanks Oregano. Great advice! And I was actually thinking that too, that the background might need some warming up. I think what's hurting me also is I don't have a strong idea in the beginning, and for these last 2 pieces, I just kinda go and see where it takes me. What's ironic is I'm trying to crank these out before Austin because I don't really have a lot of concept stuff (mostly life drawing) in my portfolio. And in trying to 'cram' I'm losing sight of the most important thing, which is the concept itself. Phew, sorry for that long post, but it helped me to realize what I was doing while I was trying to articulate it in my head.

[S.C. Watson]

no worries about the long post :D

A suggestion for the concept work - just take some of your favorite fantasy/sci-fi stories and dramatically illustrate some of the characters/creatures. that works well because you have the description, and often times no illustration to give it life. I've done it a couple of times as practice for other stuff and it works well when I'm having trouble coming up with stuff. Just pretend that you've been hired by Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, or LucasFilm to concept the movie :D

Glad my suggestions were inline with what you were thinking. I hope you keep pounding on the pic, because I do think it's cool and would like to see what you do with it.

Cheers,
~Oreg.

[van]

Originally posted by Oregano

A suggestion for the concept work - just take some of your favorite fantasy/sci-fi stories and dramatically illustrate some of the characters/creatures. that works well because you have the description, and often times no illustration to give it life. I've done it a couple of times as practice for other stuff and it works well when I'm having trouble coming up with stuff. Just pretend that you've been hired by Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, or LucasFilm to concept the movie :D


That's an excellent suggestion, Oreg. :)

[Groover McNab]

I second that. Thanks Oreg.

[insane visions]

thats a nice composition push the colors further...

[Groover McNab]

thanks rich. this is gonna make me sound retarded, but i'm not really sure what you mean by 'push the colors'. can you explain a bit? i'd really value your advice.

[S.C. Watson]

I think what he means is that the piece is looking a little muddy. I would assume that by pushing the colors it he means to bring out the colors that you have there already. Make it richer.

But that's just a guess. Take it from him, not me. :D

Cheers,
~Oreg.

[aum]

Pushing and Pulling is a key fundamental in painting. To push your values is to take away contrast from your colors and "push" them into your canvas. When you pull colors, you add more contrast, harder edges, or whatever which "pulls" the colors/edges towards the eye or away from your canvas..

What I think IV is saying is that he wants you to pull (I know he said push, but I think he meant pull, or at least the pull that I learned in fine art school, could be push in san fran :), or add more contrast to the colors. Tighten up the areas where the colors bleed together and create definition.

Remember similarity pushes and contrast pulls. So whatever you want the viewer to notice, create contrast in that area and vice versa. This is how you control the viewer's eye. It is also pertinent to creating depth and form.

BTW it looks good keep it up.

Artists to look at would be:

www.ryanchurch.com (http://www.ryanchurch.com)
www.sydmead.com (http://www.sydmead.com)
www.goodbrush.com (http://www.goodbrush.com)
www.tjframe.com (http://www.tjframe.com)

Google these:

Gerhard Richter
Antonio Lopez Garcia
Joseph Raffael

[Groover McNab]

Hey thanks for the input guys! I'm kind of in a vacuum right now when it comes to art, only my sister and you forum people have been in a position to give me crits/suggestions, so I definitely appreciate it. Unfortunately, not a lot of progress last night. Just wanted to post and say thanks.

[aum]

I also forgot to say that pulling is also bumping up lighter values or lowering (pushing) darker values to give more volume, it also deals with color saturation likewise.

[Groover McNab]

thanks for the advice and links aum. I've seen some of craig mullins and ryan church's work, probably haven't studied them as much as I should. man, I just noticed you're from my favorite city to visit. damn I miss crap tables.

anyway, here's a progress pic. I feel a little better about where this is going...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_81.jpg

[TARGETE]

I like the variety stuff and mediums you use, that last piece is working out well. Some warm colors in the shadow areas would be really sweet especially on the guy.

keep it up man!

JP

[Groover McNab]

TARGETE - Oh man, seeing your comment on my sketchbook made my day! Thanks for the advice, I definitely value it very much.

Here's some miniscule progress

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_82.jpg

[Groover McNab]

another small step, then onto fixing the arms...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_83.jpg

[endregan]

looking good. I really like your paintings.

[Groover McNab]

Thanks endregan!

Here's one more update before dinner.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_84.jpg

[chudzta]

workin hard on this booger eh. Its getting there. anxious to see the end. no real advice tho cuz im liking what ur doing with it - ry

[van]

Damn! Hell, yes. I love your paintings, man. I wish I could crit you, but I would have to wait until the end. Im not too good at catching things midstream, yet. ;)

You rock, man!

[Groover McNab]

chudzta - yep working pretty hard. wanna finish a couple pieces before austin.

van - thanks a lot man! well I'm gonna call this one done for now, so crit away! :D

And thanks to everyone who gave some input on this piece, I think it definitely turned out better than if I had not gotten any advice.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_85.jpg

[steak-tron]

nice painting groover. i wish i could help too but i'm reliant on line work like a crutch. My painting knowledge is infantile, but i like where you took this. It has an apocolytic mood, nice anatomy too.

All i can think of now is light source. Check out Marko's tutorial thread in Finally finnished. He works subtractive alot which is great for picking out high-lights.

talk to yer soon. -steak

[van]

Great work, man! This turned out awesome. I love these colors and looseness that you kept. RAWK!

So, for crits...first thing I thought was...it needed something in the background. To push the subject more to the front. :)

[Groover McNab]

steak - Thanks man. I'm glad you got an apocalyptic mood cuz that was kinda what I was going for.

van - thanks for checking this thing throughout. backgrounds still scare me. I do a lot of figure stuff and not enough environments, definitely something I need to work on.

for now here's a new 'farming droid' sketch. I SUCK AT DRAWING GUNS! :P


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_86.jpg

[van]

LMAO. All right, this one looks like its going to be awesome, too.

And hey, dont feel bad...I havent even ventured into backgrounds and environments, yet. God help me. :p

[insane visions]

what I meant was is : dagdagan mo pang ng detail saka kulay kasi parang flat.. kaya lang ang composition mo maganda sayang lang kung hindi mo lagyan ng extra work para hindi ma waste ang drawing mo....

[Groover McNab]

hehehe. salamat pare! tatapusin ko rin yan ng mabuti, kaya lang mediyo minadali ko para maka-abot sa Austin. Pupunta ka ba? Inom tayo. hehehe :chug:

[insane visions]

sabi ng kaibigan ko si el coro puwede akong pumunta ng libre baka pupunta ako kaya lang mahal ang hotel...susubukan kung pumunta para makilala ko kayong lahat..hindi naman mahirap makilala ako baka konte lang ang mga pinoy doon...hehehe

[van]

Holy crap. I need to get some more sleep.

[Groover McNab]

van - haha. don't worry about it. :D
turns out me and iv were both born and raised in the homeland. I'll let you all figure out where that is :p

some slight progress...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_87.jpg

[van]

Cool, cool! That left leg is looking crazy...better watch it! More, more....more!

[aum]

Good work so far.

So you all speak tagalog? :)

I figured it out! (i think hah), no idea how to read it though

[Groover McNab]

van - do you mean looking crazy in a good or bad way? :D

aum - hehey, you figured it out!

Sorry for the lack of updatation (?) have a bunch of shit to take care of before AUSTIN! I'm psyched!

You guys going?

[van]

No Austin for me. Not this time. I got no vacation and I have too many kids running around. :) I will wait for the next one...by then I should be wowing people with my sketchbooks. ;)

And I meant crazy in a, well, not bad, but, yah...its wierd lookin. LOL. Im trying to give you a crit, only, I am not used to giving them. :p Again, probably should wait until you are finished.

[steak-tron]

yes, return of the farming droids.!

[cotron]

high pitch voice:
grooooooooooooooooooooooooooverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrr!

nice to hang with you man, it will happen again. good luck w/ the Watts thing, let us know what's up with that.

[MindCandyMan]

Groover it was great to meet you man! That's sweet that you will be going to watts...that should work out fantastic for you man! You are a very cool guy and I am anxious to see what you will produce with watts teaching under you belt.

[Groover McNab]

cotron - hehehe. Everyone calling me Groover was surreal. It was great meeting you man. I had an awesome time, we all have to do it again.

MCM - Thanks man. Great meeting you too. I'm gonna have to visit Watts and talk to Ron some more. I'm pretty damn excited though.

So in case it wasn't obvious, AUSTIN WAS FUCKING AMAZING! Shout outs to my roommates steak, elboy, and crunch. Everyone that hung out cotron, strych9ine, metalwinds, meta, dominie_dirtch, artkelly, nova, velo, buffaloe, imglue, jetpack, blankslatejoe, PhilHolland, MCM, Blackhawk, gordon(forgot your handle), ben(forgot yours too), lydia(ditto), rich, and shit I know I'm forgetting people but it's not on purpose. Ray Ray, Big Steve and Cecil Newport. Oh yeah and a big thanks to Ron Lemen for providing the highlight of the workshop (at least for me).

Ok ok, on to sketches.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_88.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_89.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_90.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_91.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_92.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_93.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_94.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_95.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_96.jpg

Here's something I started right when I got back, well after 12 hours of sleep anyway.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/deacon02.jpg

Some more stuff coming that I need to take photos of.

[waronmars]

Your pen and pencil work is really inspiring, like it's just scribbles but it purveys all feeling. Much respect.

[van]

WOot. Even if I didnt go to austin I am sure loving all the results. :)

[metalwinds]

groover! im seeing improvement already. ..especially in the color work. keep pluggin away and studying. also, start doing some anatomy studies and really get that stuff implanted in your brain. .it will help your non ref works immensely. dont forget about life drawing and reference drawing, as well. i cannot even begin to explain the importance of doing those every day.

it was awesome meeting you and hangin out with the guys, bro. you are one cool ass dude, and i look forward to our next meeting. ..along with all the other guys. peace out dude, and keep this sketchbook rollin!

danny

[buzzz3d]

Great sketches and funny comments, it's a pleasure to browse through all your pages.
Cheers!

[elboy]

I like the large masses of shadow as found on the one-handed sunglass monster and the hooded guys. I don't remember seeing your pen stuff, but the male model drawing is nice. everyone always seems to suggest drawing from life and reference, but I see that the 'studies police' metalwinds has already struck here.
gordon is lactose and ben is vhy. can't help w/ lydia, but that's cause I wasn't kickin w/ the ladies like you. booya.
Austin was as good as it gets. best wishes w/ your future school situation, McJanu.

[steak-tron]

grooves-

it was cool rooming with you bud. I think we all quadrupled our powers, this really shows in the last batch of yours. "what happend last weekend?...oh yea;) " I likes the paint on the last one and these sketch pages are well composed, but where's the tight fig. drawings you did? I know you have a digi camera.

I see you had time to draw some ladies on top of chatting with them. Keep it real on the streets my man.

I'm at work so i gotta be sneeky about these posts.
-steak

[Groover McNab]

waronmars - Thanks a lot! I'm glad I can actually inspire people.

van - Maaaan, you can't miss the next one! I know you already update a lot but you'll be cranking out drawings like a monkey on red bull if you ever go to these things.

metalwinds - Thanks man! I feel like there's more improvement coming. Just being around all those talented people pushed me to step my game up. Looking forward to doing it again. Definitely gonna do more studies!

buzzz3d - Thanks for checking in! I'm probably not responsible for any funny comments you read :D

an aside: These "talking to girls a lot" stories are completely overblown. I'm just a friendly type guy ;)

elroy and kemp-tron - you guys were the coolest doooods! It was great rooming with you guys and next time I'll buy one of those anti-snore things to put on my nose. And we definitely quadrupled our powers! It was great sketching with you guys, really made me step it up. Room 260 crew fo' life! Also it was a pleasure drawing steak and elboy while they were showering together. what? who said that?!?!? *

*that didn't really happen. or did it?

Anyway, here's some life drawings from Austin


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_97.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_98.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_99.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_100.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_101.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_102.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_103.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_104.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_105.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_106.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_107.jpg
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_108.jpg

[Groover McNab]

Some more progress on my latest painting

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/deacon03.jpg

[cotron]

yeah man, dont stop the bodyrock!






did I just say that??

[van]

cotron. Uh, yah. You did.


Awesome stuff ,Groover! I will not miss the next one. This latest update rocks! The painting looks great so far.

[deschamps]

Hey Groover. That portrait is coming along nice. I think you need to bring in some darks on the left edge of the face to help bring some dimensionality to the head. Even though the light is hitting the head from the left, that outer edge will roll away from the light and have a little dark. i had some fun in painter with your piece I hope you don't mind. ;) Deacon (http://www.ericdeschamps.com/ill/imgs/deacon03b.jpg)

I love the sketch you have up top of the amputee creature will his tongue out! nice!

[Groover McNab]

cire600 - I usually don't like to post anything without images but I just have to say thanks for that PO! (first time anyone's done that). I kinda had a feeling something looked wrong over on the left side of his face, but I just wasn't sure what it was. I really appreciate it and feel free to do it as much as you like :D

codytron - I won't stop, cuz I can't stop, uh uh, uh uh (what?)

van - Thanks dude! That workshop did wonders.

[metaphysiks]

get it groover. seems like we both benefited from the workshop's kick in the ass.
keep it up
meta

[Groover McNab]

Meta - Thanks man! The workshop definitely provided a huge kick in the ass.

So I'm doing a bunch stuff at the same time now, so I can kinda jump back in forth. Here's some progress of stuff you guys (and gals) have already seen and some new stuff I've started. Obviously some are farther along than others.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/deacon04.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/ctf.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/seeker.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/ahas.jpg

[van]

Rock on! Groover is in da hizhouze! What does that shit mean, anyway? Whats a 'hizzouze' ? :alien3:

[Groover McNab]

It's a lot like a 'house' only cooler...and filled with more suburban white kids :D

[xia]

Holy MOO! Nice life study and painting. I really like the Lady's Flag one.
Keep them coming.

[Groover McNab]

Thanks xia! I've checked out your sketchbook. Ya got some skillz dooood!

So here's a weak update, I'll have more stuff tomorrow night.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/seeker02.jpg

[jetpack42]

It was awesome finally meeting you in Austin, bro! Hangin out with you fellas at IHOP was definitely a highlight. Hah, what WERE we thinking, talking about playing ball? Or doing anything but drawing after the workshop anyhow? Damn that was fun and inspiring! I really liked your portfolio, but you already know you rock. Your painting is coming along, but remember the wise...wise...wise words of Marc_Taro "Quantity is a quality of its own." SO LETS SEE SOME MORE, BIAAAAAAAATCH!!!!!

Watts anyone??

For those who didn't know, Groovers real name is Janu!

[Groover McNab]

Thanks again man! Yeah any thought of basketball pretty much went out the window within the first hour of experiencing Austin weather. Oh well. And I'm working on the quantity beeyach :p ! Actually that's a great thing to call me out on, I kinda get caught up in reworking old stuff, that I don't add any new sketches. So seriously, that's a great crit.

Last update before I go to bed. I promised my sister I would paint a character from her anime webcomic (www.thecastings.com, yes it's a shameless plug) for posters she can hand out at anime expo. So here's the work in progress. Don't really draw any anime type stuff myself, so I hope it reads as uh...anime-ish.


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/abra03.jpg

[Retinal Haze]

That last picture is truly a gem, the lighting and color choice is great. I just really like it.

[artkitty]

The last one reminds me of that chick from Fantasia 2000
<3 the lifedrawings!

[van]

The last one reminds me of that chick from Fantasia 2000
<3 the lifedrawings!

Hah! I saw that, too. :)

[Groover McNab]

van, artkitty - aaawwwww maaaaaan. I was actually thinking that as the painting got further along, and I was hoping it was just me. :(

[van]

van, artkitty - aaawwwww maaaaaan. I was actually thinking that as the painting got further along, and I was hoping it was just me. :(

It still looks goo, dude! No fret. :D

[Groover McNab]

Thanks man! But I have to figure out how to un-fantasia this pic and soon. I don't want anyone at the comic con thinking my sis ripped off the fantasia chick. Maybe i'll add a cowboy hat and a monocle....

[DNA]

Wow awesome sketches man , like them all.... keep up posting ... :)

[Groover McNab]

Retinal Haze - Thanks! Sorry I missed your post earlier.

DNA - Thanks! Definitely gonna keep this thang going.

So I decided to take a little break from the digital stuff. I'm trying to fill up my sketchbook pages a little more, so I might add some stuff to the third page.


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_109.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_110.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_111.jpg

EDIT: That last one came out pretty small, here's a bigger version

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_112.jpg

[jetpack42]

Your pencil skills are powerful. You should do that more often, I say. The hands look a little uncertain, though.

To mix up that other girl, you should give her a top hat and a monocle. There's no such character as MRS Peanut for her to get mixed up with.

[Groover McNab]

jetmike - yep you hit the nail on the head. gonna need to do some hand studies when I get home from work. my hands are weak. WEAK!

hey i just realized i've been conceptart.orging for a year now :cry:

yeah yeah no one cares :P

[elboy]

groover mcnoover, I really like your figure drawings and pencil sketches. your painted self portraits were great, so I know you can push these digi paints to high quality finished pieces.
I haven't seen fantasia 2000, so I see no resemblance to the character I haven't seen (uh...). I don't know the gender of your pic, but it looks like it could be a man w/ pretty features to me. Also, I'm pretty sure the green is hair, but it almost reads as a hood w/ the shadows it's casting and b/c it's so big on the left (our left). Actually, it looks better the more I look at it, but those were my initial reactions. sorry if that was frank. I've kind of run out of courtesy and tact for the day. Glad to see you're making lots of art.
in the future make sure you get someone's permission before you draw them taking a shower. I have to keep reminding myself of the same thing. peas, janu.

[steve kim]

hiya, some cool stuff you got here. especially with the paintings. i think you have a good idea for value. it'll definitely help you out when you start taking painting classes at ac.

with your life drawings, however, i'd like to see you do more with line and less with value, preferably ditch it altogether. try to describe the form and figure as much as you can with line and line weight. they should look almost schematic. if your figure reads with line only adding value is a snap. too often people will use value arbitrarily out of habit or deficiencies in drawing.

cheers,
steve

[van]

All right, Groover. Where are ya. I need more. More! :dance:

[Groover McNab]

van the updating man - No worries man, I'm here. Just had to watch Spiderman 2 last night, so there wasn't much drawing done unfortunately, but that movie ROCKED! Made me feel like a little kid again. Except I didn't pee my pants. Ok maybe a little...

royel boy (man no fair, I'm almost out of variations for your name) - Hey feel free to be as frank as you want. Actually I'd prefer if you said something like "Also, I'm pretty sure the green is hair, but it almost reads as a hood w/ the shadows...bitch!", obviously you can replace 'bitch' with a word of your choice :D

chumps - Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a shot.

[van]

Thats all right. I totally missed yesterdays update. My youngest girl is teething...all of em...all at once it seems. She is pretty crabby and sick. And then I had a big troll attack on my wife HUGE ASS forum that I had to battle. Yesterday was just a big downer.

I did get my mortgage caught up though. :p

[steak-tron]

hot damn, jan-oover,

it looks like you did increase your powers. I'm lovin this last batch. The pencil pages are strong and the new digi-paints are looking great. Also, I can't belive i missed some of those figure draws because they're solid. Second from the bottom is the shit, making that charcoal sing may-on. My favorite is probably the anime-lady but the 3/4 portrait is engaging. Your developing an interesting technique.

my only complaint -FINISH 'EM!-

I suppose the same could be said to me...

keep rocking this house/thread of yours, as i will be returning shortly to check out the goodness.
-steak

[roger]

Loving the analog stuff, I can already see you're pushing it. The painting with the red flag looks great too!

[Groover McNab]

steak-tron2: electric bugaloo (yeah yeah, I'm out) - thanks buddy. that's my biggest complaint about my stuff too! I'm gonna finish at least 2 of these by weeks end.

roger - thanks for checking in. I appreciate the compliments

Sooo my domain name expired w/o me knowing and all the images were down for about 2 days. But it's all better now so here's an update. The weekend was pretty shitty drawing-wise. Here's 4 pages of inane badness

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_113.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_114.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_115.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_116.jpg

On the bright side though I got my new intuos2 and I love that thing! Here's some stuff I've done to break it in

half hour, used photo ref
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sp070404.jpg

tried to do an sp from memory, no mirror no ref, jetmike pointed out it looks a a giant baby groover
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sppk.jpg

I reeeally like the palette knife tool right now
http://www.flipvertical.com/images/mask01.jpg

[Jane Radstrom]

I really like the self portraits, I recognized you instantly. :) In fact, when I saw them in the SP thread earlier today it made me want to paint a quick one of my own (you saw it!). I also just love: http://www.flipvertical.com/images/ctf.jpg The palette knife is a very cool tool, but I can't control the thickness/tilt so well. When I watched Andrew's blob demo he made it look so easy!! I think controlling those aspects is the secret to master palette knife works..

[jetpack42]

but big baybee gwoover is cyuuuute too!!

Great face studies though. Drawing from memory is a good exercise I may have to steal one of these days. I've only done about 15 SPs so far though, so I'm still a rookie. The one in your portfolio...wowzah! Your pencil sketching is solid, solid enough that I think you could start to really think about composition and shapes when you draw...if thats your thing. I realllllllllly dig the girl with the gun on page 3. Keep 'em coming. When are you visiting Watts? Did you fix your sisters comic character?

[Groover McNab]

originally posted by Velo
In fact, when I saw them in the SP thread earlier today it made me want to paint a quick one of my own
That is coolest thing anybody has said on my sketchbook! Thank you.
although
but big baybee gwoover is cyuuuute too!
is a close second :P

jetpack42 - I'm probably visiting Watts this month, or maybe I can just talk to Ron at comiccon, still have to iron out the details. I need to get that damn picture fixed before comiccon too

:mumble:

Anyway, pretty weak update. Not really happy with this one, but I like messing around with the palette knife


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/pksp02.jpg

[elboy]

nice, nice, noice. all of your self portraits, old and new, are great. Even though your conceptual paintings have more vibrant colors, I like your color use in the sps better. For example this red head guy's body is all blue; all the shades and highlights are different blues. But your sps seem to have purples and oranges and reds in addition to the skin tone.
but these are some great images. I like the last page of pen and pencil drawings w/ all the exaggerated underbites. and there's a david cross sighting too! these recent updates are good stuff, january.

[TheDirtSyndicate]

wow man, your painter (or ps) skills are phenomenal. killer stuff.

[Groover McNab]

El Teriyaki boy - Yeah I'm a Mr. Show nerd, I was actually thinking that when I was drawing D.Cross. Thanks for pointing out that I use less colors when I make my non sp stuff! Man, now it's so obvious when I look at these, but I wasn't seeing it at first. So seriously, that was a great crit. I think what happens is with the sps I use photo ref most of the time and I exaggerate the different colors I see a little bit, so when I'm not drawing from any refs it seems I just stick with one main color. Damn, that's a great crit. YOU'RE THE MAN NOW DAWG! (gold stars to anyone who can name what terrible movie I just referenced)

complete2 - hey thanks a lot man. I checked out a little bit of your site. pretty cool. I'm a graphic designer myself, and dabbled in motion graphics a while back. I'll check out more of it in the future I'm sure.

[TheDirtSyndicate]

well, i just updated my daily sketchbook too. id like to hear what you think about my sketches.
(sorry, shameless sketchbook plug alert!)

[Groover McNab]

new pencil page (that's less shitty than the last batch I think :D)

edit: although I just noticed something terribly wrong with the dudes back :(

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_117.jpg

[cotron]

sweet post man, I really like the digital stuff! mooooreeeee

[steak-tron]

grooves, those sp's and the painging of the guys back are kick ass. I think your technique lends it'self more to the ink than the graphite. Use graphite if you are looking to build up tones. But you know this, so i'll shut up.
great work man, keep bringing them goods. I esp. like the creature in the last one.

[elboy]

coolness. I like the guy's helmet and the neck of the monster.
and Finding Forrester is the movie you referenced. It was almost painful to hear Sean Connery say that, but I didn't mind the movie in general. Anyway, don't you dare give gold stars for me knowing that. If anything, I should get negative stars.
peas.

[Groover McNab]

Wanted to update before I get my drink on tonight :D

Codytron - Thanks buddy!

Steak and bake - Thanks man! Hey, don't worry about posting comments that sound obvious, sometimes I need those thing reinforced in my brain. Show me no mercy!

Eldude - Thanks and wouldn't negative stars be like...black holes? Yes, my jokes are stupid.

Some new stuff

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_118.jpg

Wanted to redo the anime chick from a few posts back. Here's the sketch


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_119.jpg

And the painting. It's still a WIP but it's pretty close. Please crit the hell out of it!!!!!!! :chainsaw:

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_120.jpg

[aum]

nice painting

[steak-tron]

fuck yea! dolling out ultimate combos on that last one.

some comment tho... I like some parts of the sketch better, this seems to happen alot with jumping to finals. There is a stronger contrast on the sketch that is not in the painting, esp under the cheek and mouth structure, there is no "turning" away from the viewer, the structure does'nt receed into space. I also think you may want a cast shadow from her hair [our left]. And more cast shadow under the brow ridge in the eye socket cavites. It also looks like some alignment is off in the painting. It looks sortof like the viewer is looking down slightly when the head and eyes are concerned, but not with the nose and mouth. You might be able to fix that by curving the mouth slightly up in a half smile.

hope this makes sense, that last page kicks ass.
-peace in the midwest.

[gaboartpage]

Groover McNab
The skin tone tests are great
specially the female face in
May 1st, 2004, 07:00 PM
but it seemed (in that time)
that you used all the way small
brush size and i would reccomend
(not that i do it right) larger size at first

great process by flipping the image
keep doing that for balance great :)

my CA sense is tingling with
this gesture drawing batch
May 27th, 2004, 12:10 AM
were are you taking your classes ?????

This one is Jae lee eske :)
June 4th, 2004, 02:40 AM
i like her bottom

the batch of
July 8th, 2004, 11:38 PM
is in another league you noticed too
you advanced thats very clear very good
compo and characters i kind of like
the values too , great work
keep posting dude :)

----------Gabriel

[Groover McNab]

Kemp - Thanks! Those were some awesome crits. Tried to keep all of them in mind when I worked on the painting more. I have such a hard time finishing stuff. I can pretty much get to the almost finished point for most of the digital portraits in an hour or so, and then it'll take me another several hours fumbling around trying to finish it up, so I definitely appreciate the help.

Gabriel - Hey thanks for all the comments! I love how you cited specific examples and I appreciate you seeing improvement in my work. Sometimes I find it hard to look at my work and see it myself. Now I just have to draw as much as you do and catch up :D

As for your question all the gestures are just from a community college where I live. Pretty much my only "formal" art training so far :(

Alright here's the portrait with the changes

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_121.jpg

I made a side by side image to compare. I definitely think the new one is working better.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_122.jpg

[artkitty]

the green gal is looking good! Maybe put some reds in those shadows.

[metaphysiks]

looking good groover. the new version definately pushes the volumes further, i can see the shapes start to come out. my only crit is that i think you should try bumping up the opacity. the colors will seem richer and you can avoid some fuzziness.
meta

[Groover McNab]

artkitty and meta - Hey thanks so much for the crits. I tried to apply all of them to the new pic (new one is on the right). It's getting closer. This picture is definitely gonna turn out better cuz of all you guys (and gal) :D

So anyone else that has crits, hit me with it!!!



http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_123.jpg

[endregan]

Cool sketchbook I will have to stop by more often.

I like that last painting and how you showed some progress. I think a dark, reddish background could finish that baby and bring it out!

[dakoscwash]

Man, that last one is beautiful. Great strokes, great color, great form. I love it. Keep this stuff comming.

[Jens]

hey groove, just wanted to stop by to say that you're doing good. Nice progression. Keep at it.

[van]

Love the green haired gal. Great stuff!

[Groover McNab]

endregan - Hey thanks man! Please stop by as often as you like, and keep bringing some crits/suggestions with you :D. I'll try that dark red bg, thanks.

dakoscwash - Thanks a lot. Some stuff about the piece still bother me though, and I'm not quite sure what they are, I think mostly on the left side of her face (our left I mean). Glad you like it!

Jens - Thanks for checking in. It always makes me feel good when other people see progression in my work, since I have a hard time seeing it myself. Hey your SPs are looking good btw.

van - As always, thanks for stopping by!

So the last couple of days have been weird. Haven't been very productive, a mini-funk if you will. But whatever, I'm back drawing again. I just did this sketch to loosen up, get some frustration out. I only had a vague idea of what I wanted draw



http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_124.jpg

then I started coloring it in photoshop

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_125.jpg

[jetpack42]

the way you fixed that girl's eye worked real well. :bow: to be really picky, i might soften the middle groove between her nose and mouth...the deep shadow makes it look really big...unless thats what you want. all i think you'd have to do is soften that shadow some and it wouldn't go back as far. but again, thats being picky...

you + pencil = love.

the painting on the dino isnt nearly as good as the drawing, imo. (keep in mind...i SUCK at digital painting, or any painting) but it seems really splotchy. There's not really any rhythem, or focus of the painting thus far. it will probably all come together alot better when you color the dude and put in a background...i guess it just feels really hesitant at this point. of course, i could just be full of crap, and i'll have no problem fessing up.

[Groover McNab]

jetpack fo'tee too - Hey thanks for the crits man! Don't worry about being nitpicky or defending your crits. I'm rough and tough like afro puffs :afro1:. I'm here to learn and will listen to what anyone has to say. Although at times I won't always agree. I was actually gonna say I like the colored dino sketch better, but now after viewing it here on my work monitor I see what you mean about it being splotchy. I need to tweak my monitor settings at home it looks like. Cuz I don't see the splotches on my home monitor. Thanks again.

[artkitty]

I think in coloring, you need to lay down some color at 100% opacity, and then start lowering opacity and building up subtle tones. Starting on a toned page and adding lights and darks will immediately give your sketches some atmosphere.

[steak-tron]

grooves,

looking tighter... your killing with that painting non-sense. I call it that because i don't know how to use it, and for this, i commend you. In all seriousness this stuff only gets better and better. I really like what you did with the green haired laday, it looks like artkitty gives some good advice, so listen to here and not me. great last batch too.

[Groover McNab]

artkitty - you know I've already expressed how much that last tidbit helped, but thanks again!

steak - Thanks. I don't know about killing this painting stuff, right now I think I'm just mildly injuring it. I know for a fact you'll be killing with the painting nonsense once you get started. SO GET STARTED ALREADY!!! :D And hey, I can listen to both you -and- kelly ;)

So I'm in the middle of upgrading my workstation and other uninteresting crap that's keeping me busy, so not a lot of new stuff.

Anyway, the lovely and talented artkitty was nice enough to help me out and did some quick paintovers for me :clapping2 . I learned a lot from looking at these and asked for her permission to post them here, so hopefully other people will learn from them as well.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/akpo01.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/akpo02.jpg

Cool huh?

Also I thought I'd post some of my older SPs that I've done since a LOT of people at the workshop were diggin em. Ok a couple people were diggin em. Ok two people...and one of them was a drifter...after I gave him a sandwhich (edit for jp42: yes I'm lying :D)...anywaaaaay, here they are.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/spold01.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/spold02.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/spold03.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/spold04.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sp06.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sp07.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sp08.jpg

[jetpack42]

I didn't see you give Ron a sandwich, and you certainly didn't give me one.

Liar.

[Groover McNab]

president jetpack - I was giving em out behind the scenes. I'm crazy like uh...a fox.

Here's a quick sp, a color experiment gone wrong

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/crappycolorexp.jpg

[Dahsramu]

those sps are brilliant man - i like the great multitudes of color and the beautiful strong strokes. the third one from the top (the groovester without the beard) is prolly my fave... its a lot of fun to look at.

Not tryin to be a meanie but im not a fan of artkitty's paintover of the green haired girl - your version seems to have a more depth and richer color. I do like the background of her paintover of the reptile rider, though.

anywho, those sps are pimp - as they should be since they are portraits of a pimp. so keep pimpin. pimp.

:Pimp:

-Umar

[Groover McNab]

Dahsumar my man! Sketch night was a lot of fun dude, too bad we didn't really get to hang out til the last day. Next workshop though I'm sure there'll be plenty of sketch nights. Anyway, thanks man (especially for using the pimp smiley, now that's pimp)! Glad you like these, I need to stop getting mileage of these sps though, some of these are too damn old. Damn, I need to finish new stuff. Also, in fairness to artkitty, she did these fairly quick and mostly to show me color ideas and reflected light, and her PO did exactly that. So again, big ups* to artkelly! :rock:

*I don't really say 'big ups' in real life, I talk normal...kinda :-P

[Groover McNab]

Some not so good Sandman fanart. One of these days I'll make something that does the books some justice...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/delerium07.jpg

[strych9ine]

I'm digging this Delerium portrait. I think if you tightened it up a lot and worked out more interaction between the fish and the hair it'd be sweet. You've got some great sp's here too, bro, you caught your likeness spot on. We need more big ass baby Groovers too...

[Groover McNab]

Whoa. This new ca look is gonna take some getting used to.

Cody9ine - Thanks for dropping by man!

Here's a rework, pretty much changed the face, getting closer to the younger girl look that's more appropriate for the character.

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/delerium08.jpg

[liam.c]

sp knockin my sox off

[cotron]

grooooooover!

your sp's are great man! I'd watch the value's a little on them, you're in the middle for the most part on them, no real shifts in light/dark.. your colors work really well in them, I know I couldn't pull those off :)

[Groover McNab]

liam c - Thanks! Glad you like em.

Codytron - Thanks man! Totally right about the values, I have a habit of just picking cool colors for shadows and not paying attention to the actual value of it. Now I always end up desaturating my digital stuff in photoshop to check the values out.

Here's more delerium, slight progress (I think...), still a bit muddy...



http://www.flipvertical.com/images/delerium09.jpg

[TheDirtSyndicate]

yo! fish face!
hehe
sorry i couldn't resist.

great color job on her, and the self po's are awsome man. how long it take you to do those?

[Dominie_Dirtch]

Glad to see the Delerium piece is developing... The face is looking much better, but watch that left (her right) eye, it's dropped lower than the other, but that's an easy fix... Keep it up mang!

[steak-tron]

Nice job man, real eye candy.

[buffaloe]

Hey Groover!

Awesome work in your sketchbook... These SP's are great! They really capture your face I think ;) And I love the direction this Sandman art is heading.... the colors work really well... you;ve got this triangle of red green and blue with the nose and eyes that pull you right in! Great work.

[Groover McNab]

complete2 - You talking to me?!?!?! :D The first 3 sps are actually my first 3 digital sp attempts so it took a reaaaaally long time, fumbling my way through the program (painter). I don't know the actual hour count but each of them were probably spread out over a week, painting in my free time. Everything else is 1-2 hours.

Kyler - Thanks for the crit mang! Get your hosting squared away and join the sketchbook party already! Btw, your avatar is nuts :p

steaktronologics - Always good to hear from you dude. Oh and glad to see some new colored stuff in your sketchbook :rock:

the lovely ms. buffaloe - Thanks for dropping by! I look pretty dashing in those sps don't I? ;) Hehe, ok not really :dorky: Keep posting your stuff, I know you're hiding more sketches and textures!

Ok, I'm calling this thing done for now. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice. It's more illustration than painting, but here it is.

Oh yeah, going to comic con in San Diego tomorrow, pretty psyched! All sorts of great artists are gonna be there. No updates for a while though :(

damn, I went overboard with the smilies...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/delerium10.jpg

[MindCandyMan]

I like this a lot groover! Looks awesome man!

[JackalAnubis]

great work man. I love those recent paintings and sp, the pencil sketches are also very nice. keep it up! :dance:

[Jane Radstrom]

Groover! The last image is looking really fun and cool. Especially her lips, I like how much you can see the entire fleshy lobe instead of just the lips looking like they stick out from the form. I've been doing it wrong! Also, I am so curious about font in circles and SPIRALS!! How do you do that?!

[steak-tron]

Booya!

[prostate sunrise]

i love that delirium painting you did, i think you really nailed down her crazy playfulness. along with the graphic lettering, quite lovely. keep it up the great work!

[xia]

Groovy! freaking blows my mind! Awesome!

[Groover McNab]

MCJohn - Thanks man! Always great when you drop by. Your paintings are rockin'

JackalAnubis - Thanks a lot! I like looking at your sketchbook.

Velo - The spiral text was done in Adobe illustrator. Just used the spiral tool, tweaked the settings and put some text from the Sandman books on the spiral path and voila! :madchef: Hey btw, you're doing a great job in your sketchbook thread, waaaaay ahead of me when I was your age (not that that means anything :D)

streaktron - word!

prostate sunrise - Wow thanks! Glad you like it. It's an honor. I'm a big fan of your work.

xia - it's tripping me oout maaaan. hehe. Thanks a lot dude! (hmm...someone should've made a hippy smiley)

Here's some not so special new stuff. Things have been pretty slow lately. Trying to do some studies though and work some more on my deficiencies.


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_126.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_127.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_128.jpg

[prawda]

awesome stuff... my only crit is that i miss some more contrast in the delirium painting

cu

[young paddy1]

The Sps are fantastic and the character work is brilliant and the delerium progress is awesome and my lips are sore from kissing so much ass.

I have to agree with prawda about the contrast though, although the sandman stuff doesn't have a lot of harsh contrast.

[van]

Fan-freakin-tastic stuff, man! Gawd I missed pouring through these sketchbooks every day! :)

[nova]

this last dump is awesome! really cool to see your head studies coming through, in shades and in lines.

[Groover McNab]

prawda - Thanks! I see what you mean about the contrast. Nice avatar :teeth:

young paddy1 - Hehe, thanks for the hyperbole. I don't think any of my work deserves "fantastic", "brilliant", or "awesome" (yet ;) ) but I appreciate the compliments :^^:

vandaman - ...and I missed you sir. Thanks man!

nova - 'bout time you made a stop here :P I'm glad someone likes the last dump cuz I sure don't, after looking at em for a little bit I just can't get over how weak my head drawing is :(

So I've been pretty slow on the updates and will be for a while. I'm trying to get my website up so I haven't done much drawing lately :(
I managed to find a little time to make this really shitty sketch today though.


http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_129.jpg

[van]

Rock on! More!

[dCepT]

I like your "really shitty sketch"

Only thing that bothers me a bit is that his midriff looks a bit too wide.

I like the looseness.

Keep 'em coming!

d-C

[Groover McNab]

Ah you felllas didn't heed my "don't look now" warning :D

Thanks guys. dCept - the reason I think its shitty is cuz the way it appears it looks like a quick sketch, very loose. I've actually been hacking at it for more than 2 hours and it's still looking like this :(


The last couple of weeks have been really bad

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/ifrustrateme.jpg

[S.C. Watson]

Hey dude. I'm sorry to hear you've been having a rough time. The paintings look cool tho. This last one (you frustrated) is really striking.

The previous one looks really good too. Go take a walk or something for a bit and come back to it fresh after you've cleared your mind. I have to do this frequently.

It's also not uncommon for me to totally ditch a painting at this point if I feel it isn't working. I'll have an idea in my head and keep coming back to it. Work it up, toss it out. Work it up, toss it out until I finally get past all the crap that's in the way and put down something that looks halfway decent.

Don't know if that helps. Probably not :teeth: Keep truckin' man.

Cheers,
~Oreg.

[dCepT]

Yeah...what oregano said! You just gotta keep at it! Like van said to me, just work through the slump, and you'll come out on the other side with a vengeance :)

d-C

[jetpack42]

when things get bad, draw from life. the reference is there, and the practice is what you need to get on track. that last SP is pretty damn good, I think. I'm not just sayin it, its real expressive and moody. kudos, my friend.

or, like oregano said, play a few video games and come back. i do that every once in a while...play starcraft for 2 days or something. you'll get it back..no worries! just don't give up for good and you will find the path once again.

[Groover McNab]

Oreg, dCepT, and jetpack - Thanks for the encouragement guys! I seriously wasn't fishing for any, but I do sincerely appreciate it. It just always seems like when I get some momentum, something will come up and I won't have time to work on my art as much as I'd like, and when I get back into it I'll feel I've regressed. I think some part of it is as I get a little better (and I start to see things a little better) the deficiencies in my skills become more evident. I dunno. Maybe a little break might be a good idea.

jetpack - Well giving up for good is never a concern, just in a slump is all. As you know, I'm trying to make Watts in September. So finishing up my website so I can get another design job in SD, being real busy at my current work, working on my own personal projects, and trying to get the little odds and ends taken care of before moving, it gets a bit much sometimes. Nothing too bad, but a bunch of little things add up I guess. Plus it's a lot of time spent in front of the damn computer which just plain SUCKS! Anyway, enough of this mini rant. I'll be just fine :confident

[jetpack42]

it'll all be worth it in a couple months, bro.

[Crunch]

groover...the man...the myth...the compulsive masturbator...

great stuff man...funny that digi painting of the guy with the big ass arm resembles a character ive been working on...we are psychlically linked in some way...it looks cool man it just needs to be more defined. his pecks look a little thin though. also his face is a bit too thick on the left side...our left, near where the jaw meets the ear...its kinda odd, but with some more refinement and tweaking it could be a banging painting. dont worry about the rut...it happens man. dont stop drawing all together just draw to draw and dont worry about the end result...and just dont get so caught up in it.

keep it up man you can go far if you keep at it.

[Groover McNab]

groover...the man...the myth...the compulsive masturbator...

Hey now, first of all that's a dirty rumor. And second of all, there are varying degrees of compulsion...

Anyway, thanks for the comments dude. Yeah, ruts happen, and they'll happen again, so I might as well get used to em eh? :teeth:

Btw, hurry up and get your sketchbook in here!

[cotron]

yo man, i think your last few posts were actually really good. i especially like the lime green, frustrated sp. you're just being hard on yourself, it'll pass. you da mang, mang!

[liam.c]

some times waht seems to be a rut is really a push in ablity .. wehn you seem like or feel like you dont know waht your doing or why your doing it ... because you leave the comfortablity zone .. and thats good cuz that meens growth .thay looks fine to me ,alittle darker and more moody then you normaly are and thats ok too )
some times .. the down times in this endevor are really just a period of gestation .. some thing growing cooking behind the sceens that its hard for us ,the person doing it , to notice till it comes to the full birth
keep going punch though and you be fine )
ill bet by the time you post agean you wont be frustrated any more ) the longer we do this art bit the shorter the periods of frustration last :bashful:

[cuzzo]

this is pretty inspirational yo... thx a lot for being open enough to share your trials with us... im bout to go practice now!!!

[Groover McNab]

cotron miles - Thanks mang! And no, YOU da mang!

liam c. - Thanks. All of what you said made perfect sense to me.

cuzzo - Thanks. That last rant was actually pretty self-serving. None of my friends where I live are arty types, so sometimes I just need to get this stuff out some other way. If it encourages you to practice though, great :D

After doing a lot of nothing yesterday though, I'm pretty much over it. Itching to draw as soon as I get off from work. Updates tonight! :P

EDIT: Oh yeah, I just noticed my page count on this thread dropped. Looks like more posts are shown per page. Not that I care either way, but has anyone else noticed this?

[van]

Groover, you can change the setting in your usercp.

[Groover McNab]

van - I looked there first but nothing. oh well.

something I drew at lunch with a ballpoint pen and sharpie (those things make you dizzy)

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_130.jpg

messed with it in photoshop when I got home

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_131.jpg

another pen and sharpie sketch

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_132.jpg

[mogando25]

Wow man, thought I'd subscribe and see what I've been missing!!! Great digital works. :D

[spork891]

A very enjoyable sketchbook.

[steak-tron]

Grooves, sheeeitt! whatuupp! hellll!
I likes this last batch man, that last portrait is a keeper. When I look at it I sez to myself "hey, cheer up Janu, lets drink Lonestar tallboys and play free pool on shitty tables". So my point is not only is it a good portrait but it engages the viewer with a mood. not an easy task.

As far as ruts are concerned, i'm in danger of repeating what others have said but you go through stages of growth. Study habits and logged hours I believe affect how fast this is but it's still subjective (it's art, how bout that! :D ) When I say stages I mean you'll be drawing what seems like the same shit the same way for a while, this gets infuriating when you don't see any progress, but then you'll have little "mini epiphanies" and realize you actually made an advance. The best (and possibly worst) analogy i can think of is building levels in Final Fantasy. You waste a whole day killing monsters on the plains so that you can kill the bigger monsters in the mountian passage, but it takes forever and you finally get the level up to kick ass and continue the story. So make shitty drawings (not that you do) all day and increase your HitPoints (and more importantly.. Charisma 8) ).

anyways, sorry about the rant. the last pages are nice, I like the head studies, but I think you should do more. I spent a whole summer doing those and blocking them in the same way with the figure and I think it's payed off (I probably need to do it again) If you have'nt seen em' already look at KChen, but I'm sure you have. Always study, get in those habits now to reap the full benifit of the Watts At-lee-er. I kick myself daily for being such a bum in artschool, now it is no more...

Keep it real my man,
-stemp Tronillard

[Crunch]

yeah that was a good first night...and steak brings a good point on the progression...another analogy is like working out (which none of us do) but you start your bench press at lets say 200 and you progress to 230 in a month but then you just stay there for about 4 months and your all like what the hell im working out every fucking day! then all the sudden you hit a growth spurt and your going up 10lbs a freaking week! then you start the cycle over again...keep it up man cuz your a rocking artist...ill get my sketchbook up here soon man so you can knock my shit. dont worry im still drawin like a madman. keep it real mr groovermcnasty.

mr. cruchtastic

[van]

I really like that very last one a lot. Draw!

[maxetormer]

nice facial studies dude
I second that one, Draw!

[Groover McNab]

Thanks guys. Your comments really mean a lot. Don't have any new stuff yet but that should change soon. Finally finished my damned website (it's now 5:00 am :nohope: ), so I actually have a little bit of free time again to draw as opposed to NO free time. As long as we're on the topic, here's the shameless plug...check out www.flipvertical.com and drop me an email if you are so inclined. I promise some new sketches soon :teeth:

[Groover McNab]

WIP for a demon ship/throne thingy concept. Pretty early but I thought I'd post something since I haven't in a while :\

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_133.jpg

[hito]

nice nice nice stuffs man. Great website too. great range of work on the site. Best luck in heading to watts Groover!

[steak-tron]

Janu,

Holy fuck, your site kicks ass! Yer a hell of a designer bro.
gotta run, (ahhh the whips, ahhhh)

[cotron]

i agree with steak, nice website man!

[Groover McNab]

hito, kempillard, cotrody - Thanks dudes! I'm glad you like the site, I worked pretty hard to get it done. Still not quite happy with the main page though, I think I'll still be changing that in a couple days.

Here's some silly stuff. I just felt like drawing directly with pens and markers. Then I kinda colored the last one.



http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_134.jpg



http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_135.jpg



http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_136.jpg

[twitch]

Hey Groover,

Just discovered your sketchbook, and I have to say your sketches are pretty damnned good. Both the life drawings and the stuff from imagination are very strong. It doesn't hurt that you have a wicked imagination.

Your digital painting reflects your skills with figure drawing, though I see you have some ground to gain there to be as crisp and confident as your traditional media work; I can also see you wasting no time in bringing it up to par with the balance of your more traditional work.

Will be keeping an eye out for your next magnum opus; crits for guys like you are a real challenge and help me sharpen my eye to critique my own skribilz :D

Keep up the good work!

Peace
Twitch

[Groover McNab]

Twitch - Thanks! You are too kind. Don't hold your breath for that magnum opus, you'll be waiting a while :teeth:

Some new pencil stuff that didn't quite scan right. Although I can't really blame the scanner for the anatomy issues :P

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_137.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_138.jpg

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_139.jpg

[roger]

nice updates!

about the anatomy, I think that the proportions of your arms are a little bit off sometimes. You tend to draw the upper part of them, as well as the pectorals, a little bit too short imho... just nitpicking...

[elboy]

my scanner always screws up my anatomy. that's a totally legit excuse. ;p
good to see you cranking out the drawings. it's fun to switch up media from time to time, a la pens and sharpies.
something I've been thinking in regards to muscles recently: even though we know all the muscles, we don't necessarily have to draw them really defined the way comic artists do. figures could look more realistic w/ more realistic (less) muscle definition. anyway, it's just a thought. take care, january in august.

[steak-tron]

cool update, keep drawing them peeps.

[Groover McNab]

roger - Thanks for dropping by man! Don't worry about the nitpicking, I really appreciate the advice.

elboyroy - Hey dude, great thing to call me out on. Sometimes it's really hard to get that comic book stuff out of my system. That's what happens when you start drawing from comics first and then start drawing from life years later. Don't make the same mistake kiddies! >:|

steak - Thanks bud! Hey why you gotta call me out like that on your thread about DSG?!?!?! :P Actually that might be cool, I'll try to contribute when I have time.

I started to make a painting of that last sketch. Pretty early looking, but I've actually spent more than 2 hours fiddling with it and changing things. Sad I know...

http://www.flipvertical.com/images/sketch_04_140.jpg

[buzzz3d]

Hey, that's coming along really nice. The sketch is great and the colors are already looking good.

Keep it up :grandpa: