The sketchbook of a karaoke soul ---UPD: 11 OCT---

[Ra Havok]

Hey folks, I'm a long time lurker here at conceptart.org forums, but I decided that, with the acquirement of a new sketchbook, it's time to show my humble sketches to the world.


Here goes. The very first pages of it.

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp1.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp2.jpg
(no reference used)

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp3.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp4.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp5.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp6.jpg
(short legs were intentional)

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp7.jpg


Comments, critique and similar things will be very appreciated!

:chug:

[Sinix]

Ooo, nice.. you have great lines, very clean. The only suggestion I possibly have is to make the female facial features more feminine. I look forward to seeing more stuff.

[Ra Havok]

Thanks for the reply, Sinix. :)

I'll keep what you said about the women in mind!

[roger]

Nice stuff! love your range of styles, that's a good thing imho.

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp8.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp9.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp10.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp11.jpg

[Ra Havok]

thanks for the compliments, Jens.


I'm in my first candidature (Bachelor) of graphical- and commercial design. (I'm 18 years old). I attend St. Luke college in Brussels.
If all goes well, I'll be specializing in 'graphic novel'.

I'm from Haacht, which lies exactly in between Mechelen and Leuven.

[Ra Havok]

Originally posted by Jens

and how are things going? are you getting good comments from the teachers?



Well, what I'm doing requires a whole lot more than being an ok penciller. You first and foremost must be creative. And you must have a knack for designing stuff. But I can't say I'm doing bad. Evaluations have been fairly positive so far. :)

[Ra Havok]

More stuff. Some of it is a little older. Sorry about that, I'm pretty swamped with college work right now.

http://www.astella.com/lava/Shout.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/hbhit.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/crts4.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/crts5.jpg


Disclaimer: I'm NOT a nazi. They're just fun to draw.
http://www.astella.com/lava/german1.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/german2.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/german3.jpg

[chudzta]

liking the shading in the last few posts. is your name lauren is that to some other reference? and im just being slow? keep chugging u have an eye catching stylistic approach that makes everything give a lil pop when u view it. - piece - chudds

[Ra Havok]

Thanks for replying, Chudzta. My name is LaurenS. That would be 'Lawrence' in English.

[Ra Havok]

minor update, sorry for that. More sketchpages will come soon.

A quick caricature of a friend:

http://www.astella.com/lava/tim-crt.jpg

[endregan]

sweet sketchbook!!!

love your characters!! good rendering with pencil

[Hesse]

o dierbaar belgie o heilig land der vaaa a dren
very clean lines
love em
btw zijn die allemaal potlood ?

[-The Swift-]

whoah! cool stuff, i love your style! rules!

[Ra Havok]

Done on pretty huge sheets of paper. (so not in my sketchbook, sorry!)


http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-7.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-8.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-9.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-1.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-3.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-4.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-2.jpg

[AndreasM]

The sceleton and life drawing was great. You are pretty good at drawing hands too. Personally, those are my biggest nightmares, along with alot of things you seem to handle very well.

Good luck in your career and merry christmas.

[Ra Havok]

Pretty sucky sketchpages, my apologies. I need to work on drawing women.

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp12.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp13.jpg



Updates will be more regularly now. I promise!!!

[van]

Originally posted by Ra Havok
Pretty sucky sketchpages, my apologies. I need to work on drawing women.

:) Great work. Cant wait until my stuff looks this *sucky*.

[Ra Havok]

Thank you, Van.


A photoshop doodle:
http://www.astella.com/lava/study2a2.jpg

[chudzta]

neat stuff... gonna be doing more ps or was this just messing round a night? - chudds

[Neireth]

Like these sketches alot, nice clean lines and a neat style.
Keep it up!

[Ra Havok]

or something.

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp14.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp15.jpg

[Main Loop]

good stuff.. nice imagination and animation.. the skeleton in a chair is tiight

[chudzta]

ur baaaack, nice rendering. specially the hand.. i always make nice contours on hand and buffle the shading. so im impressed. lets see more - chudds

[Ra Havok]

Main loop - thanks for replying.

Chudzta - Thanks. Heh, I have yet to find a balance between outline only and full rendering.


http://www.astella.com/lava/skp16.jpg

And something else
http://www.astella.com/lava/stijloef1.jpg

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/me.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/sp2alt.jpg
watercolor and photoshop

[Neireth]

Great self portraits!
Love the previous sketches too and I hope to see more stuff soon.

[Ra Havok]

acrylic paint
http://www.astella.com/lava/sp-3web.jpg
Another self portrait

[jester]

Just want to tell you that you've got a nice sketchbook - I enjoy it immensely.

Jester

[talmir]

Really great sketches.. are these pencil or pen?

[Ra Havok]

Jester- thanks a lot, man.

Talmir - Thank you. No pen was harmed in the making of these sketchpages. (Only pencils) ;)

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/acalmsea.jpg

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp17.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp18.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp19.jpg

[Hesse]

nice scetches keep em coming
do u use many refs ?
blacksadalbums rule !!!
btw do you study (en wat was het ingangsexamen )

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp20.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp21.jpg



Hesse => thanks for replying!! Whether I use many refs.. hmm, I'd say the ratio is 20%/80% -> I use 20% of the time ref. (approx.)
Blacksad indeed does rule.
I study graphical and commercial design at ST. LUKE BXL. The entry exam was a piece of cake. Anyone who is motivated can get started.

[-The Swift-]

great prgress, your sketches are really cool, you seem to have a distinctive style, which works very well! i love the first self portrait too! you seem to be quite capable in painter!

just keep at it!:)

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp22.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp23.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp24.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp25.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp26.jpg

The workshop was fun. Met lots of great folks, and now I'm more inspired than ever to quit slacking (esp. with my sketchbooks.)

[stiocray]

Nice rendering, esp on the faces. I hope you keep up with your sketchbook, bc it got awfully close to the end of page 3.

[steak-tron]

nice drawls mr. havok, i esp. like the caricature in the beginning but your concepts are wild too, nice heads.:)

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/skp27.jpg

Stiocray- Hah! keep up with you.. I'll try to do so! Thanks for replying.

Steak-tron - thanks a bunch, matey.

[Ra Havok]

some colors slapped on to the sketch

http://www.astella.com/lava/HB-corpse2.jpg

[davidheijl]

hey! love the colors on the green guy in the foreground, and the clouds... how did you do the clouds, by the way, manual all the way?

the red guy is a little flat in my opinion, very much a comic book look (what a surprise! :D )

nice work... looks like someone got his creative juices flowing at the workshop ;)

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/dancer2.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/dancer3.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/dancer4.jpg


David : thanks for replying. The Hellboy illustration was digital.

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/cable.jpg

[Ra Havok]

A satirical self-portrait, based on Rembrandt:
http://www.astella.com/lava/selfportrait.jpg




And *hurrah!* the start of my second sketchbook!
http://www.astella.com/lava/s1.jpg

[Jeff Jaws]

Your selfportrait comes along very nicely - solid painting, man. I guess it's traditional, is it? Anyways I dig your cover pages for the start of each sketchbook, it's a nice idea. keep up your good work, I like it, and most of it looks even better in reality than scanned. t'was nice to meet you in amsterdam, hope we'll meet again some time.
greets
Jj.

[Ra Havok]

Jeff Jaws - Thanks for the reply! The painting is *not* traditional (all photoshop), but I wanted to make it look like that.
It was nice meeting you too!


http://www.astella.com/lava/s2.jpg


http://www.astella.com/lava/s3.jpg


http://www.astella.com/lava/s4.jpg

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/s5.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s6.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s7.jpg


http://www.astella.com/lava/Icarusweb.jpg

[metalwinds]

hey man, some nice work you got going here. dont remember seeing this thread before, but i ll definitely make it a point to check up on it. your sketches and paintings are pretty strong. ..keep up the good work and keep pushing yourself

[Aidan]

I love this...



http://www.astella.com/lava/s6.jpg

That one is so amazing, how did you do it?

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/s8.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s9.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s10.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s11.jpg

Metalwinds : Thanks man. I'm glad you like it. About pushing myself: that's what I obsessively try to do! :)

Aidan : Thanks. I wouldn't call it 'amazing', but it came out nice. How I did it? Quite simply: draw lines, and then fill in plains with a certain tone...

[Jens]

nice update, love the jester pic (i have a thing with jesters), you should finish it :)

top girl of the last page is pretty too

don't really see stuff to crit, mayby the shoulders of that gungirl are a bit big..

well done, keep it up

[viag]

nice work ! the self portrait are great !

[Ra Havok]

Jens :::: Bedankt, man.
I initially had planned to make of that jester pic a full painting, but time constraints keep me from doing that. :( I have to be selective about my projects... Oh well, within 6 weeks it's vacation!
Myeah, pretty girl's shoulders are a bit tricky. I tend to fatten them a little too much, I think. (also see: last sketch of the update)

Viag :::: Thank you very much. :)



http://www.astella.com/lava/s12.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s13.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s14.jpg

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/s15.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s16.jpg

[spok]

i love this! i like the iccarus and i love the girl with da gun...

[JackalAnubis]

I really like what you've got here, very nice color and pencil. I especially like the pencil renderings though (my fav is probably the 500 credits). the last (life studies I think) look very nice too. looking forward to your progress!

[mog]

Very nice! Your rendering is really nice and looks like your anatomy is pretty solid too. and your only 19 :)
Did you study anytomy and muscles alot? what books did you use?

cheers :chug:

[Jens]

damn ra, i love these statues, especially the last 2

[Jeff Jaws]

hey, the last studies are beautiful. I love the lil' girlie statue. These arent from imagination? If they were I'd be forced to send a killer commando over to ya. no seriously, nice sketches. keep em up.
btw. which sketchbook do you use?(size/brand)

Jj.

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/oma.jpg


Spok >> I'm glad you love it. Thanks for replying.

Jackalanubis >> Thank you. My color is lagging behind some, in my own opinion. But I'm first focusing on the tones and the structure, color is something for later on.

Mog >> I actually didn't study a lot, my only anatomy 'book' is a print-out of Andrew Loomis' 'figure drawing for all it's worth' book. I really should get me a decent book one of these days.. A mirror is your friend for anatomy as well!

:beer: thanks man!


Jens >> Thanks! I don't hate 'em too much either. ;)


Jeff >> Thanks. Nope, these are actual statues of a museum in Brussels. I use a 'winsor and newton' A4 sketchbook. They're pretty wide-spread, I believe.

[Jens]

wow man, is that from life??!!

[Aidan]

Hnngh...!

[obid619]

WOW. dude i am so impressed. maybe i'm understating it :D

[Ra Havok]

Jens >> wow wow, don't go dropping your panties just yet, lady. ;) My grandma couldn't sit still for 20 minutes even if she wanted to, it's from a photograph. And since this took me 3 hours or something, a photograph was the only option.

Aidan >> Thannnkgss! gh!

Obid >> Thanks! :)


The replies are much appreciated, fellows!

http://www.astella.com/lava/s17.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s18.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s19.jpg

[young paddy1]

The top one in this new batch looks exactly as I imagine harry poter would if he wasn't such a pompous prat, looks like he's had a bit of a heavy night and fallen on his sword. it's bent from the hilt.

Love that cute furry one and his buddy, reminds me of that thing in the closet in evolution, the one that bites off the woman's hand as she tries to pet it.

For the high contrast 'style' piece did you use a brush, a pen, what?

[xia]

Nice rendering on the old lady! :chug: Me likes.

[endregan]

dood sweet sketchbook. glad to see your studies and your imaginative work!

clean linework and good forM!

[insane visions]

dood you have mad skills on some of your pencil rederings...good stuff keep posting...I love the new dump..

[Ra Havok]

Young paddy >> The furry suckers are actually one and the same. To the left, he's in his normal state, to the right, he's pretty angry with something. I added a little arrow on the original sketchpage to indicate this, but naturally, I'm too lazy to re-scan.
For the 'style' page, I used a relatively thick brush. No pen. It's fun working with a brush, although sometimes tough to control.
Thanks for replying!

Xia >> Thanks. :beer:

Endregan >> I appreciate your positive comment, man! Lets me know I'm on the good track.

Insane Visions >> thanks for replying!! Yeah, rendering is my forte, I guess.





http://www.astella.com/lava/s20.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s21.jpg

[steak-tron]

nice granny there Mr. Havok. My favorite out of the bunch tho is the ink brush faces. Them shits is spooky, Real "old man" wrinkles on the guy. Something you might want to pursue...

well done man. Keep brushing with Acid White.
-:cyclops:

[Ra Havok]

steaktron >> Thanks, pal. The ink-page was fun to do. :)


I tried to be as emo as possible with this one.
http://www.astella.com/lava/s22.jpg

[Ra Havok]

In retrospect, the latter image sucksballs. Ah well, it was a good clothing study, I guess.


Here are some feeble attempts at caricaturizations:

http://www.astella.com/lava/s24.jpg

The Elvis one is horrid.
http://www.astella.com/lava/s23.jpg

[SinisteR]

I do recognize most of these characters.

[Ra Havok]

That's swell to read, Sinister. I need more (a lot more) practice doing caricatures.


'nother sketchpage.
http://www.astella.com/lava/s25.jpg


Say, would you fellows prefer a small update every few days, or a larger update every two weeks or so?

[Bruce]

The portrait of your grandmother is very very nice Ra.
I love seeing your work.

[van]

Damn. You rock. I love your work. I now have a Ra Havok folder on my hard drive. :) Keep up the great work, man. You are an inspiration.

[Red_Rook]

:eek:

i saw yer stuff in amsterdam and it was amazing. You went uber on this congrats, i especially like your grandmother shes really well done :)

[TheUbermind]

nice face dude- i wish i could do a self portrait, but everytime i try - the mirror shatters- keep postin

[Ra Havok]

Theübermind >> haha, thanks man. Those first couple of self-portraits are severely off in places.. The last one (the Rembrandt spoof) is pretty resembling. Put a lot of effort in that one.

Red Rook >> Thanks, Red Rook! I'm not sure what happened there in amsterdam that gave me such an artistic boost: I find my sketches now to be a lot better than they were then.

Van >> Wow, a folder on a hard drive! :D That's a milestone for sure. I'm honored, Van. Thanks a lot!

Bruce >> Thanks, dude! Glad you like.


http://www.astella.com/lava/s26.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s27.jpg

[van]

Another wonderful update. :)

As an aside, do you use a tablet for any of your work? I would love to see you do an opencanvas session so I could see how you render!

[Ra Havok]

Van >> thx, dude!
I have an A5 wacom (intuos 2), which I often use. Haven't got opencanvas though.. I'll try to download it someday.. 'fraid I don't have the time to do so now.

http://www.astella.com/lava/s28.jpg

Last page of my second sketchbook!!:D

Updates will be sparse for a while now, got a lot of work heading my way.

[van]

Ah, man. I for one am going to miss having you around. Good luck with what you are doing...

Nice last page by the way!

[mogando25]

Hey Ra Havok, nice sketches happening in here. A question, are you using a range of pencils and then blending using paper stumps to render your drawings? Also, a general question, when do you decide to use hatching instead of "smudging"?

Later,

LL

[elboy]

wow. your more recent stuff is really rockin. I know you've heard it all before but your pencil skills (grandma, anyone?) and ink stuff are great. Even if you aren't updating a lot, I hope you keep drawing. cool cool stuff.

[steak-tron]

solid update havok. great J.Kerry.

[Keepiru]

Havok, your stuff is rock solid awesome. I love the grandmother, and your portraits and figures are really great, but what I'm reeeally lovin' are these wierd animal things (Ie the acid white bunny, and that critter in the bikini). Theyre funny and creepy at the same time, alot like some Jim Henson stuff (Ie Labryinth, which I saw for the first time last night) I dunno, theyre silmultaneously ambiguious and recognizable and gross and hilarious, I love things like that. Keep It COMING!

[Ra Havok]

**G'dammit!!!! I wrote this looong reply and Internet explorer crashed. :mad: **

Sorry, no in-depth replies.. I'll give you the short of it:
I'm back, I started my third sketchbook, thanks for the support, really, you guys are great.


http://www.astella.com/lava/3-1.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-2.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/s29.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-3.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-4.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-5.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-6.jpg

[aum]

Looks great. I like your use of soft values. Keep it up!

[steak-tron]

this last update kicks ass Ra, keep em' coming.

[Keepiru]

OOh Ahh, Nice update Ra Havok! Youve got one hell of an imagination, except for when your thinking about lust, in which case its just a mass of T&A, but is'nt that the case with all of us?
More soon!

[artkitty]

Great figures and tones! :D

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-7.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-8.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-9.jpg

aum >>> Thanks! I'm a sucker for gradual shading, I guess.. hence the soft values.

Steak >> Thank you sir! I will.

Keepiru >> Thanks. I find my imagination pretty bleak in comparison with Wesley Burt or Lukias.. but it's allright I think.

Artkitty >>> :)

[Uinku]

Holy Madonna! Your rendering is just.... WOW! And the lust one.. Just like the frustated one, I noticed the head later, SICK <3.

[IcePenguin]

Wow. That's awesome. I really like your rendering!
What instrument do you use to do the dark shading behind the clown?

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-10.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-11.jpg

Uinku >> Thanks, kiddo! I wish I would have taken another angle for the head, but side view was hard enough...

Icepenguin >> Thank you. I used charcoal for that.

[Ra Havok]

As you may notice, I'm really not feeling my sketches as of late. :(

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-12.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-13.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-14.jpg

[cartoonfox]

man, awesome stuff man. makes me cry. and then i cry even more when i realise that your just 17!! ^-^


keep posting man

peace



(ps. what the hell is that stuff at the end of mogando25's post??! you see it? its a load of text, a HUGE load of text. weird....

[Ra Havok]

man, awesome stuff man. makes me cry. and then i cry even more when i realise that your just 17!! ^-^
ps. what the hell is that stuff at the end of mogando25's post??! you see it? its a load of text, a HUGE load of text. weird...

Heh, if only I were 17! I'm 19 actually, soon to be 20! O the horror!

As for the load of text in mogando's post... I'm not seeing it! Perhaps it was temporarily?


Thanks for the reply, cartoonfox. You are too kind.

[Ra Havok]

woo! I've broken out of a slump.

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-15.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-16.jpg

[Molly]

Ra - love ur style...ur rendering is beautiful...
'Lust' is my fav, and ur clown too.

Mollyx

[cartoonfox]

oopsie, my mistake ^-^


well i'm crying just a li'l bit now ^-^


awesome update, love the dinosaur thing in the corner.
like molly said, your rendering is awesome, keep it up man

and yeah, it disapered as soon as i refreshed, so bleh! ^-^



peace

[final]

That's really great!

I have to start drawing again :)

What could I say more, euhm, "potverdikke it's great to be a Belgian" :beer: :waves:

keep it up

greetz

final

[Ra Havok]

Molly --- thank you!

Cartoonfox --- Hehe. Thanks.

Final --- Bedankt! :) It's cool to read that I inspire others.


http://www.astella.com/lava/3-17.jpg
---------------------

I think this is the best sketchpage I've ever done...
http://www.astella.com/lava/3-18.jpg

[Jens]

Ra, I just wanned to tell you're one of my main inspirations at the moment, every update of you makes me want to draw. Honestly I admire you.. hope we can meet up again some day.

[van]

Damn. Fine stuff you have here. Fine, indeed. :ahha:

[Ra Havok]

Jens /// Dude, I'm totally up for that. We really should try to get some belgians of the forums together.. How about a saturday in august or something?
Thanks for the compliments!!

Van /// hey Van. thanks for your many replies.


http://www.astella.com/lava/3-19.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-20.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/3-21.jpg

[Ra Havok]

All-freaking-right.
I'm finally back, and I'm to stay for a LONG while. Hand to my heart.

I haven't drawn in over a month, and I hated it (=not drawing). I guess it shows in some parts, but as I drew this I felt the juice coming back.

Expect more updates soon!


http://www.astella.com/lava/5ele.jpg

[obid619]

welcome back. and good stuff :)

[Molly]

...such imagination...I like your world...
Nice pencil work. I love your rendering.
Especially like the women walking the alien thing...

Mollyx

[endregan]

Whooaoaa

been a while...

welcome back. I will be on the lookout

5th element = stellar

tucker: BZZZ!

[Ra Havok]

Obid ---> Thanks! It's good to be back.

Molly ---> thanks, Molly! :) I seem to bring out my best when drawing women walking out alien things. heh.

Endregan ----> Yep, it sure has been a while. Thanks.
Green? Supergreen!


Anatomical studies:

http://www.astella.com/lava/a1.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/a2.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/a3.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/a4.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/a5.jpg

[Eew]

hehe you stuff is funny and cool! :D
and those studies look pretty acurate ! dunno if those are any crits or coments .. but here ya go :^^:

oh yeh and take a look in my daily..do it for a felow "belgian" we need to stick together and stay strong ! :tihi:

[lowpolymatt]

beautiful sketchbook man...nice one

[Ra Havok]

Eew : Thanks for the reply!

Icey : Hey man, thanks for the compliments. About the anatomy: gotta find a good esthetic with those studies. I'm screwing around now, trying out different media. Thanks for the input!

Lowpolymatt: Thanks! :^^:


Here's an 'academic' portrait of a friend of mine. I got inspired by Velazquez, and other portrait painters.

http://www.astella.com/lava/bve_3.jpg

[final]

omg, great rendering!!!!!!

Right now, I'm looking like this: :$ :er:

keep it up :cheerleader: :cheerleader:

greetz

final

[flex mathews]

very nice work. i really like that last one.

[d4ff]

uoooohhh! amazing grandma!! :D

mmm what iis the secret of the line art...

I will follow your advices

( sorry for my baaaad english!)

[obid619]

i shat on myself on that last one :bashful:

[Ra Havok]

Final -> thanks!! I'll try to 'keep it up'. :}

Flex -> hey dude. Thanks for replying!

D4ff -> My secret? First and foremost: lots of practice, and a little bit of talent, I suppose. Also: it's very important to study. Don't just draw for example anatomy stuff, STUDY it. That's the key to draw it out of your head, later on.

Obid -> You crazy kid. :)


some life drawings

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-11.jpg


http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-12.jpg
-
45 minutes, just to give you an idea
http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-13.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-14.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-15.jpg

+/- 2 minute studies. Done with ballpoint pen.
http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-16.jpg

[steak-tron]

great life-ers Hav-ok. The second to last is my favorite.
That last portrait of your friend is welldone sir, hmmm quite.
the...ehmm... little people are a great touch. :)

[liam.c]

i aggree with steak !damn waht a nice model to have

[Ra Havok]

Steak tron ::: Thanks, man. I'm sloooowly getting better at lifedrawing. A couple more years and I'll have a decent level of quality and speed, I think.

Liam C ::: Yeah, the model is neat. One of the best we ever had. Thanks!

Some more anatomical studies
http://www.astella.com/lava/a6.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/a7.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/a8.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-17.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/ld-18.jpg

Last page of my third sketchbook!! After Edouard Manet's 'Le fifre'
http://www.astella.com/lava/3-22.jpg

[Rusty]

agreed,some fine life drawings ya got there Ra_havok,love this new bunch aswell man..

Jace

[Uinku]

Dude! These are amazing! But watch the feet in the lifedrawing ones!! They're too big!!!!

[Ra Havok]

Jace -> Thanks, man! When a fine artist such as yourself gives me a compliment, that means a lot to me. :}

Icey -> Thanks! Lighting ain't so difficult. Just needs some thought as to how the light falls.

Uinku -> Thank you for replying, and the crit! I can see where the feet are too big. That last one for example.

Had some hardware stuff to deal with, but here's a large update. I know I say this everytime, but from now on updates will be more regularly!


Start of my fourth sketchbook! yaaayy!
http://www.astella.com/lava/4-1.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-2.jpg

My creature designs are so-so at the moment. I'm ashamed when I compare them to the stuff of Lukias or insane visions.. I hope to change that in the course of this sketchbook..
http://www.astella.com/lava/4-3.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-4.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-5.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-6.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-7.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-8.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-9.jpg

[mogando25]

Wow man, your shading is beautiful!

[obid619]

f00kin ay3! such awesome stufff goin on here!. great update bra. dude i wish i was as concentrated on my dsb as you cuz i'm such a slacker!. anyway good stuff. one thing - one some of the life drawings i notice that there is a lot of darkness, to mee anyway. its not rendered as nice as your dsb sketches (maybe a time issue?) good stuff though, as always

[Dennal Floss]

The progress on this thread is mind boggling. :x
The renedering......so delicate....so nuanced... you make the imaginary seem real !!!!

I'm not sure if this is a correct interpretation, but I really like the "monkey on my back " theme to your sketchbooks.

[Doktor Focks]

damn... this is TEH GREATNESS! your sketchbook makes me wanna drop the pencil AT ONCE and never touch a piece of paper again. so fuckin' talented!

[van]

Good grief, Ra. Those last batch of sketches are just freakin amazing. :) Glad to see you cranking em out.

[Diego]

Awesome man, i've never been here....i mean in your sketckbook.
You've got so much talent, i'm looking foward to see more of your stuff
Keep it up and keep drawing

-D

[flex mathews]

very nice work as usual. i m really feeling everything in here.

[Gillespie]

Dedication is 9 tenths o' the lawr! :pirate:

[Ra Havok]

I thank you all for the very kind comments.

Mogando --- Thanks.

Obid --- *sigh* I'm a slacker too.. I understand about what you're saying about the life drawings. Yeah, it is a time issue, I guess. I always try to get the proportions and stuff right, which often doesn't leave so much time for rendering. Plus, I'm just a slow artist..
thx!

Dennal Floss --- Thanks, dude. Progress is vital to me. As long as I can see progress, I can hope that I'll be good one day. This might surprise you, but I didn't think the imagery of the first page (monkey and old lady) through.. It's just something that seemed interesting enough to draw repeatedly.
Thanks for the reply!

Doctor Focks --- :^^:

Van --- Thanks!! Still got a lot of improving to do. Seeing those 4 drawings Wes posted put me down to earth. Into the earth, actually..


Diego --- Thank you. I hope I can keep people interested.


Flex --- Thanks!

Gillespie --- Yep, I suppose it is.



This page sucks.
http://www.astella.com/lava/4-10.jpg
But I guess I have to show the failed ones too..


I'm a pretty big fan of Radiohead, and I felt like 'literally' drawing the lyrics of Street Spirit. Or at least elements of it.
http://www.astella.com/lava/4-11.jpg


Better stuff is on the way. Hang on to your hats.

[JadeDragon]

Rah Rah Rah, Ra Havok!

The creativity and versatility exhibited in this sketchbook thread pulls down my pants and taunts me. Do I owe you any money for that?

Seriously tho...amazing. That Grandma portrait would make Alex Ross jealous. And then you morph from great characatures to super life drawings to brilliant comedy (old ladies and chimps! The world needs more of that!) to sweet ink shadow studies. Beautiful creature designs and rendering to boot!

Way to go, Ra Havok! Keep em coming, and I got a firm grip on my chapeau for that next gust of goodness!

Cheers!~~~JadeDragon

[Ra Havok]

Jadedragon ~~~ Hehe, no you don't owe me money. Personally, I don't think I vary enough.... Too often, I go back to the things I know how to do well. On the other hand, I do try to become better at the stuff I have problems with. Thanks a lot for the positive reply, man!


These two sketchpages are a mixture of ref with non-ref.
http://www.astella.com/lava/4-12.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-13.jpg

[behemot5]

your lasts ones are really better ....they are interesting.....huge improvement...

[steak-tron]

:thinking: yess, goood, goood yesss, hmmm :evilmustache:

you're gettin some good tonal ranges, great pages dude.

[Ra Havok]

Behemot: Thank you! Yeah, a lot happened in 4 sketchbooks... :)

Steaktron: Working with soft lead (B2 for mechanical pencils) is great. It so much easier to go dark than HB. Unfortunately, it's quite hard to find soft leads.. :[
Thanks!


Two more.
The first one is a portrait of one of my cats. She's got cancer, and we'll soon 'let her go', before she starts to suffer.
http://www.astella.com/lava/4-14.jpg

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-15.jpg

[Jens]

sorry about your cat dude, from the last few i really like the hands, the grandma monkey pics and the pic of the robot guy with the globe.

I seem to have problems drawing hands, i can draw them pretty well from life but when i have to do them small and from imagination i get in troubles

[Ra Havok]

Jens : heh, thanks for your sympathy. Hands .. infernal hands. I can give you only one *real* advice: practice and study. Study the proportions of the hand, the skeletal structure, the skinfolds,... and then apply. Try to do it without reference, and afterwards check your mistakes. (and try to avoid them in the future).
Don't be fooled, drawings hands is pretty freaking hard for me too. Drawing realistic hands without reference, more specifically.

anyhoo...how've you been, man? How's the start of the new schoolyear?


http://www.astella.com/lava/4-16.jpg

[Ra Havok]

http://www.astella.com/lava/4-17.jpg

[guggemmaneuver]

these posts are brilliant, ra!

You say you aren't good with character design, but just from the last couple of posts there are major improvements in it! My favorite is the extremely shaded head with the sharp teeth and the rolled back eye. The bone and figure studies are executed gorgeously-your style is so precise and clean! Oh, and the page compositions are great with the way that you make everything fit together, even if it is out of context.

Question: What do the RaHavok use to build up these delicious pencil sketches? Do you go back in and shade what you have rendered?

beautiful work. keep it up!

regards,
the gugg.

[USER777]

your line quality is KILLA
incredible quality in all of those sketches..
keep em coming!

[Kawauchi]

hey thanks for dropping by my sketchbook : ) excellent sketches! great value!

I like your inspiration sources too.. blacksad, rembrandt : p

[Ra Havok]

Oh hey Kawauchi, there's actually a newer sketchbook. This one is old. Waaay old, heh.
Thanks for the comments, though!!