Frank's Sketchbook. *04-14-11*

[Knarf]

Science major, just realized that this is not exactly what I would enjoy doing for the rest of my life. Still planning to finish up my Clinical Science degree, but also planning to catch up with my long lost love: ART. Been on a dry spell for a bit, left doing what I love to do for a good 5 years ago. It's great to stumble upon this great community of artists, just the push I needed to help me re-emerge as a better artist.

Thanks for looking,
-Frank

EDIT: AS USUAL, CHECK OUT THE LATEST PAGES FOR RECENT WORKS.

[Knarf]

Also got a refurbished wacom not to long ago to practice with. feels weird..
Well here's an apple. (about 45 min on/off)
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*edit: moved figures over to the next post
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[Knarf]

here's a WIP, movie still of tropic thunder, which was quite a funny movie.

[Knarf]

couple of pages from my sketchbook.

life sketches from the beach
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v440/Nilknarf815/sketchbook/sketchbook-1.jpg

random faces
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v440/Nilknarf815/sketchbook/sketchbook2-1.jpg

hand studys (loomis & self)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v440/Nilknarf815/sketchbook/sketchbook3-1.jpg

bridgemen torsos
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v440/Nilknarf815/sketchbook/sketchbook4-1.jpg

[Knarf]

more figures, these are actually done on drawing paper this time instead of newsprint. It was weird working with better paper.

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thanks for looking.

[Knarf]

so I got used to drawing paper a little bit.
feels like I'm improving, I hope...

5 minutes(supposed to be a 10 minute, but had to restart.)
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20 minutes
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30 minutes, trying out compressed charcoal.
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[Nightblue]

The figure drawings are looking great :) The apple came out really well too. Keep up the good work!

[Knarf]

Nightblue-Thanks for the encouragements, I'll be sure to drop by your sketchbook after work. (I'm sure you're awesome).

a Quickie for fun(1.5 hour or so). need to work on my PS painting skills. If you're from SF, you might recognize this from Japantown...
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appreciate the peeks!

[Knarf]

Painting in PS is a beast. Props for those who went through the hard work to learn it.

Speedo-paint 45 min
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detailed (just used a hard brush circle)
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thanks for the peeks.
-Frank the blank..

[Knarf]

Speed paint again! same subject. Learned a lot from this one.
-40 min
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thanks for those peeks yo!
-Frank the shank

[Mumph]

Very nice! I like you life drawings. I should try graphite next time :)
Will be checking in from time to time. I don´t have any crits at the moment. Great start!

[Knarf]

Mumph: thanks for the encouragements! I'll swing by your sketchbook in a moment.

Now in figure drawing class we moved on to the head/neck/shoulder..

favorite one (10 min)
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side profile, which I have to work on more (10 min)
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the one that I disliked the most, the face is too small...(30 min)
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and here's another speed paint! (approx 1.25 hr)
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Thanks for the peeks!
-Frank the tank.

[kuroart]

good stuffs. im digging everything so far. keep em coming.

[invinciblewombat]

your short pose life drawings win. hard. The one thing i would recommend is to approach your digi paints the same way you would working with charcoal and go from super general to specific. it looks like you're getting caught up in details a little early in some of them.

[Knarf]

SO a couple more head studies, once again the more time I spend on them the more it turns out not so good...but then again that new piece of vine was being really stubborn >:{

once again shortest time spend = favorite (10 min)
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vine was killing me (10 min)
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compressed charcoal (20 min)
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yay it's the weekend, hope to get more done.

thanks for the peeks,
-Frank the skank

[seth1]

Haha, Love the ending of your name. "Frank the skank" Gave me a good laugh. I like your choose of medium. charcoal is so much fun and pretty easy to erase if needed. I think you need to start trying to keep your values more coherent. Keep your light's, light, and dark's dark. Right now it's getting pretty muddy with your values. Get away from finger smudging. Your faces are also lacking Structure and planes. Learn the planes of the face and things start to really pick up from there.

[Mumph]

What´s up man? Thanks for the crits!
Your portraits are very nice and you manage to capture the expression well. Although I agree with the face beeing to small in the "one you dislike the most", I like the black around the head.

I agree with seth1 about them being a bit muddy.
Keep posting!

[invinciblewombat]

very nice sense of light on the first one, they all look to have a bit of superfluous scribbling in them though, if you slow down a bit and take your time to make strategic marks during lifedrawing i've found it really pays off. it can be frustrating during short poses though since you're only got a little bit of time to get down a lot of information.

[Knarf]

kuroart: Thanks bud! definitely keeping them coming.
invinciblewombat: Thanks for the complement, much much more thanks for the critique. Yea the "superfluous scribbling" at the moment came from a very stubborn piece of hard vine...any tips on taming the charcoal? but then again my goal is to use as little strokes as possible to portray something, every stroke counts!
seth: currently thinking of things to keep my posts as interesting and eye-catching as possible =P. anyways onto the superbly helpful critique you gave. I was finger smudging on purpose to try to smooth the compressed charcoal, but I guess it really smudged up the whole thing instead. Also took up your advice on structuring my faces/heads, did a ton of Bridgman boxes for the head (which will be posted as soon as I get my scanner running again.). much thanks again!
Mumph: Dude my man!!! I'm just enjoying life as it is =]. loving that fact that I'm finally committing the time into sketching more and improving my art. thanks for the complements and more thanks for the critiques! I'll be dropping by that sketchbook of yours soon.

So, Bridgman rocks, but my scanner sucks. I did a bunch of Bridgman studying on my sketchbook, so the only solution is to copy them over again via tablet, which is good for more practice. will continue to practice them over and over again once I get back from work & class. Here's the first part of it.
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found an oldie, some vampire girl (with ref).
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Thanks for the Peeks,
-Frankie the Lanky

[Knarf]

So, tried to follow the advice that seth1 gave me about structuring and planes, and hope it shows.

quickie 10 min pose
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20 min
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thanks for those peeks,
-Franklin the turtle

[Mumph]

Yo! nice update, you have a very nice flow (bridgman studies). That´s a great book to do studies from.

Was looking at some earlier posts, is that tropic thunder WIP still in progress?
Cool vampire girl, how did you do the white in the hair?

I tried charcoal the other day, it was really hard but i´m going to keep trying.

Keep it up!

Edit: Forgot to say, that last portrait is nice although I think you could use even darker values in some places, it looks kind of washed out. Maybe it´s just the photo. The neck also seems kind of long.

[Knarf]

Mumph: kinda got lazy on tropic thunder (but I will finish it for sure). The hair is done using white paint marker, decos to be exact. And yes I do need to push my values, but also the cell phone photos do not do these charcoal drawings justice :[

10min
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10min
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25min
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thanks for the peeks,
-Frankles

[seth1]

Hey, do you have photoshop? If you do use the Save for Web function and save at %60 it will down the file size 200k or more.

bridgman is awesome he is so articulate. Now take a look at Andrew Loomis and study proportion, and placement of the features. Some times your features are going off not a lot, but it's noticeable. Your values are still really messy but charcoal does take awhile to learn to control you need a delicate hand. What I think might help is defining the big planes of the face, Shadow and light keep it simple. Also go take a look at this thread http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=60746 and the fine arts section http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7 it may give you some insight on how to approach your drawings and how to place your values. Keep up the good work

[Knarf]

Seth1: thanks for all the juicy info yo! checked out GIST's figure studies, that man is insane, let me repeat that, INSANE! I wish my values came out to be like that... and also having a better camera would help too, unlike my cell phone.

anyways slow busy weekend...

just a homework assignment, practicing eyes.
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thanks for the peeks,
-Frankenstein

[Mumph]

Great studies my friend, both the heads and the eyes. Do more :) I know I probably should myself ;)
No crits at this time.

[mollymillions]

excellent life drawing work. Was a fan of the page of cartoon-style faces also.

[Jeff Bartzis]

wowee! cool stuff!

[Knarf]

It feels like forever since I've posted. First I would like to apologize for the slow updates. And now to the goodies!

Mumph: Hey thanks there mate, you keep doing your thing and I promise I'll do more of my thing!
Mollymillions: thanks for the comment Molly, I'll be sure to drop by your SB again.
Jeff Bartzis: THanks!

Scanner status-still down :(

Phone camera status - horrible quality

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Thanks for the peeks,
Franksterr

[Knarf]

45 min tree speedy. anyone got tips on better rendering? kudos to those who do.

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skeep eht rof sknaht,

knarF-

[Knarf]

I vow to do leg/feet studies this weekend.
20 min
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-Knarf

[Knarf]

So more life drawings, hope to post up more of my other sketches soon.

30-40 min ?
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10 min
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Cheers,
-RankF

[Mumph]

Yo! Long time no see :) I´ve been away for a week so haven´t had the chance to stop by, anyway.

I like the digital tree speedy, but I think some parts kind of look pasted on. Try adding more and darker cast shadows. You have captured the mood well. I would also blurr the horizon and make the colors more desaturated the further away they are in space. Some different texture on the rock would also be nice but I know this is just a speed paint.

Nice studies as always, keep it up. I really like the one you did in red.

Edit: Added you to my buddy list too.

[Knarf]

Quick scan of my recent pages in my sketchbook before I have to head to work, which means my scanner is FIXED!! yay!

Mumph: THanks BUD, I'll try to work on rendering better with texture next time.

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Cheers!
-Frank

[kikindaface]

Hey Alm0st, your animals sketches are really good !!

[Knarf]

Walid D: THanks for the kind kind words.

SO life drawing, trying to incorporate more value into this beast.
40min
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So its ganna take awhile to finish scanning my sketchbook, will update that over the weekend.

CHeers,
-Frankles

ps. btw does anyone know how to change the title of my thread?

[Knarf]

So what if the Jigsaw puppet was a girl?
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*shudder*
-Franky pants

[towy]

really nice line on traditionnal, continue the good way with the computer ;]

[Knarf]

Towarlock: thanks, will do sir!

sorry to bore you guys with my boring figure studies...

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Needs to Dude-dull,
-Frankles

[Nightblue]

The recent life drawings are looking great, especially in post #35, the light and shadows worked really well in sculpting the form out in that piece. I love the style of the scanned page of animal drawings! Keep up the good work!

[knoxie]

Hey dude.... just went though your sketch book.... definitely seeing a progression! nice consistent work!

You seem to be understanding your anatomy a lot more judging from your life drawings... keep it up!

carl.

[Mumph]

Nice work man!
The one in post 35 is really great, good job on the lightning and foreshortening on the right leg, although his left leg looks kind of small.
I like the Obama one too :)

[Knarf]

Nightblue: hey thanks for coming back and checking my sketchbook out, and also of course thanks for your kind words.
Knoxie: wow really? progression? that's awesome! and yes I have been glancing and working on anatomy on the side, glad it actually showed a little.
Mumph: I'm glad you're back my man, missed you.

First time doing a pose that was split into two separate days. My first long pose ever actually.

10 min
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W.I.P.-eta of 1 hr
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Finished-ish... eta of total ~4 hrs
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Gracias,
-Frank-ciso

[Knarf]

value studies..

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trying to participate in the DSG.
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peace,
-Frank-o-lin

[eminkey2003]

Pretty nice volume in the figures. I think that this one's bottom fold of stomach flesh looks more like a pipe though. There's a really small, short shadow on the right side, so maybe if that were longer, it would look right. Something about that being between the bulbous stomach and the thick legs is just awkward. Maybe it's too thin. Keep on posting!

[Mumph]

Yo!
I like the contrast you have in the 1 hour wip, I think that gets kind of lost in the final one. Her arm also seems very big compared to the rest of the body but I guess it was like that? :)

Great that you are participating in the DSG, I try to do it myself as often as I can. I like the way here face is hinted inside the helmet. Her shoulder seems a bit to wide apart for a 10 year old :) Cool concept.

[BRINKMAN!]

Your life drawings are really good, nice volume and value range. I also really dig the line work in the animals.
As far as crits go, I don't have much but it looks like hands and feet give you a bit of trouble (as they do to us all!).. .maybe some studies are in order? Keep up the great work.

[crabbyclem]

uhh....I don't really know what to say except the life-drawing kicks major ass. I know that's not very constructive, but it's obvious you're observing well; proportions and form look awesome.

The animal sketches are killer. Keep it up.

[Knarf]

eminkey2003: Yea I understand what you were going at, i noticed myself coming back to the pose the second day, but apparently the model was just oddly proportioned enough that my teacher mentioned it.
Mumph: Props to you for doing this SSG for us! as for the contrast issue, I wish I had more time to amp that up, but most of the time I was just puzzled on why the model looked oddly proportioned. Looking forward to doing DSG with ya soon.
BRINKMAN!: yea thanks for pointing out my flaws, true that hands and feet are my weakest side. I personally find feet to be harder than hands tho. the studies are being done, but not posted (yet) :P.
crabbyclem: thanks for the encouragements dude!

Anyways be sure to check out my SSG, these people are growing along with me. If you like what you see here, you'd definitely love looking at my SSG's sb's. Here's a couple of my figures, this time I tried introducing value a little earlier than I usually do. Hopefully it turned out alright.

15 min
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10 min
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SSG pride,
-Frank got bank!

[eminkey2003]

This face (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=486417&d=1223488636) looks really solid and 3D. Super job. Others look flat in some places (chin, jaw, etc.) Picture the basic 3D shapes underneath the skin. You might want to read Burne Hogarth's book, "Drawing the Human Head."

New figure drawings look pretty natural!

[BRINKMAN!]

Diggin the new figure drawings. The first one in particular has nice volume.

[Mumph]

No problem man. I think we are a very nice group, all of us are motivated and work hard. I think this turned out extremly good and it´s going to be fun watching all of you guys get even better.

Man, those latest life drawings are awesome! you got any tips for me working with charcoal? do you smear it around with paper? and maybe if you have some overall advice?

As BRINKMAN! points out, it looks like hands and feet are troublesome but keep working on them and I don´t think you should crop them out :)

If you want to study hands from books a good one is George Bridgman´s "The book of a hundred hands", i´m studying it right now.

[BRINKMAN!]

Alm0st! Where you at compadre? We needs our fix! :)

[Knarf]

eminkey2003: Thanks for the "heads" up! yea my heads tend to be flat, been doing face doodles all my life so that killed me.
BRINKMAN!: hope you dig these newer ones, cause I feel like I'm getting a little more familiar with this charcoal thing...
Mumph: haha funny you mention that book, I think that's the book that will be my xmas gift from my lovely girlfriend.

SO, I tried to approach my figures more value sided recently just to see how that feels. Playing with the edges are nice also, hope it shows a difference from my very first posted figure.

10 min
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15min
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doodle on,
-Frankles

[Mumph]

That first one is very nice although her legs seems to be very short, looks like you squezed them in to get the whole body on the paper and not leave anything out :)
On that second one it looks like her right leg is cut off, I don´t know how to explain it but maybe it´s the position of the arm that makes it look like that .

Nice update!

[jackpot_anjr90]

Nice figures! I really like your hands on the first page...something I definitely have to work on =P
I'm seeing improvement too. Keep it up! Drop by my book sometime XD

[crabbyclem]

re: post 53,

agree with mumph,

top figure, looks like you ran out of real-estate; I avoid that problem when I remember to block-in the entire figure. There's this figure-drawing book that suggested drawing an "envelope" to box in the entire figure so you don't run outta space.

The bottom figure looks like the leg's missing.

BUt these are minor problems. The proportions and values are awesome.

[eminkey2003]

Try doing a life study with smooth transitions between light to dark. Most of these have pretty chunky shadows. I love the speed painting with the tongue out. That has lots of energy in the faces. I'd like to see something like that from imagination.

[BRINKMAN!]

ALM0ST! Values and volume are nice in these new ones, especially the second one. I don't really have much to ad beyond what the others have already said, other than to pin point that the leg looks goofy because the top of the femur couldn't connect to the pelvis at that angle, the division between the calf and the thigh are missing and the fact that the foot isn't there... of course this is all scrutinizing a part of the drawing you obviously didn't finish, so it's a moot point! :)

Great work, update!

[Knarf]

I promise an massive update tonight, thanks for the nudges guys....gatta get to work =[, after having a busy thanksgiving break.

bleh just a preview for my lack of update.
10-15min?
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apologies,
-Frank

[maeshanne]

nice work

[Knarf]

Mumph: THanks mate for the crit, for the first one I was thinking about cutting off her feet since it was proportionally off the page. As for the second one, her leg seemed cut off because her hand is placed on the knee, while the leg is bent inwards (I guess I did not portray the foreshortening that well.)
jackpot_anjr90: hey thanks for the kind words sir, will drop that sb of yours soon.
crabbyclem: yea, its kind of a mix message from my teacher, since she likes things large but at the same time tells us to box it in. So usually my approach is to crop the image in the end. thanks for the advice yo.
eminkey2003: hope you like this post, most of the stuff is from imagination. as for the chunky shadows, yea I see what you mean, but my biggest fault is having to present to you guys all of my figure drawings with my horrible camera phone (kills my values). I try to salvage my images using photoshop, but I can only do so much with auto levels.
BRINKMAN!: Yea, I'm still working on working faster. 10 minutes is kinda short for developing, even though I should get the structure down. I'm still trying to introduce values a little earlier to work along with my structuring of the figure, hopefully its working...?

Anyways, here's the "massive" update that I promised...

bowling pose from imagination, along side a memory pose.
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one skull study, along side a photo study.
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various portraits of random people/classmates.
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20 min
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30 min
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Charcoal portrait of my favorite model.
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Peace and much love to ya,
-Frank

[Mumph]

Yo, where have you been my friend? :)
I really like the drawing of the chinese man! Maybe some lines or shadows could be even darker? Could be because of your camera phone.
Nice sketches and studies, I like the hatching. How big are the portraits?
That 30 min life drawing has some darker parts that works really well. On the portrait I think the fingers should be more slender, and the background perhaps a bit ligher due to the dark hair.
Great update!

[BRINKMAN!]

Great form and value in this last batch! Life studies seem to be paying off for you.

In regards to rendering digitally... I find that unlike traditional paint, it's nearly impossible to over-render you work digitally. In fact, that's kind of one of the keys in my opinion. Digital works always look really "photoshop-y" until they've been hit with several passes of rendering. You should try rendering something that you don't have to think to hard about in terms of form and lighting, like a still life, or imagined face or something and just hit it with passes over and over until it starts to feel juicy and alive. It took me a while to realize that it just takes time.

The method that works best for me is to do all my rendering with variable opacity brushes set to pressure, including the initial blocked in color. This takes longer than just throwing opaque colors in there, but the unevenness and ability to color-pick colors that have blended with the background color instantly start to add life to the painting.

I hope this is helpful advice, and not just redundant blather! :)

-Andy

p.s. Remember that digital is another medium and just like oils or acrylics, it just takes some time to learn. Don't fret, it'll come!

[eminkey2003]

Try asking your teacher for some gesture time with the model. The girl with the foreshortened arm in the latest post has a butt that's practically wrapping around her thigh, heheh. Otherwise, great job with the faces.

[Animation Idiot]

Flaws or not, I'm loving the visible progress in your life drawing. You're really kicking ass! Great inspiration for me to focus in my own life drawing sessions.

[crabbyclem]

okay,

You need to stop posting your life-drawing stuff. It's making us look bad.

Your charcoal work is awesome.

My favorite piece from the update is the skull sketch.

nothing to crit really, keep up the good work.

[Knarf]

Mumph: I been around in lurking mode..:P just a busy weekend I suppose. its a shame that my camera phone sucks, I wish that I could just show you guys in person. Those sketchbook portraits are quick so about relative a thumb length size. And my gf has pudgy fingers like you! jk..
BRINKMAN!: Man, the best batch of info. Ganna treasure this info like no other. kudos for the help.
eminkey2003: yea we do gestures, its just that I have work before life figure class, so I tend to miss out on those :(
Animation Idiot: many thanks for dropping by my sb. To kind to be saying that I'm an inspiration.
crabbyclem: naw YOU guys rock so I'll keep posting ;)

mmm favorite-ish one so far. (left arm is a little off compared to right arm tho)
hopefully having the edge working with the softness and hardness is showing, along with the values, some life.
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cheers,
-Frank-miester

p.s. mote to self: post more doodles

[Mumph]

...And my gf has pudgy fingers like you! jk..
Damn you! ;)

Nice job with the light, though I can´t really understand what´s happening on her back, near her bottom. I think her legs (from the knees down) are a bit short and her head may be a bit small too, watch out on the proportions.

How do you go about constructing the body? Do you block it in with forms first?

[Knarf]

Mumph: she really is sitting back and leaning on a chair. This was kinda of tough to draw since she was a sagging sixty-year old woman, with multiple folds of skin, proportions were killer. So I guess its kinda of hard to see since I don't have a clear definitive chair. (I tend to like to leave things out). As for my drawing and initial sketching process, I tend to gesture it out first, then start measuring distances and placement of things along with adding value and negative shapes to help this process. When I'm completely satisfied (or too tired of searching anymore), I move on to refining a it lifting/adding more charcoal to it. highlights come last for me. yea...that's kind of how I approach my figures. All in all, thanks for the crits, proportions are always something I need to spend more time on.

To make up for the chit chat, a quick 10 minutes of doodling! (quite fond of that Russian Doll, might do a series on that).
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-Merry Frankmas.

[Mumph]

I see. Yeah proportions are hard, but so very important :)
Nice doodle, you should do the series.

[Knarf]

Mumph: Oh so true. and I shall start the series soon enough.

figures from last nights class, along with some DS colors sketches!!

40 min
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30 min
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20 min memory sketch while busing back from class.
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random passengers ftw
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cheerio,
Frank

[Mumph]

Nice job with the figure drawings. I especially like the 30 min one.
On the DS sketches, the man in cap seems to have a very thin (right word?) ear and it seems to be placed a bit too far back, otherwise very nice sketches.

[eminkey2003]

Hey, about this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=536193&d=1228724510)-- I think that the shadows on the back flatten the forms, and the calves are too thin. Just remember to keep things loose and full. Also, on this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=537905&d=1228939875), it looks like his chin is being pulled to the right side of his face. So, be careful with how your shapes work.

Sigh, I wish I had a DS with Colors. : (

[JailHouseRock2]

Hay Frank, cool sb man!
Really lovin those life drawings and great haching in the sketches!

And even if you 'almost there' dont stop pushing mate.

Matt,

[BRINKMAN!]

Looks god as always, keep doing those studies. The digital works on the DS are nice, but could still use some more modulation. Color pick some of those mid tone and work 2 or 3 steps past your tertiary colors/tones, I promise it'll make you digital work juicy in no time! :)

[crabbyclem]

crap. I just wrote a reply and lost it.

just wanted to say, figures are awesome as usual. #67 is KILLER... only complaint is that the shin/calf looks small for the model. Awesome work

[Knarf]

Sorry :bashful: will update with a biggie, promise!
for now a filler picture to take its place.
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[BRINKMAN!]

Are/were you a writer? If so we could swap stories of bombing and running from the one-time.

[eminkey2003]

Cool filler doodle. I flipped the image though and saw that his widow's peak is off-center. Flip some of your images, and eventually you might start to notice things like that without having to flip them.

[crabbyclem]

waiting for an update! I shouldn't rag on you though; I haven't been posting much either.

[BRINKMAN!]

Where you at ma man?

[Mumph]

Where you at ma man?

I was wondering the same thing. Hope everything is alright.

[Knarf]

Sorry sorry, I been on vacation for a long while. That doesn't mean I stop sketching. My sketchbook has been accompanying me everywhere of course. I did bring my laptop with my tablet, but the processing speed on my laptop is too slow, making digi's a pain.. =[. Promise that scans will definitely be up when I head back home (along with comments).

here's just a quick speed paint for the talk, and lack of posts. (I'm not rusting up just yet!)

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Sorry,
Frank

[eminkey2003]

Thats a damn nice drawing, but I think the features look packed in around the edges.

[BRINKMAN!]

Frank!
When I squint at this, the values all look good. The eyes seem to be different sizes, but sometimes glasses do funny things like that!

Keep up the good work, I'm excited for your next update!

[crabbyclem]

nice face! I'm guessing it's painted from observation. As Brink says, when you squint the values look right so if you wanna get all fancy and blend everything it'll probably work. But I like it the way it is - big and chunky.

[Knarf]

Mumph: I'm back again, sorry for the lack of any sign of life.
eminkey2003: appreciate the crits man! will take it to heart.
JailHouseRock2: Thanks for dropping by my sketchbook! definitely going to keep pushing.
BRINKMAN!: here it comes! my next "exciting" update xP, thanks for the crits man.
crabbyclem: I'm posting again man, hope we both have those punctual updates again.

Well no life story, just back to post up! hope I'm not de-proving.

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-Frank

[BRINKMAN!]

Nice hatching Frank, keep on keepin' on.

[eminkey2003]

Mustache Man's skull (top right) looks a little shaved in the back. Otherwise, no crits, nice volume.

[Knarf]

BRINKMAN!: They be coming!
eminkey2003: got it, will look out for shaved skulls next time thanks!

Feeling sort of productive...decided to tackle a second attempt on traditional painting. Any one with tips please do help, I'm starting off learning with acrylics, eventually my goal is to work with oils.

>20min
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Half Finished as promised for a friend.
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-Frank

[Movenski]

firstly i'd like to say that theres a really great progression of work here for about 5 months of posting. esp with these last 2 posts. my only questions/comments would be
1. where do you start when you're life drawing? -it seems like you start at the head and in some of the drawings it looks like whats happening is the torso is getting extended. maybe starting with the "trunk" of the body will alleviate this?
2. your line weights in that last pencil post are really on point! it seems like you're getting away from the super angular bridgeman kinda mark making and integrating more of your technique from a kind of graffiti perspective. i think it works a LOT better to describe forms.

really cool stuff here i look forward to seeing more.

RM

[Zeus12]

Love your pen sketches, and figure drawings, keep it up! :)

[Mumph]

Yo, nice to see you updating again! Really nice sketching! That environment feels really dynamic. The acrylic painting looks nice, but her skin looks a bit too yellow, may be because of the photo.
Keep it up my friend!

[Knarf]

Movenski: 1. From my figure drawing class, the instructor always instructed us to establish a horizontal axis, dividing the paper in half. This is usually where the torso lies. Problem is that I might draw larger than expected, thus trying to forcefully "feature" everything in the paper. Later on I learned to just cut/shave some parts off the top and bottom if needed. As for starting point for my gestures, I used to tend to start from the head and sometimes torso. My instructor on the other hand, advised us to start from the bottom up just for a change, which helped immensely. 2.Thanks!
Zeus12:definitely will, thanks for your encouragement!
Mumph: Yeah, I swear I have bad luck with photography...but in reality her skin is more orange-ish.

I think I might have made some progress digitally...thanks to watching Mr. Jack's speed painting video. following is the results of watching...speed paint!

presketch
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add a little color
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Finished 2hrs? (next step I need to learn to clean better)
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Cheers,
-Frank

[Knarf]

I'm SOOO in the mood

25~30min speedy!
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-Frank

[griffinfly]

hey, thanks for the visit to that sb of mine :D nice figures here, I wish you was a bit more accurate with them - would be a bomb! xD

[Knarf]

griffinfly: pleasure was mine! definitely going to work on accuracy!

bored, made a fake ad of my friend and I.

lines
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attempt at coloring
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we major,
-Frank

[eminkey2003]

Colors are a little dull there, but the form is great! Especially in the last faces. Great form in the nude studies too.

[Mumph]

I think the colors are very flat on that first girl, some more variation is needed. Also the edges are very sharp, again I think some variation between soft and hard edges works better. It feels like she is balancing on her knees, maybe it´s because of the angle of the hip.
The speedpaint is really nice. Something strange going on with HER left leg though. I like the ad! :) I think you should clean up the lines and color it, would make a nice illustration.
Keep it up!

[BRINKMAN!]

Great strides here recently. Mumph is definitely right about the colors, but the brush work and proportions in the works on the page are great! Keep at it Frank, don't let that bio bull distract you ;)

[Knarf]

eminkey2003, Mumph, BRINKMAN!: yessiree, colors currently my weakness. Mucho Thanks for the crits!


warmup quickies-
5 min
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10 min
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-Frank

[eminkey2003]

Nice, nice. Do some like those, but really flesh out the form and imagine how all the pieces fit onto each other. Think about the dimensions of each part. I should do some too!

[Mumph]

I really like the graphic style of the shoes man, keep it up!

[Knarf]

eminkey2003:flesh out, get forms, fit...going into brain. got it! do some shoes they are fun!
Mumph: THanks!

been in a small art slump, I slapped myself some sense by making me sit down and do a longer piece than usual. Anyone know how to render faster?

3 hrs
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p.s. I do like that save in .gif look.

-Franklin

[JailHouseRock2]

Frank, this stuffs looking awesome man, much improvement!

Skin tones and studies are going great,
The bros' in *97 look great same with the chick in *95!


keep it up and cheers for stopping by my thread.
matt

[Rustveld]

Nice studies! Hot chick Megan Fox lured me in...that reminds me I never did finish that study of her.
Keep up the good work!

[DoubleThink]

Woah, great stuff in here.
I especially love the evolution you've underwent and I adore the girl in the purple dress.

Good shit sticking with the digi's
you should compare the purple lady with your tropic thunder one ;-)
There's a great difference

take care & keep at it!

[Knarf]

JailHouseRock2: Thanks for the compliments, pleasure stopping by your SB.
Rustveld: Hot yes! looking forward to your finished hotties.
DoubleThink:Thanks! will do, will do!

First half of facial expression study, stolen from the Anatomy and Character Lessons (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=118693) will continue the study after work.

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p.s. damn happy people are hard to draw...and zomgosh stars! yay!

Thankfully Yours,
-Frank

[Texahol]

mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorreeeeeee! !!!!!!!!

[Izer]

Nice work, great studies and progression.

[BRINKMAN!]

Dude, great strides here Frank! Keep up the good work.

Don't sweat the rendering time, it just takes practice. :)

[throtailer]

I love ur technique and style dude

[Movenski]

i have to say again, the progression you're making is exponential... that last post of expressions is GORGEOUS.. hats off. and the fake ad is the shit! DAMN SKIP HOMEY WE MAJOR!! - love that song. and its really great idea to branch out with the sneaks, something i need to be doing more of myself.

awesome stuff here, i really enjoy this thread.

- Ryan

[Knarf]

Texahol: yyyyyyyyeeeessssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111! !!!!!!!!!!!
Izer:Thanks!
BRINKMAN!: yessir!
throtailer: Thanks!
Movenski: Goodness, you are flattering.

Mostly quickies..tried a different method, a more painterly approach.

5 mins of messing around with square shapes
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initial blocking.
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1 hour later.
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Had a paintchat session with eminkey2003. (he's the ghost, I'm the pinkhead)
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p.s. there's a lot of penises on paint chat.

-Frank

[SMILEFACE]

the es' shoes rock do you skate did the ladies an inks cheers'

[Mumph]

Good stuff man! On the Megan Fox piece, I think the rendering really works great but maybe you could smoothen it out on the skin, not everywhere but on some parts. Very nice expression studies! No crits.
You could do a fun lite comic strip with the elephant character, great style. Perhaps a tad too filtered :)
Keep up the good work!

[eminkey2003]

The face studies have super volume to them. I'd like to see that in a page of figures. Paintchatting was fun. Pinkhead's pose is too stiff though! And lacks folds. I did some rollerskate sketches, look for them soon! Heheh. They were fun indeed.

[Knarf]

Grandmassa Mr. Spect: well this update hopefully your question will be answered.
Mumph: Yup very filtered. Thanks for the crits mate.
eminkey2003: Yessirrr, dropping by to see those skates!

SO! thanks to zhu zhu's brushes, I have found speed painting to be more efficient. zhu zhu's brush here! (http://zhuzhu.deviantart.com/art/Z-PS-Brushes-V2-55088505). hopefully it's an improvement, sure as hell got me loose though.

here's Megan Fox, again....

intial blocking
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laying out me colours
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rendering a bit
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30-45min speed paint
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100%zoomed detail
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and my good ole deck when it was newly stenciled/painted by yours truly
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Thanks for lookin',
-Franklin Lei

[BRINKMAN!]

Oh SNAP! Frank, you're taking huge srides. Huge. Speed paint lacks in value contrast, but is great nonetheless. I don't necessarily advocate using the value spectrum in every piece, but you just need enough to define the volume a of your subject. The shadows in her face could use a bump, especially on the back side of the nose. Good technique on the bikini speed paint.

I want to sketch chat with you guys!!!

[Mumph]

Yo! I actually like the new Megan Fox piece better in the one before the last one, where her hair and dress are more loose (and without outlines). I think that would work in combination with a more rendered face (as in the finished one). Very nice skateboard!
And yeah, sketch chat looks like fun :)

[Knarf]

BRINKMAN!: Huge? well not huge enough in my book, I have so much catching up to do. I'll look out for more pop on my next few speed paintings. thanks!
Mumph: Okay gotcha, will keep that in mind in the future. thanks!

couple doodles from the sketchbook
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crashed a figure drawing class just for fun.
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failed.
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semi failed.
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kthanksforviewingbye,
-Frank

[SMILEFACE]

dig the updates that deck you stenclied is wicked the last two girls an the life drawn's are hot'

[Knarf]

Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Thanks, glad you are enjoying the ladies.

Forgot to post this up, a feeble attempt on learning enviroments...
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I think it looks real when you squint or if it was a thumbnail, but obviously I would need to work on the illusion of depth. Any help is appreciated.

-Frank

[SMILEFACE]

you could probably hit it w/ a bit of atmospheric perspective to help push it back i think its wicked w/ the warm an cool colors what program you use ?

[Mumph]

Great doodles and studies man, been doing some skeleton studies myself latley. I think the life drawings in pen are a bit too angular, especially around the legs on the first one. Nice faces!. I really like the loose style you have in the digital ones. On the enivironment, maybe adding more colors, especially in the foreground will help? and some reflected light in the shadows. The colors should become less saturated towards the horizon and you could also mix sharp and smooth edges. I suck at environments but maybe some of the tips will help :)

[sourgasm]

fastest way to add depth to that particular painting is by taking a big fuzzy brush and knocking the background back a bit (reduce saturation, obliterate detail and texture). right now your foreground and background are about even in texture, color and detail. in fact, your foreground, midground and background are all even. end result is flaaaattness.

also, remember to avoid black in shadows. if you click around with the eye dropper in a real photo you'll see that instead of black, you get either a shift in hue towards a cooler and less saturated value or simply a shift in hue. don't forget that the second most dominant light source in the image (after the sun) is the blue of the sky. that blue should be present in your hue choices.

lastly, always hit the background in daytime environments with some atmospheric haze. unless you managed the lack of contrast and intense hue in the BG from the get go (i never manage to pull that off ;p).

hope some of that helps!

[JailHouseRock2]

Hay niccce work, heaps of progress!

Really enjoy your life drawings and studies, loads of enrgy and great light and form!

I was going to give some crits/advice on the evo, but the three guys above me did a much better job, so.. do what they say!
;p

keep at it mate!
matt

[Knarf]

Grandmassa Mr. Spect: thanks for the tip, I be using that photoshoperry.
Mumph: Really great info there, thanks dude.
sourgasm: totally agree. copy paste saved.
JailHouseRock2: Thanks for the encouragements buddy!

So I WILL revisit that environment piece, and start all over from scratch, and put in all the great info you guys have given me. For now a version two of an old piece I did.

09/30/2008
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03/20/2009 complete redo from scratch. (colors only!)
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Before I was a total level 0 noob that can only work in values. Today I feel like I leveled up to 0.5 with color.

-Frank

[Mumph]

Yep, nice improvement! There´s definantly a lot more volume in the new one. I sometimes do that too, redraw old pieces. It´s pretty fun.

[Knarf]

Mumph: Cheers mate! Thanks.

Speedy about 30min.
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Going crazy with the rake brush,
-Frank

[BRINKMAN!]

Frank, the new speedpaint is great! I know I already said this, but you're on the right track, man. Keep it up! Your approach to painting the eyes in this speed paint is especially nice...very painterly.

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

Keep working the colours dude. More dynamics! MORE DYNAMICS!

-E

[SMILEFACE]

i think w/ that last update your a level 12 color' keep rock'n

[Mumph]

I can just agree with the above comments, I really like the speedpaint. A crit would be to maybe add some more hue variation in the skin. Excellent job!

[Giorge]

stuff's coming along nice i see , i noticed that you need more contrast in your paintings , and on those failed ones as you call them on #121 , i think the color is to light , still the contrast is a problem there , do you work from fotos?

[Knarf]

BRINKMAN!: Oh boy you flatter me:bashful:, thanks!
Mischeviouslittleelf: how much more dynamics? please help elf!!
Grandmassa Mr. Spect: thanks man! level 12 is too high :P
Mumph: hue variation is my weakness...you caught me! thanks mumph.
Giorge: yea I have a big problem with contrast, especially working in colors. Still trying to get the hang of eyeballing colors and also trying to see it as value. And yes all digitals are from photo refs.

Took a break. Hope I'm not deprecating in terms of skill...
Since everyone and their cats are doing some fighting study. I figure I'd join the fun.

1.5hr speedy
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45min
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3hr
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back in action,
-Frank

[SMILEFACE]

wicked' update i like how your use'n that i guess rake brush, you picked some really nice lines an that kinda' dot'ed brush/texture in the 5hr has a pretty cool effect did you start these in color or gray scale?just curiouse....an i look at most of my digi's as ideas so most are done in the actual size posted which is bad cause things pixelate an' its hard to get sold edges but my comp dies if the size is to big or i go over 300 res so i try to keep em' small the shame is i cant use most of my brush functions like direction' ect. so i make due tell i win the lotto
sorry fo blab'n glad to see you back in action an your skills improve every time keep w/ the goods

[bharat]

good one, finish the whole skech pls

[BRINKMAN!]

Nice one Frank! Did you paint these in the order that you posted them? I ask because they progress, one to the next, as if we can see you getting back into the groove of painting. I too have been on a break, and need to follow your example!

[Knarf]

Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Thanks, will answer in your sb.
bharat: Which one? or do you mean just do a more finished sketch?
BRINKMAN!: yea, kind of in order. More so all at the same time. I jumped from one to another so I can keep my mind fresh. Once again thanks for the trick on the HSB thing! Breakartfast!


So I tried to just do a basic colour blocking exercise. It sort of got out of hand...So instead I did a value sketch instead just to make me feel a little better inside.

40min
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1.5hr
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-Frank

[Knarf]

edit*double friggin post!

[Knarf]

another portrait, this time went from gray scale to color.

about 2hrs
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-Frank

[DStraX]

nice! lovely color studies and i like how you use textured brushes, it realy works well :)

[SMILEFACE]

I Really Like The Expressions Of The Last Two Girls Keep W/ The Goods'

[Mumph]

The digitals are coming along really nice, you´r improving fast!
On the fighter study there doesn´t seem to be much change in value except for the really dark parts. Are you doing any traditional painting too? that may help the digital.

[Knarf]

DStraX: Thanks!
Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Will do sir.
Mumph: Yea ganna try to take a painting class at my local community college just to get my hands dirty more.


nothing much just a couple of thumbs.

redo of that canyon picture, this time trying to capture depth.
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Always wanted to do clouds :)
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-Frank

[shumizu]

haha - the last two portraits are truly great! i like. keep on these portraits...

cheers

[Knarf]

shumizu: Thanks, portraits seems like the only thing I do...

anyways one more thumbnail for that environment practice. I need to find a fast way to render, perhaps textures?

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-Frank

[SMILEFACE]

i digz the enviros an the clouds pic is freak'n rad

[Mumph]

Yo! That first environment redo looks nice, although I think the colors should be less saturated towards the background to convey depth. Right now the more saturated colors are in the middle ground and none in the foreground.
The second one is great! In the last one I think you should vary the value a lot more because right now it looks very flat. Keep at it man!

[JailHouseRock2]

Hay Frank, awesome updates man!

Great evos man, frigin' shit! Same with the portrait farther up!

And thanks again for the cits and comments in my SB, sorry I can't be more helpful atm, but I'm in a rush.

Cheers mate,
matt

[BRINKMAN!]

Frank, mumph got it right, the enviros need to be less saturated (atmospheric perspective!). That last portrait is dope as hell! I like the wya you've used green in it. Keep up the good work dude, I'll have some sketches and WIPs to show you tomorrow!

[Knarf]

Grandmassa Mr. Spect:Thanks man!
Mumph:Thanks for the crits, still trying to tackle this color beast.
JailHouseRock2:Cheers to you too for visiting.
BRINKMAN!:Looking forward to our stuff!

http://nathanfowkes.blogspot.com/ great blog, studying the pictures there. So I started messing with custom brushes, trying to create a set of brushes that I feel comfortable with. So far trying to emulate charcoal.

copy of nathan fowkes portrait.
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hurray for throwbacks and redoes!
664486


-Frank

[Fshoo]

Wow the last one is good, nice values. I enjoyed the rest in your SB too btw, you´re improving rapidly!

[BRINKMAN!]

FRANK-ANK-ANK-ANK
These both have really nice values, spot on, in fact. The first one suffers a bit from it's lack of hard edges. Just a little bit finer definition in the facial details and it'd stand in nice contrast to the (great!) looseness of the hair.

The second is fucking ace. That hair over the eye and face are perfect. Keep up the good work bud!

-edit-
I forgot to say: I posted my COW and demon wips in my SB. Where yours at homeboy? I'm excited to see both. :)

[BRINKMAN!]

I hope you don't mind I did a quick little paintover to illustrate my point... didn't look at the ref though, so this may be off base!

[Knarf]

Fshoo: Thanks fo shooow (that was lame of me).
BRINKMAN!: here's my cow, the collab is still in pencils and I don't really like to fire up the old scanner. I'll just do it the long way and translate it via digital by redrawing (good practice :)). edit: of course I don't mind thanks for that paint over.

Cow idea-ish...
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-Frank

[eminkey2003]

Daaaayyyyyyuuuuuummmm. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=664486&d=1241632921)
Really nice!
Although the breasts look really hardened. Maybe those should be softened.

[Knarf]

eminkey2003:Thanks man, hard boobs...hahaha I like that.

well still WIP for my COW, so far I have the pose sort of...just have to get the sense of lighting down then colors...

665738

-Frank

[SMILEFACE]

hey killer updates i tried to post before round post#153 but i musta hit back before send'n lol'd egg on ma face'
i like how ya got the traditional styles go'n in the digi 'ez an that last cow is wicked' do you do alot of traditional stuff ex piant'n charcole ect..?

[eminkey2003]

Geez, you are really good at volume and depth. Show it more! Make more drawings!

[Mumph]

Wow! I like you experimentation with brushes. Also, great concepts.

[Icecold]

You have great potential, your traditional mediumsskills are superb as for digital hmm, it's obvious noone ever is born wise and allknowing straight away, this will come with time.

I've searched for some video's for you, they might help.

http://hydropix.com/tutorial.htm

http://www.carloscabrera.com.ar/tutorial.html

And Linda Bergvists Site with some tut's also (She's one of the best digital painters in my opinion.)

http://www.furiae.com/index.php?view=gallery

Hope i helped, best wishes ~Ice

[JailHouseRock2]

I envy your values Frank, I still can't work them out:shrug:

Thanks for the vist, and keep rockn' in here, maybe some traditional stuff next?


Cheers mate,
matt

[Eiki]

Hey,

I just checked the first page of your thread (do not have the time to look through the whole thread at the moment, it's quite late here :)) and those studies are so great!
Its awesome what results you achieve in 10 minutes or so! Keep going, hope to go through the whole thread the next days or so, if I find it :p

[Knarf]

Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Thanks, popped in your sb to answer.
eminkey2003: yessir!
Mumph: Thanks buddy!
Icecold: Thanks a lot for the tutorials.
JailHouseRock2: I envy your colors, along with your artrage skillz!
Eiki: Thanks, hope you enjoyed what you have seen.

so working on more creature concepts. please list out likes and dislikes. most of these creatures are pretty lame though... :nohope:

Here's the crappy cow...too rushed.
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Some creature design quick sketch.
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A bunch of odd assortments of brainfart creature design concepts.
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-Frank

[SMILEFACE]

thanks for the reply Alm0st

on the chow if ya had a bit of light come from the back ground it would really help pop the creature w/ the rim light 'edit' like a cold blue

the second monster is a wicked start

an the smokey pig monsters a keeper

an these are just my favs but you could push any of them an they'll be great

[TB4606]

Really nice work, i like your human portraits.

[Knarf]

Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Thanks buddy, accepted your friend request!
TB4606: Thanks, and welcome to CA.

Speed was the essence of today, hopefully was not too sloppy...

Quick portrait 30min
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enviro value study 30min
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translation: I'm too sexy... 40min
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-Frank

[BRINKMAN!]

Nice stuff Frank, keep crankin'.

Few crits: The neck of the UFC guy disappeared! Maybe that's what's got him shouting ;) Also I love your COW. I think it has great design and concept. The composition of the piece is really nice too. It has too much black in it though, and it's flattening out the space. Grandmassa is right in that a rim light, or better yet a secondary light source that lit the back ground a different color than the fore would solve your spacial problems.

[SMILEFACE]

wicked update i really like the enviro an your fighters an portaits ROCK! keep up the goods!

[eminkey2003]

The face on the portrait looks really unique, but the chin seems to be jutting out too far. I think it's the shadow underneath that's the problem. That hook-handed creature is great, but I'm kinda put off by the front leg aligning with the front arm.

[Saurus]

thanks for the message man...anatomy for me is on my list to work on...I work on it whenever I can but i've never done any formal anbomical study which is what I need to do...lately I've been working on creating atmosphere and perspective...so anatomy comes next...your stuff's lookin really good, your edges seem to stand out a lot to me, maybe work on studying hard vs/ soft edges, and some of your color paintings look somewhat flat and too saturated, work some greys in there to make the colors pop out....keep it up.

[Knarf]

BRINKMAN!: Crank high voltage style for ya.
Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Thanks man, I been loving the stuff you been pulling out lately.
eminkey2003: Jay Leno! oh and thanks for the critique on the monster too, totally going to work that out.
Saurus: Thanks man, I'm still too scared to touch those soft brushes...props to you.

Following Portraits were done do to the inspiration of Saturn Gate (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114128)
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Rejected Creatures... I think I might render some favs out in the future though
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-Frank

[Mumph]

Yo! As you say yourself, the COW seems a bit rushed although the creature looks interesting, though a bit too angular perhaps. It looks a bit too stone-like. I think the lightning could be a bit more dynamic, perhaps some shadow from the stalaktites on the creature?

On the next one, I think HIS right leg should have a much bigger thigh because right now it looks like he has a very small right leg, the perspective isn´t quite working.
I like your imagination :)

On the enviro value studie it wouldn´t hurt with some parts (perhaps only the trees or some of the stones)beeing black, or darker.

Great job with the last portraits and the creatures are very cool, my favorite beeing the skull-spider.

[Knarf]

Mumph: Thanks man, definitely not my best work on that cow :[. appreciate the lengthy feedback!

Anyways I been busy doing monsters, but finally took some time off to do some personal stuff.

Some quick warmup that went out of hand, also a bday gift.
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L4D2 already...:wtf:
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and this is for BRINKMAN! I'm sorry for the long overdue collab :bashful:
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-Frank

[JailHouseRock2]

Nice work of late Frank!

Yeah its hard to to be inspired by Saturns work, and your portraits are looking good too!
Something I would suggest though, is working on some sharper focal points in the portraits. I feel if you spend a little more time on the eyes and and other points of interest you'll get a stronger image. Just an idea tho:P

Dig the left4dead2 stuff too (that's game looks so good!) and great start on your Colab too!

Great work Frank,
all the best,
matt

[eminkey2003]

Great volume again. Maybe try some more body poses.

[SMILEFACE]

HOLLY WHAT TH#@$#@%@% yall kill'n the updates!!!!!

[BRINKMAN!]

You're the man Frankipoo. Great portraits! I'm especially a fan of the zombie one. There are a few anatomy issues with the angel, but I'll sort those out ;). Can we see more monsters? The first batch is dope.

[Mumph]

Good stuff man! Nothing special to crit, I like how you handled the hair in that first portrait in post #176. Cool character in the collab, but he looks very stiff, I think it´s because of how his arms are positioned, but maybe you want him to look that way. He does look very grumpy so it fits with his expression :)

[shumizu]

ey wow. the last one is really great! how did you this quind of aqueous line? long time ago since we talked... do u have something new? u know ^^

[Knarf]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the critiques and encouragements, busy busy bee I have been. Started my first painting class, tough stuff. Replies 2m.

oils
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sketchbook
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raindrop concepts (do help pretty please :))
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-Frank

[JailHouseRock2]

Hay Frank,

Dude you have been busy, love love love the paintings man!

The one with the yellow flours and lemons looks the best, but good job all round! Really liking the colours on the boat one too, Niccce blues!

And as always the sketches look top notch. Digging the lines and that bike looks great!

Liking the concepts too. But to get a stronger shape I'd say doing some silhouettes would help, as way as thumbnails.

Good work though mate!
Hope your well,
matt

[Mumph]

Damn man, great paintings! I especially like the first two. The monster is very cool too, keep going!

[shumizu]

yeahi an update! the first painting is reallyyy nicee!

[Knarf]

JailHouseRock2: Always a thank you to your helpful insight my friend!
eminkey2003: good for pointing me out on the bodies, i need to do more studies!
Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Thanks man! your words are always so explosive.
BRINKMAN!: Frankipoo?! do you happen to know my best friend?? She is the only one who calls me that..hahah. BTW this one is for you! hope you like the colored version.
shumizu: for those lines its a smudge tool with a brush I dled.

Here's a collab brought to you by Brinkman! and Alm0st.

original-brinky
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colored-me
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-Frank

[Mumph]

Yo! I like the mood in the collab. About the light, maybe there should be some highlights on the pants and some light on the cape too. Some cast shadows are missing too (from the horns on the head and from the spear on the body).

[BRINKMAN!]

I must have known your friend in a former life! Your new stuff absolutely great Mr. Lei. Judging by those oil paintings, I'd say you're working hard and learning a lot in your class. I'm lovin the collab too, nice gloomy palette! Keep up the good work ma' man, you've inspired me to get off my ass and actually do some artwork.

[Knarf]

Mumph: Thanks for the crits. I definitely have to pay close attention to how lights bounce around.
BRINKMAN!: you might have had known her. Where you been man? coming to sunny california yet? Can't wait to see more of you work man. pump em out soon.

crappy camera phone pics!

a two day skeleton still life with a colorful hat...
day 1
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day 2
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first painted figure ever!!!!111OMG!!! learned a ton. one thing for sure, skin tones are hard to get. no undo, nor eyedropper here...
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-Frank

[eminkey2003]

Great colors on that figure, but proportions are super wacky.

[Knarf]

eminkey2003: Thanks man I hear you on that, got too caught up and rushed the initial sketch.

Progress shots taken every 20-30 minutes or so. Hopefully this way I can spot out what the heck I was doing right or wrong.

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-Frank

[Samuel Gray]

Cool stuff frank, what kind of basic palette are you mixing for the skins?

[SMILEFACE]

MY EYES ARE MELTED from OVER EXPOSURE TO PURE MEGA AWESOME GONZO EPIC NESS I HOPE YOUR HAPPY W/ YER SELF!

[DoubleThink]

Use some more underpainting.
Like freaky colors under your yellow-gold skintone.

If you take the time to really look at the colors, you'll see blues & magenta's but just in a moderate form. Try focussing on that next time :)

greetz

[Knarf]

Samuel Gray: Thanks, replying in your sb with the answer.
Grandmassa Mr. Spect: I'll sketch you a new pair of eyes :P
DoubleThink: thanks for the advice there, still a long way with my oils.

Well that was my last oil painting, it was a great first painting class experience for me. I hope to do more when I have time. For now, back to the wacom.

The return of my random crappy imagination. (various influences included)
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-Frank

[Mike.R]

Making leaps and bounds in this sketchbook for sure, tons of improvement. Just a few crits on your oils seem a lil tentative with your paint when it comes to edges. either work into your objects or work into the background/ other object. watch your ellipses a lil football shaped and watch out for objects looking like they are floating really ground your stuff with shadows. Hope this helps all stuff that is easily missed when your painting but the first thing people notice. also check out my sketchbook sometime gona be posting oils in there would love a critique.

[kevinwueste]

Are you at AAU ? I see models I know - and Isabel in the last one - if that's like your second figure painting you are going to do really well. Skin tone confidence will come in time, as will developing more definitive shadow shapes and transitions.. mileage - just like w/your drawing is your friend! love the Ducati Monster graphite too!

keep it going !

kevin

[Knarf]

Mike.R: I'll be sure to drop by and help you out, with whatever limited knowledge I have. Thanks a lot for the tips.
kevinwueste: An honor for you to drop by, huge fan of your work. answered your question in your sb.

I think I'm getting the hang of incorporating my traditional knowledge that I learned from paint class into my digital works (maybe). Colors are getting stronger I hope.

speedy before bed. about 1hr.
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-Frank

[LasseHeuer]

great stuff here! I need to paint with traditionals too.

I think you need to improve your hands!
Keep it up

[Mumph]

Yo man! Damn those figure paintings are great, especially the second one. I like the concepts too, keep it up!

[eminkey2003]

I like the confident way you sketch the figure with straight lines first. I'm surprised you paint in the dark parts first. I thought most people worked from light to dark, or with a base color first.

[That fat kid]

Hey Almost,

To paraphrase Sargent, paint your forms into one another. You're laying the paint on in swatches, seemingly unrelated to the overall surface. This will help your edges and therefore your sense of depth in the overall composition. You're an excellent draughtsman, and you can employ your sensitivity to line to your brushwork, particularly in making more choices about where hard edges should be.

And use more paint, the solvent is NOT a medium, so try to paint as much as you can without the use of it in the painting. It makes for a fragile paint film and a matte dull Finish.
A good way to keep from inadvertantly mixing solvent into your paint is to make sure you never go from your solvent to your palette directly, always make sure you at least dip into your brush in your medium before going back to mixing. It can make a world of difference.

~Andrew

[BRINKMAN!]

Frankipoo! Your paintings are coming along swimmingly! I think Andrew up there offered some good advice, although that's not to say that your figures aren't dope!
I do think that your color knowledge gain from trad is seeping into your digis, that latest one has by far the strongest color choices of the digi-portraits you've done.
The monster designs that you've done are nice, too. Great differentiation in silhouette! One thing I've noticed about these monster designs is that few of them are wear any sort of clothes. They may not need to, as they are all very unique in size and proportion, but costume can help break the character up visually and offer some visual clues when two are close... I read an article from the TF2 team about this once. I'll see if I can dig it up and send it your way. :)

Great work here, excited for the next update.

[SMILEFACE]

TWO QUESTIONS ONE WHERE ARE MY EYES I CANT SEE EM 'badump ch' an two where or how did you get that hot model to pose fer yer paint in 192 hot in a non pervy kinda way

[eminkey2003]

Update soon, sjkgbjkkjsfgjkbj!

[laxon]

Love your last few creature concepts. Some cool ideas there :)

[Knarf]

LasseHeuer: Hands, got it, thanks!
Mumph: Thank YOU sir, you keep up those constant updates.
eminkey2003: hahah thanks, I thought people go from dark to light? So I just followed that assumption, don't know if its "correct" though. And yes here is that update!
That fat kid: Thank you for those golden advices. You pointed out my biggest flaws, especially the one of me being a chicken when painting heavy.
BRINKMAN!: yessir, no more naked monsters...need more interesting shapes. btw glad to see you posting again.
Grandmassa Mr. Spect: hahah always a comedian there. the hot model was from class, my beginning painting class. We were lucky enough to have a model come in to pose for us on the last two day of class. I'm pretty sure there are workshops and classes around that do this around any areas.
laxon: Thanks!

Well back to school now...taking a ton of science classes. One particular toughie would prob be organic chemistry, but I'm glad to be finally moving on with finishing up my schooling. So good news is that I won't stop drawing/painting, bad news is I would have to do it less frequent. Have to concentrate on my studies :( (really wish I was studying art instead). Here are a couple of portraits I did the past few weeks.

This one was done on my bday, my friend was kind enough to pose for me since it was my day :). 2 hrs speedy oil.
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self portrait a few days ago, probably spent about 3 hrs on this bad boy. I find self portraits pretty hard though.
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Thanks for looking, back to ochem.

-Frank

[Mike.R]

the self portrait looks great. keep on keeping on.

[shumizu]

hmm... truly nice, truly nice! i always thought u would be the crazy girl u are always drawing... haha... nono. just kidding. but its your first SB right?

[AustenFM]

Mmph, loving this sketchbook, great great progress, this is definitely your calling!
Really dig your monster/ creature designs, the leaper monster is nice and creepy.

No real crits, just keep on updating!

[eminkey2003]

Great volume in that self-portrait. By the way, that page took a long time to load. Do you use File>Save for Web in Photoshop? You can make your files much smaller without losing too much quality.

[Knarf]

I'm really really sick :(. This is all I can muster out with my strength for now. I'll upload some ballpoints later on when I feel much better. replies to follow also...

40 mins, then the meds wore off. trying a different method of just laying down colors right away.
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Cough cough,
-Frank

[kikindaface]

Hey dude, amazing improvment with colors and values ! I like your stuff ! especially the traditionnal paintings, keep it up !

[Mumph]

Very nice self portrait, I like the purples. Get well man!

[Knarf]

Mike.R: Thanks man! keep your sketchbook updated, looking forward to your progress.
shumizu: Yea it's my first. crazy women, ahhahhah good one. I like the creature you did, I'll drop some crits on it soon.
AustenFM: Thanks a lot for the encouragements! I'll be sure to update more and more.
eminkey2003: Yea I always save like that, prob internet troubles though huh?
Walid D: Yessireee I sure will! Thanks!
Mumph: Thank you for your concern my friend! I'm feeling much better now.

So I was just browsing thru http://www.zhaomingwu.com/, super inspiring. So inspiring that I decided to do a quick study on his figure painting.

30 minutes of joy...
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-Frank

[Knarf]

Check out Jaimes SB if you haven't, got some brushes from there and HAD to try em out. http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116258

45 minutes of messing around.
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-Frank

[Sukizan]

wow man O: I see a lot of improvement, really good stuff.

[paran0id]

The colors in the naked gestures are great. In addition to them fancy brushes.

[SMILEFACE]

I WOULD HAVE TO SAY YOUR USE OF COLORS IS HOT !!!! the difference in 213 an 217 is major they are both great but 217 is where its at imo haha thanks i just learned alot!!!!!! keep w/ the skills

[eminkey2003]

The colors are really nice...even if they're copies, they're still picked well. Nice heat to them, very warm. Pretty. I can really feel the temperature change between warm and cool. So... maybe you're just really good at maintaining that temperature from the photos. I mean, you didn't let the colors get muddy or neutral or wishy-washy when you painted it. Nice!

I think it's nice that you spent some time feeling around that last painting, but I'd also like to see just some average everyday practice sketches to keep it all up.

[Mumph]

Great colors on the figures! You should put some of that violet/purple on her skin too (reflect light) like you have done on the second one (with the green light).

[Knarf]

Sukizan: Thanks for noticing :D
paran0id: indeed those fancy brushes does wonders!
Grandmassa Mr. Spect: Not as hot as your productiveness man.
eminkey2003: average everyday practice such as sketching? please name some for me :)
Mumph: I still have a long way to work around believable lighting in color, thanks for the tip friend.

dump-o-roo, just to show that I'm not dead. I'm trying to at least do one self portrait a week...

My rare moleskin pages that is secret to everyone...
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failed chow attempt, just some concepts sketches. shame that I never got to finish.
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eh confusing cow attempt. apparently the chain arena was not clear enough :(
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Super fail EOW, I must do more of these though :^^;:
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Self Portraits all from mirror.
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‎February ‎17, ‎2009
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‎October ‎08, ‎2009 repaint. Looks like I improved a little bit :)
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Ok of this massive dump of a toilet!

-Frank

[Knarf]

International Self Portraits!

ref from mirror, 1.5 hrs
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imagination, 0.75 hr
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-Frank

[JailHouseRock2]

The digtal figures are sooo fu*king good man, diging the sketches too!

[Knarf]

JailHouseRock2: Thanks man! I'm digging what you are doing in your sb also!

Ok just did ANOTHER self portrait, this time with a colder palette. ~1hr
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-Frank

[pkhenhen]

nice Frank, i think ur last self portrait was the most successful one. I like what you're doing in the shadows to show form.

-Henry

[eminkey2003]

Great volume, great color, nice shadows-- super update!

And yeah, those were the kind of sketches I was thinking of.

[BRINKMAN!]

Frank, you just keep putting in work, and it's paying off! I'd like to echo what others have said about your leaps in color and form. One small crit: Your most recent self portraits are getting a little muddy/subdued. Look at those figure paintings of the female figure up at the top of this page, they ooze a sense of light and warmth... they're on the right track! :)

Great work my friend!

[Icecold]

Now that EOW is terribad indeed ;P

Altho the rest of your work is so sexy ! hah
Traditionals still own digitals, but being good at
it will come with time, patience, discipline ;)

[Knarf]

pkhenhen: Thanks man! glad you are on here :D
eminkey2003: Cheers! glad you like em.
BRINKMAN!: Thanks, missed ya Andy!
Icecold: I'm sorry I hurt your eyes with that eow :P. Promise I'll get better at those.

Just a little mood study of a photo I liked. 1.5hrs
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-Frank

[Knarf]

I suck at doing robots, therefore I choose to do it.
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btw two good freinds joined up here at CA, please pay em a visit.

TruebERRY- http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=173875
pkhenhen- http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=173240

thanks!
-Frank

[JailHouseRock2]

Awesome work, love that portrait Frank!

[Rustveld]

Hey man, you've been working hard, I can really see the improvements!
Your portraits are coming along nicely. The colors are a bit muddy, don't be afraid to add saturated colors in both the shadows and light sides. If you add some oranges, greens magentas, blues it can really make it pop.
Keep up the great work!

[Knarf]

JailHouseRock2: Thanks man!
Rustveld: Thanks, I will definitely add more colors to help pop.

Only through failures will we be able to get closer to success, so heres my other anatomy epic fail sketch. Cyclops dorky revision?
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-Frank

[Timmy]

great progress keep on drawing

[Knarf]

Timmy: Thanks Timmy, will do!

45 minutes, topic today was an animal.
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-Frank

[pkhenhen]

nice, the animal pic looks like a mixture between a hyena and a baboon

[Icecold]

I've made a promise to myself " I'll be back!" and here i am haha!
Definitely improving Flei, however i think you could push the darks in the hyena
piece, like inside it's mouth.

You major anyways!

[Knarf]

pkhenhen: Thanks henry, atleast the hyena part is right xD.
Icecold: glad you came back, hope you continue to enjoy my posts, i took a quick look again in your sketchbook. will be posting some thoughts about it soon.

meow meow, 1 hr.
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-Frank

[eminkey2003]

Another lifelike expression. Keep it up! Maybe practice traditional paints too.

[BRINKMAN!]

Dude. N I C E value range and mark making on that last one. It's really, really well done.

[BRINKMAN!]

Frank! I'm going to be in your neck of the woods this weekend. We must meet up and draw.

[Knarf]

eminkey2003: Thanks for kicking my butt into gear!
Andy: Had a blast while you were up here, too bad it was so short. Hopefully everything works out as planned! ps. you are a lucky guy with a girl like that ;)

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Gift from BRINKMAN!
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WIP of a character
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Cheers,
Franklin

[BRINKMAN!]

Frank,
Katie and I had a blast as well, we really cannot thank you enough for being so good to us and showing us around. Hopefully we can make the SF Sketchgroup a regular thing in the near future!

Now on to the crits! I really like your sketchbook work, especially the last two in ink. I like what you've done with the digital version of the Priest too, the new pose is much more effective at telling a story about who this guy is and how he's conflicted. I would say you could push the saturation and variation in hues a bit in it. Maybe some strong speculars on that demon arm to give it that juicy look? Dunno.

[eminkey2003]

Not much more to say other than to keep sketching. Nice volume again in most of the sketches.

Try looking at one of those published sketchbooks that major comic book artists put out sometime. They've been giving me a better idea of how to sketch lately.

Let me know if you're ever in New York City! I could meet you there.

[Knarf]

Andy: lets do it again.
eminkey2003: funny thing, my gf was in NYC, but I had work so I couldn't go with her. Maybe next time bud. thanks for the sketchbook info, got anyone in mind to start with?

Just continuing little by little every morning, trying to work my patience.
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-Frank

[BRINKMAN!]

Nice progress, I like the added warmth. Excited about where this is going!

[NickyBeats]

hey, great work dude! youve made alot of improvements since pg. 1! keep working hard man!

[SMILEFACE]

ddddddddAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN SON YER SKETCH'N IS FREAK'N FILTHY HAHA WHAT EVER MAGIX YOU HAVE GIMME SOME really yer line werk is gett'n ridicules haha stay good