CCThrom sketchies - now with non-CA content

[CCThrom]

Since I haven't touched my old sketchbook in a long time, I'm starting this as a new one. It's a kind of 'thank you' to ConceptArt for being the bestest place in all interwebzdom for art education and learning the craft of illustration.

See, I frequently follow along with the CA activities, they give me much-needed breaks from work and chores... and without the vague feeling of non-productive guilt that comes from video games. Unfortunately, I rarely have time to actually complete them on time... what with the full-time job, wife, house, side-line career as a freelance illustrator, and an Aikido dojo I run out of our state college. Still, I'd like to share back to CA the work I sink into these "phantom activities". Sooo... without further ado, here's a sketchbook full of mostly ChOW and COW concepts (I love the work in EOW too, but I haven't attempted any yet) that would never otherwise see the light of day.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm going to start with my first attempt at a ChOW. It's the Spanish Inquisitor. I probably would have completed this, and been disqualified, if I hadn't re-read the rules and realized that portraits don't count.

[CCThrom]

This is another "almost complete"... the Goblin Gunslinger ChOW. I burned through a lot of ideas, starting with Old West because of the "gunslinger" title. Then I was inspired by some antique firearms and tried a Medieval / Renaissance angle. Finally some images of obnoxious Goblin-gangsta types started appearing and that turned into a whole bunch of Goblin Mafia characters. I could'a completed this one if it hadn't been for the orthographic turn-around requirement... and the holidays coming on.

'later, All

[Stevan]

I like inquisitor :) Very nice lines and super rendering!!! You don't have to finish it , just leave it like that its great!

[Mr.Juicy]

<...>
Y'see (and not to spin a lot of excuses) I'm a pretty busy guy... full time job, wife, house, side-line career as a freelance illustrator, and I run an Aikido dojo out of our state college. I always thought that someday I'd make my primary living as an illustrator or concept artist, but realistically that's probably not gonna happen.<...>

It sounds very pessimistic for me... I think it depends only on you, how much you want it and how much you try to reach it. And looking into your works it seems that you're doomed to be succsessful artist!!!
I think that your works is very very good and lot's of inspiration for others!

[CCThrom]

First things first... thank you for those replies, I needed that!

Stevan: The Inquisitor is one of my favorites. That's why I started with him. I can live with the face and hands as they are, but I can't consider him "completed" as long as the chair is that sketchy, and there is no indication for background. For now, he remains "almost complete" in my mind. Thank you very much though, for your comment! I'll definitely get back to him someday... the pieces I feel are really worthwhile may get put away for a long time, but they do return.

Mr. Juicy: Wow, that little kick in the pants comes at just the right time. I realize I have been feeling a bit negative lately, but I couldn't see it. Thank you!

Now, for today's offering... a little step back in time. The "Golden Guddle Greaper" is only COW I've completed, and incidentally my very first-ever attempt at a "from scratch" digital painting. The other images are also digital painting practice. "Messenger of Death" was also a COW image, and the Scarecrow is just a Halloween scarecrow...

[Nellin]

good start man! I like the goblin in the hawaii stylish shirt :D
The portrait is very nice aswell. Train more on the digital ones.

[CCThrom]

Nellin: Thanks, I've been a graphic designer for 15+ years, so I'm quite comfy with digital in general, I'm just not that skilled as a painter yet. Working on it though!

[CCThrom]

ChOW: "Medusa the Queen"

[CCThrom]

ChOW: Evil Female Djinn

Started to do some color for this one...

[CCThrom]

One more update before the holidays... happy holidays to all of you, and happy New Year too!

ChOW - "Four Brothers"

COW - "Snap Jaw" (or something like that...?)

[donalfall]

Your works are great. :) Your take on the 4 brothers is one of the best I've seen. Keep up the good works.

[JailHouseRock2]

Cool work. looking forward to seeing more.


matt.

[CCThrom]

Well, 2009... happy New Year everybody. The holidays were, um, "interesting" for my wife and myself... mostly having to do with losing heat and power for a week... plus dealing with an almost endless stream of advice and plumbing/electrical contractors. Ugh, hope you all had a better time than that!

donalfall & JailHouseRock2 - Thanks for the support!

OmenSpirits - I'd love to know why you "thanked" that particular post.

Anyway, today's offering is the "Stilgar" ChOW... pic one is the sketchbook sketch, and pic 2 is really the beginnings of complete linework on 14x17 inch paper, which is kinda big for me, but sometimes that change of pace is nice. The Sarkadur digital sketches are much older, from 2006 sometime but certainly belong with Stilgar I think :^^:

[CCThrom]

Snerx - now why didn't those attachments upload...

[Moriah]

awesome! I like your creature concepts

[CCThrom]

Moriah - Thanks! I have 1 more creature concept from this batch... COW "Arctic Hunter".

Then a few odds n' ends... ChOW "The Host" and a couple of idea pages for "Deep".

'later!

[CCThrom]

Today I'm putting up the only CHoW I've been able to bring to poll. "Plague Doctor"

[CCThrom]

"Baba Yaga" Uh oh... you know what this means... I'm starting to catch up with today...

[TomSpencer]

Really nice stuff! The last few updates have been really cool. I especially like the witchy women in the last one :)

[CCThrom]

TomSpencer - Many thanks!

Today at lunch I started experimenting with Bluefooted's "digital watercolor" tutorial... so here's a tweaked-up Stilgar. Obviously this is far from final, but it seems like a promising technique.

[CCThrom]

These aren't very "phantom-y" since I posted them in their respective threads... but nonetheless here they are.

The Colossus of Hell (COW)
630744630770
630767

Hey - I figured out how to use the attachment manager! Soon I shall be invincible...

Sith Lord (ChOW)
630753
630754
630756

Undead with 2 heads (COW) hmmm... how 'bout that? It actually IS a 2-headed undead cow.
630758630764

[AvisNocturna]

Very cool sketches! I love your pencil and the watercolour (?) stuff!

[CCThrom]

AvisNocturna - Thanks! Yup, watercolor... one of my favorite media.

[CCThrom]

I guess I should get completely up-to-date with this ChOW/COW homage with this last guy... "Puss in Boots" based on some silly stories my wife and I told each other about one of our own cats.

Akira, the birdwatcher...
653165

653170

Later I'll have a bunch of "team chow" work, but for now here is an interlude of some unrelated color-concepts for an illustration.

653171

653172

653173

[CCThrom]

Hmmm... Haven't posted in a while...
683687

Some non-CA activity stuff... y'all might like 'em though...
683688
683689
683690

[steven6]

Hey dude,
Just wanted to check out your sketches. You gave me a crit-totally right on-in the fine arts/discov forum. Anyway cool shit you have here. I especially lke the goblins, 4 bros, and the cat in the 1st page.
Best

[CCThrom]

steven6 - Hey thanks... yeah, I remember that crit... anatomy is a tough subject, very complicated and yet everybody knows when it just doesn't look right. That's why we never really stop working on it.

[CCThrom]

I just went through and "thanked" everyone that took the time to reply... don't know why I never did that before.

[CCThrom]

Guess I'll start putting up my TeamCHoW stuff today... I was on team "Crumpets 'n PAIN!"

Development sketchies for The Hero...
713614713616
713617713618
713619

And the color comp...
713621

[towy]

nice work, i like your traditional line its dynamic : >

[CCThrom]

Let's try this again... attachment manager was gettin' weird on me... erg, I am getting really sick of the uploader info page...

Dev sketchies for The Protector...
713631713632

And the color comp... I don't mind mentioning that this version is pretty clearly based on my dad. :evilmustache:
713633

[CCThrom]

Oh Hey, Thanks Towy... I almost missed your comment at the end of the page there... I think some folks might call my line sketches "rough" but I'll take "dynamic" instead!

[freakmod]

Wow, wonderful imaginative sketches. I also love your line work :)

That colored birdwatcher cat is excellent! Keep it up, CCThrom!
(oh, and I agree with you, I'm so sick of that upload attachment page too.. do they *really* need to know your name/sketch statistics in each upload T_T)

[CCThrom]

Obviously I haven't checked in here for a while... been on vacation too...

Anyway, thanks freakmod!

I haven't had the time to even think about CA activities for quite a while, so since I feel like I oughta post SOMEthing, here are a couple of watercolor sketchies I happen to like.

756384756385

[CCThrom]

This thread is going to have to become a bit more generic now... but THANKS CA!!

Nice lines... color not nearly done yet.
763350763351

edit - pulled some stuff... I should get permission first... just the right thing to do.

[CCThrom]

Some dev work for Steampunk Musha (http://tangledmuse.com/index.php?board=31.0)... Rick said it's ok to post this stuff.
763545763548763549

And something fun... I think it's fun anyway...
763552

Plus a little side project I'm working on...
763556

[CCThrom]

Currently I'm trying to increase my painting skills... and I was inspired after reading James Gurney's technique blog. I'll post my progress when I can. It's not always so cut-and-dried since a lot of times these "studies and practice sketchies" are tied to actual projects which I may not be free to show.

But we're cool here... some painting practice, or consider it "fan art" if you like. It's casein over pencil on a scrap of matte board. I would've worked it up a bit more if not for a valuable lesson... NEVER work with water media on matte board... the surface is too slick and won't absorb the color... I was just pushing puddles around and getting no adhesion.

Lesson learned: stick with illustration board or hot press watercolor paper.

780566

PS - finally picked up a copy of Bridgeman's Complete Figure Drawing... expect some study-ish stuff here soon.

[CCThrom]

I notice some folks posting their "Nibrus" here... this was mine. "Nibru" is also the name of a [fictional] planet, which was supposed to totally destroy our sorry asses in 2002 right after Hale-Bopp... I guess he got delayed in the cross-galaxy traffic or something. This rogue planet was also known as "Planet X" so I showed Nibru with a halo of asteroids, standing on the Loony Tunes Planet X. I have NO idea why I chose to give him a farmer's brush-hook, except they look so cool.

I might like to do some more Nibru, really a fun character.
808467

So last night I actually got to do a little unstructured drawing... so after a bunch of client thumbnailing, I cracked open my new Complete Bridgeman... woohoo! Well ok, this is actually a strange hash between Bridgeman studies and Brian from "Knights of the Dinner Table" Yeah, I'm an old-school nerd...
808469

Then I got on to some actual studies ;P
808471

[Mag-Neo]

---lots of lovely characters you've done here.... Keep 'em coming........ GOOD LUCK mate.... :yayca:

[CCThrom]

Thanks very much Mag-Neo!

[CCThrom]

Just a quick progress update. These are all little experiments with the James Gurney method of oil painting (as detailed in his blog). Basically it's a tight drawing on illo board, covered with clear acrylic medium, then painted in thin layers of oil.

You'll recognize the first image from an earlier post... I painted acrylic medium over my casein base, and am working oil over that whole mess...
812695

This is very much a "progress" shot... not advanced far beyond the stage of monochrome wash over pencil drawing. Since I'm working a lot from Gurney's "Imaginative Realism" book, I had to add a dinosaur. The face references i just got from Googling "Face + Directional Light" (except for Blob... he's related to a project I was working on). The surface is watercolor paper.
812697

Oh... almost forgot, I didn't mention that this is only the second time I've dug my oils out of storage in almost 20 years... but as I am trying to learn up on paintin' skills some folks are recommending I work again with oils, and I'm game for that.

Related threads:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171893
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=172012