Glauds Sketchbook Update: 27th May 2010*

[glaudarien]

---> Newest Submissions on Last page <---

Hi there,

I am a 17 year old kid who's background is photo-realistic portraits from photo refernce. However i hate depending on a photo, my passion is concept art, and i've been told that i need to master the basics before i should even try a concept.

So here i am. You'll most likely find still-life work here and hopefully you will be able to see my improvement throughout.

Critique, tips and comments would be very much appreciated.

Rubber and miniture brush sitting on my desk:

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs50/i/2009/279/f/f/Still_life_01_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[Nezumi Works]

Good start. Here's a bit of advice, when you're doing two-point perspective, put your vanishing points well off the page. That'll prevent distortion like you've got on the brush. For one-point perspective, always have it on the page.

The horizon line is your eye line, so if it's low that means you're low to the ground. If it's high, then you're above the objects.

[glaudarien]

Oh okay thats very interesting and should help me alot with my next attempts, thanks again nezumi.

__________________________________________________ ___

Quick update before i sleep,

A harder one this time. My marker pens + tablet pen stacked upon my A5 sketch book.

I purpously skipped to a harder stage here so that i could see where i was at and what i should really practice. I think that this one shows that i need to refine my perspective (as some of these are a bit off, as i think the vanishing point is a bit too close) and paying a closer attention to my objects.

Not a great scan of it, might have to do a re-scan at another time.

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/279/5/9/Still_life_02_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[Nezumi Works]

Your curves are too flat. What you should be doing is making full ellipses, rather than just the arc that's visible. It's much easier to judge how much you should flatten them, and avoids the look that they're pointed on either end.

Also, you should be drawing through overlapping forms, as if they were transparent. For example, look at the closer pencil in the middle layer. The top side is not a straight line, it dips on either side of the pencil on top of it. I'm guessing that's because you drew the visible part of the line, and left the part that was hidden. When you do this, it's hard to get the ends of the line to match up with each other, in this case looking like there's a depression in the pencil.

See if you can describe forms with your linework, rather than shading. That'll strengthen your drawing skills, and you can develop shades at a later point.

[glaudarien]

Okay thanks again,

I'll go back to the more basic shapes and rinse and repeat them until perfect then go back to these harder ones to see how much i've improved.
What do you think about the perspective in that last one?

I'l have to wait until tonight after college to update some more.

[glaudarien]

The top drawings were done on the bus to college this morning so they aren't perfect, however i think i'm improving a bit with the sphere shading.
I also wanted to test out perspective with some flat circles, however i'm finding it very hard to get good circles when the perspective is at an angle, any tips would be great.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/139522169/Still_life_03_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

Another quick update, drawing of my mechanical pencil on my desk, showing my perspective lines and the final version.

Back to do some spheres now!

http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs51/f/2009/280/3/1/Still_life_04_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

Pumping them out tonight,

This time i've drawn my soft juggling ball (top right), my wacom pen holder (bottom) and some random sphere (top left). I'm really pleased with the juggling ball as i think i've got the form of it quite right and the overall rough texture of it, as it's an old ball.

Practice practice practice.

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/280/7/7/Stilll_life_05_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[Zorcron]

nice work you have got here it has a very constructive quality to it, a fellow juggler eh ? i used to juggle quite a bit 5 balls/4/rings clubs unicycle haha good time its great fun with someone to steal and pass with

[glaudarien]

Thank you for the comment, always glad to hear that i'm improving :)
Haha yup i love to juggle in my spare time, only at the 3 ball stage at the moment though ;)

[glaudarien]

Another quick update. These were drawn on the bus and the roads in Bristol suck so it wasn't exactly a smooth journey.

A ball on a perspective grid (top left), A girl sat in front of me (top right) and half of the top of the seat in front of me, the hand grip part (bottom).

Comments and crit much appreciated

http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/281/3/b/Still_life_06_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

Another stilll life drawing practice on the bus to college. Sphere ontop of a block (top left). Person in front of me + top of seat (top right) and the 'Stopping' sign + widnow at the front of the bus (bottom). I really need some better stuff to draw on the bus.

Hopefully i can get some more time to submit better things here now it's the weekend. Stay tuned.


http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/282/5/a/Still_life_07_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

Quick update. I needed something new to practice with and the only hard round object i could find was an egg, so heres an egg sitting on some tissue paper.

Crit and comments appreciated

http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/282/6/a/Still_life_08_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

A quick update of one of my side-drawings, it's a drawing of my friends son for his first birthday, not finished yet. 0.5 HB mech pencil so far.

http://th07.deviantart.net/fs50/300W/i/2009/282/e/0/Tifa_bells___Son_Jack_WIP_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

This time i've got my egg in the tissue again but from a different perspectice, looks kinda strange. (middle) A values scale done with HB pencil (top) and a really quick sketch of my hand. (bottom)

Think thats all for tonight, comments n crits welcome http://e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/smile.gif


http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/282/6/f/Still_life_09_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[GeoD]

I like your determination.
What kind of concept artist do u tend to be? Environmental or character? Perspectives will give you more experience for environments and figure drawing more for characters. Ever tried posemaniacs.com ? Anyway, draw draw draw :)

[glaudarien]

Geod: Thank you for the reply. I would love to be able to do both environmental and character concepts, however i've been really inspired by alot of environmental pieces lately. Thanks i'll add them to my list of things to practice, and thanks for the link, never tried that site before! :)

[glaudarien]

Another hand study, using my hand as reference and a technique i learnt somewhere, think it might have been from one of Burne Hogarths books. Havn't had time to add shading to them yet but i'll get to that later, technique and form practice is best for the moment afterall :)

[EDIT] crap i just realised i'm supposed to be using the attachment manager instead of posting the images like this..... i'll try do that next time.


http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs50/i/2009/283/1/0/Still_life_10_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

Bottom left hand drawing was without reference so it is a bit off, but it's helped me realise what parts i need to work on. Hand on the right was drawn using my hand as reference. And the foot/leg was drawn using my foot and leg as reference.

Haven't had much time today so all of these were drawn while on my way to Tinstfield in the car.

Crits and comments welcome as always

[glaudarien]

Foot studys using posemaniacs.com's 3D reference tool thing, as its kind hard to use my own foot as reference.

The scan seems to have blurred the images a bit..

[glaudarien]

A quick male torso drawing from a reference from Posemaniacs.com (Left) and some more hand studies, poses from Posemaniacs.com and also using my hand as reference. (they are just pose/form/anatomy studies so not shaded)

Crit and comments welcome as usual.

[mariusz]

Nice start! keep it up

[glaudarien]

Mariusz: Thanks alot, i'm certainly planning too! Practice makes perfect after all.

[glaudarien]

More hand studies, i think i'm slowly improving.

Roughly shaded study of my hand as reference (top left) Roughly shaded hand using pose maniac 3D reference (top right) and then three quick hand pose sketches, about 60 seconds each (bottom)

As always comments and crits welcome.

[glaudarien]

Bit of a mix here,

Another perspective practice using my USB pen drive as reference (center) and a few un-referenced hands and a foot, i think i'm getting much better with it, but i still need a lot more practice. Back to reference!

Comments and crits very much appreciated :)

[glaudarien]

Working a bit more on perspective this time, trying to get a bit more of a scene going on and using inclines and declines.

This was drawn partly from imagination and partly from http://studiochalkboard.evansville.edu/lp-incline.html

Comments and crits welcome

[glaudarien]

Some value tests here. HB mech pencil values (top) B mech pencil values (right) some shadow and value tests (middle) and a hexagonal sphere values test referenced from a hexagonal sphere on my desk. (Bottom)

Crit and comments welcome

[glaudarien]

Some more spheres, trying to get them to look more 3D, and also a cylinder which i wanted to make it look shiny, which has kind of worked, but could have been done better.

Think i might start working on some more anatomy practice next.

Comments and crit welcome.

[zelda_geek]

Omg, I see improvement already! The latest stuff is really nice man, the values are good.

Just keep it up, dude!:D

[glaudarien]

Zelda_geek; Really? Thanks! It's really good to hear that i'm improving, especially with values, something i've always been told i need to improve. Though i've just started some Anatomy studys and wow i'm bad at that, gonna need to go to extreme basics with that.

Thanks again! :)

[glaudarien]

Okay my first anatomy practice.

First off, i know that anatomy is crazily hard and annoying, i didnt expect it to be easy but, i really do suck at this. Using techniques from Loomis's figure drawing guide... i don't know if its just because i'm only 17 but im finding his techniques really hard, its so hard to grasp.

If anyone has any tips or techniques then i would love to know!

Thanks guys, please crit the hell out of this, :)

[glaudarien]

Okay, i really wasn't feeling comfortable with loomis's techniques for anatomy, at least not yet. I don't think im ready for full body yet.

Using reference from 'anatomy for the artist' by Jenó Barcsay. It's very technical and scientific in the way things are explained but theres some great drawings in the book which are very nice to use as reference.

So i'm going to try just draw loads of different body parts as bones / muscles and skinned, hopefully i'll find this to be a better way of learning anatomy - and should help me understand how things actually work rather than just how they look, which should help later on for poses n things.

Crit and comments welcome as always :)

[Krato]

keep up the studies, may sure you dont rush yourself... yet, get the fundamentals down then start speeding up. :)

[glaudarien]

Okays thanks i'll keep that in mind, at the moment i'm just trying to find which techniques i find more fitting for me at the moment. :)

[glaudarien]

College is eating up all my time at the moment, will try to get some more bus drawings up soon.

Some more muscle / arm studies and also another full body attempt using the 8 heads technique... but i swear 8 heads it too much it looks way too tall...

Crits and comments welcome :)

[glaudarien]

Some more arm muscle structure studies on the bus to college, so all un-referenced. I quite like this way of learning anatomy, repeating a smaller section of the body over and over again until i understand it all and then move to the next.

Crit and comments welcome!

[glaudarien]

More arm studies on the bus, non referenced again, i think they are roughly correct but i'll have to go back to my reference to see if i've strayed much from the correct anatomy, then i think i'll move onto another part of the body.

Crit and comments welcome :)

[grriffion]

lookin good man, what books are you using now to study the anatomy?

[glaudarien]

THanks. :)
I'm using 'Anatomy for the artist' by Jeno Barcsay at the moment, it's very scientific but the images are great to draw.

[zou]

good work glaudarien

you're making the right exercices, don't forget to draw your mates since they are free models: and don't be afraid of their comments.

keep those studies, they pays off

[glaudarien]

Thank you! yes thats true, i'll have to give it a try when i have the time, thanks for your comment :)

[glaudarien]

Some more arm and hand studies, times getting thinner and thinner, but i'm trying to get as much practice in as i can.

Coments and crit welcome :)

[andres333]

Avoid rendering and focus on sketching figure drawing as much as you can, mostly structure

[glaudarien]

Andres333: Okay thanks i'll keep that in mind from now on.

[glaudarien]

Been ill over the last few days, which sucks! so this is all i've been able to do, some studies of my hand.

Gonna work over time once i'm feeling better, so hard to concentrate at the moment.

comments and crit welcome

[glaudarien]

Some more anatomy and still life practices while on the bus too college. Was a very bumpy journey so the lines aren't great. All no reference.

Comments and crit welcome, i'll update more once this damn illness has lifted, then i'll get back on track.

[glaudarien]

Some more anatomy studies without reference while on the bus to college. Mainly just going over sold old techniques i've come across.

And i also recieved my Wacom Cintiq 12 today so i thought i'd test it out with a bit of colourful sunset test, its such an amazing tablet, can't wait till i'm better at environments.

Will start more serious studies again soon since half term is next week!

Comments and crit welcome

[glaudarien]

Some random studies while on the bus. I'm not sure about the proportions of the guy on the left? I did it without reference so i'd love some crit on it

Also, Its half term starting tomorrow so I'm going to try get back into the swing of things again and I'll try upload each day, so please check back.

Thanks!

[glaudarien]

Some more anatomy studies, this time it wasn't on the bus! woohoo and was done digitally using my new cintiq, as i've ran out of pages in my sketchbook and wanted an excuse to use it.

Some head studies from photo references just to revise my proportion techniques, i'm pretty happy with that at the moment so i'll continue to work on the body i think.
Also some more '7 heads for the body' proportion stuff which i think i'm getting the hang of a bit more, and another arm and few torsos... slowly getting there....

Comments and critique more than welcome!

[Gasbag]

Hey man, thanks for dropping by my sketchbook. I took a look through your stuff and I've gotta say I see quite a bit of improvement! Now I'm still learning myself, so take my advice with as much salt as you please. You've got a good grip on perspective and you seem to have a nice sense of values when you render. It's great to see you're focusing on anatomy too; don't sweat the proportions being too difficult at first, they're guidelines that become ingrained after enough exposure.

One thing I'd recommend you try is working a bit on your lines. I noticed they've gotten better as you've progressed, but they're still a little scratchy around the curves in some drawings. When you go over a line multiple times, it builds up line weight. My drawing teacher explained to me last year that if you do that too much, the lines actually carry the mass of what their outlining to the outer edge of the line, distorting the object and sometimes make it look stiff or unusual.

I hope that helps a little. I'll drop by again every now and then. Thanks again for stopping by!

[Bombur]

Congratulations on the cintiq purchase, I wish I had one of those :P

Keep it up, you're improving.

[glaudarien]

Gasbag: No problem, oh thats good to hear! Thanks alot for dropping by and for the tips, i tottally agree with what you said about the lines, i tend to do draw really sketchily, which i now realise would be good to tone down a bit, thanks again.

Bombur: Haha thank you, i'm in lots of debt with my parents now, but its well worth it :P Great! Thats what i like to hear :D

[Trisscar]

I am really liking how your work is progressing. I can't believe you drew most of them on a bus! Last time I tried drawing on a bus, I nearly made myself sick :P

I like your hand studies, they're very good :)

[glaudarien]

Trisscar: Thanks, haha yeah, it tends to be most of the time i can get to draw lately due to college, but now that half-term is here i can hopefully get some better things done and posted. I've always had a knack for drawing hands, but then its still hard when drawing them on an arm, i dont understand why lol.

[glaudarien]

More anatomy! Trying to persist with this '7 heads' proportion thing and decided to use some photo-reference to help me. I don't think they are perfect but im getting better, slowly!

Please if you spot anything wrong with the proportions / anatomy or have any tutorials or tips that could help please let me know!

Comments and crit welcome as always.

Here are some links to the stock i used, just to cover myself and to give the owners the rights they deserve:

Male Stock 11 by *Katanaz-Stock
Female Stock 47 by *Katanaz-Stock
Female Stock 55 by *Katanaz-Stock (Katanaz-stock.deviantart.com)
Shorts and Boots ::Stock 43:: by ~spiked-stock (spiked-stock.deviantart.com)
DCS - 1209 Manga Girl 18 by ~~double-crow-stock (double-crow-stock.deviantart.com)
Featured June 05 - Dove-Stock by *FullBodyShots (fullbodyshots.deviantart.com)

[DSmith]

Those gesture drawings look sweet!Keep it up,you give me a lot of inspiration!

[glaudarien]

DSmith: Thanks! I'm glad you like them, Just need to have the will power to keep practicing :)

[glaudarien]

Drawn on A5 in the car on the way to Westonbirt to do some photography - using no reference.

I'm pretty pleased with this page as it was done without any reference, using only what i remembered from my studies from yesterday. I think that most of it is right, however im not sure about the legs.... do you think they are too short? (if you do then please let me know and i'll adjust my technique, thanks)

Any tips, crit and comments are welcome

[glaudarien]

I noticed that the legs on alot of those studies were drawn too short so i've altered the technique to allow 7 1/2 heads instead of 7, meaning the legs get 1/2 a head more length. I wanted to have something that i could look back on as reference so here's a little step-by-step of my last attempt. I think it looks more in proportion, thought i don't know, theres still something i dont like but i cant quite spot what it is.

I think that next i will try some more dynamic poses so that i can push myself some more, these poses are getting very boring.

If you see anything wrong or have any tips or comments then feel free to let me know, all information helps me to improve quicker, thanks!

[glaudarien]

Havn't updated for a few days as i've been completing some college work, i've been drawing some thumbnails for a airship which i want to design and create for my 3D animation project, i'll upload them when the page is complete.

More anatomy. This time i'm comparing 2 different version of the technique, 7.5 and 8 heads. Which do you think looks proportionally best?
I'm thinking that the 8 heads looks more correct however i'd like to know your views.

Also some more referenced studies.

Comments and criticism welcome as always.

[glaudarien]

More anatomy studies but this time i'm trying to start focusing on different body types, starting with pregnancy. Once i've gone through all of the body types for females i'll start on the males.

on the left i have another bikini girl sihlouette because i wanted to see what i had retained from my last study and the rest are unreferenced pregnant women unless they are next to a reference image (the 3 on the right)

I'm fairly happy with these studies but i might do a few more before moving on, next step is chubby / fat women.

Comments and critique welcomed!

[glaudarien]

A page of concepts for my 3D Animation project, we have to make an impossible, pointless or quirky machine like the rube goldberg machines for example. However i found this a bit boring so my tutor allowed me to choose something more suitable to put into my portfolio, so i chose to stay with the machine theme and create an airship.

However, my airship is going to be powered by the rain using a waterwheel and cog system, and i want it to have a fantasy style to it - it doesn't have to actually look like it could work in real life.

If any of these really jump out at you then let me know, this is only the first page but i want to pick the best from these and develop and mix them more in the next page.

Comment and crit welcome - thanks.

[glaudarien]

(inspired by a video i watched on youtube of a great concept artist - Marco Bucci)

A more still life type study this time. I wanted to take a small break from anatomy and just re-visit the life drawings but this time in a digital medium.

Mainly a lighting and value test, but also a rendering test, to get the spheres actually looking spherical not just flat. I think i've done a good job, but i do spot some areas i can improve on, which i'll remember for next time.

As always comments and critiques are very much welcomed.

Attachment manager doesn't like me today...

http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/307/6/1/Digital_Practice_001_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[Bartovan]

Hi Glaudarian, good studies! I like your systematic approach. Keep going!

[glaudarien]

Bartovan: Thank you, I'm glad you think my studies are good, I'll certainly keep them coming!

[glaudarien]

Someone pointed out that the outlines looked too 'foggy' ad the balls looked merged together, so i opened it back up and made some corrections, i'm much happier with it now.

Out all day at a university open day to check out 'Art for game design' course at Plymouth college of art, so i'll be out all day - no updates from me until tomorrow.

[glaudarien]

Two sketches done on the train home from Plymouth College of Art yesterday. I was told by the teacher there that my artwork is very good but i need to do more original pieces, which i've been told countless times before so here we go..

The drawing on the left is more of an action / movment pose than an actual character design and the character on the right is a character i'm thinking of designing, his arms and legs are slightly too long as i want him to be lanky but powerful, need to give him a head though.

Comments and criticism welcomed.

[glaudarien]

Another digital practice, im quite chuffed with this one so far, it's definitly my best attempt at landscape painting. This time i thought i'd get some of my photo's and just use them as reference so that i can get used to how landscapes are lit and layed out naturally.

Used my lighthouse photo as reference which i took yesterday at Plymouth.
Looking back at it i see a lot of errors and things which could be cleaned up a lot more, but it's late and i need sleep, i'll continue it tomorrow.


Any comments and criticism welcome.


Painting first and reference after.

[glaudarien]

More character studies drawn on the bus without reference.
I think i', getting better, just need to get some more time that's not on the bus in order to do some more serious studies.

This time i've drawn a muscular boxer on the right (i think the arms are possibly too long but they might just looker longer because i havnt finished the legs.) A person sat down against a wall with their shopping, top. And a a female leaning against a wall, bottom left.

(drawn in pencil then some very rough values added in photoshop after.)

Comments and criticism welcome.

[glaudarien]

Quick update on my lighthouse study, just did an overall clean-up really. I'm not entirely sure if i'm pleased yet but i'll look at it with fresh eyes in the morning.

Comment and criticism welcomed!

[glaudarien]

More anatomy, this time im going back to my Burne Hogarth Figure Drawing book as i tried it before and didn't really understand much. But now that i understand proportions more it should be alright.

Comment and criticism welcome.

[glaudarien]

Yes! An original piece for once, and i'm actually happy with it, the anatomy practices have really helped so far - don't worry i havn't given up on them i'm just taking a break to see how i've improved.

Quite straight forward, not the most interesting character design but it sure kicks the asses of all my previous attempts, atleast in my eyes. I havn't rendered him yet, i just wanted to try get him looking alright with just the lines and then added some sort of tattoo / marking designs to him.

(Originally drawn on the train back from Plymouth, just scanned in and developed in photoshop.)

Comment and criticism greatly appreciated - both negative and positive.

Thank you.

[glaudarien]

More anatomy studies on the bus to college.

This time i've got some feet and a fat man in a chair. The man was drawn without reference and i haven't studied where and how to add fat to the body yet, but i think done alright considering the restrictions. Definitely going to do some fat studies soon though.

P.S. love how the side of the foot looks like a car in the technique im using....

Comment and crit very much appreciated.

[nonameowns]

very nice! you are improving fast! I gonna put more time in studies and drawing..

[glaudarien]

Nonameowns: Thank you for the comment, i'm glad you think im approving! :)
Studies and drawing all the time really is the best way to improve, just need to remember to have fun with it.

[glaudarien]

You may notice this overly large guy from one of my anatomy studies, i quite liked the line art for it and had a scene in mind while drawing it so here's a little value study on photoshop painting over the line art.

Not finished yet but just laying the values down for the moment.

comments and criticism welcome

[glaudarien]

I have done some more work on this guy, building in more values and refining it a lot more (mostly his head so far) please let me know what you think.

[glaudarien]

Another update on this guy, pretty much completed the head and torso except the furthest arm, i'm happy with it so far but still not 100% on the over all lighting at the moment.

[glaudarien]

I think this is where i will stop with this value study, i was intending to make a finished piece out of it but i think that it would be better to spend my time with other studies, so unfortunately this is it 'finished' for now. Added some little 'detail close-ups' on the right haha.


comments and criticism welcome

[glaudarien]

More anatomy studies, some hands / feet and over all body anatomy. Quick studies this morning on photoshop.

Kind of running out of ideas to help me progress... if anyone has any solutions / ideas let me know, thanks.

[glaudarien]

Really not sure with this one, it was pretty quick and i wanted to try a more 'dynamic' pose. I'm not sure if the shoulders are too wide as she looks a bit butch, though when i reduced them it didn't look in proportion, so this is pretty much half complete for now.

Also i couldn't get a good face on this one and have been struggling with facial expressions for a while. Now that i've progressed alot of with body anatomy i'm going to start a lot of facial practices, since thats where most of the character and emotion is shown.

Let me know what you think, comments and criticicm welcomed

[glaudarien]

Really not sure what i think of this one, it was done while watching Batman Begins and was meant to be a sort of face test or something but then i got a bit carried away and came up with this.

Not exactly pleased with it but maybe someone will spot something good / bad about it that can help.

Comments and criticism welcome.


P.S. If anyone has any guidance for me, maybe just a little tip about what i should try to improve. I would greatly appreciate it as i'm getting a bit lost as to what to do to improveat the moment.. Thanks.

[glaudarien]

Painted on photoshop following Randis's new tutorials up on facebook, i pretty much knew everything shown in the tutorial but seeing it all together opened my eyes up a bit more to how things work, i'm especially thankful that i'm starting to understand how to use the eyedropper (colour picker?) properly, woop.

Comments and criticism welcome as always.

[glaudarien]

My first environment concept that i am acutally happy with!
I know it's not perfect but i've tried my best and i'm still learning. Included here is the original line art which is from a thumbnail i drew on the bus to college. A digital black & white paint over and then i tried a colour version, however i know nothing much about how to use colours and how they work together - the reason i painted this is so that i can show you guys what level i am at with values, composition, colour - hopefully you can give me some feedback on what to improve.

Taken about... 3 hours possibly.

Thanks - comment and criticism welcome as always.

[glaudarien]

Ouch i've been away too long. The reason for my absence is that i had two major college projects due in for tommorow which meant i had to work hard on them for the last 2 weeks or so, but now i've got them finished i have a week off to hopefully get some much needed study time.


Heres a quick (30 min) environment study i made from a photo reference.
Please any comments, critisism or anything that can lead me in the right direction, would be very much appreciated.

[glaudarien]

Hey guys,

Another digital practice piece using a photo reference of a girl hiding behind a tree, its not a great practice piece but i wanted something that had good depth and also involved a person aswell as a nice environment.

About 2 hours on photoshop, though it could be more or less i had a lot of breaks in between.

If anyone has Any comments, criticism, helpful advice or anything that could possibly help me to progress then i would love to hear what you have to say, thanks.

[glaudarien]

An A3 page of city environment thumbnails referenced from Assassins creed 2 - as i was playing it in between sketching these. They are very quick and rough, but i really need more practice with thumbnail ideas...

Sketch in pencil with some quick values added in photoshop.

Any comments, criticism or help very welcomed.

[Gasbag]

Hey glaud. I'm really liking your digital stuff! You seem to have a little knack for landscapes too, some of these are looking very nice.

I might have a solution for you, if you're still looking for ways to progress in anatomy studies. There's this new book that just came out by an artist named Valorie Winslow, called "Classic Human Anatomy", and it's the greatest book I have on the subject. I'm a little obsessive about books, so I have a lot of them, and when I say it's the best it's only an opinion, but it's coming from some experience. The thing about anatomy books and figure drawing books is that they all seem to be good, but they also all seem to be stuck on one focus, with maybe the exception of Loomis. This one really takes most of the good points of all those books and goes pretty in-depth with them. I've had my nose stuck in it for awhile, and all my teachers got up and bought it as soon as I showed it to them. You can get it on amazon for like 25 bucks I think, so if you're still interested here you go - http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Human-Anatomy-Function-Movement/dp/0823024156/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259909474&sr=8-1

If you'd prefer to get something that's stood the test of time, there's always bridgman for form, and David K. Rubins, Stephen Peck, or Paul Richer for anatomy reference. There's also Loomis, who's out of print, but made available for free online via public access in PDF form. Here's a link to all his books - http://alexhays.com/loomis/

I like those thumbnails. Assassin's creed 2 really is a beautiful game isn't it? I'd say it's strongest points though are in light and temperature though, so if you're going to do thumbnails, why not do them in warm and cool colors as well as value?

I don't know how far you are in the game, so I won't spoil anything, but the last assassin's tomb's church is possibly one of the most inspirational things I've ever seen in a video game. Absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to do light studies of that from screen-caps.

[glaudarien]

Gasbag: Thank you for the reply - i have a fair share of anatomy books myself but find it hard to stick with them, i will look into the book you suggested though as i need all the help i can get!

Oh yes i was instantly taken in by Assassins Creed 2 with the stunning architecture and overall feel. I never thought about the temperature studies actually, i'll have to try that out next time- though i've been told never to attempt colour until you've got a good grounding in values but it's worth a shot i guess.

Oh i've finished it so not to worry, i definitely agree with you about that church, it's very spectacular - i might need to make a pack of screenshots for reference at some point.

Thanks again for the help!

[glaudarien]

Some more Assassins Creed 2 inspired thumbnails with some quick values, i'm just waiting until i get a good idea that i can start to develop into a full artwork.

Which is your favourate out of these?
Or do you have any ideas for new thumbnails?

Comment and criticism are always welcome - thanks.

[Gasbag]

I could see the bottom left one being a very nice piece. It's got a nice composition to it I think- just kind of at first glance it's already very pleasing to the eye. I also think the perspective in the top right one is very nice, however the silhouettes should be roughed out a little more. After that I'd say either one would be a great choice.

[glaudarien]

Gasbag: Thanks again for the reply. I tottally agree with you, i think i'll start refining the silhouettes some more and then make my choice like you suggested, thanks again.

[GrimRabbit]

Great sketchbook so far! Keep those studies coming. :)

[glaudarien]

GrimRabbit: Thank you, i'll do my best :)
More tommorow i hope.

[glaudarien]

Damn i've had another long break, college is really taking up all of my time lately -however we have just started our Games Design project so once the research is out of the way i can start doing some good concepts for college :D

Okay so what i've been upto on and off since i last posted:

About 2-3 hours (roughly, in-between college work) using photoshop CS4 and wacom tablet. I really want to get better but only way i'm going to do that is lots of hard work but i've really got out of the swing of things since college has got busier, hopefully things will clear up soon so i can get back into the hard working mood.

Once again comments and criticism would be greatly appreciated!

[glaudarien]

Wow i dunno where this one came from, i was just doodling away on my tablet while watching the Lord of the Rings (great film) and this happened....

It's not exactly planned or perfect but i quite like the result and it's not really like what i usually do, i mean: it's a bean.. with a top hat, on a giant mushroom?

Comments and criticism welcome as always

[glaudarien]

Another digital / environemental practice but this time not referenced and with a christmas theme to it! It was quite a quick one but wanted something a bit festive to upload, the bit at the bottom right is supposed to be a track in the snow as the original piece is biggere but i think it looks better cropped like this.

Photoshop CS4, half hour.

Any comments, tips or criticism are welcomed.

Also, i've downloaded 'Sketchbook Xpress' to much ipod touch and have ordered a stylus pen for it so that i can practice my digital skills while on the bus and at college, i've heard that the programme is good but has anyone used it? Feedback would be great :)

[glaudarien]

Another digital environment practice, this time without a reference. and also drawn while watching lord of the rings: the two towers, love that film.

Photoshop CS4, Wacom tablet, 2-3 hours.

Comments, criticism and tips are more than welcome!

[glaudarien]

Another quick practice from reference but this time a urban piece, i really love the amazingly detailed city concepts i see around and would love to be able to create my own... but i've tried and failed lots of times so here's a bit of practice.

Very quick, around 30 mins. Photoshop CS4 / wacom.

Comments and criticism welcomed!
I would love to know if you think im improving with my digital / conceptual artwork - or if you have any tips for me.

[glaudarien]

Sorry about the long wait again!
Soon i'll be actually doing concept work for college so i'll be able to mix my personal work in with it, which will mean more time for practice!

I've had a go this evening at some rough concepts, but i'm really struggling.
I bought a great book which i'm trying to work from which is called 'Bold Visions - the digital painting bible' which is very inspiring, though it makes me realise just how bad i am.

Any tips or criticsm are very much appreciated.

These are mainly just WIPs and very rough, as i'm trying to practice getting a good rough outline down before i start detailing everything, but i seem to be finding it very hard at the moment.

[glaudarien]

Yay another upload!

I've decided that i need to go back to basics.... again.
So that i can fully improve my digital skills as much as possible before jumping back into the deep end like i seem to keep doing.

I found a great collection of demos and such from 'Idiot Apathy' which i'm going to try complete as many as possible from the list: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=74478

As always comments and criticms are appreciated.

Heres the first 2 so far:

[glaudarien]

I should really be doing college work since i have to go back in 2 days, however i've been doing it the last two weeks and i think i deserve to get some practice in..

So here is anothre photo reference painting of a little girl (possibly asian) which took around an hour on photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Cintiq 12wx.

I'm really pleased with the result and i like her pose / expression, so i'm thinking i might develope this into more of a major piece, so what out for that one within the next few days i hope!

[glaudarien]

Very productive day today!

Okay this one has taken about 5 or so hours in total, fully digital and partially photo referenced. Used photoshop CS4 and Wacom Cintiq 12wx.

I started off with a photo study of the little girl which was done just to help improve my digital skills and was meant to be quick. However something about it really stood out and this idea just stuck in my head so i had to do it...

So i copied the file and then added to it until it came to this, though i don't think it's finished yet. I really want to add a background of some sort to this and get rid of the horrible spot shadow thing, but it's too late now hopefully i'll update it at some point.

Comments and critisicm more than welcome.

An asian girl with her trusty lioness friend.

[Nutella]

I think her right elbow may have been drawn too high. Also the legs and the throat are so bulky, especially compared to her petite arms. I don't mean to be overly critical but right away those things popped out at me and really bothered me. However I like that you're facing these problems head on. Photo reference is difficult at times.

The skirt doesn't look like it's being held up by the hand. Instead, it seems like that hand accidentally made it's way in front of the skirt. Again these are just popping out at me.

Good luck; keep up the hard work. Goodluck getting your other work done!

[glaudarien]

Nutella: Ah! I didnt actually notice those points since i've been looking at it for so long, but now i see them. Thanks for the critisicm, i'll definitly go back now and see how i can fix the problems.

[glaudarien]

Thanks to Nutella's reply i have revisited this piece and corrected the problems such as - neck too thick, arms to short / thin, legs to thick and the hand problem. I think it's looking much better now, though i'm still struggling getting her hand to look as if its grasping the skirt.

Still thinking weither or not to add a background to this one and turn it into a proper scene, might consider it when i get time. But for now back to college work.

Comments and criticism appreciated.

[glaudarien]

Just a small update, added more fur to the lioness coat and a general brush up else where. I've also found some good reference images to use for the background. Just waiting to here if my college is closed again today because of the snow - if it is then i'll get down to working on it asap!

Comments and critique appreciated, thanks.

[Serpentwitch]

You're progressing well on each posts :) I like the china town.

For your latest work, the girl's face still look a bit off. It almost look like she has been beaten up :P Oh, and put more shadows on the skirt, near her fingers. That will add more feeling that she is actually holding her skirt.

For the lion, I think the legs are a bit too fat/thick. It looked more like a bear's leg instead of Lion's. A lion should be more muscular I think.

[glaudarien]

Serpentwitch: Thanks,i'm glad you think so :)

Haha yeh thats true i can see what you mean about the girls face. Hmm that sounds like it could work with the skirt... and to be honest the lions' body is actually a tigers body as i was initialy drawing a tiger until the last minute lmao.

Thanks a lot for the reply and tips, i'll certainly go over it now to see what i can do and then post up the progress :)

[glaudarien]

Thank you again to Serpentwitch as he helped me to realise some more problems with the piece and now i think i've corrected them nicely, though i'm still not 100% satisfied with the legs.

If anyone has any more tips or criticms i would very much appreciate it.

I'm very content with steadily working on this piece for now and would love to make it into my first fully finished illustration, something that i can use to learn from.

[glaudarien]

Hey guys,

Just completed my 3D project finnaly! So now i've got a bit of spare time to today i've started the background for my "Lioness and the girl" piece, so far it's looking really good in my opinion, and i've really started to loosen up more which is great. Let me know what you think :)

Still using photo reference unfortunatly, but i still feel like i need their guidance. Once i'm more confident i will only partly use them.

Comments and criticism appreciated

[glaudarien]

I'm on a roll again today!

The background forest piece is now finished, or atleast until anyone spots something to change. And i've also added the characters into the midground.
Theres still some things i'm unsure of but if you notice anything wrong then lemme know.

Comments and criticism appreciated.

:)

[glaudarien]

Hey guys just a quick update,

I'm just preparing for my university interview at the moment and getting my portfolio ready, my college tutor said that it would be best if i had a sheet with the progress of my best piece so that the interviewers can see how i work, so here is a little WIP sheet for my latest piece.

Also, i've finished my 3D animation project (which i dont think i can upload here) and now we are starting to get more into our games design project so in from now on i'm going to hopefully be doing character and environmental concepts for college, hitting two birds with one stone! Can't wait!

So sit tight, i should be updating asap!

[glaudarien]

Hey guys,

I recently bought myself a new sketchbook (yippee) as my other one was full to the brim, so now i'm going to try and practice my character designs on paper and then digitaly when i'm home. Heres some attempts of getting quick designs down:

They aren't very original or exotic however i'm still getting to grips with character design as it's not really my thing lately, also i think i'm definitly better at anatomy now but still got lots of practice before i'm pumping out any good designs i'd say!

Comments and critiques appreciated as always

[AmontilladoAg]

Nice SB you've got here -- your studies are paying off! :)

Just a thought.. especially if it's for your portfolio, you might want to refine your lioness a bit. I'm guessing that, since your subject is an Asian girl in what looks like a jungle/forest, her companion is an Asiatic lioness. Looking at this lioness (http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/19653668.jpg), it might be a good idea to shrink the head a bit and whittle the legs down a tad; I think the Asiatic lion's supposed to be rather smaller than the African lion. Be sure to pay attention to the feet and load-bearing position of the body/legs...

Nitpicky, I know... just tryin' to help, honest :bashful:

[glaudarien]

AmontilladoAg: Hey thanks for the reply! Oh no, being nitpicky pays off. Thanks for the info i really need to focus more on the specifics like this more, i'll see what i can do. :)

[glaudarien]

Not much to update with at the moment apart from a concept sheet of an idea i'm having for a interactive flash animation for the sound design project at college. Just so you know what i'm up to..

A quick 2 hours paint in photoshop CS4.

Any comments or criticism would be appreciated.


[EDIT] I'm currently working on generating ideas for my Game Design project so that i can move onto developing some visual concepts for it, hopefully i'll be able to get some really good pieces painted for that asap.

[glaudarien]

A sheet of pose practices from posemaniacs.com and Hogarth.

Some were drawn in 30 seconds, some in 60 seconds and some without a time limit.

Really need to get better at poses so my designs are more dynamic...

Comments and criticism are very much appreciated.

[glaudarien]

Some more posemaniac gestures from this morning. Between 30-60 seconds per pose. Starting to get the hang of it a bit more now.

Comments / Criticisms very much appreciated.

[glaudarien]

Two quick character/creature sketches, unreferenced.
Back to some more posemaniac stuff in a sec.

[glaudarien]

Some more posemaniac drawings, 45 seconds each this time.
Think i'm getting a bit better. Though i'm going to be trying to do atleast 2 sessions a day with this so that hopefully i well slowly improve.
Comment and criticism much appreciated.

[AmontilladoAg]

I like your flute concept :D It reminds me of the holophonor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NMp-6LHTbg&feature=related) on Futurama.. :)

Good studies goin' on here; how's the lioness coming?

[glaudarien]

AmontilladoAg: Thanks again, i havn't been able to go back to the Lioness at the moment but its a definite piece on my list for improvements. I think i will add some animal anatomy studies to the pose studies i've been doing so that then by the time i've got back to the lioness i'll have a better understanding of how to improve it.

[glaudarien]

A design sheet for a character idea for my Game Design Project at college. This isn't going to be the protaganist but will be another member of the team (as it is an RPG game.) He will be a wise type of character but one who also knows how to kick some ass.

This is going to be his basic form however i want to add some more character into him and some armor / accessories.

Comments / criticism are much appreciated.

[Fiddzy]

You have some really nice work in here, I especailly like how you show your work in progression such as that piece with the Lion on the other page. You also have a very nice sense of how colour interacts with light.

Great work and keep it up. I look forward to seeing any future animal studies you may do.

[glaudarien]

Fiddzy: I'm glad you like my sketchbook, and thanks a lot for the comments!

[glaudarien]

Some more updates to my bear character concept from before. I have given him some armour and accessories however i really want to give him some more characer and personality, i'll do this by changing his head / face and then see what happens.

Any comments or criticism are appreciated

[glaudarien]

Okay, i think the character design is finished for now.

If your interested then: This character is a bear typed humanoid race and isn't the protaganist of my game, but a wise fatherly figure who is also good at kicking some arse. I created him for two reasons:

A) I really want to get better at character / creature designs. And i belive this is my best so far.

B) I need to create and design a 'High concept document' for my Game Design project at college, which needs to include some concept art.

I will be doing more character and environmental concepts for this project and will upload them in stages.

Once i'm 100% happy with the overall design of this one i will render it and turn it into more of an illustration.

Comments and criticism are very much appreciated

[glaudarien]

Another piece for my Game Design college project.

This is a concept for a water city which will be home to one of the species in my game. The idea is that instead of having the typical 'The fish people that live under the sea in a big city' idea, instead the people live in massive spheres of water that float at the surface of the ocean, inside the spheres are the cities in which they live. They can sink down the ocean floor if needed (if attacked for example) but only in extreme circumstances.

This was drawn with a MOUSE which is the first i used a mouse for painting for a very long time, as i was at college without my tablet and had a sudden burst of inspiration.

I'm going to develop this much more now i'm back with my tablet and get it looking much better.

Comments and criticism are much appreciated!

[glaudarien]

A quick update before i go for an early nights sleep.

Developed the bottom right sphere a bit more by adding surface ripple and parts of the city slightly visibile inside.

Comments and criticism are very much appreciated

[glaudarien]

Okay so i accidently left my USB pen drive at college on friday which has my original Water City Concept on it... so i've decided to not waste time and start over but from a different perspective.

It's far from complete but here is the basic layout i think i'll use, i quite like the feel of it so far.

I really think i'm starting to understand how colours and depth works a lot more now.

Comments and criticism much appreciated

[MoKhi]

Your doing a lot of great studies. Keep it up!

[Traveler]

I like your tiger and little girl concept. Keep up the good work. Study, study, draw, draw. :painting:

[glaudarien]

Mokhi & Traveler: Thank you both! Don't worry i will definity keep it up :)
Have a few more gesture pages to scan in which i'll do asap.

[glaudarien]

Havn't updated in a while, but fear not i have been drawing and practicing everyday, just been ill again unfortunatly, so havn't really been in the mood to sit and upload everything.

So heres what i've been upto since my last update:
A collection of posemaniac gestures, unreferenced sihlouettes and some more development on my 'Water City' concept for my game design.

Comments and criticism appreciated!

[glaudarien]

Hey guys,

well i'm home from college today after i was sick yesterday at college which really wasn't nice... anyway i'm home today so i wanted to start the day off by doing a long posemaniac session.

About 40 odd poses here which were done at 45 seconds each so took roughly 30 minutes if my maths is correct... and also these were done digitally to avoid all the scanning.

I'm really starting to enjoy these quick gesture pages and i can definitly feel myself improving which is great!

My concentration isn't great today, being sick n all. So i'm not sure what big pieces i'll be able to get done today, but we'll see!

Hopefully ill have some more updates today, see you then.

Comments and criticism very much appreciated.

[glaudarien]

Another update for today!

I've started to quickly sketch up an idea for the water people that will inhabit the water city which i've been in the process of concepting. I'm still not 100% sure if i want them to be fish like humanoids or actuall water people, so this is one of the concepts for now which might change.

Other than that i've also finished the water city concept, for now atleast until i've found anything which i need to improve. But i'm fairly happy with it for now.

Let me know what yoiu think,
comments and criticism are very appreciated

[Broewer]

Thanks for all your help on my sketchbook so far x). I like your figure drawings you know all those poses, keep it up :D and anything else by any means, just updated my sketchbook would be great to get some criticism on my latest stuff, well i'm off til later :). take care.

[glaudarien]

Broewer: Your welcome, I'm glad you like the poses, there will be more to come :)
Sure i'll pop over to your SB in a sec.

[glaudarien]

Quick update:

Yup it's another character concept sheet for my game design project..

This time, some thumbnail designs for the body type, size and overall design for a race of rock people (a replacement of the typical dwarf race).


If you have a favourite out of these or have any suggestions i would love to know what you think

Also have a few pages of posemaniac gestures, but havn't got time to upload right now, i'll do a big update asap.

[glaudarien]

Wayy too tired to do these today so they aren't that great.
But hey practice is practice, i'lll get a lot more of these done tommorow to make up for it.

As always, comments and criticism are appreciated.

More developement work on my rock people race and then i'm off to get some shut eye.

[glaudarien]

Yet again more concepts for my game design project.

Some more progress on the stone / golem people for my project, i think i'm happy with the overall design and size of the race for now. Just need to continue building a personality into their look (accessories, key features etc).

Also

Some thumbnail type drawings for the protagonist of the game, I want her to be a blissfully ignorent young girl, one of those characters that is happy and cheerful but quite inexperianced with everything. The clothes will be changed to meet more of a fantasy style however i think i'm fairly happy with her overall look, for now.

Comments and criticism very much appreciated

[glaudarien]

Been busy today with a new concept for the golem peoples' mountain city.

I really want to build a sence of scale in the piece but also some good depth, as i really hate that concepts seem to look so flat.

Heres the thumbnails (with reference photos / artworks), some process shots so far and how its looking at the moment.

Would love to know what you think,
comments and criticism really appreciated.

[glaudarien]

Been working on this most of the day and i think it's slowly comming together. I've added lots of adjustment layers to help increase the sence of depth, i've extended the ridge in the foreground which i think looks more realistic and i've also changed how the mountain receeds in the background, which i think helps add to the scale.

However there are some things id love some help on:

1- Do parts of the image look too constrasty?
2- Is the sence of depth and scale easy to read?
3- Is there anything you think that could be improved?
(keep in mind that its not finished yet)

Anyway let me know what you think so far.

Comment and crticism are greatly appreciated

[glaudarien]

Hey guys, havn't uploaded for a few days as i've been working on an interactive flash piece for college, but now thats done and i'm on half term break for a week so hopefully more concepts a comming!

I've been continuing the posemaniac gestures but still havn't had time to scan them, but i'm still practicing!

Worked some more on the textures of this piece, the overall lighting, the background mountains / trees and the depth. I think the depth is a bit more apparent now,.

I think i'll start filling in the character now then.


Comment and criticism most appreciated

[glaudarien]

A mix of posemaniac stuff this time.
I've tried to develope them a bit more so the drawings at the bottom are pose maniac gestures which were then developed into character-like figures, the middle-left drawings are just 45 second posemaniac gestures and then the rest of the drawings are un-referenced figure drawings.

I'm becomming much more confidence with anatomy and posing now by doing these excersizes, now i ust need to focus on more dynamic poses.

Comments and criticism very much appreciated.

[glaudarien]

Hey guys, another update.

I finished the Mountain City concept and i'm pleased with it. Theres tonnes of things which i can see which i could definitly improve on but i'm still happy, as not knowing your flaws is better than being blind to them! I would usually go back and edit it till its perfect but this is for a college project and i've spent too much time on it already..

I really need to become much looser with my digital paintings as i get too bogged down with details, which is something i learnt recently while intently reading the new issue of Imagine FX.

Also, here is a link to the STEP-BY-STEP process of how i made this image, i would greatly appreciate it if you could check out the little animation and let me know how you think i can improve. (http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/047/0/7/Mountain_City___Step_by_step_by_Glaudarien.swf)

Thanks!

[glaudarien]

Another quick update.

This time it's 3D! I'm far from good at creating 3D models especially characters.
This is only the 2nd time i've used Zbrush and the first time i've created a full character. I need to add the armour / accaessories to the model and then the final details, then finaly rig and texture it for animation.

I'm quite happy with it so far, it's not perfect but the best i've done to date!

(I used Decimation Master to reduce the poly count to around 7k i think it is.)

Comments and criticism much appreciated!

The 2D Concept Drawing:
http://th06.deviantart.net/fs70/300W/i/2010/028/9/2/Character_sketch_003_by_Glaudarien.jpg

[glaudarien]

Ah i havn't update for a few days or so...

I've been asked to do some concepts for a guy, however he says i cant upload them online until he's finished sooo i havn't been able to put them up, i've alwso been working on alot of the 3D stuff for my college Video Game Project which is mostly animated and i can't upload videos here as far as i know...

However i've been working on the posemaniac stuff everyday in my sketchbook and becomming much more confident with anatomy and posing.

Here is a quick render of my Wise-Bear Character model for my video game concept made using zbrush and cinema 4d.

[glaudarien]

Another concept sheet for my Game Design - this time for my final major project. This is the protagonist of the game, she is a young, inexperianced girl with a bubbly personality who is blissfully ignorent to the world around her.

I'm very pleased with her look (face etc) however i'm not sure which of these outfits i prefer. I added in a kinda sci-fi one for laughs but it wouldn't really fit in with the storyline ;)

Would love to know which outfit you prefer, and any criticism would be great, thanks !

[glaudarien]

Another Update and development for my Protagonist, this time some colour variations - though i think i will stick with the White + Red combo as i think it flows better and fits the mood best.

Comments and criticism very much appreciated

[glaudarien]

I was looking through The Art of Lord of The Rings book which i bought recently and as i was looking at the amazing pencil drawings of Alan Lee and John Howe i realised that since i've been trying to get better at digital art i've almost completely stop trying to progress traditionaly which im really not pleased about.

Anyway i've decided to try do as much traditional practice as possible when i get the time. This is a still life of a tree and some random branches in my grandmothers' garden.

I'm also trying to learn more of a variety of technques like hatching and things.

Comments and criticism greatly appreciated.

[P.S. The Art of Lord of The Rings is an amazing book, if you are a fan of the films or good conceptual artwork then i definitly recommend it. It's a great source of inspiration!]

[glaudarien]

Okay so heres soemthing else that i really need to practice: speed paintings.

The main reason why i want to practice speed paintings is so that i can become much looser with my conceptual / digital work as i keep getting too bogged down with details which destroys my work.

Anyway heres my first attempts, 2 20-30 minuite paints from photo reference.
I'd love some tips..

Comments & Criticism welcomed.

[glaudarien]

My 2nd 'speed painting' attempt, i'm much happier with this one as i think that the stock used was generally more interesting and had some great colours to play with.

I think i might try to develope this one some more tommorow or within the next few days.

30 mins so far.

P.S. I should have some WIP shots of my main character Zbrush model up here soon, i'm just having such a hard time getting it right at the moment.


Comments and criticism very much appreciated!

[glaudarien]

Time for another character for my game design! :)

This is a human character who is a stern, silent type who has assassin / ninja qualitys to his look and style.

I'm not 100% on the design yet but heres what i've come up with so far, with the design process included.

Comments and criticism welcome!

[glaudarien]

some more stages of developement for the last character i uploaded (the top one is the 2nd stage and bottom is the 3rd / last stage) and also some weapon / accessorie sketches whch were done very roughly while playing Final Fantasy 13.

Comments and criticism very much appreciated :)

[glaudarien]

Another character design for my game, a bit more of a illustration this time. Quite a quick'n around 2-3 hours.

Comments and criticism are appreciated

[glaudarien]

Geee it's getting a bit quiet around here... ah well i'll keep the posting!

Trying to get my 20 page research document out of the way at the moment then i'll be back on the ball with quicker concepts to be uploaded,

A quick practice sketch trying to get better at forced perspective, foreshortening, composition etc etc, i think i'm starting to understand it a lot more now but definitly need to keep practicing.

I'm also starting to do some colour theory studying so would love if anyone has any tips or links for that, thanks! :)

[glaudarien]

I could've sword i uploaded this yesterday, maybe not!

Heres a page of sketches from my sketchbook with a quick value paint over in photoshop, trying to generate a good look for a new character.

I've really not been very happy at all with my last few pieces as i think i've been rushing them, so as a solution to this i'm going to plan my concepts more by doing pages of sketches before i start digitally and then thumbnails etc before diving straight into a piece. I am also going to try and spend much longer on the digital process also like i used to..

Fed up of being lazy! It's time to stop!

Hopefully in my next few updates you will be able to see a good ammount of progression.

[glaudarien]

I'm trying to refine my style a bit more and start spending more time on my artwork again like i used to! As i havn't been very happy with my recent artwork, so here is the first WIP of my new environment concept.

This is a concpet for the environment called "Shimmering steps" which is a long chain of waterfalls that are like giant steps which go from Sirens Cove to Alexandria (the capitol City).

So far i';m fairly happy with the depth but i'm still concerned that im going into detail to quickly as i usually do, i think i'm going to leave this section for now and start to flesh out the rest of the piece so that i can come back to it with a clear mind.

Any comments and criticism are appreciated

[glaudarien]

Quick update here:

Heres just a sketchdump of all the sketches of done this month while on the way to and from college, drawn on A5 and on bumpy roads...

Another concept update soon..

Comments and criticism welcome!

[EDIT] Got me some Moleskine books and these are the first drawings i've done using them! :)

[glaudarien]

Some more progress on my eenvironment concept for 'Shimmering Falls' which is a series of waterfalls that flow through a canyon leading to the platoau above Sirens Cove.

Needs a ton more work done to it, I'm still in the early stages at the moment trying to get a good depth and atmosphere for the piece which i can build upon later when refining and adding details.

Can't wait to see how this one progresses.

-edit- just noticed that i'm slowly losing my focal point, i'll have to tweak this in order to make it more obvious again.

Comments and criticism would be highly appreciated, been a while since i've had any around here..

:)

[glaudarien]

Finished this concept tonight, atleast for now anyways.

This piece is for my project but also an exploration and experiment for me as i havn't been very happy with my artwork recently, i'm still not 100% with this one but i'm definitly feeling better about it than my last few pieces!

I've changed a lot since my initial concept for example i added the bridge, mainly for compositional value. I've also cropped the image to a closer view as i think that it gives a better atmosphere and stopped me from going too over the top with the piece and moving too far away from the focal point, lastly i darkened the piece to bring it into a night / sunset scene and gave the waterfall's a lot more life with raging water crashing against the rocks.

Comments and criticism are highly appreciated, and are needed in order for me to improve.

[glaudarien]

Trying to develope my recent 'Shimmering Falls' concept to the next level, with help from the critique forum here on CA, some quick thumbnails with the intention of pushing the concept further.

[slimin112]

hmm that last thumbnail you have looks the best

[glaudarien]

Thanks Slimin112 i really like that one also, i'll see what other ones i can come up with otherwise that one looks like a good one to develop further.

Here is another quiqck thumbnail, trying to enable the eye to flow around the piece a bit more, though i do still prefer the 3rd thumb from my last post.

[glaudarien]

Heres some thumbnails for you!
All on the theme of waterfalls and jungles ;)
Trying to get better at creating vast and powerful landscapes.

Thanks!

[glaudarien]

QUick update: Trying to get better at my rendering so heres a quick eye which took around 20-30 mins. Admittidly i really should have used reference for this but i'm still fairly pleased with it for a quick one.

Going to choose one of my previous environmnet thumbnails and start to develope it further - hopeing to work really hard with it and get a really good piece done.

Thanks,

Comments and criticism are appreciated.

[Zorcron]

great work with the waterfall concepts looks like you're learning a lot from the start to developing it as an idea and working with it more. keep that up

thanks for stoppin by my SB mate keep up the goods ! major improvement goin on

[glaudarien]

Zorcron: Thank you! I'm currently just working on my compositional skills a bit more as i feel that i'm lacking some what in that area.

Your welcome! Thank you too. :)

[jskotte]

I like the enviromental thumbnails. A good resource for landscape composition is this site
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/135/120/. I found it very useful, maybe it can help you too.

The studies look good, and I really the perspective in the piece of the guy with the arrow. I'd love to see that finished.

[glaudarien]

Jskotte: Hey thanks for the link i'll take a look :D
I'm currently usiing 'Drawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes by Jack Hamm at the moment but i'll take any help i can get.

Thanks! yeah i'd love to finish that one off, might be a good one for the holidays.

______________________________

Heres a compositional study using 'Drawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes by Jack Hamm' - i'm feeling much more confident now but still need a lot more practice in order to get a more complex environments.

Commments and criticism welcomed!

[glaudarien]

Hey guys, been a busy easter so far so lots to post!

First off i was approached by John Flaherty to help him with his student film project "The Uninspired" so the first few images here are some of the concepts i have created for him so far, most of them are currently unfinished as they are still in progress. Find more information on the project here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2698773&

I've also been continuing with the Posemaniacs for a while now, hwoever 'll ony post them in small doses as they are pain to scan so many! - Also have some composition practice pieces and some other scribbles, enjoy!

Would love some feedback and criticism - PLEASE be harsh with me its the only way i'll improve.

Thanks!

P.S. scanner is not being happy with me at the moment so posemaniacs and other scribbles wil need to wait sorry =/

[glaudarien]

Finnaly got my scannner working with my new pc, damn it was hard to get hold of the epson scan software! anyways, heres a few pages from my sketchbook (i've recently got myself a Moleskine book and i'm in love with it!).

There should be some posemaniac gestures in here with some of them modifyed a bit, some tests of different pencil techniques for rocks / trees etc (i really need to practice this), a few quickframes from a storyboard that i need to create for college, one or two landscape drawings from life, random drawing of a girl unreferenced, and maybe some more.

Oh and also a few pose ideas for a character in photoshop (girl with green dress)

I'd love some tips on pencil techniques if you guys have time, i seem to be getting really bad at rendering with my pencil and it really frustrates me,

Thanks!

[glaudarien]

Yup i am just really tired of the crappy things i draw in my sketcbook, everything is just so quickly drawn and not thought about and im never pleased with them. This is where it stops! I'm going to start putting much more effort into everything i do weither it be sketches, studies or full pieces, i am going to stop this laziness and haul ass to get things how i want them.

Heres the first 3 pages of sketches, i am much more pleased with them and am hoping to continue like this.

Cheers!

[glaudarien]

Heres a new environment for my college game design, trying to get a good atmosphere and ancient look for the forest. Also still practicing composition and leading the eye around the image so hopefully i've achieved that here.

Feedback would be great, thanks!

Some sketches to upload sooon..

[Abrodos]

Good sketchbook pages! The last girl lacks some underlying structure, see that the lion drawing has gone much better.
On the forest piece, be careful with the ray of light in the right. Most of it is straight, but it's got 2 white curvy lines. which are like a punch in the face.
Also, be careful with the contour lines, they usually don't help if you're taking a pictorical approach.
Anyway, good work! Keep it up:)

[glaudarien]

Abrodos: Thank you! I'm glad that you like my sketchbook pages, they are something that i have been focusing on lately. Ah yes i agree with about those curvy lines in the light rays on the right, they are from the enlarged thumbnail and i forgot to paint over them properly before flattening which is my mistake, if i'm to develope that piece further i'll definitly go in an take them out. Thanks again!

- - -

Some more sketchbook pages - a terribad environement that i wasnt going to bother posting, a male torso study and a horse study wich has a few flaws...

Also the first steps of a digital piece i'm working on, it will be the house of the bear character in my college game design. Its a 'tree house' which will be put into the forest from before, although the tree is a lot different to the style of tree i drew in the previous piece so i'll have to rethink some things in the final piece when i merge the two. The monkey sat on top of the doorway is supposed to be carved into the tree which i tottally failed on creating that look, i'm gonna try to merge him into the tree some more and hope it looks more obvious.

Feedback would be great! thanks.

[glaudarien]

Am on a role tonight, heres a quick still life of a giant pencil that is sat on my desk and led against the wall, i've got some wierd-ass wood chip wallpaper which is why it's kinda bumpy =/

Also it's my first digital still life! Can't belive i avoided it for so long but its actually kinda fun :D

Also some more developement on the previous 'tree house' piece. Added a bit of a bear face carving to the tree and changed the monkey to just be a real monkey sat on the ledge.

[glaudarien]

So heres the final concept for the bear characters 'tree house'. I would usually polish this off a lot more but as its for college i have time constraints.

Going to need to start modelling the level soon but will do some more sketches and other things to upload hopefully.

[glaudarien]

Just a quick update, some more hand studies.
Thinking about starting to get into the CHOW or EOW challenges in between college work so hopefully you'll start seeing them pop up soon :)

[glaudarien]

Heres some college work for my final major project, i am designing and creating a small RPG style game.

Here are some progress shots of a rough storyboard for the cutscene animation, some shots of the low-poly 3D model of one of the characters and some sihlouettes for the design of a boss to have at the end of the demo.

Any crit would be great, i might not have time to change it all because of deadlines but i will definitly learn from any feedback for future use, thanks!

[glaudarien]

Heres some more 3D renders for my game final major project at college.

Also i've been doing some Bridgeman anatomy studies and i LOVE the way he constructs the body, its really shown me the light of putting more volume into anatomy instead if it looking flat and stiff. The page of the left is drawn from his drawings and the page on the right are from imagination using the same kind of construction.

I recently lost of my job so i have no funds to go towards anatomy books so unfortunatly i can't buy a bridgeman book and have just been using the Amazon previews to see a few pages and study from... haha how lame..

Anyone happen to know anywhere online i can find some samples of bridgemans work to study from? would be amazing, thanks.

[glaudarien]

Quick update, some more developement on this boss creature and fixed some things with another one of the 3D character models.

Also i've found a free PDF of one of Bridgemans anatomy books which is great, i love his work! so hopefully i'll be posting some bridgeman studies soon :)

[glaudarien]

hey guys, i've only really got time to do about a page a day or less of anatomy sketches as this college project is taking up so much time, heres this weeks:

Most unreferenced on the bus, some are referenced from Bridgeman.

[glaudarien]

Just a quick digital piece whilst taking a much needed break from my game project for college, 3 hours-ish, photo referenced:

[SpikeLumens]

Wow. I just joined this site b/c I'm hoping to start drawing (again) too. I looked at your first page and your last page and HOLY CRAP YOU HAVE IMPROVED. And you are pretty good too! Hope college is going well! Where do you go?

[glaudarien]

SpikeLumens: Thank you, i'm glad you can see an improvement! This site is very very much recommended, start a ssketchbook and even if you don't get many replies it still very useful to see your progression and look back at what you can improve from older pieces, it's also a great community!

I currently attend City of Bristol (if your not in the UK you wil have no idea where it is haha ;))

Heres some recommendations:

Put a link to your sketchbook in your signature so that people can take a look when you comment. If you are in dire need of criticism (and can take it) then head over to the Crit thread and post the piece you need help with, you should get some useful hard crit on it. Also goodluck! - lemme know when you've started up a Sketchbook and i'll take a look.

[JasonTyler]

Hey man, I'm like that other guy relatively new to this site and stumbled across your sketchbook. It's amazing to see your progression - not to say you started off bad or anything. What it does is it helps me realize that we all might have had the ability to draw, but it is the practice and determination that really defines us as artists.

I wish I had more critique information at this point but really I'm just getting accustomed to everything here so I just wanted to reach and say keep up the good work brother!

[glaudarien]

JasonTyler Woo comments i love them! Anyways... oh no i don't take it as an insult haha progression is a good thing and i'm glad you think that i am! 'practice and determination that really defines us as artists.' - It's really good that you realise that, as practice and determination is the only way you will progress, i only realised this about halfway through last year and have improved drastically because of it, can't afford to get lazy - also gotta have as much fun as you can as that really helps to drive progression :)

Thank you! i appreciate it, well lemme know when you've got a sketchbook up and running and i'll come over and see if i can give any helpful crit :)

[glaudarien]

Ouch this college projecth as really killed my time to upload and create any personal work. Though today it is my 18th Birthday so im having a break so i can upload and relax!

Here's some things that i've been upto:

1. Ever since discovering WETA workshop and the work they did on the Lord of the rings films i have had such a craving to try my hand at sculpture and i finnaly got round to it a few days ago. I only had a small ammount of clay so could only do a small bust though i'm fairly pleased with the result - hopeing to give a full body sculpt a try soon though and try to get more detail in. Will try to upload some progress shots of that once its started.

2. This is the last piece of artwork that i created for my final major project, it depicts the night that the main character was found washed up upon the shore of the forest, the night her parents died. Slightly cliché but i'm quite pleased with the result.

3. This is a work in progress character deisgn / illustration for the Square Enix MMO character design contest over at Deviantart. The MMO is of a manga style so i thought i would try to challenge myself and give it a shot instead of sticking to what i always do. The idea is that the design will be on the sides and then shown in a scene and rendered in the center.

Hopefully i will have more to upload frequently within the next few weeks as college is nearly over.

Would love to hear any comments and criticism. :)