Welcome to my Realm of Sketchbook - (Updated: 28 July, Hands & Arms)

[Fiddzy]

Welcome to my Realm of Sketchbook


Hello my name is Fiddzy, an amateur artist, originally coming from a Graphic Design New Media background, although I have always had a strong interest in illustration, especially concept art. My personal favorite subject is Character & Creature design, mixing hand drawn pencil sketches with Digital Photoshop painting. My main goal is to find a job within the computer games industry, preferably in the UK, and you can view my main collection of work at my personal Blog, FiddzyDesign (link in signature), along with in-depth descriptions and backstories for my designs.

In this Sketchbook I am trying to further develop both my digital rendering and anatomical drawing skills. Particularly looking at how I render lighting contrasts to create a more three dimensional image. However I will also be looking at a wider range of areas such as texture's, clothing, landscapes ect... in addition as partaking in the C.O.W challenges.

Like most Sketchbooks my newer and most recent work can be seen towards the back, where it should hopefully start to show some improvement.

Critiques, Tips & Comments will be very welcomed and really appreciated.
Thanks, and I hope you enjoy my little realm of sketchbook.


- NEW WORK: PAGE 5 -

[Fiddzy]

I just finished doing this quick new Landscape piece. In this piece I wanted to show what a sentient bird species homeworld might look like, with vertical towering avian cities made from mud, becoming almost like a bee hive for birds.


Critiques, Tips & Comments welcomed.

[Fiddzy]

This new experimental piece has been something I have been working on over the weekend in the W.I.P Thread.
While not perfect, I am relativity happy with its outcome.

Mulood's Lair:

[Fiddzy]

Half mushroom, half Jellyfish, the Jelloroom...

[Fiddzy]

These five character & creature designs are some older images when compared to the three above. Originally attached to the original post but moved down for editing purposes.

More New work coming soon...

[Fiddzy]

This sketch is allot older than all the ones above, but still remains one of my favorites. It was designed to be a Kaiju (Japanese Giant Monster), and was inspired by the traditional Godzilla style "man in a suit" appearance.

Newer works coming soon...

[Fiddzy]

Here's a quick rough speed painting I just did, based on an older Character design of mine.

I will be doing a short series of images like this to help me develop some quick digital painting skills.

[Lyno]

Hey cool Fiddzy, your creature and character designs are looking cool :D. I think your colors could use some more saturation, but tat will come eventually :D. Do some studies too, color studies for example will come in handy and are fun to do :).

http://www.terragalleria.com/index.html or http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photogalleries

Good luck!

[Fiddzy]

Thanks allot Lyon, them links are really interesting. I have never really looked at the National Geographic website, it has some real nice photographs to draw inspiration from. Thanks again, much appreciated.

New work Coming soon...

[grriffion]

hey i like the harvester robot =D he haz a lot of valuable crystals on his back =D

[Fiddzy]

This new demonic creature design was an experimental piece done entirely digitally. Designed to be an animated, stitched together leathery monster, the Flesh Teddy is inhabited by a devious yet playful spirit which roams the world looking to both scare and entertain with its sometimes deadly practical jokes. Here I have shown the demon in its own twisted "Toy Box Dimension".

[Fiddzy]

Here's a quick sketch done today in the form of an anatomy study of hands, but some hands with a twist, an alien twist.

More new work & sketches coming soon...

[Fiddzy]

Today I felt it was time to really start to study skeletal structures, especially the Human skeleton, something I have not really done outside of hand's and feet, and is something I know will greatly benefit future character designs.

The quick sketch below marks today's first attempt, with the rib cage proving to be the most challenging, which is something I aim to continue working on...

More new studies and work coming soon.... enjoy

[Frittzell(Image)]

Interesting work so far I would maybe pick up some anatomy books by bridgman.
Keep posting

[Fiddzy]

Frittzell - Cheers for the tip, I shall look into getting one.

Also here are some new sketches, continuing my study of skeletal structures, particularly the Human skull and the rib cage, that was causing me issues as seen in my last post above.

More studies coming over the weekend (hopefully).

Cheers

[android411]

hey fiddzy,

first let me thank you for commenting on my SB...

I also think that you have some interesting stuff in your SB, I like especially how carefully you render your motifs, I think that the other guys have given you some very good advices such as bridgeman so I don´t want to confuse you with my stupid thoughts :), but I will check back and look forward to see some of your characters with some anatomy applied to it that you are learning ATM (IMG I hope my english makes sense:) )

cheers so far

[jeremygordon89]

Cool stuff so far, really enjoying the skulls. I'd like to see you do some studies from Bridgman, Hogarth, Loomis and some more work from life (sketching people, figure drawings, still life) and keep up the work from imagination as well!
Keep drawing every day; I'm looking forward to future updates!

[Fiddzy]

First of all I want to say sorry for the recent lack of uploaded work, however some new stuff will be coming very soon, and secondly here's some thanks...

android411: Thanks for the comment android411, I have heard and seen good things about the Bridgeman anatomy books so I will defiantly go get my hands on a copy. (Also don't worry your English made perfect sense :))

jeremyg0rd0n: Thanks allot for the comment and advice. I will defiantly start some anatomy drawings soon, as well as keeping up the imagination work.

Thanks again, your comments and thoughts are all much appreciated.

[Fiddzy]

Here are another new anatomy study I have just done. This time of the Tyrannosaurus Rex rather than Human anatomy, to help improve my creature drawing skills, especially Dinosaurian ones. (< is that even a real word?)

New studies coming soon, both Human and animal...

[Krato]

cool stuff, try to make your objects less blurry though

[Fiddzy]

cool stuff, try to make your objects less blurry though

Thanks Krato, but how do you mean blurry?
Is it due to the pencil lines themselves, such as the smudging or the pixel quality of the overall image? If its the latter of the two then it might be caused when I rescale the scanned image in Photoshop to make it manageable for the forums, otherwise they end up being about 27cm across, rather than monitor friendly 7.50cm as seen above.

Any tips in this area would be helpful, especailly for my Portfolio site.

Cheers

[Krato]

2nd and 3rd images on here show it best

[Liffey]

Good stuff, I like seeing these creative designs... work on your anatomy though!

[mrdigs]

Thanks for stopping by my sketchbook Fiddzy, some good stuff going on here - strong ideas behind your work which really comes through in the final pieces.

You're definitely on the right track with the skeleton/life studies, keep working on that and it will make all the difference to your imaginative work. I need to take that advice myself !

[Fiddzy]

Thanks for the supportive comments mrdigs & Liffey

Now back from a short break I am continuing my winter anatomy study project.
Today looking more on the creature side of things producing this quick facial structure study of a Lime Moray Eel, a creature I have always found interesting due to its mixture of both fish like and reptilian features. (Note: it was not made as a colour study, it was just something i quickly added while in Photoshop)

More studies coming soon over the course of the next few weeks, both Human and animal....

Thanks

[kingkostas]

Hello mate.You have very good skills.I think you just need to improve the rendering(maybe start doing greyscale value trainings) and keep up understanding more anatomy to help you with all things around.
Keep it up and thnx for stopping by my sketchbook :)

[Kuidf^!]

hi great stuff on here keep them coming i like the character designs there looking good aswell :)

[Irishdrunk]

Bwahaha, I love these designs!

But you need some more varying edges. The values of organic life are very soft, but the edges are often as hard as metallic objects.

And of course, practice from life to strengthen your imagination.

[Fiddzy]

kingkostas, Kuidf^! & Irishdrunk thanks for the comments and tips, I shall take note and work on them with future designs and studies.

Also happy holidays everyone, and to celebrate here's a very quick (and unfinished) festive sketch.

New character designs and studies coming soon...

Thanks,

[Fiddzy]

Decided to add some more colour to the rough sketch of the "Snowdemon" shown in the post above, helping to give this eerie festive spirit more life.

Have a good new years, and thanks to everyone for their comments and tips.

Check back in the new year for some more new work....

[Dorkthrone]

I like the use of form in your latest sketch.

[Joystx_]

must improve the use of color

[Fiddzy]

Thanks for the comments ninjacat11 & Joystx_, I shall work on my use of colour.
I know that I need to work on my saturation, which is something I have been trying to do, however any additional any tips & advise on how to improve my Digital colouring skills will be much welcomed.

Also here's two more quick sketches I have done recently, of some alien sharks... Note: I messed up with the colour of the now purple Double Hammerhead, and so heavy edited it in Photoshop, which sadly caused me to lose allot of the shadowing details. However atleast the purple and white hues looked better than what it had before..... Lesson learnt.

[Frittzell(Image)]

I really like that hammer head concept!
More! :)

[Fiddzy]

I really like that hammer head concept!
More! :)

Thanks Frittzell(Image), I actually got a burst of inspiration while doing that design for tons of other alien shark designs which I shall (hopefully) be doing over the next week.

[palladium]

Thx for visiting my SB:D
Really digging that hammerhead dude. would love to see more studies here tho. Keep posting:)

[Jasper Flick]

I dig your linework and concepts! Nice sense of form in the lines, but not yet in the color. So I echo the color remarks, and especially the reference to grayscale value studies.
Perhaps try to sculpt some shapes without lines, only planes, using lighting to suggest form.

[daniel344]

Hey i really like your drawings, i draw creatures and monsters as well but im not on par with your level =)

im currently only 16 but i draw really good.

now my question is, how do you draw and color your art?

do you draw everything from scratch with a pencil and then scan it and color it with PS or something?

or do you use a tablet to draw them in the first place.

also if i do draw with a pencil and i want to color it using PS, how exactly do i do it just like you do? (im currently a concept artists for a small indie game)

thanks in advance =D

[Fiddzy]

palladium - Thanks, I shall be doing some more studies soon, partially looking back at Human anatomy again.

Jasper Flick - Cheers for the compliment on my linework, and the tips on how to improve my colour application. I shall definitely try out some greyscale value studies in the near future.

daniel344 - Thanks for the comment, I would like to see some of your creature work, do you have a SB?
As for how I work, yes I do normally draw all my linework from scratch with a pencil (3H is my preference), then scan it into Photoshop and apply the colour digitally with a tablet. Although occasionally I do also do my linework with a tablet.

The way I colour my pencil work in Photoshop is by using the "Multiply" feature in the layers toolbar. This feature essentially removes the white area (the paper) between your scanned pencil lines, allowing you colour it without drawing over your original linework. (Note: Don't apply colour directly onto the "Multipy" layer, instead lock it and paint on a blank layer below it).
Hope this helps...

Thanks for the comments and advise, more new work coming soon...

[daniel344]

Thanks, do you have skype,msn, gtalk ? (i would like you to help me a bit more, i really need this for my future concept arts)

as for my sketchbook:

http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt145/daniel344/

you can tell which ones i did, theres one that i did color without really knowing how to do it, i just really colored it like you color stuff in paint (i did it with a mouse, my current tablet is a piece of shit)

so anyways thanks for the advice and if you can contact me through mail than my mail is daniel344@gmail.com

thanks mate

[Fiddzy]

Here's a continuation from the Alien Shark sketches I uploaded the other day, Here taking another look at the Hammerhead and tweeking it, this time creating the Lime Shark, a cross between an Eel and a Shark.

In this piece I also started thinking about how to improve my colour application, focusing on providing more contrast between the light and dark areas (which in this instance I decided to slightly saturate as I was finishing the piece to help redefine the original pencil lines). However I shall continue to move away from line work and concentrate more on colour/tonal studies.

More new work coming soon, and as usual tips and hints will be much appreciated.

,Thanks

[Loathsome]

Man I LOVE the skull studies you did of the dinosaur and that snowman is neat too.
Keep it up, I like the stuff so far.

[mariusz]

Nice see creatures, keep posting

[Fiddzy]

Step One- Thanks:
Thanks for the comments Loathsome and mariusz, much appreciated.

Step Two - New Work in Progress:
This is the base sketch for the next creature design I am going to work on, Inspired by the shark designs done previously, this new creature is a combination of a Salamander and a Blobfish (see Google Images). For this piece I am going to be particularly focusing on colour application, trying to show more definite form in my colour, and contrast in lighting.

[Turbosnail]

Nice SB Fiddzy!! Love the creature concepts, especially the jellyfish/mushroom hybrid. Would like to see more anatomy & pose studies. Keep up the good work my friend!!

[Fiddzy]

Turbosnail - Thanks for checking out my SB. Future anatomy studies are on my to do list, however rather annoyingly I keep planning to do one thing then get sidetracked into a completely different random tangent...

And today's random tangent is this new experimental piece done below. This piece unlike the sea creatures above was done entirely digitally, allowing me to move away from pencil line work and focus directly on colour application, specifically on using colour to show form and contrast.

While not perfect (such as the 2D foreground), I did learn some lessons that I can take into the next piece.

[sleepykit]

hey omg, i love your creature designs
i would love to do stuff like this, and been doing dinosaur studies recently so i could get better, but would you reccomend me drawing more animals?
here is my sketchybook, only started recently however advice would be so helpful!
once again love your stuff

[glaudarien]

Hi there, thanks for the comment on my sketchbook. I really love your creature sketches (such as the recent shark designs) your good at creating depth in your designs which i think helps them to jump out to us. Look forward to seeing more designs from you.

[Fiddzy]

sleepykit - Thanks allot for your kind comment. I would definitely recommend doing animal studies as I have found doing them extremely influential for my own creature/character designs.

glaudarien - Thanks for the supportive comment concerning my use of depth, happy to hear you also like my SB. Much appreciated.

More new work coming soon, advice and constructive criticism is always welcomed, cheers.

[Fiddzy]

Here is the colour version of the Blobmander sketch I had posted previously. Again experimenting with colour application, something I am going to continue to work on, particularly focusing on lighting contrast in the future, an area I know needs improvement.

I will also start looking back again at anatomy studies both Human and animal, ranging from rough sketches to greyscale value studies.

[Fiddzy]

Taking some of the lessons learnt from The "Cave of the Opinnanite" piece done previously, I have started pushing towards developing a newer and rougher colouring style.

This quick, rough character design was my first attempt, and while the anatomy may not be perfect i feel its a good step forward in terms of colour application. I shall continue with these studies, pushing my colour application skills, while also staying focused with anatomy studies.

[Fiddzy]

Using both Bridgman and Hogarth books as reference I have been working on anatomy studies, mainly through just very rough sketching. Below are some of my most recent scribbling pages from my sketchbook...

While many contain mistakes, I feel that these scans best show my working pattern.

[Fregy]

Hey thank you for your post :). I will move on to heads for now, hands are right after that on my schedule. As for the anatomy, I learned muscles one by one, maybe it might help you as well. But its kind of time consuming. I like youre creatures a lot, especially the sharks. At first I didnt know if I am looking at digital painting or not :). Hope to see more, bye

[Fiddzy]

Thanks Fregy, looking at the muscles one by one sounds like a good way to learn, however I think like you I shall start to look at faces, as I find them to be the most problematic (well Human faces that is).

In concern to creature designs, particularly the sharks, they are indeed digitally painted, however the linework is all done with a pencil as it just suits my style and current Wacom.

I am about to continue working on anatomy study sketches so new work should be uploaded soon....

,Cheers

[Fiddzy]

Here are some of my latest anatomy study sketches....

[Fiddzy]

Here's today's anatomy study sketches, looking at arms, necks and noses...

[Loathsome]

Studying hard I see : ) Like it! I was wondering where you had gotten to at first, nice to see you on going!

[Fiddzy]

Thanks for checking back Loathsome, much appreciated. I am actually really enjoying doing the anatomy studies, reminds me of being back in art class.

Here's today's anatomy study sketches, focusing on heads and faces, an area I have always struggled with and shall continue to look at in more detail latter this week....

[Bella DC]

Hey Fiddzy, thanks for visiting my sketchbook I really appreciate it! You probably already know this but your designs are quite strong, but your digital rendering needs some work in terms of values. Your pencils are already really good too, I think your best work is with the Bobmander and Shark I think because there was a better understanding of the form of the creatures. Perhaps you should draw more animals, not just their skeletal structures, but with skin and everything :D I think this will help in terms of their form and believability which works with the Bobmander and the Shark XD Hope this helps a little!

[zerdron]

I really liked the 4 eyed hammerhead, you certainly like sharks.

[Fiddzy]

Bella DC - Thanks for the kind comments on my linework, I really appreciate it. I will defiantly be going back and looking more at animal anatomies, since I have been stockpiling some images while doing the human anatomy studies.

I am also aware that my digital rendering still requires more work, and this will be an ongoing process I shall continue to develop. if you have any advise that would be extremely helpful.

zerdron - Thanks for stopping in my SB, happy to hear you like my shark designs. Yeah sharks are cool, and I find they are a good reference to draw inspiration from.

Cheers for all the comments and advise.

On my to do list: Human faces, Animal studies, Value training, new character and creature designs, and maybe even some landscape work.
new work coming soon....

[Fiddzy]

Taking a short break from the Human anatomy studies I decided to have another quick look back at animal anatomy, focusing on heads and faces, drawn from photographic observation.

The image below shows the heads of a Babirusa (a type of jungle pig), a Turkey Vulture and a Lingcod.

[zerdron]

You've got very nice creature works.

[Pochifux]

You got some ass-kickin creature designs here man, and I'm speaking as a connoisseur ;)

[Turbosnail]

Nice updates Fiddzy!! The anatomy studies are coming along nicely and the creature concepts are awesome. Keep up the good work my friend!!

[Loathsome]

Hey Fiddzy, liking those recent sketches :)
Man you should post more often, I like your stuff.

[Fiddzy]

zerdron - Thanks again, happy to here you like them

Pochifux - Thanks for the positive feedback, I am always happy to hear that I have pleased a fellow connoisseur ;)

Turbosnail - Cheers for checking back Turbosnail, its very much appreciated. The development in my anatomy studies are thanks to the amazing Bridgman and Hogarth books. Something I recommend to anyone reading.

Loathsome - Thanks again Loathsome, I would love to post more often, and it is my goal to try and post every day or two, however sometimes time just seems to fly past (especailly on the weekends), then before I know a week has gone by with no new updates. However I got lots of ideas bubbling so new works should be coming very soon (infact I am about to post some new work now).

Thanks to all for the positive feedback and comments, please check back soon for more new work...

[Fiddzy]

These Sketches below show a redesigned version of a creature from The Lord of the Rings, known as a Great Beast (seen in last film). To draw this I not only looked at the creature from the franchise itself but I also studied the anatomies of real world creatures such as Rhinoceros and Bison.

In the second image I am still playing around with colour and perfecting my renderings, with my biggest regret being the blurry foreground grass I quickly threw in at the end.

[Fiddzy]

The two images below are from the creature design I was working on for the recent C.O.W #169 Beautiful Rebirth contest, with the first image being the original design done for C.O.W and the second image being a redesigned version of that done for my own collection.

The creature itself is based on the creatures from the Sci-Fi horror movie Critters. In the first image it was redesigned to make it cuter and more beautiful, here giving it Hamster like qualities and a pink hairdo makeover. While in the second image I attempted to turn it into a completely new alien rodent, the Krytammer.

[Fiddzy]

Here are some more anatomy studies, both human and animal, focusing on serpentine bodies, jaws and teeth. Done as preparation for my upcoming creature design for this weeks C.O.W contest.

New character/creature designs hopefully coming over the weekend...

[Aryeh]

your pencil work is absolutely fabulous. keep it up!

[Metal Fingers]

nice animal studies you've got going on here, id suggest implementing more human studies to cross reference with this when doing strange creatures from imagination. Keep up the good work. Cheers!

[Fiddzy]

lolbbq - Cheers, I will do.

Metal Fingers - Cheers for the advice, I shall defiantly be going back and looking deeper at human anatomy, particularly faces. Thanks again.

Nothing major to show today, although I did do this quick WIP sketch, which is a redesign of the Opinnanite creature from the last page, a creature I knew I could further push the design of...

[jaredsalmond]

likin the digital work, keep it up!

[Fiddzy]

Here's a colour version of yesterday's creature design...

[Fiddzy]

Sorry for lack of post's recently been busy with the last's C.O.W contest, really taken a shine to them as it helps me spawn new ideas out of my comfort zone, and really push my work. I recommend them to any creature designers out there.

Here is the work I produced for the most recent C.O.W, which had the goal of redesigning the Cookie Monster. My redesign below has reshaped the Cookie Monster into the Cookieback Whale, a large cookie obsessed leviathan inhabiting its own universe known as the "Cookieverse".

New work coming soon, including more anatomy studies (hopefully). Cheers

[draigun]

your stuff is really fun to look at, i love the critters redesign

[Turbosnail]

Awesome updates man. Love the Krytammer with its astroturf flat-top and your sketches in post#70. Keep up the good work mate.

[Fiddzy]

draigun - Thanks for checking out my SB, glad to hear you like the Critter redesign.

Turbosnail - Cheers for stopping back again mate, always a pleasure.

Today's sketches of giant clams and a baby octopus where done as anatomy study references for a whale sized "Megaclam" creature I was designing, although my initial concept has since changed.

WIP's and development coming latter this week.

Thanks

[Fiddzy]

Creature design entry form last weeks C.O.W contest, C.O.W. #171 - Giant Amphibious War Beast.
This colossal mutant sea anemone, known as a Neptune's Spire, is a tranquil, beautiful but dangerous creature with powerful hydrokinetic abilities, able to use the very water it stands in and protects as a devastating weapon of war.

Crits and tips always welcomed!

[Fiddzy]

Dam!, time seems to of flown past since my last update, so here's a quick sketch of the initial linework for a new creature design I have started to work on, the Rencharon . A 5 legged arthropod, with a built in, naturally evolved plasma canon.

Will start to further develop this concept over the next few days, and now that I have a bit more free time, I can begin to move back into anatomy studying also. Enjoy!!!

[Metal Fingers]

blaarrgh, thanks for stopping by my SB. Keep up all the creature drawing, you'll notice its quality increase ten fold with more and more life drawing.

[Fiddzy]

Once again a busy week has slowed my sketchbook progression, although despite the lack of updates I have been working on my Rencharon "Canon Crab" creature design as seen in the WIPs below. However its still far from finished, going to try and solve my image flatness issues with this one. if anyone has any tips and advice it would be very much appreciated, cheers.

[Fiddzy]

Here's another small update on my Rencharon "Canon Crab" creature design. I am fairly satisfied with its progression, however still want to work on it further, rendering, rendering, rendering.

Any thoughts?

[Fiddzy]

Finally got around to finishing my Rencharon "Canon Crab" render. Not particularly proud of its overall appearance, although I did get to play around with some new rendering techniques, still looks a bit flat however. Might have been able to push it further, however I wish to move onto other designs and re-kick some anatomy studies.

I have also been working on the latest C.O.W over the last week, and shall upload my work from there tomorrow.

[Fiddzy]

Here is my creature design form the most recent C.O.W challenge, #173 - Forest Harvester.

The creature in my design, The Ka Ryygel, is long lived herbivorous giant which eats up to 50% of its homeworld's forests at a time, while also serving a beneficial purpose similar to the forest fires here on Earth, clearing land to promote new growth while simultaneously fertilizing it with its own waste products.
My biggest regret was not getting the time to include a landscape.

What do people think? Tips and advice for future works are always welcomed, thanks.

[Nickodemus]

Great creature designs, all around. I think the raw sketches have a lot of character about them too. Your line work really gives them life.

Keep up the good work man!

[Nickodemus]

Great creature designs, all around. I think the raw sketches have a lot of character about them too. Your line work really gives them life.

Keep up the good work man!

[Fiddzy]

Thanks for the kind and supportive words Lunarsis and for checking out my SB.
I love doing creature design, probably a little to much since I rarely draw anything else, lol. The pencil linework is my personal favorite stage and is where I feel the most conformable. Although I do wish to move away from pencil and try out more purely digital sketching.

Thanks again.

[Evolvana]

I like your concept arts of creatures! :) my favorite is your jelly-mushroom on the first page ^^ your sketches of animals in particular are very good.

[Grassy]

I like your designs - the only bad thing is that there's not much enviro and realistic paintings. I think, that as artist you should improve yourself in a lots of different ways )

[Fiddzy]

Evolvana - Thanks for the supportive comment and coming to check out my SB, the Jellyfish mushroom is one of my personal favorites also.

Grassy - Thanks for the comment, your advice is much appreciated, and I you are right, I do need to start working on more environments and realistic paintings, with the latter being something I am defiantly going to start doing more off, as it will really help my rendering skills. Cheers.

Now, here's today's WIP for a new creature design I am working on for yet another C.O.W, #174, (dam that thread and its interesting topics).
Enjoy.

[Fiddzy]

Been a slow week drawing wise, not had much time to really work on anything major, really need to try find the time next week and get back in the game. However started up my current project again, the Turoktune, here's a new WIP...

[prsnsweeney]

hey great concepts i really enjoy your animal studies your creatures are lookin reallly great keep up the good work i love how creative you are in your designs

[Fiddzy]

prsnsweeney - Thanks for the supportive and kind words, really appreciated.

Working in Photoshop now on my Turoktune design, so hopefully I should get a completed piece really soon. Then with all distractions out of the way I can go back and look at anatomy studies.

Anyone know a good source for animal anatomies, such as high quality photographs ect... ? It would be a big help. Thanks.

[Fiddzy]

Here's the finished Turoktune , or "Light Siren" piece, enjoy....

[Fiddzy]

Here's some new work straight from C.O.W, again playing around with translucency. What do you all think?

[Donna]

Your sketchbook is so sick, I love it :D

Nice translucency going on there. Somehow I keep thinking it should be pearly white perhaps - you know, with various shiny colours in highlights? Depends on what kind of look you were going for, of course. Maybe it's just mean and ghostly white :]

[Fiddzy]

Wow, ok it has been way to long since my last update. However with holidays and everything out of the way its time to re-fire this Sketchbook back up, and start a new marathon of updates. Starting with these recent animal anatomy studies of Pigs and a Tree Frog.

New updates coming soon (I Promise). Please enjoy and remember crits and advice are always welcomed and much appreciated, thanks.

[Fiddzy]

As promised the new updates are (and hopefully should continue) be coming thick and fast, such as this Mammoth skull anatomy study collection, done as preparation towards an upcoming creature design project. Hope you all Like.

[Fiddzy]

Here's a new study sketch of a sheep skull.
More coming soon...

[MrWhiskey]

Wow you really made some progress there :)
really like the creature design your getting really good at it
yeah and the bone / animal / creature pencil studies are really good

[Fiddzy]

MrWhiskey: Cheers for the kind comment, really appreciated. Thanks

Dam, this current drawing is taking allot longer to render than I originally expected. Dose not help that I keep sticking to my Wacom in this heat however, phew.

Anyways here's some progression from the original pencil sketch to my current WIP, final rendered piece should hopefully be up in the week, experimenting with it a bit first however.

[RickyS]

Sweet creature designs! Your pencil drawings are awesome, but I feel they lose the essence when you paint them. They're lacking contrast. Try adding more highlights and shadows and they'll look more three dimensional. I think the last one is an improvement though, plus it's cool how you incorporated the skulls.

[Fiddzy]

RickyS: Cheers for the time and advice, really appreciated. I shall further develop my use of lighting and contrast to help push for realism, and incorporate it into my current creature project (above). Thanks again.

Coming up.... New sketches, and the finished version of my Skull Golem.

[Fiddzy]

Here's the final render for my Bone Golem creature design "The Calcibus". A non-corporeal being held together by bone.
I have also tried to further develop my rendering, hopefully giving it less of a two-dimensional feel, although I am aware that this technique still needs some work.
Whats next? A stone version!

Comments will be very welcome, cheers!!!

[RickyS]

That's a great golem, it looks a lot better now! A stone version would be cool too!

I still don't know much about value and contrast myself so unfortunately I can't give you specific advice (it'll probably be misleading), but there are some things you can read to learn about it yourself from people who know what they're talking about.

The first one is from a thread I made yesterday which I got awesome advice from Tim Dose. If you read his first post he talks about how value works in the real world and how our eyes see light. It'll probably take you a while to understand what he's saying, but when you do you will understand value a lot better. I also recommend reading his other post and doing further research on the topics he mentions (Munsell color system, Lab, chroma, etc.) It's important to understand how color works as a whole. I'll link you other useful resources you can refer to at the end of this post, but here is my thread. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=191632)


The second thing you should read is a tutorial by LINRAN on light and color. I found this tutorial when I was trying to make sense of Dose's posts and it was awesome because the information was similar to Dose's. The visuals help too, especially the very first on realistic values and the last two about saturation. Here's the link. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=148355)

Apart from those two golden reads here are the other resources I found useful which you should refer to (huevaluechroma.com especially):
http://www.huevaluechroma.com/index.php
http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color3.html#paintvalue - this one is a long read, you don't have to read everything
http://www.colourphil.co.uk/lab_lch_colour_space.html - just talks about the lab color space, I dunno if that helps you
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munsell_color_system - maybe this will help you understand color theory more?

Sorry for spamming you with links (it'll probably take a long time to read through them, haha), but even if you know some of this stuff already you might have false assumptions of it like I did which need to be unlearned. Learning color theory is pretty crazy, but once you take the time to learn, it starts to make more sense.

Now that's all the help I can give to you because I need to work on this stuff as well, but hopefully you'll find those links more useful than a critique that could be misleading.

[Fiddzy]

Wow, seriously wow, RickyS these links are awesome. I really appreciate you not only checking back, but also providing these really helpful links concerning Colour theory and lighting contrast.
I am definitely going to find the time to properly sit down and read through all of these and take notes. Digital rendering is still something I know I could greatly improve upon, especailly lighting.

Again a serious thank you for taking the time to post these. Cheers!

Quadruple Thumbs up!!!!!!!

[prsnsweeney]

wow those animal studies and skull studies are awsome but the thing i think is really cool is the creature you made using your studies nice rendering on it and the last one really looks nicely polished my only crit would be in post 97 you have your creature in its environment and it adds to the creature makes so you can almost believe it exists but the other ones you just have it on a dark background and i think if you put them into a believable invironment it would add even more to your designs

[Fiddzy]

prsnsweeney: Thanks for the crit, will defiantly look into adding environments into my designs, and I completely agree that if done right they can really add to the scene, and the character themselves.

Here's the initial sketch for my next design, the as promised Stone Golem.
Again like the last, with this pieces rendering I will focus on lighting and contrast, hoping to continue to push towards more three-dimensional renders.
Cheers.

[RickyS]

This design is cool too. I like the influence of Greek columns in his legs and the heads. :) I think it adds something special to the design because the viewer can relate to it, so that was a smart choice. Good luck with your rendering.

[Fiddzy]

RickyS: Thanks again dude, happy to hear you noticed the Greek influences. :) Good luck with your renders also.

Before I start the initial render work for my Stone Golem, I wanted to get this new third and less serious Golem design out of my head and onto paper, the Rubber Golem! Which I will start to render alongside the other over the next couple of days.

What do you Think?

[RickyS]

Haha, love those rubber ducks. That's a humorous design. :P

[Fiddzy]

Decided to start on the Rubber Golem rendering first, as I feel its focus on a fewer colours may be more beneficial with helping tackle lighting contrast rendering, particularly highlights.
Here are two very early WIP's, of my progression so far, where I am starting to build up the darker tones first.

[Tom Fenton]

i love rubber golem! hes so smexy!! do bluey see-throughish head

[Fiddzy]

Tom Fenton: Thanks for the comment, much appreciated.


So much for this being a quick and easier render, lol, seems to be taking forever.
So here's a quick progression WIP, been cleaning up the original pencil lines to remove the mucky green bleed it was creating, which I think has really helped bring out the rubbery yellows.
Finished piece should be coming soon... render, render, render.

Cheers.

[Fiddzy]

Finally finished the Rubber Golem, what do you guys think? Hopefully the colour/lighting rendering is improving.
Now to go back and look at that Stone Golem design....

[HAJiME]

Rather interesting and vile looking creatures in here.

Rubber ducky guy is rather amusing. I'm not keen on the redness of the head but I have appaulign sense of colour so ignore me. The stupidity of the ducks faces and the odd pair of sunglasses is really neat.

[ColorExcursion]

HAHAHA, LOVE the rubber golem idea

[Fiddzy]

HAJiME: Thanks for the comment much appreciated, glad you noticed the sunglasses. Also I very much doubt that you have an appalling sense of colour judging by your awesome avatar :D although I agree that it dose look very red.

ColorExcursion: Cheers dude, very much appreciated!!

Here's the first WIP of the rendering phase of my Stone Golem design....

[Fiddzy]

Right, its time to wake up from a drawing hibernation and get myself back into gear. Especially after these past two months where I just have not been able to find the time work on anything, something I really regret as I LOVE drawing.

So lets try again, and finish this Golem...

[Fiddzy]

Here's an anatomy study of the skull from an ancient synapsid known as a Dimetrodon.

[ThomasM]

NICE dimetrodon study - dinosaurs are something I have never really considered drawing but now you mention it I really should give it a go - looks great. The study is really paying off, and I see its 1 year since you created your portfolio so congrats on that!

[Fiddzy]

ThomasM - Thanks for taking the time to check out my SB and portfolio. Love yours also btw.
Personally I love drawing Dinosaurs, particularly their skulls and skeletons as I find them extremely useful references for a range of creature designs, especailly Dragons. Whats also cool about them is that aside from their fossils there's no right or wrong way to draw them, so working from the skeleton up really helps give you an understanding of how a creature should look and feel, and how whats on the inside can effect the creatures external appearance (hope that makes sense). Thanks again!

New work on the way....

[Fiddzy]

Here's another study of a Tree Frog. Its not a perfect study, and I feel its a bit... cluttered (if that makes any sense) and flat. Anyways enjoy.

[HAJiME]

Awesome studies. Love the dimetrodon.

[Fiddzy]

Was not happy with the hair or chin, although not done one of these in a LONG time.
Got a new Creature illustration in the works, took far longer to render than initially planned.

[ThomasM]

My main crit for the frog study, which incidentally I really like, is to break up the outline a bit if you can. Any strong fixed shape outline serves to flatten an image for the eye. Avoid solid outlines of the same width and darkness as in real life this never occurs for a complex 3-d form. Sometimes the line will fade to nothing and sometimes it will be broader and darker.

Hope that helps. The dimetrodon study is great btw

[ThomasM]

My main crit for the frog study, which incidentally I really like, is to break up the outline a bit if you can. Any strong fixed shape outline serves to flatten an image for the eye. Avoid solid outlines of the same width and darkness as in real life this never occurs for a complex 3-d form. Sometimes the line will fade to nothing and sometimes it will be broader and darker.

Hope that helps. The dimetrodon study is great btw

[towy]

your work is creative Fiddzy ! keep it up

[Fiddzy]

ThomasM: Thanks for the useful crit dude, I understand what you mean and do agree that the Frog sketch doselook relatively flat. I will work on this in later sketches. Thanks again.

towy: Thanks for the comment and checking out my SB.

Here's (Finally) the finished render of my Rock Golem. A picture I originally started last year and shelved for several months.
Crits welcome!

[alexson]

Really great pencil stuff! I like it alot. The other stuff too :) All i can say is keep up the good work!

[Fiddzy]

Small updates...

1. Pot creature. Part jelly, part creature, part terracotta.
2. Phoenix rough sketch. Messed up the feet, but was a speed drawing done for a friend.

[Fiddzy]

Decided to dust off my old Bridgman book and take a recap lesson on drawing hands. Alas, I would have drawn more if only my last remaining clicky pencil had not clicked its last click... maybe I should not have wasted lead on that ant.

Anyways, Enjoy!!!

[Fiddzy]

Here are some more Bridgman anatomy studies. Will begin moving onto direct observations of these areas soon.
Feedback welcomed. Thanks