Dsmith's Sketchbook(mostly freelance stuff these days)

[MyioDeSopsia]

Lovely weapon designs, the bottom of the frayed cloth in your latest image comes across really well. That 3d tank on the other page is pretty damn awesome, especially considering how detailed it is. You seem to have a pretty good understanding of figures and have great character designs, but they're mostly in black and white. Maybe work with color some more, perhaps even do some color studies from observation. I think this could yield some good results.

[Zazerzs]

Hiya DSmith.

Good stuff.

So who is this guy you are concepting? Is he a bad ass warrior or a sword model? Is he about to kill someone or is he walking down a runway? Did he superglue that necklace to his peck? The way he is walking would not cause his necklace to swing that much.

Why does he have two swords? Why does he have a headband? Why are his lower arms wrapped like a mummy? If he is walking toward the screen why is his skirt blowing in-front of his legs?


Why,Why,Why ect these are the questions you have to be asking yourself when coming up with a concept. Are they good choices, is there a better choice? does it make sense? does it strengthen or weaken the point you are trying to get across? Push it, make it stronger.

[teapo]

sweet character update Dsmith~ dual swords is always a win in my book :D actually.. dual wielding in general is just a win. haha. enjoying the tablet pc?? (^-^d) keep updating!!

[DSmith]

Sorry guys,I am very tired so individual replies tomorrow!
Another update,the chest starts to look O.K. but the rest of the character is shit.The face,the clothing,the swords,all of these need a lot of work...tomorrow evening is the deadline so I guess I'll have to work all day long...But rendering is actually quite a lot of fun when you start to get it!
Cheers!

[LordVenom]

Man i really dig your linework. I dunno why but i always had a hard on for line art, and your stuff looks great. Your values are pretty good as well, loved to see the progress on this last guy. And be sure to post more 3D work when you get any done, because i adored that space ship of yours :)

[Naidy]

Hello hello!
I'm loving the weapon designs and the torso you did up there looks quite realistic(Though I think that perhaps his torso is a little short compared to his legs? I'm not sure), I see loads of improvement though so the studies are definitely paying off - don't forget to keep them up though.

[DSmith]

Whew,I'm back!I was on vacation on the past weeks,and after I arrived home,I went to do some summer jobs.So the replies:

@Naidy:Thank you!The torso might seem short because of the clothing I guess.And yeah,I've been really lazy with studies lately,gonna do more of them in the future!
@LordVenom:Thanks man!I'll get into 3D(digital sculpting in particular)in the near future,I'm really interested in that stuff,and it seems fun!
@Teapo:Thanks!Yeah,the tablet pc is a lot of fun,but it takes some time to get used to it,because there is no keyboard,so no hotkeys!
@Zazerzs:You're right,I wasn't thinking enough about the concept,but luckily it turned out fairly plausible(at least for me)...Gonna pay more attention to it the next time!
@MyioDeSopsia:Thanks!Yeah,colour is something I definitely wanna get into sooner or later(maybe sooner lol),but I think that I should nail values and rendering in B&W first,and then move onto colour.

So,I'm very tired(as usual)today,and I'll scan the stuff worth showing tomorrow!
I tried myPaint,it's really awesome despite being opensource,it's good for traditional media paintings/drawings,so I quickly made some crappy drawings from mind to have at least one picture in this comment :P

Cheers!

[Aquaticdog]

wow, you've improved so much from your last post. Gives me inspiration to continue :D

[DSmith]

@Aquaticdog:Thanks!

Damn,I'm so fucking lazy!Gah!Gonna update daily from now on,promise!
Not much for today,doggeh in mypaint for a friend(many parts are rushed,gotta learn to be more patient...).Mypaint is such an amazing software,I've been using it instead of PS,it's really great!Try it,you'll like it for sure!!

Cheers!

[DSmith]

Character concept,very WIP:

[garryjeamess]

the images what you kept is exactly grate & completely innovative in look ,i am very much interested in 2D & 3D, the information provided by you regarding 2D & 3D,is knowledge based, let me know more about 2D & 3D, would you please provide more information on this ??

[teapo]

great updates DSmith! this whole myPaint thing is making me want to try it out.. at first those last few images seemed traditional but I guess myPaint is really good at mimicking traditional tools? :D keep it up my friend~

[DSmith]

@teapo:Thanks!Yeah,mypaint is focusing on emulating traditional media,and its really good at it!
@garryjeamess:Sorry man,but I don't know what do you mean,please explain a bit better!

[shambok]

Lovely studies ... really like what you do!

[DSmith]

@shambok:Thanks Man!

Continued the face from yesterday and made an even shittier one to top it off...

[pixel cheetah]

A Barcsay & Szunyoghy könyv is jó csak gyakoroljál sokat ;) Töltsd fel ide azokat a rajzokat is had lássuk! A rajzaid (festmények) jók de kisebb anatómiai pontatlanságok, bizonytalanságok vannak sok helyen.

Good job, keep it up! ;)

[CarlSpringer]

love the puppy and the variations on the face keep up the good work( try not to care to much about surface finish and just learn from the process)

[BluezAce]

Whoaaaaa!!! Long time no see, mate! :)

Congrats on your tablet! And nice on your character concept! Good job on the upper body, nicely done anatomy and the artwork looks sharp in this resolution. But I still couldn't catch the uniqueness or the "special point" of the character. Judging from his cloth and weapon, is he an assassin? But somehow bare-chested and bald character always remind me of barbarian character from Diablo II game. Do you want to make him a Chinese (judging from the hair and smooth face line), or a brutal and fierce fighter? Honestly I still couldn't get that information from the design...

Btw, is this just me or every post on your SB had some skull as the signature??

[DSmith]

Okay guys,I'll take off that "updated at least once a day" part of the title,I just do too much stuff in the summer to keep my promise...

@pixel cheetah:köszi,Szunyoghyból nem nagyon szoktam rajzolni,de mindig nyitva van az asztalomon hogyha valami nem tiszta anatómiai szempontból.Barcsay stílusát annyira nem szeretem,de neki is jó rajzai vannak amúgy.
Hát ja,sajna az anatómiai részben még elég sz@r vagyok,de talán ez idővel fejlődni fog:)

@CarlSpringer:Thanks man,I'll send you a mail soon!

@Yeah,long time no see :D
Oh there is nothing to congratulate on the tablet,it's just a tool :P when I can make cool art with it,then it'll be much better :D
Ur right about the design of the character,I think the main problem is that I referenced too much different photos,and it became a bit of a mess...I'll soon make a modelsheet nad an illustration for my client,I'll hopefully clean stuff up there!
I dunno about the skull tho :O I don't see skulls in the sig...

So a bit of an update here,I had a lot of problem with this one,I repainted it several times,but finally I got the values and proportions about right...2-3-4 hours...

I also found my favourite brush in Photoshop,it's one of the first 3-4 chalk brushes,the one with size 36 on default.Just turn on pressure on opacity,and it works like a charm!

[DSmith]

Sorry guys for the double,I couldn't edit the last one for some reason...
I forgot to say that I turned 16 about 2 months ago,I'll correct it in the first page of my sketchbook....

EDIT:LOL,I don't have a good memory,when I tried to edit it,I saw that I already did it about a month ago...:P

[hücumkedi]

brilliant! keep posting...need refed studies

[Zazerzs]

you gonna scan those SB pages in?

Start playing around with making brushes. Now that I know about it I always have my brush options open and do quick changes as I go.

[DSmith]

@hücumkedi:Thanks a lot!Yeah,reffed studies would be good for me,I just never find time to sit down and do a few...but I'll try!
@Zazerzs:Of course,here are the first few(I'll only scan a few pages per day,it takes an eternity to scan with this old piece of sh*t)You're right about the brush controls,I tried it out and it can be very helpful!

EDIT:these hand studies are about 2 months old,but I decided to scan in everything that I didn't scan yet.

[DSmith]

Okay,two versions,which one do u like?
Also,can anyone show me a good ref for wing structure?

[DSmith]

Okay a bit of progress with the chosen sketch...

[BluezAce]

Like the pose and the angle from the first one better. The upper body and head position is cool, looks menacing, but the legs position is still weird (or not dynamic enough maybe). I think it's better to spread the legs more so the figure looks more balanced, and spread the wings widely as if he try to "show-off" his wing (or just imagine about a cat when he's cornered, he'd try to make his body looks "bigger". Use the same principle for the figure:))

For the 2 months old drawings... I think by now you'd have been improved much in this 2 months, so I don't need to comment it hehehe :P

[DSmith]

@BluezAce:Yeah,I actually liked the first one as well,but it was for a friend/client,and he liked the second one,so I had to continue with that one...But I like the second one too,it's a pose that I've never done before,so it will be interesting....

BTW the client I'm talking about is Paul,the guy in one of the teams that I work with,I invited you to this team,I'm sure we'll have a lot of time concepting stuff! :D
Do you have an MSN account?If you have one,please write it to me in PM!(here is mine:ziphell2@freemail.hu)

[DSmith]

Okay,there is a storm around here,so I update while I can...Progress,I haven't used any ref yet,so I guess there are a lot of mistakes...I'll finish the block-in first and then use some ref to finish it off...

[DSmith]

Moar progress...

[MyioDeSopsia]

I think it's really good that you're working on value so much. On your bird creature (which is awesomely badass btw) the work seems to have paid off. Good anatomy on it too. My stuff always feels so low contrast, so this is inspiring me to get my values down too!
let's see more progress!

[DSmith]

MyloDeSopsia:Thanks man!Yeah,handling value+color at once is a bit hard for me,so I decided that I nail down values first,and then move on to colour...I think that I'll try doing colour pieces around the end of September...
And low contrast isn't always a problem,sometimes you need to knock down things a bit to make the painting more lifelike.

[DSmith]

Gah,I think I'm developing a phobia for plain gray and withe backgrounds,it's just so booring...So I decided to take this one to more of an illustrational state,we'll see how it turns out..And also,I can't really figure out wing structure...gonna have to look at more reference for that...

[Klaus Reinbach III]

plain gray and white is booring? =) You can do so much with it! *grin* and it sure pay off for you. The last one is quit nice! But you can get a bit more life into it if you take light into the shadows. It also helps to get the booring side away a bit.

Keep up the good work and have fun!

KR3

[DSmith]

@Klaus Reinbach III:oh,I didn't mean grayscale is boring,just the plain colour background :D
I'll try to add a more realistic and interesting lighting to the painting,thanks for the suggestion!

[Klaus Reinbach III]

Hahaha, ok then I just misunderstand it a bit ;).
I love gray too! White to black is the best! For me at least.

[DSmith]

Yeah,grayscale is cool!(altho I enjoy colour a bit more,but it's much harder to do :P)

[DSmith]

Okay,last update for today...(I don't get it...when I promise that I update everyday,I don't,yet when I don't promise anything ,I can update daily...strange :P)

[BluezAce]

Life's mysterious, man. You don't know when you'd be able to update hehehe :P

Hmmm... Love this one turned to! Nice atmosphere with the background, kinda "mysterious". Have some good flow with the wings too. Honestly, I prefer this way than if you really render the wings clearly (maybe). The strokes really convey movement :)

[Bombur]

Hey man, you're doing some good stuff. On the last one, you should keep your strongest highlights on the areas the closest to the light source or the focal point. (Around his head/chest) and have them gradually fade away. Your painting starts to look flat if all your highlights have the same intensity all over his body. Hope that made sense, you can ignore it if it doesn't D:. I did a quick sloppy paintover to show what I mean.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll260/Gebobus/Art/2.jpg

[Kenz]

Hey man, love your stuff, you are amazing for your age! Do more traditional stuff (pencils and pen) for me cause I love them the most! :D

[DSmith]

@Kenz:Thanks man!
@Bombur:Thanks for the advice!Yeah,yo've got to be really careful with highlioghts!And thanks for taking the time for the paintover!
@BluezAce:Thank you!(BTW,we'll organize a meeting soon with Paul,I'll contact you with the details!)

Whoah,these days have been crazy!
Soo,I kinda finished it,I got a little advice from Steven Stahlberg,and I must say that I am enlightened in a lot of areas!I'm probably gonna do an hour or two of little detailing and stuff,but you get the big picture:
Also made a quick sloppy HD background,gonna spend more time on that too...

[BluezAce]

Steven Stahlberg? @,@

Nice stuff, mate! I see you detailed the body and made few changes. The figure now appear in a more tough frame (well, looks really like a fighter to me rather than a chronicler). The hands are better and looks more solid with those "big glove" shapes. The wings are nice to, considering that you had no idea how to make wings before hehehe :P

The left wing still a bit weird though where the wing folded (the part where the inner wing get covered by the outer). And just personal taste, I like the previous wings and the "atmosphere" before it changed (the previous version looks stealthy and nimble, the new one looks tough and sturdy). But overall the last one is much better work than before hohoho :D

P.S: Okay, I'll be waiting for the next meeting!

[DSmith]

@BluezAce:google Steven Stahlberg,he's one of the greatest artists today,and he's really helpful with newbies too!
Yeah,a lot of things changed in the concept,and I'll make some changes according to yours and Paul's suggestions,so we can all be happy with it :D
Most of the changes are to enchance the composition,but I'll do a clean concept without the enviro anyway,so you can clearly see all the muscles and stuff!

[DSmith]

Well,I guess it is finished...I'll add color later,but I want to move on to something different now(also I have to do a character modelsheet with a pretty tight deadline)

EDIT:Nope,some stuff bout the wing really bother me....gonna spend some more time on that...

[DSmith]

Okay,last udate...I'm still not happy with some stuff,but I'll put it aside,and come back a month later,and maybe I can improve certain parts...

[DSmith]

Some half hour watercolor portraits..Fun stuff to do!(but a lot messier than digital..:P)

[QuickClawSamurai]

This is some cool stuff man! There's definitely a difference between your earlier work and your stuff now. Keep it up!

[Novbert]

Nice work on that birdy guy, man! His right wing looks a bit strange though. I guess we shouldn't see the back of it from this point of view. Or the upper and lower contour should hit the left contour in a more angular way (if it makes sense). Other than that - great stuff. I'd love to see it colored (even if subtly).

[raminafshari]

impressive creature , try to color them they must become more interesting

[Faharis]

Wow!

Scrolling through the first page and then jumping straight to page ten gave me quite a shock. I had to double check to see if it was the same person drawing.

Very impressive :)

[DSmith]

@Faharis:Thanks a lot!:D
@raminafshari:thanks,yeah I feel that colour is really needed in my pieces,so I'll definitely do my next illus in color!
@Novbert:Hmm,thanks for mentioning that!I don't think I'll colour this one soon,maybe a month later,but I will do it sometime,since it won't take that long...
@QuickClawSamurai:Thanks!

Sorry guys,school is already killing me(altho it only started one week before),I have less and less time to draw which is really sad(I can only draw for 2-3 hours a day+doodling at school)...but I try to draw as much as I can,here are some stuff I've been working on,there are some traditional paintings I've been working on too,I began planning a huge(A2)fantasy enviro painting to have something put on my wall..
My main inspiration for it is the amazing work of John Howe's watercolor paintings,I'm gonna try watercolor as well,it's gonna be fun for sure!

Well,that's it,I have an assignment(an Illus to be precise)to work on,updates on that soon!

Cheers!

[shambok]

always awesome to pop in here and see some new updates ... I really like the character devs you posted ... the birdie dude ended up looking amazing ... great work!

[DSmith]

@Shambok:Thanks dude,your stuff is awesome too!

Quick gouache abstraction for today...I've got the epic fantasy landscape in a2 size planned out,now i'm practicing the technique,mixing paint etc. on small,quick pieces,so I can get ready for the big one!Soo excited!
Cheers!

[DSmith]

Another quick update,got the proportions and basic stuff blocked in with the modelsheet...finishing tomorrow!

[Pixelwalker]

Hey dude! :D

I would suggest to do a few still lifes to get the feeling for different materials.

But anyway! GReat work, go on :>

[DSmith]

@Silwynar:thanks a lot!:D

[xxPurple Nugxx]

OMG! I haven't been to your sketchbook in forever, and you have improved so fucking much its not even funny. Man if you could give me some tips about digital painting in my sketchbook that would be awesome!

[fernandoart]

Hey, nice character designes.. can't wait to see what you're planning for your fantasy enviro....

Keep posting those doodles man, they're awesome!

[DSmith]

@xxPurple Nugxx:Thanks dude! :D
@fernandoart:Thanks man,updates on the enviro soon!

Got tired of studying for school,so I continued the modelsheet and painted something that started out as a Bridgman study and evolved into this(50 min):

[monsi]

the turn around is looking good :). I'm not sure what the goal was for that arm study, but the detail is making the muscle groups disappear and losing the solidity of the form.

keep it up!

[DSmith]

@Monsi:Yeah,it's just kind of a doodle,I wanted to do some mindless rendering to ease off the stress coming from all the school stuff...It did the job,altho it doesn't look to good. :)

[Brahimpag]

great the last updates

how old r u now ? :D

keep drawing man

[DSmith]

@Brahimpag:Thanks man!I'm 16 right now!

[DSmith]

Here's a pretty lame update,just wanted to post something...enviro doodle thingy,I think I'll continue it,I like the snowy theme,and I didn't paint anything involving snow yet,so it'll be a good practice...

[DSmith]

Some more progress,I expanded the canvas a bit,and I did a lot of repainting(hours and hours of trial-and-error experimenting,but I learnt a lot,so it was worth it...),so I didn't progress much with the details,but I've got the basic stuff down now,onto the fun part,rendering and detailing!:D

[Jonathan C]

its looking good. try pushing the light source more.

[DSmith]

@Jonathan C:Thanks for the advice!Yeah,now the image is pretty bland,I'll try to add more depth to it!

[DSmith]

More progress,I'm struggling with a lot of stuff here(atmospheric perspective,contrast, rendering etc.),but I'm gonna complete this to the best of my ability,time isn't an object here,I wan't to push it as far as possible,and see my limits,because I'm gettiing close to the 1 year anniversary of my art studies,and I wanna see all the improvement:D

[DSmith]

Progress...

[Pixelwalker]

Hey dude! :)
Lst piece is already looking great.
For the last touch, how about a few snowflakes?
And bääm! Awesome picture! :D

Greetings, Sil

PS: *whisper* keep it up!

[DSmith]

@Silwynar:Thanks!I'm actuallyfar-far away from the final touches,this is gonna be a trailer for a game at Vertalex studios,the image will be 4k(4096 px wide) resolution,so I'm gonna have to detail the crap outta it...Gonna be fun tho!:D

[Brahimpag]

nice updates , D.Smith :D

[DSmith]

@Brahimpag:Thanks dude!:D

[Soultek]

Thanks for the sketchbook comment, i'm glad you like my work. Your sketchbook is coming along very nicely. I see so much improvement since your first post in such a short amount of time! Your last environment painting is looking great. Keep at it and looking forward to seeing more!

[DSmith]

@Soultek:Thanks man,your artwork kicks(my) ass!:D

It's render time biatch!!!:swepimp:

So,I think the basic layout is finally done,I'm sure that I'll change the architecture a few times,but I like this one better than the yesterday version...
I also started detailing,attached a detail shot as well,'bout 50% work done,and it took 50 minutes....this is gonna be my longest project so far,I hope it'll be worth my time!
Also,I'm thinkin of adding some warm lights to somewhere in the scene,maybe to the gates,to have a focus point and some warm/cold contrast...

[Broewer]

hi, sup. That last environment painting is niiiice :).it's looking good. keep on goin.

[DSmith]

@Broewer:Thanks,appreciate it!

Another start from scratch,at least regarding to the rocky landscape...
I like the overall picture better,we'll see where I'll get to with this one..

[SekuDanba]

There's some talent in here, DSmith.
It just needs to be nutured I think. I know life-drawing is complicated because you haven't reach college level art classes, and have been in a studio with nude models(or have you?)
But you can do life drawing with clothed people too. This can help you develop a skill at both rendering body parts and cloth/material.

Another thing, when I looked at some of your drawings and stuff, I couldn't shake the feeling that your faces were squished. I used to have this problem when I was your age, it takes alot of practice to balance large/small scale for portraiture.

I think you should pick up some reading material to study, and you can get them for free off the internets.
Loomis, Andrew - http://alexhays.com/loomis/
Bridgman, George - Pretty much anything on this page you can study: http://processjunkie.blogspot.com/2007/09/best-figure-drawing-books-ever.html
Probably need to study some color theory as well, this is good for painting and will help you greatly: http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Color/ColorTheory/

Looking forward to see you grow your style, for I can already see the seeds of creativity growing, as they say.

[BludHund]

Hey DSmith, you're another guy around here with way too much skillz for your age :D

One thing I noticed in general: Don't over-render every single detail and wrinkle. The main thing is not to shade every muscle
and ridge as if it were an object unto itself. That totally flattens out the form. Its also distracting to the eye, and weakens
the impact of your image.

You've got a very good grasp of value relationships, your studies from ref show this. Do some studies of real-life simple
objects, using a desk lamp or sunlight, right in front of you IRL. Pay close attention to the way that the light and shade
describe simple forms. When you apply this to your creative work, your paintings will skyrocket in their effectiveness.

---

On that "Legends of the Realm" piece, you definitely showed that over-rendering problem. You gradually corrected this
to some degree, adding lighting to the main forms, but its better to start with the main scheme of light and dark, then
add details and rendering. Especially since you really don't need to render the darkened side nearly so much.

---

There's also another problem this piece demonstrates. It changed and evolved way too much from the first sketch to the
finished piece. Especially the silhouette. The silhouette is hugely important and you want to nail that from the beginning.
Only alter it if you changed your mind about how the image should look.

The end result still turned out badass, but maybe it could have been better. If you show an initial sketch to a client or
art director, and then your final image changes radically, you're not really delivering what you promised.

One thing you can do to improve your process is not use such thick dark strokes in your initial sketch. Another thing is
to do a set of thumbnails. Not only to get some ideas, but also to work out your value distributions and your silhouette.

---

This environment looks super super great. The colors and values are a bit muddy, but I don't necessarily have a problem with
that, it gives the scene an overcast mood. If that's what you're aiming for, good. At any rate, you pushing yourself on a single
image like this will help you to grow hugely.

keep it up!

[BluezAce]

As I said yesterday: "You've improved so much!" :P

[DSmith]

Sorry guys,I'm in a bit of a hurry now,replies later!

So,I'm not able to post any more of this winter scene,as it's going to be part of the trailer,so it's "top secret" right now...I'll sketch and study some tomorrow,I'll defo post those!

[BluezAce]

Can't wait to see the trailer! ;p

Oh yeah, I'm having real harsh time in life right now, and it's hard to keep contact with Paul and finding time to have a meeting. Not that I want you to make excuse for me, but at least you'd have something to say if Paul ask something :(

[DSmith]

Hey guys,just wanted to show that I'm still living,unfortunately I can't show most of the work that I did in the past weeks just yet,but here is a commission I did for Knightvision Games(I'll do 5 more for them this week):


I'll reply to everyone soon,but I'm dead tired right now,sorry:(

[DSmith]

Finally,some time to reply!:D

@BluezAce:Sure man,I've told Paul,he said it's allright,we'll wait for you:)

@SekuDanba:Thanks for the advice!You're right,I haven't taken life drawing classes yet,I really want to,but there is no such opportunity nearby:(

@BludHund:Thanks for all the tips!Yeah,over rendering and just bad rendering are really big problems for me,I've gotta study light a lot more...And the other problem is changing the composition radically over time as you mentioned,I have to overcome that somehow(thumbnails are a good idea)!

Here are some stuff from the last few days,hope u like them!

Cheers!

[Jetle]

i love that... pompompom... forgot the right english word for it, let's call it landscape (:
and it is funny too see how much you've improved =D (gosh still don't know if it is good english...)
awesome<3

(the landscape was on page eleven i guess)

[DSmith]

@Jetle:Thanks a lot!Don't worry,your english is fine!:D

[DSmith]

Here is some quick torso anatomy practice(no ref)&character concept,gonna finish it off this weekend:

[DSmith]

Some ideations for ManikeMusic:

[LordVenom]

I really like the character design you made during the last post and the scenery painting impressed me a lot. I would love to see more of those!

[CarlSpringer]

u are amazing sooo much improvement

[DSmith]

@CarlSpringer:Thanks a lot dude!
@LordVenom:Thanks!I'm gonna do some more enviros soon!

I haven't been to the sketchbooks of both of you in while,so I'm gonna check your art tomorrow!:)

Here are some new stuff,a line sketch of a painting I'm gonna do for my portfolio,and two pieces that I just got the permission to post.Enjoy:)

[CarlSpringer]

you improvement is amazing i really think you just put pointless images as your first page but secretly you was already amazing. the improvement gap is gigantic. and im 16 and look at me 2 you damn

[DSmith]

@CarlSpringer: Dude,relax!:D
I just spend a lot of my time doing or thinking about art,and I had to sacrifice a lot for it...My grades at school are getting worse,I have significantly less time to spend with friends...there is always another side of the coin.
I still didn't lose any of my friends,so I was lucky I guess...But seriously,you have to put your heart and soul to your art,and be strict with yourself(like try to avoid the "meh,I'll do it tomorrow" stuff,those are really bad for your health!:) )!

And besides,I still have a lot to improve on,I have hundreds of bad sketches just like everyone else,I'm just not showing them...:P
So,enjoy what you do,and don't EVER give up!!

BTW we should do a sketchbook link exchange in our signatures...deal?:)

[CarlSpringer]

keep posting lol your my inspiration to do more

[DSmith]

@CarlSpringer:
Thanks again,keep up the hard work dude!

[DSmith]

Just a quick sketch...

[BluezAce]

Whoaaa... Yet again, you show me stunning artwork on post #338 and #341!!

But is it just me or I feel that your "better work" is mostly in landscape stuff hehehe... :p


And for crit, I see some place you need to improve from the previous sketch, which is the anatomy. I think the anatomy sketch still losing the "main mass" or the basic form(eg. arm's main mass is cylinder). The muscles still feel like they were "paste" into the drawing. Remember, muscle is secondary mass and it should enhance the readability of the main mass, not defeat it.

Check some Hogart's book (okay, it's ugly. But it teach well about form/mass) or Kevin Chen/KChen demo on internet (he break down the anatomy into more analytical and simple form so we could learn much better) :)


P.S: One day please make some video demo/recording of your landscape painting. I'm curious about your work flow and maybe I could learn much from it :D

[DSmith]

@BluezAce:Thanks dude!
Yeah,anatomy is always my Achilles' heel...:P
Thanks for the tips,I'll check out Kevin Chen's work!

Here is a portfolio piece WIP,a Dino...

[DSmith]

Just got a new client,here is a crest design made for him:

[DSmith]

Here is the finished dinosaur concept,although I might make some small changes later...

[DSmith]

A head design for Flaming Brain Studios...The first time I painted skin in colour,and it was HARD :P
I resisted to use a colour picker on other images and picked my own palette,and it felt a lot better than "cheating" :)
Its getting kinda lonely here,crits and comments appreciated!:D

[DSmith]

Here are nine crest designs,70 more to go...

[CarlSpringer]

your improvement is phenomenal!

so much and i would just say keep studying anatomy and the face e.g the planes and bones

[DSmith]

@CarlSpringer:Thanks dude!I'll follow your advice and do some anatomy studies in the future!

8 more crests(just the linework right now),and 2 quick torso studies for tuday...

[DSmith]

Not much for today,just a quick sketch inspired by Assassin's Creed 2...might continue it and make a fan art of some kind...

[DSmith]

5 more crest designs and 3 song artworks for ManikeMusic...(note:the one with the eye is mostly photomanipulation!)

[DSmith]

Lets face it,my anatomy and rendering suck,so I started doing an arm study in colour to practice these stuff,more updates on it will come later!
The other one is just a poster I had to do for school...

[Adevila]

Hey dude, thanks for commenting on my sketchbook. Your progress is really inspiring. I really wish I would have started when I was younger. Im already 20. What you said about giving some stuff up to find time for art resonates with me. Only advice I have for your work is to keep up keep it up. Good job getting lots of commissions and work.

[DSmith]

@Adevila:Thanks dude,appreciate it!

[DSmith]

3 more crest designs:

[DSmith]

A bit late with this,but Merry Christmas everybody!

I did a zombie concept for a client,then coloured it for fun and made a little poster :D(BTW ShadowBlade Studios will be the name of my upcoming "studio" website(just to look more professional lol ) )

[Lightmode108]

holy crap man you got so much better!!!keep up the good work man =D

[ThomasM]

wooow man you have improved loooooads! Really impressed by that, you have obviously been working hard.

Nothing to crit at all as you seem to be far more professional than myself, but keep on working away and merry christmas!

[DSmith]

Thanks guys,much appreciated!

[DSmith]

BTW here is the first sketch of the zombie dude if soemone's interested:
Also,his name is Frank.

[shiNIN]

Why of course, I for one love to see the sketch the final result evolved from... Especially beginners may have lose some yummy details in the process... But I'm a sucker for nice sketches anyway, even my standards are lower when it's about sketches...

I didn't see all your stuff in your SB yet, just the first few pages and the last one, you're improved, well it's what one expects if someone practices :D

I'll come again when I will have more time.

[stezsen]

Whoa! You are really great!
I love your finished pics.

[DSmith]

Thanks guys!:D

[Black Spot]

Great to see someone so young working so hard. The improvement from the beginning of your SB is pretty good. I'd like to see some still lives thrown in there as well.

[LtPlissken]

Novbert gave you the best advices and reviews in your sketchbook.
Shame that he is not posting anymore. I miss him.
I would just like to quote two of the older messages that has been
posted earlier in your sketchbook and one of those is from Kan Muftic;

- go easy with your pencil pressure to avoid the mess and get the forms right
- when studying Bridgman, try to really understand what he is showing and try rendering; you will be amazed how much more you'll get involved
- go to your local coffee shop and draw people standing in the line, waiting in the queue
- do the same with people around you everywhere
- practice simple perspective tasks with cubes, cones and pyramids
- draw chairs. yes, chairs. they must be one of the best exercises for perspective and proportion
- environments are best dealt with a little bit of a slow start: paint small thumbnails of simple landscapes and try to match colors by NOT color picking them from the photo; this made me get a grip of them
- try not to paint flat, straight on views but move "camera" up and down, do strange angles

the second post is from Novbert;
the one thing that disturbs me is the extensive usage of Bridgman. Maybe it's just me, but I found his books a very poor source of reference material - most of his drawings are between crappy and totally unreadable (not to mention that he never really describes how he builds up those - often really complex - bodyparts). Maybe you should consider spicing up your schedule with studies from more masters. Loomis, Bammes, Hogarth and many more offer learning materials of a much better quality than Bridgman.


huh I am so happy that I have found this post of his today, that proves
that I am not the only one who thinks that about Bridgeman.

Anyway, your improvements are just amazing in less then one year,
and you are only 16. Enjoyed going through your sketchbook.
Will try to follow.

[DSmith]

Thanks Black Spot!Yeah,still lives are something I always should do but I never get to doing them...I promise,I'll do some this week!

LtPlissken:Thanks for quoting the advice,I forgot about some of those points:)
I don't know about bridgman,I feel that his work helps me a lot,but hey,we are all different,so I have no problem if you have a different opinion:)
Again,thanks a lot for taking the time to help,I appreciate it a lot!:)

Great news:I might be able to buy an Intuos3 A5 Wide for $200 next week,finally I can try out the size that almost everyone says is the best!

[shiNIN]

Yay :D I got much better with my uncontrollable lines when I got used to my Intuous3 A4 Oversize :D It's huge and unbelievably better quality than my old Wacom. It was a pain to draw with my old tablet (my hands are clumsy unlike most people who draws, I guess), it's a different world with my new one :)
I personally like Bridgman because I find his drawings attractive. It's a very important thing to me. His anatomy drawings are impressive and I'm sure it can help a lot because he uses exaggerated angular muscles :D I think one should use other sources too but nothing wrong with Bridgman. I personally avoid Hoggarth because I dislike that unrealistic style. You should find your own way to learn. There are some rules but there are some who break them and get away with it and become great.

[DSmith]

Yeah.in A6 size you mostly use your wrist,so sometimes its kinda hard to get accurate lines.I'm defo looking forward to the A5 size!
I love Bridgman's drawings,the geometric breakdown he uses reads very clear for me,I find it extremely good for learning the big masses.
I don't like Hoghart's work either,its just really unrealistic so it's not my favourite.
Some books I like are Simblet's and Goldfinger's anatomy books,because of the handy photo references.You should check them out sometime!

[LtPlissken]

Hardly can wait to see the NEW stuff with
your NEW tablet.

[DSmith]

Thanks LtPlissken!Yeah,I've already sold my old one,and now I'm without a tablet and a scanner,so no updates for a few days:(
So here is a picture,as you can see there is no rubber on the grip pen,I'm gonna have to buy that thing,and then it'll be awesome!Can't wait till it gets here!
Also,Happy New Year everyone!(just in case I don't post anything till then)

[LtPlissken]

I would like to have a tablet like the one, you will going
to possess in a few days from now.
But being without a tablet currently is not
a reason for you not to post.
Graphite pencils sketches should be
already on their way here...

[DSmith]

You're right dude!
I really have to thank you for this,your comment made me start sketching today!:)
Also I fired up that old piece of shit...umm I mean scanner,so here are some pencil stuff,with screwed up contrast and whatnot,thanks to the scanner!
As you can see,I suck at faces,so I'm gonna practice just faces(and maybe some hands)till my tablet arrives.
And yeah,the skull is in negative,because negative is cool.
Might update once more today!

[LtPlissken]

Now that is what I am talking about.
Excellent job.

[I know about the scanner problem,
most of the time it takes a way much from
the drawing, that is why you should increase
its contrast with some photo editing software]

[CarlSpringer]

what intuos tablet is that and what size and love the skull almost looks like an xray :D

[DSmith]

Carlspringer:Thanks!It's an Intuos3 A5(the seller said it's Wide but I dunno looking at the photo)

LtPlissken:Thanks dude!And yeah,scanners suck...:P

[CarlSpringer]

how much was it just to ask

[DSmith]

$175(lucky,eh?)

[shiNIN]

It seems to me that's an A5 Wide... Its active space is almost half the size than the one of my tablet! :D
Yeah, lucky... My new pen was just a little less if I didn't make a mistake (one or two drops of soup ruined it... but the Classic pen is slimmer anyway, I love it :D)...
{A tabletem 120 ezer ft volt, de nagyon megérte... Szeretem, míg az előző kicsivel csak szenvedtem. Azért eltartott egy darabig, míg hozzászoktam. Nekem viszont sosem volt kézügyességem, kész csoda, hogy annyira tudok rajzolni, amennyire.}

That girl face has some charm :D My faces are usually too neutral, it's time to change that...
And skulls are lovable in almost any way and colors :D. Nice one.

[ezekrialase]

I've had the pleasure of looking through your sketchbook and you have some very good pieces here. I like your head studies also

[DSmith]

shiNIN:Thanks dude!Then you have an A4 right?
(én jól elvoltam az A6-ossal,de gondoltam kipróbálom a nagyobbat,hátha jobb lesz,meg hát ilyen olcsón azért nem lett volna érdemes kihagyni:D)

ezekrialase:Thanks a lot!

More heads...GAAAH I SUCK!(sorry for the upside down stuff,I just started drawing on the left side of the page and my hand would have smudged everything if I drew on the right,so I just flipped the sketchbook.)

[Animadvertistine]

Hey! I like your armor/robotic type drawings...!

[poetry man]

Hey DSmith! good improvements! your another guy with a dream! hey, aren't we all? lol..

anywayz. keep it going man! I would like to see more pencils yo. Might I suggest trying "blind contour drawing", that technique helped me get more fluid lines, better hand-eye coordination, and better line control overall.

peace.

[DSmith]

Animadvertistine:Thanks a lot,I love complex mechanic stuff etc. so I will defo draw a lot more of those in the future!

poetry man:Yeah,dreams keep me moving,I hope they don't crumble under me...I will do some more pencils and maybe some traditional gouache stuff these days,at least till I get my tablet.I will try blind contour drawing as well,thanks a lot for the suggestions!

[insanelight]

Hey, nice zombie concept (I'm talking about Frank...), I like the pose a lot!
Keep it up!

[ranunkel]

Thanks for stopping by my sketch book!
I like your skull:)
Keep up the good work on your face studies!

[DSmith]

insanelight:Thanks dude!Frank needs friends,looks like he got one!:D

ranukel:Thanks a lot!

[Parsakoira]

good looking studies! though i can tell that your head construction is off, some of the heads seems really awkward and out of perspective! more work and youll get there :P keep up!

[DSmith]

@parsakoira:yeah my heads are terrible,thanks for the critique!:)

I think I'm gonna do some Luis Royo studies tonight,I consider him one of the best old-school fantasy illustrators of all time,and he draws hot chicks too,so his work is ideal for studying!:D

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro

Looking really awesome, I like your imagination faces.. =)

Keep up the good work and have fun in 2011! =)

[LtPlissken]

I am also switching my sketchbook from time to time,
for not to smudge the graphite on the other side.
Good ideas, nice concepts, but they are flat.
Work on form and shading, so you can make them look
more 3D-ish.
Female head - too much space between the eyes
[except if it was intentionally done for the cartoon style].

I like Luis Royo, good choice for studying.

Keep fighting...

[pixel cheetah]

Awesome skull! The others already said all the good advice, so: keep it up!

[devastacio]

Hey there,

I nearly spent 1.5 hrs looking through your sb and let me say i simply enjoyed it a lot. You are good at doing mech and sci-fi stuff mate. It was so fun to observe how you improved since you started. i didnt try to go for a post-by-post critiques because i need more knowledge and experience to do it properly. But i simply like the way you use your imagination and i sense you have a really good chance to become a concept artist for games development.

Work more on your heads. They could use more detail. Also, try not to fall into generic solider/flying creature/magician type. Instead, work a lot on the concept itself to make it unique. I usually take lots of time building the concept in my thoughts and then doodle away till im happy. Sometime time is against us but when you do have time work on your concept till you get a solid design.

I was telling this to 'kungfoowiz' yesterday, pick up some fashion/hairstyle mags and do photo ref studies. The few i have done in my sb are all from a Hairstyle mag. Itll benefit you a lot.

When you do weapons n stuff think a lot about its functionality and design in a way that the design itself reflects the strong points of the weapon design. Choose which parts of the weapon needs heavy details and which does not. Ty to mention details to the viewers so that they'll understand the design better. Also, Try to do some in depth color study. Itll help you to present these 'super toys' better. Try to relate the characteristics of the color to the parts of weapon (specifically its functionality) or the creature as itll make your designs flourish.

As you mentioned in my sb, We definitely can work together and Plissken will be happy to hear that as well. I would love to operate as a team than going for a lone-wolf type of an artist. We can help each other and overcome the obstacles as we form a strong team. I head about this 'Team-Chow' thing as well. Maybe when ready we could give it a try as well. But itll take time coz i need to learn a lot before jumping in.

So, Keep up the good work mate and above all keep practicing a lot because theres so much room for you to improve. Ill visit you later to see more of your work. I wish you a Happy New Year. Have loads of fun mate :)


P.S. I rated your thread. 4 stars. will upgrade to 5 when you reach that level. Trust me, you still have a long way to go. so Take this as a huge encouragement and do some kick-a*s concepts to indulge us mate. :D

[BludHund]

Skull and torso from #377 look excellent.

Keep up the head and face studies, take your time and really push yourself!

[Black Spot]

Just don't give up on the pencil when your tablet arrives.

[BluezAce]

Hey, dude! Too busy with freelance task? Update your SB once in a while hahaha :P

[ladyknowles]

Shere badass work!

[dsacc]

Ooo, nice work so far. I look forward to seeing more!

[Bb3lla]

Gaaaaaargh! That zombie dude on the other page is really neat!

[Leroy Oosterling]

Nice work! Like your creature designs and as well as your use of textures.

[DeJakhalz]

Amazing improvements from page 1 dude!

As for advice: Maybe try to lose the comic style you got. It looks good, but it can work against you if you really want to improve in art.

And maybe check out some loomis books if you haven't already. Cause you are kinda making the same mistakes as I have in the past, and Loomis helped me a great deal!

Cheers

[FootstepsBeckon]

moar updates please.

[DSmith]

Aaaand I'm back!!!!!!!!!!Woooo!
Sorry for the looong hiatus,I was busy with school,work etc. and couldn't really work on my art,but now i'm back in the ring! :D
So here is a quick drawing of my gf,a bit cartoonised version:

[LtPlissken]

Well, let me be the first who will welcome you back.
Such a nice surprise on a nice day.
Hope that you will stay and will not disappear
suddenly this time.

[Tom Fenton]

come then buddy get back on it! lol

[SketchAlike]

Dude going through you sketchbook was a thrill. Your amazing!

[-D_art-]

very nice sketchbook man!!! really nice concepts and wonderfull improvement from page 1, keep posting!!

[Zenchi]

Just dropping in to show some love. Thanks for the comment on my sketchbook thread. Massive improvements here! I see it's been slow posting for you as well. Hope to see some additional updates. I'll try to do so as well in the coming weeks but you can always stay in touch and see WIPs on my Facebook. Have you done any traditional painting in the past 2 years? It would be awesome to see! Hope all is well!

[DSmith]

Damn it,I have no time for just about anything these days...but I'm trying to get back into the game,here are a few sketches,one of them is my very first CHOW entry!
I'll reply to you guys soon,I have a lot of catching up to do!