Kat's New Sketchbook [college scribbles]

[Katfayheirti]

I decided to start a new SB after entering college. I hope to use this thread to document my progress as I move through my classes and hopefully grow and mature in my ability to make images.

I was very active at CA for a few years in High School, but I've ignored it since I went off to college. I've now come to realize that the critiques and encouragement I received from the community on this site were invaluable and helped me to grow, so I've decided to try to become involved again.

Right now I'm a sophomore illustration student at MICA in Baltimore and I was fortunate enough to have an internship opportunity this summer as a concept artist at a video game company in Maryland. It's very challenging work, but I absolutely love it. A lot of the time I feel like I have no skill compared to the amazing people I work with, but they've been very patient with me and the incredible things they do serve to further encourage me.

Hopefully, with a LOT more hard work I can make some more progress this year and get closer to where I want to be.



[Edit: I did some digging and found my old sketchbook. I thought I'd go ahead and post the link here for continuity's sake: OLD SKETCHBOOK (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62060&page=12&highlight=tea-sketches) ]

[Katfayheirti]

Here's some experimentation with ZBrush and a silly pinup I drew last night

[loadedpencil]

nice. first piece shows alot of potential

youre better than me

so lets see some more.

[kidult]

Looking good!

[areve]

oh good stuff, want to se more now!

[Katfayheirti]

A few more things from the past few days...

[towy]

nice work with zbrush, i like really your update too the style is great :)

[RandAlThor]

Looking good. Your starting from a very strong point, it'll be fun to watch this. keep posting ;-)

[Katfayheirti]

environment practice. One is the view from my bedroom window, and one is from my head

[xinranliu]

just a suggestion, perhaps make a custom brush for the edge of the forest?
go kat go :)

[Katfayheirti]

I'm pretty lame. I drew the birds outside my window as people

[Katfayheirti]

I decided to start on a more ambitious illustration.

[Katfayheirti]

it continues...

[Katfayheirti]

photo studies.
Ugh. These took too long and are not where I wish they were
I need to draw draw draw!

[Timmy the Turtle]

the little girl and the sleeping/feisty cat in #6 are great :) more please:)

[kidult]

Great updates, keep pushing......so....you live in a desert then? the view from your window looks a bit hot

[Blythe]

The bird folk are adorable. I suppose I want to see a bit of sharpness in some of these.

[TZA]

I find your paintings really charming, love the colour and style. i'd love to see more finished pieces!

[gutss]

Your painterly style is lovely! and I really really like the way you draw faces. your old sketchbook is really cool to sift through too, and I can't wait to see more :D

[Moai]

Well, no wonder I didn't see any updates in your old sketchbook. You started a new one!
Welcome back to CA!

[Katfayheirti]

I'm trying to take the squid piece further.... I tried out some new colours that I think are more cohesive. I tend to have a bad habit of making everything local colour and I want to fight that.
I'm taking a great class this semester called 'visual journalism' which basically consists of going on field trips and documenting events in my sketchbook, so now I have a TON of sketches from life. I'll try to scan some of the best ones sometime and post them up here soon.

Moai- Yep. Thanks! Sorry about the new SB! Some of the images in the old one weren't uploaded to CA, so I wanted to start over and make a new SB that has absolutely no chance of having any broken links. I'm glad to see you're still around : 3

Gutss- Thanks!

TZA- Thanks. aha. Yes there will be more. I promise

Jens-Thanks! I was reading through your SB and saw what you said (well, I think that was you, correct me if I'm wrong) about looking to places other than CA.org or other concept artists for influences and I think that's a great idea. I'm worried that a lot concept art is starting to look similar (although I understand that a lot of that stems from the nature of the job) and I don't want mine to go that way.

Blythe- Thanks! Yeah. ...I really do need to push sharpness more in both my forms and values. I'm quite guilty of making murky, meek little strokes whether they be with the pen or the brush. Time for some Leyendecker studies!

Kidult- Thanks. ahaha. Desert. no ;P

Timmy the Turtle- thanks!

[Abrodos]

Hay, those little portraits are really good, very expressive, and the first 3d model is super cute!

Last pic, the squid one, is definitely going better each time. I'd suggest to make the tentacle which is gripping the gir'ls leg, look like it's really wrapped and tight around her, like the squid is making pressure. Now it seems kinda loose. Also, that sun that can be seen through the water is somehow weird...
but well, these are only small things! I'd like (and I'm putting all my effort) to paint as good as you!
Keep up the good work!

Abrodos

[Joey-b]

nice nice, very nice flow to all of them, i love those bird/people u drew

[wookiedabo]

gorgeous stuff, lovely colours, and really cohesive paint strokes. seriously, tis all looking great.

[Katfayheirti]

I need to concept a character that I'd like to spend a whole semester of my 3D class modeling. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Moai]

Lovely character designs, Katfay. I think you tend to give your characters overly similar facial features, though. You give them a prominent upper lip, a long nose, and angled, somewhat angry eyebrows quite often.
Likin' the squid battle piece.

[jedininjaman]

I vote the queen if it is between those two.
igore seems likes a very exploited stereotype
and the octopus spearin babe is nice it is a very neat design and somewhat surreal i like the way you used the canvas proportions
-jedi

[Katfayheirti]

Here's another contender. I rather like him, but I may still go with the queen, because I spent last semester modeling a monster and I want to try my hand at a somewhat normal, bipedal human character.

Jedininjamin- You're 100% right. The igor guy shows absolutely no imagination. I'm glad you caught me!

Moai- Thanks! Yeah.......I have a terrible habit of making all of my characters look a little bit like me. I need to fight it better, maybe do more life-drawing.

Wookie-Thanks!

Joey-B- Thanks!

Abrodos- Thanks for pointing all of those things out! It helps a lot. I've probably been staring at it for too long so it's hard to know what to fix.

[D@niel]

This looks to be the beginnings of a very cool SB!:) Great work man:)

[Chate Noire]

Lovely.
Your style is fantastic, in both design and rendering.
I'm subscribing to this one.

[Verehin]

Cool stuff..soo cute ^^
5 stars!

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

Pretty cool stuff here, nice values man!

-E

[Katfayheirti]

I was digging through folders on my desktop and I found a few pieces from my classes this past semester that I probably never posted in my old sketchbook, so I thought I'd go ahead and post them up here.

[Katfayheirti]

Today's doodle = a Bouguereau study. I don't really like the subject matter of a great deal of his work, but I think he's an excellent source for the study of flesh tones.

[Brushcommander]

Gorgeus stuff! Your latest study turned out great!

[wookiedabo]

Thats a fantastic study, both shapes and colours are spot on. the first two of the pieces above that have a very sadistic wit to 'em, great stuff, your choice of technique really fits your subjects. ye, awesome work.

[Katfayheirti]

Sketches for the characters I posted earlier, a random mummy sketch from a photo, and a sketch for a tattoo Chinese zodiac I'm thinking of illustrating for class.

[Kasper_P]

Great work on the silhouettes! Although your bigger characters could use some work..

[Katfayheirti]

I've started working on my ortho for the queen character......it's not too far along yet. I'm not happy with a lot of things about it......

Also, I've done a few sketches for one of my classes. The assignment was to illustrate the zodiac as if it were to be published in a specific type of magazine. I got 'Fringe/Indie Magazine,' so I chose to illustrate the zodiac as either tattoos or cute robots. I think the tattoo sketches are a bit too fashion-magazine-ish.....and the robot ones are just sucky, 'cause I suck at drawing robots.

[Katfayheirti]

some scans

[Katfayheirti]

forgot these

[Josef K.]

awesome stuff! this one (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=574688&stc=1&d=1232923255) is crazy! love the animals, those rats rock! keep sharing :D

[Kristo Novo]

funny cool creative and inspiring stuff in here :)

[Sublimus]

You're off to a great start for a sophomore! Keep up the hard work, and you'll definitely be ready once you graduate!

(I don't know if you are still working on that one with the squid, but if you are you might want to put that woman in a more dynamic pose. Like if she had the spear over her head pointing more sharply at the squid)

[Bill]

everything is really nice but I think tht these most recent are my favorites. You draw so well... and get really nice things going on with the colors and compositions as well as the subjecy matter. Very nice stuff.

[AustenFM]

Sweet sketchbook so far, i took a gander at your other sketchbook as well. You've got some solid skill, cant wait to see how your stuff progresses!

[veeevy]

Your sketches are realllllllllllly good. :)
Cool that you're attending MICA (I'm applying there as a transfer student and really hopes on getting admitted!)
I'll be watching. Haha. :D

[Katfayheirti]

I finished the zodiac tattoo illustrations last week, but I'm not too thrilled with how they turned out..... I shouldn't have used gouache. I could have done soooo much better. Oh well. 'Moving on to the next assignment.

Also, I finished the queen orthos a while ago and right now I'm halfway through making the model in 3Ds Max. (It's due Thrusday. Eep!) I guess I'll go ahead and grab some screenshots to post up here soon.

I have a ton of sketches I could post up here, but I need to scan them. I will when I have time. Right now I'm kind of scrambling to meet deadlines. Also, I appreciate all of the nice comments, but I'll have to reply to them later.

[sevarenge]

really nice sb dude !!!


kipp the good worke komming sorry for my englich!


my sb:http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=149972

[kinnas]

You have a very nice sense of style, there's a certain cultivated simplicity to it. It's a pleasure to leave my eyes lingering about your pictures.

[maxetormer]

loving pretty much all of it, keep sharing!

[Giorge]

nice style, love the orthos :)

[amer-nazri]

Really nice work, I like your queen turnaround, nice fleshy tones!

[Katfayheirti]

Here's a creepy photo I took at a gold market in Dubai while I was there visiting family in December.

Visiting was a great experience and now I have so many ideas for crazy landscapes and cityscapes. I'm pretty excited.

well.......I will try to have some scans of stuff and screenshots of 3D work up sometime today. I played too much Mass Effect yesterday : < Now I need to work work work work....

[Blue Severin]

Nice sketchbook, dig the coffee shop sketches, and cool zodiac ideas.

[Mikko Voipio]

ooh, I'm loving this (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=574690&stc=1&d=1232923319) one. Such a great mood and colors overall. Must say this is one of my favourite threads here.

[Byrd]

I'm loving the tattoo design on some of these. Great work all round.

[Janos]

Woah, that picture is crepy, really really creepy. The face looks like a masc and I actually thought you had painted the figure in. A very good foto.

Cheers

[Josef K.]

shit the photo is real creepy!
missed a couple of awesome updates! thx for reloading my pencil :) - keep sharing!

[Mark Tarrisse]

Love your stuff ! very nice use of colors, and love your chars, 5 stars from me, and I'll be watching you, keep it up :)

[Katfayheirti]

'This week's homework for Illustration class. Valentines Day 'Do's and 'Don't's

DO go on a date that's outside of the box
DON'T drunk dial your ex

[CatConvention]

soo good

[Katfayheirti]

sketchbook scans

[Chate Noire]

Love the date and the drunk call.
The colors in both of them are great, and they work wonderfully next to eachother.

[Josef K.]

crazy update! love it! the comic-style experiments rock!

[Mischeviouslittleelf]

Second attempt at cartooning was kewl man, really liked that one^^

-E

[Mydrim]

really great here, but,
VELOCIRAPTOR HAS MORE FINGERS OMG!
I suggest more of Jurrasic Park study

[Imaginary]

So many cool drawings in here, lovely style! If it's not asking too much could you post a step by step sometime? Would be really appreciated. :D:)

[Katfayheirti]

Here are a few renders of a character I'm working on in 3D animation class. I'm almost done working on it in 3DsMax and soon I'll bring it into ZBrush for detail work.

[Pigeonkill]

I like your style and color palette. A lot of cute illustrations. The only thing strange to me. Sometimes I read the tone noses you create either popping out naturally, and other times sunken in(very disturbing like a Michael Jackson nose) It's mostly the black and white renderings on the noses that do that to me.

[willtiggety]

You've got some nice stuff here. It's nice to see another scady on the boards. keep it up. Good luck with classes.

[h2rra]

Enjoyed looking through your sb. I like that valentines assignment a lot, really nice styles.

[Katfayheirti]

I was up really late last night working on these illustrations for one of my classes. We had to illustrate five oscar-winning movies/actors/directors using a very specific format and requirements. The only one I really like is the Heath Ledger one....but I don't have time to redo all of the others, so I guess I'll just have to turn them in looking like this.

[Katfayheirti]

eep! I haven't updated in a few months. Terrible, I know! I've been posting my stuff on my blog fairly regularly, but that's more to keep a record of things and keep in touch with friends/family than it is anything else. I just read through all of the comments I got on this SB and they're absolutely invaluable. Many are excellent suggestions! I really should try to stay more involved with CA, because it's an excellent community and resource.

Well, lately, I've been at home in Florida for the summer taking a break from both my schoolwork and my internship. I've been using this time to reevaluate the direction my work is heading in, what I'm interested in, and exactly why. It's hard to explain, but the last month of peacefulness has allowed me to do a good bit of soul-searching that I was unable to do during my busy school/work schedule, and that has allowed my work to grow stronger.

I've been spending a lot of time out kayaking on the open ocean and I've had a lot of opportunities to get very acquainted with several denizens of the deep, so I guess that's been reflected in my work too. :3 You can see a lot of life out there if you're paying attention. Sometimes it's a little frightening.

[JailHouseRock2]

Such amazing work alround! That last one (your avatar) Is just INSANE!!!

Love it all,
matt

[cdejong]

Oh man, I decided to click on your SB because I thought your avatar was pretty slick and wanted to check out more of your work. It reminds me a little bit of some of Jon Foster's work, but don't worry, it is a very original style. I really love your stuff... and that latest illustration is AMAZING. Keep up the good work, you'll go places for sure.

[papervampire]

instant fan hehe... the stylistic quality you're veering toward is just great. I look forward to seeing more of your work! 5* for sure.

[danlambert]

I thoroughly enjoyed looking through your book, some great images, and subject matter. You also gave me some ideas for things I'm going to do tomorrow. So thanks!
Peace

[mike butkus]

Terrific characters, nicely done.

[DeeStar]

your 3D model on page one looks great. Zbrush? I also like the rocket girl from the same post. Think my favorite though has to be two sisters, So much character!

[Jamie Romoser]

Your imagination is outstanding!
keep having fun and painting/drawing -Omerta :medusachow:

[Katfayheirti]

keyboard broken, wwill fix and reply, update more soon

[Katfayheirti]

OK. Finally got my keyboard working and did some drawing today. Thanks for the nice comments : 3
Lately I've really been trying to explore how to combine my love of line and the new, more cartoonish stuff I've been working on lately with rendering. It's a long, slow, road....

As for today's sketch, I guess I've seen UP too many times and have been reading too many books about eccentric British taxonomists.

well, back to sketching...


Sebbonaparte- Yep! I am a huge fan of Jon Foster's work. haha. Thanks!

[courtyard]

Beautiful, beautiful work. Subscribed and can't wait for more. This one (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=610424&stc=1&d=1236229554) (on the left) kills me.

[cdejong]

Sebbonaparte- Yep! I am a huge fan of Jon Foster's work. haha. Thanks!
Well that makes two of us then :D.

Really cool stuff... I'm definitely keeping an eye on your work. Dig the frog sketch, made me laugh.

[Katfayheirti]

trying to break out of my rendering shell. Design can be fun too

[Jamie Romoser]

Your sketchbook is so :yum:

[papervampire]

love what you're doing with (it looks like) the colourized graphite pencil shading! that's something I've been playing with and it's so hard to get good results. but this is fabulous.

[Scanadensis]

Love your stuff. Your grasp of form and light/shadow is really inspiring to me!

[brokencow]

Hay this thread is awesome!!!

[Dished]

yaeheheey! You have a new sketchbook! I love your work!

[Lyno]

Gotta love your edges, great! 5 stars.

[AsaB]

Hi again :^^: I followed your pretty picture from that draw-other-CA-members to your SB! I don't think I've been here before--and what pity that is, too! Your work is absolutely marvellous!

You have already a very solid drawing foundation, so that combined with your fun style and imagination, your work is simply rocking. My only complaints are that the updates aren't often enough! I hope to see more, so I subscribed. Great SB :)

[maxetormer]

thanks for the inspiration :)

[Cacodaemonia]

First tie stopping by your sb, and I really love your work! Keep posting!

[Katfayheirti]

some more recent sketches. I haven't been drawing nearly enough lately...

[Katfayheirti]

some doodles from a road trip

[Cacodaemonia]

I like the road trip doodles - especially the first. :) It has a nice rhythm to it.

Is the background in the beach one supposed to be sand or water? I can't really tell, since the shapes look like waves, but the value range makes it look kind of like more sand.

[GriNGo]

Fantastic SB.. you have quite a style going on here. These last sketches you posted are full of it (good stuff!!)

[Katfayheirti]

I like the road trip doodles - especially the first. :) It has a nice rhythm to it.

Is the background in the beach one supposed to be sand or water? I can't really tell, since the shapes look like waves, but the value range makes it look kind of like more sand.

You're right, of course! It was supposed to be a quick sketch of waves, but they're much too light. I've been having a weird problem where everything looks a whoooole lot darker on my Mac partition, then when I'm viewing it in Windows it looks very light and washed out. I know that's a bad excuse, but I guess I'll just have to remember to compensate for it in the future.

[Cacodaemonia]

I've been having the same problem since I got a second monitor. The supposedly nicer one, that I've been using for painting, is much brighter than the other. I've been trying to find a happy medium between the two, but some people say things look too dark, while others say they look too washed out. Argh! D: Heh, sorry for the rant - just felt like commiserating. ;)

These ink sketches are very nice - especially the last one. I think the Corgi one could benefit from some more variation in line weight. The skin tones in that painting are looking great!

[Wasker]

Lovely lines, Kat, your Sketchbook is very under rated it should be 6 stars atleast! Can we get a view of that crab you have at your desk? Looks great from here!

[struve]

This sketchbook needs to keep going, more more!! :)

[cdejong]

The rhythm in your figures is ridiculous, and I love your colors and the way you render. So nice... please keep posting more!

[humanbeat1]

I hope to use this thread to document my progress as I move through my classes and hopefully grow and mature in my ability to make images.

[Inishmore]

I really don't have any critique to offer. Your style and work are exquisit. Wow.

[soros]

I love your sketchbook! Very nice unique style. I am looking forward to more pencil and pen stuff! Thanks for sharing!