It crawled out of the desert one dark and lonely night

[Jephyr X]

So I've followed a common script on CA: Long time lurker, posting more recently...and have been blown away by the incredible art posted here...and encouraged by seeing the VAST improvement in sketchbooks over years of posting...and have finally decided to start my own SB.

I'll be posting some older pics (so you can see where i've been) with the new.

Just finished this portrait of Keira Knightley...created using Sketchbook Pro w/ a Wacom Intuos tablet.

You can see some of my process “steps” over at my blog.

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2010/Keira%20Knightley-500.jpg

[Jephyr X]

Two recent Sketchbook Pro efforts:

[Jephyr X]

A coupla old sketchbook pages...a study I kinda made my own from a Bill Bronson pic found in the drawing book Swords & Sorcery.

And Frank Frazetta study.

Both ink and Prisma-marker.

[Jephyr X]

Hi all,

It's raining in Phoenix...something we don't see often enough for my tastes.

Anyway...had a good day. Met with the department chair this morning to see what classes I need to finish for my associates degrees.

At first, when I started back to school I took a bunch of Maya animation classes...and then after a bit...went over to the fine art department and have been taking classes there.

Two teachers had told me recently that the school was now no longer offering a 3D animation degree. But I researched the catalog and thought I could still be "grandfathered" in.

Initially, it seemed the chair was also suggesting that I couldn't still get a animation degree...but I persisted a bit...and YES...I have enough core classes to qualify under an old catalog.

So now I need to decide if I wanna take some extra required classes to get the full degree. Otherwise I'm well on my way to getting an Associates of Fine Art and Digital art and a certificate for animation.

I kinda want to finish the animation associates too though.

So any advice or suggestions? It'd prob'ly add at least another year of classes.

-------------

So here' some stuff from Anatomy class...both charcoal/conte...and if I'm remembering correctly...24 x 30":

[Jephyr X]

Back in classes. For anatomy...we're starting with the bones.

I borrowed an artist's real human skull for the weekend...and did this skull study over my Keira portrait.

I was kinda creepy having a real skull in the house all weekend.

The second pic is a pastel study done for Life Drawing.

[Rabbi Satan]

Heya Jephyr, welcome to CA, and grats on getting your SB Thread cherry broke :D

I'm mostly an urban environments kind of guy, so I can't comment much on the anatomy of most of your humanoids (But those leg muscle studies look real nice). One bit of advice I can offer is to not be afraid of hard edged brushes. Took me a while to get use to it, as I was used to using soft brushes for blending all the time. But trust me, hard brush blending, when done right, looks A LOT better than soft brush blending.

Just relooked at the image of Ms. Knightly (Is that how her name is spelt?), and it seems out of focus, the face (Minus the facial features) seem blurry, but the eyes especially seem sharper. But then again, I do have poor eyesight =).

Keep on trucking.

[Jephyr X]

Thanks for the welcome RS!

And thanks taking a look and for all the feedback...it's appreciated.

I will give a harder brush a try. I also found that I wasn't working at 100% zoon. When I was working on the skull overlay I discovered that and when I went to 100%...it seemed to make a difference.

I think that'lll take care of that soft focus blurriness...that and as you suggest...a harder brush. Thanks again! Oh and I'll slide over and take a look at your SB.

-----------

So my instructor asked for my process "steps" on the skull pic. I'd already created one for the Keira portrait and had postd it to my blog. (as you'll see I was originally intending to do a figure study)

On the skull/anatomy pic I created a layer above the skull with a copy of the original prtrait on it and used a soft eraser to try out different compositions.

Thanks for looking in.

[DaStreets]

lol keira is pretty hot. nice pic tho. Post more dude.

[BoneKrishna]

Yo!BoneKrishna here!Came to check on your sketchbook!You got a good thing going on here!Keep it up!!!You got a wonderful control over your collors and a great sense of anatomy!your traditional work is really great!the only thing I can give a advice on is in your digital pieces...just like Rabbi Satan said, you need to harden your brush!I know it seem kinda tempting to look for the ultimate blending that just seems impossible to achieve with traditional media and when you see that smooth perfect soft brush it even calls your name!but believe me...it just backfire on you!the hard brush may be harder to use but it will give some really great results!Try it out and blow our minds!hehehehe
see ya!

[dan liimatta]

love the studies, and the thing with the skull is pretty awesome; as for that look at the colours of the studies, and that of the bird and old man ~ you seem to be over saturating it and using often very agressive value contrasts that do not really click together: All good though since you seem to be on a good path.

Keep it up :heart:

[Eric-Anthony]

yup i agree, your studies are awesome :P

[Jephyr X]

Hi! Thanks to everyone who looked in.

DaStreets and Eric-Anthony: Thanks!!

BoneKrishna: Thanks! I've been trying harder brushes on some of my WIP's. I'm afraid it'll be a hard habit to break...but I'll keep working at it. Thanks again.

dan liimatta: Thanks! I definitely see what you mean. I've been a nothing more than a (bad) pencil sketcher for years...so am just now finding my color sense. I appreciate the extra set of eyes and will try less saturated colors...and integrating them.

----------------

Here's a few more digital pics from '09. All done with sketchbook Pro.

This first one was a quick one done just for fun...and made me laugh.

[Jephyr X]

My latest...a sketchbook pro / wacom intuos torso study done for Art Anatomy. I'm adding the spine, ribs and shoulder girdle bones over/into this.

[Jephyr X]

My "process" is kinda henious...but my instructor asks to see it.

I put together a time-lapse video...1:30...of just half of my saved steps.

If yer brave and wanna see how I arrived at the last image:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWB4thfEYFc

xWB4thfEYFc

[Rabbi Satan]

Wow, well done Jephyr - I did a double take. I initially looked at the image and thought, man, the guy in this photo is ripped. Then I realised it was a painting. Wow, well done man :).

[Justyna]

Hi,
thanks for posting in my SB :)
Your studies from anatomy class are amazing, I hope to see more in the future.

[Jephyr X]

RS: hahaha Thanks...and yes...it's a self portrait! :) Appreciate you stopping by!

Justyna: Thanks back! I'm defintley not as prolific as some around here...but plan to post as I can. Thanks again!

-----

So here are a coupla more Sketchbook Pro/Wacom images:

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/6-2009/Hezekiah.jpg

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2009/Bernie-wCaptions.jpg

Ciao fer now

[lennon]

I've seen you painted my future wife ;) , it looks very good. I also love the cartoons. The torso looks very well rendered; perhaps you could show us more of the stuff you're doing for you anatomy class, that seems very interesting.
The advice about hardening your brush was good. I see in this last posts that you've conquered that part.
I also think that Dan Llimatta told you a good advice, your colors are to furious (saturated). In real life, things can only be that saturated if the right light is hitting them directly and if they are smooth surfaces and very clean (as dirt tends to add grey to the color wich makes a desaturated feel). Also, most materails are made of a compound of diferent groups of molecules, and each group is of a different color; so from our POV the colors are mixed giving also a more desaturated, colorless effect. So, I'm just saying that a few things could be saturated, but not the mayority and either all of them.
Your last pieces are great, but too saturated. Look at Dan Llimatta's SB. He's one guy that knows his stuff.
The fact that you are studing anatomy cancell pretty much any potential advice since your doing the right thing already, and your drawings show a lot of skill and talent, so, for know what I'm saying is keep studing the anatomy and check the colors

[Jephyr X]

Lennon: Hold on a second...she's MINE!! :)

Thanks for taking the time to comment, your encouraging words, and a very valuable critique!

Even though I've taken color theory...the concepts you explained about the way we see color is extremely helpful to me. I have looked at Dan's thread and have begun to see what you mean on his art and many others here.

Now the hard part...putting it in my art.

Thanks again!

-----------

So for you here's another charcoal: surface anatomy

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/12-22-2008/Arm-SurfaceAnatomy.jpg

[Jephyr X]

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/11-15-2008/ArmBones.jpg

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2009/20MinGesture.jpg

[Mr.Alamo, C.]

poor keira,
think u using 2 ovesaturated colors on big planes,its make your works look like old 80 airbrush pics.
keep it up!

[Jephyr X]

Mr Alamo: Thanks for stopping by. I will!

--------------

Finally got around to snapping pics of a coupla my oil paintings from last semester:

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2010/bust-painting.jpg 18 x 24"

------

A glazing study - around 6 x 8" (outa focus...sorry)

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2010/smstilllife.jpg

-----------

A coupla sketchbook pages from the last 2 days:

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2010/sb1.jpg

Haven't done hardly any mechanical stuff...tried this from a motorcycle mag.

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2010/sb2.jpg

All taken with a point and shoot digital...normally I kill myself trying to get good photos...but I'm ordering a good digital slr. So until I get it........

:)

[Fiori]

love the bust oil painting, though the tle too solid and great work on the cartoon sketching, i think the old guy drapery looks alitpiece has alot of life to it, although the eyes could do with some eyelids :) anyway hope to see more of your traditional stuff and keep up the good work.

[Jephyr X]

Fiori: Thanks for stopping by! Appreciate your comments too! I'll try to post another oil painting asap.

----------

If anyone is in the Phoenix area and is into animation, check out the Chuck Jones Exhibit at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

I've posted days and times, several pics and all the related info and links etc at my blog:

http://artmusicpoliticsfaithandlove.blogspot.com/2010/03/cartoon-king-chuck-jones-exhibit-pics.html

If by chance you don't know who Chuck was: He was an American Master (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002).

He was an artist/animator and director for Warner Brothers and created or collaborated on the creation many of their famous characters (and/or directed their animated movies and shorts): Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin Martian, Pepe Le Pew and Michigan J. Frog to name a few.

His ability entertain with those iconic characters, to animate them with exaggerated but believable movements and expressions, and his amazing body of work is IMO seriously impressive.

His desk and books etc (although I don't think he had an LCD TV in the 1940's...it was playing a DVD about his life. : )

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/Chuck%20Jones/desk%26books.jpg



Some of his hand drawn sketches and notes etc

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/Chuck%20Jones/Sketch-Case.jpg

[Jephyr X]

Chuck Amuk Bump-a-rumph

[Jephyr X]

Just took this snap-shot of another oil painting from last semester.

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/1-2010/StillLifePaintingII.jpg

A charcoal study for anatomy the 1st time around:

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/12-22-2008/Galaxy-neck-study-NEW.jpg

[Jephyr X]

A couple of very quick charcoals from anatomy

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/3-2010/Female-Nude.jpg

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/3-2010/Greg-skull.jpg

Some snaps from my sketchbooks

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/3-2010/Studies.jpg

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/3-2010/Worms-Eye-View.jpg

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/3-2010/Cigar-Joe.jpg

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/3-2010/Ted.jpg

[Jephyr X]

So I've been working on an epic (for me) piece and started to feel burned out on it. So I took one of the images (pen and ink) I just uploaded here...dropped it into Sketchbook Pro and gave it some color.

I tried to put into practice the suggestions from the great critiques I've gotten so far...where it was universally agreed that I was using too saturated color and was painting with brushes that were too soft .

So am I closer on those counts?

Here's the original drawing and then the digi-painting over it.

I've included a few drawings from my sketchbook below.

Critiques and comments are most welcome!

http://artistjeffcurtis.wgd-entertainment.com/images/3-2010/Ted.jpg

I have no idea why the attachment manager didn't like these. I'll leave them here in case they show up. (Ahhh...fixed now)

Thanks for looking in!

[Jephyr X]

Good to see the forum up and running 100% again. :)

[George Abraham]

Love your anatomy scetches, You have sorted some Gluteus out for me!!

[jozulus]

great work here on anatomy skills!

[sketchibo]

The studies look really good! Keep on goin.

[BoneKrishna]

Yo JX!Your traditional works kicks some serious ass man!!!Truth be told!!!
you just need to bring some of that confidence into your digital painting and you'll be big in no time!the same goes for your cartoon stuff, you already have such a great visual repertory just go for it!!!you got a great potential my friend!
keep up the good work!
BK

[Jephyr X]

zaorr: Thanks!! I used the Elliot Goldfinger anatomy book as a reference for that.

jozulus and sketchibo: Thank you both! Your comments really make me want to push to get better! Thanks!!

BoneKrishna: Very appreciated my friend! I do have to admit I still feel so tentative when it comes to color and digital painting. It's encouraging to get your good feedback though! Thanks again!

------------

In did end up buying a new digital camera and spent WAY more money than I should have....and then went into 3 days of "buyer's remorse" wondering if I did the right thing. It can be returned though...so I still hav 25 days or so to be sure.

The pics from it are pretty amazing though...so hopefully it's just that I hate to spend $$. : )

-------------

A few pics: A charcoal done for Life Drawing Spring 2009...used a UFC photo I found on-line for reference.

And 2 more recent sketches...no refs...just trying to let my imagination run loose and not worry about shading and form.

Thanks for looking in.

[Justyna]

Hi,
once again I am impressed with anatomy studies, they are great, you really pay attention to details :) That surface anatomy of hand is amazing.

Thanks for visiting my SB, see ya :)

[Istmin52]

Great studies Jephyr. Your anatomy studies seem to be paying off in your illustration work.

[monstertree]

Now that's some impressive anatomy study, keep up the great work!

[Caiphas]

thanks,:) its always nice having people like my work,i have a long way to go before i get where i want to be,i like your anatomy studies,they good and its really good that you seeing where the bones go in the bodies,one thing i can suggest is have you tried 60 sec guesture poses,try do like an hour a day,it really helps with understanding the bodies energy flow and perspective,poses etc... also i think its alot of fun and i use it to warm up usually

[JustinBeckett]

Thank you for stopping by my book...nice start to your book. I think you need to be doing more useful studies. Think about what you want to learn, what you need to improve on and study those...do more studies. Avoid just drawing pointless reference photos, unless its of use to you. Some references are really bad, and there is no point in drawing them. Keep drawing!

[Farquad]

Man, your drawings from your head have an original style. It's kinda cartoony but not like anything I can compare it to. It's def a great departure from this anime wannabe plague going around.

[Jephyr X]

Hi!

Just signed on to peruse some sb's and am happy to see all the comments here. I'm hoping to post some pics tonight or tomorrow and will write more then!

Thanks everyone!

[Jephyr X]

Ok...so as I was saying.....................

:oneye:

Prob'ly not a forum record for time between posts but possibly nearing that!

First I must say thanks to everyone who looked in here and commented. I still get traffic to my site from here even though I've neglected posting. Thanks!

Justyna, Istimin52, monstertree, Caiphas, JustinBecket, Farquad: Thank you so much for your comments! It was/is very appreciated that each of you took the time to not only look but say a word or two as well!

-------------------------

So...I've been AWOL here...but have kept up the with the art thing. Unfortunately not as much with the anatomy studies which so many of you encouraged me in...but I will continue that as long as I do art to work on that.

I finally got a new computer with a larger screen. If I didn't say before I was working through a laptop hooked up to a TV across the room. Now I can see sooooo much better and it's really helping my digital art.

I kinda got into a thing for a while of doing lotza real world sketchbook cartoon/caricature portraits. I might be heading outa that faze now because I met another artist (Greg, I know yer on here) and was inspired by his sketchbook and he does a lot more figures. So I'm experimenting a bit more there now.

With Sketchbook Pro...digital painting I've recently done a few more bird studies...don’t know exactly why…but I like doing them.

Anywho...I'm still in school but seeing some "daylight" for getting my degrees. Since I'm finishing a Fine Arts and Digital Illustration Associates required classes have taken me away from actually making drawing and painting etc for a while ie: Digital Photography, Adobe Illustrator, Art History (which I'm loving and recommend to any artist!).

Recently though I've met some artists who are actually making money, and found some venues for sales, and see myself on a possible new path...perhaps more "real world painting" of fan art, fantasy art and the like.

------------------------------

So enuff talk...more rock...I'll get to post some of my schtuff:

Many of you know Concept Art Fearless Leader Jason Manley went to Mesa Community College in Mesa Arizona where I'm attending. I made and submitted a video for a student contest there Called Declare Success your Major. Since it covers a l bit of everything I've done in art classes I'll start there. As you'll see in the video I really love this school!!

http://youtu.be/DcPJLre9vP4

DcPJLre9vP4

And yes the Flash cartoon of me is frighteningly accurate except I'm 6'2''.

Now onto some pics...Digital Painting in Sketchbook Pro, Adobe Illustrator assignments, digital photography assignments, and real world character designs. Thanks for looking in!:


-----

[LtPlissken]

Fuuuuuhuuuuk
that's the Kalib Starnes VS Nate Quarry fight in #34,
I can recognize it from miles away.

[Jephyr X]

Fuuuuuhuuuuk
that's the Kalib Starnes VS Nate Quarry fight in #34,
I can recognize it from miles away.


:)

Thanks for looking in!

[Jephyr X]

Some more post-ees for your perusal - a photo, sketchbook drawrings, an Illustrator thangy, and a Sketchbook Pro Boid.

Thanks for looking in

[LtPlissken]

You are quite good at doing these pencil caricatures,
I really like them.
Your digitals are tend to be blurry, make those
edges count.

[wooden mango]

haha! Love those caricatures

[Mag-Neo]

WONDERFUL SB.... THOSE PENCIL SKETCHES & COLORED DRAWINGS ARE AMAZING...GOOD LUCK!.... :yayca:

[TheKuu]

Keira's forehead looks a little red, looks good though. I like the way you practice anatomy and the oil bust is ace. Keep it up.

[mosishmon]

Jephyr, your anatomy studies are awesome. I have learned a lot from this sketchbook. Keep posting, I want more. :D

[dan liimatta]

Your studies are awesome - you really took the knightly studies to heart it seems, and did it well.

It's a bit strange not to see you use it much though - on a few pieces - but mostly it seems to be studies and the superdeformed old style you had before - not complaining really - but don't you want to try to get all of that into something?

[Feil Magnus]

Very nice work on the caricatures, lovely lines.

[Jephyr X]

LtPlissken: Thank you sir!

Yes I see that I slipped into that again on the Tucan. : / Thanks for the reminder!

wooden mango: Thanks!! :)

Mag-Neo: Appreciate the positive feedback!

TheKuu: Yeah...now that I have my new computer I can see for digital painting so much better. I may revisit Kiera someday. Thanks for the crit and kind words!

mosishmon: That's great to hear! I will!

dan liimatta: Hi and thanks Dan!

You make a very good point. This summer I hope to get to creating some fully realized pieces. Hopefully I can post them as I go along!

Feil Magnus: Thanks much!! : )

----------------

I was looking for the image of the guy with his heart on a string...so I could get it into the computer and work it up in Sketchbook Pro. As I went through old sketchbooks looking for it I decided to get a few pics into the digital world and post 'em here. The last one...I call him "Field Marshall Chuck"...I just sketched on Monday.

Thanks for looking in!

----------------

[Jephyr X]

Ok...so I'm doing a bit of a dump of a lot of old and some new. Here's some mo'.

A Sketchbook Pro/Wacom Halloween thang

A sketch I worked up from thumbnails (something I don't do near enough!!

There are some hand studies in that sketch for my Christmas card I did back in 2009. The left hand had always bugged me so I wnet back to it and fixed it up a bit.

A concept sketch for my Illustrator class.

And the final image: A prison complex year 3000.

And 2 more of my "caricature" sketches. The last one looks kinda like a guy I met one day. After I drew it I noticed how much it looked like him. It was completely subconscious though.

[Jephyr X]

And a few mo.

I'm realizing how much I'm influenced by Simon Bisley's exagerated limbs. I'd done a study a while back in a sketchbook and Monday a friend and I were drawing and I saw it and added the HUGE arm to it. :)

I'm going to post a time lapse / speed painting on YouTube of the next one: A bird we have them here in Arizona...they're like a brown crow and they're called a Grackle. Dunno why but I've always liked 'em. : /

I'll add the link when it's up. It was done in Sketchbook Pro with a photo reference.

Dunno why but I kinda like the next one: A sytlized dancer from my sketchbook from a while back. I'd been looking through a book called Grafiti World and was influenced by a pic I saw in there. (draw later without the reference though)

And finally a character design of an aging punk I call Keef. Also done in Sketchbook Pro.

Thanks for looking in!

[Jephyr X]

Ok...I almost have it out of my sytem! :)

It has been fun going through old sketchbooks. Makes me want to fill 'em up even faster!

The first 3 are just mo' of the "caricature" sketches I've been doing...the first one is a bit more on the real side though.

A photo I took at a local restaurant.

4 sketches from a coupla old sketchbooks.

And finally a Prismamarker image that I took into Sketchbook Pro and have been working on. It became a bit more epic. : ) I'm nearly done and will post it soon I hope.

Ciao fer now

[raminafshari]

grate pencil works , i really enjoyed .

[joe`]

Nice stuff! I'd be interested to see you sharpen up the digital paintings, your keira knightly pic has a really good likeness!

[mass87]

hej mate thx for stoping by! great sketchbook, incredible photo studies, an your caricatures are getting much better, keep it up! :)

[Rano]

your studies are so cool man :) Really love how you rendering your stuffs :)

[snatti]

Hi Jephyr X

i like your apraoch to anatomy , to acutally draw the bones underneath, i was very found of post #42 in perticular the red thing on the rooster ( not sure what it's called ) you made it look so real, also the logo underneath is looking badass

[Jephyr X]

raminafshari: Thank you very much!

joe: Thank you! I'll be posting a new digi-pic soon. Hopefully I'm making some progress in sharpening them up!!

mass87: Very appreciated! Thank you!

Rano: Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

snatti: Thanks for your positive feedback about the rooster, anatomy studies and the logo!

I'm getting back to studying more anatomy again!

The red things on a rooster are called: the comb (on the head), and the wattle (below the chin). [Thanks internet search engine!] :)

----------------

Thanks again to all of you for the feedback and comments!

[Jephyr X]

Some friends and I went down to the Phoenix Comicon last Saturday. It was pretty cool (except for the ridiculous hour long line to get your pre-paid pass)

But lotza cool costumes, pretty girls and artists and geeks and nerds, nerds, nerds. :geekg:

:hatsoff:

Next year we plan to go all 4 days! :hugsmile:

Here are some pix starting with Stan Lee. The quality isn't great because we were pretty 20 rows back and he was against a white background.

He was pretty funny and did a q & a about his career.

I might post a short video clip of him.

--------------

Edit: Ok so the pix are too large I'll resize them and post asap!

--------------

Ahh...the attachment manager liked these better!

[Jephyr X]

More Phoenix Comicon pics. People are very approachable there...and very happy to let you snap pics. Not one person was rude or impatient about it!

If you recognize anyone...feel free to comment! :)

[Jephyr X]

Still mo':

[Jephyr X]

N' mo':

[Jephyr X]

A few mo':

[Jephyr X]

Last batch:

PS: If anyone uses any of my photos from Comicon as a reference...I'd love to see what you do (and you'd be welcome to post it here too!) So please give me a link or post 'em!! :)

[dan liimatta]

As mentioned above it would be nice to see you continue with some digital paints after the knightly image and the skull inside - also nice photos - and the I kind of like the bird - it looks bitter (in a good way) :)

[Jephyr X]

Thank you Dan! Yeah...I do hope to get to some digi-paints like Kiera again.

:lifedrawing:

The next digi I'm working on right now is a bit cartoony though. :dur:

Funny too...those grackles do have a kinda stern look to their eyes. :skull:

Thanks again!

[Divine]

Hey man, thanks a ton for the advice, i know what you mean about the flat skin tones :( color is something I'm still struggling with. As for this though, I really dig your style man! Also very much looking forward to seeing more, also seems like the comic con was a huge blast.. kinda jealous Haha.

[Jephyr X]

Hey thanks Divine! I'm glad if it helped. You do such an amazing (not an overused word in your case) job on your pencil work...and you do a great job on form and likeness! And like I said I'm really working on color myself!!

Comicon was a blast! Maybe you can make it some year! : )

[Jephyr X]

Here's some more pencils from my real world sketchbooks. The first pic was done at Mesa's Zombie walk...and you can see it kinda influenced my drawings. :)

The second pic was a request from a friend (hiya Tiberius). He suggested characteristics of a "pirate" type character for me to draw.

The last two are caricatures of politicos...done without references...can you guess who they are? :)

[Jephyr X]

And a few more recent sketchbook offerings. In the last two posts any of the body's were basically done without reference.

The second pic is real loose but I kinda like the character. The weird body guy in the last pic was inspired by looking at some unusual threads here CA...THANKS!:

[Jephyr X]

I'm working on a cartoony digi-painting...and was feeling burnt out on it yesterday...so to cleanse the palette I decided to do a quick bird of prey study in Sketchbook Pro.

Banged it out pretty quick and had fun.

[tronrobot]

Your rendering skills is pretty good man, i like it alot. And that portrait in the begginning is a solid effort, looks pretty damn good.
My fav is the portrait with the half skull face, that looks sick.
thanks for visiting my sketchbook.

[mrd33ds]

nice faces ;)

[Jephyr X]

Tronrobot: Thank you for coming by and for the good words. Appreciate it!

mrd33ds: Thanks!

-------

Ok so I'm trying to work faster and decided to bang out another digi-paint.

I was watching Flatliners with Kiefer Sutherlandand noticed it's great cinmetography (sadly not a good movie though) and snapped a photo off the screen of Kiefer entering a dark room.

Here's my Sketchbook Pro take on that:

[dan liimatta]

The bird is very nice - love the eye and beak - also I need to do people in different light as to get off myself from always doing people with pink skins.

[Jephyr X]

Thank you very much Dan!

I actually still need to do a lot of work on getting natural skin tone...but for some reason that image from Flatliners jumped out at me and I wanted to see if I could capture it.

Right now I'm still "cleansing the palette" and am working on a statue/bust and it's kinda in a greenish blue scale...so I must be in that mood right now. :)

Thanks for looking in!

[Jamie Romoser]

Wow comicon looks like a blast always wanted to go to one.
The studies are looking good keep it up and keep having fun learning and growing.
Till next time
-Jamie

[Jaunay]

Your characterised anatomy rocks my socks, you're got great feel for proportion and facial landmarks, which is a direct result from your life studies, so keep that up. I'd like to see you tackle more colouring of your own original works, bring that awesome life painting skill to par with your drawing skills.

[Flame_Unquenchable]

Life drawing, caricature, anatomy studies, life drawings, still life, what don't you do? Love to see you try out some enviros, you've got a really good handle on color and contrast...lets see what you can do. :D

Keep up the good work, very inspiring.

[Jephyr X]

OmertA: It was pretty cool. I just found out Phoenix Comicon is one of the largerst in the US (after San Diego of course).

Thanks for the encouraging comment...I will! :)

Jaunay: Thank you very much! After I read your comment I started working on an original character with color.

Much respect to those who are way ahead of me...it's not as easy as it looks! ;) Thanks again

Flame_Unquenchable: Thank you very much! Your comments all help me forge ahead!

I know you're right too...I MUST work on some enviros and have mentally put them on my "do next" list...after 2 more digi-pix I'm already working on!

Thanks for some great/encouraging feedback!

------------

I saw a wallpaper on-line of this statue and thought I'd like to paint it using Sketchbook Pro.

If anyone knows the photographer or sculpter please let me know so I give them a credit!

My version came out very cyan...which was unintentional. I put the large black border around it because it looks awful against the yellowish forum background. :)

I may keep working on this one...maybe finish the hair on the left...and tone donw/balance the color a bit.

I'm also posting a version I desaturated in Photoshop...and also a brief look at the "process" where I used a grid to lay it out for the first time since I was in color theory.

------------

[DartGarry]

Hello again:)
it was interesting to see your drawn images as well as search anatomy. increase knowledge and self-development in this area

sorry for my English, if that. I use a translator from Russian

[mars37us]

To see progress in such a short time it is work that I would like to aspire to. But the greatest thing is I get to see it first hand. keep going and stay thirsty my friend.:steph:

[Jephyr X]

DartGarry: Hi and thank you...I understand what you're saying. I'm motivated right now to really burn anatomy into my brain...and the best part is I'm really enjoying it!

Thanks again! :)

mars37us: Hey...I know you! :oneye: Thanks for stopping by and for the good assessment! Hopefully I am living up to those words!

Oh and...now it's your turn to get busy here on CA and start a SB too! :)

"No shortcuts, No excuses, No surrender!"

Thanks again!


----------------

Ok so I've been using Sketchbook Pro for a long time. I love the simplicity of the program...digi-painting stripped down to the basics.

I really like being able to zoom in and out, pan and scroll the canvas, and being able to change the rotate, resize and move a layer, both with a just a click of the pen. Same with changing the brush size...I leave the "resize brush" thingy open...and use it like a mad man. All stuff that's a little more cumbersome in Photoshop.

BUT the consensus here is that my digital images look blurry. So recently I worked to get good edges on a pic I was working on in Sketchbook Pro.

I saved it and re-opened it...and wham...blurry edges. This problem seems to be even worse when exporting from the native tiff to jpeg and even perhaps when merging layers.

The highest resolution in SB Pro is 140 and recently I set my project to that...and for some reason SB Pro reset the resolution down to 100. Strange. :blah:

--- BTW...I could be wrong about those negatives (user error perhaps)...and if so I'd be happy to be corrected.

Anyway...I've put on my Big-Boy pants and am working in (drum-roll please)..........Photoshop. :bashful:

So now it's back to working at mastering it. I've already discovered a free color wheel for PS in the CA PS forum (thanks vorp!!!!). Something PS SHOULD have already!

Anywho...I'm slowed down a bit...but hopefully can post a new digi-image soon!

Thanks for looking in

:blahblah:

[Jephyr X]

Ok...so moving on from the green Jesus! :)

I'm now a Photoshop guy. I'm glad for a lot of years in Sketchbook Pro...taught me a lot...but the blurring and some color issues...not getting WYSIWYG color when out-side the program...finally led me into seeing if I could transition into PS. Perhaps the color thing is some setting inside SB Pro...but I'm glad I gave PS another try.

PS is still a bit harder to move around in compared to SB Pro...but now that I've messed with the brushes for a few days and set it up with quick keys for my Wacom...I'm sold.

The best thing is the ability to resize brush sizes from tiny to gargantuan...in SB Pro you're somewhat limited with the default brushes and by the resolution of the image.

So I've been getting geeky in PS with some detail in a pic I started in SB Pro.

I'll start by posting the first three images all done in SB Pro:

1-The orgiinal idea I had,
2-Where I worked it to
3- And then changed direction

4-And then the detail I've been adding to the left side of the image (right side of the character's face) in Photoshop...still very much a work in progress.

I could never get this much detail in SB Pro.

And then outputting to Jpeg...seems sharper, clearer, and the colors more like the original. I think in the examples below you can see the difference pretty easily.

Thanks for looking in...comments, and suggestions are MOST welcome

[gerezon]

Hey man, thanks for stopping by my SB.

Good chunk of work you got here. I do have one suggestion about your digital stuff, it seems you only use a soft brush, try using a mix between hard and soft brushes. Right now all the edges are kind of the same which makes the images look a bit blurry and hard to focus on. Edges are usually the sharpest closest to the light and go softer as they recede in space.

Keep up the good work, cheers!

[Howie]

very interesting stuff Jephyr, the exaggerated faces/characters are fun to look at. That Jesus study is very impressive it almost looks a 3d render, but I would try and simplify the details more, trying picking one spot to really detail up and leave the rest more suggestive. By varying the level of detail you make a more interesting image, i understand it's tempting to detail everything out as much as possible especially when working from a photo. Try doing some studies from life also... keep up the great work!

[Jephyr X]

gerezon: Thank you so much for stopping by. Yeah that blurry thing is really haunting my digital work. I'm finishing the previous image and think it's goping to be sharper (hope so anyway : ) I did try some hard brushes yesterday and will continue to experiment with those and using perspective techniques like you mention. Thanks again!

Howie: Hi and thanks also for stopping by! You make a good point. Tuesday I'm going to the first life drawing session I've been to in ages. I've been working from photos and from my imagination otherwise. I know you're right about leaving out some detail. Thanks to the feedback here...I am learning! So thank you again!

Here's to my next 97 pages!!!!! :party:

[dan liimatta]

Nice studie again - and man your superdeformed characters get scary once you shade and texture them :D

and here's to 97 pages more o/

[k2mountain]

Great works!

I like your anatomy study that draw bones underneath the skin. I'll definite try it too.

There is big contrast between your imaginary figures and reference figures.

Thanks for the great display again. ;)

[LtPlissken]

Interesting photo collection on the previous page,
was fun to look at them, thanks for sharing.
Neat drawing concepts in #74 and a nice
color combo on the painting in #88.

[strangedawn]

Lovely sketchbook!I love those comicon photos on your page 3 but yaa i want to see more work because you are actually doing good.your studies and your coloring is looking nice just keep going and push yourself more because you are doing good.by the way i love the jesus painting and the eagle that is good..i think you should just lessen your blur in your coloring or brush to make it much better.take care always mate=)

[Jephyr X]

dan liimatta: Thanks for checking in and commenting Dan! Glad you like the study. Scary on the character eh? :) (I'll tell my sad tail about the problems I had finishing it below)

k2mountain: Thank you very much! The bone study was an assignment by my anatomy instructor at MCC, Gingher Leyendecker...and I do recommend it...really helps you "see" below the surface. Thanks for stopping by and for the positive comments!

LtPlissken: Good to "see" you! Hope all is well! Glad you like the photos and those images! Really appreciate you checking in!

strangedawn: Hi and thanks for taking a look at my sb! I'm glad you like the Jesus pic and the Eagle. Yeah I keep getting those "blurry" comments and that's why I was giving PS a go...but it looks like that may not be the solution for me...but I'll keep trying to tighten my images up. Thanks again!

monaadams: Hi and thank you...I will! :)

-----------------

Ok...so if you read any of my last 2 posts on page 3 you already know I decided to try Photoshop and it turned into a big nightmare!

At first I was having a fine time putting detail into the face BUT then I got into the darker parts on the body and I began to get nothing but a bunch of streaking, blotchy colors...and I had absolutely NO control over the amount of color PS laid down.

I tried all kinds of different brushes, opacities, flow etc...with no luck.

So then I went back to SB Pro to finish it...and by then everything looked really super saturated over there.

sigh

I'd put a lot of work into this image trying to get it right and now I'm just burned out on it. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong in PS...but now I'm gonna stay in SB Pro and just try to get more sharpness to my images there........

-------------------

So here's the character and a coupla sketchbook pages. Thanks for looking in.

:yayca:

[Jephyr X]

Hi,

Finally made it to a life drawing session...the first in a long time...I was sooo rusty.

Went elongated / stylized with my rendering too. :)

Ciao fer now

[Flame_Unquenchable]

Ok...so if you read any of my last 2 posts on page 3 you already know I decided to try Photoshop and it turned into a big nightmare!

At first I was having a fine time putting detail into the face BUT then I got into the darker parts on the body and I began to get nothing but a bunch of streaking, blotchy colors...and I had absolutely NO control over the amount of color PS laid down.

I tried all kinds of different brushes, opacities, flow etc...with no luck.

So then I went back to SB Pro to finish it...and by then everything looked really super saturated over there.

sigh

I'd put a lot of work into this image trying to get it right and now I'm just burned out on it. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong in PS...but now I'm gonna stay in SB Pro and just try to get more sharpness to my images there........

-------------------

So here's the character and a coupla sketchbook pages. Thanks for looking in.

:yayca:

Hey Jefyr, I'm no expert on PS or anything, but I'm curious did you try an overlay layer or overlay style? It is good for putting down light colors over the top of lights/darks and retaining a lot of the underlying tone. It can get overused, but if you set the opacity to about 20% and do a first pass, then go back and try to manually adjust the Hue/Saturation via the palette settings, you might have better luck with the type of color being put down.

I think those darker areas are really hard because you're working with minute variations in color which are high contrast when the picture is almost black. The texturing looks bad-ass though.

Maybe you could explain in a little more detail what was happening, I might be able to pass on some of the stuff I've learned, albeit that's not tons, but maybe one nugget would help you. :)

[BoneKrishna]

Jephyr!!! Nice studies you've posted man!!! Keep up the good work cuz it is paying off!!!
And about the PS issues...It is a normal problem man, I had my share of bad experiences with over-shadowing pictures myself...It is hard to keep a good set of values when you are dealing with a straight from the imagination no-reference paintings, we always tend to exaggerate the values by assuming that shadows are black and lights are whites, with couldn't be further away from the truth sometimes! There are dark highlights and light shadows in every painting without mentioning the mid-tones that are always extremely important! So if were to give some sort of tip it would be to take easy on the values at the beginning of the painting and make sure you get those mid-tones right first so that you can decide over the mood on the light and shadow with more easy later on, and if it still looks a bit too dull you can easily give a boost with the level settings or by adding more layers of light and shadow on it.
The bottom line of what I'm trying to say is that values are tricky, they can't be too strong nor too light and this point of balance changes for each mood you decided for your painting. Especially when dealing with a straight from the imagination kind of work...So every now and then just take the time to do some value studies of black and white pictures to build yourself some repertory to work with. Once again it is all about practice! So keep on painting and you will be bound to get better!

That's all I had to say for now! See ya later!

[Jephyr X]

Hi Flame_Unquenchable and BoneKrishna,

Thank you both so much for your suggestions/info.

I'm on the run right now but (hopefully) later today I plan to sit down and write more.

Flame_Unquenchable: I really appreciate your offer to help! I'll put together some images and try to put down some more info as to what was happening to that image in PS.

If it's ok with you maybe we should keep any discussion about it here so that it'll be searchable and may help other members...I'll pm you when I post that info.

Thank you both again! :yayca:

------------------------

edit: ok...so a friend gave me some tips and suggestions...which I've given a brief go tonight...AND it may be working...seems to be....so..........Stay tuned to this bat station, this bat channel :)

PM sent to Flame_Unquenchable>

[Jephyr X]

Flame_Unquenchable:and thanks again for the info and suggestions....glad you like the texture. I'll give your overlay layer suggestion a try...appreciate you taking the time to type it out and offer more help.

I'm messing with the ideas my friend gave me and it's producing better results. I read recently that a lot of people start in other programs (painter, SAI, Sketchbook etc) and finish in PS. For now I may give that a go so I don't slow down my output too much.

BoneKrishna: Thanks for the reminder about over-shadowing. I was heading the right direction but when I'd spent so much time trying to smooth things out...by the time I got back to Sketchbook Pro I just masked it all under black...plus the over saturation each transition from program to program helped turn it into that beautiful black mess you see! :oneye:

Thanks again for the suggestions and encouragement! I realize now I did expect to find the transition to PS much easier. Man I have so much to learn!!!!

:yayca:

I'll post one of the last images from Photoshop before I went back to SB Pro just so you can see where I was at. Maybe someday I'll revisit this image...I was having fun with it!

-------------------

[Jephyr X]

Finally finished this one! Added to the original pic from a sketchbook and made it more "universal".

Ciao fer now

-----------------------

[Seraph Fawkes]

I like that last piece, and photo of spok girl - damn hot.

[Jephyr X]

Thanks for looking in Seraph. Glad you liked the last one.

Spock-girl...and a thousand others at Comicon were pretty amazing to say the least! :)

[palladium]

Thx for visiting my sketchbook. Really like what you got going on here, especially in the last piece. Cant wait for more, so keep posting.

[MBK]

Thanks for stopping by man. :) Nice sketchbook you have going here.
Loving those photo studies! That eagle is sick.

Hope to see more pencil work. I like the deformed character sketches.
(I gotta get back to traditional mediums myself, getting too settled in with digital lately >_<)

Keep 'em coming man!

[JoeS]

Cheers for the comment :) Your caricatures are nicely done, im thinking you may like Mark Behm's work? http://markbehm.blogspot.com/ ,Also some of your digital studies are coming along good but one thing to look out for that I think others have already mentioned is having some harder edges as it looks like your using a lot of soft brushes. Try creating a study using only a hard round brush to plane out the light and shadows. Overall good progress, keep posting :)

[Jephyr X]

palladium: Hi...and thanks for stopping by and for the good feeback! Glad you like that last piece...it was fun to create!

MBK: Hiya...and thanks! Glad you like the photo studies and the recent eagle! I enjoy doing those.

At first I thought you meant an eagle I did back in 2009...but I looked back and see I never posted it. I'd do a lot different these days but....

I'll post it along with a capture video I put up on YouTube.

Yeah...I'm sure you find this too...it seems if I work on digital schtuff then the sketchbook suffers and vice versa. I still sketch...but have been spending more time on the computer side...and haven't done many of my deformed characters of late...but enjoy creating them and need to keep that up so I don't lose any feel for it I have at this point.

Thanks for looking in!

JoeS: Hi! Yeah I love Mark Behm's characters!! A while back...I did watch a video he posted demo-ing one of his super deformed characters. Just saw it one or twice but man did it rub off. Thanks for the link...I went to his blog...and it put it on my "follow" list.

Thanks too for the advice on using harder brushes. I'll post a new digital pic and after reading your post (and all the others talking about my soft brushes : )...as I finished my latest photo study (which I'll be posting asap) I tried using harder brushes. Ya'll will have to tell me if I'm getting there because I'm having trouble "seeing" it. :oneye:

Thanks again...your feedback keeps me motivated and moving!

:yayca:


-------------------

Ok so here's the older eagle and YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdBbm4cJRGw

QdBbm4cJRGw

[Jephyr X]

True story: A few days ago one of my cats knocked my favorite sketchbook off the counter and promptly vomited on it.

EVERYBODY is a critic!!!!! :\

:)

------------------------

Here are few recent sketchbook pages and a photo study.


The photo study is from an image I found on-line. It is a nearly full length photo of an old guy flexing his muscles...it's called "strength"...but I just did a portrait. I couldn't find any info on who shot the original photo. So if you know let me know and I'll give them a credit here.

Thanks for looking in!

Ciao fer now

-------------

[palladium]

That last one is killer dude. I really like the time you put into the detail. And the eagle painting is nice. I also like the way you put one area into clear focus and the rest goes kinda blurred. It reminds me of the way we see things with our eyes. Great work:)

[Jephyr X]

palladium: Hi and thanks for stopping by and commenting! :) I do admit I enjoy getting geeky with detail...but I already used some of what I learned about facial wrinkles by doing that study...in a no-ref sketch I did yesterday.

Thanks for your comments about the eagle too! I did that back in 2009 and was either using my laptop screen or my TV which was across the room. So some of the blurriness in those older images was because I just couldn't see what I was doing!!! hahaha Seeing all the blurriness in the eagle though makes me realize exaclty what folks are referring too.

I agree with you though...about the way the eye sees. Now I need to balance detail with that...but have control over it.

So much to learn! :)

Thanks again!

[Justyna]

Wow, great job with that last portrait of an old guy!

[Andromeo]

The wrinkles are amazing O.O

[Jephyr X]

Justyna: Hi and good to see you again! Thanks for stopping by...I'm glad you like the latest digital piece!

Andromeo: Thanks so much! :)

[Jephyr X]

Some of the latest

-A coupla new, and one from 2009, of my characters in that "deformed" style.

-A nod to the influence of rcrumb in an original cartoon.

-And the latest from a life drawing session I went to Tuesday. Man, I'm still RUSTY!!

Thanks as always for looking in!

--------------------

[kojot]

Hey Mate

I check your stuff, and I think you must think about lighting more in your works from imagination.

http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/tutorials/light01.htm check this :)

[Jephyr X]

kojot: Hi and thanks for the reply and link! Ahh...yes lighting! I bookmarked the link and will study that...I also just bought and am going through James Gurney's book on lighting. (http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719)

So much to learn......

:lifedrawing:

Thanks again! :)

[Mike L]

Hi Jephyr,
Just had a chance to go through your SB, really great to see your hard work and progression. Your character portraits are coming along as well...a little trick that I'll use sometimes, to help create a focal point in the face, is to hit the mouth(corners or any separations between the upper/lower lip) with my darkest values. Maybe even the underside of the nose, upper eyelid(cast shadow) too, then I'll pull back and try to chisel the forms(with line or tone) in the face. I'll usually leave the values such as the cheekbones much lighter, that way it helps sell the subtle form/plane changes without getting overworked. For teeth I try to go with a less is more approach and indicate. For eyebrows I might try to mass them in as a shape/tone rather than a lot of little lines...Just a thought, hope I'm making sense...if I'm not feel free to ask. And as always, it's just a thought:)
Keep it up!

[Nengrana]

man i love your charcoal work. great paintings too!! that last one of the old man looked 3d modeled!!! great work man. keep posting. thanks for the kind words its VERY appreciated.

[LtPlissken]

You are interesting and dynamic indeed.
An all rounded artist.

[dan liimatta]

Damn those studies are wonderful - love the wrinkled guy, such sadness and life in it - would have wanted a few touches of harder edges in the forehead and chin - but either way very nice.

[xinranliu]

Hi there, nice work.
If you don't mind, here's my suggestion: try using hard edged/square brushes to get some hard edges in your studies. Right now there's an overall airbrushed look, I think.
Also, in some of your personal pieces the figures and objects aren't well integrated into their environment (there's a cut-out impression). I think that it's a problem of values, that the form isn't turned properly.
Anyhow, keep it up. :)

[Lê Ngọc Anh Thư]

you made me suprised with the details of the old guy potrait, it's amazing!
unique and funny drawing. i like your style! XD

[LtPlissken]

Where's the updates man?
I want them,
we want them,
come on
come on
you cannot hesitate so much.
Do it right now.

[drd]

Your attention to detail is great; it also shows you have focus, which is even better. However, don't forgo stepping back and thinking about structure and big plane changes. Using those straight lines and angles before you begin to curve them will give your work the realism it needs; at the moment, many of your drawings seem flimsy or frail; it's because they lack the scaffolding underneath that the best draftsmen understand. Even the accomplished ones who made a career out of swishy and curvy lines knew what would have been underneath in its most basic form.

Great work, you can only get better!

[Jephyr X]

Mike L: Thanks! At first I thought I'd PM you with some questions about your post...but after re-reading your suggestions and giving it some thought I think I "got it"! :madchef: Thanks again!

Nengrana: Hi and thanks as well...I really appreciate the good feedback. I need to come back over and see what you've been up to. :)

dan liimatta: Thanks so much...glad you "felt" it! : ) Really appreciate the feedback too...I see that especially in the forehead now. Thanks!

xinranliu: Thanks also! I think I'm going for more of a realistic feel right now...rather than a painterly look. I discovered the airbrush tool in Sketchbook Pro and it's the closest tool in that software I found to my experince with oil painting. So while I love the look of digital paintings with a "painted look" for now I'm going to keep working in another direction.

I've been getting suggestions that my work was too blurry and my edges weren't hard enough...so from the sound of your second comment...it looks like I'm getting there and just need to balance it out a bit now.

Thanks again

Lê Ngọc Anh Thư: I'm so glad you and others enjoy the old man! I really love what you're doing so it's nice to know you like what I do! Thanks!

LtPlissken: hahaha Hello sir!! I was taking photos of my sketchbook pics to post them today and saw your latest comment...and it made my day!!

I hope in some way I can live up to your first comment...and it gives me the encouragment to keep trying. Thanks! Hope all is well for you!

So since you asked...... :}

-----------------

As promised I'll post a vid of the time-lapse of the Grackle from page 2 (# #55) (http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3135952&postcount=55).

I've had the video portion done since March...but finally got around to doing the music bed this summer. Had lotza fun with the music. Did three different tracks before I settled on the one I used.

------

Recently I went back through sketchbooks and added details etc to some images. So the pics from my real world sketchbooks are both older and new.

Thanks for looking in

-----------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvv1VaGTDCU

lvv1VaGTDCU

[Jephyr X]

Your attention to detail is great; it also shows you have focus, which is even better. However, don't forgo stepping back and thinking about structure and big plane changes. Using those straight lines and angles before you begin to curve them will give your work the realism it needs; at the moment, many of your drawings seem flimsy or frail; it's because they lack the scaffolding underneath that the best draftsmen understand. Even the accomplished ones who made a career out of swishy and curvy lines knew what would have been underneath in its most basic form.

Great work, you can only get better!

Hi drd,

I was in the up-load page when you commented. Thanks much for the feedback and suggestions.

Any chance you'd do a quick paint over on one of my pics and incorporate some of your ideas/suggestions. It would make your advice easier to understand.

Oh and PS: Looking at your sketchbook proves out your last comment.

Thanks again!

[p sage]

I'm liking the pencil renderings you're doing. They seem volumetric and full to me.

[snatti]

hey jephyr x, from post #102 and forward
#102 i really like this idea and it's executed very well almost feelt like i was looking at a 3d pieace,

#108 quite cool speed paint, eagle heads (personal prefrence tho)
are very nice to know by heart since you can make them fith into much such as armor designs , weapons etc

#109 good to see some seperate muscle body part practise, something i should do more often aswell and i really like that portrait of the elderly man

#115 a nice sense of humor and study, the nude study was done on a3 format?

#126 i like the sketchbook pages, i get this comic book feeling from it which is quite cool, last one reminds me of sagat from street fighter, tho sagat has more of a steorid square jaw, which most mma fighters seem to have nowdays aswell

keep working hard as you are!

[Jephyr X]

p sage: Thanks! I appreciate that! :)

BTW...your avatar is cool! At first I was going to tell you there was something wrong with it! :dur:

snatti: Hi and thanks for the detailed reply!

-Someday I'm going to revisit and tidy that digital pic from 102...glad you liked it.

-Your right! I hadn't thought much about using eagles for other designs...for some reason I just like drawing birds. But you make a very good point...and as others have said about "building that visual memory"!

-I agree about muscle study...I still have so much to learn...especially when it comes to moving the figure around. Glad you like the old man too.

-If you're refering to paper size I believe it would be A2...in inches around 18 x 24. I'm happy you "get" the humor in some of my images! :)

-Thanks for the reference to Sagat from street fighter. Just did a search and based on the fan schtuff I found I really like that style. I may have to do a study or two from it.

Thanks again!

[lennon]

Jephyr, great stuff, I don't think you're right, actually you really know the muscles way better that I think almost everyone out there (obviously me included) and I like the way in wich you think about the planes of the face. You're in a good position now, so maybe you should try to leave the cartoony distortion of the body and start practicing the real proportions. I know that you're doing some studies in that regard, but I mean, to draw it from the mind -you seem to be good at that. That's my advice, since I see a lot of similiarity between your progress and mine. My advice is, know that you're very good and now so much anatomy, try to go to the more "standard" proportions and master them (do them from the mind). It's a little more difficult than cartoony characters, but it'll even improve those since it'll give you a base to distort in new directions. It's also extremly important if you want to get a good job in the future.
I REALLY like the direction this SB is taking. Also, the videos kick ass. I love the painting of the eagle.

[Jephyr X]

lennon: Thank you very much for your detailed reply! I appreciate your comments about my anatomy study and face planes. I always feel I have so much to learn but your feedback allows me to think I'm heading the right direction. ;)

You make a very good point about studying real proportions...one that I will put in practice. My favorite artists whether they're doing cartoons or fantasy...always have a strong foundation from real world practice.

I've noticed some sb threads here where people do screen cap studies and I may initially start there to really cement proportion into my visual memeory. Plus, the lighting is always so cool in those images and the subjects are great. Those studies will then allow me to take the next step you suggest....doing real propotioned images from my imagination.

I'm glad you enjoyed the videos...they're fun to make!

Thanks for all the feedback...it's very appreciated!

----------------

Here's my latest worked up from a sketchbook drawing I posted back on page 2.

I've been fighting with non-calibrated monitors. Both are set to factory specs but one is high contrast...the other is murkey and low. If anyone has advice on a good calibration software/device or advice on getting it done I'd appreciate it.

----------------

[p sage]

That's a fun sketch, man... and a very nice rendering.

Your discussion with the last guy about normal human proportions is probably something I need to address, too. It's easy to do 'toon proportions (at least for me).

[AckermannPhilip]

I see that you love drawing expressions and faces. :)

Take a look at Greg Capullo, Huante and especially Sebastian Krüger. Those guys are putting down the energy and expression I seek for.

To improve your paintings you should ask yourself if you always need sharph edges or cutting contrast. As I said above, take here especially a look at Sebastian Krüger. http://www.sebastiankruger.org/christopher_walken.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b18LOHBjyuc

cheerz, acki

[LtPlissken]

Field Marshall Chuck, haha
very original and fun.
That is just great stuff man,
you improved tons.

[Jephyr X]

Hi all!

p sage: Thanks much...glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah...regarding toony proportions: They are a bit easier because you just draw them without worrying about structure...so it reallty frees you up. With future schtuff I'm going to start leaning towards some realism.

AckermannPhilip: I hadn't heard of Capullo...so I did a quick image search for him. He's defintilty a new favorite! And I LOVE Huante and Kruger! :heart: I definitley seek for the energy and expression all those guys are putting down too!!!

Thanks for the links. I'd seen Kruger's site before but bookmarked it on this computer. The video was cool...thanks!

LtPlissken: Hi friend! Thank you so much...it's encouraging to hear I'm making some progress. :)

-----------

I'm doing the WIP photo study/portrait of the old woman to work out skin tone etc. I have an idea to put her in a surreal background...so hopefully I can get her finished and get to that. :)

Oh and I'm "painting" her in Photoshop...trying to master it yet again. :dur:

The rest are some recent pages from my sketchbook.

[ThomasM]

woah that naked lady with the massive legs terrifies me. Nice sb though man and thanks for stopping by mine - keep on doing what you're doing as these anatomy studies are definitely helping

[p sage]

I like this update ... the characters look great.

RE: Toony proportions... I don't know... your stuff looks fairly structural compared to most similar stuff I see in other people's books. Think of how much better those characters would read if they were more structural :)

Keep rockin', dude.

[Jephyr X]

ThomasM: Sorry to frighten you! :) Thanks for taking the time to take a look at my sb and comment...I will!

p sage: Thanks for the positive feedback my friend...glad yer liking them!!

Yes! And what I took from that discussion is that toony proportions are easy to fudge...but creating realistic figures/faces etc from your imagination really requires a firm understanding of anatomy and structure! So it never hurts to always keep revisiting that!

Thanks as always for looking in!

:yayca:

[Jephyr X]

Update on the Ganny portrait WIP...(finally getting more comfortable in Photoshop):

[lohes]

The granny portrait is lovely! Your digital work is very strong!

[Joe777k7]

Your work is the next level that i need to get to someday. Thanks alot for stopping by my sketchbook! I find myself just saying "wow!" outload when i was scrolling through your sketchbook. Ill try to stay tune so i can give you some critiques next time but for now i might copy some of your studies or do some simular ones. Amazing work and keep it up!

[Kerah]

Hey Jephyr!
Chipped teeth, bald men, tough and rough faces, man I love what you do. Glad to be with you in this sketchgroup, I'm subbed for life ;)

Cheerios!

[Jephyr X]

lohes: Thank you

Joe777k7: Thank you that means a lot to me!! I really appreciate it...keeps me motivated too!! I'll be checking in again in your sb to see what you do. Thanks again.

Kerah: hahaha Thank you Kerah! Looking forward to our sketchgroup too! Cheerio back! :)

---------------

So I'm back in class this semester taking Drawing/Composition II. Our first assignment is a "high key" ribbon drawing. I made a coupla ribbon compositions with paper and tape (real high tech stuff!!) and took a bunch of pics with different lighting. I'm posting the best 2.

Tonight I started an 18 x 24 graphite drawing of the first one. Eventually, if I have time I'll draw both of them. So far the drawing has been challenging but I think it's a good exercise!

----------------

[p sage]

Seems like a toughie. Are you going to do it in charcoal?

Good luck on it.

[Jephyr X]

Hello sir! :)

Yeah...it might be...and no doubt will be time consuming...but we have more than a month to do all our prep work/sketches etc and then the final piece.

Our instructor gave us the choice of medium so I'm going to use a smooth surface 18 x 24" paper and graphite pencils.

[p sage]

Hello sir! :)

Yeah...it might be...and no doubt will be time consuming...but we have more than a month to do all our prep work/sketches etc and then the final piece.

Our instructor gave us the choice of medium so I'm going to use a smooth surface 18 x 24" paper and graphite pencils.

Whoa... you'll be rendering forever at that size.

You could probably draw it at that size, reduce it at Kinko's, light box it and do a much smaller rendered piece. Just a thought :)

[Jephyr X]

Hi again. Thanks for the idea but the size is part of the assignment. I'm pretty used to working in that scale from all my life drawing/anatomy classes...and so far I've started the initial layout and think I'm really going to like doing this one! :) So weirdly enough it'll kinda be a labor of love! :oneye:

I think I have an idea for a sketchgroup challenge. I'm a bit on the run today but will PM you to see wht you think in the next few days.

Ciao fer now :yayca:

[LtPlissken]

Granny painting and her skin is fascinating.
The big butted girl is a highlight for me.

[Jephyr X]

LtPlissken: Hello sir and thanks for stopping by! Glad you like Ganny! I'm taking a break on her right now but hopefully will finish her so I can get going on my my surreal background idea for her.

Glad you like the girlie too!

Thanks again! :yayca:

--------------

2 weeks ago the fall semester began...so my free time has been cut back a bit.

-I've had a little time for this WIP photo study though. I'm using Photoshop again for it....and am really starting to like it!

-Also, I've been wanting to illustrate a poem for a while and one of the central characters is a Jester. So I drew a coupla concepts today.

--------------

Oh and after I wrote my rant about all the screaming (my ears were LITERALLY ringing at that point) I was starting to pack up and the father of the kids said, "Sorry we've seen you drawing and have tried to keep the kids quiet."

Then I felt bad for being such a grump! :)

--------------

[AdrianNagorski]

That ribbon idea is great.



- - - - - - - - - -
Things I Do Weekly -- sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224706)

Wasted - The game's production sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225181)

Ctrl+Paint, a place for beginners, many helpful videos! (http://www.ctrlpaint.com/)
- - - - - - - - - -

[LtPlissken]

The photo study looks good, except that it could use
a real sharp skin texture now. If people bother you
while you are doing sketches in public, you just wear
a big black coat and be naked under it. When they
start to annoy you, you just open the big coat, and
they will leave.

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro, that Kiera Knightly study you did.. wow.. what an awesome study.. and then you did a skull overlay.. must say that kind of stuff really helps..

Loving that cosplay stuff you did afew months ago too, see you guys draw them, that's awesome sexy =)

Noticed that you use an interesting high saturation on some of your pieces.. it's pretty unique, haven't seen that much before, it looks pretty interesting too =)

Well I don't have much or any to crit, your stuff is hawt =) Good luck with your next study =)

[p sage]

Ah, screaming girls. Used to be a time when we enjoyed that, eh Jephyr? ;) Now we're obsessed with lady pencil.

Looks like you have a good head start on the Jester... I have a fight on my hands :)

[lemming-clone-]

I wish I found this sketchbook earlier. We totally could have been anatomy buddies!
:D

[mrd33ds]

lovin those faces!

[Kerah]

Jephyr, that's why when I draw I'm usually with my headphones on to filter the background noise with some GOOD noise :)

This is our first PCG challenge? A jester?

[Ludic]

Hm, the paper thingy seems like a pretty good excersice, are you gaining anything from it :)?
Cool digitals also :)

[BlightedArt]

So your anatomy studies are getting much better. :) Nice.

I think you need to work on loosening up your poses though. Try more dynamic exercises and start by doing a very gestural curved line for the 'spine' (or line of action) of your character, one stroke, then do likewise for all the body parts following that line of action in some way.

It'll help loosen up your poses and stop your characters stances from looking so rigid. :) Cheers.

[p sage]

I'ma need some pencil sketches up in here soon... :sungod:

[Jephyr X]

Hi! Thanks to everyone who looked in! Thanks especially for your comments...it's helping to keep me motivated!!

AdrianNagorski: Thanks...I'm enjoying the assignment and will post it when it's done...hopefully soon!

LtPlissken: Thanks! I'm picking away slowly at it and will post a WIP below today.

As for your suggestion :perv: :oneye:
...ummm...I'm sure that would work but I think I'll stick to other methods. :tihi: hahaha

Kungfoowiz: Glad to have you look in and comment! It's appreciated! I wish I had more time to do those kinds of studies...as you say they really are helpful. I do plan on using those pics for references too...I'll post 'em if I do! I've gotten those "high saturation comments" and have backed off that a bit...but I think I still "see it that way" as well. ;)

Thanks again!

p sage: hahaha Yeah that is so TRUE. OTOH if it'd been a table full of age appropriate hotties...I'm sure my thinking about it woulda been different too!!!

I need to run to class tonight but I'll look for your thread asap (and all the other good peeps who've commented here too) and see if you've come up with anything for the Jester. I think I've come up with my final design (I'll post it below)

lemming-clone-: I'll need to get over to your sb and see what you've been up to. OTOH...it's not to late to study together here...because that anatomy thing is a lifetime of learning IMO!! :P

mrd33ds: Thank you!! :hatsoff:

Kerah: As loud as they were being I don't think even headphones would've done the trick. :upset: :D Later though when I left I realized I had a MAJOR headache and that musta contributed to my attitude as well. Still it was still a good day of drawing!

Yes...I'll post some more of my Jester studies etc below. As I said to our pal Chad above...I think I found my final too.

Ludic: Thanks! Yeah...we're doing it in "high key" and I usually have a pretty heavy hand so it really forces you to have a light touch. I'm doing a lot of blending on it too which is something I don't do much in my sketchbook either as you can see....so all in all it's going to be a great exercise!

Glad you likie my digi's too!

BlightedArt: Thanks...as I said above anatomy is a lifelong study IMO.

Otherwise while I might quible with the use of the word rigid to describe my characters overall ;) for sure I want work on creating dynamic poses. I did a bit of that with my "final" Jester....AFTER I read your comment...so I appreciate it!!~

:)

p sage: Your wish is my command sir!!

-------

So before I have to run off to my Drawing class....here's some of the latest. I'm using Photoshop for the gator...looks like I've made the transition and am really digging it!!!

I'll put what I think now is my final Jester design...last image...Robert the Wry - on the left. Hopefully I'll be able to have digi-paint go at him in Photoshop!

Thanks for looking in!!

-------

[p sage]

Yeah, "The Wry" is probably the best one from those, although I like the pose of #2 the best.

Cool! The gauntlet is thrown :)

[Jephyr X]

Thank you sir! :) Glad you like the Wry. And yes it's getting serious up in'ere!

:painting:

;)

Wish I could take credit for the pose on #2...those 4 images from that page (numbered 1-4) were from illustrations and photos I found on-line. I was doing a number of reference studies and found that very helpful!! Although I might add....the illustration for #2 was more cutsey-pie...so I roughed him upa little.

:skull:

:steph:

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro =) I like #3 (page 2) a lot, something about the eyes you did and his hat design is really nice, it's different you know =) It makes him look a bit strange and mysterious which is kinda cool, makes you try and figure out what he's thinking.. but just a suggestion =) Nice drawing bro, have fun with your next piece =)

[BlightedArt]

Lookin' better!

I like your jester and did a little draw over pose wise, and my rendition of the pose to the right


http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/4975/posez.jpg


- I also know this' kind of in my own personal little style too, which may or may not be relevant to what you want to persue (might be too "rubbery" or elastic). I've tried summing up each part into one line.... Even to the point where both arms are summed up in the same wave because they're held "outwards" and sort of flow into each other in the post you've given.


Another trick that seems to work for me is that if you have the line of action of a standing character, it's usually a much stronger pose if you make that line of action both the spine AND the supporting leg, as I've drawn here, it acts as a stalk for your character to stand on. Then other things like the wand (or whatever those things are called) in his hand also stem off of the arms waveline. It just links everything together into one flow and helps get the idea of movement across.

Hope you find this helpful, feel free to disagree too if this particular 'bendiness' doesn't appeal to you. :)

[LtPlissken]

Robert the Wry thought it's over now
But there's one thing he forgot about
The voice inside his head got loud
Chewed him up and spit him out....

Magnificent sketches above,
I like your creativity.

[Kerah]

Jephyr, I really like Jester # 3 and the old jester. I laughed when I read "bad knees" next to these nearly-line like legs with a bit of a knob sticking out for the knees. Those are indeed bad knees!
I like to variety of the jesters you have, have you used any references for the costumes ? I'm going to work more on my jesters, I'm not satisfied with what I've come up with.

[andres333]

I'd recommend some gesture studies, and also some form studies, some of your drawings are looking a bit flat, but other than that awesome work

[ThomasM]

i like that gator study - looks like youve done it well yeah.. no crits from me, just keep doing what you're doing

[Jephyr X]

Kungfoowiz: Thanks for stopping by and commenting...glad you like him!

Below I'll post the original reference images I used for those Jester studies. I did like that big puffy hat...glad you liked it too!

BlightedArt: Thank you very much! I appreciate the draw over. Thinking of those flowing lines will help me in the future. I did an extreme pose I'll post below...trying to work at getting more dynamic movement to my images!

That elastic style will especially work great for cartooning IMO! I see what you mean about the spine and leg...makes sense. I do appreciate the help! Thanks!

LtPlissken: I LOVE that poem!! Man that's cool! Thanks! Appreciate the motivating words too...hope all is well my firend!

:)

Kerah: Thanks friend! I sometimes laugh at my own work as I draw...so I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

I'll post the 4 references below...I looked on-line at literally dozens of different Jesters. I don't always do much research on costumes etc but found seeing all the different ways people have interpreted how a Jester appears really helped me as I worked on mine!

Hang in there with yours...I hope you'll just have fun and enjoy it.

andres333: Thank you much! The light studies you do are excellent...I will try to do more of that myself. In my latest sketches I tried to think about form and light more. Thanks again!

ThomasM: I appreciate that! Below I'll post what'll probably be the final work on the gator and some process steps. Thanks for the good words! :)

--------------------

-The Gator was done from a photo reference and 100% in Photoshop.

-Various Jester references I used for costume study.

-A recent sketchbook page. Trying to move an original character in space...and a Hogarth study.

-A look at some proocess steps for the gator

------------------

[p sage]

Nice photo study of the gator.

[Kungfoowiz]

Lull at the Hogarth drawing =) Nice work there, think you got the forms nicely =) Really like your figures too, they are nice and meaty =) Lull =) Keep up the drawing and looking forward to seeing more girls and such =) Meeow meeow =)

[Jephyr X]

p sage: Thanks friendo! :)

Kungfoowiz: Glad you like 'em sir! :hatsoff: I do like that beefy style...I will indeed keep drawring my friend!

----------

Speaking of that...I had a really fun night tonight....wish they were all like this.

We found a spot to draw and before we knew it they were closing the place down and kicking us out.

I'll still put more on this sketchbook page but wanted to share the good vibe!

BTW...all the feedback I get here is very motivating. Plus I tried to put in both more dynamic poses and light per BlightedArt and andres333 for these characters.

Ciao fer now

-------------

[p sage]

Cool, man! Glad you had fun. Keep those pencil shapes looking solid!

[Kerah]

Hey Jephyr how about a personal Loomis challenge between you and me? It goes like this; both of us should finish 5 pages in a Loomis book where it directs studies and study them thoroughly and post the results to the SB. Could be interesting if you're not overloaded with duties. I'm overloaded, but I'll do it anyway :)

Cheerios

[p sage]

Hey Jephyr how about a personal Loomis challenge between you and me? It goes like this; both of us should finish 5 pages in a Loomis book where it directs studies and study them thoroughly and post the results to the SB. Could be interesting if you're not overloaded with duties. I'm overloaded, but I'll do it anyway :)

:wtf:

Chopped liver, here.

Yeah, I'll take you up on that one.

On guard!

(En garde!)

[Jephyr X]

p sage: Thanks pal! Ya know how sometimes no matter how much you love something it can sometimes still feel like work? Last night was one of those magical nights I woulda paid for the priv'lidge of drawring!

:bounce:

'Course...I still want the ka-ching! :mittenbop:

Kerah: Loomis! That sounds like a good challenge! I said in Chad's thread that I have "all the books"...but other than drawing bits here and there...have never really made a study of them.

So it's on then guys!

I do have a 2 to 3 minute video I'm working on for school for shcool and I still want to paint my Jester over the next coupla weeks...so I'll be worrking around those...but I'd say I can have 5 pages done in 30 days...hopefully that's cool?

En garde Gentlemen!@

-------------

Here's my high key ribbon exercise. It's due Thursday...so I might still blend it a bit...but this is either done or pretty close to it. ;)

Graphite, 18 x 24", high key (on bright white paper but the camera musta picked up bounced color from my easel :dur: )

------------

[LtPlissken]

Di anatomy is getting better now,
Si Si Senior!

[p sage]

Ribbon looks great, man. Kudos. That's a difficult subject and media, and IMO you pulled it off.

I remember an assignment like that for one of my 'art' classes in college (during my non art degree degree) and it didn't come out close to as well as yours has.

For some of the best images/pages in Loomis's books... I believe that pages 106-122 in "Successful Drawing" are sublime. Those will be my focus :)

You and Kerah should pick whichever Loomis pages you want, though.

[Jr.Molcak]

Hey, thanks for stopping by. Great to see some exaggerated proportions based on real anatomy studies. It works. Like your rendering, crisp and unique. Keep up cool work.

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro, nice work on the ribbons =) You got a delicate touch there and good eye =) May I ask, they are for rendering practice right? =)

Good luck with your next study and keep well bro =)

[Jephyr X]

LtPlissken: Thank you sir! :) I've been having alotta fun in my sketchbook recently!

p sage: Thanks my friend! It's a great exercise for someone (like me!) who has a tendency to have a "heavy" hand!

Thanks for the tip on those pages...I'll give 'em a look-see! Thanks again Chad!

Jr.Molcak: Thank you! Much appreciated! I'll take a spin through your entire sb asap!

Kungfoowiz: Thanks Friendo! :star: Yes...as I wrote to sir Chad...it's an exercise ALL about blending and having a real soft touch.

With all the drawing I've been doing lately I found my way through that assignment pretty quick...but staying light and getting a smooth blend are things I still really need to work on!

----------------

So I'm loving drawing in public these days! Recently I've met a lot of really cool people who see me drawing and come over and wanna see what I'm up to and chat a bit. Some of 'em are pretty easy on the eyes too! <3

;)

Ciao fer now!

0--------------0

[p sage]

Drawing in public is absolutely a great exercise; I've gotten away from it the past two weeks (just have gotten really busy with new work contract)... have to find a way to do it more. Maybe I'll draw people at work?

When doing characters from your mind, maybe experiment with losing some of the edges (those pencil creatures)... I think it may contribute to an overall more volumetric feel in them.

EDIT TO ADD: No doubt you've seen Revenebo's Jester (http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2759582&postcount=182)

[Kungfoowiz]

Omg jeee shiiiii, scorpions would freak me the hell out! =) That ribbon exercise looks insanely difficult.. nice work on it, think you got some nice shapes from the study too.. No real crits on your stuff bro.. Keep up the good drawing and dodge those scorpions! =)

[Yefim]

Sweet bro, that graphite study looks great. :D

[BlightedArt]

That study is genius and came out really well.

But the scorpions.... D: THE SCORPIONS!! *shudders*

[Kerah]

Strange question: What's "High Key"?
However, the ribbon study looks incredibly awesome!
The key to public drawing is to attract as much attention as you can without saying a word, boosts up your ego like nothing else in the world having people looking over your shoulder or blatantly standing in front of your SB to gaze at the progress. Yes, I know I'm a scoundrel and an immoral bastard! ;)

Cheerios! Keep up the good work mate, I'm really loving it how your works are turning out to be :)

[Jephyr X]

Thanks for the coments! I'm on the run but will post some pics and replies soon!

[Partisan]

hey man ^^ thanks for dropping by just one little thing your ribbon study ...dont fear it ....get some dark values in there

so long
Seb

[p sage]

Strange question: What's "High Key"?

High key means most of the values are between 1 and 5 on a 1 to 9 value scale ... essentially a "light" image. You can have a small, dark element in a high key image that "keys" it. The reverse is true as well (mostly darks, with a light key note)

[Jephyr X]

Hi!

I've been a bit busy recently and waiting to post until I had more to show but now I see the discussion about key and will throw my 2 cents in and get to some replies while I'm at it. :)

p sage: Hi friend...so have you had any time to draw at work? I agree about drawing in public...plus it's just fun to get out and it does usually attract some attention! :groupie1:

:tihi:

Your suggestion is right on! I've been trying that more and more...it may not show yet much...but in time it will. Thanks!

More regarding your last post in a sec.

Kungfoowiz: I've never been stung...but the longer I live here I sometimes wonder if that will change! /m\

Thanks as always for your comments on my work! As for your last suggestion....I'll try my friend...I'll try!!

:mittenbop:

Yefim: Thanks brother man! I appreciate you looking in and commenting!


BlightedArt: Wow...thank you man!!

Hopefully my instructor will like it as much!

I take it you're not much of a fan of scorpions either! :dead: hahaha


Kerah: Not strange at all...I wouldn't know it if we hadn't been given assignments like this one. I like Chad's explaination but will add to it below.

I guess I'd have to say I'm a scoundrel too. :) And you see all types...the quiet ones too shy to come over but you see them straining to see what your doing...to the cuties who come over and invite themselves to sit down.

Like I mind!!! :perv:

<3

A lot of artists...and tattoo peeps stop by too...many ask if that's what I do.

Thanks for the positive feedback too bro!~! It's appreciated!

Partisan: Thanks for stopping in. I think our pal p sage covered it pretty well but I'll add a bit to the high key discussion.

p sage: Thanks palzano!

Our sketchgroup conferderate Yefim posted some very nice key and contrast studies in his sketchbook. Anyone who hasn't seen them yet should click his link and check 'em out...they're very helpful!

Our instructor restricted us even more into the brightest values with low contrast.

I found this description on http://www.diyphotography.net/lighting-high-key-and-low-key and it comes the closest to what our instructor wanted.


------------------


When looking at a High Key picture, you will probably notice two things right away.

-The first thing is that the picture is bright.

-The other noticeable feature of High Key images is the lack of contrast.

In addition for the tone being bright, you will notice that it is almost even across the scene.

This article describes a third aspect of hi key images...one I wished I used more in my drawing. Another guy in class did this and it was very effective!!

-A third feature, that need closer attention to notice is the lack of shadows in the picture. The shadows cast by the model (or subject) are suppressed.........

------------

Thanks again everyone...pics coming!

:yayca:

--------------

I'll attach a high key photo taken by moogs (http://www.flickr.com/photos/anjin/) and used under a creative commons license: "Free to share under the following conditions...with attributions and non-commercial."

[Kerah]

Hey Jephyr, that's helpful! Somebody told me I was using a lot of "middle tone" but that's because I usually love drawing with only two pencils that are relatively close to each other in their softness. 2B and 4B. Now I know what it is.

So there should be "Low Key"? A very dark version, and maybe something more balanced ? I never studied the techniques formally, so these names mean nothing to me but I'd like to learn.

Cheerios Amigo!

[Jephyr X]

That's right Kerah. Slide on over to Yefim's sb...he has a series of studies about key and contrast.

And yes...at second look at your drawings I think they would be more described as middle key.

I had one instructor and she always wanted us to get the full value range...so working in the individual keys is good practice for me!!

---------

Onto some pics.

The Jester...an early WIP at this point!!

Kerah and Chad...I did a coupla studies from Loomis - For All It's Worth. I decided to start at the beginning...since I haven't done a lot of perspective...that foreshortening stuff was helpful to me!

LtPlissken...I hope you'll feel honored...I had fun with the "Plissken Scale"! :)

If not let me know and I'll remove it!!

The scribble thang is another WIP exercise from Drawing II. It's 18 x 24" (A2)

Since it seems to be of interest...I decided to post another viersion of the ribbon thang...this time I tried to get an image more representative of the way it actually looks. It's very had to get a good photo of it because it's so light.

Ciao fer now


---------------------

[Kungfoowiz]

Bro you're really hammering the studies =) Your Loomis copies are really good, most of them are fairly accurate =) Who is the guy to the right of your spaceman, what's his name? =) That study looks particularly helpful actually =) Nice work on him, think that's a good shading study imho =)
Thank you for the tips on bright contrast, it could be quite tricky yes =) Keep up the good work bro and have a nice weekend =)

[BlightedArt]

Definitely rocking them studies, and your shading's looking friggen sweet, smooth as transitions.

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1332966&stc=1&d=1317426914

This one is DAMN good to just look at!

[LtPlissken]

'Plissken scale' - Loomis had no idea we have to admit
it all now. You did a great job on that one and I am real
proud. If Loomis would implemented this kind of gals
in his book he would have triple sale. But he was too starchy
and straightforwarded. The CIA put too many pencils in his hands.
He failed hard. I like your vision and you are a real prospect.
If I will ever get rich, we will build a Disneyland together with
a huge Michael Jackson figure on the front entrance. We will
gather a lot of people from around a world. And we will re-publish
the loomis books in our way. Thank you for evoking all these ideas
and thoughts in me, thank you for your dedicated drawing.
We will conquer new lands together in the future, I am sure about
that. Just as Indiana Jones said; Fortune and glory,
fortune and glory kid.....

[p sage]

Nice Jester, dude! Loomis is looking tight. I'm liking the big, heavy pencil guy too. Looks like he weighs a ton :)

[TheDistance]

Just dropping by to say thanx for the comments! You´ve got some pretty good things going here aswell m8! :)

[Fernteixeira]

man...those ribbon exercise are great... I really liked the fat woman and the lovely old lady

...humm I dont know if I should say... bay even if somethin is white you can do a "dark" core shadow xD.. \o\

[AlexTooth]

Very nice stuff, Jepher=) Really like your pencil style, great anatomy work too, look forward to more!

[Baudolino]

Hey, thanks for stopping by my sb. You have some fantastic works in here! And the figure sketches from post 182 are quite interesting, really like the style of those.

[andres333]

man the way you stylize figures is looking really nice. I'd like to see your lines getting more confident :D

[Jephyr X]

Kungfoowiz: Hello sir!! :) Thanks man...I've not done near enough of those kinda studies. So it's been really good to have the challenge!!

The brutes name is Percival. :D Actually...I dunno...but I can tend to be a little "off" when it comes to naming my characters...so that just might work!

:^^:

Thanks for the positive feedback...I have been trying to sort out shading...even bought a bunch of new pencils...so I appreciate the comment my friend!!

Hope all is well!!

BlightedArt: Thanks Palzano!! Really appreciate that!!

LtPlissken: Ahhh...my friend I'm so glad you approve...you can tell I worried about invoking yer name!! It looks like I inspired some HUGE thoughts in you!!

I'm in on those plans...lets make some MOOLAH!! :bounce:

Thanks for stopping in and for the good feedback my brother!!

p sage: Thank you sir!! That's proving to be a great challenge...no! :)

Glad you like the big feller...I enjoy creating those lumbering characters.

:painting:

TheDistance: Thanks so much for stopping by...I appreciate it!

Fernteixeira: Thank you! Glad you took a look see here!

In regards to the "dark core shadow"...I'd say yes and no. I'm sure in many images I could push thast a bit...but as our discussion above indicates it also depends on they "key" your working in.

Either way, It's good to have feedback on what I'm doing. It helps me to understand the process!! Thanks again!

AlexTooth: Thank you as well! I'm glad to have you stop in and give an encouraging word!

Baudolino: Thanks man!! I'm really glad you like what I'm doing! I do enjoy doing those exagerated figures and faces. :) Thanks again!

andres333: Great to see you stop by again. As you know I'm a big fan! Yes...I agree...it's something I've been thinking about more and more and will work on it!

Thanks again everyone!

------------

Onto some images:

-Another couple of Loomis pages...one with an original character I REALLY enjoyed making!

-Our Drawing II Scribble assignment a little further along.

-And an update on the Jester. Wish I could say it's done...but I have a lot more to do on it.

Thanks for looking in!

---------------

[Egg0]

Loooooooooove your studies, really smooth lines, keep doing it !

[p sage]

Studies are looking really tight... that perspective stuff helps more than it looks like it does.

Nice, tight lines, too.

Jester is coming along as well. Maybe more of an action pose would help? Kind of a flyswatted thing going on right now (all limbs perpendicular to the eye).

Cheers man.

[Unlink40]

your sense of line weight is most impressive

[Blenz]

Really great anatomy studies, I need to get to work on them myself. keep up the great work :D.

[Kungfoowiz]

Hey bro =) Liking the female torso on the first page =) I think the values are very good on her too =) Your works are looking good atm =) Good luck with your next piece bro and keep well =)

[Kerah]

Robert the Wry, eh? Wait till you see Jack the Ball. Just wait. Working on it as I write it!

Oh, and your pencils seem very neat and accurate. You don't like to smudge things accidentally, ehm? :)

Cheerios,
V.!

[Nettle_Mountain]

sooner or later all our works will flow together like water, and watch!

There was no need to draw, paint, breath, or see, because all this time we were already free!

[Baudolino]

Hey, thanks for stopping by! Your latest updates are awesome.... I really like the jester character!

[p sage]

Hmmm... seems Fallenangel's sorted out this jester thing (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b312/DDT87/SWScan0000500062a.jpg) a few years ago...

(oh... and update if you got a few minutes, dangit ;))

[BlightedArt]

Such smooth toning :O That's really damn choice!

[Johnny_P]

Heey! Thanks for commenting on my SB!

I'm liking the stuff here on your thread, really interesting human forms. I enjoy the exaggeration in scale. Also that astronaut painting on your website is so awesome, the one with multiple color renderings. Anyways keep it up always room for improvement!

[cloudcan]

awesome loomis studies! you are improving ever so much :D and I loved the female proportions sheet in post #193. (ideal indeed ahhaa)

[LtPlissken]

I love those big meaty legs that you draw.
Huge asses and tits are the law.
And I like how you include your thoughts
beside your drawings. Brings a lot of life
to the characters and those lines are letting
the audience know in what mood you were in.

[Jephyr X]

Egg0: Thank you! I will indeed! :)

p sage: Hey thanks for all the feedback mang! I haven't done perspective since Drawing I...so I really needed that. :)

Cheers back at ya ;)

Unlink40: Thank you! I am really impressed by what you've shown in you sb...so I appreciate that!

Blenz: Thanks! Yes...it's a mantra around here...and so true! ;)

Kungfoowiz: Hey M8! Thanks as always for the feedback and encouragement.

I admit I need ALL the help I can get!! hahaha

:painting:

Kerah: Thanks man! I still got a bunch to do but haven't had the time.

I try not to smudge...but the scribble drawing I'll post below is gonna require massive clean-up by the time I'm done!

:oneye:

Nettle_Mountain: I like the sound of that!! Very poetic! Thank you!

Let it be! :)

Baudolino: I appreciate you returning the favor my firend! Thanks for the good words!

p sage: That's pretty cool alright. I've seen several in sb's here...it's inspiring to say the least.

Oh...and 'cause you axed so nice...some new schtuff below! :}

BlightedArt: Thanks palzono!! I slipp back into "scratchy-scratchy" if I'm not careful...so it's still something I really need to work on@!!

Johnny_P: And thanks in return! The feedback is much appreciated.

Interestingly I mentioned in another sb that I'd post that picture here...so I'll include it below. I'm very glad you like it!

And YES...there's ALWAYS room for improbvement!! :lifedrawing:

Thanks again

cloudcan: :) Thank you! Thank you!

Glad you like that one...it was in honor of our friend the Lt!!

LtPlissken: And speaking of you sir! ;)

Thank you...for your poetic words...and feedback!

Glad you like my "dialog"! It keeps me entertained while I draw...so it's nice to know that others enjoy it too!

-------------

I'm not gonna post much NEW art but some "newsy" schtuff.

Ciao fer now

[p sage]

Congrats on winning the gift cert and then getting your drawing on the wall. That's awesome.

Good work on the doodles; maybe go with a simpler tonal approach (I should do the same thing)... I think we can get caught up in "middle-value hell". It gets really tempting to do subtle gradations through the middle values, but in the end when you step back from a piece it just doesn't carry.

Well, have fun with your Saturday mang. Draw that one piece you've been wanting to :)

[Fernteixeira]

hey man you are the most active member !!?


I really like the way you put rythm in every line u do.
My heart and my brain say : dont speak it againn.. dont speak

but my eyes say : hey man try to use tone scale. Take the 1 color to be the brightest (90º with the light spot) and then go trying to do half tone in 45º and then and then ..

I'm sorry if its rude from my part ç_ç I'm never did college or something alike. But I really love to study brain.. and everything brain search is contrast. In everything. Brain can work with contrast to notice changes. it can be line : many straight and then a little curve will pop. it can be color, tone, hue ... til abstract thing.

sorry my english maybe fuzzy my explanation

[Jephyr X]

p sage and Fernteixeira: Thanks for the replies..as always I appreciate the feedback!

:)

However, I will have to STRONGLY disagree about pushing full value into everything.

- As was discussed on the previous page there are keys that all of us should be aware of and be able to work in with ease.

- Secondly, and I'm sure you both have found this to be true: In a non-digital WIP (work in progress) you generally would not want to push your darkest values into the piece until you're sure the layout is correct.

I've already discovered on the Scribble Assignment that there are values I laid down too boldly which are proving hard to get rid of.

As I put the finishing touches on that assignment I will add BLING (both highlights and low values) but it may remain somewhat mid key.

Since I think you've both found my sb more recently I'll post some images of mine showing more full value ranges.

----------------

I'll also include a couple of digital WIP's I'm working on.

Thanks again for the replies guys.

:yayca:

----------------

[Kungfoowiz]

Heey bro! =) Your rendering is pretty kick ass! =) I like the last head and pelvis studies =) The hand is great too =) Congratulations on getting your work in the public eye too! =) That's definitely something to aspire to imho =) Also well done on winning those prizes, good job ninjikitty friend! =) Keep a pencil in every paw! =)

[cloudcan]

Wow :D some beautiful motivational updates
I agree, I don't see you having a prob with value, it looks like you have a good grip on value concept and don't see you having to 'push the bling' more. Lovely graphite works and I'm really looking forward to updates on the exaggerated heads :)

[p sage]

p sage and Fernteixeira: Thanks for the replies..as always I appreciate the feedback!

:)

However, I will have to STRONGLY disagree about pushing full value into everything.

:D

I think you're over reacting to what I suggested, actually :)

I agree with what you've said here. That said, I still believe you have a tendency to leave things a bit middle value-y, particularly your from imagination stuff.

And I admit to doing the same thing :D

Of course there's no need to do a full value range for most pieces; but what's important in the end or every piece is to get the whole thing to carry and to read. If it doesn't carry, what do you do? You go and adjust the values until it does. Or you can leave the piece less readable and fuzzy. It depends on the intent of the artist, I guess. I just always assume that when someone draws a figure using forms, they want it to read clearly.

And like you said, if the structure is off in the first place, it becomes much harder.

But I think you have a good handle on structure, Jephyr my man.

In the end, it could be a stylistic choice for you.

I'm glad to be in a sketchgroup with you. I'm by no means perfect nor do I know everything there is to know about this stuff. It's going to be a lifelong study, and I hope to pick up as much as I can as quickly as possible so as to have more time to create. I know you're in the same boat.

Kudos on the hard work, once again.... and no offense intended over any of the critiques.

[Jephyr X]

Kungfoowiz: hahaha Now good advice!! A pencil in every paw! Love it!

:)

Thanks fer the feedback me brother! By the power of ninjakitty I salute you!

;)

cloudcan: Thank you so much cloudcan...I really appreciate that!

I used to have an instructor who used to talk about "bling" in paintings and that most students want to rush ahead to that...so that's where I picked that up.

:painting:

I'm glad you like the scribble pic so far and for that assignment will add a little bling. Look for an update on that soon!

:)

I do enjoy doing those exaggerated heads! :oneye: Thanks again!

p sage: I wasn't over reacting my friend. I simply felt STRONGLY about it then...and still do today.

I am starting to find your persistance on this topic a wee bit annoying though. :uzi2:

;)

Especially when it turns out you're talking about "middle value-y" "fuzzy" stuff I toss off in my sketchbook.

I enjoy creating my wacky characters and doing some anatomy study etc in my sketchbook...and save agonizing about values etc for serious work.

:lifedrawing:

:)

Anywho thanks for the additional words and feedback...this is certainly a lifelong study eh?

[p sage]

Hey man, sorry if I've offended. Not sure what I said. I'll assume you're right and go from there... I can be a dick sometimes :sungod:

[Fernteixeira]

lovely works you have here, man!

..and...I'm sorry too.. I really didnt saw these works !

I hope you understand sometimes we see the overall work and we try to speak about thing that catch our eyes. When especifically contrast seems to be wrong .. its something that grip your eye with a jiu-jitsu eyelock.

And sorry³³

[Kerah]

Jephyr, it's a pleasure to see that your art is scoring :)
These art-sticks you got from the presentation are pastels? Not sure I've heard of art sticks before, feeling pretty ignorant about terminology sometimes.

Your first WIP in the digital medium reminds me of something you've done, at least the shape of the character's head and the placement of facial features - that cute general/army type person you've drawn some time ago.

Anyway -
I wanted to ask you how would you usually start off an oils/acrylic/gouache painting (especially upon a canvas)? What I really want to hear is if you prefer to work from dark to light, or the other way around? and why?

Would you start by constructing background first or doing that later? Just curious.

V.!

[Angel Intheuk]

ooh you should draw the scorpions :D they look so much more interesting than the boring spiders we get over here :)

Great sketchbook by the way, I love your caricature style, very bold. In contrast the ribbon study is very faint, is that the fault of the scan/photo? I love the ribbon study though it's a great idea, I'm going to do that sometime soon myself. Anyway keep up the great work :) Maybe someday there'll be a stylized/caricature challenge it would be great to swop some skills and techniques :)

[Lightship69]

Hi matey

Your picture of Granny drew me in and your love of the great chuck Jones told me it was safe to stay. I have been all the way through the SB and loved all of it mate, the caricatures, the birds, the loomis and especially the wild stuff from inside your head somewhere.

It was a pleasure to visit, if I was going to crit anything it would be that some of the edges are a bit too blurred an example would be the big blue headed guy in post 220 at the bottom, it hurts my tired old eyes and makes me want to reach for the whiskey to straighten myself out ha ha ha ha.

keep posting an all the very best to you mate.

[Jephyr X]

p sage: No worries man! I can be a dick at times too. So maybe we can just agree to disagree...eh? :)

Fernteixeira: No problem. I kinda understand that we all drop in on a sketchbook and don't have time to look through the whole thing and make judgement about the overall art based on what we've seen.

That's why I included some full value work of mine above.

;)

Thanks for looking in and commenting!

Kerah: Thanks! I'm glad to be earning a little on my art too! :) More on that in a second.

Art sticks are basically like the center of a colored pencil...but the size of a conte crayon or pastel. Some people get nice result with them by laying down many layers and then using linseed oil (or turpenoid etc) on a brush to emulsify it and blend it.

I have a firend that uses them and gets very nice results but mine still look like a little child's drawing! :bashful:

I hadn't noticed those characters had some resemblances. I'll put them side by side below...there ARE some similarities.

:oneye:

As for your question: I haven't done much real world painting...but what I've been taught I try to incorporate...so I'll share some general steps.

-One method they've taught which I like to use is to tone the entire canvas. Often this is with Burnt Umber or Sienna or Ultra Marine Blue...but it could be any color. And let it dry. (Toning is a step easily skipped if time is of the essence though)

-Then using vine charcoal we lay in the subject. The general shapes and planes.

And then use liquin and a brush and go over the vine...since it is so easily lost.

(Like my digital stuff I don't go for much detail with the layout. I know this goes against what many people do...but I prefer to put the detail in as I paint.)

-Then we lay in larger blocks of color for the general planes and shapes.

-Then we've be taught to "work around the painting"...simply a matter of adding more and more refinement and detail...but all over bringing more and more polish to the piece in all areas.

This has alwys made sense to me because in the past I'd work on the foreground and then lay in the background and have to go back and change the color and light on the foreground...or vice versa.

-Towards the end we're taught to begin to finalize our background so that the final refinements are then made to the foreground.

In practice I break these "rules" all the time...but that's the general idea.

:)

Angel Intheuk: hahaha Well I don't like either spiders or scorpions much! :oneye:

But I must say that I do like to draw them. For Color theory I did an acrylic with a scorpion in it...that was ages ago and I had no idea how to paint back then but I'll add it below.

Thanks for the encouraging feedback...glad you like th caricatures! I think a challenge would be a great idea! I've got a a LOT of irons in the fire right now...but maybe in November or December???? I'll come by your sb and drop a note soon.

Glad you like the ribbon project too. That has generated a lot of discussion around here. It was for a "key" assignment done for a class. Keys are basically low mid and high. So on a high key assignment all the values will be very bright.

That's why that image looks the way it does.

I generally have too firm a touch...so it's an excllent exercise to keep you hand relaxed for creating soft values.

Thanks again for looking in and commenting.

Lightship69: So Ganny lured you in and Chuck set the hook! ;)

I appreciate the good feedback m8...glad you like caricatures and boids etc!! It's only a little scary inside my head though! HONESTLY!!!

:skull:

:D

Yeah I used to get that blurry comment a lot more and have been working on it. Better examples might be the gator on 170 (http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3251379&postcount=170) or maybe Field Marshal Chuck (http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3251379&postcount=170) were I put a little polish on those digi-paintings! :)

So step away from that whiskey and never fear...that dood in 220 is a WIP (work in progress) and your tired eyes will rejoice!!

:mittenbop:

Thanks for looking in!! :)

-------------

I'm finishing another competition video for school and still have an endless amount of work to do...so I won't be around much for the next week or so.

As I'm able I'll make the rounds and return the favor by looking at each of your sb's and offering a comment or two.

I do appreciate you stopping by.

--------------

Below...I'll incude some holiday cards I made for a competition at school. I had to stick to a theme they created.

I used some photographs I took for Digital Photography back in 2010 . The prize isn't a lot but if I won I could add it to the resume...and some big wigs at the school might catch my name. :)

Otherwise I think most of the stuff below is self explanitory or has a description.

Thanks again everyone!

------------

[Kungfoowiz]

Wow, your buzzard is looking really good =) Did you hand paint all that texture on him?

Good luck with your next study =)

[Lightship69]

Ah Haaaa! another like minded soul!!

I have subscribed mate Hope you dont mind if I swing by from time to time.

all the best with the works

[AlexTooth]

Love your studies mate, you're well on your way to becoming an anatomy master :) Love to see some of these caricature type faces developed, they have great personality!

[Ludic]

Your texture work is just amazing, I like how you mix it with a bit of stylizm :)

[LtPlissken]

I am just so proud that your print is just beside
the door of Dr. Anatomy Insturctor - Dr. Louis
Gingher Leyendecker,s office. That is just so
fantastic. We should have a drink for that,
right away. Call Leyendecker also.

[Ramalooke]

Hi, thanks for the comment in my SB. I love your work. Only crit I have for you is that your website needs to be redesigned. It looks like site from the 90s ;). Keep posting mate, I look forward to see more of your work. Cheers

[Feil Magnus]

First of all, thanks for the comment on my Sb
Some of your work are very impressive, the arm on post 220 is just waow!
The zombi military dude on post 230 is very nice too , i love his expression and the rendering on his skin.

[shiNIN]

Wow... I like your faces and figures and your anatomy studies are so great, oh my god those legs in #220 look great, I wouldn't even wish for trying to draw muscles so nicely (but hey I'm a lazy one)...

[andres333]

By all means take a break if your hand is hurting!

I used to be a musician and I knew people who kept practicing/playing with pain and eventually developed serious problems.

As you recover you might want to consider how you're holding your pens, pencils, brushes etc. Is there enough support for your arm? Are you taking regular breaks etc?

Anyway...hope to see you in good health posting again soon!

Thanks for caring bro and for the advice..yeah I've taken a break..kinda..my hand still hurts not as bad as before, but I'll be fine.. I guess, also congratulations for your piece that was chosen to be hung :)

[Vertical]

Thanks a lot for the advice, I'll take it to heart! I really like how your sketchbook pages are clean and composed, not just tons of floating heads and figures like mine. It's really interesting, I bet that's good perspective practice. Really nice anatomy studies too, good luck with your endless school work :D!

[cloudcan]

Enjoyed all of them but esp love the commander dude OvO More update please! :D

[p sage]

Keep goin, man.

[Jephyr X]

Hello fellow humanoids!

Thanks for looking in!

Kungfoowiz: 'Ello me brother-man! Thanks...glad you like da buzzard.

Yes, the textures are hand painted. Thanks again my friendo! :)

Lightship69: Hey compadre! Thanks so much for subscribing!

:mittenbop:

From one lumbering bullock to another...Thanks m8!

AlexTooth: Thanks! My Irish friend says: "Your lips to God's ears!" IOW...may that be true one day!

I'll try to develop them as I have time. Thanks!

Ludic: Thanks for stopping in and for the good words! MUCH appreciated!

LtPlissken: My brother from another mother! Thank you sir. I think you'd like her. Not only is she super cool but she's tatted out and plays in a Rockabilly band!

:)

Ramalooke: Thanks to you as well...glad you stopped in! :^^:

As for the website...so much to do...so little time!!! :bashful:

I think I'll be taking advanced web-design soon...so maybe I'll tackle that then!

Feil Magnus: Hey mang! Thanks so much! I had fun creatin' the zombie guy...glad you like my schtuff! ;)

shiNIN: Thanks as well!! Those legs were a lot of fun to do as well...glad you like 'em!

:)

andres333: Cool...I'm happy that hand is getting better! May you be 100% soon!

Thanks for the congrats. I'll post a view of the print in the building looking north in the imagews below>

Vertical: Glad if I could help. Thanks so much for the feedback! It's funny I always like when I see sb's like yours too. Either way...it's a lot of fun eh! Thanks again!

cloudcan: :) Glad yer likin' the zombie dood! Update? Your wish is my comand!!

:tihi:

p sage: Hello sir! I will indeed...I will indeed! [sfx_whip-crack]

;)

-----------------

Ok...so I'm starting to see daylight with the video. But it has been a busy week.

I'll do a bit of a jumble when it comes to posting....starting with a the video that the Songify peeps did of a Phoenix guy. (we're not all so...umm...animated here in the desert!)

A little early on the Halloween thang at the end...but I'm getting in the spirit!

--------------------

FCSBoOcGFFE&list=FL68fmS1kX6bcBSBiiHlLl-A&feature=mh_lolz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCSBoOcGFFE&list=FL68fmS1kX6bcBSBiiHlLl-A&feature=mh_lolz

[wasabi89]

Its great to see so much flow in your characters
Also your line quality is great man

Awesome sketches
keep it up
cheers

[p sage]

Nice sketches and songify :batgirl:

[Kungfoowiz]

OMG! I LOVE SHASTAKOVICH! =) Is she your cat!? =) She's sooo cutey! =) Ah man, Halloween, I love it too =) Can't wait, I usually play NWN2 on Halloween, lull.. yip I'm a geek =) Your drawing is beautiful bro.. really like the nice touch you have in your pieces.. Well done on the gift.. Again! =) Have fun with your next works bro =)

[Sycra]

Nice pencil work! Keep it up!

[cloudcan]

omg
http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1351651&stc=1&d=1319685292 made me laugh so much xD
Love this too http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1351661&stc=1&d=1319685472, it's so full of movement. great portraits as always, really like the last two pics :)

[Ramalooke]

Great update. I'm looking forward for next one. Hope it'll happen as soon as possible xd

[Kerah]

I was sure I commented on your last post too, how odd... I even remember the content of the comment, oh well.

Glad to see your painting is generating money for you, while you still own it! That's about as cool as it gets (of course, unless you increase the revenue so it becomes even more cool!) :)

Congrats on finishing http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1351661&stc=1&d=1319685472
Looks very well though out, my sincerest and humblest congrats again *removes hat*.

Will be glad to see what you'll come up next!

Cheerios,
V.!