KingElvis' Sketchbook 2011

[KingElvis]

Hey guys,

I been checking conceptart for over a year now and got my constant share of inspiration from so many great artists in here. I decided to get off my lazy ass and start showing my stuff to other people so that I can learn more by other peoples critique.
Ill post as often as I can :)

okay, this is a first bunch o stuff from the last days. There was a lot that wasnt worth showing anywhere, believe me. My actual goal or route that Im aiming for is drawing from my imagination mostly and i figured that in order to achieve that i have to copy things as well as draw em from memory or imagination. And i have to work on my discipline to really finish sketches to "drawings". This has been a real problem for me over the last year- all crappy sketches, no drawings...
anyway, these are done from paintings and books i like and from imagination. tell me what ya think, and, talk to you guys later!
~martin
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/conceptart2.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/conceptart3.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/conceptart4.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/conceptart5.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/conceptart5.jpg

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[KingElvis]

smth i posted in the pose and gesture thread as well. even tho im not quite satisfied with em. but that drives me to try and draw some more of those...

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/ge1.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/ge2.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/ge3.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/ge4.jpg

[KingElvis]

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/01.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/02.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/03.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/04.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/05b.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/06.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/07.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/08.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/09.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/10.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/11.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/12.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/13.jpg
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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/15.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/16.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/17.jpg

[KingElvis]

so, this is todays outcome. im drawing after the schedule described in the Kimon NiKolaides book. Im not going to post teh contour drawings, because theyre all about the practise and the things you learn while drawing and dont look like anything anyway^^
thise stuff here is done with the help of my little wooden stickfigure. I try to push the pose here and there so, when i try to draw the gesture its kindof a mixture of the Walt Stanchfield and Kimon Nicolaides approach.
See ya later!
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/20.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/21.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/22.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/23.jpg
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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/25.jpg
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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/27.jpg
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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/29.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/30.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/31.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/32.jpg

[Mumph]

Great start, I especially like your animal sketches. Nice work on the poses. Maybe it could help if you try doing a curve that defines the overall pose, first, and then build on that, because I think that some of them are a bit unbalanced.

Also, I don´t think you should put down lines that don´t really add anything, it makes some of them look messy.

Keep it up!

[KingElvis]

Mumph: Thanks alot. about those messy lines: yeah, i know. im working on tat. but the thing is that those lines are my way to feel what im drawing and to..like trial and error, trying various lines until i see the "right" line...
but I read about that the other day, that this is actually smth that should be done in my head, not on the paper and that other artists use ink markers and such in order to avoid those scribbly lines. Ill do that as well, so thanks for your post :)

here are a few more that i did yesterday. tried smth else with gestures here...
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/33.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/34.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/35.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/36.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/37.jpg

and this is todays stuff. tried to use less lines here.

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/38.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/39.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/40.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/41.jpg

[KingElvis]

Woo, the guy whos trying to get this sack off the ground was ..intense. this was the most fun cause most of what i drew flew around in my head and i tried to capture that...I will try and come up with of that.

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/42.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/43.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/44.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/45.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/46.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/47.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/48.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/49.jpg

[KingElvis]

more...
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/50.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/51.jpg
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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/67.jpg
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[KingElvis]

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/69.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/70.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/71.jpg
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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/75.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/76.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/77.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/78.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/79.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/80.jpg

[Volchiha]

That is a lot of gesture drawing! Lots of poses!
I especially like how you do the portraits and animal stuff aswell.

ps: cool, there are "spar"s in germany too =)

[Mumph]

Man, that´s a lot of gesture studies :) don´t forget to practise everything else. I think you are doing a nice job.

Yeah I totally get that it´s your way of drawing and I don´t see anything wrong with doing it like that but sometimes the lines still feels like they are just there for the "style". Hope you get what i´m saying.
Yeah you could try doing gestures with as few lines as well but don´t abandon they way you are doing them right now, I don´t think there is any "right way", just the way that works for you and helps you learn and communicate what you are drawing.

I think it´s good to try drawing in differant ways and try differant things so that you don´t get locked in just one way of doing things, I guess everything has it advantages and disadvantages. I think you are progressing, you have a nice feel for it.

Those hand studies are nice but as you do with the poses, also build up the hands using construction lines, will help a lot and make you draw more confident lines.

Keep it up man!

[KingElvis]

Volchiha: thanks. What, there are SPARs in south africa?! lol do you know what "spar" means anyway? the german word?

Mumph: Thanks man. Yeah, theres gonna be other stuff as well in the future :)

this is todays chunk o stuff :)

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/81.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/82.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/83.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/84.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/85.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/86.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/87.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/88.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/89.jpg

and yes, the yellow stains is coffee ^^

[silverrspells]

I find your gesture studies amazing and very expressive; I know this comment isn't very helpful, but I couldn't stop to notice that :)

[KingElvis]

silverrspells: thanks. Well, I actually like hearing about other peoples opinions about the stuff I produce...this keeps the own views in check i think :)

heres todays outcome. nothing fancy for today, the animal stuff was just for relaxation and it really was fun. Gesture work is sometimes exhausting. And i like variety even tho i havent shown much of that lately :D

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/90.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/91.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/92.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/93.jpg

cheers!

[KingElvis]

on with the show :)
the first one was done inspired by the "concept art 101" thread which i think is just great!
Been toying around with some digital painting lately- well, i wouldnt call it painting yet- and i will definitely get smth done in ps too so, be prepared :D

see ya!
btw, sorry for those biguns- been using this upload manager thingy for the first time and..yea,..never mind.


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[KingElvis]

so, this is me, going digital using photoshop. My very first steps, so be kind :)

Im kinda stumped at how to actually proceed without ruining the pic even more...:/ any suggestions or critique is, as alwas, very welcome.
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[localfatheaded]

for your painting inphotoshop, I would suggest, trying to clean up the background first its definitely easier to paint if you have clean lines to start, also the painting is all mid range, the next step would be to figure out your darks and then add some highlights, your drawings are looking really good, and i suggest if you do more painting to do some reference paintings. keep it up, I hope to see more.

[KingElvis]

localfatheaded: Thanks mate. Yeah, Ill definitely do more paintings. Ive successfully neglected any painting over the years :/ and damn, it shows! I got this book on digital painting coming and Ive read some tutorials on CA, so, Ill post my next steps at painting later this week. :)

heres some pencil work I did at work today. Got some time to hang around and even tho i didnt have any ref material at hand I really wanted to try some guys with clothes and things attached to the clothes and stuff. Never really focused on that before and I tried to come up with some things ive seen here and there.

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[KingElvis]

Well, here we go with the newest outcome. Started some modelling exercises these days. So, this is actually not about light and shade but about from: what is near should be drawn withoput pressure, the stuff thats farther away should be darker. Its about getting a feeling for the form while drawing. I dont know if it shows, but it feels great. Ive been following the schedule of this Nikolaides book and its a whole lotta fun and smth changes inside of me... well, we'll see :)

catch ya later!

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[Animation Idiot]

The thing I love the most in your thread are your in-sequence motion-studies. How are you doing those, may I ask? out of your head? with video or real life reference? from photos?

I'm curious because I'd love to do some of that for practice on my own.

Also you have a lot of nice studies in this thread. Your animal drawing is looking like you're really starting to 'get' it. On that note I need more animal drawing myself.

My only point of criticism is that you're WAY TOO CONSERVATIVE. Though I should note that you have a loose gestural feel I love to your motion studies and various other things - to clarify I mean that I would like to see you do THOSE studies AND mix it up with you taking risks and going nuts with pulling and twisting and exaggerating poses, as well as faces. Check out Mike Matessi's two "Force" books to learn some more about that. Also you might want to buy Walter Stanchfield's books when they come out pretty soon.

PS - If you're in southern california I'd love to draw with ya sometime.

[KingElvis]

animationidiot: thanks for the nice words. I tried to get some more expression into my drawings but its harder than it looks, i can tell you that. I think this is the next step i was talking about in your SB. Expression. exaggeration. which makes for style, even tho i dont wanna think about style too much. Im in ca next year, ill let ya know :D

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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/02-1.jpg
http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/03-1.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/04-1.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/05-1.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/06-1.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/07-1.jpghttp://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/08-1.jpg

[Mumph]

Still working hard on the gestures :)
The proportions are a bit off in the portrait in post #12, the eye line should be roughly in the middle of the head. The eyes also looks a bit tiny.
Very dynamic poses. As i´ve said before I really like the animal studies, I should do these myself. I agree with localfatheaded on the digital piece and don´t be afraid to exagurate and experiment, put in some really dark and light values.

The military man is great, nice work on the clothes although his right arm seems to be a bit too long and his legs also seem to be of different lenghts, that may be due to the foreshortening.
I like the modeling exercises, very loose.
I think those first two poses in post #21 are excellent.
Your lines seems to become more confident, great progress!

[KingElvis]

done during school. yes im still alive. even tho i think it hurts my brain that the sun hasnt schown up for some days. I really need to see the blue sky from time to time to survive...:/
later!

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[KingElvis]

Thanks. that was what i felt when i was drawing it. feels good to read that its showing here and there. :)

wasnt too productive the last weeks. I HATE to say it but i fell victim to believing that computer games were necessary. Well, i played, i felt good, i anjoyed the holidays and Im happy that drawing crept back into my consciousness (what a diffifult word! lol) without any need of force. Thats the good news. :D
okay, on with the show:


hmm theres really smth wrong with most of the walks i draw. and theyre soo difficult! every time i start one its like a million possibilities and pictures popping into my head and its hard to decide which to use....:(
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http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/05-2.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/04-2.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/03-2.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/02-2.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq175/LordColtus/01-1.jpg

[KingElvis]

The first comic style lions and the deer is from "the art of lion king". one of the best disney art books i have. The animal art in there is amazing. And so are the storyboards by people like thom enriquez and others. Really great book.
Most of the figure gestures are drawings done with only one look at the model. I then try to feel the pose. Some times after i finished it i looked at the model again and decided to immediately draw it again trying to insert smth that i failed at the first time. Like the twist of the torso, the way the shoulders fall etc.
The model is actually just a little wooden puppet. The guy with the weird arm is inspired by a drawing of tarzan that I saw on the web.

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[KingElvis]

and another one. work keeps me busy but Im having fun doing my little studies in the evening :)

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[Asatira]

You've got a lot of gestures with a lot of flow to them. Very animated, which is good because I love animation. I also enjoy the animals, which have a lot of detail. The only thing I'm disappointed with is the lack of more detailed human studies, but I see you're starting to work on that. Keep it up, have clear goals, and I think you'll do well.

[KingElvis]

Asatira: Thanks. Okay, Ill try :)



More recent stuff.

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[Jamie Romoser]

Awsome start for your sketchbook.
your sketches remind me of frazettas sketches.
keep it up learned alot looking through your gestures.

[Mumph]

Great charachters and progress! I like how you capture their expression. Keep up the anatomy studies because proportion are off in some of the poses.

[KingElvis]

OmertA: Thanks. thats almost too much of a compliment lol but, seriously, frazetta was especially in younger days my biggest inspiration. he is amazing.

mumph: thanks, yea, i noticed when i was only focusing on the gesture, that sometimes the proportions just went off. Smth i will work on.


this is this weeks outcome. Theres a lot more actually which is not worth showing.

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later!

[Robolus]

Hi Martin,

es war cool nach so langer Zeit gestern wieder mit dir zu quatschen. Ich finds toll das du trotz Ausbildung am Ball bleibst und weiterhin sehr fokussiert übst und an dir arbeitest. Ich hab mir deine Skizzen in Ruhe angekuckt und ich finde es gut wie du dich entwickelst. Vergiss nicht neben deinen schnellen skizzen, auch einige Arbeiten einzustreuen die aufwendiger sind und an denen du an deinen Grenzen stößt.

Wir hören uns,
machs gut,
Rob

[silverrspells]

Thanks, I actually draw [a bit] more, but I hardly get to post. Anyhow, I'll definitely try to spend more time on sketching.

Your stuff gets more and more interesting :)

[KingElvis]

wasnt as inspired last week. nothing more to say :)

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[aaro_n]

you have a good hand, and eye for proportions. I'd suggest learning more of the muscular side of things so your arms dont look like noodles ;) You seem to have a steady idea on how to construct, just add more to your brain and youll be set to go in no time

P.S oh I see that youre starting to study muscles already whoops :) keep rocking

[KingElvis]

Robolus: Danke. Sowas von dir zu hören gibt mir wieder mut^^ ja, mich stört es auch ein bisschen, dass ich wenig zeichnungen habe, an denen ich länger als 5 min. gesessen habe. aber ich ringe mich langsam dazu durch, an einigen auch länger zu sitzen. ich steiger mich langsam. bis demnächst!

silverspells: thanks :-) same goes for your stuff.

aaron: Thank you. Thats actually been the question flying around in my mind the last days. How to actually learn smth without just mere copying stuff. I guess itll show in a few weeks if i properly figured that out^^

[Fumble]

I like your lines, they are very dynamic. However it seems to me that you are drawing over and over again on the same line.Try using fewer lines.

[Drawings spirit]

Mannn! You are great!You have many practice,and its good!

[KingElvis]

damn, animals are hard to draw.

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[Chompo]

I like you're characters, they have such a personality.

[KingElvis]

Fumble: I will try. but I fear that this would kinda slow me down, thats why i havent really put any effort into that. And i wanna feel what Im drawing and those lines help me to grasp the object, like touching it or smth. thanks anyway.

drawing spirit: thanks, mate.

chompo. Thanks a lot.

[mbarq]

lots of work here man, great too.

Gonna take a page out of your book and draw more with concept and analysis in mind. Although, at least for me, I do sometimes learn things I otherwise wouldn't have learned had I not spent a prolonged amount of time on it (as opposed to a quick gesture).

[KingElvis]

metalclay: Yes, this may differ from person to person. The other question is, how do we define learning? Is learning when you start to understand the subject to the degree that youre able to draw it out of your mind? or is it smth like learning in order to be able to draw things from reference convincingly?(which is often also quite hard).
No matter what, I like switching my approaches to drawing sometimes. I try to find that middle-way between fast gestural drawing and longer studies (spending more time on one drawing). Because, as you already said, fast gestural stuff isnt the only answer to everything :) Ive noticed that too :(

[KingElvis]

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[KingElvis]

This is actually a study of a study by John Nevarez- an amazing artist who also has a blog going. Very inspiring stuff there, look it up! here:
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[KingElvis]

this was me doing some life drawing. It was kinda based on gestural drawing where you have only like 2 or 3 minutes for each pose. Heck, this is harder than it looks! But Ill keep it up, look where Ill end up with it. :)

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[KingElvis]

moved into a new appartment. played some guitar, was busy.
but i guess this is better than nothing. my mind never stopped thinking about drawing :)

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[KingElvis]

drawing from reference. just getting my hands around some designs. smth that i never cared about until i noticed the importance lol but late is better than never, right? :D

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[KingElvis]

modelled drawing in ink...but done digitally.
after some resistance ive finally figured out the advantages of working digitally.
Im still not at color tho. Ive "painted" a lill bit, but its really not worth showing, but Im starting to understand how painting works. Even tho, drawing is still more fun to me.
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[p sage]

You have a lot of good work in your thread. I'm particularly fond of the way you draw animals, and the classic 1940's cartoony style you have.

Not much in the way of suggestions, other than to try some Vilppu (as you suggested yourself in my thread) and see if that doesn't give you a different perspective on some things. It certainly won't hurt :)

Keep drawing!

[KingElvis]

p sage: Thank you. I certainly will, I think his animal drawing manual is very valuable. Coming soon!

Working on some basic head construction. Still dont really have them internatlized. Im trying and working my way "upwards". I drew hogarths stuff this morning and this is, what I came up with now.
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[p sage]

Head studies looking good. Accuracy is there, as well. Very nice.

[KingElvis]

p sage: thanks!

get the feeling that I learned a bit during the last days. Maybe Im just halucinating lol but who cares!
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[jatherip]

hey, man, die harte arbeit wird sich auszahlen! die studien sehn gut aus, aber ich denke du solltest an deiner "line quality" arbeiten. mach zwei punkte aufs papier und versuch die mit einer möglichst weichen linie zu verbinden. oder mach studien, wobei jede kontur nur exact einmal gezeichnet werden darf!!! :) keep goin!

[KingElvis]

jathrip: Danke für den rat. Das hört sich nach einer sinnvollen übung an. Probier ich morgen mal aus!

Sry, I dont really have smth new, time has been rare lately. But I think ive finally found a way to draw that satifies me. It doesnt really show I guess, but Im sure it will in the future.
Anyhoo, heres a start to get going again:
If in doubt, just add fur and big ears lol
I saw some glen keane head and neck construction drawings somewhere and had them in my head. Just "head" to get them out of there :)
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[KingElvis]

gestures. a few minutes a pose. with ref.

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[Spirit]

Hi there! Thank you for stopping by my SB :)
You have a lot of very good work in your sketchbook, well done! I see you have focused a lot on gestures, and this isn't all that bad, as I can see a definite improvement from your first ones to the ones in your last update! One thing I would watch out for though is proportions, most of the time you get it correct, but there are a couple of them where the legs are too long, or their torso is too long etc. this si also something I need to owkr on too :P
Keep up the great work!

[KingElvis]

spirit: Hey ya! Youre absolutely right about that proportions thing. I kinda neglected to seriously work on them. Its almost always a hit or miss. But thanks, Ill work on it!

okay, here we go, some studies from today. ive done some over the last coupla days but most arent worth showing.
Ive spent more than 5 minutes on some of these drawings here which is smth very unusual for me. but i seem to learn a lot, so, ill stick to spending time on drawings..
that head was supposed to be a self-portrait, but i always seem to get the head wrong. everytime i draw one. With this, i had to go in, flip it horizontally, redraw smth, flip again etc. And its STILL not right! lol guess I just have to do alot more head studies!
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[KingElvis]

studies done by old masters and a photograph. feels good doing them, and i really learn smth.
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[p sage]

Very nice anatomical studies. Great legs! :D

It's been a while since I've seen your stuff... forgot how good it was :)

Yeah, draw more.

[p sage]

It does feel good doing studies, doesn't it? When you got everything working right... you definitely learn something.

Boy, I can see the sartorius (strap-like muscle) in that leftmost leg. :) Looking good.

[KingElvis]

p_sage: Thank you. I definitely have to draw more, its hard with a job/school on the side sometimes. But I think you know that, going thru smth like that to, eh?


Heres more stuff I did during the last days. I realized that I do have a feeling for basic anatomy and shapes etc but that feeling turn out to be WRONG many many times. So I tried to figure out what it was and I realized major flaws in basic structure of 3d forms and human proportions! So, thats what Ill be working on in the next weeks.

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[KingElvis]

Sorry, but those were the pictures in my head. And an artist has to try and get those pictures out, doesnt he..I tried to draw from memory extensively and this is what came out. Nothing fancy really, but i think im improving.

If anyone has some more thoughts and tips on drawing from imagination/memory, feel free to drop a line or two here :)
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cheers!

[KingElvis]

some with hogarth ref, some without:
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[joeep]

Hi,
ok you do practice anatomy very much indeed ;) Looks good! And a couple of animals - makes me want to draw animals too...
Thank you for your comment on my sketchbook a couple of weeks ago!

[Jabo]

Woah, beeindruckende Studien! Wann kommen die Anwendungen? ;)

[KingElvis]

Jabo: Yer, well, Im working on it, and i know that theres my big problem..but thanks, youre right of course! Its just sometimes so hard to work and spend time on smth and then you see that it doesnt quite work out and thats the point where i mostly stop. And sketching just seems to be most fun part to me. Even tho, thats just a cop out, and I have to face that.

more stuff from mind. The reason I draw so many ugly ppl and fat guys sitting on chairs, over their desks is, well, cause Im in an office all day and those are the ppl i see!
welcome to my world.
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[p sage]

Good update.

The one here in the lower right has good structure (outer structure)... but the face looks a little painted on. Try some ref studies of a skull sometime soon. They help.

[Farvus]

It looks from your sketchbook art that you're going a lot into animation although I might be wrong.

Its just sometimes so hard to work and spend time on smth and then you see that it doesnt quite work out and thats the point where i mostly stop.

Improvement doesn't really come right away after studies. I found that there's always slight delay. It's like all knowledge accumulates somewhere in the back of the head and then it needs time to sink there :).

That might be not a very original advice but I would suggest more life drawing and more measuring. Once you'll get good proportion sense from that, you'll more accurately do anatomy studies.

Cheers.

[KingElvis]

s_sage: thanks mate. Im on it.

Farvus: Thanks for the advice. I know what you mean. I was just reading about that the other day that knowledge gets put into "order" during sleep. The last thing you do before sleep is usually having a greater impact, because things tend to overlay each other in the brains memory. interesting topic, that we can use for drawing and painting and all learning actually.
but waiting for me is hard nonetheless lol

working on tone. I squinted my eyes alot during some of these. It was really fun noticing slight differences in the image just by changing the value a bit. amazing!
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[KingElvis]

Im learning to paint and how to use Photoshop at the same time. i know that doubles the difficulty but I think there are a lot more ppl on CA how did that, right.
So anyway, this is what I was doing over the last days, and I learn smth every day. Tell me what you think, ppl!

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This is from ref. Some photo taken somewhere in Africa :) My first take on painting at all i think...Still struggling with PS tools and edges.
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The last picture is from a photograph. Lights coming from the left. Sometimes Im a bit confused at shadows. I mean, when you take sandstone, or a desert scene at bright daylight, then the core shadows seem to be purple. Whys that so? Is it the blue mixing with the Orange/red tones?

[KingElvis]

messing around with anatomy lately. Gotta be a lot more comfortable around the basics.
And i really have the talent to mess up hands. Gotta spend some time on em later.

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[KingElvis]

having fun with anatomy..
still having trouble with the construction..

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[Mr.Alamo, C.]

Martin,altes haus,
wie läufts?einsatz am samstag gut überstanden?
war einiges los in berlin,soweit ich gesehen habe,freut mich von dir zu hören.
bi gerade mehr auf facebook,
übrigens,du bist echt fleissig bei anatomiestudien,weiter so:geekg:
ich poste nächste woche großes update in meinem sb,darunter sachen,die nach dem seminar entstanden sind,schau nächste woche vorbei in meinem sb,
Lg Andreas

[KingElvis]

Hi guys,

after a few weeks of not so much drawing due to exams for my university Im finally back to drawing.
It feels so good to be able to draw again.
Plus, i feel Im learning more every day. So many new insights just during the last week, its insane.

Been trying to get my hands on costume and armor design for the first time ever. Its really fun and CA.org is a great help with all those inspiring artists and references :P
After failed attempts at whole suits i broke those studies down into parts, starting with the lower leg. Otherwise its too much information at once..

Been drawing some anatomy too. The Dave Finch Gnomon DVD is gold, seriously. It answered a lot of my questions regarding anatomy. Hope its not too obvious that Im just going the cheap route using what works for mr. finch.:D but we all have to start somewhere!

Mr.Alamo, C.: Thanks mate, hope to hear from you soon! Dont you try to run off from CA! ;)


Okay, enough talk, heres the work:
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[KingElvis]

Messing around with values lately.Pretty difficult stuff!^^

First ones from the movie 2012, which was quite cool I think :)
Second one is a value study of some painting I saw here on CA, dont know the artist.
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[AubreyOwley]

Thanks for stopping by! [:
The leg and arm studies are really cool.
I dig the figure drawings the show the muscles.

[Falchion]

Goddamn that's some fine work!

[Rafal Dorsz]

Hey, man.

You seem to be doing great. You know what to study, and you're doing studies. That's good. I'd like to see you try some drawing from life. Over all a very nice improvement here, and all those studies will surely pay off. I agree with what Farvus said somwhere up on the page, that there's a delay between knowledge and skill.

Anyways, You asked about advice for someone who is starting up in painting. Well, aside from the obvious studies of the things you want to paint (like anatomy, perspective, architecture, etc) there comes color theory and light behaviour. You did, for example, wonder about the reason for the color of the shadows on a sunny day. Take a look at this Prom's art tutorial (http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm). This should answer many questions about colour and light you may have. Also, there are many other helpful tips there.

Good luck!

[alexson]

Really great studies, man. Your heads look real nice! :) Keep up the good work is all I can say!

[Vertical]

Thanks for the comment! Your anatomy studies and armor are looking great, keep it up!
This might not be the best advice, but I think after you do your book and imagination studies it would be a good idea to look at photos of real people or actual people and try to identify the muscles you've been studying. Try to make the photos look like Bridgeman drawings. This is actually pretty hard to do, a lot of muscles are hidden under skin and fat. Identifying them when they're not apparent and outlined will help you get more familiar with the muscles.
Try to do to life drawing instead of photos, seeing how the body and muscles move is way better than seeing a still shot.

[KingElvis]

AubreyOwley, Falchion: Thank you!

Rafal Dorsz: Thanks. Ill try and do more stuff from life. Gotta find a nude figure drawing course.

alexson: Thank you!

Vertical: Youre welcome! Thats is actually a very good excercise youre talking about. I will try it!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, this sketchbook has been dormant for far too long! Its embarrassing but oh well, Ill just get on with it :)
Ive had a long pause from drawing, but i never entirely stopped. Enough with the whining, on with the show! Just to get on track, heres what i did today: Posemaniacs and studies of female pelvisses plus a little focus on proportions. That kniofe was a photoshop excercise.
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[p sage]

An impertinent question K.E.:

What are your goals for your art? Do you see a career you would like or will this be a hobby? Is it concept art, comics, animation, or something different?

I think this is important to decide, because otherwise studies like these just become random wastes of time. In other words, for example, if you're going to be doing animation and you concentrate on doing highly rendered pieces in color, studies like that will have limited impact.

Now it may be important to gain the observational skill for other reasons... but recently I've been thinking about another approach. Instead of thinking about 'study-first', maybe it should be 'what-I-want-to-draw--first', 'study-second'.

In other words, try doing a month of nothing but drawing the things you like.... and doing the type of work you want to do in your ultimate goal. It will be pretty easy to find your weaknesses right off the bat, right?

In that case, you now have a list of things to work on .... and the studies can serve those weaknesses. This, rather than just doing a random set of studies that may or may not improve your skills right of the bat.

I may be completely wrong, but I've been thinking about this for a while now and it seems like the only sensible way to continue (for me at least).

Good luck.

[KingElvis]

p sage:Hey sage, you know, this question was just the bit of advice that i needed i guess. I already saw your post about the reason behind studying which was a big eye-opener for me! I have to admit i havent made a commitment to where i want to go with my art and your post really got me thinking.
I just put the stylus to the wacom and let the creativity roll and i realized what i wanted to draw. I will give myself a little more time, as you suggested, to find out what my goal actually is. Right now, when i think about drawing characters for animation or videogames gives me the biggest surge of inspiration. I guess thats the direction i wanna pursue now.

So, according to my new insight (thanks sage!) i tried to do things differently:
1. Draw what id love to draw (just acting as if i could ;D)
2. Do studies that are geared towards improving that picture.

I think thats the natural to go anyway! I could just knock my head against the wall because i wasnt able to see this simple idea! lol ohman, some things just need time.
Anyway, Ill show you some studies that i did today. I got confused with all the values and the edges which seem sooo complicated at the moment!

The picture im working on will be shown soon (which will be a premiere in this here sketchbook!)
So stay tuned :)

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[tomskie]

So i went looking for the guys in the studygroup and looked at their sketchbooks, good stuff man good anatomy and good studies and i need to learn to color that way too I need to do more but i am soo lazy :P you keep me going!

[KingElvis]

Tomskie: Yer, i subscribed to most of them actually :D We all feel lazy at times, thats okay, just dont lose sight of your goals and why you wanna achieve them! cheers :D

Along with some other head studies I been working on this one.
No time to work on other projects, but I feel tackling values and the painting process in general is a lot more rewarding now. Plus the anatomy studies are fun as well. Dont wanna post them here, because i made them for that Anatomy Study Group (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=232874&page=3) im happy to be part of! :)

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1387030&d=1324580946

[bitjockey]

Hello! I've subscribed to everyone in the anatomy group's sketchbooks and this is the first time you've posted since then :P

I'm definitely liking those chest/ab studies two posts up.

The portrait is good too, the values are great. Her right eye (the one in shadow) looks a tad too far away from the centre of her face.

[KingElvis]

bitjockey: Hey there, Yes i did that too :D Thanks for that point, youre right. I knew smth was wrong with it but i couldnt really pinpoint it at the time. Ill definitely work on it! Merry christmas and a happy new year btw :)

So, here are two more. Just focusing on value. And man, did I spend hours on those. I dont kow how many, but many more than I spend on any other picture in here lol and it feels great! :)

Nice Holidays to everyone!

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[KingElvis]

I tried smth with color too actually, but i failed horribly and Im afraid to post it lol
So, heres smth with values. i tried to work with a hard brush, co opacity at 100 and no sensitivity. I did that in order to force myself to really think about the values. I guess i shouldve seperated Light and dark more clearly to have a better effect. but well... :D
Oh, and thos spots down there are whats left of my palette :D

btw, my coffee turned cold. I hate it when that happens.

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[tomskie]

O.o lol your studys in grayscale i need to practice from real life more XD :P

and i see too that you work like a maniac on anatomy just like me :D gj on those!

that girl in post 88 the last one looks aaaawesome already!
.

Maybe a tip i learned with copying hands from RL is block them in first like cubes you know then work it out further it worked for me. ( you can use it too on bodys ofcourse. This way you get a sense of how the body is in cubes etc!

Thanks for the long message lol thats alot of typing well alot... more then usual!

[KingElvis]

Tomskie: Yer, i just felt like writing, you seemed to be so down on the floor and nobody said a word of encouragement in you sb lol so i did! :D
Thanks for that tip on blocking in. Will try that soon, see how it works! :)



My daily dosis of fail :D Sometime along the process i realized that my knowledge of facial structure is definitely not subconscious yet, which means Ill have to be aware of that and focus on it a lot more while drawing.
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[KingElvis]

30 mins, no ref

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[KingElvis]

AOShbNkxkX8

listeing to yoko kanno and drawing a little. While doing the black white values study I noticved that teh parts that first seemed to be unlit aren actually unlit. They are lit by secondary lightsources, which are much less intense than the primary lightsource.
So, throwing light onto planes happens in the shadow too- but the lit planes differ. I know, its actually very very obvious, but to me, this is the first time I understood it from a practical standpoint, and that feels great. And Im amazed by this concept, thats the actual reason for us seeing things out there. wow! :D

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[KingElvis]

still getting back into drawing again- after weeks of absence. Feels good tho.
Cheers!

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[KingElvis]

that nude girl is based on a painting by the one and only Sakimichan (http://sakimichan.deviantart.com/). Couldve pushed the contrast more,...crap. Next time^^

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[tomskie]

Nothing to say but gogogo !

i like the music 2 from kingdomhearts u played ffx 2 ?

[KingElvis]

Tomskie: Hey mate! No, i never played that actually. I just listen to a lot of anime OSTs while Im drawing. Yoko Kanno is my favorite! :)

Some exercises and some random stuff. Its nice to balance studies with random doodles. Kinda gets my creative juices flowing :D

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